Stargazing
It was a starry night tonight, with a sky full of twinkling beauties and an alluring crescent moon. Every soul was asleep and snoozing, well, all but one.
The drapes had been drawn away from each other, the plush cloth grazing the wooden flooring. The arched windows remained shut, the glass reflecting the gleaming sky onto the floor, still radiantly glimmering on the sienna wood that held a glossy appearance.
The grand window had its own booth, with cushions of the reddest velvet. One hedgehog calmly sat in the booth's left corner, his back leaned against the wall, his left leg arched, his right foot stretched to the center. He was blatantly staring at the shimmering night sky, his face hard and stony, like a carved statue, unchanging.
Of course, this was Shadow the Hedgehog. His stone expression was always intact, and definitely very well known as well. His eyes flickered to each individual star, studying their appearances and natures. Tonight was a special night for stargazers- and Shadow just happened to a be apart of those dreamers- since every light was off, even street lights, in the city's effort to reduce their energy bill, though sounding ridiculous, quite true. Stars came in bunches and clusters, even star dust was visible to the naked eye in the dim light.
He inhaled some air, then expelled some. He tried to relax himself, and oh, he so tried, but he could never seem to lift the weight that seemed to rest solely on his shoulders. Every day was a challenge for him, for that incident that he always thought was his fault fifty years ago…
It's ironic how much he loved the stars of the dark night sky; the sky was full of stars and twinkling lights that lit up the darkness, however he was an empty vacuum of darkness, with no light to lead him anywhere. He was constantly lost and misled in his own words, his own thoughts, and his own soul. There was nothing left in him, no spark or light, not even a dim one. It seemed he was just another body walking among the millions of others, going unnoticed.
He once had his light: Maria Robotnick. She was his first friend, and possibly, his only friend. She had told him numerously about his existence to protect the people of Earth and Mobius. She would say how much of a good person he was, and how he was something so sheer as a protector of ones who were told all their lives to believe someone was out there to rescue them all from the traps of eternal darkness.
"You are the savior of this planet, I know you know that…"
He sharply inhaled, feeling his heart pump weakly in the cavity of his chest. His heart to him was only half the size of a anyone else's, the other half belonging to her, and now that she has left, he was never able to retrieve his other half.
"You will watch over the innocent souls…"
His eyes threatened him with tears he always desperately tried to hold within him, to keep the half that was still intact from slipping out again into the grasp of someone else, only to shatter into a million pieces, never retainable.
"… Like a shadow in the mirror…"
His heart wasn't made of stone like how everyone else thought it was. He does care, truly. But he can't express it if he's so afraid to become broken again.
His heart wasn't made of stone, hard and unruly; his heart was made of glass, ever so delicate. Glass can be so easily broken and seen through. Glass, when broken, is dangerous to be near and will often cause wounds.
Yet glass is so beautiful. The shine, the radiance, the smooth texture, the sensitivity- it's all beautiful. But no one ever notices the beauty in glass. Glass often goes unnoticed and can be a regular sight to people. Only it isn't. Only some places actually have glass windows, to protect the home and keep out intruders, even with its delicate-ness.
And glass gives a reflection. You can see yourself faintly, but most people would rather see them as a whole person. So what makes a better person?
The room remains silent as he resumes stargazing, fighting the tear beginning to trickle down his muzzle.
He had half a heart, that was made of glass…
Tip, tap. Tip, tap.
The soft pitter-patter of footsteps echoed from his ears to his head. He was caught off guard by the unexpected noise.
Tip, tap. Tip, tap.
Mild irritation bubbled inside of him, to hear someone come to the window he was perched at. He knew he was going to be mocked and questioned by one of his 'buddies' Sonic would put it, as they now lived in the same complex.
He thought it would be one of the annoying ones behind him when he turned around to scold them for interrupting his nightly gaze. He didn't expect her to be there, though.
He was surprised, but didn't show it, for fear she might see; Amy Rose, the perky pink hedgehog, stood behind him in a silk, cream nightgown with the hem at her ankles. The sleeves were incredibly puffy and reached her wrists, ending with small lace fabric. There was a bow at the chest, a small, cute, pink one. Her quills looked combed and neat, ending slightly below her shoulders, dangling at the slightest.
He blinked once, two times, and then three times. He didn't believe she was the person in front of him.
"What are you doing Shadow?" Amy gently whispered. Her tone, even quiet, sounded melodically enticing to him; they were like music notes strung together.
He was able to recognize the pain in chest, but he didn't understand why his heart felt like it inflated and pumped unevenly. He couldn't explain the sudden urge to embrace the girl in front of him. He held his position (or tried to), though, and he realized this and his face filled with slight color. He cursed himself internally by trying to force the redness of his muzzle to exit his face.
His mind jumped back to reality and he focused on her question, rather than his own personal quirks. He turned away from her and faced the outside.
"Stargazing," He told her, in his usual monotone.
"You stargaze?" She asked as if she had been appalled by his answer. Although, she wasn't appalled, but merely surprised; she did not expect such a word to come out of the ultimate life form's mouth.
He nodded once as his answer. She bit the insides of her cheeks and her hands fisted the fabric of her gown. Now the situation seemed awkward, and they hadn't talked for even five minutes yet. Indeed, she knew he rather liked nighttime, but to hear the word stargazing, she was mute. He could have said watching. He could have said observing (which she most expected). But to come out and say that he had stayed up and come out of his room just to stargaze, she was taken aback. What such reason did he have for him to look at stars?
She was, if anything, intrigued by his answer choice. She stopped chewing her cheeks and boldly sat on the bench with Shadow. Feeling the disturbance of new weight on the bench, he looked the other way and saw Amy leaning against the wall and laying down on the bench with him, hugging her knees and looking outside as well.
"What are you doing?"
"Stargazing."
His eyes slightly widened. She was willing to sit in this bench with him, looking at the stars, rather than going back up to her room to fall asleep. What was she doing?
Well, Amy had figured that there had to be some reason he was watching the stars. So, she decided to look too. Truth be told, many stars were out, many in clusters, many separated. It was beautiful, of course, bit she still didn't understand why tonight was the night he chose to stargaze. He could have picked many better times during the week, month, or even year to witness the stars in the night sky. Why would he look now? "Shadow, why did you choose tonight to stargaze? Surely, there are better nights than this."
He breathed a heavy sigh and his form sunk. "I'd rather not say."
A look of concern washed over Amy's face. Was it a personal reason he decided in tonight? Why now?
"Why not?" She asked, curious and intrigued of his response to her question earlier.
"Try and guess," He said and folded his arms. A dark cloud hung over him, the blackness of night complementing it.
"…" Amy thought really hard about her guess. Was it easy to see who or what he was talking about? Or was there more depth than that?
Why would he want to look at the night sky on a usual day? It's just the same as looking at tiny balls up in the empty void of space…
Wait, space! That was where the Space Colony Ark was located! She how knew who he was talking about, and was thrilled to have her answer- but then she instantly realized how much of a pain that must be due to a certain someone.
"Maria?" She said, rather than asked, meekly.
"…precisely," Shadow looked back at the sky and Amy chewed her cheeks once again.
"You really do miss her, don't you? That must be so hard," she carefully responded.
His expression faltered. He stared at the sky, knowing that in one particular spot was where his first home was- along with his first friend.
He said nothing. His throat felt so dry and itchy he dared not speak. The thought of Maria and the girl next to him made his heart stop. He had always been comparing the two, and he liked those comparisons. His glass heart had been cracked- but then was coated in an additional layer of glass, as extra protection. He knew he promised himself never to entrust himself so much into another person, but tonight seemed to be an exception.
He was unsure if his exact emotions, yet at the same time, he couldn't be more sure.
"Thank you…" he stated quietly, the words gently rolling off his tongue.
Amy could barely hear him, but was able to understand him. Confused, she asked, "For what?"
Amy received silence, but she had found her answer when he turned to her and gave her the smallest, yet most genuine smile she had ever seen from him.
Thank you for caring about me, Amy.
The two returned back to reviewing the stars, staring in passion and endearment to the twinkling lights above- and then to each other.
END
A/N: Phew! This used to be in one of documents for awhile before I finally deciding to write it out. And I must say- oh my gosh SO FLUFFY! I have never really written a one-shot that involves so much fluff instead of a ton of humor. And oh, did this take forever to do, you ask? YES. IT DID. UUGGHHH (that is me groaning in fatigue). In all honesty though, I thought I did terrible. It's like I added too much fluff. I also feel like I should have added more detail… but I tried. Anyway, I hope you liked this hopefully cute and fluffy Shadamy one-shot. Please tell me what you think- I'm dying to know. Practically literally.
From your dearest writer,
TheHopelessRomantic3