"I'm sorry."

Words couldn't coax her.

"I didn't mean it..."

Especially not his.

A grim silence ensued from his apologies, with the squish squish of their feet on the murky ground being the only reminder that the air molecules could still vibrate. The darkness surrounding the duo only contributed to making the lack of sound even more eerie.

"You did mean it," Amy choked out, finally filling the vile tunnel with noise. Her broken voice reverberated endlessly, like her love; an echo that couldn't be stopped, no voice even bothering to answer back. Tears threatened to fall as Amy thought of the blue hero.

"I just...get frustrated is all." The red teenager ceased his movement, which in turn led the pink girl trailing behind him to bump into his back. While he hadn't been able to take a look at her through the darkness, the tears streaming down her face hit Knuckles along with Amy, informing him of their presence.

"You're just saying that to make me...feel better."

Knuckles shifted uncomfortably, listening to Amy's soft whimpers that she tried so desperately to conceal. Her care for Sonic exceeded anything that Knuckles had previously thought, and suddenly his words of criticism from before seemed incredibly harsh and unfounded.

"Just cut it out already! For crying out loud, Sonic doesn't even like you!"

Ever since they had appeared in this strange world, all Amy had talked about was finding Sonic, and immediately seemed to express disdain that the only person she had come across was Knuckles. It brought a strange fire to the echidna that had burned many times; this time, though, it was as if Knuckles' patience, like a candle, had burned down to the holder.

"I really...didn't mean it as being angry at you."

Amy's cried suddenly ceased as her and Knuckles shared a gaze in the dark: while neither could see their partner's eyes locked on their own, it was such an intense stare that they could feel it.

"I don't like when he treats you like that," Knuckles explained, unclear as ever, but his voice had found a new tenderness. "You know, I see you give so much to Sonic, then he just..." The red echidna was now shaking his head sadly, turning to break the gaze. "I didn't know you liked him that much."

"I do," Amy whispered.

"I know."

"Thanks, Knuckles."

"For what?" His muzzle matched his fur in color.

"For looking out for me of course!"

And in sheer happiness, pink jumped on red, colors mixing for the first time as the two were able to realize just how similar they were to each other.

After all, pink is just a lighter shade of red.

Basically, I have writer's block.

And I plan to use this story to vent all of my little drabbles and ideas: this one is supposed to be a little conversation between Knuckles and Amy as they walk through the sewer under the city at the beginning of Sonic X. I hope you like it, there will be many more to come!

PS: Like that pun on my username? ;)