Author's note: A little something I cooked up while writing another fic ;)

I also wanna say a huge thank you to Irritable Fabulamancer who proofread this one-shot and made it more amazing. Seriously go check out their stuff if you haven't, they make just as great if not better fics than these ones :D

Enjoy :3


Hidden beneath the hero

He let out a slow exhale, letting the oxygen from his lungs travel through his windpipe and mouth, feeling the cold air pass through his entire system. It was relieving, nothing blocking his airway, sending his body into a moment of tranquility, letting his eyes close for just a moment. Hands solidly planted on his hips, he took a couple of seconds to steady himself, opening his eyes again.

This place reminded him a lot of Labyrinth Zone, a place which he had sworn never to return to unless he absolutely had to. You didn't have the luxury of being picky when you were the hero of the world – you didn't get to choose where the villain was going to strike next. To the hedgehog's luck, Eggman had never really visited South Island ever since the both of them had left, staying around the northern and eastern side of the planet instead, where the bigger cities and larger zones were located, something that the madman was much greedier to get his hands on. Blackmailing and threatening was one of the things that the Egghead took pride in.

And when he wasn't going around and making the blue blur run from place to place, he was out and about and sending his robots on missions and quests to locate the gems that held the power of Chaos, wanting them to use for his own benefit. And in his way, he left robots for the unfortunate souls that would walk by the area. Luckily, the emeralds tended to hide away in the corners of the world whenever they were brought together and therefore, more often than not, they were situated in places where almost no one populated.

Which meant that the only one that was going to run into the robots that the doctor left behind was the curious blue hedgehog who couldn't say no to a shot of adrenaline. That, and finding the Chaos Emeralds first was a top priority, meaning that he needed to go treasure hunting once in a while. Which had led them to Sylvania Castle zone.

He took another moment to just stand and look out at the landscape in front of him, letting his body drip the last remnants of water out of his fur, giving up even on the thought of wringing out gloves and socks since he knew that they weren't done investigating flooded ruins.

He frowned at the thought, wondering why every ruin they ran across had to be flooded, leaving behind scattered buildings, that in their prime time would have looked gorgeous, in more than knee deep water. It was almost like a rule of nature – if the place is ruined, abandoned, and old, then water shall appear.

Labyrinth Zone, Aquatic Ruin Zone, Seaside Hill Zone – granted a part of Seaside Hill had flourishing settlements and tourist attractions, but still – and Dry Lagoon Zone, one of the most hypocritical names he had ever heard for a zone. He supposed that back in the day it might have been dry.

His eyes were scanning the area in front of him, seeing broken towers in heaps of stone, covered with vines and moss, the moist area being more than a perfect area for plant growth. The landscape was filled to the brim with hills and plateaus, the area being anything but flat, springs scattered around to make it easier for him to move around.

There were some resemblances of the castles left, since they sometimes passed by a stained window, showcasing pictures of long forgotten gardens and ceremonial places. Doorways, where the wooden door was long gone, with wings that would, back then, had led out to various areas of the castle. He had no idea how many castles had originally been here, or if everything had just been one giant castle.

A part of him had wanted to see in its prime time and watch it stand tall and large. Maybe he could have counted the towers, running up the walls and getting to the highest spire, standing there and looking and watching everything around him. A part of him longed for it, missing something that he shouldn't be able to miss.

Granted, that opportunity was long gone, given that there weren't any royals around these days and there weren't any castles that would have been as big as this one. He had no idea what its history was, who owned it or if parts of their generations still roamed around. A childish part of his mind was suddenly grateful that he wasn't one of them, the mere thought of being trapped by something as simple as royal tradition and etiquette making him want to shiver. Being royal must suck.

A sigh that could have matched his own made him turn his ears backwards to catch the sound, before his head came around, a grin spreading across his muzzle.

"Forget it, bro. We're not done diving yet," he simply explained, watching as his sidekick, best friend, and little brother was wringing out his right glove, water dripping from the fabric. Tails looked up at the inquiry, large yellow ears flicking as a mildly annoyed frown found its way to his forehead.

"I wish we were," he complained, while he with difficulty pulled the glove back over his hand, stretching his fingers into the wet fabric. "I'm getting tired of this," he continued, Sonic watching as the recognizable and familiar twin tails on his friend wrung around themselves carefully, water dripping from the thick fur, before releasing, returning to their regularly scheduled programming of moving slowly up and down.

The hedgehog snickered as the fox walked up beside him, taking a glance himself at the landscape in front of them as well as their progress, not even halfway through the zone just yet.

"If you're getting tired then I must be on the verge of passing out," the hedgehog stated with a grin, indicating that he was joking, not that he seemed to ever stop having fun. "We have been going all day." The fox beside him nodded in agreement, ears still flicking, as he pointed out at the ruins in front of them, drawing an invisible line that Sonic couldn't follow.

"I say we check out those perimeters, get a good look around, and then settle down for the night." The blur followed along as best as he could, leaning a bit closer to his sidekick to watch where he was drawing in the air, making out the first six or seven ruins that he was indicating. Despite it not looking like much for the two runners, the water underneath was what was draining them at this point. Two or three hours at least.

He nodded in agreement without saying anything, leaning back towards himself again, casting a glance at the sidekick beside him. When Sonic had come to the workshop and told Tails about the zone as well as the possibility of an emerald, he hadn't hesitated one bit, having practically jumped into the Tornado the moment the hedgehog had asked if he wanted to come with him. Like a true little sidekick.

They were used to these kinds of adventures, running around the world, saving villages, defeating and kicking robot-butt, getting into trouble and exploring abandoned zones like this one. Both of them enjoyed it, the thrill and the adventure, a starvation which was never satisfied. But with every pro comes a con, and the both of them were getting tired and hungry by this point, spending all day in this zone and trying to reduce the risk of exhaustion and hypothermia by taking small breaks in between.

The water was far from tropical degrees, the hedgehog seeing the shiver that ran through the thicker furred friend beside him, the water not as easily dripping off as his own stubby fur, a big brother thought nagging him in the back of his head about catching a cold. Though he knew that Tails could take care of himself, and would say something if they needed to rest earlier for the night, since he had taught him to do that ever since he was little. If he said that they could check around the ruins he had pointed to and settle down afterwards, then he trusted him.

"Sounds good to me," Sonic eventually agreed, looking down at the slope they were situated on, perfect for a spin dash. He smirked at the mere thought – the steeper the slope the faster the momentum.

"Ready when you are," the sidekick announced, spinning namesakes starting to turn and easily lifting him into the air, looking at Sonic and waiting for him to go. The blur nodded to himself at that point, letting the smirk widen on his lips as he took a step back before jumping.

He curled around into his trademark blue ball of spinning spikes, hitting the slope as his quills dug into the ground, rolling faster and faster down the hill. He only took note of the spinning tails for a second, mentally making sure that Tails was following, before he was in the air. He uncurled and let out a howl of adrenaline and pure amusement, front flipping and landing on the ground, using the momentum he had gained and running just at the edge of the sound barrier, swirling around ruins and stone, jumping and gliding while making his way up and down the landscape.

Hitting a spring and getting into the air, he spun around and landed again, making a mental check of where they were, before continuing their trek. The ground switched from dry grass to moist and then wet grass, the mud already making his soles brown and the red of the sneakers a darker tint, the white stripes practically gone.

His socks were soaked as well, squishing with every step, though he did his best to ignore the sensation, feeling like he was slipping and sliding inside of his shoes at this point. Jumping on another cluster of stones and bricks, he easily spin dashed the robotic grasshopper that jumped out at him, landed on a spring, and looked around. Tails had already attacked the buzz bombers in the air, and the hedgehog landed again, somersaulting before speeding up, getting higher and higher up. He was relieved at the idea, knowing enough physics that he was aware that water travelled downwards.

It was comforting at first, until the landscape curved down again, the two of them running into the first ruin. He ran through a broken and dilapidated wing of the castle, the walls somewhat intact, though the glass in the windows were long gone.

He skidded to a stop as he reached the end of it, feeling both dread and uneasiness shiver in his body at the sight of the deep, deep water. Despite the acquaintance he had with it at this point, he would never get used to it. He looked up as the flying fox stopped spinning his tails around and did a somersault before landing into the water, no hesitation or warning or anything. Sonic knew that it was a tactic the fox had developed – the hedgehog wouldn't leave him behind.

Therefore, he swallowed the fear as much as he could, took in a big breath, held it, and reluctantly jumped into the water. It was the same song and dance that happened every time he felt water go past his knees, or in this scenario, had his entire body submerged. Panic was the first instinct that settled in, remaining for a couple of seconds before he could rationally think. He flailed about a little bit, until his feet hit the bottom of the flooded floor, somewhat solid ground giving him solace in the midst of his own fear.

He kept his mouth shut as he quickly got a look at his surroundings, the way ahead of them blurry from the water though he could spot the robots that Eggman had deployed down here, and the usual sharks and fish that lived down here. His sidekick was already at it, doing a spin dash which he had copied from the hedgehog, getting rid of the first ones ahead of them, turning around to make sure that Sonic had actually jumped in.

The hedgehog began running to the best of his ability, the water always slowing down his movement and making him weightless. He hated it. It was difficult to maneuver around, calculate how long he had to jump to hit a bot, and it was generally slower. If it weren't water it might have been fun, but right now he could feel his heart beating out of his chest as his lungs longed for air.

He jumped over a fallen down piece of roof, his eyes immediately catching sight of the rift that was in the floor, seeing the air bubble that emerged from it. Without a thought he ran towards it, practically headbutting into the bubble, and took in the oxygen, letting it go through his nose. It eased his chest a bit, and he stood for a bit and waited until the next bubble came, the fox diving down and taking his own breath, the two of them exchanging a nod before they continued, another wave of robotic fish coming their way.

The longer he remained the more uneasy he felt, his heart beating to survive, and his entire body yearning to get back up to the surface, with every step. The bubbles might be a relief, but they were only temporarily, and he was still completely submerged. His ears started hurting and throbbing, the sound of the water rushing past his ear canals making it slightly painful, his eyes not being fond of the unclean water either.

As his lungs began screaming once more, the roof disappeared above them, making him look up and see the waterline above him. Without a second thought he jumped while curling around to gain momentum, his entire body pushing through and breaking the water apart.

He landed on the dry stone floor with his feet, though his legs were wobbling and shaking, making him put his hands on his knees and take deep breaths, closing his eyes for a moment. He could feel his hands shaking as he tried to calm himself down, his heart beating against his ribcage while taking deep breaths, feeling once more the relief of being out of the water.

He didn't want to admit it, but it was getting to him. The more he went in and out of the deep, deep, and horrible nightmare fuel he felt more and more panicky. In the beginning he had somewhat of a grip on himself, yelling in relief and happiness every time he made it out of there, adrenaline being his force.

Now though, he felt horrible more than anything, fingers raw and body shaking from the cold, the adrenaline long gone and replaced with an utter sense of tiredness that appeared from crossing his own line every time he jumped in.

The advice that people passed to each other that facing your fears will make you immune to them was nothing but a horrible and terrible lie. He had been in and out of water all day and he felt like it was getting worse.

"You ready?" He looked up, having not noticed that Tails had gotten out of the water, and having no general idea how long he had been flying and waiting for Sonic to take a minute. He bit his lip and stood up again, ignoring the fact that his hands were still shaking.

"Sure," he reassured, giving him the best grin that he could muster in the situation, before settling into a sprint, trying to shake off the fear, despite being well aware that he was going to face it once again in a little bit.

He didn't want to think about it, and instead homing attacked a row of buzz bombers, checking every wing that they passed, making sure that there was no powerful gem hiding in the corners. He had no idea whether or not there was one even here, or if Egghead had found it already, though he knew that man well enough that he probably would have told Sonic if he had found it.

That was one of the positive things about the egg, he eagerly boasted whenever he had a big plan in the making, spilling details and bragging whenever he had the upper hand. He wasn't subtle and didn't hide his secrets, which was in the hero's favor.

He swirled around another corner, jumping and gliding under fallen stone and bricks as he could see the next hole of water in front of him. He let out an irritated sigh, thinking that he just wanted to get it over with at this point and therefore curled into a ball to try and negate the panic as he splashed down into the water.

Then he didn't know what happened.

Either the walls shook, he had hit something, or got disoriented, or something, but suddenly stone and walls started to crumble together. He only managed to uncurl and register that stone was falling all around him in the water, creating bubbles that obscured his vision, as he looked around frantically for a way out.

He opened his mouth in a muffled pained cry, but hadn't been paying enough attention, and suddenly stone tumbled on top of him. He closed his mouth again instinctively, despite the mouthful of water he had already swallowed, panic taking over his mind as he couldn't move.

Stones kept falling down from the ceiling, falling down around him. He moved his head around to avoid them hitting him, feeling the panic overwhelm him as he realized what had happened to him. A slab of bricks or stones was on top of him, trapping an arm and his chest and making it difficult to breathe.

He frantically tried moving his hips to wiggle the stone off, but it was weighing him down. He gritted his teeth to try and keep the panic at bay. But he had lost already. His heart was beating and pulsating in his ears, pumping, and pumping adrenaline through his body, trying to make him move, trying to make him get out of there.

Pumppumppumppump, it was hammering in his chest as his lungs were screaming and crying for air. His entire body was shaking, trying to frantically wiggle his way out but he couldn't. He couldn't! He wanted to open his mouth and scream, eyes wide and shaking, his ears rushing and hurting as dark spots started to appear in his eyes.

No! It couldn't end like this! He was Sonic the hedgehog!

He wasn't going to die and drown in some kind of underwater tunnel in a zone that was completely deserted. The hero of Mobius was not going to end his life right here and right now. There was so much more he wanted to do! So much more he needed to see! It couldn't end here!

And yet – as his vision began to blacken and he could feel his lungs starting to ebb out and give up he eventually concluded that this must be it. Hands and feet were still wiggling manically out of panic, but his strength was about to ebb out, as his hurting chest seemed to start to disappear and his body went numb, his mouth opening without his consent.

He could feel his eyelids drifting closed without his own doing, his body starting to feel weightless as the dark spots in his eyes started to get larger and larger, his vision starting to disappear. Tiredness overwhelming him, a strange sense of weightlessness that made him feel oddly tranquil.

Until something moved on top of him. His eyes widened, and the dark spots behind his eyes washed out as he started wiggling again, only faintly making out the yellow figure in front of him from the blurriness.

The weight disappeared from his chest, and his arm was freed. He closed his mouth as an arm wrapped around his shoulder and started to drag him upwards. Adrenaline kicked in and pure determination and hope shot through him as he was thrusted upwards.

The moment he penetrated the water's surface he took in the biggest gulp of air he had ever tasted, before violently coughing, thrashing, and flailing to get out of the water. He was kicked in the shin, making him concentrate on coughing instead while he was dragged back on dry land. His hands were shaking violently, fingers clinging to the stone, and he collapsed on it, his body still halfway in the water while still coughing and throwing up water.

He was dragged further up on land, hoisted a bit up before a fist started to pound him in his back, hurting at first until another bout of water made it through his esophagus. It was horrible, water thrusting its way through his entire system, through his nose and mouth, and making it feel like he was drowning a second time.

He moved his head away from the puddle that was now a mixture of diluted stomach acid, bits of food, and water, hands once again moving him. They dragged him a bit, having stopped pounding his poor back. Though he was still coughing, dry heaving and shaking, his heart beating out of his chest. His vision was still a bit blurry, his body feeling partially numb, and he could only feel his beating heart and shaking hands and legs.

He faintly registered that Tails still had a hold of him, the stubborn side of the hedgehog forcing himself to sit instead of being halfway laying down, leaning on the balls of his heels while still coughing. Though it was much easier to breathe now, as water ran down his face and body, making a puddle on the ground where him and his fantastic sidekick sat.

The coughing started to steadily subside, could feel his hands shaking as tremors racked through his body, looking up. Tails had an uncharacteristically worried expression on his face, blue eyes darting around his face as if he were wondering whether or not he was going to collapse. Sonic opened his mouth to say something but didn't know what.

He wanted to apologize, ask what had happened, throw out a nonchalant joke and go 'so that happened huh?', but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He closed it again as the tremors racked through him once more, his heart beating and beating, body shaking.

Tails' eyes fastened onto the shaking emerald green orbs, before he leaned forward and engulfed the hedgehog into a stubborn hug.

At first Sonic wanted to push him off, moving his arms to do so, until the fox squeezed him a bit tighter, telling him that there was no way around it. He remained shaking after that, convincing himself that it was his little brother who wanted the hug from the older one almost drowning, trying to think that he needed to be there for the younger.

But as Tails remained and as he could feel the tremors still shaking through his body, he found his own hands returning it, clambering around the fox's back. His head landed on a yellow shoulder, and he let out a single tremoring sigh before he closed his eyes and let himself remain.

His entire body was shaking and vibrating, his heart still trying to convince him that he was drowning, the steady, solid body of his sidekick being more than comforting to him.

A careful hand started to smooth out the ruffled quills on the back of his head, as a quiet whispering reached his ears. Words of reassurance, promises of him being okay, and that it was over, and he just needed to stay calm. He couldn't make them out completely as they were so low in volume that he wondered whether Tails was hesitating while saying it, though he picked it up, nonetheless.

They stayed there, for how long he didn't know, shaking and taking in deep breaths, listening to the quiet whispering and the smooth touch of his best friend moving his quills back into place. They had been around each other so much now that the fox probably knew how to not cut himself.

And as time passed, he could feel himself starting to calm down again, his beating heart slowing down in acceleration as his legs at least had stopped shaking. He let out a long and slow sigh, the last vestiges of his fear starting to ebb out at the same time that his quills were put back into place, the hand remaining around his shoulders instead.

As his hands started to fall somewhat still again, he gently pushed away. This time the fox let him, as the two of them sat back onto their heels. He looked back up at his little brother's eyes, as he seemed less concerned, and mentally checked the hedgehog's expression, making a conclusion.

"You alright now?" he asked either way, a frown on his forehead telling the hedgehog that he better not be lying to him. Said hedgehog forced out a chuckle, drilling a finger into his ear which released some water.

"Yeah. I'm good," he said, while swallowing something in his throat. "Thanks," he was obligated to say, a small part of him feeling somewhat guilty for losing his grip like that. But Tails nodded in appreciation, looking back at the water where he had dragged the hedgehog out of.

"I say that we find a place to stay now, and finish with the rest of the zone tomorrow," he suggested, though his tone of voice indicated that if Sonic protested then he would argue with him.

The hedgehog couldn't bring himself to disagree either way.


Flailing, falling, panicking, moving around to try and get a grip on something around him. Choking and screaming despite nothing coming out of his mouth, lungs and stomach getting filled with water. Eyes were blurry, ears hurting as he kept falling and falling through water, the dark abyss underneath him getting closer and closer.

He couldn't breathe, he couldn't scream, and he couldn't do anything other than try to grip something that wasn't there, heart beating and lungs screaming. Pumping against his chest as his head started to explode, water rippling around him and flying faster and faster through the never-ending tunnel with water that choked and -

He woke up with a gasp, eyes flinging open, and stared at the rock wall in front of him. He blinked, taking a breath, his hand grasping around his throat, but he wasn't choking. He was fine.

He let out a sigh, running a hand down his face to try and stop the shaking once again. He hated when that happened. It wasn't often that he had nightmares, given that he knew he could conquer anything. But when he had been in a close encounter with something that had almost ended him, his mind tended to remind him that he wasn't completely fearless. Something that he despised more than anything.

His heart started to calm down again, as he drifted out of his shock easily enough, being more than aware that he was dry and warm and wasn't drowning in some watery pit. A yawn penetrated his lips as he turned and looked around the dead end they had found.

The campfire was still sputtering warmly, flames dancing and burning with ease, embers sitting in the ashen colored wood. It had burned about halfway now, meaning that he had been sleeping for more than three hours or something of the sorts. The smoke was steadily disappearing out into a hole in the stone ceiling, and he could faintly make out a couple of stars, though the sight was obscured by the wavering smoke.

His eyes caught hold of the garments they had taken off and put beside the fire to dry. Both sneakers got a quick wash to get the mud and such off them, and were now trying to valiantly dry from the flames. Two pairs of gloves were pretty much dry at this point while only one pair of socks was dry as well.

He looked past the flames to look at the figure who had volunteered to take the first watch, seeing the fox sitting with his legs against his chest, his back turned to him, with arms and tails curling around his legs.

They had found a wing of the old castle that had been broken off, meaning that they were camping out in a dead end, giving them a full view of the landscape, stars sparkling across the night sky with the rest of the unexplored zone gaping in front of them. It was late at night at this point, making the hedgehog let out another yawn, but he didn't feel like going back to sleep again and therefore sat up.

Both large yellow ears turned around towards him, though the head didn't turn, making the hedgehog reach over and take his socks, his naked feet feeling cold against the stone. They were dry but not comfortable anymore, though he cast that thought aside since it was the least of his worries, as he stood up and stretched his back.

As he began walking and his steps echoed in their small camp, Tails turned his head around towards him, a tired smile crossing his lips.

"Hey. You woke up?" Sonic nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders before sitting down beside his sidekick, stretching out his arms and letting his eyes get lost in the landscape in front of them once more.

"Nah, I'm still sleeping." The fox let out a snort from the lame joke, shaking his head, though he remained quiet, letting his head fall on top of his kneecaps.

The silence remained for a couple of heartbeats, the hedgehog taking his time to look at the stars above them, the lack of light pollution from Station Square or any other city nearby making the sky more visible than he remembered. It was a sight he would never get tired of.

He only glanced as Tails uncurled, legs stretching and arms reaching behind his own back to support himself, tails splayed out behind him.

"So. Nightmare?" Sonic blinked towards him, though the trained little brother had already read him, casually shrugging his shoulders as if he had asked how the weather was.

"You mumble in your sleep," he rationalized as if that was going to make the situation any better. The hedgehog snorted and playfully punched his shoulder, though it only made the grin widen, not getting the fox to change the subject.

"Let's just say I hate water," Sonic said, both giving him an explanation and closing the discussion. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back, crossing his legs at the ankles.

Another beat of comfortable silence passed between them, something that the both of them enjoyed, since the other's company was more than enough. Normally the hedgehog was a blabbermouth whenever he became overtired, but this time around he let his eyes look at the stars instead of the landscape, the events of the day making him appreciate the things he enjoyed the most.

He hated thinking about unpleasant experiences, and had taught himself a long time ago how to save them in a box in his mind and hide it away for all eternity. It was a coping mechanism he had developed, doing what he did, and was something he had taught himself.

"The ceiling couldn't hold out any longer." Sonic turned his head towards his brother at the comment, watching as the fox drew a random pattern on the stone beside him, looking at the drawing that none of them could see. "It was a coincidence, that it fell the moment you jumped in," he further explained, as if he owed it to him.

Sonic, on the other hand, hadn't even thought about how and why it had happened, was merely happy that he had gotten out of it alive. But he knew his little brother. He coped with it differently, didn't have the same ability to forget stuff like that, and therefore had his own methods of dealing with situations like the one that had happened. Distracting himself by tinkering with the Tornado, flying around in said biplane, and getting his thoughts sorted out in the sky or talking to someone about it.

Nine out of ten times it was the person who had practically raised him that endured these types of conversations. Though Sonic knew how to handle them, letting out a chuckle, his foot starting to tap in the air to a random song in his head.

"Maybe mother nature just wanted to teach me a lesson." The banter worked, making the fox let out a scoff, looking at him with a tired grin.

"To stay away from water?" Sonic shrugged, sitting completely on his behind again since his back was hurting from the stone, arms behind himself to keep him upright.

"I think it was more of a breath holding contest," he joked, laughing good-heartedly, the kind of laughter that masked the fear and the worry that was behind the sentence. He looked at the fox expecting to hear a mirrored laugh.

Instead he was biting his lip, his blue eyes telling the experienced big brother that he didn't find it funny. He was about to open his mouth and apologize for the inquiry but was cut off as Tails scooted closer to him, leaning his yellow head on the bony shoulder of the other.

"It was scary," he said quietly, looking at the landscape in front of them, as if the action hadn't happened. Sonic blinked at him for a moment, before drawing a hand around his shoulders, tugging him to his side, faintly registering that he was colder than the hedgehog would have thought.

"Yeah." He let out a long sigh. "It was." He had to agree, his thumb starting to trace back and forth on the yellow furred shoulder, giving Tails the comfort he not-so discreetly asked for.

The older they got, the better the fox was at handling experiences like these. It was something that happened almost all the time, it wasn't rare for the two of them to get into a life-or-death scenario practically every single day. But this time it had been close. Even Sonic had to admit that.

He had barely gotten out of there alive. And there was only one person he could thank for that. He bit his lip in hesitation, though he let out a quick sigh, scratching his quills with his other hand.

"You know, bud? If – if you hadn't been there, then I don't know if I – uhm. If I-"

"I know, Sonic," Tails interrupted, moving his head a bit closer to his neck. "I know," he repeated, a smile crossing over his lip.

The smile appeared on the hero of Mobius as well, letting his hand travel up and down the yellow arm a couple of times before settling back on the shoulder, a silent thank you.

Once again, they remained like that for a bit, looking as the stars blinked down at them, the night still very young, Sonic being more than thankful.

"But – I don't get it." Sonic turned his head a bit to watch the frown that appeared on Tails' forehead, a pair of critical blue eyes that was familiar to the hedgehog whenever the fox couldn't figure out some sort of equation.

"Get what, bud?" he asked either way, being well aware that it wasn't some scientific explanation he hadn't found an answer to this time. Tails seemed to hesitate for a bit, humming silently to himself as he debated whether or not he should keep talking. He came to a conclusion rather quickly.

"You keep telling me that it's okay to be scared of stuff." He blinked, turning his head slightly to look at the hero of Mobius. "So why can't you be?"

The question was one of the unexpected ones, leaving the hedgehog blinking and mind going blank. He looked back at the fox as if he were expecting him to have the answer, though the cerulean orbs were patiently waiting for an answer, a question he seemingly had wanted to ask for a while.

It was a good question either way.

He didn't go out of his way to hide the fact that he was afraid of water – he didn't publicly announce that he despised it, but he wasn't one to agree to go swimming in a pool or something, and happily explained why so he wouldn't get dragged anyway.

All of his friends knew he was scared of water while – as far as he knew – only him and Knuckles knew that Tails was scared of thunderstorms. Well, Amy might know, because you couldn't hide anything from her. But still, he wasn't a particularly proud person in that regard, though he didn't like the thought of him being scared of something in general.

He would love to get over it, though a part of him was pretty sure that it wasn't going to happen. That was one of the only things he had accepted would never change. Well, that, and not marrying Amy.

"It's – a bit different bud," he said, coming up with some kind of answer while scratching his quills again. "First of all, I'm older than you," he mocked, a smirk accompanying his lips though Tails raised a brow in a 'you better have a better explanation than that'.

"And second of all…" He trailed off, his mind trying to find some kind of explanation.

What was the second of all? Was he really so stubborn as to not admit that he didn't want to say that it was okay that he could be scared of something, despite being the hero of the world? He didn't have any idea.

A part of him maybe thought that he just couldn't fulfill one of those terms and conditions that came with being a hero. He knew that if there was a drowning child or a village about to get flooded, he wouldn't hesitate one bit to jump and try to save whoever it was and whatever he could, pushing his fear aside in the moment. When people told him that he lived from adrenaline alone then maybe he should start believing them.

"You've told me before that I'm a hero," Tails suddenly continued, as if he wanted to help him find the answer, a frown of concentration appearing on his forehead. "And you've said that it's fine to be afraid of thunderstorms," he rationalized, blinking and looked back at him

"So that must mean that despite being a hero you can still be afraid of something. Right?" Now the fox was quirking a brow at him, as if he were mocking him, challenging that hero exterior that the hedgehog barricaded around him. He had been designated a hero without his consent and therefore had to accept whatever came his way.

Though Sonic didn't have the time to think about it, merely blinking at the sidekick.

"You're too smart for your own good," he said, not hiding the impressed tone while the fox snorted in response, turning his head again and watching the stars, somewhat accepting that Sonic didn't have an answer for it. The hedgehog let out a sigh either way, patting the yellow shoulder he was holding.

"But you're right. As always," he snickered, gently cuffing the fox's chin, making the younger grin back at him. Sonic let out a content sigh after that, accepting the answer he had given Tails.

He guessed that it was just that. He was scared of water and that was fine. There was nothing he could do about it anyway.

The silence that had remained was broken by a wide yawn from the fox, showcasing growing canines while blinking owlishly at the sky.

"Go sleep. I'll take watch from here," Sonic offered, drawing back his arm while the fox leaned away, stretching the muscles in his legs and back.

"Alright. Just wake me when you get tired again," he agreed, slowly getting to his feet, socks dry but just as dirty as the hedgehog's, being pretty sure that they were getting thrown out the moment they came back to the workshop.

"Nah. Hedgehogs are nocturnal right?" Sonic asked, raising a brow at his sidekick who snorted before gesturing a hand towards the dark blue hedgehog.

"They used to be, until you came along." The blue blur laughed from the comment, as the fox turned around and walked into the end of the castle wing they had settled in, hearing the fire still burning and crackling behind him.

"Goodnight, bud," he wished as he looked over his shoulder, seeing the fox curl up on the ground near the fire, legs drawn to his chest and tails curling around him, having already closed his eyes, and slowly succumbing to sleep.

"'Night, Sonic," he said back, before a sigh left the fox, ending the conversation they had. Sonic let a smile cross his lips before he turned back to the sight of the zone, leaning back on his hands as his tapping foot continued the song in his head.

He didn't want to admit it, but the zone was beautiful at night, the stars shining and highlighting the tallest ruins, leaving some of the lower plateaus in darkness. He loved running here nonetheless, the many hills making a ton of ramps for him to roll down and use to fly into the air, exploring the ruins and using every single stone and brick there was to get around the water. Not that it was avoidable, since they needed to go through the flooded areas to continue their travel through the zone.

He bit his lip from the memory, not remembering the last time that he had been that scared before, let alone panicking because he really thought that it had been it. A shiver passed through his body, making his quills stand on edge just slightly before shaking his head to get rid of the thought.

It was over now. He was here and he was fine – for now. Until they had to continue through the last of the zone tomorrow. But he guessed that it was indeed just something he needed to accept – he was scared of water, and despite the hero part of him not admitting it, he knew that it was a lie he was telling himself. It was more than alright to be a hero and be scared of something.

Besides, if he ever got into that pickle again, then he had someone he could rely on.

A grin spread across his muzzle as he looked back over his shoulder. The fox he had raised and called his little brother was already snoozing, deep breaths indicating the sleep he had gotten himself into.

He had saved him – and he knew that the fox was just as much of a hero as he was himself. And if he was allowed to be scared of thunderstorms, then water shouldn't be that big of a deal to accept.

It didn't matter either way. Because they supported each other in those times.

Like a true hero.