3 months. It has been 3 months since Tikal went into the afterlife with Chaos after the Perfect Chaos Incident at Station Square. So many people have died that day, but there was one who was especially affected by the events of that day. Tails, a smart young fox with a brain that rivals most geniuses, was in love with someone, a living relic from a bygone era, named Tikal. They had a connection that Tails had never experienced before, something blossomed between them that many have been dying to experience before they kicked the bucket. That feeling was love.
But, now she is gone. After Perfect Chaos was defeated, Tikal knew it was time for both her and Chaos to return to the afterlife. Tails pleaded for her to stay, but she couldn't. But before she left, she gave him a kiss and left behind a locket containing a photo of them both together. This is all that remained of her.
The locket itself was simple in design, a small golden oval etched with faint ancient symbols, its chain cool and delicate against Tails’ fingers. Inside, the photograph was slightly faded, capturing a moment in history forever in one picture. It had Tikal’s warm smile as she stood beside him.
In the present, Tails has fallen into a deep depression, and has secluded himself to gather his thoughts alone. He is at Angel Island, on a starry night near the sea. The moon cast a silver glow across the waves, and the gentle breeze carried the salty tang of the ocean mixed with the faint scent of tropical flowers from the island’s lush greenery. Crickets sang in the distance, and occasionally, the sound of waterfalls from deeper in the island broke the silence.
Tails sat at the cliff’s edge, legs drawn to his chest, tails curled around him like a protective blanket. The locket rested in his small hands, and he stared at it. Remembering the times he and Tikal bonded, he looked at their locket picture, and gently sobbed to himself.
He remembered the way she laughed. He remembered how her hand brushed against his fur when she taught him the history of the Master Emerald and her people. She spoke in riddles sometimes, but he loved it. She was wise, timeless, as though she carried an entire civilization’s worth of knowledge inside her. And for some reason, she shared those thoughts most freely with him. He wasn’t just the kid genius to her. He was… someone. Someone who mattered.
However, to his side was a small handheld whose camera watched him cry. This handheld, was Nicole, built with a powerful AI and the ability to project a hologram. She was saddened by Tails's despair, and appeared behind him.
Her holographic form flickered softly into existence. Her tail swished gently as she looked at him, her green eyes reflecting both data processing and something far more human, and that was compassion.
“Tails? Are you alright?” The lynx asked with a gentle and soothing voice, audibly concerned.
Tails uncovered his face and looked at her with his cheeks soaked in his tears. His whiskers were damp, his eyes bloodshot from crying so often these past nights. He sniffles and wipes his eyes.
"No, Nicole....I wish I was, but it's hard for me to be okay..." Tails replied softly as he looked at the locket in his hands containing him and Tikal. His voice cracked with the weight of those words.
"I miss her so much....." He adds before closing it in his hands.
Nicole's ears drooped down as she stepped closer, her fur shimmering faintly in the moonlight.
"I know, Tails… I know it hurts. I saw everything…your laugh, the way you lit up when she spoke… It was, something rare. It was beautiful." Nicole said, before she knelt beside him.
"And…I doubt she would want you to mourn her alone…”
With a small weak hint of a smile, Tails then returned to his saddened state.
"Perhaps...but, I can't think of any other way to cope with her being gone. I just wish she didn't have to go...if I could, I would've gone with her."
Tails said before looking out towards the sea and the sky, the waves crashing against the rocky surface below. The reflection of the moon on the water rippled with each passing wave, as though mocking his feelings. Beauty fractured by constant disturbance.
"...I just don't know why, we even do what we have to do. We were so close to real peace, for Mobians and humans to coexist, and it took a giant water monster to destroy it all...it just makes me wonder, what the point of it all is..."
Tails sadly states before Nicole sits next to him.
“I won't pretend to know what lies beyond for spirits like her," Nicole whispered as she sat beside him. "But what I believe to know is that Tikal didn't give you that locket so you’d suffer. She gave it to you so you'd carry her... in your heart, in your choices, in the way you keep going even when it hurts."
Nicole said before she reached out a gentle hand, resting it on his shoulder. It passed through him faintly, but the sensation was there, tingling like static electricity. Somehow, it was comforting.
Tails looks to his side, and sighs before resting a hand on hers, though his hand passed through her projection. Still, he held it as if it were real.
"I suppose it is kind of like that...but, I just, I don't think I can find anyone like her. She understood me, and I understood her. But now she's gone....she'd want me to be happy, but I don't know how I can..."
Tails said before looking down. Nicole's hair was blowing through the wind, and thinking to herself, she knew that this would be her moment to confess. To confess what she has been feeling for Tails, after one encounter she had with Tikal.
She remembered that day well. Tikal had approached her, curious about Nicole’s existence as an AI. The two had spoken privately, Tikal remarking how life and soul could be found in unexpected places. Before leaving, Tikal placed a hand near Nicole’s screen and said, “He will need you. Don’t be afraid to feel, even if you think you cannot.” Those words echoed in Nicole’s programming, stirring something she didn’t know she was capable of.
"Tails... there's something I need to tell you," she said softly, her voice laced with a combination of hesitation and determination.
As he turned to her, her expression was sincere with unspoken emotions.
"Huh? What is it? Something wrong?" Tails asked in a tone of concern and attentiveness.
Nicole shakes her head no, and knows that there is no better time than now than to tell him about her feelings for him. Nicole took a deep breath before speaking in a shy and gentle tone.
"I...I need you to know something. It's about how... how I feel..."
Tails, in surprise, turned fully to her, his undivided attention unwavering.
"W-We've been through a lot together, and somewhere along the way, s-something changed within me…you wouldn’t think, that a computer like me, would experience anything beyond what we’re programmed for, but…this is different…Tails I…I..”
Nicole stammered in trying to explain, but she then closed her eyes, and just like that, she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. What followed next, was her lips pressed against his, to Tails’s surprise.
The kiss was soft, sweet, and filled with tenderness. Nicole's form, though intangible, somehow seemed warm and real.
When they pulled back, Nicole looked at him with a mixture of hope and vulnerability, her eyes beautifully reflecting the stars above. Tails's own expression held a mix of awe and wonder. He was speechless for a moment, but eventually found his words.
"Nicole...I..." he started, his heart racing furiously in his chest.
Nicole blushes as she turns to the side covering her face.
"I-I'm sorry! I d-didn't mean to do that...I don't know what came over me..." Nicole nervously stammered, before she was interrupted by a light chuckle from Tails, and a hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay Nicole, I get it now...heh, honestly explains a few things..."
Tails said as Nicole turned to him to see him with half-closed eyes and a gentle smile. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw his reaction, his words soothed her worries. She let out a relieved sigh before meeting his gaze again.
"It does?" Nicole asked him with a weak smile, of which Tails responded with a nod.
Nicole then responded with a hug, of which Tails gently returned. His hands passed through her projection, yet in that moment, it didn’t matter. What mattered was the intent, the closeness, the bond.
But then their attention was garnered towards a new weather happening that night, being none other than the Starfall.
The night sky erupted into streaks of silver and white, stars seeming to rain down upon the earth, their light scattering across the horizon. The sea reflected the brilliance like a canvas painted by the heavens. Tails and Nicole both turned their eyes upward, breath caught in awe.
"Wow...you know, I learned that stars, especially the brightest ones you see here, millions of miles away, could already be gone by the time we get to it. But because it's so far away, it can go away at any time."
Tails explains to her, his voice quiet but full of wonder.
Nicole looks into the depths of space, and smiles. "The light shines bright, even when the stars are gone."
Nicole eloquently says, of which Tails smiles and nods, before the two get closer. Holding each other together, they smile before closing their eyes, as the Starfall runs its course.
And in that quiet moment on Angel Island, with the starlight raining down like forgotten dreams, something new began to glow, not just in the sky, but between them.
Nicole rested her head gently on Tails’ shoulder, with her close enough to hear his gentle heartbeat. She didn’t need to speak. The silence was full, of loss remembered, love discovered, and a fragile hope blooming anew.
"She’s still watching," Nicole whispered after a while. "Tikal… I think she knew this would happen."
Tails smiled softly, eyes still closed. “Yeah… somehow… I think she did.”
And under the falling stars, the past was honored and not replaced, with two hearts holding each other close for the very first time...and it felt like coming home
