Sonic: C O U N T E R P A R T

Chapter 22

"Who's that for, Amy?" Cream's soft voice chirped as she leaned over Amy's shoulder. Amy quickly folded the scarf she was knitting over her lap in an attempt to hide it.

"W-what?"

"The scarf." Cream pointed. Cheese zipped down and snatched the scarf out of Amy's grasp.

"Chao chao chao!" He exclaimed happily.

"Cheese! Give that back!" Amy frowned and grabbed the scarf away from him.

"Did you make that for Mr. Sonic?" Cream smiled wild.

"What? No! Of course not!" Amy's cheeks turned red and she looked away from Cream nervously. Cream knew Amy was lying and giggled in response. She knew that Amy loved Sonic.

"It's okay, Amy. I think Mr. Sonic will like that very much! It'll be helpful when he goes to Ice Mountain with Mr. Tails."

Amy looked at her scarf, looking closely at all the small mistakes she made in the filling. She had been practicing for over a month. After Sonic saved Vanilla, Cream gave Sonic a flower necklace as a token of her appreciation. Amy wanted to do the same, not only for Sonic but for all her new friends.

She taught Cream how to cook some of the recipes she's learned over the years, and because of that, the two grew closer. Amy loved having Cream around, and Cream admired how strong and heartfelt Amy carried herself.

"Are you... sure?" Amy sighed.

"Of course! I think Mr. Sonic will like anything you give him!"

"Thanks, Cream." Amy smiled at her. There was a knock on the door. Amy glanced at the clock, then took a quick glimpse out of the window of her home and she noticed how late it was getting. "Oh! It's getting late. That may be your mother."

"Awww..." Cream pouted.

Amy went to the door and opened it, and sure enough, Vanilla was standing there with a smile on her face. After a quick exchange of words, Cream and her mom ventured out to their home. Amy and Cream waved at each other until the two bunnies went over the hill and they were no longer in sight.

"Okay! I have to drop this off at the post office before they close!" Amy placed the scarf in a paper gift bag. "Oh, let me check to make sure I have everything. I made Knuckles a cake, Tails's mint candy is packed away in my backpack. Rouge's necklace..." Amy grabbed a small wrapped package and placed it under her arm. "That's everything!"Amy confirmed.

She ran as fast as she could to the post office to mail the Necklace she bought for Rouge. Rouge was assigned far away for some top-secret mission. So she didn't know when the next time she would see her would be.

Fortunately, Amy got there in time and then went through Station Square to take the last train to Mystic Ruins. The moon was out, and Amy was exhausted from running around, but she wanted to make sure she gave everyone their gifts before tomorrow. Sonic and Tails were going to Ice Mountain to look for a chaos emerald, and Knuckles was going back to Angel Island to guard the master emerald as usual.

Amy tried her best not to fall asleep. If she did, she would miss her stop. Thankfully, there were only a few stops left before it reached Mystic Ruins station. Amy hurried and got off the train before making her way toward Tails's workshop.

She panted heavily when she reached the front door. "Finally..." She heaved and wiped her sweat away. Amy knocked on the door, but there was no response. She knocked again but louder, and got the same result.

"Tails?" Amy called, but silence answered her.

Amy walked over to the window and peeked through the glass. It was completely dark inside the workshop. "Did they already leave?" Amy thought to herself, but she looked to her side and saw that the tornado was still parked nearby. "Maybe they went to sleep?" Amy whined. She turned on her heel and stopped when she noticed 3 familiar shapes in the distance.