Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of its associated characters, I do not claim ownership of Sonic the Hedgehog or any of its associated characters, nor am I making profit from this original work of fan-fiction that was created and published for entertainment purposes only. The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is created by owned by SEGA Sammy Holdings Inc. All rights of Sonic the Hedgehog belong to SEGA Sammy Holdings Inc.
Mina, and Isabella Mongoose © and ™ Karl Bollers, Fiona Fox © and ™ Mike Gallagher, Knothole Knuts © and ™ Romy Chacon
Summary: It's the ‘after-show’ of the worst fight of Mina’s life. Nothing will ever be the same again, but with friends like Mina’s… sometimes that can be a good thing.
Contains: Hurt/Comfort, Awkward Exes, Fiona Fox being messy and loving it, and the all-important title drop!
“Mina…” Sonic frowned, reaching to wipe the tears from the mongoose’s cheek only to have his hand softly pushed away, “can you tell us what’s going on?” he asked.
“I… I think I just broke up with Ash,” were all the words Mina could get out before the very sound of that sentence caused her heart to shatter into ever more pieces - just enough words to give them a mere fraction of the story behind what they were witnessing, but woefully-insufficient in expressing how much it truly hurt.
“Oh…” responded Sonic, rendered totally speechless. It wasn’t that he ever thought the two made a particularly-amazing couple, or that he held Ash in very high regard… he had just told himself in no uncertain terms not that long ago to never expect Mina to leave Ash.
“Is… is it bad?” Sonic asked, before mentally hitting himself for such an obvious question, “D-do you think you’ll ever get back with him? ‘Cause… I know you two broke up before, but things were cool again in no time, y’know?”
“No, no, no, no, no! I can’t go back, I can’t do it anymore, I can’t!” cried Mina, as her ability to form sentences rapidly deteriorated in her misery.
“I’m so sorry, Mina…” Sally said, inadvertently reminding Sonic of what he should have started with in the first place, as she knelt down and took Mina’s hands, “if you need to talk, you know we’re here for you. Right, guys?” Sally looked to the other two Freedom Fighters, both nodding back at her and Mina.
“I just don’t know how it’s ever gonna be ok, how anything’s going to be ok again!” Mina sobbed, pulling her hands away from Sally and feeling as though time itself had paused and formed itself into a knot she could never untie, “He was it! He was the one who stuck with me through the hardest times in my life, he listened to me cry and helped me get stronger, but I can’t… I can’t do it anymore… I guess I’m just not cut out for this love stuff after all…”
“Mina… geez, you are not giving yourself enough credit here,” sighed Fiona, putting a hand on the pop star's shoulder, “just because things didn’t work out this time doesn’t mean it’s your fault. Sometimes people are gonna disappoint you - sometimes they can make up for it later, other times… not so much, but that’s life.”
Her words meant a lot to Mina. Moreso than Mina knew how to express in that low moment. Yet even as she heard every word and understood them, it felt as though there was a barrier between her mind and her heart.
“Yeah, and just ‘cause something doesn’t work out with one person doesn’t mean you’re never gonna find anyone else who wants to be with ya,” Sonic added, self-consciously hoping he chose those words carefully-enough, “dating different people is… well, different! You can learn a lot about yourself just from spending time with new people, and you can use the lessons you learned from being with Ash to be an even cooler partner to whoever you end up with later down the line!”
“Feels like all I learned from being with Ash is I can’t do anything right and I’m never gonna be able to help no matter how hard or how long I try to…” Mina bowed her head and buried her face in her hands, muffling her miserable voice, “I’ve got some nerve, going up there on-stage to sing about love when this is all I have to show for it in my real-life…”
“I know it can seem that way, Mina,” Sally began, speaking from experience that she wished hadn’t felt so fresh in her mind, “but it’s not that simple. It can feel like something about you is broken, like there’s something missing from you that if only you had it you could give the one you love everything they could want… but you can’t treat yourself like that.”
“Whatever’s goin’ on in your head right now, I promise it ain’t gonna last forever,” Sonic added, trying his level best to swallow down the awkward lump in his throat as he knew very well where he and Sally had gotten the experience they spoke from, “No matter how lost you feel, even if it feels like the world’s fallen out from under you and all you can do is… fall…” he trailed off for a moment, seeming to nearly get lost himself, but finished,
“You’re gonna find your footing again, someday. Someway,” the words, though they were spoken by the hedgehog right in front of her, seemed so far away, “it ain’t the end,” echoed distantly in Mina’s mind while much harsher yet somehow more convincing words rang clearer in her head.
“Why’d you run away? Because it’s all you know how to do,” “he wanted to be better, but all you care about is yourself,” “he’s never going to take you back. No one would,” all played inside her mind. Torturing her with the painful chords they struck.
The songoose looked up at the three of them, making their best effort to help her through this… but all Mina could think about was what else she could have said to Ash, how she could have gotten through to him if she’d only found the right words in time. Part of her knew that she just wasn’t in the best headspace, but it was like her heart was a broken record player - stuck on the same sad song, unable to move on…
“Thanks Fiona, Sally… Sonic…” she said in a low voice as she slowly stood back up, still not sure how to feel about running right into Sonic as soon as she left Ash, and what he might’ve thought of it if he saw, “I think I’m gonna go try and take my mind off of this…”
“Sounds like a plan!” Sonic exclaimed, in a voice he immediately decided was way too chipper way too soon, “Uh… listen, if you ever need to talk any more about this, you know you’re still an honorary member of the Freedom Fighters and can lean on us if ya need to, right?”
With one last look at the blue hedgehog she once would have done anything to be with, she nodded, “I know…” before turning to walk away from the group.
“Ahh… man, I should’ve just kept my mouth shut and let you two do the talking,” Sonic sighed after Mina had walked far enough away, scratching his head, “thanks to both of you for sayin’ whatcha did. I think it really helped her.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Sonic Hedgehog,” Sally started with a smile, “we both know you’re very important to Mina…” her face fell as she looked on at the mongoose, “I just worry we weren’t quite what she needed right now…”
“Whatever she needs, she knows we’ll be here for her whenever she finds it, though,” Sonic smiled back at Sally.
“Oh get a room, you two,” Fiona quipped with a mischievous smile, causing her boyfriend and his ex’s faces to turn bright red, “don’t we have a mission to take care of?”
“Right, yes,” Sally cleared her throat while Sonic whistled ‘innocently’ like a vintage cartoon character, “thank you, Fiona. Let’s get to that now.”
“Yeah, doin’ it to-in’ it!” exclaimed Sonic, who then received a look from Fiona, “What? It’s my trademark catchphrase!”
“You’re a dork,” Fiona replied, causing Sonic to cross his arms and frown as Sally burst into laughter.
It was an otherwise quiet day in the Kingdom of Knothole, turmoil in our Songoose’s personal life aside. People were out spending time with the ones they loved, laughing and playing, all too busy to notice the pop star walking alone.
One would think a singer of her status would stand out in any crowd, but… perhaps Mina just wasn’t herself today. Maybe that was why no one noticed her as she passed by so many strangers, so many people she couldn’t recognize who had so much to look forward to in their own lives. Mina wondered, what did she have to look forward to anymore?
She’d single-handedly thrown the future of the Knothole Knuts up in the air, ran away from the longest-lasting relationship… the only relationship she’d ever had, and she had just walked away from three of her friends who only wanted to make sure she was going to be okay.
Lost in the discordant melody of her life, she didn’t hear the tune of the Tornado hundreds of feet in the air passing over her. She didn’t hear the sound of the propeller spinning grow louder as it came in for a landing at the residence of the Hedgehogs, the jingle of its pilot’s seat belt unbuckling went unnoticed, but the call of her name was one she couldn’t ignore even at the lowest of times - whereas on-stage it was shouted by thousands, here it was just one voice piercing through the darkness.
“Mina! Hey!” called Tails, waving as he stood in the cockpit of his biplane. When she last saw him, she had been looking for Sonic. She didn’t know what she was looking for, now, but nonetheless she had found the twin-tailed Freedom Fighter.
“Hey Tails,” replied Mina, wanting to make up a little for what awful conversation she’d made with him the night before, “what’s goin’ on?”
“Not much! Just did a routine check-up on the Tornado and it looks like everything’s in order!” answered the fox, before flying down to meet her, “how about you?”
There was such a sweet look on his face, Mina really didn’t want to spoil it with her problems.
“I’m fine,” she fibbed, sounding about as convincing as a drummer insisting he really didn’t care if they cut the solo from the set, “… that’s not true, I just… I’m gonna be fine, but… but…” each word that fell out of her lips sounded less convincing than the last, she might as well have gotten Dr. Eggman to release a PSA against pollution.
“Y’know…” the boy began, at a bit of a loss for words in the face of the girl’s turmoil, “it sounds like you’ve got a lot on your mind…” echoing her words from the night before, she nodded along, “… If you think it might help, I could take you for a ride on the Tornado!
“… It always helps me clear my head, is all…” he added, when she hesitated to give an answer to his offer, scratching the back of his head and seeming to think less of the idea with each moment the silence grew, “Never mind, I—”
“Yes!” answered Mina, suddenly, causing the look on the boy’s face to lift once more, “I… I could use the distraction, right now, if you don’t mind…”
“Hop in!” Tails exclaimed, soaring right back into the pilot seat and gesturing toward the backseat for Mina to come along. She couldn’t help but smile a little at his enthusiasm, despite herself, and with a little helping hand from her pilot she climbed into the backseat of the Tornado and buckled in.
Like second nature, Tails flipped a number of switches and in moments the biplane roared back to life. Since he’d just finished the check-up, there was no hesitation in Tails’s actions as he skillfully guided the plane around to the runway and brought it up into the sky once more.
So much time had passed since she had last been in the Tornado, she’d forgotten how loud it could get in a plane, but it reminded her of having a front-row seat at a rock concert with the guitarist laying down a solo to end all solos. The chills she felt as they flew further and further away from the ground were definitely the same.
And like that, she could touch the clouds. Like that, she could look down and see the Great Forest for how small it truly was in the grand scheme of things. They were soaring far above Knothole, seeming to leave everything behind - even all those problems that seemed so enormous before were like dots from the view she had now.
“Better?” asked Tails, turning for a brief moment to look back at the mongoose, with a smile that could give the very sun a run for its money.
“Better!” Mina replied, beaming as the world all began to make sense again. Below her were countless reminders of where she’d been, what she’d done, and how nothing yet had stopped her. Even what her friends had told her before seemed to be reaching her now, letting it all resonate deep within herself.
Then her gaze caught the place she first met Ash… and the restaurant of their first date. She didn’t know what to think then of the very idea of trying to be with someone else after she thought Sonic died, but Ash insisted and… it was a good time. The food wasn’t even that good, in hindsight, it was just that she had it while she was with someone important to her who cared about her that made it so… special…
When Tails looked back again, after noticing how quiet she had gotten, he was startled to find the mongoose suddenly on the verge of tears once again.
“M-Mina? What’s wrong?” he asked, with no hope of hiding his concern as the anxious tone of his voice was in a duet with the uncertainty in his heart, but no answer came from his passenger.
Instead, her eyes closed as she took a deep breath. Her world felt like it was about to go spinning out of control all over again, but she held on to the clarity she had found in the sky and didn’t let go. When her eyes opened again, she discovered they were going in for a landing.
“Thanks for the lift, Tails,” Mina said, cutting off the fox just as he was about to stammer out an apology, “I really needed it.”
“Uhh, s-sure!” Tails replied, taken a little off-guard once more, “Um… are you gonna be okay?”
“I will be,” answered Mina, truthfully, listening to the once-thundering song of the propellers fade gently as they slowed to a stop, “there’s… just something I need to take care of. See ya,” she said as she unbuckled her seatbelt, stepping out of the biplane and finding her footing on the ground once more.
And with a little wave goodbye to her pilot for the day, who waved back with a curious smile, it was time for Mina to go home.
Gently, Mina turned the doorknob and found her mother sitting anxiously, alone in the dark. With a flick of a switch, light flowed through the room like a fountain, causing Isabella to turn suddenly and discover her little girl had returned.
“Mina!” she cried, pulling her into an adoring hug as soon as she was within arm’s reach, “Are you okay, baby? I’m so sorry abou—”
“It’s okay, mom,” Mina smiled, rubbing her mother’s back, “it’s okay…”
She felt horrible about leaving her mom like that, especially with Ash, but she had reached her limit and her survival instincts had to kick in. Speaking of…
“Um…” the popstar began, reluctantly, as if mentioning his name would summon him again, “is… is Ash still…?”
“Oh, he had to leave,” Isabella quickly replied, “mostly because I insisted, after he offered to stay and wait for you to come back. I’d seen more than enough to know that wasn’t going to help anything.”
Eyes tearing up, Mina held on tightly to her mother. Yet another person she had worried, who would have been better off if only she had the sense not to get into such an awful situation to begin with, in Mina’s mind.
Still, the relief she felt as she came back to someone she loved without getting berated for how hard her time of crisis was for them really was incredible. It was something she took for granted, before Ash had made such self-centeredness so normal to her, it really drove home how better she was without…
“I uh, I need my notepad!” Mina said as she suddenly pulled away from her mother, then leaned forward again to leave a kiss on her cheek before dashing back to her room.
She quickly wrote down on her notepad what had just popped into her head, underlined it three times, and then dashed back to the living room to get the phone.
“Is something up, Mina honey?” Isabella asked.
“Not up, mom, down,” Mina grinned, leaving her notepad where she was sitting beside her mother moments ago, “something’s going down and I’m gonna need my bandmates over as soon as possible!”
Isabella smiled as she watched her daughter frantically call up all her friends. Seeing that spark in her little girl begin to light up once more was exactly what she needed - and just like that, she had a feeling her daughter was going to be okay.
Curiously, her eyes then fell to the notepad that her daughter had so quickly left beside her, inspecting it closely. Nothing else had been written on the page yet besides what seemed to be the title of a new song of hers…
“Better Without You.”
To Be Concluded