Hehe, sorry about freaking everyone out with the accident at the end of Chapter 4. I meant to put 'End of Chapter' but put 'End of Story'. My bad. o.o -runs from angry reviewers-

Anyway, this was the hardest chapter to write. I cried writing it. It's heartbreaking. I skipped most of the weeks and stuff, and just added what happened and crap. The end is almost completely heart shattering, and I love it. I hope you enjoy!

There will be several more chapters, I think. I still have to see what else I should put in here. ;)

Here

Chapter 5

At the end of the first week, Sonic's health had already changed drastically.

He couldn't run as long as before, but the hedgehog refused to give up running. Tails would accompany him as he ran through the forest every day, and with every day, getting less farther into the forest than before. He would get pale, tire easily, and was quick to anger when his sickness was brought up.

To put it simply, Sonic refused to believe he was dying.

On Tuesday of the second week, Tails awoke early, unable to fall back asleep. He sat in the kitchen, looking out the window as the sun began to overtake the moon for the beginning of a new day. The kitsune was beginning to reflect Sonic's health; his own health was deteriorating too, but for a different reason. He was worried literally sick about Sonic. And already, in only the second week, Tails felt he could no longer go on. Simply the thought of Sonic dying in less than five weeks was too much to bare; the kitsune nearly fell apart at the mention of his illness.

Tails sighed as he leaned back into his chair, sipping a bit of coffee from the cup next to him. Today, Sonic and Tails planned to go for a run and come back to run around town for awhile. They two had been spending nearly every waking moment together, and Tails was glad they could. It was too hard to do this alone, for either of them.

He sighed a final time before downing the rest of his coffee, standing, and departing into his bedroom to prepare for the day.

xxx

The weeks passed. Tails had hoped they would pass slowly, would give them extra time to talk, to simply be with each other. But time was cruel, and so was fate. Before they knew it, the fifth week was upon them. And each passing day, things got worse.

At the end of the second week, Sonic had went to the doctor, just to see if anything had changed in his condition. Unfortunately, it was for the worse. Sonic's mind was beginning to be affected from the disease, and he would soon show random outbursts of rage, usually followed by silence for awhile. And sometimes, Sonic would completely forget things; at one point, he came close to forgetting his own name.

By the third week, Sonic was getting weaker. He didn't hold an appetite as long, and would sometimes turn down meals completely. He was quiet more, and the only person he would talk to during these silent periods was Tails. He became more clingy to Tails as the weeks passed on, and Tails was always there.

The fourth week only got worse. Sonic began waking up in the middle of the night, screaming about terrors he himself could not remember. The doctor explained that the disease was again affecting his mind, causing him to have nightmares he couldn't and wouldn't remember. Some nights, he would sleep just fine, but others, he would awake screaming, thrashing around in his bed until Tails would awake, and somehow calm him down. Sonic also began having mental breakdowns, in which he would randomly begin freaking out, sometimes, but rarely, crying. During these periods, Tails would not be allowed to leave from him.

The fifth week brought the worst of all.

On Tuesday of that week, Sonic didn't make it far at all running. He collasped just before entering the forest, his legs weak, his fur pale. He was getting sicker. He couldn't keep anything down, the nightmares were getting worse, and his mental breakdowns more frequent. His only escape was to run with Tails every morning, no matter how slow he was becoming.

But on the final day of the fifth week, that too was taken away.

All the pressure was put on Tails. He was there with Sonic through the whole thing. The kitsune never left the hedgehogs side, and he would force himself to be strong, only giving into the tears at night when Sonic slept on the other side of the room. Tails was not taking losing his best friend well, and the kitsune seemed to simply watch Sonic more, just taking in his presence, the final times he knew he would be there. When Sonic would have his mental breakdowns, Tails would embrace him, however awkwardly, until they were over. He would sometimes cry with him when he rarely cried. And that was one of the hardest things, watching Sonic cry. The hedgehog was slowly losing hope, and the kitsune was losing it much faster. When Sonic would awaken from his nightmares, Tails would calm him down, convince them they were just dreams, and help him fall back asleep. They're only escapes were the runs they went on. Tails was watching his best friend die, and there was no denying how completely horrifying that had to be.

When the doctors told him of Sonic's newest condition - the disease was quickly eating away at his muscles and bones, he could no longer run - Tails almost completely shattered as his world around him did. Standing in that hospital room, the kitsune never felt so helpless, so useless, as he did when he looked over at Sonic, sitting on the bed pane, his eyes narrowed in impatience as the doctor checked him over, Tails knowing he could no longer run.

When Sonic figured it out, he took it worse.

He tried the next morning to go running anyway. Tails awoke to find him gone, and the kitsune hurried out of the house to find him, stricken with panic as he rushed down to the forests edge. Sonic was sitting there, his knees pulled to his chest, his green eyes unfocused, looking at something Tails couldn't see.

The kitsune approached him silently, and sat down next to him, watching him silently. Then, Sonic lifted his head and looked at him, his gaze dull, sad, hopeless.

"I can't run anymore..."

Right there, sitting next to his best friend who was losing everything so slowly, Tails felt his heart shattered into a million pieces and then break into more as they hit the ground. Everything had been stripped from Sonic, and Tails gritted his teeth. Everything was so unfair in the world. Such an amazing person had to go through so much.

The third day of the final week, Sonic was bedridden, hospitalized. And that's when Tails felt everything else begin to fall, his entire life beginning to slip away.

Tails looked outside the hospital window from where he sat, at the foot of Sonic's bed. The hedgehog was asleep, the heart monitor next to him beeping softly. The tears in Tails's eyes was blurring his vision, but he didn't try to wipe or blink them away. He simply stared. He was losing everything.

He glanced over at his sleeping best friend, who breathed heavily, loudly. Tails closed his eyes, listening to the labored sound. It was so hard to look at Sonic, hooked up to so many machines, a new wire coming from his body every few hours. It was like a horrific nightmare, something he couldn't escape from. It was impossible for him to smile anymore, even hopefully. All hope was gone, and everyone knew it.

A gasp came from the bed, and Tails opened his eyes to see Sonic awake, his eyes droopy. The kitsune lifted his head from his arms to show Sonic he was awake as well. The hedgehog's green eyes flickered to him slowly, almost weakly, and forced a smile.

"Tails..." he whispered, his voice hoarse. "Come...here...please?"

The kitsune hesitated before slipping from the chair and walking over to him. It was so hard to look at him. He was so thin, so pale. So many wires were coming from his body that it sickened him. But he came closer, until he was standing next to Sonic, leaning over slightly to hear him. The hedgehog looked at him through half-closed eyes, and Tails swallowed hard.

"Tails...remember what you promised?" the hedgehog whispered, and Tails had to strain his ears to hear him. The kitsune blinked at him. "Remember? You promised to stay in the house after I died." The memory flooded back; Tails nodded reluctantly. "You are going to stay, aren't you?"

The question seemed out of place to Tails, but he answered anyway, hesitation clear in his voice. "...I told you I would, Sonic," he answered, his voice low.

Sonic grinned his classic sly grin, and Tails felt his heart quiver; he looked so weak, even when he smiled. "But how long do you plan on staying there?" At this, Tails had no answer. The grin remained on Sonic's face. "When I say I want you to stay, I mean forever. I don't want it sold or torn down, Tails. I don't want it." Tails hesitated, then nodded. "Promise me you'll stay there forever." Blue eyes met green, and Tails felt the world almost stop as he hesitated.

"...I promise, Sonic. I will." Tails ran his hand along the hospital bed railing. It was silent for a few minutes, and Sonic's breathing hitched a few times, his eyes closed. Tails felt tears spring into his eyes again; Sonic was slowly slipping away, and there was nothing he could do about it. He watched Sonic for awhile, wondering if he was actually sleeping, and after a few minutes, the hedgehog's eyes fluttered open, and he looked straight at Tails. He looked so tired...

"Tails, buddy...thank you," Sonic whispered. "Thank you for everything. You've been right here through all of it. You don't know how much I needed you." Tails watched Sonic, and hedgehog swallowed, tears springing into his eyes. Tails said nothing, simply listening and watching, afraid saying anything would cause him to break down and cry. "You're so much more than a little brother. You're my best friend, and you've been my lifeline for so long. Everything else I loved to do was lost, everything else I loved slipped away. But you...you stayed with me." Sonic swallowed again. "Thank you for being there. Thank you for not leaving and not running away." He paused.

"I think...I think I'll go today, Tails," he whispered even softer, and a spasm of panic swept down Tails's spine. What would he do without Sonic? Still, he said nothing. "But...I'm not really afraid anymore..." He looked away a moment, then back at Tails. "Will you...stay with me? Help me to not be afraid?" Sonic seemed like a child to Tails, and the kitsune choked back a sob, nodding silently. Sonic smiled weakly.

"What...w-will I ever do...w-without you, Sonic?" Tails whispered, his voice not at all as strong as he hoped it would be. Sonic blinked at him, as if surprised.

"I'm not leaving, Tails," the hedgehog whispered. "I'll never leave. I'll always be right here." His smile weakened. "I will be right...here." He lifted a weak hand and placed it over the kitsunes heart. "Don't think I'm leaving. We'll see each other again later." The hedgehog winced slightly, his eyes fluttering. The heart monitor seemed to pause before another weak heartbeat resounding. The alarm on it began ringing, not too loud, but loud enough to notice. Tails felt the sick feeling of panic and denial begin to rise in his chest as Sonic shuddered again, his hand falling from the kitsunes chest. He reopened his eyes, his heart monitor shuddering again, and looked Tails dead in the eye.

"Lil bro...Don't leave...okay?" he whispered, his hand struggling to be lifted, as if Sonic wanted to reach for Tails. The kitsune grabbed Sonic's struggling hand, clutching in his own. Tears poured from his eyes as the heart monitor's alarm got louder, and loud, pounding footsteps resounded in the hallway, followed by a shout. But Tails was unable to look away from Sonic.

"Tails...buddy...I love you, lil bro," the hedgehog whispered, his eyes lids fluttering slightly. The kitsune sobbed quietly, clutching Sonic's hand tightly in his own, as if vowing to never let him leave.

"Sonic...please..." The heart monitor shuddered again, and Sonic's eyes closed. "I l-love y-y-you too, Sonic..."

"This isn't goodbye..." the hedgehog whispered, his voice so low Tails could hardly hear it. "Goodbyes are forever...Lets not...say goodbye Tails...Lets...not..." The heart monitor shuddered twice.

"Not goodbye," Tails agreed, hiding his sobs. "Not goodbye, Sonic...See you later..." The hedgehog smiled weakly. "See you later. Never goodbye."

With that final smile, the heart monitor gave a shuddering, final beat, before it fell to a loud screech that seemed to echo around Tails. The hand in Tails's hand lost its grip, falling limp in his palm. The screeching from the monitor seemed to be the only sound in the world.

The doctors rushed into the room a second too late, and Tails didn't move, his blue eyes not moving from Sonic's final smile. The doctors attempted to shove him away, and the yelling was loud, but not loud enough to block out the screech ringing in Tails's ear. He didn't release Sonic's hand, clutching it desperately, and felt Sonic's body jump as they attempt to revive him.

Was it denial? Was that why Tails wasn't crying? Was the numb feeling overtaking him denial? Was he still expecting Sonic to open his eyes, even after the doctors relunctantly gave up their attempts to revive him -- "We're sorry, Mr. Prower...He's gone."? What was it that kept Tails clinging to Sonic's hand, even after his spirit was gone and his body was cold?

Tails didn't know, but hours later, once the wires had been removed from Sonic's body, the numb was gone. Crashing on top of him like the powerful waves in the ocean was grief and horror, mixed together, a concoction of extraordinary powers. And as he still clutche Sonic's cold, cold hand in his, Tails fell, finally fell, and an ocean of tears and sobs racked his body.

It was finally over. Sonic the Hedgehog had lost his final battle. And Miles 'Tails' Prower lost his best friend.

End of Chapter