Hi, guys! Sorry for the delay, but being in college and dealing with more work and stress left me little time to actually write out the next chapter. Plus, I've had writer's block for awhile and wasn't sure what I wanted to write for this chapter. But! The muse came back to me, and thus, this chapter was born!

Anyways, thanks so much for all the views, follows, favorites, and continued interest and support. I'm very proud of this story, and I'm glad others are noticing it too. Thank you guys so much for the love and encouragement, and thanks TheDivines, Thunder Croft, XxCrimsonShadowxX, and jazzybizzle for reviewing the last chapter. And thanks to everyone else for their kind and wonderful reviews! I appreciate them all, and I'm thankful for them :)

32. Remorse

Rouge's heart hurt; she could feel it thudding painfully against her chest. She couldn't believe Shadow was gone. One of her nearest and dearest friends, the one whom she loved like a brother, was dead. Her mind was having trouble wrapping itself around such a foreign, yet familiar concept as death, namely with it being associated with him.

He was Shadow the Hedgehog. He was the Ultimate Lifeform. Him dying, him being dead, it hurt. His death, while heroic, affected all of them greatly, but none of them came close to feeling the pain and loss Sally must've been experiencing.

When Sally found out that Shadow was no more, it was like she had an emotional breakdown. Her screams of anguish and her tears of sorrow had pierced all of their hearts; she had such an empty and desolate look on her face, and sadness came off of her in waves. When they tried to console her, she screamed for them to leave her alone and she fled the scene, her feet carrying her home.

Sonic wanted to run after her and was about to do so, but Rouge had stopped him, insisting that she would go after her to make sure she was alright. So, Rouge flew to Sally's house; once she was inside, her sensitive ears easily picked up on Sally's cries.

Quietly, Rouge walked down the hall that led to Sally's room and softly knocked on the door.

"Hon, it's Rouge. May I come in?" When she got no response, save for a muffled sob, she turned the knob and opened the door, softly shutting it behind her once she was inside.

Rouge's teal eyes searched for Sally, and when they found her, she could feel her heart clench tighter inside her chest. Sally's body was slumped over, her normally vibrant and neat hair a dull, tangled mess of limp knots. Rouge looked so torn, and she longed to offer her some soothing words of comfort, but a lump seemed to have firmly lodged itself in her throat, hindering her from speaking.

The silence that hung in the air seemed heavy, unyielding, and absolute.

"I killed him," Sally finally said, her voice hoarse and flat. She looked up and met Rouge's concerned gaze, and her eyes were wet from tears and filled with a sadness so deep and endless that it seemed that she'd never know happiness again. Her engagement ring glistened in the sunlight that poured through the glass windowpanes.

Rouge opened her mouth to argue against such a bold, ludicrous declaration, but Sally held up her hand, effectively ceasing any words that would've poured out of her mouth.

"Don't deny it, Rouge! Spare my feelings, okay? I'm the reason Shadow's dead!" Her voice increased in volume until she was shouting, her previously dull eyes now ablaze with fiery life. "I was the dumbass who insisted on coming with you, him, and Omega on that mission G.U.N. assigned you!"

"God, I should've listened to him. Why didn't I listen to him!? He told me how dangerous it was, he pleaded with me to stay here where it was safe, that Team Dark could handle it. But I didn't listen, and if I did, he'd still be here with us, with me now. That sword-wielding Eggbot wouldn't have attacked me and Shadow wouldn't have had to shield me and been pierced through the heart by that sword."

Sally took deep, shuddering breaths, willing herself to calm down. Why did losing him have to hurt so damn much!? It felt like there was a gruesome wound slashed across her heart that refused to heal itself, preferring to bleed itself away. She wasn't aware that she was crying again until she felt gloved hands wiping away her tears.

She didn't resist when Rouge tugged into a comforting embrace, patting her back and rocking her back and forth to try to calm her down. She didn't push her away because they had both lost someone of equal importance to them. Shadow was like brother to Rouge and considered her a "troublesome older sister" (his words, not hers). They looked out for each other and fought valiantly on the same team.

Rouge was probably one of the first people that Shadow trusted. They always had each other's backs, and it just occurred to Sally that Rouge blamed herself for his death as much as she did.

"I'm so sorry, Rouge. I didn't realize you were hurting too," said Sally, returning the treasure huntress's hug, offering her some comfort of her own. "I know how close you were to him; you were one of his first friends, y'know? If you didn't shoved us inside of Amy's hallway closet, locked us inside, and refused to let us out until we were friends, we probably wouldn't have gotten together," Sally joked, laughing softly.

Rouge let loose a few chuckles of her own, one gloved hand coming up to bat away her own tears.

"Well, someone had to keep you two from clawing out each other's throats. Shadow didn't want you on the team because he felt that because you were a princess, you'd be nothing more than a weak link and that everyone would spend more them defending you than fighting off the bad guys. Then you, in your ever increasing anger, said that at least you weren't some lab experiment gone wrong and a freak of nature."

"Obviously not appreciating the insult, Shadow had asked you how did it feel to lose Big Blue to Pinky and then, to add more salt on an already open wound, said that you were nothing more than some weak, insignificant waste of his time and that Cream could fight better than you."

"And that's when I punched him in his smug, handsome face, effectively wiping that irresistible, sexy, smug grin off of his very handsome face and told him that the next time he said something like that to me, I was going to castrate him and use his balls as Christmas ornaments and decorate my Christmas tree with them," Sally finished the story with a laugh, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

Rouge nodded her head, a wide grin on her face as she vividly recalled the whole incident. Before Shadow had a chance to retaliate, though he wouldn't because he was too stunned and impressed by her boldness to lay a finger on her, Rouge had dragged them by their ears out of the living room and into the hallway, shoved them inside of one of the hallway closets, locked it and said they were going to stay there until they kissed and made up.

Three hours later, Rouge had went to check up on them to make sure they didn't kill each other and when she opened the door, she had found them in the middle of "kissing and making up". The image of Shadow pressing Sally against the wall, their lips locked in a fierce kiss as one of Shadow's hands went under her shirt was something Rouge needed to stumble across.

"Yeah, and then I saw something I really didn't need to see," said Rouge, making fake gagging noises, a disgruntled look on her face. Sally blushed, but shrugged her shoulders.

"We were stuck in a closet, a very small closet that wasn't very big one space, mind you, for three whole hours. What were we supposed to do? Talk? Well, we did that at first, after we had apologized to each other. Then we actually had a great conversation and actually had quite a bit in common. One thing led to another and, well, you saw what it led to so."

Sally grinned at the horrorstricken look on her friend's face and burst out into genuine laughter. It was like the ache in her chest lessened until it didn't bother her so much anymore. Once she had her fill of laughter, she smiled, giving Rouge a grateful hug.

"Talking to you made the ache lessen. Thanks for coming after me and making sure I was alright, and thanks for making me feel better. It still hurts, but I know I can bear it and get over it in time." Rouge waved her off, giving her a lazy smile.

"It's no problem, hon. It's what I do. Now, why don't we go out and do something? Ooh, I know! Let's go get makeovers because, no offense hon, you look like utter shit," Rouge suggested, a familiar gleam in her eyes as she dragged Sally against her will, ignoring her protests.

I love you, Sally. Take care of yourself, okay? I'm always watching over you, and whenever you miss me, just think about me; I'll always be in your heart, and you'll be in my heart. Always. Sally could feel Shadow's presence, though he wasn't physically there. She could feel the love he has for her in her heart, and she knew she'd be okay.

After all, she had a badass guardian angel watching out for her, and she'd meet said guardian angel when again someday and that he'd be right there waiting for her, arms wide open and crimson eyes filled to the brim with the love he felt for her.