cutegirlmayra
Rated SE, for Shipping for Everyone ;)
prompt:
It was starting to take its small tolls on Amy.
One day, it was "Sorry, Amy! Eggman's not playing nice today. Really wasn't expecting this to come up so soon… but hey! There's always next time!" …Always, next time.
She didn't think much of it until he started sprucing up the words every now and then, "Wow! Is it that time, already? You're probably not gonna like this… but Tails just discovered-" or, "Dang, this bites, but hey! Listen to this!", and, "Woohoo! I finally found Shadow! Tough job looking for a literal government secret, but I finally think we're about to hit a breakthrough!"
It was never, "How ya doing?" or, "Let's reschedule to about this day and time?" and, "Man, really miss ya though!"
So Amy's heart began to pang, although she did love his goofy messages, knowing they were sincerely sorry… it just felt like he never had the time to be with her.
So, she took the lead and headed out in the dead of night. However, it was chilly, and she found herself hugging her arms close to herself and shivering as she made it over the hill the last location he had mentioned to her was.
"Ohh…" she whined, looking around but finding no trace of anyone there. It was full of crevices left from a battle though, craters and carved up rock cliffs… the ground was extremely uneven, but where Amy had trekked up the hill, it was relatively alright.
Realizing she was just too slow, she stomped her foot down on the wet grass, "Hmph! This is the last time I'm being left behind! …W-whaaa!" She had scarcely moved her arms to her sides to bundle up her fists tightly in her frustrations when a sudden sharp and piecing wind rocked her back, and staggering against it, she found her awkward footsteps to slip up over the flattened surface of fresh, sprinkled, and slushie snow to slide down the wet grass.
"Ahhh!" she tumbled and slid until hitting the ground harshly with her chin, making her eyes close and their lids quiver at the pain. "Ah-ah-ouch…" she slowly got up, looking back at the field and through the sprinkled, cold wind could imagine Sonic and the gang's epic showdown… the last adventure still evident in the landscape.
"…They…" she felt her bottom lip quivering, as though the pain was already forming tears, but her heart now wanted to join the pity party as well. "They must have had so much fun." The struggle of not feeling somewhat envious of the boys was a bit too much on her poor heart.
She laid back down and softly let herself feel the sorrow of always being blown off to go on some–although important, and she knew it–fantastical adventure that they may or may not write her about.
She pulled out the Miles-Electric Tails had gifted her while tensing against the bitter cold.
She turned on her tracker, just in case anyone was wondering… in case… anyone would notice.
"If I stay out here…" she told herself aloud, desiring to hear something besides the quiet of her lonely, softly falling tears… though they were freezing against her cheeks and making her even colder. "I'll catch a cold for sure." She looked up at the foggy white sky… wondering if Sonic and her friends were cold too, or celebrating somewhere far away from her… far away from their devices… that would alert them to her beacon being sent out.
She pulled her legs closer to her, letting her head fall back to the stinging cold of the grass… but at least she couldn't feel dirt or ground.
She'd have to wash up anyway, it's not like she'd freeze to death…
She felt a sniffle come from her nose as her eyes were beginning to burn.
"Sonic hates crying…" she told herself, but continued to let little tears fall. "Maybe… he'll just know… and come find me."
Her hopes pushed through her mind as she continued to call his name, wondering if somewhere, somehow… he'd take a moment to think of her…
Then her Miles-Electric blinked on and she held it closer, desperate to see what was on it.
Another beacon… but not Sonic's.
"Ohh…" Amy sat up and wiped some of the frosty tears off her cheeks, feeling the wind pick up and trying to face her back towards it, hoping to brace against the cruelty of the seasons of nature just a few more minutes.
She had traveled pretty far, but seeing the beacon, she responded with a message. "I'm out right now, and it's freezing cold! Who's out here too?"
The message she received looked a lot like Knuckles's awful key-pressing, and trying to decode his bad usage of spelling and grammar, she tilted the Miles-Electric to get a better look… when the reflection showed a on-coming blizzard or avalanche sweeping through the forest.
She gasped and looked behind her, seeing the rolling cloud of snow like a large, trumpeting wave that was crashing over everything in sight.
Something so big… would easily cover her in seconds.
Gasping, she got up immediately and clicked on the video, sending the message out with her beacon active. "Help!" she cried out, slipping up the hill as she tried to find some traction.
Looking back at the on-coming snow storm, stampeding upon the ground and leaping in a rushed frenzy to spray out at the air, she abandoned the video and simply tried to run.
Finally making it up the slippery slope she gasped as she was covered immediately in pounding cold punches that seemed to topple over one another.
Afraid, she sucked in a breath, knowing she could suffocate if she didn't.
It was hard though, with all the weight, she could barely feel her stomach want to move.
When the sounds turned muffled and she knew she was buried under feets of snow, she kicked and tried to waved about to loosen the snow but she was pinned…
The next best thing… was to…
Feeling she needed air, she curled up into a ball and spun as best she could. Making her body smaller was the perfect solution, the snow was easily manipulated by her spinning and she created a small hole for herself.
She uncurled and tried to breathe, pushing upwards but the snow only bumped slightly up. "No..!" she felt her breath freeze as though with each breath, icicles formed in her lungs, but she knew that was exaggerating.
It was so cold… she couldn't feel her feet or hands anymore.
Realizing if she summoned her hammer, she could have the snow compact instead of remaining like flurries, and she knew she couldn't risk it.
She instead started to burrow, but the snow quickly collapsed over her, "Ah!" and she had to curl and spin again.
Exhausted, not having enough oxygen, and feeling the snow would turn to slush soon and ice over… leaving her in an unpleasant prison or worse… tomb… she patted the edges to find the most grainy or soft falling snow pile she could, and dived.
"Rragh!" she kicked her legs through and started to tunnel, feeling it collapse on her, she held her breath. It already stung to breathe anyway, being extremely uncomfortable and somewhat painful to suck in anyway.
She felt the weight keeping her from moving anywhere and then felt the snow under her collapse as well.
"Ahh!" she was now with her legs above her and uncomfortably arching her back. Freezing… she wasn't in her little crude igloo anymore…
As she tried to shift around, more snow fell, and she struggled to even get up.
Her hands were just moving through piles and piles of snow that dropped her further down… she had made a small tunnel pocket and then fell through more of the snow…
She began to panic, curling and spinning but the snow wasn't strong here, so it just dug her down deeper and she uncurled again, back in an even more uncomfortable position with no way to push herself further up and out.
However… pushing the snow that had compiled at her face, she saw there was a yellow beam of light on the top.
"Ah..!" she knew she couldn't make it, but at least the exit was somewhat closer than she thought. "Help..! Ah.." More snow tumbled the more noise she made…
Pulling out the Miles-Electric and brushing out the snow from it, she moved her arms to her center and tried to balance her weight on her head and shoulders, using her elbows to give somewhat a stability to her predicament.
If she had a neck, it'd be hurting twice as much too.
The Miles-Electric was still recording… "Someone get over here! I'm trapped!" she had just enough breath and strength to whisper a cry out for help again. The Miles-Electric then read- 'Succeeded file limit, your recording has ended. Sending the first half.'
She groaned, "Tails…" she was about to complain but put that aside and didn't record anymore, "Knuckles…" she clicked his beacon and found that it had ended. "…Sonic…" she felt more warm tears threatening, and just to feel the warmth, was tempted to cry. But knowing it would only freeze her faster, she didn't. Shaking her head, she felt more wet snow fall on her head, and brushing it off, began to be afraid as breathing was harder in this position, her body heat was melting the snow… she would be in a icy prison sooner than she anticipated.
"I just wanted to find you…" she admitted, looking up at the top where she thought the exit was. "I… I'm so lonely… without you." she hugged the Miles-Electric, a light as the yellow beam began to fade and it turned white with foggy light.
She was breathing irregularly, in shallow breaths due to the cold, her upside-down position, and her panic setting in as her body wanted to struggle but she forced some trained breathing that kept her somewhat warm.
She tried to close to her eyes and figure out how to keep herself warm. The more spread out she was, the less she'd fall, but the colder she'd get.
"What's taking them so long!" she finally blurted out, as more snow sounded out her vibrated echoes and then her vision was taken from her as the tunnel collapse.
"Ah-!"
She didn't know how long it had been… since she shut her eyes.
She wondered if when they found her, what would they react like? She didn't want them to be sad… before coming out, she had thought about wearing something, but figured she'd arrive at the end of their adventure so they'd take her back with them regardless. She thought the worst she'd receive, at most, was a cold.
And then with a cold… at least Sonic wouldn't feel guilty about canceling so much… she would have a plausible excuse… other than feeling it was making him feel a negative way by constantly having to write her apology texts.
It was so cold… she almost felt herself stop breathing just to avoid more melted snow she was swallowing ice over her insides… when muffled thumping came from above.
She squinted her eyes through the white snow, melting over her bangs… dripping down to her eyes as though she was submerged over water.
She tilted her head and shook it slightly, moving some of the snow as she still hugged the activated Miles-Electric.
More scuffling through the snow as she saw it start being scooped away in fast piles, just vanishing as more and more light came through.
She smiled, 'Always… in the nick of time.'
She saw a familiar white glove reach down and continue digging.
'Sonic…' she felt her consciousness weakening at the growing light. 'Couldn't make an excuse this time… could you?' she morbidly joked to herself as she felt his glove hit against her raised boot.
She could hear her name through the snow, muffled and seeming distant, she shivered and tried to move her foot to show she was alright.
But it was so numb, not even tingles anymore.
She could barely feel the pressure of Sonic's hands gripping her boot and pulling. However, the snow had compacted, and pulling her out wasn't much of an option without first cracking through it.
She shivered again, hoping the action served to prove she was alive.
She was too cold to speak out loud, but was so happy to be found.
More scooping through the snow, before finally, Sonic's head could be seen through the small tunnel that she was looking up from.
"Amy!" she could hear him… she could see him through the blurry white of her vision.
She mumbled, trying to speak but he reached down, putting his whole arm through the could feel the resting snow on her. He patted as though making sure he could reach her, before brushing off the snow and seeing her blink. "Can you move?" he called, but she could only shiver, her hands frozen in spot and shaking as she couldn't even feel if she was gripping the Miles-Electric still or not.
She kept trying to form the words 'help' but couldn't.
It just sounded like sniffling stifles, and Sonic moved out his arm to look in with his eye, seeing her predicament. "Wow, it tumbled you good, didn't it? Hang on!" he spun through the snow. She wanted to warn him that by doing so, he'd slip into a nasty tomb as well, but it was too late.
She felt herself falling further and Sonic spread himself out after uncurling and realizing why Amy couldn't move.
His gritted teeth now parted to show his amazement at how bad the situation really was, but she saw his expression change from a 'rescue' to a 'life-threatening predicament'.
As his face turned serious, she was glad to see he was finally absorbing the true depth of the sad tale she was writing.
He bent down and wrapped an arm around her head, "Push me down and get yourself up, I can burrow through the snow."
He couldn't even swim…
When his glove touched her, she let out a painful cry, and he flinched away.
"What's..?" he didn't finish his question, her skin felt ice. He realized her back was probably frostbitten and that his immediate warmth and pulling on her probably just cracked skin. Now he was glaring at the top of the snow, "…Shoot." it was like a cuss for him.
"Well, we've certainly gotten ourselves into an adventure… huh, Amy?" She knew why he wasn't showing her his face… he was trying not to frighten her.
She didn't want to feel anything anymore, but simply watch him, already comforted by the fact that she was found.
He'd get them both out of this… and maybe… when it didn't hurt so much… give her a warm hug that never parted his arms from around her again.
Her lip trembled as she wanted to also comfort him but couldn't speak, her lungs already severely damaged from the cold and her breathing even more appalling.
His ears flicked as he tested the snow's durability and noticed how it became more solid above him and less so below. "Strange." he look back at Amy, "Ready for a bit of a rushed exit?"
She knew what he was saying.
'Brace yourself.'.
This was going to hurt a lot.
She mustered a nod, but slipped her balance and he grabbed her.
"AHH!" she let out a cry and as his fast moving feet piled snow under them, and finally, he was able to manage to tumble the powdery snow away and get to the more crystal blue kind, and gripped the walling of the tunnel.
"Hang on!" he spin dashed her out with a throw. His supersonic feet made their usual sound effect as he got himself out as well, and saw Amy crash into the snow, sinking down. "No..!" he tried to move through the snow like he did last time to reach her and grabbed her before she could be sunken beneath the snow again.
His gloves were sprinkled with pink, flakey particles of skin and he winced at how badly her condition was. "Come on, endure it just a bit longer, I've got you." he picked her up and moved her over his back as he tried to find a way to not touch her exposed back so much, not wanting to cause further damage.
Trekking through the snow, he had to go a lot slower than he liked too, but was continuing to move towards less and less snowbanks, more and more compacted, solid footing and sighed when he finally reached a tree, knowing he was somewhere near the mountain's forest valley now.
"Phew, how we doing back there?" he looked over his shoulder and froze when he saw her out cold…
He bit his mouth shut and studied her unconscious face, feeling her shallow breathing from her stomach now.
It was a sunny day, but…
He looked to see the mountain had some caves, and knew a good spot for her recovery.
Thinking quickly, he didn't want her back exposed to the sun if it really was frostbitten, and moved swiftly against the snowy terrain.
The rocks were cold and slippery, but he kept Amy on his shoulders tried to only grab at her arms and legs, keeping her from falling off.
When reaching the cave he had remembered, he was glad to see some fireflies also took shelter here, and watched them glow and descend in their sleep.
There were huge, leafy plants and other large ferns and then… a duel pool with two large mouths that had one wide waterfall from the top of a slit in the mountain.
It was misty… and he was glad he had found it in time.
Lightly setting Amy down near the mounded rocks by the waterfall's slit, he looked to try and find anything that could warm her up safely.
Taking some of the leaves, he stripped them off the low, fatted tree sprouts and drapped them over her, rubbing her arms first and then her head.
She was wet and hardly breathing… he needed to dry her first.
Working swiftly, he had her dry but dared not to address her back yet.
He closed his eyes, getting a bit upset at the state she was in and trying to remember the locations where herbs for healing were.
Once calmed down enough to focus, he washed his gloves, luckily not stained, in the spring and then waited for them to dry before charging out of the mountain again.
Skidding down the peak with nothing but his red, golden buckled shoes to act as skis, he wobbled his arms for balance a moment and then expertly rode down the mountain. Normally, he'd be doing tricks, but in this case, he just bent his head down and made himself more angular, allowing the icy wind to move right over him.
He rolled into a spinball on his way down and then quickly went to gather the herbs. Each item wasn't too far away… some for blood clots, disinfecting, encouraging skin healing, and others for the inner-use like to contrast the bitter cold and warm her up a bit.
He kept collecting whatever was useful but close by, and for him, that could be miles and miles away, but it was nothing to what he could do if he had solid ground to dash across.
Arriving back at the cave, he moved over and noticed Amy was finally breathing a bit more normal, the fireflies were attracting around her and a dragonfly went to sit on her ear but Sonic flicked his hand and it flew off.
He tsk'ed at the curious insects and also batted them lightly away, before sitting down beside her and getting the ingredients prepared.
"..Ah..! Ughh… S…Sonic?" Amy slowly came to, and he smiled.
"For a snowy retreat, you sure picked the worst place to be." he kid, applying the second layer to her back.
"AH!" she tightened against the pain, "W-what is that? Moss?!"
"It's chewed herbal medicine, for your information." he lightly rubbed it over the cracking of her skin, and as he pulled his hand away, Amy noticed the red on his gloves…
"…Chewed?" she looked away, disgusted.
Sonic shrugged, half-heartedly pouting his lips a moment as though excusing her distaste. "Had to mix the medicines somehow. Don't complain if it's shoddy. I didn't want to waste any time looking for proper applications at the grocery store." he teased, and continued to work on her.
She endured, making less noise then before. Squinting her eyes, she moved her hands up to her chin, laying on her stomach and just trying to breath in the warm mist that was around her. "Where… emm… are we?"
"Welcome to Sonic Hotsprings!" he gestured, just playing around and keeping the mood light. "After all the times I couldn't make it, I tend to pick the lousiest times to take you out, huh, Amy?"
It actually did make her smile, even through the yucky gunk he was putting on her back. It smelled… but she had the right to think it was moss, it was extremely dark green, and looked as though lumps of wetted goop.
"Did you find me..?"
"Through your tracker? Yeah. Didn't expect the video though. That scared the living daylights out of Knuckles." He seemed to grow more somber after saying that. "You… didn't hold back on that shock effect."
She realized she must have scared him too, but he didn't want to admit it.
"I'm sorry…" she lightly spoke through the side of her muzzle, looking away as she felt the warm goop start stinging… but at least that meant it was working… somewhat.
"Don't be," Sonic's voice turned tender, and she blushed slightly under hearing it, her ears curling back slightly to secretly hear him better. "I'm glad you made it. Seriously, if it weren't for that video, we'd just have figured you were cold…"
"Would… would you have still come for me?" she didn't know if he would really answer that, and with the sudden silence, she figured the video was what saved her life.
"Of course, I would have." Sonic finally spoke out, but it was quiet… too quiet. "Why would you ask something like that..?"
She didn't respond right away, but waited a moment. His hands on her back made her feel some form of a peace, and she finally did close her eyes and state, "I don't know. Nevermind me. I'm just tired… that snow really bites."
Sonic smiled a moment, his eyes bending as though knowing that was an understatement. "You can rest here, Amy. It's warm. Though kinda damp, that 'moss' on your back will stay a bit wet and heal the better." She heard him wiping his hands in a clap against each other and getting up.
She turned her head, "Where are you-Ah..!" she moved back into the position she was and felt Sonic kneel by her head, lightly placing a hand on it.
"Don't move… you'll crack more if you do." His touch was more just precaution, and she didn't feel any real pressure from it. "Your body is still like crumbling ice, give it a bit to thaw out. You'll be fine overnight."
"Overnight?" her eyes widened, "Wait-!" she saw him out of the corner of her eye descending the rocks to the hot spring.
He stopped, looking over his shoulder again to show he was listening.
"You're not leaving me here… all alone… are you, Sonic The Hedgehog!?"
He laughed, "Didn't realize you were scared of the dark." He gave her a playful wink, "No, Amy. I'm not going anywhere." he reassured her, and then pointed to the two pools. "I'm kinda cold myself. You can join me when you feel moving doesn't bother you anymore." he went down to the hotsprings as she sighed and grumbled at his inconsiderateness.
"So he heals my back but goes to warm up… typical."
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" Amy cried out, but continued to grumble off to the side.
"This wouldn't have even happened if you had just kept your appointments with me..?"
"What?"
"Must be the waterfall!" Amy continued to fib.
"Oh, cause it sounded like the waterfall wasn't grateful." Sonic joked, snickering from below as he dipped his hands into the water and washed up. "I was just about to tell the inconsiderate waterfall to quiet down so you could sleep, should I still scold it for being so splashy and loud?" he smirked and leaned his head up, hoping she could hear him over the naturally pleasant sounds of the falling, rushing water.
She remained silent, then he heard fake snoring and nodded his head.
"Okay! Nevermind." he then moved to the mouth of the cave, "Mr. Waterfall, I expect you to tell Amy upon her next momentary spur of consciousness, that I have momentarily left you to host her as I forage for some food. Now, if she tells me you even so much as grumbled a complaint against me-" He turned back with a lazy point, "I'll write you a bad review." he then chuckled to himself and sped off.
When he was gone, Amy attempted to sit up, and trying hard not to bed or angle her back in anyway, finally got herself up to spread out her knees and sit on the rock and look out after him.
Longing… it was the only way to describe the expression her face.
"He's got a lot of nerve…" she puffed out, seeing the mist part at her breath. "But that's my Sonic for you… always trying to brighten a dark cave." She was amused over her analogy but digressed, moving to try and stretch out her sore limps and rubbed against her cold arms.
"Brr… he could have come sooner." she argued, then looked to the waterfall. "…You wouldn't rat me out… a guest… right?" she smiled to it, and then tried to get up. "Ah!" she fell to a knee as the goop was firmly attached to her back, but definitely holding back her bleeding back.
She shook her head, "No good… I really should rest… but… I don't want to close my eyes again." She admitted and crawled as well and slowly as she could down the rocks.
She dipped her hand into the water and immediately felt herself relaxing at the warmth it gave. "Awwh~… Now this is the only state of water I'll ever accept." she looked over to the large, almost stunted palm trees that were ginormous by the entrance and around the cave. "…Wow, they look prehistoric." She cautiously stood up, wincing a time or two at her haste to move, but too stubborn to just sleep and wait for food.
She carefully removed her wet and still cold clothes, and tugged the palm tree leaf down.
It was perfect, it wrapped around her and even fell down longer than any towel she ever had, and tucked and tied it securely around her.
"Well, Sonic did say it was a hot springs…" She looked to see the two pools and quickly went to work making a curtain.
"Hmm… didn't think this through." she realized there wasn't anything to hold up the long blanket she was trying to construct, and knowing if Sonic returned, the blanket would only cover the view from the two adjacent pools, not the entrance.
She lifted her head back and sighed, "Ahhh… he's gonna think badly of me!" she let her head flop down to her chest and groaned at the stretching of her skin that she knew could only mean she was making her condition worse.
"Okay, we'll cover the waterfall then."
She tied the large palms to create a self-standing curtain, arching the waterfall, before realizing this trapped her within.
"Augh!" she kicked the curtain down, "Some hotsprings if it doesn't even allow some form of privacy!"
She froze when the curtain fell and Sonic stared from having sped through the entrance of the cave, blinking as though not expecting Amy to be wrapped in a leaf sitting under the waterfall.
He averted his eyes slowly as they just so happen to come across her clothes sprawled against a branch of a leaf.
Amy, embarrassed, withdrew behind the waterfall and covered her face. "MMMMMMMM…" she groaned, "Nothing's going my way today, is it?"
It's not like Sonic could see anything, she was just wearing a long dress almost, but still…
She kicked her feet out from the waterfall, "Don't just stand there! R-roll me the fruit!"
He thought to himself, 'If I were a lesser man… this would be pretty bad for her.' but then jokingly let the idea slide and walked to side, laying down the fruits and rolling them through the waterfall while avoiding looking at her.
"Any reason why you're not sound asleep and trying to heal yourself?" he kept his eyes averted, but then sat down and began his own plans… taking his shoes and socks off to soak in one of the pools anyway.
She pulled her feet in and caught the fruit, chewing quickly on them.
"Hey! You'll choke if you don't-" he leaned his head back, looking over to her now as he heard her start coughing with a mouth full of food.
He sighed, dipping his head back down and walking over to the curtain, shaking his head.
"Not like I couldn't have done this for you, you know?" he looked back at the blurred pink behind the waterfall, and smiled sweetly at her shyness. "You look like you belong in Hawaii with that dress on."
She wouldn't dare call it a towel now.
"I… I really wanted to be in the water…" she pushed her two pointer fingers together, taking more polite, lady-like bites now.
He moved to the water's edge and dunked his feet in up to his knees, sitting down and sighing at the warmth.
"Yeah, well… I did say we'd be here a while."
She could hear him judging her and spat out at the falling water.
His ear twitched, and he quietly chuckled at her growing frustration as he lifted one leg out of the water. "Want me to turn away while you get in?"
"No!" she barked, too embarrassed now to even move.
"Ah…" Sonic figured it was something like that, and lowered the raised leg back into the water. "…How's the back?"
"…It hurts…"
"I told you to sleep it off. Did all the medicine I apply stay on?" he looked over his shoulder, but wasn't actually looking at anything, just address her.
"…Yeah, it's still on."
"…I should check to make you an honest guest." he muttered to himself, leaning over the water and scratching his nose.
"…What?"
"Hmm?" he leaned towards her direction.
"D-did you say something? I couldn't hear you…"
"Oh, just Mr. Waterfall and me. He just informed me this is a co-ed hotspring. Guess we didn't need this." he kicked the blanket and she about had a tissy-fit, throwing some fruit at his head as he ducked and laughed. "Amy, since when have I ever disrespected you?"
"Don't even joke about that!" she hid herself more behind the waterfall, but shivered since she couldn't feel the warmth of the water anymore…
Sonic grew a bit bashful then too, realizing she was making this awkward when he was hoping it wouldn't be.
"Fine. I'll go."
She heard the splashing of him leaving and immediately moved through the waterfall, "Wait!" she held a hand to the top of her leaf to make sure the waterfall didn't sag the covering down, and then sat under the waterfall, blushing and looking away. "Geez, you really have no idea about social norms, do you?"
He didn't look at her, but smiled and closed his eyes, turning to walk to the waterfall and sat a distance away from her, letting it massage his tired shoulders from digging them out of the snow. "Ahh~ I know the norms. But I didn't exactly break any rules, now did I?"
"Are you blaming me then!?" Amy puffed up her cheek and he turned his head away, showing her even more so that he was respecting not to stare.
"You're covered, anyway, but I'm not interested in anything than making sure the medicine stays on your back." he stretched, showing he was relaxed, although she didn't realize how uncomfortable he really was.
She blushed and looked away from him, but sighed and agreed that she should trust he only was interested in her recovery…
But that made her somewhat disappointed too…
"You… You saved me. Thank you." she ducked her head down.
"Anytime!" he let the water slide off his back and kept his eyes closed for her, just so she didn't have to worry or fret.
Amy watched the pools as Sonic and her's splashes from the water hitting against them created rippling symphonies out of them…
"…Do you … Do you know why I was there?"
"Last known location that I sent you.. yeah?"
She dipped her head further down, but moved her legs to let them sink into the warm water of the other pool.
She smiled at finally feeling warm and closed her eyes, looking up and no longer being self-conscious anymore.
"It's been so long… since I had even heard your voice. For some time now, I wondered if you were just avoiding me again…"
"Again?" Sonic's voice sounded surprised, but she continued.
"I just… I didn't know why you would plan something and then let something else come up so frequently… a girl can only accept being told to wait so many times…" she gave a humorous grumble, but with her eyes closed, was glad she didn't have to look to see Sonic's reaction.
She tilted her head and bent to let the water flow more directly, and that's when Sonic piped up.
"Hey, the medicine…"
"This 'dress' is locked so tightly that it's not even touching it." she argued, "Just trust me on that."
Silence for a moment…
"Then trust me that I never planned to need to cancel on you so many times…"
She felt her heart, still slightly frosted, begin to melt with a few gentle thumps at his kind words.
She couldn't help but giggle a second, lifting a leg up from the pool and letting it down again, hearing it's gentle movement in the spring.
"Why did you cancel? Couldn't you have rested from your big adventure with me?"
"Heh, guess you have a point."
"I do, don't I? Why didn't you ever suggest alternative days? Or times? Why didn't ask how I was feeling or how I felt about you canceling all the time… did you… did you just not think about how that might have affected me? After so many times..?"
He could tell by her voice she was getting upset, and took a big breath in.
"No, Amy." He admitted, "I honestly didn't think about it."
She felt her lips tighten, but accepted his ignorance. "You've got a one-track mind, alright… But when you're with Tails or Knuckles..? Compared to me..? Is it… is it somewhat different?"
"The solutions?" Sonic questioned.
"No, no… not their reactions to being blown off-"
"Hey! I never blew you off!" Sonic countered, "I just couldn't make it! At least give me that."
Amy rolled her head, stretching it out, "I don't want to explain it to you…" she admitted, weakly sighing it out in an escalating trill. "Ahh~ You're so annoying!~"
Sonic actually laughed at that, quietly, but she was glad he at least thought her complaining cute.
"…Give it a try?"
His words made her grow weaker… and not being able to resist his charms, she conceded.
"When I see you look at Tails… or Knuckles… it's like you're really looking at them."
The waters sounds seemed to become ambiance as she spoke.
"I can't remember the last time… you really looked at me. Seeing who I really am.., by looking down into the depths of my soul… and accepting every part of it. You always say how you see the best in people before the worst. You also say you just have this sense of knowing if someone is in the right or the wrong… I've been wondering… thinking a lot about it… have you… found something you can't stand in see in me? That's why you… you don't mind being taken away on some amazing adventures with Tails and Knuckles… but you're perfectly fine leaving me behind?"
When she opened her eyes, she wondered if the warmth was from the waterfall trailing down her form or from her own tears.
She hadn't been this honest, even with herself for a long time…
"Being in that icy snow… was like being away from your gaze forever…"
When she looked over to see him, she was shocked to see his eyes were opened, staring into her soul, and not looking away.
With red all over her face at his intense but kind eyes, she summoned her hammer and walloped him into the water.
"W-ah-wah-wahhh!" he fell instantly into the pool.
"Ah! Sonic!" She immediately regretted her action, and getting up, felt the sting in her back but still dived into the water.
Seeing him struggle, his cheeks were puffed with air and he kept trying to 'run' through the water, but couldn't.
Giving up, he folded his arms and let himself sink, but looked up to see Amy wrapping her arms around his head, and getting to the bottom of the pool, kicking off and pulling him up too.
"Pah!" the two took a breath in together and Amy moved his flailing arms around her shoulders, kicking to guide him back to the edge.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I wasn't expecting you to be that close!"
He coughed and hacked before looking back to her, "I just… wanted to see your eyes… real badly." he panted, and then coughed some more.
She couldn't help but smile, then push him back further onto the land. "Get the curtain, already!"
"Fine… fine…" He hacked at the end and then raced to get his bearings and do as he was told.
The two sat, back to back with the leafy curtain finally strung up between them.
She could feel his heart though, rapidly pacing and scrunched her body inward, hoping it meant something romantic and not just the fact that he was drowning moments before.
"…What did you see?"
"Nothing. Just you in a leaf dress."
"No! Not that!" she batted the leaf curtain, "Sonic! I meant in my eyes!"
"O-oh, that…" he paused a moment…
In his mind, he had seen her descend through the water with the ends of her leaf dress spread out like miniature wings… Her quills had spread out around her head to flow effortlessly through the water as she reached him.
Her arms wrapped around him and he was pulled up to her, and it was the first time he had felt her so close to him…
He had a goofy grin and kept rubbing his muzzle, knowing his feelings might be all over it by now…
"I saw a girl." he stated, thinking his words carefully. "Reaching out to me in the only way she knew how."
Amy blushed and smacked her hands to the side of her cheeks, "A-and? W-wh-what else did you see… was that it?" she puckered her lips as though disappointed again, but he continued.
"Nah, there was more. So much more, in fact, that I couldn't peel my eyes away… There's so much more there than I ever knew… Even if it was a brief moment…"
His mind moved to seeing her eyes under the water, the warm heat and her arms around him, her eyes opened wide as she dipped down to embrace him and pull him up out of the depths of the pool.
He suddenly sneezed.
"Sonic!"
He rubbed his nose, "Guess I'll have to make another appointment to finish, huh?"
"That's-! Ah…" she was about to complain again before realizing what this meant…
He wanted to spend time with her. He wasn't trying to push her away or pull himself away with his adventures.
She gripped her leafy towel closer to her and nodded, "Okay… but you better not be late this time! And you better tell me the end of that sentence, you hear me!? Sonic,..! Sonic The Hedgehog!"
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you, I hear you!" Sonic waved his hand about in the air, and looking back to the curtain, Amy could see his shadow doing the action. "But now, I'm pretty sure that medicine might have polluted the pool the bit…"
"It's fine. I still feel it. You applied it well." She looked towards where her clothes were. "S-Son-Sonic?"
"Hmm?" he was finally relaxing, enjoying the warmth, the company… even Amy's rapidly beating heart.
He lifted a leg up and leaned slightly back against the curtain, hoping beforehand he wouldn't hurt her by leaning against her back, but seeing as she was recovering well, decided to test it.
She didn't wince, but instead, fidgeted and decided it was best to not ask for it quite yet.
"Nevermind… Thank you, for everything…"
"Nah, thank you."
"For what?"
He patted the curtain, "For making this, without it, I might have actually tried to hold your hand." he teased.
"Ah! Stop teasing me!" she pushed against the curtain, "Don't you know how much I-! Ah! Sonic!" she realized she pushed him back into the pool, but instead of struggling this time, he waited for her to come in and rescue him.
"Sonnnniicc!" she pushed up the leafy curtain and dived in after him.
He was laying on the bottom of the pool's floor again, eyes closed, hands behind his head and legs crossed slightly.
He looked up to see that same image, and smiled as her form met his at the bottom of the hotspring…
Wrapping an arm around her to pull her closer as she raced to save him, he never took his eyes… off of hers.