Author's note: Wanted to do something for New Year's and came up with this little idea - therefore, enjoy a New Year's inspired one-shot :3

What we leave behind

He could hear it. He could feel it, every quick step coming closer and closer to him. He was breathing heavily, sporadic, and out of control, running as fast as he could.

He didn't dare look over his shoulder, his heart beating against his ribcage, thumpthumpthump, faster and faster, harder, and harder. Beating out of panic, out of fear, his tails lashing behind him like angry snakes, his feet hurting but he had to keep going. He tripped over a branch, yelped in pain, but scrambled to his feet to get away.

It was gaining on him! He could see it! Hear it through the bushes, through the leaves, throwing them aside like it was nothing, chasing the cub through the jungle. He tried to run faster, but he was tired, so tired, had been running for too long and wanted to give up. But he couldn't!

Every survival instinct was screaming at him to continue to get away! If he got caught, he knew it would be the end, throwing a quick look over his shoulder, seeing that it had come closer. He turned around again, running around a tree trunk, and jumped over a fallen branch, his heart beating, his lungs screaming.

Until it got him, tackled him, rolling on the ground, and hit a tree. He yelled out, thrashing, and turning against what was pinning him down, the beating of his heart reaching his ears, realizing that this was it. He had a good young run, but now it would end. With a final thrash and wiggling as he yelled out on the top of his lungs:

"Sonic!"

...

...

"Ha! Gotcha litl' bro!"

The fox laughed out loud when he began tickling him, pinned down and unable to breath, trying to kick with his feet to get out of the hedgehog's grasp.

"Whatcha gonna do now huh? How are ya gonna get out!" –

"Uncle! Uncle!" He wheezed out through his laughter, trying to push the hedgehog's hands away in vain, wiggling and thrashing, tails lashing to do anything in his power to get him off him.

"That ain't gonna work this time!" The tickling intensified, making him wheeze and his lungs hurting since he couldn't breathe, trying to kick him away or push him off anything!

It was only when he began coughing to get his breath that the hands and fingers pulled away, still being pinned but his stomach and sides were left alone for now. The coughing fit only lasted for a little bit, taking deep breaths to make his heart still and get oxygen back into his system, a pair of black eyes staring at the light blue hedgehog still on top of him.

"That – wasn't fair!" He complained in fake annoyance, a first class smile completely plastered across his muzzle, still breathing sporadically.

Sonic smirked back at him, before he let him go, sitting back on his behind while the fox picked himself up, sitting on the jungle ground with him.

"And how wasn't that fair?" –

"You're totally faster than me!" Tails immediately complained, his heart starting to calm down as well as his breathing, the last vestiges of adrenaline seeping out of his body. Sonic snickered to the statement, leaning up against a tree behind him and laced his hands behind his head, a satisfied sigh escaping his lips.

"Don't worry bud. Someday you'll be faster than me," The four-year-old beamed up at the hedgehog, eyes wide in admiration and appreciation.

"Really?!" –

"Really," The hedgehog said with a smile, closing his eyes against the sun's rays, relaxing against the tree. Tails' smile stayed on his lips from the conclusion, thinking that he definitely will become faster than Sonic someday!

He looked through the long leaves above them, the sun shining through and making their small clear spot light up amidst the brown ground and surrounding ferns and trees. It had been a perfect day – more perfect than he had ever imagined possible.

First, they had woken up early as usually and then Sonic had taken him out for breakfast! They had been at this little diner in Metropolis and stuffed himself with more bacon than what was most likely healthy, and then the hedgehog had allowed him to get a piggyback ride! He wasn't fond of letting him ride his back or the sorts, being well aware that the hedgehog liked his personal space, having known him for around a year now. They had gotten some chili dogs at lunch and then they had reached this jungle, where Sonic had suggested they played tag! And he had actually caught Sonic a couple of times! It was awesome! And he wanted to do nothing more than let this day become even better!

Therefore, he looked at Sonic who still had his eyes closed, sitting in the spotlight of the sun, as a mischievous twinkle appeared in the cub's eyes. Tails silently got onto all fours, his tails still against the dirt ground and he got ready to jump. His eyes were huge and calculating, visualizing his jump to hit his target at the perfect velocity, factoring muscle contractions. And with one final breath, he pounced and landed on Sonic's stomach. A huge expel of air told the cub that he had hit him correctly, breathing out as the black flints for eyes looked at the fox sitting proudly on top of him.

"Gotcha Sonic!" He triumphed, tails swishing quickly behind him in happiness, being beyond proud about his accomplishment. The hedgehog recovered after having the air punched out of him, laughing out loud that made the small cub shake from the vibrations, a gloved hand padding his head.

"You sure did bud. I didn't see ya coming!" He praised, another thing that made the fox feel utterly warm inside, smiling with his growing canines showing.

He grinned afterwards, before he spread eagled out on top of Sonic's stomach, head resting on the hedgehog's tan chest, looking at the blue hedgehog in front of him. He was smiling down at the cub, letting him rest on his chest for stomach unknown, making the experienced cub frown at him.

"Sonic, why are you playing with me today?" The hedgehog blinked twice at him, his expression changing into something else he couldn't guess what was.

"What do you mean bud? We play, sometimes don't we?" Tails nodded against his chest, his frown deepening to try and rephrase himself better.

It was true what he had said – it wasn't every day that Sonic and him, played like that, and certainly not during the time they had been chasing Robotnik across Westside Island. It was mostly at night, when it was raining outside or when they weren't too tired but had settled down to eat that they had tumbled, getting tickled and was laughing until he couldn't breathe anymore. After they had defeated Robotnik, it had been more frequent to the fox's amusement despite losing almost every single time.

"We do. But I was thinking about you letting me ride your back and chasing me through the forest. You don't like doing that," He explained, watching the hedgehog's expression intently to read him.

He had gotten pretty good at it too! Learning his moods, since nine out of ten times he was happy, laughing or confused, while the last time was because he was either annoyed or mad, though those two moods were more targeted towards the mad doctor than him. As far as he could guess Sonic was still confused, although a grin spread across his muzzle, most likely coming to some sort of conclusion.

"Because today is a very special day squirt," He explained, sitting a bit more upright to the cub's dismay, since he didn't lay that good anymore. "But I'll tell you about it later," Sonic promised with a wink, while the toddler nodded against his chest again.

He could slowly feel the tiredness come to his mind, yawning wildly, and showing sharp canines, his toddler mind giving in to running around for hours now.

"Tired huh?" He nodded again when the hedgehog asked, having a warm smile on his muzzle, as the cub rubbed a knuckle into his eye, making Sonic grin at him instead.

"C'mon, let's get back to the cave," Sonic suggested, getting to his feet which ultimately made the small kit slide off his stomach, standing on his legs, though his tails lay limp on the ground, his eyes drooping. He obediently followed the hedgehog in his steps, not wanting to fall asleep since he wanted to keep playing. If he slept then that meant there was less time for playing.

But maybe – what if he only slept for two hours? Then he should have more time to play with him! Yes! That was it – a two-hour rest and then he would get back to playing with Sonic.

With that small agreement done in his mind, he felt even more tired when he saw the cave him and the hedgehog had been vacating for two days now, the opening broad but was deep enough to not let any rain inside. He looked as Sonic sat down by a cave wall, leaning against it and hands laced behind his head, seemingly just at ease and relaxed like he had been minutes ago.

The cub on the other hand, walked further into the cave to get away from the light, yawning again into the air as he laid down, curled around with his tails covering his chest, tail tips tickling his nose.

"Night Sawnic," He said through a yawn, closing his eyes with his head cradled in his arms, hearing the hedgehog chuckle with a 'sleep tight squirt' before he quickly fell into dreamland, a vast limbo of the empty nothingness inviting him in.

"I'm gonna catch you Sonic!" He squealed through the air as he blew through the trees, leaves and branches passing past him like it was nothing.

He was right there! In front of him! The light blue hedgehog, turning his head around to look at him, laughing and smiling as he kept running. The cub did nothing else but continue his flight, laughing, grinning, feeling warm, feeling amazing inside! It was so fun!

Picking up his speed the trees seemed to disappear around him, turn into various colors of green and yellow, only a tunnel of trees in his sight, catching up to the blue blur. He knew he had done it, he had broken the sound barrier! He was here! Everything was quiet around him, the only thing that he could feel was the wind, coursing through his fur, ruffling him up but it was okay. It was more than okay because he was faster than Sonic!

He was just within his reach, he just needed to stretch out his hand and then it was Sonic's turn to chase him! But then he picked up speed, Tails blinking confused, thinking how he ran that fast. The hedgehog turned his head again towards him, giving him that grin that made him feel utterly warm inside, a smile that spread across his face, his black eyes lighting up the darkest of nights, making him feel more than just a little fox.

He was a hero, alongside the hedgehog, being his sidekick and adopted little brother. His eyes told him that, he could see it in the black irises, feel it in them, how he meant it, that Sonic enjoyed having him around. And he lo… – enjoyed being around him!

But then he sped up again, and the fox could suddenly feel his lungs screaming for air, panting loudly to try and get as much oxygen into the organ as he could. But it didn't help – his tails started to hurt, and Sonic sped up, getting further and further away from him.

"Sonic wait! I can't keep up!" He yelled after him, being well aware that he would stop whenever he asked him to. But he didn't.

Instead, Sonic ran faster, the so close light blue hedgehog turning into a blob in the horizon, before it merged with the tree.

"Sonic!" He called distressed, could feel his heart beating and his lungs screaming for air, had to land to get himself under control. When his shoes touched ground, he put his hands on his knees for a second before he began running, his tails wildly following in the air behind him.

"Sonic, wait for me!" He couldn't see him, he knew that he was too far away, but a part of him knew that he would run back for him. He knew he would! He had always promised that he would be back, and that he would stay with him. He had promised.

His lungs began hurting, the adrenaline seeping out as he began to feel scared. Really, really scared. The trees in front of him started to close, the road ahead of him becoming smaller and smaller. And despite the toddler wanting to speed up, he felt himself becoming more and more tired.

But he couldn't stop, he needed to keep going! Keep flying, keep running, keep crawling if that was what he had to do! But he couldn't – he was struggling to keep himself alive at this point, his heart practically sitting against his ribcage as he stumbled over something invisible.

He landed face first into the ground, feeling tired and exhausted, his heart beating and his lungs screaming. He needed to get up. But couldn't. He couldn't get up.

"Sonic! Where are you?!" The calling didn't seem to help, as he laid on the ground, the trees suddenly getting closer and closer. He could feel the cold, a freezing breeze coursing through the forest and penetrated his skin, making him shiver.

It was cold. Really, really, really cold.

Then the laughter began, the snickers, the grins, and the cackling. They came from everywhere, they were everywhere. He could feel them, he could see them, see the invisible faces, knew that they were there, and knew they wouldn't go away.

He saw the trees getting closer and closer, his throat starting to close up as he felt like he was suffocating. It was harder to breathe, the cub curling into a ball, tails frantically trying to hide, ears pinned to his head with his arms covering.

"Sonic!"

It didn't help. It made them laugh louder, he felt colder, his body shivering, feet and hands becoming numb as his very soul froze together and broke into pieces. His mind scrambled together into a ball of pure ice and broke into pieces.

The laughter got louder, he got colder, as the trees pushed him, completely surrounding him as his lungs hurt more and more.

He was choking and suffocating, could feel the ice starting to form in his fur, shaking as he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

He gasped out a pocket of air, sitting up and almost smacking something beside him. He breathed out, a hand grasping the cold cave ground under his fingers, heart beating wild.

"Tails!"

He turned his head, could feel the tears forming in his eyes, hands shaking from pure fright, as he looked into the coal black eyes of his hero. His hero who hadn't run away. Toddler instinct took over, as he practically cannonballed into the hedgehog, clutching at him and dug his face into his chest, bawling more than crying.

"Hey, hey, easy now squirt, it's okay," He succumbed to the arms that surrounded him, snuggling into the light blue fur, crying, and shaking, feeling the hedgehog alive.

Sobbing and hitching for breath his small fingers gripped the fur tight on Sonic's back, uncontrollable and without any intention of stopping. He heard the shushing, the long and calm 'shh' that Sonic said, could feel him starting to sway slowly from side to side, his head close to his large ears. He continued sobbing, despite the comfort making him feel less lonely, less like Sonic was going to go away.

But he was here. He wasn't alone. People weren't laughing, he was here, and he was alive. And Sonic was alive.

"It's okay bud. It was just a nightmare."

A nightmare. Yes, that was it. A simple, dumb, stupid, fat, old and ugly nightmare! That was all it was. And yet, he was still scared, was still crying, and kept ahold of him, making sure that he would stay. He knew that he would stay, he knew that Sonic was going to be here as long as he needed him… But he needed to make sure.

"A big breath now okay?"

Despite his ears being pinned to his head he heard Sonic perfectly fine, taking in a big breath of oxygen before letting it out again. It felt good. He took in another one, letting it out, inhaling again and exhaled. It was better.

He could feel his heart was starting to slow down again, his hands still shaking and gripping, holding on to him. He succumbed into the swaying motion, letting himself rock with the movement, could feel himself starting to slowly calm down again, his fingers not gripping as tight anymore. He felt Sonic's breath move his bangs as he let out an exhale himself, the cub realizing that it must've hurt.

He was hiccuping more than sobbing now, the tears still sitting in his eyes and fur, but he was somewhat okay again.

"Feel better?" He nodded against Sonic's chest, letting out a sigh of his own and pulled back a little bit, looking at his face. He saw the grin – the grin that was warm and comforting, the hedgehog feeling warm and inviting, like he wanted him to stay. Sonic's eyes analyzed the toddler's face for a bit before an arm disappeared from his back and instead a thump traced under his eyes were the tears had fallen.

"I'm sorry," He hiccuped, sitting completely onto his own bottom, the hedgehog kneeled in front of him. He was shaking his head, sitting back on the balls of his heels.

"It's okay bud," He soothed, smiling at him with that same warmth. "You okay again?" Tails nodded again, running his own arm over his eyes, feeling better.

His heart had somewhat stopped beating, he had his breath back and he wasn't shaking anymore. Dumb nightmare. Stupid nightmare that just needed to go away.

"Good. Then how about we head out somewhere huh? I have some special surprises for tonight," Tails' ears perked up from the statement, looking at the hedgehog who had gotten to his feet, was now grinning at him.

"To where?" He asked, as Sonic bended down and picked him up by the armpits, planting him onto his feet.

"Hill Top. I'll tell you why later," He had most likely added in that last part because Tails was frowning.

Hill top – why there? He knew that Sonic really disliked that zone, had back then been running around because of all the lava and huge holes in the ground. Earthquakes were somewhat frequent, making stones and rocks fall from the mountains that loomed there.

He didn't ask for Sonic to tell anyway, as the hedgehog spun around on his heel and bended a bit.

"Hop on!"

His question completely disintegrated from the invitation, spend no time jumping onto the hedgehog's back, his hands gripping yellow legs to keep him in place, tilted to one side to avoid all the spikes on his back. Toddler arms hung around his neck as Sonic turned his head towards him, that warm grin there.

"Ready?" –

"Ready!"

And off they went like a shot, the kid having his nightmare forgotten as he squealed through the air.

A second piggyback ride?! This was the best day ever!

Flying was much harder with a stomach so full he felt like puking. He had eaten too much, he was aware of that now, feeling all the weight of the food sitting underneath his chest, he thought he couldn't rise to the air even if he wanted to.

For a late dinner Sonic had run out and bought a grilled chicken! With sauce and everything, a side salad which he happily had let his hero have and almost stuffed himself above the limit, licking his lips and remembered to use the napkins for his fingers. That he could keep his own weight up amazed him.

He had napped late in the afternoon, and right now it was in the evening, complete darkness surrounding them, the little one wondering what time it was, since Sonic hadn't wanted to tell him – a part of his 'surprise'. His night vision saved the cub from any unseen obstacles, while the hedgehog had bought a flashlight which he was nervously looking at, the light bouncing around with Sonic, running the terrain underneath them.

He had told the cub that they were going to the one of the highest points of Hill Top which was much more north of where they had traversed the area back in the day. Up here the earthquakes were less frequent, but the terrain was less forgiving. It was almost a complete mountainside, running against rocky terrain on the edge of a ravine every minute, sometimes stones falling underneath his feet, but Sonic wasn't worried. He merely jumped whenever he needed to, letting out a 'woo' at the longer jumps and somersaulted over shorter ones. He was having fun, but that didn't make the toddler take his guard down.

He had followed along in his steps for a long time by now, for almost an entire year.

He still vividly remembered the time before Sonic, his time on Emerald Hill. He had often built stuff with scrap metal he found around the forest and sometimes the beach when nobody was around. Then he would build a gadget or something else, but then those stupid kids from the nearby village would come by and break it, call him names, and bully him. He hated that. Topped with that, the adults in the village weren't too fond of him, and more often than once had chased him away and had often said that he was 'kontagineus' whatever that meant. He had been hungry often, and even more lonely, only had wanted a friend or so.

The memories temporarily made the cub let out a sad sigh, but shook it off him, thinking that something good had come out of it. He had met Sonic!

After the toddler had seen him on the beach, he had followed him and realized that he had an ultra-cool plane! He had tinkered with it, which the hedgehog had noticed which was where he would have thought that he would have chased him away as well. But no! He had given him food, asked him his name and how he was – he had cared about him! And he hadn't made fun of him, called him names, and thought that his gadgets were cool.

When Robotnik came around he kind of got forced into the fight but he hadn't been deterred, feeling more than confident in Sonic's presence, and had destroyed some robots. After that, it seemed like the rest had happened in a random blur, suddenly getting to Chemical Plant, almost regretting being there from the smell alone, but had found his way around, following in Sonic's footsteps. Collecting the emeralds were weird, since they had to knock into a fence post of sorts and get transported into another world. Here they had to run and collect the emerald at the end. He didn't know what happened over half the time and merely followed along while trying to avoid the bombs in the way!

From there, they had gone to Aquatic Ruin, a place where Sonic had been really fidgety, the cub flying him almost everywhere there, meeting Robotnik there just like in Chemical Plant. Then Casinopolis, a place he would never forget, and Hill Top where they were running now, mildly glad that they were avoiding much less magma now, Oil Ocean where he hadn't avoided getting all sticky and the last destination at Metropolis. He had been really scared when the plane had suddenly been hit in the air as he had to calm down in order to attach a rocket to the bottom of the plane. It had been so cool!

And then – things had been calm. Hanging around with Sonic, doing both this and that in and around Metropolis, leaning a bit more about him every single day. It was experiences and memories he wouldn't trade for the world – being both hungry, thirsty, tired, and partially sick during the adventure but he cherished every single little thing about it.

Because despite all the badniks, the traps, the water and lava it was so much better than the bullies back at Emerald Hill. He neve wanted to return there. Not if he could help it. There was only one thing that was nagging him, something he only thought about now that he thought back to the adventure they had had.

"Hey Sonic?" –

"Yeah bud?" The hedgehog asked automatically, while jumping over the gap of a ravine, rounding a corner and ran up the next slope.

"What happened in space?" He looked down to see Sonic giving him a confused expression before somersaulting over another gap, his feet not slipping on the rocky terrain.

"What do you mean?" Tails bit his lip in thought, thinking how he was going to explain it.

"I mean – I know that the Death Egg fell down and I caught you with the plane, but what happened to Robotnik? Is he in space?" An 'aah' sounded from underneath him, the light bouncing and almost disappearing in the hedgehog's otherworldly speed, jumping over a mass of rocks.

"Yep. He's still up there," He said, making the flying kid frown thoughtfully.

"So. He's not. Gone?" The fox looked down at the hedgehog again, who turned his head after doing a front flip, jumping over a comically large ravine before he continued running like nothing had happened.

"Nope. Why, what were you thinking about?" He asked, making the cub bite his lip, not knowing how to ask his question. A part of him knew that it wouldn't happen, considering the fact that the ship had to run out of fuel at some point, missing oxygen or one way or another get trapped up there. But he was still wondering.

"What – if he comes back? And we have to start all over again?" He emphasized his points by throwing out his arms, still following in Sonic's tracks, watching as he somersaulted over another cliff, rounding the edge of the cliff. It took a bit before he answered him, seeing the shrug of the hedgehog's shoulders.

"I don't know how he would come back to tell ya the truth. Though, if he somehow drags his big fat butt back to Mobius then we'll just start again, like you said. Not that it's going to be any harder anyway," He said, looking at the cub as he ran, winking at him.

"Don't worry Tails. We're going to defeat Robotnik no ma- whoouw!"

He had to cut himself off with a yell as he wasn't looking where he was running, suddenly gliding down the edge of a ravine, yelling as he fell towards the ground underneath.

"Sonic!" Tails reacted instantly, speeding up the rotation of his namesakes as he flew down to the flailing hedgehog.

The torchlight bounced around the edges of the cliff, Sonic trying to get a hold of something to stop his fall, though he came closer to the ground instead. The cub reached down his hand when he came close, the hedgehog seeing that he was there, reaching out his own hand. They were a few feet from the ground when Tails locked his hand into Sonic's, falling another foot because of the sudden weight but kept them in the air.

He caught on to his hero's other hand, still holding on to the flashlight as he flew upwards as fast as he could. He was panting, having already flown a good bit by himself and was now carrying him. Not that Sonic was that heavy, but because of muscle fatigue alone. He flew over the edge and back onto the ground, depositing the hedgehog there as he stood himself, resting his hands on his knees.

Sonic looked over the edge of the ravine while the fox panted, whistling out an impressed tune.

"Wow Tails nice catch! That was quiet a fall!" He said, as the cub turned his head to look at him, seeing a wide smile and black eyes shining even in the dark. "Thanks for grabbing me!" Tails beamed at him from the praise, swallowing spit as he caught his breath, standing erect again.

"You're welcome Sonic!" Said hedgehog grinned at him and reached out to ruffle his bangs, making the toddler giggle and swat his hand away playfully.

"Now c'mon squirt, it won't be long until we reach the top," He explained, while the fox nodded, the former going back into a sprint while the latter flew back into the air, wondering again what this surprise was.

"Here we are!" Tails had a hard time focusing on what Sonic tried to show him, standing with hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

The 'won't be long' had lasted another half hour, as the toddler believed that it was close to midnight at this point. Usually none of them were up that late at night, being used to crash early at sundown and go again early at sunrise, a habit they had stuck to ever since they began fighting Robotnik. By now a lot of stars were in the night sky, having almost rammed into the side of the mountain to try and look at them while flying. He wanted to take another look once he was done catching his breath, swiping sweat away from his brow as he looked over at Sonic, the hedgehog standing by the edge of the cliff.

They were almost at the top; the very top was an erect point meaning that there was no where good to sit and had settled for something just a bit further down. The cub didn't mind, he didn't know why they were up here in the first place, was starting to get impatient as to what this day had been about. He had been nice to him today – he had even bought mint candy that he couldn't eat due to almost eating an entire chicken! It was unfair that his stomach was so little.

When he breathed out one last time, he stood erect again, his tails springing from their limb positions on the ground to moving in slow up-and-down movements, walking towards the hedgehog.

"Sonic, why are we up here?" He asked, but then almost forgot that he had asked in the first place since he looked up, his pupils widening as a soft 'wow' escaped his lips.

Up here in the mountains, where it was a bit colder than usual, he could see everything. There were stars, millions, trillions, and billions of stars! There must be a ton of room in space!

They were everywhere, shining, and lighting up the night sky, more than his mind could comprehend, didn't even try to start counting. It seemed endless, big, and small, some lighter than others, while there was a bigger cluster of them that lit up the entire night in a belt across the sky. It was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

He got out of his daze when an arm blocked his path, blinked, and yipped when he realized he was a step to walking out of the edge of the cliff, jumping back a step. He looked at Sonic who laughed at his reaction, had been the one to stop him, though it wasn't ill-littered, the hedgehog's laughs never were.

"Gotta watch where ya walking bud," He clarified with a wink, before he sat down, his legs dangling over the edge, more than ten feet of nothingness underneath him, the edge of the mountain abruptly stopping at the bottom. Tails found himself giggling at his own mistake, before he walked back to him, carefully placed himself beside the hedgehog, letting his own feet dangle. He looked down just to get an idea as to how far it actually was, but quickly figured that he had no clue. At least he could fly he supposed.

He looked back at Sonic, seeing his gaze getting lost in the stars as well, as the cub looked ahead. He suddenly realized that he could see a lot more from up here than he first thought. Most of Hill Top was ahead of them, small spotlights of light emitting from magma pools around the zone, but he could see Oil Ocean somewhere at the brink of the vast ocean, and in the horizon, he could skim the high towers of Metropolis, not believing that he could see the city at all from all the way at Hill Top. But he figured they were higher up in the air and closer to the city than he first anticipated. He blinked again, catching the hedgehog's expression yet again.

"You didn't answer my question," Sonic immediately looked back at him with a blink, the toddler realizing that he had pulled him out of a daydream of sorts.

"Sorry, what question?" –

"What are we doing up here?" –

"Oh!" The hedgehog chuckled warmheartedly, scratching the back of his head.

"Right. We're up here because it's a very special day bud," He exclaimed, his eyes shining with excitement. "Today's the end of the year. We're celebrating New Year's Eve today," Tails blinked confused at him, having no idea that it was a celebration at all.

"Why?" Sonic looked at him with a perplexed expression.

"Why?" He echoed, shrugging his shoulders. "Because the year's ending, and people want to welcome the new year into the calendar," He tried again, but the toddler still didn't understand, wondering what was so special about another year passing.

It wasn't something he had experienced being celebrated at Emerald Hill, but he might have been too little to remember at that point. He shook his head.

"I still don't see the point," He said, looking back at the hedgehog, mildly hoping that he wasn't going to be annoyed because of his questions. But instead, Sonic gave him a wide smile, and threw an arm over the fox's shoulders, tucking him to his side.

"Because bud, the start of the new year means that whatever happened in the last year is in the past now. If we have bad memories that we want to forget then we can easily let them go because it's a whole year old," He explained. "We celebrate the new year because we're wishing each other good luck and hope that we create newer and better memories than the year before. It's a way to give everybody a second chance," Tails had been listening intently, now understanding better why it was important. He frowned, thinking back to his nightmare, reflecting upon Sonic's words about leaving bad memories behind. He wanted to do that.

"So, you celebrate by playing around with each other, eat a lot of food and stay up late at night?" The hedgehog nodded, his arm relaxing against the bony shoulders of the toddler.

"People celebrate it differently, but usually they do have fun, eat food and stay up for one particular reason," He said, his smile widening. "Fireworks," –

"Fireworks?" Tails echoed, making the hedgehog nod and gestured a hand towards the horizon, the cub looking out into the vast open world.

"It's small rockets that gets blown up in the sky, but instead of the smoke that we're used to, it explodes into colors and lights instead. It's really beautiful, and from all the way up here we can see almost everything," He said, the puzzle pieces starting to fall back into place in the young fox's mind. He looked out at the horizon again, wondering why he didn't see it yet, though Sonic had almost read his mind.

"It begins at midnight, exactly where the old year ends and the new year begins," He explained, his other hand scratching the back of his head. "This is the first time that I'm celebrating New Year's with somebody else than myself," Tails looked back at him, the hand falling after the scratch, the hedgehog's coal black eyes once again looking out at the horizon, partially lit up by the flashlight that sat on the other side of him.

The cub opened his mouth to ask something, but closed it again, thinking that he would regret it. But he wanted to know, shook his head, and breathed out his bold decision.

"Sonic? Why'd you let me come with you?" The question was clearly unexpected, said hedgehog turning his head with a blink, looking at the cub like he had asked him to jump off the cliff.

Tails kept looking at him back, generally curious about the question. He could have left him at any given moment, easily run away from him and done his own thing, finding the emeralds, and defeating Robotnik. He could fly the plane, despite the hedgehog arguing that the fox was a better pilot than him, had fought the mad doctor alone without his help anyway.

It took a bit before Sonic answered, the fox thinking that it was from hesitation, though upon speaking he realized that it was because Sonic had been confused that the toddler hadn't known in the first place.

"Because I wanted you along bud! You're an awesome little sidekick to have around! You can keep up with me, save my butt from danger around the clock, just like tonight! You're really smart and are funny to have around. You're something very special Tails. I'm very happy I took you away from Emerald Hill," He smiled, squeezing him a bit tighter against the hedgehog's side.

Tails had been smiling the entire time, feeling more than warm in his stomach, could feel the tears press against his eyes. But he didn't want to cry and instead leaned his head against Sonic's side, succumbing to the side-hug even more.

"Thanks Sonic," He breathed out, tears successfully contained, feeling more than happy in this very moment.

"It's my pleasure squirt," Sonic rubbed his hand up and down his arm, making the cub hum relaxed, yawning into the night sky, feeling tired again.

Though he suddenly saw something in the horizon, lifting his head slightly, as the hedgehog pointed with his other arm.

"Tails look!" As the words left his mouth the sky suddenly exploded into red coloring, though the fox was hiding his head in the hedgehog's side with a yip, the sound reminding him much of a lightning bolt. "No, no Tails look, it's okay!" Sonic ushered, the toddler lifting his head again upon the next explosion, eyes widening when he realized what was happening.

The sky was getting colored, in numerous colors, from red to blue, to purple to yellow, the dark canvas above them painted in more than a rainbow. He pinned his ears down to his head from the sound, being far away but still close enough that he felt uncomfortable with it. But his eyes were watching, seeing one rocket after the next shoot into the sky, creating a dandelion shape before it fell, and the light disappeared. There were hundreds, trying to count every one that happened, but there were too many, exploding and coloring the sky. It was gorgeous.

Colored the sky and sent the small fox into a daze of awe, watching as some of theme exploded and then more appeared around them, some coming repeatedly after the next, long white stripes of light appearing in the sky. A part of him wondered how they worked, but that logical part of him easily disappeared again once he saw the next dandelion shape, could feel a wide smile on his lips.

He briefly looked at Sonic, seeing the hedgehog having an open mouth, leaning forward as if he could touch the colors, his eyes shining in the various colors of the fireworks. He looked at him for a bit, had another hesitant statement in mind, but wanted to say it. Wanted to badly.

"Sonic?" It took a bit before the hedgehog turned his head towards him, his smile as wide as he had ever seen. Tails opened his mouth, but closed it again, and then decided to turn his head towards the light blue fur, hiding his head again. He breathed out.

"I love you."

It was partially muffled, but he knew that Sonic had heard him. He didn't answer immediately, and a part of Tails hoped that he hadn't offended him, lifting his head to look at him.

His mouth had closed, but his eyes were still shining, and he didn't know if it was because of the fireworks in the sky, but he thought that his eyes were a bit glossy. He swallowed something, before the hedgehog let out a breath and rested his head on the fox's, rubbing his arm again.

"I love you too lit'l bro."

Tails beamed at him, flinging his arms around his chest making the hedgehog chuckle, the fox's head still resting against his side since Sonic's head was resting on top of his. He looked out at the horizon with the same smile on his lips, letting out another breath.

Sonic was right. This was a time where he just wanted to forget. Wanted to leave the bad memories behind and remember the time he had with Sonic. Remember what he had done with him, how much he had laughed, played, and smiled.

But the best part about it, the very best part of it he thought, as his eyes looked over the colors of the sky, rockets celebrating and welcoming a new year with good wishes and hopes of good memories. Was that he wasn't done. He was going to continue travelling with Sonic, and he was going to celebrate the next year with him.

"Happy New Year Tails."

The fox smiled, snuggled closer against the hedgehog, feeling as happy as he ever could be.

"Happy New Year Sonic."

Author's note: Hope you enjoyed this little one-shot, saying goodbye to the old year and saying good day to the new year with our brotherly duo!

And with that - Happy New Year everybody! :D I hope you all have a very great New Year's Eve with the one closest to you, so we can together kick 2020 goodbye once and for all. And please be careful around those fireworks - please :)