Chapter Text
Tails’ head hurt. That’s all he could focus on as he felt himself stir from a good nights’ rest. The dream he’d had was certainly a sign that today wouldn’t be that great. Especially since it seemed all too real for his own liking. Maybe he’ll tell Sonic about it, he did need to be more open after all. As his senses came back to him, he felt someone’s hand holding his own. He flexed his fingers around the hand, thinking it was Amy’s. “She probably tried getting my attention when I should be awake. Maybe I have a fever and she’s trying to comfort me.” After his senses fully came back to him he felt that this hand was smaller than Amy’s. The light stung his eyes as he blinked them open to find a green blob sitting next to him. Blinking a bit more his vision fully cleared and he saw Cosmo, and she was holding his hand. He froze and tried to stay as silent as he could as he thought this situation through. “This isn’t an accident, otherwise she would have pulled away. What in the world was going on?!” Cosmo had flicked her gaze down at him and their eyes met for a split second before she turned away and pulled her hand from his. He wanted to complain and try and grab it back, but couldn’t find the energy. “H-he’s awake.” Cosmo stuttered out to someone on the other side of his bed. Tails felt someone’s weight shift the mattress before he turned to realize it was Sonic. “Hey buddy. How ya feelin’?”
“Ugh. My head just hurts.” Tails had wanted to say something about Cosmo being in the room. He knew about blunt force trauma and that it could cause one to hallucinate, so he decided not to say anything if that was the case. At least that’s what he thought until Sonic spoke again. “You got a houseguest while you were out. You…wanna say hi?” He asked, pointing his thumb over to Cosmo. “So she’s actually here. She’s alive! It wasn’t a dream after all…” He thought to himself as he turned back over to see Cosmo, who had scooted her seat back a little further. Tails raised his hand up and gave a weak wave, trying not to use too much energy. She only waves back, keeping her head down and staying silent. Tails noted that she was just as nervous as he is and that made him slightly calmer.
The door opened and Amy walked inside holding an ice pack and a glass of water. “Good, you’re awake.” She seemed to relax for a bit until she saw that Cosmo and Tails had noticed each other. “Oh Gaia you’re awake.” She cursed under her breath as she made her way over to his bed. “Well…Tails, Cosmo is back a-as you can see. And no, you aren’t going insane, she really is here.” She tried to keep as calm a tone as possible to make sure Tails wouldn’t freak out. “Amy, I don’t have the energy to go through a flood of emotions right now.” She sighed with relief and nodded as she applied the ice pack to Tails’ forehead. He winced at feeling the extreme cold and soon relaxed as it settled onto him. Cosmo had grabbed the glass and slowly approached the bed. Amy moved away from Tails to let Cosmo help him drink the water. She became more hesitant the closer she got to him and froze as she knew what she had to do next.
Tails opened his mouth and leaned his head up as Cosmo, with very shaky hands, placed one under his chin and used the other to tilt the glass into his mouth. After a few sips Cosmo placed the glass on the nearby nightstand and sat back down in her seat. Amy grabbed Sonic and whispered something out of earshot as they approached the door. “Cosmo, could you keep an eye on Tails as me and Sonic go and get a doctor?” Cosmo wanted to argue as she had already caused enough trouble, but decided against it since this was the least she could do. She nodded as Sonic and Amy left Tails and Cosmo alone in his bedroom.
Silence hung heavily in the air as Tails and Cosmo were still. Cosmo kept her head down as Tails wore a worried expression on his face. He couldn’t look away from her, fearing she would just disappear if he did. Tails gulped before speaking. “Do you…have anything you want to ask?” Cosmo wanted to ask a million questions. Does he still love her? Does he hate her for what she made him do? What did he go through because of her? Of course, she wouldn’t want to ask any of these questions, so she asked the only one that she felt she could. “Did…did you miss me?” Confusion crossed Tails’ face as he processed the question. Cosmo was starting to think that she should not have even asked that question before Tails answered. “Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?” The words left Cosmo’s mouth before she had time to stop them. “Because I caused you so much pain…” The words were just soft enough for Tails to hear and Cosmo flinched once she realized she had said it out loud. Tails smiled in an attempt to calm Cosmo down. “Cosmo, it did hurt that I lost you after only just starting to love you. It hurt a lot.” Tails tried to reach out for Cosmo’s hand, but she was just far enough away to where he couldn’t reach it. “That doesn’t mean I hate you or that I stopped loving you. It was hard to come to terms with the fact that you were gone. With love comes loss. That was a hard lesson I learned while grieving you.” He finally stretched his arm out enough to grab her hand and interlock fingers with her. “If I could go on the very adventure where we met, I would do it again without hesitation.”
Sniffling was heard as the hand Tails grabbed tightened its grip around his own. “I-I’m so sorry Tails…I m-made you suffer…” Cosmo used her other hand to wipe the tears from her face. Tails didn’t like hearing her cry. Every time she had during their adventure through space had always made him upset. “Could you come a little closer?” Cosmo stopped sniffling, a little confused at Tails’ request but decided to follow it and scooted her chair a little closer to the bed. “Closer.” Tails had said and Cosmo moved her chair right next to the bed with some hesitancy. “Could you lean forward?” What Tails had just asked shocked Cosmo to her core. “Tails I-I don’t think-” Tails cut her off. “Please?” She was quaking as she carefully leaned down to meet Tails’ gaze with her own. As quickly as Tails could, he raised his head and gave Cosmo a peck on the forehead. Jumping back, Cosmo placed her hand on her forehead with a large blush on her face and stared at Tails in disbelief. “I do still love you Cosmo and I haven’t stopped and I doubt I ever will.” Tails felt heavy weights come off of his lungs as he finally said what he’d been wanting to for a very long time.
Cosmo couldn’t believe her ears. Tails had never stopped loving her? Even after she had forced him to kill her? Why didn’t he hate her? It didn’t make any sense to her but she didn’t care all she wanted was to jump forward and give him the tightest hug she could. Thankfully, she remembered that Tails wasn’t in any condition to experience any extreme physical reciprocation. Cosmo sat back down in her chair and grabbed Tails’ hand again, their fingers interlocking as they had before.
When Sonic and Amy had finally returned with a doctor, a red cat in a lab coat holding a black doctor’s bag, and Tails and Cosmo were laughing at a story Tails was telling. “S-say it.” Cosmo shook her head, blushing but giggling. “No, i-it might embarrass him.” Tails rolled his eyes. “That’s the point.” Sonic and Amy were confused when Cosmo looked at Sonic. “G-good to see you again, M-mr. Needlemouse.” She burst into a laughing fit with Tails as Amy giggled behind Sonic and he rolled his eyes. “Ha ha ha. I’m throwing all your mints in the trash later.” Sonic said in a monotone voice, but he was smiling at the fact that his little brother and Cosmo were seemingly on good terms. When he looked down to see they were holding hands he realized they were on amazing terms. “No, you won’t.” Tails called his bluff when the doctor had politely asked Cosmo to get up so he could examine Tails. She stood up and the doctor got to work doing a few tests on Tails not too far from a normal check up.
As the doctor packed up his stuff he faced Amy and Sonic. “It’s a concussion. Don’t let him overexert himself for a few days and he should be fine. It might be best if he were to stay in bed the majority of the time.” They nodded and gave a quick thank you as he left. Sonic turned around to see Cosmo sitting on the bed, deep in another conversation with Tails and smiled. Amy nudged him and pointed her thumb to the door indicating that they should get more alone time. He nodded and they left the two alone, happy that things might get better for his little brother.