The Shade Amongst the Storm

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a/n: This is indeed a Sonic/Shadow shounen-ai. My first Sonic the Hedgehog shounen-ai. Hope you like.

Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters. I just use them as my little puppets....

Warning: Know what shounen-ai means? It's Japanese for "boy-love". So in general, this is a SLASH. But there is NO YAOI, or anything MAJORLY sexually explicit between them. ALSO, THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING OF SONIC ADVENTURE 2 BATTLE. Just to warn you. =D

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It's been...atleast a year. Almost an entire year has passed since the incident that occured on ARK....almost an entire year has passed since...well...since he died for the planet he originally intended to ruin.

I can't believe it. A year already, huh?

Sonic sat on the edge of the cliff on Angel Island, his feet dangling lazily, with the view of the waterfalls proving to be ever so calming. Especially since he had a lot of extra time to think nowadays.

...Shadow...

Sonic hadn't forgotten about that black hedgehog, not even for a day. In fact, several days prior to the current date, he had barely been able to sleep. Restless. Regretting not being able to save Shadow when he had been able to save anyone else before. That thought even made Sonic doubt his own ability of being a hero. One loss means a lot...and it felt even greater that it was a loss of someone who had even helped to save him and the earth.

It was as though Sonic felt a sort of detachment from a longtime friend. Or maybe something just a little deeper than that. Some sort of connection due to the use of the chaos emeralds needed to fight the final prototype hazard on ARK. Some sort of connection....

That thought puzzled Sonic. It was possible, by all means. Sometimes links occur as a result of fate. In other words, perhaps the two were fated to fight together in the end against a great catastrophe. Sonic was used to saving lives with the help of his best friend Tails, and even Amy Rose was around to give a helping hand when she could.

But this was different somehow.

Something deeper.

And it felt strange.

If Shadow were still alive, would he feel the same?

Sonic sighed heavily, picking himself up from the ground and turning to leave the beautiful scene of Angel Island. And before he left, he said the words that were etched in his memory since the day Shadow died. "Adios, Shadow the Hedgehog." It only seemed right to say it out loud. Maybe Shadow could hear him, from where ever he may be.

"Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog stopped in his tracks and looked up from the ground to see his best friend standing in front of him, a look of confusion on the fox's face. "Yo, Tails."

"Sonic, you don't look so good...is there something bothering you? You haven't even eaten much in the last few days!" Yes, when Sonic the Hedgehog loses his appetite, the world shall cease to exist. In a sense.

Sonic laughed it off, though, not wanting to see Tails in a worried state. "Ah, it's no big deal! Maybe I just need a little rest or something! I've been up since early this morning, you know."

"But Sonic..." Tails hesitated. He definitely knew that Sonic was acting just a tad strangely, especially since Sonic wasn't the type to get up early for no reason at all. He was carefree and laid back, so of course he would be the one to sleep until the afternoon. If anyone should get up early, it would mostly likely be Tails himself.

"I said don't worry about it, man," Sonic smiled widely, giving Tails a thumbs-up, "I'm cool. There's nothing to be scared of, cuz everything's under control!"

A voice came from behind, "Sonic...is it because of what happened a year ago?"

Tails and Sonic turned to the familiar voice, which turned out to be the voice of Knuckles, the Guardian of the Floating Islands. And he was absolutely right, Sonic knew, it WAS about the incident on ARK.

"What are you talking about?" Sonic said defensively. "Are you talking about the whole thing with ARK? I know it's already been almost a year so far, like an anniversary or something. So what?"

"Well, I'm talking about what happened a year ago to Shadow." Knuckles said calmly, then deciding to take a seat on a large stone nearby. Sonic and Tails did the same. "Aren't you thinking about that, rather than just the incident?"

Sonic snorted. "Feh! Why would I think about that?"

Knuckles's eyes widened. "Are you sure? Because I know I haven't been able to stop thinking about it for a few days now."

"What do you mean, Knuckles?" Tails asked, not sure what exactly was going on.

The echidna shrugged. "Sonic has been acting strange for about a week now...don't deny it, it's plain obvious. And though I don't understand why, he's been coming to the same spot for the same amount of time now, in constant thought or something. Can you explain that, Sonic?"

Sonic took a quick inhale. He didn't know that Knuckles had seen him all those times when he had thought he was alone. But still, it proved nothing in relation to Shadow. "What are you getting at? So what if I wanted to be alone!"

Tails bit his lip. "Well, Sonic being quiet IS kinda strange..."

"Hey!" Sonic quipped, "I can be quiet if I wanted to!"

"Yeah, you've proven that. But, uh...it started a week ago. And it's also strange because...well..." Knuckles hesitated. "It was rather fortunate, what I found on the exact day you started being so quiet."

Sonic and Tails stared at him, their eyes imploring a deeper explanation on the echidna's part. A week ago? What was going on here?

"Yeah?" Sonic pushed.

"I found some..thing...that I found to be interesting. I wasn't going to tell you until I found out if......if he was alive."

Sonic's eyes widened at that last comment. "...if you found out that WHO was alive...?"

Knuckles got up from his seat and took a few steps towards the waterfall view. "I think you should know the answer to that question."

If it was the person Sonic was thinking about, then there were a lot of questions that needed answering. When? Where? HOW..?

"Shadow's...alive...?"

Knuckles glanced back at the two, whose faces displayed astounded expressions. "He might be. He might not be. I...don't know. But it's ironic that I found him exactly when you went weird."

Sonic's expression turned grave. "Then he's alive."

Knuckles shrugged a shoulder. "I can't tell. He's unconscious. Or dead, I don't know..."

"No." Sonic interrupted. "He is alive."

How could he know this…?

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a/n: Kukuku. Cliffhanger, as always, to keep the readers intrigued. Did it work? Ah well. D I was inspired by a quiz I took on quizilla, 'Which -wrong- Sonic the Hedgehog pairing is most like you' or something to that extent. I got Shadow and Sonic. And then I thought, "Cool...". Er, anywayz, review please...the story's not done yet, no da. D