#3 - A Problem The flowers were a particularly lovely shade of soft purple, with large petals and a delicate perfume that teased the air of the stuffy little hut. There were about a dozen blooms, all tied together with a pink ribbon to give them the look of a classic bouqette. Smiling brightly, Sally exclaimed, "These are lovely, Bunnie! I thought they grew in the tree-tops, though. How did you get them?" Across the table from her, Bunnie kept her arms folded across her chest, and replied without expression, "Tails picked 'em for me." Puzzled by the rabbit girl's demeanor, Sally frowned. "Well, what's wrong with that? It seems very sweet to me." "Y'all weren't theah, Sally girl. Tails's expression wasn't a l'il boy givin' a present to his 'ol Aunt Bunnie." Sally reflexively put a hand on the bundle of flowers in question, her brow furrowing as she watched Bunnie's expression darken, and asked, "I'm sorry, Bunnie - I guess I just don't understand. What happened?" With a sigh and the faint creak of metal limbs, Bunnie collapsed into one of Sally's chairs, her face softening as she explained, "It was his expression, Sally girl. Ah'm used t' him bringin' me pretty stones, an' givin' me his latest paintings an' all. Yo' right about that, he's a sweet kid. This time, though - that wasn't a kid givin' a present to his relative. That was a boy givin' flowuhs to a gal." "You're sure, Bunnie?" asked the princess quietly. "Ah'm sure. Ah may not see it directed at me too much, but ah assure you, ah know what it looks like." Sally let the bitter comment pass. Now was not the time to dredge up old problems, when new ones were staring them in the face. Putting on her most untroubled air, she shrugged and answered, "Well, why get so upset about it? It's just a crush - I'm sure he'll get over it and move on in a week or two." Instead of being reassured, Bunnie shot back irritably, "Move on to who? Maybe y'all ain't looked around lately Sally girl, but we're the only gals he knows. He's gettin' that age, an' iff'n it ain't me he decides to fall in love with, it'll have to be you, an' eithuh way, ah think we got a situation on ouah hands." Slowly, Sally nodded, mulling the situation over while her friend calmed down. They brooded silently for a moment, until finally Sally spoke up. "Why don't we foster him to the Wolf Pack, then?" Bunnie blinked. "The wolves?" "Why not? They're probably the Freedom Fighter group with the greatest variation in age and gender. Their culture will broaden his horizons a little, and he'll get some evidence that we're not the only girls in the world." "Well," answered Bunnie uncertainly, "Ah don't know - sendin' him away?" Sally nodded, and sighed. "I don't like it either, Bunnie, but it's a good solution. It has other advantages, too - being canines, if Tails ends up marrying one of the Wolf Pack there won't be any trouble with children." Giggling helplessly, Bunny scolded the princess, "Sally girl, y'all're the worst matchmaker ah evuh met!" The princess spared her a brief smile, and then shook her head seriously. "No, Bunnie, I'm afraid that may be important. I'm - not sure Sonic and I can..." Bunnie broke her off with a nod, and asked softly, "Y'all fathuh bein' a fox?" Turning around to face away from her friend, Sally leaned back against the wooden table, staring out one of the hut's little windows. After a few moments she whispered, "There's no way to tell if I'm fertile at all, Bunnie. I've been going over my family's geneology charts, and I can find three generations in a row of successful cross-breedings as different as my mom and dad, but - there's just no way I can be sure." "An' if you an' Sonic can't...?" Sally ran a hand through her red hair, brushing it back nervously, and finally admitted, "In that case - I'd considered finding another husband besides Sonic." Bunnie winced, and muttered, "He ain't gonna take that real well, ah can tell you now." "He won't have to, fortunately," answered the princess. "There are political reasons - things might change, but I doubt it. Even if we hated each other, and were barren to boot, Sonic and I are stuck. If it comes down to it, though, I was thinking of making Tails the Grand Prince and heir." "Tails the king?" Bunnie sat up rather abruptly in her seat, the laziness of the warm day shocked out of her. "Adopted onto the throne? Would they let y'all get away with that?" With that, Sally half-turned back around, treating Bunnie to a wry grin, and chuckling, "Oh, they'll let me. Think about it, Bunnie. In a few more years, what kind of man is Tails going to make?" "He'll - he'll make sugar hog look lahk poor l'il Antoine, won't he?" Sally nodded, and asked teasingly, "Sure you don't want to snag yourself a hero and a crown while you can?" Her rabbit friend just stuck her tongue out and put on a show of being disgusted. "Thanks, but no thanks, Sally girl. Ah got mah own plans, an' wahl ah'm sure he'll be a fine figure of a man, ah'd rathuh he find a gal better suited to him." "Which is why we'd be best off sending him to stay with the Wolf Pack for a while - and the sooner the better." "Ah hear you, princess." Lifting herself out of the chair, Bunnie paused to look down at the little handful of flowers that had started the problem. "Say, Sally girl - you got a vase anywhere?"