Yes, well... This particular chapter doesn't focus all that much on Tails and Cosmo's relationships, but instead brings a few other characters to light, although it doesn't jump straight to them head-on from the start. Was that a good decision? Heck if I know. Also, this chapter might feel a bit filler-y.

Normally Tails didn't really like winter mornings. They were always incredibly cold, there was the usual matter of firewood problems – Tails was lucky he had enough for the winter, but still – and after the holidays were over, the remaining months of winter had no charm to them whatsoever.
This particular morning was different, however. Partly because Cosmo was with Tails, partly because he had some plans for the day off he decided to give himself – the latest contracts gave him more than enough money for at least a week, so he figured he might as well get some rest from messing with broken mechanisms. But back to the morning at hand…
When Tails woke up, he smiled when he noticed that his seedrian girlfriend was sleeping next to him. Yes, her presence always made him feel a lot more…Seems like "safe" was the word that the mobian was looking for. And it was quite right – when Tails was with Cosmo, he felt like all the troubles of his past are so far behind that they're almost invisible to the naked eye. But right now the guy had a plan for today to deal with. Of course, first was to get up from the bed, take care of the usual morning routine, and check to see if the weather was at least decent enough to use the Cosmic Tornado instead of going by the Mystic Ruins train.
But the way Cosmo was lying next to the kitsune…The smell coming from the rosebuds adorning the sides of her head… Tails shook his head, trying to get himself out of his daze. No, that was not the time to "stay for a few more minutes". The mobian gotten up from the bed, accidentally prompting the plantgirl to wake up.
"Well, I tried." – The kitsune mused to himself as Cosmo got up and stretched her hands.
"Good morning, Tails. You know, I think I might be sleeping next to you for every night until the weather gets warm enough – you are just so incredibly comfortable." – The seedrian stood up from the bed and continued: "So, what will it be for breakfast? Pancakes as usual?"
"I guess just scrambled eggs and bacon will do. Of course, if you want something else, then I'll gladly have that instead." – Tails replied as he and Cosmo went to exit the bedroom.
"Eh, I myself am getting sick of pancakes every other day. Might as well opt for the scrambled eggs as well." – With that said, the plantgirl went to go downstairs while Tails, in turn, went over to the bathroom and into the shower.
While Tails was busy showering, Cosmo was taking care of all the breakfast matters.
"Yeah, good thing he didn't choose pancakes – we're all out of necessary ingredients anyway. Sure, I could opt to just buy some pancake mix and use that in the future, but he did say a few times that pancakes made out of a store-bought mix just don't feel the same… So yeah, definitely not an option…" – A few moments afterwards, Cosmo's thoughts trailed a bit off somewhere else: "I wonder what plans Tails had for today? We've already been to the Mystic Forest yesterday, so I guess we're going out into the city today. Well, that's pretty obvious – we do have quite a lot of things to get. Oh well. I'm pretty sure we're not likely to bump into anyone during our time in the city."
So, after Cosmo and Tails took care of their morning routine and were busy with their breakfast, Cosmo asked: "I guess it's a no-brainer that we're going into the city today, right, Tails?"
Of course, Cosmo's timing of that question wasn't exactly the best – she asked it just as Tails was taking another bite of the scrambled eggs, so for a response, the kitsune gave out an open-mouthed "Uh-huh" and continued on with his breakfast.
"So…Other than shopping for groceries and some other necessities, did you have any other plans or-" – Cosmo didn't get to finish her question because Tails took her fork with a piece of bacon on it and just quietly stuck it into Cosmo's mouth, and replied: "Cosmo, I'll tell you everything on the way, alright?"
The plantgirl quietly swallowed and replied: "Okay. Sorry for being so impatient."
And after they both were done with breakfast and the remainder of their morning routine – Cosmo taking a shower and Tails checking if his plane's ready for flight, as he and Cosmo had decided on taking the plane to Station Square instead of going by train. The two had already gotten dressed by now – Tails was wearing a brown coat and blue pants, as well as a grey scarf over his neck, while Cosmo wore a green winter jacket over her usual clothes and had a red scarf as well – and were getting ready for flight.
"I'm curious about one thing, though." – Cosmo asked as she climbed into the passenger seat and Tails opened the hangar door with the press of a remote control button.
"What is it?" – Tails asked as he started up the plane's engines.
"Is there any proper landing spot in the city?" – Cosmo shouted out. Then the seedrian realized that her question probably sounded a bit stupid and added: "I mean, sure, you probably flied there more than once and you know all the right landing spots, but still…"
"Well, most of the landing areas are too far away from the shops we're going to, so we're gonna have to walk for a while. Anyway, get ready for takeoff!"
And in the next few moments, Tails flew the plane out of the hangar, and then, after getting high up enough, went for a U-turn, scaring Cosmo so much that she yelped.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you! You alright?" – Tails asked as he straightened the plane's course out, no longer flying upside-down.
"Don't worry about me! I'm…I'm fine! "– The plantgirl replied, still looking a little scared. – "Just…Not too used to flights, that's all!"
"I'd better slow down for now, I guess." – Tails remarked as he slowed down a bit. The remainder of the flight went by more quietly – Cosmo was looking all around and admiring the breathtaking views, while Tails kept control of the plane.
"You know, I'm still not used to seeing so much white all around." – The seedrian remarked after a few minutes of flight. – "And I'm especially not used to seeing any planets that would consider this kind of atmospheric temperature normal! Not that I'm complaining."
"Hey, we're almost to Station Square! Get ready for the landing!" – And sure enough, the familiar skyscrapers of Station Square were already visible not too far away from where the plane was.
"I'm not sure there may be a good landing spot here, though. I mean, is it even possible to properly steer a plane between all these buildings?" – Cosmo asked as she looked around.
"We're gonna have to maneuver a bit to get to the spot. You sure you can take this?" – Tails asked as he steered the plane lower, nearing the skyscraper rooftops.
"A little nervous, but I'm sure I'll be fine." – The seedrian replied, and as if in response to her, Tails turned the plane sideways. No, that was something she was not ready for. Just as the plane flied sideways near one of the windows, Cosmo saw a random avian-mobian – a grey pigeon – look out the window with a look of shock in his face. During the brief moments that Cosmo managed to see that random mobian, the guy mused something along the lines of "Typical day in Station Square" and resumed whatever he was doing.
As Tails steered the plane through the skyscrapers in search of a landing spot, he was beginning to get rather nervous himself – the snow on the roads wasn't cleaned up yet, and landing on a rough ground wouldn't do much good to the plane. Soon enough, however, the kitsune breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a few random mobians cleaning up the snow on one particular stretch of road, and they had already cleaned up quite a long distance through.
One of the mobians, a brown male weasel-mobian wearing a plain coat remarked: "Hey, Mark, am I the only one seeing the plane heading here?"
The person the name belonged to – a black-feathered raven-mobian who also wore a fairly standard grey coat – replied: "No, you're not, Rob. It's as real as it gets."
"Oh…In that case…Run for cover!" – Mark immediately dropped his shovel and ran off to the side, with Mark doing much of the same. The two managed to dive in just moments before the plane landed. As the plane kept going along the ground, it was nearing an obstacle – a wall of a nearby building, as the road took a turn relatively soon enough. Cosmo braced for impact…But luckily, the plane stopped at the border between the main road and the pedestrian road.
"Wow. Finding a proper landing spot in winter is even harder than it is in any other time of year." – Tails remarked as he and Cosmo went to exit the plane. Or rather, the kitsune was the only one who actually exited the plane – Cosmo herself was still looking quite scared.
"Tails…I've encountered murderous cyborgs, saw planets get destroyed, and almost witnessed the end of an entire race…And yet even after all that, I got scared by a plane flight, of all things." – Cosmo remarked as she struggled to get out of the passenger seat.
"Well, I guess we may drop by a certain place before going out to deal with what exactly brought us here. The Chaotix Detective Agency shouldn't be too far away from here." – Tails remarked as he guided Cosmo out of the plane, then pulled out a remote from somewhere and activated the plane's security systems in case someone decided to seize it.
"Ah, yes, the Chaotix. I remember these guys all too well, if only for the sheer hilarity of that one incident they've caused." – The normally quiet Cosmo couldn't help but giggle as she remembered how Tails pushed her out of the way of a huge disco ball that Vector accidentally kicked towards her.
"Yeah, I figured we might want to visit them. After all, they're one of the few who don't know about your return just yet. Unless Cream told them about it." – And with that said, Tails led Cosmo in the direction of the small building that belonged to the Chaotix. As soon as Tails knocked on the door, he heard a familiar voice shouting: "Hey guys, looks like someone decided to visit us in person for once! Looks like they've got a particularly urgent task for us!"
A different voice, which sounded more quiet and sarcastic in tone, replied: "Not all that likely, Vector. If it was urgent, then they would call us from the spot instead of coming all the way here."
"That…Makes sense, I guess." – A high-pitched voice remarked.
"Okay, even if it's not someone coming over with a case for us to solve, then we still got to answer the door, right?" – Vector shouted impatiently, and slammed the door open. As soon as he saw Tails, he said: "Hey, long time no see, Tails!" and gave him quite the handshake.
"Yeah, yeah, I decided to drop by for a visit. By the way, you probably noticed I'm not alone, right?" – Sure enough, after Tails said the second sentence, Vector looked over behind the fox and noticed that Cosmo was just quietly standing, looking at what was ensuing in front of her.
"Wait, what?!" – Vector shouted in complete shock.
"Huh. Seems like Cream was telling us the truth after all." – Espio remarked quietly.
"Of course she was! I'm pretty sure she's not the liar type." – Charmy replied in a somewhat annoyed voice, but got an elbow jab from Espio as a response.
"Well…Didn't see that coming." – Vector said, scratching the back of his head. Meanwhile, Cosmo was blushing even more intensely – she already forgot what it was like to have people react in surprise to your mere presence.
"So…Are you going to let us into the house, or are we just gonna stand there?" – Tails asked.
"Oh, right! Where are my manners?" – Vector stepped aside and gestured the two to come into the house. – "Come right in!"
Cosmo looked over at Tails, who then shrugged and replied: "Well, on we go" and with that, the two entered the modest building. Cosmo took a seat on one of the chairs in the reception while Tails sat in front of Vector.
"So, what exactly brings you two here? Do you guys have a case for us to solve?" – Vector asked as he sat down beside his desk. Espio just let out an exasperated sigh as he went to exit the reception, with Charmy following after him.
"Not really." – Cue the disappointed look on Vector's face. – "Just figured we might drop by for a while."
"Oh…Well, I…Don't even know what to say about this. I mean, sure, why not." – Vector was trying his best to hide his disappointment, but still failed.
"You know, Vector, it seems like you haven't been getting any work recently. Otherwise you wouldn't be so concerned about getting another case to solve." – Cosmo remarked as she looked a bit more around the office.
"Actually, our detective agency was getting quite a bit of work. Problem is, Charmy gets distracted way too often. And always by the same person, to boot. So it makes some tasks more difficult for us than before." – Vector was impatiently spinning a golden ring on the table.
"I'm not even gonna comment on that." – Tails remarked, looking off to the side, and noticed that Charmy was leaning into the doorway, gesturing to come over. – "Anyway, we still have some shopping business to take care of, so I guess we'll be going now." – And with that, the kitsune stood up from the chair.
"Hey, care if I escort them to that one shop nearby? Maybe I'll find some extra work for us on the way, too." – Charmy asked, flying into the room. Vector sighed and answered: "Okay, why not."

"So, Vector told you guys about how I got distracted at some of the tasks, right?"
Right now, Charmy, Tails and Cosmo were a decent distance away from the detective agency, and currently heading towards a nondescript shop not too far away. The question above was asked by Charmy after he felt like the group gone far enough from the agency.
"Well…To be brutally honest, he did." – Tails replied hesitantly. Meanwhile, Cosmo was busy looking around – the view in the city during winter was absolutely gorgeous, with the way the snow was gleaming, making the very few and far in-between snow-covered trees look incredibly beautiful. It was helped by the fact that the weather was fairly decent – snowflakes were falling down ever so slowly, and there wasn't any wind to change their trajectory.
"Figures. Guess I might as well tell what was the cause for my distractions, huh?" – The bee-mobian asked. As Tails nodded, he continued: "Well…There were some occasions when Cream and I met a bit more often than usual. And sometimes we ended up bumping into her during some of the tasks, and I…May have been busy chatting with her instead of dealing with the task at hand."
"Charmy, if you're in love with her, just tell us – no one's going to tease you about it." – Tails replied as Charmy barely managed to avoid bumping into a random mobian.
"No I'm not!" – The bee-mobian shouted, turning around, with an evident blush on his face.
"Charmy, you can tell us. Tails and I are fairly mature and understand such matters just fine." – Cosmo answered quietly.
"Ugh…Okay, maybe I do have…Those feelings for her. There, are you guys happy now?" – Charmy seemed to have gotten even more irritated after answering this question.
"Please, calm down, Charmy. I actually think it's pretty sweet that you have got a crush on Cream. ("It's not a crush!") Have you confessed your feelings to her yet?" – As Cosmo asked this question, she noticed that they already arrived to the shop Vector mentioned.
"Actually…" – Suddenly, Charmy's irritation shifted into anxiety. – "I didn't. I mean, most of the time, we were just having some small talk, and we rarely got to meet up anywhere other than during a task. So…" – The bee noticed that the trio had already arrived to the shop. – "Guess I'll just wait outside until you two are finished with your shopping, huh?"
"Well…" – Tails hesitated with his answer, as he didn't want to seem rude, but he didn't feel like talking to Charmy anymore. Meanwhile, Cosmo felt that Tails probably wanted to refuse, but also felt that it would probably be rude. With both Cosmo and Tails hesitating with the answer, Charmy replied: "Eh, it's alright. I can wait."
Tails went to enter the shop, while Cosmo waited behind for a bit and then said: "I know all too well how horrible things can go if you confess your feelings too late. I know this isn't usually my style, but I suggest you seize the opportunity while you can." – And with that, Cosmo went to enter the shop herself, leaving Charmy to his thoughts. The bee-mobian flew around impatiently for a bit, thinking aloud about some of the matters currently going on around him.
"Aw, man. Things were so much easier before that darn invasion. Now everything is just…Too difficult. Nothing even feels the same… "Seize the opportunity while I can", yeah right. It's not like I'm not going to bump into Cream anywhere or anytime other than during another stupid task." – Charmy floated down a bit and, out of frustration, kicked a random tin can buried in the snow. Said can ricocheted off a nearby wall and…
"Ow!" – Hey, that voice seemed familiar… Charmy looked over the trajectory of the can and noticed that Cream was just nearby, rubbing her aching forehead – seems like the can hit her head-on, but it wasn't too bad.
The rabbit rubbed her forehead with her eyes closed for a few moments, then looked around to see where the object that hit her in the head came from.
"Okay, that was weird." – Cream remarked, and soon noticed that Charmy was nearby, peeking out from behind a corner. – "Oh, hey there, Charmy."
"Oh…Hello, Cream." – The bee was getting a little nervous. Well, so much for tempting fate. – "Look, I'm sorry about that can, I was just…"
"Eh, no big deal. So, what are you doing here? Me, I came over here to get some groceries." – Cream replied.
"Oh…I was just taking a flight around the city. Got myself a day off, all that…" – The bee-mobian himself wasn't sure that Cream would buy this excuse. – "Say…Do you need any help with your shopping?"
"Sure, why not? I could always use a bit of help." – And with that, the two went to enter the shop.

Meanwhile, Tails and Cosmo were busy with their usual shopping routine – right now they were almost done, only having a few things left to buy.
"You know, I'm kind of worried about Charmy." – Cosmo remarked as she placed something in the shopping cart and Tails pressed another button on his PDA, crossing that particular ware out of his shopping list.
"Why so?" – The kitsune asked curiously. The plantgirl sighed and replied: "I mean, he's probably a bit too anxious to confess his feelings to Cream. I hope he doesn't botch it."
"And I hope it won't be too little, too late. Just like how it seemed to be way back then in our case." – Tails said, sighing. Afterwards, he looked over the shopping list on his PDA and replied: "Well, seems like we've got everything we needed. Guess we're good to go now. The main problem would be making sure that the more fragile groceries, like eggs, or that carton of milk, won't be ruined by the time we get home. Other than that…" – The kitsune stopped for a moment as he saw Charmy and Cream enter the store. – "Huh, what do you know. A contrived coincidence."
"Well…Guess we'll just take our leave now and don't disturb them." – Cosmo remarked as she moved the cart over to the checkout. Tails shrugged and headed over there as well.

Soon enough, Tails and Cosmo were already flying back home on their plane, as Cosmo looked down and wondered where Charmy and Cream went after they last saw them.
"I just hope Cream made it home okay. Is she not afraid to be wandering around the city all alone like this? Her mom's probably worried sick about her, too." – The seedrian remarked.
"Eh, I'm pretty sure she's fine. Considering I saw her duking it out with robots a few times, I'm sure she can deal with some creeps coming after her in case something goes wrong. And besides, something's telling me that she won't be making her way back home all alone either." – Tails replied, still focusing on the flight. Cosmo sighed and went silent for the remainder of the flight.
A few minutes of flight later, the plane safely landed into the hangar that was Tails' workshop, and as soon as the kitsune halted the engines, he jumped out of the plane and went to check the cargo bay – that's where the groceries were stored in.
"Well, at least over half the eggs didn't get scrambled on the way. At least what's left is still salvageable."

Meanwhile, back at Station Square, Charmy and Cream were heading towards the train station, as Cream had to head back home. Charmy actually helped Cream out with the grocery bags, only leaving the young rabbit with the more "light" stuff to carry around.
So right now, Cream was just getting ready to board the train heading back.
"Thank you for helping me out, Charmy. That was very nice of you, you know." – The young rabbit said as she got her tickets and went over to a nearby bench, waiting for the train to arrive.
"Eh, it's no big deal, really." – The bee-mobian replied, scratching the back of his head. It seemed like Cream noticed that Charmy was blushing a bit, so she asked: "Charmy, are you okay? Why are you blushing?"
"Huh? Oh, I...Well, Cream, I actually wanted to say..." – Sadly, Charmy's speech was interrupted by the announcement of a train coming in. Specifically, the train that Cream had to board soon.
"Oh, I've got to go now! Goodbye, Charmy!" – With that, Cream picked up the grocery bags from the bench and ran off to board the train. Moments before she did, however, Charmy shouted: "Wait!"
"Huh?" – The rabbit was somewhat confused at the bee-mobian's sudden shouting.
"When you come around here again...How about we hang out somewhere else? I mean..." – Charmy couldn't quite get on the right trail of thought, as he was still new to those kinds of feelings.
"Like...Like a date?" – Cream asked, and it seemed like it was her turn to blush now.
"M...Maybe?" – The bee didn't know how to reply to this either. However, the rabbit's reaction was better than he expected, as she said: "Sure, why not. See you later, then!"
"Yeah...Good-bye, Cream!" – Charmy said as the train gone off. – "Could have been worse, I guess."

Oh, and this chapter took way more time than it should have. Reminder: Never try to split your fanfic into "arcs" containing specific amounts of chapters each. Otherwise there will be fillers. And fillers are bad.
And with that said...Darky Out!