Hello everyone! Welcome to this short story! I'd been wanting to do a Christmas special this year, and while this isn't necessarily Christmas themed, it's much more festive than I usually get! I'd also like to give a huge shout out to the r/milesprower discord for helping me come up with this idea! I'd also like to apologize for taking so long to get this story out, finals ate a ton of my time so I focused on that to finish my year strong! Along with a short bout of Covid, my updates have sort of come to a halt for a bit, we should be able to get back on track now! Let's get going!

Long Winter Months

Tails sighed to himself, taking a glance out of his frosted workshop window. He leaned back in his chair, taking in the desk before him. "Alright, that's probably good for today..." He thought, standing up and doing his best to stretch out his back and legs. He paced for a moment and allowed his thoughts from his newest invention to slowly fade from his mind as he relaxed, trying to get out of 'inventing mode' as Sonic called it. Stepping outside into the snow, he started to make his way back toward his and Sonic's house. His thick fur that had grown in for the winter kept him nice and warm during his trip back. The thick snow crunching underfoot with each step was satisfying, finally letting him snap out of his focus and relax.

He stepped inside and felt the warm air wash over him, soaking into his fur as it absorbed the heat, making him feel almost as if he was wrapped in a blanket. Tails made his way over to the kitchen and grabbed himself a glass of water, quickly downing it and letting out a relaxed sigh afterward. He made his way upstairs and peaked his head into his and Sonic's shared room, he saw the lump of blankets gathered on Sonic's bed as they slowly shifted up and down slightly from the hedgehog's breathing. The fox smiled; Sonic was always so cute when he hibernated. Of course, he never told the hedgehog that. He'd be embarrassed if he knew exactly what he looked like when he was sleeping.

As the kitsune made his way back downstairs, he heard a knock at the door. He hadn't quite been expecting visitors, so it came as a surprise to him. Opening the door, he found himself face to face with Cream, who seemed to be carrying two paper cups, which seemed to be steaming from the small opening in their tops.

"Hey Mr. Tails!" Cream began, giving him a smile that could pierce even the coldest of hearts.

"Cream! It's been forever! How have you been?" Tails responded, stepping aside to let her in. "Do you need help with any of that or-"

"I've got it Mr. Tails don't worry!" She responded, setting down both of her cups on a nearby countertop.

"Also, it's just Tails, you don't have to worry about the formalities." He answered, shutting the door behind him. "So, what brings you here?"

"Just coming to see how you're doing! I imagine it gets a little lonely here with Sonic being asleep and everything. Just figured you might want some company!"

"Eh, I don't mind, but it's nice to see you again."

"Oh! One thing..." The rabbit added, grabbing one of the cups from the counter and handing it to the fox. "This is for you!"

"Cream, you didn't have to… But thanks." He answered, taking a sip of his drink and looking down at it for a moment. "Is this... Mint hot chocolate?"

"Yep! What do you think?"

"This is really good! Did you make this?"

"No, but my mom did! She thought you'd like it!"

"Tell her this is amazing!" The fox responded, beaming back at her.

"I'll be sure to do that!" Cream responded, a smile crossing her face. After a bit though, she noticed something about the kitsune.

"Tails, your… Well tails, are huge! They're so fluffy!"

The kitsune had a large pink blush cross his face, much to the amusement of the rabbit present. "O-Oh! Yeah, it's just part of my winter coat!"

"I could just sleep in those! Are they a good blanket?"

The fox was noticeably more flustered now as he tried to answer, his embarrassment just increasing with each passing moment. "Y-Yeah actually, they're really warm."

"I could just snuggle them!"

"Cream!" Tails responded, his embarrassment finally spilling over as a bright red hue overtook his entire face.

The rabbit laughed, "I'm just teasing you!"

"Oh..." He answered, his namesakes wagging in joy. "Well then it was pretty funny I guess!"

Cream returned a smile and the two sat in comfortable silence with their drinks for a bit before she spoke again. "So, what do you have planned today?"

"Well... I was going to go see Eggman again a bit later, see how he's doing and all."

"I still can't believe you two get along! I mean, I know you talked him out of doing his stuff during the winter while Sonic, Amy, and Shadow are sleeping. But what does he even do during that time?"

"Mostly just plan out his stuff for next year. In my opinion though, he gets a little lonely there, I mean, it's just him, Orbot, and Cubot."

"Well, it's nice to see you two get along well, what with all your science talk and everything!"

Tails laughed, "We just hang out sometimes!"

The two just relaxed and made small talk for a bit, eventually however, Cream had to leave, she said her goodbyes to Tails and made her way back home, the kit eventually made his way to the garage and into the cockpit of the Tornado, flying out of the house toward where Eggman was currently located. The chill from the wind would normally be unbearably cold, but Tails' winter fur made it much more manageable for the fox.

As the Egg Carrier came into view among the clouds, a voice rang over the radio installed into his plane. "Unidentified aircraft." The voice of Eggman spoke, "Please identify yourself before-"

"Boss!" A second voice Tails recognized as Orbot spoke, "It's the Tornado!"

"Oh... I'm sorry about that Tails, just instinct that's all, feel free to land in bay three, I'll have Orbot and Cubot there to escort you up shortly."

Tails smiled, it was exactly like Eggman to overreact to his approach, even during the winter season he seemed rather on edge. Nevertheless, he approached and landed his craft in the open landing bay, he was instantly greeted by Orbot and Cubot as he jumped out of the pilot's seat.

"Terribly sorry for that Tails," Orbot began. "But you know how he can get sometimes."

"It's fine! I mean, just the fact of me being here is unusual!"

"I suppose that's true."

"Yeah!" Cubot interjected, "Like aren't you two enemies or something?"

Orbot slapped his mechanized brother on the back of the head, "You know they have an agreement!"

The yellow robot seemed to think it over for a moment, "Oh! Right!"

"Besides," The kitsune interrupted. "I'm just here for a visit."

The fox followed behind the two robots as they escorted him toward the cockpit of the ship. The twisting hallways were empty, save for some cameras at intersections and corners, the path branched off into dozens of different directions and doors lined the walls wherever they went. Eventually, he reached the entrance to the cockpit and found Eggman busy musing over some sort of design, but before he could make out any additional information, he closed out of it.

"Well, if it isn't Tails, sorry about the whole almost shooting you down thing a bit earlier, force of habit after all!"

"It's fine, besides, I know you didn't mean to either way. So what have you been working on? Another plan to destroy us once the season is over I assume?"

The scientist cackled evilly as Orbot and Cubot left the two alone, "Why yes my vulpine friend! I've finally got it this time!"

"That's what you said last year, you sure it's going to work this time?"

"I'm positive!"

Tails simply rolled his eyes and sighed, watching out the front window of the aircraft as the clouds rolled by. The two sat in comfortable silence for a bit before Tails spoke. "Ivo, where did you come from? Why do you do this sort of thing? It's not a small undertaking to keep doing schemes like this, so why?"

For once, Ivo seemed legitimately somber, Tails was almost surprised at the emotion as he let out a long sigh before beginning. "It's because of family…"

"What about it?"

"My family came from a long line of successful businessmen and politicians. It's how we made the family fortune and part of how I can even afford to do this in the first place."

"I haven't heard of any Robotnik's in politics?"

"That's because there aren't any Robotnik's in politics... You see, my grandfather, Gerald Roosevelt, chose to pursue his love of science rather than the politics and business that his father had. While his father was approving, his other siblings were not, and with his father's old age, his ability to do anything about it was limited. Eventually, they shut him out of the family entirely for 'leaving the family trade'. Despite this, his father still left him with a rather sizable fortune after his passing, and he took on the last name of Robotnik, figuring it was better than the family he still had."

"But, why the conquest?"

"You know what happened to Gerald I assume?"

Tails slowly nodded his head, what had happened on the Ark was terrible, and it was a memory he'd rather soon forget more than anything.

"Since then, and with his abandonment by his own family of all things, I took matters into my own hands. A crusade for revenge…"

The words hung in the air for a bit, the fox not daring to say anything as a response. The two sat in a tense silence before Ivo spoke, "Well, it's your turn isn't it?"

Tails looked at him quizzically, prompting a response from the roboticist. "It's your turn to share about where you came from, right? I just did the same."

Tails turned to face the window again, watching the clouds for a moment. He gently wiped a tear or two out of his eyes before beginning. "I never knew my parents… I was too young to remember them, but all I know is that they left me… They abandoned me on a island, probably thinking I'd die. No doubt it was because of my… Deformity… The Mobians there were awful to me, they beat me up, said I was a curse on their island and that mutants like me shouldn't be allowed to live… I lived on my own, stealing whatever I could to survive. It wasn't ever enough, but I tried my best… I learned about my love of engineering there and stole components to build with, but they would always just get destroyed by everyone else on the island…"

The kit paused for a bit to gather himself before speaking again, "Eventually though, I met Sonic, and he was the first to care about me… He took care of me and gave me a friend, we quickly became almost family… We've been close ever since…"

"It seems like both of us have had troubles with our family in the past," Ivo added. "Maybe we're not as different as I'd thought after all…"

"Maybe not… Thanks for listening…" The fox responded, wiping the few stray tears that had appeared while he'd been talking. "Sonic doesn't like to talk about it much, but I think it helps to be able to just talk…"

"I thought he'd be fine with that sort of thing. Does he not care?"

"No! He cares just… Sonic's just a kid himself, and he was even younger when he adopted me. He just… Doesn't know how to take care of a little kid."

"Do you hate him for that?"

"I mean… Not really, anything is better than what I had before… Besides, he tries his best, which is what matters!"

"You and Sonic really care about each other that much?"

Tails sighed, "He's the world to me… Without him, I'd probably be dead by now. He took me in and treated me like family. So… Yes, I do care about him, and he cares about me."

Eggman was silent after the answer for a moment, "I wish I'd had a family like that..."

"We all do, but sometimes we just have to deal with what we're given... Make the most of a bad situation..."

The duo didn't talk much more for the rest of their visit, mainly some small side conversations here and there before Tails had to leave. He waved goodbye to the doctor and took off in the Tornado from the hangar, making his way back home for the night...

-X-

The Winter Solstice Holiday... Probably one of Tails' favorite times of the year. Between the lights and the visits from friends, this part of the year was something the kitsune looked forward to. Those friends were currently at Vanilla's house, having a nice get-together and discussing holiday plans. They didn't dare have it at one of the hedgehog's houses, for fear of waking them up, and it was a miracle that Rouge and Knuckles were here at all, as the two of them often moved someplace warmer once the cold hit. There was only one exception to the winter demeanor.

"I still don't get how you guys put up with this..." Blaze added, "It's so cold outside!"

"You just get used to it after a while." Tails responded, gesturing to his fluffy exterior as he did so.

"We don't have winter over in Sol, so coming here for our little get together is always a shock... How's Sonic by the way?"

"He's alright as usual, just sleeping."

"You Mobians are so weird sometimes, I mean Silver doesn't have to sleep for three entire months."

"It's just got to be something about our dimensions, though I'd love to discuss it some time, sounds fascinating!"

"I figured you'd say that, well it was nice chatting for now Tails." Blaze responded, walking off to talk with someone else at the gathering.

The fox made his way back into the group as well and had plenty of fun with his friends. As the sky darkened however, many began to make their way home. Tails made his way through the frigid weather and stepped inside of his shared abode. He glanced over at a nearby tree he'd decorated and at the gifts from his friends he'd gotten over a couple of days. Finally however, his eyes settled on a box that sat on the table. Completely wrapped and ready to be delivered. He grabbed the box and made his way upstairs, slowly peaking his head into Sonic's room. The hedgehog was still fast asleep, as was to be expected. Making his way into the room a bit, he sat beside the bed.

"Hey Sonic…" He spoke, somewhat quietly just to be safe. "I know you can't hear me… But I got this for you, I know you won't be awake for the Winter Solstice, but there's no reason you can't have some presents…"

He set the wrapped box at the foot of the bed. Everything was silent for a moment before a soft sigh escaped the fox's mouth.

"I miss you Sonic… You mean a lot to me, and I wish there was some way I could repay you… I know I'm your brother and all, and I know you'd probably say something to cheer me up right now… But just listen… When you took me in, I didn't have anybody… But you gave me friends, and a family, which is something I never thought I'd have... Well, I should probably get to bed… I'll see you soon Sonic."

The kitsune stepped out of the room, taking one last look at the sleeping hedgehog before returning to his room and letting the warm embrace of sleep envelop him.

-X-

Several months later, Sonic awoke to the warmth of his blankets and the darkness of his room. Letting his eyes slowly adjust and his brain slowly flicker to life, he gently made his way to a sitting position, stretching out his back as he did. Standing up on his somewhat sore legs and stretching, he noticed a small wrapped box at the base of his bed. Curious, he made his way over and found it was labeled, 'From: Tails'. He grabbed the box and made his way over to the door; the fox would be ecstatic to see him. As he descended the stairs to the living room, he heard a voice.

"Sonic? Is that you?" Tails asked, excitement seeping from every word.

"In the flesh." He responded, prompting the kitsune to run over and throw his arms around his brother.

"You're awake! It's about time! I missed you!"

"I missed you too buddy!" Sonic responded, giving his brother a playful noogie. "Looks like you've still got most of that extra winter fur!"

Tails laughed, pulling Sonic off himself, "I'm still just as fuzzy as you remember!"

Sonic returned the laugh and after the two of them fell silent for a moment, he grabbed the box he'd been given. "What's this for?"

"Oh! I gave that to you because you're not normally around for the Winter Solstice, but I decided that you still deserve something! You're my brother after all!"

"Tails, you didn't have to..." He responded.

"I know, but I wanted to!" The fox answered, his namesakes wagging in anticipation. "Well, what are you waiting for? Open it!"

The hedgehog sat down to open his present, inside he found a set of new shoes. The fox beamed at him in anticipation. "I figured you could use some new shoes! Plus, I even managed to hook up a speedometer into them so that we could track how fast you're going!"

"Tails... You didn't have to do this... But thank you."

The hedgehog pulled the fox into a tight hug, to which the kitsune returned the gesture. "You're my brother after all and I don't feel like you should miss out on everything!" The fox replied.

"Well, then fill me in, what did I miss?"

The fox launched into explanations of what had occurred over the past few months, but deep down, the two were just happy to be together again.

Alright everyone! That's it for this story! Hopefully you all enjoyed it! Let me know your thoughts in a review, and I'll be sure to get back to a semi-regular schedule from here out! Until next time!