Chapter 8

"Uh… is she alright?" Tails asked.

A large group of Sonic and Sally's friends had gathered in the castle to not only celebrate their engagement, but also to welcome their new friends Tangle and Jewel to town. Not to mention to celebrate Tails' release from the hospital.

"Oh yeah, she's fine. She's just been like this since that announcement earlier." Jewel explained, motioning towards a very shocked looking Tangle.

"I take it she was surprised by the announcement?" Tails asked.

"I think everyone in that crowd was." Jewel responded.

"That's probably true." Tails said with a laugh. "Anyways, come on in! Sonic and Sally are a bit busy right now, so they will be joining us later."

"Oh I can imagine, with the recent announcement and all." Jewel said as she and Tangle entered the castle.

"So, how goes the unpacking?" Tails asked.

"Going well. We at least have enough unpacked to let us sleep tonight." Jewel said. "It's going to be a couple of days before we can open up shop though."

"If you need any help, we would all be happy to help." Tails said. "Though, I don't think I would be able to do much."

"I appreciate it, but we'll be fine. I enjoy the work anyways." Jewel said.

"If you say so." Tails said. "Aside from Team Dark, you're the last ones here, so go and meet everyone."

"Uh… everyone is here?" Tangle suddenly asked.

"Yup." Tails said.

Tails and Jewel then watched as stars appeared in Tangle's eyes, before she stretched her tail out to give herself what appeared to be a hug, before she went off to go meet the freedom fighters.

"She really is a big fan of us, huh?" Tails said with a laugh.

"I think the only ones who aren't are criminals." Jewel said.

"Good point." Tails said with a laugh. "Well, we shouldn't keep everyone waiting."

"Right!"

When Sonic and Sally finally arrived to the party, they were greeted by the sight of Tangle frantically conversing with as many of their friends as she could.

"Wow… she wasn't kidding when she said she was a big fan of ours…" Sally said with a laugh.

"Yeah well, let's not keep her waiting!" Sonic said.

Meanwhile, Tails was standing outside on a balcony, watching the night sky.

"There you are!"

Turning around, he saw Mina approaching him.

"Oh, hey there Mina." Tails said with a wave.

"Everyone's worried about you, you alright?" Mina asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tails said. "Still a bit sore, but I'll manage."

"Well don't push yourself. You remember what the doctor said."

"I know, I know." Tails said.

After a moment, he steeled his resolve.

"Hey… you mind if I asked you something?" Tails asked.

"You just did."

"… That joke is bad and overdone and you know it!" Tails said with a laugh.

"It got you laughing didn't it?" Mina asked.

The two of them just shared a quick laugh before speaking again.

"So, what's up?"

"Well…" Tails said before his face got a bit red. "You see, the thing is… funny thing happened a while back and uh… well… you see…"

"Tails?"

"I was wondering if you would… you know… uh…"

He was saved from the awkward situation he put himself in by a voice.

"Well, look at what we have here!"

"AH!" Tails shouted as he looked over to see Rouge.

"Hey fox boy, what's going on over here?" Rouge asked.

"N-NOTHING!" Tails shouted. "Uh, was just asking Mina if she wanted to help me out with some uh… some things while I recover! Yeah!"

"Oh! Ok! I'll be happy to!" Mina said happily.

"Oh really? Well, I won't press for details." Rouge said as she landed. "Shadow and Omega are already inside, so let's get partying!"

"Y-yeah!" Tails said as he began walking back inside. "Let's do that! I am sure Tangle would LOVE to meet you!"

"Oh yeah, the new girl, Pink mentioned her." Rouge said. "Ok, let's go meet her."

And while the three of them went inside, Tails was beating himself up internally.

'STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID!'

The Next Day

"Wow… that sounds bad." Sonic said as Tails was laying in his bed.

"You're telling me!" Tails said. "I wanted to ask her out SO BAD! But I just… Froze!"

"Well, first things first then, we gotta work on those jitters!" Sonic said. "Build up some confidence in you!"

"R-right…"

Meanwhile, Mina was confiding in Tangle.

"So you wanted to ask him out, but you didn't get the chance?" Tangle asked.

"Yeah! It was such a perfect setting too! Outside on a balcony, underneath the night sky, just the two of us!" Mina groaned out. "I was going to ask him right after he asked me to help him with some things while he finished recovering… and then Rouge just HAD to interrupt! Why couldn't she just, oh, I don't know! GO THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR?!"

Meanwhile, Rouge, who was listening in from around the corner, just laughed.

'I was trying to help get the guy out of that incredibly awkward situation…' She thought.

"Ok, so you lost the perfect opportunity, so what?!" Tangle asked. "Listen, you don't just happen upon the perfect chance to ask someone out, you make it! So, let's come up with a great way for you to ask him out!"

"Yeah… yeah you're right!" Mina said. "Let's get thinking! I am sure we will think of something great!"

"Right!"

Back with Sonic and Tails…

"UGH!" Tails said as he banged his head against a wall.

"Seriously, how hard can it be to pretend to ask her out?" Sonic asked.

"Maybe cause my brother is trying to fill in for her in this pretend scenario?"

"Oh… yeah, guess that makes it harder." Sonic admitted.

"Listen… I think I just need to clear my head." Tails said. "Just, go for a fly and think for a while."

Sonic just sighed. "Alright, you go do that. I'll stay here and think about what we can do, ok?"

"Yeah…" Tails said as he began walking out of the room. "And Sonic? Thanks."

Sonic smiled at this. "No problem lil' bro."

And with that, Tails left.

Back with Mina and Tangle.

"Ok! So! At your concert next week, you should premier a brand new song! A song all about Tails!" Tangle suddenly suggested.

"Really?"

"Yeah! And, before you start, you should say something like 'I dedicate this song to the one that I love' and BOOM! The genius that he is, he will figure it out no problem! Then all that's left to do is talk!" Tangle finished explaining her plan. "It is perfect! And something only you can do!"

"… You know what? I think you might be right!" Mina said. "I'm going to get to work right away! Thanks Tangle!"

And with that, she began speeding her way home.

"And there we go!… Bored now… guess I can go find Sally…" Tangle said before walking away.

Little did she know though…

"Hey Sonic." Sally said as she walked up to Sonic, who was relaxing in a lounge chair outside of Tails' home.

"Hey Sal! To what do I owe this pleasure?" Sonic asked.

"Well, I was talking with Nicole, and she suddenly told me that she picked up a weird energy source just outside of town." Sally explained. "I know you are here trying to help Tails with Mina, but maybe the two of you can take a break from that and check it out?"

"Yeah, I don't see why not! When he get's back we can…"

"Wait, he's not here?" Sally asked.

"Yeah, he said he wanted to clear his head a bit, so he took the Tornado out for a bit." Sonic explained.

"Oh, very well. When he gets back then! It's not like we have to worry about Eggman tracking it down or anything!" Sally said with a laugh.

"Yeah, good thing!" Sonic said, joining in.

"Anyways, I am going to go and relax a bit, come and find me when you figure out what this is, ok?" Sally asked.

"Sure thing! Your usual spot?"

"Of course!"

"Gotcha, see you soon!" Sonic said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Sally didn't seem satisfied, and pulled Sonic in for a big kiss on the lips. "Later!"

And with that she was gone.

"Man… I am gonna marry that girl soon…" Sonic said with a smile on his face. "Still though, weird energy source just outside of town… why does that sound familiar?"

And then, he had a moment of realization.

"No… could it be…?"

Meanwhile, with Tails

He was still beating himself up over his failure the night before, but the relaxing flight was keeping his mind busy.

He then took out the Chaos Emerald that Mina and the others gave him.

"I wish you could give me as much courage as you do power and energy…"

Then, a sudden bright flash of light coming from the ground grabbed all of his attention.

"What in the world?"

Deciding that he should investigate, Tails took the Tornado down for a landing, and got out.

When he got to the source of the light, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Ugh… note to self… don't leap into a time machine in such a hurry next time…" Said the young, two tailed fox before Tails.

When he turned around, the two of them just stared at each other, before Tails realized just who he was looking at.

"…Skye?!"

End of Chapter 8

We are FINALLY back to this story! I finally got myself to buckle down and start actually writing out the rest of this story! TAKE THAT WRITERS BLOCK!

Anyways, yeah! Skye is here! For those of you new, if you have read the previous Sonic stories I have written, you would know that he is the future son of an alternate Tails and Tangle, who traveled to this universe… just read the previous stories, it makes more sense. "From Future to Past?" leads right into this story, but that is preceded by "Reconnecting with the Team."

Anyways, we got reunions to get to next time, so see you then!