Sonic was woken up by the soft orange light of an absolutely stunning sunrise.
He sat up from his makeshift bed of fallen leaves, blinking tiredly, and yawned. It took a few moments for his brain to come fully back online, but he soon remembered why he was sitting here. Casting a glance over at his sleeping bag, he smiled in relief at the tiny, curled-up form still bundled up in it.
It hadn't been the easiest night. After insisting that the kid take the bag, Sonic had been woken up at least three times by quiet, muffled squealing. Each time, he had gotten up, crawled over to the shivering kit, and gently pet him over the bag until he went back to peaceful sleep. He wasn't sure exactly how awake the kid had been throughout all of this, but he hadn't gotten much proper rest in the end.
Still, he was more concerned for the fox. If that was an average, even good night for him, then he was clearly more damaged than Sonic had anticipated. Helping him wasn't going to be easy.
But, Sonic was determined. If he could save the world from a madman and an army of robots, he could take care of a traumatised kid. He wasn't about to abandon his efforts just because it would be difficult.
For now, he decided to let the kid sleep, and started to make breakfast. He quickly realised that he was out of both chilli and dogs. This wasn't an ideal situation, but then again those probably wouldn't have been good for the kid. Setting aside the tragically empty containers with a sigh, he prepared some more sandwiches instead, resolving to head into town and resupply later.
Soon, he heard shuffling behind him, and a little yawn. He turned around to see the fox looking around, bleary and confused, before locking eyes with the hedgehog. He jumped, before seemingly remembering yesterday's events, and relaxing. Sonic couldn't help but grin at this. For such a short amount of time, it was a massive improvement.
Still, the kid hasn't said a word.
"Morning, buddy. Here ya go." Sonic walked over and handed the fox a sandwich. His eyes lit up, and Sonic could have sworn he saw his tails give a faint wag.
They ate in silence, Sonic trying to figure out a way to talk to the fox. He could understand being too scared to speak; that was a natural reaction, one that even he had experienced many times before. But this was different, like a far more extreme version of that. It was like he had spent so long in that state, he wasn't sure how to start speaking.
Sonic realised that he had probably just deduced the reason for these communication problems. It didn't give him any satisfaction.
"Y'know...", he began, and paused, thinking of how to word this. "I can't keep calling you 'buddy' all the time." He looked over at the suddenly apprehensive fox. "It's really okay if you don't want to talk, but can I at least know what to call you?"
The kid looked away, curling up. He looked like he was about to cry. Sonic carefully placed a hand on his shoulder. "It doesn't have to be your real name." He looked up at him, confused but curious. "If you want a nickname or something, that's fine."
The kit seemed to perk up a little at this, but still didn't say anything. Sonic was getting really concerned now.
"Or... how about I give you one?" He looked surprised at this, and thought for a moment, before slowly nodding. Sonic smiled reassuringly.
"Alright, then. Give me a sec." He thought about it for a while. It had to be simple, easy to say and easy to remember, and yet unique, not to mention good enough for the kid to be happy with it. After a minute or two of thinking, Sonic's gaze alighted on the slowly fluttering twin tails behind his back. They were certainly unique, and now that he thought about it, pretty freaking cool.
"How about Tails?"
The fox jumped violently, fear overtaking his expression. He wriggled out from under Sonic's hand, and backed away, yipping.
"Hey, what is it?" Sonic approached him, hands upraised in a non-threatening manner. The kid stopped dead, looking suddenly more lost than frightened, and in fact appearing to be on the verge of tears again. He flexed his tails nervously, and wrapped them protectively around himself.
That was when Sonic realised. "Don't you like them?"
The kit made a quiet, almost choking sound, and nodded once quickly. Sonic slowly reached out and patted him on the head, mentally berating himself for missing something so obvious. Of course there had to be a reason. Situations like this didn't arise unless people had a reason to really despise someone.
However stupid that reason might be.
"There's nothing wrong with them, you know." The child glanced up from his protective ball of fluff. "Don't let anyone tell you there is. There's nothing wrong with you, Tails."
The kit actually gasped a little, barely holding back tears. Sonic smiled down at him again, a little sadly this time. "But if you want something else, that's cool. I'll think of another one." He paused, then shook his head. "So, Tails is okay, then?" He nodded.
Sonic ruffled Tails' fur affectionately. "Awesome."
As much as he didn't want to leave Tails alone, and hated the idea of going back into town, Sonic couldn't stay here for much longer. He needed supplies, especially for Tails, and he still had to find a way to fix the Tornado. There was no doubt in his mind about bringing Tails with him when he left Westside; the kid had been lucky to survive so far, and if he left him behind now he probably wouldn't last long.
"I promise I won't be long. Just stay here, ok? Take a nap if you want, feel free to eat, just don't leave the Tornado." Tails nodded, quietly playing with an adjustable wrench swiped from the messy result of Sonic's initial attempts to repair the plane.
Sonic went to leave, but was suddenly stopped by a small hand slipping into his. Tails yipped nervously. "Hey, it's alright. I'll be back soon." He shook his head, stepping a little closer, and Sonic realised what he was trying to say. "You want to come with me?"
A tiny nod. Sonic considered it for a moment. He would have thought that Tails would want to stay as far away from that place as possible, but this was probably a good sign overall. If he was already confident enough to return, maybe he'd be confident enough to speak soon. And if someone decided to make trouble, it wasn't like he wouldn't have help.
"Ok, sure. Stick close to me, alright?" Tails nodded happily.
They walked the short distance back into town in companionable silence. Tails was slow, and stumbled a few times, but he seemed much stronger than yesterday. When they got there, however, he turned jumpy, and stopped dead when Sonic stepped up to enter a shop.
"You want to stay outside?" Tails looked around. It was a quiet morning, and the street was empty, save for a few feral cats. He nodded, and let go of Sonic's hand, planting himself in a corner. "Okay. I'll be quick."
Obviously, he couldn't go as quickly as he would have liked, but he still managed a respectable pace, and came out of the shop a few minutes later laden with supplies, most of which were chilli or hot dog related. They repeated the process a few more times, as Sonic obtained more bandages and plasters, fur-cleaning stuff, some new gloves in the smallest size, and, after a moment's consideration, a packet of sugary biscuits as a treat. When he stepped out of the third store, however, Tails was gone.
"Tails?" The rate at which he slipped into panic slightly surprised him. He looked frantically around the area, but there was no sign of the kid. "Tails!" he repeated, shouting now. Nothing.
He dropped the bags and quickly ran up and down the street, looking down every turning. Surely the kid wouldn't have run off?
Fighting instincts quickly coming to the surface, Sonic scanned the area, and spied a low-roofed building and a conveniently-placed fence. Almost instantly, he hopped up them and was on the town rooftops. But even with this elevated position, he couldn't see Tails anywhere on the streets below.
He forced himself to stop and try to think about the situation, yelling Tails' name one more time, and that was when he heard it. A scratchy, hoarse scream.
"Sonic!"
It was coming from a small alley below him – the same alley, in fact, that he had stepped into yesterday. Not stopping to think, he leapt from the roof, landing in a crouch on the dirty street.
He registered a group standing in a circle over something small and shaking, and then his foot crashed into the closest one's face.
In the second it took for them to react, Sonic spun around and punched a second one in the gut. He spluttered, doubling over, and the other two, rather than doing the smart thing and running, surged forward, fists and sticks raised. Sonic ducked under the first swing, tripping the assailant, who slammed face-first into the ground. The last one stumbled in shock, before turning and fleeing the scene, the others picking themselves up and following his example.
Sonic turned to the still curled up fox whimpering softly on the ground. After a moment, Tails carefully peeked out from behind his fingers. His nose was bleeding, and his eyes gleamed with suppressed tears. Without thinking, Sonic stepped forward, knelt down, and hugged him.
Tails yelped, struggling, before suddenly collapsing. His composure, that Sonic saw now he had been keeping up for longer than anyone should have to, let alone a child, suddenly shattered. Tails broke down, letting out a despairing scream and bursting into tears.
Sonic shifted, pulling Tails up onto his knees and hugging him tighter. It occurred to him that this was probably the first time the kid had ever been hugged.
They remained there for a while – anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, Sonic wasn't sure. Eventually, the little sobs and gasps quietened down, and Tails curled up and leaned closer. He stuttered for a few seconds.
"S-sorry."
"You don't have anything to be sorry for, buddy. Its not your fault. If anything, I'm the one who should be sorry."
Tails looked at his feet, thinking. "I-I didn't – I didn't talk."
"So what? You were scared. That's normal."
"B-but I – you were – you were nice."
Sonic patted Tails' head. "Exactly. You think I'd care about something like that?"
Tails was silent for a few minutes. "W-why?"
"What?"
"Why are you doing – all this?"
Sonic thought for a moment. "How old are you, Tails?"
"U-um... I think three? M-maybe nearly four?"
"That's why. You need someone to take care of you."
"B-but – n-nobody's – ever -" Tails started to break down again.
Sonic pulled him closer. "It's alright, Tails. I'll keep you safe, okay?" He instinctually started to gently rock the kit. "No one's ever gonna hurt you again."
Tails looked up at him. His eyes were still full of tears, but there was a different gleam beneath, a daringly hopeful one. "P-promise?"
Sonic laughed a soft, carefree laugh. "Promise."