The loud beeping of an electronic alarm clock awoke the sleeping kitsune. He quickly turned it off, then lay back down and cuddled up against a pillow. A nagging feeling that he was forgetting something was the only thing that kept him from drifting back to sleep. His eyes suddenly shot open and he let out a loud, deep gasp. "It's Saturday…" he mumbled to himself. He threw the covers off himself and stood on top of his bed. He briefly looked down at the clock to check the time. "6:02 AM…" A wave of panic washed over him. "I'm already behind schedule!"

The two tails of his which his nickname stems from began to rapidly spin as he quickly sped his way to his bathroom to take a shower. Over the course of ten minutes, he roughly scrubbed every inch of his body that came to mind with a shower brush and some deep-clean shampoo, before doing the same with conditioner. After his shower was done, he stepped out the and dried off his hands and feet before walking into a special heat machine he built and installed next to the shower. It was designed to help him dry off quicker on days where he woke up late, or days like today where he was in a rush. Once done, he brushed down his fur the best he could before rushing to brush his teeth.

He sprinted out of his bathroom and put on the clothes he had laid out the night prior, only to immediately rush back in the bathroom and style his hair for fifteen minutes straight. After making sure his bangs looked just right, he flew down stairs and quickly fixed himself a bowl of cereal. In just five minutes he had managed to wolf it down, wiping off his face with a napkin rather than his sleeve like he normally would. "Alright, so now, it's…" His eyes turned to the clock on the wall. The time was now 7:54 AM. A long sigh of relief escaped Tails' lips. "Ok, she won't be here for roughly four more hours." He leaned back in his chair. "So… now what the hell do I do?" Tails paced around his living room for a bit before giving up and deciding to just watch TV until Amy showed up. Around four hours later, he was deeply engrossed In a day time soap opera he kept having to remind himself he definitely did not care about.

"Jack, I'm sorry," the woman on screen said dramatically, "but you're not the man I thought you were. For so long I thought you were a dashing, strong man, but it turns out you're just a weak boy with fancy machines."

"Madeline, please!" the man in the show pleaded, dropping to his knees and gazing up at the woman. "It's true that I love to tinker around with machines, but my love for you far surpasses any simple machine! I'd gladly throw them all away to spend the rest of my life with you!"

"I'm sorry, Jack, but it's too late now. I'm moving away with my mother and never coming back. Perhaps someday we'll meet again, but never again will we meet as lovers."

"Madeline, please! I beg you to reconsider!"

"I'm sorry, Jack, but I don't love you anymore. Goodbye."

The woman walked onto a train and the man ripped open his shirt for seemingly no reason. "Nooooooooo!" he screamed to the heavens.

"I relate to this way more than I probably should," Tails muttered.

Suddenly, the doorbell went off. Tails immediately shut off the TV and ran to answer the door. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before finally answering the door. The warm sunlight washed over him and his eyes adjusted to make out the figure standing before him. A simple pair of red sneakers and white socks that reached the knees of a woman was the first thing he noticed, followed by the red skirt and white, short-sleeved shirt. The sunlight reflected off the golden rings on the cuff of her gloves, making them shine even more. Her face was tilted to the right, her emerald eyes looking off into the distance. His heart skipped a beat when those emerald gemstones locked his eyes and she turned her head to face him, her bangs swaying ever so slightly, a big smile forming on her lips.

"Hi, Tails!" Amy said cheerfully. "It's so good to see you! How have you been?"

The kitsune snapped back to reality and sheepishly replied, "H-hey, Amy good to see you too. I've been good." He looked her up and down again. "You look nice today," he said, smiling.

Amy giggled. "Aww, thank you! You don't look bad either."

The two stood in the doorway for a few moments.

"Soooo, are you gonna let me in?" Amy finally asked. "I've got something to show you I think you might like."

Tails blushed for the briefest moment. "O-oh, yeah! Sorry! Come in!"

Tails invited the pink hedgehog into his home and closed the door behind her. Amy sat down at the dining room table and pulled some papers out of a bag she had brought. Tails took a seat across from her. "So, what's this thing you wanted to show me?" he asked.

"Well, it's actually more like an idea I wanted to run by you," she explained. "I figured if you liked it, the others might too."

"The others? What do you mean?"

"Well, it's been ten years since Eggman got locked up for good. That's a whole decade without anyone taking over the world, or blowing up half the moon, or heck, splitting the whole world into several floating chunks."

"He really liked blowing apart large celestial bodies, didn't he?"

Amy laughed. "Yeah, I guess so. Anyways, I've also been kinda stuck on what to do for my next fashion line. I was thinking maybe a swimwear collection since summer is coming up, but I don't think I'm really ready to design that kind of thing yet."

"Right," Tails nodded, trying desperately not to picture what an Amy Rose-branded bikini would look like- or what she'd look like modeling one.

"But then it hit me- what if I made outfits based on all of us? You know, the whole 'Team Sonic' crew! It's been forever since we've done something together as a group. It could be fun!" Amy put her arms up and made a waving motion with her hands. "I can see it now: 'Celebrating ten years of Eggman's defeat- the Team Sonic Collection by Amy Rose!' What do you think, Tails?"

Tails thought it over in his head. He did like the idea, although the idea of Amy making something based on him did make him blush a little on the inside. Suddenly, he realized something- if Amy was going to make clothes inspired by him, she'd want him involved in every single stage of the design process. A lightbulb lit up in Tails' brain. If he was going to be heavily involved in the design process, then that meant he would be obligated to hang out with Amy more, and potentially the two of them could get closer by working together. "That's genius!" Tails blurted out after coming up with the idea.

"Genius?" Amy said, a bit taken aback, "You like the idea that much?"

Tails snapped back to reality and decided to roll with it. "Y-yeah!" he replied, caught off guard by the realization he had spoken aloud. "I think that's a brilliant idea! I'd be more than down to help you in any way you like."

Amy grinned with excitement. "Oh, you have no idea how happy that makes me!" she squealed. "I'm thinking that all the profits should go to charities that help people who were affected by Eggman in the past. I know some people will say getting him locked up was enough, but I'd feel wrong making a profit off something like this."

"That sounds like a good idea," Tails said, smiling. He loved the way she was always thinking of other people.

"I'm glad you think so." She sifted through some of the papers. "Actually, I've got some early concept art of an outfit based on you in here somewhere."

Tails' ear twitched. "Already?" he thought. "I guess that makes sense. She's really serious about this stuff." His thoughts were interrupted by her slamming some pages down on the table.

"Here it is!" she said cheerfully. "Go ahead, take a look and let me know what you think."

He smiled as he picked up the papers. "Alright, let me give these a look over…" His attention turned to the sheets in his hands. He was taken aback to see that the papers were full of sketches of not just various articles of clothing, but of him wearing them. She had taken the time to sketch him wearing the clothes she was designing. He blushed a bit upon seeing that. Tails quickly shifted his gaze to the actual clothing designs themselves.

There was a jacket that seemed to be a bomber-style jacket. It featured a design on the back that had the original Tornado plane flying off into the sunset. Another article of clothing was a classic pilot's cap, complete with goggles. There was a note off to the side recommending a slit in the middle of the hat for bangs to poke through, though it listed it as optional. He smiled at the sketches she had made of him wearing the hat. One had him smiling with his bangs poking through while the other had him looking up, confused as to where his bangs had gone. The third article of clothing was a simple scarf that's ends were designed to look like his two tails.

"Wow, these all look great, Amy," Tails said, looking up at her. "I had no idea you were so good at drawing. You even captured the way I look pretty good in these little drawings!" He pointed to a few of the drawings on the paper he was holding.

Amy smiled, blushing a little. "Aww, thanks Tails," she said, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "I learned how to draw better so I could visualize my ideas and show them to others. Oh, and if you're wondering why I drew you so much, I wanted to make sure the clothes seemed natural on you. You know, like something you'd actually wear given the chance."

"That makes sense," he replied. "I do have some suggestions on what we could change or add, but overall I love what I'm seeing. I'm sure the others will like the ideas you have in mind for them."

"Oh, uh…" Amy turned away, a bit embarrassed. "I actually don't have ideas for Knuckles or Sonic worked out quite yet."

Tails blinked. "You don't?"

Amy let out a small sigh. "No, sadly not. I was able to come with ideas for me and you pretty easily. I have some ideas for Knuckles, but I'm not too confident in them and Sonic- well, he doesn't care how anything looks on him as long as it looks cool." She frowned a little and muttered, "Even if his idea of a 'cool' outfit is something straight out of the 90's…"

"Huh, that's weird," Tails said without thinking. "I thought Sonic would've been easy for you to design for."

"Yeah, so did I!" The frustration in Amy's voice was evident. "But no matter what I draw, nothing feels right. Maybe I'm just being overly critical of myself…" She set out a soft sight and rested her head on the table. "I guess part of me is thinking- no, hoping- that if I design him the perfect outfit that suits him to a T, he might be so impressed that he'll ask me out or something. I don't know…" She gazed off into the distance, somberly.

Tails' ears twitched. "Of course," he thought to himself. "I'm the plane guy. I'm the easiest to design for. I'm not the great Sonic the Hedgehog that everyone loves, including you. I'm just his funny little sidekick." Tails' eyes widened a little. Where had such venomous thoughts come from? The fact he had thought that bothered him. He cleared his head and decided to quickly change the subject.

"What about Knuckles?" Tails said quickly. "Have you reached out to him recently?"

Amy shook her head. "I tried to call him last night, but he was busy," she explained. "He told me was doing some gardening and trust me, I know how intense that can get sometimes, so I decided to leave him be and call him some other time."

Tails' eyes widened and his face grew into one of concern. "Gardening…?" he asked in a low voice. "Not… farming?"

Amy sat up, puzzled. "What?"

"Did he mention tending to the crops he grows on the island?"

"Uh, no, he just said he was doing some gardening. Why?"

Tails let out a long sigh. "I gotta go check on him tomorrow," he said, a growing concern in his voice.

Now Amy was even more confused. "What? Why, is there something wrong?" She asked, worry in her voice.

Tails locked eyes with her, a serious expression on his face. "Amy, he's not gardening."

A shredded up poorly drawn sketch of Shadow the Hedgehog, the ultimate life form, stood taped to a tree, barely hanging. Suddenly, a spiked fist slammed into the paper on the tree. Knuckles the Echidna's eyes were bloodshot, the bags under them heavy. He hadn't slept at all that night. He was beyond tired, but he didn't care. Behind him, around twenty trees had fallen over, shredded from where they stood. He breathed heavily, exhausted, but he powered through his exhaustion as he reeled his arm back for another punch.

"STUPID!" he yelled as he punched the tree. "WOMAN STEALING!" He punched the tree once again.

"DUMB!" Punch.

"IDIOT!" Punch.

"ULTIMATE LIFEFORM MY ASS!" Punch.

"WHAT'S HE GOT THAT I DON'T?!"

Punch. "GOD DAMN… CHAOS CONTROL?!" Punch.

"I CAN BASICALLY FLY!" Punch.

"CAN HE FLY?! NO!" Punch.

"TELL ME WHAT I'M DOING WRROOOONNNGGG!"

With one final punch, the tree came crashing down to the ground. Knuckles collapsed to his knees, out of breath. He hyperventilated for a few minutes, no longer able to stave off his exhaustion. He looked to the sky, tears in his eyes. With no fight left in him, he simply opened his mouth and screamed as loud as he could. Birds flew away at the sound. At long last, when he was out of breath, he passed out in the soft grass.

"Oh," Amy said softly. Tails had just finished explaining to her that "gardening" was Knuckles' code term for, "going to literally punch down some trees until I feel better." She felt bad for not being privy to this information before, but Tails explained that he only knew that because he was at his house when he went "gardening" once. Amy spoke up again and said, "Well, let's go there and check up on him tomorrow then. I'm worried about him too, you know."

Tails nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. I'll pick you up in the Tornado IV tomorrow."

Amy smiled at him. "Hey, uh, did you want to go somewhere?" She asked him. "I haven't had the chance to hang out with anyone in a while and knowing you, I'm sure you haven't left the house in a while." She giggled a little at her own playful tease of her friend.

Tails' heart skipped a beat. "Yes," he replied in an instant. "Absolutely. I need to get out of the house."

Amy gave him a funny look. "Yeah you do, talking all robotic like that. Come on, let's go for a walk in the park. You need some sunshine." She stood up and walked towards the front door, bringing her bag with her.

Tails looked away sheepishly for a moment, before getting up and following her out the front door.

A simple train ride later and they were in Station Square. The two caught up on each other's lives during the ride and while they walked to the park. Tails talked about all the work he had been doing clients and Amy talked about how her latest fashion line was doing. As they approached the park, Amy decided to ask Tails a question. "When did you build the Tornado IV again?"

Tails blinked. "Huh?" he asked, visibly confused.

"The Tornado IV," Amy replied. "You know, the plane you said you were picking me up in? I remember you built the Tornado III for our final battle against Eggman, but I don't remember you building the Tornado IV. When did you do that?"

"Oh!" Tails said, finally understanding the question. "I started sketching the original plans for it approximately forty-seven minutes after Cream broke up with me."

Amy's cheerful demeanor vanished. "O-oh… I see. I didn't-"

"The project files on my laptop for it are labeled as 'Heartbreaker.' You should see some of the early paint job designs I had mocked up, they were definitely from when I was in that… phase."

Amy tried to not laugh as the mental image of a My Chemical Romance themed plane flashed in her mind. "I'm sorry, Tails," she said finally. "I had no idea… is that what you were always working on?"

Tails shrugged. "It's alright, you didn't know. Yeah, that was the early prototype of the Tornado IV you saw me working on those times."

"I see. Well, that's cool," Amy replied, not sure of what to say.

The two of them walked through the park gates in silence, both of them not really sure what to say to each other. They both soaked in the rays of the sun, passing by a few patches of flowers. Amy smiled as she walked past them. "The flowers here are really beautiful," she said warmly. "I love the way they arrange them here."

"Yeah," Tails replied, "They are really pretty."

"But not nearly as pretty as you are," he thought.

Tails smiled to himself. He turned his head to face Amy. "Thank you," he said.

She looked at him, confused. "For what?" she asked.

"For being there for me. You know, after the breakup. You were there for me the most. More than anyone else I know. I just kind of realized that I never properly thanked you for that."

Amy blushed a little and turned away. "Aww, it was nothing," she said sheepishly. "You're one of my closest friends. I'm sure you would've done the same for me." She thought for a moment, before continuing. "Heck, actually you have been there for me. Every time I was turned down by Sonic back in the day, you were the one I always come running to. If anything, I should be the one thanking you."

Tails smiled at her. "Aww, don't mention it. Besides, that's nothing compared to how devastated I was. There's kind of a big difference between running to someone crying and going out of your way to constantly check up on someone and make sure they're eating and staying active and healthy and going outside."

"I guess that's true," Amy said, nodding softly.

The two of them sat down on a bench by the fountain. They sat in silence, enjoying the sounds of nature and the rushing water from the fountain. Tails tried desperately to think of a topic conversation, but nothing came to him. He rested his hands in his pockets, still trying to think of something. He felt something cold and round and his pocket and pulled it out to see what it was. Two quarters rested in his hand. He was just about to put them back when an idea crossed his mind. "Hey Amy," he said, turning to face her, "have you ever make a wish with a fountain?"

She turned to him and blinked. "When I was a kid, yeah," she replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I never did, but I always wanted to." He held up his hand with the two coins in them. "Wanna show me how to do it?"

Amy shrugged and snatched one of the coins out of his hand. "Sure, why not?"

The two of them walked over to the fountain and sat on the edge of it. Little bits of water occasionally splashed them, but it wasn't enough for it to be a concern. Amy held up her coin. "So, you take your coin," she said. "Then you hold it like this." She closed her hand into a fist with the coin inside, then held her fist to her heart and covered it with her other hand. Amy closed her eyes and continued, "Then you close your eyes and make a wish, but don't say your wish out loud or else it won't come true." Her eyes shot open. "Then when you're done, you just-" she threw the coin into the fountain, "-toss it in! It's that easy."

Tails followed along as she spoke, nodding on occasion to show he was paying attention. He stood up and faced the fountain, taking a deep breath. "Ok…" he muttered as he looked down at the coin in his hand. He closed his hand into a fist and held it over his heart, covering his fist with his other hand. His eyes closed and he thought to himself, "I wish that when the time is right, I'll have the confidence to tell her how I feel- one way or another." In an instant, his eyes shot open and he chucked the coin into the fountain. Amy clapped for him, partially-sarcastically, but mostly genuinely.

"Congratulations on making your first fountain wish!" she said cheerfully. "What did you wish for?"

Tails smirked. "If I tell you that, it won't come true."

Amy snapped her fingers. "Darn! I thought I'd get you with that for sure."

The two laughed at each other for a bit before Amy felt a notification go off on her phone. She pulled her phone out to check the notification and frowned. "Oh shoot," she muttered. Turning her attention to Tails, she said, "It looks like there's been some kind of miscommunication with one of our suppliers and they need me to come in the office A.S.A.P. Looks like I'm gonna have to ditch you here. I'm really sorry…" A look of guilt crossed her face.

"No, no, it's ok!" Tails said quickly, not wanting to see her upset. "I know what it's like to have work suddenly spring up on you like that. Besides, we'll be hanging out again tomorrow anyway to go see Knuckles, right? So we'll talk more then."

The hedgehog smiled at the kitsune. "Thank you for being so understanding, Tails. I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

"You don't have-" Tails started before she cut him off.

"I'm going to, like it or not." She gave him a smirk and quick wink before turning around and running off. Looking over her shoulder, she waved to Tails and yelled, "Bye, Tails! See you tomorrow!" before turning her attention back to the way she was going.

"Goodbye, Amy!" the kitsune yelled back. "See you around!"

Once the pink hedgehog was out of sight, Tails sat down on the fountain edge and let out a long, deep sigh. "This is going to be significantly more difficult than I had originally theorized," he muttered to himself."

Author's Note: Thank you for the kind words in the last review, WA. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I actually started writing this two days ago, but decided it was too early for Tail and Amy to meet so I wrote 5 and 6 first. Be prepared for something completely out of left field in the next chapter- something Chaotix.