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Sonic has already gone on ahead.
Of course he has. Gotta go fast is more than just his philosophy, it's his life. He never has time for this sort of thing.
I leap up, slicing a badnik in two with my tails. The two halves explode, releasing a small animal to the ground, stunned.
"Hey, Tails! Need any help?" You call from below. Bright as always.
I rub the back of my head with a grin.
"I got things up here, Amy. You stick to the lower levels."
You always have time for this sort of thing.
Every time Sonic ran ahead, tearing a path straight through hundreds of badniks like they weren't even there, we, the slow ones, followed behind, finishing off the badniks he missed, saving the people he didn't even notice, so focused on the finish line as he was.
I glance down to watch you as we progress. If not fearless then brave, if not flawless then diligent. Striking down badniks bigger than yourself without hesitation, always checking on the animals that fell from them to make sure they were alright.
Sometimes I wondered what Sonic thought happened to the badniks he left behind. Did he think they just exploded when he beat Eggman? Did he think they stopped killing when they were in his wake?
Screams. Smoke? A fire. I launch into the air, tails spinning as I soar towards the scene, smashing badniks all the way.
You're already running. So much faster now than when I first met you, so nimble as you launch yourself over hastily constructed barricades and fallen debris with just a flick of your hammer.
There, a fallen goliath, a hole punched straight through its chest. It had crashed next to a building when it fell, the power source had exploded a few minutes later, long after Sonic had gone. Shortly before we slow ones got here.
More screams. Movement in an upper window? I drop to a roof, letting my tails rest and reset a moment while I pull out a shield generator. A blazing red field of energy envelops me before I fly off once more, the sound barrier exploding behind me as I slam into the building like a flaming meteor.
Fire and smoke are thick in the air, but I feel nothing as I rush from room to room, safe in my cocoon of energy. There, two kitten girls, trapped behind a collapsed wall. I drag a fallen beam aside with one hand, the other reaching to pull them free, into the safety of my shield.
The kittens cling to me, trembling as I launch from the closest window, dropping to the pavement outside. I place them down, about to head back in when I see you, pink quills and bright clothes now black with soot, stumbling out of the door, an old panther's hand in yours.
"Grandpa!" The kittens cry, the family unite as their home burns behind them.
And you, without my shield, without my speed, without my strength, you kneel beside them, comfort them, guide them. You treat wounds with bandages that I could have healed in seconds with a bot, all while battered and burnt yourself. You show them where to go to find the teams behind us, and I can only stare at you until you finish. Waving them off before turning back towards me, a glorious grin on your lips.
"Good job back there!"
"You too." I say with a smile. And I mean it.
Because that's the kind of person you are. Amy Rose, kind and brave, a heroine the kind that takes my breath away. The kind I burst with pride to even know.
At least for the moment.
I could heal you too, it would take me no effort at all… But I don't. I can't. There is too much loveliness in this blackened Rose, to take away the marks of your bravery would be to cheapen it.
So instead I take off again, flying up to the higher levels of the city once more, where Eggman's aerial forces still roam. Secure in the knowledge that you are below, sharing in the burden of following in Sonic's footsteps. And I still watch over you as you go, with just a hammer, no badnik escaping your wrath, no animal escaping your mercy.
We turn a corner. A surprise for you, if not for me, when a massive goliath previously hidden behind a building turns on you, cannons spraying explosive rounds that tear apart the pavement. You yell an unnecessary warning to me even as you dive behind a dumpster, barely waiting for it to pause its fire before charging out once more, hammer raised high...
But it's too strong. You're kicked back by a metal foot bigger than you are. Its guns spin up again, targeting you before you can stand.
And I dive, slamming to the floor before you as bullets and explosions ripple across my forcefield, destroying it instead of you.
You mutter thanks as I help you up, and we charge together while it reloads, me distracting its attention while you get into position with your hammer, slamming its weak points until finally it falls to the floor. You look at me, elation in your eyes swiftly turning to surprise as you notice the other two goliaths that approached during the fight. That now stand poised on each side of us, gun barrels whirring into up to speed.
And I just wait.
Because I saw him coming.
A blur of blue soars down the street, smashing through metal that you worked so hard to even dent. He lands with a smile and a quip before the goliaths even hit the floor.
A hero always saves the day in the nick of time. And Sonic is the ultimate hero. Larger than life, always sure, always right, always good.
Where normally I would never dare to do even half the things I am capable of, in his shadow I can risk it. In the shadow of a hero this coward can become a shadow of a hero himself. Because if it all goes wrong, he can stop it.
He can stop me.
But you? You've gone, vanished. In your place stands a different girl. Fascinated, obsessed, adoring.
Desperate.
The heroine who took my breath away such a brief time before is now nothing more than a victim, saved by her hero.
And I ache for you. I ache for the one you love, who will never get to see you as I do, and I am too much of a coward to try and change it. I treasure our moments in the twilight too much, where Sonic is close enough to shelter me and far enough to release you, that I would never threaten this status quo.
And how could I tell you even if I dared? You do love him. As destructive as that obsession is, it was what brought you this far, what sustains you even as it destroys you. I may as well ask you to cut off your arm, except you would readily do that to save someone else, while you would never cut off from Sonic to save yourself.
Sonic teases me for spacing out, wagging his finger. He's beaten Eggman, so he's following him to the next zone.
"Wait! Soniiiic!" You cry after him, but he's already gone, leaving another mess for us to clean in his wake.
And while I love him more than I love myself, for that moment, watching you come back to life? I am happy to see him gone.
Because where a fox can only be himself in the shadow, a Rose can only wilt in it.
The End