The drive was a silent one. A small smirk rested on the dark hedgehog's face as he sat in the passenger seat.

Moments ago she could have sworn that his stoic expression was laced with a hint of worry. She couldn't blame him, after all she did just bring up the fact that she would mar the exterior of his vehicle as a joke. Seems like now his worries had been suppressed, she didn't have it in her to wreck anything that wasn't her's.

It had been a couple minutes down the same straight road. She had no destination in mind and the other had said nothing about where to head to.

"So, where are we going?" The yellow striped hedgehog spoke softly as if she didn't want to disturb the peace created by the silence.

"I don't know Statice. Where are we going?" He glanced at her for a moment, before returning his attention to the road ahead.

She couldn't say she didn't like his softer attitude towards her, but she did feel that it was slightly foreign. Misplaced almost, she couldn't help but feel that around the corner something would fall astray and everything would be back to the way it was.

The constant feeling of anger without reason, sadness without being able to understand why. Every time she had heard the words "Shadow the Hedgehog" she just wanted to punch the closest wall and then fall down and sob. She was never angry at him. The only thing he had done was point out the truths in her life. It had hurt, more than she thought it would and she accepted that. Era Statice would always be a name that never fit her person.

Something changed. Maybe it happened when she accepted the fact that happiness was something out of her grasp. Maybe it was then that she gave up trying to understand how she felt and just went with it. Experiencing what could be peace until something struck it all down and brought the terrors back. That much she understood.

But what never made sense to her was the change in the other. Going from cold and stoic to really not much different but there was a small change. His words weren't as frigid as they were before. Maybe underneath everything he cared about her enough. So far it seemed that way, but she would never know for sure.

Letting muscle memory control her directions the two ended up at the ocean side. She remembered driving out here often. Never stopping by but glancing at it while she traversed to her next mission.

The blues of the sky had just begun to fill with orange as the sun setted. Both hedgehogs stood at the railing silently observing the water make its way down it's predetermined path.

Interrupting the waves her thoughts became vocal. "How did I end up here?" The question wasn't directed to anyone as it should have been lost amongst the breeze.

He was messing with her again, "You drove." The obvious answer, clearly not what she was looking for but at least it put a smile on her face.

"Well yeah, but here." She pushed her glasses back into place her eyes focused on the setting star. "You know, doing what I'm doing. It's not something I ever would have imagine. I don't think I ever thought I'd get away from… well you know what I'm trying to say."

The two hadn't looked at each other during their conversation, and it continued.

"Maybe there isn't an answer. As long as you're happy where you are now, finding those reasons may not be important."

It seemed as if the darker hedgehog went lost in thought for a moment, letting possible emotions control his actions.

During that second her hand ended up in his grasp. This didn't scare her the way it had in the past. Instead it was reassuring, letting her know that maybe all of this wasn't a mistake.

Their gazes met, nothing taunting like it had been in the past but full of warmth which was emphasized by the yellow glow from the sky.

She knew the response she would get from her next statement would probably be a playful one, in attempts to get her to stumble on her own words, but she was going to fall into that anyways. "I like it here." She smiled at him.

"Hmm?" Not as snarky as she expected but the tone implied what she thought.

She broke the eye contact, this whole situation was unbelievably ridiculous. But she went with it anyways. Even if a looming darkness followed her in every step, threatening to throw her happiness in disarray, she tried to make the most of what would be a few of her treasured memories.

"Next to you."