a/n: Like never before.

Weave

05. Reverberation

"I'm home."

"Good evening, Cream."

"Good evening, Mama."

A cool winter evening, one sleep away from her next meeting with Sonic. Cream worried on the inside about what would or could happen. She took off her boots, then jacket and scarf before carrying her bag past the front of the house. Vanilla left the kitchen and hugged her daughter tightly.

"Are you well today?"

"I'm well, Mama. Thank you for asking. How has your day been?"

"Satisfying and productive. I finished that cake for Miss Rouge right on schedule, and she came to pick it up an hour ago. I know that Shadow will love it."

"A cake for Mister Shadow?"

"Well, she didn't say it out loud, but..." Vanilla smiled. "She didn't need to."

Cream giggled. "You can be trouble sometimes, Mama."

"As you get older, you find ways to keep yourself busy. I've made some tea."

"What kind?"

"Today's is Earl Grey."

"I would like some, Mama. Is it too much to ask you to bring it to my room?"

"Not at all, my love. I'll mix it the way you like and bring it up shortly. Snacks to go with it?"

"No thank you, Mama. I'll be going up, then. Mister Knuckles asked me to help him with something. An array of sorts."

"Oh? Good for him, it seems like he's considering outsourcing surveillance of that emerald. Hmm..." Vanilla placed a hand on her cheek. "I did offer to watch it for him, but he declined. If he thinks I'm too delicate, it's a mistake on his part..."

Cream smiled and left her mother with her thoughts. She went up to her room, set her bag near her desk and turned on her personal computer. Tails, bless him, had custom built it, set it up for regular updates, and came by every so often to have a look at the hardware. There was also a slightly less powerful laptop that Cream carried around from time to time. But only slightly less powerful, she noted.

Speaking of the boy in question, she decided to give him a call while she worked. She set her phone down on the desk after tapping his portrait in her contacts, set it to speaker, and waited as her computer booted up.

"Heya, Cream!"

"Hello, my love. I hope I'm not interrupting you."

"I've always got time for you. Well, I mean...in a few ways, more than others."

"Tails, don't worry about it. I know you're working hard to stop the Doctor, so please continue at your own pace. We'll have all the time in the world to ourselves when this is over."

"Yeah. Doesn't stop me from feeling bad, though. And I might get sucked into more projects anyways. Couple of big name companies are trying to lure me in with piles of cash and incentives. I might take two or three up on their offers. Even then, Sonic wants to start a company, and I might do that instead."

Cream clicked on a program before pausing a moment. "Oh? I didn't hear about that..." But then, she had been so distracted lately...the conversations in their quiet time together had started to slip through her mind. Not what she wanted, or what she envisioned when everything began. She felt awful, and he must have felt so much worse, knowing that he couldn't help when she was keeping her distance.

"We'd be taking on a couple of different things. He wants the core of it to be simple, though. A delivery service. Single items to start. We'd want to empower local communities and business owners, too. He's not the biggest fan of capitalism, though."

"He's said as much, yes. Shadow would be a part owner as well, to give advice?"

"Yep. By the way, how have things been with you two? I heard you've been spending a lot of time together."

"Very well," she said as her fingers pressed lightly against her keyboard. "He's been very kind and hospitable to me, as always. I'm really enjoying our talks."

"That's great! I'm really happy to see you guys getting closer. For a lot of reasons, obviously."

A light knocking interrupted them. "A moment, please? Mama brought me tea."

"Sure, go for it."

"Thank you." Cream left her seat and opened the door. "Thank you so much, Mama."

"You're welcome, dear. Is that Tails on the phone?"

"It is. He's doing well and working hard," Cream said. The sound of metal and tools came through the phone, making the two rabbits smile. "As you can probably tell."

"Of course. Give our darling my greetings."

"I will, Mama. Thank you again."

"I'll be watching my dramas before dinner. Come down when you're ready."

"Yes, Mama." They shared a hug before Cream closed her door, heading back to the computer with a warm cup of tea. As she took a sip, she thought of the only two people in the world who could make tea feel so warm and refreshing. "I've returned, my love."

"Gimme a sec, and...okay! Back to this quieter thing. Welcome back, Cream."

"Thank you. Mama sends her greetings."

"Awesome, I appreciate that. I hope Miss Vanilla is doing well, too."

"Quite well, and she's been keeping herself very active," Cream said with a smile. "So, you were speaking of something earlier?"

"Ah, yeah. I was saying that I was happy that you and Sonic were hanging out more. You're like, my two favourite people in the world and all, so that makes sense, right? Uh...hrm. It's so hard to explain properly. It just feels like it makes sense."

Cream thought about telling him. She worried that he would be hurt, hearing what she truly had to say, what she felt. The things that ran through her mind. But there was something to what he said. She just couldn't put a finger on it precisely.

"Familiar?" she asked.

"Familial, maybe."

All she knew was that she had feelings towards Sonic, and those feelings...weren't right. It's why she never told Tails the truth. But if she was wrong, what would the right answer be? What else could make sense?

What did she want from him?

It was sad, but she knew. And she loved them both, Sonic and Tails. But...

"Maybe you're right. There might be something to it."

"You sound a bit uncertain about something," he said. "I hope things are okay."

"They are, for the most part. I have something that I would like to try and solve on my own, for now."

"I understand. I also know that you'll make it through, like you always do."

"I love you so much. I want you to know that, no matter what happens. I'm happy that you let me into your life, I'm even happier to be part of it. Moments like this make me realize how lucky I am."

"Heh. That's totally my line. Especially after being so far away from you all the time. I really love you, Cream. Things will be okay, I promise. I believe in you."

"Thank you, Tails."

"Thank you, Cream."

"I'll leave you to your work."

"It's no trouble-"

"You always say that, but I know you want to work hard right now. Do your best, and think of me," she said with a smile. "Good luck, my love."

"Right. Until next time, Cream."

"Until the next." She hung up and shut off her phone's screen. After sipping from her tea cup, she set the saucer to one side and went back to her typing.

It's because I love you...I won't let this drag on any longer. I have to face it. I have to face this obstacle.

I have to face myself.

She would know what she needed to do in order to move ahead, once she got to that last fork in the road. What she knew, what she felt...

Even if it meant hurting the one she loved for a moment, she had to bring everything out into the light. To set herself, and everyone she loved free. She had learned that lesson in courage from someone special. Someone precious to her.

"Forgive me for taking this long, Mister Sonic. I feel like I'm ready now. I'll decide what our future together should be like..."

Even if it means the end of me.