The door swung open, and Tails the young fox, who had been tweaking with his favorite airplane, the Tornado, was startled by the sudden bursting in of Amy Rose into his small workshop.

"Amy?" Tails said in a flustered manner, dropping his trusty wrench to the floor. Amy fell to her knees, and looked up at him, tears and mascara streaming down her cheeks.

"Oh Tails, Sonic stood me up! I waited and waited at Twinkle Park's entrance for nearly an hour!" She sobbed.

Tails' eyebrows furrowed in concern and worry both from Amy's sobbing figure and her words. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her frame. She cried into his furry chest and he held her nuzzling his head gently atop hers as he whispered every now and then,

"It's gonna be okay, Amy. It's gonna be alright…"

When her breathing slowed down, and tears stopped their constant fall from her emerald orbs, Tails let go of her, and said, "Come on Amy, let's go splashsome cold water on your face." Amy stood up from the floor, but said nothing, just followed behind her two-tailed friend and sniffled all the while. At the back of his workshop there were two rooms, one his bedroom, and the other a bathroom. He led her into the bathroom, small but clean and polished nicely, and turned on the faucet of the sink. He grabbed a clean face towel from the cabinet and soaked it underneath the running water. He brought the wet towel to her tear

stained face and wiped away with it the dried tears and the black smudges of mascara.

"That's much better. Without all the tears and smeared makeup, you look like Amy again." Tails complimented, taking the towel away once he was done cleaning her face. Amy gave a small, brief smile in response. Tails left the bathroom, grabbing Amy's hand to lead her again, and this time took her to his bedroom. He sat down on his bed, she sat beside him, and he stayed quiet. He wanted to give her time to calm herself, and if she had anything else she needed to say, he would be there to listen. Soon the silence in the room was broken by her hushed voice still carrying her pain as it passed through her trembling lips and sniffles.

"I really care about Sonic. He doesn't know what it meant to me when he said yes to going to Twinkle Park with me. I've been dying to go since it opened a few weeks ago. Not just because I've been dying to check out the theme park either. But because I've been wanting to spend alone time with him for so long. But he's usually too busy to do so. And I thought this time would be different. I really thought that… tonight I would be able to show him how I feel about him. And I thought tonight he could figure out how he feels toward me too…"

Tails stayed silent, but his eyebrows furrowed as he felt his heart drop in his chest. Poor Amy. He and Cream and Knuckles and all of their friends could see how deeply in love Amy was with Sonic. The only person who didn't seem to see it was… well, ironically, Sonic. And it hurt him immensely to see a close friend of his so heartbroken over this. He felt like he could do nothing to help her. Sure, he could scold Sonic when he saw him. But what good would it do? He had tried talking some sense into the speedy hedgehog before. And it was pretty much useless. Sonic had his head up in the clouds and was far too distracted or maybe just flat out oblivious to see what was going on right in front of him. Tails felt a soft sigh pass through his lips. He wished things were simpler.

"And to think I wasted so much time earlier today trying to make myself look pretty enough for Sonic! I went to the hairdresser to get my hair done, I went to the mall and looked around for hours to find the perfect outfit and shoes, and I even went to this little shop nearby to pick out a special perfume to wear for the night. I wanted to impress him. I wanted to be pretty enough to stand next to Station Square's greatest hero…"

Tails shifted his gaze from his shoes hanging over the edge of the bed to Amy. She did look beautiful. On her body was a basic light purple long sleeve shirt, a light blue jean mini skirt with a white belt, and white knee high boots. Her hair was shiny and soft and was topped with a light purple headband. A gentle smell of jasmine resonated from her body. She really did doll herself up for Sonic. This only made Tails feel more sympathetic towards her. Tails reached over, and placed his gloved hand on top of hers, their eyes meeting and locking as he did so.

"You look beautiful, Amy. And I'm sure Sonic would have thought so too."

The gaze was broken shortly after, and Amy wrapped her arms around herself, blinking back fresh tears that were budding in her green eyes. Tails nodded, and bit his lip in slight frustration. He wished he could do more. He wished he knew just what to say. Just what to do. To make her smile again and be the sassy, fun loving Amy he knew and was proud to call a friend. But alas, he was left without so much as a clue of what to do next in his attempts to cheer her up. In the midst of his thoughts, Amy stood up from his bed, causing him to stir and come back to reality.

"Thank you Tails for everything. Listening to me, letting me cry on your shoulder, cleaning my face after it got stained with makeup from crying… you're a good friend."

Tails froze for a moment, unsure of what to say. But after a moment, he smiled, and said, "Anytime Amy. You know I'm here for you whenever you need it."

Amy nodded. "I know, Tails."

Amy turned her back and began to walk out of the bedroom, and headed for the front door. As much as Tails wanted to stop her due to his still present worry and concern, he figured some time alone would do her some good as well. Tails heard her footsteps as he sat there, and then the door. But that wasn't all he heard.

"Sonic!?" Amy nearly yelled. Sonic closed the door behind him. "Ames, I know I messed up, but there's a reason for it, and I'm going to make it up to y—"

"Save it, Sonic! I've heard this all before, and I was a fool to think you'd actually show up for the date in the first place. Sonic the Hedgehog is just too cool and too busy to spend an entire night with little ole' clumsy and free time having Amy Rose."

Sonic stood still, feeling his eyes lower in guilt and regret, the bright green in his orbs dimming with it. "I… I don't know what to say Amy… Eggman decided to wreak havoc with a few of his robots and I had to go take care of it… it's not like I wanted to not come to meet you, otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to the plans… but I just… what was I supposed to do, Ames? Ignore Eggman's evil plots? Let Station Square be burned down and its citizens in harm's way?" Amy began to sob again. A few rolled down her cheeks as she stood her hands at her sides balling up into fists as she tried to fight back the tears. But it was to no avail. Sonic noticed this, and took a few steps toward her, his gloved hand reaching out for her.

"Amy… I'm so, so sorry… please don't cry… I promise I'll fix this… I'll make it up to you, I swear I…" He trailed off.

Sonic's eyes stared straight into her own, and she saw his hand reaching for her. Amy couldn't take it. She felt her heart shattering in her chest all over again as he got closer. In desperation, Amy ran past Sonic, and for the door, and out the door she went.

"Amy!" Sonic yelled, and he ran after her. Tails had been listening in his room the whole time, and hearing the two sets of footsteps fade into complete quiet, he peeked out his door. They were both gone. Tails ran out the door and headed for the forested area of the Mystic Ruins figuring that's where they headed. He was sure he could see them if they had headed for the nearby train station to Station Square. And they were nowhere to be found in the large pond nearby either. Only place left to look was the forest.

Amy ran and ran and ran. It was no easy feat to outrun Sonic the Hedgehog, who was known for his incomparable speed and agility. But the tall trees with green leaves on their every branch aided her in staying hidden from him despite his advantage over her speed wise. All the while, in between the rustling of plants and other greenery lower than the trees which they ran past and through, Amy heard Sonic calling out her name. And a few times he even said "Please don't go!" or "I just wanna talk to you!" Amy felt her tears start up every once in a while when his voice sounded. But she blinked them back so that she could see where she was going in this vast forest. Amy lost her footing out of nowhere, and tumbled through some bushes as they neared the far left edge of the forest. Sonic heard her brief gasp but could not pinpoint where it had come from due to all of the greenery blocking his view. He called her name out, but she did not answer, nor did she make any movements visible to his eye. He ran off in a left direction guessing she might have fallen somewhere in that area. Amy took a breath to recover from her fall, then stood up, brushed herself off, and looked around.

There were less tall trees here, and less of the other greenery too. There was also a cliff quite some feet away from where Amy stood. But what she took notice of the most was a long tube with a metal door at the front of it. She raised a curious eyebrow, but when she heard Sonic's voice call out her name again, she quickly ran toward the metal door in a panic. When she reached the front of it, it opened from the sides, and she ran inside without an ounce of hesitation. The door closed behind her, and she wrapped her arms around herself as her boots clicked against the hard floor beneath her.

What is this place…? She wondered.

Amy walked down the long tube until she reached a rather large room filled with mechanical weapons such as ray guns and other weaponry. She felt uneasy, and her footsteps slowed down a bit for safety's sake as she explored the unknown room. She stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed a set of yellow, stasis tubes, one of them empty, but the other one contained someone very familiar to her. She touched the glass of the tube with her gloved hand, and gazed intently through the barricade between her and the familiar foe.

"Metal Sonic…" Amy closed her eyes, and remembered getting kidnapped by Metal Sonic at the very young age of six. She was held captive in Eggman's quarters for a while, she didn't really know how long. But in the end… a blue hedgehog came to her rescue. And that hedgehog was…

"Sonic…" She mumbled, opening her eyes as tears formed in them. "All those times you ran away from me… all those times you said you were busy saving the world… I should have seen the signs. I should have known better. There was never any chance of you feeling for me the way I always have for you… I was a fool to think any different. She leaned against the glass of the tube, and began to sob against it, her tears rolling down the glass. The stasis tube began to slide down, and Amy backed up from the sudden movement, a brief gasp of air escaping her lips. Metal Sonic's glowing red eyes were revealed by the shield previously present sliding upward, and he moved his limbs a bit as he awoke. Amy slowly backed away trying to make her way for the door. But Metal Sonic already saw her, and knew she was there. Right in the middle of her attempting to sneak away, his robotic voice said,

"State name."

Amy blinked. "You mean you don't remember me?"

Metal Sonic inched closer to her, his metal feet clinking against the hard floor. Amy tensed up, and even took a few steps back. But soon, he stood right in front of her.

"Amy. Amy Rose. CORRECT?" His robotic voice chimed again. Amy timidly nodded. She wasn't sure she wanted to answer that.

"And you're… Metal Sonic." She mumbled. It was weird to see him again after all these years. And on top of that, he wasn't tying her up or flying her back to Eggman's base. Well, he wasn't doing any of that yet, anyway.

"AFFIRMATIVE."

Amy stood in silence quite uncomfortably as she did not know where this conversation would go next. Or rather, what would happen next. But Metal Sonic broke the silence.

"You should get out of here. Eggman will probably be contacting me soon once he realizes the stasis tube he put me in is no longer active." Amy blinked. He was giving her advice so she would be safe? He was letting her go? Despite his leader being the evil doctor himself?

"You mean it? I don't mean to be off putting or harsh, but I mean, this isn't like you." Amy explained, holding her arm as she titled her head a bit. Metal's glowing red eyes narrowed. "I know. But in all that time I spent in the stasis tube, I had time to think. I thought about all the times I went up against Station Square's hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, and failed. Failed miserably. And for what? For an evil doctor who doesn't know when to quit and find some real, honest purpose in life? Well I'm done following in his footsteps. I used to think that since he was my creator, that he knew best, that I owed it to him to do as he pleased, but no longer will I be naïve. We only get one chance at life, and only we can decide who we want to be. And we can decide whether we will be that person or not. And I'm choosing to be good… to find a purpose outside of wreaking havoc and evil on this world that I've come to know."

Amy stared at him intently. She hadn't been expecting that. And she knew that not everyone would believe Metal having known what he had done in the past. But there was certain robot who had the same change of heart who Amy had been acquainted with just a few years ago. Two years in fact. And so, she decided that she would give Metal a chance to change himself until otherwise given a reason not to.

"Metal… I…"

Metal cut her off. "You should get going. The doctor could realize I'm out of my tube any minute. And he's one persistent man"

"Come with me." Amy said. Metal shifted his body.

"What do you mean?"

"Come with me. At least get out of Eggman's grasp. You can't change if you're still under his radar. He could try to talk you into acting out his evil plots. Or worse…" Amy trailed off. She didn't want to get into what happened to her other robot companion who had decided to be good despite being created by the hands of a very determined and very evil doctor.

Metal stood there, his eyes narrowing again. He wondered what to do. But after a moment of silence, he nodded, and walked toward the door, leaving Amy's eyes lingering after him.

"Let's go." He said next to the doorway after its steel doors opened from the sides.

Please R&R. Thanks.