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| - Sonic was standing at Angel Island. His wings were folded loosely behind his back. The Master Emerald was in its shrine, as it always was when he did not need its assistance; yet it was only visible to him, cloaked to anyone else by Draconian power. Knuckles' torn body, Sonic had cleared off the island; the blood washed away by angry tears. Sonic was the only being on the island, dead or alive. He almost wished it was dead. He heard something behind him and spun in a wingslash fury, but there was nothing there. A faint shadow was visible a bit to his left, and he launched into a kick, but there was nothing there. Yet he could still hear a noise; what it was he couldn't tell; where it was from he couldn't recognize. He gave an angry shout and punched the ground. He was starting to go crazy. "You really shouldn't do that," a voice behind him said calmly. "It doesn't help, and it only hurts." Sonic turned angrily to see Amy touching down across the island. He angrily shot forward, bringing his fist back for a punch, but she didn't make any move to defend herself; when the punch struck her across the face, she took it without attempting to evade, defend, or even to roll along with it. He continued the arc around his body, pulling his arm back to elbow her. Amy, watching him, could see anger in his eyes. But the attack ended there. Sonic, rather than thrusting forward, froze for a few seconds, then turned away. Amy didn't even flinch. Eventually, Sonic stepped away and asked, "What do you want?" Amy didn't even move. Instead she stared. "Because you still haven't given me an answer," she stated calmly. "Why did you choose to save me?" Sonic spun again, flinging a burst of pure Draconian energy at her while his eyes burned with anger. It struck her in milliseconds, and she was sent flying. She had grown strong, but she wasn't prepared for such an attack, on any level. Yet somehow, she manage to grab the edge of the floating island, and although she failed to stop her momentum completely, she managed to slow down enough for her to get back onto the island quickly and fold her wings. Sonic took a battle stance, his own wings unfolding in a threat. "I told you to drop this!" he shouted angrily. "Why the hell won't you just leave me alone!?" Before, Amy would have pushed him to dark limits. But following Shadow's advice, she didn't say anything, did do anything that seemed to threaten him or push him. Instead, she let him cool off, let the blue blur stand there for a while before turning away and stepping over to the edge of the island. "Just drop it, Amy. Tails sacrificed himself for me. Knuckles tried to fight Zyx and didn't give me any say in it. Every soul on Mobius is dead." He sat down on the edge of Angel Island. "Why can't you just leave me to suffer?" This last remark seemed to throw Amy off balance, but she quickly regained her composture and stepped over to him. "Because you don't have to suffer alone," she replied. "I've had losses too. Like you, Cream gave up her life to save me. Zyx killed Big and bragged about it. But I'm not letting it turn me cold. I just want an answer, Sonic." She slowly sat down beside him. "Why did you choose to save me? I just want to know." Sonic closed his eyes, his wings unfolding and lying loose on the island earth. Amy unfolded her own, overlapping his. Tears started to form over Sonic's eyes, but Amy gently brushed them away. "I love you." Three words that fell like a bombshell, hitting both sides. Amy's mind reeled, but Sonic turned away. "God! This is so embarrassing!" He turned back to Amy, opening his eyes to look into hers. "I love you, Amy. I've always loved you, ever since I first met you. I just wish I could have brought myself to say it before now." Amy didn't say anything, and Sonic dropped his head, turning to the open air. "But it's alright," he stated calmly. "It's alright if you can't bring yourself to return it. I've been a jerk lately. Silver's been lonely until Blaze came along, so I can't blame you for comforting him. Even Shadow's been acting better than me, and that's with Infera..." "I love you too, Sonic." Amy's response caused Sonic's head to snap back. "What?" he asked. "But I've been a flat-out jerk. I overreacted. I abandoned you. I told you to forget me. I attacked you. I kicked you out of my life. Hell, I'm the one who caused this." He stroked Amy's wing gently, then peered into her eyes, slowly rising. "But still you love me?" Amy closed her eyes and dropped her head. "I'll admit, I felt crushed when you told me to leave you alone lest you kill me," she admitted. Then she raised her head and added, "But there are always a few problems between people. Their relationship is determined by how they work through those problems. And you didn't cause my mu... my transformation. That was an accident, and if it was anyone's fault it was Zyx's." She locked eyes with Sonic, rising for herself. "I love you, Sonic. I always have. I always will. And no accident or misunderstanding will ever change that." Sonic's eyes started to tear up again. "Amy..." Amy turned away slightly. "I'm sorry, about all the things I've..." Sonic laid a finger over her lips, cutting her off. "No," he said. "You were going good there." Amy raised her head to meet Sonic's eyes. "Sonic..." The blue hedgehog gave a bright smile. "There's the silver lining I was looking for," he stated softly. There was a sudden rush, and Amy found herself locked into a kiss for the second time that day. Yet this one was at once shocking and expected. There was still that hint of surprising power, yet this time it seemed right, more natural. And Sonic did more than just lay his lips against hers. He moved into a loving embrace, wrapping his arms and wings around her body. Soon she gave in, returning the embrace and wrapping her own wings around him, forming a sort of protective cocoon. They remained there for a long period, seemingly frozen in time. Then Sonic parted from her, unlocking from the embrace. Amy stared towards him as he slowly stepped back. "Au revoir," he said softly with a light smile, "for now." The he turned and leapt off the island with a flourish of Dracon wings, gliding off. Amy watched the blue hedgehog leave with a soft smile on her lips. Then she turned to see the sun setting gracefully over the water, and she took a seat on the edge of the island again. "Sorry, Shadow," she whispered to herself. The smile on her lips only grew. "But you better talk as smooth as you fight."
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