The Fox and the Seedrian: A Taismo Story Ch 2

The Fox and the Seedrian, A Taismo Story
Chapter Two: Peas, Pods, Foxes, and Hens

“Tails... Tails... Come on back, pal.”

The fox groaned as he heard Sonic's muffled voice as feeling slowly returned to his body and the blackness gave way to the three pairs of eyes hovering over him. He also felt what could only be Cheese tugging on his muzzle.

“Sonic...?”

“You fainted, buddy. Luckily you fell back on your tails, so you didn't hit your head hard... Or knock the grill over for that matter.”

Tails glanced to his left to see that he had just missed the grill, and saw his plate and tongs were on the grass next to him as the past few minutes came rushing back to him.

“The tree... The tree is it—”

“The tree is perfectly alright...” Sonic began to assure him. “And you've got someone here who's been waiting a long time to see you again.”

Sonic, who was standing to his left, looked back down towards the yard. Amy and Cream were directly in front of him, and they both stepped to the side simultaneously to reveal the seedrian right behind them.

“Tails...” Cosmo greeted with a gentle smile. She had appeared the way she was last seen on the Typhoon; except for one thing; the red amulet on her chest was no longer there, its presence having already served its purpose.

The fox leaned up as emotions quickly built up inside him.

“Cosmo... Cosmo...!” Tails replied, struggling to get to his feet. Before getting his footing, he stumbled towards her as tears welled up in his eyes. “You're... You're here...” His voice shook, he spread his arms to embrace her, but the torrent of emotions crashing into his mind wouldn't let him keep his balance, and he tripped and fell to his knees directly in front of her. Cosmo knelt down in return and accepted the hug as he begun sobbing with joy.

“You're here... It worked...” He cried, his hands clinging to Cosmo's shoulders as she began to rub his back. Cream and Amy were getting choked up at the scene, and even Sonic found himself touched at the reunion.

“Yes it did. You did a great job. Your garden is beautiful.” Cosmo said, parting from the embrace to kiss him. “Thank you so much. And thank you, Sonic. You started this process.” Cosmo said, looking up at the hedgehog with a smile.

“Don't mention it. It's great to have you back, Cosmo.” Sonic told her, giving her a thumbs up.

Tails sniffled, trying to get himself under control.

“I'm really sorry. I'm such a mess right now...” Tails said, continuing to cry happily.

“I don't think anyone's gonna hold that against you, sweetheart.” Amy said, coming over next to him and helping him and Cosmo to their feet as the fox wiped his tears away with his hand. Sonic ran to get another chair for their sudden fifth guest, and set it next to Tails' chair and Cosmo took her seat next to him.

“Cosmo, I'm so sorry, I have no idea what to offer someone who just came back to life out of a tree. Would you like anything to eat or drink?” Amy asked, assuming the hosting duties from Tails who was understandably too emotional to do so at the moment.

“The sunlight is enough for now, but I'll happily drink what everyone else is having, thank you.” Cosmo replied, taking hold of Tails' hand in hers as he began taking deeper breaths to start to calm himself down. Within another few seconds, Sonic had gone back inside and come back around with another glass for Cosmo's lemonade.

“So do you know where you were this past year? Were you in some spirit world, or were you actually the seed that came from the Chaos Regeneration?” Sonic asked her, pouring her a drink from the pitcher in the center of the table.

“I think it was a bit of both,” Cosmo replied, her lips puckering a little from her sip of lemonade. “I saw myself as the plant, slowly growing over the last year, and I heard anyone close by, but I could never see them, and I could never speak back to them, especially you, Tails.”

Tails' cheeks tinted pink and smiled bashfully, the tears having stopped for now. He had lost track of how many times he had talked to the plant as if it were Cosmo; which it turned out, was exactly what had happened.

“Then as the tree grew strong enough, I just felt that I now had enough strength to break through, and... Well, here I am.”

“I have no idea how I wouldn't go out of my mind from the isolation and boredom.” Sonic admitted.

“When you're dealing with the ethereal instead of the physical, your mind is the exact opposite of isolated. I felt every molecule in that tree, as it grew every day. Not one moment was the same as the last.”

“You make a plain ol' physical existence sound dull by comparison.” Sonic joked.

“On the contrary, it's what I've longed to return to the most. To touch, smell, and taste again... And be with those I care about the most.” Cosmo finished, looking over to Tails and squeezing the hand she held.

“I'm pretty sure I'm still in a fog here. I still can't believe you're really here.” Tails admitted.

“It'll settle eventually, buddy. Just one question; where's she going to stay? You've renovated every single inch of this place, except that twelve-by-twelve shack you call a living space. There's barely enough room for you in there.” The hedgehog quipped.

“Yeah... You've, uh, actually got a point there, Sonic. I've been focusing so much on this yard that I never really thought about where you were going stay if you came back.” Tails said, looking over to Cosmo.

“I'm sure you'll figure something out, Tails.” The seedrian replied.

“Yeah, and until you do, you two can come down and live with us!” Amy exclaimed!

“What?” Came the unison reply from Tails, Cosmo, and Sonic.

“Well why not? Sonic, that guest bedroom hasn't been used since I furnished it back when I bought the place. It's got room for both of them, and it's ten times more comfortable than anything he's got in there.” Amy realized what she had said, and immediately offered a “No offense,” to the fox.

“None taken, it's true.” He replied, unfazed.

“I wouldn't want to be a bother. I'm sure whatever Tails can put together up here will more than suffice.” Cosmo interjected.

“Nope, I'm afraid I must insist. The last thing you're going to be is a bother. It's gotten a little boring with just Sonic around there.”

“Hey!”

“So what do you say, you two? Care to fire up the X-Tornado and get us down there? I'll get your dishes put up while you get it ready.”

They all knew there was no arguing with Amy once her mind was made up. It looked like they were going to be house guests on the outskirts of Topaz Harbor down by the Sapphire Sea until Tails could get his “shack” renovated. By which he meant completely tear down and make a building suitable for two.

“Sounds like a plan. Thank you, Amy.” Tails said, getting up and going with Cosmo around to the front of the hangar.

“What happened to the Blue Typhoon?” Cosmo asked as Tails pressed the side panel to open the large hangar doors, revealing the X-Tornado.

“We landed that about 650 yards to the south, on the beach not far from where we launched it. I haven't really had the chance to work on it since we got back.” Tails answered, walking into the hangar and up to his gold-plated jet.

“I'd be happy to help with it. I know it took quite a beating before... Well, before the end... There.” She offered, pausing a couple times. Talking about one's death proved awkward. Tails offered no reply as he climbed into the cockpit, so Cosmo assumed that even though she was now here again, it was still quite a sensitive subject, so she didn't mention anything further while Tails went through his pre-flight checks.

Fifteen minutes later, the X-Tornado was out on the runway, and the dishes and grill had been cleaned and put away. Cosmo took the seat behind Tails, and Amy and Cream took the rear pod, with Sonic of course opting to leg it, and would no doubt beat them there by five minutes.

“Alright everyone, hang on. Here we go! X-Tornado, takeoff!”

---

By the time the X-Tornado landed at the closest clearing to Amy's house, late afternoon gave way to evening as the sun started it's final descent towards the horizon. Sonic and Amy gave them the dime tour of the beautiful home they had created together; of course when Sonic said as such, Amy had to clarify that by that, he meant she had created it, and they were together. They were shown the guest room they would be sharing; it was a warmly lit rustic bedroom, with a full size bed, closet, and two night stands.

Since the picnic in his backyard, it had been nothing but awkward smiles and blushes between the two of them. Tails had been dreaming of this day for so long, that he didn't know quite where to begin, while Cosmo was wondering where she would fit in on a new planet, in a new culture, with new traditions; plus, she felt like she had stepped on some hollow ground, so to speak, when she mentioned what had happened at 0-0-0 before takeoff a couple hours earlier.

Not long after that, the inviting smell of dinner had lured them all to the kitchen, where a scrumptious looking vegetable stew had been prepared.

“Again, thank you so much, Amy.” Cosmo said, polishing off the last of her meal.

“You don't have to keep mentioning it, Cosmo. You've already thanked me a dozen times.” Amy said with a chuckle, starting to feel a bit embarrassed for the girl.

'Not like you didn't bring this on yourself.' Sonic thought with a smirk, Amy having been so insistent on having them down here as guests for the foreseeable future.

---

As Sonic and Amy did the dishes, they had a perfect view of the backyard, where Tails and Cosmo were laying in the backyard, gazing up at the night sky. They had been there ever since dinner had wrapped up.

“I don't think I could be any happier for them.” Amy said, rinsing the last plate she currently held and putting it on the drying rack as she looked out at the duo occasionally talking and giggling.

“They're two peas in a pod, that's for sure.” Sonic said, who was currently taking the dishes on the rack, drying them with a towel, then putting them away in the cabinet.

“And what would you call us?” Amy asked., beginning to drain the kitchen sink, looking over at Sonic as he took it, wiped it down, then put it away, before drying his hands and picking up a gold jeweled ring that had been resting over on the spice rack, and put it back on his right ring finger.

“I'd say we are... Two foxes in a hen house?” Sonic said without a smidgen of confidence. His answer caused Amy to snicker.

“Oh, those poor hens.”

“Sorry if I don't have pages and pages of those to list off.” He replied in defense, slipping a hand around her waist and pulling her closer for a kiss, causing her to blush.

“Quite a day.” She commented, glancing out again at the reunited couple in her backyard.

“That's for sure. What do you say...” Sonic began, coming in for another kiss. “...That we go upstairs and make it quite a night?”

“Oh...” Amy said, blushing even more at Sonic's bedroom eyes. “You know, you're quite the romantic when you want to be... You should do it more often. Because it's one of the things that you don't do faster than anyone else.” Amy replied, running a finger across his left ear and down his lower quill, and getting a blush in return from her fiance. She ran her finger around the tip and brought it back around up to his cheek and chin, before stepping back and turning around towards the patio screen door.

“Alright you two lovebirds, we're off to bed. Don't fall asleep out there, or the bugs are gonna have quite the overnight snack.” She called out to the budding couple in her yard.

“We won't, thanks! Good night!” Tails called back.

Tails glanced back and saw the two hedgehogs head towards the living room and went upstairs, and then back to the Seedrian to his left. His heart skipped a beat just by looking at her.

“The stars are so beautiful, even from down here.” Cosmo said, then glanced to her right and found Tails staring at her instead of the sky.

“You're so beautiful, Cosmo.” Tails said, both their cheeks getting hints of pink. “I wanted to say that back on the Blue Typhoon after your party, and I was too nervous to say it. I can't believe I didn't. I'm so happy that I have the chance to say it now. You're the most beautiful sight I've ever seen.”

“I... I really wish I knew what to say other than, thank you so much, Tails. I hope it doesn't take me too long to get better at this romance thing. You're the most special person to me, and I'm truly looking forward to a life together with you.”

The night air was warm tonight, so he had to admit that there was a very real possibility of falling asleep out here, and Amy was right; that wouldn't be fun come morning.

“Well, what do you say we go see how comfortable that guest bed is? Because while I'd love to fall asleep with you out here, Amy's right, who knows how many bug bites we'd get out here?”

Nodding silently, the two of them got up and headed inside, with Tails shutting the sliding glass door behind them, never letting go of Cosmo's hand. They walked down to the guest bedroom on the first floor, shutting off lights as they went. With the house dark, they entered their bedroom, and climbed into bed under the blankets. They wished each other sweet dreams, kissed each other good night, and as Tails fell asleep in the girl's arms, he knew there was no other place in the universe he'd rather be right now.