This was going to be a larger chapter until I realized that actually finishing it and getting it all out at once would make it too long for my tastes, and probably most of yours. Here's the first part, and the second will come out when it's done. Also, due to a work and class schedule adding up to about 55 hours per week for only the month of July, I probably won't be doing anything related to writing either story at all.
I don't own any of the characters. That's SEGA's job, and they do it well.
Creeeeeeeeeeeak.
Amy slowly closed the door behind her, emerald eyes scanning the house for the source of the noise. It had been a rough shift for her, even though she got her hours reduced for the time being so she could take care of Tails. She was not sure if that was the door behind her, her imagination, or something else. Even though it had been three days since Eggman's death, Amy was still worried. She could not help but think that there were some stray robots out there that could attack, or some massive swarm that would come after the Freedom Fighters after learning of Eggman's death, or perhaps some new evil overlord would try to rise up and fill the very large hole, both literally and figuratively, that Eggman had left. She began to worry when she did not find Tails in his room, or in the kitchen, or on the couch watching TV.
Creeeeeeeeeeeak.
He promised her that he would stay indoors until he was better, and she knew that he would not stay cooped up in bed all week. She also knew she was worrying far too much over a minor tail injury, but she still felt guilty over causing the injury for what ended up being no real reason. "Tails?" She was quiet, but she did not know why. It was early evening, and the sky had just turned dark. The moon was barely visible, and the first few stars were coming out. Nothing's out to get you, Amy. You're not in a horror film, it's just Tails's house. Tails just. . . isn't here. He's upstairs, fixing up the guest room for tonight.
Creeeeeeeeeeeak.
"Yah!" Amy jumped, putting her hand over her chest and taking deep breaths to calm herself down. She turned left and walked down the hall, her eyes refusing to stay still as she walked through the house. She lay flat against a wall when she got close to the door, daring to peek around the corner for a split-second before being convinced there was nothing there.
Creeeeeeeeeeeak.
"Come on, Tails, this isn't funny. . ." Amy shivered as she reached the end of the hall. She could tell that the sound was not coming from upstairs, and the only place she had not seen was the hangar. She stood close to the door, pulled it open, but stood behind it so she was hidden by the door. After a few seconds, she figured that nothing was coming out to get her.
Creeeeeeeeeeeak.
The sound was very loud now, and Amy froze, then took a moment to regain her composure, as she knew she was close. She armed herself with her hammer, just in case, then ran into the dimly-lit room. The light immediately grabbed her attention, and Tails was tightening a nut with a wrench extremely slowly. "TAILS!" Two loud CLANG sounds were heard as Tails dropped his wrench, then jumped and hit his head on what he was working on, which happened to be the Tornado.
"Owww. . ." Tails sighed. "Amy, I told you, you don't have to shout. . ."
"And I told YOU not to work on anything while you're getting better! What if you hurt something else? Or get motor oil on that wound?" Amy stamped her foot and raised her hammer, and Tails scrambled back and held his hands out to stop her. Her eyes caught the wrench, and it finally registered that she had heard Tails this whole time, and that nothing was out to get them. She made her hammer disappear, dropped her arms so they rest limply at her sides, and hung her head. "I'm sorry, Tails. It's just been a crazy few days. I. . ." She took a deep breath and sat down beside Tails, hugging her knees to her chest, and looking down at her dress. "I keep thinking that Eggman's still alive, or that some robots are out to get us, or that you'll get hurt when I'm not around. . ." She looked up at Tails again to confirm that he was all right. Even though he had just been scolded, Tails had his familiar, friendly smile on, and his eyes were looking right into Amy's.
"Amy. . it's okay. . ." Once Tails saw Amy looking up, he jumped over to her and hugged her, wrapping her in his tails. He gently brushed them against her, which tickled her and made her giggle. "I'm glad you care so much about me, I really am, but I'll be fine. No one's heard anything about any attacks, no one's gotten hurt, and you saw Eggman unable to escape from his base." Tails, however, was hiding his own fears from her. He had a nightmare two days ago about Eggman returning and taking Amy away from him, which caused him to wake up screaming her name to an empty house. He was glad she was not there at the time so he did not have to explain it.
"Thank you, Tails. . ." Amy sighed and nuzzled Tails's fur. "I just wish the week would go by faster. . ."
"Why's that?" Tails blinked and leaned in, confused.
"Because then you'll be all better, and I won't have to worry anymore. . ."
"Amy, you don't have to worry about me, even now. I can't fly, and I have to be careful with that tail, but that's it. It's not like I hurt my leg. . ." Tails thought for a second. "Speaking of which, how's Rouge?"
"She's all right. She calls up to 'complain'. . ." Amy reached up and used air quotes where Tails could see. ". . . now and then. I've heard some of the things she's said to Shadow, and if her wit's still that sharp, then she's fine."
"Poor Shadow. . ." Tails chuckled.
"Yeah. From what I heard, he offered to take care of her. I never knew he could be so sweet."
"Sounds like he's a bit of a masochist, too. From what you said, and Rouge being cooped up at home, and Shadow having to be around her twenty-four seven, I don't know how he does it."
"Me, either. He probably uses chaos control when he needs to get away from her. That or he bangs his head against the wall until he knocks himself out."
"That poor wall. . ." Tails grinned, kissed Amy on the cheek, then stood up. "You didn't have to come by to check on me, you know. I'm being careful, and I'm feeling better already."
Amy pouted. "But that's no fun! Going straight back to my home and doing nothing is just so. . . boring sometimes. Besides, knowing I got to see you at the end of the day really helped."
Tails's eyes went wide, and he blushed. "Y-You're just saying that."
Amy giggled. "No, really! Even though I'm only working half my normal hours, it's still crazy down there. Apparently, the person covering the other half of my shift is kinda. . . incompetent. So it's like fitting six or seven hours into a four-hour shift, between fixing her work and doing my own."
Tails frowned. "Wow. I'm sorry, Amy, I had no idea. . ." He pulled her into a hug, which she returned.
"It's all right, Tails. I didn't want to tell you, cause I knew it would make you worry even more. But I survived half the week already, so I'll be fine, as long as I can see my cute little fox every day after work." Amy reached up and scratched the fur behind Tails's neck, which caused him to let out a happy sigh. Once he became aware that he did that, he blushed and buried his head into Amy's shoulder.
"Awww, you know you're always welcome here, Amy. And, to be honest, it gets real lonely working on the Tornado and watching TV all day."
"Oh, poor you. . ." Amy pulled back and stuck her tongue out at Tails, which made him laugh.
"I know you had a rough day. Did you need anything?" Tails got up and started walking out into the hall. "Maybe some ice cream?" Even though Amy could not see it, Tails grinned, as he knew that would help her feel better.
"Well, when you put it THAT way. . ." Amy got up, then dashed by Tails and got to the freezer. She had already gotten out the ice cream, bowls, spoons, and chocolate syrup by the time Tails got there.
"You never cease to amaze me, Amy. . ." Tails looked at her, rolling his eyes, and Amy stuck her tongue out again.
"Like you didn't want some ice cream, too." She laughed and scooped out the ice cream for each of them, giving Tails his bowl.
"Maybe. . ." Tails said slyly before digging in, eating until he got an ice-cream headache, which caused Amy to grin.
"Careful, Tails, you're hurt bad enough already as it is. . ." Amy laughed, and Tails chuckled through the occasional pain. He knew if she was making jokes like that, she was not worried near as much as she was a few minutes ago.
"This is worth it. . ." Tails managed to get the words out while wincing. He slowed down his eating, and both he and Amy finished off the ice cream in short order. Tails turned to the window and noticed the moon was high. "It's getting late, Amy. Do you want me to take you home?"
"No, I'll stay here tonight, if that's all right with you." Amy smiled.
"O-Of course it is." Tails blushed. "You don't have to ask."
"Oh, and I heard from Shadow and Rouge that there was going to be some sort of ceremony in our honor, for being the ones who finally defeated Eggman, once and for all. It's supposed to be a week and a half from now, so everyone will have had time to recover. Do you wanna go, Tails?" Amy looked on, and Tails thought for a moment.
"Sure. It'll be good to see everyone again." He nodded. "Who's going to be holding it?"
"The royal family, and Sally will be presenting the awards." Amy looked at Tails, who blinked and sighed. Both of them knew what that might mean if Sonic was going, which he probably would. He shrugged, indicating that he, at least, would cross that bridge when he came to it.
"So we KNOW it's going to be huge. . ." Tails sighed, as he still hated large crowds, and he did not entirely want so much fame and fanfare around him. Amy smiled and pulled Tails into a hug.
"It'll be fine, Tails. I'll be with you the whole time, and we'll get to see everyone again." Amy's eyes widened. "Oh! Guess what I got to do at work today?"
"Huh? What happened?" Tails blinked.
"My store is going to be providing the flowers for the whole event!" Amy beamed at Tails. "It took a day and a half to finalize the deal, and yours truly did most of it!" She squeezed Tails before letting him go.
"That's great, Amy!" Tails grinned.
"Mm-hmm! It certainly helped that they knew I was there for the final fight against Eggman." Amy smiled.
"Yeah, but you still did a good job to get a deal that big!" Tails leaned in and kissed Amy.
"Thanks, Tails." Amy blushed and giggled, then yawned. "Sorry. . . it's been a long day. . ." As soon as she admitted this, she slumped over slightly. "I'm gonna go to bed, okay?"
"See you in the morning." Tails leaned in and hugged Amy, who smiled and gave Tails a peck on the cheek.
"Love you, Tails." Amy said as she pulled away.
"Love you, too, Amy." Tails said as she went towards Tails's guest room, and he went towards his room. Both fell asleep quickly, and with smiles on their faces.
The next week and a half went by rather uneventfully. Tails was actually better the next morning, which was a great relief to both himself and Amy. Amy returned to her normal schedule and got a rather large bonus for helping get the deal to do the floral arrangements for the ceremony, and she knew what she was going to do with it as soon as she got it, but she decided to wait until after the ceremony was over to do it. Rouge got better as well, and Shadow was nearly at the end of his rope, having to chaos control out of the apartment a few times to prevent himself from going crazy. Rouge vaguely mentioned she would make it up to him somehow.
Tails's heart was pounding as he landed next to the castle just before the ceremony was supposed to start. He did not want to arrive early and fully take in all the media coverage and random mobians wanting a picture or an autograph. Lucky for him, Sonic was there, and so most of the attention was on him, with Rouge distracting plenty of the males. Tails managed to sneak around and see Amy chatting away with her boss for a few minutes before turning around and seeing Tails. She ran over to him and squeezed him. "Hey, Tails!"
"Hey, Amy!" Tails smiled and hugged her back, his tails flicking as he looked around. After wiggling around in Amy's arms enough to get room to breathe, he took a deep breath, and felt slightly more relaxed. He pulled away and took a minute to take in his surroundings. The castle grounds were groomed perfectly, with large, well-crafted shrubbery of each hero to be honored at the ceremony. They were placed along two rows that were right next to the walls leading up to the main entrance. A lot of plain white chairs were placed down the rather wide row leading to the entrance, with a bright red carpet covering the aisle in the middle, which was usually a trail of well-paved stone. A large wooden podium was set up right in front of the entrance, with a large wooden table beside it that had a small briefcase which held the medals on top of it. The seating area was roped off, and all the reporters were crammed up against it, trying to get the best view of the action. There were some royal guards stationed all around, just in case. The reporters and guards moving around so much was blocking most of the floral arrangements, but from what Tails could see, Amy had done an amazing job with them. Roses, lilies, tulips, azaleas, and violets, all set up in either attempts at scenic landscapes, such as a cliff overlooking a sea of violets, or into pictures of some of the heroes, whether it be Sonic's likeness in violets or Amy's own face done in roses. "Wow, they really went all out here. . ."
"Yeah, I've never seen the castle look this good." Amy pulled away and smiled. "But, then again, we have a real reason to celebrate, and we don't have to worry about any attacks. And we had a great florist work her magic." Amy grinned, and Tails laughed.
"Mm-hmm." Tails nodded. "I really like the roses." He jerked his head in the direction of Amy's face done in roses. Amy blushed, then pulled Tails in and kissed him.
"I was looking all over for you about half an hour ago, where were you?"
"Oh, I came a bit late." Tails shrugged. "There's just. . . so many people here. . ." His eyes darted around, and his breathing started to speed up. Amy quickly took his hands in hers.
"Tails, it's okay." Amy smiled. "I'm right here, and I'll be with you the whole time." Tails took a couple of deep breaths, then nodded.
"Thanks, Amy. Sorry, I'm just not used to being around big crowds." Tails looked down shyly.
"Don't worry about it. They're throwing a party for us! And if you wanted some time alone, you can just ask one of the guards or Sally, and I'm sure they'll give it to you." Amy beamed at him. Tails thought for a moment and nodded, as he knew Amy was right.
"Right! We should probably take our seats." Tails walked hand-in-hand with Amy down the aisle, then sat down in the chairs that were reserved for them. They were asked to sit next to each other, and both of them wondered if Sally knew about their relationship. Off to the side, they could see Sally practicing her speech. Neither of them had known her to speak in front of crowds at all. She was more the planner and the one who had to stay back to defend the city itself. A few minutes before the ceremony was set to begin, everyone began to take their seats. Sonic dashed over and sat next to Tails, and had his seat next to the aisle.
"Hey, buddy. Glad to see you're okay." Sonic gave Tails a thumbs-up, but both Tails and Amy could see how nervous he was.
"Yeah. It wasn't that bad, though. I could still work on the plane and stuff, I just couldn't fly." Tails shrugged and made his grip on Amy's hand a bit tighter.
"Still, that's a bummer. But, hey, it's a huge celebration for us! You've gotta like that, right?" Sonic gave an uneasy grin. He was talking to calm his own nerves as much as Tails's.
"Yeah!" Tails showed some semi-genuine enthusiasm. He had been at a few ceremonies like this before, but none as big as this. However, Sonic always got the attention and most of the glory. He knew that would be the case here, even though he stopped the robot that Sonic could not. He turned around and noted the faces he recognized in the crowd: Rouge, Knuckles, Vanilla, and upon further inspection, he saw a large, green tail and a small black stinger. He winced, as he knew the chaotix were in town, and he only hoped that Espio would be around to wrangle them in before they caused too much chaos. A second look found Cheese flying around just above the chairs and chirping sadly, which caused Tails to move slightly in his chair to get a better view, and he saw Cream sitting next to Vanilla, and his eyes grew wide when he saw her. Cream looked like she was about to pass out in her chair. There were bags under her eyes, which were also red, but she was not crying. Vanilla kept a straight face, but kept glancing down at Cream, clearly very worried, but not sure what to do. After a couple good nights of sleep, Cream had hardly been sleeping at all after what had happened with Eggman. She knew that it was for the best, and that she wanted to protect everyone, but her subconscious did not agree with her, taunting her with nightmares and whispers of things like "Murderer." Even aboard the Blue Typhoon, she had not had to kill anyone, mainly being the shield and defense expert, as well as a nurse when needed. She rarely went along with Sonic and crew on their missions, and while she heard stories, and occasionally saw the Freedom Fighters in action, she had never seen them kill anyone, except Cosmo, so she had no idea of how it would affect her. She tried her best to act normal during the last two weeks, and had succeeded until everyone noticed she would scare much easier and was not sleeping normally. Vanilla had tried to help her as much as she could, but she had no idea what was actually wrong with Cream. She was trying to get a therapist for Cream, but she wanted to ask Tails and Amy for their help once the ceremony was over. G.U.N.'s commander and some of their elite soldiers were present as well, but had mostly gone unnoticed until they filed into two rows of chairs set aside specifically for them.
After taking one last look at the crowd, Sally came out, striding to the podium with all the poise of the princess she was. Her bright blue dress matched her eyes, and her diamond necklace was sparkling in the sun, catching everyone's attention, especially Rouge's. Sonic's eyes were darting all around, but still unable to look completely away from Sally. She cleared her throat before adjusting the microphone and finally speaking. "Citizens of Mobius! We are here to celebrate the defeat of our most infamous foe, Dr. Eggman, once and for all!" She paused for applause, which was given gratuitously. She waited for two full minutes before clearing her throat to ask to continue. The crowd quickly quieted down, and she continued. "We have many of our own Freedom Fighters to thank, but we could not have done it without the forces of the Guardian Unit of Nations! Accepting the medal for his squad is Commander Jack Tower!" There was scattered applause, as not many mobians knew who the commander of G.U.N. actually was, and plenty of them had never seen any G.U.N. involvement in their daily lives. Jack marched up the aisle with a cold, straight face. He had seen many battles, and his gray hair, dark blue eyes, and well-decorated military uniform showed it. Sally had a large, gold pin emblazoned with the G.U.N. emblem ready when Jack reached the front. She reached up and shook his hand, then carefully placed the pin under all of Jack's own medals. After murmured words of thanks back and forth, Jack saluted Sally, who returned the gesture, then Jack walked back to his seat.
"Next, we honor the hero of Mobius, Sonic the Hedgehog!" There was a roar of applause, and between his proximity to the podium and his well-known speed, Sonic was up there in a flash. Sally was in the middle of turning to get his medal, but was unfazed by his quick arrival.
"Thank you, thank you!" Sonic was waving at the crowd by the time Sally had Sonic's medal ready for him. "Hey, thanks a lot, Sally, how's it going?" He still had his heroic grin on, but Sally did not say anything, merely putting Sonic's medal on and turning back to the podium. Each of the heroes had a unique gold medal made especially for them, and Sonic's was in the shape of one of his shoes. Sonic did not pay much attention to the medal and wanted to say something else, but thought better of it, and instead went back to his seat. Had he been paying attention, he would have seen frowns on the faces of Tails and Amy. They cast worried glances at each other, but their eyes went back to the stage once Sally spoke again.
"Next, the skilled engineer, and the smartest being in Mobius, Miles 'Tails' Prower!" The applause for Tails was less than the applause for Sonic, but Tails was still blushing at the compliment and smiling as he walked up to the podium. He bowed to Sally, who put the medal around Tails's neck. Tails was already looking down and was able to see that his medal was done in the shape of his twin tails.
"Glad to see you're okay, Tails. And, congratulations!" Tails nodded, but noticed her eyes had shot over to Amy. Tails gave a nervous grin, and Sally smirked. Tails turned away and dashed down the podium and back to his seat.
"Does Sally really scare you that much?" Amy whispered into Tails's ear and giggled.
"She knows about us, and I don't know how." Tails whispered back and shrugged.
"Maybe she heard about it from Sonic." Amy spoke, then looked back up as Sally prepared to speak again.
"The everlasting spirit, and the main florist for the event. . ." Sally gestured around to the faces of the heroes done in flowers. "Amy Rose!" Amy smiled and stood up to her own round of applause. She got up to the podium and curtseyed to the crowed before accepting her medal, a golden rose in full bloom.
"You did a wonderful job with the flowers, Amy, and. . ." Sally's eyes darted to Tails. "Congratulations!"
"Thank you, Sally." Amy giggled happily and walked back down, sitting beside Tails.
"Now, accepting medals for both herself and the absent Shadow the Hedgehog, a woman of many talents, Rouge the Bat!" Rouge walked up a bit more slowly to the front, in order to give people something to look at. Even though she was with Shadow, she could not help it. A blown kiss to the crowd once she reached the podium made Sally's eyes roll slightly. "Well done, Rouge. It's a shame Shadow couldn't be here, too."
Rouge merely shrugged. "He's not really one for parties." She bowed to accept her medal, which had a diamond shape that had a medical cross in the center, and took Shadow's, in the shape of a chaos emerald. "Thanks, hun, these have a spot reserved in the trophy room." Rouge had a different way of seeing her small room back in the apartment which contained her most prized possessions. Most others would call it a hoard, and many people would claim that something in that room was stolen by Rouge, and they would be correct. Rouge turned with a flourish and walked back to her seat in the same slow manner that she used to walk up.
"And now, we have a special award for the brave Cream the Rabbit, and her chao, Cheese! Even though they were taken by Eggman, they never gave up hope and did their part in the rescue effort!" There was plenty of applause for Cream and Cheese. However, Cream was looking more nervous than Tails, shaking as she walked up to the front, and Cheese was cradled in Cream's arms. Once she made it up, she covered part of her eyes with her ears.
"You did great out there, Cream. You, too, Cheese." Sally patted Cheese on the head, and pinned a small gold pin in the shape of a chao onto Cheese's bowtie. She then took Cream's medal, done in great detail in the shape of one of her flower crowns, and put it around her neck. Sally was smiling, but paused when she saw Cream shaking even worse than before. "Cream? What's wrong?" She noticed tears flowing down Cream's face, heard her sobs, and watched her turn and fly away using her ears.
Everyone heard Cream's sobbing, and Vanilla stood up and called out to her, but she kept flying away. A lot of the people and guards also called out, telling her to stop or come back, but to no avail. A few seconds later, Tails got up, dashed out of his seat, and flew after Cream. He was a slightly faster flier than Cream was, but the head start she got allowed her to fly for quite a distance before Tails even got close. Upon seeing he was close to her, she hid in a large tree. Tails could hear leaves rustling, and knew that Cream was still moving around in the tree, but her large ears gave her away. After about a minute of maneuvering in the tree, Tails finally caught Cream, wrapping her in a hug, and wrapping his tails around her as well. "Whoaaaaa!" Tails nearly fell out of the tree, as he did not expect Cream to thrash around once she was caught. He grabbed a branch with one hand for balance, and kept steady. "Cream, it's me, it's Tails. What's wrong?" His voice was surprisingly calm after seeing his close friend lose control like that. Cream was still sobbing for a while, but she stopped moving around, and Tails waited patiently for her to speak. After a few minutes, Cream's voice was hoarse and trembling, but she finally spoke.
"I. . . I killed him, Tails. . . I did a terrible thing. . ." Cream clutched Tails's tails and nuzzled them, which caught Tails by surprise and made him yelp.
"Cream, you did a great thing. Think of all the people that Eggman had killed in the past when he attacked us. He was going to kill so many more people, but you stopped that. You saved all those people, Cream. You're a hero."
"B-But killing people is wrong! Sonic's a hero, and he never killed anyone. . ." Cream sobbed into Tails's fur. Tails knew Cream had a point, and he paused for a moment.
"I know what it's like to kill, too, Cream. . ." Tails whispered into her ear, and Cream gasped, remembering what happened to Cosmo. "I know how you feel, and I know what you'll go through. But, the thing is, it's been some time since then, and you're still able to feel. That's a good thing, Cream. I cut myself off from everyone, and it just hurt them all even more. I know you feel bad, but you can still FEEL. That's actually a good thing, it shows you still care, even if you were mad at him when you decided to kill him."
"I still see him at night, when I close my eyes, Tails. . . he's scary. . ." Cream shuddered, and Tails wrapped his arms around her.
"It's okay, Cream. He's gone now. He won't come back. And if you get scared, you'll always have Amy, Sonic, and I to talk to."
"Th-Thank you, Tails. . ." Cream turned around and embraced Tails. She was taking deep breaths and trying to calm herself down, and Tails waited for her to do so. Cream nuzzled his fur and giggled, which caught Tails by surprise, but made him smile.
"Ready to go back?" Tails asked as he lifted Cream's chin.
"Mm-hmm!" Cream's eyes were red, but her voice was calm, and she had stopped shaking. Tails picked her up and flew her back, with Cheese flying all around the pair, happily chatting away with Cream on the way back. The crowd looked on as Tails flew in, and cheered when they saw Cream. Cream ran to Vanilla and hugged her. "I'm sorry, mama. . . Tails talked to me, and I'm feeling better now. . ." Vanilla patted Cream on the head and turned to Tails, smiling.
"Thank you, Tails. . ." Vanilla let go of Cream and walked over to Tails, leaning close to him and started whispering quickly. "Poor Cream, she's been having nightmares, I can tell. . . and you know what it's like, being against Eggman, so you can help her better than anyone. . . I've tried to get her help, but nothing was working, until you came along."
"Y-You're welcome, Miss Vanilla." Tails smiled. He felt bad for ignoring Cream for so long, but now he finally got to do something for her. He gave a wave goodbye before walking back to Amy. "She's okay now. She felt bad about what had happened with Eggman." Amy gave Tails a sad look and nodded, then both of them turned back to Cream, and were scared for what would happen with her next. She was the youngest member of the team, and the one who was the most opposed to violence. Worse yet, they had seen her get very angry at Eggman, which was another emotion they had hoped they would not see from her. Tails and Amy both knew they would have to be there for Cream, but because they would help her soon, rather than the six months that Tails waited to speak to anyone, they knew her chances of getting better were much higher. The two of them shared a hug, then smiled at each other.
"We can help her, Tails." Amy's voice was hopeful. "Maybe helping her can help you more, too." She gave him a playful pat on the head, ruffling his fur. "Let's go back now. The main ceremony is done, it's all just chatting and boasting." Tails nodded and walked back with her, hand in hand. No one really looked at both of them for very long or with very much interest, and they began to wonder how far the news of them being together spread, or if everyone was too busy to care. The first person to come up to them was the manager of the flower shop Amy worked at, who asked for a word with her. Tails nodded and began to walk around. Everyone was either talking to someone else or paying attention to one of the "main attractions," so to speak, and the biggest attraction was Sonic. He had gotten credit for finishing off Eggman, and he was only okay with taking the credit because Cream had asked him to. He knew how hard Cream's life would become if everyone thought of her as the sweet and polite girl who also killed Eggman. She did not want that much attention, and Sonic understood that. He could handle attention, but he could not handle making one of his friend's lives a living hell, especially when they were so young. He had no desire to feel the way he did when Tails was depressed and grieving and shut everyone off again if he could help it. Tails nodded at Sonic and silently wished him luck before heading over to the only person he recognized with no one around her, which was Rouge. At first, he was not sure whether Sonic was a bigger hit with the crowd, or whether Rouge was trying to steal something. He knew it was the former when Rouge gave him a welcoming look.
"Everything okay, Tails? How is she?" Rouge said once Tails stopped in front of her.
"She's okay. She's just. . . scared, over what happened. She's the nicest girl you'll ever meet, never hurt anyone in her life unless it was self-defense, and now she's. . ." Tails's voice was quiet and full of concern, and Rouge cut him off with a nod.
"She's got plenty of friends to help her, she'll be fine." Rouge said dismissively, and Tails frowned as he heard the jealous undertone.
"Why couldn't Shadow come? Is he all right? Off on some mission?" Tails both reminded her that Shadow was there for her and asked something that had him curious at the same time. Rouge shook her head.
"Shadow doesn't like parties, and he doesn't like attention." Rouge shrugged. "I guess he thinks everyone still hates him." She looked at the ground and frowned. Tails looked sympathetic , but before he spoke, Amy ran up to him and gave him one of her typical greeting hugs.
"TAILS!" Amy was too excited to control her voice for a moment, only considering how loud she was when she saw Rouge with wide eyes and her hands clasped over her ears. "Oh, sorry. . . I got the promotion! I'm the assistant manager, now second-in-command at the shop!" She was beaming at Tails, and Rouge looked back up and gave a smile that only looked somewhat forced.
"That's great, Amy! Congratulations!" Tails gave her a hug and flicked his Tails, which tickled Amy.
"Congratulations, Amy. . ." Rouge held her smile, with happiness flashing in her eyes.
"Where's Shadow?" Amy blinked and looked around.
"He didn't want to come. Shadow always hated parties." Rouge shrugged. "He is due to come pick me up soon, though. I came for the medals, I never liked the chatter after the party. I have more important things to do." A flash of green light signaled Shadow's arrival. "Right on time. Good job." Rouge gave Shadow a pat on the head like he was a pet chao. Shadow gave his standard greeting of a grunt.
"I didn't come here today because I wanted a break from you. Being at your side for a whole week was exhausting, even for me." Shadow's face was free of expression. Rouge got annoyed, and Tails and Amy did not dare to laugh.
"But you know better than anyone that I'm worth it." Rouge smirked. "I'm even going to take you out to dinner to celebrate, just like I promised. Say. . ." She turned to Tails and Amy, who were a bit confused. "How about we make it a double date? Amy's got a promotion to celebrate, and Tails took down the robot AND got himself a girlfriend. You two deserve a good night out as well, and I know all the best spots in town for a good meal and some good fun." Shadow turned and glared at Rouge. "Don't worry, hun, we'll still have some time together, just the two of us." His look softened, but he still looked Tails and Amy over, eventually nodding his approval. "Well, you two? Wanna join us?" Tails and Amy looked at each other, thinking it over, and eventually nodding. "Great! How about next Friday night, six o'clock?" They both nodded again. "I won't tell you where you're going. . . I want it to be a surprise. . ." Rouge grinned, and Tails and Amy both looked nervous. "So Shadow will pick you up at Tails's house. . ."
"Don't push it, Rouge. . ." Shadow growled.
"It'll be worth it, sweetie. . ." Rouge winked. Shadow nearly blushed, and the corners of his mouth twitched, making him smile for a split-second. He went quiet, and Rouge took it as him backing off. "Great! We'll meet you then. See ya." Rouge latched onto Shadow's arm and the pair disappeared in a flash of green light. Tails and Amy looked at each other for a few moments.
"I'm not so sure about this, Amy. . ."
"Oh, it'll be fine." Amy was not entirely convinced. "Rouge wouldn't take us anywhere dangerous. . . and we know she can keep Shadow in line. . ." Amy forced a grin, but Tails simply shrugged.
"Okay. . . how about we head home?" Tails glanced towards the Tornado, and Amy nodded.
"Sure. I've had enough excitement for one day." Amy quickly walked with Tails, avoiding the large groups of people, and getting to the Tornado more or less unnoticed. They took off and were back at Tails's house within minutes. Both of them were tired after the day's activities, and quickly went to bed.
The next few days brought some changes, but most of them were good. Cream was sleeping much better, and talked to Tails by phone daily. Tails hid away and worked on building things when he was not talking to Cream or Amy. He had gotten more orders and calls since the award ceremony was broadcast, but he was able to fill the orders quickly. Amy was enjoying her fame and being nice to all the new customers and fans at the flower shop, although she talked to Tails much less than normal, because she had to work longer hours to keep up with the increased demand and was exhausted when she finally got home. Rouge was busy planning the double date, and had asked for Shadow to let her plan it alone, so Shadow would leave and do whatever Shadow does when he was alone. Six o'clock on Friday night rolled around, and Rouge leaked the first place they were going to Shadow right before he picked up Tails and Amy. Even Shadow could not hide a smile when he heard the location, and he took Rouge by the hand and left in a flash of green light, taking her to where the date was going to start, then teleported to just outside of Tails's house. He composed himself before knocking on the door, where the couple was waiting for him. Amy was all dressed up, but Tails was not. No one minded that, though, and Tails felt better about it when he saw that Shadow was not dressed up either. "Let's go. Each of you, grab one of my arms." Tails and Amy were nervous, as Shadow sounded very impatient already. They did as they were told and all three disappeared in a flash of green light.
