Welcome to my first (and probably last) fanfiction! Thanks for joining me!

DISCLAIMER: This story is heavily inspired by TailsLovesCosmo's story After the Metarex: Cosmo's Story. In it, Cosmo attends Dark Oak's trial. Some of the language is similar, and I want it to be crystal clear that this premise was entirely their idea, and I don't claim to have come up with it myself. I just loved their story so much that I wanted to do my own fresh take on it. Go check out their story!

DISCLAIMER II: This is a slight AU. Some elements are different from the original Sonic X canon. In Sonic X, "Thorndrigan" is a male Seedrian. However, in this story, they're all called Seedrians, and the Thorndrigans are the race that originally warred with the Seedrians over Greengate. Some elements of this story are slightly altered from the original source material. Another example is that here, Cosmo's last name is Jane.

I think all that's out of the way. Let's get to the story! Please review; I'd really appreciate it! :)

"Tails, thank you!"
 "I will never forget you!"
 "Nor will I. We've had fun! ...Why is this? Right now, all I see is everyone's smiling faces…"

"Cosmo…"

"Tails...I'll always love you!"

"Cosmo!"

A stern voice startles me out of my thoughts. Tails's troubled face fades from my vision, his brilliant blue eyes and white, tear-streaked muzzle distorting to form the pale ice eyes and pallid face of Mother, whose normally soft features are narrowed in disapproval. I've drifted off yet again. "Oh, Mother! I'm so sorry!" I glance towards the front of the courtroom, where the attorneys and members of the jury are still milling about. Relief swamps me, overtaking the guilt I had felt moments prior. They haven't yet started, thank goodness! It's replaced with shame, however, as I notice Starr, sitting diagonally behind me, out of the corner of my eye. She sits composed and proper, but her eyes are flat, and she lets the tears fall in a steady stream. Starr, my sister who had suffered far more than her share, and far more than I ever did. She had lived for many years on Greengate before the Thorndrigan race waged war with our people, forcing all Seedrians to abandon the Green Planet and seek refuge in the only place I had ever known as home: the ship. For her, Greengate wasn't a fantasy or even a distant memory; it was home. Then to endure another war with the males of our own kind, to endure our father's abuse that I only ever heard in my head…

I have the luxury of daydreaming while her mind has been consumed with pain.

I'm not worthy to speak at this trial.

I don't deserve to be among you all...

"No, Cosmo, I'm sorry." Mother's hand touches mine, and when I lift my eyes to hers, they appear softer. "I know you've only just arrived, and this is all so sudden…" she sighs. "But attentivity here is crucial. This is it. This is your father's Judgement Day, and you have the opportunity to influence the verdict. He's still your father, of course and I want you to remember that, but…he hurt you so much, baby, and that should not escape the eyes of the Judge. I just want there to be justice…"

The shame is choking me. "Of course, Mother! I won't waste this opportunity, I promise! I won't let you down. I won't let us down! I swear to you!"

The corners of Mother's mouth lift into a tight smile. "You could never let me down, baby girl. You've done more than I could have ever asked. You did the hard part." She squeezes my hand. "Compared to the sacrifice you've just made, this is facile."

I see Tails. His body is frozen, as if the hours that have passed since he fired that last shot have sheathed him in icy fractals, holding him in place. His eyes remind me of stones as they stare blankly at the control panel in front of him, a jarring contrast from the lively, fiery irises that I had come to love so deeply. Silver tears sit like icicles on his cheeks, but even they are still. Like a reminder that no matter how many hours pass, how many times the sun rises on a universe almost erased, he will remain bound by those icy chains, unable to move past the moment my life ended and a new one began...that of a universe united by peace. But how could that universe come to fruition, when Tails was in so much pain? Tears sting my eyes. I did this to you, my love. I'm so sorry.

Suddenly, Tails's eyes meet mine. I find myself staring into facsimile pools of exhaustion, of pain. Looking into them, I see not only his eyes, but mine mere days ago. While I walked around the Blue Typhoon in a melancholy haze, feeling nothing but my legs as they somehow moved me forward. Where I'd stare into the mirror and not recognize the girl staring back at me, the girl who's sad, tired eyes were reflectant of all the damage that had been done. Damage by war.

A war that my father had taken farther than anyone could have ever dreamed.

Everyone in the courtroom takes their seats. I clasp my hands and turn my gaze to the front, determined not to daydream again. This trial is bigger than me and my conflict with Father. This is about serving justice for the hundreds of Seedrian lives destroyed by a single Metarex attack, for all the beautiful planets now reduced to ash after Father purged their Planet Eggs, for the males of my species left for dead after the Metarex were born. For Sonic Hanley and his friends, no, my friends, forced to engage in a cosmic war after I sought refuge on Mobius.

For Tails, and the terrible, unspeakable sacrifice I forced him to make in the name of salvation.

"All rise, for his honor, the General of the Final Judgement."

I stand with the rest of the courtroom as the Judge enters. The supposed strictest on the panel of the ten judges of the dead. Perspiration runs under my arms as two men lead in Father. Eyes down, hands cuffed, he sits quietly at the front of the room. In his natural form, he looks no different from the many uncles, grandfathers, and cousins I had met since arriving. I can scarcely believe that this is the same robotic, cold figure that planted a tracker in my mind as I escaped the imploding ship and used my own ears and eyes to spy for the Metarex for months. The same figure that would laugh at me when I cried on those nights when the loss of Mother and my sisters was too great to bear, and the one who told me my love for Tails was disgusting and sick.

"Very well. We shall begin." The Judge bangs his gavel. "The defendant has been tried on several counts of homicide, manslaughter, thievery, multiple war crimes, and violation of minor by placing a tracking device inside her head without consent. Lucas Hyacinth Jane, how do you plead?"

Father's head dips. His shoulders release in an exhale as he mumbles his answer.

"Guilty, your Honor."

Uproar encases the court. Among the surprised exclamations around me, I can pick out many sighs of relief, going as unnoticed as the burden of their pain had been for many years.

A hand smacks the table, making us all jump. "Outrageous!" I'd recognize that voice anywhere. My mouth goes dry.

"Your Honor, this is ludicrous! The defendant was only taking the actions necessary to garrison our people against the Thorndrigans that invaded the Green Planet!"

The pounding of the gavel rings throughout the courtroom. "Samuel! You will know your place in this trial. The defendant has given his verdict."
I watch the huffing male Seedrian sit down through glossy eyes. Samuel. Or as he was known as Dark Oak's second-in-command, Red Pine. Mother squeezes my hand. Her harrowing eyes are focused on Father with a hatred that sears my heart. I had seen that exact look in the mirror back on the Typhoon countless times. My stomach twists with nausea. Hate leads to violence, and the thought of more slaughter, more war, has me covering my mouth, praying they can't hear my retches from the Judge's bench. Was my vision of peace nothing but a child's fantasy, no different from the stories I used to make up as a child to pass time on the ship? If not for my destiny, would I have allowed the bitterness to consume me until one day I found myself in a robotic suit of my own?

Like Father had planned.

"For you, my daughter." His metal hands unveil his pet project. I can only stare in shock.

"Ah, yes." He fingers the metallic white armor with uncharacteristic adoration. "This is the future right here, young Cosmo. Or should I say, White Seed."

I scream. Louder and louder until my voice cracks and my throat burns. But I can't stop.

The last thing I remember is blacking out to the sound of my own shrieks as I was thrown against cold stairs.

"Ms. Cosmo?"

I blink, my thoughts fading as I notice the General of the Final Judgement looking at me. I shake my head, furious at myself for drifting off yet again. You can't let everyone down, Cosmo! "Yes?" I ask, biting my lip.

The creases at the Judge's mouth deepen slightly as he opens it to speak, presumably annoyed at having to repeat himself. I can't look at Mother.

"Cosmo Camellia Jane. You are the daughter of the defendant?"
I straighten my back, hoping to appear more confident. "Yes, sir."
"Very well. Your testimony, please."
Feeling the whole congregation's eyes on me, I rise from my seat. I brush a lock of long hair out of my face and clear my throat, trying with every fiber of my being to hold eye contact with the Judge. Must not look at Father.

"Yes, sir." I clasp my hands to keep them from trembling. There wasn't enough time beforehand to write a testimony, as the trial took place mere hours after Dark Oak had fallen.

After I killed my father.

I had outlined what I'd wanted to say in my mind, though, and I prayed to any divine being that my memory wouldn't fail me. More so, I prayed that I could get through this, that I could put words to the horrible pain Father had caused for thousands of people across the galaxy and deliver them justice. For some reason, a fox with horror-stricken eyes comes to mind. A fox who was in so much emotional turmoil yet pushed the button anyway. Please, Tails, give me the strength for this.

"I wasn't born yet when the females of my people fled Greengate, so I didn't have many chances to interact with my father when I was younger. But he did visit the ship, home to our people, occasionally throughout my childhood." I swallow, my throat suddenly extremely dry. I'd never told anyone what I was about to tell the Judge. He'd always demanded I stay silent. I glance quickly at Father. He's looking at me, his eyes unreadable.

"Your Honor, when I fulfilled my fate and arrived in the afterlife, I attained the stature and age of an adult, or someone of eighteen years. But in actuality, I was only seven years old less than a day ago. I was the youngest of seven daughters, and they conversed with Father as well. Forgive me if this sounds like an accusation, but my sisters always came back crying and disheveled. My sister Nova would always return bruised, even bleeding." I stop my eyes from searching for Nova in the courtroom. I don't want to put her on the spot. I know deep in my heart that I'm stalling for time. 'Procrastination,' I think Tails called it once. I clear my throat, mustering up every shred of courage I have, as if I'm about to directly link with Dark Oak's body and beg for that final shot yet again.

"He would request to visit with me quite often. I was the last child born to Earthia before she took on her natural form of a tree, so he had great things planned for me. He asked me many times to return to Greengate and fight with him, but I declined. It was after he transformed, though, your Honor, that he changed." I take a deep breath, not allowing myself to look in Father's direction. Be strong, Cosmo. For them. "When I was six years old, days after our ship was attacked and I escaped, he approached me. He made me a suit of armor and demanded I fight for the Metarex forces. But I could never do that, your Honor! I couldn't hurt or even kill anyone. No one should." Tears sting my eyes. "I told him that I couldn't join him, and he grabbed me by the neck and threw me against a metal staircase." Gasps are heard throughout the courtroom. I pause, struggling to breathe.

"Is that all, Ms. Cosmo?" The General looks sternly around the congregation for silence.

I gasp. "Oh, no, your Honor! Please, allow me to explain why our ship was attacked in the first place, sir!"
He nods. "Of course."
I square my trembling shoulders, determined to look as assured as possible. I can't have them suspect me of lying. I can't.

"When I was six years old, as I mentioned, our ship was maliciously attacked by the Metarex. Which, if you're unfamiliar, my Father was the leader of. I managed to escape, but the ship was completely destroyed. More than that, though, everyone on the ship was killed. I saw the explosion from afar." Tears stream down my cheeks as I remember the bright flash, and the noise, the deafening BOOM that had scattered debris across the galaxy for miles. Why didn't you save them, Cosmo? You certainly had enough time to save yourself! If you wouldn't have been so selfish, maybe the Seedrian bloodline wouldn't have died out. Maybe your sisters would still be safe on our spacecraft. "T-The Seedrian race was completely gone. My father, Luc- Dark Oak, committed genocide on his own people." I plow forward over the murmuring in the room, determined not to forget any detail. "Unfortunately, there is more, your Honor. While I was escaping, he instilled a tracking device inside my brain. It allowed the Metarex to see and hear what I did, making me a perfect spy." I lower my eyes to the floor, ashamed to admit how much of a burden I had been on those who had taken me in. But I do. I continue on, explaining how I joined Sonic and his friends on the Blue Typhoon, and how the Metarex engaged in many battles with us after using my tracker to find our location. I talk about Father's robbery of countless Planet Eggs in order to fuel his transformation, and the many empty, desolate planets that, along with their former inhabitants, had suffered because of his crimes.

"Very well, Cosmo." The General of the Final Judgement leans forward in his chair and fixes me with an intent look. "Lucas is the reason you are here?"
I nod, my heart pounding fast from all the explaining. "Yes. He's my father, so I was called here to speak."

The Judge shakes his head. "No, I mean here. In the land of the dead."
My face flushes with embarrassment. "Of course, sir." I hadn't noticed it while I was talking, but now I can feel the entire congregation staring at me. Mother sucks in her breath. When I speak, the words are quiet, but definite.
"He is the reason I died."
Exclamations of surprise fly around the court. The jury members glance at one another.

"Dark Oak was going to erase the galaxy. All of it. So he took on another, more powerful form. A-As we all stood on the ship, I heard this voice in my head...it said I was condemned to disappear the day I became an adult."

Out of the corner of my eye, Father's head dips. I turn to face him, anger slowly manifesting in my blood. How dare he sit there and look sorry? After it didn't matter anymore? His lips barely move, but the words are clear. "You shouldn't be here. I'm so sorry, Cosmo."
"You're sorry?" I scream, smacking the table as I lean in towards Dark Oak. "Does that fix what you've done? The lives you've ended? The planets you've killed? We were your people. Your family. How could you?" Faces, sad, world-weary faces, float into my mind. Nova. Galaxina. Starr. Mother. Amy. Cream. Tails.

"You tried so hard to make me like you. And guess what? You won!" I sob. "You won! You taught me to hate, and now it's taken over me and it's ugly! I hate it. I hate you!" Images flash in my head, so fast that I feel dizzy. But for once, I'm not daydreaming. I'm right here, in the midst of my fury, all the anger I'd suppressed for so long boiling over the surface. "Do you know what you put my friends through? They gave up everything to stop you! How dare you say you wanted to protect our people? You didn't protect those who died fighting for Greengate, and you didn't hesitate to murder the rest of us. You called my friends predatory and queer, but they gave me shelter and affection. They loved me." My voice shakes as I remember waking up to Vanilla, Cream, and Amy standing over my bed with concerned expressions after I'd crash-landed on their planet. I'd distrusted them at first, but it would take only a few months before they meant more to me than my own life. "They did more to protect the Seedrians than you ever did! And now we're extinct. Are you proud that you forced the boy I love to shoot at me, your daughter and the last Seedrian? Why weren't you sorry when it mattered? WHY WEREN'T YOU?" My vision swims, and I grab the edge of the table, trembling. The congregation is silent.

"Thank you, Cosmo." The General of the Final Judgement gives a brief nod. The lawyer asks Starr for her testimony. Rage still swirling inside me like an angry cloud, I take my seat. As my sister begins to speak, the fury fades, amplifying a lingering shame. I had ruined my own father's defense. I still held onto my burning resentment, even here where it no longer mattered.

Well done, White Seed.

I try my best to focus on the rest of the trial. The rest of my sisters speak, then Mother. They all speak of a man they'd once been proud to love, but he'd soon morphed into something inhuman. Cold behind the eyes, desensitized to the barbaric mutilation around him. When he and the few survivors had left Greengate, long after we had, he'd almost developed a craving for the exhilaration of war. He'd soon felt empty in its absence.

As I listen, tears roll down my cheeks. In the moment, everything he's done dissipates from my mind. I can't imagine ever growing so accustomed to indescribable violence that I began to need it. Being so closely identified with my pain that I thought I was nothing without it.

Finally, the jury converses. My underarms are damp with sweat, and I can't seem to sit still. Twice Mother glares at me, and finally I have to sit on my hands to keep from fidgeting. Time stands still.

"We have reached our conclusion." A jury member stands. "The defendant has been found guilty as charged by unanimous vote."
The General of the Final Judgement looks down at Father from his raised chair. I'm sure it's a trick of my imagination when he shrinks back in his seat.

"Lucas Hyacinth Jane, I sentence you to ten thousand years in the abode of the damned with no possible parole." He bangs his gavel. "The court is adjourned."
The assembly disperses. Through the throngs of people exiting the room, I catch a glimpse of Father. His head is bowed, and his lips are moving as if in prayer. Before I know it, Mother's hand is on my arm.

"You did so well, my darling." She leads me outside. I think even then I knew that I'd never again see my father. Not in life, not in death. It's then that I break down. I grip my mother like I never got to in life, sobbing like a baby.

"Shh, Cosmo. It's all over." Her embrace is warm.

"But it's not!" I hiccup, my breath coming in shuddering gasps. "I ruined Father's defense! That'll last forever."
Mother brushes my hair back. "You didn't ruin his defense. He did that himself when he became Dark Oak. You told the truth. Sometimes that's all you can do."
"I screamed at him. I lost control." I sit down and put my head on my knees. "He truly taught me to hate. And even now, I can't let go of it." My fingers pluck at the grass blades. "Must all hurt turn into hate? Is it inevitable?" I hear that voice in my head again. You'll join me soon enough, White Seed.

"No." Mother squats beside me. Her voice is stern as she continues. "Self-doubt is your greatest fallacy, my Cosmo. Remember your sacrifice. You knew nothing but hate, yet you showed nothing but kindness and grace."

I return her weak smile, touched by her strength. "That isn't all true. I knew love, too. Everyone was very good to me on the ship. Even if they did think I was a little odd." My heart feels a bit lighter as I recall those days, filled with so much uncertainty yet a tranquility that I longed for everyone of all worlds to experience. "And my friends on the Blue Typhoon were the best people I could have asked to spend my last days with." Regret fills my chest as I recall the last thing I'd seen: a photo of everyone at the party, laughing and smiling. I desperately hope they're having such fun now, but can't help but grieve that I'm not there with them. "I-I'm sure you know, Mother, that I fell in love. We'd both seen so much death and violence...and he knew me so well." I think of Tails and pray he isn't still alone on the Blue Typhoon, that he's being taken care of. "Mother, do you think he's going to be okay? What I asked of him was terrible, and I hope he'll be able to move on, maybe to love another…" Envy pierces my heart as I picture Tails laughing with another girl, marrying her and maybe even having children… I push my bitterness away, ashamed. What's wrong with you?

Mother threads her fingers through mine, her eyes on the lake outside the courthouse. I follow her gaze and take in the crystal, sparkling water. Always calm. The stillness reminds me of just how much has ended today in the name of peace. The Metarex no longer rule the galaxy, but Shadow has died and the Seedrian race is lost forever. Galaxina used to tell me that sometimes you needed to make some sacrifices for the greater good.

I just hope that for all those among the living, the greater good is yet to come.

Thanks so much for reading! What did you think? Criticism is welcomed. Have an amazing day, lovely people :)