The Sweetest Birthday
By Jave
---
A/N: This fic is a direct sequel to my previous story "Letters to Cosmo". I recommend to go read that fic first, otherwise some events in this story may not make sense to you.
---
It was late in the afternoon, and walking together through the fields of Green Hill were two girls. One of them was a rabbit named Cream and the other was a plant named Cosmo.
Ever since the day she returned one week ago, Cosmo has been staying as a guest in Cream's house. Being the kind person that she is, she had volunteered to help Cream and her Mother do some much-needed grocery shopping, as both girls were carrying plastic bags with food, as they walked towards Cream's house.
"Cream" Cosmo said. "I really appreciate that you're letting me stay in your house."
Cream smiled. "You don't have to worry about that, Cosmo. I'm more than happy that you're living with me."
"It's just… I wish I could repay in you somehow…"
"There's no need for that." Cream said. "The fact that you came back is payment enough. I still remember that day… we were all going to Tails' house…"
---
7 days ago…
Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and Cream were walking towards Tails' house. Amy and Cream were carrying picnic baskets, and Knuckles was carrying a couple of blankets.
"I hope Tails is in the mood for a picnic day." Amy said.
"Oh, I'm sure he will." Cream said. "Tails have always loved camping out."
"Yeah." Sonic said. "Besides, when I talked to Tails yesterday he seemed a lot better than before."
As the group approached Tails' house, Sonic noticed the door was half-open. He peeked inside looking for his friend.
"Hey Tails! Are you in here?"
No answer. Sonic came in followed by Knuckles, Amy and Cream. The latter three left what they were carrying on the floor, as they searched the house. It wasn't too long before Sonic noticed something strange.
"Hey guys, look at this." Sonic said, pointing at the floor.
Indeed, the floor in Tails' dining room was covered in soil, with remains of ceramics scattered all over.
"Isn't that…?" Sonic asked.
Cream kneeled down and picked up the biggest piece. "Oh!" She screamed in a panic. "This is from Cosmo's pot!"
"What?.!" Knuckles shouted. "Are you sure about that, Cream?"
"I'm positive!" She assured. "I saw the pot many times! I know it's this one!"
"Oh no…" Amy was obviously assuming something horrible. "Does… does that mean…?"
"No, no, wait." Knuckles tried to calm things down. "We don't know what happened, so let's not jump into conclusions yet."
"Knux's right." Sonic said. "If something really bad had happened, Tails would've let us know."
"But Sonic!" Amy was really scared now. "What if something happened to him? Maybe he can't reach for help!"
"He can't be too far." Sonic said. "I say we split and look for him."
As the team headed outside Tails' house, they all heard a familiar voice in the distance.
"Hey, guys!"
It was indeed Tails' voice. He was running towards them waving his hand. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Tails was alright.
However, their eyes opened wide when they noticed someone else running alongside Tails.
At first they couldn't believe their sight. It was a girl they all knew well. A girl with the shape of a plant that was wearing a white and green dress.
"Guys!" Tails kept shouting as he and Cosmo ran towards the group. "Look who's here! Cosmo! It's Cosmo!"
As they both arrived right in front of the group, they panted for a few seconds, until they all looked at each other.
"It's a miracle…" Tails said happily. "Cosmo's back… she… she came out of the plant last night…"
But nobody said anything. They were staring, mouths wide open, at the green girl in front of them.
Cosmo took a couple of steps forward and in a very soft, sweet tone, she greeted her friends. "Hi everybody. I'm very happy to see you again. All of you."
But everyone was still quiet. It seems hearing Cosmo's voice shocked them even more.
"Okay, is anyone going to say something?" Tails said as Cosmo lowered her head, blushed. "This is getting really awkward."
The foursome stared at them for a few more seconds, until Cream finally reacted. "COSMO!" Cream ran towards her friend and in a second she had embraced her by wrapping her hands around her waist and laying her head on her chest. "It's you! You're back! You're back!"
Cosmo immediately hugged Cream back. "It's so great to see you again, Cream. I missed you."
As the two friends continued hugging, Cosmo noticed someone else hugging her from the side. "Oh, Cosmo!" Cosmo noticed Amy's voice. "It's so great to have you back!"
Sonic and Knuckles approached the hugging trio.
"It's great that you're here, Cosmo." Knuckles said. "But I'm a little curious to know how all this happened."
"Well…" Cosmo said. "That's something I wanted to thank you all about, because it was thanks to you guys I could return… thanks to you and your beautiful letters."
"Huh?" Sonic, Knuckles, Amy and Cream all wondered. Amy let go of Cosmo, while Cream looked up at her still holding her waist.
"After Sonic saved me using Chaos Regeneration that day…" Cosmo continued. "I… fell asleep… and sealed inside a seed. I felt like I was completely alone… with no memories of who I was…"
Cosmo paused for a second, which Sonic seized to add a thought. "So that's the effect the Chaos Emeralds had… interesting."
"But one day…" Cosmo went on. "…I started to hear voices. Someone was talking to me… at first it was Cream… after a while it was Knuckles, then it was Amy, then it was Sonic… and finally Tails. The memories started to return… and I came back."
"Wow…" said Sonic in awe. "The power of the emeralds never ceases to amaze me."
There were a few seconds of silence, until someone spoke.
"So…" Cosmo looked down and noticed Cream was talking to her. "You liked my letter?"
"Of course, Cream." Cosmo answered with a smile. "I loved it. As I loved everyone else's. It was the most beautiful gift anyone has ever given me. Thank you. Thanks a lot everyone…"
Cosmo couldn't hold it anymore and she let two tears slide down her cheeks.
"It's okay, Cosmo." Amy said. "There's no need to cry now. You're back and that's all that matters."
"Yeah, it's great that you're here, Cosmo." Knuckles added. "We all missed you."
And Sonic simply smiled from his spot and gave Cosmo a thumbs up. "Welcome back, Cosmo." He paused for a second and the continued. "Well, weren't we going on a picnic? And since Cosmo is now coming with us, we have a reason to celebrate!"
"Wow, the timing couldn't have been better!" Tails said. "What do you say, Cosmo? Like the old times?"
"Of course, Tails. I'd love to." Cosmo said.
"Yay! This is going to be a great day!" Cream said as she picked up her basket.
"By the way, where are we going, guys?" Tails asked.
"Where else?" Sonic said. "Angel Island! You know Knuckles can't leave that Master Emerald alone for too long…"
---
Today…Cream had just finished telling the story. "Then we went on to Angel Island for the picnic. We had such a great time there… you remember, right?"
"Of course. How could I forget?" Cosmo said. "And Angel Island is such a beautiful place… there are so many places in this planet I have yet to see…"
"One of these days we could ask Tails to give a tour of our home. He has a plane, remember?"
"That would be a pleasure." Cosmo looked forward. "Hey Cream, we're home."
Indeed, they had arrived at Cream's house. Cream took out a key out of her pocket and opened the door. It was dark inside, so she turned on the lights.
"SURPRISE!"
Cream gave a tiny scream of surprise. The house was decorated with a large "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" sign and there were balloons all over the place. Among the guests were Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Vector, Espio and Charmy. Cream's mother, Vanilla, was standing alongside them, with Cheese, Cream's Chao pet, flying by her side.
"Wha…?" It took a while for Cream to assimilate the situation. "Oh, right! I forgot it was my Birthday!"
"Yeah, well, we didn't!" Tails said.
"That's why we made this party, just for you!" Amy said.
"Yup! Happy Birthday, Cream!" Sonic said, doing his trademark thumb up.
"Wow, this is so great…!" Cream realized something, and looked back at Cosmo. "You knew about this!"
"Oh, maybe…" Cosmo looked away with a smirk. "I don't know…"
"Chao Chao!" Cheese flew all the way towards Cream, who grabbed him in her arms and hugged him. "Thanks everybody, I'm very happy that you're all here."
"Don't mention it, Cream." Sonic said. "And now that everyone's here, there's no reason for the party not to start, right?"
"Yay! Party!" cheered Charmy, as he blew on a party horn.
The party went on without any trouble. Cream (with Cheese), Tails, Cosmo and Charmy spent most of the time talking to each other while eating cake. Espio would join them every now and then, but on a few occasions he'll go outside to meditate a bit. Rouge spent most of her time standing on a corner, although Knuckles would talk to her for most of the time. It was hard to tell if they were talking in a friendly fashion or if Knuckles was making sure she won't steal anything. Amy tried to get all day Sonic to dance with her, but without any luck. And finally, Vector spent most of the night talking to Vanilla.
Finally, before the party was over, it was time for Cream to open the presents. Everybody had left her a wrapped package in a nearby table, and Cream couldn't resist any longer not knowing what her friends got for her.
Sonic gave her a pair of running shoes, perfect for training in the open. Amy gave her a yellow scarf with the letter "C" in red on one end. Tails gave her a toy replica of the Blue Typhoon that worked with a remote control. Cosmo gave her a pair of wool gloves that matched Amy's scarf.
Then, Cream opened Rouge's present, it was an emerald shaped, shiny gray box designed to keep jewelry in. Knuckles looked like he was going to say something, but Rouge anticipated to his words.
"Relax, Knux. I didn't steal it." Rouge said. "I bought it for her."
"You did, huh?" Knuckles said, skeptical. "They say once a thief, always a thief."
"Yeah, and that's true." Rouge said. "Thieves don't change, but they can take breaks, you know."
As Rouge finished talking, Cream had just unwrapped Knuckle's present. A necklace made out of little green stones that resemble emeralds.
"Now isn't that adorable, Knux?" Rouge said on a joking tone. "Our gifts complement each other."
"Hah. Just a coincidence." Knuckles said, not looking at Rouge.
Cream then opened a gift from Team Chaotix which contained a big box of chocolates, and finally a gift from her mother that had a hand-knitted sweater with the word "CREAM" on front.
But there was still one present left. Cream grabbed and examined it.
"This one has no label, who's it from?"
"Not me."
"Me neither."
"Nah-ah."
"It's not mine."
And so it went on until it turned out nobody bought that gift.
"Vector and I put all the gifts in that table." Espio said. "And I don't remember seeing that one before."
"Yeah, me neither." Vector added. "Wonder where it came from."
"Maybe Cream has a secret admirer?" Rouge said with a smirk.
Cream blushed. "Maybe if I open it we'll get some answers.
---
Unknown to the partygoers, somebody had been watching the party without anyone noticing. A little purple robot named Bokkun snuck into the house a few minutes ago and left a wrapped package among the other presents while nobody was looking. Now he was waiting anxiously for how the girl that he had a crush on would react to the gift he gave her.
Sometimes he wished he wasn't a robot. Sometimes he wished he wouldn't be so linked to Dr. Eggman. Sometimes he wished he could be a living being and live a normal, good life.
But he can't do that. He's a robot, and despite having feelings, he's programmed to work for Dr. Eggman. He's capable of love, but can't show it openly.
He took out a heart-shaped locket out of his belt. He opened it, and inside was a picture of Cream, smiling.
Life's not fair… but who said this is a life?---
4 months ago…
"So, what do you have for me today?"
Rouge was holding the locket right in front of a kneeled Bokkun. He was carrying a bag that seemed filled with money. He dropped it right in front of her and she picked it up, opened it, and examined its contents. They were indeed a handful of gold coins.
"Now this is pretty nice." Rouge said. "But I was hoping more of what was Eggman planning to do next to get a Chaos Emerald. You sure he hasn't discovered any locations yet?"
"No, there're not…" Bokkun said. "Eggman put a device in all of his robots recently that prevent them for giving out any information on his secret plans, including me. I couldn't give you any info even if I wanted to."
"Oh really? You sure you're not lying to me?"
"I'm not lying!" Bokkun screamed, and later lowered his head, crying, which certainly surprised Rouge. "Look, that money I'm giving you are all my savings. You can keep them but please, give me my locket back, please!"
Rouge kept looking between Bokkun and the locket. "You really like this girl, do you?"
"It's bad enough for me not to be able to tell her how I feel." Bokkun said. "That… that picture is all I have of her, please… I just want it back…"
Seconds later, Bokkun felt a clinking sound, he looked in front of him and noticed Rouge had dropped the locket and the bag of money. Bokkun quickly grabbed the locket, but was curious about the money.
"You.. you don't want…?"
"Nah. Keep it. I can steal ten times that money in a day. Use it to get Cream something nice, you've done enough for me anyway." Rouge started to walk away, but kept talking and she was leaving. "And you know, you should talk to Cream about how you feel for her…"
"But… but how am I supposed to do that? She'll never love me back!"
"Cream is a very understanding girl. I'm sure she'll at least listen."
And having said that, Rouge flew away.
---
Today…He didn't really care if Cream never knew who gave her that present. All he wanted was that she liked it. He had made it himself, so it would mean a lot to him.
---
"Oh! This is so adorable!"
Cream opened the present to discover a plushy doll that looked exactly like her. The hair colors, the clothes, and even the brown eyes, every detail was kept. Cream hugged the plushy, showing that she probably liked it more than all of her other presents.
"Guys, seriously, who made this?" Cream asked, anxious. "I absolutely love it!"
They all shook their heads. Clearly, none of them had seen that doll before.
Rouge, however, made a playful smirk, as she clearly had an idea.
---
After making one last peek inside the house, Bokkun was ready to leave. Vanilla had just told the guests that it was late and time for Cream to go to bed. One by one, everyone started to leave through the front door, and Bokkun witnessed all of this from one side of the house, hidden between the bushes.
But he was happy. Cream liked his present for her. All he wanted was to make Cream happy, which he did.
Maybe someday I'll tell you how I feel…After watching everyone leave, Bokkun made a turn and was all set to fly away.
"Hah, I knew it was you."
Bokkun turned. Rouge was standing there smiling at him.
"R-Rouge…?" Bokkun asked in a panic. "How… how did you..?"
"…knew you were here?" She finished the sentence for him and pointed at her own ears. "Bats have ultrasonic hearing, you know."
"Oh, right…" Bokkun said, clearly defeated.
"But why are you hiding here? Why didn't you give her the present yourself?" Rouge asked.
"I just… I just didn't want to barge in there uninvited…" Bokkun said. "Everyone would probably think I was sent by Eggman to crash the party or something like that…"
"Yeah, I suppose that's true." Rouge said. "But look, if you really like this girl, you better tell her how you feel as soon as possible. Because if not, you might realize it's too late and you'll regret it by then."
Rouge spread her wings and flew away, leaving Bokkun alone aside Creams house.
At least… I got to make you happy… good night, Cream.
And Bokkun turned on his jetpack, and left for Eggman's base.
---
Cream had just gotten in bed. She carefully put all her presents where they were safe. The shoes inside the closet, the scarf, gloves and sweater in a drawer, the chocolates on top of her desk, and the jewel box on her night table with the necklace inside.
But she took the plushy doll with her to bed. She hugged it, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Whoever made you… I will find you… and thank you for such a beautiful present…
THE END
---
A/N: Something short and sweet for the Bokkun/Cream fans. Hope you guys liked it.
It's important to know that I plan to write a series of fics, all part of a timeline, therefore it's recommended that you read them in order. However, I still try making every fic enjoyable on its own so it's still not 100 necessary to read the previous ones. Consider this fic and "Letters to Cosmo" as lead-ins to a bigger fic I plan on posting next. It'll involve more action, and a character that gets highly overlooked in fanfiction.
You probably noticed the flashback to "Letters to Cosmo" at the beginning. I'd be doing stuff like that in most of my stories, as I want my fics to be connected in a way.
Thanks for reading, and hope to see you guys again soon.