Author Notes: The Tarot thing... Personally I'm not a believer in it, but fortune telling and Tarot are actually part of Amy's own Sega official profile. I've decided to use it as a plot point, but as you can see, its value has been waning lol. "The Major Arcana" of the Tarot actually tell a Christian story of redemption, The Fool, traveling along his path of repentance, meeting new people along the way who help or hinder his growth. It was originally for a card game and has since been turned into the superstitious fortune telling icon that it's become. With that said, it started as a card game... let's play!

--

Amy spent most of the day searching for Sonic, but now that she thought about it, they hadn't really planned on meeting up. Sure, she'd had a wonderful evening with Sonic, but she'd fumbled the initiative for setting up more. She thought she'd found him after her brush with Shadow the other day, but that had been a dead end.

'Where did that wind come from?'

Her mind was awash with the dreams she kept having, and now, in addition to that, she was seeing things. As she'd walked along the peaceful city, she would see flashes, images of destruction. It was the future, she knew that. It was wholly destructive, only filled with fire and ruin. But like the image of Sonic dead in Princess Elise' arms, it didn't scare her. She realized that was because it never happened. It never would happen, because something had changed things, and it had happened here in Soleanna. Her powers to see the future were also now channeling a possible future that had been averted, but were they connected to her dreams?

She was jolted out of her musings when a chocolate-cherry ice cream cone had been thrust in her face. "Here." a voice said firmly, leaving no room for argumentation. "Take it."

Amy responded by taking the cone from the hand that offered it, but was surprised to see Shadow attached to said hand. "...Shadow?"

"Your powers of observation astonish me," he shrugged and turned to leave.

Amy frowned a little. She hadn't really expected this, and it was bothering her on top of all the little things she had no clue about. She cleared her throat and took a couple steps after him, "So what's this for anyhow?"

Shadow shrugged. "You dropped one the other day, remember?"

Amy rolled her eyes, "Of course but... well, it landed on your shoe so why should you be giving me...?"

"Are you going to eat it or let it melt?" Shadow cut across her line of thinking and turned his harsh red eyes toward her while he walked. That was one significant difference between him and Sonic... Sonic almost always ran, treading lightly on the world, running like... well... the wind. Shadow, however, always walked with a certain casual air, but at the same time he seemed to own every stone he tread upon.

Amy fretted a bit over his reply, but started licking at the ice cream. He really was a hard one to talk to. She walked behind him a few paces. For herself, she didn't feel like the conversation had been satisfactorily ended. Not understanding exactly why, she hadn't realized how far she'd followed him until the entire cone had been consumed and she couldn't help giving a pleased sound as she finished it off.

"Are you still here?" Shadow asked under his breath, startling her yet again.

Shadow came to a stop at the edge of one of the waterways and looked toward the center of the city. City workers were busy putting up decorations and making preparations for the coronation celebration and he was watching them in a detached way. It seemed to Amy that he was always apart from things, hanging on the edge, out there alone.

"So umm... Why are you here?" The pink hedgehog finally asked. Shadow shrugged and quiet ensued. "You don't know?"

"Business."

"What-"

"What business is it of yours that I should tell you?" the black and red hedgehog countered. He wasn't angry, but he was using an "I don't want to talk" tone, which was actually pretty typical of him.

"Umm... idle conversation?" she suggested.

Shadow lowered himself into a squatting position over the edge of the channel. He could easily be off balanced and wind up in the drink, but he didn't seem to care. "G.U.N." He emphasized. "I'm still with them. Nothing big, just security detail. I'm... off today though."

A light bulb clicked in Amy's head. Rouge had to be around too if he was here, she recalled their mentioning it back in Station Square. She wondered who of her friends weren't here in that case. "Ahh, because of the princess." Shadow nodded a bit, but there was a troubled look in his eyes.. there was... something else. "..Anything else?"

"Like what?"

The rose hedgehog inhaled deeply. He wanted to get rid of her at this point, she had a good idea of that but... For some reason, she felt like making conversation. "Something happened here didn't it?" He turned to her with his piercing eyes, demanding more in his silent ways. "Urr... umm..."

"What do you know?" Shadow stood tall, looking down at her with a gaze that normally could bring a charging elephant to its knees.

"Just... a feeling." Amy managed to squeak out after some effort. She averted her jewel-green eyes from him and sighed. "Sonic said there's something familiar about this place. I feel it too. We've all been here before... it was about Princess Elise."

Shadow's eyes widened at this revelation, but quickly became thoughtful. He'd had the same kind of feelings himself and was trying to piece together or make sense of why and what exactly had happened. He wasn't having much luck though, and the place was peaceful. "I think you're right."

That was about all she felt she was going to get out of him, but Amy smiled at that. He'd opened up a little at least. It was nice to know he didn't think she was crazy either. As for what it all meant... that was the question, eh? "Well... thanks for the ice cream." She smiled again and tentatively held out a hand to him.

Even he couldn't turn down such a polite gesture, and took her hand. The world turned black for a moment, and the two of them could see nothing but a small, flickering flame. The blackness stripped away, and the two could see a garden-paradise not unlike Angel Island in some respects, speckled with white and shining cities. On a green hill, two figures were surveying the beauty around them. One was a hedgehog, no doubt about it. He was a cheerful silvery-white hedgehog with the strangest plumes of quills that stuck out on his head, and an even purer white mane of fur starting from his chest and encircling his neck. With a smile, he turned and looked directly at the two. Whatever he said was lost to the soundless world of the vision, but the cat at his side turned to where he was looking and smiled as well... then... it vanished.

"Ahh..." Amy started, but that had even shocked Shadow, she grabbed his wrist quickly before he could fall into the water below. She pulled too hard, and he'd wound up on top of her. There was a surge of red which graced his cheeks before he pulled himself together enough to get up and offer Amy a hand, albeit hesitantly this time.

After that incident, the two spent the rest of the day together. Shadow had made the case that he simply wanted to get to the bottom of things. Neither could explain what they saw. Amy suggested they were from the future, and that she'd seen the hedgehog before. That was about the only place they agreed. What the vision meant and how it connected to Soleanna had them both miffed.

Shadow was something of a history buff, something Amy hadn't previously known. He'd spent a good deal of his time and travels, finding out about events in the last fifty years. It kind of made sense to Amy, since she knew he'd been in stasis on the Ark that long. It was the first time she'd seen him passionate about anything but fighting. Where that lead with Soleanna though, was a library and books.

"Have you ever heard of the Solaris cult?" Amy shook her head in reply. "They were a bunch of sun worshippers rumored to exist here in Solaris. Solaris, the sun god, was supposed to be the reason for Soleanna's prosperity, but... I haven't been able to find anything solid on it in all these books."

"So how do you know about it?" Amy asked. At least the library had a little coffee shop, and she was now enjoying a latté. She didn't know much Italian, so her help in the reading department was limited, it was the interpretations he wanted from her.

"I remember it." He stated simply. "You're not the only one having visions..." His eyes became downcast now as he envisioned a shadowy version of himself. "Solaris was split in two parts.. Mephiles... he took on my appearance... I guess he ruined what little reputation I have."

"Well... you know, that's all in the past... or future past, so, it doesn't really matter does it?"

Shadow placed a book down on a table and sighed. "I guess not... It's just... distracting."

Amy smiled a little, "That's right. We should focus on here and now, right?" Looking at the time, Amy suddenly realized how much of the day was wasted on visions and half remembered things that apparently never happened to begin with, and that meant less time to search for Sonic. "Oh! Sorry Shadow... I just... I didn't realize the time."

Shadow nodded a little, picking up the pile of books he'd been leafing through. It really was a waste of time after all. "Sorry if I kept you... you have a blue hedgehog to chase don't you?" She blushed at that and Shadow grinned in understanding. "Then go. I'll clean up, I'm used to it."

--

May 19th, 3238

Dear Diary,

Shadow's not so bad, you know? He's had a rough life, so it's hard for him to talk, but I... I think it's this place. We all did something special here in Soleanna, and forgot about it. It must have been big too, but because of that I feel like we're all stronger somehow. I know it sounds sappy or something, but I think the bonds of friendship here were strengthened, and the vision I had today was of two of the people who directly benefited from whatever it is we did.

Actually, I'm sure of it. I had that falling dream again, but it keeps changing. It was really clear this time, now that I've seen that hedgehog in the future, I'm pretty sure those weren't feathers. The white bundle, it was that hedgehog. The feathers I thought I saw were just his feathery quill tufts on his head. I still can't see the rest of him to be sure, but I think that was him as a baby. It's starting to make sense.

Mostly.

I ran into Tails after I left Shadow, so even he's here. I asked if he'd seen Sonic and he said he had, but I kept missing him today. I was one step behind him the whole time. He even passed by the library while Shadow and I were there. It's like, I was a block off from him every step of the way. I'd ask the cards, but I think I know what they'd say...

...So tonight I'm just going directly to the High One, see where that one gets me. Tomorrow... that's the big day, the coronation. I'm nervous about this, I just... for once in my life, I don't know what's going to happen. It's a little exciting to think about... the future being unknown.

Ahh well... I'm happy for now. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Yours Truly,
Amy Rose