Hello everyone!

So here I continue with writing this fanfic. I like how you received the first chapter so far, and I hope you'll like this one even more. I promise, with every new chapter, the story goes deeper and it gets more exciting, up to point where there will be a lot of action in every single chapter. But take it easy, until we get fully in the story, so the real excitment can start... That's what this chapter is for! Next one will explain fully what's going on. There will be 30 chapters in total.

If interested, please feel free to check out my YouTube channel as well:

channel/UC36jicOxpQRVdbxcpBlda7g/featured

Anyway, off to chapter 2!

"I still can't believe you made me go this far just to see some random falling stars." - Sonic complained. He balanced himself on the Tornado's right wing.

He stretched his hand over his eyes so he could look away from the sun as he watched the expanse of ocean before him, feeling slightly anxious about his phobia. Still, a surprisingly good view of the world shoots from such places as the wing of a biplane. Therefore, Sonic felt safe and stable on his feet, as he always did whenever they went on a similar "mission" across ocean routes.

Amy never thought of trying such a thing, she was too afraid of falling off the plane and Sonic knew that, so he never challenged her. He decided it would be a good idea to give her a chance to join them on this trip, as he knew Amy often felt left out. Although she repeatedly emphasized to him that it didn't bother her, because she knew that Sonic and Tails were best friends. No, that wasn't the right term. At least in Amy's opinion.

It was about a year ago. Tails insisted that Sonic join him in observing the rare astronomical phenomenon of the conjunction of Planet Freedom and Planet Breezy, which supposedly only happened once every five centuries.

"It's an opportunity not to be missed. You may never see anything like this again in your life." - Tails tried to arouse interest in his friend.

"Uh, I don't really know. Do we have to, Tails? I'm pretty tired tonight. Eggman started his daily dose of hassle pretty early this morning. And I missed dinner."

"Oh come on! You're going to have SCIENCE for dinner!"

Not a word was heard in the room after that somewhat clumsy comment, until they both burst out laughing, realizing the considerable absurdity of Tails' stupid joke. "No, seriously." he said after they calmed down. "Come here. Come on, you won't regret it."

He regretted it. B

He regretted it.

But later, for some other reasons.

Tails dragged him to the nearest hill and mounted his "Tailoscope" there. He had recently upgraded it with a new, sharper lens and made it ten centimeters longer, but despite Tails insisting that it was "one of his most advanced high-tech gadgets for observing all the secrets of the universe and expanding the boundaries of science", Sonic couldn't help but to the occupation of his mind thinking that it is still the same toy he made two years ago, with which it was easier to spot Eggman or his robots from at home.

Tails peered through the Tailoscope. "Oh come on. I didn't even notice how cloudy it was tonight. Well, I'm sure the clouds will clear eventually. And then we'll have an epic view, I promise you."

They stood on the hill for hours, with no visible signs of the sky clearing. Tails was getting more and more nervous as time went on and it was getting close to midnight. He started swaying on his feet and hiding a yawn, and Sonic noticed.

"Come on, buddy. I'm sorry, it's not happening. You can see for yourself that you're done."

"No I'm not" Tails yawned. He knelt down on the soft grass. Sonic chuckled and looked back towards the house. He himself would rather be in bed right now. But still he didn't want to let his friend down so suddenly.

"Look," he addressed him, and only then noticed that Tails had completely passed out. He rested his head on one of his tails and slept like an innocent child. At the end of the day, that's what he was, only sometimes it's hard to see that in someone who always hides so persistently behind all his brilliant inventions and creations, one would never say that such a thing was the work of an eight-year-old. Tails almost never acted his age. He was always composed and serious, it seemed to Sonic, and too serious. He reminded him of... Someone familiar.

Tails never played with toys. Tails never even swung on a swing or anything like that. Hell, he never even went to any kind of school. Not that he needed the school, but… Sonic wondered if things would have been different for him if he had sent him there when it was time. Tails would not only be much safer than with Sonic on his adventures, but he would also make some normal friends, peers, he would already find a common ground with someone. And had a happy, average childhood, not bothering with anything like the 7 Chaos Emeralds or Eggman's persistent attacks. But... It just seemed so guilty. He couldn't explain to himself why he had that feeling. But guided by that instinct, he never sent Tails to school. When he was justifying that decision to Amy, she was all confused.

"Oh Sonic! I think I know… You just love him too much!"

"Huh?" "He's close to your heart, admit it. And you love him and now you can't live without him. If you sent him to school, you'd feel like he was taken away from you. That's why you don't want to do that. You want him with you all the time. Don't worry, I think that's really CUTE!"

Sonic cringed. How could such a thing even occur to Amy? That makes no sense at all, such a reason would be extremely selfish. He quickly regained his composure and interrupted: "That's not the reason at all. It's just... I don't want to leave him at his mercy so suddenly. It would be like throwing a sheep among the wolves. You know, because of his... Genetic mutation..." he swallowed the dumpling and at the very think.

Familiar possible scenarios flash before him: The glass breaks, thugs approach, corner him, violent laughter, garden shears.

Garden shears... Garden shears...

Those thoughts have haunted him ever since that day on West Side Island. He imagined school kids surrounding Tails and pointing fingers at him. They push him into the mud, knock him to the ground, kick him, pull him and step on his tails. No, he thought, snap out of it.

"Oh..." Amy's smile suddenly faded. "How can such a stupid reason be the source of such hatred?" She cringed at the thought of the one thing that made Tails different, and that seemed to block all of Tails' progress in... well, living. Everything that other children could do freely, he did secretly or was simply denied to him. There was no such thing as playing on the playground or the typical trip to the local ice cream shop. No, nothing like that. Too big of a risk. Amy and Sonic practically kept him in isolation, hiding him from the world, because they knew full well that they couldn't change the minds of all mobians about those who were a little different. They could not predict who would be kind and who would be malicious. That's why it was easiest not to even try, even though they knew they wouldn't be able to hide him forever. Because in the beginning, isolation suited Tails perfectly, because he was already too afraid of people and that everyone wanted to harm him, due to his trust issues. However, little by little, as he matured, stabilized and settled in quite well with Sonic and Amy, he became more and more like a normal child in character, and even began to stick his head out of the window regularly, curious in an effort to explore the new area, which is now no longer afraid to call home. He was becoming more and more restless in the house and Sonic and Amy didn't know how to keep him inside, which they still wanted at any cost. Until, one day, two years ago actually, Tails did something extraordinary... Something that was worth letting out into the world.

(But more on that another time, in another chapter/flashback)

Now, as Sonic watched him sleep so innocently, he didn't even realize that he was thinking about what Amy had told him that day. He didn't want to let his little buddy down. So he sat down next to him, asleep, and silently promised himself that he would stay up all night if he had to, until the sky cleared. And when it clears up, he'll wake up Tails, so they can watch that conjunction of his.

That was the original plan, before he fell asleep himself.

"SONIC!" Amy's squeaky voice woke him later as she leaned over him, between him and the starry sky. It took Sonic a while to wake up, before he noticed that Amy was grinning from ear to ear.

"What's the matter, Ames?" Sonic didn't understand what her giggling was for, until he realized when he looked over his shoulder and saw that he had allowed Tails to lean on his shoulder in his sleep. "That's so precious" Amy squealed in a rush of delight. "I've never seen him so calm... In a very long time.

You're such a good big brother to him, Sonic!"

Sonic froze, taking Amy's words completely wrong.

Big brother?

Him?

To Tails?

That's not what he wanted. This is EXACTLY what he was trying to avoid.

And at the mere mention of it, Sonic automatically moved away from said little brother so quickly that his sleeping head slammed into the ground in no time.

"Ow! Hey!" Tails whined, waking up in the worst way possible. He rubbed his head, trying to gain his counsciousness back. "What was that about!?"

Amy giggled again, then glanced excited up in the sky, pointing her finger somewhere in space, her eyes shining. "Guys! Look!"

They all glanced up at the clear sky, seeing something in the distance...

"Holy!" Tails jumped to his Tailoscope, instantly noticing what this is about. "Guys, it's the conjuction! It really is! And it's amazing! This feels so special, it's so rare... Here, have a look!"

Amy has raced her way to the Tailoscope, weakly screaming in excitment and fighting for the good view.

Meanwhile all Sonic could think about till the rest of the night was the whole "big brother" thing.

The trip they were going to right now was actually quite similar. (But... Let me spoil you a bit: NONE of them was prepared for anything what happened on and after that trip.)

Tails took offense when Sonic called the event "random shooting stars". Importantly, he lowered his goggles back over his eyes to re-enjoy the flight.

"It's not shooting stars, for the hundredth time. It's a meteor shower." "Nerd name for shooting stars" Sonic commented and chuckled. He liked to tease his friend sometimes, but he never deliberately provoked him. Both concluded that the debate was not worth discussing further. Instead Sonic asked one last question: "If it's so important to you, why do we have to go all the way to Christmas Island for it?"

"Oh, Sonic, come on. So where is that well-known desire for adventure of yours? We've never been to Christmas Island, and I already told you that my Miles Electric has carefully analyzed all the data and that it's the closest destination with a guaranteed bright sky tonight. I don't want any clouds. That would be a repeat of that conjunction incident."

Sonic thought to himself when he heard Tails mention the very thing he had been thinking about a few moments ago.

All this time, Amy just curiously observed the landscape that was becoming more and more clear under the clouds above which they were sailing. Nobody said anything for the remaining ten minutes, which was the rest of the flight. Except near the end, when Amy commented somewhat belatedly:

"Tails is right. Christmas Island is a perfect sky-watching destination. The sky over that island is always so clear and cosmic. I read in a book that most of Mobian's most important astrological discoveries were made on that spot."

Tails didn't say anything, just winced when Amy mentioned cosmic skies. Sonic noticed it too. He swallowed the lump in his throat. A flash of new unexpected memories.

A shot from the Sonic driver, Shadow, a flash of light as they crash into the Dark Oak. A devastating explosion. The disappearing planet. Petals of the Sekura tree flying through the air, blurring the view.

Seed. One tiny, unsightly seed.

Tails falling helplessly and desperately in front of him, in tears.

Everything torn apart around.

And him doing nothing about it.

Not even trying.

It's not true that he didn't have empathy deep down. The problem was simply that when you ignore your own emotions for a long time, you have a hard time dealing with them, let alone with other people's. And then you realize that you don't know what to do when someone needs comfort.

Even if it's your best friend. Cosmo.

Cosmo the Seedrian.

Sonic knew Tails loved her. EVERYONE knew he loved her. Except for herself, by the time it was already too late. Sonic knew they were meant to be. He also knew that Tails was the one who shot. But he couldn't help it, because from the moment he handed Tails the only remaining seed, he felt that he was the one who killed Cosmo.

He killed his friend's one true love.

And the feeling remained.

Buried. Forever. Seemingly forgotten by everyone, because life went on despite everything. And Mobius was still spinning, wasn't it?

I believed that you would save her. I believed in you.

The words echoed faintly in his ears, while they were still in flight. His heart skipped a beat. He tried to adjust his face so that it wasn't too obvious what he was thinking about, as well as knowing what thoughts were running through Tails' head.

Those were the words Tails had said to him just before he hopelessly collapsed in front of him that day.

I believed in you.

Believed.

In you.

Those words haunted him like ghosts, almost every day of his life for the past year. One person in this world believed in him. And that person was his best friend. And he took it so lightly.

He swayed slightly on the wing of the plane, as if he were drunk.

Even though they never worked out the whole Cosmo thing and everything was normal afterwards, Sonic sometimes still wondered if Tails had ever truly forgiven him.

"We're finally here!" Tails' raspy voice snapped Sonic out of his thoughts. He made him look in front of him. Christmas Island. It looked as weird as it was shaped on the map.

"From where we are right now, we could easily land somewhere at the coast of Smithson Bay. Maybe near the Star Shores city. I heard it's pretty nice over there. And it would make sense to go there" - Tails claimed.

He tilted the plane to the right, causing Sonic to stagger sharply. They started landing. Sonic thought that mentioning Cosmo's name was probably as enjoyable to Tails as going to Christmas Island was to him right now.

For somewhat similar reasons.

The biplane was grounded. The sandy beach of Smithson bay looked even better than Sonic had imagined. Amy was already collecting shells around. Sonic hoped she wouldn't make him a good luck bracelet again like she did when they were on planet Earth. Sonic didn't know how to let Amy know that he appreciated her gestures, but didn't want them that much. He found her signs of attention utterly unnecessary.

Tails unpacked their belongings from the trunk of the Tornado until he finally left the trunk completely empty. The plan was to spend two nights in a rented cottage in Smithson City, after they finished stargazing each night. Tails brought his Tailoscope, and Amy brought her hammer. You never know.

"We'll take the things to the cottage. You wait for us here if you want. The island is medium-sized, you'll have time to explore it in detail by the time we get back." Tails commented.

That was true. But Sonic didn't know if he really wanted to explore the island. Tails and Amy both think it's his first time here, but it's not.

So he just smiled weakly at them and gave them a thumbs up, not knowing how to react otherwise.

By the time they were gone, Sonic was getting nervous just wasting time staring at the blue in the distance. He felt like he should have helped Tails and Amy with the luggage instead of complaining, because he definitely wasn't going to explore the island. He didn't know how he was going to explain his moodiness and lack of desire for adventure to Tails and Amy. Not only did he not know, but he was not allowed to. He just wasn't.

He walked back to the Tornado and opened the trunk. It was one of those things you do automatically when you don't know what to do with yourself, like he does now. And...

He was surprised. It seems Tails didn't ravage the trunk at all to the extent Sonic originally thought. Well, at least it can't be said that he emptied it all.

There was still a book inside. Sonic reached for her. He wipes the dust off the cover.

The art of repair. Is it possible?

After all these years, Tails still kept that book. However, it seemed that he hadn't touched it for a long time, or even looked at it. Sonic thought it was lost forever. Could it be that Tails always carried it with him but seemed to ignore it all these years? And did the book remind him of the same thing as Sonic?

There was something else. At the very bottom of the trunk, in the corner, there was a small plant in a jar under a glass bell. It looked like a newer sprout, but Sonic wasn't fooled. Although he had only seen it once in his life, he knew how to recognize it very well. He would have recognized it among hundreds of thousands of seemingly identical ones.

You idiot.

A year ago, after their return from Earth to Mobius, Sonic accidentally barged into Tails' room one evening. Involuntarily, he found him curled up on the bed like that. Even though his back was to the door, Sonic could still see that he had wrapped his arms around and cradled the jar that had a tiny silver seed shining in it, sobbing softly.

Sonic stormed out of the room without looking back. He wanted to avoid an awkward moment at all costs because after this it was impossible to look Tails in the eyes. Because Sonic knew that then he would be tempted. Tempted to try to comfort him. Relieve the pain. For which he was guilty. But he couldn't. He didn't know how. If he tried, it would only hurt both of them. And that's why he did nothing, eating away at himself from the inside.

You idiot.

Hearing Tails cry was an ugly feeling. The saddest and most embarrassing feeling in the world. But still, Sonic knew he was incapable of doing anything. He just couldn't. To make matters worse, he knew.

He knew Tails watered that seed every day.

He knew that in the evening he would always pick himself up and go with it to the lake to watch the sunset, exposing it to the perfect amount of natural light.

He also knew that he treated her as if it were Cosmo, with all her body and being.

But he also knew that this plant would never grow. And yet, even though Tails was very serious for his age of eight (soon to be nine, actually), Sonic knew that there was a little bit of childlike hope inside him that whispered to him that maybe, with enough effort, he would one day grow Cosmo out of that plant.

And to make matters more stupid, Sonic also had a glimmer of such silly hope in him.

You idiot.

Tails once sacirficed his life for Cosmo, and then Cosmo for the life of the whole galaxy. Sonic would have been happy if he himself had sacrificed half as much. And yet, all that he brought to his friend after the death of the love of his life was a stupid seed. Today, it was not at all clear to him how he had the nerve to show up with only one seed. It would be better if he just never showed up again. One pissing seed wasn't nearly enough to justify the entire life of an innocent child, and then again, Tails treated that seed like a deity.

Cosmo was just a little kid. She should have experienced so much more. She should have come to live here with them. And he deigned to return to Tails with the seed as all that was left of her.

You IDIOT!

Sonic felt such a sudden wave of self-hatred that he slammed the trunk and kicked the lower wing of the plane. Crash.

"Sonic? What was that? Is everything okay?" he heard voices approaching.

Tails and Amy were coming back. He looked at them with a sour smile. "Sure. Come on, show me that cottage. Let me see if it was money well spent."

It was a fresh morning in the middle of Metro city, by Christmas bay. Amy hummed as poor Tails trotted up next to her after offering to carry all the bags of souvenirs she'd bought.

"I don't know how we'll ever recover from this financially" Sonic commented jokingly, munching on his morning chilli dog.

"We don't need money, we need enjoyment, rest and memories!" Amy said cheerfully.

"Oh yeah? And where's the enjoyment and rest to me right now, and why do memories have to be so expensive... and heavy?" Tails squealed. They all burst out laughing. All three were in good spirits. Sonic has decided to let go of his past worries and enjoy himself, even though being on Christmas Island still doesn't sit well with him (please understand readers: I know you're anxious to know why, but I promise, all in due time, soon all the secrets will be out discovered...).

Last night's stargazing went well. They saw exactly three bright shooting stars during the night, each one cutting through the sky in its own style.

Amy was the first to make a wish. She tried to be as secretive as possible about it, to make the wish come true, though both Sonic and Tails knew that she probably wished that she and Sonic would get married one day.

The next shooting star was used by Tails. After that they made Sonic make a wish too when he saw the next one. And then he saw it, like a bright arrow that cut through the middle of the sky.

He wanted his little buddy to be happy.

He didn't know what else he could possibly wish for. Of course, he didn't tell any of them about it. There were times when he also believed in miracles.

"Guys, I think the others here are looking at me little strangely..." Tails suddenly spoke up a bit nervously.

Sonic looked back at him, just finishing his chilli dog. "What do you mean, buddy?"

"Well…" Tails timidly turned on his axis. "Somehow... With disdain... I feel a bit unwanted, like I'm being shot with a glance..."

It suddenly occurs to Sonic why that might be, and the whole island disgusts him once again. Christmas Island was quite isolated from the rest of Mobius and probably not everyone had even heard of Sonic, let alone Tails.

Sonic grabbed Tails by the forearm protectively and pulled him forward. "Walk in front of me," he said.

Tails was right. People did watch. They didn't even bother to hide their surprise. There was everything: mouths agape, finger pointing, pausing next to them. Sonic quickened his pace, cursing the entire island and the old wounds it was probably just opening to his friend. How dare they?

Still, Sonic was right about people reacting that way because of Tails' tails, but the reason for such a reaction was beyond Sonic's mind in the slightest. Sonic assumed they were just surprised because he was just different. (If only the whole thing was so simple.)

All three were relieved when they got out of the city center. Amy watched Tails with sympathy, speechless. Sonic just mumbled.

"Okay, I don't think any of us want this experience to happen again," he commented. "We'd better find another route back to the cottage. Any ideas?"

A short silence, after which Tails offered, "It wouldn't be a problem for me. My Miles Electric can scan the area. You feel free to head home, I know you're tired, you can go back through town on your own and I was going to explore the island sooner or later anyway. I could go among the Eastern Hills, to Eastern Lake, and from there find a new route to return.

Sonic glared at him. "Are you out of your mind? You're the reason we left the city. Not that I want to point it out, but…Tails, there's no way I'm leaving you here alone after all that."

"Come on, Sonic! No one will harm me. Besides, you may have forgotten, but I know how to take care of myself. These here aren't just propellers for flying" he turned and showed his namesakes. He scowled and showed his sharp fangs. Sonic winced when he noticed how much they had grown lately.

"I will strangle any malicious fool that comes near me" Tails said matter-of-factly, flapping his tails. "After all," he added, "you have to help Amy carry all these things!" and handed him dozens of bags with souvenirs that he had been carrying until now.

"Oh, you little…So you just wanted to get away with it all this time, huh?" Sonic hissed through his teeth and started laughing, under the weight of the bags.

Tails was laughing too, only Amy remained somewhat serious. "Tails, are you sure you want to do this alone?" she asked, visibly worried.

Tails leaned over to Amy and whispered in her ear, "Come on, Amy. Can't you see what I'm trying to do here? You should be grateful that I'm buying you hours of alone time with Sonic!"

Amy gasped, confused and surprised, as Tails pulled away from her and winked at her. Amy blushed.

"Well, fine then. But listen, take care, okay? And answer me if I call you. And you know I will." Sonic said protectively, turning on his heel, and Amy followed, waving at Tails. They waved at him until they were both out of sight, and then Tails sprung into action, east of his current position.

What he didn't know was that someone was watching him from the bushes all the time... Someone who, believe me, will be very, very important later in the story...

And started to follow him.