He woke up somewhat tired, even though he slept the usual 8 hours he was supposed to sleep. This is how Tails has felt every day for the last 6 months, ever since Sonic was sucked into a portal right in front of his eyes. The image of what he considered his older brother being swallowed by that white portal was repeated in his dreams every night since he had disappeared. That's why he tried to sleep less and concentrate solely on bringing him back.

The problem was that, now that he slept less, he couldn't work as well as before. At other times, he would finish his inventions in at least 2 weeks; if there were any difficulties, it would take him one whole month. That's how skilled Tails was at engineering and mechanics, but his concentration had deteriorated since Sonic went missing months ago. Every time he seemed to be making progress with the machine he had just built, he would discover a bug that forced him to take EVERYTHING apart and start from scratch once again.

Tails didn't usually mind starting all over again; he saw it as an opportunity to improve his engineering and mechanical skills. However, Sonic's absence and having to start all over again frustrated him, and he felt like he was failing. As a friend and brother, he spent day and night working on that invention to show Sonic that he could also count on him.

However, that only deteriorated his physical aspect. Since he was always stuck in his workshop, he didn't eat and lost a little weight, not enough to be alarmed, but he was beginning to lose some weight. He also had huge dark circles under his eyes from how little he slept, costing 2 or 3 times a week. He was also messy and dirty and did not take a moment to rest or bathe. He was too involved in building that machine that he claimed would take him back to Sonic.

But his physical appearance was not the only thing that deteriorated: his social relationships also went down the drain. He usually went out with Cream for a good time, but now he shamelessly stood her up. Sometimes, he would visit Amy for tea or talk about topics Sonic would never be able to deal with properly. Still, now he didn't even bother to look for her, although it didn't take a genius to know that Sonic's disappearance had also affected Amy.

And with Knuckles... it was with him that the relationship had worsened the most. Although he never saw him as an older brother, he knew he treated him and Sonic like younger brothers. He was always there to protect them... but Tails' perspective on Knuckles changed when he decided not to save Sonic, even though Sonic himself asked not to be rescued. Since then, Tails does not want to know anything about Knuckles, although in that aspect, his life has not been fair either because the echidna always visits him to see his current state. It wasn't bad; he was asking him to rest and get enough sleep because if he wanted to see Sonic, he had to look at least presentable.

In that aspect, Tails agreed, but he thought that he would worry about looking good to see Sonic again when the time came. He always promised Knuckles that he would rest, but he only did it to eliminate the echidna and continue his work in peace without being bothered by Knuckles' presence in his workshop. The only interesting thing Knuckles said to him was 2 months ago. He told him that Eggman managed to escape, which was the only thing that got his attention, but after a while, he stopped caring about the news and continued with his business.

"You're almost done, Tails," he said, getting up from the bed. "You just have to adjust the same coordinates that Eggman used, and you will be able to see him again..."

He walked over to the mirror, and for the first time in six months, he was horrified at what he saw. The dark circles under his eyes, his messy fur, his dirty appearance to the degree that his fur had darkened, and the smell of sweat that emanated from him. He realized that Knuckles was right, and although he hated to admit it, he must have listened when he told him to get more rest.

"I guess he's good for something other than guarding that stupid Emerald on Angel Island," he said to himself.

He decided to take it off today and dedicate himself to improving his appearance. After all, he was close to fulfilling his goal, so delaying his idea for a few more days wouldn't harm anyone.

The first thing he did was bathe, which felt wonderful because all the dirt on his body disappeared, and his fur was once again its characteristic yellow color. Once he got out of the shower and dried off, he brushed his hair back, including his two tails, which he had also neglected by spending all his time finishing that machine. He also ate more than usual; believe it or not, that helped him regain some of his lost weight. Lastly, he said that he would only rest for a few minutes before going back to work, so he lay down on his couch and slept... for two whole days, which helped him in the end since the dark circles under his eyes were already disappearing.

He woke up in his bed, bundled up, and a bit confused because he knew he had fallen asleep on his couch, so it was strange that he woke up in his bed now. He left the room, finding the last person he wanted to see, which made him frown.

"What are you doing here, Knuckles?" the younger asked in frustration.

"I came by to check on you and found you very sleepy. I'm glad to see you took better care of yourself…" Knuckles said.

"Great, now that you've seen me, get out of my workshop," Tails annoyedly requested.

"You're not going to get over it, are you?" asked the echidna

"No, and don't expect me to change my mind. You didn't let me save him, so I don't have to forgive you," Tails answered, taking an apple from the fridge and a few mints from a cabinet.

"As you wish, I won't stop coming until that thing is ready," Knuckles said, walking towards the exit.

Now Tails was intrigued to listen to Knuckles.

"What do you mean 'until that thing is done'?" Tails asked, looking genuinely confused at the echidna without a hint of anger.

"I was there when he left, Tails. I want to be there when he comes back because I know you'll be able to bring him back, no matter how difficult or impossible it sounds," the echidna explained. "Besides, you're right that he left because of me. I'd also like to apologize...for not trying to do more..."

For the first time in 6 months, Tails felt genuinely...compassionate towards Knuckles. He'd treated him all these months by holding him so tight so he wouldn't try to save Sonic, and now he was standing there, waiting for him to finish building the machine to bring Sonic back. He was still a bit angry, but at least knowing that Knuckles wanted to greet him and apologize was enough to make him think about having a truce with the echidna until Sonic returned.

"Well...you can stay," Tails said. "But I ask you not to touch anything unless I ask...please..." the younger asked.

"I won't move anything from his site," Knuckles assured neutrally. "It's not like I understand how that thing works anyway."

In the end, for the next 3 days, Tails did not work on the machine, but he decided to take care of his body a little more by eating, exercising with Knuckles, and sleeping 8 hours a day. In that short time, he also managed to reestablish his relationship with Knuckles a little more, and little by little, the resentment he felt towards the echidna was disappearing. He also visited Amy, who was worse off than him: her hair was disheveled, her dark circles were even bigger than his, and she had been in pajamas for at least 5 months. But having visited her, along with Knuckles, seems to have raised her spirits a little more, although that did not change the fact that her appearance was fatal, not to mention the mess in her house that was much worse. He tried to talk to Cream but was ignored, which didn't make him feel bad since he had done the same thing in the past few months, so he felt he deserved it. He left a note apologizing and returned to his workshop with Knuckles.

On the fourth day, Tails finally decided to put the finishing touches on his machine. Now that he was clean, his fur was groomed, his figure was in shape, and the dark circles under his eyes were gone, he felt more energetic and inspired. But he still had one more thing to do before making the first test.

"Hey, Knux," Tails called to the echidna, lying on the ground with his eyes closed.

"What's up?" Knuckles replied.

"I... I'm sorry for distancing myself from you and the others... and I'm also sorry for treating you so badly in the last few months..." Tails apologized with a rueful look.

Knuckles's eyes widened; he stood and looked at the two-tailed fox. "What happened to not changing your mind?"

"I'm not as good at keeping my word as Sonic... and it's because of him that I've done all this, but I forgot about myself and the others... I'm sorry," the younger apologized again.

Knuckles smiled slightly, walked up to Tails, and lightly patted his head.

"No worries, Tails," assured the echidna. "I must also apologize... I shouldn't have distanced myself so much from you... I guess losing Sonic affected both of us..."

"Well, do you want to find out if he can come back?" the younger asked, to which Knuckles nodded with a smile.

Without further ado, Tails turned on the machine and began writing down the coordinates he extracted from Eggman's computer before ripping it to shreds.

Little by little, the machine began to cause slight tremors throughout the workshop due to how much energy he needed and how large the machine was compared to the one Eggman had built. The machine created a small white dot, gradually growing into a large portal. But the difference with the one that swallowed Sonic was that it was not a white portal, but only white around it, because it did show the landscape on the other side: a green field with a gigantic cherry tree in the distance.

"That must be the place!" Tails exclaimed happily.

"Cool!" Knuckles also exclaimed. "I just have one question: is it normal for that thing to be so big and swallow some of your blueprints?"

Tails noticed what Knuckles was referring to and got a little nervous.

"I mean, that the portal is so big if it's normal, but that it swallows my blueprints…" the younger stopped talking as soon as he realized what he said. "It's taking my blueprints!"

Tails crossed the portal without thinking twice to retrieve the blueprint from him.

"Tails, no!!" Knuckles exclaimed, chasing the younger and also passing through the portal.

But accidentally, running towards the portal, Knuckles hit a lever that began to close it. As it got smaller, it began to swallow other things in Tails' lab, like tools, materials, food, and the machine itself.

"I got them!" Tails exclaimed, charging all the blueprints with him.

"Okay, now let's go back before…" Knuckles tried to say, but noticing everything coming towards them, Knuckles ran to Tails to cover him.

"Uh oh..." was the only thing the younger said before being knocked down by the echidna.

Soon, various materials fell on them, and the portal closed completely, leaving them stranded in another dimension. Knuckles brushed the rubble off him and looked around, discovering that he was now in that field with the cherry tree in the background.

"Great. Now we're in another dimension too…" Knuckles said, then analyzed what he just said and gasped. "Meaning..."

"That we can look for Sonic!" Tails exclaimed excitedly. "Quick, help me lift some of these things!"

"Okay. What do you have in mind?" asked the echidna curiously.

"We will build a plane like the Tornado and look for Sonic," the younger man determinedly exclaimed.

Author's Note

And the story is finished now!

Thank you all for reading the story until the end!

And thanks to JD1 as well for editing the epilogue!

I'll see you soon on my TYT adaptation including Sonic. Byeeee!