a/n: The day made me reflect. It's been a long time. Many years since.

"Aw...shoot. Not again..."

Tails sighed and pressed his hands to his forehead in frustration. It was three in the morning, and the coffee mug was stone cold as he touched it. He grumbled, rubbing his eyes as he stood up from his computer and trudged into the kitchen.

The coffee pot was thankfully still hot...he emptied his mug into the sink and scooped two large spoons of sugar into it. The coffee came next, and then a generous helping of milk.

He went back to the computer, slightly renewed. There were a multitude of wires connected to a black box on the table in front of him. They went straight into a smaller grey box, which was then connected to the laptop by one thicker cable.

Tails shook his head and hissed at the data coming up in front of his face.

"Tails?"

He turned his head to see who it was, and then turned it back quickly. "Amy, I thought you'd be asleep."

"Same goes for you," she said with a yawn. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a chill through her pyjamas. The miniature cartoon Sonics patterned on the material made them her favourites.

"I'm finishing something."

"What could be so important?" she asked, her voice drowsy and quiet.

"It's...just something I wanted to do for Sonic, that's all. This is for the scheduled upgrade to the Tornado that I was telling him about. We're gonna fly it out tomorrow. Actually, he is. He wanted to pilot."

"I'm sure he'd understand if you couldn't make the date."

"I don't want it to come to that."

"Why not? I mean..." She paused and made a thoughtful face. "I know that you love him a whole lot, Tails. But..."

"You get the gist of it, at least," he said as he stopped typing. He took hold of the coffee mug by its warm handle, but did not lift it.

"Tails?"

"A long time ago...I was alone. I felt like a screw-up, a failure. I was called a freak. You remember I told you this, I guess."

"Yeah. You and Sonic both did, at different points," Amy said as she sat on the chair beside Tails.

"I didn't think I could do anything, and everything I tried always ended up in failure. I felt like I was no good. But meeting Sonic was...like a sign. I just started following him, wanting to help. I was scared, but I was also determined. And I saw his plane, and I thought something...something silly. Something like...maybe I was meant for great things after all. And I...made something out of myself that day. He's just continued to trust me, and believed in what I could do. He believed that I would always have his back, and I would have his."

"A mentor...no, more than that. Like...a dad?"

"Yeah. He's...a lot of things, Amy."

"I know. I understand what you mean, Tails. You always want to do your best for him, right?"

"Yeah."

"I know he's watching over you. He's always thinking of you, you know?"

"Yeah...I'm thankful for it."

"But you have to remember that he wouldn't want you hurting yourself just to do things for his sake. Tails, you're exhausted."

"...you're right. This coffee's not doing it," he mumbled.

"Save whatever you've got there and head upstairs."

"Yes'm." Tails yawned and typed a few commands before shutting his laptop down. Amy placed a hand on his back and guided him up the stairs to his room.

"Alright, everything should be ready to go."

"Sweet!"

Sonic watched as Tails rolled the Tornado out of his garage. The red paint on the fuselage glistened in the light.

"Hey, lil' buddy. Ya wanna come down a sec?"

"Sure!" Tails hopped out of the pilot seat and bounded over to where Sonic was standing. "What's up?"

"I heard ya downstairs with Amy last night."

"O-oh." Tails rubbed the back of his head. "I know you don't like me staying up too late for no reason, but I just-"

He was cut off as Sonic pulled him into a hug, one hand resting on the top of his head.

"Sonic? What...what's...?"

"...that means a lot to me, Tails."

"I..."

"Thank you...I just wanted to let you know that I'm...I always have been proud of you. Even if I don't say it as much as I should, I...really am proud."

Tails sniffled and hugged back.

"I know I'm not perfect-"

"I don't need perfect. I never did. I just needed you."

"..."

"B-because of you...I got this crazy idea."

He raised his head, smiling up at his big brother.

"I got it in my head that I could do anything I put my mind to."

Sonic smiled and wiped away his little brother's tears.

"We've got a whole day of flying to get to," he said as he patted the fox on the head. "Shall we?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

Tails hovered into the back seat while Sonic jumped effortlessly into the front. He looked over the controls and felt a surge of pride in his chest.

Crazy ideas, eh...well. I guess he does take after me after all, then.

"We'll make a pit stop in a while. Ice cream sound good?" Sonic asked.

"Sounds great!"

"Alright. Time to kick it!" Sonic started up the propeller, making the plane move forward smoothly.

Soon enough, the two were soaring into the clear blue skies.