Comprehension
I watched as the strange young fox slowly woke up, yawning tiredly as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. I supposed you are probably wondering why I, the ultimate life form, would be so interested in such a weak fox. The answer is quite simple; he fascinated me.
I don't know what made me so interested to begin with, but I simply cannot stop watching his every move, trying to comprehend how his mind has survived the loss of his love. It doesn't make sense and I need to know how he can handle it with such relatively moderate impact.
I have been watching him for almost a month now, and yet I still have no idea how he manages. I watched as he watched the green one die, and yet here he was before me somehow happy with his life. It doesn't make sense. He should be distraught, pained and savagely emotional. Instead he is the same as before, according to his friends, except for a few tears and sighs.
How does he handle his loss without affecting his loss? I am the ultimate life form and I cannot let Maria's death lie, so how can such a physically weak fox just take the hell the life threw at him and continue the same way as before. It shouldn't be possible, and yet it somehow is.
I watched as the fox gently watered the small plant before him, sighing loudly. The flower was, unfortunately, just that, a flower. The night after Tails performed tests on the structure of the mysterious seed was probably the only time I had ever seen him get close to breaking, and yet he never broke. He simply stopped his crying, pulled himself back together and got over it.
As I said before, his very nature perplexes me. He should be manically depressed and have difficulty with everything in life, but he isn't. I have studied his every move for far to long with no answers, tonight I am going to simply ask him. I am sick of playing this game, waiting for answers.
----
Shadow silently stepped up to the front door of the fox's home. Truthfully, it was more of a garage than a home as far as the dark hedgehog could determine, but it seemed to somehow suit that strange two tailed fox. Either way, he was cautious entering the private area. As heartless as he was, he knew better than purposely annoying those that he wanted information from, and the numerous traps that the fox had set up were not something that Shadow wished to experience. Well that was the excuse he gave himself, he wasn't ready to admit that he envied the fox's ability to cope.
He slowly stepped onto the course steel stair way that ran down to the fox's main hidden hanger, dimly lit by a few low power light. He slowly entered the main hanger and felt a twinge of guilt as he entered the fox's innermost area. Sonic was the only other person that Tails allowed down here without permission and Shadow knew that he was potentially trespassing on more than the fox's property.
Luckily, the fox didn't notice the dark hedgehog's entrance and remained engrossed in his work on the wing of a half finished plane, his mind sunk deep into the work before himself. Shadow took the fox's inattentive nature to get closer and switch off the plasma torch's power supply, preventing Tails from ignoring his visitor any longer. Tails span around, his instincts coming into play as his hand grabbed what appeared to be a small gun. However he quickly lowered the weapon and stepped back as he recognized the dark intruder.
"Um, hello." Tails began nervously, his eyebrows raised in uncertainty as he carefully stepped forward, his mind instantly processing the cause of the disruption to his work and analyzing his choices. "What do you want? My emerald?"
"No." Shadow told the weak fox before him, his voice slipping into the cold demeanor that he had become second nature over the years. "I want information, not your emerald." He told the fox simply, stepping forward to close the gap between then and slouching slightly, subtly placing himself at the same height as the rather timid fox. He needed information and intimidation wasn't going to give him what he wanted.
"Sure, okay then." Tails answered, his body visually relaxing as he realized that Shadow was asking for something he could actually provide. "What did you want to know?"
"How do you handle life knowing the green plant is dead?" Shadow asked bluntly, too impatient to get an answer to bother taking the issue slowly. "You lost the love of your life, how can you continue knowing that you have lost something so precious?"
Tails sighed and looked away, his smile fading quickly as a few painful memories surfaced. He swallowed nervously and turned back to the cold hedgehog. "I handled her death the way I handled everything in my life. I accepted it." He answered quietly, his voice clouding with emotion that he quickly pushed away. "There is nothing to be sad about. She found love in her life, and she died to save the entire universe. Her life had the ultimate purpose, and the alternative wouldn't have been perfect anyway."
"That doesn't explain why you can live without her." Shadow cut back in coldly, losing patience quickly. "You have accepted that her death had a purpose, but how can you stand living without her. You needed her, right?"
"There was no point wasting my time moping. So I grew up and got on with my life." Tails answered simply, a slightly dreamy look appearing as he though about his lost love, however he quickly caught himself. He turned away from Shadow and let out a deep breathe, realizing why Shadow was so interested in such a difficult topic. "The main reason I'm fine is that I had friends to... and her death saved the entire universe directly. Unlike Marie who was yo-"
Shadow suddenly grabbed Tails and pinned his painfully against the ground, his knee roughly pinning the scrawny fox against the ground. "You will never mention Marie?" He growled angrily, tightening his grip on the young fox. "Do you understand?"
"Hypocrite." Tails shot back, wincing as he felt the hedgehog's tight grip grow stronger. He bit his lip as he tried to free himself, but it was no good, the hedgehog was simply too strong and the fox's attempts were ignored. "If you can mention Cosmo, I can mention Marie. All I was going to say is that she saved the world indirectly rather than directly, idiot."
Shadow loosened his grip slightly, allowing Tails to breathe easier, and narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, saved the world?" he asked coldly, his voice taking on a decidedly ferocious tone. He wasn't far from ripping the fox limb from limb if he said the wrong thing. "She sacrificed herself to save me, and that was all."
Tails weakly tried to take another strained lungful of air, the rigid grip was making it difficult to breathe evenly. "She saved you, and you saved the world. Ergo, she indirectly saved the world." Tails answered softly, his neck starting to hurt from the violent hold. "Marie is just as much of a hero as Cosmo. Could you loosen your hold? I like breathing."
Shadow frowned, thinking it over, releasing his hold slightly to allow the fox to breathe. Tails' words made perfect sense and Shadow studied the now frowning fox pinned to the ground. Shadow grimaced and finally released the tight hold over the young fox. Tails pulled himself back to his feet and gently rubbed the side of his neck in attempt to remove the slight pain Shadow had given him. "Thanks." Tails muttered, stretching his neck tenderly.
Shadow frowned slightly and glanced away, a strange sentiment of guilt striking him as he watched the fox lightly rub the bruises he'd received. "You were right about Marie." Shadow replied quietly and sighed, allowing Tails the briefest view into the mind of the black hedgehog. "You probably would've gotten on well with her." He muttered before turning to leave.
However, any movement was stopped by Tails grabbing his arm and pulling him back, the fox's light weight doing little to actually stop the hedgehog. "Wait, Shads." Tails pleaded, his voice suddenly panicking. "I need to know something."
Growling inward, Shadow turned back to the fox, his impatience returning quickly. "What is it, fox?" He asked harshly, pulling the fox's restraining hand off his arm. The only thing stopping Shadow from striking the kit was his age.
"Are you okay?' Tails asked quietly, well aware of his thin the ice he was skating on had become, but knowing that it was something that needed to be asked."I mean, you could probably handle anything, but can I help make life a little bit easier, or something, anyway?"
"This conversation never happened." Shadow told the fox quietly, his eyes narrowing. "You never saw me tonight and what I say next is not to leave this room."
Tails nodded in reply, knowing that the hedgehog was probably still in a bad mood after their little discussion. "I swear. This never happened." Tails told the black hedgehog honestly, his voice calm for once as his mind realized that the hedgehog was calm.
Shadow glanced around and looked at the young fox and narrowed his eyes. He slowly leaned forward, slightly intimidating the fox again. "Thank you." The cold hedgehog whispered, his voice a mixture of displeasure and arrogance. "Maria would really have gotten on well with you."
And with those strange words the hedgehog disappeared in a flash of green light, leaving Tails alone with his incomplete aircraft waiting. "See ya, Shadz." Tails muttered, a faint smirk on his face. He turned and went back to his work, quickly throwing the discussion from his mind.
----
That night was not the last time that my bro and Shadow spoke. There were numerous other nights where the two spoke at length to one another on all manner of topics. The long talks spread through the nights quite often from then on and then two did grow a close bond, using one another to handle their losses and realize what they truly sought.
Of course that isn't to say that Shadow stopped being a heartless jerk or that Tails stopped bee…well…weak. They were who they were and that suited them, but their meetings did make it easier for them to cope with life and be what they wanted.
I guess you could even call them friends, though if you asked them they would deny it. Shadow would probably also try to kill me if I even hinted that I knew about their late night conversations, either way, it isn't really any of my business.
Just like how it isn't any of yours.
----
A/N:
Well there you go, this one-shot was my attempt to comprehend why Tails was so happy after the events in the last season of Sonic X. (English version) and how Shadow would take someone else surviving tragedy better than him. It was fun to write. Btw, did you work out who the last POV was from? I'm reasonably sure I made it obvious. Anyway, thanks for reading.