a/n: What once was.

Weave

2. Definition

"Thank you as always."

"You're very welcome, Cream. Pleasure having you back, just like the last time."

She smiled at him from across the wooden table and sipped at her tea. He had gotten it down to just the way she liked it within three visits. It was comforting, and made her warm even before the tea reached her stomach. Sonic had relaxed himself a bit and started using a mug; it felt better around his hand, he thought. He still placed a saucer under it to keep up some of the table's aesthetic.

"I...more than understand I've built up an image of myself," she said. "So what I'm going to say next will disort it forever."

"This stuff is never clean, y'know. Whatever you've got to say, it's fine. I promised we'd work through it all together."

"It might make you uncomfortable," she said knowingly.

"Can't be anything too bad."

"That much is always said before the news is delivered."

Inwardly, Sonic was frightened at what was coming, but he kept it to a light nod and let her continue. Cream set down her teacup and placed her hands in her lap. She raised her head to look at her host, a look in her eyes that said she was unsure of how to speak next.

"Imagine, if you would...that I was in denial of what I wanted all along."

"Denial?" Sonic repeated.

"Yes. That I knew, that I fully understood what it was I wanted, but desperately tried to make it out as something else entirely. Something...wholesome."

"Instead of the alternative," he continued.

"Yes. That's it entirely. Maybe what I wanted taken away more than my heart was my decency."

"That's...pretty heavy, honestly."

"It might be. But it also might be what I've been asking for all this time, without knowing or understanding it. I am growing...I'm becoming an adult."

"You've still got a lot of time to keep growing. Adulthood isn't some arbitrary number, no matter what the feds'll tell you." He chuckled and sipped from his mug.

She gave him a pointed glare. "Is it that you're trying to steer me, Mister Sonic?"

Sonic threw out a shrug in response. "Maybe, at least on a deeper level. I'm not-"

"Trying to tell me what to feel. But it feels like it. Even if you mean well, it feels like you're trying, very subtly, to say that what I'm feeling isn't what I'm feeling, that it's more than likely wrong. That we should go back to entertaining those wholesome thoughts and feelings I had when we started."

He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. Sometimes she was razor sharp. "Maybe. I mean...even if I did agree, it'd be trouble for you and an older guy like that."

"Because I'm small? Innocent? Vulnerable, you think?"

"Part of it."

"Wouldn't something like that be easily taken care of?" she said forcefully. He shifted in his chair and let out a breath, giving her a look that didn't go unnoticed. "There are many things I'm privy to. Many things," Cream repeated before sipping at her tea again.

Sonic leaned forward and drummed his fingers on the table, trying to calm the rumbling in his head.

"You're probably moving a little fast." He knew the next shot she was going to take.

"What do you think he would feel about it?" she asked, confirming his thoughts.

He smirked and her attack slowed, confusion furrowing her brow.

"What makes you think I could speak for him? I don't think it'd be right."

"Surely, you could imagine for a moment..."

"That wouldn't be fair to either of us, little lady. Not you...and not the guy you're thinking of either."

Her shoulders slumped a bit and she closed her eyes.

"I see. I'm sorry for trying to force something like that."

"Nothin' to apologize for. Like I said, Cream...let it all out, however you have to. I'm here for you, no matter what."

"Thank you."

"Words to chew on, though...sometimes we end up giving our own fears form. Right?"

"..." She had another curious look on her face.

"We see possibilities...we get a little frightened by them. So we just launch headlong into one or the other, figuring that's the only way to solve 'em. As I said before, you're still young. You got your whole life ahead of you. Bein' a woman...it's about way more than feelings. Way more than your life partitioned into body, mind and soul. Yeah? Give it a good kick around upstairs, and you'll see a few things differently."

"I...I'll try that. You saw right through it...I was scared. I was afraid that I was..." She struggled to speak. "That I was...m-maybe..."

"Cream...come around here, hon. I got ya."

She slid down from her chair and met Sonic in the middle, feeling his warmth as he hugged her. Her head rested against his as she quietly shed tears.

"It's scary. I know it is. But you're never alone."

"...thank you...thank you..."

"Always a pleasure, Cream."

He smiled a melancholy smile, patting her head gently.