Cream was nearly at a loss for words. Even Mr. Cheese could feel the growing tension in the air and hushed his little chao squeals.
"Oh… I-I'm terribly sorry to hear that, Mr. Shadow. I had no idea…" Her head lifted up from staring downwards at herself and faced the rock before them. She hadn't noticed until now that there was a variety of cursive etchings that covered the seemingly normal rock. Cream read all across the rock and found the name 'Maria' written neatly in cursive and besides it, the poor handwriting that barely read 'Shad.' Her mouth hung slightly open in surprise to see the true reason why Shadow visits. Her finger traced the etchings of the poorly done handwriting and turned to look at him, "Was Maria your friend?"
A sight Cream never saw before from the otherwise reserved hedgehog: his hands were shaking, and his eyes were attempting to hold back the pain he felt from the piercing ringing. The noise in his ears grew louder than before.
"...Yes. Maria was my dearest friend." If one thing was obvious to Cream, it was that Shadow no longer seemed like he wanted to talk about this subject anymore. She finally caught the hint and began to stand back up on her two feet with Mr. Cheese.
"Well, Mr. Shadow. I may not be as old as you and Mama, but I know what it's like to have a bestest friend. I won't stop you from visiting our garden, but please try to let Mama know. Oh! And whenever you visit, you can join us for lunch too! And-" Cream's excitement was cut off by Shadow's bellowing chuckle and smirk.
"Tsk. You are just like Sonic… I never know what to do with the two of you. You best be at home and I will do what I can, Cream. Goodbye." He motioned his hand for her to make haste and leave without having to look at the pair. Shadow's eyes fixated on the rock that held one of the last few memories of Maria Robotnik.
"B-Bye, Mr. Shadow…" Cream smiled at Shadow one last time without him knowing before she ran to jump start her flight back home with Mr. Cheese.
When Cream and Mr. Cheese arrived back home to their cottage, she was relieved to see no trace of Vanilla waking up from her slumber. Being sure to watch her step for any twigs this time, the little rabbit carefully returned to her bedroom and slid back into her warm sheets after removing her dirty shoes.