Chapter 37:

Home

A bag landed with a thud in the cargo area of the sky blue and white plane. Sonic stepped up behind Tails as she hefted more bags into the back. The fox's expression was void of emotion and she stared blankly forward. The blue hedgehog matched her face in terms of look and stood in silence with a beverage in his hand. It was rather cool in the hangar and all too quiet. Sonic rattled the ice in his drink.

"You want a drink?"

Tails smiled; though, it was indeterminable what emotional value it held. "What kind?" She asked, looking back at her husband.

"Meh, tequila."

The fox smirked. "Sorry, I don't think I should go and get my inhibitions lowered. I have a plane to pilot, remember?" She turned back around and continued to load up the plane with provisions.

"Kokoro..." Sonic quietly started. "you don't have to do this."

"Sonic, the thing is, I do."

Sonic set the drink on the floor and stood up. "Why?" He took his wife by the shoulders and rotated her around to him. "Why do you have to do this?!" He raised his voice.

Tails jerked his hands from her shoulders. "Because! I just...want to know...want to remember what our life used to be like, what it looked like." The yellow kitsune shut her eyes to push back any would-be tears that might show. As if her eyes didn't look bad enough. "Sonic...why are you so concerned?"

The blue hedgehog placed a hand on her chin and she opened her eyes to meet his. "You're my wife and I love you. I don't want to see anything happen to you." His shoulders feel slack. "I couldn't bear the thought of loosing you or our son."

"Sonic, though I may no longer be that little kid fox that you fought along side with anymore, I'm still the same person...so, stop treating me like I need extra help now. I'm 15 and I know how to make my own decisions." Tails was firm with her words, but avoided putting to much of a sharp edge to them.

Sonic's face shallowed and his gaze no longer was fixed in her eyes. She was right. In the blue hedgehog's head stirred the words she spoke, digesting, incorporating themselves into logic. He was frustrated with himself, he had forgotten who Tails was, who she is. Maybe it was the male dominance in his nature. His "man of the house" trait, if you would. Sonic took a deep breath to steady his nerves and calm the verbal torrent in his mind.

"Sorry, hun, I guess I'm just not who I used to be." He spoked in a dull whisper.

The hedgehog went back to his seat, ignoring the alcoholic beverage that sit next to the chair. He wanted to cry, or at least thats what he felt like he should. To cry out all the complications of diverse qualities in his and leave but one thing:

Equality

It wasn't so simple, though and he knew it wouldn't be. Five years he had been turning into this; all he wanted to do now is keep himself from going too far and shatter everything. Tails observed the pitiful aspect her husband wore on his face and felt so guilty. She thought it was the tension evaporating from the how sex they had moments earlier, but now she wasn't so sure. With dropped ears she went to his side and sat in his lap. There was a pinch in the back of her muzzle, yet another signal that she might break out into tears. She cleared her throat, careful not to make it sound audibly oriented to anything in particular.

"Sonic, sweety, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that." She said conclusively.

Sonic sighed shakily. "Koko, its not that, its me...I'm becoming too overprotective. I feel like I shouldn't keep my eye off of you for fear that something might happen unexpectedly. I know you can take care of yourself, but my head...my heart, it doesn't want to believe it. It wants to be an impenetrable shied for you, from everything. And by doing so...I tied you up."

Tails laughed lightly. "This is one of the many road bumps in a relation, Sonic. I know you want to protected me and I won't lie, I like it, more so love it, actually, but I'll be fine, I promise. Nothing will happen to me or Jr or us, so long as we stay together."

A steady clap echoed into the hangar. Tails brought her attention up to the door and noticed her brother standing there with a smug look on his face. Kokoro shot a glare at the blue kitsune.

"Ass." She scoffed.

He shrugged it off, still holding a smile. "Sorry, sis, but that was one of the best heart-to-heart conversations I've ever heard. You keep that up and you'll be an immortal couple."

Tails stood off of Sonic as Amy and the children came into the hangar. "So, are we ready?" The pink hedgehog asked.

"Yeah, just hop in and we'll be on our way." Tails clarified.

Sonic stood from his seat and walked over to Amy, taking his child and boarding the plane. Amy was next to follow with Alice snuggled gently to her breast. Tails hit a switch and the cargo door shut slowly with a powerful hydraulic hum. Yoshirou stood in the hangar silent and with fixated eyes on his sister. The yellow fox open the large hangar doors next. The sun light gleamed in at an angle that illuminated half the concrete floor of the room. Tails allowed a deep sigh to arise from her lungs as she stared out onto the seemingly endless ocean. The morning sky above, clear and crisp. She shifted around after a second or two, greeted by her brother standing over her.

"Sis..." He spoke gently and set a hand on her face. He started to run his fingers through the soft tufts of fur on her face. "Kokoro, do you have that locket on you?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said it twice for the first held no sound.

Tails ran her fingers under her white dress' collar and pulled the locket out by the chain.

Yoshirou nodded with approval. "Good." He whispered.

The siblings took the others hand and walked over to the plane boarding it. Soon a load roar cut into the tranquility of the environment. The plane pulled forward from the hangar with its twin propellers gyrating. The plane picked up speed and smoothly left the runway. Sonic sat quietly in the passenger seat, observing his wife's prowess on the controls. She truly was born to fly. The children, in the laps of Amy and Yoshirou, gazed in awe out the windows and down onto the ocean below. Tails turned her head to her right.

"About to hit some turbulence, hold onto the pups." She said.

The plane rattled for a few seconds, during which the children giggled, thinking it was all in good fun. The plane steadied and the yellow hedgehog in Yoshirou's lap impatiently repeated the words:

"Again again!"

all too happily. Tails smiled and continues to fly to the pinpointed coordinates. For hours the pane soared though the open sky and blue ocean. Tails finally caught a sight of land in the distance and it confirmed they were going in the correct direction. Thick forest covered the land below.

"Hey, Yoshirou, there wouldn't happen to be a large clearing near your, er, home, would there?" Amy asked.

"Relax Amy, my plane can turn into a copter. Yoshirou already filled me in that this place was going to be dense." Tails clarified.

Amy looked uncertainly at the earth below. "If you say so."

Yoshirou set a hand on his wife's and petted it. "Don't worry, honey, we'll be fine." He assured her.

Amy forced herself to relax, even if it was rather hard. Yoshirou's and Tails' eyes combed the thick area below for a good open space to land. The blue fox sighed heavily as they passed over a large river. Amy looked over to him.

"Something wrong?"

"No, its just that dad and I used to fish in this river all the time. We'd sometimes go here just to be there, just to talk." His ears dropped as he reminisced.

Amy kissed his forehead and scratched on his ears, to bring them upright. He whined, unable to resist the urge to perk up, if even a little. The pink hedgehog smiled and she gave his a kiss on the lips. The plane started to slow and make mechanical, clanking noises. The propellers were rotating upwards slowly while a jet under the plane kept it steady. The plane gradually lowered itself into an opening below. The propellers slowed and stopped after a moment and the two families stepped out into the wilderness. Tress towered over them, an overwhelming scent of pine hung in the air, the sound of the running water from the river was present, a few animal calls, light glimmering through the canopy above. Yoshirou sighed contentedly.

"Ahh...home sweet home." He smiled.

Tails laughed, thinking that he was joking, but there was something about this environment that she could pull from just as well. Maybe it was the temptation of perhaps wanting to get back to her roots as the animal she is. It was a weird thought yet, it rested nicely on her conscious, almost purely. The quiet of the forest was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a rifle being loaded. Everyone looked around and saw Sonic loading a .32 hunting rifle.

He gave them all a stupid look. "What?"

They all smiled crookedly and shrugged to the blue hedgehog. The girls were pretty uneasy with Sonic waving a gun around, but Yoshirou understood why he had brought it; to protect them if the event called for it. Tails went into the plane and came back out with a blue duffel bag and a backpack for which to carry her toddler in. Sonic strapped Jr. in and they all started their walk into the forest. Not but ten minutes in was the fur and quills everyone studded with twigs, small ranches, and thorns. Yoshirou didn't seem to mind it, however, and pressed on. He occasionally had to stop and wait fr the others to catch up, which he was met with an annoyed look.

"Sorry guys, but this is second nature for me. I can't help it." He would say.

They frowned and accepted this fact. He grew up in this, it wasn't their fault if they were slow. Yoshirou took a step onto what seemed like a dirt road. He looked left and right.

"Something wrong, bro?" His sister asked.

"We're close. I know this road. Come on."

He started off down the dirt trail to his right without hesitating or waiting for the others. In the blue fox's chest brewed a fire; one of hatred and rage. It forced his claws to stand out. Tails noticed this and walked up to be next to him. She took his hand and brought his mind out of the dark, swirling cloud he was falling into. His claws retracted and he calmed himself.

"Sorry." He whispered to her.

"I know it hurts, and you're undoubtedly pissed, but lats try not to get riled up. Okay?"

Yoshirou nodded understandingly and held his sister's hand firmly. This road he walked on; he never thought he would ever get the chance again. Being surrounded by the very essence of memory. Meters ahead of them the road forked off, but through the trees the remains of a cottage could been made out, covered in vines and plant growth. The blue fox let free noiseless tears from his eyes and clenched his jaw tight. They moved around the corner and up to a crumbed, stone gate, mossed over. The foundations of the cottage were little more than a wall and collapsed breams, holes were everywhere in the floor, charred remains of various materials lay scattered. To the right of the house lay a swing, cut from the ropes from which it had hung from the tree. Just behind the house stood two wooden crosses and down in front of them lay a withered bouquet of flowers.

Tails set a hand on her brothers shoulder. "Is that...?" She started, but could not finish.

The blue fox wandered tearfully over to the graves and fell to his knees, letting his unfathomable grief flow from his eyes in a deluge. Cries of pain erupted from the kitsune as he threaded his fingers into the cold soil. Amy, Tails, and Sonic could only look on the fox with the heaviest of hearts. None could summon the strength to approach Yoshirou. The tears that ran were so potent that they burned his eyes. His heart wanted to exploded more than anything. The world around them felt to incredibly dark; it was so dark you could mold it with the hands. Thunder roared overhead as clouds began to gather. Tails looked to the sky.

"Do you weep for him?" She asked, hanging on the edge of tears.

Sonic's eyes shifted to the yellow fox. "Who are you talking to?"

"My mom and dad...our mom and dad."

Rain started to trickle down upon them within mere minutes and Tails pitched a small tent she had brought in the duffel bag. The blue fox did not move from the graves for hours, even drenched from the rain; which continued to fall down on him. He had long since exhausted all of his tears and stared with lifelessness at the ground; drowned by his own sorrow and all that was left was a shell. The five stared on to the shattered fox, wishing so much that they could piece him back together from this tragedy. Thirteen years and his wound was still as deep as it ever was. Amy shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I've got to do something." She spoke out. The pink hedgehog looked down at her pink, fox daughter. She set her on the ground from her grasp next to her breast and smiled to her. "Go to daddy." She told Alice gently. The little fox smiled and crawled out into the slowing rain. The child's attentions were more fixed on his tails, they were as a toy to her after all. Alice took one of her father's tails and tugged happily on it, grunting. There was a spark of life that came to Yoshirou and he looked around to his child. A smile, even though small, appeared on his face. He wrapped the tail she was tugging on around her waist and lifted her into his arms. The cub nuzzled Yoshirou's face.

"Dada is wet." She said cutely.

"Yeah, I am." He agreed, still rather solemn.

Tails let her nerves relax at last. She, holding Jr., Sonic, and Amy found this as the golden opportunity to approach. Taking a place next to him Yoshirou's sister knelt down by his and hugged him close.

"I'm sorry, Yoshirou. I feel as as I should have been as devastated as you. But, I never knew our mother and father." She cried softly, but it was controllable.

He draped his tails over her shoulders. "I know, Kokoro, and I'm sorry you couldn't have...I wish you could have." He kissed her on the forehead as he finished. The blue fox stood up with her daughter and helped his sister up. "You have the necklace on you?" he asked.

Tails reached down her shirt and pulled it out. "Yeah, hasn't moved. Why?" She said, wiping the tears from her face.

"Can I see it please?" He asked.

Tails nodded and removed the necklace, handing it to him. Yoshirou handed Alice to her mother and opened the locket. He took a deep sigh to his mother's gorgeous image and pushed the claw in his pointer finger out. He used it to pop the covering glass and image out, behind it lay a small brass key. He removed the key and placed the image back to rest in the locket, clipping the glass back. He walked over to the tree. The others followed, curious as to what that was for. On the ground, behind the tree from where the others stood, lay a red piece of slate. The fox moved the stone out of the way and dug away at the now softened soil.

"Ah, here we are, right where I left you." Yoshirou said.

"Where you left what?" Sonic asked.

Yoshirou revealed himself from out behind the tree, holding in his hands a small wooden box. The fox held the key in his lips as his claws worked on digging th soil in the brass lock. Finishing with that task her inserted the key, it didn't turn quite as cooperatively as he would have hoped, and had to jerk it around in the lock some, but it eventually did click open. The fox swung the top open, hinges grinding with dirt, and inside lay a book with a leather cover and a wooden top and string.

"Is that our stuff?" Tails asked quizzically.

"No, the book is...well, I don't know how old, but it was our mother's. And the top, that was our father's." Yoshirou clarified and removed the two items from the box. He handed the leather back book to his sister. "Our mother wanted you to have this when you finally had a husband and child."

The yellow fox took the book. "So, I'm guessing this is kinda like a mother's guide?" She tried not making her statement sound like a joke.

"That's both a no and a yes. You'll just have to read to figure out to place on it."

Tails gave her brother a puzzled expression, but left the conversation at what he ended with. The yellow fox set the book in her duffel bag. When she looked around she saw Yoshirou, once again standing over the graves. No tears fell from his face,, but there was such an emptiness in her eyes. The sister went to his side and took his hand. She didn't want to say anything, only to be with him.

"Ready to go?" Yoshirou finally asked.

Everyone was startled by the comment, except for maybe the children. They took their time in giving him a response, but they acknowledged, and soon left the burial ground; leaving but only their sorrow behind. So many memories were collecting on the mind of Yoshirou. His first catch with his father, helping his mother in the garden, his sister's birth, playing with her all day, the faces of his friends, and their families, the dawning light over the forest, the tranquility, the love they shared...