This story is still alive! My apologies that it's taken this long to update. Things have been crazy lately. My country has been ravaged by typhoons and there were moments when I just wasn't inspired to write.

The weather in my area is finally beginning to clear up, but there are still more typhoons on the way. Praying that they won't be as destructive as the last few ones.

Now, regarding this chapter, it is an Amy and Faith episode. And it includes a very popular thing that has been circulating around the internet. I think you guys will know what I'm talking about when you see the title. Enjoy ;)

NOTE: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE SONIC CHARACTERS, EXCEPT FOR MY OCs. ALL SONIC CHARACTERS BELONG TO SEGA!

Episode 5: The Dress

"We need to get Faith new clothes."

Sonic looked up from brushing Faith's quills, the little tenrec munching on a PB&J sandwich, and saw Amy wielding a measuring tape. "Yeah, you're right," he said, frowning. Faith was wearing the shirt, hoodie, and shorts she'd been wearing when they met her. While the clothes had been washed and ironed, they were nearly rags. Amy had a few old clothes stashed away in her closet but there weren't enough that were Faith's size.

The three of them were at Amy's house while the rest of Team Sonic was busy. Tails was busy making Faith's new gloves and shoes in his workshop. Knuckles was at his weight-lifting class. Sticks was currently at Gogoba Village, looking for trash heaps to scavenge. And Shadow was waiting at the docks for a special delivery from the mainland.

Once Faith finished her sandwich, Amy started taking measurements. "You don't really have to buy me anything new to wear. My clothes are still okay…" she mumbled as Amy measured her waistline.

"No, they're not, Faith. Your shirt's already worn so thin. And this hoodie's way too baggy for you. Not to mention the lack of color. You need new clothes, clothes that are comfy and help you express your personality," Amy told her, taking her arm measurements.

"But I don't have any money…" Faith mumbled, her cheeks red.

"That's okay, sweetie. I'll pay for them all," Amy replied, smiling at her.

Faith stared at Amy, amazed. Whenever Daddy bought things for her, he usually scowled and said that he had to then added that he was wasting a lot of money on her. She was a financial burden to him. And that made Faith feel guilty. Now, she had Amy telling her that she was going to buy her new clothes and looked perfectly fine with it.

"You're… really nice…" Faith whispered once the pink hedgehog finished taking all the necessary measurements. She hugged Amy who kissed her forehead.

Sonic chuckled, glad to see Faith warming up to his sister. Then, his communicator pinged.

"My bike has arrived. I just need to clean it up and we can go for a ride. Care to join me?" Shadow's deep voice came from the line.

"Sounds good. And while we're doing that, Amy and Faith can go shopping," Sonic answered, looking at Faith. "You and Amy have fun, kiddo. If you see something you want, just let her know. Okay?"

"Okay." Faith nodded, going over to Sonic and giving him a hug next.

When Sonic left, Amy grabbed her purse and two large shopping bags then took Faith to the Village Center. On this particular day, the place was packed with pop-up clothing stores from up and coming fashion designers. Walking into all the shops, Amy and Faith were dazzled by all the designs.

For Amy, a fashionista at heart, she was in Fashion Mecca. There seemed to be a design for every taste. Someone even created an entire line inspired by archaeology!

Faith looked at all the clothes around. There were so many colors, patterns, sizes, and fabrics to choose from! For a while, she just wandered through the shops with her arms stretched out to her sides and let her fingers brush through all the clothes hanging off the racks.

"Um… I've never picked any of my own clothes before… I'm not sure what to get…" she mumbled.

Amy nodded in understanding. "It's all right, Faith. Take your time. And we can try on some of the clothes to see if you like them," she said as she grabbed a shopping cart.

Seeing that the little tenrec wasn't sure yet, Amy took her to buy undergarments first. She got three packets of underwear and socks as well as six undershirts.

When they moved on to gloves, Faith started to feel a little more at ease. She wasn't wearing her black rubber gloves today. Sonic and Shadow told her that, in order to truly learn how to master her powers, she had to ditch the rubber gloves Daddy had forced her to wear. Tails was going to make her new gloves, special ones that would help her channel her lightning. That didn't mean she was banned from wearing gloves, though. Amy told her that there were certain events that required wearing more formal gloves.

After Amy got her three pairs of standard white gloves, Faith picked out a blue pair that had little green stars on them and another pair that was black with red accents.

Amy smiled in amusement as they moved on to other clothing items. She began to notice a certain color scheme as they shopped. Whether it was T-shirts, long-sleeved shirts, sweaters, shorts, skirts, or pajamas, Faith wanted at least one item from each category to have any of the four following colors: blue, green, black, and red.

"You've picked out a lot of blue, green, black, and red clothes so far, Faith. I'm starting to think that those might be your favorite colors," Amy commented as she helped Faith try on a blue polo shirt.

Faith blushed, twirling one of her quills. "I like them. They're really nice colors. They make me feel safe," she admitted.

"Because they remind you of Sonic and Shadow?" Amy asked her as she sorted all the clothes Faith had tried into neatly organized piles.

"Mhm…" Faith nodded. After trying on some shoes and getting a pair of magenta shoes with pretty red bows, the two girls headed to the accessories section. But, as they passed by a display of dresses, something caught Faith's eye. Stopping in her tracks, she looked at the dresses proudly displayed on their mannequins.

There were seven dresses prominently displayed but the one in the middle attracted Faith's attention most of all.

The dress was a soft pink color with layers of sheer tulle embroidered with sparkling red strawberries. It had puffed sleeves, a cinched waist with a pastel pink ribbon tied into a large bow in front, and ruffles along the edges of the sleeves and the skirt.

It looked like something out of a fairytale. A dress fit for a princess…

It was the prettiest dress Faith had ever seen.

"Can I get that, Ms. Amy?" She pointed to the dress, looking up at the hedgehog with wide pleading eyes.

Amy spotted the dress and was also enticed by it. "Oh, that is a dress I've only seen in my dreams…" she breathed out. A small tug on her hand made her look down to meet Faith's hope-filled eyes. "Let's go see if there's one in your size, Faith," she said.

Walking to the mannequin display, they saw a dormouse approach the dress. The dormouse saw them and smiled. Cherie was written on her name tag. "Hello! I see you're both interested in this one," she said, smoothing out the dress' skirt.

"Yes. We're wondering if there's a child-size version of it?" Amy asked her, patting Faith's head.

Cherie's smile faded. "Oh… I'm sorry. This dress doesn't come in child size," she apologized.

Amy sighed then looked at Faith. The way the little tenrec's shoulders visibly slumped as she realized she wasn't going to get the dress she wanted was so sad. Then, to her surprise, Faith looked her in the eye and smiled.

"You should get the dress, Ms. Amy. You'll look so pretty in it," Faith encouraged her.

"An excellent idea! And, provided Ms. Amy here takes good care of the dress, she can pass it on to you when you grow a bit bigger!" Cherie clapped her hands.

Amy blushed and took another good look at the dress. Then she spotted the price tag.

"What?! It costs 490 rings?!"

Cherie cringed. "It's from Rika Mato's line. I admit it's quite expensive, but the cost is derived from the amount of time each dress takes to make as well as ensuring all workers are paid decent wages," she explained.

Amy gasped. "Oh, my gosh… Now I remember… I've seen this dress online. And the Rika Mato?" she asked.

"Who's Rika Mato?" Faith tilted her head, confused.

"She's a famous independent designer from Central City. She's famous for popularizing the "cottagecore" style. Her designs are known for being very dreamy and having a lot of nostalgia factor to them. The dressmakers and employees who work for her are all women, and she's dedicated to helping other young designers get their ideas off the ground," Amy told her.

Faith nodded slowly. She wasn't entirely sure what 'cottagecore' meant, but she had a feeling it was something very interesting. Looking at the dress, and knowing how expensive it was now, her heart sank even further. The clothes Ms. Amy already got her probably cost a lot. There was no way she could afford the strawberry dress now.

Amy turned to Cherie and the dress. Sighing, she took a step back. "It's a beautiful dress, miss… But it's a bit over my budget," she said at last.

"I understand." Cherie bowed politely.

Taking Faith by the hand, Amy made her way to the checkout counters. Their shopping cart was full of new clothes for Faith. 10 T-shirts, 10 long-sleeved shirts, 2 hoodies, 2 sweatshirts, 6 tank tops, 3 dresses, 5 pairs of shorts, jeans, skirts, and leggings, 8 sets of pajamas, as well as all the underwear, socks, and gloves they'd gotten earlier.

After paying for the clothes, the two girls went to another store to buy shoes.

"Tails will be making new shoes to go with your special gloves. But I think a lady needs more than one pair of shoes," Amy told Faith, holding up a pair of teal flip-flops. "This is the color I suggested for your gloves and shoes, Faith. What do you think?" she asked.

"It looks nice," Faith mumbled, giving the flip-flops a quick glance, as she tried on a pair of purple rain boots.

Noticing the little tenrec's subdued mood, Amy smiled sympathetically. "Faith, are you sad about not getting the dress?" she asked softly.

Faith's quills stiffened for a second before relaxing. "N-no… I'm okay, Ms. Amy. You already bought me so many nice clothes… Clothes that are brand-new," she trailed off, tugging at her old hoodie's worn strings.

"Daddy never let me pick my own clothes before… When he took me shopping, he just gave me whatever he grabbed from the discount bins. Most of them didn't really fit. And if I told him that I didn't like it, he'd twist my ear and call me an 'ungrateful brat,'" said Faith.

'My urge to grab my hammer and find this monster is getting stronger…' Amy thought as her lower right eyelid slightly twitched.

"Ms. Amy…" Faith swung her legs as she sat on a bench, trying on another pair of shoes - a pair of red and white sneakers. "I really like the clothes you got for me. Do you think Daddy will let me keep them?" she asked.

"If he doesn't let you keep them, Faith, I'm gonna have to have a strict talk with him," Amy said seriously.

Faith bit her lip. "Daddy can get pretty scary… Maybe you should have Sonic and Shadow with you when you talk with him," she said quietly.

Amy felt like someone was twisting up her insides. Just what kind of man was Faith's father to make Faith so afraid? Not just for herself, but for Amy that Faith would suggest that the former should have backup when she confronted him?

"Faith… did you run away from home because of your Daddy?"

Faith's eyes widened, her pupils visibly shrinking. To Amy's worry, her hands and quills started sparking. Quickly, she held up her hands in a peaceful gesture. "All right, sweetie. Take deep breaths. It's okay. If you don't want to talk about it yet, I won't ask until you're ready," she said gently.

The violet sparks dancing across Faith's quills and arms fizzled out. Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, Faith nodded and tried on the flip-flops Amy showed her earlier. All the while, Amy kept an eye on her. And her worry about the child's home life grew.

There was no doubt in her mind that Faith was a victim of child abuse and that she and her friends had to get her away from her father's clutches as soon as possible. If they could just get a name and address, they could start an investigation. They already have some evidence that could back up them up in the form of Faith's medical records. Doc Ginger, with Faith's consent, had taken pictures of her bruises when she had made a second house call while she was sick. Now all they had to do was find Faith's father and charge him with child abuse and neglect.

But to do that, Faith would have to tell them who her father was. And convincing her to trust them with that sort of information was going to be difficult. Unless…

Amy smiled as she saw Faith try on a pair of blue sandals. Sonic and Shadow. In just a few weeks, the little tenrec had gotten attached to the two hedgehogs who had unofficially declared themselves as her primary caretakers. Maybe they could ask Faith.

They went back to look at the dress. Just because they couldn't afford it didn't mean they couldn't admire it. For five minutes, Amy and Faith admired the dress as it hung on its mannequin in silence. Cherie saw them just as she directed another customer to the scarves section and chuckled.

"I see you two have a taste for dreamy styles. Ms. Mato has a way of finding those nostalgic memories from childhood and carefree days and bringing them into the present through her work. Her inspiration for this one," She took the dress off the mannequin. "was a memory of her picking strawberries in the summer when she was little," she informed them.

"Strawberries are my favorite fruit," Faith said, touching one of the glittery strawberries while taking care not to damage it.

Cherie held the dress up to Amy. "It's a wonderful design… but it is such a pain to put together," she said, laughing weakly.

"Wait, you've sewn this dress?" Amy asked her, eyes wide.

"Yes, and several more of them. But it's a labor of love that I am happy to work on. Working for Ms. Mato has given me many opportunities. I manage overseas sales for her company and it's great to travel and see people admire her work. Even if they don't buy it, just hearing them say how beautiful her designs are… It is worth hours spent at the sewing machine or queuing at airports to make it to fashion shows," Cherie gushed.

Amy smiled at her, reaching out to gently comb her fingers through the layers of frosty pink tulle. She loved fashion, especially if they were made by independent designers who made sure that every item of clothing they made was ethically-made and sourced. Cherie was definitely passionate about her work as a seamstress and she admired her for it.

"I hope whoever buys from you and other representatives of Ms. Mato's company will take care of their dresses. So much work and care put into each one… that's something you don't see every day in the fashion world," said Amy.

Cherie nodded, her eyes twinkling. "You may not be able to afford this dress now. But… perhaps you would like to try it on? In case you decide in the future to purchase one like this?" she offered.

Faith gasped then turned to Amy, the pink hedgehog's jaw dropping. "Try it on, Ms. Amy!" Faith said, clapping her hands in excitement.

Led into a fitting room, Amy felt her heart pound as she slipped on exquisitely soft layers of pink. The fabric rustled as she carefully put her arms through the puffed sleeves. Cherie tied the pink ribbon for her and gave her a thumbs up. But it was Faith's reaction that melted Amy's heart the most. The little tenrec 'oohed' and 'ahhed' as she circled Amy, taking in the whole dress. Seeing it on a mannequin was nice, but seeing an actual person wear it was something entirely new.

"You look like a princess…" Faith whispered, her pinkish-red eyes shining.

Amy laughed and twirled, loving how the ruffles on the skirt billowed and fanned out. 'Someday… Someday, I'll get this dress,' she promised herself.

And, as if she had read her mind, Faith said, "Someday… I want to have this dress…"

The euphoria over wearing the dress lasted even after Amy took it off and handed it back to Cherie, thanking the dormouse graciously. Once all of Faith's new clothes were paid for, they headed to a nearby café for a snack. Amy had waffles with strawberry syrup while Faith was over the moon as she ate her strawberry parfait.

"Thank you for today, Ms. Amy. I had so much fun," Faith said as she scooped up a strawberry covered in ice cream onto her spoon.

"I'm glad you enjoyed our shopping trip, Faith. How's the parfait?" Amy chuckled, taking a bite of waffles.

"Really good! I've never had a parfait before. It's so yummy. And the strawberries are nice and cold, too!" Faith exclaimed, lips stained with vanilla ice cream and strawberry syrup.

"Which clothes are you thinking of wearing first?" Amy asked as they ate.

Faith wiped the corners of her mouth with her napkin, deep in thought. "Hmmm… I think I'll wear… the blue gloves with the green stars. Then maybe the purple T-shirt with stars on them and the denim shorts. And I'll wear the red sneakers," she decided.

"How unique. Ooh, we should have our own private fashion show later when we get back. You can mix and match any outfit and I'll take lots of pics to help you create your own unique style," Amy suggested.

But, just as the girls started brainstorming outfit ideas, they heard screams coming from outside. Faith whimpered and hid under the table while Amy went out to see what was going on.

"Ah, nothing like a little retail therapy to make a woman feel like a new villain!" Belinda declared, zooming around the shops in her flight harness which was built in the time of the Ancients and excavated by her husband, Charlie. Charlie, himself, was rampaging around town in his Ancients mech suit. The couple was going through all the shops, stealing money from cash registers, and whatever they wanted.

Turning on her wrist communicator, Amy shouted, "I need backup, team! Belinda and Charlie are looting the Village Center!"

Bringing out her hammer, Amy turned and headed back inside the café. Faith clung to one of the table legs, trembling. Amy took her hand and coaxed her out from hiding. No way in hell was she going to leave this little girl alone.

"Faith, listen to me. We're gonna go outside. It's going to get a little crazy so stay close to me, okay? I'm gonna get you out of the Village Center and take you back to Sonic's shack where you'll be safe. Just hold my hand and don't let go," she instructed.

Faith nodded and squeezed Amy's hand tightly. Leaving their shopping bags behind at the café, the two girls ran outside. Villagers and shopkeepers alike screamed and ducked for cover as Belinda and Charlie ran amok, firing energy blasts. Amy pulled Faith along, keeping to the corners so as not to attract the villain couple's attention.

Belinda laughed gleefully as she snatched clothes from racks and mannequins, dropping them into a giant bag Charlie had gotten from one of the stalls. Then she flew towards a certain row of mannequins.

Cherie gulped but held her arms out in front of her as she stood in front of the mannequins. "So many women worked hard to craft these clothes! If you're not gonna pay for them then back off!" she shouted, her voice trembling.

Belinda frowned and fired an energy blast, forcing Cherie to leap out of the way. The villainous goat's eyes sparkled as she saw the dress in the middle. "Ooh, so this is the one dress that's going viral. I'll take this!" she said, taking the dress from its mannequin.

"NO!"

Amy and Faith looked over their shoulders to see Belinda trying to fly away with the dress while Cherie had a firm grip on its skirt. The dormouse yelped as she was dragged through the streets but refused to let go of the dress.

"Cherie!" Faith broke free from Amy's grasp and ran towards the dormouse. 'Cherie worked hard to make that dress! And so many more like that! That lady's stealing all of her hard work!' she thought, joining Cherie in a fierce tug-of-war for the dress.

"Oh, come on! Let go!" Belinda yelled, putting more power into her flight harness.

Cherie lost her grip and fell back. Faith, on the other hand, found herself being lifted into the air along with the dress.

"Ahhhh! Ms. Amy, help!" she screamed as Belinda tried to shake her off.

Amy gasped and rushed to help her only to get blocked by Charlie. Luckily for her, that's when the rest of the team arrived. Sonic and Shadow made quite an entrance, the duo riding into the battlefield on Shadow's motorcycle.

"Ames, hop on!" Sonic shouted, seeing Belinda in the air with Faith.

Amy swung her hammer at Charlie, momentarily stunning the desert rat, and quickly got on Shadow's motorcycle behind Sonic. The three of them sped off in pursuit of Belinda, leaving Knuckles, Tails, and Sticks with Charlie.

"Yaaaaaaahhhhh!" Sticks screeched, flinging rusty tin cans at Charlie to distract him while Knuckles and Tails teamed up to take down his mech suit.

"Oh, nuts…" Charlie muttered as fox and echidna slammed into him, his mech suit toppling over and shorting out.

Shadow grit his teeth, gunning his bike's engine as he, Sonic, and Amy chased after Belinda who was still trying to shake off a very determined but very terrified Faith.

"Just let go of the dress you little brat!" Belinda shouted, flying erratically to shake the little tenrec off.

"Give this dress back to Cherie! She worked so hard to make it! She needs to be paid for her work! You're a thief!" Faith shrieked as she held on tight. The dress' skirt was beginning to rip from the strain of being pulled and yanked at.

Belinda did a loop de loop, hoping that Faith would let go. But Faith used the dress and the momentum to swing herself up onto Belinda's back. Sparks crackled in the palms of her hands and Faith slammed them down onto the harness's main body.

"Ahhh! Mayday! Mayday!" Belinda screamed as her harness began to go out of control. She let go of the dress, which Faith quickly grabbed as she was thrown off the goat's back.

"Shads!" Sonic yelled, seeing the little tenrec begin to fall.

Shadow drove his motorcycle close to the area Faith was falling towards and Amy shouted, "I've got her!" prompting him to make a quick 360-degree turn, while Amy held out her arms and caught Faith.

"Are you okay?" Amy asked, holding Faith securely in her arms as Shadow drove them back to the Village Center.

Faith nodded, hugging the pink hedgehog. Then she remembered the dress she was still holding and checked it. "Oh no… It's ruined…" she whispered, seeing the tears in the skirt and how some of the strawberries had lost some of their sparkles, the glitter coming off on her hands.

While it was sad to see such a pretty dress damaged, Amy was more concerned about Faith. And it wasn't just her. As soon as they got to the Village Center, Sonic and Shadow fussed over Faith. They checked for injuries, asked her to tell them what had happened, and gave the little tenrec lots of hugs. Knuckles, Sticks, and Tails headed out to find Belinda and came back 20 minutes later with her and confiscated her flight harness, which was turned over to Amy.

Amy looked for Cherie and found her cleaning up the mess Charlie and Belinda had caused at her shop. "It got a little damaged from the fight… I'm sorry…" she apologized, handing the dormouse the dress.

"A dress can be mended. I'm more worried about your young friend. Is she all right?" Cherie asked, neatly folding the dress over her arm.

"Faith? She's okay. My friends are tending to her now," Amy told her.

"Thank goodness." Cherie bowed to her in gratitude. Leaving Cherie to her work, Amy went back to the café to retrieve Faith's new clothes. Going back to Sonic and Shadow, she heard them talking to Faith who was looking at the ground with her ears pinned against her head.

"I know you wanted to help Cherie, kiddo. And you did put up a good fight against Belinda." Sonic frowned, gently cupping Faith's face in his hands. "But you also didn't listen to Amy when she told you to stay close. When she comes back, you have to apologize to her, okay?" he told her.

Shadow nudged Sonic, the blue hedgehog then spotting Amy. Going to Faith, Shadow patted her back. "Amy's here. Faith, is there something you want to say to her?" he asked.

Faith nodded and looked up at Amy, her big eyes moist with unshed tears. "I… I'm sorry, Ms. Amy. I-I should have listened to you and stuck with you… Please don't be mad…" she said, biting her lip.

Amy couldn't bear to see Faith cry and dropped the shopping bags to embrace her. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm not mad. I'm just glad you're safe," she cooed, kissing Faith on the forehead.

While Team Sonic went home, Cherie and other shopkeepers busied themselves in cleaning up the damage from the villains' attack. Cherie sighed as she put the dress back on its mannequin. The skirt was ripped and torn in some places but the rest of the dress was still intact. Suddenly, her phone rang. Answering, Cherie was surprised.

"Ms. Mato? Yeah, I'm fine. Wait, you saw it on the news?" Cherie's eyebrows went up as she listened to her boss. Then she grinned. "That's a wonderful idea. It'll be a surprise then! I know which design it should be. As for the one that got damaged during the fight… it's still usable. Only has a few rips and tears. By my estimates, the salvageable material could be enough for a miniature version. Kid's size, if you will… You'll allow the alterations? Perfect!" she said, wiggling her free hand's fingers.

She couldn't wait to get started.

Two weeks later, many things happened. Faith got her new special copper-lined gloves and shoes, officially began her training, and went on a wilderness exploration adventure with Sticks, Sonic, and Shadow. In those two weeks, her bonds with Team Sonic grew stronger and the team's protectiveness over her grew as they started to piece together bits of information regarding Faith's home life.

It was a great surprise for Amy to find Cherie at her door one morning, the dormouse asking if Faith was with her. Amy noticed that Cherie had two boxes with her but didn't ask. Taking Cherie with her to Sonic's shack, Amy found Faith practicing her shooting outside. She smiled, seeing the young tenrec dressed in red leggings and a white shirt with green stripes. She wore the teal gloves and boots Tails finished making the day after their wild shopping excursion. Lightning steadily flowed through the copper coils as Faith shot bolt after bolt of lightning at several moving targets Sonic was controlling via remote.

"She's a fighter," Cherie praised, watching Faith score a bull's eye on one target. "A spirited one at that, as her brave actions from two weeks ago have proven."

"Hey, Faith. Remember Cherie?" Amy called the little tenrec over.

Faith smiled and ran up to Cherie. "I wasn't able to apologize to you for the dress. I'm sorry I couldn't save it," she said, bowing her head.

"No need for apologies, young miss. The dress was still usable." Cherie nodded to Sonic and Shadow. "I have something to give to Ms. Amy and Ms. Faith. May we go inside the house?" she asked politely.

"You may," Sonic said, welcoming Cherie and Amy inside.

Cherie placed the two boxes on the table. "I cannot express my complete gratitude to you both for helping me during the villains' attack two weeks prior. But I hope these gifts from Ms. Mato and myself will suffice," she said to Amy and Faith before handing the first box to the former.

Amy opened the box and gasped. Her jaw dropped as she carefully pulled out a familiar dress. "Oh… my…" she breathed out, delicately holding the precious layers of pink tulle and glittering strawberries in her lap.

"And this is for you, Ms. Faith," Cherie handed the second box to Faith, who opened it and gasped as well.

"I thought you didn't have this in my size…" Faith said, taking out a smaller version of the dress from the box.

"The dress you saved had a few minor damages but was still salvageable. Ms. Mato allowed me to make the necessary alterations. She's planning on including child size versions of this design and many others in the future. She sends you two these dresses with her heartfelt thanks," Cherie explained.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll take good care of it!" Faith promised, looking at Amy who was still in shock.

Staring at the dress in its shimmering strawberry and frosty pink glory, Amy felt as if she was floating. "I… I don't know what to say…" she mumbled.

"Then don't say anything, Ames. Try it on!" Sonic laughed as Faith got up and began pulling Amy with her to an area that was covered by a bamboo screen, which served as a changing area. A moment later, both girls emerged wearing their new strawberry dresses.

"We match!" Faith cheered, twirling around with Amy in delight. While Amy's dress had the plunging v-neckline, Faith's was altered to suit her petite frame and modesty.

Amy laughed and lifted Faith into her arms, gleefully spinning about. She looked to Cherie and grinned while Sonic and Shadow both decided to get their phones out to snap some photos of the two.

For Amy, the sheer joy on Faith's face as she twirled and frolicked about in the dress she had hoped to have was just as wonderful as the joy she felt upon receiving her own.

Yep. I inserted the Strawberry Dress into my story. Also, Rika Mato… it is a reference to Lirika Matoshi, who is the designer of the Strawberry Dress.

Anyway, read and review. Have a nice day! The next episode will prominently feature Sticks. Will our semi-feral paranoid badger develop a bond with Faith? We'll see!

-GuardianDragon98