Chapter 5: Amy and Cream

Near the edge of the city, lay a small house surrounded by flower fields. This was the home of Cream the Rabbit, her chao friend, Cheese, and her mother, Vanilla.

Cream was a cream-colored, lop-eared, brown-eyed rabbit. She wore a white-collared orange dress with a light blue ribbon, white gloves, and orange and yellow shoes. Cheese was a small light-blue and yellow creature with rounded, blobby limbs and tail, pink, butterfly-like wings, a teardrop-shaped head, and a tiny yellow ball floating above him, like all other chao, while also wearing a red bowtie.

The two of them were hanging out with their friend, Amy Rose. They were making flower crowns, enjoying their time, though Cream noticed Amy seemed a little down.

"Amy, are you okay?" Cream asked.

"Huh, what? Oh, yeah, yeah I am," Amy replied.

"I don't know... you seem a little down."

Cheese flew up behind Cream, his arms crossed.

Amy sighed. "Fine. You know about Tails' new protégé?"

"Um, I heard he was looking for one," Cream replied. "Did he finally find one?"

"Yeah, he did, but... I don't think I got off on the right note with her."

"...Her?" Cream noticed. "Amy, did you think she was after Sonic?"

"...Maybe."

"Amy..." Cream sighed.

"Well, she was REALLY close to Sonic, acting all friendly with him. I KNEW she had to be after him."

"And?"

"Well... Sonic said that she was Tails' new protégé, and he was showing her around and... I... may have scared her away before that..."

"Did you find her and apologize?"

"Well, I found her, after Shadow saved her from some crooks, and she left with Sonic before I could say anything."

"Oh my! ...is she okay?

"Yeah... Shadow got in my face about not treating her like a friend, then left."

"Well, you should."

"Yeah, but it's been a week, and I haven't seen her, since. Or Sonic and Tails, for that matter."

Cream put her hand to her chin. "Well, do you know where is she staying?" she asked.

"Well, I'd imagine she's been staying at Tails," Amy replied. "Or at least, he'll know where she is."

"So, let's go meet her," Cream said, getting up and pulling Amy up, too.

"H-hey, wait a second!" Amy cried out, as she was dragged along.

Tails and Sapphire were in Sapphire's new room. They were finally looking into decorating the room. The heater did good in keeping the room warm, but with the metallic walls, they were considering adding carpet to help insulate warm. They were going to paint the walls, get new covers for her bed, and get a few doodads for her desk.

"So, what colors do you like?" Tails asked.

"Oh, um, I like the color blue, though maybe the walls should be a warmer color?" Sapphire replied.

"Maybe the carpets could be blue."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

There was a knock on the front door. Sapphire jumped a bit at the sudden, faint sound, while Tails turned to look out of the room.

"Sorry," Sapphire said, "I don't hear knocking a lot."

"It's fine..." Tails replied meekly. Then he went to the door to see who it was.

Amy and Cream stood at the entrance. Amy was holding her hands behind her back, looking nervous, while Cream hung behind her with Cheese looking over her shoulder.

"Hey, Tails," Amy said, "is, um, Sapphire around?"

Sapphire, hearing Amy's voice and remembering what happened with her a week ago, hides behind her bedroom door. What did she want? Did it have to do with Sonic?

"Um... yeah, she's here," Tails responded. "...Why don't you come in."

Sapphire saw Amy walk in with a cream-colored rabbit girl she's never met before, with a chao flying behind.

"Hey, Sapphire, someone would like to talk to you!" Tails called out.

Nervously, Sapphire walked out of her room.

"Sapphire, I'm sure you've met Amy before. And this is her friend is Cream the Rabbit, and her chao friend, Cheese," Tails introduced, then turning to the new arrivals. "This is Sapphire the Hedgehog, Sonic's new sister!"

"Oh, Sonic has a sister?" Cream replied. She walked up to Sapphire, and bowed to her. "It's really nice to meet you."

"Oh, yeah, nice to meet you, too," Sapphire said, rubbing her arms. "Um, no need to bow. ...I'm not that important."

"Cream's mom teaches her to be polite," Tails said. "Very polite."

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to make you feel bad or anything!"

"No, it's okay, Sapphire," Cream replied. "Cheese, say hi."

Cream's chao, Cheese flew up, and extended out his arm in greeting. Sapphire lightly squeezed it with her index finger and thumb, and shook it.

"Hey, Sapphire," Amy spoke up. "I wanted to apologize for what happened last week."

"Oh, I..." Sapphire hung her head low. "Sorry, it's... I don't blame you for those crooks. You couldn't have known that would happen."

"Thank you for not blaming me for that. But that's not the only part of it. I'm sorry for..." Amy took a deep breath, and remained quiet.

Cream leaned over. "Amy, what do you say?"

"I'm sorry for mistaking you and Sonic for... being together. And scaring you away."

"Um… Thank you." Sapphire was still nervous around Amy. Even with her apology, she still knew about her hammer. And her intensity about her… passion.

Still, she owed it to her to at least try to be thankful for her apology. She was a friend of Sonic's after all.

"Yeah, it's okay. Besides, Sonic took me in as his sister, so you're free to, um, be his girlfriend, I suppose.

"Sure she is…" both Tails and Cream replied in unison.

Sapphire looked at both of them in confusion. "What?"

"Oh, it's nothing you should worry about," Tails replied.

Amy seemed annoyed by Tails and Cream's comment, but she cooled herself down, and said, "okay, is there anything I can help you with? You know, to make things up to you."

"Um, I don't know…" Sapphire replied.

"Actually, maybe you can take her into town, and help her pick out some stuff for her room," Tails spoke up. "We're trying to decorate her room, make it more lively for her to stay in."

"YES!" Amy replied. "I'd love to go shopping with her."

"Your shopping for supplies, Amy. She's already had plenty to wear. Now, I'll provide the funds, you go out and find what you need."

Amy seemed a little disappointed, and Sapphire was nervous.

"Tails, are you sure about this?" she asked.

Tails leaned in to speak quietly to her. "Hey, it's okay. I know it's… difficult dealing with Amy, but she is a very nice person. I think it will do you good to get to know her, and you know, become friends. And besides, she knows more about all this… girly stuff…" he motioned to her room, "…than I would."

"I… um, okay," Sapphire was still a bit nervous, but he was right. She turned to Amy. "So, Amy, Cream. When do you want to leave?"

Amy smiles and turned to Cream, who seemed to be excited herself.

Sapphire, Amy, and Cream were walking around the city, checking a few different stores that would have what they were looking for. Tails made sure to give Sapphire a list of what they needed to look for, and a card with the rings needed to purchase these items digitally on it. She and Amy were talking about what Sapphire was looking for her room.

"...You know, if you're looking to use a blue carpet, maybe get yellow paint. It would match your colors," Amy told Sapphire.

"I guess, but not everything I wear is blue," Sapphire replied.

"Really."

"Well, most of my clothes are…"

Amy laughed at that.

Sapphire was getting more comfortable with Amy. She was still a bit nervous around her, partly due to her shyness, partly due to her knowing what Amy was capable of.

"So, can I ask. What is it that you like about Sonic?" Sapphire asked.

"Oh, he is so dreamy, and courageous. He's always there when you're in need. Aw, I would love it if he here now," Amy replied.

"Okay, well you don't have to worry about me and Sonic. He took me in as family, so I won't come between you two. And I don't want to."

"Hey, Sapphire…" Cream spoke up. She leaned towards Sapphire, and whispered, "this relationship is kind of one-sided."

"You sure?"

"Mhmm."

"What are you two talking about?" Amy asked, a little tense.

"Nothing!" both Sapphire and Cream replied at the same time.

"So, Sapphire," Cream started, trying to change the subject, "um, may I call you 'Saph'?"

"'Saph'? Oh, sure, Saph is fine."

"All right, so Saph, you're working with Tails now, right? How's that going?"

"Oh, it's going great. My apprenticeship with Tails is like a dream come true. I always wanted to meet my heroes, and this more than I could have ever asked for. I mean, I couldn't even imagine them becoming family. …Oh, and I'm learning so many new mechanical skills, too. Sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"No, that's okay. It's really amazing that all this has happened for you, Saph!"

Sapphire smiled. Cream was such a good person. Saph would love being friends with her.

"You know, I remember when I first met Sonic," Amy said.

"Oh, what happened?" Sapphire asked.

"Oh, I predicted that I would meet my hero on the Little Planet."

"'Predicted'?"

"Oh, yeah, I used to read tarot cards. But anyway, I went to Little Planet, met my hero, Sonic, as I predicted... then got kidnapped by Eggman and his robot copy of Sonic. Then Sonic came to save. Ah, my hero..."

"Oh... Hey, Cream," Sapphire turned to her. "When did you meet Sonic?"

"Oh, Sonic saved me and Cheese from Eggman, then we worked together to save my mom."

Cheese nodded behind Cream.

"Oh, so Sonic helped both of you. I guess you must be really good friends with him, then," Sapphire said. "I'm glad you know him."

As the three of them (plus Cheese) were walking along, talking, and searching for the items they were shopping for, Sapphire fell behind her friends. As she tried to catch up, past a couple of mobian boys.

"Hey, babe, how ya doin'," one of them asked.

Sapphire turned to them, confused. "Wha- huh? Did you want to ask me something?"

"Yeah," the other boy asked, "why don't you come hang with us."

"Um, sorry, I'm not sure... I don't know you guys. Maybe I should get my friends..."

"Oh, nothing to be nervous about," the first boy said, getting uncomfortably close.

"May… I leave now? I'm getting uncomfortable."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with us. Now-"

"HEY!" a voice called out. Looking over, they saw Amy, holding her hammer in her hands.

Seeing that hammer, Sapphire backed away. These creeps were one thing, but she still remembered Amy's weapon, and it scared her more.

Cream appeared behind Amy, looking furious, Cheese flying with her, pounding his "fists" together. "Are you trying to hurt my friend!?" Cream exclaimed.

The second boy said, "hey, hey, we just wanted to have some fun."

"She doesn't look like she's enjoying herself," Amy pointed out, before taking another step towards the boys.

"W-well, ma'am, we-"

"Buzz off!" Amy exclaimed, raising her hammer.

The mobian boys freaked out and ran off, leaving the girls alone.

"Sorry, Saph, we didn't realize you fell behind," Cream said.

"Seems you can't be left alone without someone trying to take advantage of you," Amy replied.

Sapphire didn't say anything, only staring at Amy's hammer.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked.

Cream picked up on what was going on. "Amy," she whispered, "your hammer. I thing Saph might…"

"Oh." Amy put her hammer away. "Sorry. You still don't like that, don't you."

Sapphire nodded, staring at the ground.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I'm… really sorry." Amy approached Sapphire. Saph stepped back nervously, but eventually let Amy give her an apologetic hug.

"It's... okay," Sapphire replied. "I'll get used to it."

"You know what, let's all get some ice cream. Then we can finish shopping."

"Yes, ice cream!" Cream exclaimed.

Sapphire nodded. She was still a bit scared of Amy when she pulled out her hammer, but she was a good friend, as well as Cream. Sapphire knew that they would be great friends.

Author's Note: So, I wanted an early story about Sapphire getting to know Amy and Cream. Not sure how well I did, but I think I did alright. I also added to the canon of the story, finally getting to Sapphire's room, and giving her the short name of "Saph".

I was finishing up this story as I started looking up the new Team Sonic Racing game, and I realized that Amy has matured (as it were), and I'm writing her like her earlier self as that's what I think about when I think "Amy". I guess I have to figure out how to amend that later. But for now, I think it's a bit too late for that, the full story already has her like this, but I don't think that's bad. I just want to be up to date.

Also, I realized I've been making a lot of unnamed minor characters. I do it because they're supposed to be one use, just for the immediate story, but I hope to move away from that soon.