Maria no Yume, Kurisu no Yume
(Maria's Dream, Chris's Dream)
.
.
.
'Space is so dark... so black...
'Is this what he saw every day? Is this what he grew up with? No wonder he was so sad. He barely got to see any of Earth. No trees, no grass, not even a blue sky and clouds... I wonder what life was like for him...
'Ever since Rouge explained it to me... I just can't stop thinking about him...
'So... I wasn't the first kid in space. She was. She was his friend... Maria. She only knew space, too. She didn't even get to come to Earth at all...
'Oh, no... I'm crying again... I wish I wouldn't...
'I'm big now... twelve... why am I crying? I barely even knew him.
'But it's not fair. He helped us all. He saved us all. As much as I hate to say it, or even think it... I don't think Sonic could have done this on his own.
'It's not like he was a bad person... he just... he was confused... and sad...
'It's not fair that he had to die...'
.
.
.
"Sonic... I think you need to talk to Chris," Rouge whispered. Sonic looked up at the bat.
"Is he standing by the window again...?"
"Mm-hmm..." Rouge nodded, motioning to the back of the space shuttle. "He won't tell anybody what's bugging him. If anyone can get him to open up, it's you, Sonic."
"Hm." The blue hedgehog glanced at the boy. "I think I know..." he said quietly.
Rouge's eyes were gentle. "You don't think... I mean, it's not...?"
"Probably," Sonic shrugged. "I mean... he's been holding onto that wristband ever since I gave it to him..."
"But why? I wouldn't have thought he'd get so worked up over--" Sonic motioned for the bat to be quiet.
"Shh. Don't mention his name. Not right now. I think Chris needs to... calm down."
All through the conversation, Chris was silent...
His eyes slowly moved to his hand, his fingers clenched about a single gold wristband...
He couldn't stop thinking about Shadow.
.
.
.
It had been three full days since they'd left ARK.
Sonic stood lazily, leaning against the wall. Tails was piloting the shuttle, and Tanaka was copiloting. There wasn't much to do up here in space, so the blue hedgehog had spent most of his time sleeping, catching up on some rest...
Lately, though, a strange sense of worry had been creeping into Sonic's mind. Tails was taking them back to Earth at a much slower pace than what they had traveled to ARK at, so there was a lot of time to think. Unfortunately, whenever he started to think, that worry had come back.
Then, it had come to him. It was Chris.
Ever since they had left ARK, Chris had been awfully quiet... He barely ate, couldn't rest. In fact, he had hardly left that window since they'd started back for Earth. Sonic frowned...
There was definitely something wrong with the boy. And it hadn't taken long to figure it out.
The way he stood there, holding the wristband... The way that, all of a sudden, the tears would fall...
Sonic sighed.
Everyone felt bad. Everyone felt that he was missing.
But for some reason, Chris had taken Shadow's passing the hardest...
It was easy to see. Everyone, Tails, Amy, Tanaka, Rouge, even Knuckles, had tried their hardest to cheer the boy up. But nothing seemed to work. Chris's blue eyes remained blank, his stare still penetrating into space...
.
.
.
"He just doesn't comprehend the whole thing."
After returning to Earth, everyone sans Knuckles and Rouge had returned to the Thorndykes' mansion, for they all carried the same worry for Chris. After relating the tale to Chuck, the old man now stood, his arms folded across his chest. "He's too young to really understand this," Chuck tried to explain.
"But, he's been around us long enough," Tails pointed out. "Why wouldn't he understand?"
"Let's face it, guys. Chris has always considered you special. Before you came to our world, he'd never seen anything like you, especially you, Sonic," the old man said, turning to the blue hedgehog who now sat in his regular place, the seat by the window. "Chris idolizes you, and when he fears for your safety, he is unable to stand it. It's torment for him.
"However, deep down, I don't think he's ever truly understood that life can be taken away. It's a new experience for him. The biggest shock is that the one who died was one of you. He never thought it could happen. He always counted on and depended upon Super Sonic to take care of things when they went wrong, and he saw Super Shadow the same way. He never thought that Shadow would, as you say, sacrifice everything..."
"Chris believed in Shadow," Amy said slowly. "You... you should have seen them... back on ARK. No matter how many times Shadow knocked him back to the ground, Chris just kept getting back up... He was so determined to make Shadow see that humanity was depending on him." Tanaka nodded in agreement.
"Isn't there anything we can do for Chris?" Tails asked, his two tails flicking nervously.
"I'm afraid not," Chuck sighed.
"This is one of the things that only time can heal... Time heals all wounds, they say."
Unbeknownst to the five in the room, Chris was sitting quietly on the stairs, the wristband in his hand.
.
.
.
'I did believe in Shadow. I knew there was more to him than what he let on.
'I should know... I stood there with him for hours on end... even though he never paid any attention to me, I guess.
'Now that I think about it... why did I believe so hard in him? Why did I think that the person who refused to let me go back to Earth could be good?
'Maybe it was... I guess I thought...
'... he looked like Sonic...
'But the more I watched him, the more I realized that he wasn't Sonic. He was someone completely different. The two of them were so different.
'There were times when I hated him. There were times that I couldn't stand what he said. Sonic wouldn't be able to save the world? No! I hated that!
'But I couldn't hate him. I just knew, there was something wrong with him...
'And then, finally, when Sonic and the others set off to stop the core...'
Chris winced, remembering how much Shadow's blasts had stung... how many times he had fallen...
'I didn't give up, though. Grandpa and the others are right. I didn't give up on Shadow--'
"Chris?" Tails asked.
"Wha--?!" Chris yelped, turning around to find himself face-to-face with the others. "I... I mean..." He hurriedly shoved the wristband into his pocket.
"Never mind," Chuck said, waving it off. "It's time for dinner, anyway."
"Um... no thanks, Grandpa," Chris said, standing up. "I... I'm not hungry right now... I'll wait." The boy walked off.
Chuck, Amy, and Tails stood there and watched him go. Tails and Amy almost started after him, but Chuck held them back.
"Just remember... he needs some time."
.
.
.
The sun was setting on another day. Chris walked into his room and flopped down onto his bed.
"Is waiting really going to make me feel any better...?" the boy murmured. "Just... waiting?
"It's not helping..."
Tears began to well up in his eyes again. Chris immediately wiped them off, then glanced around to make sure no one was looking.
"It's just not fair..." he whispered. Setting the metal wristband down on the small table by his bed with a soft clink, Chris silently crawled under the covers...
.
.
.
.
.
It was the breath of a cool breeze across his face that stirred him into consciousness.
"Uhh... wha...?" he mumbled, sitting up. The entire room was pitch-dark, and the only light came from the half-moon, floating in the sky outside...
Then, Chris noticed a silhouette by his window. "Sonic?" he called to the spiky outline.
But the figure didn't move. 'Maybe he's outside,' Chris thought. 'I wonder what he's doing out there... he usually sleeps up on the--'
The silhouette turned around.
Chris's eyes widened. He would have shouted, but his insides seemed to have suddenly frozen.
The glass door that led to the balcony on his right was open. The figure walked through it, sliding it shut on his way in. Once indoors, the light was even dimmer than before, but Chris was positive of who it was...
"Shadow...!" the boy gasped.
Chris began to slide out from under the covers, but the black hedgehog shook his head and motioned for Chris to stay where he was.
"Shadow... how can you... Sonic said...!" Chris blurted out.
"Well, then why am I here?" the black hedgehog asked, a smile on his face.
"But... how...?" Chris asked, his voice faltering. "You... you fell..."
"Yes... I did." Shadow quietly agreed. Chris could barely see his face. Only his silhouette stood out in the faint moonlight. "I did fall. You're not mistaken about that."
The two remained where they were for a few silent moments. Finally, Chris managed to ask a single, rather childish question...
"... are you a ghost?"
Shadow didn't answer for a few seconds, as if he was stunned. Then, all of a sudden, a strange sound, unfamiliar to Chris's ears, came from him...
It was a laugh. Shadow was laughing.
Chris sat on his bed, shocked, while Shadow let out a final sigh. The black hedgehog advanced toward Chris's bed. Shadow quietly reached down and touched Chris's right hand with his own gloved one.
"There. Does that feel real to you?"
Another few shocked moments passed. Then, to Shadow's surprise, Chris leapt up and threw his arms around the black hedgehog's shoulders.
"I knew it! You're alive! I couldn't stand the thought that you'd... but it doesn't matter anymore, you're alive, Shadow, just wait until morning when everyone wakes up and--"
"If you don't settle down, they'll all be awake pretty soon anyway." Rather gently, which was a surprise coming from the usually rather formidable-looking hedgehog, Shadow said, "It's late. You ought to be asleep."
"How can I sleep now?" Chris asked, a smile spreading across his face. "Everyone's going to be so happy to see you..."
Shadow paused, then nodded slowly. He pushed the boy away, so that Chris was once again sitting on his bed.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Chris asked. Shadow turned his head and glanced toward the table...
Even though the boy was unable to see the black hedgehog's eyes, he understood. "... oh..." Chris said, rather dejectedly. "You... um, want your wristband back... right?"
Shadow looked back at Chris. With the moonlight at his back, and his sight much more advanced than a twelve-year-old human's, he was able to see the boy's pale features almost perfectly. Seeing Chris's melancholy look, he sighed again and smiled.
"No, it's all right. You keep it. After all, I lost all of them anyway," he added, holding up both hands.
"I guess, the reason why I'm here..." Shadow paused. "Well... first of all, I'm rather curious. Why did you keep it?" he asked, motioning to the single wristband on the table.
"I... I didn't want to forget you," Chris admitted. "I don't know... maybe... maybe I did think you'd come back... Okay... I don't know why I kept it," he finally finished.
"It's all right," Shadow responded. "I came back. And, I believe I just skipped around your question, didn't I?" he said with an apologetic smirk.
"Yeah, kind of." Chris smiled back at the hedgehog. "But... why did you save yourself? Why didn't you... you know..." Chris nodded at the night sky outside. Shadow turned and looked, too.
"... she told me that I was meant to live here, to protect this world. Before I fell, I thought maybe saving it was enough..."
The hedgehog hesitated, then continued. "But, instead of making people happy, I made them sad."
"What?" Chris was confused. "Sad? Why?"
Shadow turned around and stared at Chris, directly into his eyes.
"Weren't you?"
"I..." Chris was stunned once more. Looking downward, he nodded. "Yeah. I was sad. But it wasn't your fault, Shadow. If you would've been happier going..."
"Tell me," Shadow said suddenly. Chris looked up. "How old are you, boy?"
"T... twelve," Chris stammered. Shadow stood still, obviously thinking quite deeply...
"Well..." he finally said, "... just, promise me that you'll take good care of yourself." The black hedgehog took one more look at Chris, observing him carefully, then started for the sliding door.
"Wait!" Chris said, about to jump out of bed again. "Don't go yet! Um..." the boy tried to think of another question, anything to keep the hedgehog he'd presumed lost from leaving again.
"Why did you ask me how old I am?"
Shadow paused, still facing the door. "I had a very good friend your age once," he said.
"... Maria, right?"
The silhouette was silent, but nodded.
"She died young," Shadow finally conceded. "Only your age. I suppose you knew that, from the professor's message."
The hedgehog turned... and smiled. "I guess... that's my reason for coming here.
"You remind me of her... almost too much of her. The resemblance is eerily similar." The black hedgehog almost laughed again. "When you got trapped in my Chaos Control back on Prison Island, and we ended up in the safe with Rouge, I was debating on whether to bring you along or not to ARK. But then... those words you said... that plea for help..."
Shadow looked hard at Chris. "You reminded me of her. You ought to be thankful you have those eyes... they saved your life." Chris was slightly confused at this.
"My eyes...?"
"Hers were blue, too... exactly like yours." Shadow tilted his head at Chris. "When you stood with me up on ARK, it just kept gnawing at me... you had to be her descendant... or reincarnation... or something... She and I used to stand up there all the time, too...
"And, if it weren't for you, I would never have gone to help your friends. We'd all likely be dead now if not for you, Chris." Chris's face flushed slightly.
"It wasn't anything big... I didn't really do much..."
"Also... I'm, sorry," Shadow murmured.
"Sorry for what?"
"For hurting you." The silhouette looked down. "You collapsed. I was terrible to you, wasn't I?" Shadow looked up with a grim smile on his face. "To tell the truth... I didn't like you. You reminded me of Maria. That hurt enough. And your friendship with Sonic... it was too much like how we used to be. I hated that. Why were you and Sonic allowed to be friends when Maria and I could not?"
Shadow suddenly stopped when he heard that sound. A very familiar sound...
... the heavy breathing of a child about to cry...
"Oh, no..." Shadow muttered. "Stop it, boy. You didn't do anything wrong. I shouldn't have said that... I'm sorry."
"N-no..." Chris stammered. "It... it's not that... i-it's just..." The boy squeezed his eyes shut.
"It... it's just n... not fair... Why... why do s-such bad things... happen?" he managed to gasp out.
Shadow walked up to the boy. "Calm down," he said.
"This is life. This is reality. Bad things happen... and sometimes you can't do anything about them. All you can do is hope and dream that things will be better... Do you understand me, kid?" Chris nodded shakily.
Shadow smiled reassuringly. "Bad things happen to everyone. All I'm saying is, stay by what you have and defend it..." The hedgehog trailed off.
"Shadow? A-are you okay?" Chris asked, beginning to catch his breath.
"I'm... fine." Shadow looked out through the door. "The sun will be coming up soon... you ought to go to sleep," he said.
"O... okay..." Chris said. He scrambled under the warm blankets. But before he lay down, he found the courage to ask...
"Shadow? Are you going to be here tomorrow?"
The black hedgehog faced Chris, his eyes unreadable. Chris began to feel a twinge of despair rise inside him...
"You're... you're not going to leave... are you?" The black hedgehog remained silent.
Chris averted his eyes, downcast.
"This is just... a dream... isn't it?" he whispered. Even as he said it, he felt his surroundings starting to give way...
Shadow hesitated, then walked up to Chris's bedside. In the moonlight, Chris could see one last smile on his face.
The black hedgehog reached out to the boy. Gently, he took Chris's hand in his again.
"Whether this is a dream or not..." he whispered,
"... dreams are still what builds reality.
"My purpose is to help all of the people of the world find happiness. If I leave, you'll be sad, won't you?" Chris slowly nodded.
"Then, in that case... I'll have to stick around, won't I?" Shadow smiled.
"You... you're staying?!" Chris exclaimed. "Then this isn't just a dream? You'll be here tomorrow morning?" The boy smiled through the remainder of his tears. "You'll like it here, I promise. Ella makes the best breakfasts, and Amy and Tails are here tonight, and--"
"That's enough," Shadow said, pressing his fingers to Chris's mouth. "Just lie down and go to sleep now."
Then, to Chris's shock and dismay, Shadow quickly moved to the door and slid it open.
"Shadow!" Chris said. "You said you'd stick around!"
"And I will," Shadow responded. "Maybe you won't always see me... but I'll be here."
"Then... this is a..."
"What is a dream?" Shadow interrupted. "Is it real? Or not?" The hedgehog stopped, halfway through the door.
"I may never know for sure if my memories are genuine... or not. But, as I have said... they are all I possess. Maria was all I had... until recently." The black silhouette turned one last time to face Chris.
"Then I found you. And I know for certain that you are real."
"But how do I know that you are?" Chris pleaded.
Shadow sighed, then turned back to the bed. Swiftly, and without another word, he took Chris's hand and held it up to his cheek. Chris felt his skin come into contact with the short, soft fur on Shadow's face... but something was strange...
It was damp.
Shadow had been crying, too.
"Feel that? I am here. Whether you choose to believe or not." Shadow dropped Chris's hand, then turned.
"Maria is still my friend... do you agree? And now that I've found you... are you, also?"
"Yeah... I guess," Chris said slowly. "Will I see you around, then?"
"Maybe," Shadow said as he exited the room.
Then, without turning, he said...
"I hope you go to sleep quickly. You need your rest."
Chris nodded. "Okay. Good night, Shadow."
"Good night, M..." The hedgehog stopped himself. "Sorry. I mean, Chris. Your name is Chris," he repeated, probably more for himself than the boy inside.
Chris smiled. "It's okay."
"Good night, Chris... and good bye."
Lying down, Chris watched Shadow jump off the balcony and disappear into the darkness below...
Or maybe the darkness was his eyes closing?
Whatever it was, Chris felt the world shifting and changing, becoming something else, brighter and...
.
.
.
The sudden daylight felt as if Sonic had been running full speed and had collided with him.
Chris shot up. Looking around hurriedly, nothing appeared any different than it had when he'd gotten into bed. The door was closed, nothing was disturbed...
"Did he... really come?" Chris wondered aloud.
'Or was it really just a dream...?'
"Chris! Hey, Chris!" The boy looked up in time to see the door to the hallway swing open, showing Tails, Cream, and Cheese peeking in.
"It's time for breakfast. Are you hungry?"
"Hungry? I'm starved!" Chris replied, slightly surprising the others with his sudden excitement. "I guess I should be, after skipping dinner last night," he admitted, laughing. "Come on, I'll race you down!" The boy hopped out of bed, smiling.
Tails shrugged, simply happy that Chris was happy again.
As the four dashed down the stairs, Chris said, "You'll never believe it... but I had the best dream last night..."
.
.
.
Sometimes, dreams seem very real and very beautiful. These good dreams are what allow people to look forward and build a better reality.
But for a certain boy, that dream was just a little bit more than just a dream.
Though it now lay unnoticed, the golden wristband, still on the bedside table, had a new companion. A tattered, dusty, black and white photograph of a dark hedgehog, smiling happily as he stood by his best friend, a young girl with a quiet, peaceful smile, whose eyes seemed to glimmer with unspoken hopes, wishes, and dreams.
And during that night, the hedgehog had realized that one of those dreams had come to pass.
Her dream to be on Earth, to learn what it was like...
But most importantly, to return to Earth in the companionship of a very special friend...
That certain black hedgehog.
Those eyes were the same.
Shadow knew.