Incest

Disclaimer: After all this so far, do I really need to mention that I don't own anything Sonic and that they are property of Sonic Team and Sega? I didn't think so.

Whew, well it's here at long last! Sorry for the super long pause in updating chapters recently. I could give a hundred good and not so good excuses to you why I've been away from writing so long, but suffice it to say that I'm trying earnestly to get back into the more rapid updates in the near future. (college willing, of course.) I have found that the long wait has pried a few of you anonymous dedicated readers out to announce yourselves by reviewing finally, though, so maybe I'll start making these long waits a habit instead... XD No, but seriously, thanks to everyone for reviewing so far, even if it was so long ago that I've probably forgotten about it!

Regardless, your long wait is being rewarded by an equally long chapter this time, the longest I'll probably ever care to make ever again as well since it was a pain to edit and review due to it's length. So, prepare to spend a long time enjoying this next extensive installment, and I hope to hear from you readers even more now that I've finally returned!

Chapter 4: Bearer of Bad News

Gee, I know that Ella taught me how to cook, but I never thought that she would also make me a compulsive cleaner, Amy thought as she used a feather duster to wipe away years of collected dust from a tabletop which had, up until a moment ago, been nearly completely covered in random pieces of paper, books, and the odd, random mechanical doohickey. It appeared that after she had finished with the dishes earlier, Amy grew somewhat impatient just waiting on her blue mate and decided to give Tails' living room a much needed cleaning. She was rather surprised herself at just how thorough she had ended up being, though, as Amy now wondered how Tails would react to the unrequested maid service. She didn't have too long to ponder the male fox's reaction, however, as Sonic then unexpectedly dashed back into the house unannounced like always.

"So, did ya find the proof that was so important to you?" Amy immediately addressed him as she forgot completely about her cleaning and went over to meet Sonic by the front door.

"Yeah…" was the only word to escape Sonic's mouth as he slowly raised his eyes to meet Amy's in a look that betrayed a small degree of disappointment at his findings.

"Well, why'd ya go all the way to the city, though, Sonic? What did you need to do there to get your proof?" Amy kept up her interrogation, eager to know as many details as she could about anything Mysty-related.

"I just had to bend a few noses," Sonic quickly explained as he noticed his balled up fists still and quickly made the conscious effort to release them and relax. I never thought that just one small-time thug could make me fell so mad, Sonic thought to himself as he recalled the canine bully that he had injured minutes ago. Or maybe it's just what I did to him that's makin' me feel so frustrated… I mean, I really lost it back there, didn't I?

Amy noticed that Sonic seemed lost in his own thoughts, but she had no possible way of knowing just how accurate Sonic's last sentence was to the actual course of events that led the hedgehog to his discovery minutes ago. Finally, although she was hardly in the need for convincing proof when Amy was already convinced from earlier clues about the truth of Mysty and her 'job', Amy asked Sonic to spill the beans. "Well then, what did you find out, Sherlock?" she questioned him in her usual, tactful way.

Sonic let out a heavy sigh before he responded. "You were right, Ames. Mysty really is a prostitute with no home," Sonic admitted to himself as well as her.

"See, now you believe me!" Amy triumphantly exclaimed as she was convinced that Sonic had finally just seen the light. "I told you, Sonic, nothing good ever comes from those back alley dumps!"

"Hold up just a sec, Ames," Sonic calmly interrupted the pink hedgehog as he felt like sticking up for the absent vixen that was now suddenly on trial here. "Just 'cause Mysty's from the wrong side of town doesn't make her a bad person! She certainly seems nice to me. I even got the feelin' that she doesn't really like bein' a prostitute anyway."

"OK, fine," Amy acquiesced on this one point. "I have to admit that she doesn't seem half bad for a homeless bum, but do you really think that this is the kind of girl you want to let influence Tails?!"

"Well, I… Umm… Gee, Amy, I don't know what…" Sonic tried to come up with the best solution but was unable to fit everything together perfectly in his mind as he saw innumerable different possibilities that could result from either interfering between Tails and Mysty or not.

"Well then, just trust me, Sonic. As a woman, I tend to know more about how to handle these kinds of things than you do," Amy tried to convince Sonic by offering reassurance. "I think that letting Mysty stay here with Tails is a bad idea, and I think that you need to tell him that when he comes home."

"Wait, why me?!" Sonic jumped slightly as he pointed towards himself as if to clarify who he was referring to.

"Sonic, you're a guy and Tails' best friend; he'll listen to you! If I were to try and warn him, he'd probably just ignore me," Amy truthfully admitted. "Besides, you know that if you really care for him then you'll do what's best," Amy then assaulted Sonic's guilt in a ploy that almost never failed to bend the hedgehog to her will.

"Ugh... I guess you're right, Amy," Sonic gave in. "Tails and Mysty should actually be back anytime now. I saw them walkin' back as I ran up here a few seconds ago."

"Good, when those two get here, you can tell Tails to put her back in his plane and take her right back to…" Amy began to instruct Sonic until the blue hedgehog finally caught on to Amy's manipulation.

"Whooooaa No! Hold up there, Ames! That ain't gonna happen, and you know it," Sonic loudly objected.

Amy seemed momentarily shocked by Sonic's sudden refusal. "But, I thought that we agreed…" the pink hedgehog tried to figure out the reason for her husband's rapid change of heart.

"We agreedthat Mysty couldn't stay here with Tails, not that she had to leave entirely," Sonic said as he crossed his arms and tilted his head with eyes firmly closed in a direction away from Amy in defiance. "When he gets back, I'll take Tails out for a little talk, and I'm gonna tell him everything I've already told you. Then, I'm gonna let him decide what to do with Mysty since she's still his guest."

"But why?! Wouldn't it just be easier to get rid of that prost…" Amy started to argue, about to express her fear that the vixen might be already influencing or brainwashing the fox to not want her to leave, before Sonic shot one of his eyes open to glare right at Amy in his version of a death stare. Although a stranger would have been puzzled by Sonic's subtle gesture, Amy knew him well enough to know that this particular look meant that the recipient needed to hush and soon.

"Mysty may not have the most preferred job in the world, Ames, but I still don't think that she's a bad person. Tails knows that she needs a friend, and I'm not gonna be the one to tell him that he has to just dump her back in the alley again," Sonic resolved. "But, I do agree that having Mysty stay here with him is a bad idea. I don't think anything wrong might happen, but my bro isn't used to sharin' his house with a girl anyways, which means Tails might not feel too comfortable havin' her here after a while. So, I say we let Mysty stay at our house for the time being," Sonic proposed.

"No way!" Amy immediately objected. "That's still MY house, Sonic Hedgehog, and I don't want that street trash living anywhere near it! Besides, your little roof demolition project yesterday probably turned the guest bedroom into an indoor swimming pool after last night's storm!"

Sonic let out a suppressed sigh at Amy's refusal. As much as he wanted to call Amy out for her almost senseless bigotry against Mysty, she had raised a good point in that they simply didn't have a spare room or bed at the time to offer a guest. "OK, fine, Ames, but do you have any other ideas of where she can stay for now?" Sonic sought her advice since he knew that this was much more her department than his.

"Other than back in the city where Tails found her?" Amy snidely remarked, only to get another glare from Sonic for her troubles. "OK, OK, fine! Hmmm… How about Big's?"

"Big?! Amy, look, I really need ya to be serious here…" Sonic began to scold the pink hedgehog, thinking that she was still senselessly opposing Mysty's presence by suggesting the most ridiculous housing arrangements for her that she possibly could.

"I am serious, Sonic," Amy genuinely replied. "Big might not be the smartest guy I know, but he's definitely the absolute sweetest, nicest, most gentle creature I ever met! I know Mysty would be safe with him, and he lives deeper in the forest close to Tails already if you still want those two to be able to see each other."

"Yeah, Amy, but Big is clueless most of the times, so he might probably upset her by accident," Sonic amended as he shook his head in refusal at the practical, but unusual, idea. "Besides, Ames, Big lives deep in the forest where it almost turns to a swamp and all he has is a small, one-room hut. I don't think that it would be a very nice place for Mysty to have ta stay if ya ask me," Sonic gave his opinion.

"OK, well fine then!" Amy gave in as she realized that Sonic probably wouldn't change his mind on the matter. "But if Big's house isn't a good place for Mysty to stay and she can't live with us or Tails either, then where will she live?" Amy said as she secretly hoped that the lack of places for Mysty to stay might force Sonic to reconsider having Tails send her away after all.

"Well…, what about Vanilla and Cream's house?" Sonic eventually proposed. "They got a nice place over there with plenty of room, and I bet Mrs. Vanilla would be more than happy to give Mysty a home, too," Sonic thought of a few reasons that the arrangement might work.

"Yeah, but what if Mrs. Vanilla won't take her?" Amy asked as she didn't like how Sonic had just assumed that the home filled already by two rabbits and a chao would be accepting of a new, semi-permanent guest.

"C'mon Amy, since when has Mrs. Vanilla not been happy to help somebody else that needs a home?" Sonic quickly argued back, knowing that his argument was true enough that it would trump Amy's easily.

By the resulting look on the pink hedgehog's face afterwards, too, it was clear that it indeed had. "OK, fine. She can stay with Cream and her mom… IF they approve," Amy gave in. With that finally settled, though, Amy now needed to ask Sonic something else that bugged her about this whole situation. "What I really want to know, Sonic, is why you care so much about this Mysty person, anyways."

Sonic sighed as he knew that this question finally got to the heart of the matter, and also asked Sonic to answer a question that he didn't fully understand to answer to himself yet, either. "I'm still not sure really why, Ames. But, at the very least, Mysty's in some kind of trouble right now in her life, and I want to help her out just like I know Tails does, too. Still, though, I just can't get over this strange feeling about her and Tails. It's like, whenever I see them together, it just seems… kinda like they belong together somehow, I guess," Sonic admitted. "And the way she acts around him is so strange and different, too. There's just gotta be a connection Amy, and I want to figure out what it is."

Now it was Amy's turn to sigh heavily at Sonic's strange confession. "You think that Tails and her should be a couple," the pink hedgehog bluntly rephrased all of Sonic's rambling into one sentence.

"No! That's not what I meant, Amy, honest! Well, maybe they might get to like each other eventually, but the way she clings to Tails and doesn't feel safe unless he's around… It's just unusual, Ames, ya gotta admit," Sonic quickly corrected Amy's overly direct statement that hadn't truly described what the blue hedgehog felt about the female fox and his little brother.

"Well, why don't cha ask Tails about it on your little talk soon?" Amy suggested in a tone that made it sound like the most obvious suggestion in the world.

Sonic never got to respond to that rhetorical question, however, as that very moment Tails and Mystique came back through the front door from their walk together. Despite the painful memories that the stroll had unexpectedly stirred up for the young fox, Tails seemed to be rather cheerful as he entered the door while still busy telling Mysty about one of his numerous fights against one of Eggman's newest inventions or another. The female fox, on her own part, seemed to at least enjoy the things Tails was talking about right now and looked unusually relaxed as she even laughed a bit when Tails described in short how Eggman had managed to make a fool of himself before he was beaten once again. Then, both noticing Sonic and Amy already sitting together on the living room sofa, Tails and Mysty abruptly halted their conversation to greet the hedgehog couple.

"Oh, heya, Sonic and Amy! I didn't know that you guys would still be around this long," Tails greeted the couple as he also made known his curiosity of them still being at his home, too.

"Well, thanks to Sonic, our house probably will take a long time to dry out after that storm last night coming through with half our roof missing!" Amy quickly brought up as she gave Sonic a quick glare of annoyance to show that she was still going to get him for that mistake later.

"Yeah, I guess there's really no rush then, right Ames?" Sonic playfully remarked as he smiled at Amy sheepishly, which only elicited an exasperated sigh from the pink hedgehog on how her unorthodox husband seemed to be able to pass anything off as a joke.

"Would you like me and Mysty to come help you guys clean up?" Tails asked the two hedgehogs as he just now noticed that someone had obviously taken it upon themselves to clean his home while he was away, too.

"Nah, we've got it, bro!" Sonic declined quickly as he saw it as unfair to put Tails and his new guest into manual labor so soon after just meeting each other.

"You mean you've got it, right?" Amy broke in without missing a beat, quickly reminding Sonic that since it was his fault for the no doubt mini indoor flood, he got to clean it all up on his own.

"Sure thi… Hey, wait a 'Buttnik stompin' minute there! I gotta mop up that whole room by myself?!" Sonic complained as this was decidedly not what he had in mind for the rest of his afternoon.

"Maybe, that is, if it didn't leak through into any other parts of the house, too," Amy replied teasingly as she crossed her arms to show that she wasn't just kidding entirely. This, coupled with Sonic's reaction of a loud groan as the blue hedgehog looked up at the roof while raising both hands in a pleading gesture got everyone else in the room giggling loudly, including Mystique who had been characteristically quiet up until now.

"Hey, that's a pretty laugh ya got there, Mysty," Sonic commented as he smiled along with everyone else's laughter. "So, how do ya like it here compared to the city?" he immediately asked to avoid the awkward silence that would have come after the short burst of laughter.

Mysty seemed a little reluctant to respond at first, but she was really beginning to open up to these people by now and saw no harm in just an innocent conversation. "It's very nice here, Mr. Sonic. It's so different then I'm used to, really. Everything is so lively and green, and the people are just as inviting as the beautiful scenery," Mysty answered in the longest continuous chain of words anyone present except for Tails had ever heard her say.

"I'm glad ya like it, Mysty," Sonic approved as he too enjoyed the endless, undeveloped land that stretched out for miles and miles of just nature around this area of Mobius. It was good land for long distance, high speed running; that was for certain.

"Well, you don't have to go back right now if you don't want to," Tails suggested to Mysty as he could tell that the female fox had enjoyed herself quite a bit today and probably didn't want to go back to the city alleys anytime soon either after what had happened to her there just yesterday.

"Huh?" Mystique couldn't hide her audible shock at what Tails had just offered her. "No, Tails, I couldn't possibly…" she tried to decline as she remained slightly stunned at the male fox's overwhelming generosity.

"But why not? It's not like you have a home or a job to get back to over there, right? So why not stay with us?" Tails asked in an attempt to get Mysty to second guess her almost immediate refusal that he knew was just coming from etiquette and wanting to not sound imposing to others. Actually, if anyone was ever going to understand that exact feeling, it would certainly be Tails since he himself had done the same thing countless times over and over again due to his helpful and caring personality.

Amy and Sonic had fallen suspiciously silent at this point, though, as the pink hedgehog shot a quick glance at the other one, clearly a sign that now would be a great time to have that little chat Sonic had talked about having with the yellow fox concerning Mysty. Sonic caught the signal and sighed before interrupting sooner than Mysty could have enough time to decide how to answer Tails' repeated offer. "Umm… Hey, Tails? Could you and I just have a quick little talk together, bud? I got somethin' I need to say to ya that I really have on my mind, and I don't wanna wait around any longer if you've got a sec," Sonic tried to avoid simply out and saying that he wanted to talk with Tails privately about Mysty, but the blue hedgehog still came out sounding about as blunt and smooth as an unwaxed bowling ball while Amy also let out an almost inaudible sigh of frustration matched by shaking her head slowly in the palms of her hands at Sonic's 'masterful' way of handling the situation.

Tails, however, was either oblivious to the very thinly concealed purpose of Sonic's impromptu private discussion or was simply feigning ignorance as he responded a few seconds later with a puzzled look on his face, "Uhhh… Sure, Sonic, I guess," Tails accepted as he got up to follow the blue hedgehog outside, knowing full well that Sonic preferred to have his most serious talks, however rare, in secluded locations that they both would travel to together via a short sprint which Sonic always claimed set up the right mood for a serious conversation. Without a further word, Sonic then came up alongside Tails in his home's front lawn just outside his door and abruptly took off in a blue streak down a little used trail through the surrounding woods. Tails simply revved up his two long tails in response and quickly rocketed off in pursuit, knowing that Sonic would be going slow to start off because of Tails' slower rate of acceleration and allowing the younger fox to catch up before heading towards their destination.


It didn't take long for the two to arrive at their unannounced meeting spot together, a ridge where the forest receded into a short plain just before a sheer cliff which overlooked the sea on the other side of the large hill which Tails' home was built on. Tails was rendered completely speechless as he skidded to a quick halt here along with Sonic, not from the absolute beauty of the scenic wonder that Sonic had led him to, but, rather, that Sonic had actually known of this spot's existence in the very first place. "How did…?" Tails started to voice his question before Sonic cut in with the answer already.

"I've seen ya come up here a couple times on your own before, bud, but I guessed that ya probably didn't want me to know about this place since you never told me about it before, though. So, I decided to just keep it a secret that I knew about your special private spot until the next time we had to talk," Sonic interrupted as he had no doubt anticipated Tails' exact question before even leading the fox here. He watched earnestly as his brother's face slowly turned from shock at the revelation to a mixture of annoyance, sadness, and relief at knowing that Sonic had seen him here at his supposedly secret hideaway before. Sonic breathed a quick sigh of relief that Tails didn't actually appear to be very angry at him either, at least for now, as the hedgehog decided to get more to the point. "Anyways, bro, about what I wanted to talk to ya about here…" Sonic began as it was now his turn to get interrupted.

"I know; it's about Mysty, isn't it?" Tails less asked and more simply stated the truth as he noticed that Sonic seemed momentarily stunned at the fox's easy, correct guess.

"Guess I wasn't very subtle, then, was I?" Sonic responded a few seconds later as his body language changed to that of an embarrassed 'Oops'.

"About as much as one of Eggman's robots in a city filled with people screaming," Tails shot back as Sonic played along by wincing at how bad that really was in terms of trying not to attract attention.

"Well, you know me, bro; I never was good at this stuff," Sonic gave his own defense as he saw Tails also nod his head in agreement along with his own. "Still, though, bud, I really gotta know how you feel about Mysty so far," Sonic started what he saw as the most important part of the conversation.

"Why would that be so important to you, Sonic?" Tails immediately asked, wondering why the hedgehog thought it was such a key issue all the sudden.

"Well… Don't get me wrong here, bro, but ya do already seem to spend a lot of time with her, you know. Plus, ya gotta admit that she's a pretty nice looking fox, too…" Sonic tried to hint at what he wanted to know from his little brother the most about how he felt towards Mystique.

"She's only a friend, Sonic," Tails quickly responded in a changed tone that practically dared Sonic to make that inference out loud again but yet managed to narrowly avoid sounding openly hostile towards him, either.

"OK, bud, I believe ya," Sonic gave in quickly as he caught the sudden edge in Tails' voice, wondering what made the mention of a possible relationship between him and Mysty enough to make Tails suddenly so defensive. "Either way though, bro, I think that it might be best if Mysty didn't stay with you in your house anymore alone," Sonic brought up his and Amy's decision.

In response to Sonic's quick request, Tails quickly gave the concerned hedgehog a look of confusion. "What makes you say that, Sonic?" the fox asked as he had never sensed any real reason why Mysty staying with him would be a problem before.

"Well, bud, it's not like I don't trust ya or anything, but me an' Ames just don't like the idea of Mysty stayin' over here with just you two alone," Sonic told the befuddled fox the straight truth.

"But, I still don't get why, then, Sonic," responded Tails, still just as confused as before since the fox clearly wanted to know Sonic's reasoning for such concern. "I mean, Mysty doesn't seem to really be comfortable around anyone but me, so why shouldn't she stay in my house? It's not like I don't have enough room or anything," Tails countered Sonic's apprehension with his view of how he saw the situation as of now.

Sonic gave a sigh as Tails' clear logic once again forced to hedgehog to play all his cards if he was to have any chance of potentially saving the fox from himself as the hedgehog still saw it. "It's just… Well, we don't want you to be tempted by her bein' around or anything when no one else is there," Sonic tried to delicately approach the full reason for his and Amy's shared concern.

"Tempted? What do you mean by…" the fox started to ask before he stopped himself short. Then, Tails' expression immediately changed to shock as even the morally innocent fox finally understood what Sonic was getting at this whole time. "What?! How could you even think that, Sonic?! You know I'm not like that! I'm not even really sure if I'm old enough yet to actually be able to, you know…" Tails shouted as Sonic's accusation stung the fox greatly. He still didn't want to say the dirty three letter word, however, and his shouting petered off as he thought of a good way to continue his explanation without being too vulgar.

"Whoa, Tails! You can stop right there, buddy; I got 'cha, OK?" Sonic tried to calm the fox down, fearing that he might be about to run off on him in anger if the situation got any more heated. "Besides, like I already told ya, bro; I trust you completely! It's just, me an' Ames know that you've never lived with a woman before, and sometimes girls can be kind of persuasive, you know? Especially ones like her, too, bud."

Tails immediately opened his mouth in intentions of yelling back at Sonic that this proved he obviously didn't trust him completely until the young fox suddenly registered all of Sonic's last statement. "Wait a second, Sonic! What do you mean 'girls like her'?" Tails instead asked as his voice seemed almost protective of the absent vixen.

Sonic immediately closed his mouth, canceling already what he was going to say as his eyes wandered as best they could away from Tails' withering stare. "Well, I guess ya should know, bud. The reason you found Mysty like that back in town yesterday wasn't because she was bein' attacked, or, at least, that wasn't the whole story," Sonic paused long enough to look back at Tails and sigh at being forced to reveal the shameful secret about Mysty. "I'm not sure you'll actually get this, bro, but Mysty is a…"

"A prostitute. So what?" Tails quickly responded, somehow guessing the very words from Sonic's mouth and speaking them as if they meant little to nothing in the young kit's mind even though he clearly understood what that profession meant by his response.

Sonic's eyes now almost bugged out of his head as the hedgehog stared at Tails in disbelief. "How did you learn about that, bro?! Why do you even know what a prostitute is?!" Sonic incredulously asked as he had never really expected Tails to understand or have any prior knowledge of such a dirty and taboo profession.

"I told you, Sonic; I'm not just a little kit anymore. I've actually been living on my own for almost a year or more now, and I've taken care of myself long before that, too. You don't think that I wouldn't know how the world actually works by now, would you?" Tails asked in a subdued and only semi-curious voice. He didn't really expect an answer to the question, however, as he simply wanted to gently remind Sonic that the kit wasn't just his clueless little tag-along anymore.

Despite having known this long ago and actually starting to come to terms with Tails' growing up now, Sonic still seemed shocked at how close the fox really seemed from adulthood now. "Sorry, little bro, I guess I just forgot that you're pretty smart on a lot of things," Sonic apologized although he sincerely wished that he knew where Tails' knowledge of such things as prostitution was coming from.

"Well, I guess I can't blame you for being surprised too much, though. I probably wouldn't expect my younger brother to know what prostitution is if they were still my age and I was yours," Tails let Sonic off the hook as he knew that this was only a case of Sonic acting in the kit's best interest, which Tails was always happy for since he never really had any parents to do it for him anyways. However, Tails felt that after all this time he should have clearly demonstrated more of the right to do his own things other than just inventing machines and all, so the fox again stuck up for Mystique. "But, Sonic, just because she may be a prostitute or whatever doesn't make her a bad person," Tails tried to argue his point to the hedgehog.

"I know that, bro! But still…" Sonic started to give his position again, although it was rapidly becoming apparent that the hedgehog himself was struggling to find good ways to counter Tails' arguments.

"Still what, Sonic?" Tails didn't even give the blue blur time to fully think as the young kitsune already had it figured out anyways. "You've seen the way she is around guys. Mysty can barely keep from running in fright if anyone pretty much comes near her. Besides, I don't really think that she likes being a prostitute either," Tails hypothesized as he pointed out the facts to the concerned hedgehog present.

"Well, I feel the same way, too, bro, actually. But, my only problem then is, well, why's she do it if she hates it, bro?" Sonic asked Tails as if the fact of her occupation was simply something that could not be overlooked.

"Probably for the money, Sonic," Tails answered as his face noticeably sagged upon explaining such a sad but possible reason. "She was talking about eating trash from a dumpster behind a restaurant earlier, remember? So, I bet she doesn't even have enough money for food. The only way I think she can even survive is, well…"

"You know, I hadn't thought of that. I bet you're right, bud," Sonic suddenly chimed in to save the fox from describing something next that would be rather hard to think about. Based on the huge change in the hedgehog's voice this time, Tails could see that Sonic had been genuinely convinced based on Tails' trust in Mysty and the hedgehog's own intuition that the vixen was simply a poor individual stuck with the horrible decision to do something unmentionable for a living or just die from starvation. "But, still, for me and Amy's sake, do ya think maybe Mysty could go live with the Rabbits, at least for now?" Sonic asked one last time, knowing that Amy would likely kill him and hang his cobalt fur pelt on her mantle if he ended up allowing Mysty to stay with Tails alone now just after they had talked together without the pink hedgehog's presence or consent.

"You still don't trust me or her?!" Tails said in true surprise as he wondered if the whole discussion he had just had with Sonic was for nothing as he had honestly felt like Sonic was starting to understand a second ago.

"No, little bro, that's not what I mean! I think you're right and that Mysty really is just someone who really needs some help and not just tryin' to take advantage of you, and you know that I never once doubted ya from the start either, buddy. I'm just trying to look after what's best for ya, bro," Sonic explained quickly as he didn't want Tails getting mad at him all over again.

"By making all my choices for me?! Or was that Amy's idea? And what about Mysty, too, huh, Sonic? Shouldn't she get a say in all this since it's her new home we're talking about now?!" Tails rudely called back in a louder tone. Clearly the kit knew that Sonic's other pink half was heavily involved in this whole affair as Tails could always tell whether or not Amy was pressuring him into doing something or if it was Sonic's own genuine concern.

"OK, so Ames thinks Mysty might not be such a great person yet. Just give her some time, will ya? And I'll even wait until you ask Mysty before we make things final, OK? Come on, bro, you know I'm only doin' all this because I really care about ya," Sonic calmly spoke in sharp contrast to Tails' resurging anger. "I know that you're still uncomfortable around girls, so I don't want ya feelin' out of place in your own home with Mysty there. Besides, we both know what tomorrow is," Sonic then reasoned as his voice became uncharacteristically sensitive for the blue hero.

Tails looked up into Sonic's eyes in a slight shock at this last statement. It was true. Sonic really did have his best interests in mind the whole time, especially by remembering tomorrow and how the yellow fox would feel about having a guest resident on such an important day. Nodding slowly, Tails finally acquiesced. "OK, Sonic. I guess she probably should stay with Mrs. Vanilla and Cream then. She'll probably feel even safer living around other girls, too," Tails finally understood and approved the idea for a good many practical reasons.

"I thought you'd say that eventually," Sonic said with a quick grin at having that all settled. "Don't worry 'bout it too much anyways, little bro. It's not like you can't see her all the time still or that she can't come here to see you, just that it's better you two weren't sleeping alone in the same house at nights," Sonic also clarified, making sure that Tails knew Mysty wasn't going to be taken away where the two couldn't still spend all day together if they wanted to like they had so far today.

Tails made no answer though as a simple nod of the fox's head served to notify the hedgehog that the vulpine already understood all that. After a second where there were no words or movements from either of the two, Tails finally spoke to break the silence. "So, when do we take Mysty over to meet Cream and Mrs. Vanilla?" he asked for the sake of knowing.

"Well, probably whenever you and Mysty feel like it, bud," Sonic answered simply. "Me an' Ames are most likely headin' back home as soon as we get back, so it'll be up to you to take her over when you're ready, I suppose."

"OK, that sounds like a plan," Tails agreed as the slight melancholy appearance the fox had kept ever since the mention of tomorrow finally seemed to gradually fade and the young fox became once again his usual, joyous self. With a quick grin to match Sonic's own, both stood there only a second longer before dashing off back for Tails' house once more, not a word needed to be shared between the two to pull off this tandem maneuver flawlessly.


The rest of that day went by unbelievably fast, it seemed. As soon as Sonic and Tails returned to find Amy and Mystique still sitting just as they had left them, albeit with Mysty seeming a little nervous at being left alone with the pink hedgehog, both hedgehogs excused themselves to return to their own home. Tails had once again offered to assist them in cleaning up after Sonic's accident and the storm last night, but this time Amy was the one who denied the help by reminding Tails that she was going to make Sonic take care of it all since it was his fault anyways. This caused Tails and Mysty to laugh again as they watched Amy drag a humorously stunned and pleading Sonic down the path leading away from Tails' house into the small woods surrounding the hill.

After they had finally gone, Tails decided to give Mysty a better tour of his home and workshop since he hadn't been able to do so earlier. Mysty seemed to be increasingly shocked as well at everything Tails had managed to mostly create himself in just less than a decade or so of meeting Sonic and living here. She couldn't help but ask about all his different creations as he presented them to her briefly. From a host of random gadgets that, for the most part, Tails had never really finished, to things like the super complex and high tech X-Tornado, Mysty seemed intrigued by it all. It was probably understandable, though, seeing as how it was quite possible that the most technologically advanced item Mystique herself had ever touched was probably a discarded cell phone.

"How could you design and build all these things just on your own?" Mysty asked in disbelief as she now gently touched one hand to the X-Tornado's nose cone as if fearing that any pressure whatsoever might cause it to fall apart.

"Well, as far as the X-Tornado goes, I actually had a lot of help while making it from my good friend, Chuck," Tails answered as he briefly recalled the all-nighter the two had pulled together in designing and building the multi-purpose fighter plane from the original Tornado biplane and other parts Chuck happened to have as well in order to counter Eggman's newest robotic menace in the outer reaches of the atmosphere near space.

"Was he also from the… other dimension?" Mysty asked, understandably skeptical of Earth's existence like any other rational Mobian would naturally be.

"Yeah… I kind of miss him, too, sometimes," Tails thought out loud as his eyes grew distant, no doubt reliving his experiences with the elderly scientist and friend.

"It's not your fault, Tails! We just need to make the Tornado more powerful," the familiar scientist cheered Tails up after his prized biplane had failed to chase Eggman's newest creation into space.

Tails sat up on the sofa someone had placed him on to rest. Feeling his aching and bandaged forehead, Tails asked, "What happened?"

"You were shot down by Eggman, remember, Tails? You managed to crash land the X-Tornado and save everyone before you blacked out," the familiar voice and face greeted him again.

"…"

He had just recovered from an unexpected faint as he looked up at Chuck's worried face in their secret lab below the Thorndike's mansion. "Don't scare me like that, Tails! I care about you, so don't go doing stupid things that might get you hurt, promise?"

"… Tails?"

"I don't care which way you look or how smart you are, Tails, I'll always be your friend," the same man comforted the crying fox.

"Tails?"the voice again ushered from some other realm entirely.

"Goodbye, Tails. I'll miss you," the teary eyed Chuck said as he hugged the fox one last time in front of a portal of light leading on a one way trip back to Mobius.

"Tails!" the voice finally broke through as the fox immediately snapped out of his mesmerizing trance at the panicky female voice now calling him back to reality. "Are you OK?" Mysty asked with concern and worry clear in her voice.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry! I think I just zoned out there for a while," Tails apologized as he scratched the back of his head in a gesture of awkwardness.

"A lot has happened to you in your life, hasn't it, Tails?" Mysty replied in a voice that was neither entirely curious nor truly sympathetic either. The odd question and the unique tone she had used to say it made Tail's response come unsurely and somewhat fragmented.

"You… I suppose you could say that," Tails answered in a neutral tone as he truthfully wasn't sure how to react to this. Feeling the urge to change the uncomfortable subject to something else, Tails happened to check his watch and discovered the later hour that had seemed to come unexpectedly already. "Umm… It's getting a little late now, Mysty. Do you maybe want to go visit some of my other friends for dinner tonight? It will be much better cooking than I can make, that's for sure," Tails asked, having neglected to tell Mysty about the already agreed upon plans for her to actually live with Mrs. Vanilla and Cream now.

"Are they nice?" Mysty asked as she again seemed to tremble slightly at the thought of more strangers she now had to meet.

Tails, despite his best efforts, couldn't help but laugh at her reaction, though. "Ha ha ha ha! S-sorry, Mysty! But, you won't have anything to worry about from these friends, I promise! Besides, they're all girls anyways. Or, at least I'm not sure about Cheese, though…" Tails attempted to calm the frightened vixen as he slowly regained control over his own laughter. He knew it was inappropriate to laugh at Mystique for being scared, but the thought of someone actually fearing Mrs. Vanilla or even her daughter was just too hilarious for Tails not to laugh.

Mysty, thankfully, didn't seem to take much if any offense at Tails' rudeness as she actually felt more secure after what he had told her. "Really?" she asked, tragically used to cruel jokes like this which would end up being a trap of some sort leading to a room full of rambunctious males instead.

"Of course! You gotta trust me, Mysty. I know that you'll love them, and I'll bet both my tails that they will like you, too," Tails reassured her as he had never before heard of someone that disliked Vanilla, much less anyone which Vanilla didn't like as well.

"Well, OK, then…" Mysty reluctantly agreed at last.

"Great! Let's get going then so they have time to make a little extra for us to eat, too!" Tails replied excitedly as he led Mysty outside again and the two walked back down the woodland path together once more on their way to the Rabbit home not too far off in a large expanse of rolling hills that would be covered in flowers in less than a week now.


"Mommy! I can't find Cheese's bow tie!" a young voice called down from upstairs in the cozy Rabbit family home.

"Where did you leave it last, sweetie?" an older, more authoritative voice called back from the downstairs kitchen.

"I just took it off to give Cheese a bath a moment ago, so it should be right… AAAHHH!" the younger voice suddenly interrupted itself in a loud scream.

"Cream? What's wrong, honey?" a now worried shout came from the kitchen as the chef currently occupying the room put down her culinary utensils to rush upstairs and check on the younger rabbit if need be.

"No, Cheese, stop! You're still all wet! Don't… AAAHHHH!" Cream's scream echoed downstairs once more without answering her mother's concerned question, or, at least, not directly.

Vanilla smiled and stifled a giggle with one hand while returning to the kitchen and her work, now with the comical image of the little chao, having just finished its bath, making sure Cream got hers too by using the younger bunny for a towel.

"Aww… Now see what you've done, Cheese? I'll have to change clothes now before supper!" Cream could be heard upstairs scolding the rambunctious chao as she no doubt tried to dry them both off now with an actual towel. Cheese didn't seem to be taking the light hearted scolding very seriously, though, as its happy cries from upstairs also showed that the tiny chao knew it wasn't in any real trouble and that Cream was not actually angry either at the little antic. Considering the bond those two shared, many even wondered if it was actually possible for the two to stay mad at each other for more than a second, anyways.

As both rabbits and the naughty chao were thus occupied, Mrs. Vanilla then perked up one of her long drooping ears as the familiar sound of someone knocking came from the front door over the noise of the meal she was currently assembling on the stovetop. "Cream, honey, could you please get the door?" Vanilla then called to her daughter upstairs.

"But, mom! I'm still all wet!" Cream argued back while the young bunny could still be heard plodding downstairs in compliance to her mother's orders anyway.

"I'm sorry, Cream, dear, but unless you want supper to burn…" Vanilla allowed her sentence to fade off after the last word she spoke, knowing that she didn't really need to finish whatever she was saying at that point for Cream to get the message and obey.

Cream only offered a loud sigh as a final objection before the wet bunny walked across the cozy living room to answer the front door right as another short round of knocks were heard from the visitor outside. Trying to quickly smooth down her damp fur so it wouldn't look messy or dry into a tangled mess, Cream finally reached out and opened the door to admit the guests into her home.

"Hiya, Cream!" Tails greeted her happily as he and, much to the young rabbit's surprise, another fox walked into the house. Cream immediately took a brief survey of the new stranger and found that she, since the first thing Cream discovered right away was that it was clearly a girl, was probably exactly Tail's age, maybe only a half inch shorter than him but still taller than her, and had the biggest, bushiest tail Cream had ever seen.

Tails, however, also was a little surprised as he in turn spotted the young bunny's unusually wet new look. "I'm sorry, Cream. Did you just get out of the shower?" Tails instantly asked as he sought an explanation to why the bunny standing in front of him now was dripping water on the short carpet below. Of course, Tails didn't really think this was the case even as he asked, however, seeing as how currently the only way for that theory to make sense was if Cream had showered with her clothes on, since the young rabbit's clothes were also soaked through as well.

"No, I was trying to give Cheese a bath just a minute ago," Cream answered quickly as she blushed ever so slightly at the embarrassment of meeting Tails and a new stranger while soaking wet as she was now.

"It looks more like Cheese gave one to you!" Tails quickly replied with a subdued chuckle in good humor that quickly put Cream back at ease once more. Just then, the little troublemaker itself came floating down the stairs and over to the group standing now just inside the closed door to the Rabbit home.

"Chao!" Cheese quickly greeted the guests happily as it smiled widely and flew up in excited circles around Tails' head to show its enthusiasm for the well known fox's visit.

"Heh heh! Hello to you too, Cheese," Tails quickly returned the greetings as the energetic chao finally stopped and floated just in front of him while still smiling widely. Tails couldn't resist reaching out with one hand and stroking the little chao's white belly playfully, eliciting another burst of excitement from Cheese as it flew in a ring around Tails' head as if to give him a halo just like his own. It was awkward, to be truthful, for Tails to get used to the chao he always knew and remembered floating next to Cream constantly looking so differently now, but Tails also understood just how it was a natural part of the life cycle for a chao to change like this every once in a while as it gets older. It hadn't been any more over a few months yet since Cheese had shocked everyone by transforming overnight into a 'hero' chao as this new form was supposingly called, but, in retrospect, nobody was too awfully surprised either as everyone knew that Cream's innocent little companion wouldn't have ever turned into anything less anyways. Tails did finally notice something out of place on the little chao though and instantly brought it to Cream's attention. "Oh, hey! Where's Cheese's bow tie?" Tails asked the chao's partner.

"I'm not sure, actually," Cream responded while giggling at the chao's hyperactive antics and forgetting her damp appearance for a moment. "I took it off for Cheese's bath, and now…" Cream shrugged to show that the bunny had no clue where the trademark red accessory had gone.

Tails was just about to volunteer to help search for the missing article when Mrs. Vanilla finally walked in from the kitchen and greeted her guests. "Oh, Tails! It's good to see you again, honey! And, who is your friend here?" Vanilla extended her usual hospitable greetings.

"Hi, Mrs. Vanilla!" Tails instantly replied back as he also reciprocated Mrs. Vanilla's warm smile in return as well. "This is a new friend of mine from Central City. Her name's Mysty," Tails also introduced the shy vixen who had refused so far to make even so much as a noise in the unfamiliar environment.

"H-hello, ma'am…" Mysty hesitantly spoke at last as she was required to greet her host by the rules of common courtesy.

"Oh, please don't worry about being so formal around here, Mysty. I'm not anyone special or that you should be afraid of," Vanilla quickly addressed the soft spoken female vulpine as she instantly caught the nervousness and fear in Mysty's voice. "I'm not sure if Tails has introduced us to you yet already, but I'm Mrs. Vanilla and this is my daughter, Cream," the older rabbit informed the new stranger as she pointed first to herself and then put a hand gently on the much smaller rabbit's shoulder.

"Chao! Chao chao!" an excited voice suddenly spoke out in protest as it left its rapid orbit above Tails to float over beside Cream's shoulder as well, hovering just between the two rabbits.

"Oh, of course, and Cheese, too," Mrs. Vanilla immediately added as she stifled a short chuckle in her proper feminine manner of moving a hand up to her mouth shortly while the little chao nodded its approval at now having everyone properly introduced.

"It's… nice to meet you," Mysty automatically replied as she started to feel more relaxed already with this family of Tails' acquaintances.

"And you too, dear. Will you both be staying for dinner with us?" Vanilla quickly asked as it could never be said that the mother rabbit had ever sent anyone away from her home hungry before.

"Well, if it's not too much of a bother…" Tails began to ask hesitantly, always nervous when he ever came to request something from someone else that they didn't have to necessarily agree to if they didn't want to.

"Oh, nonsense, sweetie! Since when have I ever not been happy to feed you and all of your friends when you visit?" Mrs. Vanilla quickly replied as she then turned to stroll casually back into the kitchen once more to resume her cooking, now also preparing enough food for two more as well.

Tails, Mysty, and Cream all simply made themselves comfortable on the living room sofa to wait now, Cream also making a swift trip upstairs as well to change into something dry before taking a seat next to Mysty on the extremely soft and plush living room couch. "So, what's it like living in the big city?" Cream decided to ask Mysty in hopes of starting up a little conversation to learn more about this new stranger and also pass the time until supper was ready.

Mysty didn't particularly like where this conversation was going already, though, but she knew it would be unbelievably rude not to at least answer the innocent question as well as she finally spoke. "Umm… It's actually pretty hard a lot of the times. It's not as safe there as it is here, I guess," Mysty answered truthfully as she felt comfortable opening up just this little bit to her new friends in the room now.

"Really? I've never really been there much before myself, actually," Cream explained to Mysty the cause of her asking the earlier question. "I mean, I go there sometimes with my mom, but I've never really explored the city or gone anywhere on my own," Cream added as she felt like she needed to clarify what she had meant before a little bit better.

"There's some places there you wouldn't really want to explore," Mysty quickly warned the eager young bunny as well, the thought of such a young and helpless child being caught or molested in some of the same ways she still remembered herself making the female fox more than a little nervous again.

"Yeah, that's why I don't like the big city either," Tails thankfully butted in to break the tension forming once again in Mystique's mind. Tails, however, hadn't just said that to unknowingly relieve Mysty's growing stress as the fox vividly remembered a great many scenes from his own life when he was very young of bullies and thugs chasing him through darkened alleys to steal his tiny bit of money, break his newest little invention, or just to beat him to a pulp for the fun of it. Although those kinds of things never happened to him anymore and hopefully never would again, Tails couldn't help but still keep that lingering unease for the urban lifestyle many like him usually thrived on.

Before the conversation could go any farther or change to another topic, however, Mrs. Vanilla's voice quickly called to the three from the kitchen as they all hurried in to the sit at the table in anticipation of the no doubt delicious meal that the mother rabbit had cooked for them all. Sure enough, no sooner had they all sat down then Mrs. Vanilla crossed the room to the table holding a large pan fresh from the oven with steam still rising temptingly from the contents inside. The wonderful aroma that this steam carried as well made all the hungry young mouths around the table start watering at once as the adult rabbit then sat the large pan of lasagna in the center of the table while motioning for Cream to pass the plates around to everyone as she returned to the stove in order to bring back some seasoned bread sticks and her own special homemade dipping sauce to go with them. "Oh! I love Italian!" Tails spoke in glee as he finally saw the menu for tonight laid on the table in front of them.

Mysty was a little skeptical of the meal, however, since Italian food she knew was synonymous with expensive restaurants that she had never had the opportunity or the money to try before and also were notoriously known in homeless circles for their disgusting looking garbage as well. She gazed unsure at the steaming lasagna in front of her for a while as Mrs. Vanilla graciously served a generous portion of it to her plate for her.

"Mmmm…! Go on, try it, Mysty! It's delicious!" Tails encouraged the tentative vixen as his muzzle itself already had a slight red stain below his bottom lip from his first large bite of the food already.

"Oh…, OK," Mysty responded as she realized how rude it was for her to simply sit there staring at her food in front of her gracious host as well as everyone else too. Deliberately, she picked up her fork and cut off a small section of the roughly square block of lasagna Mrs. Vanilla had served her and quickly brought it up to her mouth to taste. At first as she chewed the bite, Mysty was overwhelmed and a bit revolted by the myriad of flavors and textures she encountered from only the small sampling, but quickly she began recognizing a few familiar tastes along with the unfamiliar ones and found that it was indeed delicious just as Tails had said.

"Well, dear?" Mrs. Vanilla asked Mysty in curiosity as the female fox finally swallowed her first bite of the Italian style dinner.

"It's… wonderful!" Mysty exclaimed as she eagerly stabbed her fork back into the pasta on her plate for another, this time larger, bite.

"Well, I'm glad you like it, dear," Mrs. Vanilla then smiled back approvingly as she finally began eating now as well.

"There's no surprise there," Tails chuckled as he finished another large mouthful of the tasty pasta that was quickly staining the white fur at the rims of his mouth a saucy red without the fox actually realizing it. "I bet even Eggman would love Mrs. Vanilla's cooking!" Tails joked as he then reached to take a sip from his glass of water that had already been provided to each of the diners before they began by the thoughtful mother rabbit.

"Yeah, my mommy's the best chef in all of Mobius!" Cream also praised the humble adult rabbit as she fed the little chao floating next to her a piece of her bread stick with a little sauce dipped on the end.

"Now, Cream, Amy's not a bad cook, either, you know," Vanilla quickly tried to stop the cascading torrent of praises being rained down on her as it made her feel uncomfortable as well as not wanting to possibly make her prideful as she felt a good lady should never be.

"That's just because she got to learn a lot from Ella, though," Cream quickly objected, however.

"You're forgetting that I learned a few things from Ella as well, deary," Vanilla quickly responded to throw off the young bunny's argument.

"Wait… Ella? So, you went to this other dimension called 'Earth' too?" Mysty then interrupted curiously before Cream or Tails could reply again.

"Oh, so you know about that already? I'm sorry for not asking first before almost leaving you out, dear," Vanilla quickly apologized for her momentary lapse in etiquette. "Yes, we all did at one point, dear, but I actually arrived at a later time then Cream did and was forced to hire some detectives to help me find where she was once I got there," Vanilla explained the adventure in brief to the attentive female vulpine.

"Wow… So many people have been there then, so I guess it must be true," Mysty thought out loud while the others around the table listened.

"Of course it is! I just guess that it sounds kinda weird if you've never seen it before yourself, though," Tails assured Mysty as he scratched his head in mild humiliation at never having actually thought before of what his and the others' stories about Earth must have sounded like to the unknowing vixen. Tails almost half wondered now if Mysty wasn't just being so shy before because she thought that up until now she had been talking to a bunch of crazy people.

"That's OK, Mysty! I can tell you all about it tonight before bed!" Cream excitedly replied as she looked over to the female fox across the table from her eagerly.

"Cream!" Vanilla quickly shouted in a slightly raised voice to show that the young bunny had said something she should not have quite yet. With a short sigh at the situation now forced on her to handle, Vanilla quickly turned back to explain to a confused Tails and Mysty. "I'm sorry, Tails. Amy called a few hours ago to tell us of your new friend, and the plans for her to stay here as well. We've actually been expecting you, but I wasn't going to mention anything just in case you hadn't told her yet," Vanilla apologized for her daughter in a voice of sincere regret.

"You mean… You don't want me staying with you anymore, Tails?" Mysty immediately asked as she turned to face the male fox seated next to her with a look of confusion mixed with a hint of betrayal on her face.

"No, Mysty, it's not that…" Tails tried to explain as he had still been hoping to put off with coming up with what he was going to say to her about this until later and was thus unprepared at the moment to answer quickly. "It's just, well… Ever since Sonic moved out a year ago, I haven't really been that good with guests and all. And also, you're a girl, and I'm just not sure if you'd be comfortable in a house that's only occupied by one guy anyways, so…" Tails tried to explain without making it sound like he was trying to send Mysty away, which was most certainly not the young fox's intentions at all.

Mysty could tell by the tone of Tails' voice and his clearly saddened body language that there was still even more to it then Tails had just mentioned, but she allowed him to keep his secrets instead of demanding that he tell her everything right then. After all, Tails had so far been allowing her to do the same with her private life and past as well, so it was only fair for her to give him that same luxury in return. "I understand, Tails. Thanks for caring that much for my comfort," Mysty replied in a genuine tone of gratitude as she accepted the new housing arrangements willingly for now. After all, as far as Mysty was concerned, any home was better than no home at all, even if she didn't seem to get to choose which one regardless.

"Well then, I hope you will find yourself right at home here, Mysty," Mrs. Vanilla quickly replied with her usual ultra-mannerly voice that also solidified the relief Tails felt at Mystique's understanding and grateful acceptance despite the fact that the female fox never really seemed to have a say in the matter anyways.

"Thank you, Mrs. Vanilla. I actually like it here already," Mysty smiled as she was finally the first one to take another bite of the delicious food in the last few minutes now.

Everyone else also returned to eating rather silently for the rest of the meal now as the large pan once filled with the gourmet lasagna dinner quickly vanished into the five collective gullets of the hungry Mobians and single chao. At long last, the group finally got up from the table to take care of their respective dishes as Tails got ready to leave the women now for the night.

"Well, I'd probably better be going now before it gets too dark, guy… Erm, I mean, girls," Tails scratched his head and smiled sheepishly again as he caught his little mistake at the end of his short farewell just after saying it.

"Will I be able to see you again tomorrow, Tails?" Mysty urgently asked before the other fox could get all the way to the door again, though.

"Of course! You'll be coming to the party tomorrow with everyone else, won't you, Tails?" Cream excitedly asked since she had been looking forward to the next day and its annual reunion held in memory of the major special event that they all had celebrated together as a tradition for a couple years now.

"Well, probably… That is, if I don't get too busy tonight and forget about it again," Tails answered, his tone suddenly dropping in a way that didn't quite fit the words he was saying as something clearly more was weighing on the fox's mind then just tomorrow's festivities.

"Oh, I'm sure you won't, deary," Vanilla quickly responded in a voice that betrayed no suspicion of Tails' change in tone whatsoever. "Have a good night, Tails, honey. Oh, and dear…" the mother rabbit then motioned with a finger to a spot on the side of her own mouth subtly.

Tails was momentarily lost by the strange cue, until he stuck his tongue out slightly to touch the area on his own white muzzle that Mrs. Vanilla had described and discovered the strong taste of tomato sauce and spices still prominent on the surrounding fur. "Oh! Whoops," Tails laughed as he quickly wiped his mouth clean using a napkin Vanilla then promptly offered to him. "Thanks again, Mrs. Vanilla," Tails courteously replied one final time as he then left the Rabbit family home through the front door behind him and strolled to the end of the front yard's walkway before spinning his namesakes and taking the quicker aerial route back home in the already darkening post-dusk skies.