Chapter Text
It was another one of those days, the ones where Tails didn't feel like he had the energy to do anything but work on projects he hadn't finished yet. He didn't get any sleep until very late last night due to his past mistakes and failures popping up in his mind again. Most of the time, he could ignore them but there were times where he couldn't deny that he was useless some of the time and even a bit of a coward. It always hit him after one of his and Sonics grand adventures because his analytical mind always went over every little detail about what he could or couldn't have done to make things go a little smoother. It was always one of his machines malfunctioning at the wrong time or just barely having enough energy to carry out a specific purpose. The worst part was that no matter how hard he tried or how advanced his tech got there was always that specific pattern. The most recent one being on the Starfall islands where Sage had to sacrifice herself in order to stop an evil planet from consuming their own. Tails didn't normally care about how Eggman felt since he was always trying to kill them, but seeing him grieve for an AI he had just invented not too long before the events made him feel a little guilty, plus he could rela-.
Tails slapped himself before the thought could finish itself and tried to focus on putting what little energy he had to making the barely nutritious breakfast he had gotten from his fridge and freezer. A box of frozen waffles and a gallon of apple juice sat on the counter as he was lost in deep thought of previous events. He had finally managed to plop the waffles into the toaster and pour himself a glass of apple juice before putting the box and gallon back where they previously were. When the waffles were ready, Tails had already finished drinking the small glass of apple juice and put the empty glass in his dishwasher before swiping the warm pastries and walking off to his lab.
Whether it was the food or the fact he was finally in his habitat, Tails felt like he had a bit more energy to put towards finishing some projects, working on unfinished ones and starting new ones altogether. That being said, his thoughts from both last night and in the kitchen still lingered in his mind despite the slightly more positive attitude he felt when working in his lab. Some days he just couldn't avoid having negative thoughts about himself and his past failures no matter how deep he inserted himself into his work. It got to a point where he just decided to stop and sit at his desk and let the thoughts flow so that they run their course. He thought about calling Sonic but his depressive state convinced him that he'd ruin whatever good day his big brother was having. He just sat there in the dark confines of his lab with tears quietly running down his cheeks, trying to let out all of his negative emotions so the build up doesn't hurt him later. All the windows were closed except for one right next to the desk he mainly sat at.
The sunlight beamed directly on a small white pot with a little sprout right in the middle of the soil inside it, that window was the only one that was never closed during the day. As Tails' eyes fell on what he considered to be the biggest failure of his life, the silence was broken with a choked sob from his throat. It wasn't like he didn't like thinking about her, but on days like this is when it really hurt the most to think about that day. He had gone over the events in space multiple times trying to see if there were a different way, an outcome where everyone came to their homes old and new safe and happy. He knew, however, that he couldn't change the past no matter how much he liked it. Of course, he knew the Chaos Emeralds could help him do it but when Sonic found out about those plans he had talked Tails out of it because neither of them really knew what consequences that could have. Tails laid his chin on his desk and stared at the sprouting bud he had oh so carefully cultivated.
Under Tails' workbench were multitudes of gardening books he'd picked up from bookstores and some he'd gotten from Amy and Cream. He was never sure if he was doing any of it right but the information got him this far so he must be on the right track. Paranoid concerns popped into his head every time he had carefully cared for the little sprout as if it was a sheet of paper mere inches from a bright flame. He wasn't sure if the conditions of his planet were even right for whatever this plant was, but he was definitely going to make sure it's the strongest this plant would be. The many harmless tests he'd done on the plant seem to suggest that he's doing the best he can but the smallest nugget of doubt still persisted in his mind. What if it's not enough? What if it needs more water? Less water? Higher quality soil? Direct contact with the atmosphere? Amy and Cream had constantly calmed Tails down on any slight difference the tests showed, even bawling at some points because of how concerned he was. They had always been able to reassure him that it was fine and he just needed to keep doing what he was doing. He was ripped from his thoughts when his wrist watch alerted him that it was time to water the said plant. He got up to grab the watering can to find it was empty. Sighing, he left his lab to fill it up so he could go back to brooding.
...
Tangle was a lemur of many accidents and everyone who knew her for more than an hour would be familiar with the idea. It wasn't too long ago that day when she had decided to do some tricks on her bike just for the heck of it when she crashed into a rock and her bike split in multiple pieces. Once she had all the pieces in a large sack she had started trekking towards Tails' place to see if he could fix it and maybe even upgrade it. "Maybe I could convince him to add some rocket engines. Ooh! Or make it into a hover bike! That would be Awesome!" She thought aloud to herself on the trail. Her mind was filling with unlikely possibilities of what Tails could do with her bike as she made her way to his home. Her usual wide smile became strained when she started up the hill to Tails' place. After multiple embarrassing minutes of struggling and straining to bring the sack up the hill she finally managed to get it up there. She plopped the sack down on the ground and lay against it to take a break and wipe the sweat off her brow. "I hope he has air conditioning in there too..." She said between catching her breath.
When she finally regained the energy to stand and walk with the load over her shoulder Tangle came towards the keypad that adorned Tails' lab door. As she blankly stared at the keypad she tried her best to recall what Sonic had told her what the passcode was. Normally she'd work through trial and error until she got the right one but she also remembered Sonic saying that one wrong code will set off his security system. She rubbed her temples trying to remember the code. "1992?..." she mumbled out cautiously to no one in particular. With a shaky hand she pressed the buttons before fearfully hovering over the enter button. In a few swift movements, she pressed the button as fast as she could before jumping back and going into an exaggerated martial arts pose. She was only met with the sound of the locks clicking out of place and the door opening ever so slightly. Grabbing the sack, she slowly approached the door still paranoid that a laser could pop out and shoot at her in any moment. She finally pushed the door open to be met with an entirely dark lab filled with tech and tools scattered about. She quietly stepped in and shut the door behind her leading to her being met with darkness except for one spot.
Placing the sack with the broken bicycle down in an empty spot on the floor, Tangle's eyes landed on the only plant in the entire lab. She walked over to it and sat down at what she presumed was Tails' workbench to get a better look at the small plant. "Didn't take you for much of a gardener." She said as she carefully picked up the pot from its place on his workbench. Tangle brought it close to her face to inspect it and carefully turn it in her hands. "Maybe it's some new experiment. But if it is...I probably shouldn't be messing with it." She was about to place the pot back in its exact place before hearing something behind her. Wincing, she turned to see that Tails had just entered his lab with a watering can and was looking between her and the pot. She knew she was in trouble when his pupils dilated and he bared his fangs. He didn't even say a word as he rushed to her and yanked the pot from her hands. He was holding it as if it could break at any moment. "What do you think you're doing?! You can't just barge in here and touch her!" He had practically snapped at her as if she had just broken his arm. "Look I didn't know that-did you just call that plant a her?" That question made Tails even angrier somehow, but he couldn't get into anything physical right now while holding whatever was left of the girl he loved. He carefully walked over to his workbench, pushing Tangle out of the way and placing it back in the sunlight.
When Tails had pushed Tangle out of the way she had felt a little pain and tripped over whatever tool was on the ground to only land face first in the sack that had her metal bike. Needless to say it stung. She groaned before she stood back up a little dizzy to see Tails at his workbench shielding the plant from her sight and start to water it. "Get out." he said a little suddenly as he slammed the watering pot on his workbench. "Look I just-" but Tails interrupted her before she could finish asking him to help her. "Leave!" he turned around and screamed at her, but even in the darkness Tangle could see streaks of tears falling from his eyes. That's when she saw it, the look of loss Whisper had always had in her eyes whenever she had nightmares. More than once did Tangle have to comfort the mostly tough wolf and promise her that Mimic was far, far away. Tangle even remembered Whisper grabbing her wispon after waking up and had to talk her into putting it down before she shot Tangle, who she had thought was Mimic in disguise. Tangle wanted to laugh at that memory but now was not the time.
She spread her hands in front of her and slowly approached Tails, trying to keep the calmest expression as she did so. "I'm not gonna hurt you or your pl-her. If you have anything you'd like to talk about I'm right here Tails." She slowly sat down a healthy distance away from him, just far enough where they wouldn't be able to reach each other. "If you have anything you want to say I'll listen." She sat still, staring intently at Tails who had started to look confused, but his expression turned somber as he let his shoulders slump down and slid his chair for the pot to be in Tangle's view. He beckoned her to come closer and she did, but made sure she wasn't being too sudden with her movements. "This is all that remains from Cosmo. She was the girl i fell in love with when the Metarex threatened our entire galaxy. I...I had to...sh-shoot her i-in order to-" He wasn't able to finish his sentence when Tangle enveloped him in a careful hug. She had heard about the Metarex a few times before from passing conversations between Sonic and Amy and she always found it weird that it always concerned Tails in some way. Whenever she asked about it, they would brush the subject off but Tangle wasn't that stupid she also learned about boundaries while being with Whisper so she distracted herself whenever they avoided the topic.
Tangle felt Tails' hands weakly wrap around her as he sobbed quietly into her. She looked down at the fox as she started to slowly rub his back and look down at the sprout. She would scold herself about being reminded not to touch other peoples stuff later Tails needed comfort and she was willing to give that to him. After a few minutes his sobs finally died down and he backed away from Tangle to wipe his eyes. She sat back down on the floor and looked at Tails. "Is that all that's bothering you Tails? Missing Cosmo?" He shook his head when he noticed a sack on the floor and was about to point it out but was stopped when Tangle placed her hand on his. "Not important. We can get to that later. I just need you to talk to me right now." Tails paused for a second and slowly looked down at the floor as tangle sat back down. "It's not just Cosmo...that was probably my biggest failure." He rubbed his thumb on the pot as he continued to speak. "I just can't seem to do anything right. Whenever I need to make a new invention to save the world they always either malfunction or just barely work. Not only that, but I've been nothing but a coward and a burden whenever I go on adventures. I'm always the one that needs saving when they should just go after what they need to in order to save the world. They don't need me." When he choked out that last line Tangle gave him a reassuring smile. "Tails, You've made mistakes, that's all." He was about to rebuttal but Tangle placed a finger on his lips. "You aren't perfect Tails and neither am I and, as hard as is to believe, neither is Sonic. We've all made our fair share of mistakes. Want to know one of my biggest? Recommending the name Diamond Cutters when we needed a new team name with Whisper right in the room." She made sure to emphasize that last point when she finally removed her finger from his lips.
Tangle smiled at him again before getting a bit closer to meet his eyes. "As for Cosmo you did what you had to Tails she would be proud and so are we. All of us are proud of what you did. Yes it's very sad that she had to take that shot but I'm sure she loves you now more than ever wherever she is because of it." When she finished speaking, Tails spontaneously went in for another quick hug before letting go. "Thanks Tangle I-i really needed to hear that." She nudged his shoulder wearing her usual smile. "No problem little buddy, anytime." Tails chuckled before looking back at the sack on his floor. He flew over to it and opened it to see the remains of a bicycle. He cocked his eyebrow at Tangle with an expression of fake annoyance apparent by his smirk. Tangle blushed and rubbed the back of her head before Talking. "Yeah I...might have made a mistake a little earlier so...do you think you could fix it? Please?" Tails rolled his eyes as he flew towards his toolbox with the sack in his hands while Tangle followed suit. As Tails did his best to focus on fixing the bike and Tangle made unnecessary suggestions to what he could add to her bike, the little sprout started glowing faintly in the sunlight.