Amy Rose was surprisingly normal despite the life she'd led. She'd gone from being kidnapped by an evil machine to destroying them, fighting to save the world. The hammer wielding warrior had come face to face with monsters from outer space, experienced the impossible power of the Chaos Emeralds, and forged bonds with people from countless walks of life. And yet, despite all she'd learned about her, Blaze the cat could not understand why this young hedgehog so rarely fixated on those interesting parts of her life.

In some ways, Blaze felt that she knew Amy Rose better than she knew herself. While the feline was a slave to her duties, Miss Rose seemed to live a different hedonistic adventure every day. She was bubbly, kind, strong, but, more than anything, the girl was deeply and profoundly in love. Falling so deeply in love that seventy nine percent of ones thoughts connected to romance seemed to have a profoundly positive effect on one's life and worldview. Despite the conflicts she'd faced, Amy was the kind of person who fully embodied her emotions... or at least, did so more thoroughly than Blaze ever felt she could. She'd shouted, cried, and torn her quills out... but she always had something to smile about. Well, someone to smile about.

Sonic the hedgehog, in Blaze's estimation, was not worth the hubbub the young girl made about him. Even through Amy's rose tinted stare, her so-called darling's failings did not go unnoticed. He clearly wasn't comfortable embodying his feelings in the same way that the Amy did. He ran from the obvious truth that the pink hedgehog could see; he'd show his love for but a moment and be gone in the blink of an eye. Even ignoring his fickle displays of romance, when compared to some of the other warriors listed in the journal, he seemed irresponsible and frankly reckless. In a sense though, despite Blaze feeling she knew Amy better, it was perhaps easier to relate to that inconsiderate boy. After all, she wasn't exactly open with her emotions either...

A sound pricked the feline's ears, she'd been too lost in her own thoughts; that was foolish, it wasn't safe here. She'd never dared to visit this side of city, instead keeping to the rooftops and side-streets she knew. This district was near the epicentre of the chaos, its terrain was warped and jagged. Even in these brief spells of lowered threat, it was unwise to lower ones guard lest monsters seized on that opportunity. Beating back Iblis didn't mean that all of its spawn had disappeared; burning hounds still stalked the pavement just as flaming bats patrolled the skies.

Ruins surrounded Blaze on all sides; the crumbled remains of homes and livelihoods alike. No structure was without the taint brought on by the apocalypse, be it great cracks down their walls from the daily earthquakes or foundational collapse induced by flowing lava or any other manner of destruction. These points provided ample cover for the very monsters that caused the ruination. Ears flicked and eyes scanned, her attention lingered on a particular toppled skyscraper but there was no sign of movement. A sigh slipped beyond her lips as her attention returned to the path ahead.

Despite her lackadaisical daydreaming, she'd made it to her destination without issue. Even more surprising; her foolish objective was still intact. This had all been so reckless- Miss Rose must have been rubbing off on her. Well, either Amy was or-

She shook that last thought from her head, coming to a halt as she took in approaching the section of degraded city. Stretching above a river of lava was what had surely once been a modern looking bridge, though time had not been kind to it. Even ignoring the corrosion owed to its lack of maintenance, the structure's had melted such that jagged metal descended beneath it like a sharp-toothed upper jaw. The handrails were still there, that was the most important aspect; though could the crossing still hold her weight?
Blaze placed a tentative toe on the bridge; no resounding scream of immanent metallic collapse sounded, even as she pushed down. She felt confident the crossing would handle the clicking of her heels, but settled that she would quick. This was no time to daydream.

The feline walked her way to the bridge's midway point before turning, taking in the view. Amy had described a pristine blue river that curved past the businesses that dotted its banks; ranging from ice cream parlours to arcades and docks offering gondola rides. Now the vista was that of an oozing red flood, speckled with midnight obsidian rafters, flowing over what had once been a bustling riverside boardwalk. Not a single crane game or canoe remained.

Still, despite how much the view had changed, Blaze was certain she'd looked this way; the other direction just looked back on a row of skyscrapers. The skyline had undergone a considerable shift, but there'd certainly been no new developments of that sort. This was it; this was where she'd stood.

Now the cat turned her attention down to the bridge's handrail; to her her goal. Immediately, frustration hardened her brow. Amy hadn't mentioned there being so many-

"Blaze?" A familiar shout spun the cat's head, "Is that you?"

"Keep your voice down," She'd been too focused on her search, she hadn't heard him approach, "This area isn't clear, it's not safe!"

Floating almost twenty metres above her, shining with cyan aura, was Silver the hedgehog. Had he been following her? It was difficult to read his expression beneath the psychic tint, not to mention from her low down angle, but Blaze doubted it. He'd almost certainly been patrolling in the wake of Iblis most recent defeat; trying to find where the beast would next resurrect, searching for whatever fresh advantage they could get to try and finish the beast for good. It was no wonder he was in this most abandoned sector of the city.

"Right, right, sorry," He lowered down to her level, feet just off the ground, speaking in hushed whispers, "But what're you doing here?"

She'd hoped to do this without him noticing, "I'm here to return this book to its rightful place."

In Blaze's hands was a small book, its was tattered but still wore its warm pink protective cover. This was Amy Rose as Blaze knew her; physically a series of entries in an overly saccharine journal but so much more in spirit. Her writings were one of the few windows into historic normalcy the pyrokinetic had been granted.

"It's someone's diary," Blaze quickly continued, "It belonged to a girl who lived prior to Iblis' arrival."

"Oh wow, really?" His eyes were sparkling, "Can I read it?"

"I'm afraid not. It's impolite for a boy to read a girl's diary," Blaze claimed, having read that truth from Amy after Sonic apparently stole the tome.

"It is?" As the hedgehog asked his head tilted and quills flopped.

"Yes," She kept her face as stern as possible, maintaining her serious tone, "It would be improper for you to know its contents."

"O-Okay. I get it, I get it," He raised his hands defensively, "I won't read the diary, I promise."

"Good," The cat turned away from him, back to the view.

"But, I mean..." He was stammering, "Well, why this the book's rightful place? We could put it somewhere safe instead; make sure it never gets burned..."

"Her last entry discussed this spot, I thought it only right to return the book to here," The pyrokinetic explained, "To let her properly rest in peace."

"Oh," There was a beat of quiet; they'd come upon others' remains so many times before, "I understand."

She had felt that reading the diary was wrong, that staring into the young girl's heart and deepest thoughts was immoral. To share Amy's life with another felt somehow even grosser; parading the trials and tribulations of a long past girl without her permission. Telling Silver her name, or even that of her lover, almost felt like it would be breaking a promise.

Granted, there was information within the book worth sharing, mainly pertaining to the Chaos Emeralds... but Blaze felt she could hold onto that too. After all, if either of them came across such a strange artefact they'd surely have want to show the other- regardless of whether they knew what it was capable of. If that time came, then she would explain the stones power. Besides, Blaze knew what would happen if she told him of them; the hunt for Chaos Emeralds would become his obsession, he'd surely kill himself searching all manner of deadly sites for them. He was too headstrong as things were, she didn't want him to-

"What're these?" She'd been lost in her thoughts again, the hedgehog had come in to land and strode past her, "Who put all these locks on a bridge?"

He'd noticed them, another portion of her true reason for coming here. The cat's tail flicked as she pondered how to answer him. This was going to be exhausting.

"These are lovelocks," The cat began to explain, "In the past, romantic couples would place them on bridges or monuments, any point of interest really; marking them with their initials or names. It's sort of like the graffiti we've seen across the city; names or symbols painted on walls or carved in places."

"Oh," He didn't get it, "Why though did they do it though? And why locks? I guess if it's romantic... some of them are kind of heart shaped I suppose?"

This was going to be embarrassing.

"They represent a promise, it's similar to..." Silver probably didn't know what an engagement ring was, this was embarrassing enough, "They represent a vow you make with a person you care about more than any other. They represent that two people are bonded, they are locked together. Some say that the bond between them will last as long as the lock remains sealed, that its secureness is emblematic of a pair's companionship."

"Oh, I get it," Did he? "It's like a proposal."

"H-How did you find out about proposals?" Blaze quickly stuttered.

"They came up in a book I read," He nonchalantly answered before again throwing his hands up, "It wasn't a girl's diary, I promise!"

A creak sounded underfoot; in an instant Silver chest was to her back, his arm found the feline's leg while his left hand gripped her shoulder. With a psychic whir they were airborne, metres above the ground. There was no further shake, no buckling of metal, but the hedgehog had been right to act. There was no question that the structural integrity of the bridge was poor; she'd known that upon stepping on, but could it really not handle their combined weight?

The pyrokinetic looked upwards to the psychic, in an instant he'd gone from soft to serious. His gaze had sharpened, cutting across the ground and skyline in equal turn; searching for threats. He was prepared to strike, ready to fight with all his might at a moment's notice. He'd hurl skyscrapers if it meant defending her...

"All clear," He was back to soft in an instant, his harshness never fell upon her, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," She managed to grumble, her shoulder sliding against his clavicle, "Thank you."

She'd though before that he was the only soft thing in this world of fire and brimstone. He truly didn't belong in the world he'd been born into; he should have been amongst blue skies, not flanked by dark clouds. They'd have got along, Silver and Amy; Blaze could practically see it. The psychic belonged in happier times, able to harness his gift to do good and reap the rewards of his valour. Whether Blaze herself belonged there, she wasn't so sure.

"The book was all about marriage actually," What was he... oh, the not-diary he'd learned about engagement from. He really had gone from one mode right back to the other, "It didn't say anything about lovelocks, but it talked about all kinds of traditions. Throwing rice, the vows, the first kiss, all sorts of interesting stuff," Was he really going to keep talking about romance while they were floating like this? "Did you know that a husband is supposed to carry their wife over the threshold when they get home for the first time? The example pictures were kind of like how I've got you now, an arm around the shoulder and-

"Shush!" She hissed, palming his mouth and turning away in embarrassment, "You're right, yes. Setting a lovelock is similar to a proposal. It's not as serious as marriage but the message is the same. It's a sign that a person expects and wants their bond with another to last. That one sees themself as connected to the other."

He'd said something, but her hand was still over his mouth. Still, she'd heard some sort of murmur of understanding. She freed his mouth and crossed her arms.

"People would place lovelocks on bridges because they're an obvious and easy to access public place to put them. I think part of the reason lovelocks became so popular is because they represent a public display of affection. Attaching one's love to a location meant making that love publicly visible too," Blaze could feel herself rambling, "I also think they're meant to represent a moment between those people; generally, I think a lovelock is put somewhere a couple shared a moment. Overlooking some sort of fantastic view or on some kind of... outing together."

"I imagine this would have been a nice view, once upon a time," The hedgehog mumbled.

It'd taken reflecting on Amy's description for Blaze to imagine the riverside as it'd once been. Could he envision it without that prior description? Could he see gondolas paddling down a pristine river at the heart of a city?

"I think so too," Was all she managed to respond before turning back to the scene.

For just a moment, in the comfort of her companion's arms, the destroyed world around them managed to fade from Blaze's mind.

"Do you want to drop the book off and head back to base?" He asked, breaking the quiet, "I don't think that bridge is going to hold out if we go back down there..."

"No," She responded, far too fast, "I have something else I need to do too," Her mouth felt dry, "The girl's last entry talked about her setting a lovelock on this bridge and..."

Now her tongue felt heavy all of a sudden, "I want to find it, to make sure that it's still here."

"To make sure that her promise still lives on, even after all this time," Silver put together.

"She had someone she cared about, some cocky boy who she was in love with more than anything else," Blaze elaborated, again trying to protect the intricacies of Amy's life, "He disappeared one day, she set out to look for him. She made a promise on a lovelock that she would find him again, no matter how long it took. That she would look out for him."

Silver's muzzle twisted for a moment, the feline read his expression. He was plainly feeling a mix of compassion and concern; perhaps he was considering the potential for foes to encroach. For a moment Blaze thought he might psychically tear all the locks from the bridge so that she didn't have to risk it collapsing and the keepsake being lost to the lava below.

"Alright," He nodded, intensity returned to his eyes, "I'll help you find that lock."

Of course he was going to be over-serious about this, "You stay airborne and search from the far side, I'll look from the bridge," Blaze instructed, "If it sounds like it's about to collapse, just grab me again."

"Got it," The hedgehog agreed, gently lowering her down to the bridge, "What'll the lock look like?"

"I'm not certain, but it should have the letter A, then a plus sign, then an S all etched within a heart," Blaze responded, rising from his hold to start rattling through the locks.

There were so many lovelocks spread across the barricade, some even shackled to each other. While Blaze set to work manually, Silver loosed a psychic flare that rattled across a half dozen padlocks at a time. So many inscriptions, from initials to full names, years, and even quotes. Based on the condition, some of the locks might have been on the bridge for over fifty years before the world ended. That such a showing of love and devotion had lasted for so long, that so many couples were still represented, was-

"It's here!" His call spun her head, "Well, assuming there aren't any other folks who shared those initials, I think this is it?"

Blaze approached, spinning the lock to her side for a better look. It was small and circular, perhaps it had been golden at one point but now the brass had given way to green and brown. The inscription was faded, perhaps due to the heat or a wayward splash of lava, but the cat could still see it. She ran her thumb over the indentation and felt the rough curve of a carved heart, then the letters housed within it.

"Yes, this is it," She smiled at him, "Thank you, Silver."

Blaze set down the diary beneath the lock. Over time the flames would claim it, she knew that for certain, but at least it would lie by Amy's last known location. Blaze didn't dare consider how the warrior might have met her end, she had no idea if Amy had received a funeral; but this bare minimum felt good to do. Her last known work would now reside alongside her last known promise, until their end...

"We should head back, this place is dangerous. I've done what I came here to do," The cat half lied, looking to Silver.

"I can carry you if you want," He had been really trying to help her to overcome her fear of heights as of late, "We'd make it back to base in no time."

"No, I'll stick to hard ground," She insisted, shooting down his offer, "Just lead the way. I'll be with you shortly. I'm just going to say goodbye."

He hesitated for a moment longer, could he tell she had something else to do? Regardless of whether he could, it didn't stop him from returning to the air and pointing a path. With a surge of psychic light be set off, leaving a cyan trail behind for her to follow.

Blaze pulled something from her pocket, something she was so very glad she'd managed to hide. The cat couldn't bare the embarrassment of him watching what she was about to, especially after all she'd explained- the thought alone had her tail stiff. Untouched by the devastation, previously hidden away in a collapsed hardware store, she'd just so happened to come across a padlock a few days after finishing Amy's journal. Well, that's what she'd been telling herself rather than admit she'd been keeping an eye out while searching for tools.

With a twist of a key the shackle opened, it looked to be just wide enough. Blaze slid the cuff around one of the railing spokes, just to the left of Amy's own lovelock. With a click and a tug, Blaze confirmed the latch had been sealed; a glance over her shoulder proved that Silver's light was fading from view, she had to be quick or else he'd double back.
Fire burned bright at the tip of her finger before being further focused to glow at the end point of an extended claw. She carved into the metal as though slicing through fabric, etching a series of letters and flicking away what melting metal would hamper her progress or obscure her efforts. With no more than a breath her heat was dissipated and the inscription was lain bear.

"Silver + Blaze," The metal read, but its meaning deeper.

They had beat back Iblis for the first time two years ago, and seen that monster resurrected forty-three times despite their efforts. That girl's diary had taught Blaze a lot; of the Chaos Emeralds, that there were other worlds outside of this one, and that embracing one's care for another made life so much easier. One of them could fall any day now; be it to a Iblis, its spawn, or something as mundane as a bridge collapse. It was their mutual trust that had got them this far, she had to accept it. If that trust would finally let them turn the tide and save this world; then in that miracle's wake, she didn't want to leave his side.

Blaze was convinced that Amy Rose had the right idea. Believing in someone else did feel nice. It did make life just that little bit more worth living. If loving Silver meant putting all her trust in him, then she had been in love with the psychic for longer than she could even remember. She vowed to watch his back just as he watched hers. With a toss of the key to vanish it into the lava below, her promise was made permanent; fate was sealed.

Still, even after matching her here; Blaze knew she could never truly live as Amy had. She wasn't superstitious or bubbly or cheery. Alike that Sonic fellow, she wouldn't be making any grand proclamations of love. The best she could muster were her usual offhand grumbles about how naive he was. Well, perhaps one day Silver would manage to read between the lines...