“Freaking storm!” Tails exclaimed as he buried his head under his pillow. He hated storms. The heavy rain, the lightning, the thunder – especially the thunder! It was loud, he never quite knew when it was coming, and sometimes it kept echoing on like it was taunting him. He had been afraid of storms like this ever since he could remember, and he never quite knew why. It was just one of those things – a pathological fear that existed… just because. It was even worse now that Sonic wasn’t here to comfort him.
Ever since Sonic had come across Tails a long time ago, Sonic had taken him in and they had lived together for years. Sonic had felt for Tails since he had been orphaned at such a young age. Sonic had also been lonely for quite some time, having not had much time to make friends, seeing as he was always busy fighting an incredibly obese mad scientist hell-bent on world domination. He couldn’t just leave little Miles to fend for himself, though, so he took him in and pretty much raised him. He also gave him his nickname, “Tails”. Although overly simple and almost cliché, it suited him well and allowed him to be addressed in a way that wouldn’t make Tails cringe.
However, they were both getting older now and they would eventually have to part ways. They couldn’t live together forever, and they both wanted Tails to become independent. Tails had already come a long way since he and Sonic had met, as far as independence goes, but he was still quite reliant on Sonic. Sonic had been forced into maturity at a very young age; forced to defend the world, seeing as he was the only one around who could respond to an attack quickly on a regular basis. He had gotten lucky the first few times he had fought Robotnik. As inexperienced as he had been at the time, he shouldn’t have still been alive, but he had gotten lucky enough times to learn from his mistakes and improve. Since then, he’d been able to stand against anything he’d had thrown at him with relative ease. Tails was a different story. He hadn’t been so lucky. Sonic had saved his hide more times than he could count, although he hadn’t started fighting quite as young as Tails did, either. He hadn’t exactly wanted to drag the little fox into all of this, but he couldn’t leave him behind and, even if he did, Tails would have probably followed him anyway.
Now, Tails was faster, wiser, and had more gadgets at his disposal to defend himself. He was a bit more mature, as well. They both felt like they’d need to go their separate ways eventually, and Sonic had finally left their home in the Mystic Ruins to go live in Station Square, where the citizens had generously provided a home there to live in, in exchange for the times he had defended the city. They figured it was easier to let Tails stay in the house in the Mystic Ruins, seeing as his workshop, the Tornado, and the runway for said aircraft was already there. They had been getting along like this for a few weeks now. Of course, Sonic had kept in touch, but had decided to not spend too much time with Tails, at least for a while. After all, the whole point was for them to get used to not being around each other all the time. Tails understood, but didn’t like it. Although, he knew it was for a good reason.
A loud crack of thunder sounded outside. Tails flinched violently, still lying awake in his bed, unable to go to sleep. It was the first storm since Sonic had left, and Tails wasn’t taking it too well. At first, Tails was absolutely terrified of storms, and Sonic picked up on this very quickly. Having a fear of drowning himself, Sonic understood quite well how Tails felt and had been there to comfort him. When Tails was still very young, he had crawled into bed with Sonic and slept with him several times during storms. As he got older, he got braver and needed Sonic less and less. Even though Tails began to feel like he didn’t need Sonic anymore to get through a storm, he found comfort in the fact that Sonic was right across the hallway, just in case. He’d often thought of Sonic – and his bravery – and would try to be more like him, especially when he was scared. Needless to say, he’d think of Sonic every time a big storm rolled through. It took his mind off of the storm a bit and also gave him comfort. This time was different, however. Instead of being comforted by his thoughts, Tails only started to miss Sonic more.
Tails had never been very good at adjusting to big changes like this. Back when they first met, it took Tails some time to become completely comfortable living with Sonic, even though they bonded quickly. The first morning he woke up after Sonic had moved out, Tails had sleepily gone to Sonic’s – er... – the empty bedroom across the hall to see if Sonic had still been sleeping. Quickly remembering that he was gone, Tails’ face fell. The realization of what had happened had then started to really sink in. Tails had similar moments like this since then. He really wanted to see Sonic again, just for a few hours at least, but knew that Sonic wanted him to try to get used to not being around him as much. Still, he missed him more and more every day. He hated being alone, and he hated that stupid storm outside. Unable to sleep, he decided to go into the kitchen to try to find something that would help him sleep. Maybe some warm milk or something. Tails was pretty knowledgeable on things that affected the metabolism, thus it wasn’t too hard to find something to help him sleep. After he was done, he headed back up to his room and was eventually able to get to sleep, despite the storm.
A few months passed and Tails finally got to see Sonic again for a couple of hours. They had run into each other, along with Amy and Knuckles, and fought Eggman together. Having not seen each other for a while, they were happy to meet again. They hugged each other and talked a bit, mostly about how the other was getting along by himself. Had they been alone, Tails would have probably expressed more of what he had been feeling about Sonic being gone, but didn’t want to embarrass himself or Sonic in front of the other two. He wanted to grow up and become more independent, even if only to prove to the others that he wasn’t little and helpless anymore. Nevertheless, he enjoyed being with Sonic for a bit and had some fun with him before parting ways again.
After this, Sonic was under the impression that Tails was perfectly fine by himself now. “I guess he’s finally growing up. Heh, I guess he doesn’t need me anymore!” Sonic half-joked to himself. The truth was that Sonic missed Tails too, though he wasn’t taking it as hard. Not being around Tails constantly anymore, Sonic had been hanging around Amy more and began to actually start to like her, at least as a friend. Sonic never really hated Amy, he just felt awkward around her, especially after they first met. Being more mature and also having been closer to Sonic over the last few months, Amy became more bearable and less clingy than she had been in the past.
Tails had noticed that they were closer and felt a bit jealous. He was afraid they’d get together like Amy had wanted and that Sonic wouldn’t be around him as much. Meanwhile, the rational side of him kicked in and started wondering why he was feeling this way. He knew Sonic would still be his friend, but he didn’t want him gone. Tails was still just a kid, and Sonic had been his best friend and practically his adoptive father since he was little. He hadn’t been forced to grow up alone like Sonic had been. Sonic had fought that fat guy so much that he didn’t really have much time to feel lonely and sad, and he knew his purpose. That kept him going until he found Tails, his first and only close friend. Tails knew all of this and started to understand more about why he felt the way he did.
As he was working on a few machines in the workshop about a month later, Tails continued to think about everything happening. “Everything will be fine; it’ll just take some getting used to. He’s still my friend and always will be!” Tails reassured himself. It didn’t make him miss Sonic any less, though. The phone rang, which snapped Tails out of his thoughts as he went to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Hey buddy!” Sonic cheerily greeted his best buddy over the phone.
“Sonic! What’s up?” Tails was happy that he had called, but he tried not to show it so much in his voice, as much good it did…
“I missed you too, buddy!” Sonic caught on to how happy Tails was to hear his voice. “Um… so… apparently there’s been a water main break in the neighborhood… I’m not gonna have water for a while…”
“Oh… uh… well, you can come over here until it’s fixed!” Tails said hopefully.
“Cool! I was hoping you didn’t convert my old room into a chemistry lab or something, hehe!” Sonic joked a bit nervously. He was really hoping he wouldn’t have to stay with Amy. As much as he was starting to get along with her, he didn’t feel comfortable staying with her, and for some reason he felt like there was a risk that Tails would say no… Fat chance of that!
“OKAY!!! So… when are you coming over!?” Tails practically shouted over the phone, not really trying anymore to contain his excitement.
“How about in five seconds?” Sonic continued to joke. “Hehe, nah, I’ll just pack some of my stuff and be over there when I can, okay?”
“Okay, Sonic! I’ll see ya soon!” They then exchanged goodbyes and hung up. “YES!” Tails screamed at the top of his lungs, bouncing up and down like he was five years old again. Needless to say, he was happy that Sonic was coming to stay with him, even if it was going to be a short-lived visit.
Before Tails knew it… Well, not really… Tails wasn’t exactly waiting patiently for Sonic to arrive… Sonic arrived back at his old home an hour later and knocked on the door.
“You didn’t have to knock Sonic!” Tails said as he opened the door.
“Yeah, I know, I just didn’t want to be rude. This IS your house now, after all!” Sonic replied with a smile.
“Yeah…” Tails took that last sentence more like ‘You ARE all alone now, after all!’ He looked down at his shoes for a second before looking back up to Sonic and letting him in.
Sonic noticed this, but decided not to bring it up. “So, whatcha been up to?” He said as he walked inside, putting the suitcase he had brought with him down by the couch and sitting down with Tails.
“Oh, just the usual!” Tails said, somewhat cheerfully. He was usually a cheerful type, especially around Sonic, but he was a bit less cheerful than Sonic was used to. They began to make a bit of small talk for a bit. Sonic began telling a few stupid jokes that Tails would normally think were hilarious, but now only slightly chuckled at, before Tails decided to change the subject.
“So… when do you think they’ll fix the water over there?” Tails asked, hoping it would be a while so that he’d stay longer.
“I talked to them a little before I left. They said they can have it done by tomorrow afternoon! They have guys working around the clock on it! Heh… I guess they don’t want to leave their hero without water for too long! Either that, or they’re just trying to be fast like me!” Sonic joked again, although Tails didn’t exactly find it amusing as he lowered his head in disappointment.
“You okay, buddy?” Sonic asked his best friend, now more worried about him than he had been in a long time.
“Of course! I just really miss you, Sonic!” Tails said as he gave Sonic a big hug, which Sonic returned, of course.
“Are you sure? You just don’t really seem like yourself, Tails.” Sonic slowly pulled away from the hug, looking at the fox with a look of concern.
Tails couldn’t keep up with this façade, especially not around Sonic. He was just too honest for his own good sometimes. He sighed, “Well… not really. I wish you didn’t leave. I’ve missed you so much, Sonic! You should have come visit me or something!”
Sonic felt a bit guilty. “Sorry, Tails, I just… wanted to give you some space. I kinda thought you were taking it a lot better than this after I saw you last month.”
“It’s okay Sonic! I’ll get used to it eventually! Just come over more often, okay?” Tails smiled, a tear almost falling down his face.
“No problem!” Sonic now was the one initiating a hug. Tails of course returned it, tighter than the first one. Sonic had almost forgotten just how soft and warm Tails’ fur was. He loved the feeling it gave him when he hugged Tails so tightly like this. “I missed you too, buddy. It was stupid of me to stay away without visiting! I miss hearing you working on the Tornado and checking out your new inventions!”
Tails laughed a bit, still hugging Sonic, as a tear then rolled down his face. “…And I miss running with you… and seeing you in the morning… and goofing around with you… and eating chilidogs with you…” Tails unintentionally started rattling off all the ways he missed Sonic, and it started to make him a bit more upset.
Sonic stopped him right there. “HEY! That’s a great idea! How about I make us some chilidogs!?”
Almost instantly, Tails forgot about being upset as excitement built up inside him. He had never been quite as attached to the food quite as much as Sonic had always been, but over the years Sonic had perfected his recipe and it was delicious! Tails was also just happy to be having this moment with Sonic. “Okay!” Tails replied happily.
Tails had felt fine after that, and was back to his old self while the two of them scarfed down hot dogs smothered in chili. After that, they had settled down and hung around for a while. It started to get late and they decided to start getting ready for bed.
“Aw crud!” Sonic cried in realization. “I forgot to bring something to sleep on… Oh well, I can just sleep on the couch, it’s big enough.” He had taken everything in his old bedroom to his house in Station Square when he moved out, of course.
“Oh yeah… Maybe I should turn your room into a guest room or something…” Tails said, thoughtfully, then his face lit up again. “That way you can spend the night here whenever you want!”
“Cool! In the meantime, I’ll sleep here!” Sonic flopped down onto the couch.
“Okay, Sonic…” Tails yawned. “I guess I’ll go ahead and just go to… Is it raining outside?”
They both started to hear rain begin to pour down suddenly. They had no idea when it started, having not been paying much attention to anything but each other for the past few hours. “That’s strange, it wasn’t supposed to rain today!” Tails said, trying to remember if there had been any info about rain around the area. He usually kept up-to-date with the weather. He wanted to know when storms were coming because of his fear, but also for other reasons such as experiments or taking the Tornado out. A storm had been passing by, not expected to come close to where they were, but something had unexpectedly blown it off course and toward them just recently.
“I hope it doesn’t get too bad…” Tails said quietly, then turned back to Sonic. “Anyway, I’m gonna head up to bed now, good night!”
“Good night buddy!” Sonic replied, although he wasn’t quite ready to go to sleep just yet, so he decided to find something to keep himself occupied for a bit.
Staying true to Murphy’s Law, the storm got worse – and fast. Once again, Tails found himself trying to drown out the noise of the pouring rain and the constant thunder. At the same time, thoughts of Sonic leaving to go back home tomorrow flooded his mind. This was only temporary, Sonic would leave and he’d be all alone again. Tails now knew Sonic would be visiting him more often from now on. Sonic was never one to intentionally break a promise, especially one made to his best buddy, but it wasn’t enough. He didn’t want Sonic to visit every now-and-then. He wanted him to visit every week, twice a week, three times a week, every day – no – he wanted him to stay, and he wanted it more than anything he’d ever wanted before! Tails continued to think about just how much he missed Sonic and how much he hated him not being there all the time. He knew it would have to happen eventually, but he didn’t want it to happen so soon. He couldn’t deal with it happening so soon, he wasn’t ready! Tails began to feel his pillow starting to get wet from his tears. He was a mixture of stressed out, depressed, and angry. For a moment, he channeled all of those feelings into anger and directed it at the storm. “I swear the next thing I’m going to invent is a weather-controlling device!” He grumbled to himself and he threw the covers off of him. Deep down, he knew the improbability of such a device, but he didn’t care. Not a single part of him could stay still; he’d wring his hands, cover his ears, tug on his fur, whip his tails around, and pace back and forth. After a bit, he decided to try to calm down a bit and get something from the kitchen to help him sleep.
Not wanting to wake Sonic up, Tails began to tip-toe down the stairs as he looked over at Sonic lying on the couch. Little did Tails know, Sonic wasn’t asleep. He had just crashed back onto the couch ready to go to sleep just before hearing a noise in the kitchen.
“Huh?” Sonic sat up, looking around. He then saw a light come on in the kitchen and heard someone rummaging around. “Tails?” He thought to himself, hoping somewhere deep down that Cthulhu hadn’t decided to show up out of nowhere and raid Tails’ kitchen. He then heard a muffled sneeze come from the kitchen. “I know that cute little sneeze anywhere!” He thought to himself, smiling, before promptly dropping the smile out of curiosity and concern. “But… what’s he doing?”
Suddenly a huge flash of lightning occurred out of nowhere, followed up by a near-deafening boom of thunder, followed up by a loud yelp from the kitchen, and finally concluded with the sound of something shattering in the kitchen. “Tails!?” Sonic quickly got up and ran to the doorway that led to the kitchen and looked inside. His eyes were met with the sight of porcelain covering the kitchen floor and Tails slowly slumping down, curling himself up onto the floor with his back against the cabinets and his hands covering his face.
Sonic panicked, fearing that Tails had hurt himself badly, and moved over to him, being careful not to slip on the shattered dish on the floor. “Are you okay!?... Tails!” Sonic begged, trying to get his friend to tell him what happened as he tried to move Tails’ hands away from his face.
Tails let Sonic move his hands away from his face and nodded, letting his friend know that he wasn’t hurt. As Sonic saw the fox’s face, he noticed the wet fur on his face and his reddened eyes; results of him crying. Tails was shaking, his fur was standing up, and he was hyperventilating. Sonic quickly realized what was wrong. The sudden thunderclap had scared the you-know-what out of his best friend. Sonic knew he still didn’t like storms, but he thought that Tails had mostly overcome his fear some time ago. It had been years since Tails had come to him for comfort during a storm. What Sonic didn’t realize was that the only thing keeping Tails strong was the fact that he was always there for him. “Is it the storm?” Sonic questioned.
Tails nodded frantically, still shaking. “I’m… s-s-sorry, S-Sonic!” Tails managed to choke out between breaths.
“What for?”
Truth be told, he was sorry for a lot of things. In a way, he felt selfish and a bit pathetic acting the way he was. He was on the floor and crying his eyes out because he missed Sonic and because a little thunder startled him. He decided to just pick one. “I-I didn’t mean… mean… to wake you up, S-S…”
“Huh?” Sonic then let out a concerned chuckle. “It’s no big deal, I wasn’t even asleep anyway. Besides, that thunder probably would have woken me up anyway!”
Tails realized how stupid he sounded and knew he needed to tell Sonic what was really bothering him, he was just a bit reluctant to tell him as he began crying again. “I j-just HATE the thunder, Sonic, I HATE IT!”
Sonic lifted Tails’ face up a bit to look at him. He knew thunderstorms still bothered his friend to this day, but he had always considered it more of a childish overreaction to something that was – to be fair – a little scary, rather than a full-blown pathological fear. He thought he had simply grown out of it, at least for the most part. After all, over the years, he had seemed less and less reliant on his comforting to keep from going insane during a storm. He never really considered that it was a very real, lasting fear that was only ever suppressed by Tails’ growing faith in Sonic and his desire to be like his hero. “Hey, hey, it’s okay… I know… I’m sorry buddy, I didn’t know thunderstorms still bothered you so much! I thought you were almost over that fear!” Sonic said with a mix of concern and guilt as his own eyes were beginning to well up with tears.
After a short pause, Tails finally started to let the truth come out about how he really felt and why. “I used to just think about you when the storms came…” As he continued on, he slowly became more and more hysterical and he started losing what little calmness and dignity was left in him. “You always comforted me when I needed it, and then I got braver. Every time I got scared I’d just think of you comforting me and how brave you are, and I just wanted to be brave too! But now…” As his voice started sounded more like the voice of a madman, he stopped to try to catch his breath, not an easy task while hyperventilating. At first, all he managed to do was sputter about, as if there was no longer any oxygen in the air to replenish his lungs.
“Tails!?” Once again Sonic started to panic. His heart sank until it felt like it was on the floor with the pieces of broken dishware surrounding them. For a moment, Sonic was sure his friend was going to die from a panic attack or something. Tears now streamed from Sonic’s face as he placed his hands around the fox and tried to get him to look him in the eye. “Tails, what’s wrong!?” Tails looked away from Sonic in shame, which only served to worry Sonic even further. “Tails, please, PLEASE tell me what’s wrong! Look at me buddy, slow down! Breathe!”
Having not much success in slowing his breathing in an attempt to calm himself – no thanks to the storm outside – Tails let it all out. Now he was nearly screaming at the top of his lungs in desperation. “But now all I can think about is you leaving, Sonic! You’re not there anymore Sonic! You’re not there when I wake up, you’re not there when I come out of the workshop, you’re not there when I come from the store, and I HATE IT! I HATE not being able to play with you, or show you my inventions, or… or… go run with you, and… I HATE being all alone, Sonic, why’d you leave me alone!? I don’t wanna be alone anymore, Sonic, I want you back! I want you back! PLEASE come back Sonic, I’m begging you! I’ll do anything! I’m not ready for you to leave Sonic, I miss you so much, PLEASE…!” As Tails continued to plead with his friend, they began to embrace each other and began squeezing each other tightly as they both continued to cry.
Sonic was a bit shocked by all of this. It didn’t surprise him that much that Tails wanted him back, what surprised him was just how much he had snapped because of it. As he listened to his two-tailed friend continue on and on desperately, he took it all in and began to feel more and more foolish and guilty because of what he’d done. He knew Tails wasn’t like him – at least not yet. He should’ve known he would take it so hard, and he should’ve known it wasn’t time for Tails to grow up just yet. He was still a child, and that was exactly what he was sounding like right now. Not that he could blame him, of course.
Tails continued to babble on as Sonic pulled his friend’s head onto his shoulder, muffling his speech and his crying. “Tails… Tails… Shhhhh…” Sonic stroked Tails’ head and back with one hand with his other hand around Tails’ waist in an attempt to soothe him. Much to Sonic’s relief, it seemed to be working as Tails wasn’t carrying on quite as much, but still repeatedly pleading with Sonic.
“I’m not leaving you again Tails, I’m staying right here! I’m sorry Tails, it was foolish of me to even think about doing this to you while you’re still so young!” Though Sonic was also crying, his voice was much calmer and more deliberate as he carefully chose his words.
Tails, a bit surprised Sonic had changed his mind so quickly, began to calm a bit. “You… You mean that, Sonic? You’re coming back? Please tell me you don’t just mean that metaphorically or something!”
“When have you ever known me to speak in metaphors... unless I’m taunting Knuckles or something, hehe… You know I wouldn’t be cruel enough to tease you at a time like this, right?” Sonic replied as Tails turned his head to look up at him, who was now smiling at him slightly.
Tails then buried the side of his head into Sonic’s chest, with a new wave a tears streaming down his face, only this time brought on by a different set of emotions. They said nothing for a while, not that there was much else that needed to be said, until Tails spoke up, happy with the outcome of this whole ordeal.
“I’m sorry…” Tails murmured.
“What is it now?” Sonic replied, slightly annoyed now. Tails had nothing he needed to apologize for. He was well within his rights to have been so upset, especially while a storm raged outside.
Tails now backed away from Sonic a bit and sat on the floor, leaning against the cabinet again and looking around at the mess he had made earlier. “I should’ve just told you how I felt in the first place instead of letting it bottle up inside me until breaking down like that… So much for growing up, huh? I’m still just acting like a baby…” Tails scolded himself, not being as upset anymore, just a bit ashamed of the way he had just acted.
“No you’re not, Tails. You’re acting just like you should be… Like someone who was forced into something way before he should have been, and too suddenly at that.” Sonic didn’t want his friend to feel guilty for the way he’d snapped. Sonic felt like he’d betrayed his best friend. He was also the older of the two. Hypothetically, if they’d both made equally large mistakes, Sonic felt like he’d be more to blame than Tails. He should know better, he should be wise enough to avoid making such mistakes. “Stop being sorry, Tails. I’m the one who screwed up… It was so stupid of me to try to force this on you like this. Do you think you’ll ever forgive me?”
Tails now looked at Sonic with a slight smile. “I understand what you were trying to do, Sonic. You only did what you thought was best for us. I was never mad at you directly, I just missed you…”
“Well, I’m glad you feel that way, but I can’t help but feel like I screwed up. But… thanks Tails.” Sonic yawned, remembering that he had been going to sleep just a little while ago. “With that said, we both need to get to bed, buddy.” Sonic stood up and offered his hand to Tails to help him up.
As Tails took Sonic’s hand and got back to his feet, he took Sonic’s other hand to keep Sonic from walking away. There was one more order of business he had with Sonic. He wouldn’t mind if the answer would be no, he just needed to ask. “Um… Sonic, would you mind… Sleeping with me in my room tonight? The storm seems like it’s getting worse… I just don’t –…” He was cut off by Sonic’s hand covering his mouth gently.
Sonic felt a bit flattered by the gesture, and he didn’t need a reason to want to cuddle up next to his little furball to comfort him, especially after what he’d put him through. “…Even if the storm suddenly stopped right now, my answer would still be ‘yes’.” Sonic put his hands on the fox’s shoulders and smiled at him.
Tails’ heart jumped a little in excitement as he smiled gratefully to his spiky friend. Then he cocked his head, faked a confused face and jokingly replied with, “Wait… So do you mean ‘Yes, I do mind’ or ‘Yes, I’ll –…” He stopped short after he noticed Sonic was quite amused by the joke. Though he didn’t find the joke itself that funny, it was mostly the timing that got him. That, and he loved when Tails acted like a nerd.
“Okay, Officer Grammar, you know what I mean!” They both chuckled for a bit longer before heading upstairs together. “Just for the record, the couch isn’t really that comfortable anyway…” Sonic said jokingly as they walked into Tails’ bedroom.
