-
Tails squirmed, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. "I, uh, I got something for you."

"For me?" Sonic blinked. "What?"

"Well...I didn't want you to forget me when you left so I, uh, I did this for you..." Tracing patterns on the ground with his toe, Tails held out a folded piece of paper, studying his feet with a singularly bashful expression.

"What's this?" Sonic took it carefully and opened it, looking at the contents. It was a crayon drawing of him holding hands with Tails on a green hill with the sun shining in the background. Art wasn't the fox's strong point, and the kindest thing that could be said about the picture was that at least Tails had got the colours right. Written across the top in straggling letters that had probably taken as long as the drawing to complete, if not longer, were the words my frend sonnick.

"If you don't like it you c'n throw it away," Tails said, possibly mistaking the hedgehog's stunned silence for distaste.

Sonic looked down at the fox. "No. It's great." He swallowed past an obstruction that had suddenly formed in his throat. "Really, kiddo, it's great. Thanks."

Tails looked up at him, then away despondently. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to make you sad. I jus' thought, mebbe it'd be easier for you to 'member me if you had a...well..." He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I'll take it back. I on'y thought that mebbe..."

"Tails, I..." Sonic looked down at the drawing again, then at the little fox. "I don't know what to say." Placing the drawing carefully to one side, he caught hold of Tails and hugged him hard.

"Sonic!" Tails protested; the hedgehog's hug really was uncomfortably tight. "You'll squirt my brains out my ears!"

"Sorry li'l buddy." Sonic eased the hold a little and Tails wriggled closer.

"'S not a good picture. I jus' noticed you on'y got two spines on your side. But I couldn't ask you to sit there an' let me draw you 'cause that would've spoiled the surprise."

"True." Sonic reached down with one hand to ruffle the fox's fur. "You're one great kid, you know that?" He looked over at the drawing again and felt a grin appear on his face. Two spikes or not (by the looks of it, Tails had given him about ten, with mundanities like the hedgehog's arms and legs being added in as a kind of afterthought) the effort that had gone into it alone made it worthwhile. Except...

"I think you forgot something," Sonic said aloud.

"Yeah?" Tails clambered up onto Sonic's shoulders to peer at the drawing. "What?"

The hedgehog pointed. "Well, you only have one tail in the picture."
-

[link]

This is a drawing for JudasFM and her Fan Fiction called Rising Star. Please read, it's absolutely brilliant!

This is quite an old drawing, done last year (2007). I got lazy when it came to the background (but I've never been good at drawing them ) The white stripe at the top left and corner is there because the drawing slipped when being scanned!