Chapter Text
Amy lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling while she tried to make sense of what just happened. Rouges farewell burned against her temple, her parting words echoing in her ears. I love you too.
Amy couldn't remember any events past the movie, but she remembered being cuddled up against Rouge as she drifted off to sleep. She remembered thanking her for her help and saying she loved her, but she meant it purely platonically. But did Rouge know that? Or if she did, did she feel different? Thinking back on her past interactions with Rouge, Amy began to notice some things. Rouges sudden disapearance at the sleepover, her shyness in the dressing room, and the fleeting moment on the porch when Amy told Rouge about her upcoming date. Rouges face, for a split second, had fallen. She took off not long after that, and Amy hadn't thought anything of it. But now, these all began to connect.
Rouge was in love with her.
Rouge was in love with Amy the same way Amy was with Sonic.
Everything began to make sense, Rouges breakup with knuckles, her overall "flighty" behavior when emotions were involved, the care Rouges had provided when Amy needed it most. But why did Rouge keep it hidden? The bat had always been so confident, so prepared for anything, wouldn't she say something? Then again…Rouge always preferred to talk about everyone else's emotions besides her own. Amy had tried to get her to open up in the past, but Rouge always managed to shift the topic to Amy or their mutual friends. She was guarded, while Amy wore her heart on her sleeve, emotions open to the wind.
Oh. She realized, how could Rouge confess her feelings when Amy was so clearly infatuated with Sonic? In fact, she was so hyperfocused on winning the blue blurs heart that the thought of anyone else pursuing her never even occurred to her. She had always been the one running, never the one chased. Rouge defiantly knew that. Amy groaned, covering her face with her hands. Feelings were so confusing, with Sonic it had been simple, plain. She loved him more than anyone, but the knowledge that he would never feel the same now sat on her chest, almost crushing her with its weight. And now one of her closest friends had feelings for her, and had no idea that she knew. What was she supposed to do with that information? Amy had never even considered girls as an option, but even if they were would she want anything with Rouge?
It was to soon to tell. The breakup still was fresh, and Amy couldn't handle being in another one just yet. That being said…maybe she could learn more about the situation. Amy set her alarm, filled with a new resolve. She was gonna spend more time with Rouge, find out how she truly felt about the bat. That way she could give Rouge the closure Sonic hadn't given her for years if she didn't feel the same. And if she did…well Amy wasn't sure what to do about that yet. That was a problem for another day.
Rouge felt…different after that night. It wasn't happiness or sadness, but more so a closure. Even if she hadn't said the words to Amy's face, she said them. That alone lifted a weight off her chest that she didn't even know was there. Flying home, her whole body felt lighter, like she could float up into space and beyond. But she couldn't do that, so she flew down and landed back at the condo. She didn't want to go through the door, too much had happened tonight. Luckily Shadow was preoccupied, so he would at least not get on her case. Maybe. And if carnage wasn't involved then Omega wasn't interested. She stood on the roof, fiddling with the lock on her window as she tried to get into her room. With a loud pop! The window opened, and as Rouge began to climb inside a bright light flashed in her face.
"Freeze! Whoever you are!" A deep voice declared. Rouge groaned, turning around to see Espio beaming a flashlight at her, Shadow beside him, already in a fighting stance.
"Calm down boys, it's just me." She called.
"Rouge!? It's two am! Why are you just now coming home.?" Shadow yelled.
"I could ask you the same! Didn't realize a dinner date could take seven hours!" Rouge didn't have to look at him to know he was beet red. Espio snickered.
"She has you there, love." He murmured to Shadow, who huffed in response.
"At least I had a reason to be gone! What's your excuse?"
"Never ask a woman to reveal her secrets. Now if you'll excuse me, my bed is calling. You two better just be going to bed too, I'm not dealing with that tonight." Rouge grinned, slipping into her room as she heard Shadow sputter in shock and embarrassment. She left the window open a crack so the cool night air could flow in, before flopping onto her bed. Despite her previous statement, she had really no intention of sleeping. Like most nights it evaded her, but being in her bed at least gave the illusion of rest. She heard the door open downstairs as Espio and Shadow carefully entered inside, hoping not to alert Omega. Her phone buzzed, and Rouge looked down to see a message from Shadow.
Shadow the edgelord: I expect a full update tomorrow. Don't think I'm letting this go.
Rouge <3: ;)
She listened as the couple made their way upstairs and into Shadows room, the door clicking softly behind them. She could hear the twos muffled murmurs as she lay still, catching strings of conversation with her keen ears.
"She says she's fine, but I know better, shes getting worse. She comes home late, heart broken, and then goes up to her room. I'm lucky if I can even get her to talk about it." Shadow sighed, and Rouge heared them sit on his bed. "I want to help her, to fix this, but she won't let me. She knows she needs help, but won't accept it." They were silent for a moment, before Espio spoke up.
"Sometimes problems don't need fixing. They just need to be heard. You can't force her." He said softly, almost too soft for Rouge to hear.
"I know." Shadow mumbled.
"She will come to you when she's ready. And that might take awhile. But you know Rouge, if she really needs it she'd come to you." Espio continued, and Rouge heard the bed shift as he leaned closer to Shadow.
"I know that to. I just…don't want…I don't want to lose her too." Shadow whispered, his voice so low that Rouge had to crane her head to catch it.
"If you think that it's bad enough to step in, let me know and I'll be there to help. But right now I think she needs to do this on her own. Though you're concerns are understandable." Espio reassured, and the room fell silent.Rouge rolled over in her bed, guilt weighing in her stomach. She didn't think she was being that distant, however Rouge never really paid attention to her feelings or actions until they become to apparent to ignore. Unlike Shadow, who was so hyper analyzing of his own feelings that even therapists didn't know what to do.
Rouge couldnt deny the fact she had been slightly aimless, constantly sacrificing her own time to help Amy and keeping herself so busy at work so that she wouldn't think about her unrequited feelings. Or the feelings of those she hurt. Like Knuckles. Rouge cringed at the thought of him, the look of betrayal in his eyes at her rejection, the confusion…she hadn't talked to him since that day. She flew off and blocked his number, too ashamed of herself to try to explain. It had almost been two years now since then. Should she try to explain herself? Did she even deserve that closure? Rouge had stolen his heart only to shatter it and run away. She was the villain in his love story, but maybe she could at least give him an explaination. She opened her messages to find Knuckles number, still on her blocked list. Rouge paused for a moment, before closing her phone and getting up. If she was going to give him an explanation she was going to do it to his face. Besides, she wasn't going to get much sleep thinking about it.
The flight to his island was a long one, but Rouge had flown it so many times she knew the route by heart. It was almost nostalgic to fly this route again, if it were a trail it would have been worn down from years of travel. Not so long ago she frequented his island everyday, partly to see the beautiful emerald Knuckles guarded, but also to see the guardian himself. She was what she thought endgame would be, they bounced off each other so well that Rouge was able to forget her problems, forget keeping up the persona of the femme fatale she had been wearing since she was sixteen. With Knuckles she was just Rouge, she didn't have to pretend. And she realized far to late that their dynamic was not meant to be a relationship, at least not for her.
The island slowly came into view, the large land mass suspended in the air as if it was held up by invisible wires. Waterfalls flowed off the sides, cascading into the ocean below. Held up by a stone structure, the large emerald stood in its glory in the center of the island, a small red dot beside it. Knuckles. Rouge slowly descended into the forest behind him, watching from the trees as she tried to determine her next move. Knuckles sat on top of the emerald, looking up at the sky. He was humming a low tune, one of the ancient echidna clans that he had shown her years before. His low voice resonated in the valley, and Rouge could almost swear that the emerald glowed brighter along with the tune. She barely noticed herself leaning forward, before a small twig snapped underneath her feet. Knuckles abruptly stopped, his head whipping around to stare in her direction. Rouge froze, holding her breath.
"…I know you're there, Rouge. You can fool the world but you can't fool me." He looked down, scoffing. "Well, most of the time."
Rouge slowly stepped out of the trees into the clearing, fidgeting with her hands nervously.
"Hey red." She murmured softly, stopping when she was near the emerald.
"It's been awhile. I wondered if I'd ever see you again." Knuckles tapped the space beside him, inviting her to sit up on the emerald with him. Rouge flew up, sitting next to him, though she still didn't make eye contact.
"I know. I…I don't have an excuse for that." Rouge sighed. They sat in uncomfortable silence, interrupted by Rouges nervous shifting.
"…I was ashamed. I thought being with you was everything I wanted, until you confessed." Rouge admitted, looking down at her hands.
"…did I do something wrong? I tried to do the right things but-" Knuckles began.
"No no! You did everything right, you did it perfectly actually, the problem is me." Rouge interrupted. She paused, taking a deep breathe.
"I…I think I'm a lesbian." Rouge blurted. She did it. She said the words that had been on her mind for years. Knuckles stared at her blankly, before laughing. Rouge stared at him in confusion.
"What's so funny?"
"All this time, I thought I had ruined everything. And it ended up not being something I can't control." He shook his head, smiling. "I spent weeks researching how to ask someone out, when you rejected me I assumed I had done something wrong."
"You didn't do anything wrong. It was me who messed everything up." Rouge hugged her knees to her chest. "I spent years trying to win your heart, but when I did finally get it everything felt wrong. Like it was fake. The moment was too perfect, I had everything, yet I felt like my world was shattering. I thought I wanted to be with you, but I think what I really wanted was a friend who understood me. I mean shadow does but ya know…someone I could…be someone else with." Rouge rambled.
"Who is it?" Knuckles asked. Rouge looked up.
"Who is it?" She parroted, confused.
"Who do you have feelings for?"He asked again, and Rouges face flushed.
"It's Amy, isn't it? I remember back then, seeing your eyes light up they way hers did when Sonic walked in the room whenever she did. I don't think you even noticed at the time." Knuckles shrugged. "I assumed it was because you wanted to be friends, but that wasn't it, wasn't it?" Rouge shook her head slowly.
"No, it wasn't. I'm sorry." She said softly.
"Don't apologize, you can't control your feelings."
"I can control my actions though. And I handled the situation poorly. I should have explained it to you than ran away. I should have reached out instead of blocking you and going radio silent. I'm surprised you even let me land on your island with the way I treated you. You should be furious with me."
Knuckles smirked.
"At first I was. I dug craters through the island and punched shit until it broke, the chao didn't come near me for days. Then I realized that I shouldn't be mad at you for making you uncomfortable, I shouldn't be pissed that I was rejected. Your feelings are valid, no matter what signals you sent, regardless of how I interpreted it. So I waited until you would come by again to properly apologize. And when you didn't, I assumed you would never. And I figured I deserved it."
Rouge looked away to hide the tears threatening to spill.
"You didn't deserve it. You don't have to apologize for anything."
"But I'm going to. And I'm going to accept your apology as well. We made our mistakes, let's put them behind and move forward." Knuckles stood up, reaching out his hand to help Rouge up. "Friends?"
Rouge sniffed, wiping her eyes and taking his hand.
"Friends." She smiled, before pulling the red echidna into a tight hug. He freezed for a moment, before tentatively returning the embrace. "Thank you." Rouge murmured.
"Yeah yeah, now get off my island." Knuckles pushed her away, rolling his eyes playfully. Rouge laughed, flapping her wings.
"What, worried I might steal your precious emerald again?" She teased.
"Yes actually, I know your fingers get sticky when your sad." Knuckles retorted, crossing his arms.
"Really? How strange." Rouge purred, pulling out a peach she had nabbed from him when they hugged and taking a bite. Knuckles shared up in shock, checking himself before glaring st her.
"Get out of here you theiving bat!" He yelled, shaking his fist at her.
"Toodiloo red, see you soon." Rouge giggled, flying off as the sun slowly began to rise. As the new rays hit her skin, Rouge felt a new resolve course through her. She didn't have to internalize everything, she didn't have to blame herself. What she needed to do was own up for it and move forward. For a moment, Rouge felt on top of the world.
That was until her phone buzzed with a text from Amy.
Amy <3?: hey girl! Free tomorrow?