Disclaimer: Sonic and co. don't belong to me. They belong to the dudes and dudettes at SEGA.

Author: Mmmm... Sonic and Blaze... I guess you could say I was long overdue to make a fic featuring these two. I've been pretty distracted with some other couples lately that I nearly forgot the ones that I actually like! I've been experimenting with so many potential pairings for Sonic lately... First it was Rouge... then Fiona... and lately, Shade... though I must admit, I'm currently hooked on Sonic and Fiona. I'll make it up to Blaze with something massive soon... anyway, enough of myrabble. Read on!

Brief Note:
"__" indicates a character's speech

*__* indicates that the character is speaking through thought

(__) indicates an action between a speech or thought

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A Little Distraction

by Sol

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Sonic the hedgehog, great hero and free-spirited extraordinaire was, for the first time in his life, struggling harshly. Not struggling in battle, rather, he's struggling to keep his mind calm and sane. But as hard as he could, his mind just couldn't grasp the situation properly. It was just too much for him tocomprehend what just happend before him.

*Tell me that didn't just happen!* He yelled in his head, still unable to understand what has transpired.

"What is the matter?" A voice asked the troubled hedgehog. Sonic tried to process the words that the voice said as best he could. And to some extent, he managed to clear his thoughts long enough to look towards the source of the voice.

Immediately, just as he could finally see clearly, he was instantly slapped back into a shock, as the individual that the voice came from was the one who put him into shock earlier in the first place. There, in front of him was Blaze the cat, princess and guardian of the Sol emeralds. She was so close to Sonic, nearly face-to-face with the blue hero. And this only made his situation all the more troublesome.

Sonic opened his mouth to say his piece, but no words could form. His shocked state of mind could barely construct a working sentence for him at the moment, and for the first time, Sonic the hedgehog could not think of anything to say...

"Seriously, is something wrong?" Blaze asked again, now even closer to Sonic, closing the gap between them as she nearly bumped noses with him.

Sonic could feel Blaze's warm breath on his face, and each one made his temperature rise. It wasn't because of Blaze's ability to control fire that made him warm. No, it was his own warmth. And he felt this warmth rise in his cheeks, making his face shine a bright shade of red. Sonic knew immediately what this warm feeling in his cheeks were... he was blushing...

*How could I not! After what just happend!* Sonic told himself as he tried to back away from her, but then noticed something. He couldn't move...

Sonic looked towards his sides and saw that he was on the ground! And most important of all, Blaze was right on top of him!

*What the heck!?* He screamed in his head as he started to sweat a bit. Panic creeping its way up his spine as he tried to remember exactly what happened to place him in such an awkward predicament.

"What are you doing?" Blaze asked her third un-answered question, cocking an eyebrow at the fledgling hedgehog. "And why is your face red?"

*Uh oh!* Sonic thought in a panic as Blaze noticed his rather embarrassed state and blushing face. Then he mentally slapped himself, thinking himself stupid. *Duh! Of course she noticed!*

"I'm waiting for an answer, Sonic." Blaze said, sternly this time.

"Y-y-you l-lick-ed m-me!" Sonic stammered to say, having a hard time responding under Blaze's gaze.

"What?"

"Y-you-! LICKED ME!!" Sonic blurted out, immediately covering his mouth in embarrassment, making his blush brighten. Blaze smiled smugly as she shook her head.

"So?" Blaze answered humorously, trying her best to supress a giggle.

"So? SO!?" Sonic yelled, shocked by her response. "Is that all you have to say about- about- THAT!?"

"What's the big deal?" Blaze said in a 'so what' manner while shrugging her shoulders. "Don't act so surprised."

"What's the big deal!? Don't act so surprised!? Blaze! You just licked me! LICKED ME!" Sonic said, emphasizing the words 'lick' and 'me' along with imaginary hand gestures in his head.

"Sonic, have you forgotten that I'm a cat? Licking is pretty normal for me." Blaze explained casually to the still mind-blown hedgehog.

"But- but- but-!" Sonic began, but couldn't finish as he realized that what Blaze just said was true. Cat's do have a tendency to lick themselves... but even with that knowledge in his head, he still couldn't simply let the situation go.

"You licked ME! Don't cats usually lick themselves!?" Sonic blurted out for no reason, believing it to be the only thing he found wrong about the whole matter... next only to the fact that it actually happend...

Blaze huffed a bit as she brought her right hand to her hip. "Sonic, cats can also lick others you know."

"Then, why did you lick me!?"

"Because you had a bruise on your face." Blaze said, placing her hand on Sonic's left cheek where said bruise was. Sonic immediately brought his hand to that spot and dragged his finger on it. Bringing his finger within his sights, he saw a little bit of blood on his white glove.

"See? Don't you remember that Whisker's robot slugged you earlier?"

"Y-yeah... I remember..."

"You were knocked out as you took a hit for me, and I was worried you got hurt. So, I licked your wounds. It's a cat thing." Blaze said to him. Sonic then remembered the fight earlier...

They were chasing after Whisker... a few words were exchanged between them and the pirate... and then a big fight with Whisker's giant octopus robot... Blaze almost got her bell rung by a giant robo-fist... and he took the hit for her...

As Sonic recalled the events, he saw Blaze make an un-characteristic smile, though it was only for a brief moment. As Sonic saw that brief smile, he couldn't help but wonder... was Blaze's actions just merely for, as she would put it, 'licking his wounds'?

"A cat thing?" Sonic said, shocked that those words left his mouth.

"Yes, a cat thing." Blaze said bluntly, as she stood up. "But I guess I haven't thanked you properly yet for saving me. So, thank you." She said politely, giving a light bow.

"Um... your welcome, Blaze..." Sonic said, scratching the area with his finger where Blaze had licked him. And as he gave the situation a little bit more thought, he realized how much time they must have wasted from this...

"I'm sorry..." Sonic said, which made Blaze cock an eyebrow.

"What for?" Blaze asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"Because of me and my antics. I ended up distracting you from your duty." Sonic said sheepishly, feeling a bit embarrassed for taking up Blaze's time.

"Don't worry about it." Blaze said, waving her hand dismissively. At this response, Sonic was a little surprised.

For as long as he had known the lavender feline, her duty always came first. How she could simply brush that away was beyond him...

"We can catch up to Whisker easily. Come on, let's go." Blaze said, brushing some dirt from her pants and giving Sonic a 'come on' gesture with a tilt of her head to the side.

Sonic nodded and as did Blaze. She then started walking ahead of him. As Sonic stood up, he once again took a little bit of time to stop and think about what just happend.

*Could she really have only been licking my wounds? Or was it something more? And what was with that smile earlier?* Sonic thought deeply, rubbing the area around his cheek that had the bruise again. He then shut his eyes closed and frantically scratched his head in frustration.

*ARGH!! This is so frustrating! I gotta know what's up with that woman!* He thought, gritting his teeth a little. He then sighed deeply as he calmed himself down. *Maybe I'm thinking about this way too much...*

"Sonic! What's with the hold up!" Sonic heard Blaze yell to him from a few feet away, snapping him back to reality for the fifth time today.

"C-coming!" He answered in a stammer, as he jogged slowly to catch up.

As Blaze stood in the distance and watched Sonic jog towards her, she gave out a mental sigh at the sight of him.

*Oh Sonic... if only you knew...* She thought, with a dreamy smile as she looked at Sonic before she brought her hand up and shielded her smile. *I'll make you see... before long, I'll make you realize that you're worth my distraction...*

As Sonic drew closer, she removed her smile and brought up her usual cowl as she shifted her weight to her side and held her hand to her waist to try and act like her usual self. But as desperate as she was, she couldn't help but let her mind muse and wander at the sight of the blue hedgehog...

*Definitely worth my distraction...* Blaze thought dreamily with a devious smirk.

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The End