Chapter Text
Amy inhaled deeply, readying herself for what may be the biggest moment of her life. She didn’t need to write anything down, she was speaking directly from the heart. She had these words ready for as long as she could remember. All she needed were the fortune cards to give her the greenlight, and that was what she received.
“I made up my mind. We should be together. And even if the answer’s no, I’ll wait for you. Even when I’m an old woman, I’ll still wait for you. But we should definitely be together, for real this time.”
Well, it sounded better in her head. A plethora of indescribable feelings usually accompanied this sentiment. Not to mention, Amy did not imagine expressing these words in the dingy Cafe Chaotix, much less with the people who were not her beloved.
“Okay,” said Rouge, who was sitting across the table. “Now say something he doesn’t know.”
“I think it was romantic,” said Cream, smiling brightly.
“Yeah, you would think that,” Rouge muttered.
Amy sat back in her seat, deflated. “You don’t have to be so mean.”
“Hun, you wanted an opinion. And mine is, you could do better.”
“With the speech?”
“And the man.”
Amy scoffed, not wanting to defend her choice in crushes for the umpteenth time. “Okay, thank you. Go away now.”
Rouge grinned and shook her head as she got up and practically flew to the bar up front. Of all people the Cream had to contact to hear out Amy’s semi-confession. It honestly wasn’t a bad choice. She just really didn’t need the discouragement today.
“How did you get Rouge to come here? Isn’t she always traveling?”
Cream smiled. “I sent her a daisy chain.”
That checks out. No one says no to Cream the Rabbit.
“When do you get to see Mr. Sonic?”
“Hopefully soon. Him and Tails and Knuckles are coming back from a mission today.” Amy grinned, feeling giddy.
“And what did the cards say to you?”
“I got Fruit. I can’t remember if it was upright or reverse, but that’s okay. It’s a good sign either way.”
Cream’s eyes lit up. “What does it mean?”
It meant that Amy had a decision to make. She could either keep things as they were, or she could confess her feelings to Sonic, for real this time. She was going to present her case like never before. She was good for him, he was good for her. They worked well together on countless missions. It was only a matter of time before they called it what it was.
And… yes. Amy has been here before. Ready to lay it out on the table, ask Sonic for his hand. It always was just cut short. Something would just happen, like Eggman flying in with some new badnik. Or the moon explodes. Kinda makes it hard to confess your love. But it was one thing Amy loved about Sonic; he was always ready to jump into action. He saw the beauty in defeating the bad guys, and got so much joy from it.
On top of that, the moon being in pieces made it harder to tell what phase it was in. Amy’s full moon readings and rituals were a bit skewed now. But there was always a way. She counted thirty (or thirty-one?) days before today’s reading. Then, she realized she could do whatever she wanted.
Rouge returned to the table with a tray. Two sparkling juices and one strawberry milkshake.
“You went and got these for us?” Amy asked in disbelief.
“And it’ll never happen again,” the bat replied in that deadpan sarcastic way.
Cream thanked her endlessly as she snatched up the shake. Amy had a feeling that Rouge didn’t purchase these from the goodness of her heart. She made a mental note to pay the tab before leaving tonight.
As the evening progressed, Amy’s head was on a swivel. Every time she heard the cafe doors open, she turned to see who was entering. Rouge told her to get a grip. Be calm. Part of the reason why Sonic avoided Amy was because she came on too strong. Besides, it’s not like she’s never spoken to him before.
“It’s different this time. I have a purpose now.” That was the only way Amy could put it. It was all she could say because he was finally here.
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles entered the vicinity in high spirits, an indication that their mission was successful. It was another good sign from the universe. Sonic being in a good mood meant it would be easier to talk to him.
“Just be normal about it,” Rouge told her as she stood up yet again. “For example…”
Amy watched as the bat approached Knuckles at the bar. She talked to him and kept his attention on her, moving in a direction away from the other two. In a moment, Knuckles had his back to Sonic and Tails, fully occupied.
“It’s easy for her, she doesn’t even like him that much,” Amy grumbled.
“Then why does she talk to Mr. Knuckles?” Cream asked.
There was no simple way to answer that. Amy sighed and watched Sonic chitchat with Tails and Vector, who was manning the bar. There were other patrons who approached them, asking the blue hero about his most recent adventure. He was attentive, but nonchalant as he answered their questions. He was completely unaware of the green eyes burning a hole through the back of his head.
Of course, Amy knew that Sonic would never enter a room and look for her first. He wouldn’t take the seat next to her. Sure, he’s saved her numerous times, but he wouldn’t save her a seat.
That was going to change. She just needed to stay positive.
“Okay.” She shifted in her seat, preparing to stand.
Cream watched her, expecting a move. But Amy wasn’t moving.
“Are you going?”
“Yes.”
“When are you going?”
Amy was still watching him. Seeing him in person was different to thinking about him all the time. But she’s talked to him plenty of times, and she could see how this was going to go. Conversations went in many directions, especially with multiple people. It was going to be hard to get Sonic alone.
Amy had definitely gotten past throwing herself at him. A couple years ago, she would have already been at his side, talking his ear off. That was usually what got him running away. If she really wanted things to be different, Amy had to take a new approach.
With a deep breath, Amy got up from her seat. She reached for her coin purse as she walked over to the bar. Yes, approaching for a reason that had nothing to do with her main task was the right move. It was not desperate. Heck, as far as she knew, the love of her life was not a few feet away from her. Nosiree.
“I got a bone to pick with you!” Vector snapped as soon as Amy was close enough. “You know how much Earth rent is? And you’re skimping out on me?”
“I know, I know. Honest mistake.” Amy could see Sonic through her peripherals, and it was like trying not to stare at the sun. She focused her eyes on her coin purse as she fished out a sizable number of rings. “This should cover it, right?”
Vector crossed his arms. “Earth rent, little miss.”
Amy resisted an eyeroll. “Seriously? Fine.” She pulled out a few dollar bills and stuffed them into the tip jar.
Then, she felt it. Something blue facing her. Elbow on the bartop, resting his head in his hand. Green eyes like beams of light, right on Amy’s form.
Time to look directly into the sun.
“Hiya, Amy!” Sonic greeted.
“We didn’t know you were here!” Tails added, pleasantly surprised.
"Hi guys! Uh, we just got here.” That was a lie. Amy did not know why she lied. Her brain wasn’t working anymore. She decided to wave Cream over and give in to a group thing.
She listened to the Team Sonic adventure, nodding along and asking questions at the right times. Sonic told Cream about the flower field they ran into during the trip. He even presented her with a bouquet to make more chains with.
Cream absolutely burst with joy. Amy did too, admiring just how much Sonic thought of others. It might be her favorite thing about him.
“Did you bring me anything?” she asked, half joking.
Sonic grinned. “As a matter of fact…” He reached behind his back and pulled out a small, very round rock.
Color her surprised. Too stunned to speak, actually.
“You like funky lookin’ rocks, right? Tails and I found a bunch of them by a river, most of ‘em split open,” Sonic explained. “They look like the ones you collect.”
“It’s hollow on the inside!” Tails added, taking the rock and gently tapping it on the bar top.
“It probably looks really cool on the inside too,” Sonic told her.
Amy was still shocked. He went out of his way to find something for her. How did he decide which rock was the most perfect one? Did he spend a lot of time searching? And the biggest question of all…
“How did you know?” she asked as she accepted the gift. “I just lost some of my crystals recently!”
“What? How?” Sonic replied.
“I was on my way to this Chao Garden I found, and I had some crystals in my pockets. They fell out when I was hiking up the mountain.” She held the rock to her heart and smiled wide. “But this is the perfect start to my new collection, so thank you!”
It would have been the perfect segue to her main point of being here. But Sonic’s face turned into one of disgust, and he looked around the bar.
“Yo, Vector! What’s with this tune?”
Amy’s ears perked up. A dancey, upbeat song that she was familiar with was bumping throughout the vicinity. It was a song she liked very much, actually.
“Gotta appease the crowd! They like pop!” Vector replied with a shrug.
“Ugh!” Sonic groaned, turning his attention back to his friends. “These pop singers, man…”
“What’s wrong with them?” Amy asked in defense.
“Have you seen ‘em?”
She has, and she loved them all. But before she could get unnecessarily upset, Rouge and Knuckles entered the group, directing the conversation elsewhere. Then, Cream was asking Amy for another milkshake, to which she obliged. All was lost to time after that.
It wasn’t until Cream’s sugar rush died down did things draw to a close.The group made their way outside and hung out near the entrance of the cafe for just a little longer.
“Well, I’m outta here. Goodnight,” Rouge said over her shoulder as she flew off into the night.
Sonic gave Knuckles a look, wiggling his brows.
“What?” he asked defensively.
Sonic only smirked in response.
“What?”
Amy playfully smacked the hedgehog’s arm. “Leave him alone.”
She noticed how Sonic did not meet her eyes, but received the message. “Nothin’, Knux. Good night!”
The echidna narrowed his eyes and grumbled back his adieu. However, he was not subtle about leaving in the smae direction Rouge went.
“Those two…” Sonic chuckled.
Amy would have spoken in their defense, but she felt Cream’s head rest against her arm. She needed to get home by curfew, or Vanilla would stay awake with worry.
She felt a pit of disappointment in her stomach. The one thing she had been focusing on tonight fell through. She could always try again some other time, but she was so sure about today being the day.
“We gotta get going too.”
“I’m sleepy…” Cream mumbled, her weight on Amy only becoming heavier.
“I know. Can you walk with me? We’re not too far from your house.”
“Here. I gotcha.” Sonic stepped forward and easily scooped the rabbit into his arms. Then, he turned to his little brother. “You comin’? Or will I see you at home?”
Tails immediately whirred into the air. “I’m going home. I’ll be okay. Night, Amy!”
She waved as he flew away.
“So, you’re coming,” Sonic guessed, tone unreadable.
“Vanilla’s house is on the way to mine,” Amy replied. “Right, Cream?”
Cream had fallen asleep the moment her feet were off the ground. So technically, Amy was finally alone with Sonic.
The walk was quiet for a moment. That is, until Amy looked up at the night sky.
“I can’t believe the moon is in half.”
“Yeah, Egghead pissed on it pretty hard,” Sonic replied without missing a beat.
Amy grimaced and chuckled at the same time. “I hate that meme.”
“So does Egghead! He gets so riled up when I bring it up.”
“Of course he does.”
The thought of Eggman turning red with rage over a meme had both hedgehogs giggling. Amy joked that there would be a video response from him any day now. The man was literally on twitter dot com, it didn’t really help his case.
“Speaking of twitter,” Sonic said, “Chris says hi.”
Amy was floored. “Not Chris Thorndyke? Wait, what does that have to do with twitter?”
“I don’t know, I just wanted to bring that up somehow. Forgot to mention it earlier.”
It had Amy giggling the rest of the way to Vanilla’s. She asked about Chris, how old was that guy now? Was he still unhealthily attached to Sonic?
You're one to talk.
The conversation paused as Cream was returned home. Thankfully, they were there on time and Vanilla was grateful. Both Sonic and Amy conveniently forgot about the part with the extra milkshake and made it out of the house without a lecture.
“So are you walking me home too?” Amy asked once they were back outside.
Sonic hesitated. It was long enough to where Amy would typically take it back, say it was just a joke, and call it a night. She was no longer a girl who demanded time from a guy who would rather do anything else.
But she waited this time.
“Uh…” Sonic looked over his shoulder, in the direction of his home. Then he faced Amy with a decision. “Sure.”
It was hardly enthusiastic, but Amy took it. And it wasn’t going to be for nothing.
“We need to see what’s inside this rock, anyways,” she said, holding up her gift. She had it in her hand all night.
Sonic perked up. “You’re right.”
Suddenly, Amy was swept off the ground, harsh wind blowing in her face. She barely even got a chance to think about the rest of this walk before she was in front of her own home again. She always loved being carried away, but there was still so much night to be had. It didn’t have to be over so quick.
“Alright, what do we got?” Sonic asked as he set Amy back on her feet.
Amy rolled the stone around in her hand, wanting this moment to stretch out for as long as possible. “What do you think it’ll be?”
“Oh you know… that one shiny rock.”
“Hmm… I’m hoping for a clear quartz. I lost that one and my smoky quartz. My pipe dream is tiger’s eye or citrine–”
Sonic was, well, quick. He snatched the rock from Amy’s hand and chucked it on the ground. He explained upon seeing the utter shock on her face.
“That’s how me and Tails opened the other ones. Ya gotta break ‘em!”
“I know. I have a hammer.” Amy couldn’t help the annoyance in her tone.
“Well you weren’t fast enough.”
She rolled her eyes and bent down to pick up the pieces. Her displeasure faded as the porch light flickered against the beautiful inside of this geode. Shiny black with tiny flecks of silver looked almost like the night sky.
“So what is it?” Sonic asked, craning his neck to see.
Amy took a step and stood right next to him, showing him the pieces. She tried not to think about their shoulders touching. “I’ll have to take it to the crystal shop and ask. It’s really pretty.”
She looked at him, and their eyes met only for a second. Sonic was always the first to break eye contact.
It’s now or never.
“Thank you so much for this gift,” Amy sincerely told him. “Really, it means so, so much to me.”
“Oh, uh… it’s nothing.”
“It’s not. It’s everything.”
The sentiment that was rehearsed at the cafe was gone now. The feelings were there, the want to unleash it all were ever so present, but nothing else was coming out. Nothing, except:
“I’m just happy to see you again, Sanic.”
Amy cringed at herself just as fast as Sonic’s face contorted with discomfort.
“Eugh… don’t call me that.”
“Sorry… Sonikku?”
“Stop it.”
“I’m sorry.”
The silence that followed was incredibly final. This was it. Amy blew it.
“Anything else you’d like to add? Last chance,” Sonic prompted.
It was right there, stuck in Amy’s throat. Rattling the bars of its cage.
“No. Goodnight, and thank you again–”
Sonic didn’t wait a single moment longer. In a blink, a draft replaced his presence.
Amy felt the slight chill, and it would have been nice against the warm summer air on any other day. But tonight, she simply hung her head as she walked up her porch steps, geode in hand, heart full of doubt.