It was 1:30 P.M in the afternoon on a nice day in New Mobotroplis, 17-year-old Sarah A. Vulpine the Fox was in her nanite-made home fixing herself some tea to help herself relax her own nerves after the events of today.

Doctor Eggman had attacked with his forces in an attempt to take down the nanite city and the Freedom Fighters had fought hard to drive him off, but in the chaos, Tails had been injured in battle, frightening Sarah.

She cared about the two-tailed hero very much and thought he was very cute, Sarah had also comforted him over the heartbreak that was her best friend Fiona Fox, Tails' own crush, running off with Scourge.

After that day, Sarah had often hung around Tails, getting to know him more and offering to help out anytime she could. After Tails was injured, Sarah brought him to her house and tended to his wounds.

Knowing the little goober, she knew he would recover. Until he healed fully, it wouldn't hurt to let him be her guest at her house. She'd never had Tails as a guest at her house before, this was quite an experience.

Somebody knocked on the front door and Sarah went to answer it, making sure her tea was ready and would not get cold. Sarah unlocked the door and opened it, eyes widening at the sight of Princess Sally Acorn.

"Oh!" Sarah exclaimed, "Princess, what a pleasant surprise." She curtsied politely and let King Max's lovely daughter into the house. "This isn't just a friendly visit, Sarah." Sally said calmly, "I'm here to see Tails. How is he?"

"Tails is fine," Sarah said with a giggle, "He's resting, I tended to his wounds and they should be healing soon." Sally smiled warmly and hugged Sarah, "Thanks, Sarah." She sniffed, "Is that tea I smell?"

"Oh, uh, yes. I was." Sarah lead Sally into the kitchen and finished preparing her own tea, pouring it into a white cup and putting it on the table. The princess smiled, "You sure do love your tea."

"I do." Sarah nodded before a thought dawned on her, "By the way, if you want, would you like some tea?" Sally scratched her chin, almost puzzled, she had not expected her visit to be like this.

"Sally?" Sarah asked, worried that the princess might say no, "Will you at least please consider staying for tea? I haven't had tea with anybody in a while, not since before Eggman destroyed all of Knothole."

"I... guess it wouldn't hurt." Sally replied, "Yes, Sarah. I would love to have some tea, it's been too long since I last had tea with any of my friends other than Bunnie or Amy, especially when a lot's been happening."

"Great," The brown-colored, red-haired fox squealed happily, "I'll fix up another batch of tea for you." Sally sat down at the wooden-table with a puzzled look on her face. "Why can't I have your cup of tea?" She asked.

Sarah gave Sally the cup she had, realizing her point, then got out another cup and poured the still steaming brown but clear liquid into it. Smelling the tea with her nose, Sarah Ann sat down at the table with her tea.

The two girls sat apart from one another, sipping their tea silently and not saying a word for a while. Sally drank her tea slowly and Sarah sipped hers a bit slowly as well, both enjoying their tasty and refreshing refreshments.

After a short period of time, Sally set down her cup of tea. "This tea tastes very nice, Sarah." The princess commented, "What kind of tea is this?" Sarah explained that the tea was Lijun Tea from the Dragon Kingdom.

"My family's been drinking this for generations." She said, "While this tea has been one of our drinks besides milk, we also drink the other kinds of tea such as Felidae Tea, Samsung tea and Yukon tea."

"So, we're drinking tea from the Dragon Kingdom?"

"Yes, what do you think of the tea, princess."

"First off all, just call me Sally or Ms. Acorn. Second, I do like this tea."

"Me too, Ms. Acorn they say it calms the nerves from time to time.

"Well this tea does a fine job helping me get my mind off some things like worrying about the future, what's going to happen soon or..."

"Your regrets about the night you snapped at Sonic?"

"I was... under a lot of stress at the time when I yelled at him."

"How goes repairing your bond with Sonic?" Sarah asked curiously as she sipped some tea." Sally drank a bit as she thought about what to say, she'd talked with Sonic in the past few days and they'd started to make up.

"All is well between me and him," The princess replied, "I recently apologized to Sonic for that... thing I gave him that night."

"Great to hear that, Sally, I'm happy that you and Sonic are making up."

"It'll be awhile before Sonic and I are back together, Sarah." Sally said, holding up her hand, "and it might be longer before we settle down as Sonic is an adventurous and speedy guy, settling down would be hard for him."

"You know, Sonic. He likes fast-paced adventures and heroics."

"And he's shared those adventures with me and the rest of our friends."

The girls giggled and continued to drink their tea until their cups were empty, with their drinks finished, Sally helped Sarah rinse out their tea cups before putting them away in the nearby cabinet.

"Thanks for having tea with me, Sally." Sarah said as she happily hugged the princess. "I'm very happy to do anything for my friends," Sally replied, hugging Sarah back, "The tea tasted great and I'd love to have more later."

"If you want to have a tea party get together, let me know any time." Sarah said with a giggle as she showed her fellow red-haired friend to the door. "I will if there's time, Sarah." Sally nodded, "I promise."

As Sarah watched Sally walk down the dust trail away from her house, the brown furred vixen sighed happily, breathing in the fresh air before closing the door and sat down in the living room, feeling at ease and unworried.

The tea sure had soothed her nerves and Sarah knew that her friends including Tails would be fine, even if one of them was badly hurt or was very ill. The red-haired fox knew if she was stressed, tea would calm her.

THE END