The sky was alight in flames.
Perhaps Tails would have enjoyed the scene, had he not been in it.
The Tornado rocketed through the air with an uneasy grace that only a jet such as it could, but that grace was constantly threatened by the flak cannons firing upon them from the Egg Carrier.
"Come out of the clouds, Furball, face me like a man," the gravely voice of the grinning Dr. Eggman shouted at the speck in the sky.
"Good thing I'm not a man then," Tails voice calls back with a grin.
"Arghhh, FIRE!" Dozens of missiles launch straight towards the growing speck. Laser turrets spin towards their target, and unleash their payload, all the while, the plane speeds towards the flying fortress, Tails preparing to evade, and the cream colored rabbit in the backseat curls up in preparation of the oncoming attack.
"Cream, hang on to something!" The plane rolls suddenly to the right, and the fox pulls up, bringing the plane around the oncoming lasers.
"I'm trying," the fear stricken rabbit grips the seat as the plane rolls to avoid a barrage of missiles. "Your flying doesn't help very much, you know."
"Bit busy right now."
The aircraft closes on the fortress in the sky, as the lasers grow closer grow closer and closer with less time to react. Many small holes appear in the plane as it flies by for another attack run on the Egg Carrier, and like the other passes, minimal damage can be seen.
This time, however, the plane's engine starts to smoke.
As the twin-tailed aviator flies amidst the smoking cockpit, desperate to enact a solution, another missile barrage is launched.
At that moment, Tails knew that he could not evade this time, without risk of completely destroying the engine, and nothing would stop the relentless smoke coming from the engine.
"We're going down, hold on to something."
The plane swerves down, the engine struggling to maintain the speed as the plane rolls, missiles flying right past them, flak cannons unleashing the explosive payload designed to do one thing: bring an aircraft down.
The engine sped up, sputtered, and suddenly died. The cockpit erupts in flames, the twin-tailed genius grimaced in fear, and made a quick decision that would either save them both, or seal their fate.
"What are you doing..." The cream colored rabbit looked up at the flaming engine, and realized the inevitable.
They would surely crash.
"Put your arms around me, now," Tails demanded of Cream, who blushed a bit at the order, but complied instantly.
Pushing buttons and frantically pulling levers, Tails managed to shut off the engine, and regain visibility as the smoke clears from the cockpit.
The same smoke that concealed the mountain rushing towards them at a speed that could rival Sonic. But Sonic was currently fighting Eggman, and could not save Tails this time.
No, this time, it was up to Tails to save them both.
The young fox pulled a lever, and flipped a switch, pressed a few buttons, and suddenly the plane lurched to the side, the tail of the plane breaking off as it hits the side of the mountain.
Suddenly spinning, Tails feels Cream suddenly squeeze her arms around him, screaming, Cheese huddled in a ball, and found a new courage within him that felt oddly familiar.
But he cast it aside, as he knew it would do no good to him right now. Closer and closer the mountain range came, and with it, a feeling of certain doom. But the aviator just shrugged it aside, and continued to calculate in his head.
Suddenly, he jumped, taking Cream with him, who held on to Cheese. He noticed, somehow amidst the air rushing past him, the arms squeeze tighter, and with that, more determination.
He spun his namesake as fast as he could, and hoped that the distance was close enough that he could get to safety before he grew exhausted, but not close enough that they would not have the time to slow down.
Unfortunately for them, it was the latter. The foliage of trees quickly came into view, and the fox spun harder, but ultimately knew his fate. He pulled Cream above him, to absorb the impact, and aimed as best he could toward a place to crash that would not instantly kill them both.
The lake that just happened to be there would have to do.
"Brace yourself, Cream!"
As they plunged into the depths, the fox heard many things. One was the sound of an explosion, a feminine voice, a zap, and a splash.
He quickly swam to the surface, and exhaustedly swam to the nearby shore.
The fox felt a feeling he had felt before rise in his chest as he saw the form of Cream in the sand, not a scratch on her. He closed his eyes to rest, but not before a pair of crimson eyes, and a green chaos emerald came into view, before all went black for Tails.
The eyes of the strikingly familiar midnight hedgehog came to rest on the two lifeforms laying on the beach.
Shadow watched, and he guarded the two. Even as a hedgehog that felt no sympathy for the weak, he walked and picked them up, as they unconsciously moved closer to each other, and teleported home.
The midnight hedgehog may be ruthless, and unreasonable at times, but he made a promise all those years ago. A promise he would keep, with all the fight he had. He would fight for those who couldn't, and help those who couldn't help themselves.
He sat outside, and watched the moon. It seemed so far away, but to Shadow, it couldn't be closer.
Tails woke up suddenly, his frantic form disrupting the neatness of the sheets, and looked around, hoping for some form of recognition. The only form he got was that of a sleeping female rabbit, and further away, a sleeping chao.
Frantically searching his surroundings, he moved to get out, only to be stopped by the crimson eyes, and a voice he had not heard in a long time.
"Relax, boy, I'm not here to hurt you. If I was, you would be dead. Along with the rabbit."
Tails watched, and wondered if he was still dreaming.
"Then why are you here?" Tails responded shortly after, still on edge.
"Because I live here."
Surprised at the answer, Tails almost didn't believe him. But it made sense, somehow.
"You have a h... a home. How does nobody know about this."
"Nobody asks, nor do I want them to know. I am not exactly well liked, am I. The irony of that is that I still helped to save the world."
"That still does not explain why I am... I mean, we are here."
"You are here because I permit it."
Tails had no response to that, and waited for clarification that was surely to come.
"You crashed a plane. I may be ruthless, but I found you, and nobody else would find you there, so what else could I do. Faker would come to me and annoy me about not saving you, so I prevented my annoyance. That is why I took you here."
The 16 year old male fox sat there, puzzled by Shadows answer. The hedgehog must have changed much in the many years since they last met if he was this kind. That was a word he never expected to be used in the same sentence as the name Shadow, but time truly must change all.
"Why here, and not my home."
Shadow sat there, a blank expression on his face, and Tails could almost feel the crimson eyes staring into his soul. At last Shadow spoke, almost angry.
"You blind fool. You think still that I am the bad guy here. I saved you, and you ask why. Shows how much praise I ever get."
Shadow turns around, and starts speaking again, but there was something oddly... different in his voice, a tone the fox had not heard from the hedgehog before.
"I did it because I made a promise."
Tails looks around as he speaks, and suddenly looks back as Shadow states this. Confused, and looking for what he meant, he quickly quips a question.
"What are you talking about?"
"Why do you fight?"
Tails once again is thrown for a loop, of all the questions Shadow could have asked, this was not one of them. He tries to analyze the question, and could only try and match the voice, but instead stammers, not even noticing the defensive tone he had suddenly taken.
"Why I fight has no... nothing to do with this."
Shadow pauses at the tone of the aviator. He waits, contemplating his next words.
"It has everything to do with it. You could have died, and the chances of doing so were high, but yet you fought to survive, but what for? To fight another bad guy, and be in the shadow of a great hero, never to get the spotlight."
Shadow shortly stops, and again, the eyes are staring into his soul. What for... Tails had no idea, but defended himself anyway. A dangerous comeback was formulating in his mind, but before he could retaliate, Shadow again spoke.
"No, you fight for something, or someone. Otherwise you would not care what happened to the world."
"I fight for my friends." Tails knew this was going somewhere, but where was anyone's guess.
"Who could surely fight Eggman by themselves." Shadow stared at the fox with a slightly raised eyebrow.
Tails continued thinking, his comeback finished, and said something far outside his nature, wondering why he felt so angry at Shadow all of a sudden.
This was a very bad idea.
"Well then, what could the coldhearted killer himself fight for then, that makes his acts justified? One fox and rabbit saved does not justify thousands of dead innocents, or the acts committed with an alien species, no matter how little you had rememb..."
Suddenly Tails stopped at the feeling of a gun at his forehead, and a glare that took any anger Tails had, and turned it into fear.
"If I have no purpose in life, then why did I save you. I owe you nothing. I have no reason to let you live right now. So what is keeping me from killing you? It would be so simple, and I am just a cold blooded killer anyways, right."
Again Shadow paused, and a very brief change in his demeanor was present, before it was gone.
Slowly, Shadow retracted the gun, and set it on the table beside him. Tails knew that he should tread lightly from now on.
"I fight to find myself. I was created for the purpose of destruction, and here I am, a living testimony of irony. I fight for the hope that I will find hope, and a reason to live. But most of all, I fight for a girl's dream, a dream that lives on through me, for the girl that died, and live by it."
Shadow turned again, and Tails knew he was again about to tread in dangerous territory. Again, curiosity killed the fox.
"You fight for a dream that does not exist. Peace is not possible. You fight for a dead dream."
Tails knew that this was a bad idea, but something about Shadows sayings were... peculiar. He wanted to hear more. Even though he didn't know if he believed what he just said, it was a different perspective, and an interesting one at that for one such as Shadow.
Shadow only noticeable response was to purse his lips, making sure to keep his anger in check.
"Maybe to you... then again, you fight for something, whether you agree with it or not, what I fight for is my own decision. You fight for something else. Peace is possible. Not world peace perhaps, but maybe another form of peace. You just need to find it."
Shadow watches closely, waiting for a reaction, and notices a glance at the rabbit, and realized instantly. But did the teen realize?
Tails responded after yet another bout of silence, feeling a small sense of pride at his words, then sadness.
"I fight for someone, but that is not of your concern. She isn't Maria, and you can't understand love. You don't get that I can't make a mistake, or I will lose any respect I have."
Angrily, Shadow countered his statement.
"You again think this is all about you. I am a living testimony of sour love. I will live forever, outlive everyone, and never love. Sure I can love, but for what. I will outlive everyone. You get that opportunity, while I cannot, and I will never get to truly understand death. People say that death is closure, so what does that mean for me? Perhaps instead of fearing what might happen, live for what might happen. Live for what I can never have."
Tails knew then that this was about someone else other than the two of them. And he was afraid of what he already assumed. It was too dangerous, not only for him, but for her, and the facts proved it. Amy was kidnapped constantly, Cream could be a whole new opportunity for Eggman.
Shadow spoke again shortly after, seemingly more calm than before.
"I know there's a reason you fight. You fight for her. You are afraid, that she could be put in danger because of what you do. Today solidified that fear. But you fight for her, just as you had fought to live today. You fought so she could live. And the truth is, she loves you already. All you have to do is fight for her."
Tails knew that Shadow was not going to let up, and frankly, Tails didn't know if he wanted to stop listening.
"I fight for a dead girl's dream. You fight for a living girl's hope. You will continue to fight for that reason and you will always prevail. What you fight for defines you. It is who you are. Nothing else matters."
He turns, and starts slowly for the door.
"I will leave you with that. I fight for a dream that you say cannot exist. You fight for a hope that can exist. All you need to do is let go of your fear. Just as I let go of my hate. Remember that."
Shadow took his leave. But not before he was faced with a stunning question.
"Did you love her?"
And just like that, Shadow's demeanor changed. He glanced back, and contemplated whether he deserved an answer. He made his decision.
"Perhaps, given time. But not then, no. She was more of a sister, someone you would ask for guidance."
Shadow looked forward once again, his gun in hand, the faint ring of a phone somewhere beyond the confines of the bedroom. Shadow began walking forward, towards his next job with GUN, and paused.
"She reminds me of her, really. Take good care of her. Not for me, but for yourself. For a dream that doesn't exist. For her, and what you believe in."
He leaves, and as he leaves mutters the words that drove straight into Tails heart.
"Nothing else matters."
Tails just sat there, replaying Shadow's words in his head. He sat, and shortly after, slowly laid back down, and moved closer to the cream colored rabbit, and felt at peace with the world.
He had someone to fight for. That was all that mattered to him.
Sonic and Vanilla were sooo going to kill him for this.
- Fin
First fic, hope you enjoyed it.
-Adam