ALPHABET SOUP (01)

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is for
✧ 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐄 ✧

Nothing hurt Madison Wachowski more than the deep despondency glued on Sonic's fluffy face as a distance was put between them. It hurt her to get on a plane for San Fransisco to help her sister Rachel with family matters; she never saw such... heartbreak. Why was he so broken by her leaving? Why was he fighting Tom to get to her?

Something grabbed her leg as she turned away and it held her down like a ton of bricks. Seconds later, her husband was at her side once more with furrowed brows and they both stared down at the space hedgehog stuck to Maddie's leg.

"Come on, Sonic. She has to go," he told the hedgehog gently, who refused to let go of the woman. Tom remained as patient as he could with the usually peppy blue boy, but he was wildly concerned with the new behavior as his stance went akimbo.

Maddie drew in a deep breath before slowly releasing it and speaking sweetly to her little boy, "It's alright, sweetie. I'll come back. It's only three days, and you know you can call me whenever."

"But... I don't wan-want you to leave," came Sonic's staggered reply, the boy nearly drowning in his tears. "You ca-can't leave." His grip tightened.

A group of passerby were awing as the sight of a young boy clinging to his mother, which annoyed Tom to no end; it wasn't cute, it was serious, and again, he was extremely worried why Sonic was acting so in the first place—it wasn't like Sonic to convey so much... negative emotion.

Gently, Maddie stroked his fur back, drawing down his quills. "I love you so much. I'll see you Monday night." A pause. "I'll call you as soon as I get to Rachel's, okay?"

Reluctantly, Sonic peeled his arms off of the woman's leg, but remained on the floor with his head down in morose. Maddie bent down and planted a final kiss on his head before hurrying off to her plane, which was minutes from departing. Sonic watched as she disappeared in the distance and he burst into an ugly, sobbing fit he tried to stifle and silence, causing Tom to scoop him up like a baby in hopes to comfort him.

"Hey, little buddy," Donut Lord sang in a sweet voice, slightly babying him as he connected his forehead with Sonic's. "It's okay. She's not leaving forever." They headed outside to the clementine twilight, walking to the truck in the congested parking lot, and Tom plopped his rump in the flatbed upon arrival, caressing the boy in his arms and humming to him for comfort.

A long while had passed when Tom moved Sonic to face outward towards the airport, hugging him from behind, and as a plane took off down the runway, Sonic's negative feelings had ceased, but briefly. He looked up to the sky and said nothing.

Donut Lord waved to the plane, having no idea if it was his wife's plane or even if she could see them. Didn't matter—he hoped it would make his hedgehog son feel better, and for a moment, it seemed it had for Sonic waved weakly as well, wiping his sloppy, snotty face with his gloves. His crying had finally ceased and now only the symptomatic aftermath would plague him.

"Well, little buddy," began the sheriff of Green Hills, "what do you wanna do? It's just you and me for three days."

"I—" a small interruption of sniffling— "wanna go to San Francisco," mumbled the teenager, "and be wi-with Maddie."

"I know, kid, but we're going to hafta stick with plan B," and Tom sighed when he received no answer following his statement. After another brief silence, he began again, "You want ice cream?"