Back again! Sorry it's taking me so long... I've been COMPLETELY OUT OF WRITING MODE - Not to mention life is sometimes not kind for months at a time... And then when I finally do get settled down enough to write, my laptop breaks down on me. All those stories in progress - gone! Now I start from scratch. Just a blank page and you guys' ideas.

My goal now is to write 1-2 chapters per week, upload one a week (not just for this story, for fanfictions in general). I'll be waiting for you guys' ideas as to how the story should progress so review, review, REVIEW PLEASE! Thank you! :)


Chapter 3

"Thanks, Mom!" Helen called as she double-checked her bag again for the first aid supplies she'd thought to bring just in case Shadow wasn't 100% injury-free when they met up again this afternoon.

Chris approached her as she wheeled up to her seat in the classroom. "So you met with him anyway, I take it," he said, not bothering to hide his disapproval.

"Yes. I said I would and I did," Helen answered clearly. "And I will continue to do so until Shadow himself - and no one else - gives me a good enough reason not to."

Chris let out a frustrated sigh. "Helen, I'm just trying to-"

"What? Protect me? Chris, look." Helen stopped herself and took a calming breath when she realized she was leaning forward quite heavily in her chair. She sat back and started again. "I appreciate your concern, but Shadow and I are getting along fine. He won't hurt me. He's just trying to get along like the rest of us."

"Helen, I don't trust him. And neither should you. It could all be a trick. Who's to say he's not just trying to get close to you so he can-"

"What? Destroy the planet? Burn the city? Blow up everything? What sense would that make, Chris? You really should just let the past stay in past and move on. Tell you what, if Shadow shows any sign of going back to his bad ways - even the slightest hint of anything destructive - I'll back off. Deal?" Helen looked up at the boy expectantly.

Chris was slow to answer. "...Well... I guess that works, for now." Chris walked off to his seat near the middle of the room as the teacher walked in.

It's got no choice but to work, Helen thought to herself as she stole a glance at the bandages in her bag that shifted when she pulled out her book. I'm going to keep meeting with Shadow either way.

Helen wheeled herself out into the meadow with her bag tied to one of the handles on the back of her chair. She looked around and breathed in the fresh clean scent of the grass and trees with a smile. "Hey, Shadow?"

Silence met her happy call. Even the wind stopped blowing.

"Shadow?" Helen called again, making her way closer to the edge of the lake. "Are you out here?" Maybe he was injured much worse than he had let on yesterday, Helen thought with worry. "Hey, Shadooowww! Where are you? Shadow? It's me, Helen!"

A rustling in the grass caused to whip her head around. "Shadow?"

Nothing was there.

Helen slowly backed herself away from the lake and over to the tree she had found Shadow hiding behind the day before. Where could he be? He couldn't have forgotten to meet me out here, could he?

Just as Helen was about to call out the dark hedgehog's name again-

"Helen!" Shadow's voice carried loud and strong on the sudden breeze that picked up.

Helen's face broke into a wide grin as she whirled her chair around. "There you are, Shadow! I was getting worried."

"Sorry I'm late," Shadow apologized in a formal tone as he jogged up to her. "I... lost track of time." He wouldn't meet her gaze.

"Did something happen again?" Helen asked cautiously as she wheeled closer to him, inspecting his body for any of yesterday's injuries.

Shadow shook his head before he could stop himself.

Light water droplets sprinkled like a mist on Helen's cheek. "You're wet? I thought you couldn't swim..."

"It's nothing," Shadow said quickly, sitting down next to her. "You brought a bag today." He eyed the item curiously.

"Oh yeah, it's my schoolbag. My mom gave me some first aid things that could help with your bruises."

"Your mother knows you come to see me? And she's ok with it?"

Helen giggled and shook her head. "I just told her it was to help a friend."

Shadow sighed inwardly. Of course Helen's mother wouldn't approve of her meeting with the creature who almost destroyed the city - and everything else for that matter.

Helen put her hand softly on Shadow's forehead, causing him to look up at her in surprise. "Don't worry, Shadow. I told you already, didn't I? We're friends now. Other people's opinions won't change that."

Shadow was silent. She was just so much like Maria. It was hard to believe that this wasn't just a fluke or some dream he would soon wake up from.

Helen drew her hand up Shadow's forehead and over one of his spikes, squeezing lightly. "Shadow, did you accidently fall in the lake or something?"

"Hmm?" He had barely registered what Helen was doing with her hand, being lost in thought. "Yeah... something like that."

Helen wasn't buying it, but she knew she couldn't force an answer out of him either, as much as she wanted to. "You've got to dry off completely so you don't get sick."

Shadow let out a breathy laugh. "I won't get sick that easily."

"You've gotta take better care of yourself, Shadow!" Helen insisted with a pout. "I get that you heal really quickly - I don't see any of the bruises you had yesterday but still..."

Shadow found himself smiling at the girl's determination. "I'll do better. And I'll be on time tomorrow, too."

"You promise?" Helen looked down at him in doubt.

"I promise."

"Pinkie promise."

Shadow gave Helen a confused look. "Pinkie...?"

Helen held out her pinkie in front of Shadow's face. "Hold up your pinkie like this..." She waited until he did so in a clueless manner. "Now lock it with mine like this." Helen curled her pinkie against Shadow's much bigger one.

Shadow followed Helen's lead, still not really sure what she was doing. She bounced their hands lightly as she did a childish little chant:

"Pinkie, pinkie promise
Promise on my pinkie.
If you break it,
you will have to
swallow a thousand needles!"

Shadow's eyes popped open and he froze. "Sw-swallow a thousand needles?!" Not even as a weapon of destruction had he thought of something so painful!

Helen burst into a fit of laughter. "It's just a song, Shadow! You don't actually have to swallow a thousand of them."

"Oh." Shadow let out a breath of relief.

"Just one." Helen said, causing Shadow to involuntarily gulp.

Helen giggled again. "I'm kidding. But it just shows how serious a pinkie promise is," Helen said in a mock serious tone. "You can't break it." She looked Shadow directly in the eyes. "You have to be on time tomorrow, ok?"

Shadow replied with a slow nod, startled by the young girl's sudden intensity.

Helen smiled brightly and released Shadow's pinkie. "I've got homework so I'd better get going," she said reluctantly. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm perfectly fine, Helen." Shadow assured her as he stood. "Everything's completely healed, and I pinkie promise not to make you wait tomorrow." He grabbed hold of her chair and went for a speedy jog along the lakeside before pushing Helen up to the edge of the meadow so she could head home.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

Shadow nodded at her with a wry smile.

"And you'll be completely dry and injury-free?"

Shadow nodded again, not letting his apprehension show until after Helen had disappeared from view.

"Get ready to swallow that needle, Shadow the Hedgehog. Dear, sweet Helen's gonna have to bring a whole ambulance in that bag."


There's chapter 3! Thanks for reading and I look forward to your reviews! What do you think should happen in the next chapter?

~Cascadedkiwi~ ^_^