"I don't think I'm easy to talk about. I've got a very irregular head. And I'm not anything that you think I am." - Syd Barrett.
The sound of the wind can only give you a sense of either nervousness or happiness. For a certain yellow fox, it meant absolutely nothing.
A certain someone was taken away from him. A certain someone who he secretly loved ever since the two met. That certain someone was named Cosmo. He loved her a lot and they got along really well after they met. Their relationship however didn't last very long as she sacrificed herself to save the entire universe.
Tails, the yellow fox and genius nerd, had to take her out. He had to be the one to kill her in order to save the universe from an evil being called Dark Oak. Dark Oak was the father of Cosmo, believe it or not.
One press of a button was all it took to change everything. For the universe, it was a good change, but for Tails, it was a bad change.
This was the start of his downfall.
It had been only a week after that big ordeal, and everyone was relaxed and calm. Even Eggman, Sonic the Hedgehog's arch nemesis, was relaxing. It had tired everyone out and both sides of the coin thought it would be best if they all took a break from fighting. Though of course, Eggman and our heroes fought right after Chris Thorndyke's departure, but it was only once.
Today was just like any ordinary day. The sun was shining down onto the planet Möbius and it was very peaceful. Tails was sitting at his desk scribbling at a sheet of paper. He was very bored. He hadn't been motivated since the big battle and he wasn't himself. He didn't leave his house since their last brief fight with Eggman a few days prior. His friends were curious but they all thought he was just tired and wanted to relax. They all wanted to relax anyway.
Tails looked over to his left and saw a flower pot. It had the seed that Cosmo left behind. It was the only thing he had from Cosmo, other than pictures of course. Tails kept the pictures in a box deep within his closet. He didn't want to even look at them without have a complete mental breakdown.
Tears began to fill within his eyes and he crumbled the sheet of paper into a ball and threw it at the wall. He folded his arms and pressed his face against them, bawling his eyes out.
"Why?! Just why?!" he cried while slamming his fist against his desk.
Just then, Tails' doorbell rang. Someone was here. He jumped from this, but he soon calmed down and wiped the tears from his eyes while sniffing. "Coming!" he yelled.
Tails walked into the foyer and opened the door to find his best friend, Sonic.
"Hey, buddy! How've you been?" he asked. Tails gave off a fake smiled and said that he was feeling alright, though that was a lie.
"That's good. I'm alright as well. Wanna grab a bite? I'll pay" he said while giving his signature thumbs up.
Tails thought for a moment. It had been a while since he went out and got something to eat. Usually he would just cook a hot pocket or eat some cereal since he didn't leave his house.
"I guess that would be okay" he said, trying to hide his sadness and frustration.
"Good! I'll wait here while you get ready" said Sonic.
Tails turned around and went to the kitchen to grab his shoes. He sometimes would place them in different areas around the house because he felt too tired to leave them in the foyer.
He walked back to Sonic with his shoes on and they soon made their way to town. It was only a couple minutes away.
"Tails, I've been thinking about you lately and I wanted to ask you this. Are you okay? Like, seriously. Are you okay? I can see that you haven't left your house lately" said Sonic.
This question made Tails stop DEAD in his tracks. He didn't want to tell Sonic that the reason why he's been isolating himself was because of Cosmo's death. He decided to make up some lie.
"I've been busy trying to find new ways of helping you and the others when fighting Eggman. I've gotten into a creative slump and it's been difficult" he said, feeling bad that he had to lie to his best friend. "But I'm slowly making progress!"
"That's great to hear, buddy" he said while giving him a pat on the back. "Though, if you need any motivation or help, I'm always here! And so is Amy, Knuckles, and hell, even Shadow though he's a douchebag".
Tails laughed. "Sonic that's mean!"
"Hey, I'm just joking. Hehe".
Sonic and Tails arrived at the local chili dog stand. They both ordered one chili dog with a soda and sat down at a table. Around them were other tables and a few other people as well. They were on the edge of the town. If you were to look left you would see the nearby forest and countryside, and if you were to look right you would see the town that laid in front of you.
"Man, it's sure beautiful today. It should be like this forever" said Sonic before taking a huge bite out of his chili dog. Tails ignored him as he was picking out the onions that sat on top of the chili dog. Onions were gross in his eyes. It sadly wasn't the only thing that bothered him obviously.
Tails felt shaky and was on the verge of tears. He kept thinking about Cosmo, his one true love. Sonic noticed this and asked him if he was feeling alright.
"I'm fine, Sonic. Honest" he said, clearly lying to him.
"Tails, you can tell me anything. Do you have a secret? I promise I won't tell anyone" said Sonic.
Tails' hands began to shake violently and Sonic's brotherly-like instincts kicked in. "Tails??"
Tails scrambled in his mind to think of something. Then, he thought of something. He throw his hands forward at Sonic, scaring him.
"Tails! Don't scare me like that bro" said Sonic, trying to breathe normally. Tails gave of a nervous and fake laugh that would've shown red flags, but Sonic didn't notice this.
After the two finished their lunch, they decided to walk over to Amy's house to hang out.
"Amy said that she was having a little get together. Just me, her, Knuckles and Shadow" said Sonic.
"I'm surprised. Shadow doesn't really like hanging out with us, let alone me" said Tails. He thought that Shadow didn't like the little guy.
"It's not that, buddy. He just doesn't like showing affection or kindness. You know him. He likes to be his own guy. I wouldn't say he's an introvert because he does like going outside and I wouldn't say he has a disability. Maybe he's shy? Who knows".
"No matter what, you'll also be the real one and not the 'faker'" said Tails, playfully punching Sonic's arm, trying to ease his sadness that was hidden through his eyes.
"Hehe, you bet"
The two arrived at Amy's front doorstep. The pink welcome mat was like a tease for Amy's kind and respectful presence. Sonic knocked the door at least three times and the two waited for a couple of seconds before a muffled "Coming!" could be heard on the other said of the door.
A pink hedgehog wearing a red dress with gold bracelets opened the door to greet the door. This was Amy. "Hey, Sonic! Hey, Tails!" she said as she gave the two a hug. Sonic however, wasn't so impressed with the hug as he was your average dude who didn't like expressing feelings towards women. Not that he was a homosexual, but because he just wasn't interested in romantic relationships. Tails embraced the hug, feeling Amy's warmth was comforting after what all went down the week prior.
"Hey, Amy" said Tails with a kind tone.
"Please, come in. Knuckles and Shadow just came about five minutes ago" she said, stepping aside so the two could walk in.
Amy's house was quite fancy. Not the rich type, but fancy enough that it was clean and tidy. A lot of pink decorations were everywhere. Amy loved pink as she was pink herself. She identified with the color and with the color being almost everywhere in her house, she could feel a sense of assurance and comfort.
"I like what you done with the place, though the amount of pink is, well, a little too much. No offense" said Sonic, trying to not offend the pink hedgehog so that she wouldn't pull out her big hammer out of nowhere and crush him like a bug. Sonic was actually a little afraid of her. Hidden from her nice and kind manners, Amy sort of had a dark and evil sense within her, but she would normally keep it all to herself unless if someone were to tick her off.
"Well, what can I say? I just love pink" she said. "What about you, Tails?"
"It's quite nice. It reminds me of those cleaning product commercials. This looks like the type of house that it would be filmed in" he said.
"Huh, that sounds cool. I should ask the local tv station if they can film some commercials here. Oh how wonderful that would be! I would be a millionaire!" she said, imagining the endless amount of money she would receive by letting a camera crew and a few actors use her home as a little studio.
The three made their way through the hallway where the sound of Knuckles cheering on could be heard from the nearby living room.
"Go! Go! Go!" he yelled. Knuckles and Shadow were watching a game of football. It was the Kanas City Chiefs against the Indianapolis Colts. Knuckles loved the Chiefs.
"Touchdown, Kansas City!" said the announcer. "Samie Parker! 43 yards! And now the Chiefs are back in the game!"
"Hell yeah!" said Knuckles with excitement.
"I don't know how you can even like this trash" said Shadow with boredom. He didn't like football.
"Bro, you like HOCKEY. Out of all sports!" said Knuckles, glaring at the red hedgehog.
"Hockey is a good sport, you know" said Shadow.
"Now, now, you two. Let's not argue over sports, okay?" said Amy while sitting down in a pink recliner.
"Hey guys!" said Sonic.
"Sup, bro!" said Knuckles.
"Hello, faker" said Shadow.
Tails didn't say hello however, as his eyes were glued to a picture that hung on the wall above a fireplace. On the photo was of Amy and Cosmo, taking a selfie while sticking their tongues out. Cosmo thought it was the funniest thing ever. He remembered that day like it was yesterday. Cosmo's smile was the most gorgeous thing he ever saw. That's when it hit him that he had fallen in love with her.
Tails kept staring at the picture, almost as he was in a trance. The room around him began to quiet down as if you were turning the volume down on a radio or television.
Just then, the sound of the room came back when Sonic interrupted Tails' trance. "Hey, buddy. You okay?" he asked.
Tails blinked for a moment and turned to the right to find Sonic and the other three staring at him while the tv played. Tails shook his head and gave off a fake laugh, while trying his best to prevent himself from showing off tears.
"Yeah, I'm fine".
