If You Seek Amy

What starts out as a simple mission leads to Sonic's absence…for one whole year. Sonic comes back, bedraggled, weak, and sunburned from being shipwrecked, mission completed. He returns to find his greatest rival in town. But that isn't all.

Shadow the Hedgehog has stolen the heart of Amy Rose. But is this really true?

With Sonic home safe, Amy attempts to rekindle the love between them, while still keeping her relationship with Shadow. How will this play out? You must read the pages ahead to find out!

"Fifteen minutes, Mr. Hedgehog."

Sonic groaned and hauled his heavy body off the soft, comfy seat in the helicopter. He had absolutely no clue where he was lying. He could feel the plush below him, and that his body was sprawled out. He shifted, yelping to himself as he accidentally bumped a jellyfish sting on his right leg. He could feel the cozy warmth of a wool blanket, or at least what used to be cozy warmth. The wool had long grown cold and wet. "Where am I?" He wondered, expecting this all to be a dream. Hadn't he gone into the cave to escape the rain just a few minutes ago? He expected to wake up to the sound of the rainwater dripping cheerfully off the leaves.

"Somewhere over the mainland, I can't tell from this altitude." The pilot replied. "You're on a helicopter, Mr. Hedgehog."

"Sonic, thank you. How long?"

"Fifteen minutes till we land!"

"How long have I been rescued? How'd you find me?"

"Oh! Someone on our radio tower picked up your transistor radio's signal. It took us a while to pinpoint it exactly…that there's a tricky plot of land you were on."

Sonic remembered finding the old radio, and using what little Tails had taught him about mechanics to rewire it and call for help. But he was so weak now that he could see nothing clearly, except that which was already in his head. Dazed, he closed his eyes. "I have to throw up. I'm sorry." He moaned.

"There's a trashcan right near you."

"Sorry?"

"It's white."

Sonic saw the white blob in the corner of his eye. He inched towards it and threw up. Repeatedly.

"You get airsick?"

"Not often," Sonic responded, folding his arms on the sides of the trashcan. "Seasick."

"Ah."

"But, I received several bumps on the head when the ship went down."

"That might explain the need to vomit."

"Yeah," Sonic rubbed his head before throwing up again. "Yuck. I need a toothbrush."

The pilot chuckled warmly. He was young, by the sound of it. Not much older than Sonic himself. "Don't worry. We'll be home soon."

"How long have I been on this helicopter?" Sonic quizzed, resting his head on his folded arms. He felt tremors going through the tendons in his arms and his one working leg. The one stung by a jellyfish seemed dead, not at all a part of his body. He felt a rasping in his chest, and pains in his sides and lower back. His arms throbbed, and his heart thumped uncomfortably. He wished it would settle down. He wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, though by the sun creeping in through the window, it was no later than two in the afternoon.

"Two days," replied the pilot matter-of-factly. "I had the thing on autopilot, nights," he added quickly in case his passenger was alarmed. But Sonic was used to planes, and was very weak anyway, so he made no noise of surprise. It was not like autopilot was new to him. After all, he'd been to space and back only months before.

There was a long silence between passenger and pilot that was only interrupted by the loud insect buzz of the rotating blades on the top of the heli.

"Five minutes till touchdown. Shall I be gentle on your stomach?"

Sonic had been dozing, but he woke with a grunt. "No, no. Don't mind it. There was a lot of fruit on the island, it made me sick, is all."

"All right. I'm guiding her in now."

Sonic didn't care. He didn't care about anything. He just wanted to get back into his own bed and get some sleep. No. First he wanted someone to check his leg over. He felt the pain's dull throb shooting up through his nerves into his spine. It was thumping like his heart. Then, he wanted a hot bath. That would feel nice on his aching muscles. Then he wanted to sleep. Sonic threw up again. Lucky for the pilot, he had not released his grip on the trashcan.

"The bird's down," The pilot announced. Sonic could hear the anxious breathing of many people. Was he really back in Knothole? That made his breathing hitch. With one hand, he fumbled blindly about his neck, freaked out when he couldn't grip what he had searched so long to find…breathed a weary sigh of relief to find it beneath a clump of fur. Thank goodness! His whole adventure was not for naught. He'd been worried that he lost it when the ship went down.

Sonic attempted to stand. Couldn't. He gingerly inched his one leg out from underneath the other one, suffering from the shots of pain that dashed up his legs like a burning fire. The effort winded him. His vision was spiraling, whirling, spinning. He started when he felt a strong arm around his waste. He walked with what he assumed to be the pilot—smelly; he must've been a skunk—limping away from his injured leg. He felt so confused and alarmed. He'd been able to use the leg before…two days of inactivity must've numbed it.

It was hard to hop around on a single leg, so when he was finally on grass again, he almost fainted. His head filled with sudden heat, and he thought that, for a moment, he would surely explode. His heart was dancing in his chest, squeezing his lungs in its haste. He felt new arms take over. He sniffed faintly. Gasoline, oil, and the sky. It was Tails. He saw a blur of yellow and white in his vision, felt the hands embrace and steady him.

"What's wrong with your leg?" Tails questioned, his voice reigned in by tears.

Sonic coughed seawater. "Jellyfish sting," he mumbled nearly incoherently. "Darned thing…could move it fine on the island…"

"Island?" Tails wondered, and Sonic didn't need to see clearly to imagine the quizzical look on his face.

Sonic chuckled. "I'll tell you all about it later. Fly me to my house, and figure out why I can't move my leg, okay?"

Tails nodded obediently. Sonic just noticed now that others around him were cheering. Why? He'd only been gone a month. Sure it had been a long month, for his birthday had come and gone, but surely it had not been so long. Sonic was likely to disappear and reappear at intervals. He never needed any welcoming home. Although, he had to admit the new entrance was nice…if his leg wasn't hurting so bad, he would've made a joke about being welcomed by a red carpet!

He was conscious of Tails setting him down somewhere soft that smelled of milkshake and chili, which caused a spike of hunger to rise, and fall with the memory of barfing. He was conscious as Tails looked him over. He was conscious as Tails mumbled at him, gave him a glass of water and a small tablet, told him to swallow the tablet. He was conscious as his vision went from a blurred guessing game to clarity. He saw the worry in Tails' face as he worked hurriedly by the soft white lamplight, moving his fingers at the leg, mumbling about nerve damage. Sonic cried out once when Tails found the heart of the wound, from which all the pain stemmed, shooting away from the back of the couch as if he'd sat upon a bed of spikes. He relaxed warily when Tails soothed him, and moved little afterwards. His chest rose and fell every second, as if his heart was about to burst, and this was about all he moved, save his eyes, which, when open, wandered, taking in the scene. His nose, too, would sniff the familiar scent of his surroundings, take in the ambiance created by smells he knew well. He noticed he was on the couch, and relaxed his spine further into it as Tails poured something that stung on the extensive cuts and burns that resulted from the sting. Then, Tails bandaged him up.

"There!" Tails was satisfied, and with one final knot, had finished bandaging the leg. "Take those off in the morning, and you should be able to walk. You'll be a bit stiff, mind you, but I'm certain you'll be remedied quite quickly, knowing your recovery rate. Did you find the Crypt of the Ancients?"

Sonic nodded, felt around his neck. He took the thick braided rope pendant with the dark green glittering gem from around his neck, handed it to Tails. "Can I get some water?" He croaked, remembering he'd not drank in quite a long time.

"Sure." Tails handed him another glass of water.

Sonic downed it, feeling the ice cold freshness of it as it burned his teeth and soothed his throat.

"Anything else I can do for you?" Tails inquired, obviously eager to help but tired.

"I'm exhausted…" Sonic responded. "Can you help me to the guest bedroom? I can't climb the stairs with my leg." He felt so weak asking for help because he was unable to do anything on his own, but at the same time, he was too exhausted to care. His back hurt, and his eyes burned. All he wanted to do was sleep a little.

"Sure." And Tails faithfully hoisted him up once again, and floated him into the guest bedroom, setting Sonic on the top comforter.

Sonic wriggled to get beneath the covers. "Oh." He realized he still had his sneakers on. "Can you run a bath for me? I need it."

Tails smiled. "Already done. Want help?"

"Yes, please."

Tails helped Sonic to the bath, purposely leaving the bandaged leg outside the tub. "I have to go now," he said. "Will you be okay?"

Sonic sighed. He was enjoying the bliss of the hot water around his aching muscles, the steam fogging his vision and softening the world, the pain… "Yeah, I'll be fine," he moaned in total ecstasy. "This is perfect. Thank you, Tails. For everything."

"Sure. I'll see you tomorrow." Tails left, and Sonic was alone in the bath.