Rated: Fiction T (Teen) (PG-13) - English - Romance/Drama - Sonic & Amy

Chapter Two – A Strange Encounter

Seven years later

The streets of Station Square were bustling with life as last minute Christmas shoppers were racing from store to store to buy Christmas gifts for loved ones and friends. The street lamps and city lights lit up the town like a Christmas tree as snow flurries began to descend from the sky. Twenty five year old Sonic the Hedgehog was racing down the slick, icy streets towards the train station to make his way to the Mystic Ruins. He happened to be one of those last minute Christmas shoppers and was now heading back to Tails' Workshop for their annual Christmas party. He sighed contentedly as he took a seat on the train, relieved to finally sit down and watched the snow falling through the window. His mind started to wander onto different things during the train ride and he randomly found himself thinking of Amy. A small frown tugged at his lips along with a sad sigh. No matter how many years have passed, every Christmas Eve he found himself remembering their fateful conversation outside Tails' Workshop. Nothing was the same after that night. She slowly began to distance herself from him and it wasn't long before the two of them felt like complete strangers around one another. Now he wasn't sure what she was up to. He hadn't seen or heard from her in five years. He knew she still spoke to Tails and Cream on occasion and that she no longer lived in Station Square. If he had known their friendship was going to end as a result of that night he would have done things differently. He would have tried harder to mend their friendship or maybe expressed how he felt to her better. He was never good at these kinds of things, especially back then.

He shook his head as if to shake the thoughts away and looked at his bag of gifts. He smiled fondly at the gift he had bought for Tails knowing he was going to love it. A lot of things have changed over the years and it seems Sonic was the only person who hadn't undergone any extreme changes. His life was the same as it was seven years ago. He was free to go anywhere he pleased and do anything he set his mind and heart to whenever he wanted to. He couldn't say the same for his friends. Tails and Cream were now dating and surprisingly Knuckles and Rouge had gotten married. Even Vanilla had begun dating Vector the Crocodile. The only other person who seemed to stay the same besides him was Shadow. The train came to a stop as it arrived at the Mystic Ruins and Sonic grabbed his bag of gifts and headed off the train. He was happy to be able to spend some time with his friends tonight. He didn't get to see them as often as he had used to. He began to run after getting off the train towards Tails' Workshop. The cool winter air felt refreshing as it brushed against his face and quills and he felt invigorated as he inhaled the cold air.

"Help!" an unknown voice suddenly cried.

Sonic skidded to a halt and his ears perked up as he heard the person's desperate voice.

"Someone, Please help me!" The voice cried again.

"Hey! Where are you?" Sonic yelled as he stopped what he was doing and went to follow the strange voice.

"Over here young man!" The voice called again.

Sonic walked around a group of thick trees to find an old man lying helplessly on the ground.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he rushed over to the man's side.

"This old body isn't what it used to be." The elderly man said as he sat himself up. "I was heading towards the train station when I slipped and fell on some ice. I seemed to have pulled my back out…" He whimpered helplessly.

"Don't worry! I'll help you!" Sonic told him confidently as he knelt beside him.

"Oh thank you!" The old man exclaimed gratefully.

Sonic had the old man put his arm around his shoulder as he carefully stood up. "Hold on to me okay?" He told him as he began walking slowly towards the train station. "You wanted to take the train right?" The elderly man nodded with a smile.

As they reached the station the old man thanked Sonic for his kindness. "You are quite the lifesaver son! Thank you!"

Sonic smiled genuinely. "No problem! I'm more than happy to help!"

"Is there any way I can repay you? Surely there is something I can do for you." The elderly man said with a broad smile and a gleam in his eye.

Sonic waved his hands dismissively. "No thanks. I have everything I need." He told him honestly.

"Are you sure? There isn't something missing in your life that you would want?" The old man asked him, looking at him as though he knew something Sonic did not.

Sonic looked at him strangely. That was an odd question. "What do you mean?" He asked, his smile beginning to fade from his face being replaced with a look of pure confusion.

The man seemed to be studying him before finally replying. "Oh, don't worry about it son. I already know what you are missing in your life. It seems like I'll be able to return the favor after all!" He said with an excited smile.

Now Sonic was even more confused. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

"You'll see soon enough." The elderly man said mischievously.

Before Sonic could say another word he found himself standing alone. The old man had seemingly disappeared. He blinked in confusion and looked around. When he found no trace of the man he looked at the train to see if the old man had boarded but found no trace of him. The old man's strange words continued to replay in his head. "What did he mean by that?" Sonic asked himself aloud.

Sonic scratched his head feeling greatly confused. Everything seemed fairly normal at first until the mysterious man thanked him for his help. Sonic glanced up at the clock that hung on the train station wall and his eyes widened. He was an hour late to the Christmas party. Everyone must be wondering where he was. Forgetting about his strange encounter, Sonic quickly dashed away from the train station and headed in the direction of Tails' Workshop. He found his bag of gifts which were almost buried in the snow and made his way up the steps of the hill. As he stepped inside the warm, cozy home all of his friends looked up at him with excited smiles.

"Sonic, there you are!" Tails exclaimed happily as he ran up to his big brother.

"Where have you been? You missed the gift exchange!" Knuckles told him, gesturing to all the opened presents.

"Sorry guys, I got a little side tracked while on my way here." Sonic told them as he ruffled up Tails' bangs. Tails pulled away feeling slightly embarrassed which caused Sonic to laugh. Despite his little brother not being so little anymore he couldn't help his old habits of treating Tails as though he were still an eight year old kid.

Tails smiled. "That's okay Sonic. We were just about to start the Karaoke competition!" He said, gesturing to the make believe stage and microphone.

"You guys can also open my gifts now too if ya want." Sonic suggested as he began removing his presents from the bag and handing them to his friends.

"Oh, that's too bad Amy." Cream said as she entered the room from the kitchen. At the sound of Amy's name Sonic's ears perked up and he looked up from his bag of gifts to see Cream talking on the phone. "Uh huh…No, it's okay! Yup, I'll talk to you tomorrow then! Merry Christmas Amy!" Cream said into the phone with a smile. She ended the call and went back into the kitchen to put the phone back on the receiver.

"Wow! Thanks Sonic! How did you know I wanted one of these?" Tails' voice suddenly filled Sonic's ears pulling his attention back to what he had been doing. He saw Tails holding the gift he had gotten him and smiled. "Because I know you better than anyone." He replied with a broad smile.

Cream reentered the room and ran up to Tails planting a soft kiss on his cheek. "Alright, I'm ready for some Karaoke!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Was that Amy you were talking to on the phone?" Sonic suddenly asked, a sad smile forming on his face. Everyone grew quiet as their attention fell on the cobalt hedgehog. They all knew what had happened between the two of them and their withered friendship. Whenever Amy was mentioned around Sonic he never seemed like himself. Cream laughed nervously as she tried to find the right thing to say. "Um…yeah…it was. She just called to tell me she had a change in plans and wasn't going to make it tonight."

"Oh…" Sonic said sounding disappointed.

"So…let's get this Karaoke competition started!" Knuckles said, trying to quickly change the subject and lighten the mood.

"Yeah!" Everyone agreed while heading towards the stage.

"You okay blue?" Rouge suddenly asked, noticing Sonic staring off into space.

"Huh? Yeah…Yeah, I'm fine." Sonic said giving her a thumb's up and a reassuring smile.

The rest of the evening went on normally. They had the Karaoke competition which Knuckles surprisingly won, played games, had Christmas dinner, read Christmas stories, and shared gifts. It was the same every year. The only difference was that now it lacked one person: Amy. Sonic laid in bed staring at the ceiling in deep thought. It had been five years since she last attended Tails' Christmas parties and it had been five years since he had last seen or spoken to her. He couldn't believe she was actually planning on coming this year. Why hadn't anyone told him? He closed his eyes as the desire to sleep began to overtake him. He wished that he could see her. He wanted to fix their friendship and apologize for hurting her feelings all those years ago. He always felt guilty about the way things had turned out. As he began to drift off to sleep the strange words the old man had said filled his mind.

"There isn't something missing in your life that you would want? I already know what you are missing. It seems like I'll be able to return the favor after all!"