Sonic raced along the beach, quietly reminiscing. "It's been a long time since I just ran like this...no worries..." He sighed to himself. "I've missed it. Good to be able to just kick back and be free." He began to slow down. "Then again...maybe there's a reason for that." Seeing a nearby bench, he sat down, to give his thoughts time to take shape. There was a worry, somewhere in his mind. There almost always was, which is why he often ran the way he did. At high speeds, he didn't have to think, just react. But it was time, finally, to confront his worries. It was time to grow up.
It had been a long time coming, but after more than ten years of adventures, it was getting to be time to settle down and relax. As much as he hated to admit it, it was getting harder to mantain velocity these days. He was sure he was too young to slow down, but...maybe he should, anyway.
He knew Knuckles and Rouge were happy together. And things were certainly going well between him and Amy. "Never would have seen that coming ten years ago," he mumbled to himself. Even Shadow was looking to settle down from what he heard. Everything was moving towards calm and peace, what with the end of all villain activity three years back...
Thinking about that, he finally realized the focus of his worry. "I'm worried about Tails," he at last realized. "He just locked himself up after going Dark Super. It was a lot for him. First he lost his last link to Cosmo...then he calls forth a power that had us all scared...and then we act scared of him when he comes out of it, even though he used it to save all our bacons. We messed up. We messed up bad." He got to his feet. "I know Amy said I should give him some space, but it's been three years. That's too long. He's my friend, my best buddy. I'm gonna go check on him." With that he turned to take off...but stopped when he noticed something. "Say...that's Tails old lab from when we were teaching Emerl. It's where he built his holo simulator. ...why's it active? No one's used it since Emerl shut down." He dashed over to investigate.
Inside, he was surprised to find that Tails was using the simulator room. "Huh...wonder what he's up to." Sonic went to the control room...and was surprised to find it empty. "Huh! And after all the gruff he used to give me about having supervision in case something went wrong..." He glanced up at the screen...and his face paled.
Tails was fighting a simulation of the demon from three years ago...and the safeties were off! Tails could get killed! Sonic quickly shut down the simulation and dashed in.
Tails turned as Sonic entered. "What did you do that for?" he demanded angrily.
"Are you crazy, Tails? That thing nearly killed all of us three years ago! With the safeties off, it could really kill you!"
"So what?!" Tails demanded, his voice full of anger. "When has anyone bothered to check in on me? When was the last time anyone cared about me? How long would it be before anyone even noticed I was gone?!"
"That's going too far, Tails!" Sonic snapped, also getting angry. "We've kept away to give you your space! Didn't you know at least one of us stops by the lab to check on you every week? Right at first it was everyday, but we never said anything because we were worried about you! And even if not the rest of us, Cream would-"
"DON'T TALK ABOUT HER!" Tails snapped, lunging for Sonic.
Sonic tried to evade, to continue the conversation, but Tails had gotten a lot better at hand to hand. He was pushing Sonic to his limits, even without his arm cannon, which he rarely used anymore. As Sonic barely dodged one strike against a wall, he was surprised to see Tails' fist leave a serious dent. "Fine then," he muttered. "If it's gotta be this way..." He lunged in, delivering a quick flip kick to Tails' jaw. He began to fight back in earnest.
It was a pretty even fight. Although Sonic was too fast to get hit, Tails had gotten better at using his tails in a fight, so it was no longer safe to strike him from behind. Eventually, though, after several rapid exchanges of blows, Tails began to tire, and Sonic pressed his advantage. At long last, he had Tails pinned. "Alright Tails," Sonic said, breathing hard. "Talk! What the hell's wrong with you?"
Tails wouldn't meet his eyes. He just looked away, breathing heavily.
"What?" Sonic asked. "Did Cream break up with you or something?"
"... ... ...no..."
Sonic sat back. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
"...she should."
Sonic was taken aback. "Tails? What are you talking about?"
Tails sat up, sighing. "Sonic...you know what I brought back from the orphanage, right?"
Sonic nodded. "What about it?"
"That's pretty much proof positive I'm not Mobian."
"So what?"
"...Cream and I ran out of birth control last year...and we never got more."
Sonic rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know if this is something I should be hearing..."
"It was her decision not to get more...and I went along with it." He shook his head. "Sonic, she's been in heat several times since then, and we've been intimate numerous more. She should be pregnant by now...but she's not."
Sonic blinked a bit. "I'm totally lost."
"Sonic..." Tails put his head in his hands. "Cream obviously wants to start a family with me...wants us to have children together...wants to have a baby of her own. I mean, she is a rabbit, and is genetically predisposed to have an easy time of it...but if she isn't pregnant by now...it means we aren't compatible species."
Sonic paused. "Oh...Tails..."
Tails began to cry. "She's put all her hopes on me, Sonic...pinned her whole future on me...and I can't give her what she wants! I can't make her a mother...and it's so important to her!" He cried harder. "But I can't hurt her by breaking up with her, and I can't even begin to imagine how to explain this to her...and I can't imagine living without her. What am I supposed to do, Sonic?" In desperation - much as he had in younger years - he clung to his oldest friend. "What am I supposed to do?"
Sonic said nothing. There was nothing he could say, but he held Tails gently, offering what comfort he could.