Chapter 17

Sonic was closing in on the entrance to the camp, his heart still warmed through from his embrace with Amy, when his ears pricked and he froze, hand on his knife. To his relief, it was Tails who came crashing through the trees at top speed, almost ramming into him as his feet hit the ground.

"It's over," Tails huffed as he landed roughly and stumbled. "It's over..."

Sonic's mouth went dry instantly.

"What is -"

"Espio must've told, I don't know - it's all over, Sonic," Tails said, taking off again as Sonic suddenly broke into a run towards the camp.

"Why?" Sonic hissed in a panicked frenzy, running at a pace Tails could keep up with. "We didn't say a word about the Chaotix - why would he -"

"I don't know, I don't know!" Tails said frantically, wringing his hands. "I don't know what happened, but Knuckles stepped into the camp before me and Scourge jumped on him with a few other guys -"

"How much does he know?"

"I don't know," Tails groaned, agonized to have to confess his uselessness again. "I didn't hear anything - I turned around immediately to come and find you. Knuckles is holding them off I think, but… Sonic, what do we do?"

What to do… Sonic's mind raced. He had no idea. He could only come up with one word; one last tactic that always worked for him. Always.

Run.

"One more deal, one more promise, one more something - I don't know, but we'll find a way, we just have to keep running," Sonic huffed with numb determination, trying to convince himself it was true. His body and mind were in overdrive; he didn't have the ability to process anything else but the immediate and violent panic he felt.

This wasn't like when Espio sprang on them - this was much, much more dire, and he knew it.

They heard shouting in the distance getting louder - angry screams and grumbling, and the shuffling of a dense crowd hidden in the brush of the camp. The light behind the leaves glowed red. Angry. Sonic could feel the heat of the camp already, hot and volatile like it was an erupting volcano or an exploding star.

Before Sonic pushed through the foliage and straight into Scourge's hands, he stopped and grabbed Tails by the shoulders, bending to look in his eyes.

"Tails, I don't want you coming in here -" Sonic said, deadly serious. "Go back towards the glen. You can still catch Amy, go with her and she'll keep you safe until it's over. If you don't find her, her room is in the east tower; the balcony overlooking the courtyard. Find the ivy-covered wall, there's some bushes that cover the whole thing so they won't see you when -"

"Sonic," Tails stopped his panicked rambling, grabbing his wrists and holding tight. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Yes, you are." Sonic tried to sound commanding, but instead it sounded like he was begging Tails to leave. Which he was. Sonic couldn't say it all - there was too much adrenaline racing through his body and they didn't have the time - but he hoped Tails could see how desperately he needed him to be safe.

"No," Tails said, defiantly staring back. "I'm not."

Sonic caught his breath, searching Tails' eyes for any give. But he could see only his friend's determination; his steadfast presence. It hit Sonic for a moment how mature Tails had become right under his nose. When he faltered, Tails was always there to protect him in the quiet ways he knew how to, and now was no different. Tails protected Sonic from his own destructive impulses - the times when Sonic's more heroic instincts drove him to decisions that would hurt himself the most. And going in alone, without Tails - without his brother - would be the biggest mistake Sonic could make. Tails knew it without a hint of doubt.

"...Ok," Sonic breathed, then stood and squeezed Tails' shoulders. "Ok."

Sonic had barely turned to head into the camp again when he felt a sharp sting of pain near his ear. There was a flash of metal and something tugged at his shoulder, pulling him back a step to pin him to a tree trunk.

Sonic lunged forward frantically, not yet aware of what had even happened, and heard a tear as his doublet ripped. He reached up and grabbed around wildly until his hand found the cold, long hilt of an assassin's blade pierced clean through his clothes and buried in the tree.

"Espio!" Sonic roared at the surrounding trees, daring the man to show his face.

"I reeeally thought you were smarter than this Sonic," the merc's smooth voice floated from the shadows. "And I thought you cared about Charmy enough to give the kid a chance."

Espio slunk out of the darkness, moving swiftly down from where he had been perched on a tree watching them. He stalked forward so quickly and easily that he looked like he was floating. The grim reaper in his dark hood; come to collect.

Espio grabbed the knife in Sonic's jacket but didn't pull it out, keeping Sonic locked to the tree. Instead, he reached up and yanked another blade out from over Sonic's head, just as the blood pooled thick enough at Sonic's ear where the knife had nicked him. A hot bead of blood trickled down the side of his face like sweat.

"You son of a -" Sonic hissed, moving to push Espio away from him.

"Not so fast, friend," Espio said, whipping the blade not to press at Sonic's throat, but to point at Tails, who had bounded forward to intervene.

"What do you want from me now?" Sonic growled. "I have to get in there to clean up the huge mess you made for the both of us. You Chaotix guys are real pieces of work - so high and mighty that you'd rather ruin yourself before using any kind of common sense!"

"That is false," Espio said, his eyes narrowed. "You ruined us by telling Scourge about our plan - and I warned you. Scourge knew about the Chaotix tonight. He called a meeting with everyone to expose us and figure out what was to be done. I thought he was going to slit my throat he was so angry, so I gave him a solution. A secret for a secret. Transaction complete."

"We didn't expose your stupid club's plan!" Tails snapped, his hands up and ready to pounce. Espio looked surprised at the outburst, his eyes momentarily flicking to the side.

"We wouldn't do that!" Tails said with conviction, and looked at Espio fiercely. "We have too much worth fighting for - but maybe you don't understand what that's like. Maybe it's our code that's too complicated for you. Honor, that's what we have!" Tails finished, chin raised proudly in the face of the man's intimidating weapon.

"What are you gonna do about your code now?" Sonic said, jumping on the doubt Tails had planted in Espio's mind. Any ally would be better than no ally in the face of whatever form Scourge's wrath would take.

"We're telling you that we didn't rat you out," Sonic said as calmly as possible, trying to convince Espio that they were in the right and therefore had leverage - however crumbly the high ground they stood on might be. "And when you figure out that I'm right, and you've turned in a bunch of innocents - and I'm not just talking about us… you're going to owe a whole lot of people something big to satisfy whatever weird, random code of ethics you think you follow."

"I'm not wrong," Espio growled, but the man didn't look as sure as he had moments ago. "Who else is there to tell him about our plan?"

"I don't know," Sonic said truthfully, "but I'm not the kind of guy who puts the people who matter most to me on the line, and I think even you can see that's the truth. So here's the plan: I'm going to go into that camp and I'm going to do my best to help my buddy. And when the cards all settle wherever it is they land because you blew them down, you'd better come find me so we can renegotiate the terms of our… contract."

Espio humphed and pulled the knife from Sonic's clothes, standing to gesture grandly with his weapons toward the clearing.

"We'll find out soon enough who is in the right and who is in the wrong," Espio said, nodding confidently toward camp. "But I'm afraid either way the transaction is complete. Judgment day is at hand, and - unfortunately for you - the judge seems to care little for the details."

"Yeah, yeah. No thanks to you," Sonic spat, brushing himself off and wiping the blood from his fur with the back of his hand. The shouting in the camp grew louder behind him, and it set Sonic's nerves on edge.

He turned to face the glowing red light. Espio was right. Judgment day was here, but Sonic felt no fear. All he could muster was the quiet, grim resignation of a man who already knew he was undeniably, obviously guilty.

And that one word echoed in his head. Surely he could keep running. He just had to. Even if the devil himself was chasing him - and Sonic thought that Scourge might as well be - all he had to do was run. All he had to do was stay ahead of the blaze.

The dancing firelight in the camp cast the rioting thieves in angry orange. Their shadows loomed large and dark, flying about like demons as the men wrestled in the clearing to keep Knuckles contained.

Scourge stood above the crowd on a stump, surveying the chaos with satisfaction. He cackled, his head thrown back and his silhouette lit up like he was on fire.

"How many thieves does it take to keep one echidna down?" Scourge laughed, as Sonic finally pushed his way to the front of the commotion, shouting and clawing all the way.

"Scourge!" Sonic called as he stumbled to the front of the line, his hands up as he tried to smile casually. "What's all the noise about, come on now!"

The crowd silenced slowly and parted even slower. Thieves threw Knuckles forward and shoved each other away from Sonic and Tails to leave a wide circle around the bonfire for whatever entertainment they were about to get.

Scourge looked enraged to see Sonic acting so casual, but he snapped out of it instantly, adopting the same level of feigned calm.

"Oh, you missed it Sonic," Scourge said, stepping down from the stump to circle Sonic cheerfully. "We heard the best news while you were… away. The Chaotix are planning to steal from us. Can you imagine? The fucking gall… Soooo we have to change our plans for the Princess' celebration in a week."

Scourge shrugged happily, stopping directly in front of Sonic. He smiled with real, dark delight as he leaned forward, his hot breath brushing Sonic's cheeks. "Looks like we have to stay to defend what's ours - and you have to go out and get enough to cover for all of us," he said with exaggerated remorse.

"Me?" Sonic asked, sweat pooling on his neck as the heat of the roaring fire became sweltering.

"Well," Scourge said, relishing in his critical victory, "it's your invite that tipped us off - it's only fair that you get the honor of doing the job for us."

Scourge turned and circled Sonic again. Sonic stared dead ahead - the heat of the bonfire and the stares and the pressure on his back all too much, too hot, for him to handle. He could feel his ripped and ruined doublet growing damp and heavy with his sweat. It felt constricting, like a trap he had accidentally and unwittingly wrapped himself up in.

"So," Scourge hissed in his ear, "c'mon Sonic - what're you gonna steal at the ball that's worth enough for all of us?"

Before Sonic could reply, Scourge kicked his knees out from under him swiftly and violently. An excited whoop rumbled through the circle of thieves as Sonic's legs buckled until he hit the dirt. Scourge grabbed his hand and dragged him forward until it could be placed, palm down, on the stump in front of the fire. Sonic processed the dead, blue-eyed stare of the man for only a millisecond before his vision went red and searing pain spread through his hand all the way to the tips of his fingers. Thick, dark liquid pooled under his palm and he broke out in an agonized sweat.

Sonic bit down hard on his cheek to keep from shouting as he grunted painfully, his other hand flying to the hilt of the knife whose blade was buried in his hand, pinning it in place all the way through to the rotting wood. Before he could yank it out, Scourge's hand landed on top of his, holding him fast with an iron grip.

"Fucking hell, Scourge!" Sonic gasped as tears pricked his eyes. The pain stung his whole body, blindingly hot.

"Oh, I'm sorry - did that hurt?" Scourge mocked, crouching so they could stare the other down across the expanse of stump.

"Because you know what, Sonic?" Scourge continued, amusement wiped from his expression. "You hurt me. You hurt me and everyone here beyond reprimand because you lied to us." Scourge pulled the blade roughly from Sonic's hand, and Sonic grabbed at his palm, clutching his wound to stop the blood flow and stifling a yelp. He began to reach behind him to unwind his bandana from his neck, but stopped as he felt the tip of Scourge's knife press into his lower back.

"Don't try to deny it," Scourge said with a tsk. "When I thought I could trust you, you lied. You! One of my best! Someone who I thought understood how the world works."

The knife point pushed into Sonic's back. Sonic felt the skin under his shirt break, but he didn't flinch. Run, he thought. He scrambled for an excuse - a way to stay ahead of Scourge.

"You've been holding out on me," Scourge's breath grew hot in Sonic's ear as he hovered behind him. "And I want my fair share," he hissed.

"I don't know what -"

The knife slashed up Sonic's spine smoothly and expertly, tearing open his doublet and sending shooting pain through every nerve in his body.

"Don't lie!" Scourge roared in front of the buzzing crowd.

Sonic groaned and pounded his unwounded fist on the stump, gritting his teeth as he felt a trickle of something thicker than sweat start down his back.

"You didn't let me finish -'' Sonic panted, resisting the urge to grab at his torn flesh, "I was going to say, I don't know what you've been told by your little pet," he looked around for Espio but his vision was too blurry to tell shadow from man, "but I wasn't holding out on you, give me some credit Scourge." Sonic grimaced and swallowed hard. "I was just… laying the groundwork - working the job - until the right time to tell you."

Scourge's eyes gleamed as Sonic finally turned to face him slowly. Painstakingly.

Sonic sat, slouched against the stump, breathing laboriously as dirt and sweat mixed with his blood and stung the shallow cut running down the length of his back. Scourge knelt on one knee just as slowly as Sonic had moved - clearly unhurried and unconcerned - and pointed the tip of his knife straight at his throat, forcing Sonic's chin up.

"The right time? And when would be the right time to tell us that you've been flirting with the Princess of this entire godforsaken kingdom?" Scourge's voice grew into a shout and his sharp teeth flashed as he growled. The crowd grew loud at Scourge's proclamation, and people shoved their way forward, calling names and hurling insults as they grabbed Knuckles and Tails.

Scourge suddenly quieted, leaning into Sonic conspiratorially. "I advise you to choose your next words very carefully," he said with a smile.

Just run.

"I hadn't thought out the details." Sonic swallowed heavily and his throat touched the blade. "I just didn't want the opportunity to pass us by. The next time the royal family journeys out of town, I don't know… We'll pull the biggest score this kingdom has ever seen - we'll rob them blind."

Scourge narrowed his eyes at Sonic before dropping his knife and pushing off the ground to stand and address the crowd.

"You hear that? Sonic's been waiting for a big score, that's why he's abandoned us to kiss the boots of nobility every night!" Scourge smiled maliciously over his shoulder at Sonic. "Well… I've got the perfect opportunity for you. How about we pull it off in, say, a week?"

Scourge turned and grabbed Sonic's wounded hand, holding it up to the crowd.

"You owe this camp payment for lying to us!" Scourge yelled out at the thieves. "For endangering our very way of life by consorting with a royal! Since you know her so… intimately," Scourge continued, an odd glint in his eye, "you can get close enough to pull off something spectacular, right Sonic? You can't trust a noble - you can only rob them. And they deserve it. So come on - What will you bring us?" Scourge screamed, and the crowd shouted, demanding an answer.

Sonic suddenly realized that men had closed in on Knuckles and Tails and were taking swipes and jabs at them, demanding that they, too, pay up for their lie.

"I could… snatch some crown jewels, no problem -" Sonic grunted as Scourge dug his fingers into the wound in his hand.

"Oh, come on!" Scourge goaded, throwing Sonic forward onto his knees, "I know you're more creative than that Sonic - there's only one real reason to associate with such an insufferable, spoiled, brat for so long. Tell us why you did it!"

The crowd shouted in anger at Sonic, demanding more.

Run, he thought.

"I did it because," Sonic groaned through his teeth, "I thought I could… Scourge, I don't know what you -"

Scourge grabbed Sonic by a fistful of quills, pulling his head back to place his knife at Sonic's throat again. Looking up, Sonic watched Knuckles yank a knife away from someone, throwing it paces away before shoving two or three men off of him - but they came back again and again. Knuckles reached out, grabbing Tails' arm in his massive mitt to pull the kid closer behind him.

"You know exactly what I want," Scourge hissed in Sonic's ear as he watched the mayhem, firelight dancing frantically in his wide blue eyes.

"Scourge," Sonic swallowed, his breath coming out choppy, his heart a frenzied pounding that shook his whole body.

Run.

"I can't do that," Sonic begged, his hands up by his side in surrender.

"Do what?" Scourge hissed, a smile lighting up his whole face. "There's nowhere to run, Sonic. Just say it."

"No -" Sonic choked as he watched Tails narrowly avoid a knife to the shoulder. Tails shouted, sparing a glance at Sonic.

"Say it!" Scourge cried.

"I can't steal the Princess, Scourge," Sonic begged, and the knife pressed into his throat.

"...Oh yes, you can," Scourge said, running his tongue over his teeth with satisfaction. "Because if you can't, I will."

"Scourge!" someone called with a gruff, authoritative voice. "That's enough! You're going to kill him - this wasn't part of the deal."

Sonic spared a glance around, his chest heaving, to look for the source of the voice. He was so shocked to see Vector pushing through the crowd bellowing that he could barely comprehend the implication of the man's words.

"What's it going to be, Sonic?" Scourge whispered furiously, ignoring Vector as the crowd grew rowdy. "Either you bring me the Princess, or I go get her myself. One way you live, one way you die - either way I get what I want."

Run, Sonic's mind screamed at him as he snapped back to the present; to the warm feeling of blood trickling down his neck. Keep running.

But he looked, and he could see no way out. He could only see the bloom of red on Knuckles' chest as he disarmed another vicious thief. He could only see walls around him - walls high as the heavens and thick as his lies. There was nothing but red, and fire, and Scourge and his fucking smile, and Tails' expression of determined fear. It all came crashing down on him, cornered as he was; the debris of a house on fire.

"Alright," Sonic gasped, unsure if what he felt running down his cheek was blood, sweat, or even possibly a salty, frustrated tear. "I'll bring you the Princess! Now call the guys off!"

Scourge stood from Sonic, bellowing for calm from the crowd. "Gentlemen, please! Sonic's had a great idea - he's gonna bring us a guest of honor! A real crown jewel!"

Scourge's boot landed heavily on Sonic's raw back, kicking him forward into the ground.

"Leave them alone - for now," Scourge barked. "We've got preparations to make. We'll be welcoming the Princess in a week - better show her just how hospitable we can be."

The crowd dissipated loudly and sluggishly, and not without all three of them suffering a few more blows and insults from assorted angry thieves. Sonic sat up blearily from the ground when he finally could, pulling the shredded pieces of his long-worn jacket off with disgust. The fingers on his wounded hand curled slowly and painfully as he moved.

Tails ran for him, falling forward onto his knees to help.

"Vector," Tails breathed, "help me Knuckles, we have to take him to Vector."

"Vector?" Sonic snarled, suddenly remembering what the man had said. Yes, he needed to see Vector.

Knuckles said nothing, but hefted Sonic to his feet easily despite the blood staining his own shirt. Together, as they so often did, the three of them stumbled in the dark towards some semblance of quiet.

"What the hell did you do?" Sonic shouted with all the anger he could muster as Vector met them and guided Sonic to sit at a table. Charmy sat on the tabletop glancing between all the bruised, dirty men with wide-eyed interest.

"What I had to," Vector snapped back. "I didn't tell him about the Princess, that was all Espio's doing but… I had to protect the camp, Sonic. We all have to do what we must to survive."

"You didn't have to do anything -" Sonic began to rant angrily, but Vector silenced him with a severe look.

"What happens when your Princess doesn't win in a month?" Vector asked harshly. "What happens when she's dead on the ground, and because you struck a deal to protect her, us at the camp lose everything to the Chaotix? I can't have another raid, you hear? I have mouths to feed, boys to take care of!"

"What about Charmy?" Sonic growled, still sizzling with anger toward the man.

"You know as well as me that one band of thieves is the same as the next," Vector said, binding Sonic's hand tightly.

"Why did you agree to it, Sonic?" Knuckles demanded hotly, seeming not to care about whatever melodrama he and Vector were already in the middle of. "We could've kept holding them off, and now we've promised Scourge the Princess. We could've -"

"We couldn't have done anything," Sonic snapped. "I just… I made the deal I had to make. I'll figure something out, but I couldn't… he had us…"

"It's ok," Tails said, finally speaking quietly. He looked rattled, and it made Sonic feel guilty. "Sonic was right. Now that we're in charge of securing… the Princess, we have control of the situation again. We'll… find a solution."

"I might have one for you," Espio said, materializing from the trees and taking a seat next to Sonic at the table.

"I don't have time for you and your pretension," Sonic groaned, flinching in pain. "Get out out of here. Unless you know how to kidnap the Princess - who I personally taught how to fight by the way - and how to keep her from Scourge for a month until the Tournament, I don't want to look at you anymore."

The Princess. Sonic realized what he had just said - what Tails and Knuckles had said, too. She wasn't Amy anymore. She was just a title, something they had to separate themselves from. She was a job. Disgust settled heavily in his stomach and in his mouth like a bad aftertaste. He loathed himself for this betrayal of her personhood. He thought he would never be able to look at her again. For a second he considered again that the best thing he could do for all of them was to run; run until he disappeared, and the heavens and the tyrannical universe and his friends and Amy forgot about him and could finally know peace for once.

"Why did you tell Scourge about us?" Espio growled at Vector, leaving Sonic to his melancholic spiral.

"Listen here," Vector scolded, wagging his finger at all of them in turn, "I know what just happened wasn't pretty, I know that we all lost something here. I know the choice was tough, and ugly. But you boys gotta understand - all of you - that this is not about you." Vector jabbed a finger into the table, commanding the silence.

"Taking Charmy to the Chaotix wouldn't have made a lick of difference in his life - you're all just as bad as we are," he said to Espio angrily. "The best way to protect ourselves - to protect the ones who need it most - is to look out for ourselves. Not some Princess who's gonna get herself killed in a month and take you down with her, and not come fancy thieves who are gonna leave us all scrounging to stay alive for a year. Ourselves. I'm sorry boys," Vector shook his head, "I know when to keep my mouth shut… but when the danger isn't worth it - when it comes to protecting our own - I know when to open it, too."

Espio looked at Vector, not angry but certainly annoyed. For the other three men at the table, what was lost was some gold, stability.

But for Sonic, what was lost was practically his whole world. A future he had begun to dream about like it was certain.

"I see," Espio said with disdain. "So that was your solution? To stop a few blow-ups from Scourge, you steal a better life from the kid?"

"What you do is not better -" Vector began, but Sonic stood. He had no more patience. He had nothing left at all. All that was his; all that was beautiful and precious and happy in his life, Scourge had just demanded he hand over in one week's time.

"Your problems are your own," Sonic growled. "Work out your family drama on your own time - I have a Princess to deal with, and she has the entire future of the Kingdom to deal with."

Sonic could hardly believe himself. He was tired, sweaty, and blood still dripped down his back. He felt the dirtiest he ever had in his life, and helpless to do anything about it. There was always a solution… he used to think that, but maybe this was the one time that there just wasn't one. The thought sent him into a feverish rage.

"Alright, alright, hold on," Espio sighed, reaching into his long, black waistcoat. "You were right, alright? You have not wronged me, and so I… well… Good luck."

Espio pushed a small glass vial into Sonic's hand.

"This supposed to make me feel better?" Sonic spat, not wanting to look at it.

"It's assassin's venom," Espio said easily. "Non-lethal, but paralyzing. Doesn't matter how it gets in her - dart, drink; pick your poison. It takes an hour to work its way through a body, and then she'll be immobilized for the better part of 30 minutes give or take. That should be enough for you to get her out of the castle."

Sonic gripped the small bottle in his good hand and wished that it wasn't such a helpful gift. He didn't want to kidnap Amy. He didn't want the job made 'easier'.

"And… this," Espio said, setting something else on the table.

"Transaction complete," the merc murmured, and turned back to Vector and Charmy unhappily.

Sonic couldn't stomach looking at the little wooden figurine of Amy again. He hated seeing her. It reminded him of his failure. That's what it was that killed him so much. He had failed her.

Sonic turned, and with an angry shout he threw the figurine desperately into the fire, wishing that as it burned up so might he and this whole, ungodly nightmare that he was living.

"Don't feel so bad," Espio said quietly behind him, as they all watched the wood carving disappear into the flames. "It's really not your fault. Any good tragedy should be inevitable."

Sonic turned away like Espio had struck him. The merc was infuriatingly right. It took stars millions of years to align, and Sonic suddenly knew himself a fool to have thought that maybe it would happen for them; for him and for her. That they could make the stars align together. The force of Amy's optimism, the inebriating power of her hope had made him forget all that he knew of the world. Had made him place all of his hope in her ability to change it.

But now he lived fully in reality, doused in Scourge's vengeance and set ablaze by one terrible, terrible truth.

He had lied to Amy. There were no trustworthy thieves. At the end of the day there were only people, only circumstances. Only what was stolen.


The day after Sonic held her, Amy stood feeling slightly less miserable in a fitting with Rouge, Pittie, and Cream. The daylight faded outside, and the ladies chattered pleasantly around her as Rouge worked. Amy wanted to talk with them, wanted to be able to move so freely and laugh so openly as they did, but she couldn't find it in her to take her mind from anywhere other than the glade the night before. She pulled at the garment sleeves self-consciously, thinking again and again about the feeling of Sonic's arms locked around her, holding her as if they were the very things keeping her sanity from crumbling away altogether.

At least, Amy managed to think, the unfinished trousered garment Rouge had constructed for her was a vast improvement on the first one. Cream bounced around the room in excitement as she gushed about how brave they all were and how Amy's outfit was coming along simply wonderfully. The girl's optimism made her smile just a bit.

A knock at the door interrupted the happy buzz, and much to Amy's surprise and delight Cream announced Blaze had arrived. The woman entered gracefully, her hands folded in front of her. Perhaps it was Amy's imagination, but in the few months it had been since she last saw Blaze, she seemed to have relaxed and settled. The sad frown and knit brow were gone, but Blaze's graceful silhouette and penetrating eyes were much as Amy remembered.

Excusing herself to Rouge, Amy practically ran from the mirror and swept Blaze into a quick hug.

"It's nice to see your majesty again." Blaze smiled shyly at the Princess' greeting, and bowed her head in a more customary shallow curtsy when Amy released her.

"And you as well," Amy breathed, truly beaming. "How is… your family?" she asked, hoping Blaze would catch her implication.

"They are well, thank you. I would be happy to speak on that more… soon, but I have business with you first. If you wouldn't mind," Blaze arched an eyebrow at Amy, glancing between all the extra women in the room.

"I come with a gift from one of your… suitors… and it requires a fitting," Blaze said awkwardly.

"A fitting?" Rouge interjected with a hearty laugh. "Lucky you, then. It appears as though you've stumbled right into one! And with the most gifted garment-maker in the land, too."

Blaze's eyes narrowed and she spoke with repressed urgency directly to Amy. "This is a special outfit for you, to accentuate your… figure when you… dance," Blaze said so unnaturally and unsubtly that Amy almost laughed.

"It would be best," Blaze continued seriously, "if only those you are comfortable with stay."

Amy cracked a small smile at Blaze's attempt at secrecy, and glanced at Rouge. She considered her options. Blaze was a person Amy knew she could count on, and Rouge and Cream had supported her already in their own small ways. The buckets of water, the pants for the ball… would they be just as on board with her big, ship-sinking secret?

"Your skills here would be an asset Rouge, that's the truth," Amy began. "But if you're going to stay, you must understand that you will become privy to life-and-death knowledge. You - any of you - are free to leave, but I willingly place the invitation on the table if you would like to stay, too."

Amy took a breath and looked each woman in the eye. "You'd do me a great honor if you did trust me enough to stay and stand by me."

Rouge glanced back at her assistant who didn't bat an eye.

"Life and death, huh?" Rouge said with a smile.

"Life and death," Amy affirmed. She tilted her head, smiling cheekily at the seamstress. "How brave are you?" she goaded.

"Pittie -" Rouge snapped her fingers without breaking eye contact "- go stand outside the door won't you? Wouldn't want anyone walking in on this… sensitive fitting."

Pittie nodded dutifully and scrambled to stand watch for the humble crew. Door safely shut, Amy turned back to Blaze with confidence.

"We're safe," she said. "You can speak freely."

"Very well," Blaze said, and made her way to Amy's balcony where she threw open the door without any pause or pomp.

A teal haze shone through the open doors, and soon enough Silver stepped into the chamber balancing a large wooden crate in his arms.

"Miss me?" the man beamed as he popped his head out from behind his unwieldy load, and together he and Blaze lowered it to the ground.

"Silver!" Amy broke out into a grin, her spirits well and truly bolstered by the sight of the two of them together. "Bold of you to be back so soon when we worked so hard to get you out," she teased.

He almost skipped to her, graciously accepting her hug and returning it cheerfully.

"Well, I hear there's a Princess in need, so here I am!" he said cheerfully. "I just - I'll be more careful this time," he laughed sheepishly.

He was like a new man. Amy could've cried looking at them both, exchanging tender glances as they went to unpack the crate. Silver's voice was light and pleasant, his grin was easy and he never seemed to stop smiling. He was so naturally joyful, and Amy felt warm as she took in the full picture of the both of them; who they were now that they were free from the dungeons and together.

"Silver, this is Rouge and Cream," Amy introduced, finally exchanging a look with her lady-in-waiting. Cream didn't seem surprised as she watched the adults move around and talk easily, only curious and attentive.

"Ladies," Silver greeted, wiggling his eyebrows at Cream humorously. He offered them both a clumsy bow.

"Whatcha packin' handsome?" Rouge greeted with a wink, striding over to peer into their box. Blaze pulled back the lid, and Rouge clicked her tongue, a familiar interest shining in her eyes. "My, my, my… what have you been up to, Princess?" Rouge muttered. She reached into the crate and pulled out a single, polished gold gauntlet.

Amy gasped, and Blaze pulled a sleek cuirass made of several thin sheets of metal out after it. The pieces of armor were gorgeous, and shone like stars in the moonlight. And, Amy suddenly realized, they didn't look too big or too square. They looked like they might fit…

"Step outside for a moment, won't you love?" Blaze murmured, and Silver dutifully headed back out onto the balcony with a jovial wave.

Amy's heart sped up in anticipation - she'd never felt her pulse race so uncontrollably.

"This…" Amy looked from Blaze to the chest-plate with fear and exhilaration.

"It is armor, handmade for you," Blaze nodded easily. "Come, try it on."

Amy almost shook her head to decline the offer, not sure if what was happening was real anymore. She was afraid of the sheer power of her desire to put the armor on, afraid of the trembling anticipation in her body that begged her to stay in it forever. Amy almost couldn't handle the thought of seeing herself like that. Even being in the same room as this armor that she knew she could make a home in almost sent her tumbling off the delicate edge that her emotions dangled on.

But then, she was dressed in it. Pulled out of the unfinished evening wear and slipped into the undergarments like a kid being shown around their new home by the hand. By the time someone slid the final forearm cover and gauntlet over her hand, Amy's eyes were shut tight. To be in the steel felt too good already, filled her with too much joy.

Amy's heart raced. She felt gilded, adorned in liquid sunlight. Surely, the full vision of herself would be too dazzling, too bright, for her to look on for even a second. If she opened her eyes she'd see an imposter, someone who wasn't worthy of such a wonderful, unconditional gift. So she'd become a statue if she had to, standing still in her armor forever, doomed to be so devastatingly beautiful to others for eternity, but never brave enough to behold it - to look upon it herself.

Amy heard Blaze call Silver back in, and the man gasped quietly as everyone in the room looked on silently.

"I have no idea what's going on here, but I'm impressed," Rouge said with a low whistle.

"Oh, Miss Amy," Cream breathed. Amy jumped as she felt Cream's soft hand slip into her own. Cream squeezed her hand, and Amy released a long, steady breath.

"Don't be afraid," Cream whispered to her. "Open your eyes and see… you're glorious."

Amy could only shake her head, her eyes still shut and throat thick. She pictured in her mind for comfort that it wasn't Cream squeezing her hand. It was Sonic.

Let me hold it all with you, he said, just for a moment.

Then she opened her eyes, and stole her own breath away.

Amy glowed gold like the sunrise, like the dawning of a new day.

Oh, she realized suddenly, blinking at her own reflection. This was what it felt like to be herself. This was what it meant to be Amy Rose - what it meant to see herself and know that what she was looking at was not fake, was not her imagination, was not a dream or hope or deeply held secret… it was real. She was real. For the first time ever, she stood proud and complete. One glorious, golden self. Whole. Just as she was meant to be after all these years.

The armor all felt so right on her. The chest-plate fit her body perfectly, the strips of metal at her waist turning downward in a slight 'v' to allow her a full range of motion. The faulds at her waist split into a half-skirt so she could run, and her legs were fully covered by ornately made golden guards that felt like they were paper thin. The caps at her shoulders scaled down her arms in several plates, and near her neck was a commanding and protective collar made of another plate of golden steel. A cape hung loosely from her shoulders and billowed quietly about her feet in the breeze. Blaze had made it in a fabric of deep red, just like the cloak that had brought Amy warmth, comfort, and anonymity for so many months as she journeyed out into the forest.

"The cape is detachable for when you actually fight of course," Blaze said with barely repressed self-satisfaction. "And there's one more thing." The woman stepped forward and held out something that looked like a large, golden headband. Amy knelt reflexively as Blaze fit it onto her head.

The unique piece curved down the back of her head, cradling just below her ear. Blaze moved in front of her and lifted a golden, grated visor to her eyes, attaching it with a satisfying click to the headband.

"Your visor hinges," Blaze said proudly, "so you can push it up to rest on your head when you need to, or tear it off altogether."

Blaze stepped away to look at the armor in all its glory, and Amy pushed the visor up with a shaking hand so it rested behind her bangs.

"Almost like a crown," Cream whispered, echoing what everyone in the room was thinking.

"Blaze," Amy stood frozen to the spot, "I don't know what to say."

"You have Sonic to thank," Blaze shrugged with embarrassed humility. "This was the project he asked me to complete for you."

Sonic. He had slipped from her mind for a moment, but with just the breath of his name in the room again she suddenly felt weak.

"Sonic?" she whispered, and the syllables of his name tasted sweeter in her mouth than they ever had before.

"He asked me to do this months ago now, the night of the breakout," Blaze said with a nod, clasping Silver's hand contentedly.

Amy had only a millisecond to try and protest what she knew to be true; to try and put up a fight in her new armor to protect herself from it, but she could do nothing except let out a strangled gasp as her knees buckled and the full weight of her love for Sonic came crashing down on her with a vengeance.

Her love was a force, swift and brutal. Made all the more destructive for having held it back for so long.

Amy's heart lurched, and she sank to her knees as her stomach finally capsized and she let it all go with devastating relief. She tumbled off the cliff's edge, so happy, so terrified to finally be falling. The heat that flooded her body was unlike anything she could have ever imagined. She had so much love to give, but never had she so desperately felt a love like this for someone else. The warmth filled her to her toes. It rocked through her entire body like a tidal wave. She could do nothing but clutch at her chest and gasp and think of him.

Oh, hadn't he held her so gently last night? Hadn't he held her so gently so many times before? Hadn't he always been so wonderful? So stubborn? So charming? So tender? Hadn't he always been the wind, the breath, that she needed in her lungs? When he was angry, scared, when he was leaving her… hadn't he had still stopped and delivered her this gift? This most life-changing, most precious gift.

"Sonic," she breathed again, as if his name could summon him to her, so she could wrap her arms around him and show him that there were no words for what he had given her, only actions and overwhelming feelings and want, want, want.

She looked at herself again in the mirror in all her glory, brought to her knees by her own crushing love. There were so many people standing behind her that she felt so indescribably grateful for, but at the moment she could think of only one.

She loved him for this. She was in love with him so desperately, for everything he had done and everything he was, and everything she wanted with him and for him.

Amy laughed at how silly, how giddy it all felt, and pulled herself together to stand proudly and summon her hammer for her small crowd.

Somewhere deep in the heart of the kingdom - in the bedroom of an unruly Princess who had transformed herself into a warrior Queen - a small cheer, the most meaningful of battle cries, rang out through the open door of the balcony and into the vast night sky.

Amy standing in her armor, her hammer hefted proudly onto her shoulder… it was a tiny victory with infinite, rippling meaning.

Silver wrapped his arm around Blaze's shoulders and pulled her in tight as they looked at their Queen. Cream sniffed and wiped uselessly at her unstoppable cascade of tears. And for once in her life, Rouge was speechless.

Though her crew eventually moved forward - making adjustments to her underclothes, explaining that the armor would need repairing before the tournament, and getting her undressed - Amy stayed frozen in her mind and in that moment. She didn't want to move on, not until it was time for her to leave and see Sonic for the night. She felt like her mind, soul, and body were on fire, and the only thing that could possibly quench it was even just the sight of him. But even then, she didn't actually want the fire to go out. She wanted to set him ablaze too, she wanted him to be this beautifully, thrillingly, terrifyingly in love with her, too.

She hugged everyone goodbye for the night, loaded her new armor into a saddle bag, and galloped as fast as she possibly could to their glade. Their sacred space.

Amy couldn't stop smiling, and then couldn't stop thinking about how Sonic had given her that smile. She didn't know what she would do when she saw him, but the natural disaster of her feelings could not be ignored, and Amy did know that she had to tell him; had to show him somehow. Had to light him ablaze like this so they could burn together.


A/N: Ahhh the impossible task. What will he do?