Teardrops and Bloodstains – Chapter 13 - Home

Ohhh… Unlucky number 13! I hope it's lucky for me! My writing HAS DEFINATLY changed cos I seem to have grown up a lot in a few months! Oh… "Burn"… I know what you mean… but read the second thing Shadow says at the beginning of chapter 12… It might answer your question! If not, mail me. Tal, your English is probably better than mine ^_^u. And I'm English (well, Welsh actually). And all the support I've had from the other reviews… WOW! Thanks guys! At the moment, I have 35 reviews, 16 favourites and 11 alerts! Yayness! ^_^. ARRGH! I'm so sorry! I started writing this in February, but wrote everything after the first paragraph in July… and now it's March 3 years later! *whacks head on desk*

Eggman is changing to Robotnik… sorry guys, but it's hard to type Eggman when all I can see in my mind is ROBOTNIK… *Shifty eyes* Like that made any sense…! Oh, and I'm giving them clothes… it's getting too hard with them all standing in the nudders! XP

Blood Wren: No one belongs to me… blah blah blah, you should know the drill by now… I can't be bothered… meh…

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I start to stir, a cramp in my neck. I wake to find myself still resting on Shadow's shoulder. He's dozing peacefully, head leaning gently on mine. I try to slip out of his arms without waking him. He murmurs quietly in his sleep, but I manage to get off the sofa. I walk slowly towards the kitchen, and get myself a glass of orange juice. Glancing up at the clock, and discover that it's only 7:28. Sonic's alarm will be going off in about 2 minutes. I sigh to myself, it's so loud, I'm surprised the whole street doesn't hear it. I settle myself into one of the giant bean-bags scattered around the dining room, and sip my drink. Sure enough, a loud beeping erupts from upstairs. Sonic is the first down, closely followed by Knuckles. Flare and Super follow, bickering. Flare spots me, and zooms over, knocking Super through the air and into Sonic's head.

"Hiya Flare…"

"CHAO!"

"Tails? What are you doing up so early?"

I shrug and drain the last of my drink and go to put it by the sink, but fall into the wall, the dizziness from standing up too quickly catching up. Both Knuckles and Sonic start to rush to my aid.

"Guys… I'm fine… jeez… I just got up too quickly… ok?"

Head still spinning, I steady myself and squeeze between the hedgehog and the echidna, and walk slowly back to the living room. Shadow is sat there, still fast asleep. I smile, sigh and look out the window. The sun is out and people are coming out of their houses to go to work or school. I laugh slightly to myself; everyone else seems to have perfectly normal lives… except me, but then again, I'm not normal am I? I sigh again and lower my ears, feeling the chaos energy gently stirring inside of me.

'Why would you want to be normal?'

Huh? It's that voice from before…

'You're different, but it isn't a bad thing.'

What do you mean?

'Your friends all love you for who you are, and that won't ever change.'

I suppose…but, who are you?!

'I'm you.'

Me?

'I'm the child you had to leave behind, your memories from when you were younger. I'm you before the accident happened.'

A-Accident?

'At the village.'

It wasn't an accident! They came and torched the place!! They murdered everyone! My friends, my family!

'You were forced to grow up too fast, leaving your emotions locked up and pushed aside. Have you ever wondered why you break down?'

Break… down?

'Remember when you saved Shadow? When Robotnik stole his emerald?'

Yeah…

'You collapsed and had that pain in your stomach…'

Yeah, but that was because of the chaos energy wasn't it?

'Not exactly, it made you worse, but it wasn't the cause. Because you locked away everything that had happened, it bursts out in powerful waves, almost wiping you out completely. And while your mind was occupied with that, the chaos energy weakened you further.'

But, how do you know all this?

'Emotions get in the way of facts and the truth sometimes. I have no emotion; I am merely a remnant of your younger self. But I have to leave now. Shadow is stirring; maybe you should try to talk to him about this…'

Wait!!

The voice doesn't answer. But things are finally making sense. The pain was caused by the chaos energy, but it was only able to do so while I was weak with my emotions. I suddenly feel lighter, fragmented bits of information bonding and clearing up. I feel something brush past my tails, followed by a pair of hands around my waist. It startles me and I jump slightly.

"Hey! Easy Tails…"

I lower my ears and lean back into the arms of the ebony hedgehog.

"Sorry…"

"How long have you been up for?"

"'Bout ten minutes"

"Not like you to be up this early!"

"Hey!!"

He chuckles.

"Just kidding."

He nuzzles me just below my ear, making my twitch and fidget.

"Shadoooow…"

"What?"

I turn around in his arms and stare straight at him, trying to look serious. He cracks a smile and starts to chuckle again.

"It's not funny!"

I pout and he raises his eyebrow. I instantly lose my 'serious' face and start to giggle. I nuzzle him just under his chin.

"Come on, I'm hungry."

He kisses me on the forehead and turns to leave the room.

"Shadow…"

"Hmm?"

I pause. I never keep things from Shadow but… everything is finally becoming normal, I don't want to spoil the happy mood everyone is in…

"Nothing… sorry."

I smile and push my bangs out of my eyes. He seems convinced and carries on walking. I sigh to myself and follow him into the middle room where Twin and Dark are sat on one of the beanbags, blathering on about something, while Sonic and Knuckles are having another staring contest, with their Chaos imitating their behaviour. Cheese seems to be some kind of referee…

"We're gonna win! Right Flare?"

"Chao chao!"

"We can't let those red looosers win now, can we Super?"

"Chaaoooo!"

Cream is slumped on a beanbag, reading one of her now vast collection of teen magazines. Glad I never went through the stroppy teenager phase, I grab myself a slice of toast that Amy made whilst half asleep. She's leaning on the counter, still in her dressing gown, with large cup of coffee in her hand.

"You ok Amy?"

She continues to stare at the doorframe.

"Amy?"

"Wha? Oh, sorry Tails… I drifted off a bit then."

"It's ok… late night?"

"Not really… well… Sonic was snoring again…"

I chuckle.

"Ah… it's like trying to sleep next to a working drill!"

Amy gives a slight chuckle, then continues staring into space. Not-so-fond memories of having to share the same room as Sonic when I was younger come to the front of my mind. I shake them off and take a few mouthfuls of toast.

"WHAT?! I SOOO DID NOT BLINK!!!"

I roll my eyes and shake my head again… apparently Knuckles won. Shadow wanders in and opens the fridge, empty apart from a tiny piece of old cheese.

"Err… whose turn was it to go shopping?"

"Sonic's!"

"Knuckles'!"

Shadow rubs his forehead.

"Aughhh! I'll go then…"

He glances at the clock. It's 7:50.

"… In about an hour."

Amy smirks and stands up straight.

"I'm gonna go get dressed, make sure Sonic doesn't hurt himself, ok?"

She puts the rest of her coffee down the sink and walks off. I look up at Shadow, who's flitting through the cupboards, trying to find something to eat.

"D'ya mind if I come? Only, I've got to get more magazines for Cream."

"Now, why would I mind?" He gives me one of his wolfish grins. "Has that kettle finished yet?!"

"Well, it won't go any faster if you keep nagging it!"

He walks behind me, wraps his arms around my waist and proceeds to stare at it from the other side of my shoulder.

"S'it going any faster now? … How about now?"

"Oh shush!"

Dark flies in with a piece of toast that's too big for him to carry and flies straight into the side of Shadow's head. The buttery slice of bread slips down his face, leaving a slimy trail in its wake. Twin flies over and helps Dark pick it off of the floor. Dark looks all apologetic and flinches when Shadow opens his mouth.

"Yeah… I, err, I think I'm gonna wash my face now."

I laugh, turn around in his arms, and gently lick some of the butter off from around his mouth. He stands there, looking stunned. I giggle and reach for the coffee.

"Well don't just stand there! I though you were going to wash your face!"

He blinks at me.

"What just… never mind."

He lets go and shuffles toward the bathroom and I smirk to myself. My confidence when I'm around him seems to have grown quite a bit, as has his around me. The kettle finishes boiling and I pour it into my cup. I idly stir it while looking at a coffee granule that missed the cup. My mood drops as I brush the fur from my eyes and sigh; it's just another Monday morning… great.

I mean, who the hell invented Mondays? Why? What possessed them?! Why am I even asking this? What is the meaning of life and therefore Mondays? I stop, surprised at my sudden maddened mental ramble. I start to doubt whether they sewed my head together properly or not. Cream walks in, her now mid-length head-fur tied up in a small paintbrush ponytail. She swills out her glass and leaves it to soak.

"Something up Tails?"

"Huh? Oh… no, just asking myself pointless existential questions as usual."

I scratch the deep scar on the back of my head.

"I told you not to touch it!"

Knuckles wanders in and moves my arm back to my coffee.

"Aww… but it's so… grr!"

"I know… but if you want it to heal…"

"…"

"Oh… and it was Sonic's turn to go shopping…"

"Hmm… thought so. Oh well, me and Shadow are going now, he'll just have to do it twice in a row!"

He pours himself another coffee and leans back onto the small amount of wall space. Cream leaves, one of her magazines under her arm, and goes off into her room. Knuckles take a few sips and smiles.

"Shadow seems to have lightened up quite a bit since you two got together."

"You reckon? Yeah, I suppose he has. I haven't seen him in one of this 'black' moods for a while now."

"And you've grown up, young one."

He leaves his spot, walks over to me and pokes my nose.

"I told you to stop calling me that! Anyway, I'm 17 now… I'm nearly an adult!"

"Nearly Tails… nearly."

"Yeah well, I act damned sight older than Sonic!"

"That's not hard but… I see your point though. You act older and more responsibly than any of us."

He winks and leaves. I stand there mulling his words over. I do though; I do act more mature than just about everyone here does. Shadow and Knuckles coming in second, despite Knuckles' childishness while around Sonic. He can relax into an almost intellectual state while he's around me, and it really brings out his Guardian upbringing. I stretch and yawn, a few muscles twitching.

"S'it done now?"

He seems to have appeared over my shoulder again.

"Yes, Shadow, it's done. Here's your coffee."

I hand him the black mug. He whispers a small "Thanks" into my ear and nuzzles it.

"You're too happy in the mornings!"

"And?"

"And, I'm not a morning person!"

"You should be! Anyway… when does the shop open?"

"'Bout 8:30."

He glances at the clock.

"We'll start wandering up at about 8… ok?"

I nod and flick my bangs out of my face, only for them to fall into a more annoying position. My head-fur has grown, like Cream's, only not as much, which I decided to keep due to the wonderful fact that it covers up the gaping hole in my head. It has another annoying habit of covering my left eye.

"Grr… I'm gonna cut it all off in a minute!"

"Don't… I quite like it like that!"

"You do?"

"Err… y-yeah, I mean…"

I start to giggle at the now shy and bright red hedgehog. Sonic walks in with a taunting face.

"Aww… is 'ikkle Shadow all embawisshed?

Shadow coughs and turns away from his blue look-a-like.

"N-No… w-w-why would I be embarrassed anyway?"

"Sonic… just leave him ok? He looks so cute when he's flustered!"

"Ah-bah… I-I-I mean… err…"

"Anyway, I'm gonna go get changed, ok?"

"Y-yeah. Ok."

I leave, taking one more quick glance at the red-faced 'Ultimate Lifeform' and his taunting 'Look-a-like'. In my room, I cross to the dresser. Yellow top, faded jeans, black jacket.

"That'll do." I mutter to myself. Throwing my jacket over my shoulder.

'Knock knock' "Tails? You nearly dressed?"

"Yeah Shads, I'm done now. Go and wait downstairs, ok?"

"'Kay."

I walk over to my bed and sit. Everything's gone weird now… not a bad weird, but just… unusual. Sonic and Knuckles are acting like they're 15 more often, Shadow just… isn't gloomy, Cream's turning into a teenager and Amy's acting all… mumsy. Everyone's growing up or changing, but I can't help thinking it's all just a big act for my benefit. The door knocks again, opens and Twin flies in.

"Chaoooo!"

"Hey, Twin. What's up?"

"Ooooo."

She points down stairs and starts flapping her arms impatiently, eventually putting them on her little Chao hips and pouting.

"Ok… I'm coming down now… jeez."

As I leave my room, a picture of us all after we found out that Shadow had survived and we'd brought him to stay with us until he could get his own place catches my eye. I smile at the 10-year-old me, welding goggles on top of my head with a huge grin on my face. Sonic and Knuckles giving each other bunny ears, Cream, Cheese and Amy posing for the camera and Shadow… with 3 Chao sat on his head. I chuckle to myself… that was before they grew up into Twin, Dark and Super. My mood soars, and I start feeling 10 again. I almost run down the stairs, spin around the banister at the bottom and grab my scarf. Shadow raises an eyebrow at me from the doorway as I speed past him. I turn back to him, raising an eyebrow of my own.

"What'cha waiting for? We going or what?!"

He smirks at me and grabs my hand, leading me out of the door and gently pulling me along as he starts to run. We start to speed up, the cold late-winter air rushing through my fur. He pulls me closer as we run, and scoops me up in his arms, racing off at a higher speed. We start to laugh, for no reason whatsoever.

"I hadn't been this happy for a while. There was no explaining it, I still can't to this day, but our moods just seemed to spark off each other's. We were grinning when we got to the shop, we were grinning while we were shopping, and we were grinning while we walked home. Things were good that day…"

I sip my energy drink, my eyes fixed to the screen. They've let me play around with the mainframe; regardless of Sonic's complaints… well, it had been a week. Binary everywhere, sheets of paper that I've scribbled on are everywhere. I pull my glasses from underneath a pile of paper, put them on, look at the cover of the manual, laugh, and then throw it in the bin beside me. What I wanted to do with this excellent piece of machinery would never be in a manual. My fingers start to fly across the keyboard, typing in coding and scripts of every sort, bending the system to my specifications. My ears prick up as Shadow walks in the room.

"Tails… I think you should take a break. You've been working on this for about 5 hours now, come and sit in the dining room and I'll cook you something."

I glance at the clock. He's right, it's 2am, Sonic and the others are all asleep, and it's only me and Shadow downstairs. I look up at him and smile.

"Yeah… I suppose I could do with something to eat… and a chair." I mutter, looking at the small space on the floor where I'm sat, surrounded by clutter. Shadow chuckles.

"Come on then."

He helps me up, slipping his arm around my waist as we walk through the hallway. My tails twitch, I'm not used to this kind of affection, but I defiantly like it. He sits me down, and wanders into the kitchen.

"You fancy anything in particular?"

"Not really… I just need food…" I mutter, my stomach rumbling in agreement.

"Ok then…" He chuckles. "Pasta it is then!"

I turn around and smile at him, watching him moving across the kitchen, getting various ingredients out of the cupboards. He glances at me, and smiles widely. We've both noticed that we were becoming a 'proper couple' at last. We hadn't had time to relax, no time for a routine or 'normal' 'couple-y' stuff. Sonic and Amy were fine; they'd been together for a while before my hand… I look down at it, flexing my artificial fingers, their movement all too robotic and almost unreal. I shake my head and flick my hair back, forcing the thoughts to the back of my head, distracted by the sudden smell of pasta wafting in through the door, making my stomach rumble again. I groan at it, lean back on the chair and start to stare at the white and uninteresting ceiling.

Before long, I'm tucking into some (delicious) pasta and pesto, constantly aware of Shadow's eyes on me. I start to blush, trying to concentrate on eating… without dropping anything, which is proving difficult.

"You shouldn't have to be nervous around me, you know that, right?"

I look up at him. He's smiling slightly and gazing lazily at me.

"I-I'm not nervous. It's just a little weird with you staring at me like that when I'm trying to eat."

"Oh… sorry, but it's not very often that I can look at you without bandages or blood covering…"

He trails off, looking down at the table, idly tracing a watermark.

"Shadow…"

I reach my hand out across the table. He looks up, smiles a little and takes it in his own.

"I'm not intending to get hurt again anytime soon… so you can see me like this as much as you want… ok?"

He nods, squeezing my hand slightly.

"Now, let me keep eating so I can get back to work."

He pouts, but let's go.

"You really should go to bed soon, though. Staying up like this after everything- "

"Don't finish that, Shadow. You're starting to sound like Sonic…"

"It's true though! You might get annoyed with Sonic's constant worrying, but we only say it because we care!"

I flinch. He's on his feet, leaning over the table, looking annoyed and slightly upset.

"I-I… Shadow, I didn't mean it like that…I know that you and Sonic… care about me. It's just… I'm sick of feeling so dependent on everyone. It makes me feel so pathetic… so weak…"

I feel a tear trickle down my cheek, and dash it away quickly. He stands there, his jaw slightly open. Lowering his ears, he sits down, staring gloomily at the table.

"I… didn't know you…"

His ruby eyes look up at mine, ridden with guilt. I smile slightly.

"It's ok. Just, take it into consideration next time."

I finish of the last piece of pasta, pick up my plate and wander slowly into the kitchen, suddenly feeling drowsy. Yawning, I put the plate on the side, and start to head back to the computer.

"Oi you… bed!"

"Yeah, yeah… in a minute. Lemme just sort one more thing out."

I clear some of the clutter and start stacking up paper and just generally tidying. While reaching for a pen underneath the monitor, I strangely start to find the floor comfortable, and close my eyes just for one… second…

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SHADOW

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As Tails walks past me, I sigh and stand up, I honestly didn't know she was feeling so… I mean, I couldn't stand it for one minute, but it's been years for her, putting up with being babied, always being looked after. I walk into the living room, and I'm greeted by heavy breathing, and a small grunt from the sleeping fox. I can't help but let out a little chuckle, before scooping her up in my arms and carrying her to her room. I nudge the handle down with my elbow, trying not to wake her, and place her on the bed. She stirs a little, shifting herself into the covers. I lightly kiss her forehead, smile and start to head out.

"Shadow… don't go."

"Huh?"

I turn around, she's sat up with her hand outstretched to me.

"I know you hate sleeping on the sofa…"

"But what is Sonic gets the wrong idea? What if-"

"I don't care. Let him think what he wants, Shadow… please?"

I groan, giving in. She pulls me in gently, shifting the covers so they're over the two of us. I milled it over in my head for a second. The two of us, I liked that. I'd never really sat and though about it. Tails slowly wraps her arms around me, a little cautious at first, and then buries her muzzle into my chest. I pause, a little stunned for a second, then wrap my own arms protectively around her, pulling her closer to me. A small growl rumbles in her chest, and she seems to readjust herself slightly. I look down, worried that I'd done something wrong, only to notice that she wasn't growling... she was purring. My blood suddenly rushes to my muzzle, her contented sound taking me aback.

"Y-you ok?" I mumbled, quietly in case she was asleep.

"Mmh-hmm... you smell nice." She muttered back, inhaling my scent deeply, her voice husky with sleep.

"I do?"

"Of course! You smell like Shadow... my Shadow..." She trailed off, probably into sleep.

I breathe in slowly, catching her scent as I do. She's right, the smell of familiarly, of family... relaxes me no end. I start to slip into sleep quickly... comfortable for the first time in what feels like forever.

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Again, so dreadfully sorry that it's taken this long to finish, and it's a slow chapter as well. But things should pick up again soon. It's been a busy and strange few years in my absence, I won, and lost, the first love of my life, I've lost 2 family members, I've been diagnosed with a few things, nothing serious but I've had to make changes to my lifestyle, my diet and stress levels, and I've been trying to keep myself busy with college and work. I started writing this when I'd just turned 15, and I'll be 18 this June. I'll try harder, as finishing this chapter seems to have given me the push that I need to continue.

I suppose I have to thank Stephenie Meyer, the author of the popular "Twilight" series. Without those books, I'd still be stuck in my slump, unable to write, draw or anything. I never thought words could help me, only time. So between my friends, family and books, I'm finally getting back on my feet.

Thank you for reading, I'll start on the next chapter as soon as I can. And thanks if any of you have come back to read this, if no one read it, I couldn't write anymore.

Incidentally, I may be starting my own novel soon, as I think writing may be a good pastime for me right now. :D

Blood Wren