There's Two For a Reason
By: Iris Sweetheart

It was late but it was a warm summer night so he didn't mind having the hangar door open. Tails tinkered away underneath his bi-plane, the Tornado, guided by the small head light attached to his head. He worked fluently switching from one tool to another with ease not even taking his eyes off of the insides of the plane. It wasn't in any trouble or dire need of repair. Things had been quiet lately so what better way to pass the time than by modifying his plane for fun. He had spent much of the day adding modifications and taking them off hoping that he would tire himself or go to bed early. Yet his passion for mechanics just gave him more unnecessary fuel to work with. Either that or maybe it was the fact that he was a teenager with more natural energy to burn. Regardless, Tails figured fatigue would set in sooner or later.

Again he swiftly tossed aside the wrench in his hand and picked up the screwdriver on his opposite. He took out three screws and then stopped and grimaced a bit. Someone was playing with his tails. He sighed and decided to ignore it not wanting to see who the perpetrator was. Yet the person still persisted playing around with his furry extensions and even letting out a short giggle. Finally Tails had enough and slid himself from underneath the Tornado.

"Is there something you need Cream?" he asked sitting up and wiping the grease from his hands with a dry towel near him.

"Oh nothing." the teen, a few years younger than him, replied rocking back and forth on her feet.

She had lost her innocent looks but was still a little naïve. Nonetheless, Cream had grown into a beautiful girl with short pigtails in the back of her head and a neat set of bangs in front. Red and yellow were still her favorite colors as shown by the red t-shirt she wore with the yellow lightning bolt in the center. Her light blue jeans were a bit baggy, covering much of her red shoes, but she liked it better that way.

Tails sighed and went back under the Tornado while Cream sat near his legs.

"You know, you've been in here fixing stuff a lot lately." she said tempted by his tails nearby.

"Not much to do." he said shortly.

"Yeah, I suppose. Kinda makes you wish that Sonic was around, huh?"

"Yeah…"

"Or maybe we could go and fly out to somewhere."

"Sounds good…"

"Like Angel Island to see Knuckles."

"Uh huh…"

"Or stop another one of Eggman's plans."

"Sure…"

"Or just let me fly the Tornado once."

"Don't think so."

"Aw, come on Tails!" Cream shot up to her feet. "This thing is practically an antique. Ever since you found it in the Mystic Ruins two years ago, all you've ever done was fix the stupid thing! Then you spend hours and hours just working on it for no reason! You don't even take it out of the hangar."

For a moment she thought he had ignored her since he didn't respond immediately. Instead, Tails had started to feel around for his toolbox that was slightly out of reach. He finally got to it by sliding a little from under the plane and then dragged it back to him going back under again. Cream huffed crossing her arms.

"It's not stable enough to fly." he said out of the blue.

"Run a test then! You always run tests on most of the things you make in here. Why not do it on the Tornado?"

"The Tornado 2 is efficient enough."

"Then let me fly that one!"

"No Cream."

She was flustered and wanted to pull Tails out from under the plane and beat him up for being so stubborn. However, it wasn't like her to be forceful…but she did want him to let go of his planes and be lenient for once.

"You're not being fair! You never let me do anything do anything with your stuff."

"My stuff, my choice."

"But it's not fair!"

"And I'm not your mom so stop talking to me like I was her!"

Tails had finally emerged from underneath the plane because of Cream's persistence.

"She's not around so grow up a little." he said sliding back under.

With some silence at last, Tails began to screw a flap back on.

"Quit holding on to your stupid toys! Sonic's not around either…and he's never coming back! So quit waiting for him!"

Her sobs could be heard as she ran out of the hangar and the fox grimaced. He dropped the screwdriver and groaned slapping a hand against his face. Tails laid there for a moment and briefly held back some tears itching to get out of his eyes. Then he took in a deep breath and slid out from under the plane sitting up. What Cream said hurt…but then again what he said hurt her just as much. His ears fell a little as he looked out his hangar at the starry sky with the moon shining brightly. A ways from the hangar Cream had sat in the dirt, her back towards him, and he felt his stomach drop a little for he knew what he had to do.

"Help me out here Sonic." he said to his long gone friend.

Tails stood and on his way out the hangar he picked up his short sleeve jacket off the wall and threw it on him. He lowered his work goggles to his neck and casually headed out to Cream. What to say to her, he didn't know. Where to begin, he didn't know. He just hoped she didn't attack him. If anything, she was definitely a lot stronger than she used to be. Especially her kicks which he learned first-hand from a recent experience. The girl was still sobbing into her knees which she hugged tightly. Her long ears that flopped back perked up a little at the sounds of Tails approaching and she looked off to her left slightly watching his worn red and white shoes come near.

"Can I join you?" he asked and she nodded.

Tails was careful to give Cream her space when sitting and looked up towards the sky casually. Yet, sitting next to his crying friend, it was hard not to think of what he lost on top of her loss. He looked away from her trying to fight back more tears that wanted out.

"Hey, you think Sonic could still be out there? He likes to travel so it's a possibility…" he said.

Cream shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe."

The silence between them was not something new. It had happened before when they argued or something happened that reminded them of their losses. This time was no different.

"Six years…" the girl finally said.

"Huh?" Tails looked back at her.

"It's been six years since we last saw Sonic. So why?"

This was also something they were both familiar with; the obligatory question of "Why?" Tails merely shrugged his shoulders. He never thought up an answer during those six years.

"He's Sonic. He's always disappearing and reappearing. It's…it's just what he does." Tails's voice shook a little.

He huffed out rubbing his face with a hand and was back to being calm. Cream just averted her eyes.

"Do you hate the fact that I'm practically here all the time? I know I have a home with Amy and all but… Am I too much for you?" the rabbit asked with her eyes starting to dry up.

"No, not at all. I don't mind you being here." He actually likes it when she's around. "Things get quiet out here."

A faint smile appeared on Cream's face. Then she hugged her knees even tighter.

"I hated watching her lie in bed." she said.

Tails looked at his friend.

"She kept getting sicker and all I could do was watch."

"It was a terminal illness. Even with medicine, your mom's chances of living were slim." Tails said in attempted comfort.

"…I still hated it."

Tails could clearly see pain, sadness, and frustration overtake Cream and it made him feel a little cruddy inside as well. She was powerless to a disease and his attachment to his best friend, his "brother", was crippling his future. He vaguely recalled the endless searches he made in the immediate years following Sonic's disappearance only to slowly give up on them after a while. A hero giving up, he was becoming the very thing he looked down on.

Just then, one of his tails had swished around to his side and he knew that there was only one appropriate thing he could do at that moment. The fox scooted closer to Cream and wrapped his right tail around her tickling her face with the tip. She smiled shortly before taking the soft extension into her arms and hugging it like a stuffed animal from her childhood. She was an adolescent but still held onto the innocence of her childhood desperately. Who could blame her? The world seems like a scary place without someone you look up to guiding you. He knew that better than anyone else so he's was obligated to guide his friend through the same pain.

Tails brought his other tail forward to his left and around his gritty old shoes which he hadn't even out grown. Of course, he only did so as to not remind him of his hero. Red and white…were colors that were slowly beginning to irritate him. Although he made an exception for the Tornado, a plane that once belonged to Sonic. Even though he took care of the bi-plane the most, it was never just his plane, but rather their plane. He was so committed to this idea that letting someone else have it, let alone use it, just didn't seem natural. Instead, Tails felt comfort in keeping the plane theirs and hoping that one day it would disappear from the hangar because his best friend wanted it back.