Things Best Forgotten
Hello, everyone! Wow, I think that this is the longest time I have ever gone without a post, a whole two weeks! I'm very sorry to all of you who are used to my rapid posting from earlier, but college and sickness have recently conspired together to silence my creative fingers. Never fear, though, because I'm back now for at least this weekend, and I'm feeling like writting, a lot! Just a quick FYI as well; I have recently done a lot of work on my profile on this site, so please check it out to see what's new or just to laugh at some of the things I put on there. Thanks!
Even more thanks go to my reveiwers, however: Insertnamehere (very original, by the way!), Kitsune Disciple, Kitsune-SuperFox, peterskywalker, Sacredfire059, Double Dee Dee, cari la fenix, Rae Logan, Eggthrax (aka Drandu), Shika Kev Prower, Asher Tye, Koike, Super Dragon, Howtheheckshouldiknow (VERY original!), tailsfan007, brave kid, and, last but certainly not least, Zachary W! Thought I would forget to list you reviewers because it's been so long, didn't you? Ha, ha! Not a chance! Also, huge thanks to Toko the Pikmin master (who didn't review last chapter for some unknown reason...), Shika Kev Prower, Zachary W, and Asher Tye for still keeping in touch with me from time to time during my recent drought of postings. Also, anyone who loved the Sonic/Tails brotherly moments from last chapter should rejoice and check out Zachary W's great picture he made for me of a cute scene in Chapter 4! (At the time that I posted this chapter, it was his current avatar, but it looks better on his DeviantArt account anyway.) I always love people who do things based off my work, and I greatly encourage anyone to contact me if they have an idea for a story or drawing concerning my fanfics! Now, enough of me blabbing; you folks wanted a story! Well, here it is! Enjoy!
Chapter 5: Sniper?!
The peaceful, beautiful spring day was the perfect weather for the occupants of the small, two-story, domed hut. The only current resident inside at the moment, however, refused to give in to the temptation to escape to the pristine rolling hills surrounding her shared humble cottage. Currently, the sole home's occupant was busy with one of her favorite activities anyway, baking her delicious and much renowned homemade pies. She set her newest creation, a steaming hot and perfectly formed cherry pie, on the open windowsill with the company of an apple and a blueberry version that had already been placed there as well to cool in the crisp early afternoon breeze.
She sighed contently as the figure in the kitchen removed her always spotless cooking apron and started to clean up after the completion of her morning spent cooking the trio of delicious desserts. Despite the wonderful day outside, the elderly, but by no means old, chef still preferred to spend her time in her beloved kitchen, but, with her pleasant job no longer an excuse, as all that was needed now was time for the delicious pies to cool before eating, the female rabbit again entertained the idea of sneaking out to see what her daughter was up to. Cream had taken Cheese out with her on the gorgeous spring day for the twosome's favorite activity, to collect the prettiest flowers from the surrounding fields of wildflowers for use in making flower crowns for everyone she knew.
Vanilla smiled as she continued putting away the unused ingredients from earlier. She never worried about Cream when she went out on her own with Cheese around the grassy hills and fields surrounding the rabbit family's quiet home. Nothing even remotely dangerous happened around here anyways, at least not anything that Sonic couldn't miraculously show up and handle. Almost as if on cue as she started washing the dirty mixing bowls and utensils, a series of loud knocks was heard rapping furiously on the only door to the rabbit's humble abode. Seconds later, a loud boom was heard as the noise from the visitor's sudden approach finally caught up to the mysterious caller at the door.
The loud concussion of the sonic boom caused Vanilla to accidentally drop a china plate that she was currently washing into the sink, breaking the delicate kitchenware into several large pieces. Hardly noticing the accidentally shattered plate, the surprised mother hare quickly strode over to the pounding door in a few hurried steps. She knew from the incredible noise a second ago who her unexpected caller was, but why Sonic would be in such a hurry and knocking so hard on her front door got her motherly instincts tingling with that unwelcome sense of unease that all parents dread more than anything. Flinging the wooden door wide open, Vanilla felt more than she saw her visitor as a blue wind rushed into the center of the spacious living room and stopped at the large sofa towards the center of the sparsely decorated room. Vanilla let the door hit the wall and close again on its own as she rushed over the yellow figure the blue hedgehog had deposited on the three-seated couch.
"Mrs. Vanilla! Ya gotta help! My bro, he's hurtin' pretty bad! I'm not sure what happened to him but we were just out for a run and…" Sonic began talking frantically in a speed that only his feet could possibly match.
"Please, Sonic!" Vanilla spoke up as she placed a hand on the frantic hedgehog's shoulder to calm him down from his current frenzy, "You need to calm down and tell me what happened slowly, so I can help." The crazed hedgehog stared at the passive adult in amazement as he realized his frenzied explanation would be of little help to the suffering fox. Calm nerves were what this situation called for, and luckily Vanilla had plenty of years over the panicked Sonic which had taught her this lesson well. She averted her attention to Tails who was lying on the large sofa with his hands clamped over his white furred chest and his face scrunched up in the unmistakable sign of pain.
Tails noticed the silence following Vanilla's short speech and watched as the adult rabbit began to check him over with her eyes. He kept his hands clamped securely around his abdomen as his pain continued, but already the mysterious injury was starting to hurt less than earlier. "I don't know what happened, Mrs. Vanilla," Tails finally spoke before Sonic could restart his explanation. "I was just about to follow Sonic into the forest we ran through earlier today when I suddenly got this pain that felt like someone was stabbing me in the chest. I couldn't move, it hurt so bad, but Sonic brought me here 'cause we thought that you could probably help."
"I'm afraid I can't do anything for you until I know what's wrong with you, sweetie," Vanilla quickly replied. Tails' still pained expression showed a small amount of disappointment now, as well. Vanilla knew that she shouldn't get the fox's hopes up that she could find out what was wrong with him by guessing. She was an excellent nurse for colds, bruises, and even more serious injuries like broken bones, but, when it came to internal pains and injuries, Vanilla understood completely that those were out of her league and best left to real doctors. Even so, she wouldn't just watch Tails suffer wincing in pain on her sofa either. The motherly rabbit sighed as she decided against her better judgment to inspect Tails anyway. "I could try to see if it's anything I know how to treat, but I won't make any promises," Vanilla set the terms of her amateur checkup. "Now, let's see what's under your arms there, Tails."
"What for?" Tails asked as he looked up at the helpful mother in curiosity. He didn't particularly want to remove his hands from his still rather pained chest because they provided a good deal of comfort to his aching belly, as well as hide a certain item that he wasn't sure he wanted to show Vanilla yet either.
"Maybe something small but very fast hit you and got under your skin, so you didn't notice," Vanilla calmly explained. "I just want to check for any blood or small cuts that could mean you were hurt by something."
"Hang on there, Mrs. V! What do you mean somethin' small that got into Tails' skin? Like a bullet?!" Sonic suddenly screamed as if he was an overly protective and easily worried parent.
"No, honey, I never said tha…" Vanilla tried to calm down the frantic hedgehog, only to find that the misconception was spreading faster than she could silence it.
"You think I've been shot?!" Tails cried out in horror as he clutched his chest even tighter, now fully intending to never remove his hands lest they be stained with blood.
"No, sweetie, but I can't be sure until you let me che…" Vanilla called out as she was interrupted by another frantic outburst from Sonic.
"It must have happen right as I ran off! Someone in the woods probably had a gun aimed right at me, but when I left they fired and got my little bro instead! Oh, Tails, bro! Can you ever forgive me?! How could I have known?!" Sonic began speculating widely as he rushed over to hug Tails, undoubtedly thinking that the kitsune had been mortally wounded.
"Sonic, I think that you're getting a little ahe…" Vanilla still attempted to end the paranoia she had unintentionally started.
"It's OK, Sonic. I forgive you. It really doesn't hurt that bad now, anyways," Tails answered as he got caught up in the hedgehog's frenzied grief.
"Don't say that, bro! That's not a good sign after being shot! I need to get you to a hospital right away!" Sonic said as he started to lift the yellow kit off the couch again.
"Wait! I…" the oldest and most sensible person in the room again interjected, only this time to be cut off by a new voice belonging to someone who was coming back at a very unfortunate time.
"Hospital?! Why does Tails need to go to the hospital?!" Cream suddenly shouted as she stood in the doorway to the madhouse.
"Chao?!" Cheese also asked in its own language.
"I'm not sure if he does, hon…" Vanilla tried to reason with her daughter before the panic spread, but Sonic proved to have the faster mouth in the end.
"It was Eggman; I know it!" the blue hedgehog shouted out his newest reincarnation of Tails' still undiagnosed injury. "He must have got Tails with a sniper-bot or somethin' at the exact moment I left him! I think I even felt the bullet as I took off! Actually, yeah, I did! It went right by me so close I could almost feel it!" Sonic continued to develop his already dramatic and much exaggerated story in his blind, worried frenzy.
"Sonic! Don't you see that you're making all of this u…" Vanilla almost managed to finish her sentence before the overreacting duo became a trio, or quartet, depending on if a chao counts as well.
"Wait, are you saying Tails got shot?!" Cream squealed in horror, her already impossibly high voice reaching notes that might be out of the human hearing range. The large basket of freshly picked flowers she had just returned with fell gracefully from her hand and littered the doorway with the beautiful wildflowers. Cheese, equally horrified, began shouting out its only, one-word sentence as it yanked on one of Tails' large ears in an effort to force the fox to hang on to life and not give up.
"Now this is just getting silly!" Vanilla commented loudly from the center of the living room between the worried hedgehog holding the crying fox and her daughter who had collapsed in tears as well in the flower-ridden doorway to her normally peaceful home.
"Will Tails die?!" Cream ignored her mother and approached Sonic who was cradling Tails gingerly by now.
"No, I'm sure Tails is…" Cream's mother attempted to comfort her younger charge, only to find that Sonic seemed the only 'credible' source of news in the room.
"I think so, Cream," Sonic said quietly with a tear in his eye. "He already said he can't feel much, anymore. It's probably too late now." The hedgehog started rocking Tails in his arms as if comforting the fox in his final moments like he used to calm Tails down when he was still very little.
"Now you see he…" Vanilla spoke as she got less and less words in edgewise every time.
"Sonic, I think I can see it! I can see heaven!" Tails blurted loudly as he fully believed every word Sonic had said and now started to imagine that he really was dying.
"Tails, I don't really thi…" the grown up rabbit spoke up, clearly annoyed at the mass hysteria run amok in her orderly home.
"It will be, OK, little bro. I'll never forget you," Sonic passionately addressed his 'dying' partner.
"But…!" Vanilla barely managed to get in.
"Why Tails?! Why did he have to go?!" Cream screamed through her sobs and torrential tears.
"Chao?! Chao, Chao?!" Cheese also lamented as it gripped Tails' triple bangs on the fox's forehead so hard he almost pulled some of the long hairs out entirely.
"I…!" Vanilla only uttered the single syllable before again getting interrupted by the ridiculous charade.
"Good… bye, Sonic," Tails weakly spoke as if they were the last words he would ever say.
"I love ya, little bro! (sniff) Goodbye," Sonic barely managed to respond as his voice disappeared in his own sobs of grief.
Vanilla had had enough. It was one thing for Sonic to misunderstand what she had meant to say, but for all three, or four, of the other people present in the room to be so hysterical about a simple chest pain and throwing her well run home into total bedlam was inexcusable. "Everyone BE QUIET!!" Vanilla finally lost her almost inexhaustible patience as she shouted in a volume that only Cream had ever heard before when she was in the worst trouble.
In the aftermath of the yell from the reserved and normally perfectly self-controlled mother, all noise in the house ceased entirely. Even the soft sounds from the area immediately surrounding the house stopped as the insects themselves froze at the never before witnessed rage of the most passive being on Mobius. Vanilla stood glaring at the small group in front of her as her hands slowly unknotted from their tight fists, and the blood finally stopped rushing into her head and returned to the parts of her body where it belonged. For a moment, all the hairs on the motherly rabbit had stood straight on end as the perfect mother had somehow transformed into the scariest being on Mobius or any other planet, but a brief minute of pure silence later and Vanilla once again became the harmless and caring mother she always was and would be.
Vanilla felt the force of her anger leave her as she became aware of the four sets of eyes now staring at her in pure disbelief and… fear? The adult rabbit didn't understand why anyone would be threatened by her as she somehow didn't register her emotional snap a second ago. Looking at her hands, she noticed that her fists had been so tight that her fingers had left small bruises on her palms. Stunned at the sight of her hands and finally remembering her outburst a short minute past, Vanilla collapsed slowly into a nearby armchair as Cream finally worked up the courage to move closer to check on her uncharacteristically acting mother.
"Mommy?" Cream softly greeted Vanilla in a voice that still trembled from fear at the almost literal transformation her mother had made earlier from the chaotic situation. Cheese tried to be brave as well and approach with Cream, but the little chao noticeably hovered behind the young bunny's head and completely out of sight unless from behind, just for safety.
"Cream, sweetie, I'm so very sorry," Vanilla replied in a tone that almost brought fresh tears back to everyone's eyes. "I… I just don't know what came over me."
"Man, and I thought I was gonna take Tails' death hard," Sonic half-mumbled as he still cradled the yellow fox, unsure if the unstable rabbit would take it as an insult instead of his sincere concern for her feelings.
"Sonic, honey, take a good look at Tails. Does he seem dead to you?" Vanilla quickly spoke up in a voice that still sounded slightly annoyed as she finally got the chance to snap the blue hedgehog back to reality.
"Well, no, actually," Sonic answered as he stared at Tails laying in his hands. The stunned young fox simply stared back with his blinking, large, blue eyes that still glowed with every bit of life that the kit had always possessed. "Uhhh… But, didn't ya say my bro was shot?" Sonic finally posed the question as his mind failed to grasp the point of Vanilla's test.
Tails was set down on the sofa again as he still gripped his chest tightly. The pain had all but stopped, but the two-tailed fox still wanted to keep his secret possession hidden from the two females in the room. He saw Vanilla shake her head in her hands as she gave up on convincing the hedgehog that Tails was probably just fine. Tails was also confused at the sudden change from him supposedly dying a minute ago to being perfectly fine now. He never really thought that he had been shot at all, but Sonic had been so sure that he went along with it the whole time.
"No, Sonic. I never even said that Tails had been shot at all!" Vanilla talked sense into the hedgehog that still refused to see past his own panicked lies.
"You didn't?" Cream asked in disbelief as the news started to soak into everyone's heads. She and Cheese had come in too late to hear the whole conversation, so they were naturally both more confused than ever now.
"No, sweetie. I only said that I wanted to check Tails just in case," Vanilla answered, now completely back to her usual self as she explained the tragic miscommunication to her daughter. "As a matter of fact, I still do," the motherly rabbit finished as she walked over to Tails sitting on the sofa with his hands still folded across his chest.
Tails noticed all eyes follow Vanilla towards him as he began sweating and glancing around quickly in nervousness at being the unwanted center of attention. "Ummm… I don't think you have to do that now, Mrs. Vanilla! The pain is actually gone now, seriously!" Tails tried to prevent moving his arms and revealing the poorly constructed doll of himself hidden underneath. But, as if the universe sought to conspire against him keeping his dignity, a sudden twinge of pain from his abdomen lasted long enough for him to flinch momentarily, a sight which was easily spotted by everyone in the room.
"Don't lie to us, bro! Hurry up and let's see! Maybe the bullet just grazed ya or somethin'," Sonic shouted at Tails in concern. The hedgehog's obsession over the non-existent sniper prevented him from remembering why Tails didn't want to reveal his chest to the two women.
"But… I…!" Tails tried to refuse as Sonic, Vanilla, Cream, and even Cheese gave him a long group stare. "OK…" He gave in using a very defeated tone. He yanked his arms off his white furred chest in the fastest motion he could and quickly held them, and the doll of himself with them, behind his back. Then, he prayed that the fast motion had kept the doll concealed as he had moved his hands.
Vanilla was surprised at the speed of Tails' oddly quick movement considering his refusal a second ago, but she didn't give it any more thought as she ran her fingers softly through Tails' white-furred belly. It must have tickled the fox slightly as Tails began chuckling softly during her detailed inspection. Finding absolutely nothing wrong with Tails on the outside, she turned to face Sonic and Cream who were holding their breath for news of how bad Tails had been shot.
"See, not a single scratch on him," Vanilla announced to the needlessly concerned occupants of the room.
Sonic, Tails, Cream, and Cheese all sweatdropped at the revelation. Vanilla had been right all along, and Sonic now realized how out of line he had gotten. He had even swore he felt the bullet that hit Tails graze him too, but now reality informed him that his fictitious bullet never existed at all. Worst of all, he had made Tails, Cream, and Cheese believe him and created a huge mess! Sonic found all eyes in the room turn on him as the super fast hedgehog wanted desperately to run away from the present group that only needed pitchforks and torches now to fully resemble an angry mob. Sonic decided to try and blow off the grave mistake he had made by changing the subject, "Uhhh… Hey, guys! If Tails wasn't shot, then what's up with that pain he had earlier?"
"Hey, Sonic's right! What about my pain? It's gone now, but I know it hurt really bad earlier," Tails bailed out his unbelievably embarrassed older brother by returning to the purpose of his and Sonic's unexpected visit. His pain was indeed completely gone now, but he knew that it had definitely been there a few minutes ago. Pain like that couldn't just be imagined.
"Well, have you used the bathroom recently? With as much as you eat, you could just be constipated," Vanilla ran through the likely suspects.
"No, that's not it. I took care of that just this morning before my run with Sonic," Tails refuted the incorrect prognosis.
"Momma, what's 'constipated'?" Cream answered in genuine curiosity.
"It's not something to talk about with company around, deary," Vanilla put the explanation on hold until later. "On your run with Sonic, did anything unusual happen?" she continued her interrogation.
"No, not really," Tails answered without even thinking.
"Not really?! Come on, bro! Ya kept up with me for almost ten whole minutes, and I was almost at top speed, too!" Sonic bragged on his little brother that had made him so proud earlier.
"Are you really that fast now, Tails?" Cream asked with a voice, not of disbelief, but rather encouragement and pride as well at the fox's achievement.
"Well… I guess so," Tails admitted while he placed his hand behind his head in his classic pose he always used when feeling uncomfortable at receiving praise. Unfortunately, this motion was not thought through by the young fox as it was a reflex by now, so as his hand came back to strike the familiar pose, the horribly stitched doll resembling himself fell from his upraised hand and into his lap in full view of everyone. Upon noticing his unintentional mistake, Tails began blushing even more profusely as Cream instantly bounded over to snatch up the revealed doll from his lap.
"Oh, mommy, look! Tails is learning to sow just like you are teaching me!" Cream said as she waved the doll in the air and finally handed it to Vanilla.
Cheese floated over to the strange creation and touched a small, stubby hand to the jewel attached to the head of the deceptively unresponsive puppet. Sensing something no one else could feel emanating from the crystal, Cheese instantly retreated behind Cream's shoulder in fright. "Chao! Chao, cha chao!" Cheese shouted in a tone that betrayed that the little chao didn't like the strange toy one bit.
"Don't be so rude, Cheese!" Cream misunderstood the little chao's warning, "Tails is just learning how to sow! He'll get better and make good looking dolls just like mommy does soon."
"Thanks, Cream, but I didn't actually make that thing," Tails found the courage to speak again after accidentally letting his secret out moments ago.
"Oh, so it was probably a gift someone gave you when you were little, then," Vanilla guessed as she looked over the poorly crafted stuffed animal with a critical eye.
"That's what we think it is, anyway," Tails answered, implying himself and Sonic.
"Well, sweetie, it doesn't look like this old thing will last much longer without some good patching at least. Would you like me to fix it up for you?" Vanilla offered as she still held the small, disfigured doll in her hands.
"Ummm… Well, I guess so... If it isn't any trouble, that is," Tails accepted the motherly rabbit's generosity. He wasn't sure if leaving the spooky toy with the bunny family was a good idea, but it only seemed to actually scare him and not anyone else. Plus, judging by her reaction to the doll already, there was probably no danger of it frightening Cream either. Besides, if it was all the way over here in Vanilla's care, it couldn't possibly follow him around his house anymore. Tails even hoped that maybe when Vanilla was done with it, it would look less hideous as well. He watched Vanilla set the ugly mannequin down on a basket filled with many different colored balls of yarn and a few crochet needles of assorted sizes.
"It's no trouble at all, honey," Vanilla assured the uncomfortable fox. The silence of the room following her last statement was then immediately broken by a loud rumble from both visitors' stomachs.
"Tails, was that your tummy?" Cream asked with a giggle in response to the obvious noise.
"Heh heh, yeah, but not just mine!" Tails responded as he became embarrassed yet again, although this time Sonic also shared in Tails' humiliation as both Mobians clutched their empty bellies with hungry expressions on their faces.
"Oh, where are my manners?! You two probably haven't had any lunch yet, have you?" Vanilla suddenly exclaimed as she saw the two guests almost in tandem put a hand to their stomachs.
"Well, that's where we were headin' before this problem with Tails got us sidetracked," Sonic confessed hungrily.
"Come on, you two. Cream and I haven't eaten yet either, so I'll just go and make enough for everyone," Vanilla offered as she returned to the kitchen before even waiting for their answer. As they entered and saw her preparing another pair of sandwiches besides the two already needed for Cream and herself, Vanilla suddenly remembered that she hadn't ever come up with a satisfactory conclusion as to Tails' earlier pain. "Oh, and Tails, sweetie," the concerned rabbit announced as she continued preparing the extra lunches, "I wouldn't worry too much about those pains of yours. You are a growing young boy, and sometimes pain is just a part of growing up. But, just in case, if it gets bad like that again, make sure to let me know, OK?"
"Sure thing, Mrs. Vanilla!" Tails gladly acknowledged his orders. Then his nose caught a very sweet smell wafting through the room from the open window. "Are those pies?!" Tails shouted, clearly excited at the delicious sweets cooling on the windowsill.
"Yep! Mommy said she was going to make pies today!" Cream confirmed the origin of the delicious pies. The young rabbit also sounded very excited to get her share of the coveted treat.
Sonic sat at the table with everyone else and tried to ignore the conversation and the tempting pies sitting across the room. He wanted to be the mature one of the group, especially after his huge blunder earlier with not keeping his emotions under control, so he wasn't going to ask for a slice of the heavenly and much-renowned pies unless they were offered to him. Still, despite his self-constraint to not comment on the presence of these delectable marvels of confectionery, Sonic sincerely hoped for Vanilla to offer him some of the pie as well.
All three younger Mobians need not be concerned, however, as Vanilla immediately understood the question on all of their minds. She returned to the table that was just big enough for four with the completed sandwiches in tow before announcing her intentions for the delicious pies. "OK, everyone, eat up! But, make sure to leave room for dessert!" she mentioned with a quick wink.
Sonic and Tails, driven both by their immense hungers and the promise of such a rare treat, had their sandwiches completely devoured by the time Vanilla and Cream were even half finished. Astounded at the true extent of her two guest's appetites, Vanilla immediately resolved to offer them both another sandwich before dispensing her promised desserts, in an effort to prevent her entire morning's labor from being consumed in one sitting by the ravenous brothers. Both Sonic and Tails gratefully accepted the second helpings and quickly finished off the other two sandwiches as Vanilla fetched the still steaming pies from the kitchen windowsill. She set all three on the small table as the irresistible aroma from the three different types of baked goodness made everyone's mouth water.
"I want blueberry!" Cream shouted excitedly as she watched her mother expertly cut the three pies into perfect slices.
"Now, Cream, Sonic and Tails are our guests, so don't you think that they should get the first choice?" Vanilla reminded the impatient bunny while giving her a look that couldn't be mistaken for anything else other than that her last question had only one correct answer, and Cream knew which one it was.
"OK, mommy," Cream wisely took the obvious hint, although the young bunny's face still betrayed that she found the current situation to be very unfair.
"I'll take cherry!" Tails excitedly announced as he was promptly awarded with a savory slice of the juicy, red, overstuffed pie that had been the last one for Vanilla to finish earlier.
"And how about you, Sonic?" Vanilla asked as she delivered the first slice to Tails on a clean plate.
"Well, I guess I'll try some of that apple," Sonic decided as he pointed to the pie closest to him that smelled the best to the blue hedgehog.
No sooner had Vanilla served Sonic as well, then Cream had interjected yet again for her share of the heavenly desserts, "Now can I have some of the blueberry pie, momma?"
"Of course, Cream," Vanilla smiled widely at her daughter's manners. She could tell the young bunny had no real intentions of being patient had her mother not forced her to let the guests choose first, but Cream had still obeyed very quickly at her mom's prompting and deserved a reward for that at the least. Vanilla watched as Cream received her slice of dessert and proceeded to mimic Sonic and Tails in hungrily shoveling the culinary delight into her mouth at a very unrefined rate. Vanilla realized that the three hungry mouths around her would easily consume most, if not all, of the pies laid out on the table before them, so she wisely served a slice of her personal favorite flavor to herself before it could be completely devoured.
After everyone finally gorged themselves on the delicious pies, Sonic and Tails casually thanked Vanilla for her help and generosity. Sonic personally apologized for his overreaction earlier, to which Vanilla dismissed the event entirely as it being wonderful that he cared for his little brother so much in the first place. Cream personally promised Tails that she would help make sure that his doll was stitched up properly and returned to him quickly.
This made Tails steal a quick glance to the doll that was made in his image that was thankfully still sitting on the balls of yarn near Vanilla's favorite armchair. Tails could have swore that it must have turned around to watch him as he left via the front door, but he decided that bringing up that fact would only cause the current people present to think he really did need medical help. As he and Sonic began their uneventful dash back to Tails' home a good ways off, the young fox couldn't help but fight an irrational feeling in his gut that he had somehow put the two innocent rabbits in some kind of grave danger. Dismissing the foolish notion, he poured on more speed to both catch up to the speeding Sonic and outrace his own silly fears over an inanimate doll that would probably be returned to him without a hint of anything sinister about it once Vanilla's expert hands had worked their motherly magic.