Sonic The Hedgehog Fanfiction
by Sonic Dust (dustinman77@hotmail.com)

Sonic, Tails, and Sally are ©Sega and Archie. This story is mine, though,
so back off! Heh.

Music to listen to during this story:

"Breña" by A Perfect Circle (main theme, either use it in the
middle or throughout the whole story)

"A Warm Place" by Nine Inch Nails (slightly more depressed than the
main, would do good at the beginning)

"This Time" by Smashing Pumpkins (slightly happier than main theme,
suggest using it near the end)

------------------------------------------------------------------------


Perfect Sunset
¤¤§¤¤


Sonic was having a rough day. He had failed to take out a power
plant, and almost got himself caught in the process. To make things
worse, he had forgotten he promised to take Tails fishing, and by the time
he remembered, Tails didn't feel like going anymore. He had apologized,
but he still didn't want to go.

As the sun was setting over the trees, he was laying on his
stomach on a tree branch, watching the stream below make its way off into
the distance. Once in awhile, he would snap off a twig and let it fall
into the water, following it with his eyes until he couldn't see it any
longer. Eventually, he got bored with that, and decided to just enjoy the
sunset... as much as he could.

"Sonic!" a voice called. He looked down to see a familiar reddish-
brown mop. It was Princess Sally, searching for him in the dim light of
the dusk. "It's almost curfew! Where are you?"

"Up here, Sal," he said.

Sally looked up, searching for him. After a moment, she spotted
his blue spines. "Oh, there you are. What are you doing up there?"

"Holding a pity party," he said with a sigh. "Wanna join me?"

The young squirrel fingered her blue vest. "Am I dressed for the
occasion?"

Sonic chuckled lightly. "Yeah. Come on up, we got awhile."

She climbed up the narrow trunk. Sonic sat up so she could sit
next to him. She plopped down with a bump.

"Ahh," she said, smiling. "I haven't had a chance to rest all
day." She looked at Sonic's thoughtful face, and her own brow furrowed.
"Hey, what's wrong, Sonic?"

Sonic smiled wanly. "My own face betrays me." His smile faded as
he watched the sun sink below the horizon. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm
really all I'm cracked up to be. When I do stupid stuff like I did today,
I just wanna... cash it all in; y'know, hang up my sneaks and let somebody
else be the hero." He looked over at her. "You ever feel that way, Sal?"

"No, never," she said, rolling her eyes. "Sonic, I don't think
there's ever been a day when I didn't once wish I wasn't the Princess. So
much rides on your shoulders, and you never get much credit for all your
hard work, but you get all the blame when something goes wrong." She then
smiled. "Then I think about it this way. If I wasn't here, I wouldn't
have done the things I have. Sonic, you've done so much for us. You
should never doubt whether or not you matter. Without you, planting
explosives, spin-dashing SWATbots, rescuing Mobians... I know Robotnik
would've finished off Mobius long ago. I don't think we could survive
without you." She turned her attention to the setting sun.

Sonic smiled. She looked unbelievably pretty in the remaining
sunlight, her bright blue eyes half-closed with contentment, soft auburn
hair blowing in the light breeze. His smile twisted into a sort of half-
frown. Something had been tugging at his heart for quite some time, and
he figured now was as good a time as any to figure it out.

"Sally," he began nervously, "There's something I've been
wondering. I've been thinking about this a lot lately."

Her eyebrows arched inquisitively. "Yes?"

It took Sonic a moment to continue. "What would... _you_ do
without me?"

The question must've caught her by surprise, since she didn't
answer. He swallowed, trying to ignore the knot in his stomach.

"I've just been wondering... well, I know we've been friends for a
long time, but... how far does our friendship go?"

He could hear her breath come a bit faster. "Our- S-Sonic, what
exactly are you asking?"

"Oh, I'm no good at this kinda stuff," he said, staring at his
shoes. If he looked at her, he'd probably lose his nerve. "For a few
years now, I've... I've felt something for you. It's like... I hate to
say goodbye to you, more than I do any of my other friends. I worry about
you when you go off on missions, and... oh, I sound like a moron."

He risked a quick glance at Sally. She was staring at him, a
look of anxiousness on her face, twirling her hair; when he looked, she
quickly cast her gaze down and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. Her
breathing was heavier now.

"N-No, Sonic," she said shakily. "I've felt... oh, I'm really not
sure what, but... you're the only person I feel these things with. I-
It's kind of... well, my stomach does calisthenics, and I feel like I
weigh nothing at all. I feel better from just seeing you."

"Yeah, me too," he said, still staring at his shoes. "I don't
know what to think about it, really, but... I don't want it to stop."

She scooted closer to him. "Sonic... you don't think... are we...
am I?"

Realization dawned on his face. He turned and looked into her
deep eyes, and saw she was as nervous, scared and exhilarated as he was.
"Sally..."

They stayed that way for a moment, then slowly embraced each
other, eyes still wide with shock and excitement.

"After all this time... I can't believe it. I finally find out
we..." Sonic couldn't finish. Tears welled up in his eyes. "Oh, Sally."

"It's just so crazy," she gasped. "Why didn't we see it before?
You and I..."

Still in each other's arms, they turned to look at the rapidly
disappearing shining sphere, casting shades of orange and violet into the
approaching night sky.

"It's so perfect," Sonic said, gently stroking Sally's back with
his right hand. "The golden sunset, your warm touch, the smell of your
hair..."

"I could almost swear we've always been here like this," she
said, choking on her joyful tears. "And I think we always will be."

Then the final ray of beautiful sunlight faded away, leaving them
under the stars for all eternity.

¤¤§¤¤
end