Another story I've been wanting to write up for awhile and I figured, what better time than Valentine's Day?
Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team.
Cream looked out the window, just staring at him, just as she always did.
She didn't know who he was, where he was from or why he came here, but she didn't seem to care.
She had always enjoyed when he would show up, not aware of her looking at him, just sitting there naturally.
He would arrive, appearing over the hill, silhouetted by the setting sun, sit down under that peach tree and just lay there for hours, leaving when the sky went dark.
Cream had always tried to work up the courage to approach him, the farthest she had gotten being her front door.
Her self doubt constantly pestered her, convincing herself not to take a chance.
Her hand would be on the doorknob, she would sigh, let go and go back to her room to look at him once more.
Cream rested her head against the window, wishing she had more confidence.
Another day had passed and night had fallen again, the fox walking away as usual.
Cream had fallen asleep by the window, still thinking of him.
Eventually, Vanilla, her mother, walked in and carried her to her bed, tucking her in.
This had woken Cream up a bit, but she was still drowsy.
Vanilla wished her goodnight and shut the door behind her as she left.
Before sleep would overtake her once more, she made a promise to herself.
"Tomorrow, I finally meet him." Cream vowed.
Cream shut her eyes and fell asleep, dreaming of tomorrow.
The Next Day.
Cream decided her best bet was to wait under the tree before he arrived, so she wouldn't back out.
Cream picked up a peach after it fell to the ground, taking a bite.
Cream hesitatingly ate it, noticing the odd taste.
"Sour, how does he eat these every day?" Cream wondered.
Cream decided not to finished the rest, setting it aside to throw away later.
Cream readied herself as the sun began to set, taking a deep breath to keep calm.
Cream looked out towards the hill, awaiting that familiar fox to arrive.
But as the hours passed and the sky grew darker and darker, giving way to the night, Cream's hopes had faded along with it.
The fox hadn't shown up.
Cream looked around, hoping she could see him in the distance somewhere.
"Where is he?" Cream wondered.
"Cream, it's time to come back to the house." Vanilla called for her.
Cream had a look of pure disappointment and sadness on her face.
She walked back to the house with her head hung low, questioning what could have happened to him and if he was alright.
"He shows up everyday, why not now?" Cream questioned.
Cream didn't have it easy that night, falling asleep and waking up every hour or so due to bad dreams.
Eventually she just gave up, going to sit by the window and stare out at the night sky, admiring the stars.
"Wherever you are, I hope you're alright." Cream said.
One Month Later.
An entire month had passed and still no sign of him.
Cream had gone back to waiting by the window, staring out at the tree, hoping he would show up, always disappointed when he didn't.
After awhile, she had stopped waiting, casting the occasional glance to the tree, still thinking she would see him.
It seemed like just as fast as he appeared into her life, he had left it just as quickly.
That is, until one day.
Cream had been walking home, passing by the tree as she did.
"Hi." She heard.
Cream just kept walking, suddenly stopping when she had realized someone had spoken to her.
Cream's eyes were wide open from the surprise.
She slowly turned around, hardly believing what she saw when she did.
"I-it's you." She stuttered.
The fox had returned.
He looked at her in confusion.
"Do I know you?" He asked.
Cream shook her head, mentally shaking off her distraction.
"No, I've just seen you around." Cream said.
"Oh, well then, it's nice to finally meet you." He said.
"I'm Tails." He introduced himself.
"Cream." Cream introduced herself.
Tails smiled at her, picking up a peach and biting into it, seemingly enjoying it.
Cream looked at him weirdly, wondering how he could enjoy something so sour.
"Oh, sorry, where are my manners?" Tails said, scooting over to let her sit down.
Cream took a seat beside him and the two instantly hit it off.
Cream couldn't believe it, she was having conversations with him, she was getting along with him and learning more about him.
She had never thought it would be this easy.
As the sun began to set, Tails had to leave.
"Wait, will you be back tomorrow?" Cream asked.
"I don't know, maybe." Tails told her.
"Okay, sorry to ask, I just got worried when you didn't show up before." Cream accidentally slipped up.
"What do you mean?" Tails asked.
Cream mumbled a bit, nervous to his reaction.
She figured telling him the truth would be the best course of action at this point.
"Well, I noticed before that you would always show up at this tree every day, but then you stopped coming for some reason." Cream told him.
Tails thought about it for a moment, then surprised her with a question.
"Did you wait?" Tails asked.
"What?" Cream asked.
"Did you wait for me out here?" Tails asked.
"Yes." Cream answered.
"I didn't show up." Tails said.
"Yes." Cream said, in a confused tone.
"Then we weren't ready." Tails said.
"What?" Cream asked.
Tails confused her even further when he held out a peach to her.
"Want a bite?" Tails offered.
"No thanks." Cream said.
"Let me guess, sour?" Tails asked.
"Yeah, I don't understand how you can eat them that way." Cream said.
"I don't." Tails told her.
"What does that mean?" Cream asked.
"Tell me, when you were waiting, did you feel like you were really ready, or were you just forcing yourself to?" Tails asked.
Cream thought back on that day, knowing full well she didn't have the courage to do it but made herself go out there anyway.
"I wasn't ready." Cream answered.
"The peaches are the same way, they weren't ready, you can't rush something, it has to grow and flourish naturally, whether it be a simple plant, or something as complex as a friendship." Tails explains.
Tails holds out the peach to her once more.
"Take another bite." Tails said.
Cream looks at it for a moment, taking it and biting into it.
Cream is stunned, what was once so sour she couldn't stand it, was now the sweetest thing she had ever tasted.
Cream took another bite and smiled in enjoyment.
"It's sweet." Cream said.
"I thought it would be." Tails said.
"So, what does this mean?" Cream asked.
"It means, I'll be back tomorrow." Tails told her.
Tails kissed her on the cheek causing her to blush and made his way home.
Cream stood there, feeling nothing but bliss and excitement.
But of course, she had to have one last knock back into reality.
"So, who was that?" Vanilla asked.
Cream started mumbling again, not noticing her mother had shown up right after he kissed her.
Vanilla laughed at Cream's reaction.
"Come on, let's go back inside, you can tell me all about it after dinner." Vanilla said.
Cream sighed, but figured it could've gone worse.
After all, she would see him again and this time, she knew she was ready.