Amy Rose was relieved to see me. She implied wanting to speak to me later... What did she want to talk about? Did she want to tell me her thoughts about my letter? I thought I could move forward, but I repeated her words in my head over and over.



I was... anxious. I knew she didn't love me, but I didn't want her to say it. She expressed gratitude towards my flowers, though... And she said her feelings about them didn't change. I did make her feel warm... I felt hopeful despite days of attempting to accept my reality.



My Master quickly gave up on the plan to kidnap her for revenge towards the inferior Hedgehog, so I was no longer under any obligation to breach her request for time to herself. How much time was I supposed to give her? I wanted to see her again. I didn't know what I would do afterwards.



I didn't know what I would do today. My Master and Sage left the base to go test out a new project, so I was left in charge of everything. I would have been eager to accept this duty earlier, but I felt too distracted in the moment.



... And bored. I was bored. The facility functioned as normal. No alerts about any of my Master's adversaries. Irritating.



I left. I kept my connection to the Eggnet on to keep an eye on the base integrity while I was gone, but it had already been broken into recently and by error; I doubted it would have more visitors anytime soon. I hadn't visited my garden in a few days, so I needed to check on the flowers... If nothing else, taking care of them killed some time.



I took a longer route just so I could stretch my legs for a while. Confirming I was alone, I went through the cave entrance that went to the main section of the old base. My Master abandoned it some years after its construction, but I had a connection here beyond my garden: I was created within these walls long ago. My Master had different 'favorite' bases for a while, so we would be stationed all over the world. I would always make a trip here when I was able to. Fortunate that his current favorite base was close by.



I wasn't created specifically to help take over Little Planet, but my Master did a lot of his research about the planet and its unique properties here. I think he, at some point, intended to mass-produce other robots using materials and vegetation from Little Planet, but he simply lost interest after Sonic the Hedgehog defeated him shortly after my own failure. That being said... all the flowers that existed in my garden were my own doing. I took the seeds from Little Planet independent of any of my Master's commands.



Enough reminiscing. I went to my garden and checked through my flowers routinely; they were all in perfect condition as expected--



Foreign object. Something was placed on the dirt in front of one of my flowers. Someone was here? I quickly accessed the local map data for the base. There was no movement other than my own... They were gone already. I would find them.



... I was getting ahead of myself. I picked up the object, only to realize it was a note.



...!

I knew this stationery.





... This letter was different than her other ones, but... it was addressed to me. It was my letter...



...



Wait. Amy Rose knew I visited this base? She's seen my garden? Unacceptable! She would surely pay for trespassing... Agh! I wasn't sure whether to be angry or not, making me even more frustrated!!



I'd give her a piece of my mind once meeting her once again... But I would still hear her out. I re-read the note a few more times...



I unlocked the door to the room by my garden. I put a lot of personal items here that wouldn't be welcome at my Master's active bases, particularly items that would give my Master pause and cause him to question my loyalty. Plus, the only thing Sage loved to do more than dote on her dear Father was to breathe down my neck.



I grabbed a box of the last letters I received and placed my latest letter in its appropriate place. Since I had some time to spend, I decided to re-read some of them. My train of thought drifted back towards what she wanted to talk about and I experienced an emotion I didn't understand or like. I returned the letters to the top of the bookshelf. The toy Belle gave me briefly caught my attention... Hm.



While waiting for the sun to set, I went back to the main base and made sure everything was still in working order. I found myself staring at the clock more than anything else. I got impatient and left early.



I waited in front of the old base door, staring out the mouth of the cave. I had the sudden urge to communicate to pass more time... And maybe answer some questions.



I sent a message to Belle with our secure connection:





She reminded me of that ridiculous ritual. When we met at a different neutral location a little while ago, she delivered the toy that looked like me. She was very happy when I took it, then she talked to me for a while after our exchange was finished. She wanted to build more trust between us, so she wanted to enact a 'pinky promise' as a symbol of her integrity towards our connection.



Belle annoyed me but not in a way that made me hate her. She was similar to Orbot and Cubot; in a strange way, she cared about what I thought. The 'pinky promise' was something they'd do, too... Going along with her ritual was preferable to her disappointment.





I regretted my decision to let Belle know. She kept sending message after message... then she was really like Orbot and Cubot. Buzzing around me like a gnat, asking me all these questions. Saying nice things. Ugh...



Belle was easy to understand. She was 'good', an intelligent and curious creation whose actions stemmed from her simple philosophy. I didn't care about her beliefs, but I respected her commitment. Over time, I felt a kinship. A lot of my Master's creations were inherently peaceful in one way or another. I didn't think her empathetic nature deserved my ire.



I kept a lot of information I didn't want to share in my local files, but the problem was that Belle initially gained access to all of them when she fixed me a long while ago. She couldn't grab anything new, granted, but all she needed was to glance over my local files to see an embarrassing pattern about Amy Rose. To her credit, she never revealed any information to others. Her local files were of no interest to my Master, so I could honor her privacy the same way.



... It certainly didn't help that her leverage towards me was greater.





... I closed our communication. Her excessive lines of messages became a problem for me to deal with later.



At least talking to her killed enough time. I watched shades of green grass turn yellow and then blue as the sky darkened.



...



I heard someone approaching. A familiar silhouette walked into view, barely illuminated by rising moonlight. Amy Rose.



"Ugh, I can't see a thing," she sighed out, carefully navigating into the cave. "Where's that stupid light--"



She bumped into me. Her eyes locked onto mine and she jumped back.



"What-- Y-you!" she gasped. "Sorry...! Your eyes are just about the only thing I can see right now."



I non-forcibly took her arm and guided her to the old base entrance. Lights flickered on as soon as we entered, allowing her to get a better look of her surroundings. I let go of her.



"We're fine for the moment, right? You're no longer trying to capture me or anything?" she quietly asked.



I gave her a single nod.



"Okay... I'll trust you." She crossed her arms and stared at me... I stared back at her. I was pleased to see her. She looked... better. Less sad.



I waited for her to continue. She frowned a little and averted her eyes, rubbing her arms.



"Um... I guess... I just wanted to ask you in person." Amy brought her gaze back to mine. "... Did you mean everything in your letter? It wasn't... a joke? A plan? Nothing like that?"



I was a bit offended she assumed it would be a joke. I nodded at her, hoping she would understand my response well enough.



"You meant it...?" she asked. I nodded again, just in case.



Her face reddened... and then she looked angry. I was suddenly confused. "Love is a serious word!" she shouted, pointing at me. "Do you know what that actually means?"



I squinted at her and pointed back. I spoke with my robotic tones even though she wouldn't understand. Of course I know what it means! It's torture!



"Well, you better be sure! Because you can't play with a girl's heart!" she said, her voice firm.



Wow, she might've understood me there. That being said, I didn't know what she meant by 'playing with a girl's heart'.



"No matter how bad you are, you can't do that. You have to have standards!" she finished.



I crossed my arms and turned my nose up at her. When I looked back at her, the anger was suddenly gone. She was smiling? I was even more confused.



"Just making sure you understand," she said with a little huff. She stared down at her hands and fidgeted, her smile gone. I waited for her to continue.



"... I loved Sonic for so long... And... A part of my feelings came from the thoughtfulness he put into the flowers. Just... the fact that someone would do that for me. I felt special. It was... a grounding part of my life, too," she said, her voice soft. "I thought I knew a side of Sonic he didn't like to talk about. But... instead, it was you."



...



"Sonic is still important to me... But I was seeing things that weren't there. Because of that, I..." She threaded her fingers through her quills, then she took a deep breath. Her gaze met mine. "I was imagining how you must have felt in those letters I addressed Sonic instead of you... I must've broken your heart."



I couldn't keep looking at her.



"Only someone who loves beyond themselves would keep sending flowers after that."



...!



She wrapped her arms around me, her head tucked against mine. I was stunned. I didn't know how to move.



"I did feel warm," she said to me. "I still do."



... I put my arms around her too. I was overheating. I felt like I was about to explode. It was too much, but I didn't want to let go.



She sighed again. "... I want to know more about you." Slowly, she let go of me. Our gazes met. "... Can we make a truce while learning about each other?"



I shook my head.



"Wh--... What do you mean no?!" Her voice was much louder. She planted her hands on her hips and glared at me.



I tilted my head as I tried to think of how to answer her. I pointed at my Master's faded insignia on the nearby wall.



"I know you serve Eggman! How am I supposed to--" I took her hand and she went quiet in an instant. "... H-hey! You think you can get me to not be pissed off anymore?!"



Her questions were too complicated. She knew I couldn't speak! I stared at her, a little frustrated... I did have paper in my room. I held up one of my claws, telling her to wait. She stared, surprised, but stayed there when I walked off.



I came back with a notebook and wrote down my answer. I showed it to her.





Before she could reply, I turned the notebook back towards myself and added an additional line.





"... You kind of have a point," she said, scratching the side of her head. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it... And it'd weird everyone out that you'd fight them, but not me..." She hummed a little in thought. "... Oh! Okay, how about this-- Could we at least have some places where we agree to not fight? And if Eggman wants you to specifically fight there, you make it clear to me like when we faced off before. Deal?"



I thought for a while. Her proposal didn't necessarily go against my loyalty programming. At worst, I delayed fighting her. I nodded at her.



She grinned at me. She never looked at me like that before... "Can this be one of those places?" she asked.



I almost nodded... But then I remembered she broke into this base. I pointed at her and squinted again.



"What?!" she huffed.



I made some annoyed trills of my own as I wrote down my response:





"Aw-- what! Why?!"





"You didn't say anything new! ... Fine. I get it must be a private space for you." Her look softened. "Well... My house can be another neutral place. You go there all the time anyway. Just be careful."



I nodded.



We watched each other in comfortable silence. Amy fidgeted with her hands again. "Good... Um... I guess I just have one other thing to say," she muttered.



I tilted my head to her as I waited for her question. She looked nervous.



"I don't mind if... you keep sending me flowers. Actually, it'd mean a lot to me... But that's your choice."



Amy Rose wanted to continue our tradition...?



"D-don't get me wrong! I'm wary about you," she stammered. "And don't let any of this get to your head! The flowers don't remove all the trouble you... uh..."



Her voice faltered as I embraced her. I hardly realized I did it until it already happened. So much was going on in my head that I couldn't think at all. I had never been warmer.



"Geez... Clingy..." Her voice was very quiet and non-resistant. She leaned into my hold. We had another quiet moment with each other.



I didn't want her to go... But, eventually, she leaned away from me. I respected her request to part. She was smiling.



"I guess you could be worse," she hummed.



I didn't know what she meant. She giggled while I stared at her.



"I think I'm learning more already. I'm gonna go, though... I'm tired. Goodnight, Metal. I'll see you later."



I followed Amy out to the entrance and watched as she left the cave. She navigated her way properly out into the open, then she brought out her hammer and hopped away. I had a lot to sort out in my head... But our exchange reaffirmed my previous feelings.



I loved Amy Rose...