Ch 4

I don't have anything particularly important to say about this chapter. It's really just a filler, but every story or show has a few of those. The next one's going to have a little more value, but that'll take a week or so. Chapter 4: Ironic

oOo

Darkness. It's what surrounds everything around one who is entrapped in a nightmare. Nightmares invade the mind and drive away sleep. Without sleep, the body is weak and fatigued. Tails had nightmares. He lost sleep. And he felt weak.

The yellow fox shot his eyes open, waiting for his focus to improve, but it didn't. Everything was dark, and there was almost nothing to see. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, all the while remembering where he was. He was in Cream and Vanilla's house from last night. He had apparently woken up very early, as it was still dark outside, although the sky was starting to get lighter.

Suddenly a small peep noise came from his side. It was Cream, sleeping next to him with her head on the couch. For a moment he was confused, but it made sense in the end. Cream was the kind of person who would sit by anyone's bedside until they were better.

Tails smiled gently, until he had a chance to look at himself. He was wrapped up in white bandages all over his body. He could feel one on his head, his right arms and legs were completely covered, and he had a massive band-aid on his chest. That particular wound had blood stained through the bandage.

How could I do something so stupid?

The young fox immediately dismissed the thought from his mind and lay back down. He didn't have anything to do but sit there, and that was what he did, although he caught himself slipping in and out of sleep. This did provide him the opportunity to day dream though, and before he knew it, sunshine poured in through the living room window and onto his face.

The sun was warm and inviting. It made him want to get up and stand by the window. But his entire right leg was wrapped up, leading him to believe that it was broken. After maybe twenty minute of nothing, his boredom made his try. He sat up like he had before, but scooted up so when he would swing his legs off, he wouldn't hit Cream. He leaned to his side and let his red and white sneakers fall to the ground. Surprisingly, his leg didn't hurt too much. Perhaps it was just incredibly scrapped instead of broken. It made sense as he felt that the wrapping was clinging to his fur with the dried blood that was between them. He stood completely up and felt nothing unusual, so he walked slowly to the window on the other side of the room.

The yellow light reflected off his yellow fur, making him appear to be much brighter than usual. The kit could tell it would be a nice day weather-wise, and maybe even a little enjoyable on his part. The giant yellow ball of fire was only half way exposed over the horizon, but Tails stood there admiring the scenery long enough to see it come up completely. It truly was beautiful, warm, inviting, and gentle. It was everything he hasn't been. He had been ugly, cold, antisocial, and rough, and he envied everything about the sun.

His analogy was cut short when he heard a small gasp come from behind him. Cream had woken up and was startled at the fact that there was no Tails in front of her.

"Don't worry." Tails said while facing the young rabbit. She turned around quickly with sad eyes, but smiled when she realized that he was still there. "I haven't left yet."

Cream got up and walked over to the window next to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Good enough to get up." The yellow fox replied with some degree of enthusiasm.

Cream looked out the window and noticed the sun had just risen completely over the horizon. "I can see why you got up" she said while admiring the scene.

Tails faced the window again. "You should have seen it half an hour ago."

Tails could tell it was going to be a good day. Although he was completely wrapped up, he witnessed a beautiful sunrise and had a short, enjoyable conversation with one of his friends. And his nose could tell that it was about to get even better. He could smell food being cooked in the room next door. Vanilla was an excellent cook, and he was surprised that he didn't hear her earlier. Perhaps she heard him and Cream talking and thought it would be alright to make a little noise.

His thoughts were soon confirmed, as Vanilla walked through the archway into the living room. "I see you two are awake" she greeted with a warm smile. "Come over and have breakfast. I made pancakes."

Cream skipped into the kitchen, followed by Tails, who would have ran if his entire leg wasn't wrapped up. They hopped onto seats with plates of buttery, syrup covered, and steaming hot pancakes. As tempted as Tails was to just dig in, he still retained his manners, and thanked Vanilla before shoving food into his mouth as fast as he could while still not looking like a total slob. He looked more like just a hungry kid with a plate of pancakes in front of him, which was essentially the case.

It didn't take long for him and Cream to finish. Tails got up and washed his plate then walked over to Vanilla. Being that she was the adult, she was in charge, and being in the state he was in he wasn't sure if she would let him leave, but he was ready to go and had to water his plant.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me in the past few hours" he said politely. "But I think I'm ready to go home now. I have to get back to work on the X Tornado." At this moment, Tails realized he had been lying a lot in the past few days, but one thing that intrigued him was that he didn't care. He used to find lying a very difficult thing to do, be it seemed he was getting better at it, luckily for him.

Vanilla smiled warmly at him. "You're welcome Tails." But then her expression became a little concerned. "But are you sure that you're feeling well enough to walk home?"

"Yeah, it's just a few scrapes" the yellow fox began to say while walking towards the door. He stopped before opening it and turned to face Vanilla and Cream. "Thank you again, ma'am. Goodbye Cream."

Tails opened the door and walked out, then closed the door gently behind him.

Cream faced her mother, still sitting down at the table. "Are you sure he will be alright mother?"

The older rabbit gave her normal comforting smile. "I'm sure he will be fine."

Tails walked down a small dirt road through the countryside. This whole area outside the major cities was nothing but plains and forest. The road that he was on would only take him past a couple of houses before he reached his. One house in particular was the house of Amy Rose. It only took a few minutes for the young fox to approach the small one person house.

It was indeed small, every bit as small as his own home, but without the massive garage. It had its own qualities; a very large yard, a beautiful garden full of different assortments of flowers (mostly roses), and a few trees here and there.

Although all of this ran through his head, Tails never once thought of stopping by. The only thing he wanted to do at the moment was take these bloody bandages off and have a warm shower. His day had been good so far, but the next event was hard for Tails to decide if it was good or bad.

Amy had been gardening on the far side of the house, where Tails was unable to see until he had walked past. Amy saw him right away though, and she jumped right up to run over and said hi to her close friend. "Hey Tails!"

The yellow kitsune stopped in his tracks. It was another show he would have to put on if he wanted to get anywhere fast. He took in a deep breath and formed his normal, friendly smile. "Hi Amy," he greeted as he turned around.

Once Amy got close enough, her cheery expression turned to one of concern. Although it was understandable, for Tails was covered in red stained bandages.

The pink hedgehog gasped a little. "What happened to you, Tails?"

Now this was a question Tails didn't mind answering truthfully. "I went out running with Sonic yesterday, and I tripped."

Amy walked up towards him and started examining the bandages more carefully. She could tell that Vanilla had probably already helped him and she stopped worrying so much. "How could you hurt yourself this badly by tripping?"

That question was one he didn't want to answer. The only reason he was able to push himself that far was because he was infuriated, and answering this question truthfully would lead to more questions that he did not have the desire or patience to answer.

"The road was really rocky," he lied.

Amy visually accepted this answer and stepped back. "Some of those look like they're pretty bad," she began to say. "Can I walk home with you and make sure that you're okay?"

Damn it…

Maybe he should stop trying to be so antisocial and just let someone help him. They were his friends, and they will all eventually know what is wrong with him and try to help him regardless of what he wants them to do. He would do the same for any of his friends.

Of course, all of these thoughts and that whole analogy passed through the brilliant fox's mind fast enough to make it look like he wasn't even thinking, and quickly replied.

"Sure, if you want."

He turned around and started walking, with Amy quickly fallowing. They kept silent most of the way, but after about a mile or so, Amy began to talk.

"How how did you let Sonic drag you into a run?" she asked her question with a tone that seemed like it was already mad at the fastest thing alive. Before Tails could answer, she continued to ramble on, bad mouthing him. "That jerk thinks he can pull you out of your home and interrupt your work just to make you do something that you didn't even want to do!"

"Actually Amy, he didn't make me do anything" the kit began to say. He took a deep breath, readying himself for what he was about to say. "I've been doing nothing but sitting in my house daydreaming ever since we got back from space." Tails' expression and tone became very serious, getting Amy's total attention. "Sonic thought it would be a good idea for me to get outside, and I suggested that we go for a run, not him."

Amy understood immediately. She saw him and Cosmo fall into her love trap, they spent almost all of their free time together, and it was nearly impossible for him to have done what he did. He loved Cosmo, and he had to shoot her. The pain that Tails felt was probably on such a level that she could not possibly understand.

She felt like she should say or do something, but she didn't. She continued to walk next to him, keeping her eyes glued to the ground and her mouth closed. That was probably the best decision. Tails had no desire to be felt sorry for, or have any special attention paid to him. He said what he wanted to say, and he felt somewhat good about it.

After maybe fifteen more minutes of walking, they reached Tails' small home on the beach. Tails walked up to the door and held it open. "Would you like to come inside?"

"No, thank you" the pink hedgehog replied. "I have to get back to my garden." She spoke very politely and softly, knowing that Tails probably wanted to be alone and was trying to act friendly.

Tails gave her a light, friendly smile. "Thanks for walking with me." He stepped completely inside and faced Amy. "See you later" he said with a wave.

Amy waved back and he closed the door. Before he could take off his bandages and wash himself, he had to water his plant. He filled a small cup of water at the sink and gently drizzled it onto the small green sprout. During this, he could tell it was getting bigger. This also sparked his curiosity. What would this grow into? You don't plant a tulip seed and expect a rose to grow. You expect a tulip to grow.

He knew exactly where this train of thought was going to take him, and he quickly pushed it all out of his head and walked away to his bathroom. He started to remove all of the wrapping from his arm, then his leg, then the big one on his left chest. There was a fine, crescent shaped scar. He placed his hand over it and could feel the light beating of his heart. He had a scar on his heart.

"Ironic…" the young fox mumbled.

He then turned around and started his shower. After it was the right temperature, he stepped in and let the warm water run through his fur, washing out all of the dirt and dried blood. It was very relaxing, soothing, and just all around good and he lost himself in it.

Meanwhile on the countryside road…

Amy was walking down the road back to her home. She had been walking for only a few minutes when she came to the forest area of the road Tails and her had passed earlier. As she was walking, she could almost feel like there was someone she knew around.

She looked to the left, and there was nothing. Then she looked to the right, where was a spiky figure in standing with its back turned under a tree. Although it was covered by the tree's shadow, she could tell it was a familiar hedgehog.

The thought of seeing Sonic made her cheer up instantly, and she ran over to give her usual 'breath taking' hug.

"Ouf…"

"Hi, Sonic!" The pink hedgehog greeted while tightening her grip. "I haven't seen you in a while."

She then heard him speak, but his voice came from behind her. "Yo, Amy! What are you doing?"

Amy kept her arms tight but turned her head to see her blue hero standing in the middle of the road, and not in her arms. He was smiling widely, trying not to laugh.

"That is the best question I have ever heard you ask, faker."

That particular voice was slightly deeper and had a sense of aggression in it, which was far from Sonic's gentle, carefree voice.

Amy unhinged her arms and backed away to see Shadow. He was the last person she expected to see. She thought he was dead. But when she snapped back to reality, she felt her cheeks get a little warm with embarrassment. This was the second time she had done this, and was just as uncomfortable as last time.

The black hedgehog turned around and rubbed his chest briefly. He had a slight look of annoyance painted on his face. "With a grip like that, I don't understand how he can ever get away from you."

Sonic walked up to them, chuckling. "I'm right here, Amy" he said mockingly.

Amy spawned her infamous piko-piko hammer and let it drop, right onto Sonic's red and white sneaker. He adding to her embarrassment would not go without punishment. As soon as she heard his grunt of pain, she put the oversized mallet away, making it disappear into thin air.

That little act made Shadow chuckle a little, but he quickly regained his normal frown and started to walk away.

Sonic stopped hopping around and faced the ebony hedgehog. "Where are you going Shadow?"

The red streaked hedgehog stopped and turned around, arms crossed. "Why do you insist on always knowing where I'm going?"

Sonic briefly faced Amy. "Stay here" he began to say quietly. "I will be right back."

He then started to walk towards Shadow. "I want to talk to you about something really quick."

Sonic's serious expression was not something Shadow often saw, so he decided to listen. "And what would that be?"

Sonic had an idea last night after he had spoken to Shadow, but he wasn't sure how he would react to his questions. "I was wondering, sense you remember Maria now, if you would have a talk with Tails." Sonic hoped that mentioning Maria's name would not send Shadow into a fit.

The dark hedgehog's eyes narrowed, but he did not appear to be too upset. "Why?"

"Because you are the only one around who can understand what he feels."

Shadow was visibly annoyed now, and he turned back around to start walking away. However, a blue blur dashed right in front of him. "Don't walk away from me!"

"Get out of my way" Shadow demanded while pushing Sonic to the side, knocking him to the ground. "I'm not going to do anything of the sort. He will get over it in due time." He was still walking away, but Sonic's voice again interrupted him.

"And what? Let him become like you!" Sonic shouted as he stood from the ground.

This was really starting to wear on the ultimate lifeform's nerves. "What's wrong with being like me?"

"You're an ass" Sonic answered confidently. He almost expected to get punched in the face, but Shadow turned around again and began to walk away, as if he didn't care.

Sonic couldn't believe that Shadow would turn his back on an insult like that. "Why you…" he muttered to himself while getting ready to run after him.

But before he could move, he felt a hand grab his arm. He turned to see Amy. "Just let him go" she began to say softly. "You'll just push him farther away."

Amy was probably right. If Shadow wasn't in the mood to fight, then he wouldn't fight. If he wasn't in the mood to help, he wouldn't help. Seeing all of this made the blue hedgehog question why he had even asked. It seemed so pointless.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

oOo

There you go. Next one maybe by next weekend, depending on my mood and a countless number of other variables.