Yeash, finally, some moderately good ideas finally came to me. About time. For the last couple of days, I've been struck with a nasty case of writer's block when attempting to write a good chapter about Amy's little visit to Sonic and Tails' house. Well, I'm not entirely sure about the end result, but I did enjoy writing the chapter, so I hope you will enjoy reading it as well.

By the way, I would like to thank everyone who has taken their time to visit, favorite, follow and review this story. It means a lot to me. :)

Face Thy Fears (Part 5)

Tails and Sonic began to make their way back to their home in the Mystic Ruins, only this time with a sudden yet invited guest coming along, and this guest was very, very insistent on wrapping her arms around Sonic's own, much to the blue hedgehog's annoyance and Tails' absolute amusement at seeing the former's expression.

The sky looked dark like it was about to rain very hard, so they had to move quickly before it did, but at Tails' insistence, "We should go a bit more slowly so that miss Amy is not, oh you know, accidentally left behind," the group moved at a pace that could be classified at normal-quickly instead of Sonic-quickly.

Needless to say, two hedgehogs had expressed very different and contrasting opinions about that suggestion, but since it was clearly two against one, Sonic stood no chance of having things his way. "Yay me!" the blue hedgehog thought, sardonic.

In addition, for some reason that had yet to be discovered, Tails somewhat enjoyed walking in the rain, a hobby which was obviously not shared by Sonic at the very least.

At one point, Tails even cast a sideway glance at the hedgehog duo walking next to him and snickered softly into his hand at the blatant exasperation on his best friend's face. A quick glare from said hedgehog effectively caused the fox to turn away, acting all innocent and sweet with big doe eyes and a bright smiling face.

"You've got something you wish to say to me, buddy? I'm all ears!" Sonic asked mockingly with an annoyed expression at the blatant pretense of his little buddy, all the while trying and failing to push the weight around his right arm away. If anything, Amy seemed to be encouraged by that and only tightened her hold even more as a result.

"Nope!" replied the fox rather gleefully and with a pop of the 'p' sound as he quickly walked ahead, humming to himself all the way.

Sonic only looked at the kid's unusual cheerful disposition and antics before shaking his head fondly. He secretly let out a chuckle of his own, despite his own predicament at the moment.

'Haven't seen him that happy before,' he thought joyfully and rather fondly as he carefully studied Tails from where he was, silently and meticulously taking in every subtle change in the kid's movements. Every twitch of his fingers, every wave of his namesakes, every prance and skip Tails was making - everything was noticed and carefully noted by the hedgehog, unbeknownst to the cub, of course.

Tails continued to skip ahead, oblivious to the affectionate stare behind him.

After all, the fox's reaction was, in Sonic's opinion, to be expected. In the course of one single afternoon, the kid had suddenly met not one, not two or three for that matter, but a whole lot of people who would not pay any mind to his unique genetic features. Even more impressive was the fact that two among the people he had met in his day out even took the time of their day to actually approach and compliment him - a foreign thought indeed in Tails' head.

'Amy says she likes my tails,' the fox child thought again with one of the widest, biggest and most radiant smiles ever present on his face. One of his hands then quickly moved up and wiped away a few stray teardrops that had managed to escape from his moist blue orbs.

Whether the two hedgehogs behind had seen that or not was unclear, for they had made no comment whatsoever regarding the matter.

"I wasn't lying when I said he was adorable, you know," Sonic heard Amy speak beside him, her eyes trained on the cheery yellow creature before her. "But that does make me curious, however, what's he doing with you in the forest at this time of the day? Not that I doubt your abilities to look after him, of course, but he looks so young, so surely his parents must be really worried about him by now."

Sonic looked at Amy's questioning eyes with narrowed emerald orbs for a brief while before letting out a long sigh. It took no word for Amy to realize what was being conveyed. With an understanding nod, Amy instantly understood the gesture and did not speak about that again.

After all, there are things in life that can only be recognized, understood and sympathized among those are in similar situations, even if those things are only spotted at first glance. 'Poor kid…' Amy only thought with a sad frown on her face as her eyes trained on the young cub.

They three continued their trip home, picking up the pace a bit the moment the rain became heavy.

…

"Finally!" Sonic exclaimed as he dried himself off, shivering a little as the lingering droplets ran down his arms. They had managed to make it back to their destination before it rained harder, albeit barely due to their travel speed. Unfortunately, barely was not exactly soon enough for Sonic, who was still sopmewhat drenched by the sudden downpour, much to his dismay.

"For the record and future references, me, water, and slow are no amigos!" he spoke up when he was done drying his quills and at the same time shot Tails a look.

"Oh come on, Sonic" the fox reasoned as he gestured toward Amy, who was also drying herself with a given blanket as well, "You know that miss Amy can't run as fast as you or me, so we had to go at a slightly," Tails put two fingers together as he spoke, leaving only a very small distance between the two for emphasis, "slower pace so she's not left behind alone in the forest. She did say she's new here, after all."

"Daw! How thoughtful of you, Tails," Amy said with another squeal and another peck to the cub's cheek, "Thank you for worrying about me. And please, drop the miss. It makes me sound old," she paused momentarily before a mischievous look took over her face - one that Sonic did not approve of.

"Unless," Amy spoke again after a short pause, looking at Tails with a very convincing frown on her face. Tails tensed up and grew sheepish almost instantly at that sight.

"You really think I'm old, don't you, Tails?" Amy continued, oblivious to the change in the fox's body language in her current jesting mood, "Now, I really resent that, you know. I really, really hate it when people say something rude like that, and I certainly don't like those who are rude, either," Amy finished her sentence with a mock huff, one which, like the previous gesture, appeared very real in Tails' eyes.

She had obviously meant what she said as a casual joke - a fact which anyone with a proper upbringing and common sense could easily pick up without even trying. Unfortunately, Tails did not exactly belong to a category of a normal case, and to Amy's greatest surprise and Sonic's dread made real, the fox's eyes quickly opened wide seconds later, for he had taken that jest very seriously and literally – down to the letter.

One in particular was registered exponentially more clearly than the rest in his ears - hate.

Amy hated him for being rude, as a voice in his mind whispered, repeatedly.

And hate, to Tails, was synonymous with hurt.

And thus, unbidden, the floodgate was opened by accident, but the effect was no less devastating.

Recognizing the symptoms almost immediately, Sonic made a move to react, but before he could get near, Tails' fear had already wrapped around the child's head and left him shaken, curled up on the couch, his twin tails embracing his shaking frame in the all-too-familiar fashion that the hedgehog knew and resented.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." the fox suddenly apologized with eyes filled with dread."I'm sorry for being rude to you miss - I mean, Amy. I swear I didn't mean anything…I…I swear…I didn't mean to...offend...Please..." Tails suddenly began to stammer frantically, his eyes wide with fear and his gestures hysteric at the thought that he had indirectly insulted the female and caused her to hate him as consequence.

"Please don't hate me..." his mind silently added the desperate plea that had gone unsaid.

Tails' breathing had become quick and shallow.

At the face of Tails' upset and strange behavior, both hedgehogs immediately rushed to his side. Amy, of course, was confused, but Sonic, on the other hand, was filled with concern and dread for his young's friend's wellbeing.

"Breathe, kid!" Sonic ordered sharply, shaking his little friend in an attempt to snap him back to reality.

"Tails?" Amy asked, concerned by the unusual change in the fox's behavior at one simple tease. "It's okay. It was a joke, just a joke. Honest! I'm not offended by it at all. Please calm down!"

"I-I…sorry…Please..." Tails continued to stammer out, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings.

"No, no need to apologize, Tails" Amy quickly reassured in panic, "If anyone has to apologize, it's me for upsetting you. I'm sorry, Tails. Really. I didn't mean to. Please calm down and snap out of it."

Her heartfelt shout did the trick. Hesitantly, two widened blue eyes looked at her, shining with a whirlpool of emotions.

"...You…you don't hate me?" Tails spoke up, his voice soft and cracked, reminding the pink hedgehog of something so delicate and fragile that one single wrong touch could shatter it into millions of pieces.

"No, I don't hate you, not at all!" Amy spoke up at last after she was done pressing down the sudden feeling of having something stuck at her throat. For good measures, the hedgehog even offered a shaky, small but kind smile at the younger child and soothingly patted his head.

The motions coupled with Sonic whispering words of reassurances on his side finally managed to produce the desirable effect of calming down the distressed child, and his shaking was reduced immensely a few minutes later.

"I'm not...hated...Good...That's good then…" Tails, with a relieved sigh, muttered mostly to himself after studying her eyes and finding nothing but honesty and sincerity in those orbs.

Both Sonic and Amy could see that it was just the fox trying to convince himself of something that he was still pretty much doubtful of, but at that moment, they were more relieved by the fact that Tails was breathing normally than to point that out.

"...I'll get something for you to drink, so wait here, okay bud? Amy, I could use a hand, if you don't mind," Sonic said, gesturing for Amy to come with him and give Tails some much-needed space.

"...No, she's a guest...It'd be rude to...I should…" Tails started to protest weakly, but was instantly silenced.

"That's okay, I don't mind at all, Tails. Just stay here okay? Besides, I can make you a nice cup of coco as apology for hurting your feelings. How does that sound?" she offered with another strained smile, expectant and hopeful.

Tails looked at Sonic for a while, and the latter only shrugged. After having an internal debate for a few seconds, Tails finally looked up and hesitantly nodded, muttering a soft and polite "Thank you" to the female, who only nodded in response.

…

"Don't ever, and I mean, ever do something like that again!" Sonic said with a strangely stern tone and an equally serious face the moment he and Amy were out of the fox's earshot. That was a side of him that Amy had never before experienced, and if she were truly honest with herself at that moment, she was very unnerved by the intensity of those darkened emerald eyes glaring at her.

"...I'm sorry," Amy muttered sheepishly and guiltily, feeling she deserved it for upsetting Sonic's friend, and a child no less. "It only meant to tease him a little because he was so adorable…but I never thought it would make him like that…"

Sonic only stood still and studied the female hedgehog. Though she was a bit strange, she was, as he had learnt from their initial encounter and the way she was comfortable around Tails and vice versa, Sonic knew she was a good person in essence and at heart.

A little bizarre and crazy at times, but good nonetheless.

With a heavy sigh and a shake of his head to cool down, Sonic spoke again, his voice low.

"No, I'm sorry for my temper. I know you didn't mean that, so technically, it wasn't entirely your fault, I suppose. You did get him to calm down, so thanks for that. Just…just don't tease him too much and say you hate him, even if it's meant as a joke or spoken indirectly. Tails, he's had it rough and frankly, he doesn't deserve to hear those words. Tails is still a kid, and he's very sensitive to how people feel about him," Silently, he mentally added, "Besides, poor kid's probably heard enough ridicules to last a life time already."

"…I'm sorry" Amy whispered sadly again as she made the coco like she had promised.

"I said it's fine, so forget about it already," the blue hedgehog replied and offered Amy a small reassuring smile, "Come on, let's hurry up before the drinks go cold."

Amy only nodded and silently followed Sonic into the living room again.

…

When they walked into the living room, Sonic and Amy saw that Tails was mindlessly flipping through the channels, his face completely blank and his eyes unfocused. In fact, the fox did not seem like he heard the two hedgehogs entering at all.

Only when Sonic let out a soft cough did the fox turn around and look at the pair.

"I have your favorite mints, buddy," Sonic said with a cheery grin, holding the treats out expectantly before he approached and sat next to the fox.

"…Thank you," Tails replied briefly before he took a candy and very politely placed the treat in his mouth. He even made sure to cover his mouth while he chewed and avoided making too much noise in the process. A fact that did not escape the perceptive hedgehogs.

Amy took a moment to study the sudden change in the child's behavior. The Tails sitting right in front of her in Sonic's house was definitely not the same playful, prancing Tails she had seen during their short forest run. To her, the current Tails looked like he was trying really hard to be polite with every gesture and every word that came out of his mouth, like he was trying to please and gain someone's favor.

Her favor – she soon realized as the joke returned once more with perfect clarity, haunting her mind, "I really hate it when people say something rude like that, and I certainly don't like those who are rude, either," she had said and it had been wrongly interpreted by the young cub.

With a soft sigh and a strained smile, Amy the put the cup of hot coco down before Tails and looked at him with sad, guilty eyes.

"Hey, Tails, like I promised, here's my homemade coco, it's my secret recipe. It's good, I promise!" she began, keeping her voice barely above a whisper. Amy could not stand the sight of a sad person, and more so if that person happened to be a child who seemed to carry a big burden in his heart.

Or at the very least, that was what her fortune teller's intuition told her when she looked at him.

"Thank you…Amy…" Tails spoke up once more, still in the same hushed tone and reserved mannerism.

"...You know, Tails, you don't need to be so formal around me like that. Just talk to me like you would Sonic. It's okay, I'm not offended in the slightest, I promise."

"I…I don't want to be rude again…" Tails replied softly before growing silent altogether. Sonic, however, could figure out the words left unsaid, and he grimaced.

"Hey, buddy, you're not," the blue hedgehog spoke up, placing one hand on Tails' head, "In fact, you're the most courteous and well-mannered kid I've ever met."

"Yes, that's right, Tails," Amy hastily agreed, "If anything, I was the one who was rude, and now I hate myself for hurting your feelings, but you need to know that you are not. From what little I've seen, you are one of the sweetest boys I've ever encountered."

Tails sat still in his seat, quiet and pensive.

"Could you forgive me?" Amy asked again after a moment of eerie silence. This time, for sincerity, the girl even attempted to bow her head. However, she was interrupted before she could.

"No, no, there's no need to bow to me, mi…I mean Amy," Tails quickly spoke up as he realized what his new acquaintance was about to do, effectively stopping her midway. "It's okay, I'm not really angry at you or anything for that matter…"

"Really?" she asked, hopeful and concerned at the same time, "Then, why are you so sad if you're not hurt by what I said?"

"…It's nothing special, actually," Tails replied as he picked up the steaming cup of coco and took a sip. "I just remembered some unpleasant things, that's all. It's not your fault, Amy, and there's nothing to forgive," He took another sip, missing the heartfelt look on Amy's face.

He did not fail to notice the same expression coming from Sonic, however.

"Anyway," Tails spoke up and put the cup down, trying to break the uncomfortable silence and at the same time get the spotlight away from himself as well, "I've been meaning to ask. How did the two of you meet, exactly? That is, if you don't mind me asking," he quickly added at the end.

Sonic and Amy studied at the cub and each other for a while before the former spoke up.

"Well, that's quite a long story, actually," Sonic began.

"Oh, I can remember every little detail of that day like everything just happened yesterday," Amy quickly took over and spoke in a dreamy, yet slightly forced tone, eyes half-closed in reminiscence.

"There I was, minding my own business, and then, out of nowhere, these mean-looking robots attacked me and destroyed the city. There were flames everywhere as far as the eyes could see and explosions as far as my ears could hear. I was running for my life as the pillars began to fall down and the ground beneath me tore open. In truth, it was scary, the scariest moment of my life. I remember one pillar in particular was about to fall down on me, but then, the most amazing thing happened…"

"Long story short," Sonic cut in quickly to prevent the pink hedgehog from talking their ears off with her details, "I saved her, then her home world, a place called Little Planet by the way. And in the end, I threw an epic curve ball at Eggman's butt. End of story."

Sonic then noticed a not-so-friendly look from Amy, and he backed away.

"Hey, just being concise here for the kid's sake," he said with a shrug, and the pink hedgehog huffed in response.

"What?" asked the blue hedgehog, hands thrown up in the air. "You were giving too much unnecessary info. I gave him the main idea in one go."

"You've no sense of finesse at all, Sonic the hedgehog," Amy replied with a huff and turned away with both arms crossed.

"What is this 'finesse' you're talking about?"

"When telling a story, one must be able to captivate and engage the listeners with a logical series of events leading toward the climax. Also, it's important to be slow and meticulous in your narrative to help establish and foster interest in the listeners before slowly drawing them in and helping them become one with the story. Storytelling is an art form, you know" Amy said.

"So is summarizing everything in one sentence," was the comeback Sonic gave Amy, "Just saying," he added with a shrug.

It was then that both hedgehogs noticed a faint sound of stifled snickers in the room. Immediately, both Sonic and Amy directed their eyes at Tails, who was clearly trying really hard not to make a sound, but, obviously, failing.

"What?" both hedgehogs asked simultaneously.

"I'm sorry, but you two are pretty funny, you know that. In fact, the way you're acting right now is like a married couple I normally see on TV or something like that," Tails said, humored, and instantly, both sets of emerald eyes opened widely – one from shock and while the other in heavenly bliss.

"Tails!" exclaimed both Amy and Sonic at the same time, much to the cub's amusement yet again. "Don't say that!" they said again, also at the exact same time, with Sonic being exasperated and Amy being…Amy.

The pink hedgehog turned away to hide her developing blush and quickly lost herself in her daydream about that possible future, all the while eliciting weird and bizarre noises. Sonic, on the other hand, quickly stood up and looked at the laughing fox.

"Oh, you'd better run, pom-pom butt!"

Sonic then set out to chase down a certain fleeing two-tailed fox all around the house and, after a few minutes, throughout the entire hill and, subsequently, the entire Mystic Ruins as a whole. And it was not a short chase, either.

By the time everything had settled down and Sonic had returned from his unplanned excursion with a subdued and pouty fox tightly secured in his arm, the sun had already set and night had descended.

"For the record, I let you win this round," Tails said as he was being manhandled by his best friend, the childish pout never once faltering or leaving his face.

"Sure, Mr. Generous, just keep telling yourself that," Sonic simply replied with an amused chuckle at that.

It had been a great run for both friends, and by the time they got back to their humble abode, both were more or less exhausted, both physically and mentally, from the day's events.

To their surprise, however, when they finally walked through the door, Tails and Sonic learned that Amy had singlehandedly cooked them the biggest, grandest and most extravagant feast consisting of various delicacies as an apology to Tails and a thank you for inviting her over.

"Dig in, boys, I made plenty, and don't worry, I used the ingredients I have with me. You two should really stock more veggies in that fridge, you know," she said with a mock angry look.

They did not need to be told twice.

…

"Thanks Amy," Sonic spoke up once he was finished with his own food, patting his bloated belly gently in great satisfaction, "If the fortune telling thing doesn't work out, you should seriously find work as a chef or something."

The pink hedgehog was on cloud nine upon hearing that comment, and needless to say, both males were forced to cover their ears – again.

"Well, ahem," she managed to recompose herself after a while, "Thank you for your compliments, gentlemen. I had a good time today, and since it's already dark outside, I guess I'll see you two later, huh," Amy said as she stood up and got ready to depart.

"Well, since it's already dark outside," Tails spoke up as he looked outside before he shot Sonic an extraordinarily sly look, complete with a sinister grin and a pair of narrowed blue eyes shining with unconcealed mischief, much to the blue hedgehog's terror.

"Don't you dare…" Sonic, immediately recognizing a nasty attempt at revenge, narrowed his own eyes threateningly at the cub and slowly mouthed his warning, but was promptly ignored.

"Would you like to stay the night, Amy?" Tails continued, looking at the pink hedgehog earnestly, "It's dangerous to walk around the forest in the dark, after all. Surely no gentleman would allow that to happen. Isn't that right, Sonic?" the final sound was especially stressed, making the addressed flinch.

"You want me to stay the night?" Amy looked at Tails with wide eyes, who simply smiled back and nodded.

"Will you?" Tails asked, trying not to laugh at the way Sonic was putting his hands together and silently praying to whatever higher being above to grant his humble request.

The result was obvious of course, as if already dictated and predetermined by fate beforehand.

"Of course!" another deafening squeal was heard afterward, which could possibly be heard from miles away, followed by another reverberating yell of the twin-tailed child's name along with a burst of hysteric laughter shortly afterward.

That night, no organic being was successful at catching even a wink of sleep inside - and outside - the house atop the Mystic Ruins as they chased each other around.