I'm BACK! Enjoy chapter three! PLEEEEEAAAASE REVIEW!!

Chapter three: Remembering the confession of love on Ark.

About an hour later: Sonic and the others were at Chris' house. (There's no way around mentioning him again...)

Amy finished explaining how Maria was brought back to life.

"Oh, you poor thing! You been through so much for someone so young! First what happened on Ark, then being brought back to life after 50 years! Now, you're 17 instead of 12!" Ella said.

"Its not that bad. As long as Shadow with me, I can handle anything." Maria said.

"That's so sweet!" Rouge said.

"Well, in honor of your return, you choose what's for dinner tonight." Ella said.

"That's really not necessary..." Maria said.

"I insist." Ella said.

Maria sighed. "Is deep dish veggie pizza all right?" Maria asked.

"And dessert?" Ella asked.

"Neapolitan ice cream. Its my favorite." Maria said.

"Neapolitan? Never heard of it." Ella said.

"Its not a common flavor. Its strawberry, chocolate and vanilla." Maria said.

"Huh, strange name but it sounds good. Dinner's at 7:00." Ella said, and walked off.

"Shadow-san!" Cream yelled, running up to the group. "It worked! The Master Emerald granted your wish!" She said.(She stayed behind when the others went to Angel Island.)

"Maria, this is Cream. Cream, meet Maria." Amy said.

Cream curtsied.

"How cute! So polite. Nice to meet you, Cream." Maria said, extending her hand to Cream.

"Nice to meet you to." Cream said taking Maria's hand.

Rouge glanced over at Shadow.

"Hey, Shadow, mind if we borrow Maria for a minutes? We need to get her room ready and we'll need her opinion." Rouge said.

"30 minutes. I'll come looking for her after 31." Shadow said.

"Well, aren't you the protective one?" Rouge said, a hint of annoyance.

Shadow shot her a 'Don't mess with me' look.

"Fine. Come on girls." Rouge said, annoyed.

The girls headed upstairs.

"Okay, we don't have allot of time. But, you need to know the basics." Rouge said.

"The basics of what?" Maria asked.

"The basics of dealing with guys." Amy said.

Maria looked confused.

"My mother told me this saying when I first started liking guys. Ever since then, its been great advice." Rouge said.

"I think its good advice, too. Even if Sonic and I aren't dating...YET." Amy said,emphasizing 'yet'.

"Okay, what is it?" Maria asked.

Rouge turned around, to see if see guys were out of hearing range.

"They tell you this, they tell you that, with their fingers crossed behind their backs.

'But, I'm different.' is what they claim. But, all ya' got is they're all the same." Rouge said.

(A/N: Yes, that's from a 'PLAY' song. Its the only thing I could think of that fit.)

"Boys lie." Cream said.

"Believe me, its the best thing I've ever heard when it comes to guys." Rouge said.

"But, its a little unfair to the guys, isn't it?" Maria asked.

"Better safe then sorry." Rouge said.

"Since when do you play it safe?" Amy asked, in a teasing tone.

"Never do. But, you girls might want to. Especially you, Maria." Rouge said.

"Huh? Why me?" Maria asked.

Rouge hesitated, thinking of how to word it.

"I can tell Shadow's crazy about you. He's also very passionate about you. That could be trouble." Rouge said.

Maria looked even more confused.

"How could that be trouble?" Maria asked.

'Is she really this naive?' Rouge thought.

"He might wanna make-out with you." Amy said, simply.

Maria froze, her face turning red.

"WHAT?!" Maria said loudly, partially covering her face with her hands.

Rouge and Amy practically dragged Maria into one of the rooms upstairs.

'Good thing I didn't tell her my theory. That might've killed her.' Rouge thought, shutting the dour behind them.

"You can't be serious!" Maria said loudly, sitting on the bed.

"Why not? Boyfriends are like that." Rouge said.

"But...I...we aren't officially a couple." Maria said.

"Huh? Seemed pretty official to me." Amy said.

"Its complicated..." Maria said, quietly.

"We're listening." Rouge said.

"Well, I guess it was about six months before Ark was shut down. I noticed Shadow was

acting differently, like he was hiding something. Then, I caught him sneaking into my room at night. Nothing serious, just watching me sleep." Maria said.

"What'd he say when you caught him?" Rouge asked.

"He started blushing and said he wanted to be closer to me." Maria said, her blush starting to fade.

"How cute! What'd you do?" Amy asked.

"I knew if I told my grandfather, he'd post guards outside the dour! So, I didn't tell anyone.

I let Shadow stay in my room whenever he wanted. But, I knew he was still hiding something. About

three weeks later, when Shadow came in my room, he looked nervous." Maria said.

(Flash Back)

"Shadow, are you all right?" Maria asked.

Shadow looked at the floor and rocked back on his heels slightly.

"Not really. I hate keeping secrets from you...especially this." Shadow said.

"What is it?" Maria asked.

"My feelings for you have changed. I've known for a while, and I tried to fight it but... the only way I could think of to change my feelings, was to stay away from you. But, I couldn't even stand the thought of being away from you." Shadow said.

Maria knew where this was going. She'd felt the same way and never mentioned it to anyone.

Maria motioned for Shadow to sit beside her on her bed.

Shadow walked over her and sat her.

He hesitantly looked at Maria.

"I know it might be wrong, but my feelings for you are stronger then friendship. Maria, I'm..."

"Don't say it!" Maria cut him off by putting her fingers to Shadow's lips.

"Don't say you're in love with me. Once you say it, sooner or later, you'll say it again. Someone else might hear it and tell my grandfather. Then, we'd never see each other again." Maria said, removing her.

Maria's eyes filled with tears, seeing the look of rejection in Shadow's eyes.

Shadow started to leave, but Maria grabbed his hand.

"But, that doesn't mean we can't feel this way about each other. We just can't let anyone else know about it." Maria said.

"'We'" Shadow asked, a little confused.

"I thought it was just me that felt like this. I didn't know you felt the same way about me." Maria said, quietly.

Shadow pulled Maria into his arms, hugging her.

A few minutes later, when Maria pulled away slightly, Shadow kissed her gently.

Thirty seconds later, Maria pulled away, blushing bright red.

"That's worse then saying 'I love you.'." Maria said.

"Too late, now." Shadow said, with a smile.

(End Flash Back)

"So, thats how it happened." Rouge said.

"Yeah, that's the only time we kissed and we had to be really careful not to let anyone find out about us. But, I think my grandfather suspected it anyway." Maria said.

"Well, you're together now. And now you don't have to hide your relationship." Amy said.

"Yeah. Uh-oh, we've only got ten minutes to find you a room before time's up." Rouge said.

"Uh-oh, we better hurry!" Cream said.

To Be continued...

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Chapter four up A.S.A.P!!