A/N: I know that last chapter seemed very final-ish, but I had to include one more chapter if only for the fact that I'm planning to make a sequel to this. The title of the sequel will be "Identity."

And I want to thank all of my reviewers for encouraging me and for being so nice. You guys are great!

--

Tails stayed by Esplouge's side for what felt like forever, even after the glowing had stopped and he was sure the darker fox was dead.

Esplouge has to come back. He always comes back. He was in the middle of an explosion. I saw his heart get ripped out. He has to come back...

But Esplouge had said that this was the final time. Perhaps Esplouge was being paranoid, maybe he would come back after all, but with every passing minute, Tails knew that nothing would happen.

Esplouge was dead for good this time.

But he didn't have to be gone. Tails had known him better than anyone, had understood him as completely and fully as anyone ever could. There were still some things he didn't understand, but Esplouge had mentioned leaving behind some notes at Amy's house.

Amy. She was probably dead by now. Esplouge hadn't stated it outright, or maybe he had and Tails didn't remember, but Tails was sure that Esplouge had killed Amy.

Tails hugged Esplouge's body close to his as tightly as he could. He felt hollow now, as though nothing could affect him. He had grown so used to Esplouge, so attached to Esplouge, he could no longer imagine living without him. All of the brightness of his life before Esplouge had come was gone now. The last shimmering light had died with Esplouge.

He was cold now.

Tails let go of Esplouge, moved the loose bangs out of his dead eyes absently, thinking of what his next move would be.

He had some letters to read. But he had something else to do before that.

Tails climbed up the stairs and walked into his room, opened the closet, and found the shard of glass Esplouge had almost killed him with what must have been two months ago by now. He grabbed the glass and slipped it into his glove just as he had seen Esplouge do. The glass cut into his skin almost immediately, drawing blood, just as it must have with Esplouge.

Now he was ready to go to Amy's house.

--

Amy was dead, just as he thought. Her body had been stabbed and slashed numerous times, and some of the skin beneath her dress was showing.

But all Tails cared about were the notes Esplouge had left for him.

He found the papers underneath a pile of broken glass on the kitchen counter. The papers themselves looked as though they had been ripped out of the backs of books, and the handwriting on it was so frantic-looking it was almost impossible to read. Tails swept of the glass without a thought, letting it fall to the floor in a mess around his feet, and he picked up a piece of paper and began reading.

Everything he could possibly need to know about Esplouge was revealed to him. The letters were very specific, went into perfect detail of things Esplouge had felt that Tails had known nothing about. They told of the voice, of what it was, that it was all the chaos emerald and that he had never truly wanted to hurt anyone.

The power of the chaos emerald had been the only thing keeping him alive. But that same power was what had made him so insane. The power had given him life, but at a cost; it had corrupted him. Esplouge would likely have been happier in death, although Tails wasn't willing to accept that.

Esplouge doesn't have to be dead...

No, he doesn't.

Tails looked back to Amy, staring at her mutilated body blankly. Esplouge had done that. Esplouge had been the one who killed her.

No, wait, maybe it was me. I killed her...?

Tails' fist clenched around the shard of glass in his glove, causing the glass to dig deeply into his hand. He barely noticed it. Esplouge's death had removed the feeling from his body.

He was numb now. Just as Esplouge was.

What am I going to do now?

Tails smirked suddenly.

He knew exactly what he had to do.