Okay, so I lied about the frequency of the updating but I didn't mean to! It got a little busy this week and I bit off more than I could chew! XD Anyway, here's chapter 2!

Memory

Amy always loved coming to Shadow's place.

Beyond the fact that the G.U.N housing complex was a sprawling slice of heaven; setting aside the fact that Shadow was just so much fun to hang out with in general; she loved hanging around here because Shadow never seemed to suspect that she would keep her word about her trademark hugs in his home turf.

That or he just liked being hugged and refused to say anything about it, but what were the chances of that?

Amy knocked on the door of his apartment, gently as she could while still making a decent amount of noise so he would answer, then backed up and crouched to ready herself for launch. Maybe it was a bit extra of her, but how often could she go all out? Knuckles and Sonic always got so flustered and Tails was getting to that weird age where hugs meant death. There was always Big, of course, but he was almost never around.

Her ears twitched, the door handle was jiggling. She could practically feel the Sonic-like smile that spread across her face as Shadow opened the door completely. Amy lunged, wrapping her arms around Shadow as tightly as she could. She was half-way through saying Shadow's name when she realized that, for once, Shadow was woefully unprepared to take the force of her full-body tackle and they both flew backwards into his apartment. Shadow only just barely caught hold of her with his left arm, his right arm caught between the two of them, when they slammed into the stark white carpet behind him. Amy let out a shocked gasp and a barely suppressed giggle. Shadow let out a half-amused snort before giving his own smile.

"Good afternoon, Amy," he greeted nonchalantly, as though entirely unphased by their predicament.

Amy pouted, but the force was diminished by her much harder to suppress giggling, " 'Good afternoon'? That's it!? Seriously, we're on the floor right now, you can't come up with a better reaction than just 'Hello?'"

"I said good afternoon," he argued as he raised a brow, "That's twice as many words as usual."

Amy heaved an exaggerated sigh, "I guess you're right. I should count my lucky stars that I got even that much."

Amy leaned forward to push herself up from the floor (and totally not to push her face into his chest fur) and squeaked when she almost shoved her nose into the book Shadow was holding.

"Careful," Shadow teased.

Amy blushed and quickly got up. She was over her slip up the second she got a good look at the plain, dark cotton bound book in his hands.

"What is that, anyway?" she asked as she held out a hand to help him up.

He took her hand, an uncharacteristically bright smile on his face that made her beam back in return, "I'll tell you on our walk. I just need to put it back and we can be on our way."

Amy practically skipped through Shadow's apartment complex. It was funny, when he first invited her to meet him there, she had expected something more... bare bones? A simple, uptight looking building with stark white walls and inoffensive bits of furniture laying around; not unlike a dentist's office. Instead, she found herself completely enamored with the sprawling complex complete with hidden gardens and playgrounds absolutely crawling with both human and mobian families. Every single person in this place was clamoring to make the best out of such a beautiful day.

As Amy took a deep breath, as though trying to absorb the joy of it all, Shadow gave a scoffing snort that Amy had learned recently was his giggle.

"You're in a good mood today."

"Funny, I was going to say the same about you," Amy smiled, "Two whole words and you didn't tell me to get off of you when we fell over? You even hugged back a little~"

Shadow rolled his eyes and made weighing motions with both of his hands, "Catching you to make sure you don't hurt yourself. 'Hugging you'. I suppose the two are practically interchangeable..."

Amy nudged him gently, "See, you're even teasing me now. Did you have a good dream or something?"

Shadow smiled wistfully and murmured, "Something like that."

They walked in silence for a few seconds, Amy shuffling in anticipation of his answer. She almost flinched when he finally spoke, "I don't... have all my memories back yet."

Amy's smile faltered, "That... doesn't sound good."

"It's frustrating," he admitted, "Worse than that, for the longest time, all that seemed to come back to me were my worst memories. Things I'd said or done that were wrong. Ways that I'd managed to make the world and people's lives worse. At best, I would get 'important' memories. The time I died on the Ark, the time I had to watch Maria...

His voice petered off and Amy immediately reached for his hand to give it a reassuring squeeze.

He grimaced but squeezed back. Then shook his head as though to chase away the thoughts, leaving a more hopeful gleam in his eye.

"Once in a blue moon, though, I get a good memory," Shadow smiled wistfully, "It didn't happen very often before. But now it's happening more often. I feel like I've finally run out of bad memories."

"That's amazing, Shadow!" Amy beamed, "Is that what that book was? Are you keeping a diary?"

The corner of Shadow's lip twitched in amusement and nodded, "I prefer to call them reports... but yes. I'm as meticulous as I can be with it and I usually wait until the end of the day to write in it but then I remembered something while I was waiting for you and I needed to write it down before I lost it again."

Amy nodded and placed a delicate finger on her chin, "That's a good habit! It's a great way to keep your thoughts together and really take stock of your day!"

Shadow's features softened into a practiced neutrality that Amy learned was his "make a decision face". Not "what should I eat" or "where should I go" decisions. It was more a weighing of options, whole timelines of possibilities would flash through his mind and he would have to decide if Amy or anyone else he was interacting with was trustworthy. Amy's eyes widened in anticipation: the last time he'd shown that face, he'd told her about Maria.

His eyes slid away from her, and Amy knew the answer was yes, "It's more than that.

Shadow folded his arms and forced himself to look Amy in the eyes, "Losing my memories once is enough. Keeping a record of my day, even the most mundane ones, it's... comforting. It means I won't ever lose myself again."

Amy's smile failed her and the heavy hand of guilt encased her heart. She'd only been twelve when Shadow lost his memories and she'd known him for such a short time, she couldn't really tell him anything when he'd asked her at Eggman's castle, after they'd found Cream and Cheese, and almost immediately after they'd taken down Eggman's robot.

Amy pouted, "I was pretty useless back at Eggman's castle, but, you know you can depend on me if you lose them again, right?"

Shadow flinched and his ears pulled back. The happiness seemed to wash away from his features and a spark of anger flared up in her. Did he not trust her? Did he think that she would take advantage of him? Make him suffer?! She wasn't the same weak little girl she was back then!

But then he leveled her with pained, squinting eyes, a sloppily manufactured smile squirming against his cheeks. He murmured a small, "I know," then looked forward and continued his brisk pace. The spark in her heart was snuffed out just as soon as it was lit, and Amy knew she'd messed up. She was sure Shadow wasn't telling her something...

Amy shook her head, "I need to lighten up. He was in such a good mood earlier and I ruined it! Time to turn on the charm!"

Amy reached for his hand again and gave it a light squeeze, "So... what was that good memory?"

Shadow's lips parted slightly and he swung his head back around towards her in surprise. His eyes searched hers and Amy could feel her own desperate smile squirming up her muzzle but never quite meeting her eyes. Whatever he saw chased away the doom and gloom in his aura. He chuckled and quickly recovered with a hesitant smile, "It... it's a bit foolish but..."

His ears twitched around and a small pout formed. Amy was trying to figure out what he was thinking when he heaved a small resigned sigh and held out his other hand for Amy to take. Her eyes widened and her smile was the definition of beaming. She immediately took his hand and in a flash they were somewhere else.

Amy opened her eyes and could not hide her disappointment. It was just as well, even Shadow couldn't see in the dark. The cavern echoed with their footsteps and as Amy's eyes got used to the dark, she realized the entire thing was made of metal, no doubt some remnant of an Eggman base long since cleared out. The oppressive nature of the silence was remarkable after all the noise of the complex not moments before. But the dark... was so suffocating. It had been such a bright, beautiful day and now they were in a place where she had to fight just to see an outline of Shadow.

"Why would this be a place to talk about a good memory?" she asked herself.

Suddenly the rockets in Shadow's boots activated and he practically flew to the other side of the room. The lights streamed behind him as he gracefully turned from the far wall. Amy's eyes followed Shadow's light, captivated in spite of her earlier worries.

Then Shadow's voice echoed off of the walls and Amy felt goosebumps erupting over her skin.

"Once, there was a little girl who always dreamed of being an ice skater."

He swung out to Amy's left and she followed his path as he started doing small bunny hop twirls around the room. She folded her hands over her pounding heart as Shadow continued his story.

"But she was also very ill, and her disease left her very fragile. Her grandfather wouldn't allow her to skate on her own."

He drew closer to Amy then veered off just before he got to her, making Amy gasp, then laugh at her own folly. The breeze fluttered the skirt of her dress as Shadow did three larger jumps while twirling in quick succession around the room then veered towards her again.

"So she decided to teach her very best friend how to skate."

Now he was skating a circular flower pattern around Amy, closer and closer with every pass and now Amy was giggling wildly at just how beautiful the show was. Now Amy was following in rapt attention, completely oblivious to the darkness around her.

"They practiced every day and it wasn't long before they were tearing through the Ark at breakneck speeds. Practicing every trick they could get their hands on."

Shadow moved away from Amy, picking up speed then doing a triple flip through the room and landing gracefully on one foot to glide his way back to Amy. Amy applauded his talent, cheering gleefully at his display. Amy's heart skipped a beat when she caught the look on Shadow's face illuminated by the flash of his skates.

It was a determined look, one that begged a favor. She wasn't sure what.

She quickly got her answer when he held his hands out to her.

"And on the days her illness left her too weak to stand…"

Amy's smile practically lit up the room. She needed no further invitation.

She leapt into his arms. This time Shadow caught her with little effort, letting the room spin with the force of her embrace. She squealed in delight as they flew around the room, her arms now comfortably around his shoulders. This was so like being in Sonic's arms, but rather than the near crushing hold Sonic usually had on her, Shadow held her so gently, it felt as though she were the one sailing around the room so smoothly.

"Let me know if I need to slow down," Shadow teased in her ear.

Amy blushed in spite of herself then laughed brashly, "Not a chance, buster!"

She could hear the smirk in his voice, "You asked for it."

Shadow tossed her in the air and she cackled madly as she spun in her own dance. She closed her eyes and imagined the stars in space looking down at their happiness and felt her soul both wildly free and eternally at peace. Not a drop of fear was left in her heart as Shadow caught her just when she knew he would. Out of the room and down a series of corridors they flew, leaving Amy feeling like they were on a rollercoaster. She had no idea where they were going but by now she trusted Shadow so implicitly that she knew they would be just fine wherever they went.

Her heart never lied to her, and before long she could see a dusty light at the end of the tunnel. They shot out into a sunset brushed meadow full to the brim with wildflowers. Shadow's gliding slowed ever so slightly, but to Amy's relief, he didn't seem ready to stop. She reached out to touch the tips of the flowers, revelling in the gentle brush of their petals and the teasing resistance of the wind through her hair.

They drifted this way through the meadow together until sunset turned into dusk. As the light faded around them, Shadow did one last dazzling twirl for Amy before setting her gently as a zephyr on her feet. Amy practically sank into the flowers with a euphoric chuckle. Shadow sank down beside her, not entirely on his back but sitting just to her right. She could feel his eyes on her, but she watched the stars blink into existence with great determination.

Amy knew he wanted to ask her something, or maybe he was hoping she would ask him instead? She wasn't sure what the question was but…

"No," she smiled, "Not yet. Soon though. I hope."

Instead she turned to him and asked, "Will you teach me to skate?"

Shadow raised a brow at her, "You don't know how? You could have fooled me…"

"Please!" Amy begged, "I never got to learn! This way I can skate with you again! I don't want to have to be held like a baby the whole time, you know!"

Now Shadow gave a full bellied laugh. To untrained ears, it sounded like an evil cackle. To Amy, it sounded like the most honest sound in the world.

"Very well," he agreed, "We can find you a pair together, then start the next day."

Amy shot up and threw her arms around him. This time, rather than just a bone-crushing hug, Amy pressed her lips chastely against his cheek and proclaimed, "Thanks Shadow! I won't let you down!"

Shadow froze but gave a low chuckle in time, "You never have."