It's been a while since I lasted posted a story here. I have been updating regularly on my deivantART account but I thought I'd put something new up here. This was a quick ShadAmy oneshot that came into my mind last month and haven't got around to proofreading until now.

Shadow and Amy belong to SEGA. They are not owned by me and this story is for entertainment only.

Fear's Grasp

There were some emotions that couldn't be expressed by any means of verbal communication. Emotions – sadness, joy and anger – could be spoken but they were emotions shown given the ideal circumstances and situation. If one was happy, they would smile. If one was angry, they'd act on their aggressive tendencies. If one felt sad, they'd isolate themselves from other life and dwell within their own sorrow for comfort when most would shed their own tears and release their inner turmoil. The minority was a group of individuals who were afraid to do the same as the majority and be a part of the misleading stereotype – tears were for those that were too weak to deal with their emotions. More fearful to show than the emotion of sorrow was being in love. Tears could be criticized for being a common sign of weakness when in most cases, people put their heart on the line to show their true affections and risk rejection. Love was an emotion that could either cause unlimited happiness or a long lasting painful rejection. Every emotion in one way or another all connected to fear – and fear was what unknowingly dominated in one's certain hesitance.

He longed for joy… he was scared of losing it.

He often resorted to anger… and he feared his anger would get the best of him eventually.

He was afraid of sorrow and the means of expressing it, therefore he turned to anger as an outlet to release his built up emotions he was scared of showing.

And lastly, he was scared of falling in love. He only heard of it a few times before his life changed forever fifty years ago and the kind he felt before was the love for a friend. The love that made his heart stir this time was not caused by friendship alone but being attracted to someone else. Someone he grew to care for as a valuable companion he had known for two years. For two years they were loyal to each other and became very trusted allies. Now close friends, it was awkward to imagine their relationship another way. The thought of them being together in a much closer relationship frightened him the most. Openly showing emotions was a personal weakness he had yet to overcome. Shadow feared he wasn't strong enough to keep the object of his hidden affections safe – Amy Rose.

Amy's heart was delicate after growing out of her crush with Sonic. She slipped into a quiet state of depression and developed the habit for the longest while of doubting herself. During that part of her life, she turned to him for comfort which he willingly gave to her and would for her only. She improved in the last few months with moving on and he improved with expressing how he felt. Some emotions, such as his pain and love, he still kept a secret. Before, it was not a problem. Each time he said he was fine since then, it left a sharp stinging ache within him and developed into a constant nag that persisted that he'd give up his secrecy – at least with her. He trusted Amy the most after all.

"Shadow? Are you okay?" Amy asked to the thoughtful hedgehog beside her. Taken from the world of his thoughts, he was back under the bright night sky, looking up at the stars and sitting next to Amy who gave him a silent look of worry.

"…I'm fine," he spoke by a natural instinct to reassure her no worries were troubling his mind – which was the complete opposite of how he felt. "You don't need to worry." His heart ached with the same pain he was accustomed to whenever he covered up his true feelings and delved into his calm masquerade.

"Are you sure?" she questioned with a twinkle of concern in her emerald eyes.

"Yeah," he whispered back.

"But Shadow, everyone's getting worried! You don't have to keep this to yourself all the time!" It was a mistake to even have the thought his words would easily convince her otherwise. The rest of the Team supposedly believed the same as Amy. During the time he knew her, she was honest and expressed herself openly. It wasn't like her to seclude herself from others whenever she was unhappy – like he always did, even now when they sat side by side upon a tall branch from a tree to see the stars above. A simple intentional walk around the forest turned out to be a perfect opportunity for the two to unexpectedly have a moment together.

As peaceful as she was, she leaned back against the trunk of the tree, quiet and with silent tears trickling down her cheeks. He could see part of himself he lost long ago as he reached out to comfort her. Shadow held back any doubts he had left as Amy warmed up to the sudden embrace. He'd see others torn apart but feel helpless and not know what to do. Amy expressed the emotions that he couldn't anymore – maybe the emotions he pulled away from out of fear.

She was like a mirror of what he was afraid to be…

"Shadow, I'm all right," Amy assured her most trusted friend. "I was just thinking about that story you told me the other day. Remember?"

He remembered the last night they spent up on the same tree – only two days have passed since then. Maria told him of a story of a girl who lost something dear to her heart and aimlessly searched for something to take its place. It was one of the few he could recall that had a serious tone to it. It was one of the ways he learned of sadness before the ARK incident took away his friend. He speculated Amy was 'lost' and still trying to recover from the former dream she held dear as a child.

"Yes. 'The Virtue of Values.'"

"Yeah! That's the one," she nodded. "I was thinking about that and how the girl in that story felt so alone! She's still trying to find happiness but what she did find wasn't what she really wanted. I'm a lot like her, aren't I?"

"No, you're not." Amy rested her chin on Shadow's shoulder as he held her tighter but still gentle at the same time. He had a reassuring touch that could calm her down quickly. He rarely showed that side of him and maybe that's what made those gestures so special. In his arms, she forgot that she ever felt alone. She had company and a strong friend beside her that she was truly starting to appreciate. "I'll make sure you won't be alone."

i"I'll protect this world, Amy Rose, and you…"/i

Sometimes it was best to put aside fear – or it could take away all the happiness the world had to offer. It was the only way he would change from what he used to be – his cold, lonely and isolated self.

Amy wrapped her arms around her friend, at last seeing the warm side of him she grew to love. Imagining their friendship beyond how it stood now was an intimidating thought but hopefully a life she'd have yet to live. In due time, old wounds would heal and broken hearts would be mended.

Because Amy and Shadow were no longer alone.

Anymore…