Fading Reminder

Chapter Four: Sticky Situations

It was around 9:00 the next morning and Shadow was lying in his bed, wandering in a deep sleep. The distressed hedgehog did not seem to be dwelling in a too peaceful slumber though. His head was tucked under the blankets, pressed hard against the wall beside the bed and his eyebrows were furrowed expressing deep thought. He gripped the sheets so tight his knuckles began to turn pale under his dark fur. His forehead was filled with sweat as he struggled more and more to breathe, tears seeping out through his eyes that were squeezed so tight, the top of the eyelids looked as if they surpassed the bottom.

Sleep is the minds playground. All of Shadow's thoughts ran free as he assumed his rest. He had repressed pain within him and it was beginning to build too much.

Shadow lunged forward into a sitting position as he screamed, "Maria!" He felt the word jump out of his chest then lunge back immediately through his throat, choking his lungs as he gasped for air.

That was enough to awake the entire island let alone everyone sleeping just down the hallway.

Sonic fell straight out of his bed at the scream, his head clonking against the floor. He quickly jumped up, ignoring the throbbing in his forehead, and ran towards Shadow's room.

Shadow sat there; entwined within the blankets, still gripping them with pressure like doing that would relieve something…he didn't know what but just anything to take his focus off this overwhelming pain inside him. He may have sat up but he still was not quite awake.

His body was trying desperately to pull himself out of this unconscious state but his mind would not let him go. It tried hard to hold on as if trying to show him something.

"Shadow!" He felt two hands on his shoulders being shook as he felt Maria's presence. He immediately latched onto his long lost female friend, burying his head into her neck. He had no surroundings, there was nothing but her and he could not bring himself to let go. All of that desire he felt for so long just to hold her again exploded into tears of pain. A part of him knew this was not real, but another part of him would not let him think otherwise.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't save you!" He held her even tighter. Her arms slipped between the quills protruding out of his back, the two of them as close as possible. It felt so good for him to hold her again. He felt a weight lift from above him knowing that she was there with him, yet have another rest upon his shoulders, feeling guilty that he hasn't done anything for her while she was gone. All of this…mixed with flashbacks of her dying before his eyes.

"Shadow, shh, calm down. It's alright." She let a reassuring hand find a place on his top quill and she just let it slowly run through the strands of his fur repeatedly as he tried desperately to calm down.

Shadow's eyes blinked open as he felt reality mocking him and his tears immediately stopped; an expressionless look came over his face. He pushed away that part of him that was telling him to believe this could be her. This couldn't be Maria…she died.

He had crept out of his dream world and noticed that he was in the guestroom again, and two pairs of eyes were staring at him from the side of the bed, one pair belonged to that red echidna, and the other pair to the young yellow fox. His eyes traveled down to notice a pair of light tan arms holding onto him that connected to the blue hedgehog…not Maria. Shadow immediately jerked himself away, not able to look at Sonic.

Sonic looked at Shadow just sitting there, helpless, with his head cast down. The only word he could associate with him was "broken." Shadow couldn't remember much, but the memories he did hold onto, weren't in any aspect…positive. Sonic always knew there was hidden pain in the stubborn opposite. "Shadow? Are you all right? You were having a dream." Sonic seemed so concerned and Shadow noticed out of the corner of his eye that he was moving in closer again to comfort him.

Sonic could tell Shadow was still shaken by the dream he had. Seeing Shadow like this he just wanted to…protect him.

Shadow did not comply. He just pulled his shoulder away as if Sonic was some sort of stranger. His crimson eyes were focused on the sheets that he was gripping so tightly moments before; unable to lift them in a fear he would show a sign of embarrassment to the three. Albeit he was, very well in hiding his emotions…when he was in a controllable state of mind anyway.

"I apologize for waking you. Thank you for your concern, but I'd like to try and sleep again." His head remained tilted down, eyes never lifting from the bed.

Sonic just stared at him for a moment. He wanted so much to just help, but he didn't know where to start. He could tell from the dream that he had, that he wasn't as strong as he came off to be. There was something wrong, something hidden. It was his nature to help someone in need, in pain…and Shadow fit that description perfectly.

Knuckles wrapped his arm around Tails' shoulder and walked out of the guestroom, expecting Sonic to do the same. The kitsune's sky blue eyes darted up at the echidna with a tint of confusion. Knuckles smiled meekly as he walked through the open doorway, "it's none of our business, Tails. You want to start up some breakfast?"

Tails smiled, forgetting the past situation. He always enjoys cooking for his friends, "sure!" He disappeared into the kitchen.

Kncukles glanced back into Shadow's room and noticed that Sonic had just walked out and shut the door behind him. "That guy worries me." He said truthfully.

The red echidna nodded, "I've got to tell you something I found out."

"What's up, Knucklehead?" The blue hero moved towards the living room couch that was only a few feet from the guest bedroom. He plopped himself down on it and rubbed sleep from his eyes. He hadn't exactly planned to wake up this early.

Knuckles sat beside him in a calmer manner. "Well, I remembered a few things Rouge had told me awhile back after we were on ARK."

Rouge was their friend whom was actually a government spy but also a treasure hunter, like Knuckles. She was always after the Master Emerald that Knuckles was meant to guard his whole life. So, he saw her quite often.

"Remember when we read from Gerald Robotnik's journal?" He said, running a hand down one of his dreads.

The hedgehog nodded and played with his fingers. He was never one to sit still. He broke both of his legs one time after one of his adventures he was always on and practically went insane after one day of being confined to the hospital room. Knuckles was used to this though, so he would have to try and make this story short and to the point while he still had Sonic's attention.

"And you remember how he went mad because of his granddaughter, Maria's death?"

Another nod.

"Well, Rouge did some research on that by reading further into the Doctor's journal and by hacking into the military's database. She said that Maria, in so many words, was Shadow's only friend. According to Gerald Robotnik's journal, they were inseparable. Then…the military murdered her when they tried to put a stop to 'Project Shadow.'"

Sonic looked down at his fingers that had suddenly stopped twirling together. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose a friend, let alone your only friend. He couldn't even imagine the pain he would feel if Tails or even Knuckles were murdered. The thought of that sent a chill down his spine and he immediately pushed it from his mind.

Knuckles continued, "Remembering that, I went up to the library like I said and found a few books on Psychology to look up amnesia. I think Shadow may have something called Post-Traumatic Amnesia."

Sonic's emerald eyes turned away from his hands and met with the guardian. "Ahem? Mr. Bookworm? Mind filling me in on what that means?"

"Well…from what I understood from it, it means that sometimes when something really traumatic happens to a person, they block out all of their previous memories, including the bad experience that caused the amnesia. Rarely the person remembers the tragedy, but in some cases, it just haunts them but that's the only thing they really rememb-"

Sonic interrupted, "Do you think that is the case with Shadow?"

Knuckles shrugged, "might be. I don't understand why he can't remember the BioLizard and everything from last year on the space colony. That was way after she died."

"Maybe falling through the atmosphere did something to his noggin and he just began to forget again. After all, he did almost…die out there in space."

A pair of gloves attached to pink arms from behind the couch covered Sonic's eyes, followed by a high-pitched, excited voice. "Guess who!"

Sonic let out a slightly aggravated sigh. He obviously knew he it was and he wasn't too happy about it. "Well, it's not Elvis." He said sarcastically.

"No, silly! It's your lover!" The pink hedgehog's arms moved to around his neck to form a rather tight and uncomfortable hug.

Knuckles was trying to stifle a laugh, but when he saw Sonic's eyes almost pop out of his skull as she squeezed tighter, he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"How'd you…get in my…house?" He managed to mutter through his practical strangulation. He pried her arms from his throat.

Amy walked to the other side of the couch to sit beside him and as close as possible. She reached in her pocket and held her fists in front of her with straight arms, two identical keys dangling from her hands. "I took your keys and made myself a spare!"

Sonic lifted one eyebrow as he looked at her. He grabbed the less shiny, obviously less new one from her grasp. He leaned over towards Knuckles who was laughing quietly to himself through this whole ordeal. "Remind me to change the lock–"

She pulled him back closer to her forcefully, his head landing on her chest. "Sonic! I haven't seen you in over two weeks! Where have you been?" She began to pet the top of his quills.

"Hey! Hey!" He jerked himself away from her, out of her grasp, "Watch the hair!" He shot a glare towards Knuckles who was still laughing. The echidna always found it particularly amusing when Amy would annoy him to no end like this.

Sonic looked back at Amy, ignoring Knuckles, "so…uh, what brings you here?" He asked almost cautiously, afraid of what answer might follow.

"Oh!" She tucked a leg under her, getting more comfortable as she remembered her purpose being here besides seeing her blue hero. "Just to remind you that our monthly dinner thing is at your house tomorrow."

"What!" He pulled back into a dramatic shock, practically into Knuckles' lap. "It's always at your apartment!"

"Sonic!" She whined, "I told you last month that I am remodeling this week and you said we could have it here! You said, 'no problem!'" She poorly imitated the quote with a lower voice.

"You did, Sonic." chimed in the guardian.

"You're all just against me." He huffed and folded his arms, plopping against the back of the couch cushions, folding his arms against his chest like a child.

"Sonic! You promised!" The pink hedgehog cried out again.

Tails went to walk out of the kitchen to see what the noise was. He noticed Amy and turned right back around on his heel, disappearing back into the kitchen. He did not feel like listening to her tell him how cute he is, and keep playing with his tails. She always did that in between her sessions of strangling Sonic with hugs.

"Fine! Fine. My house, whatever." He waved her off with his hand acknowledging her request.

"Oh, thank you Sonic." She hugged him again in a quicker and less painful manner.

"I have to invite someone though."

"Huh?" She looked at him confused.

Knuckles draped his left arm over the back of the couch, and leaned slightly on the armrest. He knew her reaction wouldn't be too pleasant…meaning for him to get comfortable for some more amusement from the two hedgehogs.

Sonic bit his lip expecting the same thing as Knuckles. No way could she have missed the news coverage on 'the black hedgehog.' He had hoped she did though, just maybe…"Shadow is staying with me and–"

Her mouth gaped in shock and a bit in horror knowing she was in the same house as him now. "WHAT? That…that…MURDERER?"

The two males on the couch each winced at her shriek, as did Tails who was listening in the kitchen. Shadow's eye shot open as he was awakened from her voice as well. He was just able to fall back asleep too…

"Now…Amy, calm down. He's not a murderer, he's just…confused." He tried to explain.

"Confused! Are you kidding me? I watch the news mister, and 28 people dead is NOT just confused."

Shadow heard the unfamiliar voice once again. He decided to slip out of the bed and see what was going on. He reached for the doorknob but decided against it once his hand was on it. Maybe he would just listen first before making an entrance. He lifted his ear to the brown door.

"I'm inviting him, Amy. I don't care how much you whine about it." The blue hedgehog's patience was wearing so thin it was hanging on by a breaking thread. "It's my house. If the dinner was at your apartment again I would respect that you don't want Shadow to be there."

Shadow's ear twitched at the sound of his name. His eyebrows furrowed with curiosity.

Sonic continued. "But since you're making it at my house, respect that I want him there." He said firmly.

Amy gulped. Her eyes grew big and her fear was no longer focused on only the black hedgehog in the house, but on her now angered hero.

Tails decided to interrupt the argument. He jumped up from his chair and walked to the entranceway of the kitchen. He forced a big smile, and spoke as cheerfully as possible, hopeful to lighten the tension in the room. "Breakfast is ready!"

"Come on, you two." said Knuckles, trying to smile as well. Sonic looked away from Amy and the three of them walked into the kitchen, the female hedgehog lagging slightly behind.

Shadow moved his ear away from the door. He just stared, somewhat in disbelief. Why was this blue hedgehog so kind towards him? He even went so far as to defend him…Sonic truly wanted Shadow's company and Shadow could not comprehend why. The dark creature's guilt from the night before began to tear at the pit of his stomach again. He convinced himself to just forget about it and opened his door.

The fresh aroma of pancakes filled the kitchen. The three boys were already at the table with the food sitting in front of them as Amy entered shortly after they sat down. "Hi Tails!" She said, cheering up as she gave the young fox a hug.

Tails returned the smile and the hug, "Hi Amy."

Amy ignored the open chair beside Sonic and sat in between Knuckles and Tails at the tiny, round table. "Oh my! What happened to you? Why are you all bandaged up like that?" She seemed very concerned.

At that moment, in the brightly lit kitchen, Shadow contrasted that as he walked through the entranceway of it. Amy let out a tiny gasp as she watched him claim a seat at the table beside Sonic. He had hoped he would sit somewhere near the blue hedgehog, after he had defended him only moments ago. He spoke a low 'good morning' as he lifted his head, greeting the rest of the people at the table with the never changing somber look on his face.

"Morning, Shad!" Sonic patted Shadow's shoulder lightly.

Amy took her eyes off the dark hedgehog and directed them back to Tails again. "So what happened to you, Tails? Are you alright?"

The young kit let out a small, awkward laugh, "Heh…funny you should mention that. It wasn't a big deal or anything…" He wanted to avoid the subject since the one who did cause his injuries was sitting directly next to him.

"What do you mean not a big deal? You're like a…mummy."

Sonic and Knuckles both smirked at that remark, knowing that they had been calling Tails that and he hated it. Shadow reached for some pancakes and put two on the plate set for him in front of him.

Tails tried to speak as low as possible. He knew Amy would make this into a big ordeal at the table. "Shadow burned me with power from the chaos emerald when–"

She interrupted and shrieked once again. "What!"

Shadow nearly choked on his pancake at her noise and then patted his chest a few times so the food would go down. He directed his ruby eyes towards the young fox and spoke softly and apologetic. "I've been meaning to apologize to you for that. My anger was directed towards the humans not towards any of you, so I am sorry."

The two other males' eye widened as Shadow said that. They had never expected a word from him other than 'good morning,' let alone an apology.

"Oh, heh, it's okay. I know." Tails laughed again nervously.

Shadow turned towards Sonic, "I owe you an apology as well. I am very sorry if I hurt you."

Sonic tried to hide his shocked expression, and play it cool like he always tries too. "Psh, hurt me? No sweat, it's alright Shado–"

"You're kidding me right? This…murderer harmed you BOTH and he's a guest in your house? Are you on drugs, Sonic?" asked Amy in an aggravated tone.

Sonic grit his teeth, trying once again to hold his anger in towards her.

Amy glanced up at the clock on the wall that read '10:15.' "Oh! I need to be going! I have to pick up food for tomorrow."

Sonic sarcastically blessed himself while she stood up from the table.

"I'll see…all of you tomorrow at the dinner?"

Sonic nodded, "yeah, all of us."

Shadow looked up at her and smiled. He wasn't sure what dinner they were talking about, but all he knew was that he was invited by Sonic and not her.

"Alright, bye bye guys!" She waved walking passed them towards the entranceway. "Bye, Sonikku."

The blue hero turned around and when he did, she blew him a kiss. She disappeared out of the house, the door shutting behind her.

Sonic slumped in his seat, "God! That girl is a handful! What is that? Tell me what is that? She steals my keys and makes a copy for herself! Who DOES stuff like that?"

Knuckles and Tails finally let out full blown laughs that they have restricted themselves from while Amy was present. "Oh, she's just a little girl. Don't get so frustrated over her." Said the laughing echidna.

"Are you nuts? 'Cause I know she is. At least you don't have her all over you!" Sonic shot him a grin, "Because you're not as good looking as me." He crossed his arms behind his quills, lifting his feet on the table.

Shadow sat back and watched silently.

"Hey, hey, watch what you say, hedgehog. You know you secretly enjoy her attention. It feeds your ego and you just proved it." The guardian snapped back.

"What!" Sonic jumped to his feet appalled. "I do NOT enjoy her attention. She's just an annoying fan girl. At least I'm not always fighting with the batgirl just to hide my real feelings for her!"

Tails covered his mouth from laughing. He knew that remark would really push Knuckles' buttons considering Knuckles and Rouge had obvious feelings for each other. The two just argued all of the time over stupid things to get around them.

Shadow looked at the young kit, curious at his reaction, and then let his attention wander back to the two arguing. It was, after all, somewhat...amusing.

"You're going to wish you never said that hedgehog."

Sonic smirked, "Oh yeah?"

The red echidna picked up a round pancake off his plate that was covered in syrup. "Yeah."

"Wha–" Before Sonic could finish any further, the sticky pancake came flying at him. "Whoa!" He dodged it just in time with his quick reflexes and let his emerald eyes follow it as it flew past him and stuck to the refrigerator behind him. "Hah! You missed!" He turned back around and another came flying at him but by the time he noticed, it was slowly sliding down his forehead.

Shadow let out a loud laugh. The other three all shot their eyes towards him in shock that he was actually laughing. Sonic smiled though. This was a rarity and he wanted to keep him laughing. He had a feeling this was something that was not going to happen much longer, especially if the three of them continued to gawk at him.

"So…" Sonic started, as he grabbed a pancake off his plate and the bottle of syrup in the other hand. "You think that this is funny?" He said very playfully to Shadow so he wouldn't take him seriously. He flipped up the cap of the syrup bottle with his thumb and squeezed some on one side of the food.

Shadow stopped laughing and returned the grin to his doppelganger. He had forgotten to keep control of his emotions, he had forgotten to keep his guard up, and he had forgotten not to speak to these three unless it was regards to his memory. He was caught in the moment and…just wanted to have fun.

Sonic raised his arm at Shadow to throw the pancake at him, watching his eyes closely that were fixed on the "ammo" in his hand. Sonic knew he'd duck if he aimed for his head, so just before he threw it, he aimed low.

Shadow ducked, but the sticky pancake still hit him directly in the face.

"Hah! Direct hit! I knew you'd do that 'cause that's what I would've done!" The blue hedgehog yelled in victory, the other two chiming in with a bit of laughter. "Looks like I've won."

Shadow peeled the pancake off his fur and let it drop to the floor. "Afraid not, faker." Shadow ran towards Sonic who was only a few feet in front of him, and tackled him to the tiled floor. He pinned the blue hedgehog down with his legs then grabbed the syrup from Sonic's struggling grasp and began to squeeze it all over his fur

"Gah! Shadow!" Sonic retaliated, and then managed to turn the tables. He pushed up on Shadow then managed to pin him down instead and began to squeeze the syrup back on him.

The two were rolling all around the floor in one big, sticky mess, and then Sonic felt a different pair of hands on him. "Alright you two, I hope you know that I'm going to have to clean this up." Knuckles said while pulling Sonic away. The two hedgehogs stood to their feet.

"Oh, come on, I was winning, Knux!"

"Yeah, okay, you're both covered. I don't think anyone won." Knuckles called Tails over to him with his hand, signaling to help him clean up the mess. He grabbed a dishtowel and moved towards the sink where Tails did the same.

Shadow let out a light, deep laugh with a few heavy breaths. Sonic smiled widely at him. He succeeded in making him laugh. He felt as if he accomplished the impossible.

"Shadow, why don't you head over to the bathroom and get a shower." Sonic said, "I'll just rinse off under the hose real quick."

"Are you sure?" Shadow seemed surprised.

The blue hedgehog just waved him off, "no prob."

"Okay..." Shadow walked passed him and headed towards the bathroom.

Sonic felt like he wanted to spend more time with him. He didn't want Shadow to lock himself back up in the guestroom again; especially after they just had some fun. He tried to think quick for an idea before the other sticky hedgehog began his shower. "Shadow!"

Shadow paused, his hand on the bathroom doorknob, "yes?"

Sonic walked towards him, "would you want to go for a walk or something? I'll show ya around!"

Shadow shrugged, "alright," he opened the door. "Oh, Sonic."

"Yeah?"

"What is this…dinner thing that you have invited me to tomorrow?"

"Oh!" Sonic suddenly felt foolish for not taking the time to explain already. "My friends and I have a dinner together every month and we just hang out. Ya know, it's basically so we all keep in touch. And it's kind of hard to get us all together otherwise so we said we'd just do this every month."

"I see. Are you sure you want me there and I am not a bother?"

"Of course I want you there! You're not a bother at all. I'm sure Rouge will be happy to see you again. It'll be a good time. Now go get washed up." Sonic left, letting Shadow continue on to get his shower.

Shadow shut the door behind him. He leaned his back against it and reached his hand to the doorknob until he heard the lock click. He shook his head and smiled. He hadn't been that carefree with anyone in a long time. And Sonic actually defended him to that pink girl, and even invited him to a dinner with his friends tomorrow. He lifted his head and immediately let the smile fade back into his usual somber look. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? He told himself he wouldn't get close to anyone again. He cannot handle the heartbreak of losing another friend.

He walked over to the tub and leaned in to turn the water on. He stood back up, slipping his fingers out of his gloves one by one. Being happy just felt so good…He sighed at the thought, confused at what to do.

He stepped on each of his heels, kicking his hover shoes off.

He was afraid of the feeling of loss again, the one that still haunts him, but...sorrow does grow tiring after awhile.

He stepped into the shower and began to wash all of the syrup out of his fur.