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Chapter Notes > I decided to spoil you all by beginning a new chapter as soon as I finished > posting the last one. I hope you enjoy it, but don't get used to this update > frequency. I just had an idea for some Zero-Tails bonding, partially to help > Tails trust Zero, partially to flesh out Zero's character, and partially to > give Sonic even more of a conflict (my enemy shows up, helps me defeat my other > enemy, and helps comfort my friend when he's scared? what's going on?). I hope > you enjoy this chapter. > > Also, remember when I said chapter 3 was going to be the last split-perspective > chapter? I lied. This is, seriously for real this time, the last > split-perspective chapter I'm going to write for now. (I just need some way to > introduce the conflicts separately.) --- The night after the battle was a dark and stormy one. Just as the battle had raged during the day, a thunderstorm now raged outside. Which is why a certain orange fox wasn't able to sleep. Tails paced his room back and forth the whole time, trying to keep his fear from bubbling to the surface. He had always been afraid of lightning, ever since he was a young kit. He had gotten better at hiding said fear, but he was still afraid nonetheless. He'd walk around his room, and suddenly, a flash of light and a *BANG!* would send him straight back to his bed and diving under the covers. He shook his head. His room was too close to the outside. Maybe he could pace the jail below. Maybe that would calm him down. He went down the stairs and to the familiar collection of cells. Unbeknownst to him, he wasn't the only person roaming the halls of the jail. --- Zero had always been a light sleeper. Something about having been a mercenary for as long as he had been, and being wary of an ambush attack, meant that the slightest noise could wake him from even the deepest of slumbers. So a bunch of thunder and lightning, muffled as the thunder may be? Yeah, Zero wasn't really going to get any sleep until the storm passed. After the battle, Zero had willingly returned to his cell. Sonic, in an interesting display of trust, hadn't locked him in. He was just laying on the poor excuse for a bed, without being cuffed. He could escape and run away, but he didn't. He wasn't really one to run from punishment, not to mention the cobalt hedgehog was very much conflicted as to whether any punishment was deserved. Zero wasn't about to throw any gained trust away. As much as he wanted to prove he could be trusted, Zero was getting bored of lying awake on the planks that served as a "bed". He decided to take advantage of his unlocked cell and walk the halls until the storm passed and he could sleep. --- It was dark in the jail. There was no moonlight, and the brief flashes of lightning were ineffective at lighting the room. Zero didn't turn the lights on because he didn't want to cause any suspicion, and Tails didn't turn the lights on because he thought "Infinite" was sleeping. Of course, this means that a jackal and a fox are walking around in an almost pitch-black jail, unable to see even 3 feet in front of their faces. Of course, they ended up running into each other. Quite literally. Zero was the first to react. "Are you okay?" Tails shook off the hit. "Yeah, I'm fine, nothing's-" At that exact moment, a flash of lightning came through the window, followed by the *BANG!* of thunder. Zero realized Tails was shaking. "...What's wrong?" He was genuinely concerned, although for what reason he did not know. Tails was a little unsettled, partly because of the lightning and partly because he didn't expect the jackal to be concerned. "N-Nothing. I-I'm absolutely fine." He turned to walk away, only for Zero to stop him. "Are you sure? You're shaking pretty badly. Is everything alright?" Before Tails could respond, another flash of lightning and explosion of thunder resounded throughout the base. Tails jumped slightly; the lightning had seemed closer than before. Zero decided to ask the question in a softer manner. "What's wrong? You can tell me." Tails, thoroughly embarrassed, realized that "Infinite" wasn't going to let him leave without an answer. "...I'm afraid of lightning. Have been since I was young." Zero paused for a moment to process this answer. Tails, the fox, the second-in-command to Sonic, was afraid of lightning? It made sense. From what Zero had gathered, not only was the fox a pilot, he was also able to fly on his own power. Obviously, somebody who flies often would be afraid of getting struck by lightning. Tails turned away. "You probably think I'm weak." He started to leave, only for Zero to stop him again. Zero smiled. "No, I think you're reasonable." He pulled Tails into a side-hug, surprising the fox. "It's okay. The lightning won't get to you down here." Tails looked at the jackal incredulously. "I know that, but that-" Zero stopped him. "I know, it doesn't make it any less scary. Still, I'm here for you." Tails tried to pull away. "I knew it, you think I'm weak-" Zero stopped him again. "No. As I said, you're reasonable." He adjusted his grip on the fox, trying to get into a more comfortable position for both of them. "Also, stop treating being weak as a bad thing. Trust me, I've been there. It's a horrible place." A look of realization flashed across Tails' face like a lightning strike. "So you **are** Infinite-" Zero shook his head, cutting Tails off. "***Was*** Infinite. Big distinction there." He shifted a little, uncomfortable discussing his past. "After that final battle, the Phantom Ruby rejected me and sent me into the woods, alone. I was on my way out of the stronghold when Sonic found me." Tails was going to say something, ask a question, when the next lightning strike hit, followed by the loudest crash of thunder yet. Tails instinctively held Zero tight, his fear bubbling to the surface. Zero simply held Tails closer. "Shh... shh... it's okay. It's okay. I'm here." He didn't know what was possessing him to the point where he cared this much for the fox he now held close, but he didn't mind much. "We're fine. There's no lightning down here." Through his fear, Tails was able to crack wise. "Really? I couldn't tell." Zero simply smiled. "Feeling better?" Tails frowned. "No, not really. I just had to say that, you left me with no choice." Zero returned the frown. "Whatever." He allowed a small smile to return to his face. "As I was saying, everything's going to be oka-" Again, a flash of lightning came through the window. Zero began counting on his fingers (with the hand that wasn't holding Tails). One second later, the crash of thunder came, a little quieter than before. Still, it was too close for comfort for the poor fox, who again clung tight to the jackal's frame. Zero returned to his base calming instincts. "Shh... shh... it's okay. It's okay." Tails shuddered. He decided it was his turn to open up about his past (since Infinite had opened up about his). "It was a stormy night when it happened." Zero looked at him, curious. "When what happened?" Tails looked to Zero for support. "When my parents died." Zero held the fox closer. Of course, Tails had been an orphan. Zero felt bad for him and didn't press for any more details. Tails offered more information anyways. "They were out at a picnic when the storm came. They rushed to get inside, but they were unlucky enough to get struck." He shuddered again. He hated this part of the story. "They never came back home. Eventually, I had to move on and fend for myself. Combine that with how often I fly, and... you get the picture." Zero shuddered in turn. "That's horrible..." Before Tails could respond, the next flash of lightning came. Zero counted again. 3 seconds. The lightning was getting further away. Still, the crash of thunder was too much for Tails, who somehow clung to Zero's frame even tighter than before, something Zero had thought was impossible. Zero continued to hold Tails close. "Shh... shh... it's okay. It's okay." Tails was... crying? "If I hadn't found Sonic, I might have never gotten off West Side Island. Who knows what would have happened to me?" Zero continued comforting the fox. "But you did find Sonic. You went with him and became one of the world's greatest heroes." Before Zero could continue, the next flash of lightning came. Zero counted again. 5 seconds. The lightning was getting even further away. That didn't soften the impact of the crash of thunder, however. Tails managed to wrench himself free of the side-hug and desperately clung to Zero, muttering nonsense words. Zero hugged Tails back. "Shh... shh... It's okay. It's okay. The lightning's getting further away." Tails, through his tears, looked into Zero's eyes. "It is?" Zero nodded. "The next time you see the flash of lightning, count how many seconds there are between the lightning and the thunder. The longer the time is between the two, the further away the lightning is." He shifted, a little uncomfortable with how close Tails was to him. "It went from one second to three seconds, and then to five seconds." As if on cue, the next strike flashed in the window. Tails counted out loud. "One... two... three... four... five... six... seven..." The crash of thunder was heard, and Tails instinctively threw himself at Zero again. This time, the jackal was ready for it. Tails sounded amazed. "You're right. It is getting further away." Zero smiled and hugged Tails close. "See? It's okay. Everything's going to be alright." Between Zero's soothing words, and the pitter-patter of rain on the rooftop plainly audible even in the jail, Tails felt himself drifting to sleep, despite himself. He tried to stay awake, to avoid falling asleep in the arms of somebody he once considered an enemy (even if he somewhat trusted the jackal now), but to no avail. The next thing he knew, he was asleep. Zero smiled and softly whispered to himself. "Let's get you to bed." Zero climbed the stairs, careful to avoid the spots where they creaked under his weight. Eventually, he found himself in the living room from before. Zero wasn't sure which room was Tails', so he laid the fox down on the couch, sitting on the opposite end of the couch and keeping watch over his sleeping form. It was at that moment that Zero realized what he was feeling, and he mentally slapped himself for not realizing it earlier: it was the same kind of protective companionship he had felt towards his Squad Jackal before the Mystic Jungle incident. Of course, his mind had seen the fox as another companion, another soul to take care of, and so he had felt oddly protective of Tails, even though he barely knew the fox. Regardless, as the storm died down outside, Zero got comfortable and laid down himself. With a lack of noise, he fell asleep quickly. ~*~*~ Imagine the sight that greeted Sonic when he woke up and went to the living room. Tails was passed out on the couch, covered in blankets, and Infinite, who he had left in the jail, is sleeping on the other side of the couch. Obviously, Sonic wasn't too happy about this, especially since he didn't know what had happened the previous night. He walked over to Zero and shook him. Now, Zero is a light sleeper, as we've already established. So the hedgehog really should've seen it coming when Zero, snapped into alertness, tried to choke him out, before realizing what was going on and letting go. Sonic was mad. "What are you doing?! I thought you were-" Before Sonic could continue his tirade, Zero shushed him, pointing at Tails. "He's sleeping. Let's discuss this downstairs." The jackal and the hedgehog went back down to the jail, with Zero reassuming his normal position on his "bed", although this time Sonic saw fit to also stand in the cell. Sonic was the first to speak. "So do you want to explain what exactly the hell you were doing outside of your cell?" Zero smiled to himself, although Sonic couldn't see. Maybe that was for the best. "First off, you didn't lock me in or tell me I *had* to stay in the cell." Sonic looked almost hurt. "You promised you would!" "I didn't promise anything. I just said I'd sleep in the jail cell, knowing what I knew then." "So something changed?" Zero looked at Sonic. "There was a big storm last night." Sonic was exasperated. "So?!" "I'm a light sleeper." Sonic had a moment of realization. "Oh." Zero looked back at the wall and smirked. "Besides, I had a... *visitor*." Sonic's mind was immediately brought back to the scene in the living room, and he was angry again. "What did you do to him?!" Sonic ran over to Zero and started shaking him again. The jackal very simply pushed Sonic off of him, making it clear that the constant shaking was not appreciated. Zero smiled to himself. "I didn't do anything. Honestly, I'm hurt you would even assume I did anything to hurt your friend-" Sonic cut him off. "Like hell, I'm gonna believe that. What did you do?" He was interrupted by a voice coming from the stairwell. "Hey, Infinite?" Tails had woken up, no doubt from all of the yelling and screaming, and came down to the jail. Zero smiled at Tails. "Please, call me Zero." Tails smiled back. "Well, *Zero*, thanks for helping me out last night." He turned and went up the stairs, not seeing Sonic's jaw hit the floor. Zero stifled a laugh at Sonic's expression. "See? He's perfectly well." Sonic was surprised. "'Thanks for helping me out last night'?" He turned to Zero. "I'll ask you again, what did you do?" Zero looked shocked. "There was a big storm last night." He decided to emphasize a point. "A big *thunder*storm." Sonic was unamused, having no idea why the jackal felt the need to emphasize that it was a thunderstorm as if they didn't experience the same storm last night. "So?" Zero continued to look shocked. "Wow, and you call yourself his best friend." He readjusted on the bed, studying the lack of realization on Sonic's face. Zero's face dropped when he realized. "You honestly don't know." Sonic was mad that Infinite- Zero- whoever it was, they thought he wasn't enough of a friend to Tails. "What are you talking about?" Zero looked at the ceiling. "He's afraid of lightning." Sonic knew Tails had had a fear of lightning, although he thought Tails had gotten over it years ago. Still, he didn't get it. "So?" Zero looked at Sonic weirdly, unsure how the cobalt hedgehog could be *this* much of an idiot. "*So,* he came down here to get away from the thunder and lightning. Meanwhile, I was pacing the halls, since I couldn't fall asleep. All the lights were off, so we ended up... running into each other. Literally." Zero shifted to look at Sonic sharply. "I helped him calm down, and he ended up passing out in my arms. I carried him upstairs, and, when I felt that he was going to be okay, I decided to just go to sleep right there." He shrugged. "I didn't really see a reason to trek back down the stairs just to sleep on this sorry excuse of a bed." He left out a lot of the story, a lot of the specifics, but he had said enough to where Sonic could hopefully draw himself a picture. It was Sonic's turn to look shocked. "...So you really didn't do anything to hurt Tails?" Zero was offended. "*YES!* Finally, you get it. I would never do anything of the sort." Zero turned over in his "bed" to face the wall. "Besides, why would he thank me if I hurt him?" Sonic was taken aback. Zero was right; if he had hurt Tails, then Tails wouldn't have tried to find him and thank him. "I... I'm *so* sorry. I assumed the worst when I didn't have all the facts-" Zero turned back around to face Sonic. "It's okay. Apology accepted." He sat up. "Now can we have breakfast? Or is that not something you do?" --- Chapter End Notes > The next chapter, when I get around to writing it, will cover the rest of that > day. I just had this idea and I really wanted to get it out before the idea > left me. > > From this point on, horizontal rules will be time-skips, unless I say it's a > split-perspective chapter in the opening notes. Typing out "~*~*~" is more > effort than just clicking the horizontal rule button. Plus, technically, a > time-skip is a kind of perspective change, in a way? I don't know. > > Also, this is (EDIT: was) the longest chapter by word count (2,644 words in > total). I just thought you should know that.