CE - Time Between Friends

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"Merry Christmas!" Tails said gleefully as he held out a brightly colored package in his hands.  Nicole was a bit taken aback by his appearance.  The fox wore a bright red Santa coat, complete with a red stocking cap, though he had omitted the white beard.  Behind him snow flurries drifted down to the ground, forming white mounds on the ground.

But then, there were few effects one couldn't achieve within a virtual environment.

"Uh, thank you, Tails," Nicole said, sounding a little confused as she took the obvious present from the cub.  As he entered, the two-tailed vulpine wiped his shoes on the rug, ridding them of the slushy snow before he stepped into the room proper.  When Tails had asked to meet with her in cyberspace, Nicole had not suspected the purpose.  It had only been when she'd stepped through a seemingly innocuous door that had appeared in her domain that she'd found herself suddenly standing in a complete recreation of the hut Sally had once occupied back in old Knothole.  The same hut she herself had occupied when the cyber lynx had been little more than a handheld PDA.

He'd reproduced it down the very wood grain, an impressive feat, even if he had used Nicole's own memory files to do it.  There were even decorations.  Oh Sally had decorated for the holidays when she'd lived here, a few ribbons, a couple pine cone ornaments to keep the season, but never anything as ostentatious as this.  Red and green ribbons dangled from the ceiling, wreathes decorated the walls, and a candle burned on the table that stood in the center of the room, its gold colored wax reflecting the light into something of a halo effect.

Nicole had had only a moment or two to admire the handiwork before there'd been a knock at the front door, signaling Tails's arrival.  Now the fox stood before the fireplace, pantomiming warming his hands against the faux fire.  Nicole placed the gift on the table as she approached her guest.

"Tails, what's going on?" she asked politely.

"Well, it's Christmas," he answered matter-of-factly.  This was not news to Nicole.  She knew perfectly well what time it was.  New Mobotropolis was all but drowning in tinsel and other decorations as the residents prepared to celebrate their holiday.

Not that Nicole was invited to any of this.  

Oh she'd tried to help with the decorations, offering to use her nanites to help in the decorations, but had received responses ranging from fearful refusal to open hostility.  Quite obviously many of the Mobians in the city very much did not feel their celebrations were something for a machine to be a part of.  And so she had resigned herself to doing little more than her normal job of maintaining the city.  King Naugus had even gone so far as to formally draft a letter demanding she make herself scarce during holidays, much to the approval of his new subjects.  

"I know it is Christmas, Tails.  My question is more along the lines of what you seem to be doing here.  I thought you needed something."

"Can't a friend stop by and visit another friend without needing a reason?" the boy asked innocently as he moved away from the fire, the smile never leaving his face.

"Yes, but it may not be the wisest move for you to be here.  I'm not exactly a popular figure in the city at the moment."  There was a touch of bitterness in her voice, but it was an understood bitterness.  Heaven knew Sir Charles and Rotor had had to bow to such public opinion in order to keep their positions on a council.

"Pft!  Everyone is so busy these days, who's going to notice where one little fox cub is?" he asked.  "Besides, if I can't spend time with my friends, what're the holidays for?"

"I am grateful for the thought, Tails, but…"

"Then don't spoil it by coming up with a bunch of reasons why I shouldn't be here."  The words were said in jest, but there was a certain firmness behind them.  Quite obviously some of Sally had rubbed off on the boy.

"You're right.  A friend has come to spend the holidays with me, the least I can do is not be so curmudgeonly a host."  So saying, Nicole concentrated, shimmering lights moving around her body.  When the lights died down, her usual light purple dress had changed color, becoming a deep crimson red with puffy white trim along the bottom.  A barrette topped with a large bow the same green hue as her eyes now rested in her black hair, the two long ponytails now joined in a single braid that had a been decorated with silver and gold beads in the strands.  Her transformation complete, Nicole looked at Tails with a smile.  "Better."  Words seemed to die on Tails lips as he stared at the lynx, but still he managed to nod his head.

"You… you look… you look good," he finally managed to say.

"I had thought this look would be in keeping with the spirit of the holidays, but with the present level of mistrust directed towards me, I decided not to bother with changing."  Nicole strolled casually back over to the table, reaching out for the gift Tails had presented to her earlier.

"I hope you like it," he said.  "It wasn't easy coming up with something you might like."  Tails suddenly giggled.  "After all, what do you get for the girl who IS everything?"  Nicole chuckled at the joke, and then took hold of the ribbon and pulled it free of the paper.  The box opened easily enough, but then it was no doubt actually just a jump drive with a bit of masking protocols Tails had brought with him when he'd entered the VR interface.  Inside she found a set of keys attached to a keychain decorated with the stylized double tail graphic that had become Tails's insignia.

"What is this?" she asked, holding up the keys for the fox to see.

"I've been working on the Tornado, trying to give it a remote control function.  You know, so I can call it if I need air support or something like that."  Subconsciously he began to fiddle with the tip of one of his tails, a tell that said he was feeling a bit embarrassed.  "And those are the passcodes to allow you to access the remote function, so you can control it as well."  Nicole's eyes widened.  There wasn't anything in the world Tails prized more than the Tornado; it was his pride and joy, the most important thing he owned.  The cub had practically cut his mechanic's teeth on restoring and maintaining the biplane, and he was incredibly resistant to outside suggestions when it came to the plane.

"I can't accept this," Nicole finally responded, putting the "keys" back in their box and attempting to hand it back to its proper owner.  "It's too dangerous."  Tails backed away with a frown, shaking his head as he did so.

"No it's not, I promise.  I'm sure we can whip up some sort of training program so you can learn how to work the controls and…"

"That's not what I mean," she responded.  "The only reason you, Sonic, and Sally were all able to escape the Iron Dominion was because the Tornado has no connection to the New Mobotropolis mainframe.  A system outside my control might be a valuable commodity to have in case another infection occurs."

"We have the Freedom Stormer if we something like that.  Besides, the Tornado's mine, not the Freedom Fighters', I can do what I want with it.  And I want to share it with you."  His smile returned.  "Come on, it'll be fun.  You can come up with me when I go flying; I'll show you what New Mobotropolis looks like from the sky."

"You realize I can do that with a satellite, right?"

"That's not the same," Tails countered.  

"And what if I lose control again?  What if I seize control of it and use it against you?  That does seem to be the growing concern these days."

"So what?  What if the planet stops spinning in its orbit?  What if the oceans dry up and the air goes thin?"  Nicole gave the cub a no nonsense look as he spoke, clearly unamused by his attempt at humor.  "Look, I don't care what anyone else thinks about you, and quite frankly I think they're being stupid.  You've always been a good person, and the one time you weren't it was because someone else was using mind control on you."  Tails reached into the box, holding up the key to Nicole's face.  "I trust you.  I want you to have these."  The cyber lynx took hold of the keychain.  "If you don't want to, you don't have to use them.  But they're yours now."  Suddenly a loud beeping drew the fox's attention to his wrist.  "Shoot!"

"Something wrong?"

"Sorry, Mom wanted me to be home at a certain time.  She and Dad are going to Naugus's party, part of being on the Council."  The tone of Tails's voice made it fairly clear he had not been consulted about wanting to go to this event.  "She says I have to go."

"You have my sympathies," the artificial Mobian said with a smile.  The cub stuck out his tongue playfully, and then turned to leave.  "Wait a minute," Nicole called, halting his progress.  Tails turned back around and was surprised to find the cyber-lynx following him.

"Uh… did I forget something?" he asked as she approached.  Her finger suddenly pointed upward, drawing Tails's attention to the doorframe where a small green plant hung above him.

"I am told that it is traditional for someone who wonders under a sprig of mistletoe to receive a kiss," she stated with a smile.  Tails's blue eyes grew wide at her words, and he suddenly found himself blushing.  

"Um, you… you don't need to.  Not if you don't want to," he said, again fingering one of his tails.  

"It seems only fair.  You were thoughtful enough to make sure I got a Christmas present, I think the least I can do is say thank you."  Nicole knelt down and drew her friend closer, planting her lips on his furry cheek as she gave him a kiss.  "Thank you, Miles Prower."

When she released Tails, an embarrassed smile graced his face.

"You're, um, you're welcome," he said.  Once more the alarm in his watch went off, causing him to smack it.  Nicole frowned a bit.

"You should head off.  I wouldn't want you to get in trouble for being late."

"I'll come back when I get more time, I promise," said the fox, opening the front door of the hut and waving good-bye as he stepped out into the snow.  "I'll leave this simulation running for you, so you can stay here.  If you want to, that is.  I mean don't feel like you have to stay here."

"I think I'd like to," Nicole confirmed.  "I'll shut down the program when I'm done."

"Okay.  Well, have a nice night then."

"You try to as well."  With those words Tails stepped through the doorway, closing the door behind him.  

Outside the construct, in the room just outside Nicole's central mainframe, Tails stepped out of the VR chamber, absentmindedly touching his cheek where he'd been kissed.  Realizing he didn't have time to dwell on what had happened, the fox sprinted out of the building into the evening twilight, heading for home.  As he twirled his namesakes to take to the air, the youthful boy failed to notice a figure standing in the shadows by the building.  Green eyes narrowed as they watched the cub leave, a black and white tail flicking about thoughtfully.

"Looks like someone likes playing with computers a little too much."

The end…?