I heard the bustling of Sonic shortly after I woke up. He came down stairs from Amy's room, and looked at me.
"Hey, Tails, why don't you come with me and Amy for a morning jog?" Sonic offered, tilting his head with a grin.
"Okay, but I think I'll only slow you down." I said with a shrug.
"Naw, I'll go slower. Besides, you'll keep Amy company while I'm ahead." Sonic laughed.
I got my shoes on and took a drink of water. Then I checked on Cosmo's plant, and gave it some water as well. I smiled, and admired it's delicate figure. I didn't know what would bloom from this plant, but I was sure it would be beautiful. I then went outside to see Sonic waiting for us. Amy was already outside, she wore a red and pink running outfit with her usual boots. Sonic as always had his signature shoes on.
"Are you ready yet?" Sonic asked us both, growing impatient.
"Just let me stretch quick!" Amy snapped, flexing her calfs. I decided to do likewise, a pulled muscle was never a pleasant experience.
After about a minute or two, we began to head down the road, a light, brisk jog. Well, to Sonic, jogging meant a full out sprint of any average living animal, so me and Amy still had trouble keeping up. However, I noticed Amy was alot better at keeping pace than in the past. Those years of constantly chasing Sonic finally paid off.
"Think you can outrun me Tails?" Amy challenged. I grinned and nodded.
"You asked for it!" I replied, and we began to sprint. It didn't surprise me that Amy was ahead, and I also noticed Sonic increase his speed. Amy laughed happily, I knew she only meant to be fun, but I felt irritated a little at being behind so far back. Usually I only ran until I reached a speed that I would use my tails to propel me a little of the ground, kind of like a hovering sprint, if that's a way of putting it. Today though, I felt an urge to use only my legs.
"Come on Tails, is that the best you got?" Amy called to me, "Can't you go any faster?"
"Just watch me!" I went faster yet, and began to pass Amy. Even more surprising, I was gaining on Sonic...a feat in itself for me.
"Not bad Tails, but I'm not going to lose in running!" Sonic smirked, then he picked up speed. I could see ebbs of wind flying around him, and a slight blue streak trail behind him.
I was beginning to breath heavily, but I refused to give up, and continued to use my legs. Seeing Sonic only a few seconds behind me was scaring me. Was it possible for me to go this fast?
I then heard the labored breathing of Amy, who still managed to also remain close, "How are you doing that Tails?"
Sonic was now at a moderately close speed of his usual running pace, but I knew he could have easily lapped us ten times over. His legs were now becoming a rotating blur of blue and red, while that familiar streak became more evident. Okay, me keeping up with him was impossible now, but I had to admire Sonic's reason for doing this; to push me to my limits.
Sonic must have thought he had an easy lead on me, but when he turned around to see me not as far behind as expected, he gave me a shocked look, "No way!" he commented. I also went faster, my feet feeling like they were sprinting over the air, but I could see them remaining on the ground. They were getting sore, and I groaned in pain.
"That's it Tails, keep going!" Sonic cheered. Obviously he was happy to see me going this fast. I felt like collapsing, but told myself to keep moving; what wouldn't kill me would only make me stronger.
Then I tripped.
I skidded for about thirty feet, bounced a few, then rolled to a stop. A cloud of dust surrounded me, and I could see blood and open cuts all over me.
"Tails! Oh my gosh, are you okay?" I heard Amy call over to me, running to where I was. Sonic screeched to a stop, then ran back to where I lay.
"Here, let me help you up bud," Sonic said, giving me a hand, " Wow, you sure took a beating there."
My knees hurt, but I could still walk. I felt like Amy had hit me with her PikoPiko Hammer with full force, "That hurt..." I groaned. I could see blood on my fur, and I began to feel dizzy.
"Tails...we should get you back to the house, you don't look too good. We'll get you cleaned up when we get there." Amy said in a worried tone, like a mother to her son who scraped his knees while biking.
"I...I...I'm fine...really..." I said with a woozy feeling. I must have been going pretty fast to feel this bad. Then again, the bumpy road didn't help any.
"No way, we're getting you back home." Sonic said, then hoisted me on his shoulders. I felt myself slip off into a dazed sleep as the landscape passed by.
-
I quickly ran, holding Tails over my shoulders and having Amy hold my hand as we ran. I tried to not go too fast so Amy could keep up with me.
In the past month or so, I'd given up on trying to avoid Amy. I think it finally struck me how lucky of a guy I was to have a girl love me for who I was and not because of the mild fame I had unknowingly attained for fighting evil. The fact that she cared for me, regardless of the obstacles she had to overcome was also enough to convince me that she was right for me.
"Sonic, I think Tails is sleeping. He looks okay." Amy said, probably trying ot reassure herself more than me.
Amy let me move in with her, and I immediately came to refer to it as my home. My room was right across from hers. Amy thought taking things slow would work best for us, and I for once agreed about taking anything slow. The main thing that worried me when I first started to have a relationship with her was what reactions I would recieve, mainly from Tails. He looked up to me like I was his older brother, but with me having Amy in my life now, I was worried he would feel lonely than he was before, living alone in the Mystic Ruins in his workshop. The Metarex ordeal also probably contributed to any loneliness he may have.
So far though, everyone, even Shadow to an extent, was happy for Amy and me. This was good, I continued to live with her, and I don't recall ever being so happy. I hoped to share a future with her someday as a family, but never would openly admit this...not yet anyway. My image that I kept couldn't allow me to go that far openly. Curse my stubborness...
We arrived at Amy's place minutes later, and headed inside. Tails was banged up pretty bad, so we started to fix him up immediately. Amy washed off the blood and dirt on him while I went and got him a blanket.
Another change was Amy, she didn't cling to me anymore like a crazy school girl, but loved being with me as much as ever before. This was probably because she knew I wouldn't leave her. I was glad that things were joyful instead of chaotic for once.
When we were done treating Tails, I sat down and thought. Amy noticed this and sat down next to me, putting her head on my shoulder.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked quietly to avoid waking Tails.
"About Tails. You noticed how much he's changed, havent' you?" I asked her, knowing she was already aware of Tails and his change of character.
"Yeah, I do. Can you blame him though?" she asked.
I shook my head, she was right. He endured more pain than anyone should at his age. He fought a war in space, commanded a gigantic starship even under the worse situations, and was forced to kill the girl he loved. It had shattered him, and made him age at least ten years. He lost that bounce in his step, and that glimmer in his eyes that he always had before.
"Poor guy...I wish Shadow and I could've brought more than a seed back with the power of the Chaos emeralds...I swore I felt her presence in space after the battle ended." I sighed looking at my long time friend. He was strong in a different way, he had guts and courage when needed. I had speed and luck, less than what Tails had.
What probably scared me about Tails was how he had tried to cope with the loss of Cosmo, and indeed we almost lost Tails a short time ago. I was going to see how Tails was that morning when I noticed his door was unlocked. I went through his house and eventually stumbled on a paper that even a complete idiot could understand was a suicide note. I stopped him from diving off a cliff, and told him how do such a thing would have been the worst possible insult to Cosmo's memory, and to his friends. We were all worried about him, but I never imagined he would try such a thing. He had felt ashamed, knowing that had I not arrived, he would have done it.
"Sonic, did you ever tell him that I know about the cliff incident with you and him a few days ago?" Amy asked with a concerned look.
"No, If I did, Tails would only feel worse." I replied. Though I said to Tails that I would tell no one about it, it was wrong not to. I told Amy that very day after spending a long time with Tails, until I knew he was feeling better. She nearly burst to tears when she heard it.
Amy stroked my quills, and sighed with both contentment and worry. I was glad to have her, she made me feel at peace when things got bad.
"I still can't believe Tails picked up so much speed, thought he was going to catch you for a moment." Amy spoke, wrapping her arms around me.
"Yeah, I think he almost had an orange streak traling behind him. I never imagined he'd reach such a speed, then again, he's been full of surprises since I met him.
Tails began to stir. Amy got up, and seemed as though by feminine instinct or whatever, to begin petting his bangs and fur on his head. He smiled before opening his eyes. When he saw Amy holding his head on her lap, he turned red, then asked, "Amy? What happened?"
He tried to get up, but Amy held him down like a nurse with a patient,"Shhh...you were running about as fast as Sonic when we were jogging when you tripped." Amy responded in a motherly tone. I almost laughed, it was kind of funny seeing her nuturing Tails.
"Oh yeaaah...huh, looks like I hit my head harder than I thought..." Tails mumbled. Amy and I laughed.
"You need to rest. I'll get lunch ready." Amy spoke, and ended it leaving no room for any objections.
Tails lay on the couch, then his eyes grew wide, as though he just remembered something important.
"The emerald, oh no...Sonic did you see the whi-"
"Relax, it's upstairs in my room. Shadow told me last night that he would be stopping by. He seems to have some respect for you Tails, so make sure you don't mess up. Heh heh." I joked, and then ran upstairs and returned with the Chaos emerald. He held it and he immediately calmed down, feeling it's energy.
"I wonder why Shadow chose the white Chaos emerald to give me...I always thought of myself as a yellow or light blue." Tails pondered.
I shrugged,"Shadow can sense things we can't, he sees that you somehow relate best to that one. He says it's due to alot of factors we wouldn't understand. He prefers the green one for example, and I seem to coincidentally relate best to the dark blue one. It's weird, I know, but he knows what he's doing." I explained, seeing Tails' confused look.
No sooner did I finish speaking when a green flash immersed the room. I turned and saw a black and red hedgehog standing before us.
"Shadow, hey how's it going?" I asked.
Shadow shrugged with a curt grunt. He was better with me now, but we still spoke little to each other. Better than a fist fight at least. At the moment though, Shadow seemed more concerned about Tails. He looked at Tails, then smirked a little.
"What happened to you?" Shadow asked with a mildly amused tone.
"I tried to keep up with Sonic, that's what. Fastest I've ever gone, but...I tripped." Tails answered sheepishly. I saw Shadow laugh quietly. Then he turned to me.
"Thanks Sonic, he needed the exercise." Shadow said in a polite tone, with a quick nod.
"No problem. If you ever need me to help with that stuff, feel free to ask me." I said with a thumbs up.
Suddenly I heard a sound of shattering glass, followed by a series of curses from Amy in the kitchen. I also heard water boiling.
"Umm...I think I'll go help Amy with making lunch..." I said and ran to the kitchen. I heard Tails call "good luck" as I left them.
-
I turned to Tails again, who was staring into the Chaos emerald. He looked like something was bothering him.
"What's the matter?" I asked him.
Tails looked up and sighed,"I'm just trying to figure out how I ran so fast."
"Well, it seems you've gotten faster from your own natural strength. If you're thinking it was the Chaos emerald though, you're wrong. My guess is that you just never tried that hard to run that fast." I said, reassuringly to him.
"Really?" he asked, a surprised look on his face.
"Believe me, I don't lie." I answered, nodding.
Then Tails threw me for a total loop and asked me the most random question, " Shadow...do you believe in the afterlife?"
"What?" I asked, caught off guard by his sudden inquiry.
"The afterlife...do you think it exists?" Tails asked me.
This was a delicate subject with me, mainly because with my past, and the fact that I never aged in all those years, I sometimes found myself wondering what was in store for me, should I ever die. Pondering on this subject only happened now and again though.
"Maybe, we really can't say though. I truthfully don't think a whole lot about such things Tails." I replied.
Tails was now rotating the white emerald between his hands. I could tell he wanted to say more.
"Tails, what is it?" I asked him. He looked up, trying to prepare himself to talk.
end of Chapter 4...yeah this was a longer one. Hope you enjoyed it. Chap 5 is in progress, may be some time from now, but don't worry, I'll update ASAP.