Chapter 2 ~ Separation Anxiety

Author's Note: My apologies in advance, this chapter is somewhat of a cliffhanger. No worries, though, the next one will resolve it! Enjoy. (The characters and locations in this story are not my creations/ideas, they belong to Archie and SEGA. Except for "Mobo-Mart", that was my own lame idea.)

What a great day, Tails thought. He was just heading home from grocery shopping at Mobo-Mart. The warm breeze lightly rustled his soft fur and he thought the sunset this evening was the most dazzling one he'd ever seen. And for a fox of 21 years, that's saying something.

As Tails rounded a corner, he thought that just for a moment, the breeze got swifter and cooler. As soon as the feeling had come, it was gone. Oh, will he never learn? Tails thought. "Come on, Sonic, I know you're around here somewhere! Come out!"

After Tails called out there was a couple seconds delay. Then suddenly, the energetic blue hedgehog zipped out from behind a couple of garbage cans and came to a skidding halt right in front of the two-tailed fox. "Damn it! Every time, dude! How can you tell?"

"Sonic, you will always be the Legendary Blue Blur," Tails replied, "But I've known you far too long for your super-speed crap to get by me."

"Hmm, noted," Sonic decided, "I'll have to work on that."

"Yeah. Good luck with that, shorty," Tails said. He enjoyed teasing Sonic this way, as he'd finally surpassed his best friend's height just a couple of years back. "So what's up?"

Sonic just stood there thinking for a moment, as though he knew what he wanted to say, but simply couldn't form the right words. Finally he began to speak. "Well… Ya know how Mina and Ash have been goin' out all these years?"

At the mention of the two mongooses, Sonic immediately had Tails' full attention. Where is he going with this? Tails wondered. "Um… yeah. Why?"

"Well," Sonic began, "the way I hear it, they're split up. As of yesterday."

"What? What happened?"

"Mind you, I didn't hear it directly from either of them," Sonic revealed. "This afternoon I was hangin' out with Sal. She said Ash and Mina had a big fight yesterday, and he basically dumped her like yesterday's trash. But Mina wasn't so sure that it was really over. So earlier today, she decided to go over to Ash's place and talk to him about it.

"I guess that didn't go so well," he continued, "Sally and I were out walking earlier, and when we passed near Mina's house we heard really loud sobbing coming from inside. Sal said she's gonna drop by tomorrow morning to check on Mina. I feel bad for her too, but I've never been good at handling this stuff…"

After hearing all this, Tails looked about ready to explode. Why, that little… "Ash, you selfish, sadistic prick!" he exclaimed, seemingly not to anyone in particular. "I mean, uh," he mumbled, realizing that he had just totally flipped out, "that… that really sucks. I'll have to stop by too, at some point, and give her my best." Why did I just freak out like that?

Sonic had raised one eyebrow in response to Tails' initial reaction. However, he seemed to be letting it go since Tails had calmed down a bit. "Yeah. Me too," he said. "Well, anyway, just thought I'd let'cha know, little bro. It's odd, isn't it? They seemed so good together."

"Yeah… Hm," Tails said. Yet for some reason it really doesn't seem that bad that they've broken up… Just that she's hurt… Tails pondered over this.

"Oh well," Sonic began again, "I gotta juice! Catch ya later, T!"

"Yeah." Tails waved as Sonic dashed off. Hm… Sonic's one of those people that will just never change, I suppose. Hehe. He began walking again, but at a much slower pace than before. Tails was quite lost in his thoughts. I wonder what could've happened between those two to break them up after over 10 years. It was just so odd. He couldn't figure out why Ash would do such a thing to a great girl like Mina. Not that it's so far out of character…

And another thing. How come I'm so enraged over this news, yet so… okay with it? This really got Tails thinking. It's not like their relationship had anything to do with him. Could it be… he pondered over a possibility that had just come to him. Maybe… I had never really thought about it. I'll just have to wait and see. It's not like I can act on it right now anyway… And with that thought, Tails decided to dismiss the subject for the time being and carry on home.

Mina woke up on the floor in the living room of her small one-story house. She was covered in a thick layer of sweat, grime, and tears. Not that she cared at this point, it wasn't any different from yesterday, or the day before. Mina had hardly eaten, not washed, and had difficulty finding sleep ever since the man she once loved shattered her heart.

It was Tuesday. Three days after Ash had confirmed the breakup. Mina was upset after the initial fight, but there was no comparison to how distraught she was as soon as she realized her relationship was really over. Completely over. Forever. It was just too much. And to think, I was under the impression we were in love… Mina couldn't bear this thought and tears began rolling down her face again as she lay on her side in the fetal position.

Mina thought she must be one bad confrontation away from going insane. Because she would prefer to keep her mental stability out of the question, she had been trying her best to block out the people that had been coming by her house to see her. She had ripped her phone's battery out the day before, because she was tired of all the calls she didn't want to answer. Mina thought about all the people that had come by to see her since Sunday morning.

Her mother Isabella, being a loving and nurturing mother, knew when Mina needed her. Naturally she was the first to appear. She had tried to talk to Mina, figure out what was wrong, assure her that whatever it was couldn't be "the end of Mobius". Mina heard her, but was not listening, she could only sit there sobbing and wondering when she'd be left alone again. Unfortunately for her, not for a while yet.

Isabella hadn't even been gone ten minutes when Sally came knocking at the door. She knew Mina was there, so after a couple of minutes with no response, she let herself in. Mina heard Sonic come in after her.

Sally had taken a similar approach to Mina's mother. She started hushing Mina and telling her everything would be okay, but to no avail. This only made Mina feel worse. She knew everything would not be okay, because she didn't know what to do with herself. There was a gaping hole in her heart, and Mina was not a one-size-fits-all type of girl. She needed someone special. Someone she could love with all her being, and who would love her back just as passionately… Where was she supposed to find that type of relationship now…

Sonic, seeing that Sally was getting nowhere with Mina, suggested that they give her some more time to be alone. Try again later. Sally sat there petting Mina's long purple hair for a moment as she thought about this. Reluctantly she agreed with him, and the couple left.

More people came by one or two at a time. Mina named a few she could remember in her head. Knuckles, Bunnie & Antoine, Amy & Cream, Rotor, Rouge. Some simply offered their best wishes and went on their way. A few stayed awhile and tried to console Mina. But none of them really helped, because none of them had what she really needed.

After thinking over all this, Mina realized that there was one thing everyone had said that was true. It's not the end of the world. She got up, and for the first time in several days she went and took a shower. After she was clean, Mina proceeded to brush her teeth and hair, put on some fresh clothes, and pour herself a bowl of cereal. I suppose I can't lie there and weep over one guy forever, she thought. Life must go on, and I'd better go with it.

Coincidentally, Tails was taking off of work this particular Tuesday. He had recently finished helping Nicole with a big power output inverter project for one of the many terminals she used to access New Mobotropolis' nanite control mainframe. As there was no other work that needed urgent attention, Tails just went in on Monday to file some documents for reference and decided to take the rest of the week off.

When he woke up that morning, Tails didn't know what to do with his time. He hadn't taken a day off work in quite some time, not to mention four. Should I just relax and sit around home today? Should I go visit the Chao Garden? See a movie? He pondered over these ideas. I have no idea what I'm gonna do today. Then something hit him. He remembered his conversation with Sonic just the other day…

That's what I'll do! I'll go see how Mina's doing. I bet she'd like some company…

About three quarters of an hour later, Tails found himself flying up to Mina's house. He landed at the side of the road and made the last stretch up the walkway on foot. Suddenly he was having second thoughts. What if she just wants to be alone right now? Tails couldn't help but worry that he'd just be an annoyance. The way Sonic said it, it sounded like she was pretty upset…

As quickly as he'd started worrying, Tails caught himself. Oh, what the hell, he thought. I'm already here so I may as well try and help. Tails gathered up his thoughts and approached the front door. He knocked, and only had to wait a few seconds before he heard "Just a minute!" from somewhere inside. His bright orange fur stood on end and his namesake twin tails twitched every few seconds from nervousness. After a moment, the sound of footsteps came shuffling up behind the door. "Who is it?" a female's voice queried.

"It's Tails," replied the young vulpine, "Tails Prower."

"Oh!" The door swung open with just a slight creaking sound, revealing behind it none other than Nicole the Lynx. "Miles! Why, it's been such a long time."

"Hah! Good to see you, Nicole," Tails greeted her, "I see you've brought your sense of humor with you today.

"Sarcasm is just another free service I offer." Nicole winked. The AI Lynx was wearing her standard dark purple dress today, but there was something different about her. Tails then noticed that she had her black hair down, flowing past her shoulders and about halfway down her back. She looked truly stunning, but honestly Tails was a bit stunned just to have met her here at Mina's home.

Ever since Mina and Nicole had their little quarrel over the Iron Dominion back in '37, there had been some obvious residual tension between the two of them. However, they had technically made up, and Nicole had always been more caring and friendly than many other Mobians Tails could think of. I guess she's just genuinely concerned about Mina, Tails thought.

Realizing that it was his turn to speak, Tails quickly thought up a reply. "It's just as well. I suppose she could use some extra good-natured humor right now," he said, referring to Mina.

"My thoughts exactly. However, compared to what I've heard, she seems to be doing much better today than she's been," Nicole remarked. "Well, I'm sorry to say that I must be off. Best of luck getting conversation out of her, although she's up and about she was still hardly acknowledging my presence. Farewell, Miles!"

Without giving Tails another chance to respond, Nicole was out the door and briskly pacing away from the house. As she reached the road's edge, she disappeared in a wave of bright green electronic particles. I wish I could do that, Tails joked to himself. He turned back to the now empty doorway and called out, "Hello?" Nothing.

Tails figured that since Mina already knew there was somebody else here, he could go ahead and let himself in. He made sure to wipe his brown leather workboots on the mat outside, then entered the house and shut the door behind him. He took in his surroundings as he continued inward.

Tails had entered a small foyer connected directly to Mina's living room. There was a half bathroom inside the wall opposite him, and at the far corner of the living room there was a hallway that seemed to lead to the rest of the house. "Hello?" Tails called again, "Mina?"

"In the kitchen," came the reply. Tails approached the previously mentioned hallway. Around one corner he saw a light on. Well, here I go, the fox thought. With that, he went up to the doorway and entered the kitchen.

Author's Note: I told you there would be an unresolved end to this chapter. But what's life without a little whimsy? Thank you for reading, please rate/rev/sub and have a good day! ~Dan P