Chapter Eight: Winter Wonderland
It was a cold Winter afternoon. Tails had been awake all morning drawing up new blueprints for his X-Tornado after the incident that happened only two months prior. Suddenly, the phone that he had placed conveniently to the right side of his desk started ringing. He firmly placed the white marker back down on the sheet in aggravation to answer it.
"…Hello?" Tails sighed. "Tails! You gotta come quick! I gotta show you something! Bring Cosmo with you, too!" Sonic spoke in an urgent manner from the other end. "Huh? Sonic? What's wrong?" Tails asked worryingly. "No time to explain, buddy! Hurry!" Sonic replied, hanging up. "Uh, o-okay! …Sonic?" Tails questioned as he realized that Sonic had hung up on him. He then ran upstairs from his workshop to grab his matching winter hat and coat, both of which were yellow, and hurried off to Cosmo's house.
Cosmo had been sitting in front of her fireplace wearing a dark-green plaid jacket to keep warm. The flames slowly started to die off when she heard rapid knocking coming from her front door. "Huh?" Cosmo turned and raised her head as she got up to answer the door. She opens it to find a panicking Tails. "Tails? What's wrong?" She asked. "Cosmo, you gotta come with me! I think Sonic might be in trouble! Grab your coat!" The fox replied urgently. "O-Okay!" Cosmo ran over to her coat rack to grab her matching wintergreen coat and earmuffs, and went out the door with Tails.
Eventually, they both make it over to Sonic's house, and knock on his door. "Sonic!?" Tails called out as a gust of wind ran through the snowy bushes. "Huh? What was that?" Cosmo quickly turned around as she felt the breeze. Tails turned around also, and locked his eyes on the perfectly-sized bushel that was to the right of them. "Get behind me." He said to Cosmo to protect her as he slowly walked over towards the green bushel that was now given a frosty kiss by Mother Nature. Tails spread the bushel open to see if anyone was lurking inside it, but there was nothing. "Heh…i-it's okay. It was probably just the wi-" Before Tails could finish his sentence, an average sized snowball hit him on the back of his head. He then grew a look of annoyance as Cosmo started giggling at him, which was then echoed by more laughter that was coming from another bush.
"Grr…who threw that!?" Tails exclaimed bitterly. It turns out that it was Sonic who threw the snowball, and was laughing so hard that he fell out of the bush he was hiding in. "Sonic!? That was you!?" Tails asked, still feeling annoyed. "You should've seen the look on your face!" Sonic wheezed. "…'Oh, it was probably just the wind!'. BOINK! Ha ha ha ha!" He kept laughing heartily. "It was kind of funny, Tails…" Cosmo snickered. "But, Sonic! On the phone, you sounded very urgent! I thought you were in trouble or something!" Tails shouted. "Oh, come on, buddy! It was just a little joke!" Sonic replied. "Hmph…well, still." Tails crossed his arms and faced away from Sonic. Sonic now started to feel bad, and walked over toward the cross little fox. "Okay, so pretending that it was an emergency was kind of uncalled for, but…it was only supposed to be an innocuous prank! I'm sorry if I hurt you, bro…" He apologized to him as he put his right hand over his shoulder. Little did he know that, while Tails was faced away from him, he was making a snowball.
"…Think fast!" Tails quickly turned around and chucked the snowball right at Sonic's face. He threw it so hard that it knocked Sonic onto the ground. "Oof!" Sonic grunted as the snowball hit him. "Who's laughing now, Sonic?" Tails started laughing. "…Me!" Sonic replied as he quickly jumped back up and threw another snowball. This time, Tails ducked, making the snowball hit Cosmo's face. "Huh?" Tails turned around to see Cosmo with some broken up snow on her cheek. He brushed it off of her, looked into her eyes and nodded, as if to say 'Wanna team up?'. Cosmo nodded back, and started forming a snowball in her hand. Tails did the same, and both had their aim on Sonic. "Oh, come on! Two against one? This isn't fair!" Sonic chuckled playfully as Tails and Cosmo starting yelling out in a war cry-like manner. They both started snowballs at a very rapid pace, while Sonic was dodging each and every one of them. "Ooh, you missed me!" He kept repeating over and over. Little did they all know that Amy was coming up around the block. She wore a furry pink coat with the 'Best Friends Forever' bracelet that Sonic had made for her last Christmas around her wrist.
Amy came up towards the house with no idea as to what was going on, and only saw Sonic. "Hi, Sonic! Aah!" She went to greet him, but then got hit by one of Tails and Cosmo's snowballs. "Oh, wouldn't you know it? You missed me again!" Sonic taunted one last time as he saw Tails and Cosmo grow scared expressions, and started pointing timidly over his shoulder. "Huh?" He slowly turned around to find Amy looking downward at the ground suspiciously. "Uh…Ames?" Sonic questioned nervously.
"Tails…you are so gonna get it, you little twerp!" She then grew a mischievous, but playful look on her face as she threw a snowball right at Tails. "Aah! Oof!" He grunted as he hit the ground. "But I didn't even throw the snowball!" He replied with his mouth muffled full of snow. "…I did." Cosmo giggled. "Hmph, well, looks like I'll have to get even at both of you." Amy replied. "Care to join my team, dear?" Sonic asked her jokingly. "Sure thing!" Amy winked. "Oh my gosh! He called me 'dear'! I don't know whether he realized it, but…he called me 'dear'!" She thought to herself as she was making a snowball. "After you, good sir." Amy curtsied with her coat, going along with Sonic's silly gag. "Why, thank you." Sonic bowed back at her, and chucked a snowball right at them. "Aah!" Tails grabbed Cosmo, and jumped behind a bush.
"…Two against two, huh?" He panted, hiding behind the snow-covered rock. "Well, looks like we have to fight fire with fire…literally." Tails chuckled mischievously as he pulled out his arm cannon. "Isn't that what you used to beat the bully?" Cosmo asked nervously, worrying if things were going to get too far. "Sure is! Not only does it have a laser function, but it can shoot more snowballs than two of us combined!" Tails replied, flipping the switch on his cannon from 'LASER' to 'SNOW/ICE'. He then grabbed a scoopful of snow, and placed it into the cannon's small compartment.
"Oh, Tails~! Where'd you go~?" Amy asked in a singsongy voice. Tails then jumped on top of the rock, and cocked his frosty arm cannon. "Hello! …And goodbye." He quipped with a squint in his eyes. "Whoa!" Sonic and Amy exclaimed as Tails started firing bigger snowballs at a rapid rate. They both kept trying to run around the rock until Amy finally got hit, causing Sonic to run back to her and get covered in a giant white avalanche. Tails ceases fire to reveal two snowmen with hedgehog heads that were initially Sonic and Amy. He then starts laughing hardly at his two frost-bitten friends with tears coming down his face. Cosmo laughed along with him.
"Oh, wow! Oh, did I get you guys good!" Tails kept laughing. "Hey, Sonic! Need some chicken noodle soup there?" He added before the laughter started dying down a bit, since the two weren't moving at all. "S-Sonic…?" The little fox repeated, a bit more nervously this time. The hedgehog snowmen still stood silent. "Tails, are they frozen!?" Cosmo asked. "I-I don't know! Come on, let's go over there." Tails grabbed ahold of Cosmo's hand, and walked over to the two Sonic and Amy-shaped snowmen. "…Bro?" He then goes to grab Sonic's hand to see snow crumble in his. It turns out that the frozen, snowy statue wasn't Sonic at all.
"Huh?" Tails questioned before receiving a snowball at the back of his skull. "Up here, doofus!" Amy shouted from on top of a tree branch. "Amy!" Cosmo exclaimed happily. "Hey, don't forget about me!" Sonic said as he did a somersault off of a branch that was above Amy's, and planted his feet back down on the sparkling white ground. Amy jumped down from the branch she was standing on as well. "Sonic? But how!?" Tails asked in shock. "Uh…hello? Fastest thing alive here? I've seen Eggman shoot faster than that!" Sonic replied jokingly. "Oh yeah. Right…" Tails crossed his hands and grumbled.
"Well, we're glad you guys are okay. We were really worried for a second!" Cosmo smiled in relief. "You never have to worry about me, Cos. Trust me when I say I've gotten myself out of much tougher situations than that before." Sonic chuckled. "Yep. Especially when I'm by his side." Amy added with a wink as Sonic rolled his eyes at her. "So, what do you say, pal? Wanna stay for the night, drink some hot cocoa, and call it a truce?" He reached his arm out waiting for Tails to shake it. Tails looked over at the hand, and raised his eyebrows out of their grumpy state. He then smiled, and shook the hedgehog's hand.
"Okay, truce. And besides, snowball fights are kid stuff, anyway." Tails replied with a scoff. "Well, okie-dokie then, Mr. Smart-Guy-Even-Though-I'm-Eight." Amy jested. Sonic quietly chuckled to himself after hearing her sarcastic remark. "It's a gift!" Tails gave her a cheeky smile. "And uh…don't think that I don't know what you plan on using that mistletoe in your hair for." He added knowingly. Amy opened her mouth, and got cut off by Sonic before she could say anything. "Yeah, don't even think about it." Sonic said to her dryly. "Where did this thing even come from, anyway!?" Amy stuttered in frustration, and threw the mistletoe out in the snow. "Nailed it." Tails said to himself quietly.
It was now officially nighttime. All was quiet with no light in sight, with the exception of moon beams reflecting off the bitter cold, ten-degreed blanket of snow that laid atop of every humble abode, and what was once Summer's green pastures that waited day by day to bloom once more.
The gang all sat in front of their only light source with blankets wrapped around each of them. Empty colored mugs sat on the little coffee table that stood behind where they sat. Everyone started to fall asleep except for Sonic and Tails, who were the only ones that had any resemblance of activeness.
"Well…I think we should hit the hay, bud." Sonic said to Tails drowsily, his eyelids quivering to close. "Mnh…okay…" Tails kept leaning his body back and forth uncontrollably, trying to stay awake. "…C'mon, Cosmo. We gotta go to bed." He picked up his true love, blanket and all, and headed for the guest bedroom. "Good night, Cosmo…" Tails chuckled lightly to himself as he tucked the seedrian in bed, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He then went back downstairs to grab something from his coat pocket. Sonic and Amy both slept on the couch, and had Sonic's blanket tucked over the both of them. Amy still kept her blanket on for extra warmth. Tails quietly retrieved the item from the coat pocket, and went back up to the guest bedroom to sit by the window.
"Hey, Earthia…are you there? It's me, Tails." He started to speak out towards the snowfall. "I-I, uh…I-I know that it's been a while since we've talked, and that she and I are both pretty young right now, but…I just want to get this out in case I forget to in the future." He kept stuttering, both out of nervousness and the fact that he was getting pretty cold by sitting in front of the snowy window, but he didn't want to admit that.
"…I know how nice you think of me, and…I'm hoping that what I'm about to say won't change that. Um…wh-what I guess I'm trying to say is…is that…N-Now, I don't know exactly when this is going to happen, because of fate and all, but…about twenty years from now…" Tails then reveals the item that he had hidden in his coat pocket. It was a gold engagement ring, which looked almost identical to the ones that Sonic was known for collecting, that had a big platinum stud on the top of it. It turns out that he had been saving up his allowance of helping different townspeople in Mobius from the past year, and that all of the times they've asked him 'What are you gonna use it for?', to which he responded with 'Something special.', it turned out to be this very ring that he had bought one day with no one knowing. Not even his lifelong friend, Sonic.
"…I would like to marry Cosmo…and have your blessing." He spoke one last time before putting the ring box back in his coat pocket.
The sound of each stair creaking woke up Sonic. "Hey, bud…why do you keep walking up and down the stairs? You have a nightmare?" Sonic asked him sleepily. "No…just thinking." Tails replied before finally going back upstairs into the guest bedroom. Sonic thought nothing of it, and fell right back asleep. Tails got in bed, and buried himself underneath a bunch of blankets before finally dozing off.
As the cold air blew uniquely-patterned snowflakes around, a star that was bigger in comparison to the others up towards the night sky twinkled before being covered by a giant snow cloud.