I wondered when Sonic would next give me a flower. Part of the fun was that they would show up at random times, often when I needed them the most. I've been wanting to make things more official... Maybe then he'd begin showing his secret, sweeter side to me when we were alone. I could've confronted him outright, but in the spirit of our tradition, I wrote my next letter instead.



My love letters were usually pretty gushy, too. On those nights I was the most inspired, I'd pour my heart out on the pages. For this one, though... I think I might've been a little more, uh...





While sitting at my desk in my bedroom, I crumpled the letter and tossed it into the trash. I was letting frustration get to me again. It wasn't fair for Sonic... He showed his love in other ways. I knew what I was signing up for. But... Can't I be selfish? Just a little?



I spent the next while writing my next letter, laying out my desire for him to be more open about his love to me but maybe less angry. I didn't want to be pushy... I felt like he got that from me a lot. I needed to take a softer approach so he knew how serious I was, that it wasn't just banter between us.



"Oh, Amy," I sighed to myself as I glanced at my writing. If we were gonna spend the rest of our lives together, I had to accept parts of Sonic I didn't like as much... And... maybe this was one of them. I didn't like the idea... but... I guess I'm not perfect, either.



Ugh... I needed to go clear my head.





While Belle was still around the area, I asked if I could hitch a ride with her for a bit to hang out. We took a day trip out into the beautiful and natural zones past my normal haunts, taking a stop at a lonely canyon beyond the forest. I saw a bunch of huge rocks and felt the overwhelming urge to let out some stress.



Piko!



"HYAAAAAH!" I swung my hammer and sent a giant boulder hurdling into the sky. I didn't hit it hard enough.



Piko!



"HYAAH!" Another one. Felt better, but I was just getting warmed up.



Piko! Piko!



Yeah! Take that!! Get out of here! Crumble into a million pieces!



"A-Amy? Are you angry about something?" Belle asked me. When I looked over to her, she was sitting on a picnic blanket, fixing up Motobud a bit.



"No!" I shouted.



"Sure seems like you're angry," she muttered.



Piko!



"I'm just thinking!" I huffed. Thinking about launching this rock so hard it hits the remnants of a space station.



"Um... do you want to talk about it?" she asked.



I groaned. Did I? I didn't even know. "I just want a little attention from specific people," I said in as calm of a voice as I could give. My tight grip on my hammer was probably a giveaway of my restraint. "Sonic is as sweet and romantic as he is annoying and avoidant!!!!"



Pi-ko!!!



"HYAAAAAAH!" That one went far.



Belle let out a little sound like she was nervous. "Oh, gears... What did Sonic do?"



"We have this romantic tradition of passing flowers and letters, but he never acknowledges it and it's starting to bug me!! Can't he give me anything that doesn't make me feel like I'm crazy?!"



Pi-CRAK!



I smashed a boulder. God, maybe I was angry. "He works so hard to grow those flowers, and I've dropped hints all the time and he won't ever-- urgh!! I just want us to at least hold hands once in a blue moon!"



"Oh...!" Belle let out the kind of laugh that said she was scared of me. I couldn't blame her, really. "Have you told him you want more intimacy?"



"Telling him's not the point! It's supposed to be more..." I groaned and dropped my hammer. I gestured my arms up when I turned to Belle and she looked... definitely nervous. Maybe I was being too intense, but I couldn't stop myself at this point. "The secrecy is part of the romance! He leaves flowers for me when I'm not around, and I leave letters for him to grab later. That's how it always was."



Belle averted her eyes. "Um... If he's not saying anything about it... Are you sure it's him leaving the flowers?"



"Who else would?" I huffed. "This has been a tradition for several years. Tails? He's a little brother, and he could be a million years old and I'd still look at him as a kid. Knuckles? He would never leave his island, especially not to do something like this. Anyone else I knew when I was younger is no longer around. It's always been me and Sonic."



"I don't really, uh, understand romance much, really," she mumbled back, "but have you ever really considered it could be someone other than Sonic at all? Maybe--" Belle quickly stopped her sentence.



I squinted. "What? Say it."



She glanced at my Piko Piko Hammer. I grunted and tossed it a distance away.



CRUNCH!



The hammer went a few feet by Belle's wagon and cracked the ground under it. "You seriously think I'd attack you?" I huffed. "Look, Piko Piko Hammer's far away. Just tell me what you're thinking."



"Okay..." Belle sighed, looking at me in a serious but gentle way. "Maybe your feelings for Sonic had you refuse any other possibility even though he never said it was him. Sure, it's unlikely... but the only way to find out for sure is to ask him, right? I don't think he would lie to you."



"I-I've considered other possibilities!" I said, my face reddening. "I didn't immediately think it was Sonic, but the flowers are from Little Planet."



Belle crossed her arms and tilted her head as she stared at the ground. "Little Planet?" she hummed to herself in thought. "Where have I heard--..." Her eyes briefly went red like when she checked her files the other day. "... Oh! Little Planet only appears over Never Lake a month out of each year. That's interesting... I hope I can one day come across it during my travels."



"More importantly, Little Planet is where Sonic and I first met." I crossed my arms back and stood up straight. "He didn't even know who Tails was yet. It was just me and him, and those flowers are in honor of those precious memories. No one else would grow flowers outside of Little Planet just to impress me. So... It couldn't be anyone else!" I said. Talking about it really helped me, because for a second I did have a pang of doubt.



Belle gave me a sympathetic smile. "What happened on Little Planet? I don't think I ever heard how you two first met."



I clapped my hands together, my face warmer as I reminisced. "Oh, Belle, it was meant to be," I sighed. "My fortune-telling never fails me... my cards told me I would meet a fateful encounter on Little Planet... And there, in the grassy fields in the outskirts of Palmtree Panic, did I see the cutest blue hedgehog in the entire world!"



"I had so much fun chasing Sonic to new places. Life was so exciting and full of vibrant sights. I wanted to do it forever. He was faster than me, but I didn't care at all." While I explained, I went over to Belle's picnic blanket and collapsed on it. Belle gave a more amused smile and sat down beside me. "My chase took us to the pink-and-chrome Collision Chaos. It was beautiful... the orange sky perfectly contrasted his blue quills. He was a little bashful, too! I don't know if he's interacted with many girls. I was so happy to be the first one to have his attention."



"Then, in a split-second--" I made a snatching motion in front of Belle. "Doctor Robotnik's newest project grabbed me out of nowhere. Metal Sonic was so fast that it shocked Sonic himself; before that, no one's ever matched his speed. I tried so hard to fight Metal Sonic back, but I couldn't move at all... And since he could fly, he took me across the planet faster than Sonic could catch up to him."



Belle watched me, amazed. "You were kidnapped the very first time you met Sonic? You really did meet both Sonic and Metal at the same time, huh?"



"Yep..." I sighed. "I still get so angry thinking about it sometimes! I could've taken care of him with my hammer, easy. But... everything happened so fast that I dropped it. I couldn't really defend myself." I flailed my hand in dismissal. "Anyways... Metal took me to the other side of the planet, which is where Stardust Speedway was. He tied me up there to use me as bait as part of whatever ugly plan Eggman had for taking over. I didn't get to see their entire battle, but Sonic went to where I was while Metal was barreling down the track. Sonic closed this gate in time and we heard a huge crash. Honestly, I'm surprised Metal came back after that... And a million times more," I grumbled.



"What happened next?" Belle asked me.



"Sonic set me free! He told me that he had some final business to take care of with Eggman, and that I should get out of there. I decided I'd pause my chase for a while. I needed to get my hammer back, anyway... So, we parted ways, but fate would bring us together again..." I sighed, flopping onto my back as I stared at the sky. There were white, pillowy clouds floating about. I swore one of them actually looked like Sonic's head. "He saved Little Planet and removed Eggman's terrible aesthetic from it all. I wonder how it's looking nowadays..."



Belle lay back on the blanket with me, folding her hands over her stomach. "That's a long time of memories. How long after did you start receiving the flowers?"



"Mm... Maybe the next year. At first it was just one flower... and then a few weeks later, I got another. After that, they'd just appear at random times... Honestly, whenever I needed them the most," I explained. "In one letter I left, I mentioned my birthday, then after that, I'd always get one on my birthday," I chuckled. "I started to sneak in other significant dates in there just to see if he'd remember."



"Did he?"



I grinned. "Yeah... And he never stopped sending ones on random days, either. The flowers don't last that long, so I think Sonic grew the flowers himself. Just imagining all the time he took to nurture something beautiful so he could make me happy... I love him."



Belle giggled at me. "You were upset at him a little earlier, but your tune changed so quickly."



"Ugh, that's the problem with love, Belle. Don't fall in love, it'll be torture sometimes," I groaned. "I do get frustrated with him... but I'll always love him, too."



We were quiet for a little while. I took in the breeze and let myself fully calm down... The urge to destroy a bunch of rocks was completely out of my system since I got to reminisce. I looked over at Belle... She was frowning.



"What's wrong?" I asked.



"Huh? Oh..." Belle shook her head. "I'm just thinking."



I nudged her elbow with mine. "Well, you helped me vent some today. What's on your mind?"



"It's nothing about me," she muttered. "What you said made me think about someone I know. I just... hope everyone can be happy."



"Aw, you're the sweetest, Belle. I'll wish the best for your friend too."



The rest of our day trip was less intense. We saw a few more places, stopped by a market to grab a few things, then headed back to my town. Belle dropped me off and went towards wherever the roads took her. I was glad to spend more time with Belle... she was a little fidgety, but I think the only person who matched her in sweetness was Cream.



I felt refreshed from stretching my legs outside of my house for a while, but then I went inside and saw the last flower gifted to me in my vase. My mixed feelings came back. My desire for more. I wish I didn't feel so much conflict like that, but... Maybe it's a phase I'd just pass. Yeah.



Belle was right that maybe I should talk to him about how I've been feeling. Our lack of romance outside of our tradition was clearly bothering me. Me talking directly about it wouldn't suddenly make our tradition less special. I was just being too weird and superstitious. I decided I'd talk to him when we next crossed paths. That being said, I wasn't doing anything else tonight.



I must've soaked in the bath for like an hour. I was exhausted from all my thinking and I wanted to not focus on anything for a while. I treated myself to my favorite pajamas and planned to go to bed, but a certain flower caught my attention.



Sonic gained a garden growing hobby, which gave me a flower pressing hobby. I didn't press every flower he gave me, but I pressed the ones that were the most important to me. Of course, the very first flower I received was one of them. I pressed it into one of my favorite books about adventure and framed it on my bedroom wall. It was a beautiful pink flower, strangely pointy and jagged like a lot of the flowers from Little Planet... but it was so unafraid to be itself. I wondered what made Sonic pick this one... did it make him think of me? Of our first meeting? Either way, I treasured it. It was a symbol of our fate.



Bang!



...? Something hit my front door. I didn't expect anyone to show up so late at night. I grabbed my hammer and slowly made my way towards the entrance of my house. I couldn't see anything through the peep hole; it was just too dark. I opened it--



Those red eyes were unmistakable. My heart sank. Metal Sonic was at my front door, pale moonlight reflecting off of his cold exterior. His stare was even colder.



I swung my hammer the second I registered it was him. He dodged, making me swing again. He jumped back and I jumped after him.



"What are you doing here?!" I screamed. "Is Eggman finally tired of dealing with us, so he's going for some cheap assassination attempts?!"



Of course, Metal couldn't answer since he couldn't talk, but that didn't mean I didn't think he was being a total ass. He was moving around all my swings like he was just playing. I wasn't going to entertain him and do a dumb little race like Sonic would!



SMASH!



I slammed my hammer down against the road when I was trying to aim for him. I'd worry about paying damages later; he was pissing me off! He knew he was making me mad too, because he rubbed his nose with his hand in an insufferable taunt. He acted like I wasn't suddenly capable of separating his boulder-sized head from his body!!! I swung again and he jumped over it, then landed behind me. I immediately whirled around with my hammer and he blasted around it with his turbine.



"You're not even going to attack?! I'm not falling for one of your dumb schemes, Metal!" I snapped. He must've been distracting me, but I didn't know why. A trap? Was there something a different henchman put in my house?



I doubled back. I needed to get back to my house-- but I needed to find a way to knock Metal out. Ugh... In some circumstances, I could handle Metal, but the street was too open to slow him down and I'd just end up destroying my house if I went inside. There was also no way for me to call for some backup at this rate... I'd just have to fight to the best of my ability.



He approached me when I was backing away. I used my hammer to send me into the air--



Pi-ko!



I hit him! He was launched to the side as I swung at him mid-air. He skidded to a stop, then launched himself towards me.



I readied my hammer--



SLAM!



He pinned me against my house with one of his arms. He went too quickly for me to prepare in time! He held one of his legs to my stomach and pried my hammer from my hands, then threw it aside. It was then I realized he had only been using one arm at all...



I glanced at his other arm, which was behind his back. He had something. He firmly kept me against my wall with his free hand, then removed his leg. We were locked in an intense stare.



"You gonna capture me? Kill me? Just get it over with!" I growled.



I could try to fight out of his hold, but--



He let go of me, then took a slow step backwards. I was... suddenly really confused. I quickly glanced to make sure I wasn't suddenly surrounded by a bunch of other bots, but... It was just us. I kept my stare on him the rest of the time.



He revealed a flower from behind his back.



I... didn't know what to think.



It was a bright, nearly opalescent flower, lots of blue with hints of purple and white. There was a sheen over its layered petals that made it glisten in the moonlight. I could easily mistake it for a sculpture, but it swayed so easily in the wind. I was surprised it wasn't ruined during our scuffle.



Why did... Why did he have a flower? Why was he protecting it...?



He raised the flower up towards me a little, like he was offering it to me. His gaze shifted to the side.



I was... stunned. Eventually, the words left my mouth: "Are you trying to... give this to me?"



He glanced at me, then away again. He nodded. I nearly reached out to take it, but I hesitated, retracting then looking over him with much more caution.



"...Why?" I asked.



He didn't respond for a while, eventually lowering the flower. He opened a panel on one of his forearms and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He took it between two of his claws and offered it to me in the same hand he had the flower in.



I took the note. It was clearly really old, the paper heavily creased and the edges of it yellowed over time. As I unfolded it, it practically fell open.



...



The stationery had a pink, bubbly border with little purple lines to write on. There was excited scribbling from a girl pouring her heart out about the very first flowers she ever received, how much it meant to her, and how much she would treasure the person who gave them to her.



My face was on fire. I didn't know what I was feeling. It was like something just... went off in my head and I couldn't function.



He offered the flower to me again.



... I took it. I never saw anything like it before, but it was familiar to me at the same time. It was strange and beautiful... And it... terrified me.



...



My focus broke when Metal showed me one of his palms. After I stared at it for a second, he gestured forward with his claws. Did... he want something?



Oh. I gave him the note. I didn't even realize I did it until he had it again. He methodically folded it back to how it was, then put it back inside the panel on his arm. We stared at each other for a while... I... honestly wasn't sure I could move.



He eventually focused back to his arm and hesitated when he reached inside the panel again. He brought out a much newer note and offered that one to me as well. I took it. The panel on his arm closed, then he took a step away from me. He gave me another glance...



His turbine whirred to life, then he rocketed away from my house. I couldn't see him at all anymore.