Memory Lane

Stop Three: Struggling

After Tails had completely exhausted himself by crying for so long, he soon fell asleep in Sonic's arms. His breathing had steadied after a few minutes, before he fell asleep Tails had been having trouble breathing from crying so hard. Sonic didn't mind though, he knew that Tails really needed him now for emotional support. Sonic stood up with Tails in his arms still, he walked out of the workshop heading inside so he could put Tails in his bed. Once inside he made his way upstairs quickly, but carefully so he didn't wake Tails. He needed to rest, his brain was most likely a jumbled mess at the moment from all of those memories flooding back out of nowhere. Granted most of them were good memories of Y/N, but it was the fact that he had forgotten her in the first place... Sonic pushed the door to Tails room with his foot and walked towards the bed, placing him gently on the bed. As he covered the young fox up with his blankets he noticed that the carving form Y/N had fell from Tails grasp, Sonic picked it up and looked at it getting to examine it for the first time. He vaguely remembered seeing Tails with it when they had first met, and Tails was roughly about only five or six at the time. It never bothered him to ask where he got it because at the time it didn't really matter, what had mattered was reassuring Tails that he was safe and that not every person they came in contact with was out to get rid of him.

It was quite sad though, finding Tails battered and bruised unable to defend himself properly. What had he and Y/N done to deserve such treatment? He knew that sometimes they had to resort to stealing but that was somewhat reasonable, they did it to survive. Surely they couldn't have been considered that much of a threat after all the were both pretty young. He looked at Tails one last time before exiting the room so he could rest peacefully.

Tails tossed and turned in his sleep after Sonic had left, he began to whimper quietly as the same dream began to haunt him once again.

"Y/N please don't leave me!" Tails wailed, though Y/N didn't seem to respond instead she continued to walk away. "You promised not to leave me!" Tails shouted to her retreating form causing her to stop in her tracks, she turned around to face him. Her normally happy expression was replaced by a dark and terrifying one.

"Did you really believe that I would always be with you?" She sneered a evil grin on her muzzle, "Ha! You can be so gullible baby bro..."

She turned back around her tail swishing back and forth as she walked away leaving Tails in a state of shock. He had never felt so alone in his life, he let out choked sob curling into a quivering ball as he continued to cry.

No one loves you....

No... You're lying to me....

Who would want to stay with a freak like you....?

Please... stop....

You're worthless....

Stop....

She doesn't care about you, she's lying....

STOP!!

Tails gasped as he shot upright in his bed clutching his chest, his heart pounding against his ribcage. He glanced around the room, as he tried to regulate his breathing. His bedroom door was slammed opened and Sonic rushed through eyes wide and full of worry.

"Tails, buddy are you okay!?" Sonic cried as he ran to his side.

Tails put a hand to his hand still trying to catch his breath and shake away the remains of the nightmare. "Y-yeah, I-I'm fine...." He said quietly.

"Are you sure? I heard you yell 'Stop!' to someone, was it a nightmare?" He asked raising an eyeridge.

Tails looked down in embarrassment and nodded. Sonic sighed and sat down on the bed next to him, "There's no need to be ashamed of it, what was it about?" He asked staring at Tails still clearly worried, Tails didn't answer though. "Look, if you don't feel like talking about it that's okay." Sonic said noticing Tails reaction to the question. "If you don't mind me asking what exactly happened when Y/N disappeared?" He asked quietly, Tails looked up Sonic eyes wide and glossy with unshed tears. Tails knew Sonic wasn't trying to be nosy, he only wanted to get a better understanding of the situation.

Tails sighed then took a deep breath before answering....

The siblings were running through the forest with their pursuers hot on their tails. "Come on Bro, try to keep up!" Y/N called over her shoulder as Tails was struggling to keep hold of her hand as they raced through the trees. They were being chased by some bots, for a reason not known to them.

"What do they want with us?!" Tails shrieked as a claw belonging to one of the robots barely missed his right tail.

"I don't know but we're not sticking around to find out!" She replied as she picked up Tail quickly before jumping into the tree branches above them, she began to jump from branch to branch trying to outrun the bots. After about ten minutes or so Y/N finally ran out of breath, she stopped just outside of the forest by the mouth of a small cave. She put Tails down gently as she slumped down breathing heavily, Tails looked at her a bit worried.

"Y/N... Are you gonna be okay...? He whispered, they weren't sure if they were safe yet so he wanted to keep quiet just in case. Y/N looked at him and gave him a weak smile, before nodding.

"I'll be fine..." She glanced at the cave before looking back at Tails and pointed into the cave. "I want you to hide in there until I say it's clear, got it?" She told him standing up while wiping away some sweat from her furrowed brow.

Tails frowned, "I won't leave you, I can help." He insisted.

Y/N chuckled while shaking her head, "Man..., You're so stubborn." She smiled and bent down to ruffle his hair, "That's one of the many things I love about ya..." She whispered, kissing his forehead and pulled back with a sad smile on her muzzle. "I promised myself I would always put your safety before mine, so I intend to keep that promise." She said softly, and Tails eyes widened as it finally clicked.

"No... Y/N please don't leave me...." He begged.

"Don't worry, I'll be back. I'll come back for you once it's clear. I'm not leaving my precious lil bro behind!" She proclaimed proudly, then she lightly pushed Tails into the cave. "Now behave and stay here, I won't be long!" She called as she took off back into the woods, later followed by some a few crashes and loud cry that startled Tails but he didn't move. He wanted to trust that Y/N would come back just like she promised, Tails pulled out the carving Y/N had made him and held it close to hims body as he continued to wait for his sister's return.

Where are you...?

Seconds turned to minutes....

She'll come back, I know it....

Minutes turned into hours....

Y/N....

Y/N didn't come back....

Tails looked at Sonic for the first time since he began to speak, Sonic's eyes were narrowed as a frown slowly spread across his muzzle. "I waited for four and half days for her to come back, but she never did...." Tails sighed, he couldn't cry anymore even if he wanted to. He felt as if he cried every tear he had left in him, and not to mention he didn't want to be seen as a helpless crybaby any longer. "I went to look for her but couldn't even find her body, I'm pretty sure she's dead.... I searched for as long as I could, but they didn't even leave a trace of her..."

"Tails as much as I don't want to raise your hopes, I don't think Y/N's dead. But she's far from okay..." Sonic said slowly.