Hello! Welcome to the new version Take Root. Many things have changed, so I've completely started over. Thanks for reading 3

A gust of chilly October air flitted through the fragile brown leaves in the treetops, carefully removing them and letting them fall peacefully to the dirt. Silence. The kind where it's still upon first glance but has so many unnoticed sounds waiting for someone to stop and listen. Suddenly, a gust of blue dashed across the forest's sanctity, and as quickly as it had come, it was gone.

Air split neatly, making room for the figure to zoom by and ruffle the leaves. A high hum resonated through the trees growing lower and lower until individual patters of shoe against leaves could be heard. And, with a screech, it stopped. The blue coat of the hedgehog rang out brilliantly against the soft autumn aesthetic that both warmed and chilled the Green Hill Zone. He bent over to fix the placement of the buckle that sat atop his brand-new friction boost shoes that his brother had made for him just that morning. The corner of his mouth turned up slightly as he inspected them.

They were quite similar to his old ones in style with a simple curve to the top and a gold buckle hung to the side, albeit loosely. He supposed that was the only flaw he could find in them that he would need to bring up to his brother. He wouldn't like to trip over a shoe buckle while traveling at Mach two.

A gloved hand reached up to click the small button on the communicator in his ear. "Tails? You there, bud?" He spoke, rubbing some dirt off his knee. The sound of static assaulted his left ear, causing his right one to lower instinctively.

"Yeah, Sonic, I'm here. Did you find anything?" Tails spoke softly over his own ear piece. He was all the way across the zone happily tinkering with some screws on his newest project. Sitting crisscross in the sand on the South beach, his tongue peeked out of the corner of his mouth in concentration as he wrenched them in firmly.

"Eh, well—..." Sonic mumbled, glancing in all directions and searching for any movement, "Nothing yet... Oh, hold on!"

Tails sat back on his heels as he listened to the clanging of metal and a slight tearing sound over the small speaker. "Sonic...?"

"Got it!" Sonic said and flipped the metal piece around in his hand, his foot placed on the stomach of the disassembled badnik he tore it from. "What is it called again?"

Tails snickered and stood, brushing sand from his fur. "It's just a gear, Sonic. Bring it back ASAP, I'm almost finished."

"No problem, bud, I'll be there in a jiffy," Sonic said and immediately sped back south towards the beach, his purple scarf flowing wildly behind him.

Tails stood back and admired his creation. It was a sonar repellent to keep away the Chopper that frequented the shallow waters. They'd been causing some trouble for beachgoers as of late, so Tails took it upon himself to develop a way to keep the dangerous robots away.

Tails' ears swiveled, picking up rustling in the trees nearby. He instantly tensed and stooped to a fighting stance, ready for action, but as soon as he caught sight of the vibrant blue of his older brother, a bright smile crept to his face. Sonic burst from the surrounding brush and skid to a stop in front of him, creating a wave of sand under his sneakers.

Tails chuckled. "Well, that was fast." He quickly dissolved into laughter when Sonic rose a brow and smirked at him from under his scarf. "How are the new shoes?'

"They're great, bud! The only complaint I have is that these buckles are a bit dangerous in the way they hang down. Not that I'm questioning your genius-y science mind. I just hope this isn't some grand scheme to destroy me or something."

Rolling his eyes, Tails turned and started packing up his tools. " Just leave them on my work bench when we get back and I'll fix it for you."

Sonic watched him for a moment, about to help, but then he remembered his earlier quest. "Oh, here's that gear you needed." He reached around and pulled the circular piece of metal out of his quills and tried to hand it to Tails.

Tails looked at it in confusion for a moment before his ears snapped up and he smiled nervously. "Oh, yeah." He grabbed the piece slowly from his brother's grasp. "Thanks, Sonic."

Sonic stared at the other with a deadpan expression and crossed his arms. "You don't actually need it do you?"

Tails looked down bashfully and shook his head.

Sonic huffed and threw his arms up in the air in a joking manner. "Why do I even do things for you!"

Tails laughed and picked up one last screwdriver. "You were getting restless. And whiney. I've been working on this all day, you know. There's only so many sighs and grunts I can ignore."

Sonic smothered a grin. "Hmph. If you want me outta your fur, just say so."

The wind picked up as the two set off towards home, spoon-feeding the two a large chill that ran down their spines to their toes. Tails zipped up his jacket and nuzzled into the fluffy fabric of the collar as Sonic rubbed his arms and tried to bury his nose into his scarf. Typically, he would've sped off home and left Tails to fly or walk on his own, as he liked to do more and more with his growing age, but The Fastest Thing Alive was feeling exceptionally chatty that day.

"Why do you think Egghead has been so quiet lately? It's been at least seven months since his last scheme. Think he's planning something big?" Sonic asked casually, kicking around a couple sticks.

Tails shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno. He is a person, Sonic, people like to take breaks or vacations. Even super villains. It's not like he has a schedule or anything."

" I guess."

It used to feel like he did, back when Eggman was up and running with a new scheme at least once a month. Now the professor seemed to be falling off the evil boat with only one plan every five to six months. He was becoming less and less of a deal and Sonic honestly didn't know what to do with his free time most days. There were still badniks all over the place that attacked when they spotted him, but they were almost a normal part of life now.

Sonic glanced over at Tails who was walking happily next to him, smiling and staring at his feet as they crunched the dry leaves. Sonic smiled. Tails had grown up so much that he had a hard time looking at the kid without swelling with pride. He had everything going for him. A wonderful view on life, incredible skills that could rival the best in the world and a steady girlfriend to boot. Sonic tensed.

Tails noticed. "You okay, bro?"

Sonic shook his head, relaxing once again at the sound of his brother's deep voice. "I— uh—yeah, I'm fine. I just, um, how are things with Cream?"

A fog filled Tails' eyes as he practically swooned over the thought of his longtime girlfriend. He smiled. "You know... Going steady..."

Sonic nudged his brother in the ribs, earning a whine and a laugh from him.

Tails' giggling faded away slowly before he looked down to his shoes. "Sonic...?"

Sonic looked at him curiously, stepping over a tree root. "Yeah, bud?"

His tails swished nervously. "I... — I think I'm gonna ask her to move in with me."

Sonic stared at him in shock, not really knowing how to respond. "Er, that's great, little bro!"

Tails' eyes lit up at his idol's approval, smiling as Sonic pat his back encouragingly.

"It's nice to see you grow up like this, ya know?" Sonic smiled, but his gaze was a bit forlorn.

"Really?"

Snow started to fall, softly landing on blue and orange fur alike.

Sonic watched them drift in the breeze. "Well, yeah, I mean... I've known you since you were a little kid and seeing you become so... —grown makes me..."

"Happy?"

"Yeah. And proud," he said softly.

Tails beamed at him in delight.

"Cream would probably have a heart attack if she saw me walk in in the middle of the night looking like death."

"Well," Tails mumbled. "Yeah, if she saw the conditions you show up in sometimes, she'd probably freak out." Cream was a very strong young woman, but there was only so much she could handle. A beaten and bleeding Sonic showing up three times a week would probably do a number on her sanity. "Just be careful, yeah? I'll make a secret entrance to your room." He winked.

Sonic laughed.

Settling was one thing he never really saw himself doing until he hit the thirty-year mark of his life, but even if he had that pull in the back of his head, he had no idea how to go about it. Unlike his brother, he was not as successful in the world of romance, which was honestly a bit frustrating.

Sally was the only girl he ever felt strongly enough to go through with that kind of stuff with, but he definitely wasn't ready for the serious relationship she wanted back then. To put it lightly, their breakup hadn't been the calmest ripple in the stream. Sometimes, even thirteen years after their breakup, his cheek still singed with pain from her stern palm.

Tails was very concerned for Sonic. He knew his recent involvement in trivial criminal matters was just a way for him to feel like he had a purpose. He had been trying to get Sonic to stop putting on his "nothing bothers me" façade, but it was a habit that was deeply embedded in how he functioned. It had become even more apparent after the Acorn Kingdom announced the engagement of Princess Sally and Monkey Khan. He said it doesn't bother him at all, but Tails knew better. His brother was alone and confused and he didn't know how to fix it.