Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Faker... right," Sonic smiled wearily. "Whatever you say..."

Shadow tried his hardest to smile back... although he rarely ever smiled...

Being alive after nearly meeting death was probably an okay occasion to smile. "Yeah... whatever I say..." He quietly passed out.

"Sonic!" Tails called. "Sonic! What's wrong?!" He ran along the beach and eventually caught up with Sonic. He stared at Shadow's limp form.

"Nothing's wrong, Tails..." Sonic replied. "It's all right now..." He trailed off...

~*~

Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Rouge sat in a row in front of a large audience. The President was concluding a long speech.

"And in closing, we would like to thank these citizens for their participance in the saving of the world. We owe them our lives, and for this we are eternally grateful."

As the President continued, Rouge looked around, a bit saddened. "We're not all here," she whispered to no one in particular. Knuckles had gone back to Angel Island... and after escaping from being arrested Eggman had gone off, presumably to plot Sonic's demise once more, although no one really cared about that. "I suppose getting an award is nice..."

Tails, while acknowledging the loss of his comrades, was nevertheless proud of himself. 'I helped save the world,' he sighed, smiling quietly to himself.

Amy grinned widely. "Aren't you guys excited!" she chirped happily to the others. "We saved the world! We're getting awards!!" Then she saw Sonic's face. Her smile faded. "What's the matter?"

Sonic shook his head. 'Yeah, I'm proud... oh who am I kidding.' He looked at Tails, who was sitting next to him. "Tails..."

"Yeah Sonic?"

"Is... is there any chance that Shadow is still alive? I mean, out of all of us... he deserves an award."

All thoughts of happiness drained from Tails' mind. "I... I don't know... I mean... Shadow is the ultimate life form. I suppose he could still be alive..." Tails sighed and looked at the floor.

Rouge, listening to the conversation, thought of Shadow too. "I never told you," she said to the others, "but Shadow saved my life one time..." She breathed out slowly.

Amy leaned her face on her hands. "I talked to Shadow before that terrible Biolizard thing appeared. He was talking about Maria. And I saw him cry."

"Cry?" Sonic asked, bewildered. "Wait... you said Maria?"

"Yeah. All I said was 'Shadow, I beg of you. Do it for the people of Earth. Give them all a chance to be happy.' And then he cried and... something about Maria."

"Maria..." Sonic stared at the floor again. "He talked about Maria when we used Chaos Control on ARK."

"Maria..." thought Tails. "Wasn't she Gerald Robotnik's granddaughter?"

'Maria... she's dead,' Sonic thought, a horrific realization coming to his mind. "You guys... You don't think Shadow would die on purpose, do you...?"

"Shadow? Why would he do something like that?" Tails questioned.

"Oh... no..." Amy whispered.

"To be with..." Sonic trailed off. Rouge stared suddenly at the floor.

Just then, the President finished with his speech and turned to the four of them. "For your heroic deeds, we are presenting you with these medals of honor." He took a box from someone and opened it.

"No," said Sonic. He looked at the others with a strange look in his eyes. "I'm afraid I can't accept this." He turned and left.

"But... Sonic... wait!" the President called. "We apologize for mistaking you for that black hedgehog. Please accept this as a gift."

"No! Shadow... he's the reason why I'm not accepting that. He helped me save the world... he should be here," Sonic looked over his shoulder and left.

Then Tails stood up. "I'm sorry. Sonic is right. Shadow did help defeat the Final Hazard..." Tails started to walk away too.

Rouge stood up also. "Oh... forget it. I'm out of here too. We all saved the world together. And Shadow... I owe my life to him." She walked out in a huff.

Amy watched the others leave. "Sonic! Wait...." She turned and faced the President. "I'm sorry, sir... Well, really, Sonic's right. I don't deserve a medal." She sighed. "I didn't really do anything, anyway." She walked after Sonic. "Sonic... wait up!"

The President, the Secret Service, and all the people at the assembly watched openmouthed. "Well..." the President wiped his brow, nervous at the fact that the four saviors of the world had just turned down their awards and left. "I must say... they are very modest... Let's give them a hand!" The applause was tremendous.

The four, as they walked away, heard it. "Why are they applauding," Sonic said, in a monotone voice. "Not all of us are here..."

Tails wiped his eyes. "I wish I could thank Shadow..."

Rouge's eyes softened. "We all do."

Sonic said, to no one in particular, "The thing is... I wish we could have shown him what life on Earth is like... really like. But... if he wants to be with Maria, I can't argue with him."

Amy hung her head. "Shadow was nice after all. I guess he was just confused."

Sonic smiled hopefully. "But.... really, Tails... is it possible he lived?"

Tails shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know how he was created... and he did fall through space while in his Super form, right? He could live in space while in his Super form."

"No," Sonic shook his head. "His rings would have run out before he got to Earth."

"Er... hey, wait. He was in Super form, right? And that means he could have used the Chaos Control to get back to Earth!" Tails pointed out.

Rouge listened in on their conversation. "Actually..." she trailed off.

"What?" asked Tails. "You say something?"

"Er... it doesn't really matter, I guess..." Rouge said. She took off.

Sonic was particularly downcast, for a change. "Dangit... we never proved who was a faker or not..."

Amy, in an attempt to cheer up her hero, added optimistically, "Well, when we find him, let's see!"

"...when?"

"...not if."

~*~

"And now we've found him," Tails smiled. "I guess he really did want to live after all."

Sonic picked Shadow up, gently because of the burns. He started to run towards the hospital. "Tails," he said to the kitsune, "what do you think his chances are of... living?"

Tails hesitated. "Well... I'm not sure... I don't know much about this kind of thing... Like before, it depends on how much he wants to live... I mean, you... You're always just kind of coming back, no matter what happens... Shadow... well..."

Sonic shook the thought from his mind. "Eh, he came this far, what's stopping him now?" He picked up speed. Tails followed.

"Ha... wait till the others hear about this!" Tails said.

~*~

Shadow winced. His eyes opened a fraction. 'Sonic...?' he thought, looking up at the face in front of his. He was moving... Sonic was carrying him, running somewhere. Tails was hovering overhead. 'Where... where are we going?' He thought. Then he saw the expressions on Tails and Sonic's faces.

'They're... happy. Yes... they look worried... but they're happy... Why?'

Then, like a conscience, he heard Maria's voice. 'Sonic is especially crestfallen... He thought you two could be allies, friends... there is no one else quite like him. He wants a rival, like himself...'

'Sonic and Tails are happy because... I'm alive.' He closed his eyes and his mouth curved slightly into a smile. 'I made them happy... because I'm alive... Maria... this is what you wanted...' He fell into a deep sleep.

~*~

From a shaded rooftop, Rouge watched Sonic race past, like blue lightning.

"...Shadow... Shadow the Hedgehog..."

Rouge let herself smile quietly.

"I don't doubt your survival... not now."