There were dragons when I was a boy

"Dad, that's How to Train Your Dragons by Cressida Cowell, not your life story"

"I get the two mixed up sometimes. Can you blame the old man? Also, stop interrupting me.

When I was a young boy, I was an extreme gear rider just like my girl here. The sport is very famous to Avians, as you probably know by now. And just like every other edgy teenager in their angsty youth, I believed that I could become a world class gear rider. Unlike all those other teenagers, I actually succeeded.

Well, partially. I was a recognized name in my region at my prime but I never made it past that point. But I could have! And don't let anyone tell you otherwise!"

"Dad, I've seen videos of you in your peak before. Your form was completely amateur and-"

"Shut it! My form may be amatuer by modern standards but it was revolutionary at the time. And again, stop cutting me off."

Tails smiled silently. He wasn't sure where he was going with this, but he liked Wave's father. He was a funny man and reminded him more of Wave's playful side.

"Enough about the happy days though. Let's get into the really depressing stuff. I lost my sight during an accident that happened during my races. It was very painful, and I remember it well to this day. I was 24 when it happened, and it made me unable to ride gear ever again. I tried. Oh dear did I try...Like I said, Wave's mother helped me out to the best of her abilities, but none of it worked. None of it."

"What did you try?" Tails asked, rubbing his gloved palms on his legs.

"Well first I tried to learn echolocation from a friend of mine. He was a dolphin, and I thought that all dolphins knew echolocation. I was right, but I was wrong in the idea that he could teach me echolocation."

"He said that it was instinct, didn't he?" Tails asked, rubbing his left arm with his right. This was all feeling too close to heart for him.

"I see that I wasn't the only one who thought of that" Wave's father chuckled. "Yes, he told me that all he could do was tell me how to click my tongue over and over again, which I replied to him by saying that I would look ridiculous doing it. He agreed, and I was on my own again."

"What did you do next?"

"I built all sorts of things with my wife helping me. My wife was a mechanic you see, and probably where Wave got all her talent as well. She helped me do all sorts of things. She taught me how to read braille, she created all sorts of nifty things to help me in my everyday life, but in the end, small improvements here and there couldn't help a guy ride a levitating board that flies incredibly fast."

"Did you ever try building a navigation system that would-" Tails tried to ask what was his current plan through a subtle finesse, but Wave's father cut him off before he could even get to say much else.

"work on sonar and tell me when there will be an obstacle ahead? Of course I did. Great minds think alike, I see." He chuckled again, not realizing he just shattered the young fox's heart. He bit down on the cookie Wave brought, munching happily. "It didn't work either. Again, nothing is quite as fast as absorbing information as the natural eye. I tried all I could to reduce the time between the radar observing the obstacle and my mind reacting to said obstacle, but it just wasn't enough. I had no other option but to give up on my dream of becoming a professional gear rider."

"But you could have tried-"

"Don't you get it laddie? I tried everything. None of it worked. Maybe it's a different situation for you considering how technology improved over the last decade or so, but it was not the case for me. Trying more and more just led to more and more injuries. I even lost my knee once."

Tails could hear Wave's father shaking both of his legs.

"Dad, don't mess with him just because he's blind."

"Hey, I'm blind too. And nothing makes the blind more uncomfortable than a game of charades. But I wasn't lying when I said I got a lot more injuries as time went on. The last experiment I ever tried left me in the hospital for a month afterwards. I realized then it was time to quit and find a different passion."

"...Thank you Mr...er,"

"Ondo."

"Thank you Mr. Ondo, but I think that's enough for me. I...I should head back to my home. I have friends there waiting for me."

"Bah, you come to your girlfriend's father and think you can leave without having dinner with him? Think again!"

Wave blushed furiously, and was so glad that both people in the room were blind.

"DAD! He's not my boyfriend!"

"Don't lie, I can still ground you young lady"

"I'm 20!"

"You may be 20 but you're still my baby! Now come give your old dad a hug and a-"

"GOODBYE DAD!" Wave left her father behind while dragging Tails with her, slamming the front door as soon as they were out of the house.

Tails stared at the general direction she was in, and kept his hands fiddling around the handle of his umbrella. "So...That just happened, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did. And I hope you now understand why I'm so adamant about you stopping trying so hard. You aren't the first blind genius in history, Tails. If you thought of something...there's a good chance somebody else has already thought of it before you. I just...I wish you would spend your time on something more productive. I don't want you to build hope for something that won't happen and be heartbroken about it later on."

"Wave, but it's different now. I have an assistant whose job is just making radars for submarines! there has been decades of technological progress between him and I. I know I can do this, I just do!"

"Tails, when will you understand that you will never be able to fly on your own again!"

Tails glared at her with an intensity of a thousand suns. Even through his blind pupils she could feel the hate piercing her skin.

"I will fly again, Wave. I will never give up. And when I succeed, you will be there to congratulate and apologize to me, got it?" His knuckles were strained as he gripped his umbrella incredibly tight.

"...I will." Wave responded, looking away as she did not mean to lash out at him like that. But she didn't want to apologize to him for something that was true. As far as she was concerned, every attempt he made at trying to fly was a lost cause and a hopeless case.

The ride back home was silent and awkward. Wave dropped him off at his front door and left without saying goodbye. Tails made small waving gestures towards her when she left, but he had no way to know whether she saw him or not, or whether or not she returned it. He unlocked the entrance to his house and hung his coat and umbrella next to the door.

"Hey, I hope you guys aren't making out on my couch" He shouted into the void, hoping the young couple wasn't doing just that.

Thankfully, they weren't doing it on the couch. Unfortunately, they were doing it on the wing of his beloved Tornado.

"What is wrong with you two? Does everyone have the sudden urge to become horny in my house? First Silver and Blaze and now you two. Next thing I know Sonic and Amy will be delivering a baby in this place!"

"I don't know, Tails. I guess there's just love in the air."

"Air is made of oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen. Don't be silly." Tails reached for his chair and pinched his forehead. He needed time to think about what Wave's father told him, and this was not helping. "Listen, I just have a lot on my mind right now. Do you think you two could...take it somewhere else? I just need some time to relax."

"Sure thing boss." Marine teased, taking Cream's hand and exiting the garage. Tails himself left a couple minutes later and headed upstairs to his room. He laid down on his bed, cuddling his fluffy namesakes and trying to think of pleasant things. Like flowers. Or recently oiled chains. Or that funny joke Sonic told him when they were both young. (He couldn't remember what the actual joke was, just that it was funny.)

Sonic… What would Sonic say? He would say to never give up and keep on trying, right? He was a free spirit who didn't take no for an answer. He did what he believed in. Why couldn't Tails do the same?

"Maybe I'm just not as strong as him." Tails said quietly with much self deprecation. He couldn't understand what he needed to do at this point. Does he stay and pursue what he wanted to do his entire life, or does he accept what Wave said? He reached for the phone near his bed and dialed up Sonic's number.

"Sonic, I need to ask you something." Tails asked nervously, hoping he wasn't bothering his older brother.

"Tails, for the last time, I wasn't responsible for those noodles." Sonic sighed, gripping between his eyes and groaning out loud.

"I know you were, Sonic. And that isn't why I'm calling you. I just...had a serious conversation about my challenges with Wave, and I'm having serious doubts about this now. You see, the sonar system I created-"

"I'm gonna cut you out before you get into technobabble, bro." Sonic leaned onto the wall the phone was hanging on, twirling the cord with his index. "Get to the point please, I don't need to listen to you go on and on about nuts and wires." He smirked, playfully teasing the young fox.

"Nuts don't go with wires, Nick. Anyways, Wave brought me to her father. Turns out the reason she was so eager to help me out at times was because her father is also blind. We had a bit of a talk...and it basically boils down to whatever I try someone else did it first. And not only did someone else do it first, they failed before me. Am I just wasting my time and creating meaningless hope for something that will end in a failure?"

Sonic took some time to mull over that question with himself before giving an answer. He could tell Tails was serious now, even if he did call him by his birth name. He didn't want to ruin his little brother's hopes and dreams, but neither did he want to ruin his future in general.

"Tails, I don't think I can answer this for you. This is something you need to come up with yourself. I've always lived by my own rules my entire life, and it's worked out pretty well. But you're not really like me, are you? I guess what I want to say is that you should...I don't know, if I'm being honest, as long as you are accepting the fact that you are most likely going to fail, why not give it a try just in case it does work, you know? Probability and all that." Sonic gave the best answer he could, and that was good enough for Tails.

"Thank you Sonic. I think...I will think it over, yes. Also, I know you're going out with Amy now. Cream caught you two holding hands in the middle of the shopping center."

"Wait what?!"

"See ya, Sonic" Tails hung up and let the phone hang by its cord a couple inches off the ground. He closed his eyes, pretending that would change anything about his vision. He rolled around in bed with his namesakes huddled with him, waiting for his mind to tire out before going to sleep.

Hopefully, an early night sleep would be enough to help him make his decision.

I'm so sorry that this took so long. Not only that, most of this chapter was filler. Gah, I really hope the next chapter isn't like this. This chapter was originally meant to be the most important chapter narratively wise...I guess it still is but bleh. I expected myself to write more of Ondo. Either way, my Korean SATs are over, so I will probably have more time to write.