The salty waterers of the Sol dimension were surprisingly warm today. Silver the hedgehog had long since learned that a hot day on the land didn't necessarily mean the waters were good for swimming. For the first handful of summer days, that trick of the sun had caught him off guard, sending him into, and then very quickly out of, the icy cold sea. He supposed that they were now deep enough into the warm season that even the ocean was feeling it, a fact that was quite fortunate given his current predicament.

A psychically manifested scuba suit, including a breathing tank, was aiding him in a search for strips of metal that had been torn from a certain ship. He must have scanned the ocean floor for a good half hour by now and most of the pieces had been collected, but he had to gather as much as was feasible. If it wasn't for the rocky nature of these waters, then he'd have surely finished this job in a matter of minutes. Alas, great stony spears seemed to jut out of the seabed at every angle and the commonality of seaweed and barnacle beds wasn't helping matters. This wasn't a terrible way to spend an afternoon, but the psychokinetic hadn't expected today to go like this.

What had started as a very well planned and regular day had quickly spiralled out of control. The twenty-three-year-old hedgehog had woken up with butterflies in his stomach and excitement on his mind, knowing that Blaze had managed to procure a day away from her royal duties. Their bond had been rekindled several years ago, but it was only with the final restoration of the future that those flames had grown.

Silver had ended up staying in the Sol dimension and, following more than a few fumbled kisses and the feline's much too subtle hints, gradually entered a more romantic relationship with Blaze. More romantic rather than actually romantic because, well, they hadn't exactly talked about the shift so much as simply drifted in the general direction of deeper intimacy. Whenever he tried to bring it up, she'd silence him with a kiss or call him naive, just as she had when he'd historically asked if they were friends. It'd started as a way to obscure her own embarrassment, but she'd always enjoyed teasing him.

Reflecting on those moments made his heart pound and a goofy grin slip onto his lips, but the sight of something lying in a seaweed bed stole his attention. With the point of his finger, cyan aura ruffled through the seagrass patch and eventually managed to manifest around a single mass. The hedgehog heaved up his right hand and, matching the movement, a large rasher of metal rose from the depths. It was bent in a few places, it'd clearly torn against the rocks and been flung away by the swell, but it seemed to be in better condition than the bulk of the metal he'd found.

The hedgehog swam a little further, positioning himself above where the piece had crashed. Sure enough, it looked as though three more pieces had landed in the vicinity. Perhaps these were the last of the missing chunks? Blaze would chastise him for assuming that…

He dropped the strip he'd been carrying, a mass roughly the size of his torso, back down onto the seagrass before raising his hands to the sunny surface. Quickly, a bubble as big as his head descended into the depths and, following another gesture, fused into his psychic breathing apparatus. He heaved a deep breath, channelling more psychic energy from his palms before sending it to scour the seafloor.

His eyes shut as he allowed his sense of touch to guide the search, clinging to anything hard as he felt the sea and its flora alike slip through his grasp. There were actually five large pieces and seven or eight smaller fragments, it was difficult to count with his mind so full. Even if this wasn't the last of the lost metal, it'd surely be enough to keep his partner busy. He clenched his feet, tightening his grasp on the metal to pull it after him.

Kicking his feet, the hedgehog managed to emerge at the surface and take to the sky. The now obsolete parts of his scuba suit vanished, resulting in the usual layer of cyan skin wore to fly. He was entirely dry, totally untouched by the seawater.

Flanked by the metal, he scanned his surroundings and quickly found their destination. Not too far away, around a stone's throw from the horizon, floated a small and sandy island with a current population of two, soon to be three. As he approached, heaving his discovery behind him, its details came more clearly into view. The island was no bigger than a modest family house, home to three palm trees and five large grey rocks. Recently though, it'd seen the addition of one Marine the Raccoon's crashed speedy-submarine.

The young shipwright, only thirteen, had designed the submarine to retrieve treasures lost on the seafloor. She'd been expressly told not to test it out without someone around to supervise her but, not one to be told what to do, she'd taken it out this morning, assumedly the instant Silver had left to meet with Blaze. The sobbing and babbling call that they'd received, just as they'd found a spot to picnic, had sent them into a manic dash. He'd swept the feline off her feet, abandoning their lunch, and taken to the sky. It'd taken less than an hour to track her down, a feat only possible due to the raccoon building a giant metal spire out of pieces she'd torn from her own craft.

Silver landed on the eastern edge of the island only to find that things were different from how he had left them. Marine had evidently run out of energy and crashed beneath one of the palm trees. The tide had quickly come in, swallowing more of what little land they had, but the speedy-submarine was still a ways away from being swept underwater. Somehow, likely due to the craft's ludicrously powerful propulsion, Marine had ground it through the shallow waters for quite a distance before smashing it into a larger rock at the foot of the island. She'd managed to half-flip the submersible into the air and land it upside down on the island, the blatant damage she'd done exposed to the sky. The craft wasn't especially big, it could roughly fit six people within its cramped interior, but seven breaches had clearly formed in the hull and all of its external gadgets had flown in various directions. It was fortunate that the propeller itself hadn't been damaged.

Blaze was currently sat atop the cream-orange sub, clearly distracted by her work. While he'd been gathering the shed hunks of metal, she had been welding the craft back towards a more watertight state. She'd shed her usual royal robes before their outing, replacing them with a flowing black skirt and a tie dye purple shirt. Suffice to say, having planned things for weeks before finally managing to steal some free time, his partner wasn't especially pleased to be working today. The thought of how to make things up to her had been weighing on him ever since they observed the extent of the damage. After all, they still had an afternoon and evening to share.

He approached the submarine on foot, still flanked by the dozen pieces of floating metal and watched as she pulled back from the gash she was sealing to wipe her brow with the back of her forearm. Despite how annoying this all was, he couldn't help but feel his heart flutter a little. Perhaps it was the way the sun silhouetted her from above, maybe it was down to her change of dress or even the fact that she was using her power so casually, but, ultimately, why he felt this way didn't matter. It'd taken him ages to understand concepts like romance and attraction, much longer than it probably should have, but, now that he did, Silver couldn't help but bask in them. He didn't just love her; he was in love. That fact was still so fresh in his mind.

It took Blaze throwing him a glance to snap him out of it, followed by a coy, "Did you enjoy your swim?"

"Oh, um, y-yeah," He managed to stutter, turning to gesture toward the shards, "Are things going okay? I'm pretty sure this is the last of it. You should have all the important parts now."

"I'm fine," She managed to shrug and look back down to the hull, "I just hope we can get off this island soon."

Catching the annoyance lingering in her tone, he couldn't help but pipe up, "We can do something tonight if you want," She looked down to him and, despite the intrigue on her muzzle, his confidence flagged, "J-Just if you want to, of course. I could cook something or maybe we could go out? Anything really, it's up to you, I just don't want to waste today."

"Well, I suppose I could spare another couple of hours," That smile crept back across her muzzle, "On one condition."

She didn't elaborate, but her tail swished as she awaited his response, "What condition?"

"You have to plan it this time," Her coyness grew into a full smirk, "You're in charge."

Silver felt his heart skip a beat and his tongue grow very heavy. Throughout their time not explicitly dating, Blaze had taken the lead in most things. Even if he ended up doing the bulk of the preparation, as had been the case for their abandoned picnic, their outings and endeavours were driven by her. Sure, he'd show up and bring Blaze gifts from time to time but that was usually born of spur of the moment ideas rather than planning. The feline being the limiting factor on their outings had historically put her in charge of them, it was her time off after all and he hadn't wanted to squander it.

"If you're sure that's what you want," He managed to reply, "I have a couple of ideas-

"Surprise me," In a single fluid motion, Blaze turned back to her work, still smirking, "You've got plenty of time to figure something out."

The hedgehog swallowed, feeling sweat mount on his brow. He drifted into the air, tugging a slab of the metal after him, and quickly landed atop the submarine. Like putting together a puzzle, he tried to match a piece of torn metal to its respective hole. The action was barely enough to distract him from the pounding of his own heart but, fortunately, Blaze seemed to be caught up in her work. He managed to get a single large piece to mostly fit, positioning a couple of the smaller pieces nearby in an attempt to complete the shape.

As he finished and turned to grab another though, his eyes drifted over to Marine. Now closer, he noticed that the raccoon wasn't actually asleep. Rather uncharacteristically, the shipwright had simply been sitting quietly beneath the tree. It was difficult to tell from so far away but Silver could plainly detect a certain solemness from her posture, her arms loosely crossed and back rigid. When he'd left for the ocean, she'd been working away at the hull as best as she could.

"Is everything okay with Marine?" He asked Blaze as she shifted from one hole to another.

"She tried to draw a blueprint in the sand to help explain some more complex repairs to me, but the tide came in and washed them all away," The feline winced, "I think it'll be fine without them, but she really wanted to help. I told her it's fine but…"

The cat and raccoon pair's friendship had changed a lot over the years. When he'd first arrived the two would occasionally get into spats that could last for days, usually deriving from Blaze's longing to protect the youngster from her own sense of adventure. The princess was right to do so, Marine would get herself stranded or stuck fairly regularly, but Blaze's own patience would occasionally wear thin and she'd end up angrily inspiring those very adventures. The raccoon would often leave in a strop, promising to prove Blaze wrong but very rarely doing so. Ultimately, the two of them had come to a sort of mutual appreciation over the years, likely urged on by a combination of familiarity and Blaze gradually letting down her walls. That change hadn't stopped the raccoon's adventurous tendencies, but it had made her a lot more responsible regarding them.

"If you'll be okay doing this on your own for a little while, I could go talk to her?" Silver offered.

"I'd appreciate it," She managed to nod, "Tell her that I'll at least make it sailable again."

"Alright," He cast another glance to the youngster, allowing the remaining metal pieces to pile themselves in the sand, "I'll do my best."

He dropped from the top of the submarine but, as he made his approach, the raccoon had turned away. Rather than her typical green dress, she'd opted to go out in her denim work overalls and a simple t-shirt, perhaps suggesting that she'd anticipated some sort of issue. Her toolbox was sat beside her, messy as usual.

"Hey, Marine," He could hear the hesitation in his own voice. He swallowed before dropping down to sit beside her, "It looks like Blaze will be able to fix your submarine up. It'll all be fine."

"Oh, that's good," She responded, offering no further insight through her words but a world's worth with her tone.

Marine was more like him than she was like Blaze, even he wasn't so oblivious as to miss that. While Blaze was frankly too good at obscuring her emotions and denying herself enjoyment, Marine and he were far more obvious in their expression. He could tell how disheartened she was by the tone of her voice, let alone her change in posture and wincing expression. Usually Marine was endlessly talkative, she'd talk for hours on end without even a moment's thought, so for her to respond so simply was a clear indication of her current state.

The hedgehog's hand found his chest fluff and began to awkwardly tug, "I think we'll make it back well before dinner. Is there anything you particularly want?"

"Not really," She glumly responded. For a moment, Silver thought that was all she'd say, "Shouldn't you spend that time with Blaze? Seeing as I've already…"

"Don't worry about that Marine," Silver shook his head, "We're just glad you're okay. That crash could have been much worse."

"Yeah, well," She still hadn't turned to him, "I messed up, again."

"Marine," He sighed, "It's fine, it's all fine."

"But I ruined you two's date. Blaze hardly gets time off as it is, she's got to be boilin' mad with me," The raccoon protested, "And she's right to be, she told me not to, that's the worst part."

"I told you, we're just glad you're okay. The instant we got your call we set out, your safety is more important," A silence briefly filled the air and he felt the need to fill it, "As for the date, well, she still wants that to happen but…" That caught the Racoon's eye, he couldn't back out, "She's put me in charge of it and I've got to figure out what we'll do."

"Oh, mate, that sounds like a lot of pressure for you," She snorted, looking away again, "Try not to break under the strain."

"Thank you for the show of confidence," He mumbled, "She wants me to surprise her like she surprises me. I doubt she's being serious about it, but I want to do my best."

"I dunno mate," She shrugged, "Sounds pretty serious to me. You'd better give it some thought."

"Well, I'm open to ideas," He said, more trying to get her talking rather than actually asking for ideas, "I could just make dinner or plan a walk, but this feels like it should be something special."

"Probably, you want to make a good impression, show her that you can handle this," The raccoon was slipping back into her usual tone, "She teases you enough as it is, imagine how much ammunition this could give her."

"She already has enough to last the rest of our lives," The hedgehog happily mused, "It'll hardly be a drop in the bucket either way, but that doesn't mean I won't do this as best I can."

"I guess so," She mumbled.

The raccoon seemed to have realised that she was being led out of her wallowing and, rather than allow that, retreated back into herself. He had to keep this up, "You know, she used to chew me out just like she used to tell you off," That got her attention, "Ever since we were tiny, she always took the lead."

"Well, that doesn't surprise me," Marine bluntly responded.

"H-Hey," His stammer put a small smirk on her face, "Well, you're not wrong. She still does now, even if it's not quite in the same way," He continued, swallowing what little pride he had, "I used to come up with plans and run off on my own a lot, I'd get into all kinds of scrapes."

"What?" She exclaimed, "But I thought she was the boss?"

"Eventually she got sick of me doing it and took charge," He explained "Before that, I'd leave her behind, promising to beat a monster and come back, only to return all roughed up but insisting I was fine. She'd have to trick me into letting her see my injuries, I wanted to do everything myself and fix our world."

"But wasn't the future," She made a vaguely t-rex like hand motion, "Overrun by monsters back then? They'd literally destroyed the world, hadn't they?"

"Rivers of lava literally ran through the city and the sun was blotted out by clouds of soot," Silver recalled, "My younger self didn't really see that as an issue though. He thought it'd be easy, the kind of thing you could sort in a day."

Marine snorted, almost chuckling, "That sounds like you."

"The first time she stood up to me was incredible, you should have seen it," Silver's eyes drifted back to the feline, still welding the submarine, as he began to reminisce, "I'd limped in after fighting like an idiot, running all over the city, and she just pushed me over," He heard Marine snort again, "She's cute now but, back then, her frown didn't fit on her face. Blaze was this tiny purple kitten and I'd convinced myself that I had to protect her, even though I was much shorter than her," Now the raccoon was chuckling but Silver's eyes didn't leave Blaze, "I tried to make a fuss and get back up, but she properly pinned me down and mercilessly bandaged everything. By the time she'd finished, I was practically a mummy, I couldn't even move."

"That that really sounds like her," Marine responded, finally reclaiming his gaze. She'd left her shell again, "It doesn't sound like she was especially scary though."

"Well, even back then, she could spit fire as easily as she could conjure it," He grinned, "Once she had me trapped, she talked my ear off. She stood over me and just started shouting, letting out all of her annoyance, and, from then on, she never held back with me. If there was a problem, she'd make it very clear," His gaze wandered back to Blaze, "Whenever I was about to do something stupid she'd just grab me but, eventually, she didn't even need to do that. She'd call me na?ve and it'd stop me in my tracks."

The raccoon giggled, "Mate, she's had you on a leash for that long?"

"She's just cared for that long," He bumped her shoulder with his, "I know she's been harsh in the past but that's only because she cares about you too. That was the only way she could show her concern."

"I know, I know. She's not as…" She seemed to be searching for the right word, "Stern as she used to be."

"Things have changed, she's learned that being more open is okay so she feels comfortable showing off her softer side," The psychic agreed, "I certainly wouldn't be in my current position if that wasn't the case, neither of us would have any idea what to do with our relationship."

"Now you're the only clueless one," She joked.

"Y-Yeah," He quickly turned from Blaze as the feline threw a glance towards them, feeling the heat on his muzzle, "What am I going to do…"

"Flounder and fail probably," She smirked.

"Flounder huh?" Perhaps it was born of that word alone, or it was bolstered by the shipwright's creation and his time spent seeking out its parts, but an idea manifested in Silver's head, "Marine, when you were in your submarine, did you see anything interesting?"

"Interesting?" She blinked, "What do you mean, mate?"

"You had to sail pretty far to get here," He thought aloud, "Did you actually find anything? Any sunken wrecks or interesting spots?"

"No, there were no sunken wrecks, mate. I wouldn't have crashed it if there was. I would have found my treasure and then headed back to rub it in everyone's faces," She responded, finally talking more positively about her experience, "I saw some pretty little fish and maybe a giant squid at one point but, besides that, it was all very boring."

Setting his questions about the giant squid aside, Silver pried further, "Pretty fish? Did you see them anywhere in particular or just in general?"

Marine squinted, rubbing her chin, "Well, there was one place that they were pretty common. There was one of those coral reef places, a pretty small one though. There were all sorts of fish and crabs and stuff, it was real rough to navigate."

That sounded perfect, "Once we've fixed up your submarine, do you think you could get there again?"

"Probably mate, why?" She questioned.

"Well, while carrying your submarine home would have been too much for me, I think I can manage a little bit of scuba diving," He half explained, "Maintaining a couple of suits with my power shouldn't be too difficult."

"Oh, I get it! Aww mate, that's a brilliant idea, you two'll can do that and I'll keep-

Silver clamped his hand over Marine's mouth, throwing a quick glance at Blaze. The feline hadn't turned to face them, even though she'd undoubtedly heard the raccoon's shouting, "Th-This is supposed to be a surprise Marine, remember?"

"Oh, right, yeah," She muttered, forcing her way free, "But alright mate, I can totally get you guys there."

The raccoon looked far more like her usual self. Her ears had even returned to their usual formation. Honestly, just having heard her laugh had relaxed him, "Alright, I'm going to go check if Blaze needs help fixing the submarine. Will you be okay?"

"Who, me? Yeah, I'll be fine. Fine as ever," He gave her one last nod before rising, making sure that was the truth. As he went to turn though, her voice called out again, "Thanks, mate."

"It's no problem, Marine," Silver smiled back to her, "We'll have this sorted in no time."

He made his way across the sand, approaching the large pile of dented and worn metal. With little more than the flick of his wrist, the hedgehog again lifted himself to stand atop the submersible. The feline had just about finished sealing the largest of the remaining holes so, quick to respond, the hedgehog weaved his hands through the air and began to set up the rest of her patchwork.

"Hello again," She called up to him, not looking away from her work.

"Good afternoon," He hummed, psychically fiddling with the giant puzzle, "Didn't think I'd see you here."

"I didn't think I'd be here either, it's been an interesting day," She was smirking again, her fangs were only just visible.

The feline shifted, moving to a slightly smaller breach. With the snap of her fingers a flame manifested atop her fingertip before quickly shrinking and growing brighter. Bracing against the hull, she began to trace that finger along where the two masses met. Sparks flew as she moved slowly, allowing the metal to reach a near molten state before leaving it to cool and fuse.

Though it was no different from Marine doing the bulk of her metalwork, Silver found himself more and more enamoured as Blaze continued. Despite the difficult nature of the work, there was something almost elegant to her movements, it was like watching her write or dance. The flames she'd hidden for so long were now just another part of her, an extension of her being that came to her as naturally as curling her fingers. What she'd once insisted was separate from her now worked with her to do all manner of good.

"Silver, you're staring," She reminded him, not so much as glancing up.

"S-Sorry, I just like watching you work," He said, feeling a goofy grin grow on his lips, "It reminds me of how things have changed."

"If you stand so close, you'll get burned," She warned, smirking as she continued to work.

Accepting her words but unwilling to depart, the hedgehog took to the air. In a single motion he went from standing upright to hovering upside down, still face to face with her but having put his body well out of the way.

"Better?" As she looked up to see him, her smirk almost failing to contain her laugher, he felt his face light up red. If his heart had skipped any more beats, being stranded would be the least of his worries.

"You're so na?ve," She tutted, rolling her eyes. In an instant, the flare vanished from her finger. She scooted just a little closer, "But…"

"But you always-

Before he could finish, her lips found his. Still upside down, he was kissed and soon found himself kissing her. The warmth of her lips pressing against his, the lingering taste of the lemonade he'd made for them, and the inherent knowledge that the woman he knew to be so powerful was being so very gentle sent the hedgehog into a blissful daze. Even her smoky scent, that he was sure would irk others, so thoroughly and completely completed the experience that was kissing his beloved. As if the ecstasy somehow wasn't enough, he felt her fingers brush through his quills and tilt his head to pull him closer.

This was still new to him, strange to him, and he wasn't certain that he was doing it correctly… but did that matter when he was enjoying it so much? Maybe he would get better at this with time but, then again, maybe he wouldn't. They had grown together and would continue to grow together, taking on new aspects and improving on their failings. Who was to say when their growth would stop or whether it ever would? All Silver knew for certain was that he wanted to keep growing with her and see just what that growth would bring.