Ok, before I start I have to say that I got the idea for this story from Grey's Anatomy, Izzie and Denny, but it's not the same. I just got the basic idea from them and I wrote my own story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic or any of the other characters, they all belong to Sega and Sonicteam.
Sonic and the rest of the group were fighting Eggman's robots. This time Eggman has taken a long break, and suddenly striked at full power! He had built a number or huge powerful robots, and the Sonic gang were having hard time winning.
Everyone was getting tired. Shadow was fighting one of the robots. When suddenly another robot came from behind and stabbed him with his big claw. Shadow was shocked at the sudden pain, he couldn't even scream due to hard pain.
"SHADOW!" Rouge noticed Shadow and shouted for help. Sonic heard her and looked at Shadow to see two robots surrounding him. He quickly knocked the one he was fighting and hurried towards Shadow. He pushed the robots away from Shadow.
Shadow fell down on his knees holding his wound. Eyes wide. The ultimate life form was dying. Rouge flew to his side and put his head on her lap. Everyone else was fighting the robots trying their best to keep them away from Shadow. But Rouge didn't notice anything around her. Her entire focus was on the man on her lap.
"I'm sorry, Rouge. I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer." Shadow said with a small smile, something you don't see Shadow doing everyday. "No. Not yet. Don't say your goodbye, it's not your time yet. Help will come. Just hold on a little." Rouge said with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Rouge, it's gonna take a while for help to reach us. I can't hold on that much." Shadow said. "Can't you Chaos Control yourself to the hospital?" She said trying to find solutions to save the man she loved. "I'm too weak to do it. Rouge, I'm running out of time. There's a lot I'd like to say but so little time, so don't waste more." He told her looking serious.
She was about to say something else, but stopped herself to give him the chance to talk. "Rouge… since Maria's death, I have lived alone. I couldn't open up to anyone, couldn't trust anyone. But you… you changed that. From the moment I saw you, I knew you were gonna change me, and you did. I appreciate knowing you, it has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. Rouge, I love you. I love you more than anyone or anything in the world, heck! I love you even more than Maria herself. Knowing me, you ought to know how much that means." He said that with weak voice and just a slight smile.
Rouge knew he wasn't gonna last long. She was crying a lot, her tears falling on Shadow's head. "I love you too, Shadow. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you this before." She leaned closer to his face, both closing their eyes. They locked their lips and shared a kiss. Until Rouge felt Shadow's weight growing more, she broke the kiss and looked at him to see him dead, smiling.
Rouge woke up in her bed. Sweating. She's been having the same nightmare every night. Well, it's not really a nightmare, it's more of a bad memory. She wasn't able to forget Shadow, not after all he meant to her. True she's been dating Knuckles now, but that didn't mean she stopped loving Shadow or she was over him. But she knew she has to move on, and that's what she was trying to do.
It has been 2 years since Shadow's death, and every night it seemed harder to live without him. One would think it'll get easier with time, but it was the other way around. And worst of all… this time they saw his dead body and buried him, so there was no way to say he's Shadow, he'll be back.
Rouge went to the bathroom to take a shower. It's always relaxed her. After she was done she wrapped a towel around her body, and dried her fur then brushed it. After she was done with her hair she went to her make-up set and put her usual casual make-up, then went to her closet and wore her usual clothes.
It was 8 in the morning, perfect time for a walk. She started walking at a slow pace, not heading somewhere in particular. She was just walking, thinking of Shadow. When suddenly she bumped into someone.
She looked up to see who it was, and it was no-one other that the red echidna she knew, Knuckles. "Umm.. Hi, Knuckles." She said with a fake smile. "Hey, baby. I was just heading to your house." He said with a wide smile, not noticing her sadness.
"Are you free tonight?" Knuckles asked her. "Tonight? Let me see…. Yes I am." She said smiling for real this time. It wasn't Knuckles' fault that Shadow died. He loved her and he was trying so hard to make her happy, so she had to at least try.
"Great! Be ready at 7." He said happily. "Ok." She replied. She gave him a peck on the lips and he left. Her smile slowly faded. She felt like she was cheating on Shadow with Knuckles. And she hated that feeling. 'I wish you would come back to me, Shadow.' She thought then sighed.
The day slowly continued. She went to her work at G.U.N and there was actually no real work. So it was boring. When she was done with work, she went home and started preparing for her date with Knuckles.
As she was done, she looked at herself in the mirror. She wore a red dress, knee-length and red high heels sandals. She looked absolutely stunning. Any guy would drool at the sight of her. She smiled then headed to the living room.
Just as she reached there, she heard a knock at the door. She went there and opened the door to reveal Knuckles wearing a tuxedo holding a bouquet of red roses. She smiled at the way he looked, it wasn't something Knuckles would do everyday.
"You look very beautiful." He said while giving her the roses. "Thank you. You look very nice yourself." She said and took the flowers. "Come in." She told him as she went to put the roses in water. He stepped in and followed her.
She turned to face him after she was done with the roses and he embraced her looking into her eyes. He leaned in to kiss her and she kissed back. When they broke apart he said "C'mon, we don't wanna be late for our reservation." She smiled and they headed outside to the restaurant.
It wasn't really far from her house, so they decided to walk there. They were both silent during their walk. And it wasn't really a problem to any of them. They just enjoyed eachother's company. Actually Rouge was thinking of Shadow, that's why she was silent.
When the arrived to the restaurant, the receptionist showed them to their table. They sat there and ordered food and drinks. The waiter took their orders and went to get them.
As he left, Knuckles held Rouge's hand in his. He looked deep in her eyes and said "Rouge, I know things has been rough on you since Shadow's death. And I know I would never replace him, but I love you just as much and I really appreciate you giving me the chance to show you my love. You deserve to be happy, and that's what I'm trying to do. I know part of you would always love him, and I don't mind it. Because if I lost you, part of me would always love you, no matter how long I live without you. Rouge... will you marry me?" He let go of her hand and held out a ring to her.
She cried as he said that. how could she marry him if she didn't love him? Sure he was very nice to her, but it's not fair to him, he deserves someone that loves him. He deserves to be loved. But her heart belonged to someone else, her heart belonged to Shadow. She looked at him smiling "Knuckles… I… I dunno what to say… I mean…"
"Rouge, please… if I mean anything to you, say yes." He interrupted her before she could finish. He did mean a lot to her, he was always there for her, he has always supported her and stood by her side. She thought for a while then looked back at his face and smiled "Yes! Yes, I will marry you." He smiled at her.
When they were done with their dinner they went to the beach to walk. It was dark and the only light there was the moon light, it was so romantic. They were walking on the shore, she was holding his hand, her head was resting on his shoulder.
She was still feeling bad, it wasn't fair for Knuckles to be with her when she didn't love him, but he loved her, and he wanted to be with her. He understood her situation and he was ok with it. But still, she loved Shadow and she wanted to be with him, but it wasn't possible so she had to settle for Knuckles.
Suddenly, she glanced at something, Shadow. He was sitting at the beach, looking at them. Her eyes widened at the sight of Shadow, she hasn't seen him since his death except in her dreams. Knuckles noticed her shock "What's wrong?" he asked her.
She looked at him, then asked him "Don't you see Sha- something strange right there?" She thought if she told him it was Shadow he would think she's just imagining him because she still loved him.
He looked at the direction she pointed at, nothing was there. He looked back at here then said "No. I don't see anything." She looked back, Shadow was still there. "Are you sure?" She asked again. He looked one more time to make sure but he didn't see anything. "C'mon you must be tired. You had a long day." He said smiling at her.
She looked again, this time Shadow was gone. She looked a little surprised. "I guess you're right. Let's go home." She said with a faint smile. They called it a night and headed home. He walked her home. She kissed him on the lips, then he left and she went inside her home.