And amazingly, I'm still alive! For those of you who don't know me, I'm tiacat11 and I am relatively new to this site, with only two fanfictions to my name so far. I plan on fixing that. To those who do know me... Wow. I thought I scared you off the first time. As for this one-shot, I wrote it as a sort of tribute to my rapidly vanishing summer, and made most of it up while knee-boarding. (Ergo, a lot of this plot is due to excessive brain damage from wiping out a lot.)

Anyway, I would like to say for the record that I officially hate the title I have for this story, but after almost three weeks of trying to think out a better one, I decided I can't. So if you have a better idea for a title (or summary) lemme know! Anyway, you're probably wondering why I haven't been writing as much (see also: none). The answer to that is that I usually use my summer as a brainstorming time. Unfortunately, I have a very nasty flamer who just loves picking apart my stories. I like to call her "me." Worst part is, she doesn't wait until I have published the story to start nitpicking. I'll go to bed thinking, "This is a great idea!" and then wake up like, "That was a stupid idea!" Thus, I must rely on my ever helpful reviewers to help me distinguish good writing from bad. *cough* that's you! *cough*

I also would like to say that if you think this deserves a sequel/second chapter, let me know, because I don't think I'd mind continuing. Well, I've rambled on long enough, and I think you guys are getting bored. I probably won't be able to check my inbox till tomorrow afternoon, so you know what would really make me happy? An inbox chalk full of reviews! See ya, everyone!

The day was almost perfect.

The sun was shining, the birds were signing, there was just enough breeze to keep it from getting too hot, and to top it all off, Cream had a brilliant idea to go to the beach together.

It was hardly an original idea, as tons of people were flocking the coast on a day like today, but no one knew the land better than Sonic, even beaches. The hedgehog, after assuring everyone he was not coming, told of an excellent out-of-the-way spot for the team to go.

After cajoling, begging, flirting, bribery, and threats from Tails, Cream, Amy, Rouge, and Knuckles respectively, he relented and agreed to lie out in the sun with some of the older members.

Cream had convinced even Knuckles to come, although this may have been more to do with the fact that Rouge was coming than an actual desire to enjoy himself. No one so far had dared to suggest it to his face. He was currently relaxing on an inner tube a ways out in the ocean, helping to keep an eye on the younger ones.

In total, there were 11 sapients enjoying themselves: Cream, who had brought Vanilla and Cheese (of course), Sonic, Tails, Amy, Rouge, Knuckles and Big. The Chaotix had invited themselves on the grounds of being lifeguards for the rest (Sonic later said it was more likely because Vector wanted to see Vanilla in a swimsuit). Shadow had refused to come at all, and Sonic didn't push too hard.

Sonic glanced around. He was getting edgy; just being near the ocean made him uncomfortable. Unfortunately, he was, to date, the only non-swimmer in the group, and this earned him no sympathy with the others, especially Knuckles, as his idea of teaching him how to swim had been to throw him in a lake and push him back in whenever he tried to climb out. Amy, Tails, Cream, Vanilla, Big, and Espio had all offered to give him lessons multiple times over their little party, but Sonic had declined all of them.

Presently he got up and headed over to where Vanilla was putting sunscreen on Charmy. "I'm going for a jog. Toss me a soda?" When Vanilla pointedly ignored him, he sighed and added, "Toss me a soda, please?"

The elderly rabbit smiled and opened the ice chest, pulled out his favorite soda without having to ask and answered, "Alright. Be back in about ten minutes, please."

"Mm-hm. Bye!" He answered, distracted. He shot off quickly, but came back at a cry from Vanilla. "What?"

"Please, Sonic, we've discussed this! Please don't run up all this sand into people's faces!"

Embarrassed, he scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, sorry 'bout that. 'Kay, later!" he took off at just barely slower than he had been before.

The mother just sighed and shook her head. "What are we going to do with that one?" she murmured to herself affectionately. "And just what are you doing, mister?" she added louder without turning around, somehow catching Charmy attempting to steal a soda out of the ice chest.

Despite going slower than he had planned initially, he still whipped up plenty of wind for the others to notice his departure. Cream stopped the splash fight she was currently having with Amy and Cheese and watched him go.

"Is Mr. Sonic leaving already?" She asked sadly, clad in a cute one piece bathing suit the same color of her dress.

"I hope not, Cream. It'd be terrible to leave without at least saying goodbye." Answered Amy, wearing a modest red two piece suit.

Rouge, overhearing the conversation, swam up to the three. "He's not going too far I don't think; He left his towel. Probably just wants to get away from the ocean for a little bit."

Amy turned towards her. "But he wasn't even in the water. Why would he be afraid of something if we all said we'd help him already?"

Rouge just shrugged and adjusted one of the straps on her pink string bikini. "Who knows? Maybe it's not the swimming that scares him."

"Not the swimming? But then what…?" The bat was gone. Amy looked back over to where Sonic had gone. The runner's tracks were easily distinguished in the gently sloping dunes.

"…What is it?"

Finally, Sonic was out of there! He shot past most of the beach, avoiding the very sandy areas. An artificial breakwater that wasn't very far away caught his eye. It looked like it would have a good view, and if someone absolutely had to come and find him, it wouldn't be that hard.

The breakwater, while looking completely abandoned by tourists, did have a cement rail and stairs. Sonic climbed to the top and leaned on the rail, sipping his soda and watching the waves break just below. In total reality, he was frustrated with himself for not being braver. It wasn't like the water itself was going to hurt him! Looking down, he was surprised to see feral crabs covering the rocks below. How had he not seen these before? They were hardly the same color as the rocks; they almost matched his fur color in terms of a bright blue.

As he was watching the crustaceans scurry about the rocks, he didn't notice the larger wave until it was too late. When the wave hit, it shot upwards, drenching his face in salt water and ruining the rest of his drink. Startled, he jerked back, desperately wishing his cry of shock hadn't been quite so high pitched.

"Stupid…" He muttered to himself, but he couldn't figure out whether he was cursing at the wave or him.

Glancing back one last time as he prepared to take off, he did a double take suddenly when a subtle glow caught his eye. Leaning over the rail, he was shocked at what he saw. A blue chaos emerald! Here of all places!

Quickly he looked left and right. Deserted. This had to be his lucky day. All he had to do was get it out from the two rocks it was firmly wedged in. "Shouldn't be too hard." He murmured to himself.

Setting his now useless beverage on the rail, he leapt up and balanced, crouched like a cat, on the rail beside it. Sucking in a deep breath for courage, he waited for the next wave to pass, and then slowly lowered his feet on the other side.

Too slowly, as it turned out, as the next wave rolled in before he was ready and he withdrew with a cry. Annoyed, he shook his head and refocused. "Knock it off!" He muttered angrily.

Dropping his feet faster this time, he leapt off the rail before he could have time to stop himself and balanced on one of the rocks. Wait for the next wave…wait for the next wave…it's coming….it's coming….I will not take a step back….I will not take a step back….!

The wave crashed right over his stomach, but he stayed true to his word and didn't yield an inch to the oncoming wave, standing there like a stone statue and taking it.

The wave is gone now! Just another step! You can do it!

Sonic took a big step forward to the next rock, one of the ones holding it in place and grabbed ahold of the emerald. Tugging quickly in a hope to dislodge it before the next wave, he discovered something – it was stuck too tight! He couldn't get it loose!

Glancing up, he saw in horror the wave right before it crashed over him. That did it for the brave hedgehog. He could not stand the idea of his head, of all things, being submerged. With a huge final tug, the emerald came loose and he shot back to the rock and over the rail before he even had time to think.

Glancing back, he shuddered as he began to walk away. He couldn't stand the water; it brought back too many painful memories…

-flash-

Kicking and struggling, he once again fought for the surface, trying just to get another breath. His wish was granted as his head broke the surface, coughing and choking on the unfamiliar salty taste. He just barely managed a breath before another wave slammed him in the face, knocking the breath out of his lungs and forcing him back under.

The cruel process repeated itself as he once again fought for air, but the water about him was alive, cruelly dragging him down, forcing him under, letting him up for a few seconds before slamming him down once more. He could only cry silently here – screaming would only waste precious oxygen. Where was his dad? Where was the guardian angel they always talked about? Where was anyone?

The waves tired of this evil game and began another, slamming him up against the rocks, cutting his small stomach open and forcing the air once again out of his lungs. As the waves pulled away, he tried with all his young might to cling to the rocks and climb out, but he slipped just as the wave was gone and fell back in just in time for the next wave.

The water was so cold…so harsh…someone….anyone…please help….he couldn't…

A hand reached down and caught him around the scruff of his neck, a warning sign to his five-year-old mind. Dad never held him like that unless he was in big trouble. He was, as he was about to find out. The hand lifted him free of the waves, but despite this, he felt no gratitude, only more fear as he looked over at the face of his savior. A mustachioed face he would grow to hate for the next ten years.

-flash-

He shook himself from his reverie, trying to return to the present. He stepped down the last few steps and started to head off when a cry sounded from the opposite side of the breakwater.

"Sonic!"

Sonic sighed. Amy. It wasn't that he didn't mind the girl, but she had a habit of finding him when he wanted to be left alone. Oh well. Better go and see what she –

"Sonic!"

Sonic stopped. There was something in her voice he had missed the first time around. This wasn't her normal fangirl call. This sounded….afraid?

Shooting back up the stairs, he stopped short as he came face-to-face with one of his worst nightmares.

Amy was there, tied up and suspended above the water by a robot. Slightly to the left and closer to shore was a device he instantly recognized as the Eggmobile. Piloting the machine was, oddly enough, the very same man his thoughts had just been on.

Sonic lowered into a fighting crouch, customary sardonic smile in place. "Hey, Eggman! Long time no see!"

The doctor smirked. "Hello, rodent. I had a feeling I'd be seeing you today. Imagine my surprise when I come all this way to find a Chaos Emerald and discover someone has been kind enough to get it for me. It's a real shame I didn't get here in time to watch you retrieve it. I have a feeling it would have been quite entertaining."

Thinking back on his fear and weakness in the waves, Sonic couldn't help a slight flush. He shook his head and smiled to cover it. "Really, Doctor. Why would you want a soggy old beach rock like this? Why don't I hang onto it for you, and you can let Amy go?"

"Why not indeed?" the doctor pretended to think on this for a minute. "Hmm…Why, what was it again? Oh, yes, conquering the world. Kind of important, rodent."

"I think your old age is getting to you, doc." Sonic teased openly.

"Or maybe it's something you've forgotten, hedgehog." Eggman responded, pressing a button. Amy dropped a few feet lower. Sonic's cocky expression slipped for a few moments, as he tried to take a step towards her, but stopped. Eggman's hand was out in a "halt" gesture. "Ah, ah, ah. Careful now. We wouldn't want Miss Rose to have an accident, now, would we?"

Sonic growled, but shook his head no.

"Good. Now, the usual bargain? One emerald for one girl?"

Sonic slowly pulled the emerald out of his quills. Carefully, so as to not make Eggman think he was up to something, he stepped forward. A claw extended from the machine and held it out for the emerald.

He couldn't help but glance one more time at the emerald. Of course there were six more, but was it really worth it to let the doctor have it? Didn't he already know what Eggman could do with just one emerald? Shouldn't he find another way to free Amy without letting Eggman have it? He sighed. He already knew the answer; Amy was more precious than the emerald. He would put his life on the line without second thought, but he couldn't make anyone else do the same.

Meanwhile, Eggman was getting edgy. "Speed it up, rodent. I haven't got all day. Amy just may fall if you don't-"

As if his words themselves carried some immeasurable cosmic power, there came a snapping sound from the robot.

All eyes fell on the rope holding Amy up. There was a horrible creaking sound, and then another snap. Amy barely had time to scream before the rope broke altogether and she plummeted into the water.

Amy immediately struggled, trying to break her bonds, but even her strong swimming skills couldn't save her when her hands and legs were tied together. Finally, her lungs craved oxygen too much for her to fight, and her body forced her to take a breath. Coughing and choking, she couldn't find air. Blackness crept around the edges of her vision, and she was forced to finally give in. She closed her eyes and slipped away.

Sorry, Sonic. She thought to herself. I guess we weren't meant to be after all. But I still…love…..you….

She stirred, feeling warm and cozy. Mmmm. That was a good nap. I needed that. Wait…

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and sat up, looking around. The waves rolled in peacefully. There was no sign of Eggman. Turning, she saw Sonic literally right next to her, and felt her heart leap and then flutter madly. "Sonic?" she asked.

"Amy." Sonic sighed. He sounded relieved. "Are ya okay?"

Now I am. "Yes, I'm fine." She answered with a nod. "What happened? The last thing I remember is falling in…" She shuddered at the memory of all that evil, constricting water.

"Uh, I sorta, dropped the emerald and jumped in." Sonic began, embarrassed, and for good reason. It was all Amy could do not to gape at him. He dropped the emerald? Jumped In the water? To save her? There was so many things wrong with this picture, so impossibly out of character for him, she almost missed the next part. "I Just barely got us around the rocks, and got us to shore, but you weren't breathing…I was really worried. You sure you're okay?"

She just nodded. "Yes, I'm just…Just a little tired, I guess."

"Well, we don't have to go back right away. You could lay down for a bit longer," he suggested.

She nodded and went to lie down, but bolted right back up almost immediately as the full implication of what Sonic said hit her. "Sonic," she breathed, turning to him, "You swam?"

Scratching one of his quills, embarrassed, he answered, "Uh, well, yeah. I mean, there was no one else around, and Eggman obviously wasn't gonna help…"

She hugged him, purposefully trying to be gentle. "Thank you."

At first he stiffened at the contact, then softened a bit. "Anytime."

Amy paused a moment, then hesitantly asked, "Sonic?"

"Yeah?" he replied.

Another pause, Amy steeling her courage, before asking, "Why are you so afraid of the water?"

There was a very long moment, so long that Amy snuck a glance at him to make sure he was alright, before Sonic began to reply. "I…I don't really remember a whole lot about my dad." He started. Amy, confused, nodded her head slowly and let him get around to it his way. "But what I do….He was great. I mean great. We'd do all kinds of fun stuff together. But he would travel a lot. I think it had something to do with his job. One time, he took me out on his boat, and we sailed together. He was teaching me how…" His voice quavered and trailed off, before returning. "Something…something went wrong. The boat sank. I just barely made it to shore. Later, I came back. Searched all along the coast we'd been sailing. No one ever saw him again."

"Oh…." Amy breathed, beginning to catch on. "Oh, Sonic…"

"That's why I'm so scared of the water, Ames. It got my dad. I won't let it get me. I can't let it get me. Also, I…I can swim, actually. But being in the water…just being near the water….It reminds me of him, and...I panic. But today, I was so scared for you…so scared of losing you, that there was no room for any more fear. My mind was totally blank. All I could think about was getting you to shore."

She couldn't believe this. Sonic faced his fear of water and swam, saved her, gave up a chaos emerald, let Eggman win, told Amy a huge part of his mysterious past (that not even Tails knew all of), all in one day. He truly was amazing. It reminded her of how happy she'd be married to him one day.

Still half hugging him, she slowly closed and opened her eyes a few times. She hadn't been lying when she said she was tired. In fact, she was falling asleep right on his shoulder. On his shoulder! Wait till Cream heard about this!

Sonic waited till her breathing became deep and even before he dared to move. Gently leaning back while allowing her head to stay on his shoulder, he curled one arm around her figure in a half hug, and used another as a pillow for his head. Quietly, he lay there, not quite asleep, but not exactly awake, either. He needed to relax, and more importantly, think.

It was almost sunset when the two hedgehogs got back to the rest of the party. Vector was attempting to light a fire in the fire pit for dinner, but seemed to be having trouble. Cream and Charmy were trying to convince Knuckles to chaperone them for one last swim in the water before it got too dark. Cream was tugging on his arm, putting all her weight into it.

"Puh-lease, Mr. Knuckles, just one more time, I promise-!"

"Yeah, come on, Knuckles, we're begging!"

Knuckles shook his head, trying to conceal his smile. "Sorry, guys. I'm too tired right now. Some other time."

"But we won't be here some other time!"

"Yeah, come-!"

Sonic didn't hear the rest of the argument because Vanilla had noticed their arrival, and suddenly he found himself in a firm, but gentle, embrace.

"Sonic! Thank goodness you're alright! And Amy too!"

The mother pulled away without taking her hands off Sonic's shoulders so she could give him a stern glare. "I asked for you to please be back in ten minutes! And how long do you run off for?"

Sonic replied, "Look, I'm sorry. Time just kinda…got away from us, and, well…yeah." He finished with a glance at Amy, the two silently agreeing to tell the whole story later. He turned back to Vanilla. "Sorry for missing the party."

"Forget the party!" Vanilla cried, throwing her hands in the air. Sonic, surprised, stopped. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been? You know I know you're not that strong a swimmer! What if something had happened? I mean, I suppose Amy could have saved you if you really fell in, but…"

This comment caused Sonic to snicker and steal another glance at Amy, who also found it amusing. He turned back to Vanilla, touched by her caring. "Look…Thanks, Vanilla. For everything. But I'm okay now, so…are we good here?" He finished his speech with what he hoped was a winning smile.

Vanilla snorted, rolled her eyes and pushed him away. "Oh, just go play. I have cooking to do, once Vector gets the fire lit."

The two hedgehogs didn't get much peace, however, as the younger heroes noticed them and immediately shot over to Amy.

Cream put on her best cutsie smile. "Miss Amy, would you please take us into the ocean? Please?"

Amy shook her head, sending her quills everywhere. "Nuh-uh. No Way! I've had way more than enough of the ocean for one day. Maybe even a week!" She stalked off, leaving a disappointed Cream behind.

Sonic looked on with interest, then asked Cream, "How far out are you planning on going?"

Cream glanced over at him. "Momma doesn't want us going further than out waists just in case of an undertow."

Sonic glanced out at the sea, thinking. Then, "I'll go with you, Cream."

He may have well pledged eternal allegiance to the Eggman Empire for all the attention it grabbed from the others.

Knuckles and Tails' mouths were hanging open. "You'll…" Knuckles started.

"Go…" Tails continued.

"Swimming?" the two finished in unison.

Vector was staring from his place at the fire pit, at least he was, until the lit match he was holding burnt down to his fingers. Even Amy was looking impressed from her place on her towel.

Sonic, as usual, just played it cool and shrugged easily. "What? You said you were too tired, and Cream's waist isn't that deep at all. Jeez."

Tails simply shook his head, a smile slowly forming on his face. "As long as I live, I will never understand that hedgehog." Was all he said.

Sonic took off his shoes and tossed them in the general direction of his place, marked with his towel and belongings, then headed back towards the surf.

"Close your mouth, hon, you'll catch flies." Rouge ordered, walking up next to Knuckles and closing it herself with her index finger.

Knuckles was still having problems catching on. "…But isn't he scared?"

Rouge shrugged. "Guess not."

The sapients stood together as they watched their best friend pause at the edge of the water, then turn and wave back to them. Then he looked forward once again, eyes on the horizon, before taking his first step into the water. He didn't look back again.