After an evening of fending off some random invaders trying to attack Angel Island, both Amy and Knuckles are exhausted. They stand near the Master Emerald shrine, the mystical light from the giant gem illuminating the area.
"Thank you for your help, Amy." Knuckles says.
"No problem!" Amy smiles, resting a hand on her hip and the other arm on the handle of her hammer.
"Are you... Going to be able to get back home safely?"
Both Knuckles and Amy squint into the distance, trying to spot Tails' plane in the sky. There's nothing, though; no sound but the rustling of the island's vegetation in the breeze.
Amy laughs nervously, "I'm, uh, I'm not sure! I didn't bring my communicator or anything."
"You didn't tell anyone that you were coming out here?"
"Usually I'm way more cautious than this..." Amy says, anxiously playing with a strand of her hair, "Tails brought me here on his plane, and told me to contact him when I need a ride home..."
Knuckles puts a hand on Amy's shoulder.
"We will figure things out in the morning." He says.
Amy blinks.
"What do you mean?"
"I trust you. You can stay here overnight." Knuckles explains, "Then we will find a way to transport you back to the restoration base in the morning."
"Huh."
Amy gives Knuckles a cocky grin.
"So where am I sleeping, knucklehead?"
Completely ignoring the insult, Knuckles says, "Wherever you wish, as long as it's FAR away from the Master Emerald."
"And you're... Fine with this?"
"Yes." Then Knuckles ominously adds, "And even if you WERE to try anything, I have eyes everywhere."
"Sure. Oh, and thank you so much!"
Amy grins, and Knuckles smiles, too.


It turns out that trying to get to sleep on the cold, hard surfaces of a ruined and overgrown temple is rather difficult when you don't have appropriate camping gear.
While it IS a relatively warm summer's night (and if it were any other time of year, Amy would have reinvented the telephone from scratch just to call for help), the pink hedgehog lies awake, staring at the stars as she uses a large leaf as a blanket, wondering how anyone would be able to live like this. She had considered putting on a cardigan before she left. Now she desperately regrets her decision not to; anything seems better than using a rock as a pillow right about now.
"No, no, it's only one night, Amy." She whispers to herself, "Remember last New Year's. The gang got together after hearing you had never stayed up for the countdown, and you all drank soda and did karaoke and played NiGHTS. And you were FINE. And you'll be fine tomorrow, even if you don't get enough sleep tonight."
She suddenly sits up.
"Yeah. I'll be okay tomorrow if I don't get enough sleep." She whispers, glancing at her surroundings before standing up, "Why not do a bit of wandering in the meantime?"
Amy chuckles quietly to herself. She smoothes out her dress and combs through her quills with her fingers, before setting off in a random direction. Her footsteps are particularly loud compared to the tranquil silence of Angel Island, so much so that the hedgehog is sure she will disrupt some sort of ancient spirit laying dormant within the soil.
"Though I'm sure the wrath of a sleep-deprived Knuckles is far scarier." Amy whispers.
She walks past cracked archways and tall stone spires, all wrapped in flowering vines. She's heard Tails talking about how there are plants on Angel Island that don't grow anywhere else on the planet - something to do with how unique the climate there is - and seeing all of the strange leaves and branches of the flora that line every walkway confirms that for Amy.

After a while of admiring the pretty plants and peculiar structures on the island, Amy is still drawn to the Master Emerald. It's a mesmerising thing, slowly spinning in place in the temple, bathing everything around it in green light. It emits a low hum, a calm but constant energy that Amy can feel from multiple metres away. She's felt it all evening, but only now has she consciously noticed it, and it's mysterious and lovely.
Without a second thought, the hedgehog heads towards the shrine, having completely forgotten Knuckles' warnings. Amy stares at the emerald, circling the base of the temple before hopping up the steps to admire the thing up close. She's never really been one for gems - that's Rouge's thing, after all - but nobody can deny how pretty the Master Emerald can be.
She sits down next to it, though moments later she gets to her feet again after hearing a loud noise.
Then seeing a familiar sight.
"Oh, yep. She's familiar alright."
It's Tikal. She stands in front of the emerald, surrounded by strange sparkles and lights, her peach-coloured spines floating in a mystical wind. She's just as she was all those years back, when everyone was joining forces to take down Chaos. Completely identical.
The echidna rocks a Chao gently in her arms, smiling calmly as it eagerly looks around. There's another one on the ground, clinging to her leg.
Amy stares at Tikal for a second, before grabbing her attention with an "Oh hey, Tikal!"
The echidna looks over at Amy, giving her a graceful wave.
"Good evening, Amy Rose." Tikal whispers.
"It's, uh... Good to see you?"
Tikal nods. Amy goes to stand next to her.
"Wait, why are you here? Is there something wrong?" Amy asks, suddenly a little concerned.
"No. I am just here to see the state of the shrine." Tikal explains.
"And?"
"It seems to be quite alright."
Amy looks around once more.
"Good to know Knuckles has been taking care of the place, I guess." She laughs.
"I visit the shrine every new moon." Tikal explains.
Amy looks up into the sky. Sure enough, the moon is nowhere in sight. Only stars. So, SO many stars.
"I used to far less frequently, however after... Dr Eggman...?"
Amy nods.
"After Dr Eggman angered Chaos, I thought I needed to keep a closer watch."
"Has Knuckles seen you?" Amy asks.
"Many times. Him and I speak rather often about the Master Emerald."
Amy hums.

The two stand in silence for a while, just looking at the Master Emerald, and the Chao, and the stars and plants. And Amy stares at Tikal quite a bit, too. How often do you get to talk to an ancient spirit, much less to one that isn't trying to destroy the planet? How neat! Additionally, for someone who went through so much turmoil while she was alive, Tikal is impossibly tranquil and sweet.
"I hope... Hmm..." Amy thinks for a second, "I hope you'll be alright, Tikal."
Tikal chuckles, "What do you mean by that?"
"I just hope nothing happens with Chaos, or the Master Emerald again that'll disrupt you." Amy explains, "You seem to live a very peaceful existence. That's admirable."
Amy laughs.
"Hah, this is what you get from 2AM Amy, I guess! Sorry."
"No, it's perfectly alright. Please continue." Tikal says eagerly.
"Eh... You just don't deserve to be put through something like that again." Amy says, "When you were alive... You fought for what was right, even if your folks were against it. And to have to be summoned again to help fix Eggman's foolishness was just awful."
Amy looks over at Tikal, giving her a thumbs-up and a weary, tired grin.
"We all deserve our rest, y'know?"
Tikal gives Amy a gentle but ultimately rather concerned smile, saying, "That is certainly a good idea, Amy."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll try to get to sleep."
"Please do."
The echidna picks up the Chao on the ground.
"Thank you, Amy. I think I need to be going now." She says.
"No worries! See you some other time?"
"Most likely not for a while. But I've appreciated the company."
Amy grins.
Tikal sort of... Fades out of view, along with the Chao. Amy marches back off to her sleeping spot, and most definitely doesn't sleep soundly - after all, she IS still lying on hard ground - but perhaps she drifts off to sleep a few times in between planning for what she'll do in the morning to get back to the restoration base.