Though happy to have been recognized for his heroic actions during the hostage crisis, there was still something that was yet to be resolved in Shadow's mind, so he went to Rouge's bedroom in her mansion and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" said Rouge.

Shadow entered Rouge's bedroom and found her sitting in a vintage leather armchair in one corner, working on her Dell Precision 5750 laptop.

"Well, hello Shaddy!" Rouge set her laptop aside and got out of her chair. "How's my little hero doing today?"

Shadow put a fist on his hip. "All things considered, I feel better than I ever have. How about you?"

Rouge frowned. "I'm not gonna lie; being kidnapped by terrorists was pretty nail-biting. Still, I'm grateful that you, Sonic and Espio saved the day like that." Rouge's smile returned.

"While I appreciate your gratefulness, and while I don't expect you to get over the trauma overnight, that's not what I came to talk to you about."

Rouge raised her eyebrows slightly and had a more serious look on her face again. "Oh?"

"I came to apologize."

"For what?"

"For fighting with Sonic that month before the Olympics and for making Tails cry. Actually, I'm not sure you're the right person to apologize to for that second one, but…"

Rouge's smile returned again. "But you felt really guilty about it and figured that you should make it up to your favorite person in the whole world, right?"

Shadow crossed his arms. "In the past, I would've yelled at you for daring to come to that conclusion, but having smoothed out my rougher edges, I concede to you in this case."

"Shaddy, it's OK to feel guilty about it! That's part of being a person! Besides, the fact that you saved people's lives more than made up for it!"

Shadow loosened his stance and raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Really!"

Shadow was at a loss for words at this point. Nevertheless, he did what he felt was best in this situation…

He cried and hugged Rouge.

Despite an initial wave of shock, Rouge was more than happy to hold Shadow in her arms and give him the comfort he so desperately needed. Though the hurt from knowing how sad he got never lessened, neither did the satisfaction she got from being there for him whenever he needed a hug. She knew he was a good person and deserved a better lot in life, which was also why she'd offered to board him at her mansion in the first place.

"You're allowed to cry, you know. You're my little Shaddy baby, and you always will be."

Taking comfort in Rouge's words and her touch, Shadow continued to cry. After all these months of feeling so lonely and messed up inside, it felt so liberating knowing that he had at least two people in his corner who would give him the love and caring he so desperately clamored for. He was especially grateful for Rouge, because even if she couldn't completely replace Maria, she really was still his favorite person in the whole world. It was such an honor for him to be "her little Shaddy baby", and he wouldn't let anybody take that away from either of them. Even after he stopped crying, Shadow kept holding onto Rouge. Then, she scratched him in front of his ear.

In this moment, Shadow began purring. No matter how much of a hardass he fancied himself to be, he just melted whenever Rouge did this to him. He tightened his grip on her a little. Even if he still had tears in his eyes, they were tears of joy, knowing that his favorite person in the world cared about him enough to do this for him. In contrast to how he'd felt before the Olympics, he felt completely relaxed and mellow, as if he were on a soft, fluffy cloud. Even if he didn't consider Rouge his girlfriend, Shadow just couldn't get enough of her motherly attitude or her voluptuous curves. Thus, he kept holding on to her until he'd had his fill of her touch.

"Feeling better, Shaddy?"

Shadow smiled. "Very much! Thank you again, Rouge!"

"You're welcome! Here…"

Rouge pulled out a pack of Kleenexes from her cleavage and handed it to Shadow, who wasted no time in blowing his nose.

"Shaddy, I'll always be proud of you! You know that, right?"

Shadow nodded. "Of course, and I love you very much. Er…not like that, but…"

"Oh Shaddy, you're so sweet! I love you very much, too!"

"Now before I cry anymore, I'd like a glass of warm milk, please."

"Of course! Anything for my favorite person ever!"

After having a glass of warm milk to soothe his nerves, Shadow left Rouge's mansion and travelled across the Kingdom of Mobius, and after he made it through the Badlands, he ended up at Sonic and Tails' cabin, and he wasted no time in knocking on the door.

"Hey, glad to see ya, Shaddy!"

"Likewise, my dear Sonny!"

Sonic and Shadow gave each other a big hug and kiss.

"So, what brings ya here, babe?" asked Sonic.

"First of all, I wanted to ask how Knuckles is doing."

"He's doin' all right. He may not be able to use his arm for a while, but other than that, he's alive, ya know?"

"Good to hear. More importantly, I'm here to see Tails. Where is he?"

"He's in the garage. Why?"

Shadow lost his smile. "If you must know, I have to apologize to him for making him cry that day. I feel really bad about it, and I can't help but think about how sad I'd be if somebody made Rouge cry like that."

"Wow…that's…that's really sweet of ya!"

Sonic gave Shadow a big hug, which the latter gratefully returned.

"If you'll excuse me, I can't delay any further," said Shadow.

Sonic let go of Shadow. "All right, I won't keep ya! Nice seein' ya again!"

Shadow nodded. "Nice seeing you, too!"

Shadow turned and headed for the garage. The closer he got to the garage, the more his smile faded away. He prayed that Tails wouldn't run away from him on sight. Nevertheless, he kept as much confidence about him as he possibly could, marched to the side door and knocked on it. After he'd hummed "The Trooper" to himself for a few seconds, Tails came to the door. However, he gasped and shrank away upon seeing Shadow.

"It's all right, Tails." Shadow put his hands in front of him, palms forward. "I'm not here to hurt you."

Tails shivered a bit. "W-w-what do you want, Sh-Shadow?"

"Please, take a deep breath and I'll explain."

Tails slowly took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. In doing so, his fear of Shadow lessened, and it lessened some more with successive breaths. Shadow then lowered his hands.

"Well?" said Tails.

"I came here to apologize."

"Oh? For what?"

"For threatening to drop you that month before the Olympics. I only wanted that information so I could impress Sonic, but now I realize that was wrong of me to obtain such information that way, and I feel extremely ashamed of myself. If there's anything you expect in return, please tell me and I'll gladly do it. All I ask is your forgiveness."

Tails stared at Shadow briefly. Then, he smiled.

"Shadow, I don't want anything in return! Saving my life and Sonic's from those terrorists was really awesome of you! Of course I forgive you!"

Shadow smiled. "Thank you, Tails. Now then, bring it on in!"

Shadow gave Tails a big hug. Though he gasped and blushed at such a gesture, Tails nevertheless returned the hug. With this gesture, Shadow felt as though the liberation of his soul from the darkness that had polluted his psyche for much of his life was now complete. That, and he understood why Sonic enjoyed being with the little fox so much. As for Tails, knowing that Shadow was no longer angry at him or Sonic made him feel good. Then again, the whole chest fur thing helped, too. He hoped that Shadow and Sonic lived happily ever after. Eventually, Shadow let go of Tails.

"Shadow, you didn't have to do that, but…"

"But what? I didn't mean any harm by that; I just wanted to thank you and Sonic for being such good people!"

Tails smiled. "Oh…heh heh…you're welcome! By the way, I now understand why you're so popular with the ladies!"

Shadow giggled. "Oh Tails, you're too funny! But enough messing around, I must go. I wish all the best for you and Sonic!"

"Bye Shadow! I wish the same for you and Rouge!"

Shadow exited the garage and closed the door behind him. Rather than going straight back to Rouge's mansion, he went down to the nearby shore of Azure Lake, looked up at the sky and spread his arms wide, still smiling.

(Maria, thank you. Because of our promise, I feel like the world's a much better place.)

Shadow shed a few tears. Again, these were tears of joy, knowing that the future actually held new possibilities rather than sadness and cynicism.

THIS FANFIC IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE ELEVEN ISRAELIS AND ONE GERMAN WHO NEVER CAME HOME 9/6/1972 - NEVER FORGET.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.