And just like that, I fell on my knees, moping all the while. My face buried within my hands, I wept—baffled by the very thought of him leaving so suddenly. Knowing I was too late, I muttered the words, "I love you too, Mini-me," before wiping my eyes and nose.

What am I going to do now? I wondered, feeling hopeless—an emotion which usually never touched me. It wasn't every day when the love of my life vanished out of nowhere right out of the blue! Where did he vanish to, anyhow? Why did he vanish? None of it made any sense!

Luckily for me, I knew a person I could go to whenever I had trouble figuring something out: Tails The thought buzzed in my mind like a busy bee.

Taking no time to hesitate, I picked myself up on my feet and zoomed my way over to the fox-boy's house. It was while doing so when I cried out, "Tails!" I barely even heard as the sound of my own voice dragged behind my feet.

I—being the super-speedy rapid hedgehog I am—wound up in Tails' workshop in a matter of minutes. At that time, I came busting through the door—surprised I hadn't busted it off its hinges!

With a quick turn of my head to my right, I caught sight of Tails. He's still asleep? I wondered in complete disbelief. But—but how? I yelled out his name multiple times. I even crashed through his door! I can't—

At that moment, I realized just what had kept Tails asleep this whole time: earplugs. My nostrils flaring in sheer frustration, I rushed up to the fox-boy and yanked those plugs right from their seams. With no other options, I decided to start shaking him awake.

Startled, Tails let out a snort and removed his blindfold. "Huh?" he wondered, his eyes pink with exhaustion. Taking no heed to my tears, he asked, "Sonic? It's 3 AM! What's wrong?"

Through my sorrow, I explained, "Tails—Mini-me disappeared. I—I'm sorry; I just couldn't help myself!"

Wrinkling his nose, Tails asked, "'Mini-me?' Have you been breathing the Chemical Plant fumes or something?"

"You know very well I can't stand the smell of Eggman's shit!" I snapped, almost shuddering at the thought of going back to that plant. Shaking my head, I continued, "And you know—Mini-me! Classic Sonic!"

His ear twitching in confusion, Tails gave me a stupefied look when he asked, "Huh?"

Irritation showing over me, I let out a growl. "Remember? The Time-Eater incident?"

"The last thing I remember is defeating Eggman and saving the wisps!" snorted Tails. "What's a Time-Eater?"

Those words hitting my eardrums with the intensity of a sonic boom, I let out a gasp. My blood nearly frozen to a halt, my tiny pupils looked down at Tails when I murmured, "I need your time machine."

Clearly baffled, Tails pushed me aside and explained, "You can't just come in my workshop, wake me up, make up some story about time—eaters—and request to use my time machine!"

I'd had enough bullshit for one day. Grabbing the fox-boy by his shoulders, I pressed my nose to his when I murmured, "Tails—I need it! Little bro, you know I'd never ask you for anything unless I meant it."

At that moment, my friend paused and blinked. He put a finger to his lip—submerging himself in deep thought—before looking up at me and realizing, "You're right. Go ahead, Sonic!"

Almost as if a weight had been lifted off my heart, I squeezed Tails tight. "Thanks, little bro!" I exclaimed. "Now go back to sleep." It was at that moment when I turned over to Tails' machine. "Sorry 'bout waking you."

Taking a quick turn around, I caught sight of the time machine—seeing it as the only barrier between Mini-me and me. Tails is on the other side, I realized. If I can get back to his time, I'll find him! At that moment, I paused. But—will it be the Mini-me I've come to know and love? Or will I have to start all over again? I couldn't bear such a thought.

In the midst of my silent quarrel, Tails piped in, "Actually, Sonic—I think I'll come with you."

My ears twitching, I turned to face the fox-boy.

"I mean—if that's okay with you." He seemed to think he had done something wrong.

Letting out a little sigh, I responded with a smile, "Sure. Course you can, Tails!"

"Great!" Tails exclaimed, jumping out of his bed. "Lemme just—" At that moment, the fox-boy paused and took a good look down at himself. He hadn't seemed to notice before, but Pikachu pajamas covered him from head to toe! I—myself—was surprised to have missed it. Tails let out a nervous chuckle.

I chuckled as well. "Cute."

Letting out a sigh, Tails held up a finger when he demanded, "Wait just a sec!" Quick as a flash, he zipped into the bathroom. By the time he came back out—which I swear must have been only two seconds—he stood tall, fully groomed, and free of his cheesy pajamas. "Okay—let's get going!"

And with that, the fox-boy walked past me and toward the machine. "Step aside," he said, giving himself plenty of space. "Let the pro do this one!"

I rolled my eyes at the hearing of those words. I honestly didn't see what gave Tails the right to call himself a pro. If anything, he was still just a little fox-boy; that's all I'll ever see him as.

In response to Tails' cockiness, I snorted, "It's fine—I can do it!" The layout before me looked intuitive enough for me. Biting my lower lip, I typed in the date I wanted: June 23, 1991.

On his tip-toes, Tails exclaimed, "Wait—Sonic! You can't just—"

Cutting Tails off, I turned my head toward him and screamed, "I'm in love, damn it!" Without hesitation, I slammed my hand against the machine's activation button. In an instant, a great flash of light filled our eyes—temporarily blinding us all the while.

What should have been one second felt like a hundred years. Well, in retrospect, the time taken had actually been about twenty-two years—but I digress.

Startled by the sudden light, Tails and I both rubbed our barely-conscious eyes. Still blinded, I heard Tails ask, "Where are we?"

Upon hearing those words, I removed my hands from my face and took a good look at my surroundings. Checkerboard fields and beautiful waterfalls littered the place, making me feel some very nostalgic vibes. Said waterfalls allowed the ever-present sound of rushing water to fill my ears. Green Hill Zone! I thought with a smile.

A flinch made Tails' body leap upward. "I'm sorry," he corrected himself. Clearing his throat, he continued, "What I mean to say was: when are we?"

"The past," I replied with a murmur, not even looking him in the eye, "and somewhere around here is Classic Sonic."

"Twenty years ago?" Tails asked, his nose wrinkling.

"Yep," I chuckled. "Long before your time, buddy!"

In the midst of my laughter, I heard sobbing—the sound of which made my ear twitch. Curious, I turned toward the source of this noise. It seemed to be coming from a bush. But that was when I realized, Since when are there bushes in Green Hill Zone? Regardless of such thoughts, I moved the bush out of my line of sight; the sight before me nearly pushed a gasp out of my lungs.

Sitting within the bush's embrace, Mini-me sat—sobbing and wiping his tear-lined eyes. Noticing the ray of light I had let in, he twitched his ears and took a look over his shoulder.

With a chuckle, I greeted, "Well, hello there! Have we met?"

Minus the tears, the expression on his face held no difference from my own. We were the same person, after all.

Our eyes locked together, I murmured to the little hedgehog, "Don't cry—it ruins your beautiful face!"

But he clearly didn't care for beauty. His arms extended, Mini-me reached out and jumped toward me—a wide smile carved unto his face.

Hypocrisy taking over my actions, I allowed tears of joy to fall from my own eyes. I'm so happy! I thought, feeling almost as if an army of wedding bells had just gone off. Against all odds, the two of us came back reunited!

Witnessing those little salty drops, Mini-me brought a finger up to my eye—wiping my tears away all the while. But that didn't stop him from shedding tears of his own.

"I love you so much," I murmured. And with that, I pulled myself toward Mini-me and pushed my lips against his. Unlike last time, this kiss felt complete. It wasn't like kissing a ghost; my lips had touched a smooth, solid body.

It was while kissing Mini-me when I felt his tears splash unto my face—but I didn't care in the slightest. My mindset stood on receiving more of the little hedgehog. As a result, I slipped my tongue into his mouth.

That was when he suddenly went limp. His tongue didn't respond to mine. His moans became a thing of the past.

My blood frozen, I pulled myself away from Mini-me and took a look at him. "Mini-me?" I murmured, learning in toward his ear. My pupils shrunk. "Classic!" Not this again—oh please not this again! I couldn't stand losing him again—or at least thinking I had lost him again!

In the midst of my panic, the sound of snoring tickled my ears. Such a heavenly noise made me release a sigh of relief. He's okay, I thought whilst laughing. Turning toward Tails, I exclaimed, "He's alive!"

Scratching the back of his ear, Tails said, "I'm not really sure what happened here, but—" He looked up at the moon, admiring its large, round shape and bright features. "I think it's time for us to go to sleep."

"Yeah," I murmured in agreement.

With Mini-me lying on top of my own body, I picked myself and my younger self off the ground and walked toward the nearest tree—the likes of which I hoped would shade us from the moonlight.

As I smiled, looking up at the moon, I sat down against the tree. My spines scraping against its wooden frame, I took a seat against the bark surface.

Goodnight, Mini-me, I silently told my lover. I love you. So, so much!