Stay for Love
He was watching her. It seemed that all he did since they returned was watch her. If he wasn't watching her he was thinking about her. It was frustrating.
She was certainly interesting to watch. She was strange, she wasn't even originally from Mobius. Years ago the chaos energy had gone berserk and had torn the time/space continuum, bringing her through before it repaired itself. He had gotten this from her, Sonic, and the rest of the gang. It had happened before he was awakened.
She was an anthro, and she often said that she was strange even for her world. She was a half-breed. She had the graceful body of a cat with orange fur. She even had a rather cute kitty face, though the last one to point it out (Geoffrey, it had been) had hobbled away with many raking scratches and a black eye. Then she had five rather distinguishing characteristics that marked her as a half-breed, half dragon to be exact. The most prominent feature was her wings, purple pinions and blue inner membrane. The second feature was two small red horns that poked up through her hair. The third was the layer of purple scales that ran down the front of her legs. The forth was her tail, purple scaled with a row of red spikes. The last was her blue scaled ears.
Those ears were currently laid back as she contemplated the cards in her hand. A light breeze was playing with her hair. Her hair was another oddity. The right side grew out a light brown, but the left side grew out in different shades of purple. Antoine remained convinced that she dyed it.
"Full house," she suddenly declared, slapping her cards down onto the table. Her opponents, Geoffrey and Antoine, sighed and folded their cards. Shadow smiled. They had yet to beat her at a game of cards.
Shadow thought back to when he had first met Kim. They had been on opposite sides then, though he couldn't honestly admit to being on any particular side now. He was on his own side. They had first run into each other at Prison Island, and she had proceeded to chase him down. She was fast, determined, strong-willed, and persistent as hell. He couldn't help respecting her, even then.
She looked over at him then and ginned, and he temporarily lost his grip on reality before she turned and walked off. Probably back to her place to curl up and read he thought absently. He felt weird around her. At the same time wanting to protect her and let her fight on her own. Wanting to stay as close to her as possible and wanting to go as far away as he could. He was confused. He hated feeling confused. But he was too proud to ask for advice.
He sighed and walked off. He caught sight of Sonic and Sally cuddled together under a tree. He had a brief image of him and Kim there, sitting in the shade of a tree. He stopped the thought with a jolt. Why had he thought that?
He watched Sonic and Sally for a few moments more, unnoticed as they had eyes only for each other, before walking on. A few days before Sonic had described to Shadow how he felt about Sally. Or tried to anyway. Eventually he had settled for "It's the most wonderful feeling on earth. I think I might burst sometimes I'm so happy." Shadow had scoffed then, now he simply wondered.
He liked Kim no questions asked. They both stood out, they were both different, and they both had the ability to control the chaos emerald energy. He had been programmed to. A few years after she had arrived Robotnik had collected all seven chaos emeralds and harnessed their raw energy into a laser. Kim had been hit with a direct blast from the laser and in order to survive her body had absorbed the chaos energy. That was what had drawn him to her at first, the fact that they had that shared ability. But her control was erratic, having to fumble along on her own out figure out what to do. He had been programmed with that control, but she had no clear idea what she was doing. So he had taught her after he returned. He had taught her to do everything that he could do, and she it turn had taught him a few tricks that she had learned herself.
Shadow stopped walking. He found that he had wandered to Kim's home. He found himself suddenly angry. The dratted girl was stealing his peace of mind! But the anger faded as quickly as it had come. It certainly wasn't her fault. But why couldn't he get her out of his head? Maybe I should talk to Sonic he thought ruefully. I'm certainly not getting anywhere on my own. But Sonic was currently with Sally. He sighed. Then he remembered overhearing Sonic talking to Tails about Sally a while back.
"When she looks at me I feel all disoriented and my brain has less consistency than a cloud. You'd think that would be the most annoying thing in the world but I can't help feeling it's the greatest."
Thinking about it Shadow realized that he felt that way around Kim. He'd lose his focus and train of thought when she looked at him or smiled. No, he thought. I can't be. But somehow I think I do. I love her. The thought had his brain temporarily frozen with shock.
He chaos controlled himself up to her deck, looking in through the sliding glass door she had. Ordinarily Kim would have noticed, their last adventure had raised both their defenses to hyper-alert, but she lowered them inside Knothole. She was reading anyway. When she got caught up in a good book she might not notice if someone screamed in her ear.
She was stretched out on her couch, one foot idly waving back and forth, the sunlight shinning on her hair and turning the brown golden. She turned a page in her book and snuggled deeper into the couch.
He wanted to go in and talk to her, or just sit near her while she read. Wanted to so badly it was painful. He stood on the deck for a long time, fighting with himself about what to do. He wanted to tell her how he felt but didn't know how she would react. Half of him wanted to know if she saw him as more than a friend, but the other half was afraid to find out. He stood agonizing over it for a while longer, not noticing that her eyes stared at one spot in her book without moving, or that she hadn't turned a page for a long time. When he finally left, feeling miserable and defeated, she gave a disappointed, frustrated sigh and closed her book. She walked out onto the deck to stare sadly after Shadow's retreating form.
Shadow had made up his mind. He couldn't take this anymore. He was going to leave. He had nothing holding him here, it was time to be on his own again. He told himself he had nothing to stay for. Distracted by his thoughts he didn't realize that he was being followed. He was out of Knothole and in the surrounding forest when she announced her presence.
"You're leaving," It wasn't a question, and was said in a flat monotone. Shadow turned around, surprised that he had been followed and hadn't been aware of it. She was standing on the path behind him, arms at her sides, wings half open, face as expressionless as her voice. "Why?" She still kept her voice free of emotion.
"I have nothing to stay for," he said aloud.
She winced, as if his answer had hurt her, and asked with a slight crack in her voice, "nothing?" He simply turned and started walking again. She followed.
"But your home is in Knothole," she said.
"I don't have a home," he responded. Even to himself he sounded bitter.
"King Max-" she started.
He interrupted. "I'm not a citizen of Kingdom Acorn and I owe him nothing."
"What about Sonic and the gang then. Would you stay for friendship's sake?" She was almost pleading with him now.
"Friendship isn't a good enough reason to make me stay." He wished she would just go. Her pleading was driving sharp nails into his resolve. He had to fight to keep his throat from closing up. He was angrily blinking away tears. Why couldn't she just go?
She did stop then, and he heard her take a deep breath. She was gathering up every once of courage she had left to try one more thing. She called after him one last time in a voice cracked with repressed tears.
"What about love then? Would you stay for that?"
He froze, stunned, not quiet sure he had heard right. His ears were playing tricks on him, they had to be. He turned slowly to face her, disbelief on his face. "What?"
Her face crumpled and the tears she had managed to hold in check spilled from her eyes then. "Forget it." She choked out. "I-"
"No." He interrupted and began walking back towards her. "What did you say?"
She swallowed, hope in her eyes now behind the tears. "Would you stay for love?" she asked in a voice just above a whisper.
Shadow found he could hardly breathe, let alone talk. Incredulously he raised one hand to brush the tears from her cheek. She leaned into the caress, bringing up one hand to hold his against her face. Right then Shadow knew what Sonic had meant when he said that Sally made him so happy he wanted to burst. And he knew his answer.
"Yes." He whispered. Kim smiled, relief and a quiet joy on her face. There had been nothing he would stay for, not friendship or anything else. He was a loner and valued his independence above all else. But he'd stay for her. He'd stay for love.
He was watching her. It seemed that all he did since they returned was watch her. If he wasn't watching her he was thinking about her. It was frustrating.
She was certainly interesting to watch. She was strange, she wasn't even originally from Mobius. Years ago the chaos energy had gone berserk and had torn the time/space continuum, bringing her through before it repaired itself. He had gotten this from her, Sonic, and the rest of the gang. It had happened before he was awakened.
She was an anthro, and she often said that she was strange even for her world. She was a half-breed. She had the graceful body of a cat with orange fur. She even had a rather cute kitty face, though the last one to point it out (Geoffrey, it had been) had hobbled away with many raking scratches and a black eye. Then she had five rather distinguishing characteristics that marked her as a half-breed, half dragon to be exact. The most prominent feature was her wings, purple pinions and blue inner membrane. The second feature was two small red horns that poked up through her hair. The third was the layer of purple scales that ran down the front of her legs. The forth was her tail, purple scaled with a row of red spikes. The last was her blue scaled ears.
Those ears were currently laid back as she contemplated the cards in her hand. A light breeze was playing with her hair. Her hair was another oddity. The right side grew out a light brown, but the left side grew out in different shades of purple. Antoine remained convinced that she dyed it.
"Full house," she suddenly declared, slapping her cards down onto the table. Her opponents, Geoffrey and Antoine, sighed and folded their cards. Shadow smiled. They had yet to beat her at a game of cards.
Shadow thought back to when he had first met Kim. They had been on opposite sides then, though he couldn't honestly admit to being on any particular side now. He was on his own side. They had first run into each other at Prison Island, and she had proceeded to chase him down. She was fast, determined, strong-willed, and persistent as hell. He couldn't help respecting her, even then.
She looked over at him then and ginned, and he temporarily lost his grip on reality before she turned and walked off. Probably back to her place to curl up and read he thought absently. He felt weird around her. At the same time wanting to protect her and let her fight on her own. Wanting to stay as close to her as possible and wanting to go as far away as he could. He was confused. He hated feeling confused. But he was too proud to ask for advice.
He sighed and walked off. He caught sight of Sonic and Sally cuddled together under a tree. He had a brief image of him and Kim there, sitting in the shade of a tree. He stopped the thought with a jolt. Why had he thought that?
He watched Sonic and Sally for a few moments more, unnoticed as they had eyes only for each other, before walking on. A few days before Sonic had described to Shadow how he felt about Sally. Or tried to anyway. Eventually he had settled for "It's the most wonderful feeling on earth. I think I might burst sometimes I'm so happy." Shadow had scoffed then, now he simply wondered.
He liked Kim no questions asked. They both stood out, they were both different, and they both had the ability to control the chaos emerald energy. He had been programmed to. A few years after she had arrived Robotnik had collected all seven chaos emeralds and harnessed their raw energy into a laser. Kim had been hit with a direct blast from the laser and in order to survive her body had absorbed the chaos energy. That was what had drawn him to her at first, the fact that they had that shared ability. But her control was erratic, having to fumble along on her own out figure out what to do. He had been programmed with that control, but she had no clear idea what she was doing. So he had taught her after he returned. He had taught her to do everything that he could do, and she it turn had taught him a few tricks that she had learned herself.
Shadow stopped walking. He found that he had wandered to Kim's home. He found himself suddenly angry. The dratted girl was stealing his peace of mind! But the anger faded as quickly as it had come. It certainly wasn't her fault. But why couldn't he get her out of his head? Maybe I should talk to Sonic he thought ruefully. I'm certainly not getting anywhere on my own. But Sonic was currently with Sally. He sighed. Then he remembered overhearing Sonic talking to Tails about Sally a while back.
"When she looks at me I feel all disoriented and my brain has less consistency than a cloud. You'd think that would be the most annoying thing in the world but I can't help feeling it's the greatest."
Thinking about it Shadow realized that he felt that way around Kim. He'd lose his focus and train of thought when she looked at him or smiled. No, he thought. I can't be. But somehow I think I do. I love her. The thought had his brain temporarily frozen with shock.
He chaos controlled himself up to her deck, looking in through the sliding glass door she had. Ordinarily Kim would have noticed, their last adventure had raised both their defenses to hyper-alert, but she lowered them inside Knothole. She was reading anyway. When she got caught up in a good book she might not notice if someone screamed in her ear.
She was stretched out on her couch, one foot idly waving back and forth, the sunlight shinning on her hair and turning the brown golden. She turned a page in her book and snuggled deeper into the couch.
He wanted to go in and talk to her, or just sit near her while she read. Wanted to so badly it was painful. He stood on the deck for a long time, fighting with himself about what to do. He wanted to tell her how he felt but didn't know how she would react. Half of him wanted to know if she saw him as more than a friend, but the other half was afraid to find out. He stood agonizing over it for a while longer, not noticing that her eyes stared at one spot in her book without moving, or that she hadn't turned a page for a long time. When he finally left, feeling miserable and defeated, she gave a disappointed, frustrated sigh and closed her book. She walked out onto the deck to stare sadly after Shadow's retreating form.
Shadow had made up his mind. He couldn't take this anymore. He was going to leave. He had nothing holding him here, it was time to be on his own again. He told himself he had nothing to stay for. Distracted by his thoughts he didn't realize that he was being followed. He was out of Knothole and in the surrounding forest when she announced her presence.
"You're leaving," It wasn't a question, and was said in a flat monotone. Shadow turned around, surprised that he had been followed and hadn't been aware of it. She was standing on the path behind him, arms at her sides, wings half open, face as expressionless as her voice. "Why?" She still kept her voice free of emotion.
"I have nothing to stay for," he said aloud.
She winced, as if his answer had hurt her, and asked with a slight crack in her voice, "nothing?" He simply turned and started walking again. She followed.
"But your home is in Knothole," she said.
"I don't have a home," he responded. Even to himself he sounded bitter.
"King Max-" she started.
He interrupted. "I'm not a citizen of Kingdom Acorn and I owe him nothing."
"What about Sonic and the gang then. Would you stay for friendship's sake?" She was almost pleading with him now.
"Friendship isn't a good enough reason to make me stay." He wished she would just go. Her pleading was driving sharp nails into his resolve. He had to fight to keep his throat from closing up. He was angrily blinking away tears. Why couldn't she just go?
She did stop then, and he heard her take a deep breath. She was gathering up every once of courage she had left to try one more thing. She called after him one last time in a voice cracked with repressed tears.
"What about love then? Would you stay for that?"
He froze, stunned, not quiet sure he had heard right. His ears were playing tricks on him, they had to be. He turned slowly to face her, disbelief on his face. "What?"
Her face crumpled and the tears she had managed to hold in check spilled from her eyes then. "Forget it." She choked out. "I-"
"No." He interrupted and began walking back towards her. "What did you say?"
She swallowed, hope in her eyes now behind the tears. "Would you stay for love?" she asked in a voice just above a whisper.
Shadow found he could hardly breathe, let alone talk. Incredulously he raised one hand to brush the tears from her cheek. She leaned into the caress, bringing up one hand to hold his against her face. Right then Shadow knew what Sonic had meant when he said that Sally made him so happy he wanted to burst. And he knew his answer.
"Yes." He whispered. Kim smiled, relief and a quiet joy on her face. There had been nothing he would stay for, not friendship or anything else. He was a loner and valued his independence above all else. But he'd stay for her. He'd stay for love.