Cream Runs Away

Oneshot! I needed to do a Sonic/Cream thing, and I have nothing for Falling to Pieces. So…sorry! But in the meantime, my duckies, please read and enjoy! ^_^

It took approximately fifty seconds that one fall-into-summer night for everything on Mobius to turn into chaos.

No, it wasn't some huge, gigantic robot about to destroy the planet.

No, it wasn't a scheme of Doctor Eggman's, out to defeat our blue hero once and for all.

No, it wasn't some galactic threat out to cause trouble.

It wasn't even a fire!

But all the phones of all the heroes on Mobius were ringing. Why? Let us tune in upon this not-so-silent night, and we shall find out.

Amy Rose groaned, sitting up on her elbow to turn her clock around. It was almost midnight. Oh! Who would be at an uproar at this late hour? As the phone rang again, she plopped down amongst her pillows.

By the third ring (her phone didn't go into messages), she realized that, maybe, she'd not been the first one called, that this was really danger. Thinking of her blue beau, she jumped out of bed, ran to the phone, and picked up, winded from the breakneck speeds she'd been using recently.

"Hello?"

"Amy!" It was Vanilla. This was a voice you didn't often hear, if you were a hero. At least, not at this hour, or not sounding this panicked.

Amy's heart beat a little faster, hearing her best friend's mother in such a state. Oh no. "What's going on, Vanilla?" Amy pressed.

Vanilla was very nearly sobbing on the other end, so it was hard to hear her. Amy had to concentrate really hard, to hear the distressed rabbit. "Cream…she's…she's…" And the rest was lost in a sob.

"What?" Amy, sounding angry in her worry, demanded clarity.

"She—ran away!" And Vanilla's voice was lost in a sob.

Amy almost dropped the phone, she was so in shock. "What do you want me to do?" She asked at last, hands trembling. She felt guilty, that she had no answer for the little girl's disappearance.

"Call everybody—get a hold of Sonic," Vanilla choked.

"Right." Amy nodded dutifully. Of course. If anyone would know what to do, it was definitely Sonic. "Are we all meeting at your house?"

"Yes," tears were still very evident in Vanilla's voice. Amy felt the need to calm the motherly rabbit.

"Don't you worry a bit, Vanilla. I'll make sure a call gets to everyone and then I'll be right over."

Vanilla hung up, obviously unable to talk anymore. Amy slumped to the floor, stumped. How could she reach Sonic? For starters, she had no idea where he was staying. She called Knuckles to inform him about the situation, but didn't expect him to show up. A few grunts about "let Sonic handle it" and the unhelpful echidna went back to sleep.

However, that did give Amy an idea. Tails would definitely know where Sonic was, or at least have a rough location. She called him. Tails picked up immediately.

"Yo," His voice held little or no tire.

"Working late?" Amy asked, starting out with a casual statement to keep her from going into hysterics.

"I should say the same for you. What's going on? I thought only Sonic had this number."

"He gave it to me, but—that's not the point!" Amy found herself getting frustrated, and calmed her tone of voice. The way she spoke would find Cream no faster. "Cream's missing!"

"Oh no!" Tails cried. "How terrible!"

"Yes! I've got to get a hold of Sonic, but I have no idea where he is—and I have to go to Vanilla's. She's worried sick—I can't keep her waiting."

"Right. Don't you worry." Tails sounded confident. "I've got a rough location on Sonic. I'll get him for you."

"Thank you, Tails," Amy breathed a sigh of relief. Yeah, Tails would handle things. It would probably ignite Sonic more if Tails called him, anyway. As she hung up, she thought for a moment with a smile how Sonic would react if he'd heard her voice at this hour!

Amy slipped into a clean red dress from her closet and, pulling on her boots of kick-everything, she ran out the door, on her way to Vanilla's house.

Meanwhile, within the deep, Mobian forests, a small cabin constructed out of flat bits of wood and other found things stands secluded from human civilization. Inside the two-level house, there is a cozy little kitchen, a downstairs bathroom, a living room, a dining room with a small table for eating, a set of stairs, an upstairs bathroom, a guest bedroom, and a master bedroom. Behind the closed door decorated with newspaper clippings, magazine cutouts, posters, and other flat odds and ends there is a small bed that looks a bit like a bar of soap, only the wrong color—green. The bed is not unoccupied, for a hero is fast asleep within.

Sonic the Hedgehog was dog-tired.

It had been a long day, between his race against Shadow, sparring with Knuckles, and stopping Doctor Eggman—not that this didn't constitute a normal day for our furry friend, but it certainly constituted a full one. One that Sonic was lucky to have a…decently full stomach, for.

No, there was not enough food in his belly—he had felt it when going to sleep. He needed to go grocery shopping, but he was too lazy to do so and therefore could not afford to eat himself out of house and home, as he would've liked to. For a full day certainly warranted a full stomach, if his status as a hero didn't guarantee it. But it was satisfying enough, better than meals he had to settle for while adventuring—food that barely had time to settle before he was off and running, whatever he could scavenge as a free sample or get by doing favors, which was far from substantial but, as always, good enough.

He was not expecting his night to be full of anything but sleep. So, when he was aroused from his rather pleasant dream of the world's largest chilidog by the ringing of his phone, he almost regretted picking up. But, it was his duty. So he lifted the phone to his ear.

"H'lo," he yawned groggily, rubbing his eyes to dispel tire.

"Sonic!" It was Tails. "Glad I found you! I was trying to get your cell for a while there."

"Mmmph, battery's dead—charging." Sonic muttered sleepily. "What's up?"

"Cream's missing."

That caused Sonic to wake up. It was as good as being dunked in cold water. "Oh no! Is Vanilla-?"

"Amy's with her."

"Good." Sonic, the phone still at his ear, was rushing around, brushing his teeth and trying his best to look semi-presentable. "We all meeting there?"

"Heading there as we speak. Want me to pick you up?"

"Nahh," Sonic stretched his legs and tightened his show straps. "I need to wake up. Give me half a second and I'll be on my way."

"Kay. See you soon."

"Yup." Sonic hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and dashed off into the night, going so fast that his feet barely touched the ground.

Amy set out a platter of tea cookies, which no one present dared to touch. They were all waiting for Sonic, Vanilla pacing without end.

"He'll come," Amy assured her, patting the elder rabbit's shoulder comfortingly. Vanilla nodded, but kept pacing.

Tails was running calculations. "Leave her alone, Amy. There's nothing you can do."

Amy slipped into her chair and drank her tea in defeat. Vanilla's pacing kept the two friends awake.

Suddenly, a gust of wind burst through the door. Three of the cookies had mysteriously disappeared. Everyone looked up at his entrance.

Sonic was relaxing against the wall, two of the cookies gone already. He was contemplating the third, as if wondering should he eat it or not, before devouring it in a single bite and crossing both arms over his chest. Vanilla smiled gleefully, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you for coming, Sonic."

"Oh, stop. It's what I do." Sonic soothed and teased in the same tone. "Nice to see you, Amy, Tails. Now, then," he bounced into the couch, adopting a look of sleepy, unearthly calm and focused contemplation, "any ideas as to where she might've gone?"

Amy and Tails shared a knowing look. Getting right down to business, huh? Only when his friends were in trouble—only when he was worried—did he jump right into the task at hand. It was one way—perhaps the only way—he betrayed any nerves on his person. He certainly didn't ever look or sound worried.

Vanilla shook her head.

"Why do you think she left?" Sonic pushed, nonchalantly pumping the rabbit for information. He was the picture of calm, his hands pillowing his head and he craned his neck to stare at the ceiling.

"We—we were fighting…" Vanilla wrung her hands. Tails and Amy listened now, snacking on the tea cookies, intent on her words.

"Oh?" Sonic chuckled, his eyes flowing closed like the movement of the clouds on a windless day. "Seems she took a page from Amy's book. Well, then. A young girl in distemper can't walk far."

Vanilla dried her eyes with her sleeve. "You mean…you can find her?"

"Certainly!" Sonic replied merrily. "Maybe not tonight, but by tomorrow for sure."

"I'm worried," Amy told Sonic, glaring at him as he seemed unworried, slipping down into the crook of the couch, half-awake snoring, his chest falling easily. "There's so much trouble in the world."

"Nothing that will trouble a little girl," Sonic sleep-talked.

Vanilla sobbed again a little, and Sonic used his knees to pull himself back up. "I'm not a knight, you know," he joked, "not a hero out of legends. I'm not perfect, you know!"

"We trust you!" Tails and Amy testified at once, with Vanilla nodding her consent.

"Trust me, then!" Sonic laughed aloud. "Trust this blue-furred wonder! I'll find Cream! No doubt about it!" He winked and tossed a thumbs-up.

"Yeah!" Tails agreed.

"My hero," Amy mused, dreaming.

Vanilla managed a weak smile. "Find her, Sonic. Please."

Sonic nodded. "I will. You," he pointed to Tails and Amy, "take turns on vigil with Vanilla tonight. I doubt she'll sleep a wink."

"Yes!" The friends responded, eager to be part of the adventure, though indirectly.

"I'm off!" And indeed he was. The room seemed to swirl around as if it had been picked up via tornado and deposited according to design as Sonic sped out the door, off to find the little girl, Cream, who had ran away from home.

It took hours of tracking to find Cream. Sonic was relieved to see that she had some survival skills—sniffling blueberry plants was a great way to find her scent, should he lose it. It took longer than he'd expected. She was elusive, and she had traveled far for a little girl of her size. That she had had several hours of head start made Sonic feel no better that he had not found her right away.

It was a little past noon and the sun was hot on his back. He was tired. Sonic had no choice but to stop and rest. He would soon be desperate for food, but could not yet admit to himself that his feeling of disorientation was from running on empty.

Dizzy from the double hit of heat and hunger, he stumbled upon a young apple tree, a stream…and a little rabbit girl.

"Hey, Cream!" Sonic had not expected to hit two birds with one stone, as he picked an apple, cleaning it on his pelt before taking a huge bite. The apple was crisp and moist and stung his teeth a little, but that only made it better.

The young rabbit, fully dressed with the addition of a red backpack filled with supplies and a doll resembling her deceased friend Emerl, looked up at him as he munched the apple happily in the shade of a tree. "Hi, Sonic. I guess you're here to take me back?"

"Yes."

"They sent you?"

"Your mother wa—is, worried sick about you." Sonic chastised, tossing away the core of the finished apple and tugging another one from the branches. He tossed it to her with a smirk.

Cream bent forward, sticking her apple in the stream to wash it and at the same time studying her contemplative chocolate eyes. "Yeah, let her worry."

"Why is that?" Sonic had selected another apple himself, and was busy deciding if it was inhabited by a worm or not.

"I wanted to have an adventure." Cream looked up at him expectantly. "Like you do!" She grinned.

"Mmmm," Sonic bit into the apple, making a hearty crunching noise, "Vanilla told me you fought."

Cream's bluff had been caught, and she looked at the apple in her lap. "Yes. We had a quarrel."

"Didn't know you knew that word,"

"Tails taught me."

"Ah."

There was a silence between them, until Sonic burped rather loudly. "Scuse me," he said. The two looked at each other, and then burst into laughter. Sonic sat down beside Cream, watching the water in the stream flow fast before him.

"You know, Cream," Sonic began, as Cream leaned against his chest, a smile still on her face from laughing, "your mom gave up a lot to have you."

"Nahhh," Cream argued without any proof.

"Oh, yes. Whether you want to believe it or not." Sonic nodded. "You see, someone raped her."

Cream fell silent, looking at Sonic, unblinking. "Wh-what do you mean?" She asked, terrified.

Sonic cleared his throat and closed his eyes. "Yes. When she was sixteen, someone raped her and she got pregnant…with you." Cream turned her eyes toward the stream, trying to imagine what sort of terror this made her mom feel. "She could've gotten rid of you, but she wanted you very badly. So, she gave up her education and her life…for you."

Cream sat, stunned. "Wow," she said at last in a small voice, "I never thought of that before."

"She never told you. But!" Sonic stood up, stretching with a yawn. "Now we have to get back to her. Right?"

Cream jumped up excitedly, grabbing her dolly. "Right! Cause mother's waiting!"

Sonic laughed, lifting Cream up to his back, feeling her rest her arms about his neck. "Yep! I'm sure she whipped up a wicked lunch for you…" His mouth watered a bit, his hunger giving him away. Cream swatted at him.

"Yeah," she teased, right by his ear, "for me. Not you."

Sonic's ears flattened in mock-disappointment. "Aww, I can't have even a little?"

"No!" Cream giggled at how pathetic he was acting—for he was acting, after all. "It's aaaalllll mine!"

Sonic chuckled, jostling her dangerously to make her scream.

"AHHHH!" Cream cried. "Sonic! Stop it!" But she was laughing, too, more than she was screaming.

"Do I get some now?" Sonic teased, jostling her more.

"Yes! YES! Stop it, Sonic! AHHH!" Cream laughed.

Sonic did indeed stop. "Well, then!" He announced heroically. "Hang on, Cream! Cause weeeeeeeeeerrrrr off!" And indeed, the two became nothing more than a blue burst of wind and a rustle in the apple tree's branches.

After much fanfare upon Cream's return, Vanilla hosted a lunch of carrot stew (Cream's favorite) along with a smorgasbord of foods enough to please the friends, and then some. Sonic ate the most vigorously of them all, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. Vanilla treated Sonic to her homemade chocolate lava cake for bringing Cream back home safe and sound, which Sonic enjoyed immensely and which sat warm and easy in his tummy.

THE END

So…how like you my Cream fluffles?

Cream's origins as opposed to her mother, and being the only character who has one, are mysterious. And why the heck is Vanilla so young? Of course, we all come up with our own answers—I myself have many variants of answers—this one seemed to work best for the story.

Let me know your opinions on Cream's birth, Vanilla's apparent youth, chocolate lava cake, and, of course, how you enjoyed the story!

Farewell, my darling readers! We shall meet again next fairytale.

~Sylv