8. Line of Attack
Bunnie awoke the next morning and didn't at first know where she was. When she realised, she stuffed her head under the pillow again.
Outside were the unmistakable sounds of Knothole getting up. It'd only been a month, but already she was used to the peace of Angel Island. Knothole wasn't exactly a bustling metropolis, but villagers called to each other, chicken-parrots kept for their eggs clucked for grain, and life stirred noisily into first gear.
"Bunnie, dear?" Rosie said from the doorway. "I have breakfast waiting."
"Mmf."
"I made pancakes."
"Mmf."
"And blueberry sauce."
"Mmf."
"Or there's oat farls in the oven if you'd rather."
"Okay, okay, I'm up." Bunnie removed the pillow and rubbed at her hair. Rosie was one of those creatures who equated hospitality with feeding you. She wouldn't be happy until Bunnie was sat eating, so the quickest and easiest way to get some peace was to go along with it.
Sure enough, once Bunnie had dragged a brush through her hair, combed her fur, fluffed her tail, buffed her arm and legs and examined the result in the mirror, she sat down at Rosie's kitchen table to a waiting plate of steaming pancakes. There was a jug of blueberry sauce, plus a pot of strawberry preserve.
"I do apologise, dear, but I haven't any cream or syrup. I meant to go into the Great Forest and drain some sap to make syrup with, but what with one thing and another it completely slipped my mind, and the terrapods haven't any calves so there's been no milk lately -"
"It's fine, Rosie." Bunnie ladled both preserve and sauce onto the fluffy pancakes and dug in. "My stars, eatin' is fine an' dandy up on ol' Angel Island, but all the fresh fruit in the world can't compare to your cookin', Rosie."
"Oh, you do flatter me, dear." Rosie blushed and brought a steaming ceramic teapot to the table. "Here we are; a nice pot of mint tea. I can't start the day without it." She poured two cups without asking whether Bunnie wanted one and passed it across. Only when she sat nursing her own cup did she ask the inevitable question. "How do you feel?"
"I don't rightly know," Bunnie answered truthfully. "Okay, I guess. Not shiny as a new pin, but I ain't gonna blub into my brekkist, neither."
Rosie nodded. "It'll all turn out in the wash. You'll see."
"I remember you used to say that 'un whenever we'd got ourselves in some scrape."
"And I was right."
"I reckon the best thing I can do is just get on with what the heck ever needs getting' on with. Dwellin' on … dwellin' too much'll make me so crazy you could put my brain in a jaybird's behind an' it'd fly backwards."
Rosie blinked. "Well, yes, quite."
"I'll head on over to Sally-girl's after I finish washin' up here. 'Less there sumthin' you need me to do for you?"
"Heavens, no, if you do my chores what will I have to keep my old bones occupied? Sally already tries to wrap me in so much cotton wool I can barely move. Don't you start trying it as well."
That sounded like Sally all right. Bunnie was reminded of Tails and the pancake turned from fluffy to gummy in her mouth. She swallowed with difficulty and reached for her teacup. "You've been up longern' me. Any word on Tails?"
Rosie shook her head. "He stayed at Sonic's last night. Poor dear expressly asked to go there when Cornelius tried to bring him into my hut."
"I reckon I might mosey on down to see him…"
Rosie smiled sadly into her next sip. "As you think is best, dear."
"You're sure there' nuthin' I can do for you? I don't feel right that I mess up your hut, eat your food an' then scram without so much as doin' the dishes."
"Well … there is something you could do for me, dear, but I'm afraid it's not very pleasant."
"You just name it, Rosie."
"My garden needs fertiliser, and though they do have a terrible habit of eating my rutabaga, the terrapods are useful because while they're around there's always fresh fertiliser available."
"…Oh."
Knuckles hadn't slept a wink. After climbing a tree to get altitude for launching his glider, and then pacing for hours once he arrived back on Angel Island, you'd think he would be tired enough to sleep. Instead he'd stayed awake, mulling things over without arriving at any satisfying conclusion. When the sun peeped over the horizon his eyes were as wide as they'd been when it disappeared – though a lot drier.
He supposed he should've said goodbye to Sally. She was his friend, after all, but he'd been so anxious to return. Usually when he was preoccupied, spending time with the Master Emerald cleared his head, but this time it'd only seemed to cloud things even more.
The Emerald Chamber was actually the hollowed centre of a chunk of rock, suspended in a cavern deep below the surface of Angel Island. Knuckles had no idea who'd hewn it out, though it was too obviously excavated to be natural. Eons before, a very different breed of Guardians had attached massive magical chains to the edges of the hollowed rock and fastened these chains to the walls of the cavern. They were still sturdy today, each link the size of Knuckles's skull and cast in the muted green light that escaped the Chamber. Over the years lichen had grown over parts of the rock and stalactites knifed from its underbelly, giving the impression of a smaller floating island hovering in the heart of Angel Island itself. The lichen had adapted to throw off its own green light, as though mimicking the Master Emerald. The only way to reach the Chamber was to balance along the chains, or fly, as lichen and ancient gem lit the way.
Passageways outside the cavern led to different parts of the island and were lined with evidence of Knuckles's ancestors: old spears, crude paintings, paraphernalia dropped in the dark and left for another generation to find. Age and memory suffused everything to an almost stifling degree.
It was cool down there; the only sound his own breathing – perfect for meditation.
Yet every step Knuckles took, all he'd been able to see was Bunnie. He saw her face as he'd left it, hurt and confused, but proud. He saw her the first time she came to the island, the first time he met her, her smile and the way she moved, laughed, breathed when she was asleep. He remembered how she came down these tunnels like a gust of wind, blowing cobwebs from the dark corners, and worked her way, hand over hand, across the chains to the Chamber so she didn't fall onto the stalagmites below. Her fearlessness had impressed the Emerald, he'd thought at the time. He heard the comfortable burr of her voice and remembered what it felt like when her ears brushed against him as they kissed …
Knuckles shook his head. There he went again, thinking about her when the Emerald was right in front of him. Even presented with it so obviously he couldn't concentrate on his duty.
There was no escaping it: he'd become beguiled by Bunnie. Her face haunted him, like the retinal image of something incandescent at which he'd stared at too long he carried her with him all the time.
He tipped his head and stared at the Emerald. "What should I do?"
As with every other time he'd ever asked it a question, the huge green stone was silent. Thrice the size of him, it dominated the Chamber, but Knuckles wasn't cowed. He was respectful, as one might be of an elderly relative, but not cowed – he'd known it too long for that. The Emerald was a constant figure. It had always been in his life – it had always been the centre of his life. And now…
How could Bunnie have made him feel so much? That's what he couldn't figure out. It shouldn't have been possible. He'd wanted to kiss here there, at the bridge last night, even as he was leaving. The urge had reared up inside of him like a great, disquieting wave. All it would've taken for him to surrender to it was the faintest of signals from her. Knuckles would never admit it, but he was scared at what that meant.
"Did I make the right decision, leaving her behind? I thought I needed time to think, but I've been thinking all night and I haven't got even one answer to show for it. What if I'm right? What if being with Bunnie means I neglect my Guardian duties? I … I still think I love her, so that'd mean living without her even though I don't really want to. But what if I'm wrong? What if I figure out I was wrong, but then she decides she doesn't want to come back? What if she finds someone else? No, wait, that's stupid. She said she loves me, even after I hurt her feelings. Man, I was such a heel. The fox cub was hurt, she was injured, they'd just uncovered a new threat in Robotropolis and I went and loaded my doubts onto her as well." He looked up again, as though meeting the Emerald's eye. "It's good that I'm feeling guilty about that, right? It's not doubting myself, just … um … damn."
Somewhere, a bead of water dripped into a puddle.
"What've you done to me, Bunnie Rabbot?"
Tails experienced momentary panic when he opened his eyes and the world stayed dark. A few seconds later he remembered what had happened, groaned, and rolled onto his side. Whatever Dr. Quack had given him had left him with a head as thick as Robotnik was wide.
His groan brought a rush of air into the room. "Hey, big guy. You catch the ol' Zs okay?"
"G'morning, Sonic," Tails replied throatily.
"You need some water?"
"Yes please."
Sonic zoomed away to fetch it and Tails slid out of bed. He knew his room at Sonic's better than he knew the Great Forest and felt around for his sneakers and gloves.
His left eye hurt dreadfully, but it was a dull ache, nothing like the sharp pain of the previous night. Tails knew he was lucky not to have lost both eyes – Dr. Quack, Rosie and Sonic had all said so – and even though he knew it would make Sally mad, a tiny part of him was proud of his wounds. They were his first battle-scars, and while he would rather they hadn't been so severe, as long as he thought of them that way he didn't dwell too much on the implications. When Bunnie was first roboticised she could barely walk. Since her transformation was only partial she hadn't the brain implants to properly control her new limbs. It had taken her months just to grip things again, and even more time to grip with the right amount of strength not to drop or crush things. Now you'd never know of her earlier struggles. She'd learned how to turn a disability into a strength, and Tails saw no reason why it couldn't be the same for him. There were all kinds of stories about how losing one sense sharpened the rest, right? He could become Tails, Master Scent Tracker, or Tails-who-can-hear-a-pin-leave-your-fingers.
Yeah.
"You seem to be coping all right," Sonic said when he returned. "How do you feel?"
Tails reached for the glass and drank slowly, trying not to spill. He couldn't feel anything trickle down his chin, and when he gave the glass back to Sonic and rubbed his mouth it felt dry. "I'm okay. Dr. Quack said these bandages would only have to stay on a little while so my wounds don't get infected or anything. After that I get to wear an eye patch. Way past cool, huh?"
"Sure, Tails," Sonic replied in a voice that made Tails flick his namesake in irritation.
"Sonic, don't you start acting weird too."
"Sorry, big guy, it's just gonna take some adjusting to. Nobody knew how you were gonna react when you woke up."
"I'm fine. Honest."
"Sally doesn't think so."
Tails was about to reply, but a knock at the door of the hut cut him off. He heard Sonic's footsteps retreat to answer it, but before he returned Tails caught another, much nearer sound – in the same room, in fact. He turned towards the faint whuffing, breaking out into a smile. He'd know that sound anywhere.
"Hi, Baby T."
Baby T harooed a greeting and Tails moved slowly towards it, hands outstretched so he didn't knock into things. When he neared the window something touched his fingers and he laughed as Baby T wrapped his arm in a stubby trunk, obviously delighted his friend wasn't as dead as he'd seemed last night.
They were still stood this way when Sonic came back into the bedroom.
"Whoa, I didn't realise it was visiting time already."
"Isn't it cool, Sonic? I think Baby T's been here all night outside my window. He didn't even leave to eat or go to the bathroom."
"Not even Muttski was that devoted. You got another visitor too, though this one used the door."
Heavier footsteps followed Sonic's and the floorboards creaked. "Heya, sugar."
"Aunt Bunnie!" Tails turned his head, but Baby T's grip was too firm for him to move from his spot. After nearly losing him, as he saw it, Baby T was not about to let his little friend go so easily.
Bunnie giggled. "Looks like you got yourself a real pal there, honey-bunch. You're right when you say he ain't left your side since last night, but I can't say I'm complainin', as it means I don't have to go near that durn dung-pit."
More civilised than their appearance might suggest, the terrapods performed their ablutions in a designated area beyond the border of Knothole and the Great Forest. Sonic winced at Bunnie's words. "Rosie got you on fertiliser detail?"
"Actually I volunteered, Sugar-hog."
"Man, you are a glutton for punishment."
Tails couldn't be sure, but he thought the air turned a little cool. "You okay, Aunt Bunnie?"
"Finer n' frog hair, dumplin'."
"Would you like to stay for breakfast? Would that be all right, Sonic?"
"Whatever you say, big guy."
"Well that's might nice of y'all, but I already ate. Speakin' of which, I come bearin' gifts."
"So that's what the basket's for," said Sonic.
Tails sniffed the air. "Mmm, that smells like … like honeyed apples!"
"Sure does. I got oat farls an' strawberry preserve in here, too, all fresh-made. An' I do believe Rosie done slipped a flask of sumthin' in here while I weren't lookin'… ngg!" Tails heard the lid pop and Bunnie inhale deeply. "Yeah, I thought so. Knitbone tea."
"What?" Tails thought back to his camping trips with Sonic and Antoine. "Isn't Knitbone tea made from … um … oh, man, I almost remember its name. A plant - little green leaves and white flowers..." He scratched his head and then stopped, the moving fur having irritated the wounds under bandages. "Comfrey! That was it."
"That's my little buddy," Sonic said proudly. "Best student in Knothole."
"Sure is, Sugar-hog. Rosie's all for lookin' to modern medicine in a crisis, but she reckons nuthin' beats a bit of herbology. Comfrey's all about fixin' up what's busted an' makin' y'all feel right as rain again."
"Yeah, but it tastes yucky." Tails stuck out his tongue, and was rewarded with laughter from both of them. Baby T made happy noises and released his wrist a little. Tails took the opportunity to massage some feeling back into it.
"Well, I'd better love an' leave y'all," Bunnie announced. "Here you go, Sugar-hog. Just drop the basket back at Rosie's when you're done."
"Can't you stay a little longer?" Tails pleaded.
"Sorry, dumplin'."
"Phooey."
"Aw, now don't look so purt hangdog about it, sugar. I wish I could stay, but I got me some dung to shovel, an' then I reckon Sally-girl's fixin' to have another meetin' about last night."
"I never got to go to that meeting!" Tails protested. "You've got to stay to tell me what happened. It must be important stuff, or else you wouldn't still be in Knothole today."
The room grew a little chill again. "Sonic'll fill you in on the details, dumplin'. Time an' manure, they don't wait for nobeast, an' I gotta fetch me a shovel from Rotor's shed first."
"Good luck finding one," Sonic remarked.
"Thanks, Sugar-hog. You done filled me with confidence." With that, Bunnie made her excuses and goodbyes, crossed the room to peck Tails on the cheek, and left.
"At least she's not mad at me for last night."
"Why would Bunnie be mad?" Sonic asked with puzzlement.
"You know, how I dropped her on Buttnik's big bald head and all."
"I think you've pretty much paid for that."
"Maybe … but I still feel responsible."
"Man, big guy, sometimes you're way past cool like me, but sometimes you act so much like Sal it's scary."
Tails recalled Knuckles's comment about how Sally and Sonic were his parent figures. He wasn't sure he agreed with it, but there were worse role models. "Where is Knuckles this morning? Did he stay over at Rosie's, too? It doesn't seem very gentlemanly of him to let Bunnie fetch the terrapod poop."
Baby T grunted.
"Sorry, Baby T. Sonic, is there enough food for him to have some breakfast too?" Tails turned his head from side to side. "Sonic?"
"Uh, yeah, big guy, there's enough for Baby T to scarf. I'll just divide it up, get us some cups and junk, and then I'll tell you what went down last night after we brought you in here. There's some stuff you should probably know about so you don't eat your own sneaks."
Tails boggled. "You're worried about tact?" he couldn't stop himself saying.
Sonic harrumphed. "Like I said: sometimes? So like Sal you're scary."
Bunnie apologised to the room at large. "If'n I smell a mite whiffy, y'all can blame Rosie's vegetable patch an' the big ol' rock I tripped over."
Rotor frowned in bewilderment. "But you look like you just took a shower."
She made noises about bad hair days and rutabagas, none of which he could understand, but in a tone that dictated shutting up and nodding.
Girl things, Rotor thought. If he didn't understand it was probably something to do with the mysterious 'girl things' Sally and Bunnie used to claim they were talking about to keep the boys' out of their business, and which had since become a byword for the inexplicable.
Bunnie's behaviour was surprisingly normal given how she'd looked last night, all red-eyed and miserable. This morning her smile was only a little brittle and she acted more like the Bunnie he'd grown up with.
Rotor soon forgot about his puzzlement as he immersed himself in the meeting. Sally had called all the Freedom Fighters together after morning chores, but intercepted Rotor before he could begin his. Consequently he'd brought with him a small water balloon and a phial, each filled with green liquid, and awaited Sally's cue.
It came after she'd recapped what happened on the mission – though in truth nobody could forget it. Knuckles had no permanent chair, but it was strange to see Bunnie without him, and everyone noticed how Sally skirted around claiming responsibility for Tails's injuries without outright saying it was her fault. Sonic picked her up on this, and there followed a brief but furious argument over whether any of them could've done anything to prevent it. In the end it was Antoine who bought the meeting back to order, surprisingly everyone by standing up and banging his fist on the table.
"Yowch!" he whimpered, holding his hand. "Ahem. Um, I am wanting to be saying, my princess, that it is uselessness to be debating what is happened now. I could be saying it was my fault, you could be saying the same, we are all being honourable and getting nowhere slowly, oui? Perhaps the best thing we are to be doing at this junk-shop is to be thinking up what we must be to do next, n'est pas?"
"I think y'all mean juncture, Sugar-twan."
"Ah, oui, merci beaucoup, Bunnie."
Sally sighed. "Bizarre as it is to say it, you're right, Antoine."
Antoine swelled with pride.
"Should I get a pin to pop your fat head, Ant?" Sonic sniped.
"You are just jealousness you did not braise it so skilfully, hedgepig."
"Phrase it, Ant. Phrase it."
"Is what I have done. Are you being deaf as well as stupid?"
"Aaand we're back to normal." Sally rolled her eyes. "If you two have finished trying to out-macho each other, Rotor has something to show you."
Antoine, Sonic and Bunnie leaned forward to hear. Rotor flushed, but swallowed his embarrassment and presented the balloon. "We all know that whatever Robotnik's planning to bring through that Transporter, it won't be good news for us. So far he hasn't been successful, and we intend to keep it that way using these puppies."
"Uh, Rote?" Sonic eyed the balloon sceptically. "I hate to rain on your parade, but I don't think Buttnik's operation'll be fazed by a water fight."
"Gotta agree with Sugar-hog, though I'd dearly like to dunk Robotnik's head an' shrink that evil brain of his."
"He will be fazed when the water inside these things melts the metal in his Transporter. No metal means no machines, no machines means no interdimensional travel, and that means -"
"We know what that means, Rote, but back up a second. Melt the metal?" Sonic made a twirling motion with his finger. "Be kind, rewind."
"You remember those metal-melting plants we discovered in the Jungle when the terrapod herd first came through here?"
"Sure I do. Sal brought back the seeds, but there hasn't been enough time for them to flower yet. Right?"
"Wrong," said Sally. "It took a while to find the right soil – they need a much more alkaline composition than occurs naturally in the Great Forest – but NICOLE and I finally got it right and we harvested our first crop last night."
Sonic narrowed his eyes. "Instead of sleeping?"
Sally looked embarrassed.
"Sally-girl, I thought you promised me when I left that y'all wouldn't pull no more all-nighters," Bunnie admonished. "It ruins your complexion, adds wrinkles like nobody's business, not to mention the damage it does to the condition of your fur – plus you can't be firin' on all cylinders if'n you ain't got the proper number of Zs under your belt."
"Oui, my princess," Antoine added. "You are not to be spoiling your ravishing beauty by losing sleep over this shrubbery."
"This 'shrubbery' may be the deciding factor in our war against Robotnik," Sally replied, a trifle tersely. "Since the beginning, Robotnik's greatest advantage over us has always been his technology, and the fact he has so much over it over so much territory."
"We can't plant the new crop of seeds in Robotropolis, Sal," said Sonic. "We already tried introducing plants back into that dump. There's too much poison and not enough soil."
"We're not going to waste them by planting them."
"Excuse me?"
"I've been working on converting the sap into a solution we can use as a weapon," Rotor explained.
"Hence the water balloons," Sally finished. "If you'd do the honours?" She passed across a piece of rough-edged metal, obviously liberated from the remains of some vehicle in Robotropolis. The word 'taxi' was just visible under the soot.
Rotor uncorked the phial and dripped a little of the liquid onto it. The sheet crackled, its surface bubbling, and dissolved into a cloud of green smoke and ash.
Bunnie's eyes rounded, and she removed her hands from the table to set them in her lap. "My stars!"
"Oh, I get it." Sonic's tone bespoke the sound of the other sneaker dropping. "We throw a couple of these things at his Quantum Transporter thing and blammo! No more quantum transporting."
Sally nodded. "That's the idea. The only real problem is that we have to get close enough to the Transporter to use them, and after what happened last night …" She left the rest unsaid.
"We're not gonna start this again, are we?" Sonic asked. "Tails says he's fine. He was even mad you made him stay with Rosie instead of letting him come here."
"Until he's properly healed, Tails is off active duty as a Freedom Fighter," Sally said emphatically. It was her Princess Voice, which she very rarely used.
Sonic raised his hands, both palms outward. "Hey, chill, I'm just saying."
"And I'm just saying that if we're going to put a stop to Robotnik's operations before they can do any serious damage, we need to plan ahead – thoroughly this time. I don't want any more injuries or near-captures or … or whatever. Anything that happened last night stays last night." At once she winced and everyone studiously avoided Bunnie's eyes.
"If this is how Tails feels then I understand why he's so ticked off," Bunnie muttered. "It's okay, y'all don't hafta dance about on eggshells. Knuckles went back to Angel Island because he's havin' … I guess you could call it a crisis of faith. Or duty. Or sumthin'. But we ain't in the short rows yet, so there ain't no need to act like I'm heartbroken or nuthin'."
"Short rows?" Even after years of living alongside her, Bunnie's southernisms still confused Rotor sometimes.
"I know this one!" Sonic said triumphantly. "The short rows in a field of corn are the ones at the end, right? The ones you get to last when you're harvesting."
"Right you are, Sugar-hog."
Sonic breathed on his knuckles and buffed them against his chest. "Oh yeah, this hedgehog is red hot. Super cool speed and brains."
"Oh brother. Bunnie, you're sure you're okay?" Sally's expression was one of earnest concern. She was always so fixated on others' problems, as if by solving theirs she could make a dent in her own.
Bunnie obliged her by giving a thumbs-up. "Finer n' frog hair."
Antoine rubbed reflectively at his chin. "You are to say this much often, Bunnie, but I think you do not understand what you are meaning. You see, frogs, they have no hair."
Bunnie chuckled. "You're a real card, Sugar-twan."
"I am?"
"But getting' back to the matter at hand, I assume y'all got a plan. Sally? Rotor?"
"Don't look at me," Rotor said. "I just invent stuff. I can make these things to order but I can't strategise on how best to use them – though I can speculate on the type of range, which is about ten feet if you're interested. You could go for twenty feet at a push, but you'd have to be a good shot."
"Hey, don't worry, Rote. This hedgehog can do ten feet, no problem. The fewer of us who have to go back into Robotropolis, the better."
"I reckon I could toss a few from twenty feet an' be accurate." Bunnie made a fist with her metal hand and nobody saw fit to argue with her. "So long as the balloons don't leak none. I like havin' all my fingers."
Sally nodded. "That's good. If we limit it to just the three of us we should be okay. Sorry Rotor, sorry Antoine, but it might be best if you two sit this one out."
"I am disappointment, my princess, but I am resolved to it," Antoine said, fooling nobody.
"You can still help by being my assistant, Antoine," said Rotor. How many of these things do you want, and by when, Sally?"
Sally exchanged looks with both Sonic and Bunnie. "As soon as possible. Robotnik will have set more guards and security around the factories. The one Sonic and I checked out had a lot of equipment in it, presumably as back-up for if anything happens to the actual Transporter. So … how about tonight?"
"Won't he be expecting us?" Sonic wondered.
"Perhaps, but the longer we leave it, the harder it'll be to get access and the closer Robotnik will be to making it work."
"And the last thing we want is more humans on Mobius," Rotor said darkly.
"You got that right," Sonic agreed. "So tonight it is. Reckon you'll still be around by then, Bunnie?"
"I reckon I'll make time for whoopin' on up on Robotnik's patoot, Sugar-hog, even if it hairlips every cow on Mobius."
Sonic blinked. "Okay, now you're not even using real words."
It was hours later when Sally finally summoned the courage to see Tails. Looking in on him while he was asleep was infinitely easier than poking her head around the door and having him flick an ear in her direction.
Tails was smiling as he turned to face her. His bandages were bright white, a stark contrast to the red-soaked navy strips from Antoine's uniform, and there was a plate of unfinished sandwiches on the table in front of him. "Who's there?"
"It's me, honey."
"Aunt Sally!" His smile grew wider and he pushed back his chair. "I've been waiting for you to arrive. I wanted to show you something."
"You did?" It wasn't the reaction Sally had been expecting – though in truth she wasn't sure what she'd been expecting.
"Uh-huh. C'mon." Feeling his way, and in so doing making Sally's heart wrench, Tails made his way out the door of Sonic's hut and down the steps to the dirt where he liked to play hockey. He kept one hand on the rail and used the other to blow a shrill whistle.
Almost at once Sally heard thunderous beats, like a platoon of horse-guards from her father's security force. Baby T rounded the corner, skidded, and came to a halt so close to them the breeze blew all the hair from Sally's face. She blinked away what dust had blown into her eyes and watched, surprised, as Tails half-climbed and was half-lifted onto Baby T's back.
"Cool, huh? We came up with it as a way for me to get around while my bandages are on."
"We?"
"Friends … help … friends…"
"What -" Abruptly Sally noticed the collar around Baby T's neck. She hadn't seen it since the terrapod herd first encountered the Freedom Fighters, but she would've recognised it anywhere. "My translation device!"
"Yeah, we … I sort of borrowed it. Are you mad?"
Sally took one look at Tails's face and shook her head, then flushed as she realised what a useless gesture it was. "Of course not. It was a really good idea you had."
"That we both had," Tails corrected.
Baby T made a noise somewhere between a bleat and a purr and reached out to touch Sally's shoulder. It was light and felt almost like a hug. Sally was surprised at how much she felt Baby T was trying to reassure her.
She smiled. It hurt a little, but not as much as it might've. "You're a shining example of friendship to the rest of us."
Baby T's hug turned into an even lighter cuff. "No … tease… not nice."
"Yeah, Aunt Sally, you shouldn't treat us like we're little kids."
Sally refrained from pointing out the obvious, instead opting for an innocuous, "I'm sorry."
"You shouldn't be that, either!"
"Excuse me?"
"You always think that, when things go wrong, it's your fault, and I'll bet you think that about my eye, too. I'm only gonna say this once, Aunt Sally – this was not your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault, except maybe Robotnik's. With all the stress that goes on around here, you need to stop creating more for yourself. Just chill, like Sonic."
"If I chill like Sonic we'd never get anything done."
Tails made a face. "You should still chill."
Sally sighed. "I'll try. How's that?"
"Not what I was hoping for, but don't worry. We'll wear you down eventually."
"Stop giving me things to look forward to."
"C'mon, Aunt Sally, I'm sure you got into all kinds of trouble when you were a kid."
A small voice inside Sally wanted to shout that she still was a kid, but she knew it was wrong. She wasn't anymore, not really – not in the ways that counted.
"Sonic says you were a real wild child."
"He said that?"
"Well … kinda. He said you were a lot more reckless back then than you are now, and he had to bail you out of it all the time."
Sally's mouth dropped open. "Sonic said that about me? That … that hypocrite! I'll tie his tail to his ears."
To Be Continued…