Wedding Cake and Eat It Too

“Man, this sure is a swanky place!” Sonic commented as Silver handed the keys to his immaculately clean, economy-sized sedan to a vested valet. Before them sprawled a large and stately mansion constructed from smooth sandy colored stone. “I bet there’s gonna be guys walking around with platters of mini-quiches!” Sonic smiled at Amy with a glint in his eye that sang Beggers At the Feast.

When Amy Gaggled the location, she learned that it had once served as the country home of a wealthy family, but had been converted into a high-end boutique hotel in modern times. Blaze had booked the entirety of property for the day’s nuptials. Amy had suspected this was an expensive wedding, but standing before this structure…O-oh. Blaze off handedly dismissing Amy’s prices made more sense now.

Amy lifted her camera bag out of the boot and handed Silver his garment and duffle bags. “Thank you.” The light-colored hedgehog had graciously offered Amy a ride when he became aware of their coincidentally joint Sunday activities. She probably wouldn’t have even taken the job if she realized how far away from the City it was. The taxi she’d have had to take would have cost a fortune…maybe she could have gotten that reimbursed, but then she’d had to explain to Blaze she didn’t have car. What would she say if Blaze asked why? Much better that Amy just lucked out.

“Thanks again for the ride.” She told Silver as they mounted the stone steps to the large wooden double doors of the manse. Sonic was already at the top in his freshly pressed navy suit looking both handsome and about to vibrate into a new dimension with excitement. Amy fondly remembered that suit. Sonic wore it when he took her to Junior Prom and would have again for Senior Prom if Amy hadn’t been in heat at the time.

“Don’t mention it.” Silver smiled. He took out his phone and scrolled through his messages. “Okay, so Blaze wants you to come up to the suite with me to take getting ready pictures…” He squinted at his screen. “What are getting ready pictures?”

Amy laughed. “Pictures of the bride and groom getting ready for the most important day of their lives.”

She had bought a new heavy coat and black cocktail dress, one with thick ribbons lacing through the neckline and emerging as a delicate bow at her shoulder, for the event. With growing self-consciousness, Amy wished she had spent a bit more and gotten something nicer. Everyone in service they passed was uniformed in sharply pressed whites and blacks with colored carnations in their buttonholes and golden stitching along glove cuffs and apron hems.

Through the doors, the converted foyer was busy with last-minute preparations and arriving guests. Amy had never seen so many echidna in the same place and their colorful and traditional garb had her wanting to pull out her camera right there and get started. Sonic waved as Amy and Silver headed up a spiraling staircase and zipped off to find an out-of-the-way place to catch up on a Petflix shows or play Crumpet Crush until the ceremony started.

She followed Silver as he looked for a particular room number. After a few dead ends and about faces, Silver emitted an aha! and opened a door. Entering, Amy caught a snippet of conversation. “-fire me if he finds out- Silver!” Amy short-circuited when she saw who was speaking.

Wrapped in a lilac bandage dress with a tight bundle of carnations pinned to the breast and handing Blaze a flute of champagne while a cloud of ladies worked on the bride-to-be’s face and hair was the brown-furred lynx woman who’d forced Amy to sign away her rights at Shadow’s home nearly a month prior. Silver pushed forward and gave them both floating hugs, expertly avoiding touching any done up areas.

“Good morning, Miss Amy.” The lynx smirked at Amy’s surprised expression. “So good of you to join us.”

“I’m sorry we’re late,” Silver hefted his garment bag and a duffle onto an armchair, “Sonic insisted that he couldn’t wait until the reception to eat something, so we stopped for…anyway, I’m going to go get changed.” He dashed into the in-suite. If Amy hadn’t been stunned, she would have snickered at Silver’s avoidance of Sonic’s demand for gas station chilidogs at such an early hour.

Blaze looked over her shoulder at Amy. “This is Nicole, my bridesmaid. She gave you a great recommendation, by the way.” The hair lady made a harsh noise and Blaze faced back forward.

Amy snapped out of her stun. “W-What? Really?”

Blaze looked at Amy through the mirror. “When I was going through your photos, I spotted Nicole in the background of one.” Wait, Amy never posted campaign photos on her socials…The memory card! Blaze must have seen the photos from the event at Shadow’s house when she’d perused her camera’s gallery at the skate park. Amy blushed. She felt like such an amateur, making a breech if confidentiality mistake like that.

But how did Blaze know Nicole? A cold realization hit her. “Oh…right, you both-“ Work for Shadow. Oh…oh, Amy wasn’t sure if she liked this. The whole thing was starting to feel like a trap setup. Amy tamped that feeling down. How selfish could she be? Not everything was about you, Amy.

“We went to law school together.” Blaze explained with a wave of hand.

“Mimosa?” Nicole offered Amy a glass causing her head pivot quickly.

Amy shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t drink while I’m working.”

“Sensible.” Nicole placed the flute to her lips and tipped it back. It returned from its trip empty. “Neither do I, but I am decidedly not on the clock.” Then she giggled like it was a joke.

“Darling...” Blaze sighed.

“I don’t think its unreasonable to be nervous, Blaze.” Nicole’s tone emerged honed with a razor-sharp edge. Amy’s uneasiness transformed into second-hand embarrassment, unsure of what drama she was bearing witness to. “Because you’re getting married!” Nicole added in a rush, her tone suddenly light.

Blaze closed her eyes and sighed again.

“J-just pretend I’m not here.” Amy retreated to a corner and lowered her camera bag to the ground. She quickly assembled her camera and loaded her fanny pack. Smaller events she could retreat to her bag to restock on memory cards and batteries or change out lenses, but a big property like this meant she needed to carry as much as she could.

The pack also helped to carry around a fresh scent cloth and a travel sized can of deodorant spray. Amy had also proactively inserted a slick sponge. Her heat hadn’t made itself known yet, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Hell or high water, Amy was determined to not get mindlessly fucked in this mansion.

Amy’s camera hungrily inhaled a series of shots as the finishing touches were made to Blaze’s face and fur. Satisfied, make-up kits closed and hair crullers unplugged, the beautification team prepared to leave. Blaze stood and began unbuttoning her blouse. Amy lowered her camera and turned away.

She felt her skin prickle. Looking up, she saw Nicole leaning against a credenza, refilled champagne flute against her lips, and scrutinizing her with an unnerving intensity. Amy frowned. The feeling of entrapment was emerging.

“So,” Nicole said as her green eyes bore into Amy, “what is it about Ms. Baton’s campaign that drew you to work for her?”

“I-I’m sorry?” Amy stuttered, “I’m not sure what you mean.” The last of the hair and make-up ladies exited, leaving Amy as the only member of the staff in attendance. The sudden sense of isolation wasn’t welcome.

“You must have some sort of idealistic proclivity, right?” The bridesmaid gestured with her free hand. “Or do you just like being near powerful people?” It sounded like a joke, but Nicole’s face was eerily serious. What kind of question was that?

“Nicole!” Blaze, down to her small clothes, snapped. “Rude much?”

Eager to dissolve the tension, Amy found herself answering the question. “Uh, well, I originally just volunteered for Rouge’s campaign. I thought she’d be good for, uh, for the city.” Amy shrugged. “I guess you could say I was naively optimistic…Still am, really. At least I still believe in Rouge, that’s for sure. And I guess she believes in me because she offered me a job.”

“Good for you.” Nicole tilted back the glass and emptied it. Her eyes shifted and she smiled. “Look at you girl!”

Amy raised her camera. Blaze stood in front of a large floor-length mirror in her dazzling wedding attire, twisting from side to side to see herself better. Blaze wore a beautiful white pantsuit, delicately embroidered with golden sun bursts along the lapel and hems, tailored perfectly to outline her feline frame. Amy rotated around Blaze, catching every angle.

“Finishing touch.” Nicole opened a hat box and withdrew a small pillbox hat wrapped in delicate lace netting. Blaze dipped her head as her bridesmaid pinned the hat in place in her expertly curated swirl of dark lilac curls. Blaze straightened and Nicole stepped back. “You’re so beautiful.” She sighed wistfully.

“Having flashbacks?” Blaze smirked.

Nicole shrugged. “Can you believe it’s been seven years?” She refilled her glass. “Makes me feel old thinking about it.”

“Does it still feel the same?” Blaze returned to looking at herself in the mirror, this time pinning a large decorate bundle of flowers to her lapel. “Do you love him as much now as you did then?”

“No.” Nicole replied take a sip and Amy cringed. She was used to clients pretending like she wasn’t there, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed listening in on awkward conversations. “I love Shard more now.” Nicole clarified wistfully. “Our wedding was a nadir for our love in marriage, because I’ve loved him more every day since.” She placed the glass down and straightened. Nicole approached Blaze and smoothed away nonexistent wrinkles on her suit. “And it’ll be the same for you. This is just the beginning, dear. The kickoff meeting as it were.” She grinned.

Blaze sniffed and lightly touched the corner of her eyes. “Yeah…”

Silver emerged from the bathroom in a lilac suit. Amy turned her camera on him and he smiled meekly. “You and Blaze match.” Amy commented. “Almost like she’s marrying you.”

The pale hedgehog laughed nervously. “I’m just her bridesman. It is a coincidence though. In Soleanna, it’s traditional for the groom to wear white and for the groomsmen to wear garb matching the groom’s fur color.”

“You are not wearing your quills like that.” Nicole shoved Silver into a seat and began attacking his wild pelt with a bristle brush, eliciting small, soft protestations from the young man.

“Have you attended a Soleannan wedding before?” Blaze asked, straightening her cuffs.

Amy shook her head. “No, all the weddings I’ve worked have been City ones. Outdoors, secular, flowered pergola, gourd smashing. That sort of thing.”

“Well,” Blaze smirked, “even if you had been to Sol wedding, it wouldn’t help you today.”

Amy frowned. Why did she ask then?

“Blaze and Tikal spent months negotiating with Tikal’s family.” Nicole began to explain as she fought a wriggling Silver. “The Echidna are a very traditional bunch and the Knuckles clan wasn’t going to give their little princess away easy.”

Blaze sighed, approaching the credenza and pouring herself a drink. “It was a big ask for Tikal to marry me at all.”

“Because you’re…” Gay?

“Not an echidna.” Blaze chuckled and took a sip. “But love triumphs once again.” She held up the flute, a thin slice of strawberry floating at the bottom, and waved it in the air in a dramatic arc. “Love transcends the barriers of tradition and society and plants deep roots in uncharted territory.”

“Oh, we’re getting poetic Blaze today.” Silver teased before exclaiming, “Ow, Nicole!”

“If you’d stay still, it wouldn’t hurt.” Nicole chastised him. “Plenty of women would kill for luscious fur like this and you let it go to hell? The audacity, you twerp!” Nicole couldn’t hold the bit and began to laugh.

“Ow! Solaris, Nicole!” Silver moaned. Amy took pictures. It was always useful to have something to bribe Sonic with. Or hold playfully over Silver’s head.

Blaze looked wistfully down at her glass. “I think I’m allowed a little sentimentality given it’s my wedding day.”

“S-statement w-w-withdrawn, your honor.” Silver stammered as Nicole continued to wail on him with the brush.

Blaze returned her attention to Amy. “What I was trying to say is that this is a blended ceremony. A little Sol, a little Echidnan, and a little made up special just for us.”

“That sounds both magical and exhausting.” Amy grinned.

Blaze laughed. “You have no idea.”

A knock came at the door and a well-dressed fox (the wedding planner, Amy assumed) stuck her head in and informed them it was time. Amy quickly checked her equipment. The next few hours would be a marathon. Hopefully Sonic would sneak her some hors d'oeuvres, because she wouldn’t have a chance to eat otherwise. Maybe she should have joined him in his morning chilidog binge.

“Ladies and gentleman,” Blaze reached up and pulled down a small pearl studded veil from the pillbox hat over her eyes. “I’ll see you on the other side.” She left with Silver trailing close behind.

As Amy went to follow, Nicole touched her arm and Amy flinched away as sparks shot up her arm. “S-sorry, you startled me.” Amy explained to the confused and slightly worried lynx.

“I just wanted to say, good luck.” The executive assistant’s eyes looked Amy up and down. “We’re all rooting for you, you know.”

“Uh, thank you.” Amy wasn’t sure what Nicole meant. She was just taking pictures, an art Amy had dedicated her adult life to. What did she need luck for, exactly? The coil of concern tightened further in her gut.

The back lawn of the estate stretched wide and unfettered, a perfectly groomed expanse of clear flat pasture. The perfect location for a massive wedding with hundreds of attendees and… a massive pile of wood? Amy paused in awe of the arrangement as she followed Nicole from the back of the mansion.

The tower of lumber loomed at least twenty feet into the air, neatly arranged and draped with garlands of white, orange, and yellow carnations. “It’s the fire of connectivity or something. Passion, maybe?” Nicole giggled, her cheeks flush. “Damn, look at it. All those hours arguing with Tikal’s mother really paid off.” Amy kept a congenial smile plastered on her face. How many mimosas had Nicole consumed? However, shit, the lynx had a point.

Before the massive pyre was a raised platform, elegantly adorned with further garlands and large jardinières of golden and white peonies. Forming a semicircle around the display were row after row of chairs covered in white cloth covers, seating for hundreds, every single one already full. A line of large hide-skin drums spread around the lumber pile to either side of the dais.

“Like I said,” Nicole grinned. “Good luck.” She winked at Amy and strode down the central aisle to take her place beside Silver on the flowered platform. Opposite them was a line of Echidnan ladies in orange and white robes with geometric patterns. Tikal’s bridesmaids…or whatever the Echidnan equivalent was.

Amy took her place behind the line of seats and took up her camera. Her lens was hungry for beauty, and she was eager to provide it with ample subjects to feed upon. She provided it bites of the gathered, well-dressed crowd, a solid eighty-five percent of which were red furred echidnas in a style of clothing that Amy, ignorantly, would describe as ‘tribal’, their thick bundles of quills bound in wide metallic bands. The balance was largely a kaleidoscope of colorful cats and smattering of other species including-

Oh, hey, there’s Sonic! Her best friend had procured a strangely forward seat and was waving at her wildly and the large striped, purple cat (Blaze’s father?) next to him seemed not to mind. Amy chuckled and waved back briefly.

A rush of color drew her attention to the central aisle. A line of burly and sparsely clad (!) Echidnan men filed towards the dais. They split and took places behind each of the drums. As Amy took pictures (because that was her job, jeeze!), she spotted Lieutenant Knuckles! No shirt. Oh, wow. Okay, she could understand Rouge just a little more now.

The Echidnan men began to beat the drums with large mallets. A booming rhythm rippled through the air and the gathered throng fell silent. A pair of robed men, one golden cat and one echidna entered the central aisle. They approached and mounted the dais. Amy didn’t recognize the iconography, but she didn’t need to. All that mattered was the frame of the camera, the eye blinking tens of times a second, silently bearing permanent witness to the events. The beat changed and everyone stood. Amy moved to maintain as clear a line of sight to the proceedings as she could.

Blaze and Tikal appeared together and proceeded to the dais, fingers already intertwined. They mounted and the priests raised their hands. Everyone sat back down. The ceremony began in earnest. Large speakers amplified the words being spoken. Amy absently followed the proceedings as searched for attendees with damp eyes or other interesting expressions.

Silver produced a bundle of dried wheat stalks bound with a white ribbon and handed it to Blaze. Tikal received a similar bundle, but of bleached dried wooden sticks. The priests jointly held a lit brazier and the ladies set their torches alight. Together they approached the back of the platform and as one they offered their light to the pyre. The bonfire erupted to life, slamming the gathered masses with a wall of heat. The autumnal timing suddenly made a lot more sense. The torches were laid in a large metal dish to burn out safely.

Amy circled the outer parameter. She wasn’t the only one collecting professional photographs. A film team was set up on a raised platform and recording the whole affair. Amy hadn’t been hired to take portraiture or posed photos. Blaze wanted her to mingle with the attendees and catch quick flashes of unguarded, unplanned emotions.

Amy continued slowly and quietly threading behind the del’Sol section. With a little zoom and her height advantage, she could get very good shots of the sea of red fur that was the Echidnan side. As she swept from row to row, a flash of white caught her attention. Focusing on it, she jumped.

What was Rouge doing here? H-had Lieutenant Knuckles invited her? That would have been really bold, right? Amy knew the pair had something going on, one of those don’t talk about it sort of deals. Rouge leaned over, smirking, said something no doubt snide to her companion-

Amy lowered her camera. The speaker system blared the priest’s words, but she couldn’t hear them over the buzzing in her ears. Her heart sped up and spears of adrenaline stabbed through her. She shouldn’t be surprised. Was she surprised? What did she feel? This panic, this uncertainty…was becoming stale. Predictable. She raised her camera again.

Shadow sat beside Rouge. She leaned close, speaking, while his handsome muzzle crooked in a repressed smirk. Her finger hovered over the shutter button. There was her dilemma in a single frame. She couldn’t escape him as long as she kept working for Rouge. So, what was the answer? Quit? Amy frowned. How cowardly would that be? She pressed the button.

Amy lowered her camera and looked at the screen on the back, navigating to the shot she’d just taken. Shadow’s lips curled into a smirk as he whispered some comment to Rouge, her eyes lighting up with the shared humor. It wasn’t fair how handsome he was. His shiny black pelt and stark red quills in the crisp autumn air. She was so drawn to him and yet so terrified, both of her own attraction and of the man she’d seen last weekend.

She swallowed. This had to end. Amy couldn’t keep living like this. The constant back and forth was tearing her apart at the seams. What’s more? It was stupid. Childish. No matter how much she agonized, Amy simply couldn’t divide her real feelings from what her body begged for. It was impossible. Which meant it was time to swallow her fear.

Amy had to talk to Shadow. Clear headed and in the light of day, the two of them talking like the adults. No hiding, no running. Just Amy being herself. He reciprocated or he didn’t and Amy didn’t have any control over that, but at least she’d finally know. For better or worse, she’d know. And knowing would make her free. Free to fall into a deep pit of despair, but free nonetheless.

And that was…that was better, right?

And then there as the hope that- If he felt for her, like she might feel for him- If what she felt was real…The prospect was too sickly sweet to even think about. A chance. Amy would take the chance, she resolved. Today would be the end of this, one way or the other. Amy just had to hope she’d have the courage when the time came to say yes.

On the dais, Blaze and Tikal exchanged marital vows and golden bangles.

The del’Sol section was much smaller, but also more diverse. Amy snorted when she saw the hulking form of Storm surrounded by a gang of small, elderly feline women (aunts perhaps?). One of these days she’d ask Silver what the deal was with the albatross and Blaze. Amy’s curiosity was eating her up in the nosiest of ways. That comment about Storm making Blaze feel better than Tikal did just lived rent-free her mind.

Another flash of black and white caught her attention and Amy dropped her camera. Luckily it was attached to her neck via her trusty strap, but it still pulled on her on the way down. Snatching the device back up, Amy re-aimed, desperate to prove that she hadn’t seen who she thought.

Oh god! It was him! No no no no no! Why was he here?

Sitting towards the back, looking bored and vaguely offended, was the black and white form of Mayoral Candidate and former Department of Health official Geoffrey St. John, his bushy skunk tail curled around the chair of the black and white cat sitting next to him.

Oh my god, Amy thought. Did Rouge know about this? H-how the hell could both of them be here and not know?

Geoffrey shifted in his seat, turning slightly in Amy’s direction and she dropped down, sinking out of sight. Damn it, Amy! Get ahold of yourself!

Whore! What did you expect, waltzing around like that?

Flashes from years ago rose to the forefront of her mind. No! No! No! She’d promised herself she’d finally broken through that fear. The moment she saw he was running for mayor, she knew she had to be done with that part of her past. There was no other option. When Rouge offered her the job, Amy knew she’d have to be near Geoffrey St. John, further solidifying her resolve.

Slutty Omega! Begging for it like a bitch!

Amy took a slow breath. In. It wasn’t her fault. Out. She wasn’t responsible for the actions of others*. In.* Sonic had saved her. Out. And now she could save herself.

Slowly, Amy slipped back behind her shield of professionalism. She wasn’t Amy Rose right now. No, she was a faceless, nameless spark of creativity seeking out beautiful fractions of time. Her pulse steadied and she straightened to her feet. Amy could handle this. Just think of it as a practice run for the debate. The venue’s size provided ample cover. She’d just avoid the skunk and maybe tip Rouge off in the meantime. The PR implications of the two meeting each other unprepared could be inconvenient, to say the least.

Blaze dipped her fingers into the large metal dish held by the cat priest and lifted elegant, gloved fingers grey with ash from their extinguished torches. Reverently, lovingly, she reached forward and drew a symbol on the forehead of her lover and life partner. When she was finished, Blaze removed the glove, revealing a second one underneath (this was a family affair after all!), and handed it to Nicole. Then, she cupped Tikal’s cheeks with her hands and pulled their faces together, pressing her forehead to Tikal’s, transferring the ash mark to her as well.

“By the power of Chaos and benevolence of Solaris, I declare you bound for all eternity! For forth and bring peace and balance to the world!” The priests cried and the assembly erupted in cheers and applause. On the dais, Blaze and Tikal faced away from the roaring inferno and held up their clasped hands, bound loosely by a long, rainbow-colored ribbon.

Amy zeroed in on them, shutter button held down capturing the moment at sixty frames per second. The tableau excited her. The fire behind them, their gorgeous costumes, the triumphant expressions and raised hands? Holy shit, it was so aesthetic. An errant thought floated by. Could Amy’s wedding be this amazing?

The drums began to pound again, and the happy married couple descended the stairs. As they walked down the aisle, hand in hand, each row of witnesses rose to their feet, the applause and cheers continuing and nearly covered by the enthusiastic bellows from the Echidnan side of the affair. As people rose, Amy sprinted around the circle, sinking to her knees at the end of the aisle and catching a series of breath-taking snaps of Blaze and Tikal approaching. Oh god, Amy thought, they are so beautiful!

She scrambled out of the way as they passed and the area turned into a forest of people as everyone left their seats heading for the reception. Amy shot to her feet and slid away from the central aisle and hid by the raised cinematographer platform. The flood of people flowed past and Amy captured them all mechanically. In the cacophony of colors and bodies, she saw the black and white of Geoffrey and his wife, then that of Shadow and Rouge pass. She bit the inside of her lip.

Amy would thread the needle.

---

Sighing in relief, Shadow finally removed the thick woolen overcoat he’d brought to the outdoor autumnal wedding ceremony. What he’d overlooked (and he’d been overlooking a lot recently) in Nicole’s brief on the event was that a massive bonfire would be central to the proceedings. He endured the punishment for his lapse, sweating buckets into his coat, jacket, and dress shirt, while Rouge simply (and provocatively) stripped to her cocktail dress in her chair. He could tell she reveled in the dirty looks of the echidna around them.

Rouge, actually, was the progenitor of his distress, as her presence necessitated the relocation of their seats to better accommodate her wings and closer to the fire. However, Shadow couldn’t say a thing because he’d all but begged her to accompany him to the event, suddenly bereft he was of Breezie’s pleasant but poorly timed companionship.

Shadow’s saving grace, as often was the case, was Nicole, who, despite once again being off the clock, produced a change of clothes for him immediately following the ceremony. A quirked brow summoned the explanation of the clothes’ origins: the boot of his town car. One day Shadow was going to have to look in the trunk of his own car to see what Bruno and Nicole colluded to stash there. Nicole had also produced access to one of the estate’s rooms for him to semi-privately change in.

“Shouldn’t you be with Blaze?” Shadow didn’t mean to sound terse. “I shouldn’t like to receive a tongue lashing if you’re missing important events on my account.”

“It’s no trouble, sir.” Nicole took his coat.

Shadow finished unbuttoning his dress shirt and pulled the sodden garment off. Rouge whistled provocatively and he rolled his eyes. “Look at you.” She teased. She’d already found a gin and tonic somewhere and sipped it from her cross-legged perch on a late-century end table. “If I wasn’t still coming down from seeing my man decked out like some Echidnan sex god, I might tear off a piece of that.”

Shadow’s jaw clenched and he glanced at Nicole, who was expertly mimicking a deaf person. “Rouge…” He growled. Hastily he donned the new shirt, cursing himself. Given how many times Nicole helped him recover from his ruts once Eclipse had to leave, he’d lost all reservation with indecency around her. Still, Rouge didn’t need to be obnoxious about it.

Rouge sighed. “For real, though, what’s the deal?” She took a sip. “It’s getting to be that time of the year again, isn’t it?”

Shadow’s lip curled. She could probably smell his approaching rut on him. Rouge had the fucking honor to have the lightest rut in existence, and he’d been nursing a low-grade envy for years. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ve been working out more than normal recently. The activity helps me focus.” At least it used to.

Rouge snorted. “Oh, that’s rich.”

Shadow froze. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He rounded on her, his face pinching in rising vexation.

She met his glare head on. “I mean you and focus have been estranged as of late, my dear Casanova.”

Shadow wrinkled his snout and took the offered suit jacket from Nicole. “I don’t owe you, of all people, an explanation, Rouge.” He was in no fucking mood for whatever this was about to be.

“Uh-huh. Sure. It’s not like you crashed one of my appearances to chase my photographer’s tail.” Rouge pointed a painted finger at him. Thank god she had the decency to wear fingerless gloves to a wedding. “Tail, let’s be clear here, you left quite the impression on.”

“W-what?” Shadow was taken aback.

“Did you know that ever since that little shindig at your place, Amy’s asked me who’s going to be at events I need her to work?” Rouge examined her nails with faux dismissal. “Strawberry short snack never used to care. It’s almost like, I don’t know, she’d trying to avoid someone, don’t you think?” Rouge tip her chin up to glare at him down her nose.

Shadow looked down. Amy had been…trying to avoid him? That didn’t make sense. She’d been so thrilled to see him last weekend. At first, at least. Which meant Rouge was wrong. Amy hadn’t been trying to avoid him. She had been trying to find him. His stomach clenched at the realization of lost time. All those events he’d skipped due to potential media issues. Stupid. Fucking. IDIOT!

“And,” Rouge continued, interpreting his downcast eyes as shame and moving in the twist the knife. “Like a dumb fucking cunt, I thought you liked her.”

“I do!” Shadow snapped, far too fiercely and loudly, his crimson gaze meeting the look of disgust on his best friend’s face. Rouge needed to stop talking, right now…

The bitchy bat’s wings tensed and expanded aggressively. Shadow felt ice stab into his spine, preparing him to meet Rouge’s inevitable challenge to his dominance. “You’ve got a strange way of showing it.” She hissed. Her Alpha scent tainted the air and needed to be expunged. His snout wrinkled.

Shadow felt his spines rising, but a sudden hand on his forearm jarred him enough to regain his senses. “Sir.” He blinked, closing his lips over his fangs. Nicole offered him a discreet white cloth.

What was he doing? “Thank you.” He breathed, taking the scented cloth and pressing it against his snout. How did Rouge do it? How was she always so apathetic to the scents of others? It was always him who lost their cool to the thrall of scents. Rouge lost her shit on her own terms. Ever since he’d known her, she’d had absolute control of herself in the face of any form of pheromones. Maybe that’s how she could stand fucking another Alpha.

“I saw the shit with that media bitch.” Rouge continued. “That hurt, by the way.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Rouge.“ Shadow huffed. “Not every fucking thing I do has to take you into the equation.”

“It hurt Amy.” She clarified. Rouge was dead on the money. What could he say to that? “She called out on every event I had this past week.” She didn’t want to see him most like. “I called her out on whatever under-the-weather bullshit lie she gave, but I never got the real truth.” Rouge shrugged. “I didn’t need it though. For a girl who lies because her life depends on it, she wears her heart on her sleeve and it’s fucking broken.”

Shadow closed his eyes, his ears tilting backwards. “I know.”

“You know, huh? Then why am I here, Shadow?” She spread out her arms, ice clinking in her empty glass. “You’re torturing one girl, leading on another, going on first dates with god only know how many others, and then you’re calling me up begging for me to come to a wedding with you? I have no idea what’s gotten in to you recently. You’re all over the place and, frankly, being more of an asshole than normal.”

Her words shouldn’t sting this hard. Shadow’s exposure to Rouge over so many years had made him nearly impervious to her usual bullshit, but this…hurt. “What do you want from me, Rouge?”

“For you to count how many balls you’ve got and pick a lane.” She stabbed a finger at him.

“I have chosen, god damn you!” Shadow shouted. Putain.

Rouge rolled her eyes. “Uh huh. Okay. Sure.”

Shadow deflated. “But she hasn’t chosen me back.”

Rouge fell silent, her derision morphing into confusion. “What? Who?”

Shadow swallowed. “You fucking know who, Rouge.” He didn’t feel worthy to hold Amy’s name on his tongue, not after how he’d scared her.

Rouge’s face fell and the ghost of something like regret haunted the edges of her ice queen face. “T-that doesn’t make any sense.”

“And,” Shadow continued to harvest the field of his frustration, “you need to mind your own damn business, Rouge.” He hissed. He threw on the suit jacket. “Who the fuck are you to be lecture me? With you and your-” Something sharp and ugly sprang to his tongue, but Shadow managed to close his lips over it before it poisoned the world.

Nicole looked pointedly at the wall and Rouge glared at him with renewed indignant ferocity. He tsk’ed and turned away. Shadow didn’t have to stay here and take her bullshit. What the fuck did she know? He should have never invited her. He should have just come alone- No, he should have never come at all. In fact, there was no reason for him to remain. Rouge could find her own ride back to the City. He straightened his jacket and went for the door.

“Sir.” Nicole’s voice froze him in place. Fucking fool, why was he acting like this in front her? Undignified and unprofessional only began to describe it.

Shadow sighed and turned around. “I’m sorry, Nicole, you shouldn’t have to see me like this.”

“You’re apologizing to her?” Rouge snarled.

He shot her a withering glare and Rouge met it unflinchingly, her lip curled, and arms tightly crossed against her chest.

Nicole pulled a small card from the pocket of his discarded suit jacket. Shadow’s brow knitted as he recognized one of his black contact cards. He infrequently carried them because he very rarely felt compelled to give anyone means to reach him. Why was that in his jacket pocket?

Nicole approached and gingerly pulled back the canvas of one side of his jacket. Shadow frowned, baffled by the strange intimacy, but remained still. She slipped the card into his inner breast pocket before closing and buttoning back the garment. “You never know who you might meet at a wedding reception.” She patted his breast, over where the card dwelt.

Shadow remained rigid. Nicole’s cheeks were flushed, and Shadow chose to believe that she was drunk. It was a wedding, and she was not on the clock. Putain, w-what was this? Shadow cleared his throat. “Thank you, Nicole.” He looked away. “Please do not let me keep you from the reception any longer.”

“Of course,” She said. “Please enjoy yourself, sir.” Shadow kept his gaze affixed to the wall as she left the room. Once he heard the door close, he released the breath he’d been holding and ran a hand through his quills.

Rouge huffed indignantly. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.” She hissed and walked past him. “I cannot fucking believe you, you utter asshole!” Rouge slammed the door as she left.

Shadow blinked. C'est quoi ce bordel?

What a fucking mess…

He needed a drink.

Shadow strode across the large ballroom housing the majority of the reception, ignoring the crowded dance floor and well-catered buffet stations. He slid into one of the seats facing the large well-stocked bar running along one wall and gave his usual order to the mixologist. Shadow looked down at his hands lying along the bar top. What a goddamned mess he’d made of his life. Shadow clenched his hands into fists, savoring the sensation leather pulling tight across his knuckles.

Out of control. Just completely out of control. What a disgrace. He wanted to scream, to rage, to spit, to tear and rip and kill**!** But he couldn’t, mustn’t…And Shadow didn’t know what else to do…The only emotion he seemed to be able to create at will was anger and how disgusting was that?

Pitiful.

Moronic.

Weak.

He closed his eyes and sighed. As he inhaled, Shadow’s nose twitched. Fucking strawberries and vanilla. It was everywhere. Could he go nowhere any longer? Would he forever be haunted by his infatuation with Amy Rose? He fumbled at his pants pocket and retrieved the scented cloth. He pressed it against his snout and drew a deep breath, trying to cleanse the cloying aroma from his soul.

The uniformed bartender put down a napkin in front of Shadow and laid a filled lowball glass atop it. His hand twitched. The lacerations were largely healed, but the fine joints and muscles of his hand ached from the near constant abuse he’d waged on them that week. Every brush of pink, sparkle of green, breath of sweet vanilla, he squeezed the injury. Now everything was a blurry amalgam of physical and emotional pain and longing. There was no telling where the thoughts of Amy ended and the pain began. They had simply become one and the same.

Shadow grasped the glass with his uninjured hand and raised it up in mockery to himself. Here’s to unending misery. He may never see the woman who owned his soul again. Tomorrow his mother would force him out the company he’d steered for years because she was a spiteful harpy desirous of further children to ruin. His only best friend thought he was a cowardly cad.

Fuck me for trying, he thought ruefully.

He didn’t have anyone to blame except for himself. As easy and pleasant being angry at Rouge felt, she was right. An outside observer could easily conclude that he was a heartless, confusing wreak the past month. Where was the annoying bat anyways? Knowing her, flippantly playing with fire by cornering her paramour amidst a throng of his kin.

“Practicing your toast?”

Shadow’s ear perked. He turned his head and beheld a brilliant blue hedgehog in an (extremely) cheap, ill-fitting suit sitting further down the bar. “Something like that, you could say.” Shadow answered noncommittally and turned back forward, hoping the clear dismissal would strangle the conversation in infancy.

“Wait.” The cobalt hedgehog continued. Shadow frowned. He was not in the mood for entertaining right now. “You’re Shadow Kintobor, right?”

Shadow grimaced. Great. Slowly he turned, “That’s right-” Whatever he was going to say further fizzled when Shadow realized the other man was…blushing? What the fuck? “I’m sorry, but have we met?” He asked, scowling.

“N-No!” The other male sputtered, breaking eye contact and rubbing the back of his neck meekly. Shadow’s brow knitted. What did this guy want? “I-I was just thinking…uh, that it was a super shame KLS lost that NHS contract! Especially since, you know, that Starline stuff doesn’t work, like, at all.”

What the hell did he just say? Alarm bells rang in Shadow’s head.

The rough draft of the Prower Labs’ report had been simply shocking. So ridiculous in its conclusions that the original delay to its release was completely understandable. Blaze had been shocked and kept the document closely guarded. It was either completely wrong or grounds for more than a civil lawsuit.

The Starline Pharma product was grotesquely worse than KLS’s suppressants at limiting Omega heats. The difference was so staggeringly large as to be baffling. Full stop. No ambiguity. The chemicals contained in the Starline medication simply did not produce the effects on the label claim. The fraud was so bold-faced and blatant it gave Shadow pause. He had to be missing something.

Dr. Quack demanded immediate additional testing to quantify exactly how bad the Starline drug was at doing its job. If KLS was going to accuse Starline Pharma of flagrant negligence or fraud, they needed to have a preponderance of evidence, especially because the Department of Health would inevitably get involved. The government rarely enjoyed egg on its face.

“I’m sorry, but do you work for KLS? I don’t recognize you.” It wasn’t a small company. There were plenty of employees Shadow didn’t know by face or name. Still, he for damn sure knew everyone with access to Substantive Confidential Information like what this blue idiot had just casually spouted.

The man chuckled nervously, the magnitude of his fuck up dawning on him no doubt. “Oh, no, no I don’t.” Good, because Shadow would have fired him on the spot. Which begged the question, who the fuck was this guy?

Shadow narrowed his eyes. “What did you say your name was?”

The blue hedgehog’s eyes went large, and he fumbled out of his seat. “Actually, I’ve gotta, like-“ Then the motherfucker bolted!

Shadow blinked at the cartoonish hilarity. Still, he had to admit that the squirrely blue hedgehog was fast. In the time it took Shadow to dismount his chair and begin to pursue, the sprinting bastard had cleared the ballroom and exited a door to the garden. Was Shadow really going to go running after some buffoon like he lived in some sort of low stakes comedy?

Fuck it. Yes, he was.

Shadow dashed after the mysterious blue hedgehog. He was attracting attention, sure, but he also wasn’t thinking about his menagerie of regrets, troubles, and torments. Everything shifted into background noise as his feet pounded polished stone and then imported marble as he exited the building. He caught the briefest flash of blue disappearing into the evergreen embrace of the hedge maze.

When he caught that blue bastard, he’d…do what exactly? Beat him to a pulp? Knock his teeth out? Over what? A possible breach of confidentiality? Shadow slowed down. He was letting his anger get the better of him a*-fuck*ing-gain. When would he learn? How many times did he need to make matters worse before he got the message through his thick skull?

His anger had always been the problem. Ten years ago and now, his lack of self-control tore apart everything he worked for and salted the ground against future harvest. He was trapped, ensnared so thoroughly that he couldn’t calm down or build defenses against even the smallest provocations. When had he become so sensitive?

What a stupid question.

Amy.

Amy, Amy, Amy. Everything led back to Amy. His very DNA had been replaced by her name over and over again a billion times. No escape. Not now, not ever for him. He was an animal now, a base brute masquerading as a person.

Shadow drug a hand down his face and tried to force himself to take large, slow breaths. Looking around, he found himself surrounded by greenery. He had no recollection of the turns he’d taken to get here. Still, the maze couldn’t be that complicated. Shadow would just call Bruno to bring the car around and leave. Rouge could find her own way home, probably via a detour to that Echidna’s back seat.

He felt his pocket. His phone was missing. Crap.

Shadow blinked. Right, it had been in the pocket of his first jacket. Fine. This was fine. He just had to go back into the building and locate Nicolel who’d…He sighed. Was this why she worked so much? He wasn’t capable of handling himself? He shook his head, resolving to figure the situation out himself. First, he had to find a way out of this literal maze.

As he walked, Shadow caught glimpses of other guests through gaps in the greenery. A pink flash made him sneer and turn away. Through a crack in the hedge, he spotted the blue hedgehog with…was that Silver del’Sol? His brow crinkled in confusion. The blue hedgehog gesticulated wildly and then pulled at his unruly, long quills like a child. The young paralegal held his hands up in a placating manner.

Shadow didn’t like this. He hated the idea that Silver could be leaking information about the company. That was just so unlike the young man. Shadow needed to get to the bottom of this immediately before he starting thinking about other things again.

He stepped back, his muzzle twisted in a snarl, his eye sharply glaring at that stupid blue interloper, and he backed right into someone. The surprise snapped through his senses like a bullwhip. He twirled, an apology already emerging as if preloaded on his tongue, “I’m so sorry, I-“ The rest dissolved into a soundless expulsion of air as he realized exactly who he’d impacted.

Amy Rose.

In the clear light of day, his body devoid of any sharp cocktail of hormones, he saw her properly for the very first time. Mon Dieu, elle était magnifique.

Gorgeous green eyes putting the garden to shame and quills curled up into an updo that was equal parts heart curdlingly cute and brain searingly elegance. The wide neckline of her black dress had a ribbon running through it, blooming into a bow right on top of her scent gland. Like a present his mouth started to water for him.

Ripping his eyes from her neck, Shadow retreated a few steps. How was this happening again? Eclipse was right. Shadow had the luck of the devil himself.

“Miss Rose…” The words slipped out like his soul departing his body.

“Mr. Kintobor.” Her eyes as big as a duo of green moons.

---

Here Shadow was in all his tall, dark, and handsome glory and Amy wasn’t ready. She’d been walking the maze, taking pictures of the children running through or inspired couples taking a few moments to themselves and bam! Just right there out of the blue.

Amy stumbled back a step and half before his scent reached her, and her body rooted itself and refused to move away. Shadow’s broad frame filled her vision and the world beyond grew fuzzy. Her fingers tightly gripped her camera, still half lifted to her face in the act of capturing some quick moment. It remained before her like a flimsy shield.

Stop it, she tried to command herself. Sure, she wasn’t ready, but this was happening anyway. Amy would have a proper adult conversation with Shadow. She wasn’t in heat and they were alone. Hormones and pheromones were minimal. There would be no better time to see if Amy, the person, agreed with Amy, the body.

If only her damn tongue would work!

“I’m sorry,” He broke the silence, his tone gentle. “I’ve ambushed you for a third time now.” Shadow looked down, embarrassed, beside himself, crestfallen…and Amy felt an overwhelming urge to reassure, to dampen his sadness and lift him up. Here he was again, her dark gentleman, polite and kind and patient. But Shadow was more than that, she knew now. There were layers to him, sharp edges and hidden crevices, places she’d have to journey to explore…if she had the courage.

“It’s…” Her tongue felt thick in her mouth. Her body was coiled, waiting, anxious. Excitement pooled, muscles tense, ready to leap into his arms if…she’d…just let them! “It’s good to see you.” His entire being lit up, as if he’d just been commuted from death row. “I wanted to talk to you, actually.” The admission rocked the very earth beneath her feet as it entered the world.

Shadow ears stood at full attention perked, his eyes rising to meet her and his demeanor inflating. “You did?” His voice was light, as if in awe of her statement.

Caught in his gaze once more, Amy realized she had no idea what she wanted to say. Despite the cold afternoon, her body was ablaze with heat. Stiflingly, waves of it radiated through her, boiling her thoughts to bits. Even as her body was rabid with anticipation, at the hope that she and it would align, it couldn’t help itself. “I did.” She replied.

They stood in a tense silence. All the while his eyes would wander over her body and then snap back to her face as if he, too, were fighting himself. As if they both stood before the raging animals of their instincts and held firm as they could to keep from colliding. “I would like that,” He answered, his voice strained, “To talk to you, that is. Just talk. Here, or anywhere, really. I have no preference. No preference at all as long as you’re comforta- well, wherever you’d like- I’m sorry,” He raised a hand to his face and covered his mouth meekly, his cheeks flush, “I’m rambling.”

Amy laughed. It was absurd that this man, this flustered handsome man, was the same as the aggressive demon who’d confronted her in the stairwell just a week ago. “Here’s fine.”

“Of course.” He grinned, sheepishly and then frowned, his ruby eyes downcast once more. “I want to apologize. I know my behavior has been reprehensible, especially given that you are taken-“

“I’m not.”

Shadow frozen. Red met green and Amy felt a renewed intensity. “You’re not.” He whispered, disbelieving.

It was Amy’s turn to look away abashed. “Last weekend, after I saw you, I realized it wouldn’t work out with…who I was with. It wouldn’t be right to lead them on just hoping maybe I was wrong.” Amy felt naked, the truth a scalding sting on her tongue. The forces in her were immense. To move, to run. Her terror and her lust screamed at her.

Amy wanted to remain. She chose to stand still and bear herself in the hope that something was real in this world other than fear. “I’m not seeing anyone anymore.” Her throat tightened, as if keeping the words in would somehow change reality. Silence was not magic. Cowardice did not remake the world. “But you are, right?”

“NO!” Amy flinched back at the sharp declaration. Shadow took a step forward. “I’m not! I swear to you, Amy, I’m not!” She felt the words reverberate in her soul. He panted, his desperation that she believe him apparent across his stricken face. But the aggressive sent a chill down her spine, a polychromatic burst of fear and excitement. The man from last weekend had manifested once more. Shadow realized his mistake quickly. His face softened and he took a set backward. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to speak so fiercely. I’m not seeing anyone right now.” He reiterated calmer.

“But I thought…” Exposure. Unfettered exposure. Unmoored, unencumbered. Utterly unprotected from the unknown. No chains, no binds. Both of them free and here, right now.

“I just needed it to look like I was with someone. Just for a little while…But it wasn’t real.” He ran a hand through his quills. “I am so sorry Amy. I- I didn’t think you’d see those articles. I didn’t think you thought of me at all.” He covered his eyes with a hand. “It was a terribly foolish mistake. Please forgive me.”

“I did think of you.” Amy said in a quiet voice. Shadow removed his hand, giving her a piteous look. “I couldn’t stop think about you, Shadow. I tried. I tried so hard, but I couldn’t. I tried everything and nothing worked.” She swallowed. “I thought maybe I’d see you again, at one of Rouge’s events, to see if what I felt was real…but that didn’t happen.”

“I can’t stop thinking about you, either.” He shook his head, “You haunt my every thought. Everything I do, every moment, every beat of my heart feels useless and wrong if it wasn’t in service of you.” A shaking hand went to his chest, right over his heart. “Amy, I am unraveled for you. Completely undone.” He reached out a hand to her. “Please. I know I don’t deserve a second chance, let alone a third, but if you could find it in your heart, please let me make it up to you.”

Amy stared at Shadow’s hand as her pulse thundered in her ears, a pushing beat of yes, yes, yes! Happiness, right there, just reach out and grab it! Her hand twitched and rose, fingers hanging in the air. Take it. Take it. TAKE IT!

Amy’s hand drifted down and she stepped back. Shadow’s disappointment was blatant, his face falling and his shoulders sagging. “Shadow, you say these things and I-“ Amy’s breath caught, her body revolting with its own crippling sadness, “I want to believe you.” Oh god, did she want to. Amy’s hands balled at her sides. “But the woman you can’t stop thinking about isn’t me. You don’t know me. You can’t possibly.”

Shadow ran his hand through his quills again. “I- I would like to if- that is, if you’ll let me…” His nervous stutter was endearingly cute. He was so clearly struggling, grasping at straws in any direction for her. “And then, you could know me as well. The real me not the…” He grimaced, unable to finish his sentence.

“What if you don’t like me?” Amy asked. “What if I don’t measure up to who you’ve been thinking about?”

“Impossible.” He stated definitively.

Amy frowned. “And if I don’t like you?” She asked quietly, both from shame and from fear.

Shadow’s face flinched, pain appearing and being banished in short order, at the very thought. “Then that’s it then.” He said slowly. “I’ll never trouble you ever again.” His voice was flat, dead.

The declaration spawned a period of horrified silence between them. He was offering her an out and it was both tantalizing and deadly poisonous. In the quiet, Amy’s feelings and thoughts started to settle and overlap into clarity. “I’m sorry, Shadow.” Amy finally said, looking down. “I- I don’t trust you. After last weekend…after seeing you like that, I just can’t. You scared me so badly.”

“I am so sorry, Amy.” Shadow hung his head. “I don’t have any excuses for myself. I completely lost myself at the thought that you were with someone else.” He swallowed heavily. “I can’t lie to you. As much as I hate myself for any pain or fear I caused you, I can’t promise I’ll never lose control again. I wish I could, oh god, do I wish I could.”

He looked so sad. “I’m bent and mangled and sharp in ways that fill me with immense shame. It’s something I struggle with continuously, but these feelings are a part of me, whether I like it or not. I know it’s a lot to ask, but please tell me how can I gain your trust? Please tell me, Amy. I will do anything you require of me to show you my sincerity.” He swallowed. “Please.” The words felt musical. He was begging her. The bizarre reversal of nature gave her a heady euphoric feeling.

She looked deep into his crimson eyes and saw the vast galaxy inside that would take a lifetime to explore fully. Amy swallowed. “I’m a liar. I’ve lied about myself for so long, I don’t fully know who I am underneath it all.” Amy admitted. “I will lie to you because I don’t know how to tell the truth.”

“I don’t care.” Shadow took a step forward. “I’ll believe anything you’ll tell me.”

“I’m a coward.” She tried again. “I’ve spent so much of my life afraid, I hardly understand what safety feels like. I will run and hide so fast I won’t even know where I am.”

“I’ll come find you.” He moved closer. “I’ll never let you stay lost.” Shadow’s eyes were steely with determination, tightly fettered desire licking at the edges.

Amy grit her teeth as heat rose in her face.

“I don’t know what you can do.” She squeaked. It was true! She didn’t know! She’d would have told him if she did, she really would have! It hurt how much she wanted to trust Shadow and how sickening it felt to push him away like this. But she couldn’t shake the memory of his hatred or the coldness in his eyes as he hunted her. How could she? She just wasn’t ready for all of him. Not now, at least.

“Ah.” His voice was empty. “I see.” The words held a deafening finality. The chill of the day suddenly rushed in. His hands clenched and relaxed at his side and then he fidgeted with his jacket cuffs. “It is not my intention to put you in an uncomfortable position.” He straightened his jacket and cleared his throat, “I will leave you-“ Shadow froze.

Amy frowned. Honest to god, she didn’t want him to finish that sentence. She wanted Shadow to say something magical, something that would change her mind and put her at ease. There had to be something that would have Amy in his arm right now, she was sure of it, but what it was…she had no idea.

Shadow placed a hand against his breast and his face crinkled in confusion. Hastily, he pulled open his jacket and reached in. He withdrew a thin, black card from the inner pocket and looked at it curiously for a moment before his eyes brightened. Shadow huffed, his lips quirking up so that his canines flashed. He held it out to her. “Then, may I please give you my card?” Amy looked at the little thing. “When you need me, I will be there.” He declared. “Any time, any place, for any reason. For as long as you’ll have me.”

Amy eagerly reached out and took the card. In the moment she grasped the card, their fingertips brushed, and shiver ran down her arm. She drew it towards her and held the card with both hands. The lettering on the thick black cardstock was short and simple. In blood red, it read Shadow Kintobor followed by a phone number.

She looked up at him and was surprised to see a small smile gracing his muzzle. “Only if I call?” Amy clarified.

“Of course.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, I promise, Amy.” He nodded, “I will wait for you. I will wait for you forever.”

Amy blushed and clutched the card to her chest, feeling a warmth bloom there as well. This felt just right. Just enough of a step forward to quiet the storm inside her, the tempest of conflicting emotions. For the first time since she’d felt Shadow’s grasp on her arm all those weeks ago, Amy felt in control.

The relief flowed through her, clearing nasty blockages of worry and fear. Amy sighed softly and a timid smile crept up her muzzle. She looked up at Shadow and saw a mirrored expression. He looked dazzling, the afternoon light filtering through the evergreen walls and shining in his crimson eyes.

Like this. Just like this.

“Until then.” She said, a great warmth swelling in her chest. It felt like a promise, one she’d have been mortified to give just minutes before, but now it filled her with an airy fluttering in her stomach.

He inclined his head. “As you wish.” Shadow straightened his jacket once again. “I shan’t take any more of your time. Excuse me.” Amy almost didn’t want him to go. I will wait for you. His words echoed in her mind. Forever.

Shadow left.

Suddenly alone, Amy placed a hand to her cheek and felt the heat there. Was this real life? She huffed a soft laugh, then another and another. A fit of giggles overtook her, and a massive smile split her face. Tears of relief and joy welled and flowed down her cheeks. The sun shone brighter, the wind was softer, the birds sang more beautifully. Her world shifted, everything suddenly coming into perfect alignment.

Amy felt hopeful. Amy was excited. Amy was elated.

For the first time in a very long time, Amy was free.