Seventeen

There was a gentle breeze throughout the air that made the leaves and branches sway back and forth, and it only fueled the relaxing aura that was surrounding Sonic at the moment. He was sitting back in the monstrously huge tree, his hands behind his head, his eyes closed, and his entire body calm. At the moment, he wouldn't have traded the relaxation for anything. After such a long and difficult journey, rest was just what the hedgehog needed. Of course, he wasn't the only one who was relaxing. The chipmunk-squirrel hybrid, Sally, was also using the opportunity to rest on a similarly large tree branch. If there would have been a simple way to put it, the day was perfect.

Many things still needed to be done, however. The two had been journeying and gathering chaos emeralds for weeks and they were exhausted, to say the least. Despite this, there were still a few more emeralds that were to be collected. How many, exactly? The hedgehog furrowed his brow as he thought and reflected on the situation. They had retrieved the green emerald, the red one, the blue one, the purple one… did they have any more in their possession at the moment? And more importantly, how many did they have left to retrieve?

Growling, the hedgehog shook his head. Why was he so concerned about how many they had to find? For once he had the chance to relax and take a nap, and usually, he would have accepted it without a second thought. Oddly enough; however, he found himself unable to sit back without his thoughts running rampant when it came to the task at hand. It was unlike him. When had he been one to worry? It seemed as if he was beginning to take on Sally's trait of being a worry-wart. The thought made him cringe. As much as he enjoyed being around Sal, earning her ability to never stop fussing was not something he wanted.

Sighing, he closed his eyes. There had to be some reason for his discontent. If only he could put a finger on it… "Hey!" His concentration was instantly ruined. Sonic opened his eyes after a few seconds of pondering, then looked over to the parallel branch that Sally was sitting on. She had a small, peaceful smile on her face. Sonic stared at her for a few moments before she reached her hand out, "High five."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. Requesting a high five was something that was out of place for the princess. She was usually thinking of ways to improve their tactics, better her skills, or anything having to do with Nicole in the periods of free time that they had. Although it was a simple and quick gesture, it was still odd. Shrugging to himself, Sonic thrust his hand forward, letting it collide with hers. There was the slapping sound that echoed from the action, and it made Sally grin. Looking up at him, she moved her hand over. "To the side."

Smirking, the hedgehog clapped his hand to hers. Her grin widened, and she lowered her hand. "Down low." The hedgehog went to finish the action, but she quickly pulled her hand away. "Too slow!" Oh yes, how could he have forgotten that part? And to think that he was the fastest thing alive. With that though in mind, Sonic chuckled to himself. Just as he was about to return to his usual position of relaxation, she spoke yet again. "Wait!" He turned back to her, her hand once again outstretched. "In space."

Sonic once again followed the request, hitting her hand in the position that gave it the title of being "in space." Sally smiled as the hedgehog leaned back again, leaving Sonic to chuckle at her grin. Apparently, something as simple as a few "fives" gave the girl pleasure. With that final thought in mind, he nodded to himself and closed his eyes. How silly…

"In your face!" His relaxation didn't last long, for within the next second, he had been pushed in the face hard enough that he fell off the branch. He yelped for just a moment, then caught hold of the branch and looked up at Sally. As he had expected, she was laughing.

"You should have seen your face!" She exclaimed as he pulled himself up. When he looked at her, he smiled. "I can't even tell you how funny it looked, that's the worst part. It was—" Sally suddenly yelled out in surprise, jumping back onto another branch just in time to avoid the hedgehog leaping at her.

"So that's how you want to want to play, eh?" Sonic laughing as Sally looked down at him. "Then by all means, let's play!" And with that, he jumped at her.

The girl laughed as she leapt off toward a higher branch, barely avoiding his grasp by a few inches. She landed promptly and without much trouble, but quickly had to hop down to a lower branch to avoid him yet again. As soon as her boots touched the wood, she bounded upwards to one of the branches she had previously occupied, then jumped off towards the next one. Sonic was having no trouble keeping up, moving from branch to branch faster than she did, but without as much control. As climbing was one of her natural instincts, she had a slight advantage in the situation.

Sally skipped from one limb to the other, not daring to look back in fear of miss-stepping or even worse; being caught. With that thought in mind, she stepped down to a lower limb, crouched down, then leapt up to a branch a few feet above. She wrapped her hands around it, let the momentum carry her forward, then landed on the branch just beyond it. Without another moment to think, she turned around, glanced at the hedgehog just for a moment, and leapt up toward another limb. The hedgehog followed her lead, the unmistakable smile on his face.

Knowing that he was right behind her, Sally decided to take on a new tactic. With a smile, Sally flew off toward another lower branch. She grabbed onto it and let gravity (as well as some of her own muscle) do its job, throwing her into a loop. The hedgehog jumped on the limb and lost his footing in an attempt to avoid her hands, then landed promptly on a lower branch. He turned back to watch her, but instead, felt the force of the girl crashing into him.

They flew off the branch, through the air, and finally crashed onto the ground. For a moment, they were silent as they rolled onto their backs, panting, staring at the leaves and branches above them. Then, without a fair warning, the two started laughing. They laughed at the fact that they had been in such odd moods. They laughed at the fact that they were goofing off when the world was at stake. And most of all, they laughed at each other.

After a few more moments of chuckles and giggles, the two sat up and turned to one another. They smiled at each other for a brief moment before Sally stood up, gave Sonic a quick kiss on the cheek, then walked off towards the tree. She didn't stop to say another word, but rather climbed up the tree and sat in the spot she had been using earlier. Raising an eyebrow, Sonic chuckled and shook his head. He moved himself so he could lean against the tree, a slight smile on his face.

Sally was silent as she typed away on Nicole, eventually speaking yet again with a tone of sarcasm in her voice. "You have a fat head."

Sonic just smirked as he closed his eyes. "And you have a fat butt."

The girl laughed and looked back at the screen, and the boy folded his arms. Sometimes, within all the chaos of being a hero, it was nice to be a teenager.

Being a hero isn't a child's job, and it definitely isn't a teenagers job either. It's hard enough to juggle homework and being a teenager, but if you were a hero at the same time? The thought makes one shudder.

Felt like doing a Sonic and Sally one-shot. :) This has quickly taken over as my favorite couple... hope you guys liked it!