Chapter 18

"Ow," Blaze murmured, sitting up shakily.

"Easy," Knuckles chided, moving over to support her. "You probably shouldn't be moving too much."

"He's right," Tails agreed, coming back in through the door and smiling kindly at Blaze. "Sorry I took so long. Amy was being stubborn."

"Shocker," Knuckles muttered, making Blaze giggle slightly.

"How's your head?" Tails asked, concerned, feeling her forehead. She definitely had a fever now.

"Hurts," she whispered. Her eyes were dull, and she felt a rush of horror as they filled with tears. Blaze rarely cried. But this pain…

She was dying. She knew it, and she could tell with one look at Tails' face that he knew it too.

"Just… hold on for another day," Tails pleaded. "They've only got one more to find."

"Tails…" Blaze murmured, inhaling sharply. "I'm scared…. that I can't."

"Of course you can!" Knuckles announced with his best attempt at a smile. "You're Blaze, the most badass son-of-a-muffin on this, and most other, dimensions!"

Tails glanced over at him, puzzled. "Son-of-a-muffin?"

"I know what I said," Knuckles huffed. "You can do it, Blaze. Plus, if you die and Silver isn't here, he's going to off himself just to come find you in the afterlife and kick your ass for it."

"Just do your best, Blaze. We're not going anywhere," Tails comforted.

"Okay," she responded quietly. Another series of convulsions shook her, and her eyes closed tightly, her body doing its best to try and ride it out.

Knuckles sighed, looking down at her sadly. "Do you really think she's going last another day?"

"She has to," Tails replied, shifting the cat back onto her right side to help ease some of the tremors. But looking down at her, small and scared, his hope for her began to dim.

"We should call it a night," Shadow instructed. "We're close, I'll give you that, but we need at least a couple of hours of sleep if we're going to be up for a big fight tomorrow."

"Please," Sticks sighed, yawning. "I could keep going for days."

"You look like you're about to fall over," Rouge indicated. "Besides, you and I both know you still aren't a hundred percent."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sticks replied stiffly, but Rouge was right. Her legs were starting to get unsteady again.

"As much as I want to keep going so we can get back to Blaze, I think Shadow is right," Silver affirmed. "I'm exhausted, and I have a feeling getting the last emerald isn't going to be easy."

"All right, fine," Amy relented. "I could use some sleep, too."

Sonic glanced at her from behind. It was obvious (to him, but certainly not to everyone else) that she was in pain. A cut down to the bone isn't exactly easy to recover from. But he knew better than to ask her if she was okay.

The group set up camp in a nearby clearing. It was a warm night, all too familiar for those of them who lived at Boom Beach year-round. There were very few clouds in the sky, and the occasional lightning bug floated past them every few minutes. Heat lightning flashed far in the distance.

Amy had no idea what time it was, but she knew that both her mind and body were exhausted. She needed as much sleep as she could get. After all, tomorrow was the day she was supposed to transfer Iblis over to herself.

It would be a day six years in the making, and secretly, Amy still wasn't ready. The amounts of pain she had seen Blaze go through over the past few days had really frightened her. But of course, she would still do it. Blaze needed her.

She sat back against a tree, the rough bark rubbing up against her lower back, and sighed. Sure, there had been a lot of things to think about before she'd made the decision. Amy wanted to get married someday, to be a wife and a mom. This complicated things, but she had to trust that whoever she ended up with would understand and would support her anyway. Not that there were many men like that around nowadays, but a girl could dream. She knew Iblis would probably kill her someday. Like Shadow had said, she was signing her death warrant. But she was doing it to save one of her best friends.

It was worth it. At least, she thought it was. But the thought of it still freaked her out.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Ah!" Amy startled, eyes flying open to see a familiar blue face standing above her. "Oh, it's just you. You scared me."

"Sorry," he shrugged, sitting down next to her. "You looked worried."

"I'm fine," she brushed, turning away from him so that he couldn't see the expression on her face.

"Amy, I'm not stupid," he sighed. "I mean, you don't have to talk about it. But you can, if you need to."

"I'm fine," she repeated, voice faltering as if she was trying to convince herself.

Sonic looked at her, eyes filled with concern. "Amy…?"

She shifted her body back so that she was facing him, but she still refused to meet his gaze. The heat behind her eyes indicated to her that she would surely cry if she did. "I'm just… thinking about what's going to happen tomorrow."

"Right," he exhaled, casting his eyes downwards. "With the whole… sacrificing yourself for Blaze."

She finally looked up at him, her eyes flashing with… fear? Sadness? Something. "What would you do? If you were me, what would you have done?"

He met her sightline and sighed, looking at her frustratedly. "Probably the same thing," he confessed. "But that doesn't mean it doesn't scare the crap out of me that you're doing this. And I wish you wouldn't, even though I know that's selfish of me."

"I just…" she trailed off. "Even if I wanted to back out now, I can't. I just can't."

"I know," he replied.

She was taken by surprise. "Huh?"

"Don't look so shocked. Sometimes I'm not a complete ass," he smirked. "I know you, Amy, which means that I know you have to do this. I've loved you for far too long to not understand that."

Amy stared at him, sadness in her normally bright green eyes. "You say you love me. Is that true?"

Sonic nodded, closing his eyes and smiling warmly.

In a move that surprised both of them, Amy moved over to his side, laying her head on his shoulder and taking hold of his hand. He laced his fingers with hers and squeezed gently.

"I don't get scared very often," she confessed. "But this… this scares me."

"Iblis, or what we're doing?" Sonic asked.

Amy let a ghost of a smile play over her lips. "Both, I guess."

Sonic kissed her gently on the forehead. "Me too."