Seedling

by milesprower06

Chapter 10

Dawn of a New Day, Part 3

The blue hedgehog's emerald green eyes were locked on the topaz fox, unconscious on the couch, completely motionless save for the light rising and falling of the chest.

Standing on the other side of the couch, eyes equally looked onto the sleeping kitsune, was a pale and green Seedrian.

"I never wanted him to do anything that would put him in danger. I mean, it was a long shot at best. I...I never thought he'd come up with something so quickly. But he's always been resourceful." Cosmo stated.

"Well, I don't think any of us would've been able to convince him otherwise. Besides, it worked." Knuckles added.

"But why? Don't get me wrong, I'm as glad as the rest of you that it ended up working, but I thought you neutralized the Chaos Energy instantly? He shouldn't have been able to finish." Sonic said.

"That's because I didn't neutralize it. I gave him the small boost he needed."

"What? How?"

"The Master Emerald doesn't just neutralize Chaos Energy. It controls it. Meaning, for a brief time, that energy can be enhanced. Which is exactly what Tails needed. Besides, I don't think I would've stopped him even if you had warned me earlier."

"Why not?"

"Because you didn't truly understand what this meant to Tails. If you stopped him when he was so close, I don't think he would've ever been able to forgive you, no matter how good your intentions. The choice was his to make, and the chance, his to take. You had no say."

"But why didn't he wait? Hone his powers until it was sure to work?" Cosmo asked.

"Because the tree grew to full size overnight. We weren't sure what that meant for it's overall life cycle. He thought that the window was opportunity was closing fast. I guess we'll never know if that was true." Amy answered.

"Sonic, I know you care about him. You've seen him, treated him, and loved him like a younger brother. But sometimes, he has to make his own choices."

Suddenly, Tails took in a deep breath, his back arching up for a second as he did so, and Cosmo immediately came close, and took his hands in hers.

"Tails, it's alright. It's me. You did it."

Her deep sapphire eyes met his sky blue ones as they fluttered open, soon joined by tears pricking the corners of his eyelids.

"C-C-Cosmo...? Cosmo!"

Tails bolted up and threw his arms around the Seedrian, and she immediately returned the embrace.

"It worked! Oh my gosh it worked!" Tails said, unable to say anything else as tears of joy overtook him.

They held each other for the longest time, separated, and seem content just to sit there on the couch and stare into each others eyes, smiling.

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

After the joyfulness of that morning's accomplishment subsided, they went to preparing a scrumptious breakfast for five. As they ate, they filled Cosmo in on what had happened in the short weeks since the Meterex had been defeated. Then, as Sonic finished what was on his plate, he got up and began to head out the back door.

"Hey buddy, when you're done, can I talk to you out back?"

"Sure, Sonic."

It was 10 more minutes before Tails was satisfied, due to the enormous amounts of energy he used that morning. He excused himself from the table and met Sonic out in the backyard by the tree, it's leaves shuddering beautifully in the morning breeze, still in full bloom.

"Hey buddy. Listen, I...I want to apologize."

Tails looked at him quizzically.

"Apologize? For what?"

"For not having faith in you, or your new abilities. If it had been up to me in my panic this morning, I would've sapped that energy before you had finished. And who knows if you would've gotten another chance. I should've trusted you, like I said I would when you first started practicing."

Tails smiled at him, not seemingly affected by what Sonic just admitted.

"No big deal, Sonic. You always look at every challenge thrown at you with unlimited confidence. So that's what I did when I made my decision last night. I just looked at the tree, and I asked myself what you would do. I just knew that if I believed in myself, I could make anything happen. Because I knew if I couldn't do it alone, I'd always have my friends there to back me up."

"Thanks, pal. That means a lot."

"No, thank you, Sonic. You convinced me to come down here. And don't give it another thought. We all make mistakes. Just...well, thanks for not making that one."

Tails smiled again, taking the whole thing lightheartedly. After all, everything had worked out.

"No problem, buddy."

A/N:

To anyone still reading, I'd like to thank you profusely for your inexplicable patience with me getting this finished up. That's the main reason why I prefer to finish a story completely before I even begin posting it. I made the mistake of thinking if I posted content up before more was ready, than reviews of content I had up would push me to write more.

Clearly, that was not the case, and I apologize for my continued procrastination. Truth is, I had plenty of opportunities out here on the road to get some writing done here and there, and I didn't. But here's my promise that it won't happen again. Next, I'm hoping to delve into another franchise in the coming weeks. I hope there are some Bronies in my current group of fans...

Until next time!

-milesprower06