Hovering speedily across the garden fields and leaving little in his tracks, Shadow could only be seen as a lightning-fast streak of scarlet red following behind him. It was no more than a few days ago that he remembered their anniversary.
'What a fool I am,' he thought to himself as he zig-zagged between the trees. 'How could I forget already? Has it truly been that long since I've seen her?'
His memories after crash landing from the Death Egg once again onto Planet Earth remained distantly foggy. Years have passed since then, but Shadow grows ever more frustrated with his memory loss. Oftentimes, he finds himself forgetting where he is, the names of others who may recognize him, and even his own name. Unforgiving to himself, Shadow felt as though this is the ironic punishment from Black Doom. The 'ultimate lifeform' could barely live up to his full potential. Although his memories played tricks against him, Shadow could never forget Maria Robotnik.
How could he? Maria was the first person in his life who exemplified nothing but compassion and love for everybody. She was the very one who gave him hope and purpose beyond his sole reason for being created. To her, he was not the ultimate weapon of destruction or the embodiment of doom. Maria wholeheartedly believed that Shadow was meant to help her home planet and he made a promise to protect them both. In the quietest of times, such as his rush to visit the garden, he can still hear her screams. His ears started to ring as he raced closer to the small, but bountiful patch of roses amongst the vast garden. The ringing deep within continues growing uncomfortably louder as his ears remembers the piercing sound of the gunshot that took Maria away from him. Countless times he discovered this all too familiar ringing and heartbeat racing away from his lingering pain. There was nothing he could have done and yet, it was still as difficult as ever to accept the cruel fate he was bestowed.
Nothing could stop him in his tracks from running to her and the garden. Not even the gasp of a young rabbit who was left behind in his streak.
As the ringing trapped in his ears deafened, he found himself standing solemnly in the middle of Vanilla's rose garden. However, he had not a clue to whom the garden belonged to nor did he ever really care. This was their garden. In his first few days of awakening, Shadow and Maria used to frequently visit this very same garden during the few times Dr. Robotnik allowed trips back to Earth. Many long years have passed since those carefree days, but Shadow could never resist visiting it. He always found himself longing to smell the beautifully curated flowers and meditating for hours in their spot. A path of worn, mossy stones guided the black hedgehog to his homely haven of flowers. The small, untouched circular patch of grass rested in the very center of the whole rose garden. Only the gentle breeze could hear him whisper,
"I'm home, Maria."