Voiceless Hearts Chapter 7

Shadow starred up at the ceiling. He was laying on his bed near the window. The window was open with the curtains pushed back but blew into the room. He didn't have any blankets or sheets over himself and he was getting cold. All he could think about was the repeating dream.

He dreamt that he was with Maria. Both of them smiling, both of them happy. Then, Maria stood up and was no longer smiling. They happy feeling was gone.

These images played over in his mind searching for a reason that wasn't there. Shadow didn't know if he was happy in the dream at the beginning either. He didn't think he was even though he was with Maria. It was as if he knew something he did not know. Then the dream changed.

Maria stared at Shadow. Shadow stared at Maria. His smiled vanished along with Maria's. She stood there with sad eyes and then she cried tears of blood. When Shadow tried to touch Maria's hand, he went right through her as if she wasn't there.

Shadow couldn't feel her there as everything turned cold and dark as he woke up. Shadow wanted to believe Maria was really with him outside the dream. He wanted to smile once again with her but right now he couldn't find the strength to even smile.

Shadow shut his eyes and turned on his side. "Maria, come back." he whispered as if Maria could hear him. "Come back..."

Shadow opened an eyelid. There was something green glowing near the end of his bed and then remembered his backpack was there. Shadow sat up and crawled to the edge then pulled his backpack up and sat. It was already open so he looked through it to find a glowing emerald.

He held it in his hands. Shadow looked around his room then put down the emerald to get up. He closed the window then looked back at the emerald. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

Shadow walked over to the emerald, picked it up and stuffed it in his backpack then closed it as if he were angry at the emerald. He laid back on his bed to sleep once again.

I threw it all away for you
everything I had
if I could only reach you
it wouldn't be so sad
but I have grown weak
and they have grown strong
the only way to see you
is through an old song

Shadow jumped up from a crashing noise. It came from outside his room. There were muffled voices talking and laughing then a knock on his door. "Shadow?" Cream said. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah." Shadow stood and walked over to the door to unlock it. Cream smiled at him.

"Breakfast in Amy's room!" Shadow nodded then she left after saying she'd wait there for him.

Shadow turned back to his room. "Katana?" he called. The chao flew over from the kitchen to land on Shadow's shoulder.

He closed the door slowly while looking at his backpack. Shadow felt energy from it as if it were calling him. He suddenly slammed the door shut and the noise echoed through the halls.

Now he walked the hall to Amy's room a few doors away. As he walked he saw Rouge who walked passed, yawning. She entered her room without saying a word.

Shadow continued to Amy's room where everyone but rouge was. They were all laughing and for a moment Shadow forgot they had ever left home. He joined them.

"Good morning, Shadow!" Amy said while holding a plate of food. The others were talking but stopped a moment to wave or say hello before turning back to their conversation. They were sitting on the floor like they used to.

"Yeah! They recognized me!" Sonic boasted.

"Why wouldn't they?" Tails laughed.

"The lady where I got my job, I don't thing she recognized me!" Amy pouted. Sonic stood up in a "proud-of-self" gesture.

"That's because you're not as famous!" Amy tried to hit the blue hedgehog with a wooden spoon.

"Hey, Shadow, where did you find work?" Cream asked.

"At a bookstore. The woman was very kind." Shadow told the rabbit. "Where's Rouge?" he asked but knew the answer.

"She went to her room. She was out all night at her job." Shadow nodded.

"Where does she work?"

"Um...I think it's a club." Shadow didn't say anything more. He ate his breakfast the hurried out the door but stopped when Amy called his name. He turned to her as Katana continued to sit on his shoulder happily munching on a piece of bread Amy had bought.

"Shadow, will you buy some fish on the way home? I'll make it for dinner. Everyone else is also buying something as well."

"I have no money..." Shadow said in an apologetic voice. Amy walked over to him and handed him some money she had brought from home.

"It's a good thing we all have jobs. This is the last of our money." Amy put a hand to her cheek in thought. Shadow just nodded then turned and went out the door.

Shadow returned to his room briefly to pick up his backpack to carry the fish home so he wouldn't have to carry it. He took out the blanket because it took up so much space. Shadow hadn't noticed but the blanket looked very old especially since it was gray. It had already come in use since they left. He put it on his bed then looked at what else there was then took out the matches but left the flashlight incase it was dark when he returned home and since he was not used to this city he might get lost.

Shadow left the emerald in his backpack but didn't know why. He just felt it should be with him.

The dark hedgehog swung his backpack over one shoulder. Katana flew down onto his bed. "I'll be back tonight. Wait for me here, ok?"

"Chao." Katana replied. Shadow turned and walked out the door. He didn't bother locking it because Cream liked to enter his room to clean it. That was her job, to clean in the building.

As Shadow walked down the hall he walked passed Rouge's room. He stood for a moment looking at the door before carrying on towards the stairs. The hall seemed darker today and it's smell seemed more familiar. This told Shadow that the place had become more a part of him and he knew then that this was his new home if only for a little while.

Before he realized it, he was standing outside. It was cold today with gray clouds covering the sun and preventing the light to reach the earth. Shadow continued forward towards the center of town.

Rouge lay on her bed. She was a bit happier then she had been for days. She got a job and made friends at the same time and place. The bat smiled to herself while recalling the night before. The long haired girl's name was Adeline and the short haired girl was Julie. They were both so kind to her and became fast friends. But it wasn't just them, there were others who worked at the bar and even her boss, Nadia, said she was a great employee. She laughed and tended to the tables as a waitress all night.

She could almost forget about Knuckles.

Now she sat up. She didn't feel like sleeping. It wasn't that she wasn't tired; she was. She was afraid if she fell asleep, the good feelings would go away. She didn't want that. She wanted to hold onto the comfort as long as she could. Still she couldn't fight it forever and when she lay back down, she drifted off.

Amy walked outside as Shadow had earlier. Her job didn't start until 10:00 that morning and it was only 9:15. If she was early, it'd make her look good and if she was on time that would be good too. Amy noticed then that it was rather cold and she wished she had a hat or jacket but didn't and she hadn't brought many clothes with her either. She only had one backpack.

Amy walked forward. She would buy some clothes when she got her paycheck as long as they had enough for food. She also needed a bag she could carry around instead of her backpack, which she had almost emptied out and now held.

The pink hedgehog walked forward while looking up at the sky. It looked like it would soon rain but hoped she wouldn't be stuck out in a storm when she was coming home from work.

"Hey, Amy!" she heard someone call so she turned around to see Sonic jogging toward her. She had stopped to wait for him. He was not carrying anything and didn't seem to have a care in the world.

Once Sonic caught up with her, she smiled. "Oh, Sonic! You came to kiss me good-bye!" she blushed and put her hands to her rosy cheeks. Sonic stared at her.

"No...I just was leaving for work and saw you..." he continued to look at her strange. Amy's expression changed to one that looked more pissed off then disappointed. Then she perked up. Sonic wanted to walk with her!

She smiled then grabbed the older hedgehog's arm. "Sonic! Sonic! Sonic! You do care!" Sonic rolled his eyes but didn't pull away. They just started to walk together.

"So, how do you think everyone is?" Sonic asked.

"I think they're getting settled. Rouge seems happier too. I wonder what's been up with her..." Amy pondered. Sonic shook his head. "Shadow doesn't have a clue about his real past nor about GUN."

"Let's hope it stays that way."

Shadow walked into the bookstore. A bell sounded signaling that he had come in. He looked next to him at the inside of the window to see a sleeping cat who managed to wake for a minute to meow.

"Good morning!" he heard a voice call. Shadow looked around to see shelves of books and even more piled in stacks that went from the floor to the ceiling. Because of these piles he couldn't find the source of the voice. He walked farther into the store and then saw a counter with a cash register. There stood the woman with the braid and glasses. "Oh! It's you!" she smiled. "I'm glad you came back!"

"You're going to let me work here?"

"Yes! Of course! I need the help!" the woman answered. Shadow smiled.

"What's your name?"

"My-my name is Bruna!" she smiled while blushing. "It's nice to meet you!"

"My name is Shadow. It's nice to meet you too." Bruna walked over from behind the counter to face Shadow.

"I haven't had time to organize all these books lately so can you do that for me as your first task?" Shadow nodded. "Thank you." she smiled and for a moment Shadow could have sworn he saw Maria.

Shadow got to work as Bruna went into the back to do something. The dark hedgehog took one pile of books at a time and found the places the books had to be put. Right now he was kneeling next to one of the shelves. He had just put one of the books away and took the next one in the pile. He looked at the title to see it was called,

"Space Colony: ARK."

Sonic walked Amy all the way to her job before running off to his. Amy walked in the door of the flower shop. The little girl was right near the door to greet her. "Good mooorning!" she threw her arms up in the air. "Yay! You're back!"

"You remember me?" Amy pointed to herself. The girl nodded.

"Sure do!" she smiled wider. "What's your name?"

"Amy." the pink hedgehog answered. "What's yours'?"

"Greta!" she pointed to her mother who had her back turned. She seemed to be counting something. "My mom's name is Ilse!"

"Those are nice names." Amy smiled.

"Mom!" Ilse turned.

"Oh! I didn't hear you come in! You're here for the job, right?" Amy nodded. "Greta, will you show her around?" Greta nodded. Ilse went back to doing what she was doing.

"This part is for the public." she spun around in a circle. Her white dress with red flowers swayed with her. She walked toward her mother who was near a doorway. The girl stopped at the doorway and waved her hand to Amy who quickly caught up. In the back there were even more flowers but not as nicely organized. "We keep all the flowers here until my mom puts them in a special way for people to buy."

"What should I do?" Amy asked.

"You can be the cash register person! It's really easy once you know how to use the computer the right way." they walked back into the main part of the store while Ilse went into the back. Greta showed Amy how to use the cash register.

Sonic delivered all orders in five minutes then returned back to the cafe. Drake was impressed and thankful he could find such good help. Sonic now took his lunch break even though he had no lunch to eat. He decided to look around the town more.

He decided to go see the Amy and Shadow at their jobs. He didn't run because he wanted to see as much of the city as he could and savor the moments in it. The sky was still cloudy and gray and the clouds were moving fast across the sky.

When he stood outside looking into the flower shop, he saw Amy who saw him. Sonic walked into the store and Amy came to greet him. "Hi, Sonic!" she smiled and clung to him. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"How's it goin'?" Sonic asked trying to get out of her grip.

"It's good. How about you?"

Sonic showed a thumbs-up pose. "Fastest delivery service!" Amy laughed. "Wanna go to lunch?" Amy looked over to Ilse.

"One sec." she walked away and talked to her manager who soon nodded. Amy walked back to Sonic. "I have one hour!" they walked out of the shop. "Where should we eat?"

"Pizza!" Sonic yelled. "How much money do we have left?"

"Not much..." Amy frowned.

"What day is it?"

Amy held up her fingers to count. "Thursday."

"One more day to go 'till payday. Will we have enough food for tomorrow?" Amy stopped walking.

"Maybe we should save the money, Sonic." Sonic stopped walking too.

"Guess you're right. But when we have enough money, both of us are going to eat lunch together!" Sonic smiled then Amy who nodded. "Why don't we go to the park?" Amy hurried to catch up to Sonic who stood a few feet away.

Shadow stood outside the bookstore. He looked up at the sky. The temperature had dropped from this morning and the wind was picking up. 'I still have to go to the store for Amy.' Shadow looked around not really knowing where to buy it. He began walking down the streets of Nobana. Slowly they became more and more busy until Shadow was able to reach a grocery store.

When he was in the store, he felt like everyone was watching him. They probably were, he did stick out from most people. He was a hedgehog and not a human. Shadow found the fish but there were so many different kinds he picked a random one. He paid then left.

With the fish in his backpack, he jogged now towards home. He didn't stop to look around. He didn't stop for any person. Shadow just kept going although he didn't know what was driving him like this. He didn't want to know.

He was lying...

...he did know...

...and wished he didn't...

...so he denied it.

Now arriving at the field near the house, he didn't look back. Shadow kept jogging and soon found himself running. 'I'm coming.' he said in his mind. 'I'm coming home.' his boots made him hover slightly over the ground.

He ran through the door and up the stairs hoping everyone would be there. Down the dim lighted hallway and to Amy's door where everyone gathered. He opened the door and walked in where he found everyone sitting in the kitchen waiting for Amy to start cooking.

Shadow smiled then joined them. He gave them the fish he had bought and everyone told of their day at work. It was peaceful and friendly. It was warm.

FeatherWings: how'd you guess like this chapter?

dArkliTe-sPirit- your supposed to feel off. I've done my job. (smile)

Gaz san-I'm glad your happy! (smile again)

captain deoxys- yeah, it hurts him. He loves her so he wants to be with her.

Yozora Nozomi- homework sucks! He's suffering because Maria isn't with him and not because of his memories. He treasures his memories of her. (nod nod)