Terribly sorry if any characters seem a bit OOC in certain moments. Also, if there are any plotholes in the explanation of Cosmo's revival, I'm sorry about that, too.
As soon as Tails woke up, he could feel his suspicions about last evening's events actually not being real rising all over again.
"What if it really was all a dream? I'll go into the room to check on her – and suddenly, she just won't be there. She will be just gone without a trace, the bed will have no signs of her actually being there…" – As the young fox said that, he slowly stood up from his bed, put his shoes and gloves back on, and headed for the guest room, where Cosmo was presumably sleeping. As Tails approached the door, he slowly reached out to turn the doorknob, expecting the worst to happen. Barely opening the door and peeking in, he sighed with relief when he saw that Cosmo was still there, sleeping peacefully. Tails slowly and quietly approached the young seedrian, and whispered: "Rise and shine, Cosmo. It's morning already."
At first, the seedrian turned a bit in her sleep, getting on her back, and then sat upright, stretching her arms and opening her eyes. After yawning, she replied: "Good morning, Tails."
"So it was real…" – Tails quietly whispered, relieved that the last evening's events were not actually a delusion or anything like that. While Cosmo didn't hear what Tails said exactly, she noticed the slightly confused tone in which Tails had spoke.
"Tails, are you okay?" – The plantgirl asked, sounding noticeably worried. Tails snapped out of his brief stupor and replied: "Yes, I'm fine. Anyway…Maybe we'll get down into the kitchen and I'll make you some breakfast? I mean, you probably feel really hungry at the moment, though I didn't really notice if you needed any food back when we were travelling through space on board of the Blue Typhoon…"
"Usually, I get by with a good dose of sunlight…But directly-absorbed energy just doesn't seem to last long for some reason. So I suppose that some food would be great." – With that said, Cosmo stood up from her bed quietly, putting her green shoes back on and following Tails downstairs and into the kitchen. Tails decided that pancakes would probably be great for breakfast, so that's what he was cooking, while Cosmo quietly sat down beside the table, waiting. As soon as she had the first pancake served to her, she poked it a few times with her fork before actually taking a small slice and eating it. After she took her time to savor the taste, she quietly continued enjoying her meal, while Tails quietly sat down next to her and asked: "I guess you actually really liked them?"
Cosmo didn't really reply, just smiling and nodding. After she had finished her portion, she remarked: "They really are quite tasty, and they seem to be quite simple to cook."
"Glad you enjoyed them." – Tails replied, finishing his portion as well. After cleaning up the dishes, the two quietly went out into the living room. Once there, Tails remembered something and said: "Guess it's about time I let the others know about your return." – After that, the young fox took his cellphone that was previously lying on the couch, and dialed a certain number, calling Sonic. Soon enough, Tails heard Sonic replying on the other end: "Hey bro, long time no talk! How are you doing?"
"Everything's fine, but that's not really important right now. I need you to tell the others to come over to my place. I can't tell exactly what happened, but I need you all to be here as soon as possible. You got that?"
"Very well then, buddy. I'll be here as soon as possible, considering the others are kind of going to slow me down, you know." – With that said, Sonic hung up the phone and Tails left it back on the couch. Seeming a bit confused about why Tails didn't exactly tell Sonic about what happened, Cosmo asked: "Why didn't you tell him that I'm alive?"
"Cosmo, think about it: A person who is clearly suffering from depression because of a death of their loved one suddenly calls you, and tells you that this person is actually still alive. What is the first thought you would have if that happened?"
"I…Would probably think they are insane?"
"Exactly, and that's why I didn't tell him all the details." – With that said, the two were now quietly waiting until Sonic and the others arrive. About half an hour later, the doorbell rang, and Tails said: "Now, I want you to go out and greet them personally. I want to see how they would react."
Cosmo quietly nodded and went to answer the door.
Now imagine the whole situation from Sonic's point of view – your little brother calls you and tells there's something that happened at his place. You go call your friends, as he asked you to tell them to come over as well. And when you arrive, you are suddenly greeted by a person who you thought had died long ago. It was no surprise that Sonic, as well as the others – Amy, Cream, Knuckles and Shade. – were very shocked when they saw Cosmo quietly greeting them.
"I'm glad to see you again, friends." – Cosmo replied innocently, standing in the doorway.
Sonic was completely dumbfounded, with a look of utter shock on his face. The look on Amy's face wasn't far back either, though she wasn't as completely shocked as Sonic was. Knuckles was also completely dumbfounded – if his brain was a computer, it would have probably shut off with a BSOD from the slight cognitive dissonance he had at the moment – Cream was probably the only one of the few people who wasn't shocked, but still looking a bit uneasy, and Shade was confused, but not shocked – in fact, what left her slightly confused was the way her friends reacted to that person who she had never actually saw in her whole life. So, as the others stood there, Tails had approached the doorway and said: "Well, why are you all standing there? Come on in, we'll discuss everything."
Sure enough, the others went into the house, and then came forward a barrage of questions from Sonic and everyone else.
"How did she end up here?"
"I thought she was dead?"
"How that happened?"
"Is this even possible?"
The only ones not asking any questions were Shade and Cream – in fact, the latter was telling the whole story to the former: "Long story short, at first it seemed as if she had sacrificed her life – there were basically no traces of her left, except a tiny little seedling that had been created as a result of Chaos Regeneration used by Sonic and Shadow. At first, it seemed like there was no way for her to come back – we all clearly saw her get almost completely disintegrated. And yet somehow, I felt like she might have actually been still alive – it's hard to describe, but whenever I was around the plant that was left of her, I kind of felt…A strange presence. As if her very spirit was still around. And it seems that I was right after all."
"Well, after all I saw during my time here, I'm not surprised by anything and can take this story for granted." – Shade remarked. Soon enough, the tidal wave of questions had soon calmed down – Cosmo finally shut everyone up: "Everyone, please, calm down! I'll explain everything on my own."
(Flashback – Four years ago, Gaia's Realm)
"Whoa…" – Cosmo looked around the place she had ended up in after she said one last goodbye to Tails – Gaia's Realm was certainly a beautiful place – it was pretty much an endless field of flowers, and it seemed as if it was always daytime in that place. Of course, Cosmo was not alone in the realm – seedrians of younger and older generations alike were seeing in the realm. Some of them were happy, talking with their relatives and friends or, in case of the kids, running around. Some of them were sad, standing there silently and likely thinking about what they had done in life. Cosmo looked around to see if her family was there, and sure enough, here they were, quietly standing and waiting for Cosmo to come by.
"I'm glad to see you again, Cosmo." – Her mother, Hertia, said as Cosmo approached her. As for Cosmo's older sisters, they had also all greeted her again. In fact, just about everyone, except Cosmo and Lucas, seemed to be happy with the afterlife. In case of the latter, it was understandable – The atrocities that Lucas had commited would have likely made him end up not in Gaia's Realm, but instead in the Scorched Barrens – basically, the seedrian analogue of hell, and to put it simply, the Scorched Barrens were basically a scorched wasteland, as if there was an endless burnt down forest that never regrew. Right now, he was talking to someone who turned out to be one of the guardians of Gaia's Realm – a gold-haired female seedrian who stood almost as tall as Lucas and wore a silver-golden dress.
"So in the end…"- Lucas was still feeling horribly uneasy, talking to one of the guardians of Gaia. – "I managed to earn redemption, but the others did not?"
"Correct. In the end, at least you realized the errors of your ways. But the others were beyond redemption…Red Pine was nothing more than a bloodthirsty maniac, Pale Bay Leaf committed such atrocities in life that they're not even worth mentioning, Yellow Zelkova had left one dead planet after another in his wake, and Black Narcissus was nothing more than a sadistic monster. As for the lesser Metarex, they were nothing more than soulless, lifeless constructs."
"And yet it took me the death of my only still alive daughter to realize my mistakes."
"It's all in the past now. Now, I'm sure you have someone else who requires to be spoken to." – The guardian pointed towards Cosmo, who had just finished talking with the others. Lucas slowly approached the young seedrian, knelt down slightly, and said: "I'm sorry, my dear. I'm sorry for causing you so much pain in life, I'm sorry that I had ordered that Metarex to assassinate all of you, and I'm especially sorry for that tracking device."
"Don't worry, father. Just like the guardian said, it's all left in the past. And there's no changing it…" – As Cosmo said the last sentence, her voice sounded surprisingly sad.
"Is there something troubling you, Cosmo?" – Hertia asked, approaching her younger daughter. Cosmo didn't reply, just quietly walking away. Lucas replied: "I guess she has all the valid reasons to be sad. At least you and I were gone when we had accomplished more than enough in our lives. But her and the others? They all were cut down in their prime…And it was all my fault."
"I'm afraid there's no bringing the others back, Lucas. But your youngest daughter may yet have another chance at life…" – The same guardian from before said, approaching the family. Of course, they were all surprised to hear this.
"How?" – They asked almost in unison. The guardian floated past Lucas and Hertia, and stood right before Cosmo. The young seedrian looked up, and the gold-haired seedrian spoke out to her: "Cosmo, from what I had seen, someone had attempted to use Chaos Regeneration to revive you. It may have seemed unsuccessful at first, but in truth, it worked perfectly – it's just going to take you some time to return back to your normal state. Gaia can speed up the process, but even her power has its limits – you will only be able to return four years later from now. Your body will change accordingly, as if you never missed out on these four years and had aged throughout them. And in case you're worried that your powers might go out of control some time when you return to the mortal world and reach adulthood later on - don't be afraid, as Gaia will restore your amulet when you return. Consider this a small parting gift. The reason why you still have a chance of coming back...It's not just the physical remnant linking you back to the mortal world – it's the hope and love of a certain mobian you probably know all too well…"
"Tails…" – Cosmo immediately recognized what mobian the guardian had talked about.
"Exactly."
"But…When I return…There…I am the only remaining seedrian. Aren't we doomed to die out anyway? It's all-" – The guardian had quietly silenced Cosmo, bringing her index finger to her lips, smiling.
"Don't worry about that, Cosmo. You may not have known this…But you were the destined child, The Great Hope, all along. The one, who would bring the seedrian race back. Not many remember this, but in some extreme circumstances, certain seedrians are actually capable of crossbreeding with most other sapient beings – no matter if their nature is that of plants, animals or even incorporeal beings. And of course, you were one such seedrian. Your firstborn will be a pure-blooded seedrian, but the other children you may have in the future might just end up as hybrids, and this will continue with each generation – the firstborn shall never be impure, and thus the seedrian race shall not die out. I take it none of you-"– The guardian turned to face Lucas and Hertia, who were the only ones nearby at the moment – Galaxina and the others had already ran off. –"-have any objections against this?"
As Lucas heard the guardian's words, he took some time to realize it. After a few moments, he replied: "As much as I despise the thought of the pure royal blood being tainted like this… I see there is no other choice."
"And you, Hertia? Do you agree on those conditions?" – The guardian was now facing Hertia, obviously.
"I care about the future of the seedrians as much as Gaia does. I have no objections."
"Very well then. Cosmo, for the remaining four years, you shall be in a state of hibernation. When you wake up, you will be back to the mortal world, with all your memories and personality completely intact. Now, Cosmo, close your eyes – it will be like a relaxing day nap…"
(End of flashback)
"And next thing I knew, I woke up at Tails' bedroom, with him looking at me."
Everyone else was busy trying to understand the whole story. Knuckles was probably the most confused out of everyone, saying: "Well, that's just…I mean…I'm glad I don't have an overly scientific approach to things, otherwise I would be even more confused at hearing about so much things going against the laws of life and physics."
"Try not to hurt yourself in your confusion." – Shade said teasingly, to which Knuckles grumbled something unintelligible. After that, the terracotta echidna turned to face Cosmo and replied: "Never had I thought that I'd live to see someone who practically descended from their respective heaven. In any case, I'm sure we'll get along just fine!" – Shade lightly nudged Cosmo in the shoulder as she said that.
"Well…I had so much weird things happen in my life that I might as well take that story for granted." – Sonic remarked, shrugging.
"I see that I'm not the only one who cheated death at least once." – A familiar voice rang through the room.
Everyone else turned to face where the voice came from, and sure enough, it turned out that Shadow had teleported into the house, and now stood there quietly. Sure enough, Tails immediately ran over to Cosmo and stood right before her, shielding her.
"What do you need here? You're not exactly welcome here, you know. And Cosmo doesn't quite want to see you." – As if emphasizing Tails' point, Cosmo cowered behind him.
"Relax, you two. No one's going to get hurt, as long as you don't make the mistake of trying to attack me." – Shadow replied in a calm voice, not moving an inch from where he stood.
"I take it you and that girl had some problems in the past?" – Shade asked, approaching Shadow. The black and red hedgehog replied in the same cool and collected voice: "To spare you all the details – she used to be an unwilling spy for an entire army of planet-destroying aliens. I…May have attempted to assassinate her in the past, and now Tails here still doesn't forgive me for that."
"Of course I don't forgive you – trying to kill someone's loved one isn't exactly something you can easily forgive, and you know it all too well." – As Tails said that, Shadow quietly walked over to him and replied: "Look, kid, no one's going to get hurt if you don't do any stupid mistakes. That plantgirl you're so furiously protecting? She is no longer my target. But I still have suspicions about whether or not you're actually protecting Cosmo, and not some mechanical knockoff."
"Shadow, if you're really that paranoid, I'll just quietly scan her to make sure that she is not an android of some sort." – Shade pressed a button on one of her bracelets and it changed shape into a glove of sorts with a purple light on the inner palm. Cosmo immediately backed off, to which Shade replied: "Don't worry, it's nothing dangerous, just a simple Nocturnus scanner." – After that, Shade pointed her hand towards Cosmo, and a purple light had briefly enveloped her. After a few seconds, some sort of screen lit up on Shade's scanner, but since it was all in a language that only the echidna herself could understand, Shadow didn't try to decipher it.
"Well…Even though her biological signs differ greatly from those of Mobians… I don't see any traces of mechanical modifications in her. No tracking devices, no mechanical replacement limbs, nothing. Seems like she's the real deal, Shadow." – Shade turned the scanner mode off as she said that, and the high-tech scanner she had was now back to being what looked like a simple bracelet.
"The possibilities of anyone being able to clone her are out of question, too. Unless…" – Shadow turned to face Tails – "Tell me, what happened to the plant that was left from Cosmo when you had found her again?"
"Are you saying someone could have took the plant and created some sort of evil clone of Cosmo?"
"Tails, don't dodge the question. What happened to the plant?" – Shadow replied, looking at Cosmo suspiciously. The young seedrian backed off, fearing that Shadow might hurt her if he were to get a reason to do so.
"Well…I don't recall finding any broken pieces of the flowerpot that her plant used to grow in. I just saw her lying near the house wall, under the second floor window. And no traces of the ground that the plant grew in, or the flowerpot itself…" – Tails suddenly realized what this meant, and slowly turned to face Cosmo. The plantgirl was still looking scared – it was unnerving to see everyone suddenly distrust her again, just like back when she crash-landed on Mobius.
"You know, in those kinds of situations, the evil knockoff is usually asked a question that only the real deal knows the answer to." – Amy picked a rather inopportune time to interrupt.
"As much as I want to tell you to shut up..." - Shadow had passed a death glare towards Amy. - "I think you have a point here."
"Well…" – Tails hesitantly turned to face Cosmo back. – "If you really are the real Cosmo…What happened back then between us on Planet Marmolin? I'm sure Amy didn't tell that story to anyone just yet."
Cosmo nervously backed off, but since she had no real direction to back off to – she was surrounded everywhere, she just covered her face and replied: "We were quietly discussing something when you accidentally tripped and we…Triggered a trap, which threw us both into some sort of magical spring… Then we were sitting there for a few moments, enjoying the view."
"Only Amy and I actually remember this little incident." – Tails pondered for a bit, looking at Cosmo. Everyone else was busy discussing this little incident – likely because they heard about it for the first time. – "Amy is a bit of a motor mouth, but I doubt she would go around telling this story to literally everyone."
"Motor mouth?!" – Amy was just about to lash out at Tails with her hammer in her hands, but was barely stopped by Sonic in time.
"Okay, okay, everyone calm down. If it really is a memory that only the select few, including Cosmo, remember, then I suppose we can trust this one." – Shadow said, turning to face Cosmo. The young seedrian backed off, not knowing what to expect of Shadow. Luckily for her, the black hedgehog just quietly said: "So it seems that Chaos Regeneration did work after all."
"I am having a hard time understanding something, however: When Chaos Regeneration was used on me-" – Of course, Sonic was referring to the time back in Soleanna, when it seemed like Mephiles had killed him, but Chaos Regeneration was used to bring him back to life. – "-it pretty much worked instantaneously – I immediately woke up and was ready to fight against Solaris. But in Cosmo's case…"
"Sonic, your body wasn't disintegrated into molecules – of course you were revived almost instantaneously. In Cosmo's case, all we really had to work with is mere remnants of her body. And besides, maybe the fact that this was an uncooperated last-ditch effort had played a part in the whole 'took too long to revive' business. " – Shadow interrupted Sonic, saying this in a somewhat snarky voice.
"Oh…Guess that makes sense." – Sonic shrugged as he said that.
"In any case, I'll probably take my leave now. I've got everything I needed to know, so I'm out of here. See you around." – With that said, Shadow had teleported out of the house. After that, the others – except for Sonic and Tails – were talking to Cosmo once again – at first, Cosmo had told Shade how she got to know Sonic and the others, then Amy and Cream were telling Cosmo what happened on Mobius during her absence, and Knuckles was just sitting there impatiently, wondering if Rouge or someone else has already scurried off with the Master Emerald or if she/they is/are probably trying to find the right way to take the damn thing.
As for Sonic and Tails, they were just having some brotherly talk: "Glad to see you're back to normal, Tails."
"And I'm glad that Cosmo is back with me again." – Tails looked back at Cosmo– right now, it seemed that she was discussing some funny story with Cream and Amy, as she was smiling and giggling every now and then.
"Well, as much as I'd like to stick around, I better get going. See ya later, Tails!" – With that said, Sonic had rushed out of the house. Amy had stopped telling her story and ran after Sonic, shouting: "Sonic, wait up!"
"Seems like everyone else is getting outta here now. Eh, might as well get going myself. Mom's likely going to be worried out of her mind if I don't come back home quick enough." – As Cream said that, she went to quietly exit the house.
"Okay, now that everyone has left, can we go now, Shade? We've still got an Emerald to protect, y'know. " – Knuckles said in a rather impatient voice.
"Jeez, Knux, calm down! I'm fairly certain Rouge wouldn't be able to carry the Emerald off of the island without any accidents. I mean, she is an agile flyer, sure, but I doubt she would be just as agile when carrying an Emerald that weighs twice as much as her!" – With that said, as Shade stood up from the couch and approached Knuckles, she pressed a few buttons on her bracelet, initiating a teleport algorithm of sorts. – "See ya later, Cos. Maybe we'll get to hang out sometime." – And as Shade said that, she and Knuckles had teleported away. Now Tails and Cosmo were left alone once again.
"So…Guess we're left here on our own." – Cosmo said as Tails sat down next to her.
"You know, I am feeling kinda hungry at the moment." – Tails looked at the clock, seeing that it was already near lunch time. – "Suppose we might as well get something. Perhaps some meat would be fine with you?"
"Sounds alright to me."
The dinner went pretty smoothly – Tails still had some chicken left in the fridge, so he thought it would be fitting for dinner. And of course, Cosmo quite appreciated it, pretty much nomming her portion down in a few minutes. From that moment onward, their day went fairly routinely – they would have some off-handed talk about various things – Tails would ask about what Cosmo knew about Greengate, while Cosmo herself asked Tails about what Mobius is like. One particular piece of information from Tails that had her caught up was the common romantic places to go out to.
"Wow…Twinkle Park certainly sounds like a beautiful place." – Cosmo said as Tails finished his story.
"Sure it is. And we might even go out there next time we're in the city." – The young fox replied, still hugging Cosmo. – "Now that I'm not so much of an ineffectual loner, I think that I – no, we – have a valid reason to go there."
And there wasn't much else interesting happening, really. Except for when Tails and Cosmo went to sleep. Even though Cosmo had fell asleep in her room rather quickly, Tails still had some trouble sleeping, so he decided to go out into the house yard to get a breath of fresh air.
"Having trouble sleeping too, Miles?" – A voice rang from behind Tails. The fox immediately turned back and saw Shadow sitting on top of his house's roof.
"Yeah, and your presence will totally help me get over it." – Tails replied sarcastically. – "What do you need here, anyway?"
"Look, I kind of forgot to tell you something about back then, when I had attempted to resurrect Cosmo. In fact, you might still be questioning why I even bothered to revive her – I did attempt to kill her before, after all…" – Shadow said, jumping down from the roof.
"Thanks for the reminder, Shadow. Anything else?" - The fox grumbled.
"So, as I was saying… You see, Miles, I had attempted to use Chaos Regeneration to revive Cosmo…Because I know what it's like – to lose your loved ones too soon." – Shadow sat down on the ground as he said that. He sighed and continued: "And look, I lost count of how many times people around me died for no good reason. But it certainly didn't do any good to my perception of things."
"So, what of it? What does that have to do with me?" – Tails asked in a more normal tone.
"Let's just say that… You still have a whole life ahead of yourself, Miles. I wouldn't wish anyone to have their life ruined completely by the death of their loved one. Now, guess I better get going, or Rouge is going to be mad that I didn't come by her place to spend the night again." – As Shadow said that, he noticed a smirk on Tails' face. – "No, I just have nowhere else to go. Rouge and I have no such business between ourselves. Oh, and don't tell anyone about what I told you."
"Okay, okay, not gonna hurt your pride. See ya." – As Tails said that, Shadow ran off. The fox stayed there for a few more moments before the night air was beginning to make him feel drowsy, and thus he went back into the house. Once in his bed, he lied there for a few moments, thinking about the day that had passed.
"Guess even Shadow isn't as bad as I thought he is. Well, at least I can hope that neither of us are going to attempt to tear each other's head off anytime soon. As for Cosmo…I'm certainly glad she is back to life now. And it's not just some deliberate delusion, either. Hm. Maybe I may have some plans for the future with her… Whatever, Miles, you'll think about all of this tomorrow. For now, just go to sleep. " – And with these thoughts, Tails fell asleep.
Whew…The reformatting is a real pain in the behind. And I still have several chapters to go. While I was at it, I also fixed some things up.
