Friendship Is Not An Illusion (Sonic Forgives Infinite)

Chapter 9: Meeting The Gang

Back at the base, everyone were spending time with each other. Amy was baking cookies with Cream and Cheese. Vector was chasing Charmy, who drawn silly doodles on his face, while Espio tried to get them to stop. Rouge was admiring the gem, which she secretly stole from Knuckles, who found it from one of his treasure hunts and was currently eating grapes. Shadow was on a far side of a corner, minding his own business. Silver is playing chess with Blaze while Marine watches. While Omega was outside, doing guard duty, and Zero was still fast asleep. Sonic, Kaira, Tails, and Gadget arrived at the base.

"Scanning...... Sonic, Tails, and Gadget were with an unknown person. Must be on guard.", said Omega as he kept his guard up.

"Hey, Omega. How's guard duty today", asked Sonic as he and the others come up to him.

"All normal, the Doctor hasn't made an attack yet. And who is the hedgehog girl that you are currently with?", asked Omega as he eyed on Kaira.

"I'm Kaira Serenade, I happened to be a close friend of Zero. You must be E-123 Omega, it's nice to finally meet you.", said Kaira.

"Likewise, how did you run into Sonic and the others?", asked Omega.

"It's more like that we ran into her, we found playing an ocarina. Guard Robos suddenly surrounded her, which she defeated without any difficulty. Speaking of which, why were the Guard Robos were after you Kaira?", asked Tails.

"Oh, well you see. I sorta ran into Eggman a few times and sabotaged his plans for world domination. I also messed his machines and made them not to work properly. So, we can just say that he was also after me.", explained Kaira.

"Oh, no wonder why.", said Gadget. Omega let them pass and they went inside the base.

"Whoa... This place was huge!", said Kaira as she admired the place.

"SONIC!!!", exclaimed Amy as she hugged Sonic tightly. "I've been wondering when are you coming back!", she added.

"A-Amy..... C-can't b-b-breathe......", said Sonic as he tried to get out of her grip.

"You should let him go Amy, or else he might suffocate...", said Kaira with a sweatdrop.

"Who are you? You know my name, but don't know yours...", said Amy with a slight glare. Kaira just simply smiled at her.

"I'm Kaira Serenade, Zero's childhood friend", explaining Kaira.

"Really? I didn't know you and Zero were friends.", said Amy as she let Sonic go.

"I do, he told me and Caliburn a week ago. And apparently, she's the new speedster in town", said Sonic as he pulled Caliburn out of his sheath. Caliburn starts to move on his own, which made Kaira jumped a little.

"So, this the Lady Kaira I've heard so much about. Sir Zero has told me that you have quite an excellent swordsmanship", said Caliburn as he eyed Kaira with great interest.

"Wow, a talking sword! Now this is something you don't see everyday. So, Z has told you so much about me?", asked Kaira.

"Yeah, he really missed you. Z really longed to see you again", said Sonic.

"Where is he?", Tails asked.

"He's still sleeping in his room.", answered Amy.

"I guess I have to wait then.", said Kaira.

"ROUGE! GIVE ME BACK THAT GEM!?", yelled Knuckles as he chased Rouge around the room.

"Rouge for Chaos' sake, give him back his gem.", sighed Shadow.

"No way~!", answered Rouge as she flies away from Knuckles. Kaira was keeping her laughter contained as she watched the two chased each other.

"Oh man, not again...", said Tails with a sweatdrop.

"Does those two ever know how to stop?", asked Gadget. Kaira couldn't hold her laughter anymore, so she let loose a cute and gentle laugh. Sonic couldn't help but stare at Kaira as she laugh.

"Okay, let me handle this.", said Kaira as she stop laughing. Using her speed, she snatched the gem from Rouge, who was shocked now that the gem was gone.

"Uh what-how?", said Rouge as she tried to process what just happened.

"Here's your gem back Knuckles", said Kaira as she hand the gem to Knuckles.

"Thanks, what's your name by the way?", asked Knuckles.

"It's Kaira, nice to meet you", said Kaira.

"I'm surprised that Zero is still asleep after all of that commotion", said Espio.

"He did trained himself hard, no wonder he was that tired", said Sonic.

"Maybe I should surprise Zero that I'm here. But, how?...", pondered Kaira.

"You know Zero?", asked Knuckles.

"Yes, I'm his childhood friend to be exact", said Kaira.

"Well, I have an idea. Everyone, let's take this to the meeting room", said Sonic. They went inside the Meeting Room and Sonic led Kaira in front.

"For those who haven't met her yet, this is Kaira Serenade. She's Zero's childhood and only friend.", Sonic explained.

"It nice to finally meet you, I hope we can all get along and be friends", said Kaira as she bows in greeting. Everyone greeted her back with a smile, all except for Shadow.

"So, what do you have in mind Big Blue?", asked Rouge.

"I think that we should set up a surprise party for Zero. Kaira can use this as a chance to surprise him.", Sonic explained.

"That's a great idea! But, how are we gonna keep it a secret to Zero?", asked Silver.

"Me, Cream, Cheese, Marine, and Charmy can distract him while you guys can prepare the party.", suggested Tails.

"Okay, it's settled then. The kids will distract Zero, while the rest of us will set up the party.", said Sonic. Shadow walked out, since he was not interested to help with the surprise party.

"Excuse me.", said Kaira as she walk up to him.

"What do you want? If it's about the surprise party, I'm not interested.", asked Shadow, rudely.

"No, it wasn't. I can tell your not interested in helping for the surprise party.", said Kaira.

"If you can tell, then why don't you leave me alone? You've got a lot of help at the Meeting Room. It's a waste of time anyway.", said Shadow.

"I don't mind if you didn't want to help. I can't force you into something you didn't want to do, that would be rude. I just wish if we could at least be friends.", explained Kaira. Shadow stared at her in disbelief. Most of the time, people, except for Sonic and the other, would rather stay away from him and hated him for the mistakes that he made in the past. But this hedgehog wanted to be friends with him.

"Why would you want to be friends with me? Don't you know who are you talking to?", asked Shadow.

"Of course I do, your Shadow the Hedgehog. The Ultimate Lifeform, and one of G.U.N.'s top agents. I know that you've made a lot of mistakes, but that doesn't define you of who you are. Besides, I don't care others say about you. Because to me, your a great hero Shadow. It's just that not all people can see that and they only look at your mistakes than the heroic deeds you've did.", Kaira as she gazed at the beautiful night sky. Shadow never thought that someone would actually say that to him. Her wise and positive attitude reminded him of Maria.

"Okay, if you really want to be friends. I guess I can't stop you with that. And I think I could also help you with the surprise party.", said Shadow.

"Really? That's great, I'm happy that your my friend Shadow.", said Kaira with a smile. Shadow also gave her a smile, which can be quite rare for him. They went back inside and help the others with the plans with the surprise party.