Chapter 4 - The Morning After

Anthony was one of the last to wake up at the hotel...and he didn't wake up willingly. He found himself waking up to someone kissing him on the cheek. He turned towards the source and found a pink blur looming over him. He took his glasses from a nearby nightstand and looked back towards the source of the kiss, and Amy replaced the pink blur.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Amy said with a smile. "We ordered room service and got breakfast up here. Come on out and join us."

"Ames...what time is it?" Anthony asked, still a little groggy.

"Seven-thirty," Amy answered.

"Seven-thirty...it's very early...I may have to hurt you. Call me in five minutes..." Anthony said, starting to lie back in the bed.

"No you don't..." Amy said, grabbing Anthony by the arm and pulling him back up. "Sheesh...you got the Servers in you and you still can't wake up some mornings..."

"Well, I haven't had any coffee yet..." Anthony quipped as he allowed himself to be woken up. "Give me time to get showered and dressed, okay, kid?"

"Sure thing," Amy said, then turning and leaving the room.

Anthony got up and, after a quick shower, got dressed and joined the others in the sitting area...which included Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Julie-Su, Sally, Lazer, Rebecca, Red Sonic, Mina, Teila, Tyreke, Ryan, Metal Sonic, and Gamma. He was surprised at the large amount of beverages, pastries, fruit and other items that were there.

"What the HECK did you guys do? Raid Casinopolis's all you can eat buffet?!?" Anthony asked upon seeing all the food.

"Nah...we had the hotel staff do that for us," Tails quipped. He then handed Anthony a large mug of coffee.

"Thanks," Anthony said, and then took a long sip of the coffee. "Ah...I needed that."

"So Amy told us," Teila said. "Not an early riser, I see..."

"I used to be...but being a psion tends to drain you more," Anthony said. He then looked around at the group and said, "I see that almost the entire gang is here...even the bots joined us."

[What exactly were Gamma and I going to do? Stand around like metal statues?] Metal Sonic asked. [Besides...Teila suggested we join you. She said it might help our reputations if we're seen with all of you as allies.]

"A good idea, I think," Sally said. She then looked around and said, "We should invite Aura, Lisa, Rouge, and Shadow to join us...if they're up that is."

"Good idea..." Anthony said, setting his coffee mug down and standing up. "I'll get Aura and Lisa...Sonic, why don't you get Shadow and Rouge?"

"Anth...we HAVE phones here, we can just call them," Sonic said.

"Sonic...this early in the morning, they'd probably prefer a soft rap on a door to a piercing ring of a telephone any day," Anthony pointed out.

"Good point," Sonic said, standing up. "We'll catch you guys later!" He then turned towards Anthony and said, "Let's juice, Anth!"

Anthony smirked and said, "Yes...let's..." He then disappeared as his Teleport power was activated, much to the surprise of the group. Sonic shook his head in disbelief and headed out of the room.

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Aura woke up to the sun in her face...and someone licking her where her tears were previously. She looked towards the source and found Ryndar "kissing" her.

She smiled a bit from the show of affection, but couldn't bring herself to be happy. After getting dressed, she picked Ryndar up and walked downstairs. Lisa was already up and making some coffee, and she greeted Aura.

"Morning, Aura," Lisa said, looking towards Aura. It was then that she noticed the sad look on Aura's face. "Aura? Is something wrong?"

Aura sighed and looked towards Lisa and said, "Yes. In fact...I have a confession..."

"What? What's wrong?" Lisa asked.

"I...told you I planned on returning after spending some time here..." Aura said, hugging Ryndar a bit. "But the truth is I don't really know what I want to do. I want to return home...but at the same I don't want to leave all the friends I made here." Aura nearly broke down crying again. "Goddess...I just don't know what to do..."

Lisa looked with concern at Aura, understanding what Aura must be going through, but at the same time unsure what she could do to help. Before she could say anything, she heard a knock at the front door and went to answer it, seeing Anthony at the other side.

"Morning, Lisa," Anthony said. "Sorry for the early call, but the group was wondering if you and Aura wanted to join us for breakfast at the hotel."

"Well...I'm not sure if now is the right time..." Lisa said.

Before Anthony could ask why, he sensed the strong feelings coming from Aura. "What the...? Aura?" He turned towards Lisa and asked, "Lisa...is something wrong with Aura? Is that why now is a bad time?"

"Actually...something is wrong with Aura..." Lisa said. "She's not sure what she wants to do. She feels obligated to going back to her version of Mobius...but doesn't want to leave us..."

"Ah, I understand..." Anthony said.

It was at that time that Aura came into the area that Lisa and Anthony were talking. Anthony could see that Aura was in a bad way.

"Anthony..." Aura said, looking as if she was ready to start crying again. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to invite you and Lisa to breakfast with the rest of the group, but I can see you need some more time..." Anthony said. "Lisa told me what was wrong..."

"No...wait..." Aura said. "I...I could use your advice, Anthony..."

"My advice?" Anthony said. "I don't know what I can do...but I'll be glad to do whatever I can..."

Lisa led the two to a sitting room so they could talk and then left to check on the coffee. As the two of them sat down, Anthony turned to Aura and asked, "So...what did you want to ask me?"

"Well...it's just this..." Aura said as she sat down. "This is the first place I've been truly accepted and I really don't want to go somewhere else and risk being hated again...but seeing what you did, what we did together, makes me want to give my Mobius a chance..."

"But...at the same time you're too afraid to leave the friends you have here..." Anthony surmised. Aura nodded sadly, and Anthony continued by saying, "Perhaps I can help you then..."

Aura looked up with great interest as Anthony spoke. "Aura...I currently have a house in Mobius and friends on all the worlds of Arcadia...including one who is as close as family to me. However, despite all this...Earth is still my home and always will be my home. If you really think you can help your version of Mobius, then you should go back and help."

"I see..." Aura said.

"However..." Anthony said, snapping Aura back to attention, "it's alright if you want to stay for a little bit before going. Maybe the good times here will give you the incentive not to fail...so you can be able to return and tell us all about it."

Aura smiled at that and said, "Thanks. I wanted to stay a bit longer, especially so I can get some things together, and learn how to take care of Chao so I can look after Ryndar."

"You can transport others with you with that power?" Anthony asked.

Aura then had a faraway look in her eyes and said, "Yes...but, it was a long time ago that I did it. I somehow managed to transport an entire spaceship back to my reality. I'm just glad I was able to get it back to it's original location...though it really drained me. I'm just glad Captain Kirk wasn't upset by what happened..."

Anthony's eyes suddenly widened at the mention of that captain's name. "Kirk?!? You went to the Star Trek universe?!?"

Aura gave Anthony a confused look and said, "Star Trek?"

"It's a television show that exists on my world," Anthony explained. "The same latent psi ability that allowed the author who had written about you to know about you also allowed a man named Roddenberry to write a series of stories based on that ship you were on...which I believe was called the Enterprise?"

"Yes, it was..." Aura said. "I had no idea...did any of those shows mention me?"

"Afraid not..." Anthony said. "Sorry."

"It's no problem..." Aura said.

"So..." Anthony said, beginning to stand up, "shall we head to the hotel? You and Lisa are more than welcome to join us for breakfast..."

"Of course, and I will..." Aura said, standing up as well. "Oh, and Anthony?"

"Yes?" Anthony said. He then watched as Aura hugged his midsection, and knelt down so Aura could give him a proper hug, even returning the hug. After Aura let go of the hug and wiped away a few stray tears of happiness, she then said a quiet thank you to Anthony.

"Hey...it was nothing, Aura. What are friends for?" Anthony said in response. As he stood back up, he turned towards where Lisa was walking back into the room.

"Is everything alright now?" Lisa asked.

Aura nodded and then Anthony asked, "So...you ladies up to joining us for breakfast at the hotel?"

"I'll be glad to," Aura said, picking up a half-asleep Ryndar.

Anthony then turned towards Lisa. "What about you, Lis?"

"I'll wait until Kyle wakes up and then I'll join you," Lisa said.

"Alright..." Anthony said. He then extended a hand towards Aura and said, "Come...we'll take the Teleport express."

"Okay, Anthony," Aura said. She then grabbed Anthony's hand and the two disappeared as Anthony's Teleport ability kicked in.

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"You really didn't have to stay up with me, Rouge..."

Rouge, who had decided to fall asleep in the chair next to where Shadow was sleeping, looked the worse for wear that morning. She was still yawning a bit from staying up with Shadow that night, and even the coffee she was drinking wasn't helping.

"It was not a problem, Shadow," Rouge said. "Besides...I wanted to be there for you...to prove you weren't as alone as you thought..."

Shadow looked up from his own cup of coffee and smiled at Rouge. "Thank you, Rouge..."

As the two looked in each others eyes, they began to move closer. Before they could get too close though, a knock was heard on Rouge's door.

"Ugh...can you believe it? The timing's bad...AND I'm not presentable..." Rouge said.

"I can get it, Rouge," Shadow said. "You go get ready."

Rouge thanked Shadow and ran into her bedroom. Shadow walked up to the door and opened it, revealing Sonic on the other side.

"Hey, bud..." Sonic said. "The group wanted to invite you and Rouge over for breakfast at the hotel, if you're interested."

"Only if you're willing to wait...since Rouge is rushing to get ready as we speak," Shadow said. "But, knowing you, you aren't into waiting."

"Ah, I can take it this time," Sonic said. "After what we were all through, I don't mind settling down for a bit..."

"Alright, come on in then..." Shadow said, getting out of the way for Sonic. As Sonic stepped in, he noticed the haggard look on Shadow's face.

"Shadow?" Sonic asked. "Are you alright?"

Shadow sighed and said, "Not really. Rouge had to comfort me last night...after I had a nightmare about..." Shadow trailed off near the end.

"Maria?" Sonic asked, finishing Shadow's sentence and prompting a nod from Shadow.

"I even found myself crying on Rouge's shoulder..." Shadow explained. "So much so, I actually cried myself to sleep. Rouge actually stayed by my bedside the entire night..."

"Whoa..." Sonic said in response.

Shadow bowed his head in shame. "Not like me, I know..."

"C'mon, Shadow...no one is immune to their feelings," Sonic said.

"Except you, I suppose," Shadow said, looking up.

"Not even me..." Sonic said. "I still miss my dog, Muttski...who died from robotization toxins. I've...even cried sometimes whenever I'm reminded of him..."

Shadow was surprised at this. "Really?"

"Yeah..." Sonic said. "You and I are more alike than you think...I mean, besides both of us being fast moving hedgehogs. In fact...I kind of considered you like a brother to me..."

"Wow..." Shadow said, beginning to smile a bit. "Thank you, Sonic...for understanding..."

"Hey...what are friends for?" Sonic said, placing a paw on Shadow's shoulder.

As soon as they stopped talking, Rouge walked out towards them. She was showered, fully dressed, and in her makeup...but still looked tired.

"Oh...Sonic," Rouge said upon seeing Sonic. "What are you doing here?"

"Came to invite you and Shadow to breakfast at the hotel," Sonic said. "Interested?"

"Sure...as long as there's coffee..." Rouge said, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Whoo boy...you AND Anth...both needing coffee..." Sonic said.

"Well...no doubt Shadow told you what happened last night..." Rouge said. "So I have a good reason for needing it."

"True..." Sonic said. "So...shall we get going?"

"Okay...but how are we going to get there? We're on the other side of town," Rouge said.

Shadow and Sonic both gave each other evil grins and then looked back at Rouge. "Rouge...are you forgetting who you are talking to?" Shadow said.

Rouge, still a bit groggy, didn't pick up on what they were saying...but soon her eyes widened as the two hedgehogs grabbed her wrists. "Oh no..." she said.

"OH yes!!!" the two hedgehogs said at once. They then started running out of the room with Rouge in tow, the door closing behind them from the sonic boom created.

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The elevator door opened, revealing Aura and Anthony on the other side. They exited the elevator and walked towards the door to the room. As soon as they arrived, Anthony began searching the pockets of his jeans.

"Problem?" Aura asked.

"Yes...I forgot to get a room key before coming to get you..." Anthony said, somewhat embarrassed.

As soon as Anthony said that, the other elevator door opened, revealing Sonic, Shadow, and a very frazzled looking Rouge.

"Hey, you guys just get here too?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah...and I just realized I forgot to pick up a door key before leaving..." Anthony said.

Sonic suddenly froze as he realized something. "Uh oh..."

"You too, Sonic?" Shadow asked.

Anthony shook his head in disbelief and then knocked on the door. It soon opened, revealing Sally on the other side.

"You guys forgot room keys, didn't you?" Sally asked, prompting sheepish nods from both Sonic and Anthony. "Well, come on in, guys. We have plenty to go around."

"Thank you, Sally," Aura said as she walked in to join the group. "It was nice of you to invite us."

"It was nothing," Sally said.

As they rejoined the group in the main room, they were greeted by all present...though Tails and Amy had to swallow the breakfast rolls in their mouths rather hurriedly before they greeted them.

"Where's Lisa?" Julie-Su asked.

"She's going to wait until Kyle wakes up before she joins us," Anthony explained. "In the meantime, guys...we have a mission..."

"Anth...PLEASE don't say 'mission'...especially after what we were just through," Red Sonic said.

"Nothing like that, Red," Anthony said, and then placed a hand on Aura's shoulder. "Aura here could use some cheering up...since she was feeling a bit unsure about going back to her own Mobius."

"Hey...ditto with Shadow here," Sonic said, pointing at Shadow. "Poor guy had a nightmare about Maria."

"Hey...that's one mission we'll gladly take," Mina said. "Sit down, guys..."

Aura, Sonic, Shadow, Rouge, and Anthony joined the rest of the group and began to partake of the breakfast.