Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog.
A/N: Heh heh, a little Shadamy in this chapter. Not to worry any Sonamy fans, though, I'm a Sonamy supporter... Yeah... just throwing in a "what if" kind of thing...
There's some footnotes, so that's what the asterisks are for. (example, *, **, etc.)
Dreams...
Shadow sat up on the beach, after a short nap under the sky, feeling the sting of Sonic calling him a faker, that last time.
'I have to talk to someone...' Shadow whimpered, unable to stop himself.
'I have to talk to Maria... but... she's not here... no...' Shadow forced himself to look down the beach, and noticed a pink figure sitting near the water. '...next best thing.'
~*~
Amy was sitting outside, enjoying the fresh sunshine. She dangled her feet in the crystal-clear water and giggled. A shadow fell across her. A shadow she noticed had quills.
"Sonic..." she said, smiling, as she turned around. Only to see that it was Shadow.
"Sorry," Shadow said, sitting down next to her. "Hope I didn't disappoint you."
"Oh..." Amy sighed. "It's nothing..."
The two hedgehogs sat in silence for several minutes. Amy finally asked, "Is there something that's bothering you?"
Shadow shifted a little. "Well... um... you... Maria... you're like Maria... I thought you'd talk like her..."
"What?" Amy was confused.
Shadow inwardly groaned and stood up. "You reminded me of Maria on ARK... I was thinking I could talk to you the way I talked to her..." He walked off, feeling particularly foolish.
Amy stood up. "Waaait, Shadow!" She smiled. "I'll talk to you~"
"Really?" Shadow asked, looking back.
"Yes... I guess. I'm a nice girl, that's all."
"Well..." Shadow walked back and sat down. "It's... it's just that... Sonic and Tails... I don't think they'd understand... really, and you're the only other person here." Shadow inwardly slapped himself. 'Why am I having trouble talking to a girl?'*
"Ohhh..." Amy smiled to herself. 'He's so shy...'**
Shadow kept going. "You see, when I was with Eggman and Rouge... Rouge did research on Project Shadow, and... she said... um... she told me that... Maria might not.... I might not have ever met Maria." Shadow finished this last part with a sigh.
"Well, why not?"
"Because... because.... Rouge thinks that I was created on Earth, and that Professor Gerald created my memories..."
"So you think your memories aren't real?" Shadow nodded.
Amy continued. "Well... I don't think your memories aren't real."
Shadow looked up in surprise.
Amy said, "If the professor really wanted revenge, he wouldn't have given you a memory of Maria telling you to protect Earth, right?"
Shadow stood up, relieved. "Thanks, Amy... that helped..." He walked off.
Amy giggled. "Wow... stuck on a tropical island with two hunky hedgehogs~ What could be better..."*** She giggled again.
~*~
As Shadow walked back to the house, he smiled.
'Thank you, Amy... you really do remind me of Maria... yes... I'll admit, you're a strange one sometimes, but... you and Maria... you both have pure hearts...'
'But...' he thought. 'If Maria told me to stay alive... maybe there are unhappy people still...'
From the snoring upstairs, Shadow deducted that Sonic was still asleep. He saw Tails, tinkering with some machinery.
"Um..." he walked up to Tails, slowly. Tails was different than Sonic and Amy... he was a little more quiet, less self-centered...
"Oh... Shadow." Tails was a little nervous. Sonic trusted Shadow... so... he supposed it was all right...
"Tails... are there unhappy people on Earth?" Shadow asked plainly.
"Oh... unhappy people? I guess..." Tails turned back to his machine.
"Really?" Shadow was surprised. "But... they live here... what could they be unhappy about...?"
"Oh, I don't know... there's lots of things wrong with this planet... it's not as perfect as it seems," Tails answered.
"...thanks..." Shadow left quickly.
Tails looked as Shadow walked outside again. "Strange guy," he said, then kept on working.
~*~
It seems strange for someone who has lived their entire life in the darkness of space to understand that a beautiful planet such as Earth would have problems.
To live your life in harsh conditions... then be exposed to such a seemingly perfect place...
...you forget that it's not perfect.
Shadow had no knowledge of Earth's troubles.
He knew what it was like to have no friends...
...to be without others...
...and loss.
The loss of a treasured person.
But he didn't know...
...didn't know about hunger, poverty...
ARK had been a home...
...he didn't know about being without one.
He didn't know about others' suffering...
...suffering from overwork, little pay, discrimination.
About how far these people were from
..."happiness."
* - Did that bother anyone? Wanted to know.
** - Read the above.
*** - That was kind of weird for me to write... but I thought it was kind of funny, so I left it in.
-Ryuko