Chapter 7 – Italy! Land of Pasta! Land of Pizza! Land of…Love?

"Oh, Tails, this is so romantic!" Cream said, emphasizing the last word. The two were inside a fancy Italian restaurant, attempting to locate the Purple Emerald. So far, they were having no luck.

"Huh? Oh yea, it is," Tails replied, not even looking back at the rabbit. Cream pouted. Why is he so cold and uncaring today? This isn't the Tails I know… she thought to herself. Even on the way over here, he barely noticed the lush gardens outside people houses, the boats gliding on the river (don't know what they're called), or even the Leaning Tower!

Tails noticed her expression and sighed. "I know Cream; I'm not paying much attention to you today. I apologize; I just wanted to find that Emerald first so we could go somewhere romantic while not on a mission." The rabbit's eyes lit up.

She locked her hand with his, causing the fox to blush. "Okay, Tails. I believe you. I'm sorry for thinking that way about you, I just thought you…didn't care about me anymore…" A tear leaked from her eye.

Tails moved his next to Cream and looked her in the eyes. "Cream, I would never act like that on purpose. You are beautiful, kind, caring, and nothing could replace you in my life."

Cream's face flushed red as she noticed he was barely two inches away from her. She could feel his warm breath on her face. "Tails...I…—"

The rabbit never finished what she was saying due to his warm lips upon hers. It started out as a friendly kiss, but when he was about to pull away, Cream leaned into it. They were still going when a waiter came up to them.

"Err…May I take your orders?" The pair broke off and blushed, not realizing he was there until now.

Tails quickly scanned the menu. "Yes, I'll have the Chicken Caesar Salad and a Diet Coke to drink, please," he spotted something on the menu that caught his eye, "and the Ice Cream a la roque."

The waiter looked at Cream. "I'll have a Chicken Caesar Salad also, and a root beer to drink."

"Very well, your meals will be out momentarily." And with that, he left, taking the menus with him.

Not two minutes later, two more waiters came by, placing the salads and the drinks in front of the lovers.

While they were eating, Cream spoke up. "Tails?"

He looked over at her, some dressing dripping from his lip. "Yes, Cream?"

She held out her fork, smiling. "Open up."

Tails looked confused at first, but obeyed. Cream fed him the salad, causing them both to blush deeply. Soon, the two were feeding each other until the salads were nothing more.

The waiters came by again and whisked the salad bowls away, this time leaving a large bowl of ice cream, topped off with…

"The Chaos Emerald!" they said together. Tails took it out of the ice cream and cleaned it off with a napkin.

"Well, that was a weird way to find the Emerald, but I suppose beggars can't be choosers," Tails stated.

Cream hugged the fox. "It's a good thing you decided to order that dessert!"

Tails embraced Cream, stroking her long ears. "We shouldn't let this delicious ice cream go to waste, but I don't think I can eat it all… Would you help me eat it, Cream?" He said with a smile.

She giggled. "Maybe," she teased, "but I'd have to get back to you for a sure answer."

Tails chuckled as he held out a spoon for her to eat off of. Here we go again… he thought.

Neither of them noticed the black hedgehog that was hiding behind a newspaper at a nearby table. He spoke into a microphone. "Chaos Emerald in the possession of Tails. Mission failed, Doctor."

The ebony hedgehog heard a tinny voice in his ear. "Hrm…no problem. Return to base, Shadow."

Elsewhere, with pink and blue hedgies…

Amy woke up to the sound of Sonic crying. "Amy! Amy!"

She looked all around her, not seeing him anywhere. She looked out to the water to see him flailing his arms, trying to stay afloat.

Amy sprinted towards the ocean and dove under him just as his head went below water. Grasping him tightly, she brought him back to shore. Oh no… she thought. Placing her head on his chest, she was horrified to hear no beat.

She leaned over the unconscious hedgehog and placed her mouth upon his. She breathed into him 6 times, and then pushed on his chest with two hands. Nothing happened. She repeated the process, but nothing happened again. On the third time she repeated it, Sonic coughed up some water and slowly opened his eyes. "A…my?"

She smiled, tears escaping her eyes once again. "Yes, Sonic I'm here for you. Don't worry."

He looked at his savior with large emerald eyes. "Th…than…thank y…you." He passed out.

Amy just sat there in complete shock. Did he just thank me??? Sonic the Hedgehog thanked ME??? I've got to be dreaming… she pinched herself on the arm, then looked around her. Well, I'm not dreaming…wow…but I thought he only learned how to say my name…

Amy wondered about all of these predicaments when she remembered that the Chaos Emeralds had healing powers when used. She grabbed the Silver out of her bag, held it over the sleeping hedgehog, and concentrated on him being healed.

The Emerald glowed in her hand and, in front of her, Sonic glowed a similar color. All of a sudden, he shot awake, looking around him. He glanced to his left at Amy, who was whimpering.

Sonic walked over to Amy and hugged her. He reached up and wiped the tears from her face and said, "No cry Amy." She smiled and picked him up.

"Thank you, Sonic. Now, tell me how you got caught in the water. You should know you can't swim."

He pointed first at a bucket he had found, then at the ocean, and finally at the sandcastle he was building.

"Ohh, I see…you were getting some water to help the sand stick and make it easier to build."

He nodded, jumped out of her arms, and continued building. Amy looked at the watch she was wearing on her wrist. "Whoa! It's getting late! Sonic, we need to get back to Tails' house to plan how to invade Eggman's base!"

She made a grab at him, but he jumped out of the way. "Noooooo!" He whined.

Amy put her hands on her hips and said, "Now Sonic, I don't want to force you to come, but I will if I have to. Now let's go!"

This time, when Amy tried to pick him up, he ran down the beach, yelling, "No no no no no!" She was a little shocked at how fast he could run at that age, but she chased him down. "Sonic, you get back here!"

The blue blur was fast, but Amy ran at her top speed along the sand. She saw that, unlike roads or grass, running on sand was hard as it slowed her down. Hmm…this reminds me of the good old times when I used to chase Sonic all over the place… she thought. Eventually, she caught up to him and snatched him up in her arms. "Gotcha!" Sonic tried to struggle and release himself, but she had a strong grip. He eventually gave up and relaxed.

"See Sonic, isn't it easier when you let me have my way?" Amy tickled his peach-colored belly. Sonic laughed while trying to push her hands away, eventually having to resort to tickling her back. Amy was laughing so hard that she almost dropped him, but she held her grip. Soon, the two hedgehogs fell on the sand, each trying to tickle the other first.

A while later, they were too tired to continue and fell on their backs, panting and laughing. Amy walked over and picked up Sonic. "Ready to go home, Sonikku?" He leaned over and gave Amy a kiss on the cheek. She giggled as she handed over the Chaos Emerald to the toddler. "Think you can Chaos Control us back to Tails' house?"

He nodded and closed his eyes while focusing on teleporting them. The two hedgehogs reopened their eyes to see the welcoming sight of Tails' living room. Amy was about to say something when she heard, "…I ask you this now."

She looked over and saw Knuckles and Rouge by the doorway. To her eternal surprise, Knuckles was on his knee before Rouge and was opening the box he held in his hands. No….he couldn't be… she thought as he opened the box. Inside was a piece of the Master Emerald attached to a ring. Oh my god, he is! Knuckles continued, "Rouge the Bat, will you marry me?"

Rouge just stood there, gaping at the echidna. "Knuckles…" Amy just stood there, waiting for Rouge to answer. "I've waited a long time for you to ask me that! Of course I'll marry you!"

Amy felt a surge of joy for them as she saw Rouge embrace Knuckles in a bone-crushing hug. She watched as the crimson echidna slipped the ring onto Rouge's finger, and the pink hedgehog silently thought to herself, this is a special moment for them…We should probably go back to my house for a while.

Amy tiptoed to the backdoor, still holding Sonic. She opened it, and exited the house. While she walked, she felt something wet on her arm. Ugh…Sonic's diaper must have been wet from when he fell into the ocean. Or…something else…either way, I better change him once I get home…

Arriving at her apartment, she got the last diaper she had in the cabinet and brought him to her room. She was relieved to find it was only the ocean water that was making it wet. Disposing of the old diaper in her kitchen, she returned to her room, only to see that Sonic was no longer there!

Not this again…Why did he have to be the fastest thing alive? She searched her room, but he wasn't in there. As she was leaving the room, she saw a blur of blue pass by the door.

She went in the direction he went and saw him with nothing on, trying to stay on the opposite side of the table as her. Sonic giggled at her every try to catch him. Whenever she moved, he moved. I can't do this forever…I've got to trick him somehow…That's it! An idea popped into her head.

She pretended to fall over and hurt her ankle. "Oww! My ankle! Oh, it hurts! Sonic, help me!" She smirked as her plan worked, and the toddler ran over to her side to see what was wrong.

She grabbed him. "Aha! You can't escape me!"

He struggled the whole time, but she eventually got the diaper on him. He even tried to escape by running out the door twice, but Amy caught him each time, eventually closing the door to stop all future attempts.

Just then, Sonic's stomach grumbled. Amy's did the same thing. She tickled him lightly and said, "I guess we're both hungry, huh Sonic? C'mon, let's go to the kitchen and I'll whip us up some chilidogs!" He cheered at her choice.

Five chilidogs and a half hour later…

Amy sat on the couch, watching T.V. with Sonic. She felt stuffed from all the chilidogs they ate. Just as she was about to change the channel, the phone rang.

Amy picked it up off the receiver. "Hello, Amy Rose!"

"Amyomigoshwecamebackfromnewyorkandknucklesproposedtomeandisaidyes!!"

Even though it was said too fast for Amy to follow, she recognized Rouge's voice. "What was that, Rouge? I didn't quite catch it!" She smirked; she knew immediately what Rouge was going to tell her.

The bat on the other line took a few deep breaths. "We came…back from…New York City and…Knuckles…he proposed to me, and I said yes!"

Amy squealed into the phone. "Oh, Rouge I'm so happy for you! What kind of jewel did he get for the ring?"

Amy could almost picture Rouge's eyes sparkling. "I didn't know what it was at first; until he told me that it was a piece of the MASTER EMERALD!"

The pink hedgie just couldn't believe it. "The Master Emerald? He took a piece of the thing his whole life was to guard, and gave it to you? Rouge, he really does love you!"

"Uh-huh! Anyways, Tails and Cream just walked in. You both should come over now."

Amy agreed and hung up. She had to almost drag Sonic away from the television, which was showing an episode of Sonic X at the time. (As if you didn't see that coming)

Amy rocked Sonic in her arms, trying to make him fall asleep. When that didn't work, she began to softly stroke his quills. He smiled as his eyes half-closed, then eventually shut completely. Even though he was asleep, she continued to stroke his head, moving up to behind his ears. When she felt a soft vibrating coming from him, she listened closely to hear Sonic purring out of delight.

Amy chuckled as she continued her walk to Tails' house.