A/N: Oh gosh this can't be good :P… I think I need to get my eyes checked because they keep zoning out and going lazy eye ::S… I also sprained my ankle playing soccer the other night… sniff. It's all swollen up now. But I'll stop with my excuses. I just finished watching all of the Sonic Next-Gen cutscenes. I freakin cried… it made my question my Sonamy, Knuxrouge religion. I was in tears. Now I want to write something all melodramatic XD! My resolution for this chapter is to get it longer. The others have been on the short side… and I apologize for that. Smack me if this one's not longer… Smile for the paparazzi :D!
--LA
Wowee :3. If I owned any of the characters, Tails and I would be married :)… which means he would be older, or I would be younger. Either one. He's adorable XD! Oh, and Child's Play would be a multi-million dollar feature length film .!
Tails took a lonely bite of cereal, reading the side of the box without interest. He yawned, and called Hina's name dismally. She didn't make a sound, as she had the umpteen other times he had tried to wake her. It was unnerving to see her sleeping in so late, as she was usually such an excitable, early riser. With a sigh, he returned to his lonely breakfast. After a moment of near silence, the doorbell rang, making him jump. He hopped to his feet, grateful that had someone to talk to. When he reached the front door, there was a new spring in his step. He was pleasantly surprised to meet Amy and Sonic, standing hand in hand at the door.
"Hey, Tails." The blue hedge hog said, entering with a grin. He had been exceptionally cheerful lately, ever since getting out of his month-long encounter with being disabled.
"Morning Sonic, Amy." Tails answered, gesturing for them to enter happily. Both hedgehogs obeyed, beaming as Tails led them into the kitchen.
"How are you doing, Tails?" Amy asked happily, sipping the tea Tails had served for them.
"Not too bad." He said with a bitter smile. "It's Hina you should be worried about."
Amy looked extremely concerned.
"What's wrong?" She asked dropping her spoon with a clatter.
"She's just upset." Tails answered with a sigh, scratching his head. "All of her trees are dieing because some snobby squirrel is moving in next door."
Amy frowned sympathetically and put a hand on Tails' forearm.
"I'll see if I can go talk to her."
"Good luck." Said Tails with a shrug.
Amy quickly left the boys alone, hurrying away into the hall. She made her way to Hina's new bedroom. She peeked around the bedroom, until her eyes fell upon a slowly breathing lump in the pile of blankets and pillows on the bed.
"Hina," she said quietly, gently plopping down beside the tiny girl. She put a hand on the lump, rubbing softly. She felt Hina freeze, and poke her head a fraction out of her fluffy covers.
"Amy?" She said in a tiny, barely audible voice, peeking out further like a sprout from its seed. Her electric blue eyes were opened wide, and didn't appear the least bit tired. Amy slowly and carefully pulled off the covers and tossed them aside. Hina squealed excitedly and squirmed into the hedgehog's lap. She beamed up happily, a wide smile tickling her rosy cheeks.
"Good morning!" She giggled, climbing up to hug the hedgehog.
"Silly," Amy said, poking Hina's nose. "It's hardly morning anymore."
The little girl cocked her head and sneezed.
"Why?"
"Because you've slept in super late today. Why didn't you want to get up?"
Hina looked away sheepishly, tears suddenly erupting in her eyes, making them glitter like sapphires.
"It's alright." Amy said softly, pulling Hina closer.
"My friends are dying." She whimpered, wiping her eyes with a little fist. She looked up sadly, her eyes glistening. "They got poison."
"Your friends?"
"Alvin, and Regina, and Rosa, and Gavin…" Hina sobbed. A look of understanding flashed across Amy's face.
"Oh no." she whispered, pulling Hina tighter. The sniffling girl hiccoughed miserably.
"Do you know why?" Amy asked, choosing her words carefully. Hina shook her head.
"It's because people need to move in there. It's going to be their new home."
"But why couldn't they live with my plants instead?"
"Because they need to build a house. Now come on," she said kindly, "let's go say good morning to Mipro and Sonic."
Hina's head perked up a bit.
"Sonic is here?" she asked hopefully. "Is he out of his chair?"
"That's right." Amy said, realizing that she had hit gold in cheering up the doleful girl. "And he'll take you for a run, just like he promised."
"Super fast?" Hina said excitedly, her eyes wide in enthusiasm.
"Super duper." Laughed Amy, scooping Hina up onto her shoulders. She hopped back into the kitchen, Hina laughing openly now.
"She lives!" Sonic chuckled, getting to his feet to greet the beaming girl, whose arms were spread wide in front of her.
"Sonic!" she cried happily, dropping from Amy's shoulders and into his outstretched arms. "Can we run now?"
Sonic laughed.
"Know what?" he said "If it's alright with you, Tails, we can run right now."
Tails winked at Hina.
"Go right ahead."
Hina looked like she could have exploded with joy. She turned quickly back to Sonic with wide eyes, beaming. Without a word, the blue hedgehog shot to the front door, Hina shrieking with delight in his arms. Opening the door to a gorgeous, warm day, Sonic and Hina sped down the steps, and in quick circles. Sonic strategically ran in the opposite direction of the neighbouring lot which homed an array of sickly flora. Without a backward glance, Hina laughed and beamed every time her ride made a sudden blast of speed or quick turn. They soon reached a pretty park with neatly trimmed emerald grass, and shining metallic play equipment. Sonic plopped Hina down on a bench, and took a seat beside her.
"Did you have fun?" he asked her with a grin. She grinned and nodded her head vigorously.
"You're so fast." She said in awe.
Sonic laughed.
"You think so?"
"Mmhmm!" she said enthusiastically, now nodding so passionately that it looked as though her head might fall off of her delicate neck. "I wish I could run like that."
"Know what?" Sonic said, getting an idea. "I bet you could."
Hina stopped nodding instantly, and stared up at him with huge eyes.
"For real?"
"For real." He replied, with a tiny smile.
"How?"
"Well," Sonic said, thinking on his feet. "First, you've gotta get up."
Hina obeyed hastily, her eyes still fixed on her new mentor.
"Now, just walk towards the swing set." He said, pointing. Hina took enthusiastic steps which seemed much to be large to be natural. Sonic counted to three in his head, and then zoomed up behind her, putting a hand on her back to help her along. He ran slow enough that her short legs could pitter-patter back and forth and not stumble. He was actually surprised how quickly she could move when assisted. Out of curiosity, he quickened his pace slightly. Hina didn't trip, but kept her legs moving so quickly Sonic was losing sight of them. He noticed that the blue stone on her chest was glowing brighter than he had ever seen it. She looked up at him, but instead of showing the ecstatic face he had been expecting, she was wincing with exhaustion. Impulsively, Sonic immediately halted his running, but Hina was not as quick to respond. She continued to sprint forward, though since the moment he took his hand from her back, her stubby legs didn't seem to be able to keep up with her body. After a second, she tripped and fell face first into a sand box. Sonic rushed over to her.
"Hina!" He exclaimed, nervously lifting her out of the large dent in the sand she had made. She looked shocked and dazed, but her eyes were dry of tears and she seemed unharmed. "Are you alright?"
"Yes." She said uncertainly, brushing sand form her cheeks. She looked up at him with a weak smile.
"I was like you."
"You certainly were." Sonic answered numbly. "Come on. Let's go home."
Rouge raised an eyebrow at the adolescent yellow bat hovering behind the rental car stand at the Mumbai airport.
"And who do we have here?" she asked herself in a mildly interested undertone. The young men were always the easiest to persuade.
"Oh what am I going to do?" She chimed in a ridiculously loud, overdramatic, high-pitched voice.
"Can I help you, ma'am?" he asked nervously, beads of sweat appearing on his brow. Rouge suspected that it had nothing to do with the clammy climate.
"Oh, I don't think so." She replied, putting on her best damsel-in-distress voice. "You see, I left my purse on the plane… with all of my money, my passport…"
"Don't worry." He said, putting on an obviously false deep voice and lifting the telephone from the receiver on the counter. "I'll just call the-"
"No!" Interrupted Rouge a little too quickly. She gave him an innocent smile. "But I need to get to the hospital right away."
He placed the phone back down and gazed curiously at Rouge. She leaned in closer to him, touching his cheek with a gloved hand and trying, with a pang of guild, not to think about Knuckles. She pecked his lips, and withdrew leaving him completely stunned.
"I-I" He stuttered, forgetting to put on his fake manly voice.
"And I really need a car."
"O-okay." He replied slowly, typing something in on the keyboard in front of him.
"But I can't pay for a car."
"Don't worry about it, my dear." He said with a sort of bow. Rouge eyed him in mixed pity and disgust while he faced the ground. He pulled a little brown wallet out of a bag that could have belonged to a ten-year-old.
"Arnold?" said the deep voice of a navy blue armadillo who had appeared behind the young bat who froze and looked up in terror at Rouge. The armadillo was clearly the manager of the little rental car stand.
"Oh dang." Said Arnold aloud, turning quickly to face his boss. When he turned away, Rouge slunk away into a washroom and out of sight, catching a last glance of his heart broken face.
"Poor kid." Rouge muttered sadly, regarding herself in the mirror. She turned absent-mindedly and gazed at her slender form from the side.
"Real classy." scoffed a woman's from one of the washroom stalls. "Breaking teenager's hearts to get a car."
A tall, slim fox with long, shimmering purple fur stepped out of one of the toilet stalls elegantly. Before Rouge could ask, the fox said in her deep, commanding voice,
"I'm Grace."
A/N:Aww poor Arnold :P! I'm ashamed of Rouge. I mean, the chick's a thief. Just go out and steal a freakin Porche. Ahem… sorry :) I am SUCH an inconsistent writer :! Like this one was so awfully written in the beginning. I'm so sorry about that. See? I told you this one would be longer. And yes, yes. I know it's still not really long, but better than the others, no? And please review :D… I do love them reviews.
--LA