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Sonic’s distinct blue blur streaks past his workshop every so often, the wind brushing against the window and whipping the flexible branches around. Fall leaves dot the air, settling on the ground softly only to be lifted up once more.
He’s been watching the same leaf for a while now, the vibrant green stands out among its more mature siblings, not quite fitting in. Tails supposes he can relate to that. The machine he’s meant to be working on sits abandoned in front of him; he can’t be bothered to pretend to work on it now, anyway. A knock startles him, and he gets up with a sigh to answer it.
Amy and Cream greet him at the door. Amy holds out an envelope, light pink with a little heart sticker keeping it shut. Is it for Sonic? He opens his mouth to ask, but Cream beats him to it.
“Open it!” She demands, waving her hands around in uncontained excitement.
He peels the sticker off carefully, pulling out the card.
‘Miles,
We cordially invite you to Princess Cream’s tea party.
Signed,
Amy Rose and Cream’
The neat cursive clashes with Cream’s messy handwriting, her name taking up nearly half of the letter.
“Sooo…” Amy prompts, tilting her head forward.
Tails, always the gentleman, throws himself forward in a dramatic bow.
“I shall accompany you to tea, Princess Cream.”
She giggles, then grabs his hand and pulls them both away.
———
He’s already mildly regretting it, slouched over on the small bench, trying not to crush the dresses scattered about as he fights them for space.
“What about this one?”
Amy asks, turning towards him and posing.
The dress is gorgeous. It’s a soft red with white and pink hearts embroidered throughout, edged with white lace. Envy twists up through his stomach and Tails is suddenly revolted and guilty, what has Amy done wrong?
“It’s beautiful.” He says after a moment.
If she notices his hesitation, she doesn’t say anything, clapping her hands together instead.
“Perfect! Have you picked one out yet, Princess Cream?”
He watches as Amy helps Cream zip up a puffy yellow dress, the tulle engulfing her small form completely until Amy smoothes it over, retying the ribbon so that the bow on Cream’s back can contain the extra fabric.
“Your turn!” Cream points at him with a plastic wand and adjusts her tiara with the other. Tails raises an eyebrow.
“Boys don’t wear dresses.”
He says it simply, hoping to move on.
Cream frowns.
“But it’s a tea party! Everyone has to wear a dress or they can’t come.”
“You invited me!”
Cream crosses her arms and turns towards Amy, who glares at him. Tails shivers a little; she really can be scary.
“Ugh, fine!”
He begrudgingly flips through Amy’s wardrobe, his face burning. He’s thirteen, he shouldn’t have to play dress up with some stupid kid! He swears he didn’t act like her when he was six.
“What about this one?”
Amy holds out a bundle of light blue fabric and he takes it, lifting it by the hanger to get a better look.
It’s a simple dress; it has a white lacy collar (seriously, does everything Amy own have lace?) and puffed sleeves. The dress itself is a plain blue that flares slightly out at the waist, which is cinched with a white ribbon.
“Fine.”
It’s soft against his fur, not unpleasantly itchy or rough like clothing he’s had to wear in the past. Amy’s taller than him, but other than being slightly longer on him, the dress fits perfectly.
Tails glances up at the large mirror as Amy ties the bow. His mouth goes a little dry, and his stomach feels weird, light, like the feeling of relief after throwing up. It’s not particularly pleasant, but it’s not really unpleasant, either. He barely notices as Cream takes his hand, pulling him along to a table set with little plastic dishes.
He pretends to drink tea, trying desperately to ignore the odd feeling.
———
Tails edges the screwdriver into the stripped screw, carefully maneuvering it to try and leverage the little friction it has left. He manages to get it just right, and the screw shifts slightly; just enough to twist out with his pliers.
“Hey buddy, whatcha workin’ on?”
The pliers clatter against the table as he jumps.
“Sorry! Thought you heard me come in.”
Sonic puts his hands up and takes a step back, looking a bit guilty.
“It’s ok! I guess I didn’t hear you.”
He scratches the back of his head awkwardly.
“Uhh…” Sonic looks him up and down. “Nice dress, dude!”
Tails’ face turns a vibrant shade of red, and he stutters over his words, trying to explain himself.
“Cream?” Sonic asks knowingly, and Tails nods.
There’s no reason to still be wearing the dress.
The tea party ended hours ago, Vanilla dragging Cream off to put her to bed shortly before the sun went down. The sky is dark now; it’s later than he would normally stay up, but Tails has never been good at putting his projects down.
He takes off his gloves and touches the fabric with his palms. It’s a thin cotton with some sort of silky layer underneath that slides against his legs as he moves, tickling his fur slightly. He turns awkwardly then grimaces. If he’s going to twirl he might as well commit fully.
With a deep breath, Tails twirls, nearly tripping over himself. He stares down with a stupid expression as the skirt flares with his movements, swaying around him. He does it again, then once more. He’ll have to return it tomorrow, but he’s still got the rest of the night to waste.
———
Tails knocks on the door, the dress carefully folded over his arm.
“Hello? Oh, hi Tails!”
Amy invites him in, hopping on one foot as she forces on a shoe in a hurry.
“Sorry! I’ve got to meet Blaze, but you can throw that in the laundry bin in my closet, thanks!”
She waves and runs out the door, leaving him in shocked silence.
He feels odd moving through her house alone, like he’s intruding. He steps carefully, putting the dress in the laundry bin and turning to leave. But, well, Amy loves clothes. Her large walk in closet is filled to the brim with dresses of all kinds. Various colors catch his eye, and he finds himself hesitating at the closet door. Surely she won’t mind, right? She lets Cream wear her dresses all the time.
Tails’ heart feels like it’s going to beat through his chest as he thumbs through Amy’s collection, gloves catching slightly on sequence and pearls and other small details.
A white dress catches his eye this time. It’s sleeveless, held up by two thin straps tied in bows. It hangs straight down, ending just below his knees. He stares at himself in the mirror. His shoulders are wider than Amy’s would be, he thinks with dismay. There’s a slight gap in the chest as well, and he turns in shame, quickly taking it back off. He shouldn’t be doing this anyway, he thinks, guilt crawling up his throat.
———
The shop looms over him menacingly.
It’s unfamiliar, in a town about half an hour past his own by plane. He could just go back, he thinks, looking back towards the field his plane is on. No one would know. Then again, he came here because no one would know, he doesn’t want to make this trip a waste.
Tails ignores the widening pit in his stomach and walks in, looking around.
“Hi! Welcome to Bernadette’s Boutique, can I help you?”
An older mobian woman greets him, waving him over.
His throat is suddenly dry, his hands gripping the strap of his bag tightly.
“First time shopping for clothes? Follow me darling, I’ve got just the thing for you.”
Most mobians don’t wear clothing, the excuse for his anxiety settles his nerves a little. The woman, Bernadette, he assumes, leads him towards a small section in the back.
“These should fit you.” She mutters more towards herself than to him, but he nods along anyway.
She pulls two dresses from the rack and holds them out.
“Here, try one of these, blue will look nice with your fur.”
He takes the one closest to him and carefully shimmies into it, slipping his arms into the sleeves.
The dress is a deep blue with long, loose sleeves. Decorative buttons sit just below his throat.
“How does it feel, honey, does it fit ok?”
He nods, staring at the mirror.
“Oh good! Anything on these two racks should fit you, then! Let me know if you need any more help, got it?”
He nods again, and she leaves to greet another customer.
When the dress is carefully hung back up, Tails starts looking through the aisle. A sparkle catches his eye, and he pulls out the dress to get a better look. His breath leaves his lungs. It’s perfect, it’s so perfect he’s almost scared to hold it, worried he’ll somehow tear the delicate tulle or dirty it somehow. He unzips it and puts it on like it’s made of glass.
But when he gets it up, his hands can’t quite reach the back zipper, gloves fumbling to find the small metal through the swathes of fabric.
“Oh don’t worry, I’ve got ya!”
Bernadette comes to his rescue, zipping it up and patting him on the head.
“Special occasion?” She asks. “You’ll be the prettiest girl at the function! Give her a twirl.”
Tails' heart is racing. She thinks he’s a woman? Well, of course she does, boys don’t shop for dresses! Does that mean he looks like a girl? Do others think he looks like a girl? Does Sonic? His head spins as he does, the sparkles catching on the light and glinting off the mirror.
The dress is way too fancy. It’s several layers of light tulle covered in glitter. The skirt flares out at the waist and the sleeves puff up proudly, he looks like a true princess.
“You look stunning! The guys are going to throw themselves at you!”
Bernadette laughs at her own joke, gently patting Tails on the shoulder.
“What do you think? Is this the one?”
Tails doesn’t answer, staring at the mirror. He feels like he’s been doing that a lot lately.
Bernadette leaves him, saying something about being at the register. Her words wash over him. Should he get the dress? It’s not like he has anywhere to actually wear it, and it’ll probably just get covered in motor oil or something, anyway.
But the thought of having to part with the dress leaves a hole in his chest that’s raw and gaping. He checks the price tag. It’s $50, about what he expected after looking at dresses online.
He has just enough for it.
———
“Sonic, do you think I look like a girl?”
Sonic’s head shoots up at the question.
“Uhh, no…? Heh, why? Hey, you ok? Don’t worry, you’ll grow into a man just like your big bro!”
His words get frantic as Tails’ eyes begin to fill with tears. He looks up, trying to force back his tears.
“Hey little guy, it’s alright, I don’t think you look like a girl.”
The words make the dam break, and Tails launches himself at Sonic, sobbing.
———
They don’t talk about the incident.
The dress hangs in the back of his closet, shoved carefully behind some well placed boxes like a shameful secret. It kind of is, he thinks, boys aren’t really supposed to do things like hoard girls’ clothing then cry about it.
Now that he has it, it’s the only thing he can think about. When Cream wears her blue Mary Jane’s, Tails wonders if they would match his dress. When he sees Rouge outside talking with Knuckles, he stares at her makeup, wondering if it would look good on him, if it would go with the dress, or if the shade is too dark.
Do girls think like that, he wonders? Amy thinks about clothes a lot, but she also thinks about her friends and fighting eggman and other stuff. He goes back to working on his projects and tries not to think about it.
———
He’s sitting around, messing with his communicator and only half listening to the conversation between Amy and Sonic.
“Yeah and she said her parents were really rude about it, but luckily Silver talked some sense into them. Anyway, they keep calling her a Prince so she got into a fight with them. That’s why she’s staying with me right now.”
Tails listens, a little confused.
“Why would they call her a prince?”
The words are out before he can think about what he’s asking.
There’s an awkward silence for a moment before Amy responds, choosing her words carefully.
“Blaze was born a boy, but she’s actually a girl.”
Amy thinks for another moment.
“That means she’s transgender, so it’s very rude to call her a boy.”
Tails is a little annoyed that she’s talking to him like he’s five, but he wants her to keep going. Did Blaze look like a boy at first? Did she just go through girl puberty and figure it out? He wonders if it would be rude to ask.
“Uh, it’s kind of personal so try not to tell anyone, ok bud?”
Sonic looks embarrassed, like he forgot Tails was listening, which is how he usually shares sensitive information. He nods, and goes to his workshop. He’s got some research to do.
———
The internet… The internet says a lot of things.
Tails isn’t really sure what to think. He plays with the word in his head, mouthing it silently. Does he want to be a girl? It would explain the dress, but then wouldn’t he know sooner? How did Blaze know?
He finds a list of symptoms for ‘gender dysphoria.’ It kind of fits him, but he’s sure that if he looks up symptoms for cancer some of those would also fit him, so he’s not really sure if he’s overthinking it or not.
There’s definitely something wrong with him.
The others have noticed, and Sonic’s been hinting that Tails can ‘tell him anything’ and that ‘it’s ok if he needs to talk to someone.’ As much as he loves Sonic, he really doesn’t want him knowing about the dress and weird symptoms. Not until he’s sure of what’s wrong.
———
He doesn’t really mean to, but he can’t pass up the opportunity. Blaze will only be here for one more day, and the questions are killing him.
Tails finds her laying on a hill, her head resting on her arms as her eyes close. She acknowledges him with a twitch of her ear as he sits next to her, picking at the grass.
“You have something to ask me.”
His face goes red and he looks away, unable to meet her intense gaze.
“You don’t have to answer.”
She blinks at him.
“It’s- uh- personal.” He adds.
“Ask.”
Her demand is spoken with soft words, but it’s still a demand.
“You used to be a boy, how did you become a girl?”
The words stumble, odd and foreign as Tails struggles to find a way to word his question. He should have written notecards or something, he thinks stupidly.
“I took medicine to help me become a girl.”
It’s a vague answer, but it’s not quite what he’s looking for. He already knows about hormones and estrogen and stuff.
“But how did you know?” He stresses, worrying his gloves, knees tucked into his chest.
Blaze looks him up and down, and sighs. She stands, and beckons for him to follow her.
———
“You like wearing dresses?” She asks, holding his eye closed as she brushes powder onto the lid.
“Yeah.” He says, shame bubbling up. “I have a dress.” He admits.
“Do you like being called a girl?”
Tails thinks back, ignoring the oddly sharp feeling of her scratching eyeliner onto his (her?) face.
“I think so.”
She finishes and steps back.
“Do you like it?”
Tails turns towards the bathroom mirror, studying himself. He’s got purple eyeshadow on with little wings of eyeliner. His eyelashes stand out more now, and his cheeks are redder. The only thing he’s missing is something for his lips, but he can’t help but notice how much he looks like a girl.
“Yeah.” He says, staring at himself. “I like it.”
———
It takes a week of working herself up to even think about doing anything after Blaze leaves. She gifts her a small bag, something Tails has yet to open. It stares at her from the nightstand, almost as daunting as the dress.
Sonic is out. He’ll be out until tomorrow; he’s staying with Knuckles to binge all of the John Wick series, which is ‘too explicit’ for Tails, apparently. She eyes the nightstand again, then stands so suddenly that her head spins, reaching for the bag.
It’s got a small note that just says ‘give it a try’ and a few makeup items. The eyeshadow is blue. Her heart beats a little faster.
Her hands aren’t as steady as Blazes, but she’s used to working with small machines; the eyeliner looks decent after a few careful tries. She pokes herself in the eye with the mascara wand, but everything else goes smoothly.
The eyeshadow matches the dress nicely, she notes as she pulls it up. She still can’t zip it by herself, but she holds the back together to get a proper look.
She doesn’t cry, because crying would ruin the makeup she just spent an hour doing, but it’s a close thing. It’s… weird. She feels weird. She feels good. It’s hard to tell what all the swirling in her chest means or the fluttering in her stomach.
Then, a door slams and her heart drops.
“Hey, buddy, do we have any popcorn? Knuckles didn’t grab any but I thought we still had some packs left… oh.”
Sonic pauses in the doorway.
“Need some help with that?”
He zips up Tails’ dress then smooths it out, stepping back and giving her a once over.
“Lookin’ good!”
Sonic dramatically puts his thumbs up.
“Uhh… Tails, buddy, you alright?”
She struggles to breath, forcing each breath in then out like a machine that needs to be oiled.
“I’m sorry.”
Her hands turn into fists, balling the tulle up in her iron grip. She steps back, unsure of what to do.
“Whoah, hey, no reason to be sorry.”
She lets out a shaky breath, then forces herself to pull one in.
“I’m not supposed to do this, to- to be like this.”
“Why not?”
She shrugs. She doesn’t know what to do. Does she tell him? It seems like he already knows, but she’s not sure what she should say if he doesn’t know.
“I’m a girl.”
It comes out as one word rather than an actual sentence, but Sonic keeps up easily. He always does.
“Ok, yeah.”
He nods.
“I… was kind of wondering about the dress. I love you, no matter what. You know that, right?”
Tails stares.
“I love you, even if you’re my little sister now.”
He opens his arms and Tails launches herself into them, smearing makeup and tears all over Sonic’s tan fur.
“Is the fox joining us to watch John Wick?”
Tails nearly jumps out of her skin, staring at Knuckles with wide eyes. She’s sure she looks like a mess, eyes watery with her face covered in poorly done, now smeared, makeup.
Sonic looks panicked, eyes flipping from Tails to Knuckles as he assesses the situation.
Knuckles taps his foot impatiently.
“I’m a girl now.”
She blurts out, staring at Knuckles. She’s not sure why she did that, will he think she’s weird? She’s interrupting their movie time, he’s probably already pretty mad at her.
“Is the girl fox watching John Wick with us?”
Knuckles fiddles with his hands now, still waiting for an answer.
Sonic turns to Tails.
“Want to watch John Wick?”
She nods.
“Good! Where is your popcorn, hedgehog?”
She follows them into the kitchen, then to Emerald island, almost in a haze.
The movie comes on and Knuckles hesitates before pressing play.
“She will be ok?”
He stresses, eyeing Tails.
She rolls her eyes, heart flying at both his concern and his quick adaptation to her new identity.
“I’ll be fine.” She assures him.
Fifteen minutes later the movie is paused as she sobs, trying not to look at the screen as Sonic consoles her. Maybe John Wick is a little much for her.