I hope you don't mind a bit of romance sneaking into this story...

Chapter Eight: The Governor's Daughter

Once Shadow and his crew arrived at Grand Metropolis the following afternoon, they went straight to the Governor. "I hope he's there." Shadow said as they walked up to the front door of the mansion. He rang the bell and waited.

A butler opened the door. "Can I help you?" he asked in a stern tone.

Shadow replied, "Yes. I would like to see the Governor, please."

The butler sighed. "Very well. Come in." He opened the door for the rest of them and led them to the Governor's office. He knocked on the door. "Sir? There are visitors who wish to see you."

"Send them in, Mr. Tanaka."

Shadow stepped into the room first. He saw the Governor, a big man wearing a dark gray suit, sitting at a desk, and he went up to him. "Excuse me, sir, but I was wondering if you could help me."

The Governor looked up at him. "Do I know you from someplace?"

"Perhaps. I am Shadow the Hedgehog, one of Professor Gerald's creations." Shadow answered.

The Governor now looked like he remembered. "Ah, yes, Shadow! Maria's friend. It's a pity she and the professor were kidnapped. So, what can I do for you?"

"Wait, you knew about their kidnapping?"

"Of course!" The Governor explained, "The night of the banquet, I was getting ready to go, when Eggman broke in, took my suit and locked me in the closet. He let me out when he returned my clothes, but I nor none of my men could stop him from escaping. Gerald is one of my closest friends, so I soon learned of his kidnapping."

"And you didn't try to find Eggman to save him?"

The Governor shrugged. "A rescue mission is nearly impossible. No one knows where Eggman's hideout is, and besides, Eggman doesn't usually let his prisoners last for very long."

Shadow's heart clenched. Was he too late? "But, why did he kidnap them in the first place?"

The Governor looked down wearily. "Hm. I don't know. All we can do is accept the inevitable."

Shadow glared at the Governor and pounded his fist on his desk. "Accept the inevitable?" he repeated. "This is my family we're talking about! I am not going to let some dirtbag pirate do what he wants with them!"

"Shadow, I understand your concerns, but-"

"No you don't!" Shadow felt close to tears. He couldn't believe the Governor wouldn't help him. Aside from his crew, he was completely alone. Would it be enough to stop Eggman and free his family? "I am going to find Eggman, whether you want to help or not!"

The Governor sighed. "I do want to help you, I just don't know if I can. For years, my fleet has searched the seas for Eggman's lair, but no one could find it. Once, one of my captains came close to Eggman's ship, but he said that it 'disappeared behind a wave'. I'm sorry, Shadow. I just don't know what to do."

"But it might be possible!" Shadow insisted. He took out the two pieces of the map and held them up. "We have half the map! If I could just get the rest, I might be able to find it!"

The Governor squinted at the pieces of paper. "Wait a minute, those look familiar." he noted.

"They do?"

"My daughter found a piece of paper similar to those in a tavern. She said it looked like a map piece."

Shadow instantly felt hopeful. "Where is it?"

"My daughter would know. Why don't you ask her?" He got up. "Come with me. I'll take you to her." He started walking out of his office.

"Thank you, sir." Shadow said gratefully. He and his crew followed the Governor to another room. Now that Shadow thought of it, he did remember that the Governor had adopted a daughter, but he had never seen her and didn't know her name. He just hoped she still had the map piece.

The Governor opened the door and said, "Rouge, dear, you have some visitors."

Shadow stepped inside and saw the back of a female bat in a fancy red dress standing in front of a window. When she turned around, Shadow's ruby eyes instantly connected with her sparkling aquamarine ones. She was so beautiful that for a second, Shadow forgot to say anything.

Espio cleared his throat beside Shadow.

Shadow blinked and said to Rouge, "Uh, we would like to ask you a few questions." He mentally berated himself for sounding awkward.

Rouge smiled at him. "I'll do my best to answer them."

The Governor then added to Shadow, "Oh, but I'm afraid we can't take too long. You see, my daughter is getting married tonight and we need to finish the preparations."

"Oh." Shadow said in disappointment, though for some reason, he was disappointed by the fact that Rouge was already engaged. He pushed that thought out of his mind. He wasn't here to fall in love. He needed to find his family. The Governor left the room and Shadow introduced, "I'm Shadow the Hedgehog, captain of the Black Revenge. And this is my crew."

Rouge curtsied. "Rouge the Bat." she introduced in her silky voice. She asked Shadow, "So, what would you like to know?"

Shadow did his best to not get distracted by her elegance. He began by explaining his situation and how the Governor said Rouge had a piece of the map to Eggman's hideout. He was comforted by Rouge's genuine sympathy and felt hopeful when she said that she gave the piece to her friend the bartender at the local tavern for safe keeping. Shadow asked if she could take them to it, and Rouge agreed.

As she led them down the hall, Shadow walked beside her, though a stride or two behind so as to give her the proper respect and authority. He couldn't help noticing her shapely figure and the way her hips swayed with each step. She's taken! Forget about it! Shadow's mind scolded him. A woman that pristine was probably superficial anyway.

As they were about to turn a corner, a large maid nearly careened into them from the other hallway. "Oh! There you are, Miss Rouge!" she said in exasperation. Her eyes examined the strangers behind the bat suspiciously.

"Oh, don't worry about them, Ella." Rouge assured while the maid caught her breath. "I'm taking them to the bar to get-"

"Now's not the time for that!" Ella interrupted, grabbing Rouge by the arm. "You must practice for your wedding dance!" She started to lead her away.

Rouge pulled back with a look of dread. "Please, not again! Besides, Captain Shadow and his crew really need my help!"

Ella kept a firm grip on her. "I promised your father you would not dance like you have two left feet. If it's so important to them, your friends can wait." She glared at Shadow and the others. "But they will wait in the dance hall so I can keep an eye on them. I don't want anyone touching anything with their grubby hands."

Shadow glanced behind him and noticed Vector holding a white vase. When the crocodile heard what Ella said, he quickly placed it back down on the table and looked up nonchalantly. The dirt smudges from his gloves were quite visible on the vase though, and Shadow nodded in embarrassment at Ella.

Rouge was no match for the stocky woman, so she reluctantly let her pull her away. Casting an apologetic look at Shadow, she mouthed, "Sorry."

Shadow shook his head to indicate it was all right. He followed, frowning at his dirty gloves and boots. He really should've scrubbed himself before coming here.

Then dance hall was a huge room with a marbled floor and giant windows. Many other people and servants were scattered around, each with tasks preparing for the wedding. There was an orchestra warming up in one section. Ella left Rouge behind and went up to one couldn't hear what they were saying at first, but then he heard Ella exclaim, "WHAT? … You're sure? … But the wedding is in a few hours! How are we supposed to find someone else?" Ella furiously stomped back to Rouge and told her, "Your dance instructor broke his back. Wait here while we find someone who can dance to 'First Love Waltz'."

"I know that song." Shadow spoke up, surprising everyone, including himself. He looked down, wondering if it was out of place for him to have said that.

But Rouge smiled at him hopefully. "Really? Can you dance to it?"

"Yes, I suppose. I remember Maria showing me a few moves…" The image of Maria twirling and laughing as she taught Shadow the dance made his throat tighten; he missed her so much.

Rouge must've seen the sadness in his eyes because she took his hand and led him to the middle of the ballroom. "Show me what you know." she said softly.

Shadow nervously clasped her hand and put his other hand around her waist. The fact that he had never danced with anyone except Maria and that he was so close to the beautiful bat made his heart pound. The music started and Shadow tentatively began dancing. His gaze kept flickering from his feet to Rouge's face. He really hoped he wouldn't step on her toes.

"You're doing great." Rouge encouraged, her eyes never straying from his.

Soon Shadow felt comfortable with his steps and he kept his eyes locked on hers. He felt his face flush, but there was nothing he could do about it. He just hoped it wasn't too noticeable. Shadow slowed down as the music came to an end and his hand lingered in Rouge's a second after it was over before finally letting go. He blinked, feeling the world come back to him.

Rouge looked away with a smile. "Thank you, Shadow. That was lovely."

"Well, that was the best I've ever seen Miss Rouge dance!" Ella said, coming over. "Maybe the captain should've come here sooner!"

"Whoa, Shadow! I didn't know you could dance!" Silver remarked with a hint of amusement. The other crew mates looked just as impressed.

"It was nothing." Shadow told them modestly. "Just trying to help."

"Well now it's time for me to return the favour." said Rouge with a wink. "How about we get you that map piece?"

Once they got to the bar, Rouge went up to the bartender and said, "Hey, Amy. You still got that map piece I found?"

Amy smiled and unlocked a drawer, taking out the map piece from it. "Sure do, Rouge! Who's your charming friend there?"

Shadow saw Rouge glance his way and he realized she was talking about him. He rubbed the side of his face, trying to hide his blush. He wondered if Rouge thought he was charming.

Rouge seemed to blush as well and she said, "This is Shadow. He's a captain and he needs the map piece to save his family from Captain Eggman."

Amy sighed dreamily. "How brave."

Rouge snatched the map piece, seeming a little annoyed at Amy. Perhaps she was even defensive. "Here, Shadow. Now you'll be able to find out where to go next." She was about to hand it to him, when Snively burst through the door with his band of robots and swiped the map piece.

"Thought you could steal my stuff, eh?" He sneered. "To the ship!" He commanded.

"Now wait just a minute!" Rouge snarled. She grabbed the map piece back and said boldly, "This belongs to Shadow now!" A robot wrapped its claws around her and another robot tried to get the map piece from her. "Aah!"

"Rouge!" Shadow took out his sword and went for the robot apprehending Rouge, but another one got in his way. He growled and started to break that one apart.

"Grr!" Snively didn't want to risk losing his map piece, so he ordered his robots, "Just bring her along!" He darted out the tavern followed by the robots. What he didn't know was that Rouge had dropped the map piece before the robots took her away.

Shadow picked up the map piece, shoved it at Vector and said, "I'm going after them!"

"What?" Vector looked at him strangely.

"But we have the map piece, let's get outta here before Snively finds out!" Charmy said.

Shadow heard him, but was already out the door. He had no intention of leaving Rouge to that slimeball. He skated as fast as he could towards Snively's ship. Unfortunately, it had started to leave the docks. Determined to save Rouge, Shadow skated to the edge of one dock and leaped at the ship. At first he wasn't going to make it. But before he could fall into the water, he stabbed the side of the boat with his sword and climbed over the railing. "Let her go!" he barked at Snively who stood beside the robot that held Rouge.

Snively, as it turned out, found out that Rouge no longer had the piece of the map, and had been expecting Shadow to come. "Only if you surrender the map piece."

"If I refuse?"

Snively grinned evilly. "Then we will see how long it takes for a bat to drown."

Filled with rage, Shadow lunged at Snively and the two engaged in another sword fight. Snively swung his sword strategically, warning Shadow that he had improved. Shadow carefully dodged and blocked Snively's improved attacks, then swung his sword forcefully at him. Snively also dodged Shadow's attacks and cackled, "Giving up yet?"

"Never!" Shadow replied as he grabbed a rope and swung around Snively. He continued to tauntingly avoid Snively's attacks, and slowly got Snively to step near the edge of his boat.

"Surrender now, or you'll never know where your family is kept!" Snively challenged.

Shadow swung his sword once again, making Snively step back onto the edge. "I'll take my chances." Shadow smirked, then pushed Snively off.

"Noooooooo!" Snively cried as he plummeted into the sea. He tried to swim to the surface, but forgot that he was wearing his steel boots, and sank.

Shadow stared at the bubbles floating to the surface and he panted in exhaustion. He looked back at Rouge and saw that the robot had released her, seeing as it could not perform actions without instructions from Snively. Shadow walked over to the white bat and asked in concern, "Are you ok?"

Rouge nodded with a gentle smile and Shadow helped her up. The Black Revenge came alongside Snively's boat, and Shadow carried Rouge onto his ship. "Well, I guess I better get you back before your wedding." he told her, trying to hide his reluctance.

Rouge looked down and didn't sound enthused when she said, "Oh, yeah. My wedding."

When they docked at the harbour, Shadow told his crew, "Wait here for me. I'll be right back after escorting Miss Rouge to the wedding hall." He walked along with Rouge in silence, purposely going slowly so that he would be with her longer. Rouge made no attempt to rush along. He secretly still thought about the dance they shared earlier and it made him sad to think he'd never be able to hold her again. Shadow suddenly wished he didn't have feelings for Rouge.

"Rouge!"

Shadow and Rouge looked up to see a red echidna standing a few meters away from them. "Knuckles." said Rouge, a little distraughtly.

"I'm so glad I found you! Now we can get married!" Knuckles then noticed Shadow, and got an angry look on his face. "So YOU'RE the one who kidnapped her!"

Shadow looked surprised. "What? No, I save-"

But Knuckles unsheathed his sword and growled, "How dare you even be near my fiancée! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" He charged at Shadow.

"Knuckles, no!" Rouge cried.

Shadow quickly drew his sword and managed to block Knuckles' attack. Shadow continued to swing his sword offensively at Knuckles, but he blocked them all easily. None of them were landing any hits, and Shadow was starting to feel tired. Instead of trying to attack, he resorted to defending attacks. As he did so, he noticed that Knuckles was gradually getting weaker. He kept blocking the echidna's attacks until his grip on his sword was loose enough. Shadow swung his sword and knocked Knuckles' out of his hand. Knuckles scrambled to get his sword back, but Shadow got in his way. "Now, just back away nice and easy." Shadow warned.

Knuckles growled, then ran away.

"He's probably gone to tell my father." Rouge frowned. She looked at Shadow. "You should get out of here now."

It was dark out, but Shadow could still see the sadness in Rouge's beautiful eyes, and hear it in her voice. He nodded. "Will you be all right?"

Rouge tried to smile. "Don't worry about me, Shadow. I just hope you find your family."

They stared at each other in silence. Shadow desperately wanted to tell her how he felt. "Rouge, I…" But that would complicate things. He wasn't even sure if Rouge felt the same way about him. Better to keep some secrets hidden. He sighed, "I wish you the best."

Rouge bit her lip, like she was trying to keep herself from crying. She hesitated, then quickly kissed Shadow on the cheek. "Good luck, Shadow." She turned around and flew off.

Shadow gazed after her and sighed. He felt his cheek where she had kissed him, then shook his head. Time to forget about her, he thought glumly. But he knew in his heart he would always remember the one he first loved. Frowning, Shadow walked back to his ship.

"Hey, Captain Shadow! Ready to set sail?" Vector asked in excitement. "The map piece says…" he trailed off, noticing the crestfallen look on Shadow's face.

Tails looked at him in concern. "Captain, what's wrong?"

Shadow looked at his crew and shook his head. "Nothing. Let's get outta here already."

Charmy was about to press him, but Espio pulled him back, shaking his head knowingly.

Shadow half-heartedly helped prepare the ship for sailing. His crew didn't ask him anymore questions, and he guessed they knew what was wrong. The black hedgehog was grateful for their understanding, but he promised himself that he would be strong for them as they continue on their journey, no matter how heartbroken he would feel.

"Shadow!"

The familiar voice made Shadow's head snap up and his eyes widen. "Rouge?" He heard her call his name again and he turned around. Looking off the edge of the boat, he could see Rouge flying towards him. "Rouge!" He was so glad to see her again so soon, but it made him wonder why she was here.

Rouge was grinning as she flew onto the Black Revenge, almost right into Shadow. "I'm coming with you!" she told him excitedly.

Shadow couldn't believe what he had heard. He was so overcome by joy that he nearly forgot to speak. "Really? But what about your wedding?"

Rouge nodded. "I told my father everything and how I never wanted to marry Knuckles in the first place. He was…upset, to say the least. And he threatened to cut me off, but I told him love was more important to me than money. He finally understood and said I should follow my heart. And well..." She cupped Shadow's face in her hands and gazed into his eyes. "My heart is with you, Shadow."

Shadow felt his heart swell with happiness and he smiled. His first real smile in days. Rouge loved him after all. He put his arms around Rouge and kissed her lips, and his crew cheered with joy.

End of Chapter 8

Sorry if the romance seemed a little rushed, but that's how it was in the game. Please review!