Lonely Nights. Something of a recurrance for Shadow the Hedgehog. Why was he lonely. He had everything going for him. He was the Commander of the Mobius' greatest agency; G.U.N. He had great friends, in Rouge and Knuckles, and as much as he hated to admit it... Sonic and Amy. He had women, throwing their body out there for him, with Shadow only accepting two of the offers. Why was the hedgehog lonely? You may ask. When Maria left this Earth, he felt like his soul did. Therefore, he no longer needed to be happy, he just wanted to be alone. Love was not for him, it would only get in his way, it would deflect him from his duties. Why would he, of all people need to love anyone. Sure, there might have been a time, where him and Rouge were a little more than "friends", but that resulted in him getting hurt after she decided that she was still in love with the fiery red echidna, who captured her heart in a little encounter some years ago, but that was the only time his heart got hurt since the Maria incident. He likes to think that all women are the same. He likes to think that he should just live the rest of his life, as the lonley and reclusive commander. He might be more happy that way, he used to think all of this until he met a peach furred echidna. Said echidna, is someone who Shadow thinks might be a little different. The echidna had always been polite to him, and always said good things about him. She made Shadow feel good inside. She was someone who Shadow thinks can be trusted. There was always something special about this echidna, Tikal. From her white formal dress that she wears, a mere upgrade from her uniform when she was younger, to her personality, and good will to help others. She was different, she was inspiring, she was the only person that would listen to him. She was slowly capturing his heart. She would always come eat lunch with him at the local diner in town, when her cousin Knuckles was watching the Master Emerald. They would always talk about helping others, and random things in general. Shadow the Hedgehog had a heart? Who knew? His heart was more genuine than a lot of other peoples, that was what Tikal always saw in him, his genuine soul that he had, he was not heartless, he was a big sweetheart, a big softie on the inside. Shadow was a delicate being. One night, as rain started to pour down on Angel Island, Shadow the Hedgehog made a visit to the alter of the Master Emerald, where she watching in place of Knuckles, as he was on one of his weekly nights out with Rouge. Tikal was alseep on the job, Shadow thought she looked so beautiful while sleeping. Shadow, not trying to stir her, accidently does, when he trips over her shoes. The echidna waking up, asks Shadow why he was there, which gets a classic "I was coming to check on you" line, something cheesy as the hedgehog has not really been expirienced with love. Tikal gets up from the alter and takes Shadow for a little walk in the nearby forest, which still had the Master Emerald in plain view. Shadow blushes, as Tikal is still holding his hand, as she realizes this and blushes as well. They walk through the forest, hand in hand, talking about nothing, just random things that come up in their head. Still holding each others hands, Shadow stops the echidna, and places a kiss on her lips, something that suprises her at first, but gladly accepts as she kisses him back. She had been wanting this for a while. Someone that actually cared about her. She was happy at this moment, as she breaks apart from Shadow and tells him she loves him, which Shadow gladly responds back to with another kiss and I love you too. Shadow the Hedgehog was happy, he had finally found someone that loves him, and this woman he was going to spend the rest of eternity with. He no longer would have lonely nights, and neither would she.