"The team of agents you requested was sent to your fiancé when you left Station Square. Now, focus!" Sonic glared at the black, thickly built wolf that stood in front of him. He had arrived at the G.U.N. camp in Blue Hill Zone late the night before, three days after his departure from the city he called home. Amy had not come to see him off that morning, and he had to admit that he was hurt by her absence. If Knuckles had not dragged him along, he probably would have run back just to see her. Travel had been uneventful, but ever since his arrival, things had only gone downhill.

The leader of the team was a harsh timber wolf that did not take slack and refused to have any hesitance on the part of his "army," as he liked to call it. Sonic had tried to point out that his army only consisted of twenty members, but all he received for his logic was a talking-to he would not soon forget. He constantly found himself butting heads with the wolf. This time, it was over Amy.

Tails glanced up at him nervously. "Sonic, please. We really need to focus on the issue at hand."

"Thank you, fox," snapped the wolf. "I want to make some things very clear from the beginning. There are rules on my base, and I expect them to be adhered to. One: no communication is allowed with the enemy unless run by me first."

"And if she contacts me?" growled Sonic.

"Then you keep your maw shut and come talk to me. Two, always refer to me as General Black."

"That's original."

"Three," growled Black, his annoyance obvious. "None of our technology is allowed to be used for communication."

"What?!" yelped Sonic, dropping the sarcastic tone with one of shock.

"You heard me, hedgehog. You cannot use any military technology for communication. With anyone."

"Why the heck would you say that?!"

"It's too easy for the enemy to intercept it. If you need to contact someone, do it through the local post office. The factory town is about fifteen miles from here. Mail whatever you need to discreetly and directly through the office. No boxes."

"And if they need to contact us?" inquired Tails, asking before the seething Sonic found it fit to do so.

"Tell them to address the letters to Tiria Coyote. She's a trustworthy source living in the factory town, a friend of mine. She'll deliver the letters to us once a week."

Black continued his list of rules, but Sonic was not paying him any mind. The idea that he would have to contact Amy through letters each time he wanted to talk to her was painful. The communication would be silent, and it would take at least a week to do so. He was impatient as it was, but he had promised to talk to her every day he was here. It would be extremely difficult to do that now. "Dismissed!"

The sharp voice made him jump, and Sonic glanced at Tails with a blank look. The kitsune sighed. "Most of the rules were nonsense, but he wants you to meet with Luktani this evening, between our camps, at eight o'clock."

Sonic nodded, his hope of finally being able to contact Amy severely dampened. Tails seemed to understand, and smiled softly. "Hey, don't worry about it. I anticipated this, and bought you something right before we left." The kitsune pulled out a complete stationary set, ready to write the second its owner felt so-called. It was a basic white set, so as not to embarrass the one who would be using it with flowers and decorations, but it contained all the supplies one could ever need for a decent letter. "You can buy more paper and envelopes at the post office when you run low," he explained, "so don't feel like you need to save it."

Immediately, Sonic brightened. "Thanks, lil' bro."

"No problem. Now, I suggest you get ready for your meeting with Luktani tonight. My guess is it'll be pretty interesting."

"Yeah," muttered Sonic, not planning to listen to anything Tails said in the next hour. He took the letter-writing supplies and rushed into his room, which he was sharing with the fox. The meager accommodations were clearly purchased with a military's budget, as the room's furniture consisted only of two cots, a bedside table, one writing desk, and a beaten down rug. Tails had set up his computer on the writing desk, but Sonic was not concerned about finding a place to write. He snatched up the nearest book to bear down on and sat on his cot, thinking about how to start. Never had he been much of a letter writer, but it looked like he wasn't going to have much of a choice in the matter. With a deep breath, he put pen to paper and began:

Dear Amy,

First, let me tell you I'm sorry. I fully intended to call you, as I promised, but it didn't work out. I'm alright, though. Blue Hill Zone is just as I expected: cold and wet. It's been raining ever since we got here, and it's been just above freezing the entire time. Luckily, the rooms seem to be relatively warm. At least I haven't frozen yet. Tails is worried about his computers, though. I guess they get cold, too.

The leader of this crazy operation is a black wolf who insists we call him "General Black." Personally, I think this is ironic and uncreative. I wonder what his real name is? I'll come up with a nickname for him sooner or later. What do you think of Blackie? Too easy? Eh, it'll do for now. He's definitely a stickler for rules and regulations. It's his fault I can't call you. Tails found a way for me to keep in contact, though, as you can tell. I'll write you every day, even though the mail only goes in and out once a week. I truly am sorry.

I'm meeting with Luktani tonight, which will probably be last week by the time you get this. Blackie assured me he sent the team of agents to my apartment for you. You're still staying there, right? Don't worry about keeping it clean or anything. I don't care. You can stay there until I get back if you want, or you can stay with Cream or rent your own apartment. But no matter what you do, make sure the agents don't infiltrate my stash of Swiss Rolls. They're hidden on the top shelf of the pantry. You can have one if you want, just don't let them know they're there.

I really hate the rain here. It'll be hard enough to sneak past Blackie, get out and run, but it'll pretty obvious where I've been when I come back sopping wet. Is it raining in Station Square? If it is, and you miss me, just go outside. I can pretty much guarantee you I've got rain, too. You can think of it as being with me. Y'know, at the park, right before I left. If it's not raining, look at the stars. I promise, I'll look at them too, whenever I can. Whether they're covered by clouds or not, I will. I love you, Amy Rose. Never forget that.

~Sonic

Sonic read over his letter a couple of times, somewhat ashamed at his penmanship, but content with what he had written. He snatched up an envelope and stuck the letter inside, addressing it to his own mailbox at the apartment. Wondering if he could run to the post office and back before he had to meet with Luktani, he glanced at the clock on Tails' computer. He still had three hours. "Plenty of time," commented Sonic to himself. He stepped out of his room and began to walk towards the exit, keeping a cautious eye out for General Black.

However, while he was so concerned with avoiding that, he ran smack into an all-too-familiar crimson echidna. "What are you doing?" Knuckles inquired, his amethyst eyes glinting with suspicion.

"Why do you care?" snapped Sonic.

"Because your life is at stake, and I don't want to be the one who has to tell Amy you died being an idiot."

"Aw, you care?"

"No, but I'm not dealing with the waterworks."

Sonic snorted with distaste. "Fine. If you must know, I'm going to run this to the post office. Happy?"

"Do you have permission from Black?"

"Why do I need it?"

"Sonic, you know why. If he doesn't know you're gone, then you'll just get yourself into trouble."

"Luktani's agreed on a truce!" argued the hedgehog.

"That's tonight. She said nothing about beforehand. Sonic, I'll take the letter, okay? Tails wants you, anyway. He wants to rig you up with some sort of communicator before you go."

Reluctantly, Sonic handed the letter over to the echidna. He trusted Knuckles to get the letter to its destination, but he just wanted to escape. Being confined like this and handled as if he was glass was driving him nuts. He growled softly to himself: "And I haven't even gotten through the first day."