Hellooooooooooooooooooooo!!! How are my fellow readers?

I've been having quite a rough week: homework, school, accidents... Yeah, accidents. Well, more like one accident. My mom had a recent one. She went ice-skating, slipped and hit her head pretty bad, which got me damn worried! She had problems remembering the dates and all, but she's getting better. My dear mommy... *sniff* I'm soooo happy she's all right... *cries*

Anyway, I've been stalling this story for too long, it's been nearly a month! God, shame on me! But now that most of my most complicated homeworks are done, I'm able to update more often! At least once a week, okay?

Thank you all for your support so far, but I need a favor from you guys: could you all cross your fingers or pray for my mom to get better? I know she's better, but she still has the wound on her head, and there are several bruises appearing at random places of her face! Her accident deeply affected me and had me worried to a point that I even went to a psychologue for a short time... God, it really felt good to let it all out!!!

Okay, without any further ado, enjoy this chapter! It's a long one!! Sorry, no song this time! In the next chapter, yes, there will be!!!

-

Sonic the Hedgehog: The True Power of Music

Chapter Eleven

-

Sometime later, after finishing the tea and cookies we had, I walked to the sink in the kitchen and turned the water on. I cupped the liquid in my hands and plunged my face into it. I didn't know what was the matter with me, but I felt oddly tired, as if my energy was completely drained. I thought it was time that I woke up.

"I don't understand why you would wet your face when you're already wide awake."

I turned my head around. Sonic was sitting right next to me on the sink. Gosh, I didn't even notice that he was here.

"Hey Christine. What's up?"

"Hey, Sonic." I said with a smile, "Well, nothing much, besides worrying myself to death about my family… To be honest, I just miss them too much. My mom…"

"Oh, yeah. Christine, about that, I went to your place and talked to your mom."

"Ah, okay." I replied grimly back, too depressed to think straight. There was a short moment of silence, but then realization hit me hard. I spun my head to him, my mind filled with concerns. "What?! Are you serious?! How did she react?!"

By looking at Sonic's face, the corner of his mouth twitching, I had the impression that the meeting wasn't friendly. "I would've been welcomed by a hit of a pan if I wasn't quick enough to avoid it. But after many tries, she gave up. And then I talked to her about what's going on."

"You didn't…?"

"I probably shouldn't have."

I sighed. I knew how mom was: she freaks out, overreacts, starts breaking stuff, gets into a seizure… The list was endless.

"It really took her some time to calm down. She's so tense. If you ask me, she's got to get herself a vacation." He sighed, "Anyway, she told me to give you this."

I lowered my head to see his right hand stretched out to me, his fingers grasping onto a small device. When Sonic dropped it in my hands, my fingers stroke at the familiar rectangular and smooth form of it.

"My mobile phone!" I exclaimed.

"She wants you to call her the second you get it."

I slid my phone open and dialed the numbers with anxious, rapid fingers. Pressing the final green button to call, I brought the phone to my ear. I grew nervous at every time I'd hear the long, low beeping tone on the line. Nothing can kill you more than that. At long last, a click replaced the beep.

"Hello?"

"M-Mom?"

"Christine, is that you?"

I opened my mouth, but I wasn't quick enough to get a tone out of it. "Where the heck are you?! I've been worried sick! Are you all right?"

"I-I'm fine Mom." I stuttered back. I was still surprised to hear her voice once more. "Thanks to Sonic, I'm safe at his hideout."

"Phew, that's good to hear. Young lady, you are lucky that I'm not in the hospital right now! I nearly got a heart-attack when I found the disaster downstairs in the studio, especially right after the date!"

"Oh, how was the date?"

"Christine!" she said in exasperation, "Don't try to change the subject!"

"But Mom, it's not even my fault! It's-"

"Eggman's fault, so I've heard. Sonic told me about him. Wait until I teach that guy some… some manners!" A frustrated sigh was heard on the other end of the line. "Honey, I was scared when I didn't find you anywhere. I had a whole police force searching for you."

"I'm also scared, Mom. I missed you so much." Could I only whisper in a sob.

"Oh, Christine, my dear daughter." I heard Mom's voice breaking into a sob. "Oh, don't cry."

"How can I? You're crying too!"

"I'm not! Okay, maybe I am… But I'm just glad to hear your voice again."

"Me too, Mom. I want to see you so badly, but… But I can't…"

I covered my mouth to muffle the sob, but all the pain poured instead as enormous flows of tears out of my eyes. There was no way to see Mom without putting me or the family in danger.

A pat on my back attracted my senses and I turned my head around. The blue hedgehog with green eyes looked at me with a grin. With his other hand, he made a sign by waving his fingers, telling me to give him the phone. I pulled the device away from my ear and handed the phone over to him. The earpiece close enough to his ears, he gave a reply.

"Christine's Mom? Sonic here. Your daughter's safe us. She'll be closely protected by me and my friends from the doctor Eggman."

I could hear Mom's voice coming from the earpiece, but clearly it was too distant to be understandable to my ears. Sonic kept his cool smile on his face as he walked in small steps around the kitchen. It was very obvious that he paid closely attention to the conversation when I saw Sonic's empty eyes, and that surprised me. He looked so carefree and amused, but he was serious about the situation.

"No problem. You can count on me."

Again, he became silent when listening to what Mom had to say.

"Sure. Don't worry; you can always call her at any time. Uh-huh. Okay, I'll pass the phone to her."

Sonic looked at me and gave it back to me. "Here."

"Thanks." I whispered back, "Mom?"

"Christine, Sonic and I just talked about the situation. You can't come home if you're still chased by that evil man, whoever he is. But that doesn't mean I can't call you, so I'll call you everyday to see how you're doing. If he says that you're doing fine, then I shouldn't worry too much."

"Mom…"

"Sonic is a good fellow." She said, "He'll protect you, I know it." She let out another sigh. "I'm relieved to know you're fine, but right now I've got to get going. I've still got all these clothes to design and need the sketches done by tomorrow. I swear the stress is inevitable these days. Oh, and the nerve of these models! Spoiled bunch, these sissy girls are! I'll call you tomorrow again, I promise."

"That's okay, Mom. I love you very much. Tell Jean and Jason I said hi."

"I will Christine. I love you too. Bye."

As soon as I heard the line going dead, I felt my hands trembling while I still held the phone to my ears. I bit my lower lip as my eyes filled themselves with tears. I was so glad that she was all right.

When I felt Sonic's hand on my back, who wanted to know how I was doing, I rushed into his arms and pulled him tightly into a hug. Silence overcame both of us for a short time, and as I cried onto his shoulder, he began whispering soothing words as he patted my back.

"You know, I really liked your singing." He admitted, "I've heard many voices, but none of them were as great as yours."

Sonic knew how to make people cry, and make them cry more and more tears. I had literally an endless source of a river streaming onto his shoulder. I hugged him tighter and tried to say something, but my throat felt so dry and knotted, disallowing me to express how glad I was feeling.

After a good cry, I finally managed to regain control of my tears. I felt different, and so light as a feather. Breaking up the hug, I smiled at him. "Thank you so much, Sonic. Thank you…" I wiped away my tears. "I don't know what has gotten into me to cry like that." I said, embarrassed.

"That's what friends are here for, Christine, and we'll always be here for you." He chuckled and placed a hand on my shoulder, " Besides, it's not bad to cry. I actually feel very lucky right now."

I raised an eyebrow. I could not catch his point. "Why is that?"

He rubbed underneath his noses and gave his show-off grin while looking somewhere else. "I was able to see the greatest smile. To make the greatest smile, you have to cry all the pain out. Once that's done, the second you smile is the brightest smile of them all, because there's no more pain left in you to keep you from being happy. And besides that, a smile is the cure to sicknesses. The more often you smile, the more I'm immune to any kind of illness. That's why I'm lucky."

I looked perplexed at Sonic, but at this sudden and unexpected statement, a burst of laughter escaped from my throat. "You've got ways of saying funny things, I'll hand you that."

"Well, believe it or not, it's the truth." He sniggered to himself, and cast me a carefree glance, "A smile like yours is one of my strength's sources."

I felt my heart skip a beat and my head heating up like an oven. You tell me what you would say in this kind of situation, because I had nothing to come up with. I was myself lucky that I could still think after this kind of moment. Somehow, I just couldn't agree with him.

"Are you sure of that? I always thought the danger around you was entertaining enough to give you strength." I said, half convinced by his statement.

He let out a chuckle and shut his eyes. "Maybe…" he said, a sly, mysterious grin forming on his face.

I was expecting him to add more to what he said, but I had to jump in to get my answer. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Means I gotta run! See ya!"

"Wai-" Was the only word I could spit out of my mouth before he disappeared.

He just left without answering my question. Or more like he ran away from my question.

I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed. "I'll never understand that hedgehog."

Just at the thought of him, I softly giggled, and as I looked back at my mobile phone, my heavy feelings transformed into the free emotions that I had before all this happened. Before the kidnapping. Before the incident at the grocery store…

He was right. A great smile comes after a great cry. I haven't smiled so freely and truthfully, without anything bothering me, in a long time.

I walked out of the kitchen, buried in my thoughts, when I suddenly stopped. Before me, a hedgehog stood there with crossed arms and a fierce stare. It was Shadow.

"Ah, hey Shadow. Didn't see you there." I said.

He didn't reply back, but kept staring at me with his dark-red eyes. His stare sure did frighten others a lot, if you ask me. I know it's his usual look, but he always looks so angered. How can you know how he's doing?

I pulled one of my closed hands to my neck. "I-Is something wrong?"

He lowered his eyes until they were shut. He turned around and began to walk away from me. I was confused, but nothing could prepare for this: "You sang well."

I stood there and watched him run off, astounded and bewildered beyond words, my jaw dropping to the ground and my head nearly falling off my head. This was something I never dreamed about, and I never expected it to happen to me.

Did Shadow just give me a compliment?

Every corner of my lips etched up and a soft giggle came from my mouth. Knowing that no one was around to see me, that giggle grew into a loud laughter as I jumped victoriously up and extended my arms out to the maximum. This day couldn't possibly get any better.

I can't wait to see what happens next. This is going to be the most exciting and unforgettable adventure ever, I'll bet my life on that.

Your opinion about this story? Please review!! Critics are welcomed, random flamings are NOT! Oh, and if there is a music you like and you want it somewhere in there, let me know, and I might, I repeat, MIGHT put it in there!

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next chapter of Sonic the Hedgehog: The True Power of Music!!