A/N: Wow, okay. I am super late. Oops. I meant to get some sort of story out for Sonic's 25th, and Shadow and Rouge's 15th Anniversaries, but I've been super busy. Had this idea of a story called "The Return", where obviously, Shadow returns. But I didn't know how to do it. I literally got this idea like two days ago, and have been working on it ever since. Oh well. You guys are literally the most patient and caring fans ever, and I love each one of you. Anyway, let's save the sappiness for the story lol. I hope you all enjoy!
(Also, I should probably mention, this is an AU...It's kinda canon, I just didn't like how Shadow's amnesia was dealt with in Heroes.)
"Waiting"
The month of June.
A busy time for Sonic the Hedgehog, seeing as it was his Birthday after all.
Not only his though, but Rouge, and their previously deceased friend, Shadow the Hedgehog.
June Twenty-Third.
That was the day, not only of three different Birthdays, but the day of a fateful encounter.
"Knuckles!" The two-tailed fox yelled.
"Yeah?" He yelled back.
"Did you get Sonic's presents yet?" Tails asked as he slowly propelled to the ground. He had just finished setting up the decorations on the higher walls that no one else could reach. At least, Cream and Rouge could probably reach it, but they were elsewhere at that moment.
"Yeah." Knuckles said as he walked in, carrying a bunch of presents. "Seriously, where the heck is Amy? Why can't she help out?" Knuckles asked, feeling annoyed.
"Hmm...I don't know, Knuckles..." He said sarcastically. "Who else would be making the cake?" Tails asked sarcastically as his eyes narrowed.
"Oh." Knuckles answered quietly.
They received a knock on the door.
"I'll get it!" Tails yelled as he rushed toward it.
He opened it to see Cream, along with Amy, whom Tails couldn't see because of the giant cake blocking her face.
"Whoa."
"Hi, Mr. Tails!" Cream said joyfully.
"Oh, hey Cream! Hey Amy! Come on in!" Tails said as he slowly flew backward.
Cream led Amy over to the table, where she set down the cake.
"Um...Amy...That's a pretty big cake..." Tails commented.
It was a multi-layered cake. The bottom layer was strawberry with blue-colored frosting, the middle layer was chocolate with red-colored frosting, and the top layer was just regular vanilla, with white frosting. Each layer was laced with light pink frosting on the edges.
"Yeah, I know!" She replied. "I wanna make sure everyone has enough!" She said with a smile. "Besides, there'll be enough for everyone to take home, too!" Amy said, her smile widening.
"I think you just wanna have it all for yourself..." Cream mumbled.
"What was that?" Amy said, going from happy to angry at the drop of a dime.
"Nothing, Ms. Amy!" Cream yelled back as she threw her hands up.
"Amy, please refrain from inflicting fear into the hearts of young children." Tails said sarcastically.
"Ugh. Whatever." Amy answered, not wanting to say anything else.
"So, we got everything set up?" Knuckles asked.
"Yep!" Tails replied. "Now, we just need to wait for Sonic and Rouge to get here!" Tails said happily.
"So, what should we do while we wait?" Knuckles asked.
"Just sit here and enjoy each-other's company?" Cream suggested as she sat down on the couch.
Tails and Amy both nodded, and sat down with her.
Knuckles rolled his eyes.
"Come on, Mr. Knuckles! Come sit with us!" Cream said, patting the other cushion.
It was a pretty big couch.
"Nah, I think I'll stand. Thanks anyway." He answered back.
Cream looked at Amy with a concerned look.
Amy shrugged.
"Do you think there's gonna be mistletoe?"
"Shush, it's the middle of summer. Nobody uses mistletoe in the summer."
"It's the beginning of summer, actually."
Rouge sighed.
"You get my point, blue."
"Yeah, but still. Why would they invite both of us at the same time? I hope we don't get paired up."
"Yeah, same."
The bat and hedgehog stood outside the door to Tails's laboratory.
"Ready?" She asked.
"Yep." He responded.
The two pushed the door open.
They walked in. The room was dark.
Suddenly, all the lights flickered on!
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" A bunch of people yelled.
Amy and Cream came out from behind a counter, as Tails and Knuckles came out from behind the couch.
"Heh...Thanks, guys!" The blue hedgehog said happily.
"Why, did you all throw this party for us? How sweet!" Rouge responded with a seductive look.
"Why you..." Knuckles said as he clenched his fists.
"Knuckles..." Tails said as he grabbed him. "Let's try to not kill Rouge on her birthday, okay?" Tails said sarcastically.
"Tails! My little buddy!" The hedgehog shouted happily as he ran over to him.
"Hi, Sonic!" Tails said happily.
"SONIC!" Amy shouted as she jumped on him.
"WHOA!" Sonic yelled as he was tackled onto the floor. "Hi, Amy!" Sonic said with a grin.
"Hi, Sonikku!" Amy said, still hugging him.
"How are you?" He said, still pinned down on the floor.
He was used to it.
"Great!" She answered. "Especially now that you're here!" She answered, her smile growing.
"Cool!...So...Um...Could you maybe get off of me now?"
"OH! Right! Sorry!" She answered as she got up.
"Heheh...That's all right." Sonic answered as he rubbed his nose.
"Hey." Knuckles said as he walked over to her.
"Hey." She said back, almost in a whisper.
"Is everything okay?"
"...Yeah." She answered.
She held two glistening golden bracelets in her hands.
She sighed as she stuck the rings in her pockets.
"Heh...Never mind...Let's party!" She said as a large smile crossed her face.
"That's the spirit!" Knuckles shouted.
They both raised their fists in the air.
"Shadow..."
His gloves were torn.
His fur was burnt.
His arms and legs were lined with scars and bruises.
Who was he? How did this happen? He didn't know, but he was hoping someone else would.
He walked slowly through Emerald Town, feeling exhausted, but still pressing forward.
He then stumbled upon a house. It was a yellow house that had cat-like ears on the top.
The face was very familiar to him.
He decided to knock.
"Time to open presents!" Cream shouted.
Everyone walked into the main living room, and sat down on one of the two couches.
Sonic and Rouge stepped over to the present table.
Sonic looked at the number of presents addressed to him. "Whoa."
Amy giggled.
Knuckles rolled his eyes.
"Uh...Amy? Don't ya think ya went a bit overboard?" Sonic asked with a concerned look.
"Nope!" She answered.
Sonic bit his lip as she continued.
"You deserve the best!" She said happily.
Sonic gulped.
"Let's hope this is quality over quantity..."
He started to open his first present.
They heard light knocks on the door.
"It's okay, Sonic. You can continue. I'll go ahead and get it." Tails said as he got up.
"All righty, then." Sonic said as he started tearing into the first box.
"Hello?"
Tails's jaw dropped as a black hedgehog fell onto the floor.
"Knuckles?" Tails said as he slowly tried to pick up the hedgehog.
Knuckles walked over. "Whoa."
"What's goin' on?" Sonic asked as he put the present down.
"OH COME ON!" Amy screamed in her mind.
"Whoa." Sonic said, staring at the hedgehog.
"Yeah, I know, that was my reaction too." Knuckles commented.
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles moved the hedgehog over to the couch Knuckles had been sitting on.
Sonic threw a blanket over him. "There!" He said with a grin.
Rouge, Cream, and Amy walked over.
"Is that...Shadow?" Amy said, not believing her eyes.
"I thought he was dead!" Cream said, hiding behind Amy.
"Well, I guess not." Sonic said as he shrugged.
Rouge grabbed the golden rings from her pockets.
She fastened them onto the sleeping hedgehog's wrists. "Sleep well, Shadow..."
"So, are we just all gonna stand around until he wakes up?" Knuckles asked. "I mean, that could be a while." He continued.
"True." Tails said back.
"Oh well. Let's party then!" Sonic answered, issuing his typical thumbs-up and cheesy smile.
"Yeah!" Everyone shouted in agreement.
"Could I open the rest of these later?" Sonic asked, staring at all his other presents.
He had opened Cream's, Knuckles's, and Tails's presents. Then he opened some of Amy's.
"...And then maybe text you guys what they are?" Sonic continued.
"Aww, do you not like my presents..?" Amy asked sadly.
"I do...But..." Sonic stopped. He sighed. "Amy, I think we need to have a talk."
"Okay! About what?" She asked cheerfully.
He sighed again.
"Amy. You can't buy people five hundred presents. If you do that, they aren't gonna wanna open them all. Do you understand?" Sonic finished.
"But...It wasn't five hundred! It was just twenty!" Amy whined.
Sonic rolled his eyes.
Amy grabbed another one of her presents, and handed it to Sonic. "Oh dear..." He said quietly.
"Hey Knuckles?" Rouge said as she walked over to him.
"Yeah? What's up?" He asked.
"Thanks." Rouge said with a contented smile.
Knuckles didn't really know what Rouge liked, so he just decided to get her some nail polish.
Purple, light pink, and light blue, each with glitter.
"Hmph. Sure." Knuckles replied.
"Heh...My, that sounds like something Shadow would say..." Rouge thought to herself. She looked over at him.
"Hey, Rouge, look at me." Knuckles said, attempting to grab her attention.
"What?" She asked back.
"Don't worry about him. I'm pretty sure he'll be okay." Knuckles said.
"Heh...Yeah...I guess you have a point." She said back. Her smile widened.
"Okay! Is everyone ready for cake?" Tails asked.
"Yeah!" Everyone shouted in unison.
"Okay then!" Tails said as he started cutting the cake.
He handed a slice to Sonic. He then handed a slice to Rouge. After that, he cut everyone else a slice.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Everyone shouted.
"All right! Time to dig in!" Sonic said as he shoved a fork-full in his mouth.
"Sonic...We haven't even sang "Happy Birthday" yet..." Tails said.
"Who cares?" Sonic said, his mouth full of cake.
"Please don't talk with your mouth full, Sonic." Tails said.
Sonic shrugged.
As Rouge was ready to take a bite of her slice, she heard a quiet moan.
"Hmm?" She turned her head over to Shadow.
"Ugh..." He said as he placed a hand on his forehead.
"He's alive!" Cream shouted happily.
"Wha...What...Are you talking about...And...Who even are all of you?" He asked, feeling confused.
"You...Don't remember?" Sonic asked.
"Remember...What?" He asked as he took his hand off of his forehead.
"Oh dear..." Tails said quietly.
Shadow looked at him. He looked at everyone else.
"Their faces...All so familiar...But..."
"You all seem to know me...So...This might seem weird...But..." Shadow paused. "Who am I?" He asked. "I want to know who I am...What am I doing here? What's with all the injuries? Why am I so exhausted?" He asked.
"Should we tell him?" Sonic whispered to Tails.
"I...Don't know, honestly." Tails whispered back. "I mean, I don't think he's going to want to hear that he tried to blow up the world, and then find out that he nearly died fixing it." Tails answered.
"I know, but what other choice do we have?" Sonic asked.
Rouge stood there, both of her hands over her mouth, shaking as tears slowly fell from her eyes.
Shadow turned his attention to her.
"Are you all right?" He asked, feeling concerned.
"I...Yes...I'm just...So glad that you're alive..." She answered.
"You keep mentioning that 'I'm alive'...Did I get in a fight of some-sort?" He asked.
"..."
Everyone went silent.
He turned his attention back to Rouge.
"I'm gonna tell him." She thought.
She walked over to him, and hugged him.
"You might not like what you're about to hear..." She started. "Do you want to hear it anyway?" She asked.
Shadow nodded.
"Your name is Shadow the Hedgehog." She started.
He nodded.
"I suppose I'll have to introduce the rest of us and-"
"Ugh..." Shadow said as he started holding his head.
The memories...They all came rushing back to him.
The Creation...
The Professor...
Maria...
The Bullet...
Her Death...
The Revenge Plan...
Prison Island...
Sonic...
Rouge...
Amy...
Space Colony Ark...
Fighting...
Biolizard...
Falling...
Darkness.
Looking at her, he could remember everything.
"Rouge...Amy...Faker..." He said, taking his hands off of his forehead again.
Shadow stood up.
"Thank you." He said.
Rouge hugged him. "Um...Sure...You're... welcome...Happy Birthday...Shadow."
A small smile crossed his face as he hugged her back.
"Heh...Thanks..."
Shadow's eyes shot open.
"WAIT. SO TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY TOO, RIGHT, ROUGE?" Shadow yelled.
"Um...Yeah..."
"And Sonic's as well!" Amy said as she winked. She waved her index finger in the air.
"I'M SO SORRY. I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO GIVE YOU GUYS." He said, feeling panicked.
"It's okay! I'm just glad you ain't tryin' to kill me anymore!" Sonic said as he chuckled.
"I'm just glad you're here..." Rouge said as tears fell from her eyes.
"Geez, quit being so emotional..." Knuckles said as he crossed his arms.
"Mr. Knuckles...How would you feel if all the echidnas came back?" Cream started. "I'm pretty sure you would get emotional to..." She commented.
"Haha no." He answered.
"Yeah. Riiiight." Tails said.
Rouge let go of Shadow.
"Now, do you want some cake?" She asked cheerfully.
"Uh...Sure I guess." He answered.
Sonic handed him a slice.
"I hope ya like chocolate!" He said with a smile.
Late that night...
"Hey...Shadow?" Rouge said as she approached him.
"Yes?" He asked.
"Do you have a place to stay?" She asked.
"I was planning on heading back to the Ark." He answered.
"Really? That's a pretty long way to teleport." She said back.
"Yeah. I know, but the public probably hates me now." He said, looking down. "I don't blame 'em and-"
Rouge hugged him. "Stop it." She said with compassion in her voice.
Not something you typically heard from her.
"Hey! I have an idea!" She said as she grabbed his hand.
"What?" He said as he blushed slightly.
"You could stay with me at Club Rouge!" She answered.
"Won't that be bad for business?" He asked.
"I'm sure that if you're kind, like you've been today, then people will like you in no time!" She said, her smile widening. "Come on...Stay with me...I don't wanna lose you again..." She said as she perked her ears down.
"All right, I suppose." He said with a smirk.
"Yay!" She said in her mind.
"Now come on, let's go!" She said as she started running with him.
"Um...All right then..."
A new chapter was opening in my life. It was wonderful. I was able to put my past behind me. Maria's death still bothered me on occasion, but I was all right. I had Rouge with me. Not just her, but a bunch of new friends! Like, I'm actually going to a party celebrating that I've officially joined Sonic's team! Yeah, sounds cheesy, I know, but I'm almost kinda liking Sonic's "buddy buddy" style. Almost. Anyway, I met a robot named Omega, and formed a team with him and Rouge to stop the Doctor's evil tricks. Speaking of which, I have something I've wanted tell Rouge, but I guess it'll have to wait until all the villains stop attacking us. But yeah, point is, I have friends now. I'm not going to be alone anymore. She's proud of me. I know Maria is happy with me now. My soul is finally at ease.
"Shadow! Come on! We're gonna be late! They can't wait for us forever, you know!" He heard Rouge yell.
He smiled to himself.
"They're all waiting for me..."