::Beginning::

He blinked rapidly and stared at her for a long moment. Sonic wasn't exactly sure how, but somewhere along the lines of trying to save Little Planet and defeat Eggman he had stumbled upon a distraction. A small, pink, cute distraction, of the female hedgehog persuasion. He had found her sitting by an old oak tree, staring up at the sky in awe. At first sight, she didn't look any different then any of the girls that he had met. When she had met eyes with him her's sparkled dangerously with admiration. Aside from holding a little more enthusiasm then the other girls, she didn't seam too strange.

She smiled at him fully, her perky pink lips pulling apart to reveal cute little teeth. How was it possible to be this cute? And how old was this girl?! Her attire was strange; a green shirt with a orange tutu and blue hightops. Her quills were held in place with a ruby red headband. Her quills resembled those of a male hedgehog, like himself... and though it usually looked strange on girls it seamed to do her justice. She was able to pull off this interesting look.

She brought herself to her feet and laced her fingers together delicately as she dashed over to him, stumbling over her feet a few times. She looked so clumsy. She ran with her feet pointed in, and though she was just asking to be knocked down he had to admit that this strange little girl was oddly adorable. Her eyes, very much alike his own, if not a few shades lighter, beamed with energy. This was an energetic little girl, for sure.

"Wow, you came! You really came! I mean, my cards said you would come, but I've been waiting for so long..." She trailed off. He looked at her oddly. Just who was the peculiar girl? "It's so awesome to finally meet you. Your just as amazing as I imagined..." She said softly, her eyelashes batting gently. They were insanely long. In a few years, Sonic was sure that this little girl would be beautiful. Even now, she was lovely, despite her strange choice in clothing and hairstyle. She wasn't like other girls. Sure, other girls loved him- much to his 11 year old self's distaste- but there was something different about this girl... something real.

She gave him a dreamy smile and grabbed his hand, locking her fingers around his tightly. For such a small person, she had a killer grip. It would be a project to escape her grasp. "My name is Amy Rose." She said with a giggle. "What's yours?"

"S-Sonic." He stuttered. He stopped, surprised at himself. Sure, girls scared him, but he had never been unable to speak to them before. Amy seamed to be an exception to this rule. "Sonic the Hedgehog." He finished, pulling the confidence back into his voice.

She let out another giggle and let go of his gloved hand as she twirled around him childishly. "That's a nice name," she started off in a sweet voice. Her voice was sort-of high pitched, and he assumed that if she got too excited she might emit a squeal. It suited her character. "it's cool... like you. I bet you have a girlfriend, right?" She asked, her big jade eyes looking up at him expectantly.

He looked at her shyly. She was on the tips of her toes, pushing herself up so that she was nearly level with his face. She was a petite girl, he realized. Or maybe that was because she was younger then him. She blinked a few times and he soon found himself looking into her eyes. Oh, god, her eyes were beautiful. They radiated youth and freedom and reminded him so much of himself in so many ways, but at the same time they were different. They were female. They belonged to a girl, and as much as he tried to stray away from the female gender he found himself lost in them.

She smiled bashfully and plopped herself back down to her height and looked at the ground, a little embarrassed. "But... I bet she's not as cute as me, huh?" She asked, shockingly bold, as she twirled her foot around in the lush green grass for a few moments. She looked back up at him with a brave smile and giggled.

Sonic found himself mesmerized by this girl. He had met girls before. He had saved towns and little girls would flock to him, shyly looking into his eyes and giggling when he looked in their direction. Something about this girl- Amy, right. Her name was Amy. Didn't that mean 'beloved'?- was different. She was bold. She was upright. She knew what she wanted and was clearly ready to pursue it. He just wished that she wasn't so pretty. She was too pretty to turn down... he'd have to learn how. He'd turn other girls down before. She'd have to learn that no meant no and he had reasons why he did the things he did. He didn't turn them down to be cruel... he just didn't have the time for girls. Plus, there was always the Eggman factor...

"You're here to save us, right?" She asked sweetly, She looked at him hopefully and he thanked god that the answer wasn't no. He didn't know how he was supposed to say no to that face... to this girl.

"Right." He grinned, his familiar cocky attitude flowing back into him. He tried not to let the strange warmth bubbling into his stomach get the better of him. "I'd stand back if I were you. Things seam to fly everywhere when I first take off..."

"I'm coming with you!" She said as he looked at her oddly. Oh, no. This little girl is not tagging along, he told himself. She'll get hurt.

"No. You're barely... er... how old are you?" He faltered.

She giggled and grinned widely. He noted that she was missing a tooth; she must have just lost it. "I'm eight years old!" She said proudly as she latched herself onto his right arm. He felt constricted. He hated feeling trapped. Hated hated hated it.

"Leggo!" He shook his arm. She held on desperately. When she finally loosened his grip he took off running. She lagged behind, calling his name. He knew that he'd shake her within a few moments.

However, he didn't expect for a metallic version of himself to swoop down and grab Amy roughly. She screamed and he instantly turned on the tips of his toes. The robot had red eyes. Sick, sick red eyes. He let out a hollow buzzing sound and ignited it's rockets. It shot up towards the sky with little Amy in it's arms, screaming like a maniac.

Sonic felt something inside of him snap. Suddenly, he felt insanely protective of the little girl that he was just trying to loose. He ran a good ten yards back and then ran, full speed, towards a spring and bounced off of it. Amy screamed his name desperately, and just as he was about to reach her small foot the robot took a sharp left and dodged his grasp. Sonic began to plummet towards the ground as the robot took off with her.

He impacted with the ground roughly and let out a grunt, slamming his small fist into the ground. He was so close. He forced himself onto his feel even though there was a surging pain pulsating through out of his body and began sprinting off in the direction the robot had taken Amy.

She had been crying. That cheerful girl that he was sharing a completely innocent conversation with was crying. He could still here her desperate screams, calling for him. She shouted his name. And he knew that she was crying. Big, pulp tears had been pouring out of the very eyes he had been admiring a few moments ago. He suddenly had an even stronger desire to save the Little Planet. For her sake.