The Power of Dreams

Chapter 18

Much to Kate's relief, when they got back to the villa, her friends weren't so cross with her any more than they were when they found out that she snuck out to do an Extreme Gear race with the Babylon Rogues. Still, as per Shadow's word, she did have to face a punishment. So for the next couple of days, she was to do a handful of chores around the villa.

Training was coming to a close. Shadow had talked to Kate after he gave her her punishment, and when she was almost done with the chores. He told her that there would be one more week of training at the villa, and then it would be time for them to head back to the Mushroom Kingdom. The group would stop at Mobotropolis on the way first, so Kate was relieved that she could return the book she borrowed from the castle's library with their stop.

Once she was done with finishing her chores, Kate got back into training. This time, it would be the final bit of practice. Most of her training had consisted of finishing swordsmanship practice, for Shadow told her that she had come to a good conclusion with practicing her powers. Kate was relieved, but remembering that she had some sort of destiny to live up to, she gave herself a secret note to practice every now and then when they get back to the Mushroom Kingdom. At least now, she could avoid causing some damage in the forest outside the kingdom since she had been practicing at the villa for a while.

But with the week coming to an end, Kate was worried that it meant that she would be saying goodbye to her new friends. She had come to adore Cream, Charmy, and Marine. Sonia and Manic were pretty cool people, especially for Sonic's siblings. Princess Daisy was pretty cool too, and Kate wanted to see if she and Luigi were becoming a couple like she hoped. And of course, Kate didn't want to say goodbye to Knuckles either. The red echidna was the one Kate was worried about saying goodbye to, mainly because of the feelings she was having for him.

Spending time doing the chores was tough, so to help her power through, Kate had her mindset in another place as she got the chores done. And all that complex thinking helped her come to the conclusion that she had a crush on Knuckles. If she was going to be going separate ways with him, she at least wanted to try to confess.

Little did Kate know that she wasn't the only one working something like this. Turns out that Knuckles was also to figure out how to confess to her in return. The red echidna had gone to Mario and Sonic for some advice, and with the group preparing to leave the villa in just a few days, Knuckles had to make his move.

Knuckles waited until Kate was done with her chores, and once she got back to training, the echidna decided to wait for her to be on a break from training. Currently, she was doing some sword training with Sonic, and it was about time to take a break. The red echidna watched from afar, holding onto the book that he had got Kate as a gift for when he was ready to ask her to an outing. Kncukles blushed a little as he watched Kate do a practice duel with Sonic, but one the two were done and ready for a break, the echidna stopped blushing.

Now was the time to make his move.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Knuckles felt calm and collected. He walked over to Kate, hiding the poetry book behind his back.

"Alright, let's call it for now and take a break for like a half hour," said Sonic.

"Sounds good. Maybe we can get some lunch to," said Kate.

"I can whip up some chili dogs, if that sounds good," said Sonic.

"Sure. I can help if you need help," said Kate.

Sonic spotted Knuckles coming over. He formed a grin as he saw his friend coming over.

"Actually, I can take care of lunch myself. Besides, I think someone wants to talk to you," he told Kate.