Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The early-afternoon sun was bright, shining down on the earth below with a light that warmed the previously chilly temperatures like a towel in the clothes dryer. The only noticeable sounds for miles around were the crunch sounds of a metal rake as its wielder attempted to move all the colorful leaves off the lawn. The soft breeze, coupled with the rhythmic back-and-forth movements of raking, was very peaceful and tranquil. With that breeze came the quiet stirrings of life; the chirping of birds flying south overhead in a cloudless blue sky, the scrambling of squirrels gathering nuts for winter, the rustling of branches that still hadn't succumbed to Autumn's influence and dropped their leaves. The uncovered grass could not be said to be all one color, as some patches were still alive and well despite neighboring dead spots inches away.

Yes, the surroundings were beautiful. It made it hard to believe that the world could be such a mess sometimes, that it wasn't as perfect as it had been created to be.

Not that Sonic cared. If everything was perfect now, then that was all there was to it. He wasn't about to sit around and mope simply because he had caught a cold and earned strict restraining orders from Tails and Amy to stay home. No, today was too nice. If he couldn't go running, he wouldn't. He'd rake the leaves, instead. It needed to be done, anyway.

The hedgehog sniffled once, causing himself to cough and determine not to do so again. He turned his full attention back to his work, biting his lip and focusing on creating a rhythm out of his rake strokes, one to suit the din of the surrounding wildlife.

A stronger wind suddenly sliced its way through the air. Groaning a little, Sonic pulled his navy-blue autumn jacket tighter around his torso to wait out the rainfall of leaves that were suddenly shaken from their trees. When it was over, Sonic couldn't help but let out an annoyed sigh; new leaves blanketed the spots he'd just uncovered, and he could barely tell he'd made any progress anymore. Sometimes, I wish I lived somewhere besides the woods.

Exhaling again with another cough, Sonic stubbornly started over, dragging his rake along the ground and catching all leaves in its path. His pile slowly began to grow as he worked, pausing every so often to adjust his jacket or mess with his unruly quills. The menial task was far below running on his “list of exciting things I'd like to do today” list, but it somehow held its own contentment, anyway.

Then, it happened again. Sonic was starting to wonder if God thought it was amusing to watch him sigh in exasperation every time the wind sent down a barrage of brown, red, and yellow leaves for him to rake up. Or maybe it was a subtle suggestion to do this another day.

Either way, Sonic wasn't giving up now that he'd started. This job was going to get done today, or he wasn't the fastest thing alive.

So he began again. Starting from the right-hand side of his and Tails's property, the grass gradually revealed itself, and the pile of many colors continued to grow at a steady rate. The sun was beginning to lose its strength as it set, giving the world around him more of an orange hue. Again, Sonic's irritated mood vanished with time, and soon he was smiling to himself again, wondering idly what all his friends were doing.

Take Knuckles, for instance. At first glance, the echidna's life on the floating Angel Island seemed dull, but Sonic had come to discover that it was anything but. Maybe old Knucklehead was playing with some members of the rare squirrel breed up there. Maybe he was counting the number of bird flocks he saw flying south for the winter. Maybe he was scouring the forests for some exotic fruit to snack on. Maybe he was fighting with Rouge for the Master Emerald. Who knew? He could even have decided to socialize for once in his sixteen years of existence and gone to see the Chaotix or someone. It was a long shot, Sonic knew, but it was his imaginary Knuckles, and he would imagine what he wanted with him.

What about Amy? Sonic hadn't seen her in a while; perhaps she was making some kind of autumn treat with Cream and Vanilla, or she was out shopping for cute fall fashions that she would almost inevitably be wearing next time she “just happened” to show up at the house. With any luck, it was the former; the whole gang looked forward to Amy's pumpkin-flavored treats, whether it be cookies, pie, tarts... The cobalt hero caught himself salivating and quickly shook his head, fighting the heat rising to his cheeks and deciding to think about something else.

How about--

“Geronimoooo!”

Even with his reflexes, Sonic barely managed to back away in time to avoid getting hit with the small gold-and-sky-blue-colored blur that seemed to come out of nowhere. The blur landed in Sonic's leaf pile with great force, sending leaves flying through the crisp air and upsetting hours of work within a mere second. As Sonic stared in disbelief, the blur in the pile became a set of distinct features belonging to none other than Tails. The eight-year-old was laughing delightedly, thrilled with his improvised cannonball. He sat up and brushed the leaves off his namesakes before finally looking up at Sonic with a grin. His smile quickly faded, however, as he took in his surrogate older brother's flat expression. “What?” he asked in confusion.

“I spent hours on that,” was all Sonic chose to say.

Tails shrugged and stood up, deftly picking more leaf pieces out of his jacket and the white fur on his belly. “You're not even supposed to be raking leaves,” he pointed out in a tone that was equally emotionless. “You were supposed to stay inside and rest today.”

“I was told, and I quote, 'No running.' No one said anything about monasticism.”

“About what?”

Sonic tossed his head, obviously claiming the victory, and motioned with his free hand for the fox to get out of the pile. “Now scoot, kiddo; I got more leaf roundup to do, no thanks to you.”

Tails frowned in disappointment but obeyed, moving to stand a few yards away and allow his friend to re-gather his precious pile. Sonic watched him out of the corner of his eye; the fox kit twitched and fidgeted, and the hedgehog counted down the seconds mentally; Five, four, three, two, one...

“Incoming!” This time, Tails effectively knocked Sonic into the crunchy, rough pile, as well, causing the hero, who hadn't been expecting to be so directly involved, to give a small, startled cry. With the laughing kit on top of him, it took Sonic a moment to otherwise react.

“Get offa me,” he finally grunted, shoving the kit into the bed of leaves before simply lying there for a second in an apparent daze. Tails sat up and watched him, now a bit unsure of whether or not it was a good idea to do that to his rather cross older brother.

Then, almost too quickly for Tails to process, Sonic grabbed an armload of leaves and threw them with all his strength, showering the child with dry leaves which caught on his exposed fur without hesitation. This time, Sonic joined in Tails's howling laughter as they both gathered up more freshly-fallen ammunition.

I guess Shadow won't mind being the fastest hedgehog of the day, at least.

Chapter Text

“Go long!” Knuckles shouted, pointing out toward the far end of the field. In response, everyone began to run deeper into the grassy field; Sonic jogged backwards, going the farthest, and everyone else fanned out over the rest of the field at shorter but varying distances. To their experience, there was no telling where the ball would end up when Knuckles threw it, and this was the best way to make sure they didn't lose their ball in the grass.

“This good, Red?” Sonic called, cupping his hands around his mouth to make sure he was heard; even so, his voice was barely louder than the rustling breeze.

“No, go long!” Knuckles waved his friendly rival on with dramatic gestures (which, to his friends, made him look like a baby bird struggling to fly). “Who do you people think is throwing this, me or Silver?”

“Hey!” Silver cried indignantly with a glare. “I'm better than Tails, at least!”

“He's only eight!” came simultaneous shouts from all across the field.

“I'm not tall enough to throw very far!” Tails added with an equally annoyed expression. Silver crossed his arms defiantly and said no more.

Meanwhile, Sonic was quickly becoming only a little speck of bright blue against the brown grass of the abandoned field behind the neighborhood church. His voice could barely be heard as he asked again if he was far enough away; Knuckles decided, “Good enough.” Winding up with a determined grunt, the echidna threw the football so hard that he barely managed to keep his balance in the follow-through. Silver and Tails took off running, following the ball with their eyes as they went, arms outstretched. Sonic sprang forward, though Knuckles could still barely see him.

As the football soared, even Shadow, who happened to be standing on the wrong side of the field, could scarcely keep a straight face when Tails and Silver collided, each going so fast that they knocked each other over. Seeing his chance, Sonic ran for it, finding it more challenging to move fast when his eyes were following another moving object, and he had to dive dramatically for the catch. He did scoop the ball right out of the air (rather stylishly, if he did say so, himself), but in his excitement, he forgot to put his other foot down, and he tumbled to the ground and rolled over a few times as the full force of Knuckles's throw hit him. Nevertheless, he quickly jumped to his feet with football in hand, cheering and whooping with his friends as he ran back toward the building. All three “receivers” had dirt and grass ground into their fur, and all were laughing and poking fun at each other.

“Dude, it actually went where you wanted it to go!” Sonic praised, tossing the ball toward Silver but speaking to Knuckles with a grin. “That's a first.”

“Pipe down,” Knuckles sighed, his violet eyes rolling up to the twilight sky. “There's a reason I'm starting quarterback against Griffith next week.”

“Last game of the regular season!” Silver cheered, hoisting the football into the air. “Playoffs or bust!” All four made a round of excited high-fives with shouts of acclamation, excluding Shadow, who gave a small sigh and folded his arms.

Sonic noticed this and smirked at his rival. “C'mon, Shads, have some school pride!” he quipped. “Not to mention--”

“I know, I know,” Shadow interrupted, glaring in response to the grin. “The band is going to state. You've only mentioned it about a hundred times since you found out.”

“But this is huge!” Silver protested. “We're going to the playoffs and state in the same year! We're gonna have the best games in the whole district!”

“Wait, since when was the band going to state?” Tails suddenly demanded with wide blue eyes.

“Wait, what?!” “Where have you been?” Sonic and Silver simultaneously reacted with dramatic gestures.

“How were you not the first to find out after school on Thursday?” Shadow questioned disbelievingly, narrowing his red eyes at the kitsune as if probing his mind for the secrets of this success. “Were you hiding under a rock so Sonic couldn't find you?”

By this time, Knuckles had grown impatient with all the talk about things he wasn't involved with. “C'mon, guys, just throw the ball!” Knuckles said impatiently, giving the football in Silver's hands--and consequently Silver himself--a push. Eager to keep playing, Sonic and Tails ran the opposite direction from Knuckles, talking away about the upcoming marching competition.

The game carried on for several hours until it began to get dark, at which point they were forced to quit because it was getting cold and the field had no lights. Once Shadow had bailed, those remaining decided to trek out to Tails's workshop and enjoy some sodas and snacks after their workout. All four were covered in more earth and dry grass than fur, but this was only an inconsequential detail as they talked earnestly amidst themselves over their afternoon.

“Dude, if you can actually get that thing where you want it to go, you guys are going to cream Griffith,” Sonic declared to Knuckles with clear pride in his school football team.

“We'll see. Without Mighty, anything goes.” Knuckles refused to show anything but confidence, yet his logical side insisted on dampening his enthusiasm for the game. He turned to face Sonic a little more directly with a sly grin. “With our luck lately, it may depend on how you guys do at state.”

“Why would the band have anything to do with beating the only undefeated football team in the district?” Sonic asked incredulously. “We're the guys you call when you want a victory parade after the game.”

“I dunno,” Knuckles shrugged carelessly, “I'm just stating the possibilities.”

“Well, that's a stupid possibility.”

“Is not! What about that spirit show or whatever it is you guys do at halftime? You know, boost the morale?”

Sonic's expression could have leveled a small mountain. “That's just the regular halftime show. The spirit show is something for after competition season. You never see any of the competition stuff or anything like that at football games. We have got to educate you in the ways of our people.”

Knuckles facepalmed with his free hand. “Football is so much simpler than marching band.”

“Eh, you're just biased,” Sonic accused, rolling his eyes despite knowing that Knuckles couldn't see him in the dark.

“What happened to 'You're going to kill Griffith'?”

“Hey, you insulted the band, first!”

“You do realize Drummond's band is in state, too, right? The most competitive sports school in the district?”

Sonic hesitated, biting his lip. “Yeah. They're small time this year.”

“Haven't they won state six times running?”

“So what? Griffith's football team's won, like, ten bajillion times by now! And you say you're not scared!”

~~~

Amy loved this time of year more than any other season. With luck, going outside, she'd get caught in a “leaf rainstorm,” as Cream called it--leaves falling in droves through the air like giant orange snowflakes. The air, usually filled with the scent of someone's fireplace burning nearby, gave the young pink hedgehog a rush of happiness. She loved the knowledge that there would soon be an opportunity to do things with her friends that she normally saved especially for this time of year, like baking pumpkin spice cookies with Cream and giving them to Sonic. (She knew they were his favorites, whether he said so out loud or not. The way his face lit up when he saw them on her counter and the way he practically inhaled them were more than enough proof of that.)

However, what she saw looking out her window now was not a “leaf rainstorm” or anything of the like. It was Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Silver, all ridiculously filthy and all practically yelling as they talked. They must have been out helping Knuckles practice for his first game as the high school football team's quarterback, she decided. They were all proud of their friend making it so far on the team within a short few months, so it made sense that the guys would want to get involved and help where they could. With their shouting, Amy could easily make out almost every word they said, especially the argument Sonic and Knuckles were in.

“Drummond band has killed everyone in their path for the last three years! Emerald hasn't gone beyond the first level for the last ten!” Knuckles was retorting. “You were the one who told me that!”

“Yeah, but that was back then! This is now!” Sonic shot back with almost equivalent fire in his voice. “We can take 'em! And we don't need some stupid football team to do it, either!”

“You have fun with that! Meanwhile we'll be kicking somebody's backside at something people actually care about!”

“Oh, suuuuure. You were the one going all, 'Oh, if only Mighty wasn't out with a torn hamstring! We don't even stand a chance without him!”

“I never said that! Just because I'm playing his game doesn't mean we're gonna lose!”

“Pre-first-game jitters, Knux?”

“Will you knock it off?!...”

Amy could hear no more after that, as the boys had left her range of hearing, probably arguing over whether Knuckles or Mighty the Armadillo was the better quarterback. She couldn't help but giggle as she shook her head in confusion before deciding to call up a friend for no reason at all; she knew she could easily catch up with the boys, but their grungy idea of fun wasn't quite what she was in the mood for. With this in mind, she slipped into her room and collapsed on her bed with her red cell phone in her hand. Cream was out with her mom this afternoon, she knew, but Blaze would almost certainly be up for a talk--at least as much as she ever was.

Sure enough, the lilac cat picked up on the second ring, sounding ever so slightly relieved to have someone call her. “Hey.”

“Hey, girl, it's me. What's up?”

“Nothing. Silver's been gone all afternoon.”

“I just saw him with Sonic and the others a minute ago. They were just walking through the neighborhood; looked like they were helping Knuckles practice for the big game next week.”

“Of course they were. Seems like football is all any of them think about these days.”

“Right?!” Amy sat up in a rather fervent passion. “Between the high school playoffs and the band going to state, I can't talk to Sonic at all anymore!”

“What's the big deal with it all, anyway?” Blaze mused, mostly to herself. “It's not like it has any lasting effect on their lives.”

“It does if it involves a chance to be more manly than everyone else,” Amy pointed out sarcastically. “You'd think that they would want to enjoy the game without constantly fighting with each other over who's best at it.”

“One of the cardinal rules of the male species, I suppose.”

Amy sighed. “Boys...”

Chapter Text

Amy sighed in frustration. All around her were index cards, folded pieces of notebook paper, and computer printouts of every shape, size, and color imaginable, and each one contained a different recipe for some seasonal treat. Tossed aside were sugar cookie spinoffs and Easter egg dye mixtures that didn't have anything to do with fall or Thanksgiving, and Amy was left with dozens upon dozens of recipes involving pumpkin, cinnamon, and other autumn-y things. Any of them were sure to catch Sonic's attention in one way or another, not to mention everyone else's.

“But which one should I do?” the carnation-furred hedgehog asked herself aloud, comparing two random recipe cards without really reading them. Just looking at the names scribbled across the tops brought back memories; the s'mores tart card (originally Vector's mother's recipe), for instance, made her laugh to think of the time two years ago when the Chaotix had tried to make it and caught their office building on fire, while the pumpkin-bread and cream cheese rolls brought back memories of the Christmas party the Rabbits had thrown the year after they met the gang, where the only unfortunate one left behind in the Secret Santa exchange was Knuckles, because Shadow had refused to participate after being forced to draw a name.

These were only two of a great many memories held in these recipe cards. The problem lay in deciding which one Amy felt like remembering today.

“Well, okay...” she hummed, deciding to change her thought tactics. “Which one would Sonic like?”

“Why don't you just ask him?”

“Eek!” Amy whirled around with her hammer appearing in the same millisecond. Her intruder, yet to be identified in her panic, stumbled back and fell over the bookshelf by the back door with a shout. Only once he'd crashed to the ground did she finally recognize him and lower her hammer like it weighed five tons.

“Sonic!” she exclaimed, attempting to steady her breathing. “Don't do that!”

“Sorry,” Sonic apologized meekly, getting back to his feet as quickly as he could without looking like a complete klutz. He reached back to fiddle with his quills and offered a grin. “Should I knock next time?”

“How did you even get in here?” demanded Amy; her hammer finally vanished in order to let her cross her arms and glare at Sonic.

Sonic gestured to the back door, clearly not intimidated by the other hedgehog's demeanor. “You left it unlocked. Prob'ly not a good idea, but it helps a guy out when it's raining and he's not allowed in his best friend's house.”

Amy's eyes widened, and, her anger mostly forgotten, she fought to hold back laughter. “You... What did you do?” she couldn't resist asking.

Sonic cleared his throat and laughed nervously. “You know that mysterious thing Tails has been working on for, like, ever?”

Amy's voice could have dried a rain forest as she said, “The one he won't tell us about because he's afraid we'll mess it up while he's still working on it?”

Sonic nodded slowly, his right hand rubbing the back of his neck and making his long quills wave a little; “Ahh... I sort of... well, uh—”

“I got it,” Amy told him, finally over her scare and coming to the exciting realization that Sonic was in her house. She smiled brightly at him, but saved him the trouble of a tackle-hug since he was still dripping wet. “Well, now that you're here, how about helping me with something?”

“If I can dry off first.”

Amy immediately bounced off to find a towel, and Sonic smirked knowingly. Just as she knew he couldn't resist a request for help, he knew she would stop at nothing to make him happy. He accepted the fluffy towel gratefully and asked as he started rubbing himself down, “Whaddya need?”

In response, Amy gently took his wrist and pulled him back toward the recipe-covered table; some of the cards had been strewn awry by Sonic's spectacular entrance, making her neat organization job look more like something monkeys had invaded. “I was going to bake something, but I couldn't decide what to make. What do you want?”

“Wait, hold on.” Sonic's green eyes widened just a little. “You want me to get in the kitchen and make something? Didn't the last time Tails and I made something teach you that that's never gonna end well?”

Amy giggled at the memory; the scene of the workshop kitchen in the aftermath had been worthy of being featured in a bleach commercial. “No, all I'm asking is that you help pick the recipe.” Her smile got a little bigger as a plan formed in her mind. “If you do help make it, though, you get to be first to eat it.”

Sonic bit his lip in indecision for a minute, looking rather helpless, as Amy patiently watched the rain pick up in intensity outside the window behind her crush, waiting for him to answer.

It wasn't too long before Sonic sighed, hiding a smile. “Okay, I'll help. What are my options?” He stepped over to the table and picked up a random card, starting to read it.

“No, wait, that's a Christmas recipe!” Amy objected hastily, snatching the card from his hand. She tossed it back into the pile and proceeded to explain her sorting system to a bewildered Sonic, who tuned out upon trying to understand her spiel.

“... So, basically, look over there if I don't wanna mess with the order of the universe and life itself?” he questioned awkwardly when he realized she was done and waiting for him to reply. Amy nodded, slightly disappointed at his lack of interest, and followed the elder hedgehog to the correct pile.

It took the two a while to look through all the recipes, especially since “They all look the same!” to Sonic, but eventually the cobalt hero found one he recognized immediately and decided, “No contest. This one.”

Amy glanced at the title of the card and nodded her approval. “Mmm, pumpkin spice cookies...” she trailed, scanning the list of ingredients. “Good, I think I have all the stuff for it. Ready?”

Sonic grinned and clapped his hands together. “Is Egghead gonna lose the next fight?”

~~~

“Flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie sp—”

“Whoa, wait, what?” Sonic had been zipping around the kitchen, looking for things as fast as Amy called them out, but he'd stopped somewhere along the way to give his friend a quizzical look, head cocked. “What's the difference between baking soda and baking powder? Aren't they the same thing?”

“No. I'm not sure, but I know baking powder has baking soda in it.”

Sonic shrugged, figured Amy knew what she was doing, and ran off again, placing boxes and cans and other things containing food on the counter so fast that an untrained eye would have thought they just appeared there.

Before long, the smells of the spice and other things began to permeate the air of the kitchen as Amy showed Sonic the ropes of baking. Only then did Sonic realize that these new odors were overpowering another, equally good-smelling one. “Did you make something yesterday, too?” he couldn't resist asking.

Amy nodded. “I made chocolate chip cookies yesterday, remember?” At Sonic's blank expression, Amy stopped stirring to look at him with an equal amount of enthusiasm. “You, Tails, and Knuckles ate, like, a dozen each, and Tails went too fast—”

“Ooooohhh, yeah! Okay,” Sonic broke in with a snicker of recollection. “I know I shouldn't be laughing, but... that was pretty funny.”

“Yeah, hehe, I don't know. I like to make something different every day, but it doesn't usually end up with such... interesting results.”

“Don't worry,” Sonic assured her cheekily, “I'll make sure Tails watches his eating speed this time.”

The chime of the doorbell cut off whatever Amy was going to say next. Instead, she smiled slyly at Sonic; “See, Sonic, some people know how to ring the bell or at least knock before they enter someone's house.”

“'Knock'? What is this 'knock' you speak of?” Sonic teased right back as Amy left to answer the door, laughing and instructing him to stay in the kitchen and measure out the vanilla.

He could hear when she opened the door, as the hissing sounds of a torrent of rain hitting the ground multiplied in volume. He could hear Amy talking to someone, a high-pitched voice replying, and then the door shutting. In place of the steady rain, Sonic could now hear water dripping onto the tile floor just inside the front door, and the hedgehog winced a bit in sympathy for the poor, wet soul. No longer willing to wait for the newcomer to come in to see who it was, the blue hero set down the measuring spoons and made his way out to the foyer. He instantly recognized the sopping wet figure; “Oh, hey, Tails.”

“Oh, Sonic! Hi!” Tails responded with a happy grin. The smile turned a bit pained as the kit looked down at himself and declared, “I'm wet.”

“Do tell,” Sonic deadpanned. “What are you doing out here? I thought you were in the shop today.”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Tails shrugged. “Would I get an answer?”

“No. But only because there isn't one.”

“Well, then.” Tails sniffed the air, and his face lit up like a lightbulb. “Amy was making something, wasn't she?" he asked eagerly.

“Only the awesomest Thanksgiving cookies ever,” Sonic enthused. “You remember those pumpkin ones with the frosting? The ones she brought to the church Christmas party last year and the preacher actually mentioned them when he got up to speak?”

“Yes!” cheered Tails with a thrilled fist pump. “Sweet! I can't wait! Hey, maybe we can help!”

“Well—” Sonic was about to roll with the punches and say that that sounded like a great idea, but Amy entered the foyer again at that moment, carrying an armload of towels for Tails. Setting them on the nearby cedar chest and grabbing one to hand to the fox, the carnation-pink hedgehog said, “Hey, Tails, Sonic and I were making those pumpkin cookies you guys like so much. You wanna help?”

“Sure—wait, you were?” The nosy tone in Tails's voice made Sonic internally cringe, but he didn't dare show it. Amy didn't even pick up on it; she just sailed back into the kitchen with a merry call for the boys to follow.

“How'd she talk you into that?” Tails whispered with a wicked grin. Sonic glared and stuck his tongue out in response.

“We were just about to start mixing the dry ingredients with the wet ones,” Amy was explaining, gesturing to the two bowls on the kitchen table. “It'll take two of us to do that; it's pretty thick.”

Sonic quickly decided he didn't like the way she was eyeing him, so he quickly said, “Tails and I can do that. You figure out what's next.”

Tails only shrugged and nodded, while Amy tried to hide her disappointment. “Mix in a little at a time until you're done,” she instructed before turning away. The unmistakably humored look Tails was shooting him was the only thing preventing Sonic from feeling a little guilty.

The boys soon found out what Amy had meant. They started with Tails holding the bowl so Sonic could do the stirring, but Sonic wound up dragging his little brother across the table with his superior strength. Once they figured they had thrown enough flour into the air and inhaled enough of it by laughing, they switched positions, only to find that Tails wasn't quite strong enough to get to the bottom of the thick orange mixture. Amy eventually did have to step in, Sonic gripping the bowl tightly on the edges and Amy holding the spoon like a dagger. That was almost as bad as the first time, and by the time the dough was finally ready, the three were all covered in spicy-smelling flour mixture and sticky orange goo.

“Hahaha, Sonic, you look like Silver with his quills down!” Tails cackled, completely unaware of the fact that he himself was even more of a ghostly white.

“At least I smell better than he does,” Sonic reasoned, attempting to brush some of the flour off himself. His flour-saturated gloves, however, did nothing. “Shoulda taken these off,” he mourned. “I feel all gritty. Like I've been playing in sand.”

“Well, we're not done yet,” Amy declared cheerfully. “Time to clean all this up!”

The boys proceeded to groan in unison. Amy planted her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes at them; “You both wanted to help, so this is part of it. Who wants to put the cookies on the trays and who wants to get started cleaning up the mess we made with the flour?”

“Trays!” Sonic and Tails shouted at the same time, racing in an unspoken competition to see who could get to the stove first.

~~~

An hour and a half later, the last tray of cookies was cooling on the counter. A powdered sugar war had started when the boys were left to the making of the glaze for the cookie topping, which they were now cleaning up while singing a duet. Amy was washing the bowls and utensils by hand in the sink and every once in a while throwing in a line of harmony.

“Well I don't show off, don't criticize; I'm just livin' by my own feelings. And I won't give in, won't compromise, 'cause I only have a steadfast heart of gold! I don't know why I can't leave though it might be tough; but I ain't out of control, just livin' by my word! Don't ask me why, I don't need a reason. I got my way, my own waaaay! It doesn't matter now what happens, I will—never give up the fight!”

The song came to an abrupt halt when yet another knock on the door signaled another presence nearby. A minute later, Amy let in a soaked, dripping, and very, very unhappy Knuckles.

“Stinks living outdoors on an island sometimes, eh, Knux?” Sonic teased for greeting, flicking his dirty towel at the echidna as he entered.

Knuckles only scowled, but the look vanished when he caught a whiff of the cookies. On sight of the plate, his face lit up for probably the first time since it had started raining, and he guardedly asked, “Did you guys just—”

“Yep, we did,” Sonic interrupted before his friend could ask the same question that had nearly gotten him into a boatload of trouble earlier.

“Yeah! Go ahead, take one,” Amy added. Knuckles nodded and reached for the plate of glazed cookies with a pleased smile, oblivious to Sonic's offended expression.

“Hey! You said I got the first one! When you blackmailed me into doing this in the first place!” the blue hedgehog exclaimed, stopping in his counter-wiping to give Amy a pleading look. Knuckles shrugged and bit into his cookie without a care for Sonic's quandary.

“That was before you and Tails started a powdered sugar fight and complained about helping clean up.” Amy tossed her hair, refusing to look Sonic in the eye so she wouldn't laugh and give in to his demands. Sonic turned back to the counter, muttering to himself. Tails let out a snicker, which was all the warning Sonic needed to look up, faster than even Tails could process, and see Amy smiling a pitiful little smile at him. Amy, too, couldn't help but let out a giggle spasm, to which Sonic only grinned like a Cheshire cat and reached to stuff half a cookie in his mouth.

“Worth the work?” Tails wanted to know as he picked his own treat off the plate.

Sonic nodded slowly, savoring the tastes of pumpkin pie and victory in the same bite. “Ohh, yeah.”