Tears were running down my face. I couldn't believe Metal kept this stupid letter in his arm for a ridiculous amount of years. My writing was terrible! I remember how excited I was when I first wrote this, how many drafts I did, how hard I worked... For something so...



I stared at the frame of the same pink flower I wrote about, just a few feet away from me. My flower wall was special, but... I wanted my first flower in the same place as it was before.



I sobbed and let my face fall to my desk. It was so cute he kept the letter... He read it so much that this thing looked like it was falling apart...



I sat up and wiped my face, sniffling. What I didn't know until I checked the letter was that another note was folded inside of it...





This one wasn't even a love letter!! He just kept it because I put his name in it!!



"Stop being so cute!" I blubbered out to nobody. I was a wreck. It's only been a day and I was already struggling. He told me I was worrying too much, and I really did believe he'd come back... But he drilled into me how unlikely he was to give up his good luck charm. What would happen for him to do that? Was he on an incredibly dangerous mission? Was something going to destroy his body?



I picked his charm up from my desk and stared at it, too...



I calmed down and wiped my face again. I got up and went over to my hammer, unhooking my own good luck charm from the bottom of the handle.



I went back to my desk and hooked our good luck charms together. If he couldn't hold his, I wouldn't hold mine, either. They'd be together until he returned to me. I took out a little lock box from my bottom desk drawer and put the letters, the charms, and my extra house key inside. I gently closed it and locked it with a different tiny key.



"God, get it together, Rosy," I sighed to myself. I glanced at the special stationery I bought for the Ultimate Love Letter... I got started on a draft I actually liked on some normal paper, but I had some better ideas. I made another draft and worked on it for a while... It was really coming together.



Writing made me feel better, too. My worry vanished as I focused on what I loved so much about Metal. I looked forward to the day I'd finally give him this letter. I couldn't wait to see his reaction... And I wondered what he'd do with it. Would he put it in his arm, too? Would he do something else?



I paused my writing for a while and thought of the first letter he wrote to me... I also kept it in my lock box, but rereading it made me a little upset. He was so convinced I would never love him back. I could never forget the second-to-last line of that letter, though...



I wanted you to feel warm too. I love you.



It was quite a challenge to express exactly how warm he made me feel... But, if my very first letter showed my heart to him, then I'm sure my heart would show in my Ultimate Love Letter. I smiled to myself as I continued my writing.



Knock, knock!



I lifted my head. I checked in my bedroom mirror to make sure my face didn't look too messed up and stuffy, then I went for the front door. I didn't feel like going anywhere today... I was in more casual clothes and my quills were contained by a ribbon instead of straightened.



I opened the door.



"Mm." Rouge looked me up and down with a brow raised. Her outfit was particularly cute today; leather jacket, strapped top, a mini-skirt that I should absolutely ask to borrow later. "This won't do. You need to get dressed for a night out, honey. It's time for Part Two."



"Dammit! I thought you forgot," I grumbled.



She elegantly laughed. "Me? Forget? I remember the amount of scales on a crocodile." She scowled, averting her eyes in thought. "On that note... Remind me to give that man a talking to. He's been poking around my business."



"Oh, wow. Leave me out of that," I said with wide eyes. Vector was a weirdly unstoppable force when it came to his investigations. "... But, I guess I could have some girl time... Give me a bit!" I walked further inside, while Rouge trailed behind. She lingered at my flower wall when I went to get dressed in my room.



"You've been getting more floral, huh?" I heard Rouge ask.



"I've always been floral!" I beamed. I couldn't tell her those were from my boyfriend, though... She's been at my house enough to know I had some of those flowers for a long time. "I did feel like re-displaying some of the flowers I pressed, though. Like them?"



"They're very cute," Rouge cheerfully replied.



I didn't want to dress up too much. I got in one of my comfortable dresses... And Rouge mentioned I was floral so I thought I'd wear something with flower prints on them. This dress had a sweetheart neckline which was kinda night-in-the-town-y anyway. I did have some pretty cute heels that matched the dress. Boom, burgundy cardigan, outfit done.



Hm... I kinda wanted my quills to be more natural. I thought I could pull it off with this fit... I brushed my quills to tame them a bit, but after adjusting my ribbon, I decided to just keep it as it was. I smiled at myself in the mirror and posed a little.



I walked out of my room and went to the bathroom for some makeup. "Oooh! Even cuter!" I heard Rouge holler as I walked by. I rolled my eyes with a smile.



She joined me in the bathroom, one hand on her hip while the other hand played with my quills a little.



"Does your man like a feistier hairstyle?" she teased.



I blushed. "N..No!" I stammered, searching for the kind of eyeshadow I wanted.



"It's so cute how you try to lie to me."



"I'm not lying! He's not really picky like that," I said with a huff. "I guess I just mind my quills being up less since he's seen me that way a lot already."



"Awwwh."



"So, what are we doing?" I asked, applying some light makeup on myself. Rouge shuffled in my makeup bag for my mascara and applied a little bit on herself as well.



"I thought we could get some dinner. All my banter aside, I'm a little tired of dealing with everything that shoots, teleports, and runs fast. I figured it might be time for you to have a break, too."



I smiled at her. "That sounds good."





Rouge and I settled at a restaurant we both liked to go to to just chat and catch up. The food was pretty good, the atmosphere was relaxed with some warmer tones, and it all felt private enough that we could just talk about whatever. We had a table on the second floor's balcony to feel the night air and watch the city lights.



"Okay, get your questions out of the way," I sighed.



"Ohh, eager to move on, hm?" she asked, grinning. "Before that: sorry about the black market situation. It's a shame my connections couldn't pull through with the seeds, but I also heard it worked out."



"It did~" I smiled, stirring my drink with a straw before sipping. Rouge leaned back in her chair and watched the horizon.



"Let's start with the name," she smirked, looking back at me. "I need to know who could possibly get you to move on from the most intense crush I've ever seen."



She honestly didn't know how bad my crush on Sonic used to be. I would get way too embarrassed if I kept thinking about it. "It's, uh..." God, what name could I say? Forgive me, Metal. "N...Nova," I muttered. I couldn't think of anything else!



"Nova? Pretty cute. I'm putting the picture in my head... What's the species?"



"He's a hedgehog too," I said, blushing more.



"Adorable. Tell me: is he a gentleman or a freak?"



I was surprised by her question, then laughed a little. "Honestly, both? Maybe more on the freak side?"



"Oh, perfect. Correct answer," Rouge chuckled, sipping her drink again. "Those were the softballs. Now the real question I have: how did you fall in love? Set the scene for me, honey. I wanna be there."



"He kinda wore me down, to be honest..." I put my elbows on the table as I reminisced. "At first I was kinda in denial... I was just so infatuated with Sonic, you know? But I was starting to get frustrated with him... At the same time, Nova... surprised me. He put so much effort in telling me how he felt, even knowing I loved someone else. And then it just... clicked."



I paused for a second since our food was served. Both of us got a little distracted, but eventually, Rouge gestured to me with her fork to get me to continue.



"We went on a date just to see how it would go... And I was so nervous, but like, my heart was fluttering the whole time. I felt like a kid again. The more I learned, the more we spent time together, I was totally captivated. He opened up to me on one of our dates and I realized I was in love from his first confession."



"So vague!" Rouge groaned. "But so cute~"



I blushed more. "I'm not gonna narrate the dates to you!" I exclaimed. "Time with him is so special, though... The long distance means every minute counts. It's not actually super long distance, but his family is kind of a pain..."



I lost motivation to eat and just kinda stared at my food for a while. Rouge shifted and leaned in a bit. "What's wrong?'"



"I won't get to see him for a while... He didn't tell me, but I think it's family stuff," I sighed, glancing up at her. "I was moping at home about it, so even though I didn't really want to go anywhere, I'm glad we're hanging out."



"Must have a complicated family. Is he rich or something?"



"Rouge!" I huffed.



She laughed. "Relax. If his family's worth stealing from, chances are I've already done it." She picked at her nails. I didn't know how that'd relax me, but this was just Rouge, so I let it go. "I'm so happy for you, darling. You deserve some reciprocation. I need to see how cute he is," she playfully told me.



"H-he's... he's really cute, but don't get your hopes up about meeting him!" I stammered. "I kinda just prefer keeping my relationship and my friends separate for a while... And he's really, um, shy..."



"Ooh, you're so red, Ms. Rose."



Her saying that only made my face hotter. I suddenly got my appetite back and devoured my food.



"Haha! I'm very interested... Consider my hopes heightened regardless. That being said... I'm satisfied with what I learned today." She crossed her legs under the table and leaned back in her chair again. "So, how's Sonic taking everything?"



I rolled my eyes. "What, you think he's bothered?"



"If I had a girl swooning about me for as long as you have, I would probably start missing it a little even if I didn't have feelings for her."



"You're kinda giving Sonic too much credit. I think he's super relieved, honestly. We kinda had a fight about it... But, I was being too hard on him."



"Meh, give it time. Everyone loves attention from someone cute." Rouge finished her drink.



"Not everyone's going to be dramatic, Rouge-- Aw, I'm cute?" I fluttered my eyelashes a bit, making her chuckle. My smile softened before I got lost in thought. "I fully admit I was the dramatic one between me and him," I sighed. "He's asked me about my boyfriend some, which was sweet... I feel like I'm better friends with Sonic than before."



"Do you think him and your new man would get along?"



I snorted.



Rouge smirked at me. "That bad, huh?"



I smiled again as I gave a slow and wide nod. "He's, uh... I don't think he gets along well with free spirits like Sonic. Especially talkative ones."



"Ah, more Shadow's speed, then."



I paused. "Huh, yeah. They actually might not be too bad if they met," I hummed. "I'm not sure he'd get along with you. You're too flirty."



"Tch. You say 'flirty' like it's a bad thing," she said, grinning. "He sounds fun to mess with."



I crossed my arms. "Well, you're not gonna do that!"



"Ooh, protective. Down, girl. I'm not interested in him unless he's shiny and worth millions."



I... I... I think he actually might've fit her description. Theoretically, how much do Eggman's creations cost...? Wow. Maybe there was some kind of rich family situation... I rarely thought about Eggman that way because of the whole evil mastermind thing going on. Ah! I was being silly. Rouge would have quite a stack of bots if she really cared about their value...



Rouge laughed. "Why do you look so confused? I'm even more interested if you're dating a gem."



"Sorry! I was thinking about something else," I said. Half-truth, I guess?



Rouge grinned at me as our conversation came to a comfortable lull. Her smile faded and one of her ears twitched. She held two of her fingers to her ear and looked out towards the cityscape. "Huh. Speaking of gems... I'm afraid my break has ended early, darling. I had such a wonderful time with you. I'll pay to make up for before."



"Aw, really? Thanks! Good luck with whatever you're doing," I said with a little wave to Rouge. She dropped some money on the table, then winked at me, hopping off the balcony and gliding away. I watched her fade into the night... Then I looked back out at the horizon. I let out another sigh.



...



I really needed something else to distract me...



Since I was already dressed, I wanted to wander around a bit more before going home. I was alone... Would be a perfect time for another ambush from Metal, but... I didn't think he was appearing anytime soon. Chao were a little more independent than they let on, but I still felt weird if I didn't check on Nova.



I didn't go to Metal's base often at night, so I had more trouble finding it this time. Eventually, though, I found the skylights and went around them until I found the cave entrance. I made my way inside and watched as the fluorescent lights flickered on as soon as I entered.



Even though it was brightly lit, it was kinda spooky in the hallways at night. I walked down the hall, then stopped and listened at the flower garden's door just in case...



...



I checked the normal garden. Smelled so nice in here... There were some toys on the floor, but otherwise, no sign of Nova. The pet bed was empty and the Metal plushie was missing. I wondered where they were... Hopefully they weren't too lonely today. I wondered if they would mind being at my house for a while.



I checked the bedroom next. Everything was how we left it before... No Nova here, either. I lingered for a while and admired the photos on the wall. "You really are so dramatic," I grumbled to myself. I acted like he'd been gone a year or something when hardly any time passed. I guess it wasn't really the time that bothered me as much, but that I just didn't know what was so important that he gave me his personal items...



I checked other open parts of the base, but I just didn't see Nova anywhere-- Wait... It was possible they were in the flower garden, but if not...



I walked up to the elevator and stared at it for a while.



...



I didn't... really want to go into the lab. I was okay when Metal was there, but.. I thought of that robot that looked exactly like him, torn apart and dangling in a tank. I got why it didn't bother him; he got torn apart way more than I saw, probably, but... I don't know. It's different.



He's not just a robot. So... Imagining that, imagining him like that...



Maybe... I didn't need to check on Nova. I'm sure they were fine...



Stop that, Amy. I took a deep breath. I unlocked the elevator, went inside, then pressed the button that'd send me down to the lab.



The doors opened when I got there... While the hallway was dim, the big lab ahead was lit up already. I quietly walked down the hall and peeked in.



The torn apart robot wasn't there... All three glass tanks were empty. Robot-me was sitting upright on a table, hunched over and still completely off. A few metallic panels on her 'dress' were exposed, showing tons of wiring underneath. There were a bunch of wires and complicated looking boxes coming out of her head and back... Kinda spooky, but I'd take it over the other one.



I glanced further in... At the farthest wall, the young version of Metal was there, collapsed and totally empty. My heart ached a little. In his lap, Nova snoozed and tightly clutched onto the Metal plushie. I walked over.



I gave a sad smile and gently rubbed Nova's head. They looked healthy. The cutie grumbled a little in their sleep, shifting and turning away from me.



I lifted my focus up to the young Metal. I touched his face. So cold. I missed the real Metal... He would've warmed up just from me looking at him.



"I guess I'll--"



"Gears and starters!" I heard Belle gasp under her breath and a chair squeak against the tile. I turned around, shocked. Belle was sitting at a different table with a bunch of loose computer parts. I didn't even notice her! "You scared the daylights out of me!" she said, hushed.



"Belle?" I walked over to her. "You scared me too!" When I approached, I saw Motobud was resting peacefully under the table. Wow, couldn't believe I didn't catch either of them. "What are you up to?"



"I've just been studying parts of Carillon Rose... Metal doesn't want me to work on her without him, so I'm just seeing what I can gather until he's back."



She could sense what I was about to ask her, and she frowned at me.



"Sorry, Amy... I don't know what he's doing. He told me I wouldn't be able to message him for a while." She gave a saddened shrug.



"What does it mean if you can't message him?" I asked, crossing my arms and sitting in a chair across from her. I was careful to avoid putting my hands anywhere on the table, just in case... I didn't wanna mess anything up.



"If I send him a message over our connection, I'll get an error and not go through," she muttered, lowering her head again. The tip of her index finger was open and looked a bit like a screwdriver. She gently picked at the tech in front of her and continued: "... Which means a few things. It could mean he's offline or our connection got severed. Since he knew about it beforehand, I think he's just offline. Our connection is extremely complicated... Neither of us can willingly disconnect from it without major changes to our programming, putting at risk who we are." She glanced back up to me and smiled a little. "He sounded confident he'll be back, so, I think maybe he's just undergoing some kind of maintenance."



"What maintenance would take so long?" I asked, frowning more.



"Who knows what Eggman's doing... I guess we should be cautious, too. Metal's maintenance might not be good for us, even though I hate to say it like that..." Belle shrugged again. "I'll let you know when I get his ping if he doesn't make his way to you first."



"Thank you, Belle... And I guess you're right. I trust Metal, but... I guess there's always a caveat when it becomes to Eggman."



We were both quiet for a little while.



"Well..." Belle brushed her bangs aside. "Eggman or not... There are a lot of good choices Metal made on his own. I believe in him."



I turned around to watch Nova. I grinned more to myself than anything. "Yeah."



We hung out for a little while longer... Nova was fine, there was nothing creepy in the lab, and... I really needed to wash the day off me and get some sleep. I decided to go back home.



There was a positive spin to every situation, so I thought again of what I would do when meeting with Metal again. The longer he was gone, that just meant the more special our reunion would be. I had time to think of ideas and work on everything I wanted to work on.



I knew exactly what my Ultimate Love Letter would start with. I thought of all the adventures we had already. I hoped, when I fell asleep, I would dream of the adventures to come. Where would our hearts take us next? Maybe my young self was onto something.



I got settled for bed and rested on my side.



... Man...



I turned on my back and stared at the ceiling. I really wanted my own Metal plushie! Nova was lucky... Damn, maybe I was a chao. But Metal still shouldn't have called me one! I wanted to scold him... With a pout, I lay on my side again. I hugged a pillow to myself and pretended...



...



...



...



KRA-KOOM!



I jolted up. I slept through the night, but a distant explosion ripped me from a good wake.



I leapt out of bed and scrambled over to my bedroom window-- There was smoke billowing in the distance, casting the blue sky into shades of gray... Oh no.



I readied myself in a hurry and ran out the door.