8:00 AM.
The next morning was the same as any other.
Vanilla got up early, made breakfast, and the table was set for three. Today's menu was square-shaped waffles stuffed with eggs and bacon bits stuffed in between
each waffle. And each stack of waffles was slathered in syrup.
At the table, Vanilla and Tails sat next to one another. In Cream's usual spot, Vector had taken her place.
Other than the noisy sounds of Vector's teeth chomping down on each waffle piece he threw in his mouth, the three ate in silence.
The events of the previous night had not yet left Tails' mind. The painful hold Cream had on him...the crazed look of sadistic pleasure in her eyes...it was all just so crazy.

He looked over to Vanilla, who quietly nibbled at a waffle she held to her mouth on a fork. She took notice of Tails' gaze and stopped.
Not one of them had the words to describe what happened the night before. But Tails still wanted to talk about it. There was only one problem with that...

"WOOOH! These waffles are AWESOME! Believe it!"

..Vector was still here. Vanilla let him stay the night as a token of appreciation for his help in saving Tails' life. But Tails felt he had overstayed his welcome. He slept last night
in the same bed...snored all night long...and when he woke up that same morning, he let out a big yawn...stretching one of his long arms right into Tails' face.
Tails most definitely had enough of him.

"Wow! That was a great breakfast, Ms. Rabbit! Can I have some more waffles?"

Out of nowhere, a massive FART was heard. And Vector stood up. He blushed as he said,
"Whoops! Totally my bad! I gotta hit the bathroom! Which way was it again?"
Vanilla and Tails pointed down the hall.
"Thanks! I'll be back in 30 or so minutes! The Chaotix...tend to spend a LOT of time taking care of business! Haha!"
The croc quickly went down the hall, opened a door on his right, and shut the door. And then...silence.
Tails kept on eating, using his fork to plop up two waffles to his mouth. But before he could take a bite, a hand grabbed hold of his wrist.
He looked up from his plate to see Vanilla.
She smiled and said, "Miles, we have to get rid of Vector." That made Tails drop his fork. He couldn't believe that they were actually thinking the same thing.
"I don't want to be rude," she continued, "and I know he's your friend, but..."
"Don't worry, Vanilla," said Tails in reply, "I'm on it!"
He had already been thinking up a plan in the back of his head. Tails got up and ran to the front door to get the phone.
As he started to dial, he heard a toilet flush, followed by Vector's voice that said, "AAAAAHHH! That felt GREAT!"
That was it, Tails concluded. Vector was an idiot. In due time, Tails thought, he might take a chance to try and woo Vanilla.
But Vanilla wasn't interested in someone like him. He just didn't get it. But he didn't have to. He knew that Vector once had a thing for Vanilla, and he didn't want to risk
letting him get too close.

A door opened down the hall, and Vector walked out. He looked happy, felt happy, and was on his way back to the table for more waffles, when Tails called out,
"Hey, Vector! Phone for ya!"
Vector changed direction and went towards Tails, waiting at the front door with the phone in his hand.
"A call for me," he said curiously, "who could it be!"
Tails handed him the phone and Vector put it up to his ear. But all he heard was a dial tone.
"Nobody's on the line! Wha?"
"Sorry Vector," said Tails slyly, "you just missed them! It was Espio and Charmy calling in to check on you! They said they needed you for a special mission!"
"A special mission? What is it?"
"There's a rumor going around that Eggman has sent out an army of robots across the globe to take over the world in just three weeks! And your friends seem to have found
a client who's willing to pay a large amount of money to keep him safe in case Eggman's plan succeeds! Also..!"
Vector lifted up a hand to Tails' face and said,

"Stop! You had me at MONEY!"

Vector ran back down the hall to Tails' room, and in only minutes came back to him with his backpack. He reached inside and pulled out one of Vanilla's square-shaped waffles.
"Mmm mmm! Can't get enough of these waffles! That rabbit can sure cook! Am I right, Prower?"
Vector laughed hard, while Tails was only able to fake a laugh as he balled up his fist behind his back.
"Ha, yeah! Hey, you better get going before they start the mission without you!"
"Oh! You're right! Time's a-wasting and all I'm doing is stuffing my face!"
The croc devours the waffle in his hand, then licks his fingers clean. "Yes sir! That's DEE-LICIOUS! Okay! Time to hit it!"
And Vector goes out the front door, on his way to take care of another mission. He stops at the tree that led into the forest and turned back to say,
"Hey, Prower! Thanks for the mission! It was worth the money!"
Tails waved at him, giving him a thumbs up.
"No problem, Vector! It was my pleasure! Really...yeah!"
"Oh, and hey! Thank Ms. Rabbit for the meal for me, kay?"
"Gotcha! I'll totally do that!"
And at last, Vector was on his way. Once he could see Vector no more beyond the forest trees, he shut the door and put the phone back.
Then he skipped happily back to the kitchen. Cream skipped just like this when she threatened me that one time, Tails thought.
You know, It did feel nice to skip like this, after all.

For the next couple hours, Tails and Vanilla had spent the time together. They went to the living room where they enjoyed some cartoons on T.V. while sitting on the couch.
Then they saw Cream being arrested on the news, being mentioned as 'the first underage girl to be convicted of murder.' Feeling unnerved, Tails turned off the T.V.
and the two started talking about what had happened with Cream the other night. Time passed by slowly. As they'd finished their talk, the two were sharing a nice cup of tea.

"So," Tails asked, "what will happen to Cream now?"
"I don't know," said Vanilla, "I'll have to get her committed. With some counseling, she may get better...in time."
"That's only if she's willing to go along with it."
Vanilla looked at her hands resting on her lap. She didn't know what to do with Cream. For a minute, she felt like she wanted to cry.
A hand then lay upon one of her own. She looked to her left at Tails, who gave her a calming look.
"Hey, Miles?"
"Yes, Vanilla?"
"What did you do to...umm...send Vector away?"
"Oh, I just made up a phony mission from a fake client that required all of his team to be present for. Throwing in what Sonic told me about Eggman's latest plan helped."
This made Vanilla laugh. She was feeling pretty good.
"You know, Miles...we didn't get down to finishing...our business, did we?"
For a second, Tails didn't get what she meant. But then, he got it.
"Hm? Ohh...ohhh! You mean..."
"Yes, I do."
Tails pulled up his feet to rest on the couch, and Vanilla followed suit. The two faced each other, with nothing but a desire for love on their minds.
Vanilla then closed her eyes...and leaned in towards Tails...her lips lightly puckered for a gentle, soft kiss. Tails couldn't believe it...those soft lips, so smooth and silky.
And they were all his. He closed his eyes, leaned in with his lips ready for a slow, nice kiss. And in the moment before their lips would meet...

...the phone rang.

"Hm, the phone!"
Vanilla got up and immediately ran to answer it.
"I'll be right back, Miles!"
"DAAMN...IT!"
Tails couldn't hold his rage back. Why did that phone have to ring now? The timing was just too perfect. And that made it all the more annoying.
But he calmed himself down. He breathed in, and breathed out. Then he looked left and right. No Cream. No Vector. No one was in his way. And nothing could ruin
this moment. Nothing at all. Or so he thought. As Vanilla returned from the phone call, she stood behind the couch and said, "Miles, it's Rouge. It sounds urgent!"
Tails groaned as he got up. He got the phone from Vanilla, went to the front door to talk in privacy, and put it to his ear.
"What could possibly be the problem, Rouge? I'm sort of busy here!"

And through the phone, Tails listened. Once Rouge was done speaking, he said,
"Okay, consider it done." Then he hung up the phone.

Tails went back to the couch, where Vanilla was waiting for him. When he sat down, he let out a heavy sigh.
"What's wrong, Miles? Is there a problem?"
"You bet there's a problem! Seems what I told Vector wasn't too far from the truth."
Vanilla touched his face and said, "Tell me, Miles."
"Okay. You remember that imitation Metal Sonic that tried to kill me that one morning a few days ago?"
Vanilla nodded. "Yes, I recall throwing it out with the rest of the trash. It was quite heavy!"
"Well, more of those carbon copies have shown up all over Station Square. And Rouge wants me and Sonic at City Hall right away."
"Oh, I...I see."
Tails looked down at his feet. He didn't want to leave, just when everything was so perfect. But he couldn't just abandon Sonic! Not now.

What should I do? I want to help, but...Vanilla is right here, and I...I...!

Vanilla got off the couch, stood up, and got in front of Tails. She then offered him her hand.
"Come on, Miles. Let's go."
"W..what?"
Tails took her hand and she led him to the front door. She opened it and smiled as she looked out into the night.
"It's so nice at night. I really like how dark it is. How the moon is so bright. It shines over everything, casting it's brilliant light over the world
as it sleeps. Yes...it's so beautiful."
Tails could only look at Vanilla. He couldn't think of anything else that could rival her looks.
"Yeah, beautiful."
"You have to go now. You have to go help your friend."
"B..But, Vanilla! We didn't get a chance to..!"
Vanilla put a finger to his lips. "Sonic needs you. The city needs you! And..we can always try again later, right?"
Tails frowned. He felt as if it were destiny that he and Vanilla were not allowed to embrace in the sweet passion that was love together.
Then, Vanilla leaned in...and gave Tails a tender kiss on the lips. Tails blushed, feeling like a guy who'd just won a million bucks.
"Wao. That was...it was...wao!"
Vanilla giggled. "It was just a kiss, Miles! Does it excite you that much?"
"From you, everything feels more exciting!"
She blushed and said, "Go on, now! They're waiting for you out there!"
Feeling renewed, Tails walked up to door and stepped outside. But then he thought of something. He went back in, took Vanilla's hand in his,
got on one knee, and gently kissed it.
Vanilla gasped in surprise. "What..what are you doing?"
"Making a promise. I want this kiss...to be the proof that...I'm gonna come back to you. I promise that once this whole thing is over, I'll be back. Is that...okay?"
Vanilla looked at Tails, her face still blushing. "Yes. I'd...I'd like that."
Tails then got up, turned back to the woods, and started walking the path into the forest. Then he started to run. He ran and ran, until he took off on his helicopter two-tails.
As he reached the clouds above, he heard Vanilla call out:

"Please! Just be careful out there, Miles! Don't do anything too risky or dangerous! Just come back safe to me!"

Yes..I swear to you, Vanilla. I will come back. I will...once this whole thing is over.

And then he was off for City Hall. He wondered what Rouge wanted to discuss with him about the Metal Sonic bots. Probably nothing major, he thought.
His only real concern was getting this done, then going back to his lab to rebuild his Tornado. He figured it would come in handy against whatever enemy
they were facing this time, whether it was Eggman or someone else. As he flew into the skies over Station Square, he spotted City Hall. He felt tired from the long
flight there, and his tail and back still hurt. But his desire to return to Vanilla made the pain seem like nothing to him.

Don't you worry, Vanilla. I'll be done with this soon. I'm almost there!

But there's more to the situation than it seems. Eggman's big announcement...the Metal Sonic drones...and what's going to happen to Cream?
That...is a story for another time.