Sending a Sunday with Amy feels like old times again, except now she's actually older and wiser.

Seriously, though, I love spending time with Amy. She strikes just the right balance between being fun and being constructive. Not only that, but she's always making time to help others, and dedicating herself to the craft. When I need help, I can just come knocking at her door, and more often than not, she'll offer her help. And honestly, it's not hard to make an excuse to see Amy's home. The place gives off such a cozy vibe, it gives our own hutch a run for its money. That is, if homes could run at all. I mean, I saw a mobile bungalow of sorts on our adventures, but it didn't really run so much as scuttle like a crab. Hope that crazy pirate is doing alright, he's a good Mobian underneath all that salt.

I'm rambling, aren't I? Sorry, sometimes I babble when I'm super nervous…

It feels odd being so wound up in front of a friend's home. It's even more odd because, like I said, Amy's home is as cozy as a fairytale cottage. It may not look the part right away; it's similar to the other houses in its neighborhood. It has a nice color scheme going, what with its saffron-yellow body and green shutters, but it doesn't particularly stand out. But like a Christmas present or a jelly donut, the true treasure lies inside. I swear, the woman's sense of interior design is always on point. She's quite good at all that "feminine" stuff in general- she can cook, she's great with relationships, and her choice of wardrobe is up there with Rouge's. I can see why Sonic came around eventually.

Well, that, and I'm sure her pumping the breaks on the superfan behavior also helped.

So our little "counseling session" has finally rolled around. The two of us are sitting in her living room, with me on the couch and Amy sitting in her recliner with a pen and notepad. It really does feel like we're about to conduct a therapy session, but frankly, I don't think I've ever been in a doctor's office with so much comfort. Or pink. Amy has grown in a lot of ways, but she seems to have held on to the part of her that loves pastels and pinks. I giggle to myself, thinking of how her dour, pitch-black houseguest clashed with such a color scheme.

Speaking of, Amy said that before I arrived, Shadow had warped away, leaving to apologize to Rouge. "Whatever you said to him," she explained, "it really lit a fire under him. You're sometimes better at helping Mobians than I am, Cream."

I shrug. "He did most of the hard stuff. I just listened and gave him a push."

"Whatever you did, it worked. He seemed determined to fix this."

"That's some good news," I said. "Oh, and speaking of-"

"I know, Blaze and Silver are coming to visit! I got my call last night. Blaze told me she wanted some help with floral arrangements. Can't wait for Friday!"

"Same! I haven't seen her in months. I hope there's something I can do for them before they head back. I can't imagine planning a royal wedding is easy."

"That's undoubtedly true, but not why we're here today." She clicks her pen. "Let's get down to business. A good way to start is by setting a goal. What's our goal here?"

I smile timidly. "I mean, that's pretty obvious?"

"I want to hear it from you, though. I can't do all the work here, Cream, I need to know you're taking this seriously."

"No, no, you're right. Sorry. The goal is to find a way to tell Tails I have feelings for him."

"Good. Next, let's talk about why you want to. In other words, what do you like about Tails?"

"Uh…"

She picks up on my uncertainty. "This way we can keep in mind why we're doing this, why we're trying to accomplish this goal."

"Okay." I don't fully understand it, but I figure Amy is doing this for a reason. I play along. "Um, he's kind, and considerate, always doing the best for everyone he cares about." Just like with Mom, I can feel my face shifting into a dorky grin. "He's selfless, ready to help others at the drop of a hat, always putting others in front of him. He's funny, loyal, and a great friend."

"Excellent!" Amy smiles, scribbling every trait down. "I want you to keep that list at the back of your head. Those traits are going to be crucial to crafting our confession."

I can feel the grin snap out of existence. "C-confession?"

"How else is Tails going to know how we feel? Trust me, with a guy like him, hints aren't going to be enough." I feel blindsided, but Amy makes a good point. A direct approach, no matter how awkward, is the best bet. "Which helps us segue to the next point: what's stopping us from telling him?"

"W-well…" I gulp, trying to calm my nerves a bit. Come on, girl, if you're getting this flustered just talking about it, what chance do you have with the real deal?

"Take your time, I'm sure there's quite a few."

"I-I'm afraid. What if he doesn't feel the same way? What if he already knows and hasn't said anything because he's not interested? If he's not interested, what happens to our friendship? Can I handle being friends with someone I feel like this about? And when the time comes, how am I going to gather the courage to say the magic words?" I put a cap on the questions for a brief moment. "I, uh, hope that wasn't too much."

"Of course not. It's important that we talk through all this before we do anything else. If we have doubts, they'll overpower us before we can even think about moving forward."

"Yeah," I sigh, "that's been my case for the past few weeks."

"Exactly, we need to nip that in the bud before move on to the nitty-gritty. Let's start with-" she scans her notes, "-'what if he doesn't feel the same way?' It's a good question, and it's one you kind of have to take on a case-by-case basis. Every relationship is a little bit different, so the reactions can vary. Sometimes you need to take a break to regather your thoughts and feelings."

"And for me and Tails?"

"In that case, I wouldn't worry too much. The two of you are super close. Even if he doesn't return the feelings, I don't think the friendship will go away completely. I mean, you just gave me a whole laundry list of reasons why you think he's amazing. From what I know about Tails- and I know a lot, he's my friend, too- I doubt that's going to go away even if he doesn't have those same feelings. The bond may strain, but you should have no trouble making friends with him again."

I'm hesitant. "I'm not sure I can handle being just friends, though."

Amy nods understandably. "That's another issue, and it's going to be tougher to solve. I understand where you're coming from Cream, but it's not really something we can address as a hypothetical. We'll never actually know until we go through with it. But if you want my opinion, I have no doubts you'll bounce back. You have this…uncanny knack to make friends with anyone and anything. Remember Gemerl?"

I frown. "I don't want Gemerl to hold me, though."

"True, it's different. But I have faith you'll make friends with Tails again if it comes to that. You have no shortage of Mobians who will help with that, too: me, your mom, Vector, and I'm sure even Rouge can chip in."

"...you'd do that?"

"Why wouldn't I? Heck, you've done the same for me, so just think of it as returning the favor. You're not alone, Cream."

I stare at her before suddenly gaining a huge urge in looking downward. I feel like a doofus, trying to navigate this alone before now. If Amy believes in me and wants to help, why would I feel so nervous asking for help? And why wouldn't I want her help to begin with? I breathe shakily, nodding. "Thank you. And you're right, I-I don't know how I'll actually feel until it happens."

"That's for sure." Amy looks me in the eyes, a warmth baked into her gaze. "How do you feel?"

"Frankly? Relieved. Like I just untangled myself from some brutal vines, or a weight has been lifted from my back."

"Then we're on the right track. Let's see," she peruses her notes again. "We covered what if he doesn't feel the same way, if we can still be friends- ah, how to gather the nerve for a confession."

"R-right." My voice is a little rattled, so I take another breath. "I'm guessing this is the trickiest thing we'll be talking about?"

"For some, yes, though that depends on how we approach it. It could be a grand romantic gesture or fancy speech, but it could also be as simple as 'hey, I'd love to spend more time with you.'"

I put my hand to my chin. "Shadow said something similar," I admitted.

"Really? Shadow? How about that?" Amy mused. "Any other words of wisdom from our Prince of Darkness?"

I shake my head. "No, that's all he said."

"That's a shame. It would've been funny if he actually knew some primo romantic advice."

"Advice," I repeat to myself. Something in my head begins churning. That giant heap of advice from everyone I've talked to has just been taking up space until now, but with someone like Amy right here, I could actually make sense of it all. Maybe it's the missing piece to finally light that fire I need. "For what it's worth, I've got other tidbits of advice, just not from Shadow."

"Is that so? Well, maybe one of those is our silver bullet. What can you tell me?"

I begin reaching into my well of memories. "Well, Vector told me 'sitting and stewing' doesn't solve anything, and that I have to at least try to 'find out for sure.' Mom told me that when the time was right, I could 'just speak from my heart.' And both you and her told me there are things that can be done to make these feelings less complicated." I keep plumbing the depths, but I come up empty handed. "That's about it."

Amy nods thoughtfully, mentally organizing all the things I'm telling her. "That's all true to some extent." She puts down her notes and leans back. "They all have some overlap, too."

"How so?"

"Well, let's think about what they're saying: just go for it; rely on what your heart says, not your head; don't make things more complicated than they need to be; and don't spring for something big and complex when small and simple will do."

It doesn't take long for me to put two and two together. "So…just wing it?"

"That's one way of putting it. If you're super nervous about this, throwing a big speech on top is only going to make things more complex, for no real payoff. It also helps to think about who you're confessing to. Is Tails the type to appreciate grand gestures?"

It's hard to admit, but it's something I hadn't really thought about. For as long as I've known him, Tails has been a humble guy; gifts make him feel a bit awkward, and he doesn't ask for much to begin with. He doesn't really like surprises either, be it a wrench thrown into a plan or something as benign as a surprise party. He's also pretty straightforward about what he wants and how he feels. It takes me a minute to put this all together, but when I do, I finally shake my head. "No, not really."

"Then don't worry too much about specific word choice. As long as he knows how you feel, you're golden. And whatever comes next, you can count on me and so many others to work through it."

"I appreciate that, but," my voice falls off. I'm not sure how to say it without appearing ungrateful. "You make it sound so easy."

"I'll admit, it isn't. Simple, sometimes, but never easy. But like Sonic says, 'the right thing is rarely the easy thing.' Would it help if I hung out as a wing-woman?"

"A what?"

"Just someone waiting in the wings to bail you out or help out? Think of me as back-up."

Admittedly, that'd be good. I've always done a lot better when I know someone's looking out for me. "That'd be handy, actually. But what should I even say? Will 'I like you a lot' even cut it?"

"It might. If it helps, try leading with some things you like about him. Make it clear why you're saying what you are. But really, the best stuff comes from the heart."

"You and Mom keep saying that. What does that even mean?"

Amy smiles patiently. "Love is a thing where you can't rely too much on your head. You have to keep feelings in mind all the time. You can make all sorts of plans, but if there's no feeling there, it's for nothing. So in our case, you could write a sonnet or something, but-"

A micro-epiphany hits me like a tidal wave. I can feel my eyes widen. "I need to lead with how I feel and not worry as much about how to say it?"

"You got it, girl!"

I don't share much with Amy's euphoria. Something new is coming over me. It's not anxiety, or dread, or confusion. It feels like a strange, novel form of shame. I was spending day after day overthinking about my situation, coming up with new worries and new things that could go wrong, trying to come up with a plan to account for literally everything. And now, here I am, realizing that a lot of the complications came not from my situation, but me; I was the one making things hard. Yes, the aftermath is unknown, and it may be hard, but I paralyzed myself before even trying.

"Cream?"

I groan. "Holy smokes, I've been trying too hard all this time. I feel like an idiot."

"Oh Cream, don't beat yourself up! Like I said, it's not easy-"

"But I was making it way harder than it needed to be."

"And that's okay! We've all done something like it. The important thing now is that we know what to do now, yes?"

My pity party is cut short. "Right. I-I just need to let him know how I feel. Whatever comes next, I don't really know, but that can come later." I stand up from the couch. "Thanks, Amy. You really are the best."

"You're sweet, Cream," she smiles back. "Ready to find us our fox?"

I breathe in. "Let's." Time to end this little episode, and hopefully start a new one on the right foot…

A/N: This is the last Cream chapter. We're nearing the end of our ride in general. I'm grateful for everyone who's taken the time to read this. Constructive criticism is always welcome.