Chapter Text
If someone were to ask who was the smartest person in Green Hills was, you would be met with the straightforward response of Tails. That was just a simple fact in the small town. The kid who could make robots from scrap parts and secret security systems that can patrol the town.
For Tails, this was a point of pride for the young fox. Besides the fact that most of these actions result in him getting another grounding sentence, he was somebody in town with the answer to everything.
Then three yellow rabbits came from the future.
It wasn’t as if Tails hated the apparent future daughters he would have, it was that now that they were here he wasn’t seen as the ‘smartest’. The mobian with all the answers to any question. The fox who could think through any situation and find the solution.
Another point of concern was of course, Cream. He was just about ready to ask her out on a date and she had rejected his proposal. He could admit it hurt and move on with his life afterwards. However, when three bunnies from the future come back and say that the two of you will get together… it becomes a bit more complicated.
That brings us to the now, where Tails was standing in the home of aunt Rachael where he, Cream, and Vanilla were getting to know the three time-traveling children.
Unfortunately, Vanilla wasn’t letting them get a word in edgewise.
“OH! YOU ARE PRECIOUS!” She screamed as she continued to hold the struggling children in her arms with an amount of strength nobody knew she was capable of. From the pleading looks of his future kids, it was clear they did not enjoy this treatment.
“Please, remove us from this vice grip.” Savory pleaded out to the non-existent support of her childhood parents. Who were comfortable staying far away from the emotional adult mobian.
“NEVER! You three are so precious. I’m going to smother you with so much love and never let you go.” She said as her grip on the three bunnies increased ten-fold.
Tails looked over to see Cream also looking at the scene in front of them. They haven’t spoken since Tails tried asking her out yesterday. It wasn’t the most awkward of situations, but the real awkwardness came when their future children showed up the same day.
If the fundamental nature of time is in play, then that means that whatever happens will happen. That means that he and Cream are destined to send Project Homerun into space, and not talk about what happens here with his children, nieces, and nephews, and have three children who are clearly more intelligent than him which definitely didn’t infuriate him.
Of course not, he was fine.
Just fine.
He was perfectly, absolutely fi-
“Miles?”
Tails was broken from his disjointed thought process by Cream’s question. Looking back to her he noticed her hazel eyes peering into his own.
“Could we talk in private, please?” She asked with obvious nervousness.
“Shouldn’t you be with your mom?” Cream simply flinched her head towards Vanilla who was too busy smothering the three kids with her hugs. Making sure not a single one of them escaped her grasp.
“I think she’ll be okay, come on.” Tails and Cream made their way out of the living room and into Cream’s bedroom who she shared with Jojo. She and her mom were busy grocery shopping so they had plenty of time to talk with each other.
Once they entered the room, Cream closed the door and stood in front of Tails as if ready to talk. She shifted nervously from one foot to the other, sparsely giving Tails any eye contact in the room.
After about a few minutes, Cream awkwardly gave the first sentence to kickstart the conversation.
“I… thought this would come easier.” Both of them didn’t say anything for a few seconds before Cream continued the conversation. “Do you… like me?”
This turned off Tails’ brain for a millisecond before being pelted with the terrifying question that Cream had just gave. His heart was going a mile a minute and he could feel the inside of his gloves getting sweaty.
“Y-y-yes, I like you.” Tails gave the most forced of smiles as he rubbed the back of his neck and tried to avoid eye contact just like Cream had done.
“I mean… like-like me?” Cream pressured again with a sentence that doubled Tails’ original fast paced heartbeat and caused him to feel as though he was fighting Surge all over again. He quickly decided to commit to some breathing exercises before he answered.
Breath in. Count to ten. Exhale. Breath in. Count to ten. Exhale. Breath in. Count to ten. Exhale.
After five more breaths, his heartbeat came back down to Earth and he was able to look Cream in the eyes before giving his answer.
“Y-yes… I like-like you.” This caused Cream to flatten her mouth and slightly tip her head downwards. She started to fidget with her gloved hands before looking back up at Tails.
“Well… okay. But, I don’t like-like you.” That honestly broke Tails’ heart in such a devastating way that even Cream could see it plastered on his face. “N-not that I won’t like-like you one day, it’s just. With what’s happening, I think we should hold off on our feelings until we get our… children back to the future.”
This gave a tiny bit of hope to Tails’, who immediately released to gasp of air he held in without even knowing. He decided to steer the conversation to something else.
“So… what do you think of the triplets?” Cream looked back to the door for a second before looking back and giving her answer.
“I like them. They’re smart and nice to be around. Plus I like their routine where they finish each other’s sentences.” At this both Tails and Cream started snickering at this, taking the time to enjoy the humor of it. They quickly composed themselves and Tails thought that he should give his opinion on the kids.
“They’re… alright.” Cream frowned at his response and decided to carefully ask for more by giving a raised eyebrow. “It’s just… their… smarter than me.” Cream quickly sniggered before clasping her mouth shut with Tails looking back at her.
“I’m sorry, but you’re jealous of their smarts? Don’t you think that’s a little-”
“Pathetic.” Tails cut Cream off as he talked on. “Honestly, I was always the smartest person in Green Hills, probably the world, and my future children come back in time and suddenly they pull out holographic phones and floating chairs.” Tails started to pace around the room as he continued his rant.
“And where does that leave me? The ‘former’ smartest mobian in town? I have a secret lab under my regular lab. I created a surveillance system for the entire town before dad told me to take it down. What good will I-”
Tails’ tirade came to a halt when he felt the hand of Cream touch his shoulder. He peered back and saw the gentle smile of Cream that immediately calmed him down. She was still younger than most mobians in town, but she had the sweet, calming aura her mother had.
“It’s okay, Miles. We don’t need you to be the smartest in town. You’re our friend, and you’ll always be our friend, no matter what.” At this declaration, Cream proceeded to hug Tails. The action caused Tails’ brain to short circuit, but he was able to right himself and give a hug in reciprocation.
To Tails, it felt nice to be appreciated for more than his intellect, but for the longest time it was the only thing he believed anyone would value him for. It would take more than a simple hug to fix that. Tails simply looked back and offered a friendly smile.
“Thanks, Cream.” He said as he let go of Cream and the two of them falling into uncomfortable silence, yet again.
“You… uhm… have you worked on finding that bad robot?” She asked with slight hesitation. Tails simply beamed at the question.
“Oh! Yeah, I’ve been hard at work trying to pinpoint the precise location of Mecha, it might take a few days in order to find them.” He stated at the end with slight embarrassment over what he assumed to be a lapse in ability.
He quickly found Cream gently placing a hand on his shoulder and giving him a comforting smile as well.
“It’s okay Tails, I know you’ll be able to find that mean robot. If anyone can do it, it’s you.” At Cream’s declaration, a sense of pride lifted Tails the same way his tails would often do.
Unfortunately, their private meeting was interrupted by Vanilla busting through the door with the triplets trailing behind her.
“CRE- Oh, there you are.” Vanilla half-shouted before returning to her usual composure. She brought her hand out for Cream to take, which she did. “I’d like to take some pictures of you and Tails with the triplets in the living room.”
“Sure, I’d be happy to.” Cream looked back to Tails. “C’mon Miles, we should have some souvenirs from their trip.” She stated as if the future children had taken a vacation and not broke time itself.
Tails gave a quick nod and followed suit, before Vanilla decided to ask something of Tails in the hallway.
“Uhm, Tails… do you know if… she is still with you.” It was clear to what she Vanilla was referring to as if the individual wasn’t responsible for a whole mess of trouble just last year.
“Fortunately no, she is not, although she is still on Earth due to the downpour.” Tails looked to one of the windows and saw the rain beating down onto the glass. “She’s apparently staying in the woods for now, so we aren’t in immediate danger.”
“Let’s all hope so.” Vanilla stated as she turned around ready to banish the individual from the forefront of her mind and focus on taking some nice pictures.
Tails, although, thought of what Surge was doing in those woods.
…
Surge was not having the best time at the moment.
She was currently sitting inside the vacated cave-home of Sonic the Hedgehog. The cave itself offered protection from the torrential rain that showered from above. The meek cave giving little actual comfort to Surge at the present moment.
The place reeked of mildew and animal droppings from previous inhabitants. No solid ground could be found so Surge had to plant her butt on a slightly pointed rock that was uncomfortably digging into her ass crack. The lighting was no less better, with barely any sunlight passing through the holes on the roof to offer Surge any actual way of seeing.
However, Surge could forgive all of it, all of it, if it hadn’t been for the noise.
With just the gentle sound of rain from outside, the cave was all but silent. This, to Surge, was the greatest crime of all.
It forced Surge to think.
To think about all that she had done on Earth. All that she had done on Mobius. All that she had done in her life.
It was not a pretty picture, she would admit. For the majority of her life she had been doing nothing but destroy everything in her way and killing people she could get her mitts on. She honestly liked doing it and never regretted it.
Then Kit came into the picture.
She used to think of him as a small runt that could watch her back. Someone who she just took on missions to talk to and tell to do stuff she didn’t want to do.
Then, eventually, she realized she was actually protecting him. She had him stay back away from danger. She always went first when she didn’t trust a room they needed to get through. Always taking kills that he could have taken easily.
Surge would never admit to Sonic that he was right. She would no sooner wear a frilly princess outfit than admit Sonic was right.
But, looking at Kit now. Being part of this family. Perhaps being happy for the first time in his life outside of being with Surge. It both hurt and comforted Surge. It was an emotion she didn’t know and hated it deeply.
She never regretted leaving Kit on Earth. It hurt, but it was the only way to keep Kit safe from the rampant dangers of Mobius. Surge just never assumed she would come back one day.
Was she supposed to say something to Kit. What was she supposed to say. What can she say. Was she supposed to apologize to Kit for abandoning him on this planet. Zouge would probably say something about ‘opening a dialogue’ or whatever that was supposed to me-
It was at this moment that nature decided to rain on Surge’s parade, literally. As a hole formed at the top of the cave ceiling causing a waterfall of rainwater to drench the spot that Surge continued to occupy.
For 30 uninterrupted seconds the water continued to leave no inch of Surge dry as the gallons of water turned into simple showers. Surge inhaled and spoke the one word she had spoken since taking shelter in the cave.
“Fuck.”