He dreamed of Maria. Not the Maria that recently came back, but the Maria that he knew and loved. The Maria from the space colony Ark. He dreamed of the days they looked out of the window down at Earth, and listened to her dreams of one day being able to live on the floating rock. He dreamed of her big hopeful eyes as she told him the different types of flowers and insects she wanted to touch, and wanted to taste ice cream. He never understood her fascination with the planet, but he could listen to her for hours. Their countless days playing hide and seek in the metal corridors of the colony, their thousands of laboratory testing on both of them, and the countless nights of her reading books written by Earthlings flooded his mind. He missed the days where he was young and full of energy to keep up with her, and it was nice to see the old Maria staring back at him for once. It left an ache in his heart for the home he once knew, and it stayed with him even after he woke up on the couch.

He sat up on the couch to adjust being awake, and was thankful he wasn't hungover. Usually, he gets drunk enough to feel like shit in the morning, but Amy kept him in line and she didn't even try to. Memories of the night before made him smile softly at himself; he couldn't believe he let her stay the night. He was the type to ignore everyone, and if he couldn't, he left as soon as possible and left everyone behind. Not even the blue blur knew where he lived, and he spent so long trying to keep it that way, all to throw it all away for some woman he barely knew. Damn, he was getting soft. He stood up and stretched, wincing at his sore muscles from sleeping in one position all night. He rubbed his ribs, trying to relax the muscles to no avail. He huffed in annoyance and made his way to the kitchen to put on some coffee. He never drank it unless he drank the night before, which meant he was drinking it much more often now. He should probably work on that.

Within moments of starting the carafe the house became very fragrant of striking smell of black coffee. He used to hate the smell, but now he didn't mind it. While his beverage brewed, he opened his fridge to find something to eat for breakfast. He wasn't much of a cook, but Amy needed something to eat before leaving to go home. He had all kinds of fruit and breakfast foods, but decided on eggs and pancakes.

Amy must have smelled the coffee because she wandered in the kitchen smiling. Her once silky pink quills were in complete disarray, and there were red marks on her face from how hard she slept on the sheets. She was still in nothing but the shirt, but Shadow tried not to make a big deal about it as not to embarrass her or hurt her feelings. Instead, he just focused on making breakfast. She walked up behind him, completely comfortable being this open and vulnerable with him, and hugged him from behind. He stiffened up at her touch, which made her giggle and pull away from him again. She was still warm from sleep, which felt nice compared to the scratchy blanket he had the night before.

"That smells amazing, thank you for making coffee. You're a life saver!"

He noticed that her sleepy voice was cute, and it made him smile as he glanced back at her to acknowledge her thanks. "No problem. I don't have cream or sugar though."

She groaned dramatically and opened his fridge, thanking God that there was milk. "What are you making?"

"Pancakes, and eggs."

"Stop it right now!" Her sudden voice caused him to freeze, and she yanked the whisk from his hands, "Let me make you breakfast. It's the least I can do."

Relieved that she wasn't angry, Shadow reluctantly handed over the kitchen to her. To return the favor he poured the beautiful woman a cup of coffee with milk, and poured him a cup of black coffee. He placed the cup on the counter next to her work space, and backed off. She seemed like the type to not try to piss off before the morning coffee. Or, he assumed that was a real thing, he didn't have a woman in his life to confirm it. He had Rouge on occasion, but she was more of a man than a woman in her mentality. She didn't understand the musings of woman any more than he did, and he eventually gave up trying to ask her.

He held the mug in his hand, enjoying the warmth as he leaned back against the counter to watch Amy make breakfast. She moved with grace and intention, like she's done this a million times before. Every movement looked effortless, like she was on autopilot. There was something beautiful about the way she moved, she exuberated grace and elegance. It was nothing like he had ever seen. Well, tipsy Amy was nothing like he had ever seen either. Not in a bad way, he actually had fun for the first time in a while. Although being her presence was temporary, he was happy to be a part of it, for however long it lasted. If this was the last time he ever saw her, he was happy for the time he had with her. She gave him a new perspective on what it was like to connect with another person. Taking care of her and her sleeping at his house was a form of intimacy he wasn't used to, and even though nothing happened, he was thankful to her for the new experience. It made relationships with other people seem less scary than he remembered.

The coffee warmed his chest as he drank it, and once Amy was finished with breakfast, they made their way to the dining table and sat down to eat. Amy scrunched her nose up at her coffee with milk, but drank it anyway. The food was great, much better than he could do with the same ingredients. Made with love, more than likely, something he would probably never have in his lifetime. Maria was so excited to explore the world that she dreamed of for so long, that her love was poured in her journey. All of it, and that left nothing to pour into other things, like him, or...cooking. Which, to clarify, he didn't expect her to cook at all, it was just nice to have someone to put that much effort into something he could enjoy, even for a moment. Just thinking about her left his heart aching for her, for the Maria that died all those years ago. He held absolutely no resentment to the beautiful woman, but the love they shared was long gone, and so was she.

"Oh my god that's so good!"

Amy exclaimed, her eyes rolling back dramatically as she took a bite of pancakes.

This made Shadow snicker a bit as he ate like a civilized person, watching her. "I agree, these are definitely next level pancakes."

Amy rolled her eyes at his amusement, and quickly ate another bite as if she's never eaten before. Her whole face lit up and her cheeks flushed a light pink in her happiness at the breakfast she made. "I'm a damn good cook, you lucked out today Shadow, you'll never find a better chef than me!"

Although he knew she was just being dramatic in good fun, he had to hand it to her, she definitely knew what she was doing. He always imagined life like this with Maria, sweet conversations over food and spending time together and building a life. Amy would only be in his home for a little while longer, so he was happy to have a taste of what that would have been. He sipped his coffee, enjoying the warmth trickling down his throat and warming his stomach.

"I've got to hand it to you Princess, you did good. Too bad you can't do this for me more often."

He meant it as a joke, a subtle reference the tipsy woman from the night before, but the fond smile of endearment that stretched over her face showed him that it was much more than that.

"Oh stop it! Don't hype me up too much you know I'm a sucker for that stuff..."

She blushed as she said it, and hide her smile behind her mug as she sipped on her coffee. It made him feel something in his chest that he hasn't felt in a long time. Her sweet face staring back at him warmed his heart.

"No I mean it. You should teach me so I can eat like this more often. It's nice to eat good food once in a while, thank you for making me breakfast, Amy."

She beamed at him, and nudged his arm in a silent protest. "Princess."

"Hmm?"

He was confused by what she meant, so he paused his fork by his mouth and stared at her.

"Princess. You're supposed to call me...princess..."

She blushed more as she spoke, if that was even possible, and this made Shadow smile softly before shoving the fork in his mouth to finish his bite. "Oh, right. Forgive me, princess."

He chuckled as she nodded in satisfaction before turning to her food again; she danced a little in her chair, it was obvious she was enjoying it. It was...sweet, watching her. She was fulfilled by the smaller things in life, and it was almost inspiring. He's seen the world and everything it had to offer, it left him dark and left no faith in humanity. It reminded him of something Dr. Robotnik said to him once:

You're either smart enough to know you're miserable, or ignorant enough to think life is worth something. You and me Shadow, we are stuck knowing the truth. It's a tough burden to carry, but it's ours.

At the time, he had no idea what the asshole meant, but the more he learned about people and how the world worked, it made more sense. Realizing how bleak the world was hardened his heart, and he never gave anyone a chance to break it. Except Maria, the only person he ever trusted, and she left it at her heels as she walked out the door. He hoped she was okay, wherever she was.

"Shadow? Are you okay?"

The pink hedgehog's snapping fingers brought him back to reality, and he panicked for a second realizing that he had no idea what she had said. He cleared his throat and tried to think of something, but Amy giggled at him. He was caught, no way around him. He chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"S...Sorry."

She took a sip of her coffee, scrunched her nose up at it, and turned back to him. "It's hard to enjoy things when they're gone, isn't it?"

It blew him away that she knew exactly what he was thinking about, and it was oddly comforting to have someone that understood. After all, her boyfriend of five years left to explore the world with someone else, just as Maria had. Both of them had been left in the dust with no other choice but to pick up the pieces and keep going. He took a deep, calculated breath and just helplessly looked at her.

"It's not that...It's just...Maria and I had dreams of...this. Sort of. We wanted a quiet life together, eating breakfast like this just reminds me what was meant to be," he explained, surprised by his voice shaking, "I mean, it's so nice to actually do the things we talked about doing, even if she isn't here. You know? It's nice to be here with you, just eating breakfast."

He hoped that he got his point across. Her eyes were filled with a profound sadness. No, not sadness, was that... grief? She nodded at him in full understanding, and reached across their plates and placed her small slender hand over his. The touch shot warmth all throughout his body, and for once, he embraced the connection and smiled softly at her.

"It's nice to be here too, Shadow. We aren't so different; Sonic promised me a quiet life too, and that quiet life turned to a woman named Sally. It's weird, to grieve someone who isn't dead, isn't it?"

Her question was rhetorical, so instead Shadow just smiled and placed his free hand over hers. Him returning her touch made her falter in amazement for a moment, before embracing it and smiling warmly at him. She needed this as much as he did; to sit down and be...normal, for a change. They sat in comfortable silence with their hands like that for a few moments, basking in the feeling of mutual understanding and affection. He knew that this wasn't an invitation for a kiss or anything more, and he could see Amy relieved that she could be herself and show affection without it escalating into something more. It made him wonder if Sonic ever respected the beautiful woman's boundaries in their relationship, and it broke his heart knowing that he probably didn't. He wasn't inherently a bad guy, but he just had no regard for others. Rouge once called it 'main character syndrome,' whatever that means.

After a few moments Amy gently removed her hand from his and started cleaning up their forgotten food. She was quiet, but Shadow didn't mind because her words sat with him. Grieving someone who wasn't dead. It explained everything he felt so simply, it almost felt stupid for not putting it in words before. It made him worry about the pink hedgehog in his kitchen; she was so full of life and she had to carry all this baggage with her wherever she went when she should be able to run headfirst into anything she wanted to. It was heartbreaking. It surprised him to even care about how show felt, it was a blaring sign that he was changing. He didn't know how to feel about that.

He was waiting for her to return, but after a few moments in the kitchen he heard the sink start. Confused, he made his way into the kitchen and found her humming softly to herself and washing the dishes from their breakfast. Why was she doing that? She didn't have to do that. He reached around her, careful to not brush his hand across her body that was only covered up by the thin fabric of his shirt, and turned the water off. Amy was startled by him standing there and gave him a confused look; he returned that look back to her.

"What are you doing?"

The answer was obvious, but they both ignored that.

"It's the least I can do! You took care of me, let me wash your stupid dishes"

She waved him off, turning back to the sink and resuming her task.

He wanted to argue, but he saw how much it meant to her to do something so simple, so he just sighed in defeat and backed off of her. He went back to the table to pick up his coffee mug to give it to her, trying not to think about how warm she was when he was close to her. It sent a shiver down his spine. He missed those nights he spent curled up with Maria, not knowing he was on borrowed time. He promised himself not to care about anyone else again, but he wouldn't mind sharing a bed with Amy. Even if it was just them huddled together to watch a movie. Get a grip, you miserable fuck. It was one night in a bar, stop overreacting.

He made sure to keep his distance when he gave her the empty coffee mug, and sauntered into his room looking for some fresh clothes. He was going to need a shower, he smelled musty thanks to the blanket he pulled from his closet the night before. Going through his drawers, he settled on simple pants, a plain white t-shirt, and a black pullover hoodie. Rouge begs him not to wear black because it 'makes him look naked', but he was comfortable in black. The white shirt under the hoodie should show that he's clothed, and that was enough for him. He took his clothes into the bathroom and placed them on the counter and turned on the water to warm up. He pulled a towel from the towel closet next to the shower and placed it on the counter next to his clothes. He couldn't wait to just stand under the hot water and wash off the weird feeling that blanket left on his body.

Right as he was about to undress and get in the shower, there was a soft knock on his bathroom door. If he wasn't standing close to it, he probably wouldn't have heard it. He hesitantly opened the door and his crimson eyes were met with sparkling green.

She gave him a brilliant smile. "Thanks for everything, Shadow. I had a great time. I'm going to get dressed and head home, Tails is coming for Sonic's stuff in a while..."

He didn't want to admit it, but it hurt to think she was leaving. Her company was wonderful in his home, it's going to be so empty when she leaves. He wasn't ready to say goodbye just yet.

"Do you want some company? You don't have to do this alone, you know."

"That's...sweet Shadow, but I'll be alright," she smiled softly to ease his worries but he didn't believe it, "Tails and I are still good friends. He's pissed at Sonic but that's his brother, you know?"

He didn't know what to say to that, and was grateful when she pulled out her phone to check something. He worried about her, but he had no choice but to respect her wishes. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly through his nose to ignore the urge to give her a kiss goodbye. He hadn't wanted romantic connection with anyone in a long time, and this sudden urge to kiss her alarmed him. Maybe it really was best if she left and he didn't see her again, it would save them both some trouble in the end. Amy locked her phone and tapped it against her palm awkwardly as she tried to find the right words.

"Thank you for caring...but I'll be okay. This has been fun, thank you for giving me such a great night. Until next time."

It was hard for her to say goodbye. He understood. "Until next time...princess."

She lit up at the stupid nickname for her, and waved awkwardly as she turned on her heels and started gathering her things to get dressed and leave. He wanted to give her privacy so he turned back into the bathroom and closed the door. The bathroom was thick with steam and it was hard to breathe, but he couldn't wait until he could wash the day before down the drain.