Chapter 1: The Flower Blooms to a New Day
The Mystic Ruins slowly lit up as the sun rose, illuminating the jungle and making the morning dew sparkle…
Nearby, Sonic The Hedgehog woke up with a yawn, he shifted his position so his chin rested on his hand. Looking out the window next to the couch he had slept on, Sonic watched as the sun rose, observing two flickies also wake up in a nearby tree.
"Gooood morning !~" Sonic waved at the flickies. "Have fun catching the early worm!" The flickies chirped a short little tune to the hero before flying off.
Sonic leapt off the couch and immediately started walking to the kitchen next to the living room, Tails had a rather open floor plan. The hedgehog delighted in seeing the morning sunlight pour through the kitchen window, casting light perfectly over the countertop and dining table.
Turning the corner, Sonic looked at the window-sill, just above the sink where a certain special plant sat, almost as if it were looking out the window. Next to it was a yellow chaos emerald, that probably shouldn't be left out in the open but it was too early to care, besides what was the worst that could happen?
The Hedgehog grabbed a watering can from under the sink cabinet, and leaned over it to reach the plant.
Cosmos plant glistened in the sunlight as the water from the can hit it. "There ya go girl, growing big and strong huh? Tails would be so proud of you.." Sonic conversed with the plant, as his elbow leaned against the window sill...
Just a few months ago, Sonic & his friends had set off for the Starfall Islands, unaware of what had awaited them there... It was a tough adventure, arguably the toughest Sonic had ever gone through and yet, it was something they all needed.
With his friends all turned into digital holograms for practically the whole adventure, the ways they could help Sonic had been severely reduced and they had been left to their own thoughts while Sonic worked away, forced to think about themselves and what they really needed.
And for Tails? He saw that he needed to truly become independent, so he did the only thing he could think of. The kitsune went off on his own, separate from his friends.
As Sonic walked over to the fridge, he couldn't help but wonder what his little brother was up to... "Heh, probably making some new gadget to solve alllllll his problems" Sonic chuckled to himself.
The hedgehog pulled some milk out along a box of cereal, preparing to make a quick breakfast when he was startled by someone slamming open the door making him nearly drop the milk carton. Looking up Sonic saw Cream & Cheese round the small corner that hid the entrance from the kitchen, both looked notably tired from waking up so early and rushing over.
He could only think of one reason Cream would be up as early as him. "Eggman? This early?" Sonic put the milk carton back and folded his arms.
"Whew.. Yes! He's attacking the town right now! (Chao Chao!)" Cream answered, quickly catching her breath and rushing past Sonic, taking the side door that led directly from the kitchen to the workshop.
Sonic sighed, quickly pouring some dry cereal into his mouth and chewing as he followed after, hopping onto the wing of the Tornado 2.
In Tails' absence, Cream has been filling in as Sonics air support, having already been taught the basics during their adventure against the Metarex in case there was no else to fly on a moment's notice. Learning the rest wasn't too hard, Tails had taught the rabbit the rest of what she needed to know just before he left and even afterwards the fox had a way of teaching while he was gone.
"Ya been keeping up with Tails' training tapes?" Sonic looked down to Cream who was already working the controls, occasionally hesitating before hitting certain buttons. "Mhm! They've been very helpful with piloting this!"
Cream looked up at Sonic, beaming with confidence, which was replaced with a slight nervous smile. "Though they can be... Somewhat confusing occasionally... Especially with the maintenance ones-" That caused Sonic to chuckle. "That's Tails for ya! Sometimes he forgets not everyone speaks perfect techno-mechno-babble." Cream & Cheese giggled lightly in exchange.
The Tornado's engines began to roar to life as Cream finished setting up, Sonic braced himself.
"Here... We.. GO!" The hedgehog shouted enthusiastically as the plane took off, ready to topple whatever bots and other hijinks Eggman had ready for the new but effective duo…
Buttttt you don't get to see any of that \_(ツ)/
The sun was beginning to set as the duo returned home, a bright orange washing over the land as a signifier of how long they had taken.
"Shoot, not my day..." Sonic leapt off the Tornado, jogging along to the front of the workshop as Cream began to land it. "I can't believe I let Egghead keep us going for so long this time... All for this?" Sonic looked over a piece of paper he held in his hands, it was nothing more then a simple recipe.
"He did say he wanted to try something new b-but..." Cream's sentence was interrupted by a yawn as she climbed out of the landed biplane. "Couldn't have he waited until later to do it, I'm so tired..." Cream walked over, holding a sleeping Cheese comfortably between her arms like a baby.
"I think that's what he wanted, solid plan but leading us on a wild goose chase into a weird gameshow was just plain weird.." Sonic yawned, still weirded out by the nonsensical low-stakes kids cartoon type of plot.
"Get some rest Cream! Sorry for not getting us out of there quicker!" Sonic waved goodbye as Cream headed home…
The hedgehog stood there for a second, watching as she disappeared over the hill, taking in the sunset environment..
Only for his heart to immediately SINK upon hearing a crash from within Tails house.
For once, frozen in place, Sonic slowly turned to face the kitchen window... and his heart only sank further when he noticed a distinct lack of potted plant, just a yellow chaos emerald, dimming from a bright glow that had mixed with the sunset. The pot wasn't even anywhere close to the edge, how could it just fall off the edge like that, what would he even tell Tails...
What would he tell Tails?
Tails had been so hesitant to leave the plant alone for so long, he'd be utterly crushed if anything happened to it!
That's the EXACT reason Tails kept chaos emeralds way from it because in his own exact words "they can sometimes activate on their own with no one to control it and chaos without control causes the improbable to become probable and-"
The Chaos Emerald.
The one Sonic had left by the plant on the window-sill.
"...oh Gaia no" The hedgehog rushed inside, appearing in a fraction of a second and it still wasn't fast enough for him to feel comfortable.
"alughh..." Sonic stopped in his tracks, his whole board body stiffening like a board at the voice had heard. He looked at the person before him, laid on the floor, groaning in pain with one leg comically bending over her and a chair that had fallen over and hit her in the head…
"Cosmo..?"
The seedrian looked up, with a mix of slowness and quickness that implied she didn't immediately recognize her own name but still instinctively responded.
"Son...ic?" Cosmo squinted at him as she slowly said his name, until she shot up, knocking the chair back into place.
"SONIC!" The hedgehog just stared her down for a second, she looked like she had somehow grown since they fought the Metarex and... He glanced at a picture of her Tails had in the living room to double check if she always had minty green skin, which she did. At least in this canon-
"Sonic what... happened?" Cosmo tried to take a step forward but almost fell over, getting caught by Sonic. "Woah! Take it easy Cosmo.. I guess bein' a potted flower for so long has worn out your muscles a little." Sonic helped the poor seedrian get her balance back, guiding her to the couch.
"I was a flower..? Right, that's why everything was so muddy for so long.. Why was I flower th-Oh, r-right, hm..." Cosmo gripped the side of the couch, looking down grimly as she recalled the circumstances. However, Sonic put a hand on Cosmo's shoulder, snapping her out of the daze she put herself in. "Let's start with something lighter, how are ya feelin'?" Sonic gave her a thumbs up, hoping to make the seedrian feel at ease.
"I... don't quite know, so many things are still so blurry and sluggish..." Cosmo wracked her head trying to remember everything at all once. "Had a bad nap huh? You were out for a while!" The hedgehog winked at her, chuckling.
"Right.. Just a bad nap." The seedrian cracked a slight smile at that chuckling lightly in return, Sonic was a little relieved at that but noticed her quickly return to a neutral frown
"...How long was I out for..?" Cosmo looked at Sonic in nervous anticipation. "Hm.. I'm not sure about the exact date, just that it's been a while." Sonic did his trademark shrug.
"Tails might have the answer somewhere around here though. He likes to keep personal logs of all our adventures." Sonic looked around, hoping the answer would conveniently be around the room somewhere.
"I see..." Cosmo got up carefully, being careful with her balance. "I'll go check Tails room, you check his workshop! It's the door to the right in the kitchen." Sonic motioned towards it with his hand as he jogged off down the hall. "A-Alright!" Cosmo acknowledged Sonic's directions with a determined nod, not quite understanding why they couldn't ask the fox himself..
Cosmo walked to the side door, hesitating as her hand reached the door knob...
She finally processed what Sonic said earlier, they were in Tails house? No wonder she didn't recognize it...
Back when she was first on Mobius, she had only ever seen Vanilla's house, when they came over here they went straight for the Blue Typhoon.
She looked back at the living room, it was quite rustic compared to what she had expected out of him, quite cozy when baked in the sunset however, that was nice. Cosmo's attention turned back to the handle, her hand was still hovering over it.
... What if he was in there? Her mind was torn between hoping that was the case and dreading the idea. She would get the answer to her question quickly but... what if she had been gone too long-
The seedrian shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it. She was day-dreaming again.
Steeling her will, she put her hand on the doorknob and cracked it open before she could overthink about it again.
"T-Tails..?"
... Nothing. Cosmo opened the door more, slowly walking in. Taking note of the continued rustic feel, especially taking delight in the large skydome that allowed plenty of sunlight in. "He has quite the eye for architecture huh?" Sonic quipped behind her, suddenly in the doorway, startling the poor seedrian.
"He built this whole house himself a long time ago." Sonic waltzed in behind Cosmo, eyeing over details of the room like it was his first time seeing it all over again.
"I thought you said were gonna check Tails' room.." Cosmo asked nervously, looking at him over her shoulder. "I already did, couldn't find anything and I don't know the password to his computer in there."
"I see, is... Tails not home right now?" The seedrian turned to face the hedgehog, putting a hand to her chest. "Ohhh yeah, about that…" Sonic rubbed the back of his quills nonchalantly, unaware he was making the poor seedrian even more nervous saying it like that.
"He ran off a while back, wanted to break out of his shell and find his own way. Ya know, average twelve year old mid life crisis." Sonic winked as he leaned against the Tornado 2 to make the joke come off more obvious, hoping to ease Cosmo into the fact that.
However, it had the exact opposite effect as her eyes widened in shock "Tw-Twelve?!" Cosmo nearly stumbled backwards, that was exactly what she DIDN'T want to hear.
"Y-Yeah?" Sonic tilted his head in confusion, suddenly slightly nervous.
"TAILS AND I WERE EIGHT WHEN WE FIRST MET!" Cosmo shouted, she was starting to hyperventilate, she could feel the tears forming already.
Four. Years.
Every worry Cosmo had earlier suddenly came back tenfold, she HAD to have been gone for too long, would he even WANT anything to do with her now? After waiting so long, struck with all that grief and trauma because of her…
Cosmo stumbled backwards, hitting a shelf and slumping to the floor, it felt like everything was threatening to crash down into her. She held her hands to the sides of her head, every little noise suddenly feeling like cymbals crashing into her ears. The seedrian closed her eyes, trying to escape from her thoughts but only letting them take further reign.
What about Cream?
Cream & Cosmo had grown so close back then so quickly, even closer then with the seedrian was with Tails. Eventually they even decided that Cosmo
could live with Cream and her mother, Vanilla, when they got back..
She never did come back though and she could only imagine how much it must have devastated the poor rabbit, her poor little sister...
Was the offer still even on the table? Could she just show up again and be welcomed back just like that? Surely they alljust wanted to move on-
Cosmos thought process was interrupted by a sudden ringing sound coming from the kitchen. She looked over in its direction then to Sonic, who was sitting next to her, his eyes fixed on watching the sky through the workshop's sky-light. The hedgehogs relaxation despite everything being oddly comforting.
"That's supposed to let us know when to water you again" Sonic looked over with an empathetic face. "Maybe you should have something to eat Cosmo, something that isn't just some water and sun."
The hedgehog got up brushing himself off. "If you want, you can talk about what's on your mind."
Cosmo dwelled on the offer as Sonic went into the kitchen to find something quick but filling...
She didn't want to be a burden but... The seedrian clenched her fists for a second, this was her second chance at life and she felt that if she kept all these feelings bottled up, it would only destroy her from the inside. Cosmo got up and walked into the kitchen, following after the hedgehog
"Sonic... Do you think they'll be happy to see me again?"
Cosmo asked bluntly, as she sat in the closest chair, watching the hedgehog glance over with a neutral expression while he moved some leftovers around to reheat. "Hm?" Sonic raised his eyebrow, clearly asking for Cosmo to elaborate.
"It's just... I've been gone for so long, they must finally be moving on if they haven't already.. Can I really just come back and be accepted with open arms like that? What if they'd rather just forget about me..." Cosmo spilled her turmoil out to the hedgehog, hanging her head low.
She wasn't sure what she expected but she didn't expect him to let out a light chuckle. "Are you even listening to yourself?" The seedrian froze a little at the response.
"They'll be ecstatic to see you again, I promise." Sonic sat some reheated lasagna and a glass of juice in front of the seedrian.
"You became a core part of the team, all of us wished there was some way for you to come back, and well.. here you are!" The hedgehog sat in his own chair opposite of Cosmo, taking a bite of his chilidog and letting Cosmo simmer on his words and eat…
The food and drink was helping, it seemed like what had been enough for her as just a flower was borderline starving as a full on seedrian. With some good food and a nice drink, Cosmo was already thinking clearer. Sonic was right. She still felt nervous and guilty but the more she thought about what she had said the more ridiculous it started to sound.
Everyone had clearly loved her in some way, they had only been in space for about half a year but she had become close friends with all of them.
Especially Tails and Cream...
Tails had loved her with his whole heart and she felt the same. He always leapt to action whenever she was in danger, always taking hits for her even ones that could have killed him. His words of reassurance never failed to lift up her spirits and it all went both ways, she had never thought much of it back then but now she realized that whenever she was around Tails always seemed peppier, whenever they interacted his namesakes would almost wag gently and her own words of reassurance always made him so.. Happy, and seeing him happy never failed to make her happy...
And Cream? Cream had stuck by her side the most, even from the start. Always making an effort to include the seedrian and make her feel welcome. Not to mention close to the end of their adventure, Cream had Cosmo join her in a video-call with her mother Vanilla because she wanted to discuss the idea of living together.
Cosmo had been nervous the whole call, but ended it much happier than she expected, especially when Vanilla asked if she could call Cosmo her... daughter...
"Soooooo... What's the plan?" Sonic interrupted her reminiscing, finishing off his dinner. "What do you mean?" Cosmo tilted her head, taking her last bite of the lasagna.
"Do you wanna go ahead and let everyone know you're back?" Sonic kicked his feet onto the table, taking a swig of chaos cola he grabbed from the fridge while Cosmo wasn't looking.
"Im... not sure. It is getting to be quite late.." Cosmo looked out the window behind Sonic, noting that the sun was almost fully set. "Besides, meeting everyone again all at once sounds like... a lot.. Perhaps tomorrow I'll just go visit Cream"
Cosmo yawned, stretching a little exhausted by everything that's happened since she woke up. "I think I'd just like to rest for the night.." Cosmo looked towards the living room, the couch didn't look uncomfortable at least.
"Fair enough!" Sonic practically leapt onto his feet.
"Tails room is down the hall and to the left, he doesn't have a guest room so there's not really any other options" Sonic shrugged casually, oblivious to the idea hitting Cosmo like a BRICK.
"WH-I-I CAN'T JUST DO THAT SONIC-" Cosmo immediately protested on the spot. "Why not?" Sonic looked back, slightly smug. Maybe he DID know what he was doing.. jerk-
"W-Well I. Uh. I don't want to just go in his room like that, not without his permission-" Cosmo looked down nervously, crossing her arms.
"Eh, he's not around and I doubt he'd mind." Sonic nonchalantly swung himself onto the couch where he had started the day. "Bu-But Wh-" Cosmo stammered
"Good night Cosmo! heheh.." Sonic waved as the seedrian slowly accepted defeat, chuckling as she shuffled down the hall.
Cosmo approached the door, cracking a smile at the fact that it had his little emblem on it, the one with his namesakes forming a T. Once again her hand shook over the door handle but quickly opened it anyway, not wanting to let her anxiety take control again.
Looking in, she was thrown for a loop again because THIS was what she expected from him.
The wallpaper was painted to be a starry night on a beach, with painted palm trees stretching halfway up the wall while little stars sprinkled the top ends, a large moon painted onto the roof.
There was a big shelf with various model cars and airplanes on it alongside a few books, games and an old tv with an older console hooked up to it.
Leaning onto the shelf was a small yellow board, it reminded her of the hoverboard Chris made for Sonic on Planet Breezy.
And then there was the bed, it had a blue and yellow blanket neatly tucked in. Next to the bed was a bedside table with two photos, one of which she immediately recognized.
"The party we had on the blue typhoon..."
Cosmo picked up the framed photo as she sat onto the bed, staring at it... memories flashing in her head..
She remembered trying to set up the party in secret while everyone else worked hard to fix up the rest of the typhoon, Tails joining her and the Chaotix arriving, making everything get a whole lot sillier... Though the party almost fell apart, no thanks to the Chaotix but things had worked out regardless, everyone had a fun time.
She even got to watch the stars with Tails, sure they could see them all the time but it was... nice.
…Cosmo was hit with a realization.
"HE SAID I WAS BEAUTIFUL HE WASN'T TALKING ABOUT THE STARS AAAAA-" The seedrians face blushed a bright green almost as bright as her own hair and she fell back onto the bed covering her face with the photo as if someone were even there to see her. She could not BELIEVE her own density and just laid there for a while.
Eventually, as she calmed down, Cosmo adjusted herself to place the photo back onto the bedside table, also taking notice of the second one.
It was of younger versions of Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles and a lizard looking girl she had never seen before.
Sonic was giving Tails a noogie, to which he looked completely caught off guard which made Cosmo giggle a little, just like Knuckles who had been chuckling at it in the photo.
She almost didn't recognize Amy because of how different the hedgehog looked, completely different outfit and Cosmo was particularly interested in the mysterious girl with the gang, she seemed nice.. Maybe she'd ask about it later.
Cosmo rolled over on the bed, finally facing upwards. Taking in the sounds of crickets outside, a new sound to her but one she still appreciated.
She had seen too many planets grow quiet and still due to the Metarex so any sound of wildlife was welcome to the seedrian.
It wasn't long till the seedrian had finally fallen asleep, even after a four year nap, she was very tired.
- Authors Notes: WHEW This has one chapter been a slight ordeal, this is my first attempt at writing an actual fanfic so its probably a little messy here and there but thats it how it is on this bitch of an earth ya know? Im pretty happy with it, I plan to make this go a little bit, at least 9 chapters maybe? But who knows, Im just in this for fun at the end of the day. I also hope you appreciated some of my references =]