Hydrophobia

By: Soniclover28

"So, what's the big occasion?" Sonic asked, yawning and sitting up from his position on the couch. He glanced at the clock on the wall to see that it read five in the morning.

"We're going to the amusement park today! I figured that we could all use a little break, and it's a perfect day to go!" Amy squealed in delight, packing her shoulder bag with basic necessities for a scalding day.

"But it's going to be ninety-nine degrees outside. In that temperature I can hardly run without sweating buckets," Sonic replied, bewildered.

"Oh, you won't have to run anywhere! The wind from all the rides will cool you down!" Amy waved him off, packing the last of the water bottles and slipping sunscreen into the bag.

"Hey, Amy?" Cream walked in holding two bathing suits in her hands. "I can't choose which bathing suit to wear-" Her eyes widened when she saw Sonic.

"Bathing suit…?" Sonic cocked a suspicious eyebrow.

"Uh-! Y-yeah… I-I wanted to wear one b-because…Um…" Cream stuttered.

"Water rides!" Amy blurted quickly, "They have water rides at the park for the summer, so Cream doesn't want her clothes getting wet…! Yeah! I packed you some swimming trunks, too, Sonic," Amy explained quickly, pulling out green swimming trunks from the backpack and smiling nervously.

"When'd you get those?" Sonic asked curiously.

"The other day…"

"You didn't have to buy them, Amy. No offense, but I don't plan on swimming anytime soon," Sonic told her.

"Yeah, but I just figured maybe you could go down a water slide with Tails and Chris."

Sonic shook his head, "I'd rather just watch you guys get wet."

"Oh, c'mon, Sonic! Please at least change when we get to the water area! It would mean so much to me!" Amy pleaded.

Sonic almost said no, but seeing Amy's face made him sigh in defeat. "Fine. But I'm not getting into the water."

Amy's face lit up, and she tackled him into a hug on the couch. "Oh, thank you, Sonic!"

"No problem," Sonic chuckled.

"That was not cool, Amy," Tails scolded once they were alone. Everyone else was outside, getting ready to get into the limousine Chris' parents had provided. It was a somewhat cool morning, with dew decorating the grass in the front yard.

"It was the only way to get him to come with us!" Amy retorted, avoiding his eyes.

"Lying to him isn't gonna help! You know he's terrified of water! He's not gonna go within two miles of that water park!"

"I told him the water park was only part of an actual amusement park! He's totally okay with it!" Amy snapped.

"Amy, Tails, are you guys comin'?" Chris called from outside before climbing into the long car.

"Yeah!" Tails yelled back, and then turned back to Amy. "Fine, but when he finds out, I'm not getting the blame for it!" With that said, he ran up to the limo and climbed inside, shortly followed by Amy.

"So, what's this amusement park called?" Sonic asked three blocks before they reached their destination.

"Um… I don't really know. Why don't you ask Amy?" Tails answered, shooting the pink girl a subtle glare.

"Uh- well, it's called…Um…" Amy coughed the last part, and Sonic was unable to make it out.

"What?"

Amy coughed the name again, and Sonic just nodded suspiciously instead of questioning her further. However, once he caught a glimpse of the giant sign that read Super Splash!, his eyes grew wide.

"That doesn't look like an amusement park!" He exclaimed frantically.

"Oh, that's just the water part of the place!" Amy lied quickly. "We have to go through there in order to get to the actual rides!"

This seemed to calm Sonic down just a bit.

"I thought that the water rides would be in the back of the-"

"Nope! This amusement park is totally different!" Amy started sweating.

"Isn't there another entrance we could-"

"No! This park is specifically designed to cool you down for the day!" Amy interrupted again.

No one in the limo could bear to look into the blue hedgehog's nervous eyes; they all knew the truth, and they all felt terrible about it.

"…Alright…" Sonic's happy-go-lucky tone faltered for only a moment, but he immediately realized this and perked back up to mask his fear. "So… how much does this place cost?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Eighty dollars per ticket," Tails answered.

"Wow, this place must be pretty snazzy to cost that much."

"Yeah…" Chris nodded, gazing out the window as they pulled into the V.I.P. parking.

"Okay, here is the plan." Everyone looked to see Ella turned around in her seat. "We are going to pay up at the front, and then Amy will hand out everyone's bathing suits. After that, go change and meet back at the Snack Shack, which is right beside the changing rooms. Understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright, then. Oh, and make sure someone knows where you're going at all times! The last thing we need is someone getting lost," Ella told them.

"Yes, ma'am," Everyone said in unison.

"And make sure to put on sunscreen before you go out and play!"

Everyone nodded again.

"And make sure not to pee in the-" Ella stopped herself quickly and turned around. "Make sure to go to the bathroom before you go on any rides," She restated quickly.

"Ella, I think they know how to take care of themselves," Chuck told her, yet smiling.

"Right… Of course…" Ella replied, a bead of sweat appearing on her forehead, but nonetheless smiling as well.

When everyone piled out of the car, they stretched from the hour-long drive and looked past the fence to see towering stairs that led to waterslides, and could hear people screaming in joy from afar.

"Ooh, I can't wait!" Cream started bouncing with Cheese at her side.

Sonic, on the other hand, had been desperately trying to block out the scent of water and chlorine from his nose. His nose had learned to pick up even the faintest smell of oil and machinery in the past years, but every time he caught a trace of the manmade machines, he realized water was very close to it. For once, he was disappointed that he couldn't find anything that was strictly metal and bolts.

The walk up to the front entrance brought wave after wave of nervousness to the blue hedgehog, and he found himself trying to locate every possible escape route he could take.

"Sonic!" The hedgehog jumped when his name was suddenly shouted, and he hadn't realized that Tails had been calling his name over and over, even though he was standing right beside him. "Are ya comin'?" He asked, walking through the metal detectors.

"Oh, yeah, I'm coming," Sonic replied, slipping off his shoes, putting them in a little plastic container, and walking through the scanner. When it didn't go off, he grabbed his shoes again and slipped them on. He met the rest of the group in front of the bathrooms and changing rooms, where Amy was passing out bathing suits.

Sonic looked around and realized he must've been close to the food court from seeing all the people carrying around the various types of snacks. He nervously gazed at the small kiddy pool that sat a little ways a way.

"Here's yours, Sonic." Sonic's head snapped around to Amy, who was handing him his emerald-green swimming trunks with a white stripe on either side.

"Thanks," He replied. Tails got deep blue trunks with a yellow stripe on the side, Chris got plain orange ones, and, surprisingly, Chuck and Tanaka got trunks as well as a white T-shirt to hide their upper-body. Sonic followed them to the men's changing stations, and slipped off his gloves, shoes and socks. He put his trunks on and placed his other clothes inside the bag, which would hold all the boys' things. Once back outside, Sonic observed the girls' swimwear.

Cream wore a yellow bikini that had a tank top-ish look. The top came just below her belly button. Her bottoms were pink and skirt-like with a yellow Hawaiian flower printed on the side. Ella wore a green one-piece bathing suit.

But Amy… Sonic could already feel heat rising in his cheeks.

Amy was wearing a strapless red bikini. That's all there was to it, but, being a boy, Sonic naturally started taking in every quality of the girl's slim figure.

"See somethin' ya like…?" Tails snickered.

Sonic quickly silenced him by elbowing him in the gut.

Ella led everyone to a reserved spot under a huge umbrella that was rather close to the giant wave pool, much to Sonic's discomfort. He turned his back to it, trying to distract himself by listening to Ella's directions.

"Here, everyone, put some on or you'll get a sunburn," Ella started passing around four bottles of sunscreen.

Sonic squirted some into his hand and lathered it into his arms, legs, back, stomach and muzzle.

"Hey, Sonic?" Amy's voice reached his ears.

"Yeah?" Sonic replied, focusing on rubbing in all the excess sun block.

"Could you, maybe, get my back for me? I can't reach it."

Heat flooded Sonic's face when he looked up and saw Amy with her back turned to him

"Uh, s-sure…" Sonic stuttered, squirting more sunscreen in his hand. He rubbed them together and started rubbing the substance into Amy's shoulder blades, careful not to touch the clip that held Amy's bathing suit together. He hesitated when he went to touch her lower back, but took a deep breath and rubbed it anyways.

"Okay, there, I'm done," He told her quickly, wiping the rest of the sunscreen onto a spare towel.

"Great, thanks!" She told him.

"Can we go play now?" Sonic heard Cream asking eagerly.

"Wait about five minutes or the sunscreen will come right off when you get into the water," Ella replied.

"But five minutes is forever!" Cream exclaimed.

"Choa choa!" Cheese agreed in dismay.

"Hey, Chuck?" Sonic suddenly addressed the old man.

"Hm?"

"How long are we gonna stay in this area, exactly…?" Sonic asked uncomfortably.

Silence answered him.

"I think Amy should be the one to answer that one," Tails muttered, crossing his arms.

Sonic looked to see the girl rubbing her arm nervously while avoiding everyone's eyes.

"Amy?" Sonic's voice was hesitant.

"Sonic… This… This isn't an amusement park…" Amy muttered. "It's the world's largest water park…"

Sonic felt his blood turn to ice, and his heart dropped into his stomach. He visibly paled, suddenly taking note of every water slide and pool he could see. The sound of the wave pool kicking on roared in his ears, and he whirled around to see he water rising and falling, lapping almost hungrily at the concrete shore. He took two steps back and turned slowly turned back around to the group.

"Y-you lied to me… I-I thought we were only staying here for an hour or two… Chaos, I-I gotta sit down…" Sonic stuck to his word and sat on the white lawn chair, suddenly feeling dizzy. "I mean, I was already nervous about coming in here in the first place, but…we're gonna be here all day…?" Sonic breathed.

"Sonic, I-" Amy was interrupted when two teenage boys bolted past their umbrella, spraying water with every step they took.

Feeling the water trickle down his back did not help Sonic's problem one bit. In fact, the thought of water even touching him made his heart pound, and he exclaimed, "I gotta get outta here!"

He tried bolting away, but Amy clutched his arm at the last second. Not wanting to scrape his bare feet on the hot sidewalk, Sonic stopped trying to run and looked back at Amy.

"I convinced everyone to come here because I wanted to try and help you with your hydrophobia," Amy explained.

"I don't want help with it! Amy, I understand you're trying to help, but this isn't working for me!" Sonic told her, trying to tug his arm away from her grasp.

"Sonic, please, just give me a chance."

"No!"

"But I-"

"I said no!" Sonic burst, making her jump. "I'm not getting into that water, and nothing you can say or do will ever, ever change that!"

"…I just wanted to help…" Amy let go of his arm and looked away, biting her lip in order to hold back her tears.

Sonic sighed and ran his hand down his face. Seeing Amy cry always made Sonic feel bad, especially when it was his fault.

"Why don't you all go and play now? I think Amy and Sonic need a moment to themselves," Chuck suggested.

Everyone nodded, and Tails, Cream, Cheese and Chris went one way, and Chuck, Ella and Tanaka went another.

"Listen, Amy…" Sonic started. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I'm not mad at you, I promise. If anything, I'm mad at myself. I've never been able to get into water that easily, you know that… I-I just can't do it…"

"That would've done just fine instead of you yelling at me…" Amy retorted quietly. "But it's okay… I shouldn't have tricked you into coming… I just wanted to try and help you so that it would be so mind-numbing to you anymore," Amy explained.

"…Tell you what," Sonic said reluctantly after a while, "I'll let you help me…" When Amy started beaming, Sonic added quickly, "But, you have to promise not to do anything like this ever again, and when I say I'm done, that means I'm done."

"I promise," Amy giggled excitedly. "But you have to promise to give me at least three hours to work with you."

"Three hours?!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Oh, c'mon, it'll fly by!" Amy urged.

"…"

"Please?"

"…Fine…"

"Yay!" Amy wrapped Sonic in a bear hug, which made the blue hedgehog blush at the thought of her almost nude body up against his, her bathing suit providing a little gap at the top just big enough to look…

'Chaos, wrong thought…Wrong thought…' Sonic shook his head as Amy started dragging him to the wave pool.

She stopped a foot from the water when Sonic suddenly planted his feet.

"I-I changed my mind!" He stuttered, wide-eyed.

"C'mon, Sonic, you promised!" Amy huffed.

Sonic's ears flattened to his head, and he took a very, very, slowfirst step into the inch-deep water. He jumped back as soon as he made contact, and exclaimed, "Okay, I was in! We're done now, right?"

Amy gave him a deadpan. "Get into the water," She commanded, annoyed.

"But it's cold…" He whined childishly.

"It is not cold! It's just right; not too cold, not too warm, now get in!" Her patience was running out, and she was tempted to just drag him into the water, but Amy knew better. "Look, I'll go in first, okay?" To show that no harm could come to her, Amy took about five steps into the liquid, which came up just above her ankles.

"See? No harm done," She smiled, "Now it's your turn." Amy held her hand out to Sonic, who shakily took it. Amy gently coaxed him into the water, and eventually got the blue hedgehog to stand right beside her in the ankle-deep water.

"You're doing fine," Amy praised.

Sonic, on the other hand, didn't feel fine. His muscles were tense and he was standing stiff-straight. The water was rhythmically lapping at his feet, and the hum of the motor that produced the waves was not exactly calming.

"Now, try and sit down."

Sonic barley registered the words; he was too frightened to do anything but stare down at the water trying swallow his feet.

"Sonic," Amy tapped his shoulder, "Try sitting down in the water now."

Sonic nodded, not taking his eyes off the liquid. Amy sat down first while observing Sonic carefully. If he tried to take off while she was sitting down, she wouldn't be able to catch him.

Seeing that he was still frozen to the spot, Amy placed her hand in the area Sonic's eyes were trained on. "C'mon, Sonic, I know you can do it," She told him softly.

Sonic swallowed hard and gingerly bent down. He hesitantly placed his hands in front of him, paused, and slowly sat down. Alarm shot up the hedgehog's spine as water seeped into his fur, and he made a move to stand back up.

"Hey." He froze when Amy rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay."

Sonic looked into Amy's calm and reassuring eyes before nodding ever so slightly, and gradually sat back down, making his emerald swimming trunks feel loose. He tensed up in spite of himself, and he let a shudder run through him.

"See? Nothing bad happened," Amy smiled. Her grin vanished when she realized Sonic was trembling and she grew worried. "Sonic, nothing's going to hurt you. You're safe," She told him softly.

Sonic looked at her with terrified emerald eyes, and a pang of sadness stabbed her heart.

"Do you need a break?" She reluctantly asked.

"Th-that would be nice…" Sonic croaked nervously. Amy looked surprised at his tone, but nodded and stood up. Sonic shakily stood up beside her, and together they exited the pool.

They decided to walk around for a bit to ease the hedgehog's nerves, and Amy even suggested that they go get a chilidog or two. Sonic happily obliged and they were now both eating at an empty table with an umbrella shielding them from the sun.

"Sonic?"

"Hm?" Sonic grunted through a mouthful of chilidog.

"I-I've always been afraid to ask this…but…"

Sonic swallowed down the hotdog. "Go ahead; I won't bite."

"Why…Why are you…um…" Amy stuttered.

"Why am I afraid of water…?" Sonic finished for her.

"Uh… Yeah… How'd you know I was gonna ask that?" Amy blinked.

"I knew it'd come up sooner or later," He sighed. "To be honest... I-I don't really know why I'm so nervous around water… I've just always had a bad feeling about it."

Amy pondered this for a moment, opened her mouth to ask another question, but closed it again.

'No,' She thought, 'I'm not asking him that. It's too personal.'

"What do you wanna do now?" She asked instead.

"Whatever you wanna do," Sonic replied, finishing off his chilidog.

"Well, that narrows it down…" Amy huffed sarcastically.

"Why don't we go see what Chris and Tails are doing?" Sonic suggested.

"We don't know where they're at."

Sonic shrugged. "We'll find 'em eventually."

"Alright."

They left the table and made their way past the wave pool and deeper into the water park. Sonic stared in a mix of fear and awe at the seemingly endless variety of water slides. There was a few different log rides, a surfing simulator with a real surfboard and actual water, a kiddy area for children five and under, and even a coaster that went down a steep hill and stopped almost abruptly to cause a giant splash.

"There they are," Amy pointed to the two boys about to climb up the tall staircase that led to a water slide. "Chris! Tails! Over here!" Amy called, catching other tourists' attention.

The two boys jogged over to the group, and Tails noted silently that Sonic was actually damp from the waist down.

"Hey, guys," Chris greeted.

"Hey, Chris," Amy started, "Would you mind taking Sonic with you two for a while? I'm going to go find Cream and Cheese and hang out with them."

"Wha-?!" Sonic was interrupted by Tails, whom had caught on to Amy's glint in her eyes.

"Sure thing, Amy," He nodded.

"What happened to the 'give me three hours' thing?" Sonic asked, taken aback.

"Okay, then. We'll just put that time on pause. You've gone at it for a half-hour. You have two hours and thirty minutes left with me, so after I get done playing with Cream and Cheese, I'll find you again," Amy told him, already strutting away.

Sonic almost spat a retort at her, but, whether it was purposely or not, his face was flooded with heat when Amy started swaying her hips in an ostentatious fashion. Sonic inwardly slapped himself for gawking at her like that. It was inappropriate for him to desire her just for her body.

'Chaos, what is going on with me today?!' Sonic thought.

"C'mon, Sonic, let's go down the water slide," Chris suggested.

"N-no thanks, Chris…" Sonic replied, gazing up at the translucent slide that displayed the water gushing down it. He flinched when a teen shot down it and sprayed water off the side of the slide.

"Oh, c'mon, Sonic! We can go down an easy one. I saw one over there that's not so bad," Tails coaxed, jerking his thumb behind him.

"Well…"

"We'll be riding with you, too, if we get a tube with three seats," Chris chirped.

"…Alright…"

"Okay! C'mon, the slide is this way." With that, Tails grabbed Sonic's arm and led him deeper into the park.

"A-are you sure that this is safe…?" Sonic asked, staring uneasily at the yellow-colored slide that spiraled fifty feet into the air.

"Yes, I'm sure, now get on the tube; other people are waiting in line," Tails said, taking the last hole in said floating device.

"Right…" Sonic muttered, taking a hesitant step forward onto the start of the slide. He shakily got in the second seat in between Chris and Tails, gripping the handles on the side for, what seemed like, his life.

Tails nodded approvingly and looked up at the life-guard, whom was waiting patiently to start the down the slide. "Let's go." The life-guard gave a gentle shove to the tube, and the current of the water shooting down the slide picked it up.

"W-wait! I-I changed my mind!" Sonic suddenly blurted, making a move to rise out of the tube.

"Sonic, sit down! We're going to flip if you move too much! And for choas' sake, relax your qui-iiiills!" Tails' sentence was lost as the tube suddenly sped up, and shot down the slide faster than he had anticipated.

Chris threw his hands up, shouting in glee, Tails was laughing in adrenaline, and Sonic…Well… Sonic was close to busting the plastic handles of the tube because of his iron grip.

"See, Sonic, it's not so bad!" Tails smiled, looking expectantly at the back of Sonic's head. However, when Sonic turned to look at him, Tails' smile vanished. The hedgehog's muzzle was a grayish-green, his eyes were wide and panicked, and his jaws were locked down, gritting his teeth hard. The fox immediately recognized these signs, and suddenly wished for the ride to be over.

The small pool where the slide would dump the trio in came into view, and, thinking fast, Tails gripped Sonic's hands. Before the hedgehog could register why Tails was removing his hold on the tube, the fox spun his namesakes and lifted Sonic off of the tube just before they collided with the water. The fox quickly located a trashcan and bolted over to it, setting Sonic down just before he hurled his insides into the container.

By the time Sonic had finished, he had earned himself quite a few stares from nearby tourists. Tails shooed them all off except for Chris and a lifeguard.

"What happened?" The lifeguard asked.

"He's hydrophobic," Tails answered, "I guess he got motion sick."

"Why was he going down a water slide if he has hydrophobia?" The lifeguard asked, creasing her eyebrows a bit.

"We were trying to help him not be so afraid of it anymore…" Chris explained, suddenly realizing how bad of an idea it was to shove Sonic down a water slide and expect him to tolerate it.

The lifeguard shook her head, swinging her honey-colored hair side to side. "That was not the way to deal with it. If anything, you made it worse. Just look at the poor guy!" She motioned to the hedgehog that was suddenly found curled up into a protective ball. "If you want to help him, find someone who actually knows how to treat phobias; like a therapist, for Pete's sake!" The girl scolded, crossing her arms.

Tails lowered his ears in shame, realizing that he probably had made Sonic's fear worse. "I'm sorry…" He muttered.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. Take him back to your spot and give him something to drink. Keep him out of the sun for a bit and then you can be on your way," The lifeguard ordered, turning around to walk off. "And hey," She turned her head to them, "Don't take it personal that I snapped at you… You're not the only one whose friend had hydrophobia…" And with that, the girl walked away, taking her post as lifeguard once again.

Tails had to shake his head in order to clear his thoughts. He turned back to his brother, whom was loosening up just a bit. "Sonic," Tails said softly, "C'mon, you're alright. You can uncurl now."

Sonic hesitated only a moment before coming out of his protective ball. He looked at Tails, whom was kneeling beside him, with shock-glazed eyes, only just slightly trying to calm his trembling body.

"C'mon, let's get you back into the shade," Tails suggested, standing up straight again. Sonic wordlessly nodded and, with effort, stood beside him.

"You should all be ashamed of what you've done," Chuck scolded, glancing into the back seat of the limousine as the luxurious car started.

Amy, Tails, Cream and Cheese lowered their heads at this.

"Sonic, I'm sorry this happened. I thought you knew we were going to be at a water park today. I should've dealt with it earlier," Chuck said, looking at the still-damp blue hedgehog, which was wrapped in a towel and leaning against the car door, breathing in the fresh air from the open window.

"S'okay…" Sonic replied shakily. He was still trembling slightly, and his eyes still displayed a bit of shock in their green depths. His muzzle wasn't green anymore, but was still fairly pale. "S-sorry I ruined your day…" Sonic told them, suddenly taking interest in his shoes.

"Don't be, dear. It is not your fault you got frightened. Everyone has fears, and no one should be forced to face them the way you did," Ella reassured him. "Everyone, don't you have something to say to Sonic?"

"Sorry, Sonic…" Everyone in the back seat said in unison.

Sonic shook his head, and put on a small smile, "S'okay, I said. I'm n-not mad. You were just trying to help." Sonic caught Amy's eye and gave her a slightly bigger smile, "After all, I can't just ditch these swimming trunks. They fit me so well."

At this, Amy's eyes lit up, and a smile spread on her face. "So does that mean you're not giving up yet?" She asked hopefully.

"You kiddin'? I never, ever give up, and nothing you can say or do will ever change that…" Sonic gave a knowing grin. "Sure. Next time you guys plan a trip to the water park, as long as I'm not forced into anything, I'll come."

Everyone smiled at this. No matter what, their hero always came through, in Amy's opinion. So, now would be a good time to tell him, she figured.

"So… You're willing to come to with us on that three week-long cruise next week?"

Sonic had jumped out of the window so fast; Amy didn't even register the towel that had gotten flung into her face.

Fin

Happy summer! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a long time, I've been working on all of my stories at once, and I figured I should do something for the start of summer. On the bright side, this is actually the first story I've ever finished so...*weakly* yay...