"Out of all the places I could've gone, this is where I choose to go." Shadow grumbled to himself, hugging his fleece jacket tighter. He shuffled quickly through the snow, and burrowed his muzzle further into his scarf. Every breath was a struggle; it felt like mini icicles were being jammed up his nostrils with every breath he took. "Goddamn cold."
But though he complained, Shadow didn't bother using Chaos Control to escape the vicious wind and the deathly grip of the cold. His legs felt like ice blocks, his quills covered in snow no matter how many times he shook it off, but deep down, he enjoyed it. Shadow took pleasure in very few things in life, but the wind howling and tugging at his clothes paired with the cold sneaking its icy tendrils around him made him feel – dare he say it? – alive. For all the tough fronts he put up around those goddamn humans and those irritating Mobians, not even the Ultimate Lifeform was willing to endure Father Winter's cruel onslaught.
Shadow smiled softly to himself. It felt good to at least have one thing in common with everyone, even if he would never let himself admit it out loud.
A tiny cabin emerged from the White Sea, and though its windows were dark, Shadow felt a sense of relief flood him. His home. It didn't matter to Shadow that he didn't have someone to come home to anymore. Though he had first arrived to Station Square with a heart full of darkness and rage, he also learned how to envy others. He thought back to when he had pangs of jealously in his chest, hard and heavy. Everyone wishes for immortality, but no one wishes for the pain and heartbreak that comes along with it. Seeing Sonic and his friends come together against him, seeing the jolly gatherings they held and the bliss on their faces used to be enough to fuel his hatred and anger and pain to destroy everything else.
But that was the old him.
Shadow shook off the snow, hung his coat, and began a fire. Soon the crackle and pop of the flames echoed soothingly in his cabin, and he sat by it, relishing the heat seeping into his bones. He may have learned about envy and jealousy, deceit and rage, but he also learned other things during his time here.
He learned about acceptance, about forgiveness. He learned about tolerance.
He even learned about resignation.
Shadow learned to accept his loneliness. He poked at the fire with an iron rod, shifting the logs. There was a time when he truly thought that maybe he had even learned about friendship. He thought about Sonic and their competitive races, about Amy and her unnaturally friendly demeanor. He thought about Tails, Knuckles, Cream.
Everyone.
If things had turned out differently, maybe they could have still been friends, he mused.
The flames popped in response.
Shadow stared at the fire, the brightness searing itself into his eyes. No, he thought. You were bound to a lifetime of loneliness all along. It's no good to dwell on the past.
Yes, that's right. He learned to accept his fate long ago. He would come home to no one, and no one would come home to him.
He chuckled humorlessly to himself. What did he expect? What did he hope to change?
They had all grown old and passed on.
And he was left alone again.