Author's Comment: Sorry for the delay folks. Also, part of this chapter is inspired by fairy-girl27's Only Time Will Tell fanfiction, though I tried hard not to copy it word from word.
Sonic: Vines of Sorrow Ch. 6
The team landed at their next destination: Chun-nan. There have been reports that the Donkel have attacked the town and have taken the life energy from the victims. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles prepared the X-Tornado for takeoff.
"Let's get out there, find that emerald, and get back at the Donkel for what they've done," Sonic said.
"I'm right with you," Tails said, hopping into the driver's seat.
"Felling better, Tails?" Sonic said, "You sound a bit like it."
"Yeah," Tails said, "But let's talk about it later."
They took off, leaving Chris, Amy, and Cream in charge of the Blue Typhoon.
Meanwhile, in the Egg Carrier not too far behind the Blue Typhoon, Bokkun went to work on his new assignment.
"Maybe I will do a good job and Dr. Eggman will recognize me some more," he said, as he mopped the floor.
Meanwhile, outside of the Egg Carrier, Breezy decided to do a little spying on the group aboard the Blue Typhoon.
In the Blue Typhoon, Chris was working on the security system and chronicling the recent events while Amy looked out the glass dome, daydreaming about Sonic. Nothing unusual was bothering them. The same could not be said for Cream.
Cream felt troubled as she sat and thought about the events in the ice tunnel in Holoska. For some reason, she started to get a funny feeling when she was hugged and held by Tails. She blushed like she was embarrassed, her heart pounded like she was excited, and butterflies filled her stomach like she was nervous. She also had a guilty feeling in her as well, yet she didn't know why.
"Chao chao?" Cheese said.
"There's nothing wrong Cheese," Cream said.
"Really?" Amy said, overhearing what the two said, neither her, Cream, Cheese, or Chris noticing the little Hero Chao Robot who entered the bridge.
"Really," Cream said.
"Well then," Chris said, "Would you mind telling me what happened with you and Tails for my records?"
"Well," Cream said, bashfully, "We… um… uh…"
Everyone looked at Cream with puzzled faces. Amy let out a little gasp.
"Oh my," she said, "are you blushing?"
"N-n-no," Cream said, her blush deepening, "No, I'm not."
"What happened back there?" Chris asked.
Cream decided that it was best to tell them. Maybe they will know the answer to her odd emotion.
Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles continued their search for the emerald.
"I knew it was only a matter of time before that smile of yours came back," Sonic said to Tails, "I really missed it."
"Did you?" Knuckles said.
"Yeah," Sonic said, "I don't like to see Tails carrying that frown around his face just like he did before I met him."
Before Tails met Sonic, he had been bullied by other neo-animals, the creatures that inhabited Sonic's world, for having two tails. Tails never had parents. Sonic, Tails, and Amy were orphaned after Eggman's first attacks. But, because of the bullying, Tails had it harder than Sonic and Amy. The frown on Tails' face after Cosmo died reminded Sonic a lot about the first time they met; how miserable Tails' expression was. Sonic took him in, treated him like he was the most important person to him, and, within time, the frown gave way to a big grin and the withdrawn boy became a bright, cheerful, outgoing person. After the war against the Metarex, the cheerful boy had died, and was reborn again as the miserable one. Now, Tails was starting to be the cheerful boy again.
After a few minutes of flying, they finally were able to get a fix on the Chaos Emeralds location.
"Remind me to readjust the Chaos Emerald Detector," Tails said, "We landed the Blue Typhoon really far from the emerald's location."
They found the emerald in a plain, but Gizoids were not too far away. Sonic got out of the X-Tornado and Tails launched a Power Ring at him. Sonic grabbed the ring and tried to use a Spin Dash to knock out the Gizoids. The Gizoids met Sonic's attack with Tails' Tornado Tails, except using their feet since they didn't have tails, but were powerless against the power of the Power Ring. Sonic took the green gem as his prize and got back into the X-Tornado.
"I'm glad you came along," Sonic said to Tails as they headed back for the Blue Typhoon, "we really needed your help."
"Thanks," Tails said, "Of course, you are the reason I did come back."
"Me?" Sonic said, "What did I do?"
"You said I shouldn't let the past slow me down," Tails said.
'If it wasn't for Sonic's words,' Tails thought to himself, 'I wouldn't have come back. Yet I never thought that I would be able to find happiness again. But, why is it that I feel like what I lost after Cosmo died has returned to me because of Cream? After that trip in the tunnel in Holoska, after I hugged her to keep her warm, and after she said I was neat; why do I feel the same feeling that I had for Cosmo. Why am I… falling in love with Cream?'
During this time, Cream, Amy, and Chris were talking in the Blue Typhoon about the incident in Holoska, still oblivious to Breezy's presence on the bridge. Cream had finished talking about what had happened in the tunnel, about Tails hugging her to keep her warm, about her blushing, about her funny new feeling, and that she felt guilty for some reason.
"Do any of you know what's wrong with me?" Cream said.
Both Amy and Chris looked at Cream, then at each other. Then quickly burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Cream asked, "What is wrong with me?"
"There's nothing wrong with you silly," Amy said as she and Chris settled down, "You are in love."
"I am… in love?" Cream asked, startled by the answer she least expected.
"Yep," Amy responded.
"With Tails?" Cream continued.
"Yep," Amy replied again.
"Th-that can't be," Cream said, "You're wrong!"
"She's not," Chris said, "It's happened. She's been there. I've been there. We know how it feels."
"How can I be in love with Tails?" Cream said, "He's my friend."
"Sometimes love is like that," Chris said, "Contrary to Amy's love at first site incident, Helen and I have been friends for the past six years, well on my world, and we eventually grown to like each other romantically."
Cream couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"No," she said, "I can't be in love. Not with Tails. No."
She started to bury her face into her hands and slowly started to sob.
"I can't love him," Cream said, "He loves Cosmo."
Amy patted Cream on the back.
"There there," she said, "It's nothing to be ashamed about."
"Yes it is," Cream said, "I cannot replace Cosmo. She loves Tails. Tails loves her."
"But she is dead," Amy said, "She gave her life to save the galaxy. She told us it was her purpose. And the last thing she wants is for you and Tails to be miserable for the rest of your lives because of it. Don't think about loving Tails as replacing her."
Cream didn't feel much better.
"Don't be ashamed," Chris said, "You have helped him get better. Before the incident in the tunnel, he was an empty shell of the Tails we all got to know and love. After what happened in the tunnel, he's starting to recover."
Cream couldn't deny it. She heard Tails' laugh and seen his smile during the trip.
"Who knows," Amy added, "Maybe he loves you back. After all, you were the one who helped him to get over Cosmo."
The words struck Cream hard, even though Cream knew she didn't mean it like that.
"No!" Cream yelled at Amy, "You can't just get over the loss of someone you love!"
She caught herself and quickly calmed down.
"You can't," she said, putting her hand to her heart, felling her heart throb as the memories of the two close friends of hers rushed through her head, "I remember Emerl. I remember him as a very dear friend. He has quickly become something like a big brother to me, much like Cheese is a little brother to me. I will always remember him. I will always remember when I fought him and destroyed him. Cosmo was a dear friend to me as well. It might not have hurt me as much as it had for Tails when she died, but I was still hurt. I will remember her much the same way. So will Tails. Time may heal the wounds, but the love you share with those people never leaves. I know that Tails loves Cosmo and that she loves him back. She will always be in his heart and I will not take that place."
Amy and Chris were ultimately stunned.
"Wow," Amy said, "You really and truly love him, don't you?"
"Huh?" Cream remarked.
"You sympathize with him," Amy said, "and you want to respect his wishes. Only a person who truly loves another can do that for that other."
"She's right," Chris said.
Cream was amazed by what she was told.
Suddenly, the Blue Typhoon started to shake. Everyone looked outside to see a humongous snake like robot wrap itself around the ship. Breezy, still in the shadows, ran off.
"Another one of the Donkel?" Chris said.
"I am Volt Viper," the giant snake like robot said in a voice sounding feminine and captivating, "And I will put a shocking end to you."
She opened her mouth and sparks of electricity shot out and hit the Blue Typhoon, short circuiting some of the equipment. She then tightened her grip around the ship, trying to crush it.
Fortunately, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles reached the Blue Typhoon in the X-Tornado to help. Sonic jumped out of the X-Tornado, with a Power Ring, and did a spinning attack on Volt Viper, not doing any damage, but getting her attention.
"You little," Volt Viper exclaimed.
Tails made for the docking bay, landed the X-Tornado, and got out.
"We've got to hurry," Knuckles said.
"Right," Tails said.
He took out a Power Ring and used it to speed him up as he ran to the bridge. Knuckles was shocked.
Tails made it to the bridge in little time.
"Tails," Chris said, "You used the Power Ring?"
"Can't explain," Tails said, "But let's fight that viper."
He prepared the Sonic Power Cannon, but the controls have short circuited and he couldn't produce the cannon.
Thinking quickly, he ran outside to join Sonic and Knuckles, still under the power of the Power Ring.
"Tails," Sonic said, "Can't the Sonic Power Cannon work?"
"No," Tails said, "But I will help you fight."
"What?" Sonic said in shock.
Tails demonstrated by using the Power Ring to do a spin attack on Volt Viper. Sonic was stunned, though not as stunned as Knuckles.
"So," Sonic said, "You can tap into the power of the Power Rings. That's great… for us."
All three fought against Volt Viper, but couldn't do any damage. Then, when Volt Viper opened her mouth for another lightning attack, Tails thought fast and did a spin dash into her mouth. Everyone was shocked by Tails' maneuver. But Tails was alright. He ricocheted inside Volt Viper, destroying her from the inside. Volt Viper collapsed and Tails dashed out her mouth.
"NO!" Volt Viper exclaimed, "I can't believe I have finally found a ship that was too hard to constrict."
She exploded, doing great damage to the ship, but leaving it intact.
Meanwhile, aboard the Egg Carrier, Bokkun and Breezy gave their reports to each other.
"So," Breezy said, "Has Eggman treated you well?"
"I did a good job," Bokkun said, "But he was really picky. He pointed out every little spot that I missed."
Breezy was surprised. She was always praised for her work and never was pointed out any of the little spots she missed.
"How about you?" Bokkun asked, "What did you get?"
"I heard something really juicy," Breezy said, "I heard that the long-eared bunny is falling for the two-tailed fox."
If Bokkun's anger was an explosion, it would have been on par with an atomic bomb.
Meanwhile, back on the Blue Typhoon, the crew set to work repairing the ship after the battle. As they were working, Amy talked to Cream.
"You know," Amy said, "You should tell him sometime about your feelings."
"I don't know," Cream said, "I don't know how to tell Tails or what he will think about it."
"About what?" Tails said as he was entering the room.
"Well," Amy said, with a mischievous smile that told Cream that she was planning to tell Tails, "We were just talking about-"
"How we will tackle the next mission," Cream said, interrupting.
Tails looked at Cream, knowing that she wouldn't interrupt any sentence. She tries to keep her manners. Tails knew that Amy was trying to tell Tails something embarrassing about Cream, but he ignored the signs.
"Okay," Tails said, "How do you plan on doing it?"
"Well," Amy said, playing along, "We were wondering if you and Cream would search for the next Chaos Emerald."
"And Amy will help us," Cream added.
"Sure," Amy said, giving a wink, "I would love to help you."
"Then it's settled," Tails said, walking off after he finished.
Amy and Cream went to the cargo bay to get more parts. Cream, nervous about the next mission, wanted to talk to Amy.
"Amy," Cream said, "Why did you suggest that Tails and I go on a mission together?"
"Call it a date," Amy said, "It's what a boy and a girl do when they are in love."
"I still don't want to take Cosmo's place," Cream said.
"You aren't," Amy said.
Cream didn't know what to say or do. Amy picked up some of her parts from the cargo bay and, before walking out, asked Cream a question.
"What does your heart tell you to do?" Amy asked.
"I don't know," Cream said, "I'm confused. But I know that it is asking me to keep Tails happy."
Amy then walked out of the cargo bay.
Cream stayed in the cargo bay, scavenging for more parts, with only Cheese for company, when she stumbled upon a pink case. Curiously, she opened the case and found a white lily hair clip. It was the clip Tails gave to Cosmo.
"Cosmo," Cream said sadly.
Author's Comment: Yeah, I know Tails' flashback is not as depressing in Sonic X.