Disclaimer: Shadow and Amy and all other related Sonic the Hedgehog characters do not belong to me. They are copyrighted to Sonic Team and Sega. There are some quotes that come directly from Sonic Adventure 2, but I take no credit for them. Anyone who has played the game will recognize them. Only the plot is belongs to me.
A/N: This is a request made by sonamygirl92 (who is very patient for waiting this long for this request). She asked for a ShadAmy story that is "similar to "Bungling Love" but not the same." Those of you who have read my fic "Bungling Love" will recognize a few elements in this fic for that reason. This story is AU for everything after the ending of Sonic Adventure 2, has some OOC, and (obviously) features ShadAmy. If you don't like this idea, this is you last warning to turn back (though that would beg the question as to why you clicked on this story to begin with). As always, enjoy!
Italics are thoughts. Italics and Bold font together are flashbacks.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Shadow looked up, and saw a flash a light, where he had just been. There it was: the ARK, back in its regular orbit. So the planet was safe. It was worth it…
But something went wrong. The ARK seemed to be getting farther and farther away. He felt a hand grip his, but his glove easily slid off his hand…and then he was falling…
Falling…
Falling…
Maria…this is what you wanted, right? This is my promise I made to you…
He took one last glance at his former home before shutting his eyes as he continued to plummet to the ground. Even if by some miracle he survived passing through the atmosphere, he had no chance once he hit the ground.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The White Jungle was one of those places where unforeseen things happen. One of the most recent events was an encounter between two hedgehogs, one blue and one black, from different sides. Neither expected to see the other, but that is an entirely other story. Another such event was the explosion of the region at and near Prison Island, which had left the island facility in ruins and destroyed a majority of the surrounding environment. From a nature lover's view, it was a great loss.
Amy glanced around. She had been strolling around White Jungle, reminiscing about the recent near destruction of the planet, never mind the damage of the forest. Thankfully the legendary Eclipse Cannon's power was never released, but the whole experience was traumatic enough. Sonic had nearly been killed, which for Amy was depressing enough, but the real loss had been Shadow…
Shadow…
Everyone had been shocked when Sonic had returned from the fight with the Final Hazard with no trace of the black hedgehog except for one of his arm rings. It just seemed unreal. Shadow the Hedgehog, the self-proclaimed Ultimate Life Form, had not survived the battle. There was no sign of him around the space colony, so they had thought that the planet's gravity had somehow grabbed him and pulled him in.
And there was no possible way he could have survived a fall like that.
Amy forced herself not to cry. She had done enough of that. Strangely enough she missed Shadow. He was very different from her hero, Sonic. He was quieter, and had fought against her side practically the whole time, but Amy saw his redemption when she somehow managed to convince him to work with them to save the world. She could still recall their conversation, and she could have sworn she saw a tear spill from his eye just as he left. Amy didn't know exactly what caused that reaction, but aside from his death it was the result she had hoped for.
Thunder rang out from the sky, forecasting the aforementioned storm. Amy took one look at the dark sky before starting to walk away.
"Better head home, before it starts to rain," she said to herself, smiling sadly.
Despite the devastation and the darkness caused by the stormy clouds in the sky, the White Jungle was still a striking place to behold. The trees still stood proud and tall, their vines tumbling down from the canopies. Although some of the animals had left because of the loss of habitat, there were still plenty of birds and small mammals running about. Leaves fell from the branches, showing that autumn was slowly settling in.
Something was very out of place though. Amy spotted a small crater in the middle of a clearing, about three feet in diameter and a foot deep. There was a trail of damaged foliage behind it, as it something had cut through the trees on its way down. A flash of lightning came, and it was reflected off of something shiny inside the crater. It caught Amy's eye, and she sped off to investigate.
It was a surprise (at least to Amy) to find Shadow crumpled inside the hole. His body was twisted in an odd position, with multiple cuts and scratches all over. He had a black eye and some bruises on his quills, though they were hard to see due to his black fur. He was missing a glove and a shoe. None of his limbs looked broken however, so Amy let out a sigh of relief. Grabbing his wrist she checked his pulse; it was faint, but it was there.
"Shadow? Shadow?!" Amy cried, shaking the hedgehog softly in hopes to wake him up. His eyes fluttered slightly but made no other movement. Thunder broke out again, and Amy felt a few drops of rain land on her shoulders. She looked at the sky, and then turned her attention back to Shadow. "Gotta get you out of here and someplace dry."
Carefully and with some difficulty, Amy picked up one of Shadow's arms and swung it around her neck, her right arm grabbed his other side to hold him steady. He wasn't heavy, but because he was larger than her it made carrying him a little awkward.
"Now to just find this 'someplace dry'," she muttered, grunting as she hoisted him up to get a better grip. She glanced around; nothing in sight. Picking a direction that would have taken her back to town she started walking, partly carrying and partly dragging Shadow behind her.
Fortunately for her she spotted a large cave just a detour away from the path. Smiling to herself she raced to it as fast as she could while hauling around an unconscious male hedgehog.
It was really starting to rain now. Water droplets fell from the sky at an alarming pace, and Amy was sure that if they had stayed outside they would have been drenched to the bone in no time. And it is safe to say that having cold, wet hedgehog fur is not an enjoyable experience.
Amy sat Shadow down near the back of the cave. The cavern was on a slight uphill slope, so the rain wouldn't reach the back and Shadow would stay dry throughout the storm. Realizing that it would be best to get him warm Amy set up a campfire next to Shadow, digging a small hole and surrounding it with rocks. Luckily there were some branches inside the cave that had remained dry despite the storm. Using the old-fashioned method of rubbing two sticks together, Amy eventually got a small fire going.
Once the blaze was going well enough that it would keep Shadow warm, Amy looked over his injuries. She hummed and clicked her tongue as she surveyed the damage. Shockingly he didn't seem to badly hurt, except for the cuts which could become infected if left untreated. Amy snapped her fingers.
"I know just the thing!" she said to herself, springing to her feet and rushing out of the cave. She was soaked in minutes, but she had more important things to worry about. She just hoped the plant she was searching for grew in the area.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It's cold…or is it warm? A little of both I guess. Something was definitely wrong. Where am I? I was at the ARK…the ARK…
"Shadow?"
Shadow turned to see a golden-haired human girl walk up to him. She held a large blanket in her arms, and smiled as she strolled over to his bed. Shadow gave out a small cough as Maria pulled the blanket around him, rubbing his back to help relieve the coughs. She giggled.
"Are you feeling any better at all?" she asked.
"Maybe," Shadow replied, still shaking a bit. "I hate this."
"Me too," she sympathized before rubbing his cold nose a bit. "But who would have thought that the Ultimate Life Form would be able to get sick?"
"Not sick," he protested childishly, feeling her rub his arms too. "I don't get sick."
"Shadow, you silly…Shadow…Shadow…Shadow!"
Shadow's eye's opened slowly. There was a level of rock above him. Roots were growing out from above. Was he underground? That didn't make sense. He had been in the air…hadn't he?
"I thought you might be coming to," a feminine voice rang out. "It's good to see you awake."
That voice sounded oddly familiar. He turned his head to see a pink hedgehog rubbing the leaves of some plant into a few cuts on his arm. Where had those come from? Then he remembered it all: he wasn't at the ARK, Maria was dead, he and Sonic had fought the Biolizard in space, he fell…he fell. How did he survive?
And this girl…
"Shadow, we need you! Please help us!"
"…Amy?"
"That's my name!" she answered cheerfully. She finished up her work on his arms. "You hurt anywhere else?"
"No, I'm fine," he told her, rubbing his head. "What happened?"
"Not really sure," Amy explained. "I was walking around, and I spotted you. You seemed hurt, but not badly, so I brought you to this cave."
"My arms feel strange," Shadow said, patting his right arm and pulling it back to look at the sticky substance. "What is this?"
"A plant that helps disinfect cuts," Amy described. "So you won't get an infection."
Shadow took one look at her before standing. Amy stood as well, trying to get him to lie back down, claiming that he might still be injured, but he didn't listen.
"I…Thank you for your help," he said, heading for the cavern entrance. "But I can go on alone from here."
"It's raining, really heavily," Amy reported. Shadow looked out side to see that she was right. Rain was falling from the sky, and it was very cold, which was strange for a jungle environment. "Maybe you could wait until it lets up?"
"Rain…"
"Maria, what's going on down there?" Shadow asked, pointing to a large black clouded area on the planet below.
Maria walked over to the window where Shadow was looking. There was indeed a storm brewing just over one of the continents. The clouds were gloomy and a sure sign of an unpleasant storm. This was the one advantage to living on Space Colony ARK: there was never any bad weather. There was never any weather at all, come to think of it.
"That's a storm, Shadow," Maria explained. "Down there, water builds up in the clouds, and when there's enough of it, it falls back to the ground in drops called rain."
"Rain…"
"Shadow?" Amy called to him for the fourth time before he snapped out of his reverie. "Are you all right?"
"Yes," he responded, turning back to the cave and sitting next to the fire again to get warm. "I'll wait, until the storm lets up."
Amy smiled broadly and sat down next to him. Shadow stiffened slightly, but let it go.
"What were you thinking about?" She asked him.
"Maria," Shadow blurted without thinking, as his mind was still partially on her. Damn it. He hadn't meant to say that. Now she was going to badger him with lots of questions that would just annoy him, he'd get angry, and she would get upset…
"Okay."
…Or maybe not.
"You're not going to pry?" he wondered.
"Well, I am curious," Amy admitted. "But I'm sure it's a sensitive subject. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
That came as a surprise. Shadow had always thought of the young, pink hedgehog that followed Sonic around as a really annoying, probing child. He had been shocked when she grabbed him on Prison Island, mistaking him for Sonic, and he had been irritated with her ever since. And now she was just letting him be? That seemed very out of place. Not that he could complain; it meant that he didn't have to tell her anything, which he was happy about.
Then again, there was that one moment at the ARK, just as it was starting to plummet to the planet, that she spoke to him and convinced him to join in the fight. She hadn't been so bad then, and she had reminded Shadow of his true promise to Maria. He didn't regret that (he never would), so he owed her that at least.
"I was thinking about when she told me about rain," he explained. Amy looked at him in interest, not interrupting. "There is of course no weather on the ARK, so I didn't know what it was. Maria explained it to me."
"What else did she tell you?"
Shadow paused, but only for a moment.
"Plenty of things really. Weather, school…families," he answered, sadly. Better steer clear from that topic. "Everything. It was what made me want to come down here, to learn more, before…"
He trailed off at the end. Amy just nodded and looked into the fire.
"I can guess," she said. "Before the accident."
"It wasn't an accident," Shadow argued. "The humans decided that what Professor Gerald was working on was too dangerous, so they decided to 'silence' that project."
Shadow didn't feel like mentioning that the "project" was actually Shadow himself. He was sure that Amy already knew that. Whether she did or not, she didn't bring it up. She just kept listening.
"And Maria was killed."
That was the first time he had said that out loud. Part of him hadn't want to; because he could pretend that she was still out there somewhere. But he knew what had happened. He was there. He had watched her fall to the ground and die, just as he was jettisoned out of the colony and to the planet.
"It's good you said that," Amy consoled. Shadow looked at her strangely. "Not that it's good that she died, but the fact that you acknowledge it. It starts the healing process."
"Healing process?"
"That's right."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The two hedgehogs sat together for a while as the rain continued to fall. Amy talked about how she met Sonic and Tails, and gave Shadow a little bit of the history from the past fifty years that he missed while being in stasis. Shadow didn't have much to talk about, but he did recall a few events involving Maria, and he found it odd that he had an easier and easier time doing so as he spoke. Maybe Amy had a point about this "healing process" thing.
"I don't think this storm is going to stop any time soon," Amy commented, looking outside at the still pouring rain. "And it's getting late. I think we should get some sleep for now."
"You're right," agreed Shadow, laying himself down on some dry moss next to the fire. "The storm will probably have passed by morning."
To his astonishment, Amy sat herself next to Shadow and cuddled up to his side. He started to slide away when she wrapped her arm around his waist and tugged him back into place. Shadow froze at the close contact, and looked at her questioningly.
"Body warmth helps to stave off the cold, and we'll need it," she explained. Shadow slowly relaxed and let her snuggle the white fur on his chest. Amy lifted her head up and gave his a peck on the forehead before settling down again. "Good night, Shadow."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Shadow did not fall asleep. His mind had been snapped awake when Amy had kissed him. Yes it was just on the forehead, but it was a kiss regardless. This also brought up another memory…
"Maria…I just don't know anything anymore…I often wonder why I was created; what my purpose is for being here. Maybe if I go down there, I…I will find the answers…maybe…"
There was a moment of silence as Shadow closed his eyes, dreaming of finally knowing why he existed. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't see Maria come over to him and place a small kiss on his forehead. He opened his eyes and looked into hers. Maria smiled.
"Everyone wonders what their purpose is, Shadow. Even me," she comforted. "You'll find your purpose someday."
Someday. He thought his purpose had been fulfilled when he stopped the space colony from crashing into the planet. But he had somehow survived his fall, and he was all right now, albeit a bit scratched up. What would his purpose be now? His promise was fulfilled, so what next?
He glanced down at Amy, and a smile actually graced his face. He would think about that some other time. Right now, he had to figure this young one out. She was friendly to him after all he had done to destroy the world. Granted he had been "redeemed" in the end, but still his actions were inexcusable. And here she was, kissing him and sleeping next to him, concerned about keeping him warm.
Something strange was spreading through his body, starting at his chest and moving everywhere else. What was this? This was different from what he felt when he thought about Maria or the Professor. He knew that was a kind of love, but it not what he was feeling now.
It was nice and comfortable to have Amy cuddled next to him, partly lying on top of him actually. She had this distinct smell that was a mix of roses, tulips, and something else he couldn't recognize. It was comforting in an unfamiliar way.
He did something then, but Shadow didn't really what it was until after it happened: he had bent down and kissed her. It was nothing more than a small peck on the lips, but he did it nonetheless. He stared at her for a moment before leaning in for a deeper kiss. This one went on for minute or two.
Amy was having a nice dream about someone kissing her, who oddly enough wasn't Sonic. It was someone darker, but no less gentle. It was comforting and warming.
She opened her eyes and found herself staring into a pair of dark red eyes. Shadow. This didn't surprise her, or even bother her. His was firm but loving against her lips, and she smiled into the kiss.
When they broke apart, Amy spoke up.
"Why did you do that?"
"I don't know." No more than that.
The next time Amy initiated it. They continued this for a while, as rain continued to fall from the sky.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX