Author's Note: I'm very proud of my work on the last chapter, even if a lot of it wasn't actually my own writing. I modified some of the dialog from the Japanese version just so that it would seem more in-character. I'm aware of the fact that I may not have described the events exactly as they happened in episode 77, but it doesn't really matter. This chapter below will probably be the last chapter where I rely on a lengthy flashback from the actual series, so expect to see 100 percent of my writing from here on out. There's a reason why I left out Cosmo's words from that episode in the previous chapter; I'll explain why bellow.
Tails. For all of the problems I've given you, please forgive me.
Cosmo, you never caused me any problems. I've always been happy to help you.
Tails… what I really want is for you to fire.
It's just so hard… because… Cosmo… I love you…
I'll never forget you for accepting me. I always thought that I was useless, that I was unable to do anything and that I couldn't do anything for anyone else. But you helped me regain trust in myself and this feeling will never disappear. Tails, I'll love you forever.
Those were the words that he had remembered hearing on that day. Now he was beginning to wonder if he had actually heard them at all. Did he just fabricate them in order to ease his pain?
Tails and Amy had been dead silent ever since they arrived back at Cream's home. They said nothing about what had happened and they asked to be left alone. Tails didn't have the strength to act like his calm, happy-go-lucky self, so he simply tried to rid himself of any emotion. He sat quietly at a desk, facing away from her.
Amy didn't know quite where to begin. Her voice was hushed.
"Tails… I know this has all been so difficult for you, but remember what she wanted. She saved us all; she saved the galaxy. It was her goal in life: it's what she was destined to do. I know she's happy and proud of you, wherever she is."
She heard a few sniffles. Tails raised his hands, as if to rub his eyes, but instead he slammed them on the desk.
"It's a lie!" he cried. "Cosmo never planned ahead. Her hand was forced because we were too weak to do it ourselves. If I had just brought the cannon online sooner, it wouldn't have ended like this…"
"Don't blame yourself! We were all there and most of us stood by and did nothing. You did more that day than any of us ever could."
"There was nothing you could've done. It was just us out there. Maybe Eggman talked me into it and maybe he didn't, but in the end I was the one who fired. I couldn't even think of blaming Cosmo. And as for Shadow, I don't know if it'd be right to blame him. He may not have survived, either. The only one left to blame is me."
"What about the metarex? …and Sonic?" she was afraid to add.
"She was all alone… not just on that day, but for her whole life. She just needed someone who cared. I could've been that someone, but instead I was…" his voice trailed off as he sobbed uncontrollably.
Amy then noticed that the door was open a crack and Cream was peering inside, frightened at what she was seeing.
"Go get your mother. Quickly," Amy ordered, her eyes still misty.
"Please… just leave me be," Tails stuttered.
Amy grabbed a hold of him gently, starting to cry as well.
"I won't leave you," she whispered.
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When Sonic arrived at the house, it seemed abandoned. The lights were on, but not a single person could be seen through the windows. Suddenly Sonic felt a pair of arms clasp around him and lift him off the ground.
"Sonic!" a voice cried cheerfully.
"Chris?!"
He immediately let him down.
"Sorry about that," Chris said bashfully. "It's just been a while, you know?"
"Heh, Amy didn't say anything about you being here. Long time no see, kid."
Chris gave a slight frown that Sonic couldn't remember his real age.
"Listen, I'd love to catch up, but… how have they been doing?" Sonic asked.
"I don't know. They didn't say anything when they got here. I'm not even sure what happened. Everyone's upstairs right now, no idea why."
They both turned their heads in unison when they realized that Amy was standing in the front door.
"I think maybe I should sit this one out," Chris said with unease before he went inside.
As soon as he left, Amy ran over and embraced Sonic, starting to get teary-eyed all over again.
As always, this made Sonic uncomfortable, but he decided not to fight it this time.
"Listen, I'm glad to see you too but I really need to see what's up with Tails."
Amy immediately let go of him and blocked the doorway.
"Don't. He doesn't want to see you, and I don't think you'd want to see him like this, either."
"Why? What happened?"
"We were on Eggman's trail. We had him trapped while that forest fire was going on. He tried distracting us while one of his robots snuck up on us. He started talking about Cosmo."
"And?"
"He talked about what happened to Cosmo like it was nothing. He even ridiculed Tails for still feeling anything at all about it. After that, it was like Tails was reliving that day all over again. I mean, how can anyone just say something like that to a kid?"
Sonic didn't know what to say. Amy sighed and continued for him.
"What I don't understand is… it seems like there's something between you and Tails."
"What do you mean?"
"I've been looking closely at what he's been saying and it's like he blames you for what happened, but he's too humble to admit it, so instead he blames himself. Normally he talks about you quite a bit, but when the topic of Cosmo comes up and I mention your name, he just changes the subject or ignores what I say. What happened to you two on that day?"
"Nothing, I wasn't even there. All I remember is that he just seemed sad that the only part of Cosmo that I managed to find was that seed, but that was it."
"What do you mean 'that was it'?" She sounded offended.
"What? He was sad that his friend was gone. If I had lost one of you guys I'd sure be sad when I heard the news."
"Cosmo wasn't 'one of the guys'."
"How? She was our friend, too. She was one of us."
"Do you even know what this is all about? This isn't the time for your jokes, Sonic!"
"Who's joking? Cosmo was Tails' friend and he misses her. What don't I get?"
"This was never about a friend. Tails loved her. He was in love with her and I know for a fact that she felt the same way about him."
Sonic was about to say something, but his voice trailed off and he averted his gaze from Amy.
"Didn't anyone tell you what happened?"
"I didn't ask. I didn't even think that there was anymore to the story than what I already knew."
"Didn't you at least think that there was something going on between them? Didn't you see the signs?"
"I guess not."
"Do you even understand love at all?" Amy's voice became mournful as she started to cry again. "Is this why you don't like me? Or is it that you just don't care about any of us?"
"Amy, you know that that isn't true."
"Then why did you run off so quickly when we returned home? Didn't you think that he needed you? Did you think that maybe I needed you?"
"Other people needed my help. It's what I do."
"Well we need you. Once you make Eggman sorry for what he did you can come back here and help Tails. I won't tell him what you said to me because you're going to tell him yourself. If you don't then you can forget about ever being welcomed here again!"
With that Amy slammed the door in Sonic's face.
He slowly trudged away from the house, stopping every so often to see if maybe she would change her mind.
He may not have known everything that had happened that day, but there was something that he would never forget.
Drifting in the blackness of space, Tails stood at the edge of the observatory, staring at the aftermath of the planet's destruction. A great deal of time had passed since the threat had subsided, so Tails was feeling some semblance of normalcy. Sonic approached him from behind with a stern look on his face.
"Sonic…"
Sonic grabbed him by the hand and placed a small white pellet on his palm.
"Here Tails. I'm sorry, but we weren't able to do anything else."
Tails stared at the seed for a moment then clutched it in his hands.
"It's not true! Just a second ago that was Cosmo! Well? Tell me it's not true!"
Sonic voiced no objections to this conclusion.
"I thought that you could save her… I believed in you Sonic, I believed in you!"
Tails slumped to Sonic's feet; he let out a piercing wail that devolved into woeful sobbing. Sonic closed his eyes, straightened his stance and tightened his expression. He made no effort to comfort the boy; he didn't even look in his direction. He tried not to take Tails' words literally. He tried telling himself that what Tails really meant was that he missed Cosmo and was sad that he'd never see her again. In actuality this was true, but deep down Sonic couldn't bring himself to accept that. On that day, Sonic wanted to forget the deep shame that he felt. For the months after it happened, all he wanted to do was run away and forget.
