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Closing her eyes, Amy rested her head on Tekno’s shoulder. Soft feathers brushed against her quills. The wool fabric of Tekno’s sweater warmed her bare forearm, and she felt Tekno gently squeeze her hand.
Flickies tweeted as they soared through the Green Hill Zone. Palm trees swayed in the breeze, which also carried the scent of wildflowers. Instead of any metallic tang in the air, only sweetness remained. Not a single sign of copper or rust existed in the Zone, allowing nature to once again flourish with fauna and grassy abundance.
Dr. Kintober had returned. Dr. Robotnik was nothing more than a cruel memory. Although their enemies still existed, Mobius finally returned to a peaceful era after years of fighting Robotnik’s Badnik horde, something Amy had once deemed impossible.
She breathed in the fragrance of flowers and sighed. The untainted existence of the checkerboard pathways and loop-de-loops confirmed their victory. She listened to the waterfall cascading in the distance, filling her ears with water splashing against cool earth, immersing herself in a sound free from the whirring of Choppers.
“It’s over, isn’t it?” Tekno whispered, peering down at her.
Her smile ached as it pressed into her cheeks. “It feels like we’ve spent our whole lives fighting Robotnik,” Amy said, stretching her legs out. The grass tickled her legs, and she tucked her knees to her chest. “I almost don’t know what to do now with all this spare time.”
“We’ve got a lifetime to figure that out,” Tekno replied, caressing the side of Amy’s face with her short beak. She kissed her brow, lingering for a moment before withdrawing.
Her cheeks reddened. Heat swelled in her heart and spread throughout her blood. Amy cupped the canary’s cheek, stroking it with her lightly calloused thumb. Her trigger finger, which had fired her crossbow countless times, played with a loose feather on the back of Tekno’s head and smoothed it back in place.
This moment seemed like it had taken an eternity to occur. Time stretched on at a snail’s pace. The sun dipped lower in the horizon, casting a pink glow across the cerulean sky and illuminating the cumulous clouds, turning them the shade of cotton candy.
Amy fidgeted with Tekno’s sleeve. She rolled the wool between her fingers, feeling stray threads scratch her palms. Amid peace, she couldn’t remember the last time she was able to have a quiet minute with her.
She treasured their adventures. She loved every minute of fighting at Tekno’s side. But protecting the world had come before romance. They had both understood the notion very well, choosing to ignore the longing in the other’s eyes for the sake of the people they swore to defend from Robotnik’s regime.
Now, time was their oyster. Opportunities bloomed open for them like roses in a field. Anywhere, any place, all they needed was each other at their side to move forward.
“There’s a place I want to go with you,” Amy announced, sitting upright. She cupped Tekno’s hands, setting them between their laps. “We should visit Never Lake. It’s beautiful this time of year.”
Tekno itched her chin. “Wait. Have you been there since Metallix kidnapped you?”
Amy’s nose wrinkled. She ran her hand through her upturned quills. “You didn’t have to mention that, Tekno,” she pouted, crossing her arms like an obstinate child. “It’s already embarrassing enough that the first time I met Sonic was when I was being kidnapped. He never lets me live it down no matter how many times I saved him from Robotnik or himself.”
Snickering, Tekno swung her arm around Amy’s shoulder as she huffed, raising her chin. Amy breathed in a slight scent of oil wafting her, which was like Tekno’s brand of perfume. She turned to Tekno, grinning and leaning toward her. Tekno pressed her forehead to Amy’s brow, looking into her eyes before tilting her head, and Amy kissed the tip of her beak.
“It’s so weird having all this time to ourselves,” Amy breathed out, and Tekno took her hands.
“But it’s not a bad thing, right?”
Amy wrapped her arms around Tekno’s waist, holding her tightly. “No, not at all,” she murmured into her ear, and she smiled at the clouds moving to the north.