The eight year old woke with a start, gasping for air his blue eyes stung with tears. He clenched his white chest fur were his heart was located. Slowly he allowed himself to lay back down, he looked at the ceiling his chest still rising and falling heavily. Quickly he jumped out of the bed and ran into his older brother's room. "Sonic?" He whispered. "A-Are you here?" Please, please… Suddenly a moan sounded and the covers shifted.
"What is it lil bro?" Sonic mumbled his emerald eyes glimmering with sleep. He looked at the clock and his eyes narrowed for a moment. "It's 2 am, why are you still awake? We have to make a plan to-" He couldn't finish the sentence for the young fox wrapped his arms around the hedgehog and let a fresh wave of tears fall. "Whoa bud what's wrong?" Sonic slowly wrapped his arms around the kitsune.
"I…nightmare," he mumbled into Sonic's peach colored chest fur. "No one here, alone, everyone abandoned me… just like when I was two." Sonic looked at the kitsune sorrow rising in his chest. Slowly he rubbed the kit's back.
"Hey bud I'm here ain't I?" Sonic murmured. "I'm right here you're not alone…"
"I…I saw you though you walked away from me…I called after you but, but you ignored me!" Tails sobbed harder. Sonic looked at him wide eyed and squeezed him tighter.
"Shh…" He mumbled stroking Tails' back. "I'll never leave you bro." The sobs slowly subsided and soon the fox was back asleep in Sonic's arms. The hedgehog smiled slightly at the now peaceful look on his lil' bro's face. Slowly he carried Tails into his room and lay him down on his own bed he tucked him in and headed back towards his room. He turned and looked back at Tails. "G'night bro sweet dreams."
XXXXX
Tails woke up at six the nightmare hadn't returned to his relief. Sitting up he walked into the bathroom and took a quick shower lathering the soap and shampoo all along his body. Then he stood there for a while letting the steamy water sooth him. It felt good against his fur and he allowed his eyes to close in content. Sooner than expected the water ran cold and Tails jumped out of the shower in shock. His wet fur was plastered to his body yet it still rose ever so slightly. Grabbing a towel he dried himself off then but on his shoes and gloves.
Walking into the kitchen he popped a frozen waffle into the toaster and began grabbing the butter and syrup. The waffle popped up within minutes and he quickly transferred it to a plate. A shuffling of feet got his attention and he saw Sonic wobble in. "Oh cool you're making waffles…"
"Yep here I'll pop one in for you," Tails said grabbing another one and popping it into the toaster. His sapphire eyes looked over at Sonic. "Wow you sure look beat."
"Yeah well I was woken up at two am." He added in a soft chuckle. Tails' ears turned back sheepishly.
"Sorry 'bout that…" he murmured. "Just the thought…of being alone again."
"I understand lil bro," Sonic said grinning. "I have a fear myself." The thought of losing everyone frightened the hedgehog to his very core. What if he lost Tails and his other close pals because he the fastest thing alive wasn't fast enough? He shuddered inwardly.
"You scared?" Tails gapped. His hero, best friend, and big brother had a fear too?!
"Yep even heroes get scared Tails," Sonic said in a matter-of-fact tone. "No matter what even heroes get scared at times."
The waffle popped up and Tails grabbed it placing it on another plate on the table. "Sweet breakfast is ready!" He smiled his sapphire eyes shining. "Let's eat Sonic!" Sonic sat in the chair and the two had their normal chat at breakfast.
XXXXX
"Sonic move!" Tails' voice shouted above the roaring of Eggman's newest machine. Sonic looked up and saw the robot bearing down on him with the intent to kill the cobalt hero. Suddenly he couldn't move something on the inside made him stop dead. Though all that changed when a yellow figure appeared before him the eight year old pushed Sonic out of the robots immediate path. Sonic fell back and watched in horror as the robot bared down his little brother.
"TAILS!" that fear, that fear that he always thought of always tried to avoid came surfacing up. Tails could very well be dead under there! Rolling into a tight ball the hedgehog buzz sawed through the machine's 'arm'. Roaring the machine fell over smashing into the ground. It squirmed it's three metallic legs trying to get steady on the ground. Sonic began frantically pulling the rubble away from the spot were he'd last seen Tails. "Tails are you alright?!" No reply. A lump formed in the cobalt hero's throat. "Answer me!" Still nothing.
He continued digging until his white cloves were dirty and torn. Finally he saw white fur, hope sparked and he continued to dig revealing the orange fur of one of the kit's tails. But the limpness was what got to him….the way his brother didn't respond…unable to continue digging after seeing his brothers face, the kitsune's chest not rising nor falling the hedgehog stopped. "Tails?" He tried again maybe, maybe Tails was just unconscious…no response. No matter how many times he swallowed the lump didn't go down and it seemed to get bigger and bigger as tim e passed.
"No…" was the only word he could really say. He wasn't fast enough….the fastest thing alive wasn't fast enough! "I…It's…all my fault…" He stood the adrenaline running through his body. Quickly he whipped around to face the robot still on the ground struggling. Curling into a tight ball the hedgehog flung himself at the robot buzz sawing through the rest of it like butter, but of course he was angry, guilty, and most of all scared, scared that he lost his little brother.
Then the creator of all this pain appeared. "Oh goody," Sonic growled. "Now I can take out the source." The doctor stroked his mustache and looked at the hedgehog with a look of perplex.
"Oh ho! Why are you so angry?" The doctor questioned.
"Because your poor excuse for machinery could of possibly killed my little brother!" Sonic growled. He denied it, denied the fact that his brother could be dead, it was impossible…no one had ever died while he was within eyesight or earshot. No one.
"If it was so poor my dear hedgehog then why did it kill your young charge?" the man said continuing to stroke his orange mustache. "If it was so poor then why did you let it kill the fox-boy?" His fists clenched and in a matter of seconds the hedgehog was flying at Eggman curled into a ball his quills sticking straight up. This time he was intent on destroying the source of the pain. Thoughts buzzed through his head but the main thought was this, I should of done this a long time ago! His quills sawed through the doctor's transport machine and was just about to reach the shocked human when suddenly an arm flung out and grabbed Sonic's arm. The hedgehog threw the other creature off and was about to punch the living daylights out of Eggman, when the voice of the creature spoke up.
"Sonic stop what are you trying to do kill him?!" The voice shocked the hedgehog out of his rage and for a moment he didn't believe the voice he heard. His emerald eyes turned to see a yellow fox clutching his rib cage and wincing in pain. "We don't kill Sonic! It isn't right that's what you always taught me big brother!" Looking back at Eggman the hedgehog smirked.
"Just be glad he's alive Egghead," Sonic almost hissed as he whispered to the human. "Because if he hadn't been able to stop me…your guts would be sprayed all over this city block. Now I suggest you leave." With that the hedgehog flipped into the air and kicked off Eggman's broken transport sending the fat man flying in the opposite direction. Quickly the hedgehog ran over and helped his brother up.
"You alright?" He asked and the kitsune dusted himself off. "I didn't hurt you when I threw you off did I?"
"Yeah I think I'm alright and don't worry nothing a visit to the clinic can't fix," the kitsune winced slightly. "I thought you were going to kill him."
"Sorry," Sonic said softly. "I was just scared, I thought I'd lost you and I just turned that into rage. Sorry you had to see me like that I'm a terrible role model huh?" Tails hugged Sonic and smiled.
"You're not a terrible role model I'm turning out decent right?" the kitsune laughed. "Remember Sonic even heroes get scared." The hedgehog couldn't help but smile as he hugged the kit back.
"Yeah little bro even heroes get scared."
The End