"To Bring You Back"

Chapter 1

A/N: There is actually a reason for the name in the title, the reason it's in quotes and not italicized, and for this long author's note. So the story is that I was listening to a song called "To Bring You Back" by Paul Alan, and then I heard the chorus when I was writing the beginning of this story as it played on my iTunes library in the background. Suddenly, the idea for a title popped into my head and it just made sense because the second part of the chorus goes:

I walked a thousand miles in this desert sun
Only to bring you back

And I thought, "Wow. That is exactly what Tails would do for Cosmo." So yeah, it's actually a great song and I recommend listening to it. But anyway, this is a continuation of the events of the prologue (I'm too lazy to try to recap the last two chapters in a(nother) prologue chapter to the story), so if you want the full reader experience, I recommend that you read the original. Thanks to any continuing readers and I hope you'll enjoy the continuation of the series; I know I have fun writing it. Sorry for the babble (as many of you know, I tend to do that), and now on to the story! (I do not own any of the characters or references to Sonic X. The Sega Corporation does. I only own my OC Maerick.)

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Beach near Tails' House, sunset, one month after Dark Oak's defeat…

Tails sat on the sun-warmed sand as he gazed out at the purple, red, and orange hues of the sunset. He was exhausted after his first workout with Sonic today and his legs were still protesting that his first run in over a month had been four miles, so the heat of the sand helped relax him. He closed his eyes as he remembered the countless sunsets he had seen on planets during their travels, but even the most spectacular paled in comparison to the beauty of the few he had seen with Cosmo toward the end of the journey.

No sunset could ever compare, however, to the moonrise he and Cosmo had shared on that crazy planet of fortune-tellers and magic potions...the name of it escaped him at the moment, but he remembered that evening like no other. They had stepped on a trap that had catapulted the two into a shallow pool of water just as the moon rose. It had been magical in itself, and he had never been able to stop thinking of after that. His thoughts were always consumed with her afterwards, and whenever their eyes met from day to day he had felt as though the ship's lights became that much brighter... He suddenly realized that he had spent many good times with her, and that they were fun to remember, the good times that is.

"I just wish she had been able to see our sunset with me..." he thought. "Why did you have to leave Cosmo? Why couldn't I stop him some other way? Why...why I have to kill you!?"

As he thought this he shut his eyes and clenched sand in his fists, a new wave of guilt and sorrow welling up inside of him, filling the creases between his eyelids with salty tears of loss.

"WHY DID I HAVE TO KILL YOU?!" he shouted to the crashing waves. As he waited for the answer that would never come, he began to think, "It doesn't matter anyway...in the end we all die... and time just keeps flowing, just like the tide ebbs and flows..."

As the dark thoughts began to fill his innocent mind, he mentally collapsed, unable to think such things that Cosmo would have been ashamed of, and he stared out through his tear-blurred vision at the sun that had almost completely disappeared over the horizon. "The waves keep crashing and falling...the tide ebbing and flowing...the sun rising and falling...the moon waxing and waning..."

Slowly, the emotionally drained fox closed his eyes and laid back on the beach, too tired to cry anymore and too depressed to walk back to his house to sleep.

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Meanwhile, at Amy's House...

Knuckles, Amy, and Cream stood staring at the giant human on the couch in front of them. Even for a human he was tall, and the fact that the couch was made for Mobians made him look even bigger, though how he was laying was an interesting sight to see. He sat with his head hanging off one end of the couch while his legs hung off the other. He was young for a human, probably at oldest eighteen, and he had a striking feature to him. He wore armor unlike anything the trio had ever seen before on a human, as it consisted of metal shielding on the chest, shoulders, and around his arms and legs. He also wore a helmet with a glass visor on the front, and though it was clear now it had originally been an opaque, soft-green color.

Now he lay breathing as he quietly slept, and questions swarmed the minds of the three. Knuckles had rushed to the house as fast as he could, leaving him short of breath and unable to defend himself from the barrage of hostile questions Amy had immediately begun…asking, to put it mildly, about why he was interrupting her tea party with Cream (it had actually been Cream's idea, but Amy doesn't like to be interrupted). The pink hedgehog had stopped almost immediately when she saw the huge boy in his arms.

"Is that…is that Chris?" she had asked.

"No, he calls himself Maerick Stevens." Knuckles had replied.

So after a few hours of waiting they were now still staring in silence at the surprise visitor. Knuckles had finally told them what had happened after he managed to regain his breath from running all the way to Amy's house from Angel Island, but Amy was still confused.

"This makes no sense. The Master Emerald isn't alive; he couldn't have just been randomly dropped in our world by it. There has to be a reason for this." She muttered even now. "Oh, I know! Let's ask Sonic if he used the Chaos Emeralds to do this!"

"Sorry, Amy, but even with all of his ability in their use, I doubt even he would know what happened, let alone who this guy is."

"Maybe Shadow will know! He was made to harness their power; maybe he knows how to do something like this!"

"Now Amy, you know that no one has seen Shadow since…since he…stopped Dark Oak with Sonic."

"But…"

"Just stop, Amy. We will find out when he wakes up, but until then he isn't going anywhere. You just have to be patient."

"How can I be patient when you put some stranger on my couch?!"

"Er…well…what I mean is the best we can do is wait…Hey, how about if I stay and watch him, and you can go find Sonic, Tails, Eggman, and Rouge and bring them here?"

"Eggman and Rouge? You've got to be kidding."

"Well, Eggman has turned over a new leaf…

"For the past five days!"

"…and Rouge has also changed for the better. She restrains herself more tha-

"Oh please! She only wants the Master Emerald, and you know it! Even you weren't as happy as she was when Eggman used that machine he invented to restore it. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be keeping an eye on it?"

"Well, Tails made that new security system for me to use, since he was jealous of Eggman's invention being able to completely heal the Emerald in just two days, and what better time to try it than when I need it?"

"Maybe when you can be nearby in case it doesn't work!"

"Right…well…I…uh…didn't think of that…"

"I swear Sonic is so right to call you a knucklehead. Do you ever think things through? I mean, how many times did Eggman trick you into helping him?"

"Hey! Who saved this guy's life? ME! That's who. And I knew to get help for him and I knew to not protest when you made me dress up for interrupting your party!" His eyes widened as he said this last part, knowing he had made a grave mistake.

"Hey! Are you complaining about that?!"

"N-no! Of course not!"

"I didn't think so."

"Uh…shouldn't you go get Sonic?"

"No, I have a better idea. You stay here and guard this guy while I find…" she began as she clasped her hands in front of her, "my beloved Sonic! Oh, today is the day he'll admire me for my hospitality toward a stranger whom I don't even know!"

"Wait, that makes no sense. You almost killed me for bringing him here-

"And then he'll be MINE!"

"And you're not even listening…"

"I'll be back with my Sonic!"

"Oh boy…" Knuckles rolled his eyes as she barged out the front door.

Cream finally looked up at him and said something after Amy had left. "She really likes him, doesn't she, Mr. Knuckles?"

"Yep, maybe she does a little too much. Sometimes I can't help but feel bad for the hedgehog. Typically it's after I've seen Amy, too…"

"Why is that, Mr. Knuckles?"

"Because, I've seen what she does with her free time. She trains so that someday she can finally catch him when he runs away."

"But no one can run as fast as Mr. Sonic, right?"

"If anyone could do it someday, it's Amy."

"Oh, you're probably right…"

"It's funny, though, because I think the day she catches him, he won't be running away from him."

"Why is that, Mr. Knuckles?"

"Erm…well…because, Cream, I have a hunch that he… feels for her too, though he won't stop running long enough to think about it…promise me you won't tell Amy what I just said, no matter what happens?"

"But why, Mr. Knuckles?"

"Because you and I both know Amy would do something drastic if she thought she was close to having Sonic."

"Oh, you're right. Amy can be pretty scary sometimes…okay, I promise."

"And, Kid, please just call me Knuckles. I'm not that much older than you."

"Okay…Knuckles." Cream almost winced as she said it. She was just that used to being respectful to adults.

After a time, Cream could not contain her curiosity any longer. "Mist…I mean Knuckles, why did this man say he wanted to speak to Sonic?"

"He said that he had known Cosmo, and needed to speak to Sonic about the Metarex."

"Cosmo? I wonder why she didn't ever say anything about him."

"I don't know, Cream. I'm hoping to find out when he wakes up."

"Mr. Knuckles-

"Cream."

"Oh…sorry, Knuckles, but it looks like Tails is here…"

"Oh, right, Amy must have asked him to come. I'll let him in…"

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Looking down on Amy's home…

Against the shadows of the forest, one could barely make out that a mysterious observer was watching the house as Tails went in and that it was indeed a Mobian, but beyond that he or she was invisible.

"Drat, they've got him." The Mobian thought. "I've got to figure out how to get him away from them fast, or they'll lock him up and think he's crazy…then I can't help Tails! Tonight, I will have to free him so I can get his help..."

The Mobian let out a disgruntle sigh as it began to plan what it would need to do. Slowly disappearing into the forest, the animal melted into the shadows and foliage.

"Tomorrow is a big day", it thought, "I'll have to put him to work as fast as I can so that Tails suffering will end once and for all. I can't stand to see him endure the pain I have…"

And with that it was gone.

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Poor Tails, his heart is broken and his hope is gone. Will he ever recover from his heartache? Who is this boy who claims to be Maerick? How did he get here, and where is he from? What will happen when he wakes up, and what does he want to tell Sonic? Who is this mystery person, and what is he/she going to do? Is he really trying to help Tails, or harm him? Well, not as climactic as some other chapters, but it is necessary. Stay tuned for the next chapter, coming next week! Please R&R, I could really use any suggestions you guys have!