Amy was at her vanity putting the final touches on her make up for the day. She wanted it to appear mature but didn't go too heavy-handed with it. This was the day the pink hedgehog had been anticipating for a year. A romance themed festival taking place where she met her first love. It seemed like fate. Granted, her first love wasn't going to be her date for the afternoon. Instead, it was a mysterious stranger who would soon be arriving on high upon a chariot to escort her to the festival.

Dexter. The boy was sweet, but not a pushover. Down-to-earth yet still loved going on adventures. Just as she described to Sonic so many years ago during the 'Ix' incident. The coincidence threw Amy Rose into orbit. Where was Dexter during years of fruitless childhood pining?

'Having a normal life and not chasing bad guys,' Amy rationalised jokingly.

She was applying the final touch to her ensemble. Her favourite red headband. Amy admired her complexion in the mirror before giving herself a pep talk.

'Sonic not taking you, so what?! You can still have a good time,' she convinced herself. 'You don't need him to have fun.'

Although Amy couldn't help but wonder. Would he have taken her if she had the opportunity to ask? The hedgehogs were older. Not necessarily wiser, but more mature. Sonic was less likely to run away at the proposition of a date, and Amy wouldn't have chased him to the ends of the earth, threatening him with a giant hammer if he said no. Did he even know about the festival? Or understand its significance to their history together? Unfortunately, Amy did not have enough time to lament on that thought as the loud noise of a plane engine obnoxiously entered her ears and messed with her balance.

"Hey Amy!" A voice tried to yell over the engine. The pink hedgehog ran to her apartment's balcony to see Dexter, hovering in his new and improved Cyclone.

"Come on in," he held out his gloved hand. "I was just about to test what this bad boy could do! Are ya' ready?"

Amy could only smile as she jumped off her balcony, ran on the wing of the Cyclone, took Dexter's hand and jumped into back seat. Suddenly the plane sped off out of the city, on the way to Never Lake.

The pair finally arrived at the festival half an hour late. Dexter was eager to give Amy a show before they arrived. They spent some time looking over the landscape and Dexter couldn't help do some tricks with his new plane.

They finally landed and Amy couldn't contain her excitement. "Dexter! Look!"

The festival was already in full swing with various food stalls and games set up being enjoyed by couples, both human and mobian. There was stage in front of the lake built for performers to entertain festivalgoers throughout the day and above it, Little Planet was in orbit above the lake, imposing on the land below. Thankfully, the planet looked lush and exotic, nothing like the metal monstrosity she remembered in her youth.

She naturally jumped out her seat and instinctively stepped off the wing herself as she had done millions of times in her childhood before, only to be surprised by Dexter rushing out of the plane first to break her fall and catch her bridal style.

She laughed to deviate his attention from her blush, "You didn't have to that. When you spend so much time with Tails, you learn to be a pro at jumping out of planes."

"I know," he admitted bashfully, "But I didn't want your 'do ta' get ruined."

"Oh," She couldn't hide her blush now. "Thanks..."

"Amy Rose! You're here!"

The couple's moment was interrupted by light blue mouse, followed by a human woman with red hair.

"I'm so glad you made it!" The mouse, overly chipper and enthusiastic, went to shake Amy's hand. Amy winced as her grip put Knuckles to shame. "My name's Sapphire, and I'm the co-founder of the first annual Never Lake Love Festival! We're so happy our guests of honour could grace us with their presence."

Sapphire calmed down from her 'fan-mode' to observe Dexter quizzically. "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't think we've met before."

Amy fake coughed to forgo some of the tension she felt, "This is my date, Dexter."

"Nice ta' meet you nice ladies."

"I thought-" The human interrupted her by whispering in her ear. This apparently eased Sapphire's confusion.

"Never mind. Anyways. You're our special guest Amy. Please, let Ruby and I give you the grand tour."

The women guided the hedgehog couple through the various stalls, stopping frequently to greet fans who wanted a picture with Amy. They also guided Amy and Dexter to the back of the stage to meet some of the performers and volunteer staff and had joined them for a free lunch on the house. Amy was impressed.

"You organised this all by yourselves?"

"Don't be so shocked, you basically ran the Resistance all by yourself too," Sapphire joked. "That's true," Dexter concurred.

"What made you want to do all this though."

Ruby and Sapphire looked at each other before answering. "Because of you."

"Me!"

Ruby silently giggled at Amy's shocked face whilst Sapphire couldn't withhold her laughter.

"If it wasn't for you Amy, Ruby and I never would have met. I went to study at Spagonia University and me and Ruby were in the same class. We didn't talk until Metal Virus broke out, and suddenly Mobians were banned from travelling to and from the mainland and so I was stuck. It became very hard for Mobians living on there because humans thought only Mobians could be affected by virus. It wasn't until Ruby stuck up for me one day after a classmate refused to shake my hand."

"It was disgusting," Ruby continued, clenching her fist. It was the first time the silent beauty spoke. "I remember being so incensed by it. How could they do that knowing it was Mobians were fighting for us even after G.U.N. shut them out. Simply shameful."

Sapphire placed a hand over Ruby's to calm her down.

"That's awful," Dexter said sympathetically, "My family have been doing business with humans for years. I couldn't them turning their backs on us like that".

"I know, but still, that's how we came together." Sapphire smiled. "I was inspired by your love for Sonic and the way you made love your superpower. The world was so divided after the Virus, so we took a page out of your book and make this event happen."

"Wow! That's amazing..." Amy finally replied. Deep down, underneath her energetic, and cheerful outlook she presented to the world, Amy had doubts on her contributions to the peace the world enjoyed now. Sonic was their leader; Tails the brains whilst Knuckles provided their brawn. What was she? A mere cheerleader. She had clearly underestimated her own impact.

"But why here?"

"I knew you met Sonic on Little Planet, so Ruby thought this be the perfect location."

"For its symbolism," Ruby explained succinctly. "The planet orbits our world but only comes into view once every lunar cycle. You must be lucky to be in its presence, let alone meet your soulmate. Eggman chained it to our world, however, like love, it's not something to be controlled. You were lucky meet Dexter as I with Sapphire."

Amy sniffled, "That's so beautiful. Thank you so much for organising all this."

"It's our pleasure. Now please, we've spent so much time talking. Let's enjoy ourselves."

It was sunset. Time flies when you're having fun. The day had been a blur. Amy couldn't believe the fun she had. The games! The music! The dancing! It was the most fun she's had in months after working nonstop. While she had to apologise for breaking the Strongman machine with her hammer, Dexter was enamoured by her strength.

'He's so sweet,' she thought. How he glanced at her when he assumed she wasn't looking. His bashful yet gentlemanly demeanour. He cleaned up nicely from when they met in the bakery. Dexter dressed as what could only be described as smart casual. As Sonic and Tails rarely wore clothes, Sonic had to take him shopping. Doing manual labour most of his life, Dexter's idea of casual was more 'farmer' chic, so Sonic attempted to use his own limited fashion knowledge to make him date ready. Thankfully they eventually settled on simple slacks, new kicks courtesy of Sonic the Hedgehog, and Dexter's (now cleaned) pilot jacket.

Before the event's fireworks show, the performers proclaimed this would be the last song of the day and encouraged all the couples to join in for the last dance. Amy was eager to get on the dance floor and pulled Dexter along for him to join her, only for him to resist.

"I'm no good at dancing. Especially not while everyone's looking at us. I'll embarrass you." He was visibly panicking. It was one thing to be on a date with Amy Rose, but to be so intimately close with her, IN PUBLIC! With everyone wondering why she was with some nobody instead of Sonic. It was all too much. He tried to follow the blue blur's advice. He tried to be cool, but no amount of lessons could improve his two left feet. Sonic made it seem so easy, flawless even.

He tried to escape to the safety of the bleachers, but a sudden gust of wind pushed him into Amy's arms. He looked into her jade eyes and felt comforted, his fears melting away.

"It's okay. Let's just have fun." She whispered into his ear and directed them to the middle of the dance floor to dance the night away.

When the music entered his ears, it was like he turned into somebody else. His dancing prowess (or rather lack thereof) charmed Amy, who was amazed by his burst of energy and changed her moves to match his. The song ended triumphantly in a bombastic fashion. However, instead of crowd cheering on the band, the crowd was instead applauding the hedgehog couple. Dexter was in shock and awe once he realised that a circle had formed around them. He sheepishly bowed and then immediately bailed back to the safety of the bleachers. He panicked internally, and berated himself harshly for making a fool of himself, not only in front of his date, but in front of the population of a small town.

Dexter held him set by the scaffolding, huffing and puffing rapidly, not even realising how much energy he used. The pink hedgehog came up behind him with a small cup of lemonade, which Dexter gracefully swigged. "Wow Dexter that was amazing, didn't know you were hiding those moves," she giggled.

"Neither did I, "he admitted. "Just be glad they were playing pop instead of country. I could have gone on all night if I wasn't careful." They laughed off the event as innocent fun. Dexter internally wiped sweat from his brow, thankful that his dorky dance moves weren't a turn off for Amy.

"Come on," Amy took his hand and led him away from the crowded bleachers towards the outskirts of Never Lake. "I know a great spot to watch the fireworks!"

Amy took him to the top of a large rocky mountain which oversaw the entire lake. All the festival goers looked like fire ants as sparklers were passed around and the fireworks show began to fill the night sky. The pair sat side by side. Amy stared at beautiful display of lights in awe of their beauty and magnificence. Dexter tried to watch the show, but was too engrossed by his date's own beauty. How he lucky was to be on a date with the heroine Amy Rose when she could have man she wanted. He thanked any whom ever occupied the heavens above, for his sheer luck. Who knew crashing his plane could have been one of the best things to ever happen to him.

"Isn't this amazing? "Amy's question took him out of his dazed state. "Yeah," he replied too quickly, worrying Amy.

"Is something wrong?"

"No," Dexter reassured. "Just lucky to be here with you." They shared a smile. The noise of the fireworks and crowd seemed non-existent. Dexter could only hear his heartbeat and breath, as he stared in Amy's jade eyes, which appeared to be swirling with starlight.

'This is it!' Dexter said internally. This was the moment, the blue blur was referring to. "Thanks for taking me Dexter. I haven't had fun on a date in such a long time." She boldly put her hand over his and snuggled into the crook of his neck, getting a more comfortable view of the fireworks show. Amy felt the tan hedgehog, silently gasp at her boldness and giggled.

Compared to Sonic - "No!" She stopped her thoughts going down that road. She would not sour another potential match due to her heart and mind's joint meddling. No more. Dexter has been nothing but a gentleman. Sweet, Kind, bashful and fun. She would not ruin this chance. She promised to keep her eyes open. Amy looked up at Dexter who was clearly trying keep his cool.

"No... I'm the lucky one."

'She likes me, she really like me.' Dexter's heart refused to slow down. The adrenaline through him was immense. As if possessed, Dexter's gloved hands found themselves on Amy's blushed cheeks. The world paused. The wind picked up slowly. The moon shined brighter. Down below in the Valley, the crowd of couples began to release thin balloons into the night sky as Little Planet began to symbolically leave the atmosphere within a sea of rainbow balloons. It was the perfect moment to share a kiss under the stars, which is exactly what the hedgehog couple did. A kiss so tender yet sensual, the separation of their lips felt cruel thereafter.

"Thanks so much for your help Sonic!" Sapphire exclaimed. "We couldn't have pulled this off without you"

"No problem," Sonic said as helped the hostesses clean up after the event. "And thanks for keepin' my invite a secret from Amy"

"It's alright," said Ruby as she released a lone balloon into the sky. Overhead she saw a plane fly off back to civilisation. "It seems like your little plan worked. Looks like you owe me Sapph," she added smugly.

Sapphire pouted and mumbled, "If Sonic took Amy, SonAmy would have prevailed."

I'm back! I bought myself a new writing table as I find it a lot easier to write my stories and ideas my hand rather than typing these days, so hopefully one shots will be more frequent. Speaking of which, when I have spare I promise to transfer Pink and Blue on to A03 as soon as I edit out the cringy one shots I made when I was 13 lol. Also, another one shot coming up, so be prepared. And thank you to all those who left Kudos and comments on Crushing in Your Thirties. As a full time office worker now, the rush of dopamine I get from those notifications truly do brighten up my day and encourage me to keep writing to matter how old or busy I get. Sonic and Sonamy fics are some of the few things rn keeping me going unironically, so lucky you!

Final chapter will be posted on Sunday. Hope you all enjoy!

Please Read and Review!