[BLAZE]

When we had all gathered back round the hat, Knuckles' held it up to me to pick a name first. I reached in and pulled out the first piece of paper that found its way into my fingers.

"Sonic"

Oh awesome. We haven't had a good catch up in ages!

Sonic stands up and with a wink, extends his arm out to me to help me up. I grab his hand and he swiftly pulls me to my feet. We walk a short distance out into the trees.

"Blaze my buddy! How're you doing!" he asked cheerily as we sat down next to each other.

"I'm doing well Sonic! I must say this is a new experience for me – I've never been able to talk so much in my life!"

"Yeah heh, Knuckles sure knows what he's doing with his magic plants doesn't he!" We both laughed.

"Hey Blaze, I've got a question," Sonic asked.

"Sure Sonic, what is it?"

"You're into all this mystical stuff aren't you?" he began. "What do you know about dreams?"

"Dreams, huh? Well I'm very interested in dreams actually," I said. "To my understanding there are many different types of dreams. But I mainly focus on three different kinds: normal dreams, lucid dreams and out of body experience which is akin to astral projection."

"Say what?" Sonic looked confused.

"Ok I'll give you a brief explanation." I said. "Normal dreams are the types of dreams you have most nights. You have no control over them and most of the time you won't remember them. They can give you insight into your deepest feelings and fears. Or sometimes they can be unexplainable and just downright weird!" I laughed. "Lucid dreaming is when you 'wake up' in a dream and realise that you're dreaming. If you practice, you can learn to control these dreams and have all kinds of experiences you wouldn't be able to in waking life."

Sonic sat in silence but nodded to me to continue.

"An out of body experience is when your consciousness leaves you body and can travel anywhere around the universe. Sometimes this happens all on its own accord. Astral projection is when you intentionally induce an out of body experience. Everyone has a slightly different way of describing these phenomena, but these are the conclusions I have drawn anyway!"

"Ok well that's waaay over my head but I have another question," Sonic said. "Is it possible for two people to be in the same dream at the same time?"

"Sure. I call that dreamshare." I said. "I believe it's when two people are dreaming at the same time, and they manage to find the same astral plane in their dreams. I've never been able to do this though. I think you have to be really connected to the person to make it work."

"Oh," Sonic said and looked into the distance, deep in thought.

[TAILS]

I don't know why but I was feeling a lot happier after my chat with Amy. She gave me hope that things weren't so bad after all...

I was snapped out of my daydream by Knuckles shoving his hat under my nose. "You're up Tails!"

I shut my eyes and picked dipped my hand into the hat, wondering who I would get this time.

"Cream"

I expected Cream to run over and hug me as usual, but instead she stayed at a distance and gave me a closed-lip smile.

We both stood up at the same time.

"Which way do you want to go?" I asked her, wondering where the best place for our chat would be.

"I don't mind!" she replied.

"Ok then how about over here? I haven't been this way yet," I said and pointed to a spot of bushy ferns behind some large mushrooms on the outskirts of the forest.

"Sure."

We walked over to the ferns and sat down beneath them.

"Everything ok Cream?" I said to her.

"Er yes! I mean, well, no. I mean kinda!!" Cream stuttered, trying to be positive.

I was confused. Normally she's all cuddly with me. I can tell immediately when there's something wrong, we've been close friends for years!

"Hey it's ok," I said reaching my arm round her and pulling her in for a hug. "You can tell me."

"Aw shucks Tails, I suppose I don't have a choice do I? How long does this magic dust last for anyway?"

"Haha I'm not sure," I laughed and gave her a friendly squeeze. "But it sure is helping us talk through our problems quicker than we would have alone!"

"Yeah I guess," she said. "Well here goes nothing."

She took a deep breath and seemed to be gathering her thoughts.

"Tails, I've had the b-biggest crush on you since we were kids. A-and I know you like someone else... That kinda hurt my feelings..."

Her voice trailed off sadly. I suddenly felt really awkward and my face turned bright red. I've always thought of Cream as a little sister. I mean, we played together as kids and she knows everything about me! I didn't want to hurt her, but I couldn't pretend that I felt the same way.

I cringed internally and wondered what to say. No one has ever confessed they had a crush on me!

Oh wait... this must be how Sonic feels...

I suddenly felt really anxious as everything started getting on top of me again. My fight with Sonic, now Cream...

"Say something, please Tails," Cream said quietly, looking at me with her big hazel eyes.

"Uh sorry," I said and let go of her. "I err, you know I love ya Cream, but really you're like my little sister!" I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with her. "I think you're amazing though! You're kind, funny-"

"Tails stop, it's ok" Cream interrupted. "I realised that I'm not ready to be in a relationship with someone, I've still got lots of work to do on myself."

"Oh uh right, I see," I said. "Well there's nothing wrong with you, you know that? Don't go thinking you need to change for anyone!"

"I know Tails, I just think I could be a better partner if I knew myself more."

Even though Cream was the youngest of our group, she behaved the most mature. I was impressed by the way she was handling rejection.

"With that attitude I think you'll always be ok Cream," I sighed and hugged her again. "But I need to ask, how'd you know about me liking someone else?"

"Sonic told me," Cream said matter-of-factly.

"WHAT?!" My heart jumped into my throat in shock. That means he's been talking about me... "W-what else did he say?"

"Oh something about you filming him, but I wasn't really listening. I was more upset at the fact that you confessed your love to him to be honest."

I felt my whole body go cold with nerves and my head started to spin.

Why would he tell anyone about that! He doesn't even know why I did it...

[SHADOW]

I looked down at the name I had just pulled out of the hat.

"Rouge"

Alright. Well this shouldn't be too bad.

"C'mon then Shads!" Rouge beamed at me.

We stood up and walked out to a clearing in the trees.

"How have you been going hun?" Rouge said as we sat down. "You're looking a lot better since I last saw you I must say! There's something different about you!"

"Thank you Rouge, I'm feeling a lot better."

"I can tell, I can see it in your face! In fact wait a minute... If I didn't know any better I'd say you've got the face of someone who's in love! Oh Shadow tell me, am I right?!"

"What the fuck Rouge how can you tell?!" I exclaimed, slightly annoyed that she was able to read me.

"It's true isn't it!! I knew it!" she said excitedly, clapping her hands together and bobbing up and down.

"Rouge pipe down!" I growled at her, hoping no one would hear her.

"Oh honey I'm so happy for you!" she cried and hugged me so tightly it left me gasping for air. "Can I guess who it is? It's Sonic isn't it! You've been acting all weird around him, you think you can hide it, but don't think for a second I don't notice these things!"

"Get off me Rouge and lower your voice please!" I said shoving her away, my face now a deep shade of crimson. "What are you a spy or something?"

"Hah hah very funny." She replied. "It's good to know my intuition is on point. Now, how long has this been going on for? Have you, you know, done it yet?"

"Rouge!! Chaos you're so nosy!!" I could feel my temperature rising.

"Haha Shadow's lost his cool! That's a yes then! This must be serious!"

I was so angry I was about to walk off, I hated not being able to conceal my feelings. She could see right through me.

"Shads wait! I'm sorry," Rouge put her hand on my shoulder to stop me standing up. "I'm just thrilled for you that's all. You're my best friend and I've seen you go through hell lately. I'm over the moon that you seem so happy!"

I calmed down a little. "It's ok Rouge, just don't push it. I'm happy to tell you about it but please don't get so overexcited."

"Ok, ok," she smiled, "Sorry I'm calm now!"

"Well yes it's true. Sonic and I are well, giving it a go I guess. We like each other... a lot."

"That's amazing!!" Rouge said through gritted teeth. I could tell she was trying not to jump up and down in excitement. "This is the best news, when we get home we should have a party to celebrate-"

"ROUGE!"

"Eep! Sorry! I can't help it!"

I decided to turn the focus on her and hoped it would divert all the attention away from me.

"Enough about me now. What's been going on in your world?" I said to her.

"Oh! Well lot's of stuff really!" she began. "I'm not sure if you heard, but when I finally returned home after being at your place my apartment had caught fire, suspected arson!"

I frowned and nodded. "Yes I did hear. I'm glad you're ok."

"Thanks Shads, the damage wasn't too bad, it was just a shock that's all. Luckily I got to stay with Blaze, we had a blast hanging out!"

Rouge smiled and continued talking.

"You know I think Blaze might have a little crush me! She was acting all cute and silly around me before..."

As Rouge went into details about how attractive she thought Blaze was my mind wandered back to Sonic. I just wanted to hold him again...

"AND well you know I've always had a bit of a thing for Knuckles?" Rouge raised her voice to get my attention again. "I finally told him today! But I'm not sure how he feels about me, let alone how he'd go with polyamory if anything did happen!"

I laughed to myself internally at the though of Knuckles trying to keep up with Rouge.

Has it been 15 minutes yet?

[KNUCKLES]

I watched Rouge as she walked off with Shadow, silently smug about the fact that someone like her would have a crush on me.

Turning back to back to Amy, I held up my hand to high-five her, as we were the last pair in this round. Amy grinned and slapped my hand.

"Aw Knuckles, thanks so much for hosting this team meeting here!" she beamed. "I'll be honest, I was absolutely dreading it but so far it has been lots of fun!"

"That's great to hear Ames," I said. "But why were you dreading it?"

"Ah because I've been a terrible person. I did something bad to Rouge."

I frowned. Here it comes.

"Surely it can't be that bad?" I said.

"Yes it is. I tried to burn down her apartment."

"Pffftt what?!" I almost laughed because of how ridiculous it sounded.

"It's not funny Knuckles! This is a really serious matter!" Amy cried looking frustrated.

"Ok I'm sorry. So why did you do that?"

"Because I thought she was on a date with Sonic. But I know that's not true now, and to be honest I'm not even sure I like Sonic anymore so it was all just completely pointless."

I realised why Amy had been so jumpy when everyone first arrived now. Hectic. But maybe I could help.

"Have you told her yet?" I asked.

"No. I don't know how Knuckles I'm so scared!"

"Alright," I said. "Firstly just relax. What's done is done. You can't change the past."

Amy nodded and I continued talking.

"It's a shit situation but the fact is that you've done something on purpose to hurt somebody. You need to take responsibility for that and tell Rouge straight up. There's no easy way. You just gotta do it."

Amy put her head in her hands and groaned.

"But," I continued, "I can see you're really remorseful and this is playing hard on your conscience. It's ok to make mistakes. It's part of life. But the longer you leave it the harder it will be, and the scarier it will become. Really the problem hasn't changed, but your mind will blow it out of proportion if you let it. End your suffering and just come clean to Rouge. You'll be surprised at what telling the truth can do."

"You're right Knuckles, I just gotta man up and get this over with," Amy said bravely.

I put my arm around her and patted her on the back, secretly hoping that Rouge wouldn't smash her face in.