It was about 9:30, and the sun was shining high above Amy's house now. The dewdrops on the grass glistened like diamonds, as the sun peeked through the trees, causing little spots of sunlight to infest the grass. The sweet fragrance of the morning air, mixed with the newly purchased flowers Amy had, caused her nose to twitch in delight.

"It's such a beautiful day," she said aloud, as she began digging a small hole underneath the window adjacent to the front door.

She had planted the last of the sunflower seeds she had bought some time ago when she decided to take a break. She removed her gardening gloves and wiped the sweat off her hands on her blue jeans. Then, she began walking into the house, thinking to herself that a glass of freshly made lemonade that she had made the night before would be good right about now.

Before she could open her front door, she was interrupted by the sound of someone calling her name. When she turned around, she saw Tails, flying in the sky and landing on her drive way.

"Hey, Amy, long time, no see," said Tails, as he smiled and waved at her.

"Hey Tails. How's it been?" Amy asked, politely. "I was just going in for a glass of lemonade. Do you want some?"

"Sure, I could go for a glass," answered Tails, as he smiled back at her.

Amy and Tails walked into her house and went into her kitchen. Tails sat at the round table in the center of the room, while Amy poured two tall glasses of her lemonade with ice cubes in them. She sat in the seat directly across from Tails.

"So, what brings you to my humble abode?" asked Amy, as she sipped her lemonade, licking her lips when she was done.

"Well, I..." Tails stopped in mid-sentence. It was only at that particular second that he realized he hadn't come up with a legitimate reason to invite her to the diner that afternoon. His heart raced, as he tried to come up with something, fast.

"Well, what?" asked Amy, prompting him to speak.

Tails decided to try to buy himself more time to think. "So, Cream tells me you and Shadow went to Twinkle Park last night."

Amy's eyes went wide. She had forgotten to tell Cream not to say anything to anyone, like she promised Shadow not to. She was speechless, as Tails scratched the back of his head, nervously.

"It was nothing," Amy said in her defense, "He just owed me a favor, that's all. It wasn't like I was on a date with him or anything. But that doesn't explain why you're here. Is there something you want to tell me, or did you just come here to rub this in my face?"

Tails cleared his throat, "Actually, I came here to tell you that...um...that...Cream and I have something for you!"

Amy blinked in surprise. "Really? What is it?"

He thought fast again, "Well, in truth it's actually a surprise. Someone wants to meet you."

"Is that so?" asked Amy, her suspicion level rising, "Who exactly wants to meet me? Is it someone I know or someone I don't know?"

"Well," said Tails, his heart racing, "It's actually a surprise, like I said. He wants to meet later this afternoon, at the Downtown Diner at 12:00."

Amy raised an eyebrow at him, "Why do I sense something is up? Why would someone just want to meet me without even knowing me?

It was at that second Amy began connecting the two conversations together, "It wouldn't be Shadow by any chance, would it?"

"No, of course not," said Tails, tenseness overflowing throughout his entire body, "It has nothing to do with him, honest!"

Amy let out a deep sigh, "Alright, I'll go, but it something sounds very suspicious about this. Why can't you tell me who it is?"

"Like I said, it's a surprise!" said Tails, as he got up, "Remember: the Downtown Diner at 12:00. Thanks for the lemonade!"

With that, Tails walked out of the house and began walking down the dirt path towards his workshop. When he was a few miles away from the house, he let out a deep sigh and said aloud, "That could have gone so much better!"

Central City was as busy as it always was, especially at this time of morning. The morning rush hour caused the streets to be infested with vehicles and the streets were flooded with pedestrians. The ambience of honking car horns and the indistinct chatter of the people on the streets made it feel very congested. Like always, there wasn't a single place you could go in this portion of Station Square where you wouldn't run into mobs of people.

Among the heavy traffic and the busy streets, Sonic sat at an outside table of a Spagonian Restaurant. He sat there with a plate in front of him with two jumbo frankfurters smothered with chili on top; a tasty delectable known as chili dogs, and Sonic's favorite food.

He sat back, staring at the cloudless, blue skies, thinking about his dream that he had last night. He felt as if the dream was telling him something, even though it didn't really seem to tell him much of anything. He let the thoughts pass, as he took a bite out of his chili dog, munching away as if he didn't have a care in the world.

When he swallowed his food, and after taking another mouthful, he heard the sound of someone calling his name. He swallowed his food and sat up straight, for he knew who it was. If it wasn't for him recognizing the sweet, soft voice, it was the polite manner of which she spoke that gave her away.

"Mr. Sonic!" Cream called out to him, as she approached him, Cheese following behind her. She sat down at the same table as him, only she sat next to him rather than across from him. "I've been looking for you. I wanted to talk to you about something."

Sonic glowered at her. "This better not have anything to do with Amy, because, if it does..."

She cut him off mid-sentence. "I came looking for you because I wanted to tell you how deeply sorry I was for my behavior yesterday."

This took Sonic by surprise, so much that he was unable to say anything to her. Cream took this time to continue her train of thought.

"It was very inappropriate of me to gather all your friends and confront you like we did," she explained, as she scratched the back of her head, "And I'm sorry for making you feel intimidated like that."

"Chao, Chao," Cheese chimed in, as he rested on his lap, giving him a sorrowful hug.

"Well, I guess I owe you an apology as well," Sonic sighed, as he began stroking Cheese on the top of his head, "I wasn't like me to yell like that to you or to anyone else. I'm sorry"

"It's okay," said Cream, "I want to make it up to you by taking you out to lunch this afternoon, if you don't mind."

Sonic took a bite out his chili dog, swallowed it and said, "Sure, why not. I guess there's no harm in that."

"Okay then," said Cream, "Meet me at the Downtown Diner at 12:00 this afternoon, okay?"

"The Downtown Diner at 12:00," Sonic confirmed, "Alright, I'll be there.

Cream smiled at him and flew off into the sky, Cheese close behind her. As she began to fade in the horizon, Sonic shrugged his shoulders and took another bite of his chili dog, feeling relieved that their short meet had nothing to do with Amy.

As Cream was nearing the suburbs, she began giggling to herself.

"Well, that was easier than I expected," said Cream, as Cheese hovered by her face, "Let's just hope the next phase of this strategy goes just as smoothly."