Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Visions of Darkness, Dreams of Light ❯ Coping, part 1... ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 26

Knuckles smirked at him. "So what happened?"

"None of your business." Drake stated.

"C'mon, tell us." Sonic wheedled

"No!" At that moment, the girls walked up.

"It was so romantic and…Drake! Hi!" She smiled. Drake looked about to melt.

"Wait. She told them everything and you say squat? Come on!"

"Oh, Knuckles, they just cuddled. Nothing we don't do." Julie-su stated, rolling her eyes. "And why are you being so nosy?'

Mina snorted. "If I'm not mistaken, you teased until…" The echidna's hand clasped over her mouth.

"She's still a little loose with the lips. We'll be back." Julie-su managed, blushing. Sally and Bunnie were laughing into their paws as they followed.

Sonic, Knuckles, and Antoine looked from each other to Drake. Two feet started tapping. "And why, exactly, did you not want to tell us you 'cuddled'?"

"Like I said, it's none of your business." He reddened. "Besides, all I can really remember is that… dress. And kissing." He admitted.

The three looked back at each other. "Oh."

"The dress is nice, I guess. It kind of made her look…"

"Watch it, blue." Drake snapped.

"Just a joke, man."

"I wonder why Drake wouldn't tell them anything."

"Just trying to defend you, I guess. Men can be odd about that. They wouldn't have believed him if he said it, but they believed you in a heartbeat." Julie-su shrugged.

"And he thinks we're strange." Sally smirked. They laughed. "I've known Sonic for years and I still don't understand him."

"I doubt anyone could understand Knuckles. Or Drake. Those two are just…bizarre. I mean, when Knuckles was green, he was giving flowers. Pulling them out of the air and everything. It was cute, and heartfelt, even though he didn't have to try very hard. And then I thought he died. That's when me and Vector first had a heart to heart chat. He's actually a better thinker than he acts, but I guess you've seen that. Only problem he even had with me afterwards was that he said Knuckles kept some personal stuff in a hidden panel. He showed me where it was and made me promise to leave it alone before he left. Knuckles won't even tell me what's in there." She shrugged dismissively. "I'm just glad he's back."

"We do have something in common. Both of our boyfriends keep trying to get killed." She frowned.

"I understand where you're coming from, but that's actually the last thing they want. They just go with what they know. Trying to protect people in any way possible."

Sally shook her head. "I don't know that Drake would freak on anyone for attacking me, or anyone else but you. Maybe the kids, or Tails. He might knock the stuffing out of anyone for hurting Rosie, too. But then, he'd have to catch them before Sonic." She shuddered. "Let's talk about something else. I'm getting uncomfortable."

"Ok." Julie-su gave a grin that would do the Cheshire Cat proud. "What's your favorite thing about Sonic?"

Sally blushed. "Dare."

"Oh, no no no. Just the questions. No game."

"Cheater. I suppose it's actually his attitude. I don't know why, but..."

"I was actually talking about physical stuff, but…"

"Ok, what about Knux?"

"His chest. Nice and firm. That ring is actually really sensitive." She chuckled wickedly. Sonic and the others stepped into view behind Mina, just entering hearing range. She now felt truly evil. "Mina? What about Drake?"

"His butt. He's got a nice one." She stated with total conviction.

Drake froze, blushing furiously.

"I know you're back there." Mina snickered.

"How…?"

"Julie needs to learn to cover her eyes when Knux show up." She chanted in a sing-song. The echidnas blushed together. Drake still managed to look more embarrassed than either.

"So you don't like my butt."

"No, it's nice. But I really like your eyes." She giggled. "They always say what you feel. Even if you don't want to tell me."

"You're a genius." He kissed her hand, causing her to giggle again. "I must have you."

"Down boy." She smiled and gave him a hard kiss.

"Why do I always get conflicting messages?" Drake lamented.

"Women'll do that to you." Vector agreed.

That evening…

There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" Lara-le called.

"Good evening, Lady Lara-le, Wynnmacher. Is the Guardian around?"

"I'm right here." Knuckles sighed, standing. "How can I help you, Constable?"

"Just wondering if you've watched any television recently."

"He found out about da bootleg Yiff channel! We ain't stole nothing! It was Kenny from down a street! He stoled it for us!" Drake ranted, his Pittsburgh accent showing.

"I was actually wondering if you heard about the explosions."

"Kenny stole da C-4 from da barracks!"

"Shut-up-Drake!"

"Make-me-Vec-tor!"

Constable Remington continued to ignore the human. "Have you?"

"No. What's happening?"

"No one knows. I think someone is planting explosives in certain buildings. If you don't mind, I'd like to enlist Espio's help to stake out what might be a target."

"Espy?"

"Sure. I suppose you aren't going to say any more until I get to the station, huh?"

"Sorry, but it's a security issue." He looked at the princess. "No offense, your highness."

Sally shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

He turned to leave, and found himself eye-level at Drake's chest. "Woah. Hey, I saw you the other day. You nearly stepped on one of my men."

"Really? When?" He asked in surprise. Mina nudged him. "Oh… Yeah. Then. Sorry."

"Might I ask…?"

"What I'm doing here? Just trying to get home."

"Ah. Sorry if I seem suspicious. When did you get here?"

"Friday. I came with Sal and the rest."

"Can they vouch for your whereabouts on Friday evening?"

"The Guardians can. I was at Haven, having tests run."

"All right. What kind of tests?"

"They're trying to cure me of something."

"What exactly are they curing you of?"

"I'd rather not say."

"Please answer the question. So far we have no major leads. I'm grasping at strings here, but…"

"Vampirism."

"Don't be sarcastic, just answer."

"I did."

The echidna glared at him, then glanced around, seeing several of the group nodding. "Oh." He seemed speechless. "Quite the conversation stopper, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Any more questions?" He smirked.

"No." He coughed. "Well, I suppose I've ruined your weekend. I should probably leave." He left, the door beginning to close. Suddenly, his head poked back in. "You're stealing the Yiff Channel?!"

"Only kidding. I didn't even know that was a real channel."

Chapter 27

"See ya Red. Later everyone!"

"Adios Blue. See you later. Hey Drake! We'll keep working on getting you a trip home, and I'll make sure we keep you updated on the sucker thing."

"Thanks, I think. You the man, Vec!"

"If you know one I ain't heard, say the word."

"He's a poet who don't know it." Mina smirked.

"Ni-i-ice."

"Well, you two, what'd you think of the Island? Did you take any pictures?"

"Of course. I doubt mom would've been too happy if all I did there was snuggle with Drake!"

"You know, you're pretty open about this, considering how shy you were before." Drake stated dryly. "I've corrupted you, for sure."

"I'll corrupt you one."

"There ain't enough room on the plane for that, Mina-girl!" Bunnie exclaimed with a smirk. The couple blushed.

"Oookay. New topic." Sonic managed, after controlling his laughter. Sally snickered, continuing to fiddle with Nicole. Suddenly an image of Sonic appeared. She stared in shock. It started playing.

"….so, I love your daughter. I wanted to make sure you are ok with that before we officially start dating. I don't want to hide anything from you."

Sonic stared. <Oh, boy.> Sally stopped the recording. She turned to him, expression unreadable.

"You told my father?"

"I decided he deserved to know. I mean, Drake was saying about trust, and I figured…" The rest of the occupants never knew precisely what he figured, for at that moment there was a flash of brown movement, which had attached itself to his lips, effectively silencing him. Not that he minded.

"Same topic, different players." Drake snorted.

Chapter 28

Mina sighed. It had been almost two weeks since they had returned from the Island, and she was still fretting. <Should I tell him? What'll he think? What's he going to do? What if he leaves? I know how much he loves children…and I want to eventually have one too. How is he going to respond to the fact that we…might not be able to start a family?> She realized that she was being shook a little forcefully.

"Dear, are you all right?" Her mother asked, worried.

Mina looked away. "I'm fine, momma."

"Don't start hiding things from me, Mina. You've always been able to tell me anything. You know that. Besides" She stated, lifting her daughter's chin. "I can see the tears. You've been depressed since you got back from your trip, and it's starting to worry me. And if Drake worries any more about you, he'll go bald. I hear Overlanders do that when they go through a lot of stress. It would certainly explain Robotnik and Snively."

"Momma, it's just…I talked to Locke about Drake."

Her mother waited patiently for a few moments. When it was clear Mina was uncomfortable about continuing, she frowned slightly. "About what?"

"You know…our future. Our children."

"What about them?"

"If we could even have them." Mina felt her eyes fill. "Oh momma, what's Drake gonna say?"

"Let me guess…no children." Her mother sighed. "I really don't know how Drake will respond to that. He'll probably be disappointed-" Mina sniffled. "but I'm sure he'll get over it. Did Locke say why?"

"I guess Overlanders and Mobians just don't have very good chances of reproducing, and his being a vampire makes the chances even worse. From what I understand, magic screws up your chances." She swallowed. "Should I tell him, momma?"

Her mother sighed and hugged her. "It's your choice whether or not you tell him. Besides, there is that little chance. No use getting yourselves all worked up over nothing. And there's the fact that you aren't even to the point where you should be thinking about children yet. I'd rather not be a grandmother before my baby is even married."

Mina smiled slightly. "Don't worry, momma. I'll be good. I just wanted to know, you know? To know that we could, when we do get married... well…if we get married. That's still probably some time away."

Her mother smiled sadly. "Well, maybe something will happen between now and then. Something to increase the chances. Who knows? Stranger things have happened. And I won't be the least bit surprised to see the two of you at an altar some day."

Mina nodded slowly, pleased at her mothers acceptance of the idea. "Maybe…but what could happen? To increase the chances, I mean."

"I don't know. But I suggest you not worry about it until it's necessary. Unless Drake proposes tomorrow, it shouldn't be an issue for a while."

Mina giggled slightly. "That'd be a shocker. Would you even let me marry him?"

"Of course not! You're too young to get married. At the very least, you'll be 18 before I let you get married. So don't try anything funny." She mock-scolded.

"So I should give him back the ring?" Mina asked.

"Ring?" Her mother went very pale. "What ring?"

Mina laughed. "I was just kidding, momma."

"I know, dear. I just wanted to hear you laugh. Do you want me to send Drake in?"

"That's ok, momma. I'll be out in a minute. Can't let him see me like this, now can I?" Her mother smiled as she gave her daughter a reassuring hug before leaving the room.

Mina quickly ran a brush through her fur, combed her hair quickly, and checked to make sure her eyes weren't red. Then she opened the door to her room. "Drake…can we talk?"

Chapter 29

"So…we won't be able to have kids."

"No. I'm sorry, I-"

Drake cut her off quickly. "What are you sorry for? It's not like it's anyone's fault. If we can't have kids, we'll adopt."

Mina stared. "Adopt? You'd be ok with that?"

Drake gave her a gentle hug. "Of course I would. I hate to say this, but the chances of us finding a child who might need us isn't that low. When Mobius is retaken, there might be a lot of orphans."

"I hadn't thought of that. Do you think they'd let us adopt? We are a bit of an odd couple."

"Us? An odd couple? Surely you jest."

"Don't call me Shirley."

Drake groaned. "I should have known that was coming. Besides, why wouldn't we be allowed to? You're a great babysitter, I'm very protective, and we both love children. We could do great things for a child. At the very least, Sal would make sure we could adopt."

"I bet she would." Mina agreed. She smiled. "You know, you're taking this better than I did."

"Well…it can't be helped. If we can't have them naturally, we can't have them naturally. So be it. We'll make do."

"All right. We can always adopt."

"That's not to say we can't have fun trying." Drake said playfully. Mina blushed embarrassedly.

"Not for a while, though." Mina stated seriously.

Drake sighed hugely. "If you say so." He wiped false tears from his eyes, then smiled to let her know he didn't mind. "I'm just glad you're okay. You had me really worried."

"Really? Why?"

"What guy wouldn't worry about his girlfriend when she's spending so much time in her room crying?"

"You knew? Why didn't you say something?"

"Because I thought you'd tell me. I tried comforting you, but it was like you were putting on a strong face for me. Truth be told, I thought something was seriously wrong and you were afraid to tell me."

Mina looked away. "I wasn't going to tell you." She admitted to his confusion.

"Why? It's not that big an issue."

"Because… I thought you might want to leave."

"Mina, look at me. The only way I'm ever leaving is if you want me to. I'm not about to walk out on someone who's not only my best friend, but the woman I love."

"You know, Drake… I feel better just hearing that. I love you too. And I'd never want you to leave, so it looks like we're just gonna be stuck with each other." She laid her head on his chest. "It's too bad, though."

"What is?"

"You'd have made a terrific father." She stated, smiling sadly. Drake gave her a consoling squeeze.

"I doubt I'd be half as good a father as you would a mother."

Mina's mother pulled her ear from the door. <Dear Aurora…let them find what they want. They deserve that much happiness in their future.> She slowly returned to the kitchen to finish preparing the meal.