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It was 2 in the morning, and usually, the two-tailed fox would never stay up this late, especially on what would be a day of relaxation for him. Many of his days so far have been take-it-easy days: hang out with his big bro Sonic, restock on his mint candies, spend a couple of hours honing his skills as an engineer… On such a relaxing, stress-free couple of days, he would be dying to catch up on his rest.
His body told the opposite, however. Eyes that look like they could crumble any second, namesakes lying motionless compared to their usual happy movement, and body snuggling into whatever warmth he could find nearby his small, soft, and comfy bed, young Prower would cry into his pillow.
Most of his mumbling was unintelligible due to his head being stuck right in the center of his pillow, though some mumbles were.
“It wasn’t fair. This isn’t FAIR!”
A slam to the pillow, an ear-piercing yell that was covered by the pillow's softness. Nothing about this was fair to him. He couldn’t stand it, he couldn’t stand reality. His tired body would be awakened constantly by nightmares every single time he tried to rest, and he had enough. He was afraid to sleep while also angry at the world, so he stayed angry. He kept cursing the world, cursing fate, rage seeping into his soul and slamming everything around him until there was nothing left but
void.
One that soon transformed into metal, one that soon encapsulated space. Where was he? Where did he go? His once furious heart relaxed at the sight, turning into emotions of curiosity instead.
That curiosity and relaxation soon ended, however, when he realized he couldn’t move…
and realized where he was at.
Positioned straight at the starry sky of space, the young fox would have his hands straight on the Sonic Power Cannon. Body paralyzed from shock at the dreaded sight, he saw what he would never want to see again. A sight that he kept trying to banish into the depths of his mind but always resurfaced from his feelings of grief and guilt.
Before his eyes stood a girl with long, green hair, pink flowers on both sides of her hair with vibrant green leaves around them, curving elegantly on each side. Her long green and yellow dress flowed through space, she was beautiful.
Who knew beauty could be so cruel, too?
Her voice calm and untrembling, she would speak words Tails wished he had never heard.
“Please, shoot me.”
No. He couldn’t. How could he shoot someone he loved so dearly, someone he wanted to protect for the rest of his days? Tears shedding down the fox's face, he resisted pulling the trigger, his hands trembling at the keys that laid in front of him. There had to be something else he could do. In an instant, the fox's keen mind was filled with thoughts, thinking on every possible direction he could face this… but nothing felt right. Nothing did. Rage came back to his heart, screaming at the world around him.
“I DON’T WANT IT TO END LIKE THIS!” Tails slammed at the desk around him, anger seeping through his body and almost suffocating him from deep within. He couldn’t stand the feelings within his soul, and kept screaming, his emotions taking full control of him. This wasn’t fair.
In the middle of his screams, however, he felt the warm embrace of a hug that stopped him dead in his tracks.
It was Cosmo, reaching out to him in the form of a warm, loving hug. He was confused, stunned, and unable to speak. Tails’ eyes watering up even more, his whole face was soaked up with tears as he reciprocated the hug she gave him, seeing soon after that there was a shot wound in the center of her chest.
“Tails…”
He looked up to the sound of Cosmo’s voice, eyes of panic showing clear as day on the two-tailed fox.
“Please…”
A touch to the fox's chest. “Keep me close to your heart, will you?”
Sobbing noises soon turned intelligible, giving Cosmo a tighter hug in response. “O-Of course I will… I’ll always keep you close, even after my final day.”
A sad smile, the fox would grin. “After all, I love you.”
Cosmo would return a smile, soon giving Tails a small kiss right on his head. Blushing a bit at the sudden kiss, he covered his face with his namesakes, getting a giggle from Cosmo in return that made him blush even more.
Soon enough though, the Seedrian would feel herself fading away. Her expression turned somber, she would begin to fly away into the far abyss of space. Once Tails put his namesakes back down and saw the sight, he couldn’t help but reach out, his soul beginning to hurt even more.
“Wait, no, I’m not ready yet…!”
Cosmo would only fade away even more, trying to speak out to him though soon realized no sound was coming out of her anymore. At the sight, Tails would only begin to tear up more as the void around them began to fade too.
“COSMO!!!”
…
Tails would wake up from another nightmare, tear stains all over his pillow. His body was cold and full of sweat, looked like he managed to get another hour in tonight. Getting up off of a total of 2 hours of sleep, the two-tailed fox would put the plant pot gently on top of the desk near his bed, angled towards the rising sun. Grabbing a watering can that was placed underneath his bed, Tails began to water the plant for the first time that day.
His soul no longer feeling full of rage, he would smile sadly at the seed that blossomed further inside the pot. He knew his mind was playing tricks on him when he saw Cosmo replacing what should’ve been the plant itself he was looking at, though appreciated the sight regardless, showing a bright smile at yet another hallucination from lack of sleep.
“May we meet each other again someday, Cosmo.”