Chapter 20: And You Shall Know the Truth...

*This part of the story takes place after Rouge's wedding*
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On her way home, Amy began to wonder Sonic had shown a sudden interest in her.

"Why is he asking me out on a date? Why now? Out of the million times I've asked him, he asks me? Oh well, maybe I shouldn't put too much thought into this. Just be glad that I'm finally going on a date with him again." Amy thought to herself.

Amy continued walking and reached Shadow's home. She opened the door and saw Shadow on his couch, fallen asleep. She slowly closed the door and walked into her room. She took off her dress she had worn to Rouge's wedding, and slipped on her night-clothes. She laid down on her bed, and drifted into a deep sleep.

=======The Next Morning...==================================================

Amy was already up by 10:00 and was making herself breakfast. She knew she had a date with Sonic tonight, but she was still wondering why Sonic was acting differently. Again, she tried the shake the feeling off and continued on with her day.

============Tails' Workshop...===============================================

Tails had been working on rebuilding the chamber that Shadow had destroyed about 2 weeks earlier. Just as he was re-wiring the electric wires, Sonic came bursting in.

"Hey Tails! You here, buddy?" yelled Sonic.

Tails nearly jumped out of his fur.

"Sonic! You can't just come bursting in here when I'm working on something! You could have caused me to shock myself to death!" Tails hissed at Sonic.

"Listen! I just asked Amy out on another date. But I didn't mean to. What should I do?"

"And... What makes you think I would know what to do?"

"Well, you know. You're my friend. So, you could give me some advice on what to do."

"Weren't you supposed to get married to Sally?"

"Oh man, I keep forgeting about that!"

"So, tell Amy you're getting married to Sally."

"I can't just tell her, 'Hey Amy! I'm getting married to Sally and sorry for asking you out on a date, that was a mistake so sorry! Bye!'"

"I don't understand you, Sonic."

"What do you mean, Tails?"

"First, you gloat that you're getting married to Sally. Then, you asked out Amy even though she has asked you before countless times. Now, you're not sure who to go to. What even made you ask out Amy in the first place?"

Sonic sat down by a near-by chair. He rubbed his temple and said...

"I'm not sure. I just saw her, and she looked different. She was with Shadow... In fact, they've been spending a lot of time together."

"Isn't she staying with Shadow while her apartment is being cleared out of that infestation?" questioned Tails.

"Yeah, I guess so. But even then, I just have this feeling when I'm around her. A feeling of..."

"Jealousy?" Tails questioned bitterly.

"Me!? Jealous of who!?"

"Not jealous of who, but jealous of what?"

"What are you talking about, Tails?"

"I think you're jealous of Shadow and Amy spending time together."

"Tails. That's ridiculous. Why would I be jealous of Shadow and Amy?"

"Well, you asked me for advice, Sonic. I gave you some. So, do what you think is right. I won't give you my opinion, because it's your deciscion." Tails explained.

Tails walked back to the gaping hole in the chamber, and began working on the electric re-wiring again. Sonic stood up from his chair, walked over to Tails and said, non-sarcastically, "Thanks for the advice, buddy." Sonic sped off before Tails even had the chance to say you're welcome.

========With Amy...===============================================

Although Amy was excited for her date with Sonic tonight, she was also uneasy about it. She could hardly wait any longer, so to pass the time, she sat down and decided to watch some T.V. She flipped through the channels, attempting to find something of interest.

""And now back to Station Square's funniest home *static* Still no sign of Dr. Robotnik, many of us assume that he has finally decided to *static* Large unidentified object seen near Angel Island *static* Good news, boys. I didn't spill my beer."

"Hmm, not much to watch today. How much longer until my date?" Amy asked herself.

She glanced at the clock on the wall, which read 6:28.

"About thirty minutes. I wonder where Shadow is. I don't think he had to work today."

Amy turned off the T.V. and started to let her mind wander. She began wondering about her future with Sonic. And the more she thought, the less glamarous she began to see it as. Before, she saw her life with Sonic perfectly, but now, she was having doubts.

"What am I thinking about? Everything's going to turn out all right." Amy assured herself.

Just then, she heard someone knocking on the door. Amy went and opened the door. Behind the door was Sonic.

"Oh, hi Sonic. Would you like to come in?"

"Shadow's not in here, right?"

"No. Um, let me just go put on some different clothes."

Amy left to go change her clothes. Sonic came into the living room and turned on the T.V.

"Hey, you haven't played in years, why can't I be quarterback?"

"You're right, let's see what you got. Hit me, I'm open."

"Hike hike!"

"That's why. Now sit down and shut."

"It slipped, I just ate popcorn."

Sonic chuckled as Amy came into the living room.

"Are you ready to go, Sonic?"

"Oh, sure. Let's go."

Amy and Sonic left the apartment and started walking towards the resturaunt that Sonic had planned to take them to. It was fairly close, so they didn't have to rush. But Amy still felt like something was wrong. They both stayed quiet for the short walk. When they arrived at the resturaunt, Sonic had reservations, so they didn't have to wait.

"Wow. This resturaunt is pretty fancy. How come I've never seen this place before?" asked Amy.

"They opened not too long ago. So, here are our seats. I'm sure the waitress will be here soon."

"Well, while we wait, how about we talk?" asked Amy.

"Oh, sure. What do you want to talk about?" nervously asked Sonic.

"Us." Amy said bluntly.

Amy and Sonic both stayed quiet for about a second.

"Well, Sonic. I've been wondering. Why have you been so interested in me so lately? Before, you wouldn't even have noticed me." explained Amy. In her mind, Amy was thinking, "What are you doing?! You're finally on a date with him! Don't question it! Just enjoy it!" But she had to find out.

"Oh, that's because... -Uhhmm. Well..." Sonic began stuttering.

"Are you sure you want to be on a date with me?" Amy began questioning more angrily.

"Well, do you want me to be competely honest?"

"Yes."

"Well, where do I start?"

Amy crossed her arms, and waited for Sonic's answer.

"Well, to tell you truth, I don't really want to be on a date with you."

Amy's fist started to tighten, and the expression on her face grew from serious, to frustrated.

"So, why am I even here then?" Amy scoffed.

"Wait, I don't want to on a date here with you. But I do want to spend time with you. You see, Amy. I don't like in you that way, but, you are one of my closest friends."

"Yeah, that means a lot. If that's true, then why did you ask me out? Twice?!"

"I don't know. I guess... I was just jealous..." Sonic admitted.

"Jealous of what? Oh my God, were you jealous of Shadow?" Amy mocked.

"*Sigh* Yes. But only because he was with you all the time."

"So? Why didn't you just ask to hang out?"

"Because I didn't know how to ask you. I don't know. I just didn't want you to see end up with Shadow."

"So, who do you want me to end up with?" Amy asked.

"Well, I'm not sure. But not with me, or Shadow at least."

"What's wrong with you? Why can't it be you?" Amy pleaded.

"Because I'm engaged with Sally!" Sonic snapped.

They both stayed quiet, while the rest of the resturaunt flowed with ambient noise.

"You're supposed to get married to... Sally?" Amy quietly asked.

Sonic could see tears forming in Amy's eyes.

"Amy, it's not your fault. I should have told you sooner. But, Amy, you want to have a family. A large one. You want to have someone who will stay home and raise a family with you. I don't. I'm not the one for you." Sonic explained.

And Amy then realized the truth. What Sonic had said was true. She wanted someone who would stay home and raise a family with her. Obviously, Sonic wasn't the love of her life.

"Amy. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I was a fool. Could you please forgive me?" Sonic pleaded.

Amy sat there silent. So many things were going through her head.

"Well. I guess you're right Sonic. You're not the one for me. But, can we stay friends?"

"Of course, Amy. You'll always be one of my greatest friends."

"Well, I guess it's time for me to go."

"Wait, don't you wanna get something to eat? You could stay a little longer." Sonic asked.

"No, I don't think so. Right now, I just want to go home." Amy replied.

"Ok. Well, goodbye Amy."

Amy got up from her chair, and slowly walked out of the resturaunt. She didn't even look back. Sonic was a bit sad, but was also glad that he finally told Amy the truth.

"Oh man. What did I do? I hope she forgives me. But, if I didn't tell her now, it would have hurt her more when she found out anyway. *sigh* Well, I guess I could stay here for a little longer." Sonic thought to himself.

Just then, a waitress walked by, and placed a salad bowl right in front of Sonic.

"Check please."

====Outside of the restaurant =======================================

Amy was walking back to Shadow's apartment. She wasn't sad, she wasn't mad, she was enlightened.

"How could I have been so stupid? To think that I would have a future with Sonic? Who am I kidding?"

She walked towards the apartment, and noticed that the door was kicked in. She walked in to see that the room was trashed.

"Shadow?" Amy called out.

She kept looking around, keeping her gaurd up. She saw a lot of broken glass and furniture.

"Shadow? Are you here?" Amy called out once more.

She started walking towards the bedroom when she noticed a small puddle of blood. And, again, there was glass everywhere.

"Oh God, that's disgusting. What happened here?"

There was even blood on the glass that wasn't even broken from the window.

"I wasn't even gone that long! I was gone for about 10 or 20 minutes."

Amy went back outside, and saw a large object in the distance. She gasped and pressed her hands against her mouth. Only a few miles away, was the Egg Carrier hovering right over Angel Island.