'Tell Him' Part One

"Tell Him"
A KnuxAmy Story

By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl

Part One: From One Heart To Another

   “Well, I guess this is it,” Tails Prower said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.  He stood with many of his friends, Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, Cream the Bunny, and Amy Rose, and they gathered before a platform where their friend Sonic the Hedgehog stood.  After much toil and research, years after they first encountered someone from an outside dimension, Tails, a young science prodigy, had found a way for the group to reunite with their friend, Blaze the Cat.  The only catch was, only one of them could go at a time, and Sonic, having grown close to the guardian princess, was obviously the one who would go.

   Finally, he had his chance, and while he was overjoyed at this day finally coming, it was a difficult time as well.  He didn’t know how long he would be gone, and part of him wondered how eager he would be to return even then.  He hoped there would be some way that he could come and go as he pleased, but for now, the technology Tails had found to get him there, would take quite some time to recharge, and not even Tails was sure how long this would take.

   So many unknowns…all Sonic knew, was he had to see Blaze again.

   Still, he had to address his friends first.

   Laughing, he stepped off the platform and hugged Tails as he said, “Aww, no worries Tails!  I won’t be gone forever!  Cheer up!  This is an amazing discovery you’ve made!  You should be happy!”

   Trying to smile, Tails looked up at Sonic and said, “I’m…I’m happy Sonic.  It’s just…hard to see you go.”

   Cream, who was standing beside Tails holding Cheese in her arms, added, “It sure is Mr. Sonic.  I hope you’ll be alright.  …Make sure to say hello to Ms. Blaze for us when you get there.  We miss her.”  Cheese chirped softly in reply.

   Kneeling down, Sonic hugged Cream and said, “I’ll be alright Cream.  If what I’ve been through in my seventeen years on this planet says anything, it says that I can handle anything…especially with my friends behind me.  I know Blaze will be happy to hear you’re doing well.  I know she misses you.  Once the technology improves, we’ll all go together, I promise, and so does Tails.”

   The fox nodded, taking Cream’s hand as Sonic rose to his feet.  His eyes were drawn to the remainder of his friends, Shadow and Rouge first, as they stood closer to him.  Over the past three years, Shadow and Rouge had grown incredibly close, and were the only couple out of the group, leaving out Sonic’s crush on Blaze and the young love Tails and Cream shared.  They had given him plenty of advice as he waited to reunite with Blaze, and he was glad they had come to see him off.

   Extending his hand to Shadow, Sonic said, “Well Shads, I’m counting on you to look after things while I’m gone.  I hope that if Eggman or any other jerks decide to act up that you’ll make quick work of them.”

   Shadow smiled with closed eyes and folded arms, shaking his head as he chuckled softly.  Without warning, he opened his eyes and grabbed Sonic’s hand, pulling him into a quick embrace.  Shadow replied, “Don’t hope, trust.  I plan to spend plenty of time around town to keep a look out for trouble.  You go on your new adventure and leave the worries behind.”

    Pulling back Sonic shook Shadow’s hand and said, “And go shopping with Rouge right?”  

   Sonic laughed, and even Rouge offered a giggle before answering, “Well, I’ll have to see about that.  I know Shadow’s not too keen on window shopping.”

   Surprisingly, a red tint came to Shadow’s face as he frowned and turned his back to the group, snorting as he said, “Oh stop it Rouge.  You know I don’t mind it…if it’s what you want to do, I’m more than happy to oblige.”

   Rouge smiled, walking up to Shadow and kissing him on the cheek before they turned to see Sonic standing in front of Amy, who was silent the entire time.  In the two years since they had met Blaze, Amy had grown up, and was slowly beginning to grasp the fact that Sonic loved the guardian princess, though she still had not accepted it completely.  She stood with her hands held together before her, gazing at the ground with eyes half closed, and the other half filled with tears.

   Sonic let out a bittersweet sigh.  He had learned of the true nature of Amy’s feelings for him; while she chased him so desperately, she really and truly cared, and he deeply valued her friendship.  Now that he was finding his way to Blaze, he only hoped Amy would soon find her own path.

   Taking her hands in his own, he said, “Cheer up Amy.  You’re much prettier when you smile.  …Everything will be alright, you’ll see.  I’ll make sure you find someone who can take care of you better than I could, okay?”

   Amy looked up at him, her emerald green eyes glassy.  As she sniffed away the tears she simply nodded and murmured, “Okay Sonic.”

   The blue hedgehog sighed again.  It hurt him to see Amy so upset.  Ever since he admitted to everyone that he loved Blaze, Amy just wasn’t herself.  He had talked to the others about it, and everybody had promised to help, and at this point, they all had made good on that promise…everyone except one particular friend, who stood out for this, as well as being the only one who wasn’t there now…

   “Wait!  Hold on a second!” a voice cried out.  Everyone looked only to see Knuckles the Echidna racing towards them, Angel Island barely visible on the horizon, meaning Knuckles was reaching the end of a marathon run to meet them.  Shadow jumped out of the way as Knuckles raced by him, coming to a stop beside Sonic and Amy, bending over to catch his breath.

   “My, my Knuckles.  Good of you to show up fifteen minutes late,” Shadow said.

   The echidna scowled and glared at Shadow and replied, “Oh shut up.  I’m not known for being fast…unlike you Shads.”

   Shadow’s eyes grew wide and full of frustration.  “Why you…,” he growled and turned away, walking to lean against the building.  Rouge gave Knuckles an annoyed look, before catching up with Shadow to cheer him up.

   Knuckles chuckled joyfully, enjoying his victory over Shadow in a battle of insults that continued constantly between them, especially now that Rouge spent less time pestering him and trying to steal the Master Emerald.  Knuckles had had more time to relax, and realized maybe now it was time to fulfill his promise to Sonic.

   Returning his attention to Sonic and Amy, he stood up straight and said, “Sorry Sonic.  I had no idea how far to bring Angel Island and lost track of time debating over it to myself.  I had to run constantly to get here.”

   With a laugh, Sonic replied, “No worries Knux!  I’m just glad you made it here in time!”  The two friends embraced each other, and as they did so Amy turned away, not wanting Sonic to see the tears that had returned to her eyes.  Sonic could hear this though, and quickly pulled back and looked to see her sitting on the sidewalk, hugging her knees as she gazed at the ocean.  Cream and Cheese sat down beside her to comfort her, while Tails made the final preparations for the portal.

   Knuckles watched this too, and listened as Sonic said, “Nothing’s worked Knux.  Cream has invited Amy to her house where Vanilla’s tried her hand at cheering Amy up.  Tails and Cream and Cheese take her to the beach and to the park, and everywhere.  Even Shadow has tagged along when Rouge takes Amy shopping.  Nothing they’ve done has helped, and I know I’ve done nothing to help either, though I’ve tried.”  He paused, and looked back to the echidna and said, “I broke her heart, and now I think leaving to be with Blaze is only making it worse.  Please Knuckles, there’s got to be something we can do to help Amy.  I feel…terrible about this.”

   As he rubbed the back of his head, Knuckles gazed at Amy.  Her sadness was beginning to affect him, and he had learned not to let anyone’s feelings influence his own.  It could weaken him…and yet he couldn’t keep his heart hardened and deaf to Amy’s cries, or Sonic’s pleas.  Looking back to Sonic, he said, “I know Sonic, infact I had every intention to tell you that  I’m ready to do what I can, and yet…I don’t know if there’s anything I can do that hasn’t been done already.  I’m pretty much confined to Angel Island after all.”

   Sonic grabbed Knuckles’ free hand and in a pained whisper, pleaded, “Please Knuckles!  You’re…you’re one of my best friends.  I just…I think you’ve got something that the other’s don’t…Tails and Cream are too young to understand, and Shadow and Rouge simply being involved with each other doesn’t make things better…all she sees when she looks at me is the guy who broke her heart…but you…”

   “Wait a minute,” Knuckles said, trying to pull back his hand, “You think I can get through to her simply because I’m a lonely, hopeless and single soul that lives on a deserted island don’t you?”

   “Stop Knuckles!” Sonic cried softly, finally letting go of the echidna’s hand once he stopped struggling.  “You don’t understand Knuckles.  Yes, that’s kind of what I meant, but, you’re taking it the wrong way.  Think about it.  You’re not involved with anyone, but are old enough and experienced enough to understand what’s bothering her.  I know Vanilla tried, but Vanilla’s a mother; that’s just something else Amy wants to be, and I really think that she needs a peer, no, a friend, to help her through it.  You’re the only one left.”

   The echidna crossed his arms, still upset with Sonic for breaking Amy’s heart in the first place.  He sighed and finally said, “Alright Sonic, I understand.  Maybe when you come back things will be different.”

   “It’s ready Sonic!” Tails cried out.

   Looking back to Knuckles once more, Sonic said, “I know they’ll be different.”

   As he turned to head for the platform, Knuckles replied, “Just don’t drive everyone in Blaze’s galaxy crazy, okay Sonic?”

   The blue hedgehog waved to Knuckles, and the rest, before he turned to the now open portal.  He took a breath and said, “I’ll catch you all later!”

   “Bye Mr. Sonic!” Cream cried, waving.

   “Goodbye!” Rouge called out.

   Shadow, still miffed at Knuckles, turned to leave, but held up his hand in farewell, muttering, “See you later, Sonic.”

   Knuckles grinned as he watched Shadow leaving, then back to the platform, only to see Sonic disappear behind it.  In a wave of light, he was gone.  Knuckles smiled and said, “See you soon Sonic.”  He watched as Tails stepped off the platform and heaved a heavy sigh.  Walking up to the fox, he watched Rouge run after Shadow, almost relieved to have them out of the way for awhile.  They were his friends, but now that they were a couple, they seemed to annoy him twice as much as they did on their own, when they wanted to of course.

   He got to Tails at the same time that Cream and Cheese did.  “It’s okay Tails!  Just think, he’s probably already walking up to Ms. Blaze’s castle!  Think about how happy they’ll be!” Cream said cheerfully.

   The echidna laughed and said, “I don’t think that’s what’s bothering him Cream.”  The bunny looked up at Knuckles, while he looked to Tails and said, “Seriously though Tails, he’ll be back.  It won’t take as long as you think for the portal to open up again.  Pretty soon, we’ll have it so we can all go and come as we please, if not that, just so we can go together.  In the mean time, just handle it like you do whenever Sonic is gone; he’s just on another adventure.”

   Tails looked up at his friend and smiled.  He let out a relaxed sigh, but quickly asked, “But Knuckles, what are you going to do now?”

   “Well…,” Knuckles started.  He looked back to see Amy still sitting where she was before, crying her eyes out.  She hadn’t said goodbye to him, and if the past two years were evidence enough, it was because she couldn’t say goodbye to him, or her broken heart.  Annoyance with Sonic aside, he had to do his best to help her move on.

   Returning his attention to a curious Tails and Cream, he smiled and said, “I’ll be heading back to Angel Island soon.  That security system hasn’t been charged up enough so it can only work for a day or so, but, I have to…well, work out some things here first.  If you and Cream ever want some company, you can come to Angel Island.  Actually, I’d appreciate it if you could find some time to help me out with the security system Tails.  I think it’s about time it was inspected.”

   Tails’ eyes lit up with excitement.  “Oh wow!  A chance to look at the technology of the echidnas!  That would be awesome Knuckles!”

   Laughing, Knuckles said, “I knew you’d like that.  How about coming out at the end of the week okay?  That’ll give it some time to build up its charge some more.”

   “That sounds great!” Tails cried.  “I’ll see you then Knuckles!  I have to go now though,” turning to Cream and Cheese, he added, “We promised we’d go shopping for Vanilla.”

   Nodding, Cream said, “We’ll see you later Mr. Knuckles!”

   Waving, Knuckles said, “Alright…and don’t worry, I’ll talk to Amy.”

   The fox and bunny exchanged glances and smiles before running into town with Cheese flying fast behind them.  Knuckles watched as they disappeared into the crowd of people, before finally looking back to Amy.  The nineteen year old echidna felt his heart crush under the sadness that stung at it.  Amy just wasn’t the same girl she was before Sonic had finally told her that her dreams would never come true.  Now, she was fourteen years old, and had lost sight of her future.  This was something Knuckles couldn’t stand, especially after he had become optimistic enough to keep dreaming, even when he was confined to Angel Island almost constantly.

   He walked over to her, not even sure what he meant to say, and sat down beside her, looking at her briefly before following her eyes and looking to the ocean.  A number of conversation starters danced around in his head, but before he could choose one, he heard Amy speak.

   “Do you think…the ocean in Blaze’s galaxy is beautiful Knuckles?” she asked.

   The echidna looked at Amy, puzzled by her choice of question.  “Well…I…,”

   “Do you think her stars are beautiful?  Do you think her world is beautiful?  What if Sonic never wants to leave?  Maybe now that he has Blaze to…l-love him and take care of him, he won’t need us anymore.  You and Tails will have to form a team with Shadow while Cream, Rouge and I cheer on the sidelines.  Maybe our days with Sonic are over.  He’s…he’s seen everything here and doesn’t want it.”

   Knuckles looked back to the ocean and said, “You act as if his world revolves around you.”

   Amy jerked her head around fast to glare at the echidna.  “Shut up Knuckles!”

   The echidna then looked back at her, and said, “I’m sorry…I meant to say, you act as if your world still revolves around him.  It’s like all you talk about is Sonic.  It’s been over a year now Amy.  You need to put this to rest.  Moaning and living in sadness that it never happened won’t fix things.  Sonic’s already told you how bad he feels, and he’s done everything he can to make it better.  When are you going to learn to smile again and move on?”

   Her eyes immediately softened when she realized his mistake, and closed shut as she turned away at hearing his words.  Not wanting to have another conversation about the subject, she whimpered, “I didn’t mean to snap at you Knuckles, really…I’m just…messed up.” She paused, and the echidna waited to see if she’d continue the thought, only to see her stand up and take a few steps away as she said, “But if you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about it right now.”

   She continued her leave, and Knuckles felt frustration tear through him.  Jumping to his feet, he shouted, “You never want to talk about it Amy!  You just keep shoving it aside!  You don’t want anyone to help you do you?!  You just want to live in the misery!  Do you even know why you want to?  Do you…do you even care anymore!?”

   Amy stopped walking as she gasped, tears falling from her eyes.  Every time she had walked away from someone, they let her go, not wanting to upset her.  And yet, Knuckles was shouting at her.  He was angry…he wasn’t going to let her off easy.  He was determined to help her.  She understood his anger more and more over the years, and she understood it now, and that he never had it without great cause in his heart.

   When he didn’t hear her reply, Knuckles lowered his fists, his anger giving way to a sudden sadness.  It shocked him so much that his chest hurt, feelings tears creep into his eyes.  Clenching them shut, he growled and shouted, “Amy!  If I haven’t given up on my future, then neither should you!  I…I won’t let you give up!  I’ll hold on to you no matter how much you try to pull away, you hear me?!  Leave if you want to, I’ll be back…I mean it…”  His voice trailed off as he lost control of it.  He turned and ran away, heading in the same direction as Tails and Cream, hoping he could find them and maybe have dinner at Vanilla’s house.

   Amy turned around in enough time to see this, and held her hands over her mouth as she saw him running away.  She overheard a couple of humans sitting on a bench nearby talking.  The man said, “Did you see that?  He’s the Guardian of the Master Emerald.  He almost never comes down here unless there’s trouble.”

   His lady friend replied, “No, their friend left today.  The Guardian came to say goodbye, but wow…he looked so sad.  Did you see him just now?  It’s almost like that girl Amy broke his heart.  He had tears in his eyes.”

   The man then nodded, but with a chuckle he said, “You’d think he loved her and she brushed him off.  He certainly talked like she did.”

   “I don’t know,” the woman said, glancing at Amy, “Whatever it is, he certainly cares about her.  Those are some powerful words.”

   Amy couldn’t take anymore.  She immediately ran in the same direction as Knuckles, trying to find him, or even Tails and Cream in the crowd.  She began to realize how coldly she had been treating everyone, even Sonic, when all they were trying to do was help.  It took Knuckles, not simply yelling at her, but promising he wouldn’t let her give up, and even trying to empathize.  Maybe they were more alike than she knew.

   Unable to find her friends in the market, Amy made her way for Vanilla’s house as it got dark.  She peeked into a window to see Knuckles was indeed having dinner with Tails, Cream, and her mother Vanilla.  They were all laughing and talking about something, and somehow, Amy could not find the courage to knock on the door.  At last, she sat down under the window and leaned against the house, crying again, but for a very different reason.

   It grew colder as it got late.  Knuckles finally decided to leave, wanting to look for Amy once more before heading back to Angel Island.  After saying goodbye to everyone, thanking Vanilla for her hospitality, he closed the door behind him, and turned to walk back to town.  However, before he could get far, he looked back to the house, and saw Amy, half asleep, as she leaned against the wall.

   “Amy!” Knuckles cried out softly.  He ran to her side, and placed his hand on her arm, feeling her shivering.  “How long have you been sitting here…?” he whispered to himself in disbelief.  Looking at the moon as it climbed higher in the sky, he let out a sigh.  Picking her up, he carried her as he made his way back to town, bringing her all the way back to her apartment.

   He had been there before, and noticed it was in more disarray, this alone speaking volumes of what had happened to Amy’s life.  It was slowly spiraling out of control; if she couldn’t get over losing Sonic, could she learn to live again?  Would she ever move on?  For Knuckles, someone who had to struggle to find some other purpose in his life, it killed him to think she, of everyone he knew, might not be able to be saved, and even worse…that maybe there was nothing he could do.

   He tucked her into her bed, but was reluctant to leave for whatever reason.  He glanced at trash that littered the floor, and began to gather it up and throw it away.  Pretty soon he had moved to cleaning up the kitchen, having learned a thing or two when Sonic had no money to pay at the last restaurant they went to and was put to work to pay the bill.  He spent the next few hours cleaning up Amy’s apartment, unsure of what drove him, while still trying to figure out what he could do to help Amy recover, if anything.

   After he put one final pillow on Amy’s couch, Knuckles let out a sigh, realizing there were only a few hours until dawn and that he needed to get back to Angel Island.  He made his way back to Amy’s bedroom to check on her, and saw she was sleeping soundly. Letting out a yawn, Knuckles immediately sighed afterwards.  He ruffled her bangs once, and whispered, “Maybe…there’s nothing I can do after all Sonic.  I…I think it’s in Amy’s hands.  It’s up to her now.  She has to realize that she still has a life to live.”

   Pausing, Knuckles frowned and shook his head, and with a growl, he turned to leave.  Yet, he looked back to her once more and said, “Amy…I won’t give up on you, and neither will your future.  Please…remember that.”

   The next morning, Amy woke up, expecting to find herself under the window at Vanilla’s house where she had fallen asleep, and was shocked to find she was resting snuggly in her bed.  As she sat up, wondering how she had gotten home, she noticed that her bedroom, which was messy and in disarray the days, and for many weeks, before, was now spotless and tidy.

   Something wasn’t right.  She got up out of bed, seeing her boots standing side by side at the foot, and her gloves folded together neatly on the table.  The mindset she lived with for the past months would not have inspired her to be so mindful of this; it was the exact opposite infact, for she would throw her clothes on the floor before she went to bed every night.

   Amy began to remember how she loved to keep her apartment clean and tidy before her heart was broken by Sonic.  She was remembering life before she fell into this sickening depression that took over her, making her forget the fun she used to have with friends, shopping, cooking and just enjoying life.  Everyone had moved on, grown up, and kept living, trying to be happy, and even tried to help her do the same.  And yet…she was stubborn, and wouldn’t let them help.  She had much rather live in her sadness and misery just because Sonic would never be her one true love; she had much rather stop living completely, and she had come as close as she could to doing this, short of dying.

   She was finally waking up from this nightmare; she walked down the hall, towards the living room, noticing her bathroom was clean, and that the hall was no longer littered with trash.  Once she reached the living room, she held her breath as she took a pause; the floor was clean, the pillows were straight on the couch, blankets were folded, and it looked like she remembered it once was.

   As she turned to the kitchen, she immediately noticed that all the dirty dishes that had gathered on her counter were clean and drying in the dish rack. All the counters were clean, and so were the appliances on them.  The trash bags that had piled up were gone, and her apartment smelled fresh again.  It was like it was brand new again, and somehow, this did something significant in healing her heart.

   Before she could recover from this pleasant shock and try to figure out who had done this for her, she heard a knock at the door.  As she walked to see who it was, she thought, “Maybe Vanilla and Cream found me.  Maybe once they got me home, they cleaned the apartment for me.”  Amy was on the right track, but in for more of a shock when she found out the true nature of her savior.

   Opening the door, she was greeted by one of her neighbors.  The young lady smiled and said, “Good morning Amy!  I just wanted to give you your mail…that poor mailman is getting even worse about leaving some of it in my box.”

   Taking the letters, Amy smiled and even laughed a little as she replied, “Good morning Ms. Parker.  Thank you.  We’re going to have to have another talk with him aren’t we?”  As she thumbed through the letters, she came to a note that was simply folded over three times, and obviously had not come through the mail.  Holding it up before she opened it, she asked, “What’s this?  This note couldn’t have come through the mail.  There’s no envelope!”

   Ms. Parker looked at it briefly before replying, “Oh that; there was a red echidna in the hallway this morning.”

   Before Ms. Parker could continue, Amy’s eyes widened.  She jumped a little and cried, “A red echidna?  You mean Knuckles was here?  What was he doing?”

   “Oh, so he’s the final member of Sonic’s team.  He’s the one who guards the Master Emerald and comes to help fight when Dr. Eggman causes trouble, that’s right,” Ms. Parker said.  She looked back to Amy and said, “He was leaving some trash bags in the dumpster on the sidewalk when I first saw him, then a few minutes later I saw him at the mailboxes.  I think he wanted to leave this note for you but couldn’t because he needed a key.  I greeted him and he told me he wanted to leave this for you, and I told him I’d give it to you.  He looked tired, like he was working all night long.”

   Amy let out a gasp that she felt freeze every nerve in her body with a burning tingle.  She put the pieces together and realized that it was Knuckles who found her last night, carried her home, and cleaned up the apartment last night.  Why would he go that far…sure, she could understand him carrying her home, but cleaning up her apartment was quite a chore.  Realizing Ms. Parker was still standing there, she regained her composure, smiled and said, “Yep, that’s Knuckles.  He just…had a hard day yesterday.  I brought him home with me and we had popcorn and watched a movie before he left.  He uh…said he’d take my trash out too.”

   The pink hedgehog felt nerves erupt on the back of her neck and arms realizing her story wasn’t solid enough to go without question, but for Ms. Parker, it satisfied her curiosity.  She simply nodded and smiled, saying, “Well alright then.  I have to get ready for work, so I’ll see you later Amy.  Take care hun.”

   “Thanks again, see you later,” Amy replied, waving as Ms. Parker walked away.  Amy’s smiled waivered, and looking at the note again, she ran back into her apartment, closing the door behind her, and tossing her mail on the counter as she ran for her couch, holding the note tightly in her hands.  As she sat down, she felt her body shaking and her nerves doing everything they could to sicken her.  Unfolding the note, she muttered, “Get a hold of yourself Amy; it’s just a letter.  He probably just wanted to leave more words of encouragement.”

   Trying to chase off those negative feelings, she opened the note.

   “Amy, I just wanted to let you know what happened last night.  After I carried you home and saw your apartment in disarray…I don’t know, I wanted to help somehow.  I guess I got carried away, heh.  …Why were you outside of Vanilla’s house?  Why didn’t you come inside where it was warm?  I…I’m worried about you Amy.  I know everyone has tried to help, but I also know from experience that you have to be the one that wants to change before things can get better.  If you all could give me hope, then I know that there’s still hope for you.  I had to go back to Angel Island tonight, but I do want to see you again.  I want you to know that you still have a future to look forward to.  It’s not time to give up just because your dreams are gone.  You just…need to find a new dream to hang on to.  I had to do the same, and you, if anyone, deserve to have something to live for.  …Well, for now, just…I’ll be back in Station Square in a couple of days, so, you get some rest and be ready for me.  We’ll get through this, I promise.  Knuckles.”

   As she finished reading the letter, Amy felt paralyzed; she couldn’t feel anything, except for a growing lump in her throat.  Knuckles actually wanted to help her; he wasn’t just on a mission for Sonic, even though she was sure Sonic had asked him to help.  In his words and actions, Amy knew Knuckles was really concerned.  Sure, she knew all her friends were concerned to some extent, but something about how Knuckles did things was different than everyone else’s attempts to help her.

   Knuckles really empathized with her.  Sure, he didn’t have his heart broken like she had, but he understood what it felt like to feel you have nothing left to live for, and are stuck in a life that seemingly had nothing left to offer.  He understood her pain, and he wanted to help her, probably because he didn’t want anyone to have to go through the same thing.  He wouldn’t give up, no matter how negative her attitude and outlook were.

   Then, she heard words that seemed long forgotten flow into her memory.  “Amy…I  won’t give up on you, and neither will your future.  Please…remember that.”

   Only now she realized they weren’t from long ago, and echoed from the night before, as she temporarily roused from deep sleep.  Now, she could remember the voice.  He had said that; he said he wouldn’t give up.  He wouldn’t give up on her.

   As these thoughts settled into her mind, Amy felt like her heart was being clutched as her breath ran short.  Then she felt a tear fall from her eyes.  She was used to crying by this point, but this time, she didn’t feel miserable and depressed; this time, she felt she could see a light at the end of a tunnel.  Now, she had hope again.

   Yet, this wasn’t the only thing that brought her to tears, the realization that she had lived in sadness for too long.  She realized how much this echidna that most all of them considered to be rough, tough, and stubborn, was actually kind, caring, and more than eager to help those in need.  Still, he had reached out to Amy in a very unusual way.  Before now, Amy could never envision Knuckles cleaning up a house, and she still felt that way.  He had done this because he wanted to help.  He wanted to make a difference in her life.  He had done this, because he cared about her.

   And now, Amy realized, she cared about him too.

   Looking back at the note, she dried her eyes so the tears would not fall on the letters and whimpered, “Knuckles…you’re…you’re too kind to me.  Everyone is, but…I know you.  You don’t always reach out to help others like Tails, Cream, and even Sonic and I do.  Something has to motivate you to open that part of your heart to others.  You…you really care about me.”

   Sniffing away the rest of her tears, she added, “I thought when Sonic told me we’d never work out that my life was over.  I started to simply exist from one day to the next; I wasn’t living.  Now, I remember that’s something you struggled with too.  You know what it’s like…but, somehow you learned to live.  You must have had something to dream for…I don’t know what it is, but…I have to find something to live for too.”

   She stood up, holding the letter in her hands as she walked to the sliding glass door that opened up to her balcony.  She could barely see Angel Island in the distance down to the coast.  She could feel her heart tug at her, almost as if it was beckoning her to sprout wings and fly to it.  These feelings that rushed through her could only point to one thing; Knuckles cared about her, and…she cared back, and although she was still unsure to some extent, she knew that the healing process started with the care and concern of a friend…a friend she would never have dreamed would be the one to do this.

   Smiling, she said to herself, “I think I’ll be coming to see you first Knuckles.  Something tells me, we have a lot to talk about.”