-Begin Chapter Three-
Plane Trip!
Tails walked over the hut he occupied, pausing to look at Cream's for a few seconds before entering his own. Sonic had said she could go with him, but the council would have to really decide that. Best not to get her hopes up just yet.
As he entered the relative sanctuary of his "house" he thought about quite a few things. Firstly, why Sonic was annoying him so much earlier. It was nothing, he told himself, he had just been helping Cream use the saw. (Okay the Italics are gonna be Tails's inner voice talking to him. Yep that's right, he's gonna have a conversation with himself. and I have gone crazy)
"Then why didn't you want to let go of her?"
"It was nothing, I don't love her."
"Are you sure?"
"I am sure, now let me sleep."
"Fine, but you're wrong."
Tails blinked, what in blue blazes had that been about? How could he be telling himself he was wrong? Was he going crazy? 'Calm down, you're just tired, go to sleep. It was nothing.' He tried to tell himself, yet he wouldn't believe it, no matter how many times he tried.
Tails crawled into his bed and for the first time in a long time, curled up into a ball.
-Tails POV-
I couldn't understand myself. Something was keeping me from sleeping, yet I was so tired. I sighed, might as well run thoughts through my mind, since I couldn't sleep. I uncurled and lay, staring at the ceiling.
Okay, why on earth did Cream and me get stuck in the only grouping of huts in the entire village. I mean, we're the furthest away from anybody...why not put Rouge and Knuckles or some other couple here. I mean, I don't like Cream as anything more than a friend.
"You sure?"
"I thought I told you to leave me alone."
"Okay, fine, Grumpy."
'Grumpy?' What was with me tonight? I was arguing with myself. I sighed and turned around, this could be a very long night.
-Normal POV, somewhere else-
Cream stared at the ceiling of her room and sighed. She was having trouble sleeping, but not for the same reason as Tails. She really wanted to go search for her mother, even though she knew that her mother was most likely dead or a robot. But Cream couldn't help feel that her mother was alive, and not a robot.
She would have asked Tails if he knew if she could go with him, but she thought he was asleep by now, and she didn't want to disturb his rest. She had heard Tails working late on plans, mainly because of dull thuds and mutterings late into the night, he really could use some rest.
'They run him so ragged, designing everything. I really wish they wouldn't depend on him so much, he needs to sleep. He hasn't been himself for a while too.'
Cream hoped she wasn't hurting him, by asking him to help her on her search. Tails wouldn't admit to it, but she knew he hadn't been getting enough sleep, and he looked constantly worried; not to mention he had a shorter temper. How long had it been that he had been the carefree genius of eight? She knew six years had passed, but could six years really change a person so much? Okay, maybe she was exaggerating a little, Tails still was kind, but he just wasn't like his old self.
She sighed and turned around in her bed, not knowing the answer.
-Normal POV, 5 in the morning-
Amy stared out of her window and watched the blue streak that was Sonic run past. She had found out when Sonic did his morning run and had gotten up to watch him run past. She loved watching him run, in fact she loved to watch him do anything. She sighed as she viewed the havoc Sonic had left in his wake, the grass was slightly lifted off the ground and some papers had followed him. She always expected papers, he couldn't run slow enough for them not to. But she had told Sonic once not to run so fast that he disturbed the ground.
It was his calling card, once Robotnik could easily trace to find the village and destroy it.
-Amy's POV-
I can't believe that Sonic sometimes. I had told him never to run that fast near the village, besides Robotnik being able to find us easier, the village wasn't made for that kind of abuse. I had had to wake Tails up once to fix a hut that Sonic had destroyed. Didn't he ever listen? I hated to wake Tails up now, he was going to be leaving on a plane trip soon and he needed as much sleep as he could get. According to Cream he had been losing a lot of sleep lately.
I opened the door and took a few deep breaths of the morning air and stepped out to where Sonic had been running and looked around. My hut was in the center of the village and Sonic was on the outskirts. I needed to do a lot of checking of huts to make sure none of them had been destroyed or damaged by the winds Sonic had created.
I started walking in the direction of Sonic's hut, I needed to check there first. The infirmary's windows were broken, taking the opportunity I looked in the large homely building. Cheese was lying on one of the beds, still sick. What could be wrong with him?
I wandered out and continued my search.
-Sonic's POV-
I had a lot on my mind. I needed to think, and that's not something I like to do a lot. I wondered if it was all right for Cream to go with Tails on that test flight. They were friends, just friends, nothing bad could possibly happen on that flight, it would only last for two days; nothing could happen.
Why was I so worried? Oh yeah, they both had a thing for each other, though they probably aren't aware of either of their feelings. I needed to talk to Amy, maybe she'd know what to do.
Speaking of her, how on Mobius did Tails know I like her? I thought I had kept it all a perfect secret, nobody would know. How did my best friend know though? I hadn't told him. I had accidentally blurted it out on a run once, but Tails couldn't have heard, or could he?
My head was starting to hurt, I needed to talk to...oh shoot, I was running way to fast. Amy was bound to notice the deep groove in the ground. Okay, I talk to Amy if I lived through her lecture. I stopped and turned around and started to back track, maybe I could put the ground back together running the way I came, and Amy wouldn't notice. I see why she's worried about Eggman noticing it, that groove sticks out like a sore thumb.
I entered the village, continuing with what I was doing.
-Normal POV-
Amy walked along the deep cut in the ground that Sonic had created. She sighed to herself and looked up, there was Sonic, running right toward her. She blinked he was going too fast for her to move out of the way in time, and Sonic didn't appear to be slowing down. She braced herself for the inevitable impact.
-Sonic's POV-
I looked up, oh great there was Amy; and she was in my path. There was no time to stop or swerve. But the last thing I was going to do was run into her, too embarrassing. I had to think quick, I noticed her move, oh she had spotted me.
My brain processes went so fast, I thought my head was going to burst. Only one second left, wait she was turned to the side, maybe...well it was that or nothing. I reached my arms out and picked Amy up. Man, was this going to be hard to explain if anyone saw that.
-Amy's POV-
I felt Sonic ram into me, but I didn't feel myself being thrown into the ground. Instead I felt wind rushing along one side of me while the other was...warmed? I opened the eyes I had closed and saw Sonic's face way too close for normality. I blinked, finally it sunk in, Sonic had picked me up instead of ramming into me.
I felt Sonic come to an abrupt stop and set my feet on the ground.
-Normal POV-
After Sonic had completely let go of Amy he backed away to a more comfortable distance. Amy had a furious blush, and to her amazement a faint pink glow had appeared on Sonic's face.
"Sonic? Are you alright?"
"Huh? Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"Just wondering."
"What are you doing up at this hour anyway, Amy?"
"Watching you go on your run. You know you're not supposed to go so fast."
"Yeah, sorry."
Amy stared at Sonic in disbelief. He was actually apologizing? And he looked kind of sheepish. Amy smiled.
"Forgiven."
Sonic looked up at Amy and nodded. "So, eh, what did I destroy?"
"Just the windows on the infirmary. A good job for you when you get back from the test flight."
A wry smile crossed Sonic's face. "Oh, about that, I need to talk to you. I need your advice."
Amy stared at Sonic in quiet disbelief. 'Three impossible things happen today. What next?' "Sure, Sonic."
Amy lead Sonic to her hut and started to make a pot of hot chocolate. "What's the matter, Sonic?"
Sonic told Amy about promising Tails Cream could with him on the test flight. What he had seen the other day, he skipped the scene at the mess hall, just so Amy wouldn't get any idea that he liked her.
Amy sipped her chocolate in quiet contemplation and stared at Sonic before making an answer.
"I think it's a great idea for them to go together. Now we need a reason..."
-four hours later, Tails's POV-
I was packing some stuff into the plane, supplies I would need for the two-day journey. I heard someone enter the garage where the Factor X was kept. The tread was Sonic's.
"Tails, the rest of us have talked over who's gonna go with you."
"And?" I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, I really wanted to help Cream find her mom.
"As you know, I have to fix the windows to the infirmary, so Cheese doesn't catch cold, my reprimand for going too fast on my morning run. And the sooner the better, so I'm sitting this one out."
"Your point being?"
"I needed to suggest someone to take my place. So to keep my promise, I said Cream should go, you know she stays here so much, it might be good for her to go with you. The others agreed completely. You and Cream are going on a plane trip."
I smiled at the junk I was shoving into the plane. "Thanks, Sonic. You don't know how much this means to her."
"Whatever. You leave at one, remember that."
-Cream's POV-
I felt so worried. I couldn't leave my hut, the meeting was supposed to be over nearly half an hour ago. I hoped I could go along, but I didn't feel up to leaving. I knew my mom was out there, I didn't know what I'd do if I wasn't allowed to go search for her.
I heard a knock on my door, I opened it and saw Tails.
"Did they say I could go?"
Tails caught on to the worry in my voice and smiled. "It depends on how long it takes you to pack."
I blinked, was that a yes?
"You're going on a plane trip, Cream."
That was a definite yes. I smiled, "It won't take me long."
-At one, Normal POV-
Cream was sitting in the seat behind Tails in the Factor X. She was grinning to herself, and gripping the edge of her seat very hard.
The door in front of the plane opened, letting sunlight stream into the hanger. Tails flipped a switch and the dirt in front of the building slid apart, revealing a slick, black runway.
The plane rolled out of the hanger, sunlight bounced off the metal. It went up the road and took to the skies. The Factor X did a small circle around the village as the ground covered the path again. The four engine jet disappeared into the sky, never would it be seen again.
-End Chapter Three-
