After the Metarex: Tails' Story

Chapter Three

"Holding It Together"

Tails placed Cosmo's flower pot on the table in his study. He noticed a book laying there. He remembered he'd just started it when Cream came to remind him about the shooting stars. That had been the night he'd first seen Cosmo. He picked up the book. Science fiction. He read the title, but couldn't remember anything about it. He skimmed through it. No, he didn't recognize this book at all. It didn't matter. He wasn't interested in reading now. He'd spent far too much time reading on the Blue Typhoon, when he should have been talking to Cosmo.

Tails took the book to his bookcase to return it. So many books he hadn't read yet. He put it away, then noticed something that didn't belong there. A romance? Why would he have a romance book in his study? Amy must have left it in his house, and he put it away without noticing what it was. Well, he'd return it the next time he saw her. Poor girl. She had her own problems with love.

He looked through the bookcase. Was there anything he might read just to pass the time until he fell asleep? His eyes fell on the romance again. Would Cosmo have liked it? It took it to his easy chair. He sat down, but didn't open the book. He'd fallen asleep many times on the chair, and had finally redesigned it so that it would recline. He didn't need to fight Eggman with a stiff neck again. Eggman was as crazy as they came, but he could immediately spot any weakness in an opponent and use it to his advantage.

Tails had a mental image of him falling asleep in this chair. Cosmo would come in, take the book, placing a bookmark in it so that he wouldn't lose his place. Then she'd push the chair back, place a pillow under his head, and cover him with a blanket. That wasn't too much to want from life, was it?

"Stop it!" he told himself. "She's coming back! She has to come back! Think of something else." He decided he needed to work. But on what? Well, the wave motion gun (which he'd named the Sonic Driver, but Amy had kept calling the Sonic Power Cannon until she had Tails calling it that) was completely totaled. He'd remove every trace of it. Then he'd start dismantling all guns from the Tornado and the vehicles he'd made for their trip into space.

Tails suddenly felt very restless. He had to get out of the house. Had to move. Was this why Sonic ran all the time? Well, maybe he'd start joining him.

Tails patted the flower pot. "I'll be right back," he said, no longer thinking it the slightest bit odd to be talking to a seed in a pot. He walked into the bathroom first and gave himself a good look in the mirror. Odd-shaped head. Goofy eyes. These stupid clumps of hair that were always falling in his eyes. He opened the medicine cabinet, took a small pair of scissors, and cut them off. Now he really looked weird. Oh well, who cared? If Cosmo took a long time to come back, his hair would regrow by then. If she didn't come back then it didn't matter. He wasn't going to look for another girl. Never.

"Well," he muttered, "that was an interesting couple of minutes. Better put these scissors away, though, before Sonic shows up and says I'm trying to kill myself." Funny, but the thought hadn't occurred to him. Not while there was still a chance they'd be together again. If something happened to the seed, or it turned out not to be Cosmo…

"It has to be Cosmo," Tails said, still talking to himself as he looked in on the seed again. "What else could it be? Her child?" He decided he didn't like that train of thought, and mentally changed subjects.

"It's dark now," he muttered. "I can go for a walk without anybody following me." Tails realized he was thinking more and more like a hermit. Well, if Cosmo didn't come back, being a hermit might not be so bad. No sad, pitying faces. Tails hated that.

"Well, Cosmo, I'm…going out for a little while. I'll be right back. Love you!"

Tails stepped outside and locked his front door. Normally he didn't bother. There were no thieves in town, and he really had nothing to steal until now. But Cosmo's seed was more precious to him that his own life.

The night air was cool and crisp. It would be summer soon. Tails had wanted to take Cosmo to the beach. He remembered the one time they had gone. It had been on planet Marumorin, the day after they'd fallen off of Romance Rock into the Lake of Love. Cosmo had swam like a fish. Tails had tried to keep up with her. Hah! Like trying to keep up with Sonic running! The only way he could catch her was by flying over the water. It should have been a romantic date, but Tails had blown it by blathering about how he was fixing the holographic projectors on the Blue Typhoon. Now that he thought about it, Cosmo had started looking like she was getting a headache. How often had he bored her out of her mind?

The moon was less than half full. Tails was glad. He didn't think he could deal with another full moon just now. The full moon would always remind him of that beautiful, wonderful night Amy's trap had catapulted them into the Lake of Love together. That would have been a nice story to tell their kids one day.

Kids? A fox and a…talking rose? Well, that was how he'd thought of her at first. It was funny. Cosmo had no apparent nose or ears, yet she was beautiful. Maybe it was her eyes. They were the bluest eyes he'd eve seen. He felt like he could fall into her eyes and drown, and not mind.

Tails realized he was approaching Cream and Vanilla's house. It was late, and he didn't feel like getting dragged inside by Cream and making polite conversation with Vanilla just then, so he took to the sky until he was far past the house. He landed, and started walking again. It was interesting, walking at night. The world seemed very different. Things that were cold and harsh in the daylight seemed softer, gentler in the dark. It was almost like a fairy land. The burn marks from Eggman's robots looked like little pools of water from certain angles. Debris from a hundred battles looked like tiny fairy hills. Tails didn't realize it, but he was starting to think poetically instead of scientifically.

Thinking of Eggman made Tails wonder if the mad scientist should be dealt with permanently, the way the Metarex had been. How many people had been hurt because of him? Sonic's father and Uncle Chuck had both been robotic zed. Sonic's mother was so traumatized, some of her hair had turned white. Amy had lost both parents, and Cream, her father. Sure, Eggman had helped them in space, but only after he'd realized the Metarex would have betrayed him sooner or later. Tails sighed. Maybe Eggman should be killed, but Tails wouldn't be the one to do it. He was starting to feel the same way about violence that Cosmo had.

Tails suddenly thought about Chris. He'd ignored him ever since Chris had stated "dead is dead." Maybe he was right, but Tails couldn't deal with that idea just now. He should make an effort to be nicer to him, though. Chris had gotten there by connecting the time/space generator with the master emerald. Now that it was shattered, it could be months before Chris could leave Mobius. Of course, that was assuming the connection hadn't been permanently broken. He wondered if Chris was having the same trouble with people staring at him that Tails and the others had had on Earth.

"I just hope nobody tells him the truth," Tails muttered. The truth was that Mobius was Earth, far in the future. Invading aliens, octopus-like horrors called the Xorda, had attempted to destroy all life. They were somehow able to utilize chaos energy, and had blasted the entire world, thinking it would kill everyone. Instead, it had mutated the animals, making them human-like. At least, that's what Tails had read in an ancient disc he'd found in Eggman's lair one time. Of course, Eggman might have faked it hoping Tails would find it. He looked up into the sky. If the Xorda were real, and ever discovered that they had failed, they'd be back. That was a cheery thought.

The road at last led down to the seashore. Again, Tails remembered that one day on the beach. Cosmo had only had two toes on each foot. Her feet had resembled those socks Mr. Tanaka had worn. What had he called them? Tabi?

Tails walked along the beach. A cool, salty breeze filled his nostrils. He wondered what it had like for Cosmo, having to grow up on a ship. The air and water would have been constantly recycled. How sad for anyone, but especially a plant. Cosmo had been ecstatic to walk barefoot on dirt and grass. Weather had frightened her at first. Rain. Snow. They had completely shocked her. Then they had delighted her. Seeing her happy had made the years Tails had spent fighting Eggman slip away. Suddenly, he was his right age. Now, he felt old again.

Tails took off his shoes and stepped into the water. "Ack! Cold! Cold!" He quickly jumped out of the water. "Okay, bad idea!" He'd heard of people that liked to swim in icy water, but he clearly wasn't going to be one of them. He wondered if Cosmo would have.

Tails decided he'd had enough walking for one night. He wanted to get back before Sonic put out an all points bulletin on him missing. He started back along the beach, holding his shoes. Sand stuck to his wet feet. It felt gross, but he didn't care. He could wash his feet when he got home. At the edge of the road, he put his shoes back on. Now he had wet sand in his shoes. It felt even worse now, but he decided that he deserved a little discomfort.

It seemed colder now. Maybe it was because his feet were wet, or maybe it was because the trip home was always a let down for him. Going new places were exciting. Going home just meant turning around and heading right back where you'd already gone.

Once home, Tails took off his shoes. He washed his feet in the tub, then started the task of removing clingy wet sand from his shoes. While he was working, he felt a suddenly breeze.

"No point in hiding from me, I can tell you're here, Sonic!"

"How are you doing, little buddy?" Sonic asked.

"Okay, I guess," Tails said. He set down the show he'd been cleaning and started pacing. He walked back and forth across his living room carpet. "Sonic?" he said suddenly. "Why do you run all the time?"

"Huh?" Sonic said.

"You run all day and a lot at night," Tails explained. "Every day. Every night. Are you running towards something you're looking for? Or are you running away from something you don't want to deal with?"

Sonic looked surprised, then thoughtful. "You know, I've never really thought about it before. I just… can't seem to sit still. I don't know. Maybe my speed powers make me hyper." He looked away. Tails suspected there was more, but he didn't want to press Sonic. "Is that what you were doing? Trying to get away from your worries?"

"Doesn't help, does it?" Tails asked. "You can't run away from yourself, because wherever you go, you take yourself with you."

"Uh…yeah," Sonic said.

"Don't mind me," Tails said, still pacing. "I don't know what I'm talking about right now."

"Um…you're gonna wear yourself out, Tails," Sonic said, "and I don't mean just with the pacing. It's pretty late, and you're still growing. You need your rest."

"Why?" Tails said, still pacing. "I don't have any reason to get up early. I have no place to go. I don't feel like seeing anyone."

"I'm sorry, Tails," Sonic said. "You shouldn't be helping me fight Eggman. You should be in school. Your biggest worries should be passing the big math test, or asking the girl that sits in the desk in front of you to go bowling with you or something."

"I'm okay," Tails said. "Eggman destroyed the school years ago, and I probably would have graduated by now anyway. I think I'm too smart for my own good. Maybe how you had to save me from that bully, what was his name? Anton?"

"That goofy fox with the bad toupee?" Sonic asked. "The one that goes out with Bunny? When did he ever pick on you?"

"Not him!" Tails said. "The guy I'm talking about was a lizard. He had a little brother, I don't remember his name."

"Druuna?" Sonic asked. "Man, I haven't thought about that guy in years! Wonder whatever happened to the creep? Ah, who cares?" He looked seriously at Tails now. He bit his lower lip. Then he said softly, "Do you…do you hate me?"

Tails sighed, and finally stopped pacing. "No, Sonic," he said at last. "The Unbreakable Bond is still holding." Tails had called their friendship that years ago. Back when he had thought that Sonic was infallible. They were still friends, but Tails would never look at Sonic the same way again. For the first time, Tails realized the Blue Blur couldn't fix all of his problems. "I'm still angry," Tails at last said, "but more than that…I'm disappointed. You let me down when I needed you the most." He turned away. "I mean…I can keep saying that seed's Cosmo coming back, but…is it really even possible? Maybe I should ask my Uncle Merlin. He's a scholar on chaos power. But he's out in the wilderness somewhere now, doing research. I don't want to bother him."

"I should have moved sooner," Sonic said. "Before Cosmo got in the way. And then--"

"I know," Tails said. Once Cosmo had the field down, Sonic hadn't wasted much time getting ready to be launched. Neither of them said it. It would stand between them for a long, long time.

Sonic hanged his head. "That was a real hero," he said at last.

"You know, Chris was probably right when he said I'll never be the same again," Tails said. "I don't feel the same. And Sonic, I--I want you to know that I'm going to keep fighting Eggman, but on my own terms. No more guns. I'm dismantling all of the guns from my vehicles. A gun took her away from me. I won't let one take anybody else." He rubbed his hair. "Like the new 'do I gave myself?" he asked. "I could see you staring, but not wanting to say anything. "My old life just doesn't seem important to me anymore. I don't know what I want now, but it's time for changes."

"You-you gonna be okay?" Sonic asked. "Can I get you anything?"

"Can you go back through time?" Tails asked. "Can you use chaos control to save Cosmo?"

"I…I wouldn't know how to begin to do that," Sonic admitted. "There's so much about my powers I don't know. I'm sorry."

"Well, I had to ask," Tails said. If the master emerald were working, I'd try…something, but…"

"Time travel can be very dangerous," Sonic said. "I sent us to Earth by total accident, and I needed you and Chris' grandpa to get us all back again."

"Well, I don't have any definite plans," Tails said. "I'm just thinking out loud. I think I'll be doing a lot more of that from now on. Now, it's nice of you to care, Sonic, but I think I can take care of myself. I'm going to bed."

"Tails," Sonic said, I…"

"It's okay, Sonic," Tails said. "I know you're sorry, and I'm not going to do anything to myself. Good night, Sonic."

Sonic sighed, defeated. "Good night, little buddy."

Sonic left, determined to check on Tails later. He seemed okay, but he was talking really weird. And if he decided to build a time machine, he could cause all kinds of damage. Sonic didn't want to wake up to find that he was a cat or a human or something.

"I don't have any choice," Sonic said to himself as he ran down the road. "I was going to call in Tails' parents, but maybe his Uncle Merlin would be a better idea. Tails is right. If it is possible that I saved her, Merlin'll know. Bringing in his parents will cause us both problems. His mom'll lock him in the house and tell me to get lost. Just because I put his dad in jail once when he broke the law."

Tails didn't go right to bed. He just wanted Sonic out of the house. He sat down in his easy chair and picked up that romance book again. If Cosmo did come back, he'd need some pointers on what to do. He didn't want to end up talking to her about the weather. But the heroine was so whiny he couldn't pay attention. His eyes felt heavy. Finally, he slumped back in his chair. Sadly, there was no one bring him a pillow and blanket.

Well, little sister, what do you think?

I--I don't know, oneesama. I don't know a lot of things.

Well, there's no hurry.

You won't be angry with me?

Is that what you're afraid of? Still silly, I see.

Don't make fun of her, dear. It's a very difficult decision for her.

Oh, she knows I love her, don't you.

Of course. And that's what makes this all the harder…

The end of chapter three

If you're getting tired of the doom and gloom, don't worry. Things are going to start picking up as soon as we get to the end of episode 78. By the way, I've read about the original Japanese version, but I haven't seen it, so I might get some points wrong. Feel free to correct me if I make mistakes, and I'll try to fix them.