Winter knew who he was. She knew what he had done for their world. That didn't stop her from surfing the net for hours on end. He was everywhere in the cyber stream. After 2 am, she lay her face in the palm of her hand with a sigh. There was something she couldn't figure out. In all of his pictures and interviews, he seemed...full of himself. Cocky to a point of a arrogance. But yesterday, when she had met him, he hadn't seemed that way at all. Did he put on a certain attitude for publicity? Winter wouldn't really blame him if he did. Sometimes the fame and fandom caused her to be a little braver than she normally would, but she genuinely loved what she did. Those smiles as she reached top air on a jump were real. Sure, sometimes she would show-boat, just to get the crowd going, but over the years she tried hard not to be arrogant. She hoped that Sonic wasn't truly that way. Maybe he needed to be brought down a peg or two. Gently, of course.

Sonic screeched to a halt in front of the lodge. He had barely remembered where it was, and he hoped it was the only one there, and Winter hadn't been talking about another one. IceCap was a pretty big place, and although he knew he wouldn't get lost, there were certain parts of it he'd never been in. He'd already taken a portal, since it was on Angel Island. Yesterday, he was going to hang out with Knuckles after he went snowboarding, but he had been a little out of it after meeting Winter. He wondered if he could ask Knuckles about her. She lived on the island, so it could be possible that he knew her. Then again, Knuckles didn't really befriend very many people. And, like Sonic, he didn't watch TV either. Sonic shrugged. Anything he wanted to know about her, he'd just ask. She seemed like a pretty honest girl.

As he went to open the door, he noticed that it had a sign on it that read: Birchwood Lodge. She had never told him it was her lodge. Maybe it was family owned. Winter was eighteen though, which meant that she would own it herself. Unlike humans, the animals came of age sooner. When they were around twelve, their parents would start distancing themselves from their children, and by the time they were around fourteen, they were usually ready to live on their own. That was why Sonic and his friends didn't live with their parents anymore, and had their own houses. Tails was an exception, since he was so young, but he had lost his parents a long time ago, which was the reason Sonic had taken him under his wing.

When he walked in, there were people and animals bustling around, getting ready to get out in the snow. It was still only nine in the morning, but some of the people were extremists. Sonic admired their ambition. He stood in the lobby, unsure of what to do to find Winter. Then he noticed a receptionist. She was a cat, which was a bit surprising. After awhile, he noticed that the lodge was populated with more animals than he had originally thought. Winter must have made them a little more welcome here than they were in other places.

He walked up to the receptionist. She held up one finger, and he realized that she was on the phone. Just when he was resisting the urge to tap his foot, he felt someone nudge him.

"Hey, you! I didn't think you were one of the 'morning boarders'. Do you like this place that much?" Winter beamed at him as he turned and smiled back at her.

"Well, we don't have to go out just yet. I was hoping I could get some one-on-one time with you, maybe ask some questions?"

"Oh, man. You're not a reporter in disguise, are you?"

"Nah. Unless you really wanna tell me what your true inspiration in life is."

"How about we just settle for the easier questions, like what my favorite color is."

"Ha, ha. All right." Winter led Sonic to the lodge's cafe, where a few people were still eating breakfast.

"You hungry?" Winter asked.

"Nah, I already ate."

"Wow, you are ahead of the game, aren't you?"

"It's already nine a.m. It's not like it's five or something. Although I have been known to get up that early. But not that often. I burn too much energy to get up that soon."

"I wondered about the whole energy thing." She stood up. "Hold on, I'm gonna get some coffee. Do you want some?"

"Oh, no thanks. I don't touch the stuff."

"What, really? Where do you get your energy if not from coffee?"

"I'll tell you when you get back." Sonic leaned back in his chair, bending it dangerously backwards. When Winter came back, she noticed that his eyes were constantly darting around. He was taking in his surroundings, and he was doing it so fast that he looked like he was on the lookout for snipers. She sat down.

"Is this place overwhelming to you? If it is, we can move to my-"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, you just seem...overly aware of your surroundings. Like you're on high alert, or something."

"Oh, that. I don't even notice anymore. I'm just that way, I guess. I do everything fast."

"Wow. That must be kind of hard."

"How do you mean?" "Don't you ever get to relax?"

"Of course. I just don't really need to until the end of the day. Or if I use a lot of energy. My super form usually wipes me out pretty good." Winter nodded, and sipped her coffee slowly.

"So, you don't like coffee? Not that it would be big deal if you didn't."

"No, I just can't drink it. I can't handle caffeine."

"Really? Why not?"

"Let's just say my body's not designed for it." He smiled at her confused expression.

"Designed...?"

"Yeah, I'm kind of different from your average hedgehog."

"Well, I figured that. What with the super sonic speed and everything." They paused, looking at the table.

"Is this too weird for you?" He suddenly asked.

"What?" Winter's eyes widened.

"I mean, me. Is it freaking you out, or something? I guess I am kind of like one of those kids on X-Men, if you think about it. Different."

"No, that's not it. I just don't know where to start. I have so many questions...and you are...well, anyway." She sipped her coffee again and looked beyond him.

"Hey, I don't mind. Ask me whatever you want. It takes a lot to offend me." His smile was so open and he was so sure of who he was that Winter chuckled.

"Okay, then. Let's see...oh, the coffee thing. What does it do to you?"

"If I drank more than two cups of it, I'd have a heart attack."

"Seriously? That's...direct."

"Hey, you asked." He laughed at her.

"What makes that happen?"

"My heart beats a little bit faster than normal. That means my blood moves faster, which makes my muscles move faster. You get the picture. I'm fast." He laughed again. Winter admired how he was so happy. It uplifted her spirits. She liked being around him.

"But..how?"

"How, what?"

"How is that possible?" Sonic arched an eyebrow in question.

"I mean, it's like you were engineered to be a certain way."

"I was." He shrugged.

"Wait, you're flesh and blood, right? You're not like that Shadow guy, who's an android?"

"No, no. I'm totally organic. I was just, you know. Born this way."

"But isn't it a problem having a heart that beats so fast? Like an abnormality?"

"Nope. It's just the right speed for the way my body works. See, I've been tested. When my parents discovered my speed, they took me in to be looked at." He paused, checking to see if she was still interested. Her hand was supporting her chin, her body was leaned towards him, and her coffee was forgotten. He continued.

"They figured out that my heart has a separate chamber that moves most of my blood supply to my legs when I need them. It's voluntary, so when I think about running fast, my body sort of kicks into a different gear."

"That's...so cool."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." They laughed.

"Wait," Winter said. "I've heard about something like that before. Isn't there another kind of animal that has the multi-chambered heart?"

"Hmm. I think there's a crocodile that does it."

"That's right. Only it's the legs and its mouth that kick into overdrive when it hunts."

"Uh-huh." They sat silent for awhile, and Sonic traced invisible patterns on the wood grain.

"So, I didn't really come here to talk about me. I was gonna ask-"

"Wait, just one more question." Sonic chuckled.

"Okay."

"How fast can you run?"

"Well, if I'm really into it, I can got around 768 miles per hour."

"Isn't that as fast as the speed of sound?"

"I can break the sound barrier, yeah."

"And in your super form?"

"I'm not sure of the exact numbers on that one. It's quite a bit faster though. Enough to where I can have difficulty controlling it."

"Faster than the speed of light?"

"Oh, no way. The speed of light is millions of miles per second."

"Oh yeah. I guess you're not that incredible, huh?" She teased him.

"Not quite." He laughed and ran his hand through his quills.

"Enough about me, though. I feel like I'm the one being interviewed."

"Sorry. It's just so fascinating, and I've never gotten to talk to you face-to-face like this."

"No need to apologize. But I really need to ask you something."

Winter's heart skipped a beat. What was he going to ask her?

"Okay?"

"It's about my friend Tails. He's uh...a really big fan of yours."

"Tails Prower? Really?"

"Yeah! And he wants to meet you sometime."

"That would be awesome! I'd love to meet Tails. I read about his inventions in magazines all the time. He's amazing."

"Wow, I didn't think you'd be such a science buff." Winter laughed.

"Hey, I'm mostly action, but I still love to learn."

"Cool. About that action...do you wanna hit some snow? It looks perfect out there this morning."

"All right. I'm ready if you are."

"Oh, I'm ready. I was hoping you could teach me some of your moves?"

"Sure. If you teach me some of yours." Her eyebrows arched, and Sonic could feel the heat rising to his face. He got up from the table and started to walk ahead of her.

"You're on!"