"Tails?" Cream asked as everyone made their way into the Blue Typhoon, Tails' space cruiser. "Are you sure this is for real? I...I don't want to discourage you, but...the day after you find out you're from another planet, your father shows up from outer space? Doesn't that seem a bit much of a coincidence? Are you sure it's him?"
Tails smiled at Cream. "When he first said who he was, my thoughts were the same as yours. I was going to step back, push him away."
"But you didn't," Cream replied. "You hugged him back."
"That's because there was one detail that I knew was real."
"Which one?"
Tails tapped the side of his nose. "I remembered his scent. When I smelled him, it brought back memories: his scent, my mother's, a few others...and some brief flashes of visual memory to go with it. He is my father, of that there is no doubt." Tails smirked. "Besides, I had my wrist computer run a quick genetic comparison. Half my genetic code matches half of his exactly, except for the mutation that gave me two tails." He shook his head. "Besides, even beyond what my senses and tech tell me...I just know."
"You...know? How?"
"...the same way I knew you were in trouble when Andross attacked you, despite being more than a mile away. I don't know how I knew...I just knew."
Fox chuckled knowingly. "Looks like you inherited some of your Mom's gifts after all, Miles."
Tails turned as everyone sat down in a lounge area. "What do you mean...Dad?" He smiled as he said the last word. It felt good to be able to say that, to know his family.
Fox smirked. "Krystal - your Mom - is a rather strong psychic, and also has some ability with mysticism. Your sensing things with no logical explanation, but with absolute certainty...from what she's told me, that's how her abilities first started to manifest, as well."
Tails blinked. "I'm psychic?"
Sonic turned to him. "What am I thinking about right now?"
"Chili dogs and Amy," Tails said without hesitation. "I don't have to be psychic to guess that." That got a laugh from everyone. Tails then turned back to Fox. "So...what's Mom like?"
Fox grinned. "Why bother asking? I can tell you a few stories...but wouldn't you rather fly out and meet her yourself? It's a ways out there - this world isn't even in the same galaxy as the Lylat system - but it only took me three months through the wormholes to get here, and that's with stops to refuel, resupply, and sleep."
Tails grinned. "I checked the engines on your ship-"
"Arwing," Fox corrected with a smile.
"-and once the Blue Typhoon is fully recharged, it can go more than 10 times as fast. With luck, we'll be there within the week." Tails grinned. "Once the Chaos Emeralds are loaded into the core, we're good to go."
Knuckles spoke up. "How about I go get the Master Emerald and load it in, too? That should make the ship even faster, right?"
"Thanks, Knuckles!"
Cream sat back, sighing. Tails was going to go off again. She couldn't really begrudge him, he was going to meet his family, find out who he was, where he came from. But...she couldn't shake the feeling that, if he left...he'd never come back. That this would be goodbye...forever.
She was shaken out of her reverie as Tails addressed the group. "So can everyone take the time to come with? I'd really like you all to be with me." While he addressed everyone, his eyes found their way to Cream.
Cream smiled up at him. "I'll go," she said happily.
"I'm not about to let my daughter go on ANOTHER possibly dangerous space voyage without me," Vanilla spoke up.
Shadow smiled. "In that case, I have to come along. We have plans during the next week, after all."
Sonic grinned. "I'm in! This is your big moment, learning the full truth about yourself. Think I'm not gonna be with you for it?"
Amy pulled out her PDA. "Hmm...well, I don't have any appointments scheduled for the next month, and I was planning on taking a vacation, anyway..." She grinned at Tails. "With your penchant for trouble, you need SOMEBODY with medical training."
Knuckles smirked good naturedly. "Think I'd have offered to load up the Master Emerald if I wasn't planning on coming?"
Rouge smiled a trifle wickedly. "Just think, I may be the first Mobian to get a chance to own a gemstone from another galaxy! Did you really think I'd pass that up?" Rouge's passion for jewels certainly hadn't faded with time.
Tails smiled. "Looks like we're all coming. Good thing the Blue Typhoon is fully stocked!"
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As everything was being loaded onto the ship, Tails and Cream were giving Fox a grand tour of it. He was suitably impressed.
"Wow, Miles...I'm amazed at what you've been able to make here, especially with the relatively primitive level of technology available." Fox had made no secret of the fact that the Lylat system was technologically more advanced than Mobius. He shook his head. "Then again, I shouldn't be. Mechanics has been your nature since before the cradle."
"What do you mean?" Cream asked.
Fox chuckled. "It's a tradition of Krystal's people: when a child is three days old, a variety of objects is set before them, representing different disciplines. According to tradition, the object the child first reaches for will represent his or her strongest skill set." He smiled indulgently. "Practically before we'd put Miles on the floor, he was reaching for the wrench. Krystal said that was a sure sign he'd spend the rest of his life fixing things." He looked proudly at Tails. "You said your first word right after that, son."
"What did I say?" Tails asked.
"You said 'Fix!' and swung the wrench...wacking me solidly between the legs!" He and Tails winced as Cream tried to stifle laughter. Fox chuckled then. "Your mother said - once she managed to stop laughing - that you must not want any brothers or sisters." They all laughed at that.
After the laughing died down, Tails asked a question that had been preying on his mind for a while. "Dad...how did I get lost? And why did it take so long for you to find me?"
Fox sighed sadly. "It...it was my fault. You showed such a passion for the ships and the Arwings, always trying to sneak into my cockpit when I was heading out on a mission...I commissioned your pod, and connected it to the underside of my Arwing for a routine scouting mission, so you could see what it was like flying through space the way I did. You were not yet a year old, but you were so precosious and eager..."
He fell silent for a while, then continued. "It started out routine. I did a few quick turns and a couple of barrel rolls, enjoying your delighted laughter over the comms. Then...Andross attacked out of nowhere. We weren't prepared, and...a lucky shot from Andross hit the couplings, sending your pod careening away from my Arwing.
"It...it would have been a simple task to pick your pod up with a grappler or tractor beam, but...Andross was using some new energy type that caused space to warp, and...a shot hit your pod, sending it careening into what then became a black hole cluster. Space warped around you...and we lost all trace of your pods signal." Fox sank back into a chair. "It was my fault. Krystal tried to warn me, said she had a bad feeling, didn't want me taking you out there...but you were so eager, and it made you so happy..."
Tails hugged his father. "Dad...you couldn't have known. It's not your fault. And..." Tails smiled. "While my life's been hard, it has brought me great joy. Even growing up not knowing my parents, I've enjoyed my life, and..." His eyes flickered towards Cream. "I wouldn't trade what I've found in this life for anything." He hugged him tighter. "So please, stop crying."
Fox hugged his son back. "Thank you, son. It is good to know that you don't blame me for what happened." He stood up. "But you'll forgive me if it takes more than that to make me forgive myself...or to get your mother to forgive me."
Tails nodded knowingly, sighing.
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Up on the bridge, Tails worked the controls. "Is the course set?"
"Set and locked!" Cream said from the helm.
"Is the core fully charged?"
"Charged and ready?" Knuckles said from the engine room.
"Food supplies good to last?"
"Fully stocked with a good chunk of reserve," Rouge said from her station. "Plus, the hydroponics garden provides more than enough for air purification AND additional dietary staples."
"Medical ready?"
"Ready and waiting!" Amy said from the sick bay. "Just don't give me too much work if you don't have to, okay?"
"Weapons?"
"Primed and ready!" Shadow said from tactical. "All systems are green."
"Alright, then." Tails took hold of the controls. "Blue Typhoon...LAUNCH!"
The Blue Typhoon slowly took to the air and left the planet's gravity well. Following the programmed course, it aimed for the first wormhole and engaged its hyperlight engines.
They were on their way.