Seedling
by milesprower06
Chapter 1
A Broken Heart
Tails jolted up in his bed. He saw a flash of lightning from the window outside, immediately followed by a clap of thunder. He looked around frantically, taking a few moments to confirm he was in his room. He missed it the first time, so he did a double take at the figure standing at his desk by the window.
"Cosmo!"
Tails woke up in a sweat. He got up a bit more slowly than the last time, and quickly looked over at his desk. It was still raining heavily outside. His window was open about 4 inches.
On the desk in front of the window, was a clay flower pot, with a young stem protruding through the soil, it's two leaves shuddering in the wind.
Tails jumped out of bed, ran over to his desk, and shut the window, then studied the plant worriedly. It had taken a few droplets of rain, and it didn't seem to be damaged by the wind. He let out a sigh of relief.
"Sorry about that, Cosmo." he whispered.
Staring at the plant and the sound of her name again brought him back to what had happened just a week ago...
"Please...shoot me, Tails."
His bottom lip quivered, as he suppressed a sob. He had been trying for several days now not to cry; to try and come to terms with what he had done, and to put all his effort into recovering from it, and helping this plant grow.
After all, he was certain that doing just that was the key to bringing her back.
Down in the valley, at the base of the mountain in the house he shared with Amy Rose, Sonic looked out the window as lightning illuminated the forested mountain that was home to the Mystic Ruins, as well as Tails' home and workshop.
Amy came up behind Sonic as he stared at the mountain from the house's front window.
"Hey, you alright?" she asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Sonic said, glancing at her momentarily, before returning his gaze to the mountain.
Amy came to his side and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sure he's fine, Sonic."
The blue hedgehog's gaze fell to the floor, and he didn't reply to Amy's reassurance. He knew Tails wasn't fine. Not after what happened.
"I looked everywhere for Cosmo, but all I found was this..."
After the Meterex planet had been destroyed with the Sonic Driver, Sonic had immediately performed Chaos Regeneration to try and restore Cosmo.
All it had produced was a white seed, which he gave to the already traumatized Tails.
It devastated him.
The Blue Typhoon had made it's journey back home without the twin-tailed fox at the helm. He spent nearly all of the flight home in his room aboard the vessel. He wouldn't see anyone. After they had landed and Chris had returned home, Sonic went to see his friend. He had just finished planting the seed in a small clay pot, and was watering it a bit by his window. It looked like it hadn't slept in days.
"I'm gonna go see him in the morning." Sonic announced to Amy, the storm outside continuing.
"He said he wanted to be alone." Amy said. Sonic gave a slightly frustrated sigh.
"Yeah, I know what he said. But I'm gonna keep trying. He shouldn't be alone in a time like this."
When Tails swiftly dismissed Sonic upon his arrival that night a week ago, he had noticed a stack of books on plants and gardening on his desk, several of them open. This tragedy had turned him from mechanic to gardener overnight.
Sonic, as well as everyone else, hoped along with him that the plant was the key to bringing Cosmo back; that the Chaos Regeneration was just the first step.
He didn't want to think what it would do to Tails if the outcome was anything else.
"Believe me, Amy, I want Cosmo back as much as he does."
"As much as he does? You know I don't believe that, and I don't think you do either. Cosmo meant more to Tails than everyone else combined. Sometimes a broken heart takes a long time to heal. I'd like him to come to stay with us for a bit too, Sonic, but I'm afraid that your persistence is just gonna drive him further away." Amy said, turning and walking back up the stairs.
"No," Sonic began, as he looked up at the Mystic Ruins one last time before following her up the stairs.
"My persistence is gonna convince him that he still has friends who love him."