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Chapter Text

It didn't occur to Sonic until he was almost thirteen, and only because he happened to catch the weather on his portable radio and heard that the date was three weeks before his birthday. It always seemed to sneak up on him. Sometimes he wondered if he was speeding through his own life, losing chunks of it at a time before he could even blink, even if thoughts like that were fleeting for a kid with better things to do than worry.

But Sonic felt like he'd just had his twelfth birthday not that long ago - not that he wasn't eager for his thirteenth, when he'd officially be a full-fledged teenager - so knowing that June 23rd was just around the corner came as a surprise. At any rate, it'd be a good excuse to pop in on a few of their favorite towns and villages. Maybe finally visit his pen pal over in Station Square. In the more rural zones, there were quite a few people who knew of him and his birthday by now, so if they got wind that he and Tails would be in the area, there'd probably be some kind of celebration in his honor. At least, that was what had happened the past couple of years, ever since he started chasing off Robotnik.

If he'd been older, he wouldn't have even wasted time tapping his foot while he waited for something very important to click. He'd have just spindashed the sense right into his younger self. But that was the thing, he wasn't older. He was twelve. 

A very accomplished twelve with way more on his shoulders than any kid should've had to carry, but he wasn't all that bothered by it. He had the freedom to go and live life as he pleased. Nothing else really mattered more than that.

Sonic turned off the radio after the weather report - the start of summer storms were gathering to the east, so they'd head west today - and packed it away, in the middle of folding up their blankets when he noticed that Tails's was getting a little threadbare. There was a growing hole from where it had snagged on some bramble or a rock. Sonic sighed. He'd have to trade with him tonight until he could buy him a new one. 

He wrinkled his nose at the thought of having to exchange any potential birthday presents so he could afford something like blankets. It wasn't his fault the blanket was wearing thin. Tails was always dragging it on the ground instead of folding it up like Sonic told him to a million times before. If anyone should have to exchange their birthday presents for blankets, it should be Tails-

The backpack dropped out of Sonic's suddenly loose grasp and landed at his feet with a muffled clatter. Tails looked over at the sound, his ears and tails twitching to attention when he heard the metallic clang, but it was only their cooking pot that was nestled inside the backpack. Tails visibly relaxed and smiled up at him from where he was sitting, but Sonic could only stare at him.

"Sonic?" Tails tucked his tails close as he waited for him to either stop looking at him or pick the backpack back up. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Don't worry, little buddy, just slipped out of my hands, that's all." Sonic shook himself out of his stupor and quickly got himself and their supplies situated.

Tails's brow furrowed, but he had no real reason to assume he would lie to him. "Okay. Is it time to go now?"

"Yeah, almost." The camp was all packed up, the fire put out, and any trace that the two of them had slept there had been cleared away just in case Robotnik had any surveillance bots on the lookout for them while he was laying low. With this new distraction blaring alarm bells in his head, however, Sonic realized he still needed a minute, no matter how badly he wanted to bolt and run as far away from this conversation as possible. "Tails? Can I ask you something?"

With an eager gasp, Tails hopped over to him, hovering just a little in his excitement. "Yeah, Sonic! Anything! What can I do?"

A fond smile managed to crack through the concrete wall of guilt that had slammed on top of him like one of Robotnik's hydraulic cylinders and he placed his hand on top of Tails's head to nudge him back down to the ground. "It's not that kind of question, keed. I was just wondering… did your birthday pass without me knowing about it?"

It obviously had, but Sonic wanted to cling to the idea that maybe the overlap hadn't been too bad. Except he knew he'd met Tails eight months before he turned twelve. He'd definitely missed at least one birthday in all the time he'd known him, possibly even two, and it had never even occurred to him to ask.

"Oh." Tails blinked curiously, then gave it some honest thought. "I don't know."

"You don't know when your birthday is?"

"Nope," Tails said simply. "It must have passed without me knowing about it, too!"

Sonic's shoulders sagged, and not just from the weight of the backpack. "Do you remember ever having a birthday? You know, like how I had a party last year and you made me that way past cool present? All on your own, too!" His first invention, and Sonic had been so insanely proud of his tagalong, and honestly touched that someone had taken the care and the time to make him something he'd actually like. "You've never had a day where something like that happened?"

"Mm-mm. I thought that was just 'cuz you're way past cool. If anyone deserves a special party and presents, it's you, Sonic!"

His heart wrung itself out in his chest as the honest adoration in Tails's gaze had him pinned to the spot. Oof, that was something he could never let Robotnik know. One surefire way to stop one blue hedgehog in his tracks.

"Yeah, well… everyone deserves to be shown they're appreciated on their birthday, Tails. It's the day your life as you know it started! And that's pretty cool, don't you think?" Sonic explained, crouching down to be at Tails' level. "I mean, it doesn't always happen, and it shouldn't be the only day where people tell you how much they like having you in their lives, but it's definitely something everyone should get to celebrate." 

Tails wrinkled his nose. "Even Robotnik?"

Sonic laughed. "Yeah, even slow-mos like Robuttnik." Sonic tapped Tails' nose to get him to giggle, too. "But that leaves us with a bit of a problem, little bro. We've gotta figure out when your birthday is and stat!"

"Okay." His tails wagged happily at their new mission, spinning in a gentle circle. "How do we do that?"

"Usually we'd look at your birth certificate, but you definitely don't have one of those." He'd looked up information on "Miles Prower" when he'd finally learned the little fox's real name, just to make sure no one was actually looking for the kid, but he'd found no records for him on West Side Island.

Which wasn't all that surprising given how the locals treated him…

"Do you have one?" Tails asked.

"Don't need one, I already know my birthday," Sonic told him as he straightened up, tapping his foot while he hummed. "I've got an idea. Let's go see Professor Caninestein. He's a smart guy, I'm sure he could figure out some way to tell when your birthday is!"

"Okay!" Tails agreed eagerly, more excited about the idea of getting to play around in Caninestein's lab than anything.

Sonic grinned, holding out his hand for Tails to take. "Ready to jam and juice, keed?"

"Born ready!" Tails laughed, holding on tight as Sonic sped off towards their next destination.

—

As much of a mechanical genius the professor was, apparently pinpointing a specific date on which someone was born was not in his wheelhouse. He had a scanner that could give them a good estimate on Tails' age given his build, nutrition, bone density, and blood protein count - which involved a sizable needle, a teary fox, and a pinky promise of plenty of mint candy afterwards as an effective distraction - but given that both Sonic and Tails lived a uniquely nomadic lifestyle for kids as young as themselves, it was still a rough estimate all the same.

"According to these readings, he's between four years, nine months, and eleven days old and six years, two months, and twenty-seven days old, with a standard deviation of two point five," Professor Caninestein read out from the monitor in his thick, Spagonian-adjacent accent. 

Sonic raised his brow. "Well, that's no good. That could be any month!"

"I'm afraid age estimation just isn't a very reliable field of study. The proteins in the blood would be the best indicator of his age, but given how young he is, his bio data is still relatively in flux. Getting a more accurate read isn't possible at this stage. With a more stable routine and diet, regular health examinations, and consistent exposure to socialization with other children in a similar age range, perhaps we could narrow it down…" the professor trailed off at Sonic's annoyed, slow foot-tapping. "Ahem. Not that you aren't… doing your best."

"'Best' is the standard I set for everything, doc."

Tails stood on his tip-toes to read the data spread on the computer monitor as he sucked on the dinner mint Sonic had given him. He wasn't sure if the kid naturally loved them or if he'd been conditioned to see them as his favorite candy since it was what Sonic had treated him to the most. Restaurants were always giving them out for free and Sonic never hesitated to grab a handful to shove in his backpack for insurance if he ever needed to bribe the kid or tide him over when food was on the scarce side. Sometimes candy shops let them pick something out as thanks for clearing the town of badniks, but the damage had already been done and Tails only ever asked for mints.

Sonic shook his head, tapping his foot a little faster as he crossed his arms. "Guess we've gotta think of something else then."

"I could build a memory scanner to see if there are any instances where Tails's birthday was acknowledged and if there are dates associated with that," Professor Caninestein mused, scribbling down some rudimentary calculations in his ledger, oblivious to the fact that Tails was now tapping on the keyboard to watch what it did to his bio data.

Sonic didn't stop him. The data was useless anyway, and maybe part of him was petty enough to get a little harmless payback for being told he wasn't doing a good enough job taking care of the kid. Sure there had been moments early on where he wondered if this wasn't the right call for either of them, but it quickly became clear that no one else was up to the task of looking after Tails.

He watched Tails type something in, then press enter, his curious blue eyes lighting up when it changed something in the formula. Whatever it was, it narrowed the age gap and lowered the standard deviation. Sonic couldn't help the crooked smile at the kid's genius and his simple joy in figuring things out on his own. He didn't know exactly everything that happened to Tails before he found him on West Side Island, but what he did know of it wasn't good, and he'd swear off running before he'd ever make him have to relive a second of it.

"Nah. If he doesn't even remember, I doubt it'd get us any closer to figuring it out," he replied, forgoing his usual optimism when it came to at least giving something a chance. "Thanks for trying though, professor. We appreciate it."

Tails suddenly clasped both hands behind his back to pretend like he hadn't been fiddling with Caninestein's computer when the dog in question looked up from his notes. "Yeah! Thanks, professor!" he parroted politely.

Sonic motioned for Tails to follow him, placing a hand against his back to make sure he moved towards the door and not another shiny gizmo he could tinker with. As they headed out, Sonic couldn't quite hide his pleased snicker when he heard Professor Caninestein's confused mutterings as he realized his calculations had been altered and improved. He ruffled the fur atop Tails's head and got a swat from one of his tails in response.

They stopped for lunch, making camp outside of town since it was a weekday and Caninestein's lab was in a pretty populated town. Sonic had been questioned more than enough times about whether or not he and Tails should've been in school that he knew to avoid places like the park or a diner during the daytime. He didn't know how he was expected to fend off Robotnik's invasions if he was stuck in a classroom somewhere, but they never had good answers for him when he asked. They just assumed he was being smart with them.

"Well, if you think I'm so smart, clearly I don't need school, do I?" he'd sass them, easily avoiding any attempts to bring him downtown or wherever they wanted when they tried to write him up for truancy. Most villages tended to look the other way, but it wasn't always a guarantee.

Sonic made a campfire and cooked up a couple of chili dogs, handing Tails another wrapped dinner mint to have afterwards. He deserved it for putting up with getting his blood taken and for fixing some of the professor's formulas. And for the fact that they were really no closer to remedying the fact that he'd gone nearly two years without a birthday celebration of any kind. Probably even longer. Sonic didn't think any amount of mints would make up for something like that.

"So what do you wanna do after this, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"We still have to figure out what to do about your birthday, keed."

Tails tapped his sneakers together as he took another bite of his chili dog. "Oh yeah. Well, at least I fixed it so it didn't say I was four any more. I know I was four… um… a while ago. I couldn't write when I was four, but I can now!"

"You sure can, bud. Better than me at this point!" Sonic winked at him, then gave him a good once-over. "Yeah, you're definitely five by now… maybe even six."

Except he still seemed so small. Tails looked down at himself and gave his tummy and sides a pat, as if he could tell just from that. Who knew, maybe he could. Kid was a genius, after all. 

"When I fixed the formula it said I was between five years, two months, and two days and five years, seven months, and four days old. But Professor Caninestein was right, it's still not very exact and those numbers might still be off." Tails's brow furrowed in concentration. "Oh. And thanks for not letting him make a memory scanner for me."

Sonic blinked. "You were listening?"

"Mmhm. I can multitask," Tails giggled.

Sonic shook his head with a snort, then polished off his last chili dog before reclining against the log they were sitting in front of, arms crossed behind his head as best as he could manage with the quills. "Didn't seem like much of a point if you can't remember as is. You have a pretty good memory for most things." Selective as it might be, he was still a kid, after all. "If you can't think of it, then it might not even be in that smarty-pants brain of yours at all."

"So now what do we do?"

Sonic hummed thoughtfully, kicking up one ankle over the other as he craned his head back to look up at the sky. "Well, the only thing that's left, I guess. Just pick a day you like. Something that feels right."

Tails mimicked his hum as he leaned back against the log, too, arms pillowing his head and legs crossing in the exact same way. "I like Tuesdays," he replied. "Maybe my birthday's on a Tuesday!"

"It wouldn't be a Tuesday every year, keed, but that's a start. We could make it today," Sonic suggested. "We'll say it's your fifth birthday and start counting from there. Just give me a few days and I'll put together a way past cool party for you, little bro!"

Tails' eyes lit up at the idea of a party, tails wagging as he sat up straight to beam at him, but then a frown creased his brow and he glanced down at his shoes. "Um… Sonic?"

"Mm?"

"When did we meet?"

Sonic blinked at him, his turn to sit up straighter at the sudden change in demeanor. "Uh. It was October. Somewhere in the middle, I think."

"You don't remember the day?" Tails asked, looking a little crestfallen as he clasped his hands together in his lap.

Sonic barely refrained from grimacing. It was pretty embarrassing, not something he was all that keen on admitting, and he could taste an easy lie on the tip of his tongue. But one look at the kid reminded him of exactly why he couldn't do that to him. Sonic sighed, reached for the backpack he'd set off to the side and rummaged through it. He pulled out his tattered old wallet he'd picked up at a clothing closet when he first started traveling. He found a scrap of paper in it that he'd kept tucked in the very back where credit cards were supposed to go.

"October 16th," he read off of an old receipt for double the amount of chili dogs that he'd normally ordered, then handed it over to Tails so he could check for himself.

Tails held the scrap of paper so gently, his wide eyes soaking in the faded text on the receipt, a greasy thumbprint forever staining the bottom corner. "You kept this from the day we met?"

Sonic shrugged, rubbing his nose as he looked at anything other than his stunned little brother. "Yeah, well, it's good to keep a hold of stuff like that. In case you need to write it off your taxes or something."

"You do taxes?"

"No, but you never know when they're gonna make you start!" Sonic held his hand out for the receipt, suddenly feeling all itchy and twitchy, like his whole being was an exposed wire just waiting to get prodded by a curious fox. Luckily Tails handed it back without further questions and Sonic quickly tucked it back into his wallet and out of sight. "But yeah, October 16th's the day we met."

"Okay. Then that's the day I want for my birthday." Tails nodded decisively.

Sonic stared at him. "But, Tails, October's still like… five months away."

"That's okay."

"Well, don't you want it to be sooner?"

"Yeah, but I want it to be the day we met more." Tails ducked his head bashfully, taking one of his tails to hug close to his chest. "You said birthdays are to celebrate the day your life starts, right?"

A lump formed in Sonic's throat that he couldn't swallow, so he could only nod as his voice abandoned him. 

"Well, the life I have now started the day I met you. I think it makes it a good day to be my birthday," Tails reasoned, gaze shy and uncertain when it lifted to meet Sonic's. "Is that okay?"

Sonic wasted no time in dragging him close, giving him the biggest hug so he could hide his face in a fluffy shoulder. "Yeah," his voice cracked a tiny bit, but he blamed it on being nearly thirteen and that Tails was squeezing him back just as tight, both tails wagging. "It's more than okay, keed. If that's the day you want, that's the day it's gonna be. I can't think of a better one."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's perfect." Mushy and way too sentimental, but somehow perfect just the same. "But that still leaves us with one problem, little bro."

Tails pulled back to look at him. "What problem?"

"I don't wanna wait until October to throw you the most popping party ever! You know I hate waiting." Sonic scooped him up in a flash and spun him in a circle, grinning as he made him laugh. "But I think I know how we can fix that."

"How?" Tails giggled, clinging to his shoulders so he wouldn't go flying off.

"We'll just have to have two parties! Double the presents, double the fun!"

Because if anyone deserved to be celebrated, it was his little brother. Who knew how long he'd been on his own, without anyone in the world making sure he knew how happy they were that he was there and how loved he was. Sonic didn't like to think about it, not when this kid wanted nothing more in life than to be important to someone. To matter to anyone.

They'd celebrate his fifth birthday sooner than ASAP, and then his sixth on October 16th. Sonic would make a point not to speed past that month, wanting to make the most of it for the kid who thought the world of him. Who'd honestly rocked Sonic's world right off its axis. 

Keeping Tails with him wasn't something he'd expected to take to, much less want to do. He was a kid raising another kid. He didn't have a home or a cent to his name some days. He didn't have any role models to look to for guidance, no one to teach him the first thing about any of it, but he was still going to try. When it came to Tails, he was always going to try.

Even though it was really tempting to make the new blanket he got him his fifth birthday present. Sonic tried super hard to be better than that.

Chapter Text

About a week later, Sonic scraped together enough money to buy them a pocket calendar. He marked both of their birthdays on it to show Tails, and considered it well-worth the cost and the space it would take up in the backpack at the sheer delight on the kid's face as he counted the days between both of them. He even eagerly asked if they could put their new friends' birthdays on their calendar, too, and Sonic promised he'd ask in his next letter to Amy and that they'd find out Knuckles's birthday at some point, too. When he felt like getting punched in the face again.

Tails started making a habit of taking the calendar out every night while Sonic cooked over the campfire, warm against their fur and the smokey smell a constant comfort since it clung to everything. He'd mark off each day as it came to a close and count the ones leading up to their birthdays and holidays, and there were so many more of those than he'd thought. He knew about Christmas and Halloween, Sonic made sure they never missed either of those, but now Tails could work hard to help remember when they were, too. It felt like a huge new responsibility Sonic was trusting him with and he wasn't about to let him down.

Especially since now that he could see just how far away Sonic's birthday was, he had more time to prepare for it. It caught him by complete surprise last time, he barely even knew what birthdays were. Sonic basically orchestrated his own party and then wouldn't even let Tails try to make his own money so he could buy him a present.

"What do you want to buy so bad? I can give you the money," he'd told him, and Tails had still been getting used to the sound of his voice and using his own words to talk back to him after the first few months of companionable silence.

Tails shook his head with stubborn determination already coursing through his veins. "No, that's not how it's s'posed to go. I gotta do it by myself."

Sonic tsked. "Guess you gotta figure out how to do it without money then, too, keed."

He had, but it still would've been nice to have more time. Though it was way past cool to see how surprised Sonic had been when he saw that Tails had made him something that not only looked cool, but actually worked. He'd called it a hover hang glider, a more portable way for Sonic to fly around the zones without the Tornado and more reliable than Tails himself, who got tired pretty quick when carrying Sonic around. It lasted a little more than a week before it got busted up by Robotnik, but even so, it had been hard to travel with while they were on the road. When he tried to repair it, Sonic had told him not to worry about it, that it had been a blast while it lasted and it was the thought that counted.

Tails hadn't fully understood that they traveled so lightly on purpose back then, that they couldn't have too many things because they were hard to carry and would potentially entice people to steal from them. Now that he was five - and had the birthday party and cake to make it official - Tails knew better than to focus on getting Sonic an actual thing as a present this time. Sonic liked and appreciated experiences much more than physical objects, so Tails decided to surprise Sonic with a really good birthday party instead.

"Don't plan yourself a birthday party," he told Sonic one night as they were getting ready for bed. "I'm gonna throw you a surprise one, okay?"

Sonic had clamped his lips together tightly, visibly struggling not to bust out laughing. "Okay," he managed to get out, grinning all the while. "I'll make sure to be extra surprised."

"Okay, good."

Tails was super proud of how sneaky he'd been in finding Amy Rose's address on one of the envelopes Sonic had kept so he'd remember it. He also found a couple of stamps in the backpack, so he borrowed one to mail an invitation to her. Sonic didn't have Knuckles's address, but Tails sort of remembered how to find Angel Island from the last time they were there, so he put together a remote controlled drone-like bot from some pieces of Robotnik's badniks that they destroyed. He vaguely remembered having something like this when he was younger, something that got smashed by the bigger kids on West Side Island, so it wasn't hard to figure out how to pilot it with the controller and get it all the way up to where Knuckles lived so he could deliver his party invitation.

Knuckles even sent back a response with his robot! Tails eagerly read the note as soon as the bot came back. "No," was all it said, but Tails appreciated that he took the time to write back something at all.

Amy couldn't make it either, though she really wanted to. The party was going to be in Sunset Desert Zone¹, which was too far away for her to be allowed to travel on her own, but she sent a birthday card just the same. She even filled it with heart-shaped confetti and glitter that got all over Sonic's blanket and quills when he opened it. Tails had been overcome with a giggle fit as Sonic stared blandly at the mess, mostly because he looked so put out about it.

"You think this is funny, squirt?"

"Yeah!" Tails didn't even try to hide it, and got a fistful of glitter shoved into his fur, but it was worth it.

There were a few other people more local to their current location Sonic considered as friends that Tails invited, too, and everyone seemed eager to help out. After all, it was pretty hard to bake a cake over a campfire. Not impossible, but Tails had a feeling that would be tough to hide from Sonic. He wasn't allowed to make campfires on his own just yet, even though he could totally do it by himself if he tried. It couldn't be harder than rewiring Sonic's portable radio to get stations as far away as Adabat, after all, and he'd been allowed to do that.

In any case, it was still a big help that friends like Roxy Raccoon and Bert Whoo volunteered to bake the birthday cake at their diner. Rocket the Sloth offered to bring the ice cream, but Tails was pretty sure it'd be melted by the time he got to them, especially since he was leaving for the party a whole two days early. Bert said he'd bring some as back-up, just in case.

Catty Carlisle the country singer was going to bring her guitar and provide musical entertainment in honor of Sonic. There were more volunteers who offered to pick up balloons, streamers, and other decorations for the party since those would also be pretty hard for Tails to hide from Sonic while camping. Though Tails was excited to make the birthday banners himself. 

During one of their trips to the library, he borrowed some markers and stickers to make a couple for Sonic. He picked a park that had a chili dog stand on the corner and the vendor was more than happy to let them hang the banner and balloons from it to celebrate his favorite customer's thirteenth birthday. Captain William Le Duck was also going to fly one of the banners from his biplane during the big reveal.

Honestly, Tails wanted to do that part himself, but the Tornado was staying at a hangar too far away. Well, not too far away for supersonic speed, but Tails didn't think he'd be able to convince Sonic to run all the way back to Sunset Desert after taking the time to get him to the trusty plane in the first place. It was already a challenge making sure Sonic let them stay in the vicinity for long enough, but he managed it by some miracle.

Never mind that Sonic knew exactly why they needed to keep relatively close by, but he enjoyed putting on a show to mess with Tails. He didn't always get to play the role of an overdramatic teen freely, so being the most annoying big brother possible was actually kind of fun.

"But Tails, I've run past this same cactus at least one hundred and eighty-two times," he whined. "I'm dying here, buddy. I can't take the monotony!"

"It's just for a few more days, Sonic." Tails pouted, for once the one folding his arms in an attempt to be the responsible one - neither realizing that he would be the responsible one out of the two of them sooner than either would expect. "We promised to help Bert and Roxy with the charity food drive, remember? We can't go too far or we might miss it! And you say it's no good to break a promise!"

"You're literally killing me, Tails. I don't know how I can go on."

"Get off the ground, Sonic. You're making a scene."

It should have all gone off without a hitch, and would have, if Robotnik hadn't gotten wind of the fact that it was Sonic's birthday and set a trap for him by capitalizing on the fact that Sonic was expecting a surprise from his little bro.

It all worked out in the end, but Tails had been worried when Sonic wasn't where he'd left him (when he told him specifically he'd be right back and, boy, maybe this was what Sonic felt like every time he turned his back for half a second and swear that Tails would instantly vanish into the ether). The whole party looked everywhere for him, and it was only by chance Tails overheard Robotnik's badniks, Scratch and Grounder, snickering about the trap they'd laid for him at the zone's amusement park, Sunset Park.

Luckily Sonic was too fast, too clever, and too cool to let himself get captured or killed by any of the death traps that replaced some of the rides. He even had fun with the challenge, and even more fun taunting Robotnik through it all. Because, of course, it was the doctor's birthday, too. Tails wasn't sure of the exact odds, but it was certainly an interesting coincidence that they shared the same birthday. 

In any case, it all blew up in Robotnik's face. Sonic saved Sunset Park and all its employees, then the surprise party continued, even if it was at a different sort of park than Tails had intended. He still got to hang up the banner he made, and Sonic loved all the balloons and the cake. And the chili dogs. He got to catch up with familiar faces and shamelessly bask in the attention Tails was adamant that he deserved.

But Sonic still made time for him anyway, dashing away whenever he could to drag Tails from ride to ride and showing off at the games that hadn't been rigged to kill them.

They'd been to plenty of casino-themed zones while trying to stop Robotnik in the past, including one carnival zone, but they hadn't been able to stop and ride anything when they'd been infested with badniks. Plus, if it was created by Robotnik, then none of the rides were actually up to code. His bases weren't exactly known for passing safety inspections. Getting to explore an amusement park that existed prior to the mad doctor, one meant to entertain people rather than enslave them, was a novel experience for both of them.

Tails got to spend as much time as he wanted admiring the infrastructure of the rides. He peppered Sonic with questions about how they all worked, why roller coasters felt so fast when Sonic went faster all the time, and what kind of protections went into reinforcing bumper cars so you could crash without getting hurt.

It was all so cool, Tails didn't want to leave even though the sun was setting and they still had to find a place to set up camp. The adrenaline and the sugar eventually got to him, though, and Sonic had to carry him out of the park gates after they helped clean everything up and said their goodbyes to everyone. Tails was already half-asleep by the time they unrolled their blankets, eyelids heavy as Sonic tucked him in.

"Thanks for the best birthday ever, bud," Sonic told him. "Even if it wasn't exactly what you had planned."

"Were you surprised?" Tails asked, fighting back a yawn.

Sonic laughed. "Yeah, you could definitely say that."

"Sorry I didn't make it at a theme park to start with…"

"Hey. C'mon, you don't gotta apologize for that."

"I wanted to make it special for you. You're thirteen now. It's a big deal," Tails explained.

"Well, mission accomplished, squirt. It was very special. And definitely because you were there to celebrate with me." Sonic ruffled the fur between his ears playfully, then gentled into a soothing stroke. "Now don't sweat the silly stuff and go to sleep."

"Can we go to another theme park some day?" Tails asked, this time losing the fight and squeaking out a yawn, eyes closing as the petting only dragged him down deeper. 

"Maybe. We'll see if we can swing it."

"I liked the bumper cars."

"Yeah? You liked beating up your big bro?" Sonic teased.

"Mm-mm-mm. S'fun to do stuff together like that. I 'unno."

"Yeah, it was pretty fun, wasn't it? We'll ride bumper cars again one day."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Cross your heart?"

"Cross my heart, dot the i, and hope to blow Robuttnik's next base sky high. Now go. To. Sleep."

Tails snuggled into his blanket, tails still wagging even as he drifted off. "Happy birthday, Sonic."

"Thanks, Tails."

And the next day, things went back to normal for them. They packed up the camp and Sonic ran as far and as fast as he could to make up for all that time spent in one spot. Any thoughts of amusement parks and bumper cars and birthdays vacated Tails's head in favor of helping Sonic stop Robotnik's continuous endeavors to destroy the planet in the months that came to pass.

Chapter Text

"Up and at 'em, little bro! We got a train to catch!"

Tails yawned, rubbing at his eyes and blinking blearily at the faint outline of Sonic in the dark of the forest they'd been camped in. "But the sun's not even up yet," he mumbled, daylight becoming more and more scarce as the season shifted into autumn.

"I know, but we gotta get an early start." Sonic sped through packing up their campsite and erasing their presence from the clearing, including Tails's blanket.

Tails yawned again, too tired to even be bothered that his blanket was gone, curling up on his tails instead. "How come?" 

"Hey, none of that!" Sonic laughed, coming to a stop beside him so he could repeatedly and speedily poke him in the sides. "I promise you can sleep on the train, bud. You can even use me as a pillow if you want."

"Too pointy," Tails complained, voice muffled by his arms as he tried to hide from the relentless prodding, even if a few giggles escaped despite his best efforts.

"That doesn't seem to stop you from turning into a leech whenever you get cold. Even with all that fur," Sonic teased, then straightened up to stand over him as he tapped his foot slowly. "C'mon, Tails, I don't wanna have to break out the noogie on your birthday of all days…"

Tails's ears twitched up and he immediately uncurled. "It's my birthday," he gasped, remembering how he'd clutched the pocket calendar in his hands all night, so excited and barely able to settle down enough to go to sleep because he wanted tomorrow to come sooner than ever. "Sonic, it's my birthday!"

Sonic grinned down at him, offering a hand to help him up. "Happy birthday, little bro."

Tails latched onto his hand and hopped up, his shoes already on and laced, which Sonic must've done while he was still half asleep. "Why are we taking the train, Sonic? Why do we gotta be up so early? Where are we going?"

Sonic held up three fingers, counting down with each answer. "Because where we're going is a bit too far to run to and I don't know if it's particularly plane-friendly for the Tornado. Because the train leaves early. And it's a surprise."

Big eyes were no longer clouded with sleep as he gazed up at him with awe. "A surprise? What kinda surprise?"

"It won't be much of a surprise if I tell ya." Sonic ruffled his fur, then hoisted the backpack up on his shoulders. "Now let me just hide this real quick. There's a cave nearby that we can sleep in tonight. I think it might finally be too cold for us to keep camping outside. Stay put and I'll be back before you can count to six."

That was a challenge. Tails immediately started counting as Sonic zoomed off, getting all the way to eight by the time he was back. "I tripped," was Sonic's grumpy excuse, shifting gears suddenly to suggest a race to the train station. Tails agreed without hesitation, tails spinning as he was given a six second head start in honor of his birthday before Sonic took off after him.

Tails didn't win, but with each race, he felt like he was making up more and more time with how fast he could fly. "That was your best time yet, keed!" Sonic praised. "You were the definition of speed!"

"Really?" His ears and tails perked up happily, even as he was panting on the train station steps. He'd tried really hard to win this time.

"Yeah, all that practice has been paying off. You're keeping up with me no problem."

After buying their train tickets, Sonic took him to a vending machine to get them something to drink. An apple juice for Tails and a Chaos Cola for himself. Even though it was kind of early for a soda, Tails decided that they both deserved to have special treats on his birthday, so let it slide this once instead of pestering Sonic about it.

He did, however, pester him all about the train once they boarded, babbling about what kind of engine it most likely had and the difference between passenger trains and freight trains and when the first railroad systems had been developed to encourage the growing economies of the different continents and zones. While he didn't know as much about trains as he did planes, he still found them fascinating and gravitated to whatever books he could find about different methods of transportation and their inner workings. Sonic listened attentively, asking questions here and there, even if he didn't really understand what Tails meant by tractive force or shaft horsepower.

"So how much horsepower would a train need to be able to outrun me?" Sonic asked.

"It's a bit more complicated than that. It depends on what kind of track the train has and if it has to go through dark zones - like, if there's a risk they'd hit another train if they were going too fast or through a residential area."

"What helps with that?"

"Having whistle signs so the conductor can alert people that they're coming without having to slow down."

"Okay, so say, best possible track. Middle of nowhere. Lots of whistle signs. How fast can it go?"

"Best possible track would be an electric one. And it'd have to be a passenger train with tilted cars so there's no risk of it derailing itself. The fastest one on record can go 358 miles per hour-" Sonic flashed him a devilish grin and Tails paused to kick at him, "Shut up. Fastest one so far can go 358 miles. Per. Hour. But with a more aerodynamic shape and using superconductor magnets to decrease the amount of friction between the train and the tracks, a train could realistically go up to 500 miles per hour."

Sonic's grin widened. "Which means…?"

"Which means so far there's no way to design a train faster than you. You'd outrun them all." Tails grinned back, sharing in his delight at truly being the fastest thing on the planet aside from the speed of light. "Trains can't go at supersonic speeds."

"Damn right they can't- shit- I meant darn right- shut up, you didn't hear anything." Sonic covered Tails's ears with his hands when the fox burst into a fit of hysterics. "Do as I say, don't say as I say!"

"When do I get to swear, too?" he giggled, just to make Sonic squirm.

"Uh… when you're as old as I am."

"So when I'm thirteen?"

"No. When you're as old as I am."

Tails quietly tried to figure out how he'd interpreted that wrong before, then he gasped and frowned up at him. "But that's not possible! I'm never gonna be the same age as you at the same time!"

"Guess you're never gonna be allowed to swear then." Sonic looked way too proud of himself, hands behind his head and eyes closed as the train sped along. "Sorry, keed, I don't make the rules."

"Yes you do! You just did!"

"Call it a big brother's prerogative. Let me have the little things, Tails." It was hard for Tails to take him seriously when he was laughing at him though.

Rolling his eyes, Tails kicked him again, though he giggled when he got kicked back while Sonic's eyes were still closed. It was hard to stay mad at him, even if his logic was unreasonable sometimes. Tails would figure out a loophole one day.

"Next stop: Station Square," a voice recited over the train's intercom system.

Tails turned around in his seat to look out the window behind them. He rose up on his knees so he could see over the back of the seat, tails free to swish up and down as he watched the mountains they were approaching. Even if he and Sonic traveled way faster on their own, it was still fun to sit back and watch the scenery go by. It was a similar feeling he got while flying the Tornado sometimes, watching the world so far below them and the variations in the topography as they traveled.

On one side of the train, the ocean stretched out into the horizon, but on their side of the train, they got a view of a grassy field and a waterfall cascading down from a crevice in the side of the cliffs. If he'd looked out the other window, he would've seen what looked to be an old, abandoned ranger station overlooking the ocean, the only piece of developed land aside from the railroad tracks passing it by.

He felt Sonic shift next to him, one leg bent to rest on the seat as he turned sideways, propping up his cheek with one hand as he looked out the window, too. His free hand toyed with the end of the fox tail closest to him and Tails let him. It was nice, just enjoying the journey together for once.

It didn't matter where they were going, this was already the best birthday ever as far as Tails was concerned.

"I'm changing my mind," Tails decided.

"Huh? What're you talking about?"

"Earlier on the train I thought this was already the best birthday ever and it didn't matter where we were going or what the surprise was," Tails explained, big eyes fixed on the sign directly ahead of them.

He could hear the smile in Sonic's voice even without looking at him. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, and now I'm changing my mind." Tails finally tore his gaze away from the Twinkle Park sign to turn his starry-eyed look on Sonic. "It just got better."

Sonic laughed and ruffled his fur. "I aim to please!"

"Let's go! Let's go!" Tails hovered in the air, unable to contain the sheer amount of excitement in his newly six-year-old body, and tugged on Sonic's hand.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but slow your roll for just a second, Tails. First we've gotta find-"

"Sonic!"

Both of their ears twitched, but before either of them could turn to see who was calling out for the hero, Sonic was tackled out of nowhere and his hand wrenched out of Tails's grasp. Blinking dumbly at the force that had been both fast and strong enough to take Sonic the Hedgehog by surprise, Tails could only see a pink hedgehog in a pale green dress attached to his brother's side, heedless of his quills as she nuzzled her cheek to his.

"Oh, Sonic, you're finally here! I can't believe it!" There were tears in her eyes, but Tails was pretty sure they were happy ones since she was smiling so brightly.

And also squeezing Sonic way too tightly. "Amy, I can't breathe-"

"I lose my breath at the sight of you, too!" she squealed. "We're so compatible. It's like we're the same person."

"Amy!"

"Yes?"

"Let go!"

"Never!" Amy nuzzled him closer. "It's been so long since I've seen you! Now that I have you, I'm never letting go!"

"Um… excuse me." Tugging on the strap of her crossbody purse, Tails was able to successfully shift her attention away from Sonic. "I don't really want Sonic to suffocate on my birthday. Can you please let him go?"

Amy gasped, eyes going wide at the sight of him, then immediately released her death grip on Sonic and he dropped to the ground like a rock. Tails flicked his gaze down to check on him, on his hands and knees, panting for breath like he'd just come up for air from a trek through the Aquatic Ruin Zone. He'd be fine.

"Oh no! This wasn't at all how I planned to introduce myself. Wait, let me try again." She took a breath to center herself, then gave him a sweet smile and friendly wave. "Hi! I'm Amy Rose! It's so nice to finally meet you, Tails! Sonic's told me all about you! Happy birthday!"

She held her arms out for a hug, but instead of tackling him like she had Sonic, she politely waited until Tails reached out to reciprocate, which he appreciated. He didn't usually like it when strangers tried to hug or kiss him just because he was some cute little kid. Besides, if someone was hugging you or holding you, it was harder to get away from danger. And something as innocuous as a simple touch from a stranger could quickly turn into something that hurt.

But Amy was Sonic's friend, and he had been looking forward to meeting her someday, so he decided he could be okay with it. As long as she didn't squeeze him as tightly as she had Sonic. She seemed to sense his hesitation, so she was a bit more careful with him, but it was definitely a firmer hug than he was used to.

It was also a lot shorter than he expected.

"Oh-" Amy gasped, suddenly loosening her grip on him. "You're so skinny."

Tails blinked up at her. "Um… thank you?"

"I'm sorry!" She clasped her hands over her mouth, gaze darting over to Sonic as he finally peeled himself off the sidewalk. "It just surprised me. With all that fur, I wasn't expecting- did I hurt you?" she addressed Tails once again.

Tails huffed, puffing out his chest and placing both hands on his hips. "No way! I fight Robuttnik's robots all the time, a hug's not gonna hurt me. I'm way tougher than that!" Even if he'd just reflected on how much he didn't like hugs from anyone that wasn't Sonic.

Speaking of, his arm was suddenly slung across his shoulders to pull Tails into an easy side hug. "You bet, little bro."

Amy let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Sometimes I get a bit carried away-"

"'A bit?'" Sonic echoed, but was ultimately ignored.

"-so I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I really have been looking forward to meeting you, Tails."

Tails's eyes widened in surprise. Even though he was used to people recognizing them and wanting to meet them, it was all because of Sonic. No one ever paid him any mind or looked forward to meeting him on his own. He wasn't the big hero. He was just Tails.

But Amy Rose genuinely looked happy to see him there, her eyes bright and her smile the kindest one he'd ever seen. It made it easy to smile back, steadily growing more comfortable in her presence as he thought about all the letters Sonic wrote to her and the ones he received in return. It was always exciting when a letter managed to find its way to them, wherever they were.

So Tails beamed up at her and said, "I've been looking forward to meeting you, too, Amy!"

Her hands balled up into fists and covered her mouth again as she made a muffled sort of cooing sound. "You're so cute," she squeaked.

That sounded like it was supposed to be more of a compliment, even if it was an embarrassing one. Tails ducked his head and grabbed onto one of his tails, kicking at Sonic's foot when he felt him fighting a laugh at his side at his expense. Sonic just rubbed his shoulder fondly, then let him go.

"So if we're done standing around like a bunch of jerks in the middle of the road, what do you guys say to buying our tickets and getting this party started?" Sonic winked down at Tails when he perked up at the word "party."

"Yeah!"

"Sure! But we have to go meet up with Ms. Vanilla first," Amy piped up, pointing towards the elevator that led up into the amusement park.

Sonic's brow furrowed. "The lady you babysit for sometimes?"

"Yeah. The park won't let kids under twelve in unless they're accompanied by an adult."

"Well, I'm thirteen!" Sonic jabbed his thumb at himself, tapping his foot in irritation.

"Yeah, but Tails and I aren't," Amy reminded him.

"So? I can't accompany you guys?" Sonic's eyes narrowed when Amy shook her head. "I can save entire islands from an egghead's hostile robot takeover, but can't be trusted to take two kids to an amusement park?"

Amy's mouth twisted into an empathetic frown. "It's a new rule. I only just found out a few days ago and I didn't think I could get a letter to you in time to tell you. I'm sorry."

Sonic stopped tapping his foot, but he crossed his arms and continued glowering at the Twinkle Park sign. "It's not your fault. You didn't make the rule."

"Ms. Vanilla's really nice. I thought she'd be the best person to ask, plus she could bring Cream and she's close to Tails's age. It might be nice for them to meet."

"Isn't she only three?" Sonic raised a skeptical brow.

"She'll be four in December."

"Yeah, well, Tails is an advanced six, so I don't know…"

"I'm not saying they have to be best friends, just that it might be fun to have another kid to hang out with," Amy sighed, frustration mounting.

"Sonic's my best friend," Tails piped up, taking a chance to cut in where he could before their argument could escalate.

He successfully recaptured both of their attentions, Sonic shooting him an easy grin and a thumbs up. "And you're mine, little buddy. You've got nothing to worry about."

"M'not worried," he mumbled, but he was still holding onto his tail and picking at the end of it, his second one bumping into Sonic each time it swished.

"Anyway, if you're done being a brat," Amy said to Sonic, "Ms. Vanilla's waiting for us right over there and she said once we're in the park, we can do whatever we want as long as we check in with her every hour."

"Every hour?" Sonic repeated incredulously.

Amy clasped her hands in front of her. "I thought it was reasonable."

"It's torture."

Tails looked up at Sonic. "It's longer than when you have me check in with you at the playground or the library. I have to find you every thirty minutes."

"Yeah, but-" Sonic sputtered, looking absolutely mortified by the comparison. "You're five-"

"Six!"

"-six, so it makes sense for you to have to check in," he defended, face hot and humiliated as he shot Amy a warning look.

To her credit, she was just smiling and rocking back on her heels. "Aw, you're such a good brother."

"I'm not," he fired back without thinking, then quickly realized what he said. "Wait, no- shut up."

Tails shook his head, but continued with his point. "So when I'm bigger, I won't have to check in with you anymore?"

Sonic opened his mouth with his comeback, then immediately closed it with a dissatisfied hum. He actually took the time to give it some honest thought, gaze flitting from the ground to the sky to Tails and back to the sky. Tails waited patiently for his answer, Amy just as curious as she watched him wrestle with his own mind for longer than he wanted to.

Finally he released a defeated groan, shoulders slumped and arms crossed. "Fine. We'll check in every hour."

Amy clapped her hands with a happy little, "Yay!" then smiled at Tails. "You're good."

"It's a necessary skill."

"Hey, I don't like this ganging up on me business. The two of you, stop it." Sonic pointed at them both.

"Who us?" Amy asked sweetly.

"We'd never!" Tails giggled.

Sonic sighed, "I already regret everything about this."

"Did you know they have a tunnel of love here, Sonic?"

"Amy, please, we're trying to find the bumper cars."

Arriving at the amusement park early seemed to be the right call to make. When Sonic first thought of the idea for Tails's birthday, he remembered that Amy had mentioned a theme park where she lived in Station Square, so reached out to her for some tips, and to see if she wanted to tag along to help celebrate. She passed along all sorts of information to him so he could get an idea of how to plan out the day, eager to help if it meant getting to see him and giving Tails a great first official birthday. The crowds were fairly thin in the morning and it left them the whole day to make sure they hit everything on Tails's wishlist, which only seemed to be growing with each attraction they passed. The fact that they had to check in with a freaking adult didn't seem to dampen the kid's spirits in the slightest, tails whipping in circles as he hovered from one shiny thing to the next.

Sonic supposed it made sense. Tails was already used to staying within eyes and ears of someone older than him. To him, this was no different, and he didn't seem to be looking at Sonic any differently for having to be the one that needed to do the checking in for once. Nah, the kid was too busy beaming at the facade of the castle, the twinkling lights, and just generally looked happy that he was there at all.

Well, far be it from him to be the one to drag down the spirits of the day. Sonic zipped over to where Tails was admiring a spinning ride, propping up an arm atop his head and purposefully leaning on him to get him to laugh. Tails shoved his arm off him and hopped up to stand on the lowest bar of the guard rail to give himself enough height so that Sonic couldn't repeat his crimes.

"You want to check this out, keed?"

"Yeah!" Tails pointed at the ride in front of them. "It looks like the ride spins you on its own track, but there's also a wheel inside the cars that you turn to change the speed and direction yourself!"

Sonic matched his grin with one of his own. "You know what that means?"

"We're gonna spin at supersonic speed?" Tails guessed expectantly.

"Is there any other way to travel?" Sonic winked. "Want to do this first, or are we still on the hunt for the bumper cars?"

"Oh, um… what do you think?" Tails asked.

"It's your big day, little buddy. You choose."

Tails hummed thoughtfully, as if the decision was so much bigger than just picking between two rides. "Let's do this first since we're right here, but then I want to find the bumper cars."

"Sounds like a plan!"

"Then we better get in line!" Amy waved them over to the ride's entrance, holding onto the hand of a little girl rabbit in a yellow dress.

There weren't a ton of rides Cream could join them for, but this was one of them, though Amy made sure the two of them had their own spinning car while Sonic and Tails tried to test the limits of how fast they could make theirs go without breaking the ride. They came pretty close to it, both of them yelping in panic when the wheel they were meant to be turning came loose, spinning wildly in wobbly circles. Tails managed to reaffix it to the car while they whirled about, their frantic shouting quickly dissolving into hysterics as the ride came to an end. 

They were still doubled over laughing when Amy rejoined them after delivering Cream back to her mom. "Do I even want to ask?"

"My head's still spinning!" Tails squealed.

"Your face when the wheel came loose-" Sonic sputtered, clutching his stomach.

"That was scarier than Eggman!" Tails gasped in between peals of giggles and Sonic wheezed.

"It was!"

Amy rolled her eyes, unable to help smiling at their antics regardless, and started walking. "Come on, boys, the bumper cars are over here."

Tails was just tall enough to be allowed to ride on his own, delightedly choosing a bright blue car as he geared himself up to track Sonic down and ram into him. It was rare that they were ever on a totally even playing field, but when it came to something like bumper cars, Sonic had the same limitations as anyone else and he felt no remorse as he purposefully collided with his little brother's car. Though Amy made for a tough opponent, too, relentless as she chased him down in her own blue bumper car.

They were able to ride three times before the crowds started picking up, more and more people arriving as it neared lunch. As it got more crowded, Sonic noticed Tails sticking closer than he had been, his tails tucked in and not as prone to hovering from sheer excitement. They didn't tend to hang around crowded places all that much, neither of them all that jazzed by them, albeit for different reasons. It was harder to run through a crowd at top speeds, and not in a way where the challenge was all that worth it if he accidentally knocked people over or hurt them.

For Tails, he knew it was a bit different, even if they'd been to so many more places outside of West Side Island that didn't say a thing about his two tails, it didn't change the fact that some of his formative memories had associated populated villages with danger. It was getting better, though. At least, Sonic was pretty sure it was getting better. 

They met up with Vanilla and Cream again for lunch, though Amy dominated most of the conversation by taking advantage of the opportunity to actually speak with Sonic face to face for the first time since Little Planet. For the most part, Tails seemed fine with this, happy to eat his chili dog and fries while people-watching. Well, it might've been more of a hyper vigilance sort of thing, keeping an eye on people to make sure no one tried to sneak up on him. It was a habit they were steadily working on, though to the kid's credit, he didn't look particularly upset. Just extra observant.

"Are you gonna stick around the area a bit more after today?" Amy was asking, having hardly touched her burger with how much she'd been attempting to make up for lost time.

Sonic shrugged, his own food already polished off as he leaned back in his chair. "Don't know yet. We're not really much for cities…"

"Oh, but Station Square is really close to a lot of beautiful wildlife and nature," she assured him. "Like Emerald Coast-" Tails's ears twitched and he stopped chewing to look up at that before realizing she'd said something different then he'd thought and went back to eating. Sonic nudged him with his knee under the table all the same though, eyes still on Amy as she continued, "-the sand dunes stretch on for miles and have the most beautiful sunsets! And I don't know if you passed them on the way over here, but the Mystic Ruins have tons of mysterious passageways that take you to all sorts of places up in the mountains! At least, that's what I've heard."

"Yeah, think we passed something like that." Sonic smiled at her and nodded at her tray. "You know your food's gonna get cold."

She took a big bite of her burger and chewed. "Worth it," she decided, apparently at peace with her lukewarm lunch. "They're talking about building a train station there soon, so it's easier to get to."

"Where?"

"The Mystic Ruins. Keep up, Sonic."

"Now there's three words I never thought I'd hear." Sonic shook his head, then flicked his gaze to Cream, who was staring at him with the biggest brown eyes he'd ever seen. 

He offered her an easy smile, then chuckled gently when she squeaked and hid under the table. Though he'd had his reservations about a kid her age coming along, he had to admit it wasn't so bad, even if Tails didn't seem all that interested in getting to know her. He'd switched gears from people-watching and had become more interested in stealing Sonic's empty chili dog cartons and drink cup to start stacking them on his own.

The mother, though, was a different story. "She's shy," Vanilla told him as she rubbed her daughter's back reassuringly. "We're hoping once she's in school it'll be a little easier for her to make friends."

"Until then, she's got me!" Amy chirped, leaning over to give Cream a good hug, which got her to smile and hug back. 

"She's always asking when you're going to come over next." There was a maternal warmth in Vanilla's gaze that was so foreign to Sonic's eyes, it felt a little weird to bear witness to it at a picnic table in a theme park of all places.

Amy nuzzled Cream as she laughed, "I've always wanted a little sister, so getting to hang out with Cream is the best! Oh, right next to writing letters to you, Sonic!"

He waved it off with a smirk, but before he could think of a witty comeback, Vanilla had turned her attention to the little fox who had now collected everyone else's trash to fashion it into a crude replica of one of the park's roller coasters. "What grade are you in, Tails?"

Tails blinked at her, an empty chili dog carton falling from its precarious perch on two soda straws. "Grade?"

"He's homeschooled," Sonic cut in.

"Yeah. I'm homeschooled," Tails repeated.

"That makes sense with you being on the road so much from what Amy's told me, but is there not still a grade system with your homeschooling program?" Vanilla pressed.

"It's more of a learn at your own pace kind of program," Sonic replied. "Tails is better suited to a more… independent style of learning."

"I see. And what about you?"

"More or less the same." In his experience, it was always better to keep it simple and vague. No need to explain that they'd stop in at libraries on rainy days and study whatever they felt like.

"Sonic, can we get ice cream?" Tails asked.

It was clearly an attempt at a distraction, obvious as it was, but Sonic appreciated it nonetheless. "What? Not still hungry, are you?" he teased, playing along.

"Oh. Um. Well, not now. Later. After games and more rides," he clarified. "Please?"

"I think we can swing some ice cream on your birthday, little buddy." He'd planned this day far enough in advance that he'd made sure to save whatever he could from extra odd jobs he picked up and hustling hustlers at their own game in pool halls, wanting to be sure they wouldn't have to worry about money for the whole day. 

His wallet was still uncomfortably full, ensuring that even after today's expenses, they'd still have a good amount to tide them over as it got colder and foraging for fruits in the wild would become more of a challenge. But it also meant they could save more food by wrapping it up and burying it in the snow until it was time to thaw it out over a campfire. There was a pro and con to every season, and Sonic tried to keep his mind on the pros of them all.

"So what's next on your wishlist, bud?"

Tails flicked his gaze to the remains of his roller coaster prototype, then back up to Sonic. "I'll give you one guess."

Sonic laughed, flicking an empty cup he was using for a support to let the rest of it come crashing down. "Alright, I'm game! C'mon, Amy, hurry up."

"Don't rush me." She was only halfway done with her burger.

There were a few roller coasters at the park, and they planned on hitting them all. There was one coaster that Amy hyped up for them called the Comet Crusher that sounded like it was just the thing Sonic needed to scratch that itch for some speed. With corkscrews and loop-de-loops, it claimed to be the fastest inverted roller coaster in the whole of the United Federation. It was on the other side of the park from the food though, so they decided to make a loop of the park and eventually find their way to it.

However, the lines for the roller coasters in the afternoon ended up being significantly longer than what they'd been able to get on that morning. By the time they entered the line for the second one, Sonic was already checked out and eyeing the queue of people ahead of them dubiously. He tapped his foot as they inched along, fingers also drumming out a rhythm against his arm as the line crawled at a snail's pace.

"How long is this supposed to take?" he finally groaned, trying to see up to the front of the line.

"It's only been five minutes," Amy told him.

Sonic frowned, head swiveling around to gauge how far they'd traveled in the line in that amount of time. "No way. Can't be. It's definitely been longer."

Amy looked down at her pink wristwatch. "Nope. It's definitely been five minutes. We got in line at one-thirty." 

She held out her wrist for him to look when he still didn't seem to believe her. Suddenly his knees felt like buckling and he had to brace himself on the chain link stanchion that marked the boundaries of the line to keep from collapsing. They still had another twenty minutes to go. Just standing there. Not moving.

Sonic slumped further on the stanchion, dragging it down as it bore more of his weight. "Just put me out of my misery."

"You're so dramatic," Amy tsked, shaking her head at him.

"We're all just standing around for nothing. Is this even worth it?"

Amy narrowed her gaze, hands on her hips. "Your little brother wants to ride this on his birthday. You saying that's nothing?"

He didn't straighten up completely, just enough to scowl at her. "That's low."

"Then stop being a baby and just wait."

"You're asking for the impossible, Amy."

"Oh my gosh. How does Tails have more patience than you? He’s six." 

They both turned to look at said six-year-old, who was happy to ignore them while he observed the roller coaster ahead of them, making note of the mechanisms and the way the track was laid. His busy brain kept him occupied, where other kids might've needed encouragement or bribery to stay put. Like Sonic, apparently.

"Why don't you go get another chili dog or something," Amy sighed. "Tails and I can hold your place in line while-"

"Thanks, Amy! You're the best!" And he was gone.

Except there was a line for the chili dogs, too. And a line to get back to the line for the roller coaster. Even a line for the freaking bathroom.

The only amusement park they'd been to aside from the egghead's had been Sunset Park just a couple of months ago, which had been a blast and a half even before the danger had passed. There was one crucial difference between it and Twinkle Park, aside from the fact that one was in a desert and the other in the middle of a bustling city. Since Sunset Park had been taken over and then subsequently freed by Sonic himself, the crowds had been minimal. Sonic, Tails, and the rest of the surprise party pretty much had the park to themselves. No lines, no waiting, just bouncing from attraction to attraction as they pleased.

Here, Sonic was lucky if he could catch a glimpse of the concrete sidewalk through the crowds. 

By the time he made it back to Amy and Tails, they still had another fifteen minutes to go.

He was going to lose his mind.

Chapter Text

There were a few more rides in between where they were and the Comet Crusher, but Tails could see Sonic was getting antsy, with more and more arguments breaking out between him and Amy. So he made the executive birthday decision to make the park's most intense ride the next one on his list. He didn't want Sonic to be so grumpy by the time they got to ride it that he wouldn't have any fun, after all.

It gave the hedgehog back a little bit of his pep, until they got to that line. "An hour?" Sonic stared uncomprehendingly at the posted wait time. "You're kidding."

"Sonic-" Amy started.

"Who would wait an hour for something that lasts less than ninety seconds?" he asked incredulously, gesturing at the coaster.

She tried again, "Well-"

"Do you people not have lives? I'm genuinely curious," he said to a group already standing in the line. "Honest answers only."

"Sonic!" Amy shouted.

"What?"

She held up three small tickets. "I got us flash passes for this ride. It lets us get ahead of most of the line."

"Oh." Sonic was instantly relaxed, foot no longer tapping and hands resting on his hips as he smiled. "Why didn't you say so?"

Amy stared blandly at him, then sighed and started walking. "Follow me. Our line starts over here."

It was better than waiting for an hour, but there was still a line they had to stand in. Amy texted Ms. Vanilla where they were, asking if she could come meet them at the Comet Crusher for their check-in after they got off the ride, reassured when she agreed and said not to worry about being a little late. Tails was super interested in the cell phone and Amy let him play around with it for a bit.

"Just don't make any weird calls," she giggled, then got a bit more serious. "Or change any of my settings. Or look at my photos- actually, on second thought. I'll just show you how it works."

While he was impressed with its functions, Tails was pretty sure he could design something better. Something that didn't necessarily rely on pinging off cell towers and was easier to carry. If a device could be an audio and text-based communicator plus a camera, there wasn't anything stopping it from having other functions on top of that. He just needed one to be able to tinker with, see how it worked.

"Sonic, can we get a phone?" he asked.

"What do we need a phone for?" Sonic asked back, not exactly sounding open to the conversation.

"So you could call me!" Amy suggested sweetly.

"We write letters. I don't need to call you."

Tails would bring it up again later. Sonic was clearly not in the mood to be negotiated with. "No reason. Just wondering."

After about ten minutes, they were about to enter the loading area for the coaster, until one of the operators stopped Tails and the two hedgehogs by association. "Hold up there, little guy…"

"What's wrong? What did I do?" Tails asked, grabbing onto one of his tails.

"Nothing, I just need you to stand next to this height chart for a second."

Tails and Sonic exchanged glances, both of their brows furrowed before the latter shrugged. Stepping up to the height chart, Tails stood with his back to it while the ride operator checked the numbers.

"Looks like you're not tall enough to ride, kid. Sorry."

"What? He's tall enough," Sonic protested.

"Ears don't count," the ride operator replied.

"I think you can make an exception for him. The concern is, what? He's gonna fall out of the coaster's harness? He can fly. He'd be perfectly fine." Sonic gestured to the twin tails as if that explained everything to someone who'd never seen him fly before.

"Sorry, kid. Bending the rules isn't worth my job. He can't ride."

"Dude, come on. It's his birthday."

Amy tugged on Sonic's wrist. "We're holding up the line, let's just get out and figure out what to do next."

Tails looked from her to Sonic, tails swishing with agitation. "You guys stay. I'll wait."

Sonic and Amy immediately protested the idea. "What? No, come on, little bro-" Sonic started.

"That wouldn't be any fun for you-" Amy added.

Tails shook his head. "I want you guys to get to ride it," he assured them both with a smile. "Ms. Vanilla's here now, right? I'll go wait with her until you guys are done. Then we can go do something else together. Like the games."

Sonic narrowed his gaze. "You sure?"

"Yes. It's my birthday, it's my decision." Tails nodded firmly.

Though he didn't exactly look happy about it, Sonic did still eye the coaster with interest. "Fine. But you park it on that bench next to Vanilla and you don't move until we're back. Got it?"

"Got it." Tails gave him a thumbs up.

He ducked out of line, waving to Sonic and Amy as they continued on, then made his way over to the bench. He left quite a bit of space between himself and Vanilla and Cream, but offered them both a smile as he joined them.

"You didn't want to ride with them?" Vanilla asked him.

"I'm not tall enough," he sighed, kicking his legs where they dangled off the park bench. "Sonic said that was dumb because I can fly, so if I got thrown out of the ride it wouldn't be a big deal, but they didn't care."

Vanilla stared at him with a quiet sort of shock. "I see."

"What did you and Cream do?"

"Well, we went on the carousel and played a few games." She nodded towards the stuffed toy Cream had come into possession of, the little rabbit making it hop along the back of the bench. "It was fun. I'm glad we were able to come."

"Yeah, me too. Sorry if Sonic's been kinda… weird about it." Tails tapped his shoes together, then added, "Thank you for making it so we could get into the theme park. I'm having a lot of fun.”

Vanilla's smile didn't quite reach her eyes, but Tails didn't think she looked sad either. It was a subdued sort of look, almost like she didn't really know how to look at him. That happened sometimes. When he'd been in Emerald Hill, there were some villagers who didn't necessarily hurt him, but they didn't help him either. They just looked at him like they wished that they didn't have to. 

"Good. Birthdays should be fun," she replied. "And Amy's wanted to meet you for a while. Every time she comes over, she has a new story about whatever you're both up to on your travels." There was a slight pause as Vanilla glanced away, gaze drawn to a family walking by with two kids. "Though I have to admit, I didn't realize you were both so…"

"So what?" Tails probed.

"Young," she settled on. "Is there someone who… looks after you, at all?"

Tails blinked at her. "Sonic does." He thought that much was obvious.

"All on his own?"

"Yeah… we don't need anyone else. He says they'd only slow us down."

"How old is Sonic?" Vanilla asked.

"Thirteen, but he'll be thirteen and a half in December. Right around Christmas! That's pretty soon."

 Releasing a heavy sigh, she stroked along her daughter's back while she played, looking at her for a long moment. Tails wondered if he'd said something wrong. They normally weren't supposed to say too much about their living situation to strangers, but Ms. Vanilla wasn't exactly a stranger anymore. Though it was hard to tell. As easy as it was for Tails to know when to use a socket wrench versus a combination wrench, he didn't really know when people went from being strangers to acquaintances or friends.

Maybe he'd said too much. "Sonic's the only family I've ever had. I don't remember anyone else ever being there like he is. And I'm all he's got, too. We look out for each other." Tails met her gaze earnestly. "So, we're okay."

Vanilla softened. "That's very insightful, Tails."

Tails shrugged. "One of us has to be, and I don't think Sonic wants to."

"Sonic doesn't want to what? Wait in another line, because you're on the money with that, keed."

Tails lit up as the space between him and Vanilla was suddenly full of one familiar hedgehog. "How was the ride?"

"For something that claims to be the fastest thing on this side of the United Federation, I've seen faster. Me." Sonic shrugged.

"Fastest inverted coaster," Tails corrected.

"I'm not even going to pretend to know how that makes it different from a regular coaster."

Tails's cheeks puffed out. "I told you, an inverted roller coaster is when the tracks are on top instead of the bottom and the train is connected directly to the wheel carriage which reverses the sensations-"

"Right. Okay, okay. You jogged my memory, I got it."

Tails frowned at him, tails flicking irritably at being interrupted. He understood Sonic was annoyed by all the waiting, Tails hadn't expected it either, but he still didn't think it was a very good reason to interrupt him. So much for what he'd just said to Ms. Vanilla.

"I thought it was a lot of fun!" Amy piped up. "Sonic even held my hand at the scary parts! Such a gentleman!"

"I don't remember having much of a choice. I couldn't feel my fingers because you were crushing them, and I need my hands so I can win some games for my little bro." Sonic flashed him a quick grin. "Right?"

That did perk Tails up a tiny bit after being annoyed with him. "Right. Games next. And then ice cream?"

"I can definitely get behind some ice cream. Let's jam and juice. See you in an hour." Sonic gave a half wave to Vanilla as he hopped up from the bench, Tails following suit and mirroring his stance.

"Cream, do you want to come, too?" Amy asked her.

"I think we're going to take a little break and rest for a bit. Find some place a bit quieter to sit. But we'll try and meet with you for ice cream," Vanilla replied on behalf of Cream.

"I can bring some to her when we're done with the games," Amy offered. "If you find a nice spot that you don't want to lose."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah!” Amy chirped. "Sonic and I have two hands. We can easily carry two ice creams each!”

Sonic couldn't help a small chuckle at that. "Yeah, we can do that."

"Alright. Thank you. You kids have fun."

"Wouldn't have it any other way! C'mon, Tails!"

Spirits had remained relatively high as they bounced from game to game. Amy beat the high score at the "Test Your Strength" game, swinging the hammer like it was nothing while the two boys cheered her on. She was also surprisingly good at the games of chance, consistently getting lucky with picking the ducks with the special red star ring painted on the bottom or at dropping the ring in just the right spot at the giant Plinko game. Tails got a little frustrated when his attempts at calculating probability didn't yield the same victories when he tried, but he felt a little better when he beat Sonic at the water gun races. Sonic might've been faster in real racing, but he was a terrible shot, so there was a chance Tails actually beat him and that he didn't just let him win.

Things were going well, until Amy spied a fortune telling booth and insisted that she and Sonic go to get their fortunes read. It sparked a small argument that only led to more arguments when Sonic stubbornly refused to concede and Amy did not let it go. 

While they were in line for their ice cream, the two of them couldn't decide what rides to do next. Amy wanted to ride the ferris wheel with him if he wouldn't go on the tunnel of love with her and Sonic wanted to do literally anything else.

Focused on his ice cream cone, Tails trailed behind the two hedgehogs as they bickered, too happy with his treat to be put off by it. He'd learned through observing their dynamic all day that even though they were quick to argue with one another, they were just as quick to forgive and move on. So he just enjoyed his ice cream, a rare treat for them most of the time. It was always better to get a snack or treat that they could save, and ice cream just wasn't very practical for that, even if it was delicious.

Engrossed with nibbling on one of the chocolate chips hidden in the mint, Tails didn't notice his shoelace had come untied until he stumbled. He managed to catch himself by spinning his tails, hovering a few inches off the ground. Luckily his ice cream was safe, too.

Glancing down at his shoe, he sighed. He should have figured this would happen since Sonic was the one who tied his shoes this morning. He was never very good at it, the loops always too loose and long. There was a reason Sonic's shoes buckled. Normally they tried to get Tails a pair with velcro when they picked up new ones from the clothing closets, but this last time the only red and white pair had laces. And Tails had to get red and white shoes. It was non-negotiable.

"Wait, my shoelace is untied," he said as he looked around for a place to set his ice cream cone down for a second.

There was a bench next to him that was only occupied on one side, so after asking permission from the badger sat there, he carefully balanced the flat, cake cone bottom on the seat of the bench. Satisfied with its temporary stability, Tails knelt down and fixed his shoelace, double knotting it so it'd be extra tight. Then he did the same for the second shoe, since that knot was looking like it was on its last legs, too. With a pleased smile, he straightened back up and retrieved his ice cream cone.

"Okay, I fixed it- Sonic?"

Tails looked up to find that he was talking to no one, both Sonic and Amy lost to the flow of humans and mobians on the walkway. Well, it wasn't the first time Sonic didn't hear him or just went on ahead anyway, trusting Tails to catch up when he could. He'd find him eventually.

Tails licked at his ice cream cone some more as he considered the dense crowd ahead of him. They'd been heading somewhere to his right, so as long as he kept going that way, surely he'd find them waiting for him or backtracking to find him. Sometimes it was better to stay in one place when he got separated from Sonic, but that was usually when they were out in unknown parts of the wilderness. With so many people here, it would be perfectly safe to wander and try to catch up.

So Tails kept walking, keeping an eye out for flashes of blue or pink while he finished the rest of his ice cream cone. It was too bad they hadn't decided on what to do next before he had to stop, all he knew was that they needed to meet up with Vanilla and Cream to give them their ice cream, but only Amy knew where that was since she had the cell phone to text her with. They could be anywhere in the whole theme park, though probably nowhere near the Comet Crusher anymore, that was a safe bet.

He tried flying up above the crowd for a bird's eye view, but there were too many people, and neither Sonic nor Amy were very tall. He was also on the receiving end of some strange looks when people noticed him in the air, so he self-consciously returned to the ground and stayed there. Yeah, it was better if he just walked.

After fifteen minutes and still no sign of Sonic, Tails decided to try a new course of action. If he was somewhere with people and separated from Sonic for what felt like too long, he was supposed to go to a safe, trusted adult to let them know he was lost. It could be a doctor or a mail courier or the guy at the chili dog stand, just someone who could help him figure out how to contact Sonic.

The lost and found seemed like a good place to start, considering he was lost and ready to be found. He perked up when he saw Twinkle Park security guards posted nearby. Those were safe, trusted adults.

"Hi, my name's Tails and I'm lost," he said as he walked up to them, one human and one doberman looking down at him.

"That's okay, kid, we'll help you out. Where did you last see your folks?" the human asked.

"Um." Tails looked back the way he came. "I don't know. It was somewhere between here and the ice cream stand."

"We'll put out an announcement on the intercom," the doberman assured him with a smile. "What are your parents's names?"

"I'm here with my big brother," he corrected. "Sonic the Hedgehog."

There was a beat of silence where both guards just looked at him, then the human security guard snorted, "That's cute, kid. Now come on, who are you really here with?"

Tails's brow furrowed. "I just told you. Sonic the Hedgehog."

The amusement started to fade from the two security guards. "You're saying Sonic the Hedgehog - the one that liberated South and West Side Islands from robots - brought you to Twinkle Park today," the doberman clarified.

"Yeah. For my birthday."

"That's some story, kid. Okay, who's with this fox child?" the human guard called out to the crowd, but no one stopped or paid them much mind, only a handful actually taking time to look and shake their heads. "Seriously, kid, you shouldn't make jokes like this. Where are your parents?"

Tails clenched his fists at his sides, tails whipping irritably behind him. "I don't have parents. It's just me and my brother."

"Your brother. Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Yes!" Tails huffed out, foot tapping impatiently. "So can you please call him on the intercom so he can come get me?"

"No, kid, we're not playing this game with you," the human guard told him, quieting when the doberman lifted her hand.

"You said your name's Tails?" She waited for him to nod before continuing, "If you are actually lost, Tails, then we want to help you reunite with your family, but you've got to give us real information to go off of, okay? This isn't a game."

"It is real information. Just ask him."

"You can't possibly expect us to believe Sonic the Hedgehog has a fox with two tails for a brother, do you?" the human sighed, just as frustrated as Tails, then looked at the doberman. "Should I call for back-up?"

The doberman scanned the crowd again, looking for any sign that someone was watching this all unfold as some kind of practical joke. "Yeah, might be a good idea."

They didn't believe him. No matter what he said, they just thought the idea of Sonic being his big brother was a joke. Clearly these weren't very safe or trusted adults to help him solve this problem.

"Whatever, slow-mos, I'll go find him myself," he muttered, and turned on his heel to storm away.

"Hold on, kid-" A hand latched onto his wrist and tugged him back, panic flooding Tails's chest at the tight grip.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Tails tried to wrench himself free, tails spinning so he hovered in the air, preparing to fly away from them.

"What the-? Quick, grab him!"

Another hand grabbed his ankle and brought him back down out of the sky, the doberman's grip much stronger than the human's. "Hang on, we can't let you go running off unsupervised."

"We've got an unaccompanied minor here. Refusing to provide information on parents' whereabouts," the human was speaking into his radio as the doberman wrestled to get Tails back on the ground.

An arm banded around his middle, effectively restraining him no matter how much he squirmed. His pulse quickened, chest heaving for breath as he kicked and clawed to no avail. The hold was too tight, he couldn't escape. He was trapped.

He reacted on instinct. The doberman guard went to shift her hold on him, her hand reaching across his chest. His teeth sank into the meat of her hand and she gasped, swallowing her own growl as Tails clamped down until he tasted blood.

"Minor is now exhibiting feral behavior. We need someone from social services for a wellness check."

Another guard came up to them and squeezed Tails's jaw until they could pry it open and free the doberman's hand. There was a low rumbling murmur of the crowd around them that had stopped to watch the incident unfold, but it all sounded like white noise to Tails, blind and deaf to anything outside of his need to survive. He was taken into a building, down a hallway, and into a room with a table and a couple of chairs. They set him down in one and he watched as the doberman left the room to tend to her hand while a new guard was posted at the door to make sure he didn't escape.

Some of the haze cleared as he panted, no longer being physically restrained made it easier to think and take in his surroundings. Tails winced at the coppery taste that lingered on his tongue and the throbbing in his jaw. His ears and tails drooped as he scanned the room he'd been deposited in. It was sparsely decorated, a faux plant in one corner and no windows to see out of. No other avenues of escape except for the door he'd been brought through.

"Let me go!" he demanded of the new guard.

"We've got someone who wants to talk to you first. They'll help you get out of here."

He didn't believe them. Fool him once, shame on them. They weren't going to get away with fooling him twice. He could only hope that he wasn't too far from the lost and found, and that Sonic would think to check for him there, even if the security was dumber than Robotnik's badniks, and that was saying something.

Twenty minutes later, a cat walked in with a pair of green, half-moon spectacles on her nose and a clipboard in hand. She was dressed very business-like for an amusement park, with a pencil skirt stretched across her wide hips and kitten heels on her feet as she entered the room like she owned the place. She gave the guard a curt nod, then they stepped out and closed the door behind them.

"Hello, my name is Sable. I'm a social worker here to help you," she said to Tails as she sat down across the table from him. "I've been told you don't know where your family is?"

Tails glared at her. "I want to leave."

"And I'm here to help make that happen. We're just going to talk for a bit. I'm going to ask you a few questions, is that okay?"

Crossing his arms, Tails purposefully looked away. "Are you gonna believe me when I answer?"

"That depends on if you're telling the truth. It's very important not to lie."

"I know! I wasn't lying!"

"Okay. I need you to take some deep breaths for me. In and out," she exhaled, demonstrating for him. "This situation must seem scary, doesn't it? It's alright to be scared."

"I'm not," Tails argued, even if his whole body was trembling.

"Can you tell me your name, please?" Sable the Social Worker asked of him.

He glared at one of his tails as it flicked in front of him. "Tails."

"How old are you, Tails?"

"M'six. Today's my birthday."

"It is? Well, happy birthday."

He looked up at her then, gaze fierce. "It'd be a lot happier if you just let me go!"

"Who brought you to Twinkle Park today, Tails?"

"Sonic."

"And who is Sonic?"

"My big brother and the hero of Mobius and when he finds out you've got me trapped in here, you're gonna be sorry you didn't believe me!" Tails told her.

"Do you and your brother live with anyone else?" She continued down her list of questions like she hadn't just been threatened, her voice calm and patient, if a little stern sounding.

Tails didn't answer the question. He had a feeling it wouldn't be good if he did. "I want Sonic."

"How old is your brother?" She looked at him over the tops of her spectacles.

He didn't answer that either. "I want to go. Please."

"What is your home phone number?"

"We don't have a phone," he whimpered, anxiety mounting in this tiny, windowless room.

"What is your home address? Do you know it?"

Tails shook his head and hugged one of his tails close. His mind frantically tried to piece together all the questions to figure out what he needed to say to get out of here. Simple and vague. 

"Do you have any other relatives? Any other family?"

"I want Sonic," he repeated.

"Do you know if you've been to the doctor recently?"

"Why does that matter?" Tails wailed, feeling more and more overwhelmed with each topic hop.

The cat pushed a packet of tissues across the table for him. "Here, take these. Would you like a glass of water?"

"No!" But he did take a tissue as he sniffled, just in case. "I want to go!"

"I only have a few more questions, Tails. Then we'll be done," she assured him. "Let me know when you feel a bit calmer and we'll keep going, okay?"

Tails dabbed at his eyes with the tissue, sniffling again, and looking anywhere in the room but her. "I've been to the doctor," he finally replied. "Why?"

"Because you bit someone, and we want to make sure you're in good health."

"I didn't mean to bite. I know it's bad," Tails mumbled. "They grabbed me. I wasn't expecting that."

"It can be scary to be grabbed without warning. Do people often grab you without your permission, Tails?" Her tone gentled.

His breath caught in his throat, eyes wide and horrified as he met her gaze straight on. He didn't say anything, but she wrote something down anyway. This wasn't good. He didn't know why, but he really felt like none of this was good.

"Has anyone hurt you, Tails?"

No. He tried to say. No, Sonic won't let them. Not anymore. But his mouth couldn't even open to form the words. His fingers twitched, hands coming together in front of his chest as he instinctively made the sign for "help." Not for the lady writing more stuff down about him, but because that was the most important sign Sonic taught him. Fist in palm, up and down. Sonic would see it and come running.

"I-" Tails rasped, swallowing thickly to try and clear his throat, and the cat glanced over at him. "I'm actually a little thirsty. Can I still have some water, please?"

"Of course you can." Sable the Social Worker stood up and crossed the room towards the door. "Wait right here."

Tails watched her, his tails starting to spin as he slowly slid off the chair until both shoes touched the floor. Her hand reached for the door handle and pulled. The door eased open, just a sliver, then was flung out of Sable's hand as a gust of wind slammed it into the wall outside. The little fox had made his escape.

Tails sped down the hallway, zipping and zooming through the air as he frantically searched for an exit. For the way he came in. A green exit sign caught his attention and he swerved towards it, flying right out the door and back into the crowded park.

He was prepared to go straight up. Up, up, up, where they wouldn't be able to grab him and take him back to that room. His tails were revved up, ready for speed.

"-buddy is missing, have you seen him?"

Tails froze before he began his ascent, frantically searching for the most familiar sounding voice in all his life, heart threatening to beat out of his chest if he didn't find him fast- "Sonic!"

"Tails?" The hedgehog whirled instantly, eyes sharp and honed in on him like a heat seeking missile. "Tails!"

Tails started to fly to him, but the security guard from inside the building had followed him out and grabbed him again before he got very far. "No!"

"Hey, hey, hey-" In a flash, Sonic stood in front of him, frowning up at the security guard. "I don't think that sort of treatment's necessary, pal. He's with me, you can let him go."

"I'm afraid we can't." 

Sonic's attention jerked to the cat who stood in the doorway of the administrative building behind the lost and found, his brow furrowed as his foot began to tap. "What?"

"Are you his brother?" Sable the Social Worker asked.

"Yes." Sonic didn't hesitate, taking a decisive step closer to Tails.

"Come inside, we were just asking Tails some questions and would appreciate your input."

"And what happens if I say no?"

"Well, we'll be forced to determine that there is no fit legal guardian for Tails and he'll be placed with the first available foster home while efforts are made to locate his relatives," she explained simply.

Sonic's quills stiffened, like he was preparing to deal with a more threatening design of Robotnik's bases or bots. "Fine. Just put him down."

The cat nodded at the security guard. They eased him back down to the ground until he was close enough to grab onto Sonic's hand. He held on with both, reassured when Sonic gripped his tightly in return. His gaze flicked to one side to check on something, and Tails realized it was Amy, waiting just a few steps away with wide eyes.

"Hang tight, we'll be out of here before you know it," Sonic told her as they followed the cat back into the administrative building. "So what's this whole misunderstanding?" he asked, actively fighting to sound casual.

Sable led them to the room Tails had been confined to just minutes ago. "Please sit." 

Sonic shot her an unimpressed look as he passed by her, but did as she requested and found a chair. He set Tails down first, then dashed away to bring another one over so they could sit as close as possible. Arms crossed over his chest, he drummed his fingers impatiently as he watched her take the seat across from them yet again.

"I'm waiting."

"Your brother bit a security guard," she stated without further preamble, and Tails saw Sonic wince out of the corner of his eye. "And he was unable to provide us with any information regarding a legal guardian."

"I'm his guardian," Sonic stated as plainly as he'd say "the sky is blue" or "I'm the fastest thing alive."

Sable the Social Worker leveled him with a look over her spectacles. "And who is your legal guardian?"

"Don't have one. Don't need one."

"You don't look old enough to not need a guardian."

"That's awfully presumptuous of you, lady. I could be a youthful eighteen for all you know."

"Alright, then. Let's say you are of age. Do you have proof of guardianship?"

Sonic's fingers drummed against his arm. "What sort of proof we talking about here?"

"A court order. A letter of guardianship indicating that you have been appointed as his primary caregiver," she explained patiently, and Tails could see that she didn't believe a word Sonic said. She was just humoring him.

Sonic picked up on that, too. "I look after him. I make sure he's safe. I've been doing that on my own for two years. No court had to order me to. All the proof you need is sitting right in front of you,” he huffed, gesturing to the fox kit sitting beside him.

She sighed and removed her spectacles. "I am not against you boys. I'm only here to make sure you have suitable living arrangements and proper care."

"Well, we do. So case closed. We'll see ourselves out."

"If you are both minors, you'll have to be entered in the system," she raised her voice enough to cut through Sonic's quips. "I will see what can be done about getting you placed together, but there's no guarantee."

For once, Sonic didn't have a smart remark waiting on the tip of his tongue. His face went uncharacteristically blank, though his jaw clenched and his green eyes were as hard as the Master Emerald itself. Tails didn't know what he was mulling over, but it made him reach out and place a reassuring hand over Sonic's all the same.

"Your system's a joke. You think this is our first time dealing with people like you? You're not here to help us. If you were, then you'd actually listen to what we have to say and you'd try harder to find kids permanent homes instead of shipping them off to the islands so you don't have to see them. Out of sight, out of mind, am I right? Where was the system when a three year old was half-starved to death in the woods alone? The system sure didn't save him. Because that's not actually the point for you. All that matters to you is checking off boxes so you can go to sleep at night thinking you helped make a difference." 

Both Tails's and Sable's brows raised, though the former was more visibly shocked at the serious tone in Sonic's voice. "Sonic…"

"So, no. We're not going in your system. We've got more important places to be."

The silence was deafening in the wake of Sonic's speech. No one wanting to be the first to say anything after that. But as the only adult in the room, the cat had to take back the reins somehow.

She folded her arms on the tabletop, glasses still in hand as she considered them both. "I legally cannot let two minors live on their own knowingly with no legal guardian on record."

"I've saved hundreds of people and animals from becoming enslaved by a robot army. There's gotta be an exception for that."

"I'm sorry."

Sonic fixed her with a scathing look. "No you're not."

She stood up from the table and replaced her spectacles on the bridge of her nose. "I'm going to make the phone call. Wait here, please."

She stepped outside the room, making sure to let both of them see the two security guards posted outside before they were locked in, just the two of them. Sonic was on his feet as soon as the latch clicked, running laps around the room until he felt like he could stand in one place again. His foot was still tapping a mile a minute when he stopped though.

"Okay, we don't have much time. We're busting out of here, Tails," he declared.

"But she locked the door," Tails protested, and he didn't think anyone would fall for the water trick a second time. Except maybe Scratch and Grounder or any of Robotnik's other dumb bots.

"We can break it down no problem. Nothing a little spindash can't fix. We'll be up, over, and gone before they've even had a chance to dial the area code." Sonic dashed over to the door, examining its integrity before pointing to the spot right beside it. "Stand here. I'll break down the door, then come back and grab you, but we're gonna have to be the essence of speed, keed."

"What if they get me before you do?" Tails asked, ears flat as he glanced at the door, two guards meaning double the chances of getting caught.

"Not possible, Tails." Sonic's voice commanded his attention and Tails gave it readily, his green eyes dark and determined as he met his gaze. "If a magnetic train with plenty of whistle signs and top of the line tracks isn't faster than me, a couple of security guards don't stand a chance. No one's getting to you before me."

A spark of hope swelled in his chest, and doing anything other than believing in Sonic suddenly seemed impossible. Tails nodded, positioning himself where Sonic instructed and watched him take a few steps back. He gauged the appropriate distance, then curled into a ball and revved himself up-

Only for the door to open just before he launched himself at it. He managed to reverse course at the last second, skidding forward only a few inches before falling back on his rear. Tails took to the air immediately, hovering up by the ceiling directly over Sonic in case he needed to lift him up out of danger.

The only reason he didn't was because the person standing in the doorway wasn't a threat, as far as Tails was concerned. Ms. Vanilla took in the sight of the two of them, their fur varying degrees of frazzled and Sonic still thrumming with the residual adrenaline he'd yet to release from his attempted spindash. She stepped further into the room, allowing Sable the Social Worker to re-enter as well. She stared down at Sonic over the tops of her spectacles like she knew exactly what kind of stunt he'd been about to pull. With a huff, he was back on his feet with his arms crossed and meeting her stare tenfold.

"Now what?"

"Ms. Vanilla has just explained that she is the adult responsible for the two of you at the moment," Sable told him. "Since there are no open foster placements right now, she has agreed to supervise you in lieu of placing you in a group home."

"That what they're calling orphanages these days?" Sonic tapped his foot, his ears angled back and listening for the steady whir of Tails's hovering above him.

Sable the Social Worker did not look amused. "The group homes are designated by age. If it matters to you so much that you not be separated, I'd suggest a little cooperation on your part."

Tails descended so he could land behind Sonic, peeking out around his quills at Vanilla. She was still straddling that line of stranger and acquaintance, but she had seemed nice and never once tried to make him do something he didn't want to do or say he was a liar. If going with her was going to get them out of this place, he was okay with it.

But he knew Sonic wasn't. "What exactly does 'supervising us' mean?"

"She'll be recognized as your emergency placement while you're entered into the system and a more permanent home can be identified for you. It will give us time to ensure you're placed together," Sable explained. "It might take some time, plus we'll have to cross reference your records in the event that you're not residents of Station Square."

"We're not."

"It's just until things get sorted out," Vanilla said softly, her brown eyes gentle and a little sad as she looked at the two of them. "So you can stay together."

Tails looked to Sonic, knowing the decision would fall to him. He always knew what to do, had a plan of action. Whatever he decided would be the right call.

Sonic released a long exhale, jaw set in a firm grimace, and nodded. "Okay."

The air in the room still felt heavy.

The four kids waited together while Vanilla signed the paperwork stating that she'd be available for contact when CPS was ready to move forward with the emergency guardianship petition. When Sonic and Tails had been taken into the back room, Amy had rushed off to find Vanilla and explain what she'd seen of the situation. It had been a longshot, given that Vanilla was not a certified foster parent or a relative to either of them, but apparently one could classify themselves as a non-related, extended family member, which was just a fancy way of saying "family friend."

She wasn't really that to them either, but no one was going to say otherwise. All that mattered was getting them out.

When the paperwork was finished and the sun was starting to set, the five mobians were free to go. They'd had enough excitement for one day. Vanilla carried Cream as she led the other kids to the front gates, Tails sandwiched in between Amy and Sonic this time, no chance of him getting left behind.

Amy looked at Sonic over the little fox's head, worry radiating off her like a heat lamp. She wanted to say something to him, but didn't really know what. None of them really knew what to say.

Just before they exited the park's elevator that led back to the streets of Station Square, Amy finally broached the silence. "It'll be okay. Things will work out, I know it."

"Yeah. 'Course they will." But Sonic didn't look at her, eyes focusing on the train station ahead of them instead.

Then he was gone. Tails, too. Vanilla and Amy were left on the sidewalk, at a loss as they could only look at the spot where they'd stood for only a second and wonder if this was something the two of them could outrun.

The train ride out of Station Square was quieter. 

The air was still thick with a solemnity that neither were completely comfortable or familiar with. Tails leaned against Sonic, watching their reflections in the darkened window across the aisle from them. A hedgehog and a fox with two tails. He thought about what they must look like to strangers, heart heavy as he realized that the security guards were right. They didn't look much like brothers at all.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah, bud?"

Tails's hand curled against the peach fur of Sonic's chest as he settled closer. "Are they really gonna separate us?"

The arm banded around Tails tightened, pulling him closer as Sonic stared hard out the window behind them and watched the lights of Station Square at dusk fade away in the distance. "Not a chance."

"But that lady said-"

"Doesn't matter what she said."

Tails quieted for a moment, looking up at Sonic wide-eyed and worried. "Promise?"

Sonic's hand skimmed up to the back of Tails's head, guiding him down gently to rest against his shoulder, then rubbed just behind his ear in a soothing motion. "Promise."