Sonic the Hedgehog one-shots

Comfort in a Thunderstorm

---------------------------------

The brothers experience a thunderstorm together for the first time. Turns out Tails is afraid of thunder, but this time he has someone to hold him.

...and maybe talking about fears was just what they both needed.

(Sonic is 12, Tails is 4)

----------------------------------

Sonic didn’t like the rain.

For one, he wasn’t a big fan of water in general, although he mainly didn’t like being in it. But rain often made it harder to run. He’d lost track of the amount of times he’d slipped in wet grass, or crashed into a mud puddle, or been blinded by a downpour and ran into a tree or something.

He didn’t like it, but he wasn’t afraid of it.

As he was soon to learn, it was a different story for Tails.

It had started sprinkling around the late afternoon, and by sundown it was pouring. The skies were overcast with dark, almost black clouds. They’d need to stop and find shelter somewhere, Sonic decided. It was already hard enough to keep moving during the day in the heavy rain. It would only be worse to try and get through it in the dark.

Tails had seemed unusually quiet. Sure, he didn’t talk a whole lot to begin with, but sometimes his little brother would go on rambles about something new he’d discovered; usually about mechanics and technology. The kid had taken a liking to such things the moment he’d first discovered them, and although he didn’t have any of his own tools and techy stuff yet, he was taking every opportunity to learn as much about it as he could. He’d been fascinated by Sonic’s plane, the Tornado, ever since he’d first laid eyes on it. Sonic had been thinking about buying him a computer or something for his birthday, whenever that was.

Did he actually understand all the stuff Tails told him about? No, not really. But it was fun to listen to him go on and on about his passions.

Tonight, however, his little brother had been silent for a couple hours at least. When Sonic glanced back to check on him, the little fox’s blue eyes were wide and nervous.

He cleared his throat as he stopped for a moment. “You okay, buddy?”

Tails jumped and looked up at him. “Yes!” he answered, a little too quickly. “Where are we gonna sleep tonight?”

Sonic looked up and scanned the horizon. “Dunno yet. I don’t see any trees. We might have to settle for burrowing tonight.”

“We shouldn’t go under a tree, anyway,” Tails protested. “If it starts making thunder, we might get struck by lightning if it hits the tree.”

Sonic looked down at him, surprised. “Oh, okay.” He glanced around. “I just don’t want to get flooded if we go underground is all.”

The little fox stared around for a moment. Something still seemed off about his demeanor, but Sonic couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Well, guess we’ll just keep moving until we find somewhere safe to stay for the night.” He sighed, then held out his hand. “Stay close, kiddo.”

It had taken him a while to get Tails to be comfortable with touch when they’d first met— which, granted, hadn’t been too long ago. A little under a year, perhaps? But Tails had been sensitive to it as a result of the bullying he’d had to endure before Sonic had met him and intervened. So it was safe to say that Sonic was a little taken aback when Tails not only took his hand immediately, he grabbed his entire arm and clung to it with both hands, standing barely a couple inches away from him.

They started walking, although Tails was more shuffling to keep up with Sonic’s longer paces. “You feeling okay, bud?” Sonic finally made himself ask.

His little brother hesitated for several seconds, then mumbled, “I’m just sleepy.”

It had been a long day. “Want me to carry you?”

“…Yeah.”

Sonic stopped walking, turned to crouch down, and held out his arms. Tails quietly climbed into his grasp, and as Sonic stood up again, this time holding his brother against his chest and one shoulder, he realized Tails was shaking. His heart rate seemed a little too fast, too.

But his little brother had already shown he didn’t want to talk about whatever was bothering him, so Sonic just held him close and continued walking, occasionally rubbing one hand over the fox kit’s back.

Maybe five minutes of silence passed before thunder started rumbling in the distance. Sonic kept moving, but he felt Tails stiffen slightly in his arms.

Finally, he spotted a few small caves just beyond the hill they were approaching. “Eureka!” he cheered quietly, and Tails made a tiny noise of acknowledgment. They were just entering the mouth of the biggest cave when a loud crack of thunder exploded just over their heads.

To Sonic’s surprise, Tails yelped at the sound and clung to him ever tighter, whimpering. Sonic just continued to hold him, even as he walked in deeper and sat down against a wall. He was tempted to ask some questions, but figured it was better to just stay quiet and be there for comfort.

Four cracks of thunder and four mini screams from Tails later, his little brother finally said something.

“I-I don’t like thunderstorms.”

“I got that, buddy,” Sonic replied quietly, trying for a teasing tone, but instantly regretted it. Tails probably wasn’t in the mood for jokes and sarcasm.

“That’s okay,” he added, after another few seconds’ hesitation. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. Everyone has fears.”

“Not you,” his brother mumbled.

Sonic paused. While it was true he liked to go about boasting that he feared nothing, it . . . wasn’t necessarily all true. He didn’t fear Eggman. He didn’t fear pain. He didn’t fear death. But . . .

He sighed. “No . . . I have fears too, buddy,” he forced himself to admit, and one of Tails’ ears perked up.

“Really? What is it?”

Oh boy, this was painful, but anything for your family, Sonic supposed. “A couple things, actually,” he confessed, albeit very softly. “I . . . had some bad experiences with water when I was younger. And I never learned to swim, so . . . you could say I’m afraid of drowning.”

Tails’ big blue eyes were bigger than ever. “Really?”

“Yup. That, and . . .”

“And what?”

Sonic exhaled heavily, then leaned back a little so he could meet the fox kit’s gaze more easily. “Losing you. Anything bad happening to you, actually.”

It took a moment, but that actually put a huge smile on Tails’ face. He was still shivering from his own fears, but he looked downright warm and fuzzy inside as he lay back down against Sonic’s chest, a light purr rumbling from his chest. “I love you,” he mumbled through a tired smile.

Sonic had never been one to express emotions or be all sappy, but dang it, everything was different with Tails. “Love you too, bro,” he whispered back, hugging him just a little tighter.

And they stayed like that for the rest of the night. Tails still jumped at every clap of thunder and whimpered here and there, but Sonic just kept holding him. Eventually, surely after another few hours had passed, Tails had fallen asleep, still cradled in his older brother’s arms. Sonic took a few minutes to enjoy the peacefulness of the moment before surrendering to sleep himself.

(Idk why the art is sideways but it's in the media lol)