"Ooh, girl you shinin'
Like a 5th Avenue diamond
And they don't make you like they used to
You're never goin' out of style!"
The after party was just as lively as Tails and Amy thought it would be. The wedding cake had been cut, snacks, desserts and drinks were still being eaten, and of course, people danced to the music. Jackie's aunt Selena, as expected, sat at a table sipping wine. She wasn't alone, however, as Buddy had noticed her all by her lonesome and decided to keep her company, though quickly seemed to regret his act of kindness as she talked the poor coyote's ear off. James was busy making sure Peter didn't gorge himself at the snack bar, having apparently been assigned to that role at Eric's personal request. Rachel was busy living it up with the newlyweds on the dance floor.
Tails smiled at the scene before him as he stood by his lonesome, sipping water in the corner. He eyed Gary for a bit, still convinced they'd met somewhere before, just not sure where. The wolf stood on the opposite side of the room, also by himself, but also seemed to be studying the room rather intently. The kitsune paused, pressing his cup to his lips as he pondered as to what the wolf could possibly be doing. He was eyeing everything from doorways to windows, as if he anticipated something to happen at any moment. It was almost like he were bracing himself for some kind of an attack. When his eyes met Tails, however, all that studying and bracing seemed to melt away as he smiled and waved at the hero. Tails just smiled and waved back, before turning his attention elsewhere.
Amy was surrounded by a bunch of kids, all of whom were Jackie and Eric's younger cousins. She was keeping them entertained with stories of Sonic and their adventures, mostly for Tails' sake as he couldn't handle constantly being called "sidekick guy" by them, even if he knew they meant no harm. So there he stood now, sipping some water, out of sight out of mind.
Or so he thought, as two hyenas, a man and a woman, approached him from out of the corner of his eye. "Hello," he said to them. "Can I help you?"
"Don't worry, we're not here for autographs or nothing," the man joked.
"We just wanted to say hello and give our thanks to you, Mr. Prower," the woman explained.
"Thanks?" Tails said, confused. "Who are you guys, by the way?"
"Forgive us for the late introduction," the man replied, shaking the kitsune's hand. "I'm Brad and this is Janet. We're Eric's father and mother."
"Oh, I see! Well, it's nice to meet you both."
"It's an honor to finally meet you, dear," Janet said with a smile. "All that you've done for our son… we couldn't possibly thank you enough."
"We wouldn't have him here today if it weren't for you, after all," Brad added.
Tails paused. "What do you mean by that?"
The two hyenas looked at each other in confusion, before Brad softly smirked. "I told ya," he said to his wife. "I knew he wouldn't tell him, even if they met in person."
"I suppose you're right," Janet sighed. "I just wish he'd told him by now." She turned to the hero before him. "You see, Mr. Prower, there's a reason our boy is such a big fan of yours. See… you saved his life when he was just a little boy."
It was as if a weight lifted off his shoulders as realization began to settle into Tails' mind. The fanaticism, the immense respect and love Eric showed him, to the point of wanting him at his wedding despite barely knowing each other- it wasn't just because he was a fan. That was definitely a part of it, a big part, but not the true reason. At its core, Eric saw Tails as his personal hero. His savior. Now he understood why Eric alluded to them meeting in the past. They had, in fact, met in the past- but only briefly.
"I… I had no idea," Tails muttered. "Though, looking back, it does make a whole lot of sense."
"I figured you'd say that," Brad said as he reached into his coat pocket. "So I brought this to help jog your memory." The hyena handed him an old, folded up newspaper. Carefully, Tails opened up the old newspaper, delicately trying to unstick some of the pages that had been coffee stained long ago. When he finally got it untangled, he saw a picture of him when he was a kid, carrying a young hyena boy in his arms out of a collapsing building. His eyes landed on the headline and he began to read the article.
"LOCAL BOY SAVED BY SONIC'S SIDEKICK!
The dastardly Dr. Eggman has been attacking various tech companies around the country as of late, and unfortunately our very own Everettsville Technologies has become one such target. Yesterday afternoon, several of the mad doctor's robots attacked the establishment, stealing various pieces of hardware and presumably some software. Local resident Bradley took his son, Eric, with him today to show him his work in order to share with his son their mutual love of technology. Unfortunately, the terrorist attack ruined what would've been a fun father-son bonding day.
During the chaos, Sonic the Hedgehog and his sidekick and best friend, Miles 'Tails' Prower arrived on the scene to save the day. As the battle raged on, almost all the civilians were safely evacuated. Everyone, that is, except for Bradley's son, Eric. As the building began to collapse due to the battle taking its toll on the structural stability, all hope seemed lost for the poor boy- until he was swiftly rescued by Tails, who heard him crying in fear.
'He's the coolest! Way cooler than Sonic!' a wonderstruck Eric told us shortly after he was rescued. 'When I grow up, I wanna be cool like him!'
'We owe him a great debt,' Bradley's wife, Janet, told us. 'My baby would be gone if it weren't for him.'
Dr. Eggman remains at large, and it is unknown what he plans on doing with the technology he has stolen."
"I remember that now…" Tails muttered. For some reason, a bunch of Eggman's robots had gone haywire and started pillaging various tech-based businesses to steal as much in-development technology as they could. Even Eggman was confused, so he temporarily teamed up with them to find the cause. They never did find the cause, but once the old doctor re-coded his entire database, the robots all stopped acting haywire. He chocked the whole thing up to a data breach and apologized, vowing to personally deal with whoever hacked into his database. To Tails' knowledge, they never found out who did it or where they took the stolen technology.
"Our son doesn't like making people feel uncomfortable, even if he can be a bit… overenthusiastic at times," Brad explained. "I reckon that's why he never told you. Didn't wanna come off as some weird fanboy."
Those words were like a knife to Tails' gut. He wanted to say he never thought of their son that way but, well, he wasn't a good liar.
"He always looked up to you after that day," Janet reminisced with a smile. "He wanted to become a pilot so he could take to the skies just like the hero he looked up to. He came pretty close… but ultimately got too anxious with flying. He went into Air Traffic Control after that."
"I remember him getting into arguments on the playground," her husband said with a smile. "Someone would say 'oh, Sonic's the coolest!' and he'd reply, 'nuh-uh, Tails is way cooler! He's way past cool!' and it would all just spiral from there." The couple laughed together as they reminisced about their son when he was a kid.
"Your son is a great guy," Tails said after thinking to himself for a bit. "I'm glad I could be here tonight, and thank you again for telling me about this. I guess hearing stories like this kind of puts everything in perspective." He looked away, a soft smile on his lips. "It's easy to forget that you're just as important a hero as those around you are when it seems like all you've accomplished is insignificant in comparison."
"Oh, you poor little munchkin!" Janet cried out as she approached the kitsune. "Come here, you need a hug!" Before Tails could protest, the woman was already hugging him tightly.
"I- uh- umm…" He was completely at a loss for words as she pressed her body against his.
"Dear, please calm down," Brad muttered. "This is embarrassing."
"Oh! My bad…" Janet said quickly as she let go of the kitsune. "I just can't stand seeing people upset, especially such nice boys like you, Mr. Prower."
"It's no big deal, I promise you," the kitsune assured her. "It's nice to know that you care."
What followed his assurances were a few awkward moments of silence between the three of them, not helped by the music fading away. Soon though, the silence was replaced by a new song.
"We're not gonna take it!
No, we're not gonna take it!
We're not gonna take it,
Anymoooorrrreee!"
Janet excitedly tugged at her husband's sleeve. "Honey, it's our song!" she squealed. "Oh, you simply must come dance with me!"
"Alright, alright," Brad laughed. "It was nice meeting you Mr. Prower. I hope the rest of your night bodes well. See you around!"
"Don't be a stranger dear!"
"Nice meeting you too!" Tails called out as they rushed to the dance floor. "Thanks- for everything!" Soon enough, they were out of sight and he was left to his lonesome again. As he took another sip of his water, lamenting the fact he was just months shy of being able to actually drink like the other adults there, he allowed himself to fully think over everything Eric's parents had told him. Finishing his cup with one last gulp, he made his way to the door that led to the balcony.
Fresh air and some personal space were what he desperately needed most at this point.
"…And so after that, Sonic was finally able to get the world back in one piece, and he had a nice moment where he said good-bye to his friend Chip, the Light Gaia," Amy recounted to the audience of canine children around her. "We didn't see Chip again after that, because he's sleeping way deep down at the planet's core now. Sonic never transformed into a werehog again either."
"Woah, cool!" A young dog boy yelled.
"I wish I met Chip!" a hyena girl added. "He sounds cute and fluffy!"
"Umm, technically speaking," a teenaged Jackal in the back announced to the group as he adjusted his glasses, "the prefix 'were' means 'man,' meaning that the term 'werehog' would be more properly applied to a human that turns into a hedgehog. Is there any reason you guys called him that instead of a more proper term, like 'hedgewolf' or something akin to that?"
"That's a gooood question," Amy replied sarcastically. "The answer is that no one other than know-it-all, whiny, attention-seeking nerds with no life outside of the internet like you would possibly care about the semantic reasons behind a silly name we gave our friend's weird monster transformation when we were all a bunch of kids. Does that answer your question?"
The jackal looked to the floor in embarrassment. "Yes, ma'am…"
A cheeky grin flashed on the hedgehog's face. "Good! Glad I could help answer that."
"Thanks, ma'am…"
Having gotten their fill of Amy's storytelling by now, the kids all went off to play, aside from one young Jackal girl, who tugged at Amy's dress. She knelt down to speak with her at eye-level, asking, "What's up? You need something?"
"Umm… is it true?" the girl asked shyly.
"Is what true?"
"Did… did you really save cousin Jackie's life?"
The hedgehog paused. "What was that?"
"Cousin Jackie says you saved her life when she was my age. She said you were helping Sonic save people in Station Square and you rescued her from the big bad water monster."
"Yes, it's true," a man said firmly. "I'll never forget that day as long as I live." Amy looked up. Approaching them was a Jackal in a clean, pressed suit.
"Uncle Andy!" the girl yelled happily, running to hug his leg.
"Hello, dear," the man said, ruffling her hair a bit.
"I'm sorry," Amy muttered as she rose to her feet once more, "but who are you?"
"Forgive me," the man muttered, reaching into his coat pocket. He handed her a business card and said, "Here you are, then."
Amy took the card and squinted to read the small print.
"ANUBIS-RA LEGAL COUNCIL
Andrew Anubis, co-founder, current C.E.O.
'Time is money, so don't waste ours and we won't waste yours!'
Open Monday-Saturday 9:00 AM- 5:00 PM. Closed between the hours of 1:00-2:00 PM for lunch.
1996 Downlane Rd. Station Square
(1-800) 555-2023"
Amy looked up from the card, a bit confused.
"I'm Andrew Anubis, Jackie's father," the man explained. "I run a legal council firm down the road from your main offices. I believe we used to see each other on the subway prior to my investment in a Tesla. My business partner was the hawk, Lumis Ra."
"Oh! …I can't say I remember him, but it's certainly nice to meet you. You said you were Jackie's father?"
"Correct. Forgive me for being so sudden, but… I owe you more than you could possibly hope to realize, Ms. Rose."
"Uh…" Amy frowned in confusion. "How… so?"
"The little one was correct, Ms. Rose. During Perfect Chaos' flooding of Station Square… you saved my daughter's life."
Amy froze. "I… saved Jackie?"
"Indeed!" Andrew replied. "I understand if you've forgotten, it's been ages since then. You see, the city was being evacuated from the sudden, unnatural flood. My poor daughter was beginning to drown in the water. You sped on through and saved her life, placing her in my arms as we climbed for higher ground. I'd never seen such a twinkle in her eye… Well, after that, we didn't go a day without hearing all about how cool Amy Rose was, let me tell you!" He let out a hearty little laugh. "She was crazy about you! Still is, honestly! We had to get her multiple dresses identical to your old one just so she could wear them all the time! And then everytime we went to the carnival, she went straight for the strength test with the hammer to prove she was big and strong, just like the girl who saved her. What a rascal she was…"
The hedgehog took a moment to process the information. "I had no idea… but, well, looking back, it does make sense. She called me her savior once and didn't elaborate before running off."
"Ah, don't think much of that. As much as I love my daughter, I know she can be a bit… well, all over the place. Hope she isn't too much of a handful!"
"Ah, no no! She's wonderful, honest. I guess I just didn't realize I had such an important place in her past."
"Well, hey, now you know!"
The Jackal's smartwatch beeped and he held up his wrist to read it. "Annnddd that's my wife asking where the heck I am with her brother's kid. I gotta get going, Ms. Rose. It was a pleasure meeting you!"
"Bye-bye, Miss Amy!" the girl at his leg said.
Amy waved to the both of them. "Good-bye you two! Thanks again for telling me that, Mr. Anubis."
"Don't mention it, sweetheart! Hope you do well in your future endeavors."
As soon as both of them were gone, the pink hedgehog let out a sigh of exhaustion. Of course she had saved her before, why didn't she realize that? She should've known from the moment she called her her "savior." Suddenly all the fangirling, all the admiration, all the attention- it just made perfect sense. It was just like how she used to act towards Sonic. No wonder the jackal was always so fanatical for her. She should've realized it sooner.
"Yo, you ok?"
Amy snapped her head up at the person speaking to her. It was Rachel, who looked at her with concern. The hedgehog smiled. "Yeah, I'm ok," she said.
"You don't look ok," the raccoon dog replied.
"It's nothing, really. You should enjoy the party."
"Hey, every time someone says it's nothing, it's always something. What's bothering your mind, girlfriend?"
Amy paused, looking at Rachel carefully, before deciding to respond. "Well…"
"By golly, I can't thank ya enough, darling!" a voice said happily nearby. The two of them looked in its direction. Jackie was currently leading a very thankful Buddy away from her aunt's table and towards Rachel. "Sweet baby Chaos, I didn't think she'd ever stop her babbling!"
"Oh, auntie is like, suuuuper talkative sometimes," Jackie giggled. "She's like, a bit lonely since she's single, so like, a sweet guy like you talking to her really makes her happy."
The coyote blushed. "Ay now, I ain't being all nice to her cuz I fancy her! I already got a lady friend I fancy…"
Rachel's ears perked up. "You do now?" she asked him.
"W-well, err… yeah…" He rubbed the back of his neck shyly as he began to blush. "She's a friend from work. Her ex done gone kicked her outta their apartment, so I offered for her to come live on the farm so long as she was willing to help out." A grin crossed his face as he shook with joy. "By golly, she agreed to it! I got me a lady friend at the farm and ma and pa ain't even teasing me none about it!" In a sudden moment of clarity, he added, "Though, maybe that's because she don't dress all too lady-like… I mean, I don't mind, but my folks- well, y'all know they're a bit traditional."
Rachel frowned for a moment, before quickly correcting herself into a smile. "Aww, that's great to hear, Bud!" She hugged him tightly. Buddy began to hug her back, only to be caught off guard as the raccoon dog put him in a sudden headlock. "So, pal, what's the lucky lady's name, huh?"
"Gah!" Buddy yelled in surprise. "T-that ain't none of your beeswax, Rachel!"
"Come on, Rachey!" Jackie whined, pulling her friend off the poor coyote. "Don't, like, tease the poor guy!"
"Hey, we're all friends here! Teasing is what friends do best!" the raccoon dog giggled.
Amy tapped Jackie's shoulder. The jackal turned to face her and, upon seeing who it was, immediately let go of her friend and turned her focus to her hero. "Oh my GOSH!" she yelled in excitement. "I had no idea you were like, standing right here!"
"Jackie," the hedgehog began softly, a bit confused, "why didn't you ever tell me I saved you when you were younger?"
The jackal blinked. "I didn't?"
"No. I didn't know until your father told me a few minutes ago."
Jackie pressed her hands to her forehead, embarrassed. "I like… tooottally forgot!"
"You ditzy airhead!" Rachel yelled, shaking the bride. "That's way too important of a detail to forget!"
"To be fair," Buddy chimed in, "she's always been a bit all over the place, even when we was kids."
Amy smiled, shaking her head dismissively. "I should've guessed," she sighed. The hedgehog looked up at the jackal in front of her, who avoided eye contact. Amy reached out and gave Jackie a warm hug. The jackal froze, clearly stunned, before hugging her hero back. "Thank you, Amy Rose," she whispered, her accent seeming to vanish completely. "Without you, I wouldn't be here today."
"No need to thank me," Amy replied, "my friends and I help people all the time. It's just what we do."
The two broke apart, but Jackie kept her hands on her idol's shoulders. "I'm like, soooo glad you came tonight!" she said cheerfully, her accent returning.
"I'm happy to have made your special day even more special."
The four of them took a seat at a nearby table and continued their conversations.
Tails inhaled the cold night air, allowing his nerves to settle down. He looked over the balcony as he exhaled, finding it incredibly hard not to see how out of place the Tornado IV was alongside all the cars in the parking lot. A smile stretched across his lips, and it felt like one of the biggest lies he'd ever told. Truth is, he was convinced he was an outsider. An unwelcome visitor at the wedding, despite being welcomed by the groom himself.
"The truth is," a voice beside him spoke, "the only unwelcome visitor here is me."
Tails jumped back a little, suddenly noticing the long blonde-haired, pale skinned human in a gray sweatshirt next to him. "Who are you?" he asked.
"A visitor," the man responded, not bothering to face the kitsune.
"Ok… You a friend of Jackie and Eric? Or one of them, not both? Or…"
"I know of them. Well, I know them very well actually. Them and their friends. I know what they do behind the scenes. I know their histories, all their likes and dislikes, I know a lot about them. They don't know much about me, though. To them, I'm a stranger."
Tails crossed his arms, unsure of what to make of the man. "So are you like, a stalker? Or…"
"No, no, of course not!" the so-called "Visitor" snapped. "I just- gah! I told a nice girl I'd stop doing this."
"Doing what?"
The man turned his head to him slowly. "This… this isn't right," he said finally.
A wave of deja vu washed over Tails. "Wh-wha-?" he muttered, holding his aching head in confusion. "What… what's going on?"
"The after effects of rewriting a moment in time constantly for months on end," the Visitor muttered.
Before Tails could even ask what that meant, the man jumped on to the railing, taking a seat facing the kitsune, resting a knee under his chin. "I got a problem," he muttered, "and I need your help, Miles Prower."
Tails stared at the man for a moment. Although he was unsure why, he felt like the two had been here before, stuck in this moment of time, talking about the same things for a long while. "…Alright," he said finally. "What's troubling you, stranger?"
The two men spoke for around fifteen minutes. Through vague mutterings and references to things the kitsune couldn't understand, bits and pieces of what troubled the man were shown through. After initially expressing frustration at the visitor's refusal to give any specifics or really be helpful, Tails resigned to work with the information he had and went from there. Although he felt like he'd done very little, the visitor seemed to feel better and allowed a soft smile to form on his lips.
"I'll keep my promise," the visitor said to himself more than to Tails. "I'll be what I say am- a visitor. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Alright," Tails replied, still unsure of what they even talked about.
"Of course, that doesn't change what I've already done, that in the eye of the public hasn't come to fruition, but- eh whatever."
"Riggghhht…"
Suddenly, the door behind them opened, Eric poking his head through. "Tails?" he asked. "You ok? You've been out here a hot minute."
"Oh yeah, sorry," Tails replied, a little embarrassed. "I was just talking to-" He paused, and looked around a bit. The man he was with had suddenly vanished without a trace. "…Myself, I guess. Huh…" He scratched his head in confusion. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know a human, would you? Blonde hair, gray sweater?"
Eric shook his head. "Not really. Sounds like some guy I'd see on the street, though. Why do you ask?"
"Uh, no reason."
Needing a quick conversation change, Tails recalled what the hyena's parents had told him earlier. "Hey, how come you never told me?" he asked.
Eric tilted his head in confusion. "Tell you what?"
"That… that I saved your life."
"Oh! …How'd you find out about that?"
"Your parents told me. I met them earlier."
"Ah… of course." The hyena let out a sigh. "I don't know, man. I didn't wanna bother ya, I guess."
Tails put his hand on the hyena's shoulder. "Bother me? That wouldn't have bothered me at all. It means a lot to folks like me, hearing that they helped out and such."
"Really?"
"Yeah! I mean, I love my big bro, but sometimes I get jealous of all the attention he gets. Hearing that someone is grateful I helped them out… it reminds me that I do matter just as much as him, you know? Even if I'll never be more than a sidekick in the eyes of everyone else."
Eric paused for a moment, before giving the kitsune a hug. "Something tells me ya need one of these, bud," he muttered.
Tails awkwardly hugged his new friend back. "Yeah, I guess I do. Thanks, man."
"A lot of hugging tonight, huh?" Tails thought to himself.
"Come on, Bud!" Rachel pleaded, tugging at Buddy's hand. "You can't just not dance at a wedding?"
"I-I told ya, Rachel!" the coyote stuttered. "I-I already got a lady friend I'm, uh, uh, er… umm… courting, as it were…."
"So?" the raccoon dog scoffed. "Who says you can't dance with a friend?"
"W-well, I…"
"Exactly! Let's go!"
"Aww jeez," Buddy muttered as he was pulled out of his chair and away from the table.
"Should we be worried?" Amy asked.
"He'll be fiiine," Eric insisted.
"Yeah, Buddy's like, suuuuuuuper good at dancing!" Jackie added. "He's just like, suuuuuuuuper shy is all."
"I don't think that's what she was worried about," Tails muttered as he sipped a cup of water. "Man, I wish I could drink alcohol like the rest of you. I feel like a kid sitting at the grown up's table right now."
"Hey, at least Amy has a designated driver if she gets too hammered," Eric laughed. "Get it? Because she has that giant hammer? Hammered?" The hyena's laughter seemed to last an uncomfortably long amount of time, even with his new wife giggling alongside him.
"So, what's his deal?" Amy asked, sticking a thumb towards Gary, who stood solitary across the room. "He's been standing around all night just looking the room over and acting casual once he realizes someone's watching him."
"Ah, yeah," Eric muttered, tugging at his collar. "He's uh, he's like that sometimes."
"Why's that?" Tails asked.
"He doesn't like being in crowds," Jackie said in an unusually serious tone. "In crowds, anyone can attack you swiftly and quietly without making a scene, so long as they know what they're doing. He's had a rough life, and he's not used to the world being so pleasant." Glancing over at Tails and Amy, she immediately recognized the look of shock on their faces at her sudden drastic shift in tone. The jackal scratched her head and said in her usual bubbly tone, "I mean, like… that's what I've been told! I should like, reeeeeaaaaaally stop listening to Gregory's old war stories! They like, tooooootally get me in a weird mood when I think about serious stuff!"
The hedgehog and kitsune exhaled lightly.
"Poor thing," Amy said solemnly, "I hope he's able to overcome those fears one day."
"Same here," Tails added. "I know what it's like to be afraid all the time."
The four of them sat and drank for a bit, making some small talk before Eric asked an interesting question. "Say," the hyena asked, "do you got someone in your life there Tails?"
"Hmm?" the kitsune muttered. "What do you mean?"
"Well, uh, you know, someone that makes ya feel the way my darling Jackie here makes me feel." He clasped his wife's hand and smiled at her, to which she responded lovingly.
"O-oh…" Tails looked off in the distance, unsure of what to say. "No, I'm not really seeing anyone at the moment. I pretty much just hang out with Amy these days, I guess. Sonic's too busy with hero work to hang out most of the time and Knuckles- well he's crashing at my place, but he's usually watching TV or playing games."
"That break up really did a number on him, huh?" Amy chimed in. "I still remember when we found him… gardening."
Tails nodded slightly, more out of instinct than anything. "Gardening… not farming."
"What about you Amy?" Jackie asked quickly. "Like… is there like, a boy you think is like, suuuuuper cute?"
The hedgehog blushed. "Umm…" She stuttered.
"Or, like, a cute girl? I don't like, know what you're into, but like, we're like, suuuuuper accepting of all that!"
"Ah, no no! I like guys! I mean, I have nothing against other people, it's just, you know, I'm into guys!" Amy let out a nervous laugh.
"Oh, ok! So like, is there a boy you like?" Jackie's eyes widened as she suddenly got a look of realization. "Ohhhh wait wait wait, it's Sonic, right? Or…"
"No, I'm… I'm over him now."
The jackal got a curious look in her eye. "Really?"
"I thought for sure you two would end up together one day," Eric added.
"That ship has sailed," Amy sighed. "He recently learned that he was aroace, after a lot of thinking. He'd prefer not to have a partner- at least for now- and I'm ok with that."
"Oh yeah, I saw that post," Eric said to himself more than anything.
"What post?" Tails asked.
"This one!" Jackie said, shoving her phone in the faces of the pair across from her. It was opened to instagram, showing a post from RealSonicTH, Sonic's account. There was a picture of himself, in the outfit Amy designed for him, a giant aroace flag suspended behind him. On either side of him, Mighty and Ray seemed to be holding the flag up, clipping slightly into frame, clearly unintentionally. Tails couldn't help but smirk when he noticed that, knowing full well his big bro genuinely didn't know how to use the crop feature after all this time. Turning his gaze over to the text attached to the post, it read:
"Took me a long while, and I'm sure the press is gonna have a field day over this, but who cares! Live and learn, and what not. I'm aroace! Figured it out with my buds Mighty_Armadillo and YesImRayStopAsking, who helped and supported me along the way. Love yourself and who you are :)"
Tails and Amy smiled at the message. From the looks of it, he had posted it an hour after they had arrived at the wedding, explaining why neither had seen it yet. "Proud of you, big bro," Tails said to himself softly.
"Proud of him too," Amy agreed. "And… I'm glad he's happy. I know I'll find the right one for me eventually." Unconsciously, she grabbed Tails' hand. Without thinking, he held it back.
"Same here," he replied.
Jackie and Eric looked at each other wide-eyed, as if to confirm they saw the same thing. They both smiled, and Eric held a finger to his lips. Jackie nodded softly, a slight giggle escaping her lips. She stood up, grabbing her husband's and said, "Oooo, come on dear! Let's dance more!"
The hyena flashed a grin. "Alright, one more time!" He looked over at his new friends. "You two should join us, come on!"
The suggestion shocked the pair out of the moment, each quickly pulling their hands away in embarrassment. Before either could even get a word in, the jackal had already pulled him away. The two sat in silence for a moment, as the music began to fade out and a new song played.
"Hip, hip," the backing chorus sang. "Hip, hip. Hip, hip. Hip, hip."
"When you're on a holiday," the lead's voice sang over the backing track. "You can't find the words to say, all the things that come to you, and I wanna feel it too…"
"It's a pretty nice song," Tails mumbled shyly. "Makes me feel all warm, you know? I would be a shame to just ignore it… I think." He looked to the hedgehog beside him, blushing slightly.
Amy smiled softly, blushing a little as well. "I guess so…" she replied softly. "It… is a nice song." After a brief pause, she said, "You wanna dance to it?"
The kitsune grinned widely. "Sure!" The tone was a bit more eager than he would've wanted, but he almost didn't care.
"Me too." She grabbed him by the hand and dragged him to the dance floor, the music blaring in their ears, slowly drowned out by the rhythm of their own beating hearts.
"When you're on a golden sea, you don't need no memory
Just a place to call your own,
as we drift into the zone..."
As they jammed out together, only one thought raced in their minds.
"I think, just maybe, they like me back."
And that single thought made this great night one of the best in their whole lives.
AN: I've been away a while, huh? Sorry. Life has been... life. You can kinda get what I mean if you read the final of Tales of the Visitor, now renamed to "A Rough Draft (TotV)," but long story short- I've been depressed. Still am, that won't go away ever. I'm learning to love myself again, and romance stories help with that in a weird way, so I'm writing again. Hope you all still are reading this, I made sure it was a longer one for you all. Remember to R&R, and I'll see you all later. Love yourselves.
P.S.- Should I make a discord server? let me know.