Shadow jolted up awake at the sound of his alarm clock going off. He rubbed his eyes to clean them before getting up and strapping on his Air Shoes. He looked around and saw the room Josh had set up for him.

"He may not be my son, but he's still pretty cool," Shadow said to himself before going over to the door. He walked down the stairs and saw Josh and Dominic playing Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. Josh was controlling Bash while Dominic was controlling Zap.

"What's going on," Shadow asked as he watched them fight.

"We're just battling," Josh responded, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Who's winning?"

"I am."

"No, you're not. I'm about to win," Dominic said.

"Are you sure, Dominic," Shadow asked.

"Positive. In fact, I think..."

"Yeah! I win," Josh said victoriously.

"What?! No fair," Dominic said.

"Sounds like someone's a sore loser."

"Just watch. I'll get you, Josh." Dominic switched to Drill Sergeant while Josh switched to Voodood.

"I'll see you two later."

"Later, Uncle Shadow," Josh said as Shadow left. Shadow had to meet with Rocket over at Castle Acorn. Over the past few days, Shadow's been feeling odd when Rouge was near him and he wanted to know why he felt that way. The only solution to his problem? Talk to Rocket about the situation and get an honest-to-goodness answer.

"Come on, Rocket. You know Sonic, so just talk to him and convince him to have just one date with me," Amy said as Shadow entered the room.

"All right. You want an answer, so let's ask the cards," Rocket said before laying the deck of cards he had in an arch.

"Choose one card and one card only, Rose." Amy thought about what card to pick before doing so.

"Memorize it and put it back," Rocket said before Amy did as he said. Rocket then used his sorcery to pick the exact card that Amy had picked. The eight of spades landed in between Rocket's index finger and middle finger.

"Is this your card?"

"It is. What's your answer?" Rocket then used his two fingers to turn the card around and showed his answer: No.

"Fine! You stink, Rocket," Amy said as she stormed out of the room.

"Does she always get that upset when you tell her no," Shadow asked as he walked over to Rocket.

"Yeah. She just won't accept that Sonic doesn't like her in the least," Rocket answered.

"Why can't you just tell Amy that?"

"I can't 'cause I got hammered the last time."

"What do you mean," Shadow asked, curious.

"I asked her if she felt like Sonic only liked her as a friend. That was when Amy hit me with her hammer. That was back when I was still with Blaze," Rocket said.

"That had to hurt."

"Trust me, it did."

"Did I miss anything," Sally asked as she came into the room.

"Not really," Rocket responded.

"What's she doing here," Shadow asked, referring to Sally.

"She insisted."

"I did. Rocket would never turn me down."

"No, I wouldn't," Rocket said as Sally sat down. "So, what's been happening, Shadow?"

"Over the past few days, I've always felt a strange sensation when Rouge was in the same room as I am."

"Interesting," Rocket said as he started taking notes.

"Sounds to me that you're falling in love with Rouge," Sally said.

"Sally, please. I'm the one talking to Shadow."

"Sorry, sweetie. I shouldn't have interrupted."

"It's okay. Just don't do it again," Rocket said before turning his attention back to Shadow. "Continue."

"I've felt something odd in my chest," Shadow said.

"Interesting. I would have to guess that is your heart," Rocket said.

"Impossible. My heart's been cold for as long as I can remember."

"Since Maria's death, correct?"

"That's right. After that traumatic event, I kept to myself for when another friend of mine met the same end Maria did," Shadow said.

"I think we're done here, Shadow. You can go, think things over, and come back here tomorrow," Rocket said before Shadow got up.

"I will. Thanks for the talk." Shadow then left and walked all the way back to Josh's residence. When he walked in, he saw that Josh was playing Sonic Generations.

"Hey, Josh," Shadow said before Josh paused the game.

"Hey, Uncle Shadow. Where'd you go?"

"Just to talk with your father about a personal matter."

"What kind of personal matter," Josh asked.

"It's personal," Shadow said.

"Somehow, I knew you would say that." Shadow just walked back to his room and laid on the bed, thinking things over.

Could I be falling in love with Rouge like Sally said? It's possible. I always feel that same sensation every time in the same place, Shadow thought as he placed a hand on his chest. Shadow glanced over to the picture of Team New Mobotropolis and focused on Rouge. He kept thinking about the possibility of being in love with Rouge until he fell asleep. Unknown to him, Shadow would be living the same day over and over until he could tell Rouge how he felt about her.