Tails had spent the day in an almost vegetable state, barely seeming to register the world around him. It was painful for Sonic to look at, to see his best friend so... lifeless.
Oh well, Sonic thought, I guess it's better than the alternative...
In a way, it was fairly peaceful for once, although Sonic felt guilt for the mere thought. Tails was his best friend, why on earth was he feeling happy that his friend was so emotionally drained?
Sonic went to check on Tails for what felt like the billionth time, worried that Shadow would just use Chaos Control to kidnap Tails with ease. Tails was thankfully still where he had been the entire day; sitting on his bed where he had remained since morning, his gaze leaving the ground the only sign that he was even still aware. Tails stared at Sonic for a moment, his expression almost unreadable. Was he sad, or simply not all there?
Either way, it was getting late, and Sonic went straight to the point.
"I'm going to bed," Sonic said. "It's pretty late. You should probably go to bed soon, too, okay?"
When Tails said nothing, Sonic walked over to him and patted him gently on the head, ruffling the fox's bangs playfully. When Tails didn't respond to even that, Sonic spoke up again.
"I'll be downstairs if you need me," Sonic said. "I'm still kinda debating whether I should stay in my usual room, or just crash on the couch. Which do you think I should go with?"
Sonic waited a moment, hoping for Tails to respond. The fox was silent, of course, and after what felt like forever, Sonic finally gave up, ruffled Tails' bangs again, and turned to leave, stopping when Tails reached out and gently grabbed his arm. Sonic nearly jumped out of his skin, surprised that Tails had finally moved for the first time since the early morning.
"Please don't leave me," Tails said softly, his voice even quieter than usual from lack of use and water. "You can sleep on the couch in here if you want... Just please don't leave..."
Sonic smiled, happy that Tails had finally spoken again.
"Okay, then," Sonic agreed. "I'll sleep in here tonight."
Sonic was suddenly reminded of when Esplouge had been there little over a month ago, specifically of when Esplouge had been afraid to sleep without Tails nearby. It nearly sent a shiver up his spine thinking of the possibility of Tails believing he was Esplouge again.
Is he remembering that? Sonic wondered. Is he "remembering" being Esplouge?
No... He can't be.
"This might sound kinda weird," Sonic began, deciding that testing out his worries would be more productive than fretting about them, "but can you tell me what your name is?"
"Tails," the fox said, sounding confused. "Why?"
Sonic offered a reassuring smile, ruffling the fox's hair playfully yet again.
I knew it was all just in my head.
"No reason."
Both Sonic and Tails thankfully slept through the night without interruption. Tails woke up the the feeling of the sun on his face and saw that Sonic had opened the window at some point. He sat up and rubbed his eyes sleepily before looking around to see that Sonic wasn't in the room with him anymore.
Tails looked to his clock and saw that it was a little passed ten in the morning, surprising him that Sonic had woken up so early in the morning.
Tails finally got out of bed and headed for his bathroom, figuring that splashing cold water on his face would wake him up faster than just sitting and staring off into space. He froze at the sight of his own reflection, his eyes trained on the many cuts that covered his entire body. For a moment, it felt as though even his thoughts were frozen in their tracks before he finally snapped out of it, splashed the water on his face, and dried off.
"Tails?" Sonic called, probably from somewhere downstairs. "Is that you?"
"Yeah," Tails called back. He dashed down the stairs and found Sonic in the kitchen, smiling when he found the blue hedgehog. "It's weird to see you up so early, Sonic."
Sonic appeared confused, which in turn confused Tails.
"Um... Are you feeling alright, Tails?" Sonic asked unsurely.
"Of course I am," Tails said, smiling although confused. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Sonic seemed unsure how to answer, so Tails went into the kitchen and began rifling through the cabinets.
"I'm hungry," Tails said absently.
"I could make something for you if you want," Sonic said, still seeming confused.
Why is he acting like everything's okay? Sonic wondered. There's no way he's really feeling as happy as he's acting...
"Nah," Tails answered. "I just want some oatmeal. All you gotta do is boil the water for it."
It was so unusual for Tails to be acting like everything was fine all of a sudden. Just the day before, the fox had been practically a statue, and the night before that, he had been attacked. It wasn't normal for him to all of a sudden be perfectly okay.
And then another thought occurred to Sonic. Tails had done pretty much the same thing when they had first met, right after his parents had died. He had been so fragile, which was normal considering what had happened, but then all of a sudden, he had been perfectly fine. Then, just like now, Tails had been acting so happy and normal, it almost scared Sonic. It was so utterly fake, it was scary.
Tails' happiness then, just as it was now, was just an act. Somewhere inside, the fox was still hurting, but he was trying to mask it. And that, Sonic felt, was probably worse than anything else. How could he help if he had no idea how Tails was really feeling?
"Are you sure you're okay?" Sonic asked.
"Yeah, silly," Tails said, placing a pot full of water on the stove to get the water boiling. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Sonic was silent. It was nice to see Tails so happy, even though both of them knew it was just an act. Even so, Sonic wanted to see Tails happy rather than sad or angry. He was almost desperate to see Tails happy again.
And of course, anything was preferable to Tails thinking he was Esplouge again.
After a silence that seemed to stretch on forever, Tails finally spoke up again, bringing Sonic's attention back to reality.
"I think I'm going to stop working on my experiment for a while," Tails said.
"What?" Sonic asked, sounding hopeful. "Why?"
Tails shrugged.
"I haven't worked on my plane in forever," Tails explained. "There're probably a million things I need to fix on it. Plus, I want to spend more time with you. We haven't been spending enough time together lately, even though you've been staying here."
"O- okay..." Sonic said, not sure what else he could say. "That sounds good."
"We should go to the beach again or something," Tails continued, pouring the boiling water into the bowl of oatmeal as he spoke. "Or maybe to the park, if the weather's nice. It's been a while since we've been on a picnic."
Sonic couldn't help but shudder at how cold Tails' voice seemed to sound. Tails had somehow managed to sound both happy and hopeless at once, unless it was all in Sonic's head. Tails turned around, smile plastered on his face, and headed for the table so he could enjoy his breakfast. Sonic stood rooted to his spot, watching Tails carefully as though afraid of being attacked.
With the way things had been going on recently, it wouldn't exactly be shocking if that were to happen.
"Yeah..." Sonic agreed weakly. "That, uh, sounds like it would be a lot of fun, Tails."
"Do you think Knuckles would want to hang out with us?" Tails asked.
"Knuckles?" Sonic asked. "I dunno. Why?"
Tails shrugged.
"He's our friend, isn't he?" Tails asked. "But we never really hang out with him."
"Yeah, well... Knuckles is kind of a loner," Sonic explained. "Although I don't think it'd hurt to ask him if he wants to hang out."
"That'd be nice," Tails said, his voice beginning to sound cheerful again. "I miss hanging out with everyone."
"Yeah," Sonic agreed. "I do, too."
Sonic left the kitchen, which Tails barely seemed to notice. Tails enjoyed the rest of his meal in silence.
The next two months went by without incident. Tails had seemed to be returning to his normal, happy self, and Sonic felt relieved that everything was finally going back to normal.
And then he made a discovery that broke the charade.
A/N: What could Sonic have possibly discovered?
On the plus side, the next chapter is at least started, so it hopefully won't take quite as long for me to update. I'm going to try to be better about posting updates in my profile more often, so hopefully it'll become easier for me to at least let you guys know how I'm doing as far as my fan fiction writing goes. Thank you all for being so patient with me!