Chapter Text
As the breeze cooled and the leaves changed, Amy Rose found herself back in the mundane routine and monotonous lull of everyday life. She worked at a local garden center, helping the owner tend to flora of varying species and origins. Each morning would start the same, each night would end the same, and each day she yearned for summer again and again. Whenever she came across a myrtle sapling in the greenhouse that housed tropical plants, she found herself deep in the romantic fantasy of sitting underneath one fully grown and in bloom with vibrant pink flowers. She dearly yearned for that last month of summer that had gone by so quickly. It had been such a pleasant turnaround from the pain that Spring had brought her.
It was the very beginning of May when she was dumped by her boyfriend of four years, her high school sweetheart, Sonic the Hedgehog. This man who she had loved with her entire heart, who she had thought had loved her with his own, gave up everything they had built together. They had done everything together for four whole years, they were even contemplating moving in with one another, but then--
Sonic got cold feet. He had expressed to Amy that he just wasn’t ready. That he needed some time to “soul search” and that they both needed time to “explore who we are on our own.” But, of course, “we can still be friends!”
Amy tried holding up the pretense of friendship for an entire month before she had had enough. What was worse, she and Sonic shared the same friend group. She couldn’t take space from him without running into him at one of Tangle’s parties in Spiral Hill, or Knuckles’ bonfires on Angel Island.
Almost every conversation they had after the break up was awkward. The less awkward conversations were often due to the pair finding themselves in a drunken stupor, covertly planning on hooking up later those evenings. Those nights were hard. After all was said and done, Sonic would roll out of her bed, clothe himself, and leave as soon as it was over, often without saying a word to the pink hedgehog. Amy cried herself to sleep each time and each day that followed left her feeling empty and yearning for more. More of his attention, his affection, his presence.
None of that had been good for Amy’s heart. She was completely and utterly heartbroken, crestfallen. Amy could never escape those feelings when the source of her pain was always just a text away.
So, instead of allowing herself to continue wallowing in her grief, she decided to take the summer months off of work to travel. It was the best decision for both of them. When she had told Sonic, he seemed happy for her. Relieved, even, which didn’t feel good to Amy at the time, but the prospect of getting to see the world would have been worth it.
She had seen everything from tropical beaches on solitary islands, to towering mountain ranges that served as the backdrop of verdant forests that served, to arid desert land littered with cacti and majestic Joshua Trees. She had spent the last month of her escapades on a rocky altitudinous island surrounded by a pristine blue sea. She fell completely in love with the beautiful island and its beautiful people, and in particular with a man she had met during her stay. Those myrtle tree saplings reminded Amy of him. The feeling of his hands gripping her hips as they kissed, the wind whipping through her quills and her arms wrapped around his waist as they drove around the island on his motorcycle... She sighed dreamily.
Amy had met Shadow the Hedgehog during a festival of dance in the small village the first night she had settled there. Shadow had been a bit standoffish, and seemingly shrouded in mystery, but there was an allure to him that Amy could not ignore that night. She approached him, a little tipsy from the cocktail she had, and completely entranced by the rhythm of the music. Shadow stood, leaning against a pillar of a gazebo, and smoking a cigarette. His eyes swept over her body that remained swaying to the beat, he took in her flowing white sundress and sparkling green eyes, and her beautiful smile. That night, they talked and they danced and by the end of the night Amy was more than eager to share their first kiss.
They were doomed to be star-crossed lovers from the very first moment.
Amy was utterly swept off of her feet within a week of spending time with Shadow. They spent any moment they could together, knowing that it would all come to an end in a blink. Shadow referred to Amy as his Rose and Amy could not prevent herself the first time she had called Shadow her Love. She didn’t stop after that first slip-up either.
As Amy was getting ready to board her flight and leave the island for good, their final moments together were as sweet as honey. Shadow had gifted her one of his own golden chains, draping it around her neck, sealing it with a kiss on her bare shoulder. Amy felt the weight of it sitting on her chest and could feel herself tearing up. She quickly spun around and hopped in the black hedgehog’s arms, kissing him harder than she ever had kissed anyone in her life.
And indeed, in a blink, it was over.