Warm

"...and then, Cinderella fled. She weaved through the crowd, lifting her dress up as she ran. The prince was shocked. He tried calling out for her, but Cinderella could not answer. She only had a minute to escape the castle. She raced down the staircase, but unbeknownst to her, one of her glass slippers fell off!"

Tails clutched his blanket. "Oh, no!"

"Oh, no, is right," Sally said, looking up from her book with a smile. She cleared her throat before continuing to read. "Cinderella couldn't retrieve it. Already, the threads of her silk dress began to unravel. With no time left to lose, she hurried to her pumpkin carriage and-"

"If I were Cinderella, I would've made it home before the magic failed," Sonic interjected.

He made his presence known with a snicker. Sally peered at him over the top of the book, rolling her eyes. Tails beamed, assuring Sonic he was correct. Only his speed could counteract a spell, and Sonic's ego inflated by the second.

"Didn't you already learn that speed isn't always the answer on one of our missions?" Sally questioned, drumming her fingers on the paperback's spine.

He grimaced. The agonizing memory of his slow jog across Robotropolis sent shivers up his spine. Hunching his shoulders, he waved his hands and shook his head. "Ugh! Don't remind me of that mondo uncool night. Not one of my more charming moments."

A smirk curved on Sally's lips. "And you learned a valuable lesson about the importance of thinking before you speed off."

"That was then, and this is now," he quickly replied.

Sally still snickered. She searched for where she had left off. Pointing at a sentence near the bottom of the page, she resumed reading, Tails rapt by Cinderella's desperate escape.

Sonic sat down by a small table near the entrance. He cupped his cheek, resting his elbow on the scratchy towel and looking at her. Sally spoke smoothly, enunciating every word and invoking exaggerated emotion for thrills. She flicked her gaze between the prose and Tails, watching his reaction as he gasped, shocked by the carriage spoiling just as Cinderella reached her home.

As he remained still, resisting the urge to tap his foot, it begged the question of why Sonic was listening to the fairy tale. He wasn't one for reading or staying in one place. Stories around the campfire were different, especially when he was jeering at Antoine's bloated, heroic fibs. He could have darted up the stage, stealing the spotlight from the spluttering, red-faced coyote by regaling the Freedom Fighters with his, mostly truthful, version of events.

Fairy tales were written for little kids. Sonic was a teenager, well out of the age range for Cinderella. He wasn't one to linger for a moral to be described in whimsical bedtime stories. It wasn't like him at all.

But as Sally read to Tails, he listened. She sat with her back straight and shoulders squared, her posture perfect. In a deeper voice, Sally announced the Prince's intentions to search for Cinderella. Her eyes lit up, even though Sonic knew Sally was more than familiar with the story. She was putting on a show for Tails, entertaining him with different voices. Her dulcet tone emerged as Cinderella reflected on the ball to her mice friends, soft-spoken and earnest, full of adoration.

Sonic tilted his head. Although Sally paid him no mind, he slipped into a trance. Her voice lulled him into a sweet sense of security. Whether she utilized a squeaky, haughty pitch for a stepsister or a low, disapproving growl for the stepmother, Sally invoked the character's spirits, bringing Sonic into Cinderella's story.

He could have listened to her listing ingredients for a beef stew or technical jargon about Robotnik's technology. So long as she was talking, Sonic kept an ear open.

As the Prince's herald arrived with the slipper, Sally glanced at him. Sonic blinked, his eyes unusually dry and slightly stinging. Sally read on without missing a beat. They were in the thick of the climax where Cinderella would prove the truth, and Tails wouldn't want anything distracting Sally, so Sonic pretended to silently whistle.

But he listened. The stepsisters squealed as they struggled to wear the slipper. The stepmother bemoaned that she only had two daughters until Cinderella appeared in the doorway, escaping her locked room. The herald, enchanted by her beauty and sincerity, beckoned her near. Tails held his breath, and so did Sonic, his cheeks glowing.

"Sitting on the stool, Cinderella held out her foot. The stepsisters taunted her. They shouted it would never fit, but to their shock, it did! The herald placed the slipper on Cinderella perfectly. Her stepsisters were stunned, and her stepmother shrieked, 'Impossible! It's a fluke!'" Sally smiled. Her buttery smooth, charming voice evoked the elegance of Cinderella. "'But I have the other one here,' Cinderella said, retrieving the glass slipper from her pocket."

"And she kept it just to prove them wrong?" Tails asked, eyes wide.

Sally shook her finger and continued to read. "Her stepfamily was shocked and saddened. They saw their ugly reflections in the glass slipper Cinderella held. They threw themselves to the floor and begged for Cinderella's forgiveness, realizing they were wrong to mistreat her." She turned the page, her tone light. "Cinderella forgave them. She asked them to rise and accompany her to the castle to meet the Prince. Once they arrived, the Prince welcomed her family and proclaimed his love for Cinderella. There, at the castle, they wed to the delight of the kingdom. Joy returned to the land with their loving marriage, and Cinderella and the Prince lived happily ever after." Shutting the book, she rested it in her lap, quietly adding, "The end."

"Wow," Tails breathed out. His head nestled on his pillow, eyelids drooping. "That was a really nice story, Aunt Sally."

Chuckling, Sally kissed the tip of his nose. "And that's exactly why fairy tales have happy endings."

As Sally tucked Tails in for the night, Sonic's cheeks flushed. He didn't understand why his face was hot. He had listened to her story, but the cheerful resolution shouldn't have burned him. He was happy, enthralled by her acting and clarity, but his heart thumped faster as if she had kissed him.

While Tails asked her a few questions, Sonic studied himself. It was pleasant seeing Sally like that. She had nothing to fear or lose. She was herself, playing different roles to amuse a child. The embodiment of a princess caring for her people, Sally was still a benevolent girl at the end of the day.

Like Cinderella, he thought, his lips quirking upward when Sally tiptoed over to him.

Tails was fast asleep. His soft snoring filled the room as she shut the door behind them. They shared a look, adorning delicate smiles. Reflexively, they took each other's hand. As the heat in Sonic's face faded, replaced with affable comfort, they patrolled Knothole under the stars.