Keep It Crescendo

Chapter 13: A Thanksgiving To Remember

Ah! I am SO sorry! A lot has happened since Summer!

I studied abroad in London for school, and I tried writing but there was just so much happening that I didn't really have time. I also have a VERY IMPORTANT message to share at the end of the chapter, but for now, enjoy.

Amy had been to many Thanksgiving dinners, but she had never been to one as big as this one. Cream sat on the head seat and Tails sat by her side. According to Rouge, Tails and Cream had an unwritten rule that whoever cooked got to sit on the head seat. Amy found that endearing, and it only increased her admiration for Tails and Cream's relationship.

Vanilla sat on Cream's other side. Aleena and Jules chose to sit next to Vanilla. Grandpa Rose sat next to Jules and Amy sat next to her grandfather. Shadow chose to sit next to Amy. Across from Shadow sat Knuckles, followed by Rouge, Sonic, Manic, Sonia, and then Tails.

Everyone had their own conversations. Shadow, Rouge, Knuckles, Amy, and Grandpa Rose spoke of Rouge and Knuckles' wedding. Grandpa Rose went on a tangent as he told a story about his wedding, and how he was so nervous that he almost vomited on his wife's dress.

"Last time you told that story you said that you almost vomited on your best man's suit," Amy joked.

"Did I?" Grandpa Rose asked, puzzled. "My, then I don't remember who the poor potential victim was, I just remember feeling nauseous."

"How did you overcome that?" Knuckles asked. "I'm incredibly nervous, and the big day isn't even here."

"Don't get cold feet," Rouge warned.

"I'm not going to get cold feet!" Knuckles rebuked. "I'm just… asking for advice."

"Let me tell you something Knuckles," Grandpa Rose started. "Once you see Rouge walking down that altar, all your nerves are going to be gone. Poof. Withered away."

Rouge smiled and watched Knuckles fondly. Knuckles smiled back.

Amy sighed, "You guys are soo cute."

"One day, Amy, patience," her grandfather advised.

Rouge sent Shadow a pointed look, a look which he ignored, and instead poked his salad instead.

"Hey Amy, why isn't Scourge here?" Knuckles asked. "OW!"

Rouge inconspicuously ate a piece of chicken, ignoring Knuckles' piercing glare. At the sound of Scourge's name, Sonic flickered his eyes over to them.

"He couldn't come, he's at a dinner with his Great Aunt."

"His company wouldn't be welcome anyway," Grandpa Rose spat.

Amy sighed, "Grandpa—"

"I'm not arguing with you, Amy. You know how I feel about him. Why don't you just go find yourself someone else? There are plenty of fish in the sea… or in this case, hedgehogs in the city."

"Grandpa!" Amy exclaimed, her cheeks growing pink.

"How is New York treating you Sonic?" Grandpa Rose asked. Clearly having noticed that Sonic was listening in on their conversation, and wanting a change of subject. There was a playful smirk on his lips, and Sonic slightly widened his eyes. The spotlight was on him now.

Jules stripped away from the conversation he was having with Vanilla and his wife to glance at Sonic, seemingly interested on hearing Sonic's answer.

"It's been great. I'm really happy with how things have been going. Coming here has probably been the best decision I've made in my life."

Sonic's voice sounded strange, and Amy realized that Sonic was trying to prove a point to his father.

"Not 'on your life' young man," Grandpa Rose corrected. "You're still very young. There will be other decisions you will make that will probably be better than this one."

"I could not have said it better myself," Jules commented, nodding in approval. He turned to look at Grandpa Rose, "I don't believe we've spoken much. I'm Jules the Hedgehog."

"Arnold Rose," he answered. "Your son is wonderful. I commend you and your wife for raising such a well mannered young man."

Jules sighed, "Yes, he's well mannered, and is accustomed to thinking with his heart. If only he were more… realistic."

Sonic let his fork clink on his plate and looked up to glare at his father.

Oh.

Now Amy saw it.

"Let the boy dream Jules. He's young," Grandpa Rose stated. "Life is too short to conform to a conventional lifestyle at his age. He will burn out by the time he turns forty. I learned that lesson too late…"

His voice softened as he stared at his hands.

Sonic sent his father a "you better be listening to him" look, which his father ignored. Amy noticed Jules and Sonic take a chili dog from the plate placed in the middle of the dining table. She anxiously bit her lip and watched as they both simultaneously took a bite. It was astonishing how similar they were, but how different they were at the same time.

Jules nodded, "Vanilla, I commend the chili dogs. They are absolutely delicious."

"Oh, Amy made those, all on her own," Vanilla corrected as she pointed at Amy. Amy then had the attention of the entire table, especially the old and young blue hedgehogs sitting on the table.

"They're really good, Amy," Sonic agreed. "You're a really great cook."

"Oh yes, one of the best," Grandpa Rose agreed. "Taught her everything she knows."

Amy giggled, "Grandpa!"

"I admire your talents Miss. Rose. To be able to be a businesswoman, a dancer, and a fine cook must take years of experience and practice," Jules complimented.

Amy didn't know why, but receiving a compliment from Jules felt good. If he was anything like Sonic described him, Jules probably didn't give compliments loosely.

"He's right," Sonic agreed.

Amy felt her stomach do somersaults. She didn't know why, but Sonic's compliments meant more to her than anyone's.

She made eye contact with Sonic, suddenly being captivated by his eyes. He didn't look away, it was almost as if he were just as captivated as she was.

Manic stripped away from his conversation with Sonia to share a joke with Sonic, but then realized that he was eyeing Amy wordlessly. Manic flickered his eyes towards Jules, who had his mouth half open and was staring at his son as if he were some sort of foreign being.

Grandpa Rose was talking to Rouge and Knuckles about a time he pulled a prank on one of his childhood friends. They weren't paying attention.

But Jules was, that's the thing… Shoot.

Manic kicked Sonic from under the table, causing the blue hedgehog to wince vocally and break the trance between him and Amy.

"Sorry bro, didn't know your foot was there," Manic apologized after Sonic turned to glare at him.

Sonic didn't buy it, but chose not to push it after Manic sent him a pleading, silencing look. After Amy realized what had just happened between her and the blue hedgehog, she blushed furiously and turned her head.

She came face to face with Shadow, who had apparently noticed the whole thing. She noticed him smiling wistfully, but as usual, said nothing. He turned his head and joined the conversation between Rouge, Knuckles, and Grandpa Rose.

Rouge had tried pairing her up with Shadow plenty of times, and although Amy adored Shadow and knew he'd treat her right, she didn't feel like they'd be good for each other. She wanted someone who was able to be vulnerable and was able to share their feelings with her. Shadow was a hedgehog who didn't like sharing his feelings or his thoughts, and it took Amy a lot of effort to get him to open up.

She didn't want that to be a constant battle if they were to get into a relationship. She didn't want to push Shadow to do something he wasn't comfortable doing, and she wasn't going to feel comfortable being with someone who couldn't communicate his feelings.

Scourge was a lot of things, but he wasn't a bad communicator. If he got mad, he would tell her why. If he was sad, he'd tell her why. If he was pleased, he'd tell her why.

Sonic was like that too…

She coughed and took a bite of mashed potatoes.

"During the Great War, my friend George and I were hiding in the trenches and waiting for the Overlanders to move out of the way before running back to our base. We were both rookies and our Commander had strictly ordered us to not fight because we weren't well equipped. Turns out they found us—"

"You fought in the Great War?" asked Jules, having fully forgotten what he had witnessed between Sonic and Amy.

"Yes," Grandpa Rose responded. "For a few years actually—"

"My father fought in the Great War," Jules smiled. "His name was Maurice the Hedgehog."

Grandpa Rose blinked, "Maurice? I know him! He was a young lad last I saw him, a skilled fighter. Many knew about him, but he sort of disappeared a little after the war ended."

"My father never liked the spotlight," Jules explained. "He moved to Lake Arrowhead a little after, and never left."

"I didn't know Grandad fought in the war," Manic exclaimed in awe.

"You never asked," Jules answered.

"He was very popular with the ladies too," Grandpa Rose added. "But he always had eyes for this wonderful light blue hedgehog."

"My mother…" Jules reminisced with a smile.

Amy felt her phone buzz, and realized that she had received an email about NYCDR.

From: Acorn, Sally

To: NYCDR Choreographers

Dear Choreographers,

Congratulations on making it this far into the competition! Antoine, Silver, and I sincerely hope you have all been practicing. Below you will find the genre list that we expect of all of you. Although we gave you creative freedom last time, we want to be able to see how flexible you can be with your set list. Your dance should cover three categories:

A lyrical piece in Spanish - your choice if you want to make this a group piece, solo, or duet

Bollywood or middle eastern with an emphasis on technicality - Antoine is expecting a lot from this

80's - Silver gives you complete creative freedom as to how you want to portray this

The order in which you create your set list does not matter, just as long as you cover all components. Again, we congratulate you on making it this far and we cannot wait to see what your studios have in store for us.

Best,

Sally Acorn

Amy looked up from her phone and immediately made eye contact with Sonic, who had waited for her to finish reading. He gave her a knowing competitive look. She smirked right back.

Oh, it was on.

The rest of the night was spent with chatter. Aleena and Vanilla spoke about Cream's upcoming marriage. Jules and Grandpa Rose spent the entire night talking about the war and Maurice. Shadow had left after eating, claiming that he had work early in the morning and that he needed to sleep. Vanilla insisted that they all take a picture before Shadow left, and the striped hedgehog left after the photo was taken.

The seven young adults plus Manic played a few rounds of intense Uno, with Knuckles letting out a growl every single time Sonic handed him a plus card.

"Anyone know of any good songs in Spanish?" Amy asked as she placed another card down. "Particularly slow songs."

Sonic flickered his eyes towards her, and Amy smiled teasingly.

"I do!" Sonia exclaimed. "My boyfriend Bartleby listens to them a lot."

"Of course he does—" Manic drawled, ignoring Sonia's glare.

"Mind sharing?" Amy asked innocently.

"No, don't share Sonia!" Sonic warned. "If you have ideas, give them to me. As your brother, I prohibit you from helping the rival studio."

Sonia lowered her eyelids, "Let me guess… you need a slow Spanish song for that dance competition you got coming up."

The blue and pink hedgehog sheepishly nodded, and Sonia sighed.

"Figures. Hoy Tengo Ganas De Ti is pretty good. It's by Alejandro Fernandez and Christina Aguilera. Hmm, maybe I can send you both my playlist, Bartleby made it for me—"

"Don't help her!" Sonic exclaimed. "You're breaking every sibling code in the book right now."

"Sorry Sonic but I happen to like Amy," Sonia rolled her eyes. "Consider this payback for that time during my freshman year of high school where you announced my crush in front of everyone in the cafeteria."

Manic laughed, "That was hilarious!"

Sonia swatted him on the arm, "It was not!"

"I was just jokin' Sonia. How was I supposed to know you liked him that much?"

"You told a room full of students who she liked?" Amy exclaimed in horror. "That's awful!"

"THANK YOU!" Sonia exclaimed as she motioned towards Amy.

"That's like, a high school nightmare! Considering how much teenage angst we all had at that age," Amy continued. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"The guy ended up liking her back. I did her a favor!" Sonic crossed his arms.

"Yeah, after I made the cheerleading team!" Sonia growled.

"Ooo, that's rough," Rouge shook her head. "Happened to me all the time too."

Knuckles coughed, and Rouge nudged him playfully. "Don't be jealous Knuckie."

Amy giggled at the couple and eyed Sonia, "Thanks Sonia, but I don't want Sonic to accuse me of winning unfairly for taking your playlist. I can find a song on my own. Unlike a certain blue hedgehog—"
"You know what?" Sonic scoffed. "Just for that, I don't want your playlist either Sonia. I can beat Amy with or without it."

"We'll see about that," Amy smiled slyly before placing a plus card on the deck. "Plus four. Got a plus card, Sonic?"

Sonic gaped, looking completely betrayed. "W-What—"

Knuckles burst out laughing and Tails resisted the urge to snort.

"Pay up Sonic!" Knuckles laughed. "She got you good."
"Just like how I'm going to get him in the competition," Amy smiled in utter mischief.

"OHHH!" Manic howled. "Amy Rose is on FIRE ladies and gentlemen."

Sonic glared at him, "Who's side are you on?"

"I'm on Amy's," Sonia winked at Amy.

Amy winked back, and Sonic scoffed indignantly. "Well you're rooting for the losing side Sonia. I'm a far better dancer than Amy."

"Is that a challenge?" Amy snapped.

"Uh oh," Tails whispered.

Sonic placed his remaining Uno cards on the table. "You're on Miss. Rose."

Tails shifted, "Uh, hello! This is an apartment! You have no space to dance."

"The roof," Cream offered, seeming to completely enjoy what she was witnessing.

Tails turned to look at her, "Cream! You're encouraging this?"

"I've never seen them dance together," Cream shrugged.

"Knuckles and Cream can be the judges, since they seem less likely to pick favorites," Sonic stated.

"What about Sonia and I?" Manic asked. "We're fair!"

"No, you two would choose Amy," Sonic rolled his eyes.

"I'm choosing the music," Knuckles announced.

Everyone then stood and headed towards the doorway, catching the attention of the older adults.

"Tails, where are you going?" Jules asked.

"The roof. Sonic and Amy are having a dance-off."

"It's a good thing I brought my speaker," Knuckles stated as he pulled it out of his jacket. "Plays music super loud."

"You better choose good music Knuckles," Amy chuckled.

"I always do!" Knuckles protested. "I was a DJ on the side in high school, remember?"

"Okay, here are the rules," Tails announced. "Knuckles will play three different songs and you two need to be able to catch up to each song without getting stumped. The hedgehog that does the best wins. Good?"

Sonic and Amy, who were staring into each other's eyes challengingly, nodded.

"Perfect. Let's start with a popular one," Knuckles said as he pressed onto his screen.

Lean On by Major Lazer started playing, and Amy immediately began swaying her hips smoothly. Sonic bopped his head to the beat of the song as he watched her dance. When his beat came, he sharply moved from side to side.

Everyone cheered them on for the next minute. Knuckles then switched the song to Apple Bottom Jeans.

"Good choice Knuckles!" Amy complimented.

Jules, who had chosen to follow the young adults, walked towards the roof and glanced into the small window on the doorway leading to the roof. He chose to stay hidden. Damn pride.

Sonia whispered into Knuckles' ear and Knuckles nodded, searching for the song she requested and pressing play.

A soft, slow melody played, causing both Sonic and Amy to pause.

"You two wanted to know more about slow Spanish songs didn't you?" Sonia shrugged. "This is Hoy Tengo Ganas de Ti. A song like this is meant to be a duet, but you two are the experts."

Sonic turned to look at Amy, and warmly smiled. He held out his hand, "You're pretty good solo, let's see how good you are when you're paired with someone else."

Jules raised an eyebrow, and watched as Amy took his son's hand into her own.

They danced around the roof, in sync and perfectly coordinated.

Jules shook his head and hid a small smile.

Okay everyone, I have an announcement to make. Keep It Crescendo and Arnold's Wizarding World, until further notice, are probably going to be the last stories I post up on Fanfiction. I had to move on at some point, and I'm already reaching the end of my college career.

I've been working on an original manuscript for about two years now and it should be completed by September of this year, so the reason I haven't been posting is because I've moved on to my own original work. I've been on Fanfiction since I was, oof, since I was ten! This platform has been good practice for me and my writing. I'll go more in detail in my profile if any of you are remotely interested in reading a "goodbye" speech *crickets chirp* lol I'm kidding xD

What does that mean for this story? I may have to pull a Chili with Aroma of a Hedgehog and make a synopsis for the rest of the story because I don't want to leave you guys hanging any longer. Unfortunately, I don't think I have the time or passion for this story to be able to continue. It was supposed to be about twenty chapters if I'm not mistaken? I have an outline made but I can turn it into a synopsis unless I face an incredible amount of resistance. Do you guys want me to finish? If you do, it's going to take a long time for the story to end, but at least you'll see how the story plays out in full form. If you are tired of my annoying amount of hiatuses, then I'll just create a synopsis and have it up this upcoming week.

PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU WANT! Trust me, I'm a reader before a writer, and I've been in the position of disappointment when an author has to resort to a synopsis to end the story.

Thank you so much everyone!