Author's Note. I write too much… Re-edited this to make it not trash. Upon revisiting it, I made the dialog clearer to my actual intentions, particularly with Cream. When writing so much, I restate myself when I actually mean to be saying something else.
This happens with Robotnik, Nicole, and Cream mostly.
Legal Trash. Sonic and everybody else is copyright SEGA/Archie comics. Except for Max, Annie, and Sonia. I created them in my rattled brain; if you like my OC's, use them and let me know. It'll be fun; we will have tea.
Chapter 11. The Truth.
"Open your mouth, honey." Cream said pleasantly.
Max looked at her weakly from his lying position in the bed, struggling to keep himself from crashing back into slumber.
He was wracked with pain all over his body and could no longer feel any sensation in his left arm. Had he the strength to move or worry more, he might check it, but for now, he settled with opening his mouth as the strange, unfamiliar rabbit had asked.
"Good, Good." Cream said to him, trying to make him more comfortable.
She placed a thermometer into his mouth and checked over his face. She could see his exhaustion and struggle against the sickness that plagued his body.
Annie stood at the side of the bed watching, and every time Max glanced at her with those sick, sad, green eyes, she felt her heart ache. It had been two weeks since he had first awakened, and over a month now since that fateful day, he was dragged to Knothole by Nicole.
Annie had diligently cared for him, and with every passing day, she could see improvement in him, if only by a little.
Cream took the thermometer out of Max's mouth and examined it.
"He is still a bit hot, and we really need to get him to eat more." Cream said to Annie as she made a mental note of the temperature. "I will go get more ice for his head and see if we can't get Sonia to coax him into eating. I know he is sick, but he needs to eat."
Annie nodded without speaking up. She was exhausted from sleepless nights of worry. She was still wracked with guilt over that day she couldn't get into the facility, and even more so the stupid pettiness of the fight before it.
She kept imagining a world where Max was utterly dead and would have to remember her foolishness for an eternity. It scared her intensely and horrifically.
Cream moved over to the door of Annie's hut and started off to do the tasks that she said she was going to. It didn't matter that she was stuck here for a while longer. She felt good helping the gravely injured boy.
Annie sat down in her chair and looked at Max, who had his eyes shut once again. He kept going in and out of consciousness quite frequently, but with every day that went by, he was able to remain in an awakened state for a more extended period.
Annie drank some water that she had sitting on the table and watched Max sleep like she had so many times in the past four weeks.
He had always been a kind, sweet person to her, and she knew he didn't deserve this suffering. If she could, she would take his place in a heartbeat, not out of self-pity but of self-sacrifice.
She, in her heart, felt like a mean, flawed animal and would rather the wicked and dysfunctional suffer than the sweet and empathetic.
The door to the hut opened suddenly, and in walked Sonia, who was carrying a plate of light food containing toasted bread and the like. Perhaps something Max could stomach relatively easily with all the pain and sickness he was in.
"Sup Annie, how's my bro?" Sonia asked her, even though she already heard most of it from Cream.
She just thought that Annie had a better grasp on Max's condition, given she seemed obsessed with it.
Annie sighed a bit and then placed the drink of water back on the table. "He is burning up and is struggling to eat anything. I think it is because he feels so terrible. I know I wouldn't want to eat in that condition."
Sonia nodded and placed the warm toasted bread on the table. "Bro?" Sonia said, placing a hand on Max and shaking him gently. "C'mon, bro, ya need to eat, man." She sounded as if she were pleading, which was atypical of her usual manner of speech.
Max didn't budge or wake up, and it caused Sonia to turn back to Annie. "I don't have the heart to wake him," She admitted, feeling bad seeing him. It was hard for her to come here and watch the only family she had left suffer so immensely.
"Then don't," Annie stated bluntly and leaned back in the chair.
Sonia blinked and nodded, keeping her silence for a minute, and then turned around to face Annie.
"Hey uhm, Annie?" Sonia said in a moment of nervousness.
"Hm?" She looked into Sonia's eyes.
"I, uh, I just wanted to thank ya' for everything you've done for my bro. I, well... I can tell you must really love him a whole lot. I… I feel like I ain't doin' enough, so I wanted to thank you for being there." She sheepishly played with her quills and rubbed her shoe against the wooden floor.
Annie stared at her blankly as Sonia's words of kindness stunned her. She was indeed going above and beyond for Max, but she knew it had a lot to do with her intense guilt. She mulled it over, and her mind kept fixating on that word "love."
"I..." Annie began to speak but was at a loss for words. She always cared about Max, but that word filled her with ambivalence.
It was both comfortable and uncomfortable for her to hear that word concerning Max. She had been thinking of him much more often now, but she dared not take the thought further than that.
Sonia smirked, seeing that Annie was speechless. "Ya' you're like the big sis I always wanted and Max's second little sister."
Annie smiled slightly and nodded, though it did little to hide her nervousness. "Yeah, I suppose I am, huh?"
She now realized that the context with which Sonia was talking about was entirely different than she had interpreted it. This had never happened to her before, and it only made her feel more awkward and shy.
Sonia let out a laugh watching Annie's composure deteriorate, and looked back at Max resting peacefully. "I have some things I need to do. If Max wakes up again, please come and get me so that I can try to make my stubborn bro eat."
With that, Sonia made her way out of the hut door, leaving Annie by her lonesome once again.
It was always a struggle to visit, but she was relieved that her brother was recovering instead of getting worse.
…
Cream walked through the dining hut carrying a small container filled with chunks of ice. She had obtained them from the large storage freezer that Rotor had assembled for food storage.
She moved on through the main hall where they met for that large meeting some weeks ago. She could see Antoine sitting alone in one of the chairs, having his fill of some simple soup.
"Ooo, Oui, it is to be you, Ms. Cream." He called out to the overworked and tired rabbit.
"O-oh, well h-hello, Mr. Antoine. Sir." She bowed while grasping the ice against her chest.
"No-no, no need for formalities, my dear. I am to be being happy to get a chance to talk to you. I wanted to thank you for, how do you say? To be redressing my wounds. I am quite a bit more comfortable with your treatment."
Cream smiled at him weakly and gave another sheepishly polite bow. "I-it is my pleasure. It is the least I can do after all Mr. Tails has done to help me." She admitted though it was apparent to Antoine that it was in her nature to be selflessly kind.
He smiled at her. "I would not to be being worried too much. Tails will return and will help you to be finding this home that you speak for." He said, taking the spoon and delicately sipped some broth from it.
Cream nodded and gave a wave. "I know he will. I trust him. I need to go get this ice over to Mr. Max, so if you pardon me, I will be on my way."
Antoine gave her a courteous bow to show his respect, and she made haste out the door into the center of Knothole village.
The rain had all but stopped by now, and all that remained were thick, dark, brooding storm clouds. They were indeed foreboding but signified the last of the brutal storms that had devastated the forest.
Cream padded at a slower pace than usual. She could barely keep up with the demands of the village.
Between Max's severe injuries and now Antoine's, she was finding herself missing so much sleep that she could barely function. Whenever a spare moment came up for her, she was assaulted by guilt and sadness over the death of the people that she had loved.
She was on edge and kept thinking about Tails. He had promised to help her fix her navigational device, but he had left with Bunnie and Rotor to go do something important.
He said that he couldn't wait, so she was put on the back burner once again. Most animals would feel spiteful and angry about such things, but Cream knew that she needed to be as kind as possible, even if others were not so to her.
She mulled over her thoughts for the short time she had available to her and wondered how long she could hold on to her composure in conditions like these.
Tails seemed distant every time she talked about herself, and it made her feel guilty for trying to connect with him.
Cream eventually pushed aside the negative thoughts as she often did and opened Max's door.
Once inside, she quickly started filling up a rubber latex glove with some of the ice she had brought and tied it at the end. She wrapped it in a wool cloth and then placed it on Max's forehead. Once everything was set into place, she put the remaining ice container on the table with Annie's water and food.
"I trust you can change his ice when this one melts?" Cream said with low energy.
"O-of course," Annie said to her and stood up to show her eagerness.
In truth, Annie respected Cream, as not only did she help her feel less terrible at her worst, but she tirelessly and selflessly helped Max. Somebody that had no affiliation with her up to this point.
Cream smiled a bit and turned away from her quickly to go on to another menial task.
"You should get some sleep," Annie said to her before she had a chance to get away, causing Cream to stop in her tracks.
"I h-have other things I need to att..." Cream began.
"Bullshit, you need rest. Whatever you need to do can wait. I got Max, so you should sleep." Annie sounded annoyed, and she was pretty blunt about things.
Cream eyed her and just slowly nodded. She felt a little dizzy and wanted to take this command of Annie's like the excuse she needed to flop on a pillow. "I- y-you will come to get me if you need me?" She asked to reassure herself it was ok to rest.
"I said sleep, so sleep," Annie said with a hint of forcefulness in her voice.
Cream looked down, feeling a bit ashamed, but then gave a bow. "T-thank you, Ms. Annie." She showed her gratitude before making her leave of the young girl.
Cream needed so much, and though Annie was forceful and to the point about it, she could see the care in her harshness.
She began to wonder if maybe Annie was the only one that could tell that she was on the brink of collapsing.
Whether that was the case or not, she figured it wouldn't matter either way the second she stuffed her face into the soft, feather-filled pillows in Tails' hut.
…
It was already midday, and Tails kept thinking about how it had taken a week to convince Bunnie of the importance of heading to the Wolf Pack's lair.
It was an agonizing uphill battle for him, and the amount of bitterness that Bunnie held over the whole Snively event had left a sour taste in his mouth.
"Tails, are y'all sure we needed to be headin' our way out here this soon? I mean, Max just came round' a few weeks ago, and leavin' Antoine in charge might be a bit much for him in his current condition." Bunnie once again doubted the need for their heading there.
Tails frowned. "Look, normally, I would put my faith in Lupe, but after everything that has happened since I was in her care. It would be foolish and suicidal to let her stay out here alone. I promised I would come back with help, and I intend to do that one way or another." Tails said in an annoyed tone.
"But the three of us?' Rotor interjected with a sigh, not wanting this to escalate.
Tails got even more annoyed upon hearing that. "Look, we aren't here to fight, ok? We are coming here to drag Lupe to Knothole. With or without her consent. I don't know what Robotnik has been up to exactly, but I don't intend to let it befall Lupe as well." His voice was slightly louder than before.
"Hun' just chill a lil ol' bit alright? I told ya I agreed with that, but if these robots are as dangerous as ya' have been sayin'. It might not be wise to walk into the lion's den, so to speak." She said.
Bunnie was trying to be rational, but even she was aware that Lupe knew much about Knothole and was probably their closest ally in terms of Freedom Fighting groups. To lose her would be a massive disaster.
Tails climbed over a massive fallen tree and jumped off of it into a deep puddle with a splash. "Look, if she says no, just grab her so we can be on our way. That's it. I know she will be angry about it, but in her condition, she won't be able to fend you off, Bunnie."
Tails was adamant on this point, and Bunnie just gave a reluctant sigh. She might force Lupe to return if it came down to it, but she at least desired to talk to her first.
Things were already tense enough in Knothole between everybody. She didn't need another voice of dissent fighting her every step of the way.
The three marched the rest of the way in silence, and in truth, neither Bunnie nor Rotor knew the graveness of the situation. They had only heard about it but had not seen the carnage for themselves.
Continuing along, they allowed Tails to lead the way and eventually found themselves ascending the slippery side of a rocky mountain.
It was easygoing for Bunnie due to her metal limbs, but Rotor struggled to keep up. Tails was directly guiding them to the very tunnel he had emerged from weeks before.
He could see the rock sitting up against other stones, which would easily fool anybody that didn't know its secret.
Tails pointed to the boulder once he was in front of it. "That one, we just need to move it, traverse the tunnel, and it should lead directly to Lupe's hiding spot."
Bunnie gave a nod, and with her metal arm, she effortlessly pushed it aside, revealing the same dark and sinister cave.
Tails reached into his repaired utility belt to grab his flashlight and lead them in. He shined the light forward and stepped into the familiar passage.
Rotor followed in quickly behind him, and as Bunnie stopped in last, she pulled the rock back into position.
"Oh, man! this place gives me the creeps." Rotor said honestly as he squinted in the dark.
"It gets worse up ahead." Tails admitted as he pressed on along the narrow tunnel.
The three walked for a short while until they came across the old carnage that Tails had seen before. The body of the warrior maiden was nothing more than a desiccated, rotting corpse, and she still lay there undisturbed and forgotten in this cramped tomb.
Bunnie said nothing and just shut her eyes in silent prayer for the fallen. Not much would be gained by gawking at the poor girl.
Rotor was so disgusted that he just looked away and moved over the horrific sight as fast as possible.
Tails looked back at them and then forward again. "I told you it was brutal… these robots aren't like the typical SWATBOTS we run into all the time. They kill with intellect and efficiency and seem to only capture specific animals unless those animals pose a serious threat."
"Sure, but I just..." Bunnie started to say.
"It's horrific." Rotor finished what she was trying to say.
None of the three had any answers, and Tails knew there was something more to the robots than just exterminating animals. They operated in an animal-like way that made him uncomfortable.
The three maneuvered on through the dark corridor, and just as Tails had during his first time through, Bunnie and Rotor were starting to feel the paranoia set in.
They were looking over their shoulders and back and forth from behind themselves to their front. Even in groups, the feeling of dread was intense.
When Tails reached the end, he could see the same giant rock that led to Lupe's hiding spot.
Tails quietly placed his fox ear near the stone and listened to the other side. He could hear no moving around, and it worried him a little bit.
Bunnie stepped forward, placing her metal arm on the rock, and then looked at Tails so that he could give the ok to move it.
Tails seemed unsure of whether he should give the call or not, but there was no way to get to Lupe if they didn't press forward.
He pulled from his back his rifle and then switched it on. He gave Bunnie a thumbs up to let her know that he was ready in case things turned sour for them.
Bunnie pushed forward, causing the rock to effortlessly began to roll outward. Then with a giant slam, it landed on its side into the dimly lit room.
Before Tails could even peer into it, he was met with the horrible smell of death and blood. It made him cough and gag, and Bunnie averted her gaze in a horrified manner.
"Mah stars…" She said in a state of shock.
Rotor was too afraid to even look and backed away so that he could escape the stench. "I... what's going on, guys!?" Rotor's voice was panicked.
Tails stepped forward, and he gazed into the shadowy cave. He could see the dying flame of a once robust campfire, and the room was soaked with blood.
Bodies of wolf warriors lay on the ground haphazardly, and it was clear to Tails that they had been slaughtered violently.
"Damnit!" Tails yelled in frustration while walking into the room spattered with semi-dry blood.
He scoured the room with his flashlight and could see the same burn wounds on the warriors that matched those created by the energy weapons the robots carried.
He gazed around the room looking for Lupe, and while he didn't notice her among the corpses, a clearer picture of what happened was beginning to form.
"What in heaven's name happened in here?" Bunnie remarked, feeling dumbfounded for an answer to this madness.
Tails bent over and examined the bodies closer just to make sure he didn't miss Lupe. "I think… Lupe found some survivors in the time I was gone and brought them back to this hiding spot. It is apparent by some of the destruction of the cave that a struggle went on in here." He pointed to the marks and holes on the sides of the cave with his light.
"I just don' get why this level of evil is all necessary. You'd think ol' Robotnik would find use in workerbots, but to murder them like this. It… It makes me feel..." Bunnie would dare not say the word scared, but she wasn't the only one who was feeling it.
Rotor couldn't bring himself to enter the room and just kept watch on the tunnel behind them. At the very least, he could prevent them from being ambushed if he couldn't handle the gruesomeness of the scene.
"The worst part is… I don't see Lupe anywhere… She would never leave her people in a struggle like this, and if they killed her, I'd immediately recognize her." Tails stood up and gazed at what very well might be the last of the Wolf Pack.
"We need to find he..." Tails started.
"Just silence yourself right there, Tails. Ain't no way we're goin' on a hunt for Lupe in a place like this, we don' even know if she is alive, and if they took her, we don' even know to where." Bunnie cut him off sternly, her voice filled with anger.
"Then you turn around and go back to Knothole. I'll look for her myself!" Tails foolishly raised his voice in frustration and turned his back to her.
He started looking towards the destroyed entrance to the hiding place that the robots had used in their assault. He was determined to make things up to Lupe at any cost.
Bunnie became vehemently angry, and with one powerful grab, she grasped onto Tails with her metal arm, turning him around to face her. "I don' care what ya say! Y'all have been actin' in your own self-interest lately, and I ain't havin' it no more!" Her elevated voice echoed in the small hiding spot.
Tails looked surprised and tried to free himself from Bunnie's grasp, but she refused to let go. "Get off me! If you are too scared to find her, I will!" Tails became louder.
Bunnie pulled him close until his face was directly in front of hers. "Now Y'all listen to me and listen to me good Tails. I don't know what all your problem has been lately, but ya' better knock it off. You ain't just jeperdizin' yourself by actin a fool, you are jerperdizin' all of us, and just as I am sure Sonic would have none of it, I won't neither." Her voice was once again low but was seething.
Tails was so sick of hearing about Sonic, and he really didn't want to give up on Lupe. He tried to free himself once again, but it was useless against Bunnie's massive strength advantage. "Just let me go…." He sounded like he was almost pleading at this point.
Bunnie shook her head and pulled him along through the room and back out into the tunnel where Rotor stood. "Ain't no way in hell. Y'all are comin' back with me, and if you don' wanna,' then y'all are gonna' have to shoot me first." She stated the terms of his release.
Even though Tails was enraged for being treated this way, he would never do anything to physically harm Bunnie.
Rotor watched as she dragged Tails along past him and quickly followed suit. He did not want to be anywhere near that despicable scene they had come across, nor did he want to be left behind in this tunnel.
Bunnie dragged Tails through the cave, and the two of them were now silently disgusted with one another. They both concluded that it was better to keep their mouth shut while in here and deal with it when they were free of immediate danger.
Tails just let Bunnie lead him along, and Bunnie ignored his obstinance completely.
The entire time Tails felt more and more disrespected and humiliated by the act. He felt as if he was a small, bratty child being dragged from a corner store in Mobotropolis rather than a respected and valued member of the Freedom Fighters.
They eventually reached the end of their walk, and Bunnie knocked aside the rock that led outside towards the forest.
Once they were free of the cave and in what could be interpreted as safety. Bunnie let Tails go, and he pulled away from her spitefully.
"You don't have to treat me like a little child. I'm not seven anymore!" He shouted at her, immediately ready to get this fight underway.
"I'll start treatin' ya' like your older than seven when ya' stop actin' like you're seven!" Bunnie's voice immediately became loud.
Rotor watched them as they started shouting at one another. "Uhm, guys. I don't think it is such a good idea to…." He tried to warn them, but he fell on deaf ears.
"Like Hell! You just think you're in charge because you're older than me! I don't give a shit about how old you are! You obviously don't know too much!" Tails angrily yelled back at her.
Bunnie knew when she was being called an idiot and balled her hands into fists. "I may not be as smart as some of y'all, but I know for sure that we are a team, and this ain't just do what Tails wants. Y'all bring Snively around, do whatever the hell pleases ya', and don't even bother to care bout' how that might hurt the rest of us!"
Tails was losing complete control and shouted back at her. "Maybe YOU wanted Max to die, but I didn't!"
Bunnie had felt the full blow of that comment, and she quickly lost herself in intense, unthinking rage. She quickly moved her furred hand up, and without holding back, smacked Tails clean across the face with a loud slap.
"Now ya' better shut your mouth this instant! Don't you… Don't you ever say somthin' like that to me again!"
Tails could see the tears forming in her eyes, and he was utterly shocked that she backhanded him in the face. He felt extreme hatred for her at this moment, but the pain visible through her expression was enough to give him pause.
"Sonic wouldn't want y'all acting this way, and he wouldn't approve of ya' putting yourself before everybody else." Bunnie tried to reason with him in her saddened, angry state.
Tails grit his teeth. That name… Why did it always come up? Why was he beholden to it even after all this time? He could feel his blood boiling and the pain stabbing his heart once again.
"To hell with Sonic!" Tails shouted loudly, causing Bunnie's expression to change to immediate shock.
"Where is he now!? What has he done for us in the past ten goddamn years!? What does his opinion matter any longer!? Huh!? He's a goddamn liar! He left us in this shitty world to fend for ourselves! And… and…" Tails was struggling to continue, his body was shaking, and he felt as if he might explode.
Bunnie almost instinctively moved forward and tried to give him an apologetic hug, but Tails quickly pulled away from her. "Get away from me! … I…"
"You know the way home…."
Tails turned away swiftly, and before Bunnie could say or do anything. He started to twirl his tails together to lift himself off into the sky, and he didn't so much as look back at the companions he left behind.
Bunnie watched him fly away, lost in his rage. She was feeling slightly ashamed for hitting him but still felt that she was right to do so. Tails was not the little boy she remembered him being, and perhaps that was not a problem with him at all, but one with her instead.
Bunnie turned to look at Rotor, and he looked back. There was nothing else left to do but head back to Knothole and hope that maybe Tails would come to his senses sooner rather than later.
…
Hours passed until it was evening, and Annie sat in her room gazing out the window. The clouds that overtook the sky got even lighter by the day, and soon she hoped to see the sun once more in the sky.
So often did she spend her time looking out at the world, and it was only now that she had realized she hadn't done it in a while.
She longed to feel the sun on her fur and knew that the warmest season was almost gone. Annie now felt as if she took the overheated summer days for granted, as it was not uncommon for her to complain about them.
"Ann...?" She could hear Max's weak voice call out to her, and it immediately made her turn her attention to him.
"Max?" She said as she immediately got up and walked over to him. His head turned to the side, and his eyes looked at her sadly.
"Ann..." He said once more and moved slightly. His face and body wincing in pain.
"Max. What is it?" She was now at his side, looking down at him.
He had not really tried to speak since he'd woken up, and the look on his face told her he was trying to tell her something important.
"I..." He gasped in a little bit of air and tried to move. "I can't fe-feel my arm. I... please. I need to see." His speech came out as frightened, and Annie knew that in his current state, he might not take well to what she would reveal.
"Max... You need to rest... Don't worry too much about it. Okay? Nicole did everything that she possibly could." Annie tried to convince him to stay put and continue to gain strength.
Max moved his head, and then he started struggling to move his broken body. He would see with or without her help, even if it caused him pain and damage.
"Ahh," He moaned.
"Goddamnit, Max, stop!" Annie yelled and pushed his rising body down as gently as she could.
Max and her eyes met, and she just frowned a little bit. "Fine, but please don't get upset." She asked him sympathetically.
She grabbed his sheets nestled up to his neck and pulled them down to above his waist. His bare chest was exposed, revealing to her his healing injuries, bandaged torso, and missing clumps of fur. It still looked really horrible to her, and she fought to keep her expression neutral rather than sad.
Max's eyes watched as she grabbed onto his metal arm and held it up in her two hands. It looked about the same size as his original arm, but it was now entirely steel and comprised of technology rather than flesh and bone. It ran all the way up his arm until it reached below the top of his arm near his shoulder.
The look on Max's face was that of shock and disbelief. He couldn't feel his arm now because his arm was no longer there. It was now replaced with metal that was utterly alien to him.
"They were going to cut your entire arm off to save your life, but Nicole wouldn't let them, so she went out and captured Snively. Then, from him, we learned how to create a roboticizer." She paused and put Max's arm back on the bed gently.
"It was really the only thing we could do to save your life. I'm sorry, Max." She apologized earnestly.
Max turned his head and stared up at the ceiling. He could remember nothing after meeting Snively in the cave and could only imagine what it must have cost them to save his life.
He was sick and tired enough to not freak out about his current physical condition, but he was lucid enough to be wracked with guilt and remorse for everything.
A minute of silence went by, and Max eventually spoke again. "I'm sorry, Ann..." He said, and it was apparent to her that he was crying. His voice cracked through its weakness, and his fur was wet with tears as they dropped onto his pillow.
Annie quickly grabbed a cloth on her messy table and began to wipe the tears from his eyes." Max... please stop. I..." She said.
Just seeing him cry was making her feel like she would also. She could see his grief. She could feel it; it was an emotion she knew all too well.
He said nothing to her and just lay there and cried silently. His life was forever changed, and it was a massive blow to him. Annie just continued to wipe his tears and try to make him comfortable.
"Max..." Annie's voice quivered slightly, and her hands shook a little bit. "I'm glad you're ok. I just…"
All the past weeks of grief were seizing her heart, and she had so many things she wanted to say to him, but instead, she just felt a flood of tears about to burst from her eyes.
Max looked down towards his metal hand and tried to move his fingers just as he would on his normal hand. There was no sensation or feeling, but the digits responded like any usual fingers would.
He looked up and saw Annie wiping her eyes and sniffling. He wasn't used to seeing her show this kind of vulnerability. Even if this was but a little bit, it was a side of her she rarely showed.
She closed her eyes and tried to hide the fact she was distraught, though it was too little too late for that.
Max concentrated all the strength he had and started to lift his metal arm. It shook and struggled its way up into the air, but he gritted his teeth to bear the pain in the rest of his body.
After a few seconds, he managed to reach up and slide his hand onto Annie's low-hanging wrist. However, he didn't quite manage to grasp ahold of it, as it slipped off her fur and dangled off the side of the bed.
"Ah!" He whined in pain at the sudden jolt the drop gave his upper body.
Annie's attention turned towards him when she felt the metal against her fur, and even though Max had failed, she could see the sentiment behind it.
She bent down to her knees and grasped his metal hand in both of hers, and gave him a sad smile.
"Thank you."
In all his misery and pain, Max smiled back, and there was a brief genuine sense of comfort between the two of them. Annie slid his arm back onto the bed and allowed him to remain in his lying position.
"Do you want the sheets back up?" Annie asked while she stood up.
She knew he was feeling more talkative and wanted to ask him what he needed.
Max shook his head weakly to indicate a "no," and just stopped his head when he was looking up towards the ceiling of the hut.
"Alright, but you need to do me a favor." She said as she picked up the plate sitting on the table and brought it over to him. "You need to eat something, even if it is a small bite."
Max once again glanced at her and then at the plate of cold toasted bread. He really didn't want to eat even though he felt hunger, but he knew that it would only cause more concern if he didn't.
He gave a slight nod and allowed Annie to bend over with the bread to feed him little bits of it. After he had managed to eat half of it, Annie offered him some water so that he would not choke.
"That better?' She smiled once again.
"Y-yeah." He said, feeling a bit of relief from forcing himself to eat, though it made him tired again.
He shut his eyes and started to breathe in peaceful breaths, and Annie could tell he was entering sleep mode again.
She felt relief overtake her, and she plopped into her resting chair. This was all she needed to experience to know that Max was going to be just fine. She could see that his recovery was imminent and that with enough time, he would be himself once again.
Annie stretched, and she figured that perhaps she should sleep some herself. She pulled her spare blanket over her body and rested her feet on the end of the bed like she had been doing.
She started to shut her eyes and took in a deep breath of relief. Her mind started going fuzzy, and the world around her began to go quiet.
…
…
…
…
…
…
"Annie."
She could barely hear a voice.
"Hey, Annie?" It came again.
"Mmmf, what?' She muttered in her grogginess.
"Where's Cream?" She heard the question, and she opened one of her eyes.
She could see the blurry image of Tails standing before her. He looked somewhat distressed and run down but was keeping his composure for the most part.
"Mm... You, my mother, and Rotor are back?" She sat up, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"No... I went on… Well, I went on ahead since I can fly. I figured I would let you know your mom is on her way." Tails fibbed and looked over at Max.
"How's he holding up?" He asked so that he could change the subject.
"Oh… Max is doing a lot better. He was awake for a little while tonight, and I got him to eat a tiny bit." Annie gave him the news.
Deep down, Tails was happy to hear such a thing, but he was so filled with anger and resentment that he didn't really show outward signs of it.
He had been brooding, miserable, and sad since he left Bunnie and Rotor. He recognized his overreaction, but there was so much burning deep inside of him that it was finding ways to explode out of him.
"That's good to hear." He gave a halfhearted response.
Annie could sense that he was not in the best of moods but chose to ignore it. "Cream went off to rest, well… I forced her to rest."
Tails looked at Annie funnily and could sense a slight bitterness in her tone like her mother. "So, what's your problem all of a sudden?" He could feel his anger reigniting, but he didn't want to take it out on Bunnie's daughter.
"Problem? I wouldn't say I have a problem, but I just kinda' think you are letting her overwork herself. I can see it. Can't you?" She admitted her thoughts to him.
"Overworked?" Tails said, slightly indignant. "She's not the only one that is overworked. She came at the worst possible time. I appreciate all she has done for us, but she is making a choice to do it."
He acted as if he was thankful, but he would never admit that some of his bitterness was because he was suspicious of Cream.
"Some people are too good-natured to say no. Reality is, she has done a lot for Max, and for me… If she didn't know medicine Max would be dead, and if she hadn't given me that advice that her mother gave her. I might be a miserable wreck right now." Annie tried to fend for Cream.
Tails' eyes lit up, and the rage inside him started to consume all of his thoughts.
He scowled at Annie, and his tone became forceful and slightly loud. "Mother!? What do you mean 'mother!?'" He demanded an explanation, ignoring almost everything else Annie had said.
Annie looked at him oddly and could sense that a bomb had just gone off, but it was too late to take anything that was said back.
"She told me about her mother... When I was upset. I… it helped me." She said to him.
Tails had had it.
All the lies, the fabrications, the inconsistencies. He was tired of Cream's constant changing of the details. No matter how "kind" she appeared, she was up to something and hearing about this brand-new falsehood was the final straw.
"Tails?" Annie asked as he had stopped talking and only had an angry expression on his face.
"I got to go, Annie. I have some things I need to take care of… Don't worry, your mom should be back soon." He turned away from her quickly and moved his way out of the door so that he could avoid further conversation.
Annie watched him go, and she now feared that what she said would lead to more problems for Knothole. Tails was acting really weird today, and she now suspected that Cream's presence here was on borrowed time.
…
Tails stomped his way out into the center of the village and eyed his hut. It was empty from his view of the window.
He turned over and could see that somebody had turned Rotor's workshop light on. He started to move forward in a fury and couldn't wait to catch her in her lies. He wanted to end this here and now before she was too deep in their hearts.
Tails reached the front of the workshop, and with a hard push, the door opened forcefully with a slam.
Cream let out a semi-loud yelp as the heavy door banged against the wall so abruptly.
"Ahh! Wh-Mr-Mr. Tails! I didn't expect you back so soon!" She said from her seat on the workbench.
She had her deconstructed navigational device in front of her and a plethora of tools laid out that wouldn't help her fix it in the slightest.
"What are you doing in here?" He asked. Attempting to keep a calm façade.
It was strange to him that she was in here with all of their precious stuff and that she would venture here alone when it was completely unguarded.
"I-I well uhm..." She didn't know how to speak her mind and was somewhat blank.
"Well? Spit it out!" Tails was losing his cool already and becoming lost in his rage.
"I... well, I uhm..." She stammered.
"Goddamnit! For once, can you just say what the hell you really think!? Stop with this 'niceness' nobody is buying it!" He was working himself up quite a bit now.
"I-I am sorry... fo-for whatever I have done, Mr. Tails." She bowed to show how apologetic she was.
"I-I was just in here trying to fix my map cube. Y-you haven't been working on it, and I thought..." She tried to explain.
"You're lying!" Tails pointed at her. "You don't even know how to fix anything! Those are even the wrong tools!"
"I-I'm not!" Cream got even more scared and raised her hands up. "Hone-Honest!"
"Yeah? Just like you were honest about your mother? I thought you were an orphan?" Tails spit his accusation.
"I-I but…" She started.
"Or this 'Red' guy being able to fix this map? This piece of trash hasn't had maintenance for years!" He came close to Cream and balled his hand into a fist.
"What is going on!? Stop lying!" He demanded.
"I-I am te-telling you the truth! I am from Radcliff village. I- this p-place exists!" She pleaded with him.
Tails looked at her, and he shook his head. "You've been lying since the day I met you. None of your stories sound real, and if they all are, then I am disgusted that animals like you get to live in comfort, happy, and free of trauma while the rest of us suffer trying to fix it!"
Cream stared at him in disbelief but tried to reason once again. "P-ple-please, Mr. Tails, I c-can tell that you are angry, but things aren't so easy f-for ..." She stammered heavily but was quickly interrupted.
"Not so easy for you? Hah! According to you, you live a life of luxury compared to us! You don't even know what it means to struggle!" Tails mocked her given himself over to viciousness.
It had now ceased to be accusations of her truthfulness and become bitter insults levied at her as an animal.
Cream stood in silence as the words started to sink in. Her demeanor, which was once intimidated and scared, morphed into one of intense anger before Tails' eyes. It was undoubtedly the first time he ever saw her show such an aggressive emotion.
"No…" She said, her voice low and seething.
Tails stepped back slightly, completely taken off guard that she was displaying this kind of intense emotion.
"N-No! Her voice became louder, and she stepped forward while pointing her gloved finger at him. "H-how DARE you say that to me! You don't know me! You don't know my life! You don't know what I have been through!"
"I-I…." She stammered, and tears of anger were in her eyes.
She put her hand down and stared at Tails' now guilty, shocked expression.
She shut her eyes and, within a few seconds of deep breaths, brought herself back to a more calmed composure.
Despite this, though, she could do little to stop the fact that she was crying from some deep-seated hurt she was experiencing.
"I'll take my leave of you." Cream gave a polite bow, and the tears that streamed from her face made faint slapping sounds as they landed on the floor.
Tails was no longer able to be angry and was in a state of remorse. He didn't know what came over him, and despite his accusations, she continued to show him respect.
He really had no proof of wrongdoing and honestly hadn't bothered to give her the benefit of the doubt in the first place. He just thought she sounded absurd and fake, and that was enough in his mind to pass judgment.
"I… Cream..." He tried to back things up so that he could potentially salvage her good feelings towards him.
Cream just shook her head and grabbed her map cube before she walked past him and out the door. She was going to get her things. It didn't matter if it was almost nighttime or if she didn't know her way. She would find her place back home with or without help.
Once she fled the room, Tails plopped himself onto a stool that sat in front of the workbench. He couldn't help but feel sorry about the things he'd said and did this entire day.
Over the years, his trust and confidence in everybody but himself had decayed, and he was left with a feeling of isolation.
He could see that Cream had done nothing but help them with no benefit to herself, but he still chose to feel suspicious of her motivations.
He really didn't know anything about her beyond the superficial, and he could tell by the look on her face when he angered her that she was far more complicated than he'd given her credit.
"Goddamnit!" Tails yelled loudly in frustration with himself. He slammed his brown gloved hand onto the bench with a bang.
He hated who he'd become over the years and knew Sonic would be disappointed in him. He knew that Sonic would despise him.
He wanted to run away from Sonic's shadow and legacy so that he could finally feel just a little bit good about the cynical, miserable person he'd become.
He slid his hand off the table and felt like an abysmal failure.
"Sonic… Even after all this time… All I've said… I am still turning to you." He thought to himself.
Even with all that occurred, he desperately wished for Sonic to help him find his way.
Tails just sat there alone with nobody to help or guide him. Becoming older had changed him so fundamentally that he began to doubt that Sonic would even recognize him.
What was left for him but to wallow in his own self-pity?
Hours seemed to fly by for Tails, and he had thought about Sonic the entire time.
He now found himself reminiscing about Sonic and Aunt Sally for reasons unknown to him. He remembered that they didn't always agree or get along, but no matter what, Sonic always found a way to do the right thing.
"Sonic never left things unfinished. He made mistakes, but he always tried to fix them…." Tails rested his head on his folded arms.
How could he even be like that? He didn't know the answer, but he was starting to figure out that perhaps his bitterness towards Sonic was one of the reasons for his constant failures as a person.
Tails solemnly lifted himself up from the table and left the workshop behind. He was already worried that Cream might have done something irrational like leave Knothole.
He knew that it was his fault if she did and that he would need to fix it in a way that Sonic would have.
He walked all the way to his hut door, and once he arrived, he opened it slowly. He could see that Cream's bag was half-packed with much of her stuff scattered about the floor around it.
His eyes scanned over to beside his bed, and he immediately spotted her lying there on the hard floor.
She had apparently been sobbing, as her face fur was still relatively messy and damp. It appeared as if she had cried herself into a slumber in the hours since she left the workshop.
Tails frowned, seeing her in this sad state, and moved over to her. Standing there, he watched her as she lay in her deep, sound sleep.
Her exhaustion was no doubt exacerbated by her emotional distress, and it must have hit her sometime in the middle of packing her belongings.
He reached down and picked up the disassembled map cube and looked at it. He then used his other hand to drag the blankets off his bed and drape them over her on the floor.
Tails knew she wouldn't be entirely comfortable, but it was something. He brought the map over to his work desk and started to pull out the many tools he would need to work on it.
To hell with his spitefulness and his tiredness. He would have this thing fixed as soon as possible, and even though that didn't guarantee that Cream would forgive him. It was a good start on him becoming a person he could live with.
The night went on and Tails tinkered with the machine through the twilight hours. He effortlessly gutted the wires out and had assessed all of the repairs he needed to make. It would take a while to find all the necessary parts, but from his analysis, he knew that he could fix it.
He tiredly began sorting the wires and parts so that it was easy to reassemble when he found the replacements.
He looked up to stare out his window briefly and could see that most other hut lights were on. Bunnie and Antoine's, Annie's, Sonia's…
Everybody seemed to be restless anymore, and it made Tails upset to see how much everybody had changed in the short span of a few weeks.
As Tails was about to call it a night and try to get some kind of rest before sun up. He was surprised when he turned around to see Cream sitting there on the floor, staring at him blankly.
Their eyes met, and Tails wondered precisely how long she had been watching him tinker with her map.
Tails quickly averted his gaze and turned away from her as the thought of his antics from earlier played over in his mind, so he picked up a screwdriver and pretended to be fixing a component of the map.
Tails continued to fidget with the small part quietly as his anxiety began to swell within his stomach.
The quietness was unbearably loud to him, and after only a few short minutes, he realized that he needed to stop it. He placed his tool on the table and started to speak about the thing that had been eating away at him all this time.
"Ya know… When I was a little boy… There used to be this great hero who lived here that went by the name of Sonic the Hedgehog." Tails started to speak and turned his head just enough to see Cream sitting there out of the corner of his eye.
"I… He used to mean the world to me." Tails' heart was tensing up as he allowed himself to succumb to this raw pain.
"He always promised he would be here for everybody… for me, and I believed him with all my soul. I knew that nobody could stop Sonic."
He turned entirely to face Cream and could see her looking at him with piqued interest.
"One day, Sonic never came back to Knothole, and I... I refused to believe he could ever be defeated." He paused for a second to take in a shaky breath.
"I used to sit out in the center of Knothole for hours on end and wait for him to return. Even as we packed up and moved our location. I still believed that it was only a matter of time until he came running in." Tails stopped speaking entirely as a flood of memories began to assault him.
He remembered watching the setting sun while he waited for Sonic. Hours upon hours sitting in the grass, whishing, hoping that he was right.
"I... uhm..." Tails was shaking slightly, and his sadness became more apparent the further he went on. "When he never came back. I eventually realized that his own children had accepted his fate before I ever could… I remember being so angry at them and at everybody else for not believing in him." He placed his hand to his eyes to wipe away the mist that began to cloud them.
"After months of waiting, and anger, and misery. It dawned on me that Sonic had lied to me. He was full of shit…. I hated him for it… I hate myself for believing it." Tails' voice oscillated slightly between anger and remorse.
"I… Trust is hard for me… S-so I figured the only way I could give you a little of my trust… Was to tell you this." He breathed in to try and stabilize his emotions.
He never spoke about this with anybody before and found it painful to recite.
Cream stared at him, and the longer she said nothing, the worse Tails felt. He turned away from her and went back to pretending to tinker with her map.
"Sir. Sirus Redford." Cream said out loud to Tails.
The name prompted him to turn back slightly and look at her. "Hm?"
"T-that was 'Red' er, Redford's full name." She paused for a second and then continued. "The truth is. I did lie about my main reason for leaving Radcliff. I didn't leave because I am noble or a pure of heart person. I left because I selfishly wanted to try and save Redford's life."
She clenched her hand to her dress and continued. "He was getting to the later stages of dementia and believed that he was an old farmer most of the time, rather than a seasoned and respected knight… In Radcliff, the extremely old, severely sick, or mentally ill are considered a burden, and many times are put down to conserve sparse resources." Cream admitted, biting her bottom lip.
"I have always been a-against this policy, but it is not something I can change. When Redford lost his mind and could remember only sparse things and my name. I used this dangerous expedition as an excuse to try and get Redford to a place where he could possibly live out the end of his days in the forest… I, the council, had no problem with sending him because he would be put to death regardless." Cream finished.
"I-I am sorry I hid thi-this from you, but after Redford died. I just…" She started to whine a little bit.
"He was all I had left…."
Tails leaned forward. "I am sorry for your loss." He said in a moment of honesty.
He really didn't like the supposed rules of Radcliff, but it at least explained why she lied about her purpose and why Redford's elderly presence didn't make sense.
"So, you are an orphan… huh?" Tails said solemnly.
He felt that in sharing their vulnerable side with one another, he could trust what she said.
"I..." Cream put her hand to her heart. It was agonizing for her to recall this, but if Tails was willing to share the loss of his most precious person, then she felt she was obligated to reciprocate.
"My mother and I used to be members of a small village that established itself in the forest after the coup. My mother was a sweet, kind, beautiful rabbit who always tried to teach me the value of kindness and politeness. She wanted me to grow up to be a respectable lady…." Cream began.
"I-I remember that we tried to simply hide out on the edge of the Great Forest rather than pick fights with anybody. My mother abhorred violence, and so I was raised in a place tha-that had very few ways to deal with the new dangerous world." Cream placed her hands on her lap.
"When I was about six. Our village had come under attack by these robots that had invaded the forest. I-I don't exactly remember every detail, but I remember the screaming cries and the burning of our homes." Cream paused and started to bury her face in her gloved hands.
"I remember my-my mommy, she instructed me to, to hide under the bed. I did as I was told but can remember peeking out every so often." Cream was struggling to push the words from her throat, and she was rubbing her eyes, which coated her tarnished gloves in a layer of wetness
"Even as the metal monsters came and I could… I-I c-could hear my mother screaming. She cried out my name and tried to break free, but they took her. They dragged her a-away. I-I can still remember the orange glow of the fire as they dragged her off into the night." Cream was shaking, and she wiped her rabbit nose on her dress.
"I was so scared to move that I stayed under that bed until I could feel the heat of the fire all around me. I had no choice but to leave or succumb to the flames. I-the only thing I have left from that night is a damaged picture of my mother that I grabbed on my way out."
Cream breathed in and then looked again at Tails. She could see the genuine concern in his eyes, and so she continued on.
"I fled out into the dark forest, and over the days, I wandered aimlessly, lost with nobody around to help me. I was starving to death and terrified of everything. I had no food, I couldn't sleep, and the only water I could find was the dirty water from puddles after it rained. I don't even know how long I lived like that." She paused, remembering her whole feeling of terror during the ordeal.
"It all changed, though, as one day I happened to run into a group of animals from Radcliff. They all... the group wanted to leave me to my own devices, but it was Sir. Redford, who took me back with him and gave me a home." Cream finally finished the summation of her past, and even though it visibly upset her, she felt slightly better for telling it.
"So, SWATBOTS attacked where you lived and likely took your mother to be roboticized." Tails issued a guess.
Cream wasn't entirely sure, but she didn't like the thought of her mother being a robotic entity. "I-I dunno." She responded, lowering her eyes to stare at the floor.
"I, I'm sorry, Cream." Tails empathized with her situation.
He now knew of her troubles and could only imagine what that would do to a small child. Her timid nature and slight stutter lent authenticity to her claims.
"I- you don't need to apologize. I was afraid of judgment so much that I mislead and omitted details from you. I-if anything, I feel ashamed for my behavior." She admitted.
Tails got up from his seat and bent down in front of her, placing his two gloved hands on her shoulders.
"No more apologies, okay? You've done a lot for everybody here. I want you to know that I want to trust you from this point on."
Cream looked up and could see him giving her a smile, and it made her smile in return. She felt lighter as the guilt of her secret trauma was finally lifted off of her. "O-okay. I w-will trust you also."
Tails nodded as he let out a small chuckle. "What? Ya, didn't before?" He asked, trying to be humorous to lighten their mood.
"O-o oh, n-no, nothing like that. I-I swear Mr. Tails…." She stammered suddenly and could hear Tails laughing at her expense.
"I was kidding, Cream." He stood up and turned off the light to his work table.
"O-oh..." She blushed and looked away from him.
He looked down at her from his standing position and then sat on the floor next to her. "Your cube should take a bit to repair, but given what I see, I know I can fix it." He looked over towards her.
"Oh... That's good news." She pepped up and looked over towards him.
Tails nodded and pulled the blanket up over himself on the floor. "You should get in the bed. We have been overworking ourselves, and I think that it is time we all start to recover." He suggested, resting his head on an oddly shaped bag full of unknown materials.
"I-but you-it is your bed." She protested. She had slept in it before, but she had never outright stolen it from him.
Tails looked at her with one eye and placed his hands behind the back of his head in a resting position. "You are the guest, so I would be insulted if you didn't accept my hospitality."
He was hardly serious, but it was clear he was being friendly.
Cream nodded silently and climbed herself into Tails' bed. She plopped her head on the pillow and stretched her hand out to turn off the light next to her.
With a click, the room went completely dark, and the two of them just lay there in silence, thinking about what they had shared.
It bought them much pain to relive the experiences, but it also brought them a strange sense of calmness to confide in one another. Even if it might have been too soon for their damaged hearts, both of them had a longing for the other's friendship.
Without a single word, both fell into a deep and comfortable sleep for the first time in over a month.
…
…
…
Three weeks passed since that rough day, and even though things kept improving. The relationships that once defined Knothole continued to deteriorate.
Tails avoided Bunnie. Bunnie avoided Tails. The village itself was segregated into tiny fragments of a whole, and nobody was willing to humble themselves to restore the harmony that once existed.
"Ugh, do I really need to be here?" Annie said indignantly as she stood in the kitchen of the dining hut.
She, too, only had an interest in her small group of herself and Max. Her mother stood next to her, thoroughly annoyed with her daughter.
"Now, we all have done been through this. It's been at least three weeks since Max has been stayin' regularly awake, and he is just fine on his own. We really need ya' out here helpin' with Knothole duties. Y'all get to see Max durin' lunch and dinner when you bring him food." Bunnie reminded her.
She really was in no mood for Annie's attitude right now and would just prefer everything go smoothly for once.
Annie frowned. She knew that Sonia had been killing herself to do much of the chores and that Nicole was exclusively watching Snively at this point.
Her dad was also injured, and Rotor was working on fixing all the damage done to the surrounding area of Knothole.
Tails was hiding away in his hut, and Cream would take care of Max and her father's medical needs.
"Fine, mom, but if anything happens to Max while I am here, I ain't comin' back until he is better." She warned.
Bunnie shook her head in frustration and just turned away. "Fine, fine, but just make sure not to get all too worked up every time he sneezes," Bunnie said, seeming somewhat unusually miserable over the past several weeks.
It was easy to understand given the circumstances, but she didn't really appreciate the comment.
Annie just didn't bother to respond and turned away so that she could begin cooking. It was her job to feed everybody and deliver food to Max and her father.
She moved the metal pan over the fire and started cracking some eggs into it. She was not the best of cooks, but she knew she could make a simple dish filled with protein and deliciousness for the two of them.
Stir the eggs, add some meat, add some seasoning, and don't let it burn.
Annie turned down the heat, and then she grabbed a sack full of fresh oranges sitting on the counter.
She used a knife to cut the fruit in half and then started grinding it against a moderately sized stone that lay in a bowl. After several halves of fruit, she had the bowl almost filled with juice.
"I have to admit, it looks tasty." She said to herself. Taking the breakfast concoction off the stove and set it aside.
She lifted the bowl and gently poured it into a glass until it reached the very top. Once done, she placed it all together on a flat plank of wood so that it was easier to carry and rushed her way out of the kitchen.
Annie exited the hut entirely and immediately started marching towards her hut to give Max his warm breakfast.
The sky was moderately cloudy, and though it still blocked the sun, it would be any day now where it would appear once more. The hot summer air had been traded for a cool breeze, and it wouldn't be long now until the forest died and became a twisting sea of branches.
Annie casually walked into her hut with the food balanced in one hand, and upon entering, she could see Max leaning up against his mountain of pillows in a semi-sitting position.
He had been dressed in his pajamas and was looking worlds better than he had weeks prior. He still wasn't up and about but was at least responsive and sitting with the help of the cushions.
"Max, I brought you some breakfast!" Annie announced with excitement. Every time she saw him looking so good, it made her feel elated.
Max looked up from the book he had nestled in his furred hand. It was one of Annie's fantasy novels that had been salvaged from Robotropolis. "Oh, Ann. I am sorry, I was just trying to pass the time." He admitted as he placed it beside himself on the bed.
She moved closer to him and placed his drink on the already crowded end table next to the bed, after which she set the stable board of wood on his lap in front of him.
Max grasped it with his right hand and then placed his left one on the wood to move the plate. Annie could see the metal poking out from his long-sleeved pajama top, and she was really impressed how fast he took to using it. She thought that perhaps it would have a learning curve or something.
"I hope you like it," Annie admitted and elected to ignore bringing up his artificial limb.
He didn't look at her and grasped the fork on the plate in his right hand while using his left to keep things steady.
"Thanks, Ann…" He said in a quiet tone.
Annie could see the grief he was going through and put her hands together. She didn't want to bother him or make him feel worse by badgering him with "cheer up."
She watched him pick at his food and eat it slowly, and then after a long silence, she spoke up.
"That's a good one..." Her voice broke the quiet.
Max looked up from his food, and it was evident he was completely confused by her words. "?"
"The book… I, well, it is a romantic drama story about a Princess who is caught between being in love and the duties of her kingdom during the outbreak of a vicious plague." She summarized the book.
"I… You like romance...?" He asked her.
Annie frowned and averted her gaze. "Ya… got a problem with that? I like all kinds of stories."
"I didn't mean it that way. I just, I never realized you enjoyed reading this much." Max admitted.
Annie looked back at him and could see that he was interested in her hobby. "Yeah. I do. The only problem with that book and many of the ones I own is they are damaged from years of wear and pollution. Many of the pages became unreadable, and that book, in particular, the ending is lost." Annie sounded solemn, and Max knew that this story must have really interested her.
Max picked it up and flipped through it. Sure enough, the further the book went on, the more damaged and illegible it became.
He closed it and then looked back up at Annie. "Well, if you recommend it so highly, I will get as far as I can into it." He smiled at her.
Annie smiled back and appreciated that he respected her opinion. She felt like she was being acknowledged, and that was one thing she always desired from Max.
"I need to go and give my father breakfast. I'll be back to check on you for lunch and dinner. After that, I will be back here for the night like always." She let him know.
Max nodded while watching her walk out of the door, and once she left, he leaned forward to pick at his food. Inside, he felt really destroyed, but Annie was his most welcome distraction.
He was reminded of all the times that he'd snuck in here as a child to hang out with her in the night, and it brought him a relief to return to that dynamic in some shape or form.
Max looked down at the book as he grasped it in his furred hand. He then looked over to gaze at his metal one resting itself on the flat board.
It was hard to stay distracted from that eyesore, but even in his shame, he was happy to have some kind of limb there that he could move. He slid it off the board and buried it beneath the blankets like some dirty secret, and proceeded to part open the book with his right thumb.
He wanted to get as far as he could into it so that when Annie returned, they would have much to talk about.
Max effortlessly read through the hours of the day, only stopping to eat lunch when it was brought to him.
When Annie came a second time to bring him dinner, he merely pretended to eat, unable to tear his interest away from the novel.
Page after page, he blew through it and only prayed that the next chapter had enough legible writing to continue.
The story of royalty falling for somebody of the lower class, while cliché, was only an accent to the more magnificent theme of the lack of autonomy of the royal princess.
Max could see that even though she, like him, had been born into exclusive privilege, it came at the cost of much of her free will. She wanted so much for herself, but she also wanted to uphold her born duty.
Even as the world they lived in was falling apart at the seams and rotting inside and out from a vicious sickness.
The princess always seemed to be caught between running away from it all to have what she wanted and trying to save the people foisted upon her.
Max could see the blatant parallels in his life with that of the story, and it made it easy to understand why Annie liked it so much.
The sickness of his world was Robotnik, and he, the prince of a dying land. He flipped another page over, wanting a resolution even though he was well aware the book could no longer offer one.
Illegible writing, blank patches. The story was over, but it had stopped just pages before her earth-shattering decision.
To love and live for one's own sake or to sentence yourself to death for the duty you didn't ask for.
Just the thought sent chills down Max's spine, and he knew what one he wanted to choose. Still, was he even allowed to? Did he cease to become Max, the "person," the second he was old enough to become "King?"
He flopped the book down and could just barely see out the crevasse in Annie's parted curtains from his place on the bed. Night had come upon him quickly, and now he was left with questions that could never be answered.
He looked down at his cool piece of meat and potatoes that Annie had taken the time to make him and started to cut a part of it to taste.
Despite its decrease in temperature, it was actually reasonably delicious to him. He would have preferred it warm, but he choose to read over eating a hot meal, so he had nobody to blame but himself.
"So, you are only eating now?" He heard Annie's voice speak, as the sound of an opening then closing door came.
Max looked up to see her tiredly walk in and plop herself into her chair next to him.
"Ann, I uh... Well, I was kind of lost in reading the book." He admitted to her and took another bite of the cold slab of meat.
She smiled at him and leaned forward. "Hey, I told you it was good. I am actually impressed you got through all of it! Though, it is a shame that it stops before the end." Her voice raised a bit with excitement.
Max looked down at the leather-bound book and then took a mouthful of tea given to him at dinner for his enjoyment.
"Hmm..." He made a thoughtful sound.
"What's up?" Annie could see the wheels in his head turning, and it admittedly intrigued her.
"I, well… If the story doesn't have an end, why don't we give it one?" He took another bite of his late dinner.
"Hah! Are you jokin'? Do we look like authors?" She was immediately dismissive of the idea, even though it did sound slightly fun to her.
Max picked up the book and slid it in front of her. "You don't need to be an author to tell a story. Besides, whoever wrote it is long gone, so it is not like we can get the actual ending."
Annie thought about it, and as much as she wanted to know the "real" ending to the book, perhaps this was a way to keep it from bothering her.
"Alright, so, then the only thing we really need to answer is, did Princess Mariana stay loyal to her people, or did she run off with her true love?" Annie put out the simplified version of the question that needed answering.
"Well, if you were Princess Mariana, what would you do?" Max asked her honestly.
"Me? I ain't no princess." Annie responded defensively.
"You never imagined you were a princess before?" Max asked surprised, even though he had read the book, he had assumed that Annie imagined herself to be the central protagonist as he had.
"I- uhm," She thought about it.
There were times she remembered imagining what it would be like, but it was embarrassing to her, given that she knew an actual prince.
"C'mon Ann, it isn't a big deal. I always imagine what it would be like if I weren't a son of the royal family." He placed his fork into the last of his potatoes and put them in his mouth.
Annie could feel her cheeks getting hot, and she looked away slightly. "I well, yeah… I have thought about it, but I dunno'. I always imagined the pampering and glamour associated with it…." Her voice sort of trailed off at the end.
Max immediately smiled and placed his fork on his plate. "I am surprised to hear that from you."
He had to admit it was interesting hearing what somebody else thought from a different perspective.
"I well… uhm..." Annie didn't know what to say as she became more flustered. She didn't like being put on the spot.
"What does princess Annie imagine?" Max asked her directly.
"I-I…" She stuttered and looked into Max's green eyes. She could see the seriousness in them, and she rubbed her pants with the palms of her sweaty hands.
"I dunno'… I just imagine being a celebrity. Everybody knowing me, liking me, wanting to get my attention. I... Well, it sounds fun, I guess." She took in a deep breath. "Don't get me wrong, though. I know it ain't like that."
Max was enthralled in what she was saying and had already completely forgotten about their supposed task of coming up with a new ending to the novel.
He found himself far more interested in what Annie had to say as he quietly waited for her to continue.
"I dunno, I guess the truth of the matter is, I know that to have so many animals vying for your attention, it is hard to give it to everyone." Annie finished, her voice sounding slightly down.
Max pulled himself up with a painful grunt and now sat entirely up without the aid of his pillows. He breathed in a few times and then turned over so that he was but a few inches from her on the chair. It was slightly uncomfortable, but at least he felt like he was giving her his full attention by facing her directly.
"Max, ya' didn't need to..." She began.
"I wanted to." He cut her off.
"After everything that has happened, I want you to know you have my attention, Ann." His voice was soft and kind.
Annie shook her head as she felt herself tensing up. Her heart started to hurt, and she quickly hid her face from his eyes by looking down. She could feel her tears beginning to leak out and found it humiliating they were coming now.
Despite her immediate efforts to hide it, Max was completely aware of her tears and seemed to be confused by them.
"Ann... What's wrong?" He said to her softly. He knew Annie was one to hardly cry, and to see it now told him it was serious.
"Nothin' Max, okay?" She said as her voice strained.
She held her breath to try and keep the heaves from happening, and she wiped her eyes repeatedly. "I just, I have. My eyes are dry, okay?"
Max reached out his metal hand towards her, and she instinctively slapped it away as hard as she could. The metal really hurt her hand, and she let out a small "ow," as she began to rub it.
Max stopped to stare at his hideous metal deformity and assumed that she was disgusted by it.
"I… uh… I'm sorry, Ann. I-I should have known better." He said, sliding his limb under the disheveled covers
Annie shook her head and sniffled. "No, Max. I... it is just..."
"What's wrong, Ann?" Max asked once again, sweetly.
"I..." She paused, feeling as if her heart were pierced. The thing he had just said stabbed her, and it made her want to finally speak her mind so that she could find relief.
Annie waited quietly, and Max continued to sit there, giving his undivided attention without a word.
She cupped her hands over her eyes, and the crying became fiercer.
"Max… I… I always was, was afraid you would forget… me." She cried out.
"Forget you?" He said, not sure of what she was even talking about.
Annie had crossed the point of no return as she leaned forward even closer to Max. She knew that pretending to be impervious any longer was pointless and instead broke out into more strenuous crying.
"I… we used to be such good friends… and then… all this king stuff… you..." She was speaking between cries and practically pulling her ears while in her emotional pain.
"Shhh... Ann.. it... It's okay. I am still your best friend." Max moved his furred right hand closer to her, but he hesitated to touch her.
"I-I tried to pretend it didn't bother me. I… tried….to…. to…I wanted to give you… support…" She cried hard as she unleashed a torrent of pent-up emotions Max's way.
Max could see her breaking down as she allowed the vulnerable side of herself to be on full display to him.
He pushed through his hesitation, and with a calm gentleness, placed his right hand on her back while she was bent forward crying.
She could feel the hand and almost instinctively moved away, but as he started to rub her back, she just stayed in place.
Max might have felt awkward if it didn't feel like the right thing to do for her. "It's ok, Ann… I… just let it out if you need to."
He was genuinely worried about her and had pushed past the boundaries of personal space to help her.
A minute of sobs and quiet comfort went by until Annie had composed herself enough to sit up and look Max in the face. Her wet cheek fur and red eyes seemed terribly sad, but she had calmed down enough to speak once more.
"I'm so-sorry, Max." She repeated once more, feeling the full shame of her blubbering to him.
"Don't Ann… Just tell me… tell me how you feel..." Max said.
She kept her gaze away from his at this point and instead chose to focus on his pajama top. "When you first started coming of age, and everyone was giving you all the new responsibilities. You stopped hanging out with me. A little at first, and then as the year went on, more and more. I would be lucky to hang out with you once a week." She said.
"Ann... I..." Max tried to apologize.
Annie shook her head and continued on. "I tried my best to hide it, to pretend it didn't bother me. I didn't want to be an immature child who wouldn't allow her friend to ascend the throne." She wiped her nose on her arm and sniffled.
"It did bother me, though, as I could see you slipping further and further away from me, the more you fell into your role as royalty." She paused for a second. "I guess I was afraid of losing our friendship to your duty..."
Max had never known the severity of his neglect, and even if it was unintentional, it still made him feel guilty.
Now that he was talking to her like this, he could see everything that had gone on between them in a different light. All of her overly nice actions had more meaning to them than just friendly gestures.
He thought for a minute about it all, and when Annie looked up to face him, he decided to speak.
"Then the fight…." His voice was full of understanding instead of hatred or sadness.
Annie simply nodded and rubbed her arm. "When you called me a peasant that day… It was like a confirmation of everything I had feared… that I tried to prevent. Not that I didn't deserve it for insulting your mother, but at the time, it hurt me so badly inside."
Both of them looked down, realizing the foolishness of their words, actions, and secrets. If Max had only said aloud how close he still felt to her, and Annie admitted how she honestly felt, then much of this drama needn't have happened.
The two eventually looked up and gazed into one another's eyes with clarity for the first time.
"We're dumbasses, aren't we?" Annie sniffled and gave a sad laugh.
Max couldn't help but smile at the strength of her character. "We are, but sometimes you need to make mistakes to learn lessons."
Annie just lightly laughed again with a sniffle, feeling like the shroud of misery was being lifted from her person.
"Oh, do you need to ruin the joke and explain everything with your logic?"
Max shook his head and laughed a teeny bit in response. "You'll always be my best friend Ann, never change, Okay?"
Annie thought about their friendship, and it felt good to know it was this strong. It only took grief, near death, and a massive fight for them to directly talk about it.
Annie got up and removed Max's dinner board from the bed and placed it on the floor out of the way. "I need to go get cleaned up so that I can get some rest for tomorrow."
"Sure," Max said as he struggled to pull himself down into his usual half lying position on the mound of pillows.
He wasn't nearly in as much pain as he had once been, but it still hurt to move around a lot.
Annie noticed his small struggle and used her hands to help support him lying back down in his usual spot.
"There ya go," Annie said gently to him.
Max held his slightly aching chest and turned his head to look at her. "Thanks, Ann..."
Annie smiled and patted him on the head.
"Don't get used to it." She joked with him like she always used to.
"Glad you're feeling better," Max said to her.
"I am too." She said back to him.
Annie then turned and grabbed some spare clothes from her messy dresser and headed off into the bathroom area.
After a few minutes, Max could hear the water turn on, and he just stared upwards while spacing out. He imagined how good a hot shower must feel and how bad he must smell at this point.
Maybe tomorrow, he would try to get up and take one, such a simple pleasure, but it had been taken away from him for a time.
He shut his eyes and imagined himself in the shower with the hot water running against his fur and aching body. It made him feel completely at ease.
Time passed, and Annie eventually came out of the bathroom wearing her pajamas. She started to open her mouth to speak to Max, but she quickly noticed that he had already fallen asleep.
She walked over and pulled the covers up until they reached the top of his chest. She then placed herself in her chair and pulled her own blankets up.
Annie was really tired and looked over at the lamp that lit the room. She had not turned it off in about two months, ever since Max had come here injured, she dared not turn it off for fear something might happen to him when she couldn't see.
After tonight though, she felt as if it was finally time to return things to normal, as this was perhaps the first time in the last few weeks that she felt like her usual self.
She reached out her hand, and with two clicks, the room went entirely dark.
All that Annie could hear was Max's light breathing in the room as he slept. It was just like the old times that she cherished, and she was happy to have them back once again.
Wrap up. I find this one endearing in many ways.