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They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Maybe Amy Rose was insane. Trying to catch up with the wind, to make it settle down for her, to keep trying for years on end with no success. Pure madness.
This wasn't unexpected by any means. No, Sonic bailing on their dates was more common than him actually showing up. If anything, it was her fault for getting her hopes up.
But something is different this time around. There is no angry shouting, no smashed hubris, no tear-soaked pillows. There's nothing, actually.
Just emptiness.
Amy stood to the side of the entrance of Twinkle Park, out of the way of the people coming in and out. Still form, hands together on the front and eyes on the ground, she did a great job blending in with the scenery.
How much longer did she plan on doing this? Telling herself that he's just shy and that next time he'll totally confess his feelings. Her excuses hadn't changed at all since she was a child.
This, this was the problem. Absolutely nothing had changed since Amy was a kid. She was still the same dumb little girl, begging for crumbs of her hero's attention.
Maybe if she had something to show for herself after all these years. If she had the class of a princess, or the allure of a government spy, or if she didn't have to train and carry weights on her arms every day just to keep up with everyone else–
“–Amy? Amy!”
She blinked. Raising her head, she was met with blue, worried eyes.
“Are you okay? I've been calling your name for a while now.”
“...Tails?” When did he get here?
Amy's friend stood eye-level with her, namesakes swaying behind him. She sometimes forgot he was taller than her nowadays, at least if you counted his flicking ears. “Hi. Um… something came up. Sonic can't make it.”
She could tell that much.
“A portal appeared outside my house a little while ago and Young Sonic came out of it. There's trouble in the past, I think. He didn't talk. Anyway, our Sonic joined him and they disappeared inside the portal.”
Oh, it made sense. Amy disappeared completely from Sonic's mind the moment an adventure was presented to him. One he technically already went to, on top of that.
No, stop it. There was danger, and he's a hero, remember? It always came back to that. He's got better stuff to do than feeding into her delusions–
“Um, are you feeling alright, Amy?”
Her friend cut her line of thought before she could get into another spiral. Well, at least Tails bothered to let her know what happened. She didn't think Sonic would come running to explain himself once he's back.
“Yeah, I'm fine,” she lied. He probably could tell, but she couldn't bring herself to care. “Thanks, Tails.”
No excuse to stay here, then. Amy really didn't feel like being home alone in her current state of mind, but it seemed that's how her evening was going to be. She turned towards the street–
“Are you going home already?”
Hm? “Yeah.”
“You already bought the tickets, right? Sonic mentioned. Well, don't you want to go inside?”
“By myself?”
“I-I mean…” He rubbed the back of his head. “I could go with you? I'm no Sonic, but…”
…
Was Tails taking pity on her?
Amy couldn't tell if he's that nice or if she just looked that miserable. Probably both. Is that what rock bottom looked like?
“C'mon, it'll be fun! It's been forever since I've been here,” Tails said with a cheerful smile. He almost looked like he genuinely wanted to go with her.
Amy considered her options. Be eaten away by her thoughts at home, or let her friend pretend to enjoy her company out of pity?
“Sure, why not.”
Tails beamed. He took her hand in his, and together they made their way towards the entrance.
The pair traversed the sea of mobians and humans, handing the guard their tickets and entering the park. Tails took in the many attractions with convincing excitement, but Amy remained unimpressed.
“Where do you wanna go first?”
“Wherever you want.”
Her answer made Tails falter slightly. He looked around in search of their first ride, never letting go of her hand so as not to be washed away by the crowds.
“Oh, there! You're gonna love the roller-coaster!”
Amy didn't contest him, letting herself be dragged to the tall structure at the center of the park. Roller-coasters were fun, sure, but she just wasn't in the mood. And watching Tails throw up in the trash can afterwards didn't help with that.
“Sorry,” he said after it seemed that there was nothing else to come out. “I'm starting to remember why I haven't come here in so long.”
“I've seen you make much faster turns in your planes.”
“Planes that I control.”
Oh, of course. Amy wouldn't dare to question the genius' logic.
“Anyways, did you like it?” Tails turned to her with expecting eyes.
Did he actually care if she enjoyed herself or not? He should be worrying about getting rehydrated. “It was fine.”
Her answer made his ears drop. Shaking his head, he smiled and took her hand once again. “That's okay. There's a lot to do here, I'm sure there'll be something you'll like!”
And that's how their evening went. Tails would drag Amy to ride after ride, and neither would have a great time. It turned out her friend had trouble with anything that moved too fast when he wasn't the one behind the wheel.
Nevertheless, he kept going. Coming out barely able to stand, but insisting on asking if Amy enjoyed herself. She was wondering just how far he was planning to go with this pity date.
Could this be considered a date? She hoped not. How depressing would it be if her longest date had been with a friend who felt bad that she was stood up for the millionth time?
Amy now watched as Tails demolished an overpriced Chao-combo with fries. She forced him to take a break and fill up before he passed out in the middle of the park.
“I'm done,” he said after swallowing his last bite. He didn't realize there was a smudge of ketchup on his muzzle. “Where to now?”
Amy grabbed a napkin and leaned forward to clean her clumsy friend. “We're not going into any more rides, Tails. You just ate.”
“Um…” A light pink rose in his cheeks and he looked away. Probably embarrassed about his table manners. “How about we take a look at the stands, then?”
She sighed. Tails was adamant in pretending to want to spend time with her. Standing up, they made their way to the one part of the park they had yet to visit.
Festival-style games were presented in what was arguably the least crowded corner of Twinkle Park. Humans and mobians both tried their luck in winning plushies and toys of questionable quality.
“Hey, you! Foxy!” One of the vendors, a balding mobian rat, called out for Tails. “Wanna try winning a prize for the lady?”
Her friend glanced her way, and Amy shrugged. The two of them then made their way to the booth, where plush toys of every kind were exhibited.
“Just hit the target and win the prize!” The vendor pointed to a pile of metal cans balanced together, and presented them with a tennis ball. “Easy peasy! Just three rings.”
Ears perking up, Tails paid the rat and took the ball while Amy watched from behind. She knew her friend's aim was enviable, at least with guns and cannons, so this should be a piece of cake. Pulling his arm back, he swung hard–
“Ow!”
He fell on his backside, holding his muzzle. Tails hit the pile right in the center, but the ball simply bounced right back at him, hitting him on the nose.
“Ouch, that must've hurt!” The vendor said with a tone that sounded anything but sympathetic. “Guess it's not your day, pal. Better luck next time.”
“Hey, what the hell?” Amy crouched to check on her friend, the sight of him on the ground being enough to crack her neutral demeanor. “Are you being serious? These cans are very clearly glued together!”
“Now missy, what's with all these accusations? The cans are just heavy, you can't have the game be too easy after all.” The obnoxious vendor shooed them away. “It's not my fault your boyfriend got a weak arm. You can either try again or leave the way for other customers.”
Oh, the nerve on this guy. Turning back to her friend, Amy felt her anger rise as blood started to flow from his nose.
He wasn't even supposed to be here. Tails was wasting his evening on her because he's a good friend, and now he got hurt because of it. Seeing his eyes watering as his muzzle stained red was the last straw for Amy.
Standing up, she walked towards the booth and slammed three rings on the counter. “I'll give it a go.”
“Amy, wait–”
“Oh, that's what I like to see! Trying to restore your man's honor, are ya?”
The rat gave her a yellow grin as she took the tennis ball. His grin gradually fell and his eyes widened as Amy threw the ball up and a red mallet appeared on her hand.
Piko!
With a hard swing, the ball went right through the pile. The cans turned into a singular mangled piece of metal on the ground, killing any doubt that they were glued together.
The rat looked back and forth between Amy and what was left of his scam, his face turning red with anger. He reached for the closest plushie and threw it in her direction. “Here, take your prize! Now leave my booth!”
With a smirk, Amy helped Tails up and they left the charlatan behind. The sparkle in her friend's eyes as he looked her way made the whole thing that much better.
She brought him to the restroom area, where he washed his face and staunched the blood. After he came out, the two of them decided to sit on a bench and just people-watch for a while.
“That was pretty badass,” Tails broke the silence.
“Heh. Thanks.” Amy looked at the plushie on her hand, just now giving it attention. It was a blue flicky, just like those Tails used to have flying around him sometimes when he was a kit.
“I'm sorry, by the way.”
“Hm? For what?”
“Your evening kinda sucked, didn't it? You didn't like the rides all that much, and I kept getting sick. I couldn't even win you a prize.”
Amy turned to her friend with disbelief. He went out of his way to keep her company when he didn't have to, got a nose bleed for his troubles, and now he's apologizing?
“Tails…” Amy had so much she could say to him, she was having trouble deciding. She settled on asking what had been on her mind during this whole time. “Why did you do all this? You didn't have to force yourself on a fake date just because I was down.”
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked to the ground, picking at his blood-stained gloves. Taking a long breath, he closed his eyes. “Because you deserve it.”
Amy didn't voice her confusion. It wasn't necessary, as he continued.
“You didn't have to do any of this. This hero business, I mean. People like me, Sonic, Knuckles… We're meant to do this stuff. We were born with powers and abilities normal people don't have, and we didn't have families. No one back home to worry about us fighting killer robots.
“But you're different.”
He opened his eyes, turning towards her. “You were a regular kid, who just happened to be saved by Sonic. And yet, you learned to fight and trained your body, to the point you were able to stand beside crazy people like us. You could be a normal mobian working a normal job, but you wanted to become a hero and you did.
“And the coolest part? You kept being yourself.”
Tails smiled, looking to the starry sky above. “You never stopped being sweet and caring, and these qualities helped us save the world more than once. Sometimes I wonder, if I didn't have my brains and my flying, if I'd be able to become strong enough to follow Sonic and everyone else while staying true to myself. And honestly… I don't think I could.”
He rubbed the back of his head and looked down, suddenly embarrassed by his rambling. “A-anyway, I just think you're pretty awesome, and I felt you deserved something going your way for once. I doubt I'm a good replacement for Sonic, but if I didn't at least try–”
Tails was interrupted by arms closing around him, holding him tightly. His first instinct was to blush and stammer, but as it brought no reaction from Amy, he slowly settled down and returned the embrace. They stayed that way for some time, in which a few tears fell on Tails' shoulder, before Amy decided to let go.
“Thank you, Tails. You've no idea how much I needed that.”
“It was n-nothing.” He looked away from her, cheeks turning pink. She giggled, before getting up from the bench.
“It's getting late. Walk me home?”
“Oh! S-sure!” He shot up, and the pair made their way towards the exit.
“Here, before I forget.” She handed him the flicky plushie, but he pushed it away.
“It's fine, you can keep it.”
“I won the prize, and I decide who to give it to.” She forced the toy in his arms, not giving him an option. “You can give me a plushie when you win one yourself.”
He rubbed the back of his head once again. “Heh. I guess it's a bit lame for the guy to be given a teddy on the date, huh?”
“It's totally lame. You better win me something bigger than that next time.”
“I'll be sure to bring my arm cannon– wait, did you say next time?”
Amy turned to him with a smirk and half-lidded eyes. “Of course, silly. Did you think you could just walk away after sweet-talking me like that? You'll take responsibility.”
Tails' bright pink face made Amy giggle once more. She intertwined her fingers with his, even though there was no crowd to pass through, and guided her flustered date out of the park.
A lot had changed since Amy was a kid. And she had a feeling a lot more would change in the future. But some things about her would always stay the same.
Like how she couldn't help falling for a hero who would drop everything to come to her rescue.