A birthday story for antaurilover685, who owns Kairi. :) Here you go, Amiga! Happy Birthday! :)

Sonic the Hedgehog belongs to SEGA. I only own Rachel.


Matchmakers For Two Good Friends

Rachel smiled as she surfaced with another seashell in her hands and went to the shore where Kairi was resting after having found a neat shell in a cave. "Whew! Look at all the neat shells we found," the blonde-haired girl said.

"Yeah," the brown-haired girl said with a smile as she held up a conch shell that had a silvery shine to it on the inside. "I'm going to give this one to Silver."

"He'll like that one for sure," Rachel said. "Especially since it's coming from you."

Kairi giggled before looking at her friend. "Have you had a chance to ask Espio out yet?" She asked.

The blonde-haired girl looked away. "No, not yet," she admitted. "I really want to, but...well, I don't know if he'd agree to it."

"Why?" Came a voice that made both girls jump, Rachel letting out a scream of surprise and flying up into a tree, clinging to it before looking down to see it was Silver, who looked a bit surprised from her reaction. A sigh of relief escaped the blonde-haired girl and she let go of the tree, floating to the ground.

"I thought you only gave Kairi heart attacks, Silver," she said teasingly.

He smirked before playfully dousing her with some water from the ocean with his telekinesis. "Not my fault you didn't hear me come up behind you," he teased back before smiling at Kairi, who was giggling and she smiled at him sweetly.

"Hey, Handsome," she said.

"Hey, my beautiful mermaid," he said before looking at Rachel. "By the way, who were you girls talking about and why do you feel he won't go out with you, Rach?"

Rachel sighed. "Well...," she said. "I...I just don't know if he likes me the way I like him."

"Who?" Silver asked.

"Espio," Kairi said.

The silver hedgehog blinked. "Espio?" He asked. "Why wouldn't he...mmph!"

The brown-haired girl gently clapped a hand to her lover's mouth. "Espio. He's behind you," she said.

Rachel looked up in a panic to see that her friend was right. "Oh, hi, Espio," she said, blushing a little.

The ninja cocked an eyebrow. "Everything alright?" He asked.

"Yes," both girls answered at the same time.

"We were collecting seashells," Kairi said. "And I was about to give one to my man after he gave me a kiss."

Silver blinked in surprise, but just as he opened his mouth, the brown-haired girl surprised him again by pulling him closer and giving him a French kiss. Rachel looked away discreetly while Espio looked a bit uncomfortable witnessing that, though he knew Kairi and Silver were together. He gently cleared his throat. "Well then, I'll let you all be," he said. "I believe I saw some more shells on the coral beds when I was training over there earlier."

"Thanks, Espio," Rachel said with a smile before watching him walk away and she sighed, looking away.

Kairi gently broke away from the kiss with Silver and he blinked before it dawned on him. "Oh," he said in realization and looking at the blonde-haired girl. "You like Espio, Rach."

She nodded. "Yes," she said softly. "Like how you love Kairi."

The hedgehog looked a bit worried now. "Why do you feel he won't return your feelings?" He asked curiously.

She looked at him. "Because I don't want it to be awkward and then I lose him as a friend," she told him. "I like Espio a lot and...I just don't want to make him think that I'm just a lovesick fangirl."

"I doubt he would think that of you, Rach," Kairi said. "Remember how you told me I should tell Silver how I felt?"

"Yeah?" The blonde-haired girl said.

"And now look at me and her," Silver said. "You helped us become a couple."

Rachel smiled. "True," she said before looking away and standing up. "I'm going to look at the coral beds for those shells Espio said he saw."

With that, she went back into the water, swimming over to the colorful coral beds and she smiled as she saw Espio hadn't been kidding about there being a lot of shells there.

Kairi fell into thought and looked at Silver. "Silver, come on," she said. "I've got an idea."


Moments later...

Charmy flew into Chaotix HQ, looking around for the ninja chameleon. "Espio!" He called out. "Where are you?"

"You don't have to shout, Charmy," came the ninja's voice as he turned off his invisibility. "I'm right above you."

The bee turned and let out a squeal of surprise as Espio dropped down on him, both falling to the floor before the chameleon smirked and began tickling Charmy's stomach, making the small bee laugh and wriggle around like a worm on a hook.

"ESPIHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHO! STOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOP!" Charmy laughed out.

"Cootchie, cootchie, coo!" The ninja cooed at him, tickling him a bit longer before letting the bee up and the youngest member of the Chaotix got up, still giggling a bit before straightening up. "Now, why were you looking for me?" The chameleon asked his friend.

Charmy sat up. "Kairi and Silver were looking for you," he said.

Curious, the ninja headed outside and found the two out on the sidewalk. "Hi, Espio!" Kairi said cheerfully.

"Hello, Kairi. Silver," the chameleon said with a nod. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, we saw something in the coral bed where you said you saw the seashells and we felt you should take a look," Silver said. "We'll give you a lift there."

"What did you see?" Espio asked.

"Something you've got to see," Kairi said with a smile before Silver grabbed them both gently with his telekinesis and they headed towards the ocean.

The chameleon was expecting Eggman, but when he was set down and he crept closer to check on the area, he saw Rachel rise out of the water in her purple bathing suit. She held something in her hand and he saw it was some coral that had broken off and been on the ocean floor. The blonde-haired girl placed the coral on her collection pile and went back into the water, swimming around and diving down, moving gracefully through the water. Kairi and Silver landed nearby and they saw the ninja was watching Rachel, who rose out of the water again, looking at a purple spiral shell she had just found. "Oh, I wish I could tell him," she said before going back to shore. "How is it I can tell Kairi and Silver to confess their feelings to each other, yet I can't confess my feelings to Espio?"

Espio was a bit surprised, but hunkered down so that the blonde-haired girl didn't see him right away. "I want to tell him, but...oh, who am I kidding? He's going to politely brush it off and that will be that. He doesn't feel the same way about me."

"How do you know unless you ask me?" Came a voice.

Rachel froze at hearing the chameleon's voice behind her and she slowly turned to find him standing on the beach not far from her. The girl jumped in shock. "Espio!" She exclaimed before her whole face turned red and she quickly ran back for the water, diving into the ocean and swimming away.

The ninja was surprised, but turned to see Kairi and Silver motioning him on. "Go on," Kairi said before jumping into the water herself, her legs turning into a mermaid tail.

"You've got to catch her," Silver said.

Espio looked at the water and nodded. "I had no idea she felt that way and was so shy," he said. "She's always confident."

"She is," Kairi said. "But she was afraid it would be awkward if she admitted that she liked you beyond a friend."

The chameleon looked even more surprised. "And here I was worried she wouldn't return my feelings," he said.

Both of his friends stopped in shock. "What?" Silver asked. "Espio, you mean...you like Rachel back?"

"I do," he replied.

"Then you've got to tell her," Kairi said.

Espio nodded before looking curious. "What kind of jewelry does Rachel like to wear?" He asked.

"Necklaces," the brown-haired girl said. "Especially of hearts, dolphins, seashells, and the moon."

The ninja pulled out a necklace with a purple jewel heart. "Do you think she'll like this?" He asked.

"Definitely," Silver said with a nod.

Taking a deep breath, the chameleon dove into the water while Kairi and Silver watched him and both smiled at each other. "Looks like Rachel's not the only matchmaker," the girl said.

"Indeed," her lover said before they shared a kiss.


Espio managed to catch up to Rachel, who had climbed up on a rock and her face was still red. "Rachel, wait," he said, swimming up to her.

Gasping, she went to dive back in, but the ninja was quicker and caught her in his arms, making her gasp again as he held her close. "Shh, don't be afraid," he soothed her.

"Espio, I...," she began to speak, but a gloved hand gently covered her mouth and the chameleon looked at her.

"Rachel, do you really have feelings for me?" He asked.

She turned red in embarrassment, but nodded and he let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good," he said. "Because...I like you that way too."

She looked at him in surprise before he removed his hand and cupped the left side of her face with his right hand gently. "To be honest, I was worried you wouldn't return my feelings and I'd lose a friend," he said.

Rachel closed her eyes and pressed his gloved hand to her face, nuzzling his hand with a content sigh. "I really do like you, Espio," she said.

He smiled. "Then, may I court you, Rachel?" He asked, holding up the necklace and she gasped in surprise before looking at him and nodding. Smiling still, he placed the necklace around her neck before pulling her into a kiss, one that she gladly returned as his arms tightened around her.

Kairi and Silver, who both were watching, smiled at this. "They make a good couple," the girl said.

"Just like we do, my mermaid," the hedgehog said before they both kissed again, love in the air and surrounding the two couples happily.


Happy Birthday, antaurilover685! :)

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418