Alright, a bit of an announcement needs to be made this is probably going to be the last peaceful chapter until the finale which, by the way, is fast approaching. Yea, I know...the end of a story is bittersweet for everyone, but that's how its got to go. So...enjoy the final soft chapter until the ending comes, hope you all like it.

Chapter 25 Calm before the Storm

Not surprisingly, the public was not too fond of Dusk's powers going bezerk and wrecking downtown. In fact, there was a fairly good sized crowd outside of her apartment building when the purple hedgehog awoke. That was the last straw...Dusk opened the window, stuck her head out and gave that crowd a very stern talking to. She finally released what it was like being lied to from the beginning of your life, then being hated for trying to make up for the mistakes she made before.

The closing line of her venting was, "If any of you don't like me, that's your problem that you will have to deal with because my furry little self is going nowhere. I suggest ditching your egos, going home, and leaving me alone!" before Dusk pulled her head back in and slammed the window shut.

Its relatively calm tonight...odd considering that the day before last was Eggman's assault on Station Square and tomorrow will be the Sonic team's counter-attack. A soft, gentle night-breeze blew its way across the surface of Mystic Ruins, there were thousands of twinkling stars in the night sky being company to the full moon, not a cloud to be seen...all of it fooled one as to what was going to happen come morning.

All of the Sonic gang (minus Cream) was gathered at Tails' house along with three extra faces...Vector, Espio, and Charmy; Team Chaotix. The large group was going over the plans for their attack on Eggman for the last time...the basic form of it would be that Tails and the Chaotix would distract Eggman from the outside while Sonic, Amy, Blaze, and Silver went for the command bridge and Dusk, Shadow, Rouge, and Knuckles went for the emeralds.

Dusk was in a corner of the living room near the door, and had an unamused look on her face. This was the sixth time Tails had gone over the plan and she had memorized her part during the second time. She did have an important role...Dusk was the only person who knew the full layout of the Battleship and it was her job to take Sonic's team and her team as far as possible before splitting up, then give directions so that Sonic's team wouldn't get lost.

It wasn't like that was hard...even after a couple months of being away from the Battleship, Dusk still remembered her way around it. Just give Sonic the directions to the bridge then lead her team to the vault...like that was hard to remember.

Tails was busy explaining the plan to the rest of the crowd, but Dusk's mind was elsewhere...she was incredibly nervous about the whole attack. It was very well thought out and had a great chance of succeeding, bu she couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to screw the whole thing up.

I've gotta get rid of this uneasiness...maybe I just need some fresh air. She thinks before slipping outside, alerting no-one but the black and red hedgehog that was on the other side of the room.

"Where is she going?" Shadow whispers to himself before starting after her. Unlike Dusk, Shadow's movements alert everyone and the first to comment on it was Tails.

"Shadow? Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Why? We're in the middle of reviewing the attack."

"I already know my part in this attack, and if I want to leave then I'm going to leave," is Shadow's reply. None of the other Mobians say anything to argue as he walks up to the door and leaves.

Outside, Shadow finds Dusk lying down on her back in a patch of grass, gazing off at the stars above. He silently walks up to the purple hedgehog and asks, "Is something wrong Dusk?"

Dusk tilts her head to look at Shadow, "Hmm?"

"I noticed that you left for some reason. Is everything okay?"

Dusk sits up as a slightly sad look crosses her face. "I've just got this bad feeling about our attack on Eggman. Its going to be really nice to finally get back at that jerk for what he did to me...but I can't shake the feeling that something is going to go wrong." She sighs, "Watching the stars always calmed my mind down before, but its not working tonight..." She ends while looking back up into the sky.

Shadow also turns his gaze skyward to observe the twinkling lights high above him. Dusk did have a point, they were somewhat calming to watch. His bright red irises scanned back and forth across the heavens, silently picking out constellations before he turned back to the purple hedgehog.

"They are pretty to watch, aren't they?"

Dusk releases a soft grunt to agree.

"You know I was born way up there, right?"

"Yup. It was in the file Eggman gave me about you." Dusk pauses, "Shadow the Hedgehog, AKA the Ultimate Life Form. Created over 50 years ago by Prof Gerald Robotnik aboard the Space Colony ARK. Was only able to enjoy a little bit of life before GUN attacked and forced you to evacuate. Was captured and put into suspended animation until Eggman freed you. The rest of it was lies though, Sonic and the others told me the real stories."

"Impressive."

Dusk giggles for a second, "Thanks."

Suddenly a thought occurred to Shadow...why not take Dusk up there? Why not take Dusk up to the ARK? It might take her mind off of the attack tomorrow. She did say that she enjoyed watching stars, and the view from the ARK's observation deck was unmatched.

Normally Shadow wouldn't have considered this, mainly because the ARK was a sort of sanctuary to him...a place for him to go to when he wanted to be sure of being alone. But he could trust Dusk, and he did have some respect and (maybe) a little admiration towards her for having to deal with so much in a relatively short life.

"Dusk?" Shadow asks to get her attention, "What would you say if I said I could take you up there to be among those stars?"

Dusk jumps to her feet and looks at her black and red friend, "I'd ask, how? I don't think you've got any spaceships just lying around."

Shadow smirks and reachs into his quills, removing the gray Chaos Emerald from its hiding place. "With this and your trust." he replies.

Dusk smiles at him and says, "Alright. Take me there."

"Then take my hand." he says while extending his left hand (the gray emerald was in his right). Dusk reaches out and gently takes Shadow's hand. "Are you holding on tight?" A nod. "Alright then..." Shadow squeezes the Chaos Emerald, causing its glow to intensify, and says, "Chaos...Control!"

The next thing that Dusk feels is like nothing she ever imagined. A light begins to surround the two hedgehogs and the surrounding air began to feel warmer. The slightly chilly autumn air at Mystic Ruins was suddenly warm and comfortable, no different from the air around a fireplace. Dusk sighs as the warmth of the air sinks into her and the light completely surrounds her and Shadow.

Within a second, the light brightened, then disappeared, taking Mystic Ruins and the warmth with it, leaving a dimly-lit metal room behind.

"Where am I?" Dusk asks, confused as to how coming to this room would give her a good view of the stars.

Shadow lets go of her hand to point behind her, "Take a look."

Dusk turns around and gasps...there was an enormous, panoramic window that offered a breathtaking view of space. There were millions upon millions of twinkling stars back-dropped by the lovely ebony black of space, and right in the middle of all of it was the Earth; a giant orb made up of emerald greens, sapphire blues, and pure whites that seemed to give off its own glow...the entire view was so beautiful, that it left Dusk thinking this might have been a prank of some kind.

She walks up to the window and rests a hand against the glass, expecting it to bend like a screen or sheet. The window held firm though, proving that this was the real deal.

"This is...amazing." She says, her voice carrying over her now awe-struck condition.

"This...is Space Colony ARK." Shadow replies.

Dusk turns to him with a surprised look, "Are you serious?! This is the ARK?!"

Shadow nods, "Space Colony ARK...my birthplace. Do you enjoy the view?"

Dusk smiles at Shadow and walks over to the small bench he was sitting on. "I love this view Shadow, you were born in the most beautiful of places." she says while sitting down beside him, "In a way, you could call the ARK my birthplace too. I wasn't created here like you were, but the idea that did lead to me came from up here."

Shadow releases a small grunt to show that he agreed, then waits about half-a-minute before speaking. "This is one of my favorite rooms in the entire colony...I used to spend a lot of time here with Maria...that is, until she was..." he stops without finishing his sentence, the memories being to hard for him to continue.

Dusk doesn't push him into continuing, she remembered what had happened to Maria and how much it upset Shadow before. The purple hedgehog sets her hand onto Shadow's shoulder and says, "Its alright Shadow...you don't need to explain anything." The black and red hedgehog turns to look at Dusk and, although his expression hardly changed, she could tell he was thanking her.

Dusk gives him a smile and turns back towards the window while removing her hand. Shadow, however, kept his gaze fixed on his company.

The gray Chaos Emerald was sitting between the two of them, and its soft, un-colored glow gently wrapped around the folds of her clothes and the gentle curves of her body and face. It accented the purple hedgehog's slender figure and moved in perfect unison with her breathing. Dusk was nothing short of beautiful in the Chaos Emerald's light and with the way it clung to her...it wouldn't have been an understatement to call her the angel of Space Colony ARK...the only thing missing was a pair of wings.

After a minute passed, Dusk glanced at Shadow and saw that he was still looking at her. "Is something wrong Shadow?" she asks while turning back towards him, causing the glow to wash over her face and weave around even the slightest curve.

"No..." he replies while turning away, "Why do ask?"

Dusk giggles a little as she slides closer to him, "Come on Shadow...I saw you observing me. What were you thinking?"

"Nothing..."

"Alright...if you really don't want to talk about it..." Dusk says while gently taking his hand, "But I'll listen when you want to." Before Shadow could respond, Dusk leans over and rests her head onto his shoulder. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Not a bit." he replies, getting Dusk to sigh and move just a little bit closer.

Shadow glances at the purple hedgehog and smiles a little. He didn't admit it aloud, but he did feel a little attracted towards Dusk now that she was on his side. She was pretty cute, and he liked the way that one quill drooped down and blocked part of her left eye. He also liked the shade of blue that was present in her eyes...he wasn't a big fan of blue, but he did like that dulled shade.

Now that he was thinking about it, there was little that he didn't like about her. She was a quiet, thoughtful girl...she didn't mind his moodiness that much...and she was very understanding. Dusk was a Rose, her temper proved that, but she had much more control than Amy, who could go off over some of the most trivial things. She could hold her own in a fight with him, an impressive feat in itself, and even keep pace with him thanks to the skates she wore. Probably one of the things he liked the most about her, was that she knew what it was like to have been created in a lab and have a rough past.

As he watched the purple hedgehog out of the corner of his eye, Shadow came to realize that he really did like everything about her.

Dusk felt him slip an arm around her waist and draw her closer after moving the Chaos Emerald out of the way. Dusk put an arm of her own around Shadow's waist as he gently rested his head against hers. After maybe ten seconds came something that she doubted Shadow would've done...

...she felt him plant a kiss behind her left ear. A small, tender kiss to the base of her left ear.

It wasn't a big, dramatic moment and was over before Dusk fully realized what Shadow did, but she still enjoyed it. She actually was still a little nervous about tomorrow's attack, but Shadow's affectionate gesture put her mind to rest. She knew that she could handle any robots that Eggman might have kept around, but it was also comforting to know that Shadow was going to protect her.

"Thanks Shadow...I like you too." is all that she said before snuggling a little bit closer.

Shadow said nothing in reply, but snugged up his grip around her waist...around the beautiful, purple Rose that was lying against him.