Thirty days, it'd been thirty full days since she'd last seen him. What kind of state would he turn up in?
Blaze the cat, the guardian of and heir to the Sol emeralds, was far from home. She'd crossed the barrier between worlds and slipped through the cracks of time. To her back was a small, swirling, blue and white portal, formed by the seven stones that she was supposed to be guarding. To her front was a wasteland that she could scarcely comprehend, the once lush island before her looked as though it'd withered before lingering in a constant state of Autumn yellow and orange. All around the stone plinth she stood atop, dishevelled and stalks of wheat-like grass lingered in a final state that they could not seem to leave. This was supposed to be spring, when she'd visited last Winter was in full swing, and yet, things had been the same. There was no change in weather, no shifting of seasons and that meant nothing had died or grown since the calamity occurred.
She stood where the Master Emerald was typically planted, atop its platform on angel island, yet her fear of heights refused to surface. The large emerald was gone, and the island had fallen from the sky, yet no torrent of waves had overcome its surface. Well, no tsunami had fully overwhelmed it. A glance behind her, beyond the portal, revealed a frothing and foaming wall of water that'd been brought to halt before it could overcome the island's central plinth.
This world was windless, the air would not move were it not for her breathing and that sound, combined with the beating of her heart, was the only noises within earshot. The plants stood in mid-sway, the seas had frozen without cooling and the clouds hung above as though they had been painted onto a blue sky. A bird hung not ten feet from her, it hadn't flapped its wings in almost two hundred years and yet it still lingered in the air. If it wasn't for the slow drift of the sun across the sky, the feline would think the entire universe had come to a sudden and irreversible halt. Only this world that had succumbed to the effect of what she assumed to be a grand chaos control; a failed last ditch-effort to either defeat her friends or for them to defend against the inevitable.
The feline was not here to reverse this calamity and restore the flow of time, no. She was here to collect the hedgehog who had sought out its very origin with the intent to delve back in time and stop the end before it could begin. She had struck an agreement with Silver a few apocalypses past, stating it was an attempt to keep both him and her kingdom safe as he sought out calamities. One month ago, not that this world had really noticed that time passing, she had left him here with the intent to reunite one month later; this way, he had some time to gather information but always a guaranteed way home. They'd done that five times now and, thus far, prevented the end of the world four times. Unfortunately, however, the thirty-day gap had come to represent something different for Blaze. Whenever they spent this time apart, Blaze seemed to more and more realise a fundamental fact she had long denied.
A calamity ago, her worries settled and her denial long past, she knew why she'd chosen to limit their parting to thirty days.
Silver was insecure when he was alone, that was a fact, but before these days, she'd never taken a moment to consider her own loneliness. She'd found that whenever she was without him, before her focus could latch onto anything else, her mind seemed to wander and find itself with him. It wasn't that thirty days was all the time he needed to find the source of the world's destruction, it wasn't that thirty days was needed to recharge the portal or commit to some other bureaucracy- thirty days was all that she could stomach being apart from him. Thirty days was all it took for him to go from a place her mind might wander to the bedrock it lingered upon.
Even now, while she stood in a world she'd likely never see again, with a robin frozen a mere stretch away and the ocean to her back, her mind had locked itself upon him again. By virtue of this world's state, she could so easily see the path he'd walked through the grass. They'd been so confused, struggling to figure out what could have possibly happened here; she'd lingered for a few hours with him, investigating this island and finding that, while they could move and use objects, nothing seemed to be functioning on its own. She'd given him her chaos control hypothesis and he'd agreed before they'd said that day's goodbye…
Her right arm crossed her body and squeezed her left shoulder, she could still perfectly recall how he had hugged her and even hear his words booming in this silent world. He'd said such silly, innocent, oblivious things in that moment, just as he did whenever they parted or reunited. He'd said words that, in this world void of sound, she feared would turn her heart into a gong.
Coming from a destroyed future, knowing little of modern society, Silver's interactions carried a certain bluntness that she both appreciated and feared. It was useful as they, more often than not, found themselves sharing a wavelength, he'd oftentimes express frustration or excitement in her stead and save her from fumbling or grappling with maintaining her mature demeanour. Unlike her, he wore his heart on his sleeve and his mood carried so blatantly in his tone. It often felt like she only had three modes- serious, angry and flustered. Of course, that last one could come about as a result of the very bluntness she'd just praised.
He knew what words meant, broadly, but he didn't seem to understand the intent some had gained with time. He'd learned many words from the dictionary directly so that was understandable but still very embarrassing. One of those words in particular, one that she knew not to dwell too deeply upon, tickled her cheeks pink with no more than a thought.
Blaze glanced to the sky, looking beyond the bird to view the outline of the sun as it passed over the clouds. It was probably just a little after midday, in a few minutes the sun would again breach through one of the many holes in the clouds and shine upon an unreciprocating ground. He would be here soon, she could practically feel it; there was a tension in her gut that she could recall from just before the last time he popped out of the clouds, covered in scrapes and bandages. She couldn't imagine that he'd appear in the same manner this time, the last world he'd been stranded on was overrun by gigantic insects, but that didn't stop her from worrying about how he'd appear. This world seemed harmless enough, benign in its destruction and awash with food preserved by the freezing of time, but that didn't mean accidents wouldn't happen or that there wasn't some unseen threat. He'd been alone in such a quiet world for a month, it was very possible that-
A flash of light and a mechanical crunching claxon pulled Blaze from her thoughts and tore her vision to the bottom of the plinth's stairs. Crouched there, his face somewhat obscured by a chunky looking printer-camera, was a form she could easily identify. Though his quills were somewhat matted against his head and he was wearing clothes she didn't recognise, that was clearly Silver the hedgehog. The moment his head emerged from behind the plastic mass, Blaze was almost knocked from her feet by his beaming grin. He was blindly fumbling to grab the picture while, simultaneously, rushing up the stairs towards her.
Her heart pounded in time with his approach, fortunately finding themselves muted by the repetition of his steps. The camera was allowed to drop, hanging from his neck on a strap and fully revealing both his face and garb. The backpack they'd stuffed together now hung empty and loose on his shoulders but, beyond that and his golden cuffs, much of his outfit had changed. A set of brown hiking boots had been hastily tied to his feet, beige gardener's gloves covered his hands and a loosely fitting cloak made from brown burlap shrouded his frame. She'd noticed these things, and that he was unharmed, but the feline was truthfully too busy bracing herself to truly digest them.
He practically leapt at her as he reached the final stairs, giving up on running entirely and allowing a psychokinetic shroud to overcome his form. Blaze's preparations proved useless, as their frames collided she was torn from the ground and into the air with him. Though her hands managed to latch onto his shoulders, she shut her eyes tight as he pulled her into a spinning hug that quickly reached its apex.
His voice, the voice she'd missed for a whole month now, rushed its way into her ear, "I missed you so much, Blaze! Its been so long!"
"It has been, indeed," She managed a deep breath, locking her arms tighter still around him, "I'm glad you're in one piece this time."
She felt his head rub against hers, excitement trembled in his voice, "I did it again, I found the cause, everything's going to be okay. We'll be able to save everyone!" Unable to find words, she tried to relax into his grasp only for the words she'd feared yet knew were inevitable to rush from his gob, "I really did miss you Blaze; it was so lonely here, I could hardly stand it. I love you so much!"
Love; more specifically the phrase I love you. Those words set her face on fire and made her heart skip explosive beat after explosive beat. Blaze felt her fists tighten against his back as that claim, a claim he must have made hundreds of times across this life, penetrated her very soul. She was a princess and a guardian, she was royalty kept separate from the world and treated as though she was sacred; she was not used to bearing emotions nor having emotions so bluntly bared in her direction. This happened and would happen time and time again, it was unavoidable, but every time it happened, it felt even realer to the royal pyrokinetic.
"I-I know, I know," She managed to grumble, feeling her toes curl as she refused herself his openness, "I… missed you too." She felt the uncomfortable mass of his camera press into her gut as he nuzzled even closer, fuelled by that admission.
The smell of his efforts on this planet was plain on his person but it was a scent Blaze had come to both miss and appreciate, it was a reminder of him and where he was. Though nothing could truly compare to the friction of their furs; the cloak he was wearing wasn't comfortable to brush against. Those thoughts rocked Blaze even closer to her core, acting as an aftershock to what he had just said. She had been right; her heart was beating far too quickly and far too loudly for him not to notice. With each passing second it must have been growing more and more obvious to him.
"Was everything okay back home while I was away?" He so casually pried, acting as if he hadn't noticed it, "Is Marine alright?"
"Everything's fine, she's fine, there's nothing to worry about," She raced to answer, deciding to harness his sudden shifting of the conversation, "She missed you, she always does a bit, she'll be waiting with Gardon at the other side of the portal right now… hopefully he can keep her from charging through."
"Hopefully," He seemed to get a chuckle out of that, Blaze knew that he liked to dote on the little raccoon far more than she deserved. There was probably something in his bag for her, "This place is pretty safe though, as apocalypses go. A little weirder than most though... on account of everyone still being around."
"It isn't quite our usual fair," Blaze managed to agree, her pulse gradually slowing, "It seems like we could probably fix this one here and now, if it weren't for Angel Island falling."
"Yeah, it almost seems like a waste to reset the timeline over this…" He admitted, "I know it's what they want us to do though, Amy left me her diary and a whole plan they came up with this time. It's actually super simple! You see, Eggman set up this ludicrous labyrinth to trap everyone but, to make sure people went inside, he set a bomb and-
Silver managed to catch himself in the middle of rambling and shift to slightly part their bodies, "You'd rather talk about this on the ground, right?"
"I…" She thought for a moment, sensing an opportunity, "If it's not too much trouble for you, then yes," She enjoyed trying to tease him, knowing that the best way to dodge embarrassment was to remain off of the back foot, "You seem to enjoy whisking me off my feet," Well, she'd enjoyed it until she'd taken it too far. Now her heart was pounding again.
"Well of course I love hugging you Blaze," She felt the wind glide through her fur as they began a slow descent, "Besides, it'd feel wrong to do it in a half measure, I need to go all out and show you that I missed you," There was a hint of worry in his voice, "Is that okay?"
"O-Of course it is!" Just when she'd thought she was getting the upper hand; his bluntness had reset things. Annoyed that her temperature had spiked again, she grumbled, "You're so naïve."
Her heels clacked onto the ground, she stumbled back and free of the grasp to put around a pace between them. When she met his eyes again, those electric yellow orbs that seemed as though they could sense every one of her wayward feelings, she went from being tickled pink to fully blushing. His goofy, content, smile wasn't helping matters; it was fortunate that he looked away to rummage through his burlap garb.
Eventually, he retrieved a small pink book with a big blue heart etched on the front, "She left a note saying we're only supposed to read the last entry, I guess this was the only paper they had? They basically asked me to map out the maze and figure out which path was the right one, that way they could reach the bomb on time and not risk losing anyone. With chaos control freezing time everywhere, Eggman's bomb wouldn't go off and that the traps wouldn't react even if I triggered them. I used my powers to go through the maze, figuring out which path led to the end. It'd taken them months to get even a little way into the place, they'd already lost Tails, Rouge and Shadow along the way. They kept panicking about the timer and rushing in, I got it all done in a little over a week!"
"That was actually a really good idea," Blaze couldn't help but praise, glad that their friend's thinking had saved Silver from serious injury in whatever world would have followed that blast, "If they lose again, hopefully they can do this more often. That way you won't have to wade through some impossible terrain."
"Hopefully, I'm glad they've started to think about us when things go wrong. It makes our job a lot easier, right?" He still referred to it as their job, not just his. Even though she no longer traversed these worlds, he still considered it a team effort.
"Well, it's about time," Blaze agreed, "Their job isn't easy but yours is certainly harder."
As he went to tuck that book back into his clothes, Blaze couldn't help but notice the still very slightly grey and blurred photo in his hand. As his cloak reopened, Blaze saw row upon row of photographs seemingly pegged to his body via a set of loose straps. He seemed to follow her gaze and, in a single psychic movement, lifted the camera from his form to float over to her.
"I saw it in a shop window before we left your world. I thought it might be useful for charting what had happened and what could be fixed, it seemed a lot easier and quicker than taking notes," She plucked the little device out of the and examined it. If he'd found it in this world then it wouldn't have worked, the mechanics inside wouldn't properly respond to the press of a button, "I'd never really used one before, taking photos is a lot of fun!"
It was small, a little beat up around the edges, and formed of grey plastic. When she went to hand it back to him, the hedgehog simply turned and gestured to his bag. Rising to her tiptoes ever so slightly, she managed to undo the latches and gently lower it inside. All the food they'd prepared together was gone but the comforts, the blanket and pillows she'd made sure to pack, were clearly used yet they remained.
Once she'd closed it back up, he spun on his heel and opened his coat. Several bandoleers with countless photos pegged to them immediately caught the feline's eye, "I took a bunch of photos… maybe a few too many."
Though most of the photos were serious (like a picture of the three hedgehogs of the past, alongside Knuckles, surrounding the master emerald, one of a giant bomb with a countdown timer with only half a second left and a collection that seemed to map Eggman's maze) there were a fair few that better matched the one he'd taken of her. That was to say that they were less important and more of what interested him. Alongside the causes of this world's destruction were beautifully still cityscapes still filled with life, beachlines with frothy frozen waves mere inches from claiming them and a flock of birds on return from migrating photographed as though he was among them. While she'd been staring at those pictures though, he'd been waving and squinting at the one he'd just taken of her; his smile was growing goofier and goofier.
"I think this one might be my new favourite though," He turned it to her and, once again, heat rushed to her face.
To call it a bad photo wouldn't be fair, the photo itself was fine, but the idea that it was better than some of the impossible and beautiful ones he'd taken was frankly ludicrous. It was just a picture of her, standing at the top of the stone platform and flanked by the several pillars that surrounded it. His position had led her body to obscure the portal behind her, the frothy wall of the ocean was entirely unimpeded and fully on display as it half swallowed two of those stone spires. It was a candid shot, she had been entirely oblivious to his photographing, but it took her a moment to realise quite what the candid shot suggested. With that towering ocean behind her it looked like she was about to be swallowed by a tsunami but her attention seemed to be entirely focused on the red crested robin above her.
"You look so pretty," She knew he meant in the picture but that didn't stop her cheeks from further catching alight.
Coughing slightly, turning away and swallowing, she managed to grunt, "Thank you, Silver…" The majority of her had wanted to return that phrase with a complement of her own but a violent minority had suppressed such a desire.
Pinning the photo among his collection, Silver finally shed that wind-torn cloak and shrugged the bag from his back. With the flick of his wrists and a small flaring of light, the hedgehog brought his strapped album to gently flutter into his rucksack and his coat to fold into a ball before following it. Silver fur, likely washed in rivers with the aid of stolen soap, became fully visible. His stark white chest fur seemed to almost puff up, having finally been freed from that brown garb's confines.
Realising that she'd been staring from her turned position, Blaze quickly feigned more coughing. It was silly, this was all so juvenile, but then he was being exactly the same. He didn't realise what he was doing to he-
"Blaze," For a moment, her blood ran cold, "Are you alright? Are you sick?" He drew a step closer and, before she could really react, leaned down to nuzzle his forehead against hers, "You look really red and you've been coughing a bit…" He was taking her temperature, he'd learned to do it in this embarrassing way back when they were young but that didn't make it any easier to stomach. It was just so stupidly intimate. Her eyes shut tight, "Did you get ill while I was away?" Though she wanted to tell him no and free him from worry, the combined closeness and genuine concern in his voice paralysed her tongue, "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"
After a moment of biting her tongue and screwing her nerve to the sticking point, she managed to respond, "You're so naïve, I'm fine Silver. It's just a little tickle in my throat," As her eyes opened, she found herself faced with a very unconvinced stare. Rolling her eyes, she pushed one of her balled fists against his fluffy chest, "Come on, I'm sure Marine's already talked Gardon's ear off waiting for us. We can get back and go for something to eat."
Before Blaze could turn, he'd besieged her personal space again. With the camera now removed from his frame, there was nothing to stop him from fully pressing against her. With his cloak removed too, the fluffiness of his form was able to fully push against and into her.
Those words tumbled from his lips again as he resumed the hug, "I'm so sorry, thank you for coming today, I love you, Blaze," She knew how it was meant but, despite regardless of obliviousness, she couldn't help blushing, "You're the best!"
He knew what those words meant; he just didn't know how they were supposed to be used. Her shoulders tensed as she struggled to return his contact; balled fists weren't much good for cuddling but she managed to push her chin beyond his shoulder and put her face out with his gaze. Here, surrounding his form just as he surrounded hers, the world seemed so very different. To contrast the hardness of her denial, everything about him was so soft; from the texture of his fur to the strength of his touch, every pressure of every sort was so innocently gentle yet strong. He held her close, he held her tight, but she couldn't call his hold constrictive. If she wanted free then she could get free, but this was the freest she ever truly felt. Whenever he initiated these things, even though she was awful at returning his contact, she found herself in the very position she longed to be in.
Slowly, cautiously, Blaze allowed her gaze to drop to her hands. Tightly wadded fists slowly uncurled their fingers, she tentatively held her left near the small of his back and felt the deep fluff that enveloped his body, but the right was far more difficult to place. Her eyes shut tight, she held her breath, and slowly pushed her fingers to ply through his quills and hold the back of his head. It took a surprisingly long time to find something solid, at first she thought she'd entirely missed but, eventually, her fingers traced the very back of his head. Almost immediately, that contact was rewarded by the slumping of his body as Silver buried his frame even deeper against hers. That would have been embarrassing enough but a sound brought her eyes to open; his tail was beating back and forth like a baton wielded by some rogue drummer.
Blaze knew what love was, she'd felt it for him for far longer than she was willing to recognise, but she was certain that he didn't. He knew that one person caring deeply for another was called love, that much was simply understood, but the depth of that care or its modern context was entirely lost on him. To him it seemed as though love was just a stronger version of like and that because he liked her more than he liked anyone else, he'd use the word love exclusively when referring to her. That exclusivity was another thing that made this all the more embarrassing, she'd anticipated being disappointed when they first met up with the others, but she was surprised to find he hadn't grown so intimate with them. Despite the lack of intent behind the word, it seemed to still be reserved for her. He knew the word, but he did not understand the concept of love.
"Y-You're so naïve, I'm not sick, I promise…" She grumbled. Having caught herself, lost in thought and staring, she tore her gaze from that fluttering appendage, "And you shouldn't use those words so casually. They're not meant for moments like this."
She felt him shift, trying to pull away to look her in the eye, but she held strong. Her blush was still much too potent, she couldn't stand to look at him like this.
"Words? What words…? You mean I love you?" The wagging of his tail seemed to slow as he realised that and tried to shift, "But, if I can't say them now, when can I say them?" He so bluntly asked. When he found he couldn't pull away to look her in the eye, he'd pulled her even closer in; the fluff around his neck was brushing her lips, "I like using those words, they're the truest thing I can say."
Of course, compared to after he'd said that, her blush had hardly been noticeable. Her tail, an appendage she could usually keep well under control, lashed about as though it were some threatened snake and she felt her ears burrow against her head. This was too much; she knew that he'd missed her, but she hadn't anticipated all this. Every touch, every prod and murmured word, set her face ablaze and doubled the pounding of her heart.
"You can only say that…" Blaze hesitated, scrounging for the right words, "When you truly mean it," She felt him shift, this time his managed to force its way into view. He was so oblivious, he looked so confused, she really wasn't helping him understand but she didn't have the guts to spell it out, "Because o-only then will I say it back."
"But I do mean it, I promise I do," She felt his grasp grow tighter again, he was wearing such a serious face, "You're my best friend, Blaze. Of course I love you! I don't know what I'd do or where I'd be without you," The hedgehog almost looked crestfallen.
"You were just away for a month, working on your own," She chided quickly, trying to change the subject and refusing to answer that last quote, "How can you say that now, of all times?"
"Well, I guess that's true…" He half hummed, seeming to mull that thought over, "But I only managed because, whenever I was lost or confused, I'd just think about what you'd do. Then, everything worked out alright!"
So that was how he'd overcome his insecurity, that was how he'd managed alone. Through all he'd surely come to face, through fights and starvation and all manner of struggles, he'd keep her in mind. This future hadn't been an especially difficult one to survive in, but she supposed seeing so many silent people must have been lonely. To him, she supposed, it was as if she hadn't left his si-
"I still really missed you though," He reinforced, something almost wistful in his voice, "Thinking about you and what you would do got me through all kinds of struggles, I got lost and stumped a bunch of times… but in the aftermath, whenever things were good, I couldn't get you out of my head," His brutal honesty cut her to the core time and time again, "I missed this so much; I missed you so much…"
Cyan light began to surround their frames once again, dancing wand weaving to engulf them just as his hold engulfed her. This time, far less suddenly, Blaze felt herself grow weightless before her feet began to drift from the stonework and slip into the air. She couldn't stand to push her head beyond his this time, she didn't want to bare the sight of the height. Instead, her eyes simply shut tight and she brought her head to push against his. She was certain her forehead was burning hot, he was probably still worrying about her having a cold, but it was the best she could muster given the circumstances.
Blaze knew he wouldn't drop her, she knew she was safe in the sky with him, but that only served to remind her of why she loved him. He wouldn't even joke about it; he knew how much heights worried her so he'd make extra certain that she was comfortable, baring his sense of justice. People would go out of their way for her all the time, she was a princess after all, but whenever Silver did it, there was no motive or heavy-handed politeness behind it. He simply did it because he cared about her; his only want was for her to be happy.
Her eyes reopened as she felt his forehead rubbing against hers. As if to show solidarity, the hedgehog had shut his eyes too and was now simply enjoying the friction between their reunited forms. Just as she began to worry that touch might have stoked her purr, Blaze felt something bubbling in her chest. A breathing, cracking, sound that she had no control over began to roll from her throat. Her emotions were overflowing, she'd tried too hard for too long to contain them, she stood no hope of caging them. Her eyes shut just as she caught his begin to flicker open.
"I missed your purr too," He mumbled, "It always sounds so warm, it reminds me that I'm home..."
"S-Silver," She huffed, trying to regain some seriousness, "Are you trying to embarrass me?"
"What? No," That seem to wake him up, "I just missed it. When I hear it, it feels like everything will be okay," He fumbled to explain, "You only purr when I come back, never when I leave."
She hadn't ever noticed that, it took a moment for her to accept it as true. When he was around she'd purr rather often, the sound would mingle with her laugh or escape with her yawn, but never during their goodbyes. She'd hold him, share sweet nothings with him and even be embarrassed by him, but that sound would not spread to their surroundings.
"I suppose that's true," She couldn't contest, "But even if you're not trying, you know…" She searched for the right words, "Hearing that said aloud is quite embarrassing."
"It is?" Her eyes opened only to be met with, perhaps, the most befuddled expression she'd ever seen, "Why?"
Silver had been embarrassed before, she could recall occasions when his face had reddened and a stutter had entered his voice, but they were rare occasions. Usually they were driven by him making some kind of mistake and trying (failing) to play it off, like when he'd made tea with water straight from the tap or when she'd first got him to wear clothes and he'd got garb after garb stuck on his quills. Blaze couldn't think of a sentence she could say that would embarrass him in the same way that he could embarrass her.
"I suppose, because, I've had to hide my emotions for so long, it just surprises me," She eventually answered, "You always show them so clearly, I'm just not used to doing the same," He looked a little crestfallen so, stuttering again, she continued to fuel her train of thought beyond its intended station, "Th-That's not a bad thing or anything, it's just a little… shocking; difficult for me to process, sometimes. You speak what's on your mind while I… struggle to."
"Well…" While those words seemed to subdue his confusion and worry, they forced free some form of deep thought from the hedgehog, "That's why I say I love you Blaze."
In the wake of those words some harsher thoughts crossed his brow. Though she longed to interrupt his thinking with some manner of speech, Blaze found herself entirely unable. By the time she'd half braced herself, he'd clearly settled on what he wanted to say.
"You're my best friend, I never want to leave your side, and I want to make sure that's always clear. You're the best person I know; you're unbelievably smart, much kinder than you think, stronger than anyone could ever imagine and braver than the sky is blue," His voice had regained its usual, serious, tone. That, coupled with a manner of praise that was far more earnest than his usual joyous shouts, was making her head spin, "I know you find it hard to say things like that, I know there are things you want to say that you feel like you can't and I know you feel things just like I do, you must want to let them out sometimes, right?" None of this was untrue, they knew each other much too well to obscure such truths, "It's not like its always been intentional, it's not like I've always tried to, but I want to show you that saying these things is okay. I love you Blaze, that's what I feel so that's what I'll always say."
Something about those words, perhaps some strange concoction of how brutally honest and heartfelt it'd been mixed with the deep affection she'd been harbouring for so very long, made something click in Blaze's head. It was as if he didn't understand the type of love he felt for her but it matched how she felt for him in so many ways. She doubted he'd ever considered romance in general, let alone that he'd love her in that way, but by the words that he used and the way he spelt things out, it seemed as though she could be the only target of his affections. Was it foolish to give that so much as a passing thought? Undoubtedly, but Blaze couldn't help it. Whenever he spoke of love or talked about her, she always told herself that he didn't understand what he was saying; but Silver the hedgehog wore his heart on his sleeve, he couldn't hide an emotion from her no matter how hard he tried. She was right, it was likely that he didn't understand what he'd said, but that didn't mean what he'd said wasn't true.
"And you are the most naive,ridiculous and blunt hedgehog I've ever known," She tried and, by the admission of her stuttering, failed to tease him again and bring herself any kind of confidence. She swallowed, now trying to speak truly truthfully, "You are the brightest light in my life. Whenever you're around, it's as if nothing can go wrong; I feel more relaxed standing next to you in a destroyed world than without you in a stable one. The world could be on fire, it could be fully submerged or entirely frozen but as long as you can smile, I know things will be okay," He'd begun to pull such a ludicrous grin, he was thoroughly unable to hide it, and his tail was beating so wildly, "The fact you bare how you feel so casually, while it does surprise me, it shows me that it's okay to feel what I'm feeling. It proves to me that… I'm not a fool for thinking these things…"
It was getting harder and harder to think these thoughts, it was as if she could only speak them. Blaze could feel herself slipping into an embarrassed stupor; things were longing to flow free from her, thoughts and emotions she'd not have dared to express when they first reunited. This silly hedgehog, with his ludicrous quills and loud mouth, wasn't even trying to pull these things from her and yet he was. The princess felt like if she stopped harnessing this momentum then she might lose it forever; this was her one shot, it might never come again.
"And, because of that, I feel safe saying this," Mustering her courage, certain that he'd misunderstand it but unable to find another phrase that'd make an even half decent response, Blaze uttered some simple yet terrifying words, "I love you too, Silver," And she'd love him even more as soon as he figured out what she meant by that.
For now though, the way his smile grew in response to those words would more than suffice. He thought she meant it in the same way he did… but then, it didn't seem like Silver knew what he meant whenever he said it. Probably, hopefully, it'd only be a matter of time before he realised the truth.