Chapter 9

Amy didn't hear Sonic at all when he arrived on her balcony, she was too deep in thought.

Sonic took a moment to stare at her back as he pulled himself silently up and over the bannister onto her balcony. He felt warmth nip at the corners of his mind as he was reminded of when they first met. A memory of a pageboy with his back to him played in Sonic's mind, and he almost smiled thinking of how they had scrapped with each other that day and every other after it.

It would have been a warm thought, if he didn't feel so cold inside staring at her.

He shivered in the breeze. The winter season was now well on its way after being properly welcomed by the solstice celebration that was likely finally winding down in the village nearby.

Sonic steeled himself, his anger strangely quiet now that he was behind her. It made him annoyed at himself, even more so than at her. He didn't want to feel softly toward her, he wanted to be angry and he wanted her to feel ashamed and he wanted an explanation.

But he could see that she was almost slumped over the railing, her elbows resting on it, her head in her hands, muttering. She looked so alone and cold that he was almost sure that she had already berated herself much more harshly than he ever could. He began to realize how much of a burden she carried on her shoulders just by seeing her there, in her castle, and seeing how… hollow she looked compared to what he was used to seeing from her in their glade.

He couldn't help but feel out of his depth, waiting behind her silently, working up the courage to make his presence known. Like he was at the edge of a pond, getting ready to dive into deep water to reach a treasure at the bottom, but already knew he could never hold his breath long enough to get there.

But there he was, swimming anyway.

Sonic moved forward to stand next to her, and bent down to untie his bandana from the baluster silently.

He heard Amy gasp and jump, stumbling a few steps away from him.

Sonic stood to look her dead in the eyes. He prepared to hit her with his most punishing glare, but when his eyes landed on her, his breathing stuttered as the sight of her stole it from his very lungs. Instead of narrowing his eyes with a snarl, he found himself meeting her woeful gaze pitifully. It was all he could do to muster a grim frown in the face of her blisteringly earnest contrition.

She looked ethereal in a white nightgown that billowed quietly around her ankles, and her eyes shone with emotion. The fur on her cheeks looked matted, and Sonic wondered if perhaps she had been crying. She wore a heavy plaid shawl draped around her shoulders that she pulled close now, and Sonic thought she looked like a ghost of herself in the moonlight, her expression haunting him.

She was beautiful, he acknowledged. Like a person he didn't know, who he was meeting again for the first time.

And he didn't know her, he reminded himself scoldingly.

"Will you say something?" Amy asked quietly, staring up at him. He hadn't realized he had let the silence stretch on, and her soft voice broke him from thought.

Sonic felt goosebumps on his arms as he held her gaze and slowly tied his bandana back around his neck. All the words he had practiced in his mind slipped from him in an instant.

"What do you want me to say?" Sonic growled simply, his hands sliding into the pockets of his doublet.

"I don't -"

"'So awesome that you lied to me for weeks Amy, I really appreciate it!'"

"No -"

"It's cool with me that you're the Princess, I don't feel betrayed at all!'"

"Sonic, please -"

"Or maybe you'd like something like, 'this doesn't change anything! In fact, I have more respect for you now that I know you're just like any other selfish, rich asshole who clearly doesn't give a shit about me!'" Sonic spit out the sentence, his disdain plain in his tone, hoping Amy felt the sting of the verbal arrows he was nocking and loosing at her in rapid succession.

"I warned you!" Amy begged, stepping toward him, and a rogue tear slipped down her cheek. "I told you on our second day that I couldn't tell you the full truth to keep you safe, and I meant that!"

Sonic said nothing but looked away when he saw the tear. He didn't want to see her cry. The pain on her face sent a sharp pang of guilt tearing through his spine, but it also made his anger flair. If she were truly so remorseful as her tears suggested, she would have thought to tell him that she was the Princess before fate wrested control of her secret from her and wrung it out on him like a wet towel.

Amy stepped toward him again and wiped at her eyes furiously, annoyed at her tell-tale heart and the tear that betrayed her.

"Starting out," she said, clutching at her shawl as if hugging herself for comfort, "I didn't tell you because I didn't know you, and then I didn't tell you because I… wanted to protect you, and then I really wanted to tell you because…"

Another tear slipped from Amy's eye. She sucked in a breath to stop herself from sobbing and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to master her own emotional reactions. She couldn't manage it, and another tear slipped out as she grunted with frustration at herself.

Sonic said nothing for a moment until, at last, he took a hand from his pocket, stepped forward, and pressed his palm to her cheek, thumbing away the lonely tear sliding down her muzzle.

Amy caught her breath, her eyes flying open.

"...I… I'm sorry," she whispered, meeting his eyes. "But it was a secret that was too big for even me to handle, and I didn't want… I couldn't…"

Amy couldn't find the right words, didn't know what she meant. She felt guilt, remorse, and fear over anything else, and needed him to know that. She needed him to understand that despite her bravado and unwavering tenacity, she was still afraid, and he was the only one keeping her standing under the pressure of her burdens for the moment.

"Did you bring me all the way here to turn me in?" Sonic growled solemnly, taking his hand from her face.

Amy's gaze darkened and she pulled her head back from him like he had just spit at her feet.

"Of course not," she said, her voice rasping with offense. Her throat felt thick. Cold air filled her chest and lungs painfully, and she found it hard to breathe.

Sonic saw that those words really had stung her, and he chose to push the guilt he felt over it down in favor of ending their conversation and their painful acquaintanceship as quickly and easily as he could.

"Then," he said, "let's get this mission over with so we can be done with it, and I never have to see you again."

He turned from her, striding away and pulling her balcony door open silently, leaving her there blinking in the cold.

As he disappeared into her room, Amy's expression turned sour and her heart began racing.

Sonic was rifling through her vanity dresser when she entered, and Amy stopped by the door to watch him warily.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, the painful ache in her chest threatening to bubble over into tears again.

Sonic pulled out several bracelets and rings from her drawers, throwing them in the drawstring satchel on his waist.

"Payment," he grunted. "This will be enough to satisfy what you owe me for two weeks of my time, and now we're even. Don't bother coming tomorrow."

He was eying the baubles in her drawers, trying to gauge which ones would be enough to satisfy Scourge without rousing any suspicions about where the items came from. It was hard for him to think through it all when he was first and foremostly taking in the feeling of being in her room for the first time, and was trying not to luxuriate in every overwhelming lungful of her scent.

"Wait!" Amy gasped, lunging forward. "Not that one!" She grabbed Sonic's hand and pulled the ornate gold band from his fingers. It was a ring with a deep, red ruby set in the center.

"It was my mother's," she defended quietly, when Sonic eyed her with disappointment. "I just… don't want to lose this piece of her. Take anything else," she grumbled with embarrassment and clutched the ring to her chest before turning and slipping it onto her finger lovingly. The familiar feeling of its weight on her hand brought her comfort where there was no other to be found.

Sonic swallowed hard, grabbed a simple ring with a large emerald-cut diamond in it, and closed her drawer quietly, satisfied that Scourge would be satisfied.

He made for her door when she suddenly stopped him with a hand on his.

"Wait, please," she pleaded.

Sonic closed his eyes for strength before he glanced down at her. He didn't want to have to come face to face with her emotions - not now, not ever, if he could help it - and tried to wrench his hand from hers. Sonic sighed in frustration when she held firm, cursing her strength. If he wouldn't stay, he knew she could make him.

"What else could you possibly want to say to me? Want to lecture me some more on 'concealing the truth'?" he snapped quietly.

"No - you can't leave me without a trainer for two months, I'm trying to -"

"And you can't lie to someone for weeks and expect them to just keep working for you because you're the princess!"

Amy's lips pressed into a thin line, and Sonic saw a familiar stubbornness set in on her face.

"Sonic, I know you're mad -"

He scoffed and tried for the door again but she pulled him back to face her.

"- and you have a right to be, but I am begging you not to run just because you're scared -"

"What?" he hissed indignantly, but Amy cut him off.

"- when I kept my secret for so long for your own good! And whether you believe it or not, that is the truth. I should've told you, I admit that, and I wanted to! I just didn't know when the right time would be, and I was scared, too…" she had started the tirade with conviction, but now her eyes slipped to the ground, her chest heaving as she tried to tame her heartbeat. "I'm begging you not to be selfish - if I don't win the Tournament of Champions I'll -"

"Selfish?" he scoffed. "That's rich - I'm the one being selfish?"

"- I'll die, Sonic! I will be fighting for my life and for the kingdom in that ring!" she pressed on, her voice raising over his as if it might make him understand the urgency of the situation. "I will be killed if I don't win, and I may still be killed if I do! I need -"

The words died in her throat as Sonic covered her mouth with his free hand and turned them so he pressed her against the door, pinning the hand she held next to her hip on the wall.

"I'm done talking about this," he whispered, his eyes narrowed. "You're going to blow our cover, so either drop it and come with me, or you're not making it past this door tonight."

Sonic's expression softened when Amy's eyes grew glassy again. For a moment, the only thing either of them could process was the mixing of their ragged breaths, and then Amy nodded. Sonic let the hand over her mouth up, but he didn't push off of her quite yet.

"…When you get back to the camp tonight, don't go blaming me for the anger that keeps you from falling asleep," she whispered. "I'm the one who apologized - who stayed. You're the one who's choosing to walk away. This doesn't prove anything."

Sonic stepped back from her, his brow wrinkling in hurt and confusion like she had slapped him. Before he could fully process what she had said, she opened the door and slipped out of the room, pulling him with her by the hand that he still clasped.

At first, Amy led them around corners and through intersections, trying her best not to glance at him - though she was dying to see what she could read from his expression. She didn't want to give him the chance to come up with another excuse to satisfy his anger.

Eventually, Sonic cooled off long enough to regain control of his thoughts, and effortlessly slipped in front of her to take the lead.

Sonic was like the wind as he escorted them around the castle. Amy was astounded by his grace and speed as he pulled her along. She had been fighting him for two weeks now, but had never before seen him… well, act like a thief.

Amy felt painfully aware of how loud her breathing sounded in her own ears as they pounded silently down the hallways. Once or twice, Sonic paused at intersections in the castle, and Amy pointed him in the right direction. Without a word he kept going, snaking along the corridors with Amy hanging onto him desperately.

When they came to the final turn before the stairwell, Sonic turned to Amy for directions and found her gazing past him, her ears perked and her eyes wide. She gasped and looked around, and pulled Sonic aside with so much force that he almost shouted at her in surprise.

Sonic didn't have time to turn his head and follow her gaze before he was shoved unceremoniously into an alcove through a curtain, and squeezed against a wall by something warm. He opened his mouth to protest but stopped when Amy shushed him.

Sonic's eyes slowly adjusted to the dark. He looked down and saw that Amy was pressed against him. She was focused on the hallway, her green eyes darting back and forth as she peeked through the curtain, her hot breath hitting his chest in heavy puffs.

Sonic felt her hands on him, pushing him into the cold stone wall and realized that, in his panic, he had unconsciously grabbed onto her waist. He was still gripping the fabric of her nightgown, bunching it in his palms at her hips.

In the dark, Sonic's eyes flickered as he stared down at her, now fully oriented to their intimate position. He could feel his body reacting to hers as her hips and chest pressed and shifted against his, and though he was catching his breath, it instead grew heavy and slow, his heart beating out a different kind of anticipation.

Amy had heard the clanking of armor before Sonic had. As the footsteps echoed farther and farther away, and the soldier passed by the quiet pair in the alcove, she stifled a sigh of relief and looked up at Sonic with annoyance, ignoring the odd look in his eyes.

Her hands moved from his arms to wrap around the collar of his doublet, and she pressed him back into the cold stone of the alcove wall while pulling him forward by his jacket, leaning her whole weight against him like they were in a street fight and she had him pinned.

"Listen to me," she whispered, a fang appearing in her quiet snarl. "I'm trying to tell you how important you are to everything. To me. The entire future of this Kingdom depends on me, and I depend on you. Can you get that through your thick skull?"

Sonic growled down at her as the words hit him, his hands fisting around the fabric in his hands. Heat flared in his chest when he saw that his action caused Amy's snarl to slip from her lips and her chest to rise as she took a deep breath.

Amy felt so warm on him, and Sonic thought it quite a pleasant feeling until he saw a bead of sweat run down her forehead. He glanced down at the hands that held him in place and realized suddenly that she was shaking. Only then did it occur to him that her warmth was actually unnatural heat, rolling off her in waves.

The growl was torn from his throat, and before she could open her mouth to speak again, he raised a hand from her waist to brush her bangs aside and feel her forehead.

She was burning up.

"Are you… alright?" he said, ignoring her previous question. His hand moved to her cheek, which also felt clammy to the touch.

Amy saw real concern flash in Sonic's eyes, immense relief flooded through her. It was like she had been stumbling in the dark, afraid she would never be able to find him again, and he had just lit a candle. Hope that he might still help her - that he might still care about her - flickered in her eyes.

"I'm fine," she stammered, "it's… just a cough I've had."

"Mmm," Sonic hummed, unconvinced. His hand slipped from her face, trailing unconsciously down her neck until it rested on her hip again. He knew he had no right to touch her like that, and desire stirred in his stomach when he felt her shiver in his hands.

"Sorry, I'm just cold…" Amy whispered.

"Actually… you're burning up," he said, his voice barely a breath.

Sonic couldn't stop himself as his hands slid from her waist to the small of her lower back, his fingertips touching as he pushed her gently into him. He released a shallow breath. Wasn't he supposed to be mad at her? He couldn't remember.

Amy's eyes widened as his hands moved. His touch started her shivering all over again. She glanced at his lips and held tight to his collar, wondering if Sonic was thinking about what she was thinking about. And what she was thinking about, well…

If this were any other circumstance… If they weren't actively committing treason…. If he hadn't just found out that she had been lying to him for weeks. If they weren't now keeping the kingdom's biggest secret… How easy it would be with her hands on his collar to pull him down and -

"Did you get the key to the shackles?" Sonic said, his voice husky.

"Of course," she said shakily, pushing away from him with some effort to dig around her waist.

She dangled the key before him, and a soft smile played on her lips. "And I saw those guards before you. Who's the professional thief now?"

Sonic leaned down, pulling her flush against him once more, his face dipping dangerously close to hers. To his delight, her smirk quickly disappeared.

"Still me," he said darkly, swiping the key from her and pulling her back out into the hallway in a flash, reclaiming her hand once again. He took a deep breath as they left the dark alcove, thankful he had enough self-control to leave the inviting, dark corner before either one of them gave into the temptation to do something reckless.

Well, more reckless than what they were already doing.

They made the final turn and rushed down the stairs quickly. As they emerged onto the first floor, Sonic looked back at Amy. She pointed him to the right, and they continued their flight towards the executioner's holding cell.

When they rounded the final corner, Amy was astounded to see that there were no guards posted by the doors to the holding cell. She cast Sonic a wary look, wondering what had happened to them.

He simply quirked an eyebrow at her and pulled them flush against the wall. He gestured for her to wait and then moved to pull open the heavy wooden door.

Amy disappointedly watched Sonic slip away from her. She wished desperately that they weren't on this mission and could keep talking, but she had a sneaking suspicion that Sonic felt exactly the opposite. She was about to ignore his direction and join him by the door, when a horrible itch hit her chest and throat. Before she could stop herself, she was coughing.

As she quickly lost control of her body and doubled over, disintegrating into a fit, Amy was vaguely aware of the sound of armor suddenly clanking, coming towards them. She didn't have the wherewithal to glance at Sonic as she moved, and just hoped he was smart enough to disappear into the room as she stepped out into the hallway still hacking, her eyes watering with the strain it put on her body.

Amy knew that if she left now, it might be the final moment she would ever see him. A scary thought considering that she had no idea where they stood - if he would make good on his threat to never see her again.

But she also knew that if she didn't choose to leave him, the soldiers coming to investigate the commotion she was making would find him and arrest him - no questions asked.

Tournament of Champions or no, Amy would easily choose to never see Sonic again rather than risk any harm coming to him. He would never be hurt again on her account, she promised herself, not as long as she could help it.

Amy's chest ached as she convulsed, and when finally she had coughed the itch away, she was exhausted. Two guards had reached her by then, and she slumped on them as they muttered their concern, grabbed her up between them, and ushered her back to her room. She stopped herself from casting a glance back to see Sonic again, despite how desperately she wished to see that stupid smirk just one more time, as they marched her back to the luxurious prison of her room.

Sonic could hear Amy's raspy voice making excuses about coming downstairs to find someone to stoke the fire in her room to help her fight the cold as she was dragged away. Against his better judgment, he had stayed pressed on the wall around the corner from where she was making her commotion.

He knew he should have snuck into Silver's room when her coughing fit started, but - he was stunned to realize - he was worried about her. Before he had heard the guards coming to make sure she was ok, he had been going to do it himself. Fortunately, he understood quickly what she was doing and stayed hidden, but the growing itch of annoyance he harbored against her flared.

The woman was protecting him still - despite all the things he had leveraged at her in anger. She had offered herself up without hesitation, and it vexed him greatly that he was so touched by her action. She obviously hadn't been in any danger by placing herself in the way of the soldiers - but it had also clearly been the selfless choice for her to make.

As he opened the heavy mahogany door, Sonic wondered what he would choose to do in return. He mulled over his options, over what the angry part of him wanted to do - leave Amy high and dry; what the guilty part of him wanted to do - apologize and keep training her; and what some other, unnamed and untamable, roiling part of him wanted to do… which brought him back to thinking about the way she had looked at him in the alcove…

"Sonic!" came a surprised cry from a dark corner of the room.

Sonic looked up and saw Silver, worse for the wear, but alive. Sonic broke into a grin as the man stood shakily and shook his head in joyous disbelief.

"You did it!" Silver beamed at him, light returning to the man's golden eyes.

"You had doubts?" Sonic smirked.

"Of you? Never. Of Scourge? Absolutely."

Sonic's smile disappeared at the mention of the green menace.

"About that… Scourge doesn't actually know about this whole operation," he confessed as he moved to kneel near the hedgehog and begin work on his shackles.

Silver looked panicked as Sonic twisted the key from Amy in the first iron lock.

"What do you mean he doesn't know?" Silver asked. "You're telling me that this is something that you and the Princess just… decided to do? Actually, don't answer that, I already know what you're going to say. And, by the way," Silver continued as one of his hands popped free, "how did you even manage to become acquainted with the Princess of the entire kingdom in the first place? Does Scourge know about that?"

"No one knows," Sonic snapped, not looking at him. "Not even I knew… until a couple of hours ago."

Silver stared at him blankly for a moment as his other hand was freed, then he began to nod slowly.

"Chaos…" Silver breathed as he rubbed his wrists and flexed his fingers.

"Understatement of the century." Sonic rolled his eyes.

"What am I supposed to do?" Silver muttered to himself, "there's no way Scourge will just welcome me back to camp no questions asked. And if we do go back there and he starts poking at our story… Well, we can't give away Amy like that…"

The sentence struck Sonic.

"Why not?" he asked. He, obviously, would never tell Scourge about Amy willingly - for both of their sakes - but he wanted to hear why Silver felt loyal to the royal whose father put him in jail in the first place.

"She's not her dad. She's a good person, Sonic," Silver scolded, like it was that simple. "She's the future of the kingdom, and she risked her life to save mine - no questions asked. Well," Silver amended, "she did ask some questions about you, but other than that… She deserves both my respect and support for what she's done for me."

Sonic thought about it for a moment, trying not to puff up thinking about Amy asking Silver about him. He realized that Amy had a propensity for risking her life for strangers. Not only had she risked her life for Silver, she had plans to risk her life again in only a few months - but the next time, it would be for the whole kingdom.

"Mmm," Sonic muttered as he stood and cracked the door open to assess their escape route, suddenly desperate to see Amy one last time before the night was over. Not to apologize or even to help him decide what to do about the following day - just to reassure himself that she was okay. That she was real, and not some dream conjured up by his own unknowable mind to distract him from the dreary reality he thought he would never be free from.

The two men strode forward into the castle, Silver hovering a whisper above the ground. Sonic followed small rays of natural moonlight and cold breezes until they came upon the open courtyard. As they paused to survey the grounds, Sonic's ears pricked. One glance at Silver and he knew the man had heard something too.

"There's someone out in the courtyard," Sonic hissed. "Stay here while I check it out."

Sonic disappeared and returned before Silver could even open his mouth to argue.

"It's just a lady, some purple cat -"

"Blaze?" Silver asked with hope. "She's waiting for me?" Silver looked down and tried to brush the dirt off of his impossibly ratty button-down, his eyes softening with his smile.

Sonic hesitated as he read the change on Silver's face. He remembered Amy speaking about the woman - the one who was Silver's lost love.

"On my lead, then," Sonic prompted, and began to move forward. The pair rushed around bushes and trees, finding shadows cast in the moonlight to hide in until they were close enough to Blaze to see her. The two men stalked forward until they were hidden an arm's length away from her, and Silver reached out to grab her wrist lightly.

"It's me," he whispered to soothe her as he drew her to him. Though, Sonic noted that the woman had not seemed like she was surprised by the sudden touch or their appearance anyway.

Sonic was thrown off by Silver's tenderness towards this woman. He suddenly felt awkward. Like he was intruding on something that he shouldn't be, that they both wished he weren't there.

"You made it out," Blaze breathed, holding Silver's hands in hers.

Sonic saw that they both had incredible golden eyes that seemed made for the other. Their gaze was so steady, so perfectly matched. Sonic felt something like jealousy in his chest, and he looked away as he thought of another pair of eyes that matched his own in a similar way.

"I can't go back to camp," Silver said. "Scourge will know something happened and he'll beat the truth out of me or kill me himself."

Sonic stood quietly, gazing at the bright, full moon. He knew this was true, but he had no solution for Silver and it pained him. Sonic firmly believed that every problem had a solution as long as he never gave up trying to find it, but they simply didn't have the time tonight. The camp was where they went when they were running away from something. Where was Silver to go when he was running away from the camp?

"…Then go to my home…" Blaze offered quietly.

Sonic glanced between the two, but they seemed to have forgotten he was there.

"But, you don't talk to your family - "

"They love you, and even if they don't always act like it, they love me, too." Blaze squeezed his hands. "You're too anxious, Silver. My family would be happy to help. You can work in the smithy with my father, and I get one weekend off every month. I'll come check in on you."

"You'd… talk to your father again? After so many years?" Silver said.

Blaze raised a hand to the man's cheek.

"I think it's time I stop running and face him again…I can't let his opinion of me shape my life any longer," Blaze said quietly, and Sonic's eyes widened with an unmistakable look of shock.

"I thought I was going to find something out here, and I'm glad I went," the woman went on, "but all I found was the clarity of mind I needed to know that… I do want to be with you. If my father tells me again that the smithy will not be mine… then I'll just start my own."

Silver stepped closer to Blaze. "And I will follow you anywhere, support you on any journey," he swore solemnly.

Blaze chuckled sadly at the tender man. "I'm sorry, Silver. I should have -"

"You should have done exactly what you did," he said resolutely. "The road that brings you to me is the only road I care for you to be on - even if it separated us for a while. I'd wait lifetimes for you, Blaze…"

Sonic was almost shaking at the force of the intimacy between the two of them. He was sweating listening to them, trying not to let his stone heart crack under the weight of their tenderness. Amy's words were ringing in his head, about how Silver's story was romantic. At the time, Sonic hadn't thought so. Sonic had thought Silver something of a fool. And now… listening to them… Sonic was horrified to realize that not only was he changing his mind, but that Amy was right.

Before they could fully close the shrinking distance between them, Sonic interrupted the pair by giving in and saying, "Honestly buddy, it would be better for you if you don't come back."

Sonic was somewhat annoyed that Silver wouldn't be returning to camp with him after all this effort, but not so annoyed that he couldn't see how everything was working out in the way that would be best for his friend. Sonic suspected that what he really felt was jealousy - something he was coming to realize he felt a lot. Or at least, more often than he would like.

"The camp is… well, if you can get out, you should," Sonic admitted.

"Begin traveling to my home tonight, love, and tell them I am on my way when you arrive," Blaze said, kissing Silver's cheek. She pulled her cloak off her shoulders and wrapped it around him, then turned to Sonic.

"Thank you," she said to him. "And to the Princess, too. I don't know how to repay you."

Sonic sucked in a breath and said, "Unfortunately, I know something that might work." He whispered to the woman what he needed, knowing full well it was a project that might pull him back into Amy's orbit, and Blaze nodded solemnly.

"It will be my life's honor to aid her majesty. With Silver's help, I can have it ready in a month and a half." Blaze stuck her hand out, and Sonic shook it firmly.

"And… would you give this to her for me?" Sonic asked much more quietly. He pressed something into her palm as their hands met, and then quickly pulled away from her.

"Thank the Princess for me again, too," Silver said to Blaze, a telltale touch of emotion in his voice. Silver always was a softy, something Sonic had always thought was silly about the man, but now… he thought perhaps Silver was lucky to be able to emote so easily.

Blaze nodded, and then took off back toward the castle, casting one last loving glance back at Silver.

Next to him, Silver let out a long, contented sigh before turning and embracing Sonic. Shocked, Sonic didn't manage to return the hug before the man pulled away.

"I told you it would all be worth the wait! Visit me soon?" Silver said.

Sonic nodded and mustered a smile for him. Without another word, Silver turned and began picking his way through the courtyard before disappearing over the castle wall, surrounded in a soft, blue-green light.

By himself in the lavish garden, Sonic suddenly felt cold and alone. Amy, Blaze, and Silver had collectively pushed open a door in his mind and heart that he had long thought locked for good, and he was already lost inside it, trying to keep his bearings in a world gone mad.

He took a centering breath, ignoring the myriad of nameless feelings that gathered and sloshed into a wave inside him, threatening to topple him over.

To avoid it all, it would be best that he made good on his word and never saw Amy again, he decided.

Then that's it, he thought finally. His great adventure over and done.

He turned back toward Amy's window for one last look, thinking that should he never see her again after tonight, he'd like one last look at her - though the universe was rarely kind enough to allow him such small pleasures.

Expecting nothing, his breath left him at the sight that greeted him.

Amy stood like a lighthouse on the balcony, clearly searching the courtyard and beyond for one last glimpse of him, too. She was a beacon of pink and white that showed him his way… where? Home? To her? Sonic wasn't sure, but he stepped out into the moonlight and stared at her until she found him, too.

The look they shared then was much the opposite from the one they had shared earlier in the day. The thread of tension was once again taught between them, but the world around them was slow and silent this time, as they drank each other in for what they each suspected might be the final time.

They felt as though they were standing in the center of a vortex, and the world was spinning around them. Out in the storm, they would never work - never be able to exist the way they wanted to. But in the quiet eye, it felt like they were the only thing that made sense.

They couldn't read the expression on the other person's face from across the courtyard, but they each seemed to feel the significance of the moment, understanding it and processing it in their own individual ways.

Sonic sighed. He knew Amy would stand in the cold as long as it took - as long as he would make her. She was playing him again, forcing him to reckon with the choices set before him. He could go to her again, yes… but if he did, he was afraid that he would not be so successful at keeping himself from crossing a line that he hadn't even known he had come upon.

So, he made the other choice. The choice that he knew Amy wanted him to know was cowardly. Like she had for him, he made the hard choice for her sake, and turned to leave.

As Sonic finally left the castle grounds, the vision of her on the balcony haunted him. When he met up with Knuckles and Tails in the woods to run back to camp, memories played in his mind in rapid-fire. Each sent different types of heat shooting through different parts of his body.

Despite the cold, her presence in his mind kept him warm all night long.

When Amy finally lost sight of Sonic, she turned to see Blaze standing at her door and gasped. The woman apologized for the scare, and bowed so deeply that Amy blushed.

"I am going home tomorrow," Blaze declared, "to finally start building the life I desire in earnest. Though, I will be back," she promised.

"I respect and envy you for that," Amy said quietly, her throat still aching.

"Why? You are building the life you desire - not only the life you desire, but the one you desire for others, as well," the woman said. "And, you are inspiring me as you do it. By carving your own path, you have found so many allies who will help you along the way to victory. Consider both myself and Silver forever in your service."

Blaze approached Amy, and for a moment Amy thought the woman would hug her. While happy to do so, Amy thought it rather out of character for the cat, and relaxed when instead she held her hand out for what Amy assumed was a handshake.

Amy clasped Blaze's hand in both of hers, and felt something cold in her palm.

"From Sonic," Blaze said solemnly.

Amy took the object and opened her hands to peer at it, and her eyes immediately began to water.

"Oh," she whispered sadly as she stared at the forget-me-not pin, certain it was the man's final message to her.

"Is something wrong?" Blaze said with concern.

"I think… I really messed things up…" Amy said, trying not to begin crying again. She felt weak enough as it was.

"With…"

"Sonic," Amy confessed with a nod.

"Whatever happened between you, I am certain that all will be well," Blaze said easily, and Amy looked at her dismally.

"He asked me about investing in a long term project, to support your efforts in taking over the kingdom," Blaze shrugged, "he will see you through this, I trust him on that. Perhaps you should trust him, too."

"So you know about… everything?" Amy asked, and the woman nodded in silent deference.

Amy blinked and let out a shaky breath before throwing her arms around the woman. Hugging might not have been Blaze's style, but it was certainly Amy's. It felt good to know she was no longer alone in her secret. If Sonic didn't come back, she would still have Blaze to back her, and that reassured her just a little.

"Thank you," Amy sobbed quietly. "And - I'm so happy for you. You are welcome in my castle any time, and when I am the King - Queen," she corrected herself, "I will bring both you and Silver back here to be the crown's blacksmith - if you so desire."

Slowly, Amy felt Blaze's hands slide onto her back, and together they took a deep, steadying breath in the embrace. They felt the stress of the evening slide off of their shoulders and let the success of it settle in its place. Eventually, the two women parted slowly and without one word more between them.

Clutching the pin, Amy collapsed onto her bed shivering, feeling like she had been kissed by death itself as aches and fever finally settled fully into her body. Despite her solemn feeling that Sonic would not be back, she held onto Blaze's soft-spoken hope like it was her own.

Falling asleep wasn't easy for her, but when Amy finally slipped into a dream it was, unsurprisingly, about Sonic.

In her dream they were standing in the alcove again, and Sonic gave her the pin himself. As he pressed it into her hands, she looked up at him with that same, crazy idea she had had when they were really there, and glanced at his lips. His hands slid onto her back, and it was all so similar to what they had done earlier in the evening that Amy began to feel the butterflies in her stomach as if they were both really there.

But she knew it was a dream when Sonic pressed her close and leaned down to steal a simple, sweet kiss from her. As he captured her lips with his, her stomach dropped out from beneath her, and her whole body flushed as she was filled to bursting with the sudden, rapturous feeling that she was falling in love.

When Amy woke, sweating and feverish, she knew that her feelings had not been real. But they were so close to real, and felt so achingly good, that she thought maybe she had wept with happiness in her sleep.

Cream found her smiling weakly in her bed, unable to move, and thought perhaps she was delirious from the fever. Amy knew she was delirious, but from dream-induced euphoria instead. Cream commanded that she go back to sleep at once, bustling around and calling for a healer to come quickly, and Amy happily did.

She slipped like a mystic between waking and dreaming for the rest of the day, trying to find sleep; praying to Gaia that she might return, in her dreams, to that alcove so she could meet Sonic there again and let that addicting pleasantness fill her heart once more.

A/N: Mmmmm the tension... I love it, and I hope you do too! When will they just kiss already?! I guess I could make it happen if I wanted to but, alas, I have plans. Hope you enjoyed, more coming soon!