Chapter 24: Miles Away

Amy held up a small device. "I have just the way to find him!" she announced.

Sonic grinned, "The emerald tracker!"

"Only right to find Tails using his own machinery, right?"

"Great idea, Amy!" Cream exclaimed.

"Let's go! No time to lose!" Sonic led the search party.

The tracker was leading them back past where he had found Cream.

.

Tails opened his eyes to a rather bright sunset. He sat up and yawned, still lying beside that lake he had found. It was a peaceful place, and Chaos hadn't come upon it yet. So it was lush and green. Frogs croaked and hopped around the water, and fish were silhouettes within it. Tails pushed aside some tall grass and pulled out the blue and yellow emeralds.

He clutched them tightly as he considered using them again. He had never lashed out in anger before, and it felt good to use the emeralds to make a terrifying storm. He started to lift the blue emerald, to summon the dark clouds again, but he stopped. The sky behind it was such a bright, beautiful blue, he couldn't do it.

He lowered the emerald and lay back again. It wasn't like him to lash out anyway. But then what could he do? There was something growing inside him… a rage or irritation… a bitter emotion that made him want to do something… as if everything would be alright if he did.

He sat up and stood up, looking into the lake at his reflection. He immediately turned away. Sonic had been counting on him. Sonic always counted on him. He trusted him. And now I failed him ultimately and irreversibly… He closed his eyes and couldn't help but hear Knuckles's words. The ones chiding him for always saying that he had failed Sonic. And then… those that came after.

He frowned and turned back toward Rouge's cave. "I shouldn't have left…" he whispered. "Now I've failed them, too…"

.

"I can't believe you just went straight to Eggman to mess with him," Sonic was saying to Amy.

Amy smiled. "Someone had to go teach him a lesson while you were gone," she said.

"No one better to."

Amy beamed and blushed. "You really think so?"

"Oh, of course, Ames! You mean business with that hammer!"

"Sure do!" She playfully gave the hammer a swing.

"Were you planning on fighting Dr. Robotnik day after day after day?" Cream asked.

"I guess… until Chaos came for us both." She dropped her arm and her hammer dragged on the ground next to her. "I guess I didn't really know what to do with myself with Sonic… dead…"

Sonic frowned at her.

"Yeah…" Cream agreed. "It was so lonely without you, Mr. Sonic… I don't think any of us really knew what to do without you…"

Sonic's chest tightened. "And Tails?" he whispered.

Cream looked down at her feet as they walked. "He… I think he gave up… I think…"

"Everyone felt hopeless," Amy explained. "Tails most of all. He couldn't even think about thinking about inventing something to help us."

"He was the first to leave."

Sonic nodded. He heard as much. So where was Tails now? "Tails needs to see that I'm okay," he determined.

.

Tails had never been able to rest peacefully. He had never been out in the sun for so long for one thing, and he had never spent more than a half hour not thinking about a project. He was sitting against a tree now, and he found himself smiling. Am I… happy? That couldn't be. Tears welled up in his eyes again. He curled in a ball and closed his eyes, falling into a tear-stained sleep.

He woke up hungry and cold. Stars peeked through the canopy of the woods, and so did a thin strip of a crescent moon hanging high above it. Tails stood up and held his stomach. He walked along the shoreline of the lake, missing Amy's meals.

One of the shadows in the lake caught his eye. He could easily get a meal. He just needed the tools for it. The gears started turning in his mind. It had been so long since he even thought about making anything. What was the point, he had asked. But he looked back up at the sky. He saw Sonic's face in his mind's eye… proud and smiling. Sonic was always proud of me… He was so proud of my work… He looked back at the tree he had been sitting beside. "I can still do him proud…"

.

Sonic felt a bit rushed. He felt like he needed to get to Tails as fast as he could. His pace was quickening as the moon rose in the sky and they entered the woods past the briars. Amy and Cream were struggling to catch up to him, though.

"Are you feeling better, Mr. Sonic?" Cream asked, huffing.

Sonic hadn't noticed, but he supposed he was. "Yeah… I guess I am," he said. But there was still a piece of pain inside him: He worried about his best friend. They needed to hurry. "Faster…" he mumbled. "Faster!"

"Not everyone has Sonic speed," Amy rolled her eyes.

Sonic looked back at them with such an expression, Cream had to respond, "Tails is gonna be fine, Mr. Sonic… I'm sure."

She didn't sound convinced, let alone convincing.

Sonic grabbed their wrists and picked up his pace again.

.

He had used the flat ends of his emeralds as hammers. He only had wood and leaves to work with, but he had managed to build a small raft. Now, he was zooming across the lake thanks to his propeller tails. He couldn't help it. He laughed whimsically. It was almost like speeding around with Sonic again. It may not have been robotics, but he was enjoying his new "vehicle" just like his others.

Soon, he tired. Not only were his tails sore and exhausted, but he was still hungry. He had made it to the perfect place to go fishing. He used the blue emerald to bring a sphere of water above the pond, catching two fish. With the yellow emerald, he struck them, cooking them through. With a grin, he let them land on the raft, then took them in his hands and started eating them right there. He already felt better.

He lay down on his raft and closed his eyes, the smile still on his face. "You want me to be happy, don't you, Sonic? You always did. You always told me not to worry… to relax." He opened his eyes and looked up at the stars. "I… I can try…" His mouth straightened. "I guess I should start by making it up to the girls for leaving them… I need to go back to them." His tails spun again, and he headed for shore.

A tree there held some apples. He flew up to a branch and stood on it to pick an apple that was growing up a bit higher. He bit into it. It was delicious. He would have to bring these back to Rouge's cave. "I'll keep doing you proud, Sonic." He started gathering some apples in his hands.

He had no idea that Sonic had raced across the lake and was now down below him. He didn't even know Cream and Amy had flown over the lake to catch up as well.

"I'll be there for them… I'll help them. And I'm not going to be a failure… No… Not anymore." With the apples in his arms, he turned to head off, but he saw Cream flapping beside him. "Cream!" he stared, startled. "What are you doing way out here?"

"Looking for you!" she said cheerily.

"Cream…" he frowned. "I'm so sorry I left… I was just about to head back, and—"

Cream smiled at him. "It's okay, Tails. We're all going to be okay. Amy and I came to find you… oh… and he did, too." She pointed down toward Sonic, who waved up at his best friend.

When Tails saw him, he nearly fell from the tree. He did drop the apples, which Sonic was able to deftly dodge. "Sonic?!" He flew down to him to get a closer look. "Is it… Is it really?"

"I was never dead, buddy," Sonic explained. "I'm too good for that. You should know that!" He winked.

Tails still stared at him.

Amy grinned beside them, "Surprise, Tails!"

"I…" Tails's tears were coming back up.

"Come on, bud," Sonic held out his hands and took Tails by the shoulders. "I won't be leaving you that easily."

Tails was smiling now, though the tears still trickled down his face. "Sonic!"

Sonic brought him in for a hug, and Tails cried happily in his chest. "Let it out, bud. It's gonna be okay." He patted his friend's head and looked down at him. "I'm so proud of you, Tails."

Tails looked up at him. "You… You are?"

"Of course! You were moving on. You were doing great!"

Tails buried his face into Sonic again.

"I think we're more than ready to face Chaos now! What do you say we reconvene at Rouge's place and get these emeralds together, once and for all?"