If there was one thing Sonic always enjoyed, it was taking some time to relax once and a while. Sure, he loved the exhilaration of running around at the speed of sound and foiling the plans of his arch-nemesis, but like all heroes, they needed some time to relax and take a break. Luckily, today was the perfect day to go out with his friends to the beach.

Here Sonic was, sitting on a red and white-striped lawn chair. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses to keep the sun's rays from blinding him. Tails, Amy, Cream, and her Chao friend, Cheese were also here, but instead of being by the sand, they were playing in the water. Just to be on the safe side, Sonic kept his chair away from the border between the wet and dry sand.

Many times, Sonic would go to the beach just to take a look at the ocean. For some reason, it was nice to get a view of it. After all, they both shared a similar trait: being blue. Or, his love for the ocean just might be because he loved to listen to the sounds of the waves. It gave him a sense of peace, and it was perfect when he needed to relax. Of course, Sonic would take the opportunity to let rocks skip across the water, but that was it.

Truth be told, he liked to look at the water. ...The only problem was that he never liked to be in the water.

Despite being able to break the sound barrier with no effort, Sonic has always struggled to swim. At first, he thought it was because hedgehogs couldn't swim, but when he realized Amy could, he knew it was just him. In fact, when Sonic competed in the olympic games with Mario, he was the only one who was in a life vest. How embarrassing!

But, while he was bugged that he couldn't have fun in the water, it wasn't a big deal to him. After all, all heroes have at least one weakness, right? And one little weakness was not going to bring Sonic too down. He always tended to think more on the positive side.

"I guess you can't always get everything you want," Sonic thought as he watched his friends. He stretched for a moment before leaning further back with his hands behind his head. "Maybe while they have fun, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take a little nap!"

With that, his eyes slowly began to close, and he found himself falling asleep.

"Hey, Sonic!"

Sonic's eyes immediately opened when he recognized the sound of that voice. Looking around, he spotted Tails, Amy, Cream, and Cheese looking down at him. He also noticed that the sun had gotten lower since he took a nap.

"Mister Sonic, are you all right?" Cream asked.

"Yeah, I'm good," Sonic assured, rubbing his eyes while standing up. "Yeesh... How long was I asleep?"

"Actually, you were only asleep for an hour," Tails answered.

"Really? Huh... For a moment, I thought I had slept all afternoon!"

"Well, actually, we were getting a little bored in the water," Amy explained, giving Sonic a hopeful look. "It'd sure be fun if you joined us!"

Sonic's eyes instantly widened in shock. "What? Go in there? Amy, you know how much I don't like going in water! I can't even swim!"

"It's not even that deep!"

"But those waves don't seem that small," Sonic said, his eyes shifting over to the waves. "And I'm not exactly heavy enough to prevent myself from being dragged even deeper..."

"You're no fun," Amy pouted as she crossed her arms. "You gotta give some things a chance!"

"Oh, don't worry, I do! I've...just had enough bad experiences with the water... It makes me feel pretty slow, and you know how much I can't stand being slow! Of all the areas I've been in, water levels made me struggle the most."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Mister Sonic..." Cream trailed, her head hung low with guilt.

"Chao..." Cheese added, doing the same thing.

"No need to apologize," Sonic chuckled, giving them a thumbs up. "What's important is that you guys had your fun!"

After hearing Sonic's reasoning, Tails began to ponder over the previous events in his head of Sonic being in the water. After all, he was the one who had more experiences of traveling with him.

"Ummmmm... Sonic?" Tails intervened, getting his friend's attention. "About what you said..."

"What is it, buddy?" Sonic wondered.

"Well, from what I recall, most of the places you traveled in water weren't all THAT bad... You ended up surviving Labyrinth Zone, and that place is like a nightmare for you."

"Yeah... I found myself waiting to catch some air bubbles."

"And while there was some water in Aquatic Ruins, I don't remember you even going in there," Tails pondered. "In fact, I don't remember you going underwater!"

"Oh... Yeah, I remember that!" Sonic realized, a nostalgic grin appearing on his face. "I barely touched the water there!"

"Yeah, the water there was completely optional... And with Hydrocity, there was the Bubble Shield, which let you breathe underwater..."

"Bubble Shield? ...Oh, right. I didn't have that many issues with that place." the blue hedgehog realized, looking a bit uncertain.

"Of course," Tails nodded. "And didn't you tell me that the water in Emerald Coast and Twinkle Park was easy to jump out of?"

"Yeah, it was," Sonic nodded. "It was like I was jumping on the moon!"

"Really? It didn't feel like that to me..." Amy trailed.

"Huh... Well, you sure were missing out, Amy!"

Tails smirked, feeling even more confident with what he had to say. "And didn't you not have to go in the water in Holoska, Chun-Nan, and Adabat?"

"Not at all! I just went over it!" Sonic smiled. "But seriously, it would've been nice if I was able to swim in the water..."

"You told me that you were able to when you competed in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, right?"

"Huh... Now that you mention it, I think I did for some odd reason. ...But that didn't count with my main adventures, though."

"I know," Tails nodded. "But I remember you said that your trip in Aquarium Park wasn't too bad."

"Totally," Sonic agreed. "Not only did I take down another one of Egghead's mechs, but I had no problem traveling through the water with one of the aliens I rescued! Plus, I think I was able to maneuver myself through the water with my double jump... No, scratch that, I could jump as many times as I wanted to."

"Hmmmmm... That sounds like swimming."

"Errrr... It does?"

"Wow, your adventures sound so interesting!" Cream remarked.

"Chao!" Cheese cheered.

"Well, when you're going after someone like Eggman, you're going to have some interesting experiences!" the blue hedgehog chuckled. "...But why were you asking me all of that, Tails?"

"Oh, I was just proving that your experiences with water weren't all that bad," Tails answered, keeping the same confidence he had before. "And it turns out I was right."

"Errrrmm... Uhhhhh... But..." Sonic stammered. Eventually he let out a sigh of defeat. "Dang... Well, I guess you're right, Tails."

"I know."

"So does this mean you'll join us?" Amy asked.

"Ehhhhhh... Maybe I'll try it for this once... But you know I can't swim, right?"

"Don't worry! I've got that covered!" the pink hedgehog giggled.

"You do? What do you-" Sonic's face instantly feel when Amy put inflatable armbands on his arms. "I guess this is going to be a long day..."

Soon enough, he was being dragged into the water by the others. It would've been the perfect opportunity to run, but it was already too late. His legs were already in the water.

At first, he winced at the feeling of the water around his legs, but after a while, it started to feel just like most water he had been in.

Of course, that feeling had been stopped when Tails playfully splashed on him, leaving him soaking wet.

"...Just roll with it," Sonic thought. "Sometimes you just have to handle your weakness..."

As he playfully splashed water back, he noticed a small, flat rock nearby. He smiled as he picked it up and threw it across the water.

Perhaps he would at least get some enjoyment today.

I actually kind of wanted to write this around the time when it was Sonic's birthday, but...I was just a little too lazy and didn't get the opportunity. Well, better late than never! ...Right?

I always wanted to write something that had to do with Sonic's weakness to water. Not how he overcomes it or anything, but rather making him realize that the water levels he went through weren't all that bad (except for Labyrinth Zone. That place is no fun).

I won't bother explaining some of the things Tails mentioned with some of the water levels. It's something you should probably see for yourself. :P