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Ok, more weirdness, pain, and angst... Poor Shadow...
This is probably one of the weirdest romances on ff.net. The cool thing about it is, my friend Rock-Chick loves it! She's addicted to it, and is planning on writing an A.U. You should check out her fics as well, and her comics(she's working on a fan-continuation of Egmont/Fleetway's 'Sonic the Comic'). Just go to Http://www.crosswinds.net/~stc2/. She and I are currently working on a joint-comic, Rebirth.
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***
...Say something, you fake hedgehog!
Chaos control!
!!!
What?
Everything is dark... Wasn't I fighting Sonic..?
...Now I remember... I fell... I fell from ARK... Maria...
...Shadow...
What?
...Shadow...
Maria?
...Shadow... it's me...
"Maria!"
I reach out, but it hurts...
"Maria?"
"No," a familliar voice says, "Pyjamas"
She takes my hand, and touches it to her face... her soft, round face...
"It's ok," she says, "I'm here. Just relax while I fix you something"
Where am I? Why is she doing this, when she doesn't even know me...?
I'm picked up again, carried in my rescuer's arms. She sets me down on something dry and soft, and covers me with something warm. I can hear something boiling, and smell... broth...
I'm hungry...
Right now, she's in another room, probably the room I was in...
...Whatever I'm laying on isn't damp and doesn't smell like alcohol... I like it... I run my fingers on its surface and it feels like the fur on my chest... at least what it felt like before...
"This is gonna hurt now. I'm sorry," Pyjamas says.
"Urggh! Hurts..."
"I know, Shadow, I know it hurts"
I wince in pain and protest as she removes my bandages again. I'm gripping whatever she laid me on, tearing at it because of the pain...
I'm naked again... burnt flesh exposed to the open air... and I smell the alcohol... no... please no...
Pyjamas takes my hands and touches them to something soft... soft skin around hard bone... her arms...
...?
"Now hold on tight," she says, "This is going to hurt"
Great burning pain! Stinging, searing, awful pain!
I grip her arms as tight as I can, and can hear her moaning in pain... I'm hurting her... but I can't stop because of the pain...
The searing, burning liquid is poured over my exposed body... my face... everywhere where I was burned... it hurts so bad... please stop...
{I can't... you could get gangrene...}
A flash... I see... no... my... body???
It is... covered in lesions... great angry red lesions...
It goes away... yanked away... I could feel it... did Pyjamas...?
...?
Do I really look like that??? No! I should have died! I SHOULD HAVE DIED!!! PLEASE KILL ME SO I WON'T HAVE TO LIVE LIKE THIS!!! I DON'T WANT TO LIVE BLIND AND DISFIGURED!!!
{NO! I won't kill you... you don't deserve to die... you haven't even begun to live!}
"AND HOW WILL I LIVE BLIND AND UGLY?!?! AND USELESS!!! I'M USELESS!!!" I scream, by now not caring about the stinging alcohol.
"Please don't do this! You're weak!" Pyjamas says.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!! LET ME DIE!!! JUST LET ME DIE!!!" I tell her, but she doesn't... she just takes my hands and holds tightly... somehow I am relieved... but why...?
"Please rest... I know how you feel... I'm psychic, you know," she says.
Then, I see something... G.U.N. soldiars! They're after me! They're very close!
Another flash... strange... psychic-flashes... visions... the future???
WE HAVE TO GET AWAY!!! THEY'RE GONNA KILL US!!! RUN!!! MARIA!!!!!!!!
...?
What?
No....
Maria's dead... she died fifty years ago...
"Maria..." I sob, a pathetic sound...
I can hear Pyjamas weeping, feel her stroking my hands... touching them to her lips, kissing them, just barely brushing them... an angel's soft touch... Maria... my only friend... told me what a kiss was...
NO! I DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER THAT!!! IT'S TOO PAINFUL!!!
The alarms... soldiars... weapons discharging...
WHY DID THEY DO THIS??? WHAT DID I EVER DO TO THEM??? I HATE THEM!!! THEY KILLED MARIA!!!
A kiss... on my hand, a touch to her face.... her lips touch my hand... supposed to make it better... a kiss makes it better... but how...?
A flash... a memory... kissing a wound makes it better... scraped-knee... bump on the head...
I relax... slowly pull one of my hands away... she doesn't stop me, though I can feel the muscles in her hands tense... I reach for her hands and hold them, stroke the soft, loose skin... feel the spark it gives... strange... not a physical spark, like electricity... yet so similar... magic?
Magic like the rabbit in the hat?
Maria showed me this 'magic'... Maria...
***
I'm bandaged again... bandaged, so my senses are dulled... good and bad...
And I itch... can't scratch... don't want it to hurt...
A cup is brought to my lips again... I don't know how long I've been here, but it has been quite awhile... I'm used to this... my head propped-up by a gentle hand, while the other feeds me, wipes my mouth, gives me water... with a spoon?
This isn't water... it has a bitter flavor... bitter, yet pleasent... and I can hear her blowing on it before she feeds it to me...
"You like it?" Pyjamas asks.
I nod.
"It's tea," she says.
Tea... medicine for burns...?
...Supposed to make me feel better... but how...?
Then she stops using the spoon, and brings the cup to my lips. I drink the tea, which is warm... was it hot before...? Why?
"Pyjamas..." I croak, "... I'm ugly... why do you..."
I can feel her wrapping her arms around me... even through the bandages.... she holds me... like a child...?
Holds my head against her shoulder... I can feel it... and I can hear her heart beating, feel her strong arms through the bandages...
I weep... for Maria... and myself...
Maria...
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No, I do not plan on giving Shadow his sight back. That's not what this story's about. I'm focusing on healing the heart, rather than the body. I think Shadow deserved better, and I'm writing a storyline where he finds joy, where he learns to love again. What can I say? I'm just a hopeless romantic...
And yes, I was raised on those Hallmark movies. They're actually very good, my favorites being "A little Piece of Heaven" and another one(which I didn't catch the title to) about a nun who eventually gave up her favorite fir tree so it could be used as a Christmas tree. Very cute movie.
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