Tails could not stop himself from recalling that fateful morning - where his brother disappeared from their very planet itself. In the early days following Sonic's disappearance, nobody had been alarmed or surprised in the least.
Sonic always went off on adventures by himself regularly, that's just how he is. The desire to leave and travel becomes too much for a vibrant person like him, and he can't handle staying in one place for too long. For some adventures he'd be gone for a few days at the most, others would take almost a whole month and not a day past. Then at the end of Sonic's escapades, he returned with adrenaline and cheerful from his adventures.
It took an entire month to pass for Tails to actually grow worried. Sonic is the world's hero and beloved by all, wherever he went there would be news and rumors about his whereabouts.
Nothing.
There wasn't a hint to reveal wherever he's gone.
Tails ignored his concerns. Shoved them deep down and immersed himself into his projects in his lab - desperately hoping that Sonic would be back soon. His hopes were in vain though when the second month began rolling in with no signs of Sonic returning safely.
Except it never happened.
No matter how much he tried, he couldn't believe it - his brother was missing and he didn't do a thing about it until it was too late.
Tails can recall that fateful morning, that day he let his brother slip through his fingers, not knowing that it would be the last morning he would see him. If he would ever see him again.
That day had been an ordinary one, so painfully normal that it is impossible to imagine how everything could change. That fate could be cruel.
Sonic woke up at dawn, him being an early bird and all, and had made a nice breakfast for himself, Tails, and their best friend, Knuckles the echidna. Knuckles liked to drop by at breakfast for awhile in the morning before returning back to Angel Island to guard the Master Emerald.
Tails had to be dragged out of his lab sometimes, though the hearty and sweet aroma of food coaxed him out. Every day Tails would either see Sonic standing at the stove with a pink little apron on him - courtesy of one Amy Rose - and a spatula in his hands stirring up eggs or bacon. He could picture every little detail he never paid attention to except in memories.
Like the lazy lopsided smile Sonic would give him when Tails would yawn sleepily and set the table, the quiet humming Sonic would do that could be heard over the sound of sizzling bacon, or how he would ruffle Tails' bangs after he finished cooking and placed a delicious breakfast on the table. Tails used to grumble whenever Sonic would do that, and Sonic would beam mischievously.
With Knuckles, Sonic would huff and tease that the echidna only liked him for his cooking. The two long time friends would banter and bicker as they sat and ate together.
The only somewhat new thing had been the restless actions and behavior Sonic had that morning. The way his eyes stared off outside, wanting to travel and see new sights. How he couldn't sit still, letting his fingers tap against the table and constantly bouncing his leg. Those were just little signs Sonic had whenever he was about to go out and start a new adventure after staying in one place too long.
Tails thought it had to have been that. Sonic did disappear on serious occasions without saying goodbye or leaving a note about his whereabouts, if anything everything that day had been normal.
When the truth hit the fox, the feelings of guilt and shame settled into him and he felt as if he's been dragged underwater with those feelings as the weights. How could he be that horrible of a brother? To push his worries away, and essentially push the last chance of finding Sonic away at the same time.
Despite being known as a genius and the brains of the operation. Tails hadn't a clue what to do. He had been utterly lost without Sonic. See, it had always been Sonic leading the way, Sonic always figured out what to do when things went wrong and he always went to go save the day. Sonic is his big brother, the hero.
Now Sonic isn't here.
He isn't anywhere.
The months began ticking off of the calendar, time kept going and Tails became lost with grief after each passing day that stretched out into months.
Time flew by fast and it had already been a year and the world had figured out too late that Sonic was missing. People began to talk and rumors started becoming more common. Tails and Knuckles rounded up all their friends and everybody spread out across the world to find Sonic. All hoping deep in their hearts that he's okay, hoping he'll be found soon.
It had been Team Dark who came up to Tails and Knuckles and revealed that with their data and Intel at GUN and explained that Sonic was gone. Completely off the map, they weren't sure if he was even in this planet anymore.
That horrible realization almost broke Tails' heart.
Was he kidnapped? Was it an adventure gone wrong? What happened? Were there enemies involved? Was Sonic trapped in some cell somewhere, hoping that he'll be saved?
Was his brother even alive?
That thought haunted Tails everyday. There was little to dissuade the thought, to prove that horrible possibility wrong.
There was far too much evidence pointing to that than Tails would like - that any of them would like to admit. Sonic and the other heroes all had their own type chaos readings since they're all very powerful, Sonic and Shadow tying as the most powerful of the mobians, Tails and Omega worked together to gather up data on each one of their friends and allies. All of their readings could be found even halfway across Mobius itself with just a few taps.
All except for Sonic.
At least until now, that is.
Years of inventing had resulted in Tails's greatest invention. A multi-dimensional portal cannon. Using the chaos power data from their friends and the chaos emeralds themselves, Tails finally found the final puzzle piece in bringing Sonic back.
. . .
Rays of sunlight peaked through ancient glass, the sunshine illuminating his bedroom with golden gleams and perfectly outlining Lance's silhouette.
Sonic used to remember how back at his original home on Mobius, he recalled how he had been an early bird that rose when the sun would. Now here he is, the time is now nearing noon and Sonic has yet to leave his bed. Well, maybe he could've if it wasn't for Lancelot holding him tightly in his sleep. Their bodies were entangled together, with Lance's arm pressing their chests together.
Waking up and engulfed in a pleasant warmth had been a wonderful feeling, his emerald eyes fluttering open to take in his surroundings with his bleary vision. Golden sunlight peaked through ancient glass of multiple colors, illuminating Sonic's bedchamber and bathing it in the shades of the rainbow.
Though Sonic couldn't move or stretch his limbs as he pleased, he didn't mind in the least. Sonic nuzzled his head in the crook of Lance's neck, mumbling quietly, "I know you're awake too."
"Not as long as you have been." Lance said, he smiled fondly with love and pressed a kiss on the top of Sonic's head. "Why didn't you wake me, dear? I would have released you from my ghastly grip sooner."
Lance's heart soared when he heard his love laugh freely at that. Sonic shifted in the bed to gaze at his knight, "You're warm, I don't want to leave bed when you're so cute in your sleep." Sonic grinned cheekily. "I think those are pretty good reasons. That and I love you!"
The knight was going to respond to Sonic's lovey energy, only to be interrupted by loud knocking on the bedchamber doors. "Oi, are you lovebirds going to leave your nest? Or shall I send out Percival and Galahad to drag you out?"
Sonic rolled his eyes, "Scared to come in and do the job yourself, Gawain?" He teased.
"Of- of course not! Me, scared? That's a preposterous thought there, my king." Sonic snickered knowing that Gawain's face must be as red as his fur.
"I suppose if the big, bad, Gawain says we have to." Sonic kissed Lance and the two untangled their bodies, trying to savor the warmth of the other and the warmth of the thick cozy blankets.
. . .
In Tails's lab had been the fox himself, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, Silver, Blaze, and Espio all in varying levels of shock and amazement. Everybody couldn't believe their eyes. Time kept moving at an annoyingly slow pace made the atmosphere in the air tense, like the sluggish ticking of an almost broken clock where the seconds counted down, agitation consistent with every tick, click, and tok.
After numerous seconds turned into several minutes, one by one the Mobians began to come to their own realizations that this was not going to work. In the end - all of their searching and helping had been fruitless.
Amy, allowing her sisterly instincts kick into overdrive, opened her mouth to speak her words of sorrow, bitter regret, and resignation that Sonic was, is, and will remain gone. Since nobody else had been willing to speak. Only to press her lips together after seeing Tails' look of sudden triumph interlaced with shock.
Then, Tails's machine seeming to come to life, whirring heavily and promptly that it startled everybody out of their thoughts. As if it was automated, the end of the over-large cannon jerked into different directions and trying to pinpoint a certain location.
It paused towards the center of Tails' lab, and emitted several loud beeps that sped up faster and faster - at it's climax it fired. A vibrantly glowing, violet portal struck the ground at the size of a ring. Mere moments passed and the Mobians waited with bated breaths for the portal to start growing in size. Amy, Blaze, and Silver took multiple steps backwards after almost falling through the portal that had reached the size of an average car.
Silence followed immediately after. The portal cannon, in laymans terms, had powered off and lowered downwards into a resting position with one final beep.
Despite all being mute at the moment, it was clear that everybody had the same thought - It worked!
Soon there had been a short, distant scream coming from the portal. The scream had been cut short when something, no, someone cloaked in red with a golden helmet covering their face had been shot through the portal like a bullet and landed next to the portal with a painful groan. There had been another surprise when a silver, intricate sword followed and clattered loudly next to them, Silver had been fast to confiscate it though - just in case. Once the sword and it's owner came through the portal flickered between the dimensions until fizzing out completely.
Tails flew next to the unconscious being, tentatively testing the waters to see if - Chaos help them - this person is Sonic, that all their searching and praying had come through. For Chaos sakes, the person had the cobalt fur and spiky quills, even if their face was covered their body's appearance wasn't and it had been shockingly clear to see that this person has to be Sonic.
"Tails, I think we should wai-" Except he was tired of waiting, tired of everybody walking on eggshells around him.
Tails's hadn't paid the voice any attention, his mind had been running too fast for him to think about his consequences or what could go wrong, his heart thudded against his chest with heavy thumps at such a fast pace, he swears that everybody could hear it. The person laid deathly still upon the ground with no signs of stirring soon.
Wasting no more time, Tails inhaled a sharp breath and pulled off the mask in one single swipe to see Sonic's resting face. A sob almost threatened to escape Tails, who had been trying to keep his unshed tears at bay. It's really him, his brother is home, they found him...
Moments after the mask had been removed, the unconscious hedgehog jolted up, his hand reaching for a weapon, and then turning surprised when he grasped at nothing.
"Tails you need to listen-"
"He's scared-"
Those voices of his friends didn't matter. Nothing else did for the time being to the fox. "Sonic? Sonic? Can you hear me? I know this is overwhelming, but you need to focus." Tails knelt down beside his brother, Tails' fingers twitched as he resisted pulling Sonic into a bone-crushing hug and never letting go. Sonic only stared at Tails, frowning in obvious confusion - and this caused ripples of concern inside the group of Mobians. The cobalt hedgehog didn't recognize Tails.
He was seeing somebody else in his place. But, who?
Then Sonic's face fell after becoming more aware of his surroundings, the poor hedgehog unconsciously backed away from Tails and let his gaze roam around the lab with narrowed eyes - emeralds encased with an apparent uncertainty and fear.
"Sonic? What's the matter?"
Knuckles stepped next to Tails, and said, "He's adjusting. I don't think he's handling it well."
It had been clear that Sonic did not hear a single word from them - his body instead going rigid and stiff as a statue. He shut his eyes, a quiet hiss escaping his lips were the only sound he's made so far, and brought a metal gloved hand up to the side of his head. Amy knew his head must've hurt, as well as his body, especially from the way he had been brought here via portal to hard ground.
"Somebody get him some water, pain meds, and a blanket. Now." Amy ordered. She smiled appreciatively when Espio and Silver both nodded and left the lab in search of these items. "A lab isn't the best spot to keep him-"
Abruptly, Sonic's eyes snapped open with a sharp gasp. Scrambling to get off of the cold floors, Sonic nearly succeeded in doing so by standing on his weak legs, only to succumb to his weakened body and dizzying mind. Sonic swaying on his feet, ready to topple over and faint from moving too fast.
Shadow couldn't help staring at Sonic, he couldn't help the worry overtaking his expression at the hedgehog's crumpled - and scared - state. Sonic had been disheveled upon his abrupt arrival, one of which Tails orchestrated with the use of an inter-dimensional portal made through hundreds of trials and errors. Tails never gave up though while making that thing, even after all hope of Sonic's return had waned thin.
The ebony hedgehog carefully looked at Sonic, finding every little detail and not liking what he sees. The way Sonic looks like he's going to pass out at any second. Or, how Sonic's eyes focused onto Tails and looked promptly confused - not as if he's seeing a stranger for the first time but rather another person entirely. The odd places of golden armor and silver sword meant he obviously became used to some form of danger.
Against who though?
These questions kept building up in an unbalanced tower, ready to topple and collapse if there were no answers to balance it out. Just like Sonic was currently going to do. The cobalt hedgehog's breathing became labored and he almost crumpled to the floor.
Seeing that nobody else could reach Sonic in time, Shadow rushed himself forward, his speed helping him reach out for the blue hedgehog without a moment to spare. He managed to wrap his arms around Sonic, letting him collapse against Shadow instead of the hard floor. Sonic breath slowed down as he layed limp in Shadow's hold, already passed out by then.
"...Chaos it's really him..." Tails breathed out quietly, shock on his face and in his words. "I can't believe it's him..." Tears pooled in Tails's blue eyes, resembling an ocean of unshed tears. "...Sonic."
"This is too much for him right now." Shadow said, almost nervous to speak up in front of everybody. Especially with an unconscious Sonic in his arms. "Let us deal with him when he wakes up." The ebony hedgehog added on to his sentence while he readjusted Sonic until he was being held bridal style since the previous position had grown...awkward. What with the cloak and golden armor and all.
Tails discreetly tried to brushing away his unwanted tears and stalked towards Shadow, "No! No I can do it, I'm his family-"
"You're his family - but you're not understanding the point. We don't want to overwhelm him, this isn't a lab experiment you can control on your own."
Silver instantly figured out what Shadow really meant, and quickly placed himself between Tails and Shadow, shielding both the hedgehogs from Tails. "Shadow is right. All of this is far too overwhelming for him, we need to be level headed and rational."
"And I am being rational!" Tails cried out. "I'm sick of being treated like a child! I can help him to, I'm the one to bring him here."
Shadow and Silver shared a look together - both trying to think on how to tell Tails the truth without sounding cold. Thankfully, Rouge decided that she would do it herself.
"When he looked at you- what did you see?" Rouge fluttered next to Tails, placing her hand on the fox's shoulder and squeezing it gently. The touch only aggravated the fox even more, nearly jumping as if he'd been burnt instead.
Tails glared at Rouge, starting to become more than irritated by all this secrecy when Sonic was right there and needed help! Sonic needs his family here! "Huh? How is that import-"
Rouge took a moment to regain her thoughts, her teal eyes gazed down at Tails seriously, "Nothing! There wasn't any recognition in those eyes." Rough dropped her intense stare and sighed, "Honey, you have to realize that right now Sonic needs to be evaluated carefully. We don't know where he's been or what he's gone through during all this time."
"Tails-" Knuckles started off when Rouge finished up, sensing that Tails avoided the truth still, "You're too emotional right now. You aren't thinking clearly. Sonic's going to wake up pretty soon and we want to make sure he doesn't get..."
"Scared. You aren't going to help him at all if you're like this." Espio's deep voice finished off for the echidna. "Please think, Tails. We want to help our friend-"
"It's not fair! I'm calm! I'm rational. I deserve to help my brother! He's my brother, he's my brother!" His glare wavered when he glimpsed Sonic being taken away out of Tails's lab, most likely being taken into his own bedroom. One that hasn't been occupied since his disappearance. "It's not fair!"