There were only a few times after the war with Eggman had ended where Amy Rose had been able to find time for herself.
Knuckles had come into her office that morning, and as soon as the words "you need a break" had left his mouth, she was out the door faster than she ever thought possible--for her, at least. The pink hedgehog wasn't at all concerned about who would be taking care of all the papers and mess the war had left behind; all that had been on her mind was to get out and get a breath of refreshing, cool air for a change. If she had been there any longer, she felt as if she would crack, and Knuckles was her sign that her prayers were finally being answered.
It wasn't like she didn't want to help, far from that of course. There was just so much to do, so much pressure, and Amy would much rather be out fighting robots and keeping others safe than stuck up in an office. Just like the rest of them would, just like they were used to. But as they grew older, so did their responsibilities, unfortunately, and things had changed. And this war… It was the reason it all had changed in the first place.
Amy couldn't help but give a sigh of relief when she felt the warmth of the sun hit her face and the sound of the grass underneath her boots reaching her ears. It was relieving, to see the blue sky above her, for what felt like the first time in so long.
Finally.. Her thoughts breathed.
She began her walk down the barely seen trail to her left, leading towards the sparse forest in the distance. She planned to only be gone for at least an hour or two, grab some food, and be on her way back. They would be fine without her for that long.
Her legs felt as if they could go on for miles, having been sitting in a chair for hours on end had made them cramped. Having this moment, it had made her feel lighter and happier than she had ever been in these past few months, and the joy she felt spread across her face in the form of a grin, and suddenly, she was running through the forest, giggling with glee. So the plans for a peaceful walk through the forest were botched; oh well! A run was just as fun!
It didn't take her long to get past and beyond the trees, and by that time her breath came in gasps of air, chest heaving as Amy finally allowed to slow herself to a stop, wiping the sweat off her face as she bent over for a moment. Thanks to all the past years of running after Sonic though, she recovered quickly, and she straightened herself upright with a small smile gracing her lips. Then, she gave a small gasp at the sight that awaited her.
Just a few feet away, was one of the most beautiful sunsets she had ever seen. The sky was painted with pinks, yellows, and oranges, clouds wispy and small in numbers. The sun itself set over a small city below, and that was a little bit destroyed, sure, but Amy couldn't help but find it symbolic. And just barely touching the edge of the cliff in front of her, with his arms crossed over each other, stood Sonic the Hedgehog himself. The light illuminated his outline, the sun's shine making it seem like he was glowing. She couldn't see his face, but that didn't make him any less handsome.
A grin split once again on her face as her eyes twinkled excitedly. This day just got even better.
"Sonic!" She cried, jogging up to his side, fighting the old urge to jump on him with a bone-crushing hug. "Lucky finding you all the way out here, huh? I was able to--"
Amy stopped suddenly, grin dropping.
He hadn't so much as looked over at her. He stayed as if rooting to the spot, his eyes glued to the distant horizon below them. The only slight indication he had heard her was the tiny flick of his ear turning to her and back to almost pressing against his head. She would have at first thought he was ignoring her, if it weren't for the small frown on his face, or the way his ears were positioned. No one else could ever tell what emotion he'd be feeling at any given time, no one else but her, and perhaps maybe Tails. Amy could read him like an open book.
The pink hedgehog tries again, though hesitantly this time, reaching out a hand to place on his shoulder, but stops herself, letting it fall. "Sonic? Are.. Are you alright?"
Sonic doesn't answer her. Not at first. She knows it takes a little while longer to figure out how to voice his emotions, despite being the fastest thing on Mobius. So she waits patiently, staring out as the sun slowly falls past the horizon. Just as it had barely reached half way, he spoke.
"It's my fault, isn't it."
Amy turned to him again, a brow creased slightly in concern.
It was voiced as a statement, but said as a question. He didn't turn back to her still, but his frown seemed to have deepened a little bit more. She blinked at him, then took a small breath. "What is?"
He seemed to think on her question, she could almost see the gears turning in his uncharacteristically darkened eyes, like a storm of thoughts were brewing. Sonic shifted, as if already uncomfortable, and quickly threw a hand to motion at the city below.
"The mess." Sonic murmured. "The war."
His statement and mood suddenly clicked in Amy's mind.
He hadn't been staring at the beautiful sunset before them like she was, not at all. He had been staring at the city, at its ruins, and the smoke that had seemed to slowly die down when she had gotten there, which meant people were already dealing with it. That was a good thing, she reckoned, but he wasn't looking at it that way. Instead, the blue hero had been regretting how it, and the world, had been turned upside down. Regretting that he wasn't there to help.
At this, Amy finally reached for him, gently grasping his arm almost desperately and staring up at his face, brows furrowed.
"Sonic, look at me." She demanded gently. "None of this was your fault."
He didn't look at her, but he did smirk, without that same attitude she had come to associate with it. "Isn't it? If I had been here, we could have prevented.. Well, a lot."
"If I hadn't gone in alone, I wouldn't have been locked up."
Amy shook her head. "No, Sonic, you tried your best, like you always do, you just--"
"Underestimated the situation? Greatly?"
Now, he was looking at her. Waiting for a response almost. There was something he was trying to hide in those emerald green eyes of his, something deep. Something heavy. A great pain.
She had only ever seen that look on his face very few times. And most of them were when they had been on the battlefield during the war. She sometimes heard it in his voice, too. He would show glimpses of regret and hurt when they had saved some recruits, or went past a destroyed home, and it was only when someone wasn't paying attention or when he thought he was alone. But the second someone came up to him or called his name it was gone, as if it was never even there, and Sonic was back to smiling, carrying on and inspiring others to do the same. Amy couldn't help but to feel sympathy for him; there was so much on his shoulders, so much expected of him, and he thought only he had to carry that burden.
Slowly, Amy looked down at his chest, staring at the long scar that stretched on top. It was just barely noticeable, but if you looked close enough, you could see that it was there. And it wasn't ever there before. Hesitantly she touched her fingers to it gently, letting sorrow pull her under for a moment.
"... You got this when you were gone, didn't you?" She just barely murmured.
This makes him inhale quickly with shock, and when she blinked Sonic had apparently stepped away from her. Not too far to where she couldn't reach for him again, but far enough. He crossed his arms over the scar, seeming to hide it away from her, turning his head with a small scowl. His ears were tilted once again.
"I don't want to talk about that." He grumbled, voice tight. To anyone else, it'd sound like annoyed anger. But she knew it was panic.
"But, that's my point, Sonic." Amy tries again, stepping forward just a bit, though stops when he takes another inch away from her. This breaks her heart a little bit, but not for a love reason. Because she knows that's how hurt he truly was. ".. You were trapped. And, and being hurt. There was nothing you could do, not to escape on your own, and not to help down here, and that's okay. Everyone here on Mobius understands that. You're only blaming yourself, when there's no need to."
Sonic scoffs at that, rolling his eyes as if he was offended. "No need to? Amy, take a look around." He pointed to the city again, glaring at her. "That happened, because I wasn't here. The war happened because I didn't try hard enough to get out on my own. I had promised to protect the world from people like Eggman," He spat the name out like it was venom. "And then look what happened. I broke that promise."
His last statement seemed to have let something loose. He paused for a moment, brows only barely rising with slight surprise, and suddenly, he had his quills turned to her.
Amy stands there for a minute, staring at his backside with a hand pressed to her chest. She felt the prickle of tears behind her eyes. She didn't know just how deep he had fallen into this lie of his. How long had he been suffering with this? She slowly began to walk towards him, the grass crunching under her feet signifying her approach. Thankfully, Sonic doesn't move away from her, and as she nears him, she can just barely see his chest heaving faster than normal. Again, the pink hedgehog walked to his side, closer this time, but he had turned his face away from her, hiding it.
".. Sonic." She murmured after a moment. "Look at me."
For a moment, it seemed as if he wasn't going to oblige. She has to hold in a gasp when he does, slowly.
It wasn't a full on sobbing; just hot tears streaming down the sides of his muzzle every few seconds, his eyes glossy and reflecting the sunset that just barely was starting to turn the world dark with stars. But the pain Sonic was hiding earlier was there now, had broken out past the wall he had normally tried to build around his emotions. And he was ashamed of it.
He made a motion as if he was going to turn and run suddenly, and to stop him Amy took his face into her hands, her eyes now also filling with tears as she met his eyes again. She had never in her life seen him cry before, and again her heart broke, into a million different pieces onto the floor below them like glass. Sympathy, sorrow, and anger flooded her as she gently wiped a stray tear off his face; how dare the world, dare Eggman, hurt her Sonic this way. He didn't deserve this kind of pain. His eyes widened at the action with slight surprise. But he didn't seem to want to move away now. Which was good.
"Sonic," Amy whispered past the lump in her throat, and swallowed to lessen the tightness of her throat as she continued. "You have not failed anyone. You are not a failure. No one blames you for anything that has happened, because this was all because of Eggman." She too allowed her voice to drip with rage, but she blinked, and a few tears slipped from under her lashes, ruining the effect. "He was the one that took you away, took you off guard, cheated. And ruined everything afterwards. What matters most, right here and now, is that you are here, that you came back. When we needed you the most. And even when you weren't here physically, you were here in spirit. We fought for you, because of you. The ones who.. Who lost their lives, understood that, and agreed to that." She dipped her head when Sonic tried to move away, keeping her eyes on his. "And if anyone tries to say otherwise, they are wrong."
His eyes flicked over hers. "B-but Amy, I-"
Amy pressed her forehead to his, effectively shutting him up, her eyes closed. "Mobius loves you." She murmured. "I love you. You could never be a failure after everything you have done for us. Don't you ever forget that."
Nothing really happened at first for a few seconds. Which was fine to her. She knew his limits, and had caught him in a time where he was emotionally vulnerable for a change. She was more than okay with just standing there for him. But then, surprising her, Sonic had wrapped his arms around her waist, and suddenly his head dropped into her shoulder, hugging her tight. His shoulders shook with silent, soft sobs, and for a moment Amy's arms were raised in the air, unknowing on what to do. But she eventually hugged her hero back, kissing his cheek lovingly before burying her own face into his quills. They stood there at the end of the cliff for a while as the sun finally slipped away, and the stars shone around them in the dark, night sky. Even after Sonic had cried all that he would let himself, he held onto her, as if she had been the one thing he had needed.
At some point, though, the moment had to end. In the distance, someone had called her name, and her ear picked up and pointed in the direction the voice was coming from. But she wasn't ready to let go yet. There was a few minutes that passed before the voice--which Amy now recognized as Knuckles'--called again, closer this time. This was what made Sonic finally move, and he slowly pulled away, looking down at her, not letting go of her waist.
And he looked at her in a way that made her heart flutter.
There was still a lingering sadness, but it wasn't heavy, the brightness and glint in his eyes seemingly having returned.
"... Thank you." He had whispered, and so quietly it had almost gone unheard, but the genuine sincerity of it was what made it heard.
And before Amy had a chance to say anything back to him, he had kissed her--not on the cheek, but on the lips of all things--and though it was more of a simple peck it left her blushing madly.
Then, with a rush of wind and a flash of blue, Sonic was gone.
She had been standing in that very same spot, staring after the blur he had left behind with a hand on her red hot cheek when Knuckles had found her, mind still going at lightning speed.
"There you are!" The echidna called, stepping up to Amy with an authoritative aura. "We were getting worried, you've been out for almost three hours and--! .. Hey, you alright?" His voice dropped to concern upon seeing the starstruck look on the girl's face.
Amy nodded in response just barely, still swooning with the butterflies in her stomach as Tails seemingly came from the bushes as well.
"Yeah.." She muttered to them both, and a smile slowly bloomed across her lips as she sighed. "Just watching the sunset…"
