Shadow stared at the fuzzy blue shape as he blankly sipped from his coffee that may or may not contain small traces of alcohol.
"So?" The blue orb asked, somehow visibly nervous. "How have you been?"
Shadow visibly swallowed, hand shaking.
"I've been... I've been good. How are-" Shadow stopped, realizing how redundant the question was.
This was Maria. Maria was dead.
"Shadow, I'm so,so sorry. This must be so... awful for you. This is my fault."
Shadow wanted to tell her it wasn't, but he couldn't, it would be too hypocritical. He didn't dare admit that some nights, when memories screamed in demand for someone to blame and he was feeling too selfish to place it on himself, he had contemplated ways Maria could of provented the incident herself.
He had hated himself in the morning.
"...You must hate me."
Shadow's head shoot up at that.
"What?! Why would i?!" Shadow was, well, a little shocked. Why in the world would he hate Maria? He was willing to destroy the world for her! But she didn't need to know that…
"Well, I left you alone. And forced you into a promise that's practically impossible to keep! On nothing more than a dying wish too….." her light seemed to dim with her sadness and Shadow hated it because he could imagine perfectly how she would look right now, and, dear lord, he had just gotten back from a perfectly pleasant event and he did not need Sad Maria in his head.
"Are you enjoying Earth?"
The question was an easier one to answer.
"Yes. It's.. it's as beautiful as you said it would be. I also have made many…." What exactly could Shadow call the people who gathered around him? Friends felt too little. Family was too much. "...Allies."
"Really?! That's fantastic! Oh, I must admit, I was worried you'd be, well, lonely." Shadow found himself smiling.
"They wouldn't let me be lonely even if I wanted them to."
She brightened, followed by her usual tinkling laughter. He..he hadn't realized how much he really missed it. How much he had actually missed her.
"I missed you." Shadow said suddenly. "I missed you every day and every night, alone or with others, all I could sometimes think about was you and how much I wished you were here with me and not- and not-" he stopped afraid if he kept talking he'd cry and he didn't want to cry.
Shadow squeezed his eyes shut.
He felt a smooth gentle hand rest on his cheek and he saw Maria in his mind eye and it took all his strength not to open his eyes and shatter the illusion, to remember the awful, awful truth.
"I missed you too, Shadow. I missed you too."