I couldn't sleep.

I couldn't stop looking at the flower.

... I couldn't read the letter.



"Get it together, Amy," I sighed to myself. I slapped both sides of my face with my hands.



I waited a while after Metal Sonic left my house just to make sure it wasn't any kind of weird ambush. I never saw anything, no commotion outside, nothing. Nothing was different or changed in my house, and I was paranoid enough to comb through everything just to make sure. After that, I put the flower in a new vase in my room and stared at it from my bed. The sun came up at some point. I was still awake.



I... I needed to think about this logically. This is the kind of thing Eggman does, his plans are so many steps ahead and he messes with your brain, and then he'll forget something simple and totally unravel. I just needed to figure it out. I was just a part of his scheme for some reason.



So... I thought first about the very first love letter I put out. How did Metal get a hold of that? He must've grabbed it off of Sonic somehow... maybe Sonic had it in some stash they discovered. Or he dropped it when he was young, and Eggman wanted to save it for an opportunity like this?



Yeah... that makes sense. Metal stole it. And I gave it back to him when he offered it to me!



I groaned to myself. I wasn't in the right mind. I'm still not in the right mind. I had to keep thinking before losing track, though.



So... onto the flower... Having the letters, he must've connected that Sonic was giving them to me. So... Eggman... engineered this flower or something. I don't remember a flower with such shiny, cool-toned colors from Little Planet, either. They were slipping here and didn't pick up that particular pattern. I could look more into it.



In fact... yeah. I wasn't going to open myself up to any possible manipulation reading the letter Metal gave me. His flower should be different from the last flower I received from Sonic, which was still vibrant and lively. Their plan would be opened wide and--



... What's the... point, in giving me flowers? Tricking me?



I thought for too long about this. Eggman didn't really think I would fall for Metal, would he? Did he think I would actually be that susceptible to anything hedgehog shaped? Would Metal even agree to do something like that? I guess he might not have a choice if it's part of some plan...



Agh...!! I was too tired. I'd go to Tails's workshop later. I stayed in my bed until I finally fell asleep.





Ugh... I had a crazy dream that Metal Sonic visited me during the night and revealed that I had been writing about how much I loved him for years. Hah! That would be...



...



I saw the flower and closed letter on my desk. Damn it. No, no. That's not how it was. Get it together, Amy. See the bigger picture.



As soon as I was confident I wouldn't absentmindedly walk into a wall from exhaustion, I took the last two flowers I received and marched over to Tails's workshop. Tails had plenty of workshops around, but I know he and Sonic were hanging around the one that literally just looks like Tails's head from the outside, which luckily, was not too far from my house.



I let myself inside. It was a little messy, but at least I could walk around. There were gadgets in random spots, taking up all the tables, along with random nic-nacs... hey, there were some plants to liven up the area, though. They had a small living room type area... Sonic was laying across the couch with a book on top of his face.



"Hey!"



"Wah!" Sonic jumped up and hastily grabbed his book. He gave me a hazy look that turned into a hazy grin. "Heyyy."



"Late night?" I asked.



He yawned. "Nah, just... a little bored. Nice flowers." He rubbed his eyes, then sat up, giving a glance to the flowers I held in their separate vases.



"Um..." I studied his face. "... Thanks. Where's Tails?"



"Garage. Are you giving those to him?"



"Only for a little while if he can help me," I replied, walking away. I was trying to not think about his reaction. It was incredibly simple. Maybe he just didn't want to give away that he grew one of them...



I went to the garage and realized Sonic followed behind me. Tails was working on one of Sonic's old cars when we went inside. He saw me enter and lifted his head up, shifting up his goggles. "Hi, Amy. What's going on?" he politely asked.



"Whenever you have the free time, can you help me figure out the difference between these flowers?" After a second, I coughed and clarified: "Possibly Eggman related."



"Really?" Tails lifted a brow and stood up fully. "Let's see what I can do, then. What's your hunch?" He walked over to a huge computer on the other side of the room and sat in the chair, messing with some clear dome-shaped object that I could only describe as 'a thing that scans'.



Sonic laced his hands behind his head and casually walked over to the computer with Tails. "Yeah, I'm curious about this. Is this finally a new Eggman scheme cooking?"



"Uh... Maybe." I walked over and put the flowers on the desk beside Tails's scanner thing. "I'm not sure what my hunch is, just that, if my suspicions are true, then these flowers could be part of it. I want to know if these are the same kinds of flowers you can get on Little Planet."



"Oooh! They do look kinda familiar, now that you point it out," Sonic said with a bright expression. I... I wasn't in the mood for his jokes. I really wasn't. But I decided to not say anything.



Tails picked up the pink-orange flower and examined it, giving a hum of thought. "Their genetic structure could probably reveal that, yeah," he said. "I'm no expert, but I'll see what I can gather." He opened the dome and put it inside.



"D-don't ruin them," I hastily added.



"Won't hurt 'em a bit, Amy. Don't worry." Whew. Sonic and I watched as the flower was scanned by a bar of light and Tails's computer monitor lit up with a bunch of text and pictures. He was tacking away on the keyboard. "It's still scanning, but I gotta wonder... Little Planet has unique soil and it won't appear again for another month. I'm sure it's not easy to grow them on our earth. How'd you even get a hold of these?" he asked.



I glanced at Sonic. He had no reaction to the question whatsoever; he was tilting his head as he stared at the flower through the dome.



"Well, I guess that's the question," I muttered.



"Really interesting," Tails mumbled as he stared at the screen. "So, this pink and orange flower has Little Planet origins, but there's nothing in any records that matches this exact color. See?" He twirled to the side in his chair to show me and Sonic the screen. Even seeing the images made me nostalgic... I received flowers of all of those colors at some point in my life. "That being said, it's possible for the colors to occur naturally. I guess maybe research is limited since Little Planet isn't around for all too long."



"So it's not a mutation?" Sonic asked. "Nothing weird or dangerous?"



Tails shook his head. "Nah, it's just a normal flower. I think maybe whoever grew it just knows their stuff. I'd entertain the idea of Eggman upping his gardening skills for some new bio-weapon or something, but there's genuinely nothing of concern here."



"What about the other one?" I asked.



Tails put the pink-orange flower back in its vase and went for the opalescent one I knew Metal directly gave me. I was so... shaky. I didn't know why. I was scared of whatever Tails was going to say.



"You okay, Amy?" Sonic quietly asked. Hearing my name snapped me out of it.



I glanced at him and gave the best smile I could. "I'm fine," I replied. He gave me a skeptical look, but I brought my focus back to Tails instead of fueling any of his thoughts further.



"I think the actual flower is one from Collision Chaos, but it kind of borrows from some other flowers on Little Planet, too. This definitely couldn't have been grown in the wild. It looks to be really careful flower breeding, but there's nothing of concern here, either. Same thing; this person knows their stuff."



...



"Do you think the same person grew them?" I asked.



Tails stared at the screen for a little longer, then nodded. "Considering how hard it must be to have a Little Planet-centric greenhouse and you happen to have two unique flowers that are rare to impossible to show up in the wild, I'd be really surprised if they were grown by different people." He scratched his chin in thought. "But... it'd depend on how you got them, I guess? Did Eggman leave these for you?"



"No..." I sighed. "But... I want to look more into it. They're both from Little Planet flowers, then..." I rubbed the back of my head. "But they can't be grown directly on Little Planet because of the timing, right?"



"Mmhm, unless someone discovered how to go to Little Planet outside of its yearly appearance, but that's really unlikely. No one even knows how the time stuff works there or why it's limited to that area only," Tails explained.



"Okay... so... Is there anywhere on our world that has similar soil composition?"



Tails swerved back to his monitor and typed on his keyboard for a while. "Funnily enough, there's some soil that might work in some nearby cave systems outside of town." He showed me on the screen... I think I knew that area. "Should we go check it out?" Tails asked.



"No!" I shouted.



Sonic and Tails looked at me, surprised.



I cleared my throat. "Sorry. I just, this is something more personal, I think. I'll go check out this area alone."



"Man, we'll have to find something else to do," Sonic said with a pout.



Tails shrugged, smiling towards me. "I liked the small break. Amy, let us know if you do end up connecting this to Eggman. You can never be too sure... he's been quiet for an awfully long time."



I sighed. "Yeah..." I took my flowers back. "Thank you, Tails. Um..." I took a deep breath. "I know you've basically said it already, but just to confirm... have either of you have seen these flowers before now?"



They both shook their heads. Sonic looked just as confused as Tails.



"Or... Any flower? Do you garden? At all?"



"Nope," they both said.



I needed to keep walking. "Bye," I said under my breath. I left.



I went back home to put my flowers where they were before. I didn't think Sonic was so good a liar that he'd look as clueless as he did. My... theory was starting to have holes. Big holes. And...



... Sonic probably... wasn't the one sending me flowers.



I collapsed on the floor in the space between my kitchen and living room.



A part of me wanted to go to Tails to get more flowers to scan, but he'd just give the same answers. The only difference was the method of delivery for the last one. I didn't know what any of it meant.



Maybe I still had something with the letters, but... Even if Sonic took all my letters, he still didn't give me anything.



I still had to see everything through. I gave myself a minute to re-center, then I left for the caves Tails mentioned. I could take a lesson from Sonic and clear my head with a run.



I lost myself to the rush of the wind, if only for a moment. I took a more natural path out of town and towards the nearby forest. The moments I used my hammer to launch me in the air were when I felt alone with my thoughts, just the wind in my ears, the skies in my view, and my rapid, rapid descent into the ground below--



This wasn't working, ugh... I would be enjoying the warm day in any other situation. I did my best to distract myself. As I went deeper into the forest, I checked for any holes in the ground whenever I was in the air again. I landed on tops of trees and hopped through them to make my way quickly through the many forest paths.



A mossy, partially crumbled cave caught my attention; it was pretty hard to see from above, but I saw the entrance soon as I landed on the ground nearby. I warily checked around me... then I went into the opening.



At first, the cave just looked normal and undisturbed. There wasn't anything that stuck out to me, nothing unique or different than what I was used to cave-wise. I mean, not that I've been to a whole bunch of caves. I planned to leave, but then I saw a small white light far, far in the distance. I maneuvered my way towards it.



The light was right above an old metallic door. As soon as I got close, its two halves clunkily separated. I could see a faded Eggman symbol on the wall, but there were only a few dim lights on and nothing actually... active. My curiosity took the best of me. I went inside.



The door closed itself behind me with a ka-thunk! A few more lights flickered on as I passed under them. There were a ton of old boxes, some broken machinery, rust and even moss growing in some places. This base was definitely abandoned.



I wandered around but kept my hammer close for anything dangerous and malfunctioning. The hallways were clear and a lot of the doors weren't opening on their own... but one finally did.



I was nearly overwhelmed by the sudden natural light. I blinked a few times to try to focus... there were several skylights overhead, beaming sunshine down on... A garden.



... It was... breathtaking.



There were moss and vines on the ceiling, while huge metallic beds of soil were separated thoughtfully on the ground. Dozens and dozens of gorgeous flowers, all different sizes and colors, sprouted high in the air. They danced freely, uncaring to be in an old building.



I saw the same kind of pink and orange flower that I had Tails scan before. This one was still growing, its petals much smaller and stem a lighter green... This was the garden.



On the wall opposite of the main door were wooden boxes and shelves full of gardening supplies. There was a water fountain nearby, filling the otherwise silent room with the sound of trickling. I wondered how much of the room was reconstructed over time or if Eggman really did have his own garden plans at some point...



...!

I heard the entrance door open.



I scrambled for one of the large boxes and stuffed myself inside it. It had a small hole in its side that let me peer down a few of the rows between the garden beds.



The door to this room opened. Clank, clank... Hard steps against the metallic floor. I couldn't see anything yet.



The steps were getting closer and closer to me... Then they stopped.



I saw the shoes. The legs. I knew exactly who they belonged to.



... It was... Metal Sonic. His focus was completely on the flowers in front of him. He stood still for an incredibly long time. His eyes flicked to the flower next to him, then the one after that... He made some beeping sounds and slapped his head with both of his hands.



Skrrrreeee!



He raked his claws down his face, then balled his fists. Electricity started to crackle around him. The hole in his chest began glowing with light. His eyes flashed red. Was he aiming for the flowers?



...



Nothing happened. The light disappeared, the shield of electricity dispelled... and he kept staring at the flowers. He dropped to his knees and smacked his forehead against the rim of the garden bed.



He eventually turned around and stared up towards the ceiling, maybe to one of the skylights. After a while, he hung his head. The red of his screen-like eyes disappeared completely. He was still awake since he shifted and flopped completely on the ground.



... I've never seen him look so... defeated. I wondered what he was thinking about. Or maybe he was trying to think about nothing.



His eyes blinked back on, and eventually, he reached for something in his arm. He pulled out a note... the same one I mistakenly gave back to him. He unfolded it and held it over his face like he was reading it. He let his arm go limp and fall at his side. He stared at the skylight for a while more.



After a few minutes, he folded the note again and put it back in the panel on his arm. He stood up from the ground, then went to another part of the room I couldn't see. I heard some shuffling. He walked up to the same garden bed as before, but this time with a watering can. He stuck one of his claws into the soil, paused, then watered the flowers. He examined each flower as he passed by them. Occasionally, he picked something off of the stem or the petals.



I listened for the watering even when he was out of sight. After a while, the sounds stopped and he went back to where he got the watering can.



...! His legs were awfully close! I held my breath on the off-chance he could hear me.



Luckily, he passed by. He went somewhere behind the box. I heard different beeping tones-- ones that didn't come from him-- and then I heard a different door open. The sounds of his footsteps went distant, but I didn't think he was gone.



"Metal!!"



Eggman's voice, fuzzy and demanding. Didn't sound like it was from the base or that Eggman was around... It came from Metal himself. He walked out, eventually back in my sights again.



"Where are you?! The reactor in section C overloaded and I need all this rubble cleaned up!"



Metal balled his fists. He trilled a reply with whatever robot language he used.



"The attitude! I don't need to make a useless janitor bot when I already have you! Get to it, boy!"



The fuzzy intercom cut out, so I guess that conversation was over. Metal kicked a stray box hard into the nearest wall, shattering it entirely. Damn. He walked away a lot more rigidly than he entered.



... I waited several minutes, even after I heard the entrance door open and close. I eventually climbed out of the box.



The flowers twinkled with droplets of water. Every single one was carefully dealt with... there wasn't even a stray piece of dirt. He... really took care of them.



I looked over to where he disappeared to before he left entirely. There was a door I didn't notice before, but it was now open for me to enter. This was either a trap, or Metal forgot to close it. I was already making tons of stupid decisions lately, so I went ahead and peeked through the door.



This room was much smaller and much darker, dim lights like from the hallways outside of the garden room. There was a huge computer console with a bunch of random machinery and spare parts around, then a table that had a bunch of wires and scary looking machines around it; looked more like an operating table than something you'd put your souvenirs on.



The wall opposite of the computer caught my attention. A desk sat in-between two larger bookshelves just a bit taller than me. The shelves were scattered; some rows were full of books, some were empty, and some had books stacked vertically instead of horizontally. A lot of the books were totally caked in dust, so I couldn't really gather all of the titles; the ones stacked vertically looked the most used and had a lot of pieces of paper sticking out the sides. There were a few more books on the desk, so I peeked at them; they were about... gardening.



There were loose papers on the desk, too. Some of the papers were very scientific looking, lots of graphs and words I didn't really understand in context... I thought I couldn't tell what they were until I saw one of the graphs had different drawings of flowers. I saw a chart that had a drawing of the last flower given to me...



I tore my focus away from the papers. I was taking in a lot of information that I wasn't ready to realize in my head yet.



I noticed an odd shape when I looked at the top of the bookshelf... And then I realized what it was-- it was the same plushie that Belle commissioned for Metal. Belle mentioned she was planning to give it to him... but he kept it?



... There was a lidded box beside the plush, also lacking any dust. I picked it up-- it was pretty light-- and placed it on the desk. I carefully opened it.



There were a bunch of neat stacks of letters, separated by year. Some of them looked more worn down than others. I flipped through them without trying to disturb the order... they were all here. All except the first one.



One of the letters looked pretty beat up. It had some scorch marks on it and looked like it'd been crumpled up before unfolded and smoothed out again. I scanned through the sentences:



Did you know this is the 100th letter I sent you? We've had so many experiences since the first... We're growing up, everything's been changing around us. The world itself is changing. But... I've never changed how I felt about you.



I know I can be forward and pushy... Sometimes I think it comes across as me not being serious. So, I wanted to use our tradition to tell you fully, with all of my heart:



I love you, Sonic the Hedgehog. My feelings for you only grow stronger after each meeting, each flower, each letter I write. I love you more than anything.



I can't wait to see you. I want to know where our next journey takes us together. Go as fast as you can and reach the farthest horizons with all your spirit. My heart will always find you.



... It was the first letter I ever addressed Sonic directly.



I put the letter away and closed the box.



I don't know how I ended up back home, just that I went there myself. I completely blanked out, and suddenly, I was in my bedroom, staring at my own desk, at my own vase, at the flower given to me. A culmination of misunderstanding from both of us.



I looked at the letter I never opened. Slowly, I took it.



I fell back onto my bed and unfolded the letter above my face.





...