Author's Notes: Congrats to Midnight the hedgehog, Chaos Flower, and The All Knowing One for correctly identifying the large energy blast from the last chapter! Hehe.
And of course Petsuchos Isis already knows part of the beginning of this chapter... since I sent it in an e-mail. :)
The song used in this chapter in translated form is the TV-size version of "Hikaru Michi" ("Shining Road"), the second ending song of Sonic X.
Note: Maria is slightly older here than she was in Sonic X. Just to clarify that, since Season 2 will be airing soon and you'll all see what I've seen (though you'll all see it in English). So, she's not 12, Pet Isis.
Oh, and just to let you know... this is the second to the last chapter! It's almost over! Hee hee! But for now, enjoy!
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"Tails!"
Rouge grabbed the young kitsune's shoulders.
"Where's your laptop?! Where is it?!"
"R-right there..." Tails said, slightly shaken, pointing at his laptop bag under a nearby tree.
"Well, start it up! Open up that GPS program!"
"What? Why? And where are Sonic and--"
"That's just it!" Rouge screamed.
"They're not there!!"
"Wh... what...?" Tails was shocked. "What do you mean, they're not there?"
"What happened to Sonic?" Amy shrieked.
"I don't know... I don't know...!" Rouge said, hopelessness echoing through her voice. "I followed Sonic... and all of a sudden, there was this huge flash of light... huge... and... I couldn't find them..."
Tails stared at the white bat for a few seconds. Silently, he walked toward his laptop bag. His hands trembled as he opened the laptop and booted it up.
"Tails? Can you find them...?" Amy asked quietly.
Tails scanned the map.
Nothing.
Nowhere...
Shaking, Tails expanded the map.
Still nothing.
'No...'
Sonic's brain waves... Shadow's energy signal...
Nothing.
'No...!'
"Tails?" Rouge asked.
Desperate, Tails increased the area of the map as far as it could go.
Nothing.
"No...!" Tails whispered.
"Sonic... where are you...?!"
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When Sonic first opened his eyes, he could see nothing but blackness...
A pang of horror ran down his spine. His first conscious thoughts were...
'No! I can't be blind!'
The blue hedgehog jumped up frantically. "Where am I?!" he shouted. "Anyone out there? Shadow? And why the heck can't I see anything?!"
Sonic blinked and rubbed his eyes. After a few minutes, his eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and he realized that ahead of him was a light...
... and Super Shadow.
"Shadow! Boy, am I glad to see you!" Sonic yelled. But Shadow didn't respond.
Sonic looked around him. "Darkness... with a faraway light..." The hedgehog blinked. "Are we dead?"
Suddenly, Shadow smiled. Sonic walked up to his friend.
"What's so funny?! Did you blast us all the way to the afterlife or something?!"
"In a manner of speaking..." Shadow said quietly.
"... you killed us...?" Sonic said slowly, not comprehending.
Shadow sighed, still smiling. "No..."
"But..." Sonic thought.
'Wait a minute...
'That blast... it was like everything around us disappeared...
'... or we moved...'
"Did you use... Chaos Control?"
Shadow nodded.
"Then where are we?" Sonic asked. Suddenly, the answer came to him...
"We're... actually...?!" Sonic stared at the light.
"We're here?! In... at... where dead people go?!" Sonic spluttered. "Why in the world--"
Suddenly, the answer came to the blue hedgehog. "... oh..." he said quietly, calming down. "I... I think I see...
"You came here... to find... um..."
Shadow nodded, his eyes still fixed on the light...
"Well... why aren't you going?" Sonic asked. "I mean, she's... there... you know..."
"I'm... afraid..." Shadow whispered.
"Huh?"
"I'm afraid... what if... what if my memories... really aren't real...?" Shadow said quietly. "What if I didn't really know her at all? What if... everything that I've thought I've known about her... turns out to be false? All of it?"
"Well... you don't know until you find out," Sonic shrugged. "It couldn't hurt..."
"But... if it turns out that she never met me... never even knew me..." Shadow bit his lip.
"I..." The black hedgehog fell silent.
"Well..." Sonic paused, trying to think of something to say. "... what makes you think that?"
"When I was on ARK with Rouge... she told me that the true Project Shadow, the real Ultimate Life Form... that it was the Biolizard. I told her that it was just a prototype... the first stage of the project. But... then she told me that I might not be who I thought I was... that everything I knew might be a lie..." Shadow hesitated. "And then... you heard about that Shadow02...
"It's strange... Back on Earth, I was so confident that I was who I thought I was... but now that I'm here..."
Sonic rolled his eyes. "Listen. You're never going to get anything solved by just standing here. Either you turn back and wonder for all eternity what the answers to your questions are, or you go forward, get the answers, and get the girl of your dreams!"
"It's not like that..."
"Heh, that's what they all say," Sonic grinned, elbowing Shadow in the ribs. Shadow sighed and pushed Sonic away.
Sonic, still smiling, turned toward the light. "Well... even if you don't want to go up there... I think I might check it out."
"What?"
"I mean, you know... I've been all over the world already! I've seen so many things... why not add the afterlife to that list while I'm here?" Sonic grinned, then dashed forward.
"Later, Shadow!"
"Sonic...!" Shadow sighed. Facing the light, the silver hedgehog swallowed.
'Now or never...'
Shadow headed forward.
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The darkness seemed to reach on forever... but every time the hedgehogs looked at the light, it seemed to get closer and closer.
The closer the light got, the brighter it got, but it never got too bright.
Suddenly, Shadow realized that he was running through grass... cool, dewy grass. The darkness around him seemed to be lifting...
To both sides rose huge, black mountains. Shadow wondered if perhaps they were what had created the shadows in the tunnel...
The sky was still dark, as if it were just before a sunrise. Hues of dark blue and purple outlined the shapes of the mountains. Shadow suddenly realized that he was in a valley...
'Is this what the afterlife is like...?'
As he continued on, the mountains faded and drew back, and the valley opened up. The land got flatter and flatter, and the sky began to grow brighter...
The green color of the grass began to shine and sparkle in the sunlight, and the small, wispy clouds over the mountains began to turn white.
Suddenly, Sonic stopped. Shadow screeched to a halt, almost colliding with his friend.
"What's the matter?" he asked. But as he looked out over the landscape, Shadow saw what Sonic was gazing at.
If everything up to then had been beautiful, what they saw now was beyond words.
The two of them were standing on a plateau. Below them, for mile upon stunning mile, a field stretched, full of flowers and green grass. Beyond that, the two hedgehogs could see a sparkling ocean, extending out even farther than that.
Sonic was staring at the field. Shadow took one look at his friend's green eyes and knew that the blue hedgehog was dying to take a full-speed run through the huge, wide-open space. A smile crept across Shadow's face.
"Shadow..." Sonic murmured. "I'm in heaven..."
"I know, I brought you here," Shadow responded, a hint of a laugh in his voice.
Sonic's stare had changed into a foolish grin. Before he knew it, his feet were twitching in his shoes. Bursting into a bout of wild laughter, Sonic dashed down into the field.
"Wahahahahahaaa!"
Shadow smiled, then made his way slowly toward the field.
He looked up at the sky. Apart from Sonic's half-crazed laughter, it was completely silent...
Shadow closed his eyes and sat down as a fresh breeze blew across his face. So peaceful...
... but so... empty...?
Shadow sighed. Where were they?
He'd recognized the dark tunnel. He'd recognized the light.
But this time, Maria hadn't been there to stop him from coming.
Was she further ahead?
Would she know him...?
Shadow opened his eyes... and smiled again.
This was what he'd been wanting for so long...
The silver hedgehog looked down into the field, watching Sonic.
He hadn't counted on Sonic following him. Now that the blue hedgehog had had a taste of paradise, would he want to go back?
Would he be able to go back?
Shadow looked down at his silver fur.
He had used Chaos Control to come here. Could Chaos Control send Sonic back?
"And why haven't I changed back yet...?" Shadow wondered out loud.
Suddenly, a voice spoke.
"Time has a habit of not passing very quickly here."
"What?" Shadow jumped up, looking behind him.
There stood Tikal. She smiled. "Shadow. It's nice to see you again. What are you doing here?"
Shadow started, "Well--"
"He's here looking for his girlfriend," Sonic interjected, suddenly appearing. He was slightly out of breath, still with a ridiculous grin on his face.
"Hey," the blue hedgehog continued. "There's no one here, huh? And what're you doing here, Tikal? I thought you hadn't gone on to the afterlife yet!"
Tikal laughed. "This isn't the afterlife..." The Echidna girl smiled. "The true afterlife is that way... across the ocean..."
"Woah..." Sonic murmured, looking out past the field. "That's a pretty long way... How long d'you think it would take to get there?"
Tikal shook her head. "When you're in this world, time doesn't matter anymore. You can be here for an eternity, but not a day will pass... The sun rises when you enter, and it will never set again."
'It sounds like my life...' Shadow found himself thinking.
"So... this is just the in-between part, then?" Sonic asked.
"You could say that." Tikal suddenly turned to Shadow and smiled. "Shadow... though your time here is limited... if you'll come this way... And Sonic, you're welcome to come along too." The Echidna girl started to walk toward the field...
Shadow, slightly confused, glanced at Sonic, who merely shrugged. The two followed Tikal's footsteps...
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Though the field seemed to stretch forever, the time it took to walk across it seemed like nothing. However, the closer they got to the ocean, the mistier it seemed to get, until Shadow could barely see Tikal's figure, only a few yards ahead of him.
Tikal suddenly stopped. Shadow and Sonic continued walking until they were right next to her.
"Tikal? Why'd we come here?" Sonic asked.
Tikal turned, but her answer was directed to Shadow. "There's someone here who wants to talk to you, Shadow... someone you haven't seen for quite a while..."
Shadow felt his heart skip a beat. "Wh... what...?" Sonic grinned.
"Bet you're glad now you came, huh?"
Tikal walked forward. The Echidna girl called out across the fog.
"I call upon Maria Robotnik... the one you waited for has come at last."
Shadow's heart was beating as if he'd just gone a hundred miles without his hoverskates.
Slowly, the fog around them began to dissipate, creating a clearing.
And from beyond the edge of the clearing, the figure of a slender girl, probably in her early teens, grew closer.
And Shadow heard the words that he knew
he had been dying to hear
this whole time...
"Shadow...? Shadow... is that you...?"
And despite himself, Shadow couldn't say anything.
The sound of footsteps could now be heard... footsteps that grew faster with each second.
"Shadow...!"
Sonic watched as Shadow took a step toward the edge of the clearing, as if he still couldn't believe that this was all happening.
One step became two... then three...
"Shadow!" The girl's voice became louder, and her outline could be seen clearly.
Her golden hair came down to the middle of her back, and she was wearing a dress... a pale-blue dress...
Shadow's steps increased until he too was running.
Finally, the girl broke through the edge of the fog...
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In one smooth movement, Maria knelt to the ground. Shadow's feet kept moving until he was safely in her arms, once more...
"I've missed you..." Shadow whispered, finally able to speak. Closing his eyes, he sighed and breathed in the familiar scent of his best friend...
"I'm so happy..." Maria said, her arms wrapped tightly around Shadow. The girl smiled. "You're free now... you defeated G.U.N...."
"And I found my way back to you," Shadow finished, looking up into Maria's blue eyes. He smiled, even as his vision became blurred with happiness. "I've missed you so much..."
"Ahem..."
Shadow and Maria turned to Sonic, who was still standing by the edge of the fog.
Sonic grinned. "Should I leave you two alone?"
Shadow wished more than ever that Sonic had stayed back on Earth, but Maria laughed. Standing up, she walked to the blue hedgehog. Smiling, she said, "You're silly... You must be Sonic."
Sonic folded his arms behind his head. "That's the name, don't wear it out."
Maria smiled. Quietly, she said, "Thank you... thank you for helping Shadow..."
Sonic waved it off. "It was nothing... I mean, saving the world from certain doom, helping friends escape from corrupted militaries, eh, I do it all the time." Maria laughed again.
Meanwhile, Shadow was watching Maria, almost as if he was afraid that if he took his eyes off her for a moment, she'd disappear again. Sonic noticed the black hedgehog.
"Hey," he said. "I think someone really wants to talk with you..." Sonic grinned. "I'll be back in that field if anyone needs me!" The blue hedgehog zoomed off.
Shadow watched him go. "He's a firecracker, isn't he?" Maria nodded.
The two faced each other quietly.
Shadow inwardly sighed. Now that he was here... he wasn't quite sure what to say...
"Maria..."
Maria kneeled down to Shadow's height again. "There's something on your mind, isn't there?" She smiled. "You always had that look on your face when you wanted to say something, back when you were little..."
Those words struck a chord somewhere in Shadow's heart.
Before he knew what he was doing, he had run to Maria, clinging to her, tears falling from his eyes as if he was a young child all over again...
"I was so worried... I didn't know if I was real... I didn't know if I had ever really known you..."
"It's okay, Shadow... it's okay..." Maria whispered soothingly, stroking his head. "You're real... you're my friend... I know you, I grew up with you..."
"I was so scared... if I never knew you, then why should I have kept living?" Shadow whispered.
"It's all right... it's all over... you don't have to worry anymore..."
Shadow felt the tears come even faster... but there was no more sadness.
No more anger.
No more.
Only an indescribable joyous feeling...
'Is it possible to be this happy?' Shadow wondered.
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The two friends stayed there for several minutes, each lost in thought.
Shadow finally looked up.
"I'm sorry that I can't remember much..." he whispered, with an almost childlike innocence.
Maria shook her head. "It's all right..."
"I just wish I knew exactly what the professor did to my memories... do I still have them somewhere?" Shadow wondered out loud.
"I believe you do."
Maria and Shadow looked up to see Tikal.
"You might still have them... your memories," Tikal smiled.
Shadow stared. "Can I get them back?"
Tikal nodded. "It came to me... do you know the poem, 'The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos?'"
Shadow suddenly recalled a moment, the short time before the fight with the FinalHazard. He nodded.
Tikal continued. "The key part is, 'power is enriched by the heart.' I believe that Chaos Energy is very strongly tied to your emotions and dreams.
"Do you know how, when you are very angry, that sometimes your mind becomes clouded?" Shadow nodded.
"Your anger after what happened on ARK, fifty years ago, clouded your mind. That anger was amplified many, many times by the Chaos Energy that resides in you. In a way, the Chaos Energy became corrupted," Tikal said quietly.
"Because that anger had no way to escape, it simply kept building on itself..." Tikal suddenly smiled.
"However...
"When you destroyed G.U.N.'s base, all of the corrupted Chaos Energy in you escaped. Your built-up anger and sadness... it's all gone now.
"I don't doubt that your memories will soon be able to return to you."
Shadow smiled. Maria couldn't help but hug the silver hedgehog again.
"I'm so happy for you, Shadow... You'll be able to remember everything when you go back..."
Shadow suddenly froze. "Go... back...?"
Maria let go of Shadow and held him at arm's length. "I'm sorry..." she whispered.
"I told you before... you don't belong in the afterlife yet."
Shadow's eyes had a look of complete disbelief in them. "But what am I going to do on Earth?"
"Live, Shadow," Maria said. "There's a whole new world out there, waiting for you... I can wait. The afterlife can wait. But it's now or never out there.
"Time means nothing here. You can go back to the living world now... and I'll be here when it's your time."
"But... I thought..." Shadow stammered.
'I thought I was immortal...
'If I go back now, will I ever be able to return?'
Tikal walked up to Shadow and smiled. "You'll come back. I'm sure of it."
"But... I'm supposed to be..."
"You lost a lot of energy in the battle, Shadow. When you go back to the living world, you're going to be very weak for a long time..." Tikal said.
"I think, that if you make a normal recovery... that is, you don't use the Chaos Emeralds to recharge your energy... eventually, their effect will wear off."
"Then... what will I be like?" Shadow asked quietly. Tikal shook her head.
"I don't know. I'm sorry."
"So... I might die someday." Shadow looked at the ground. Maria smiled sadly.
"It sounds bad, doesn't it? But that's a long, long time from now... When your time comes, it won't be so bad."
Shadow looked up at Maria. "But what about you? It wasn't fair for you!" He folded his arms bitterly.
The fog suddenly started to lift, and Shadow saw that they were near the edge of the beach. "You see that, Shadow?" Maria whispered, pointing to the ocean.
"Do you see everything here? The mountains, the fields, the sky? It's so beautiful, isn't it?" Shadow nodded.
"But... even this isn't really the afterlife. It's just the crossroads between the worlds... the place where it's still okay for those who don't belong to turn back. Across the ocean... I hear that's where paradise really is." Maria's eyes had a faraway look in them.
"Every day... I watch soul after soul pass by. I watch them cross the ocean. And I can see tiny pieces of what it must be like over there.
"But I'm not going. I'm waiting.
"Every day, I see spirits come. They wait. They might wait for a long time, but they stay. Then, one day, the spirit they have been waiting for comes, and they cross the ocean together.
"I'm still waiting, Shadow," Maria smiled.
Shadow sighed. "And I suppose... it won't do any good to ask you to come back with us, right?"
Maria smiled sadly. "I wish I could... but I've already died in that world. I don't belong there anymore.
"I'm happy here, Shadow. The only thing that will make me happier is when you come, when it's your time.
"But never before. If you try to come here before you are meant to, you won't make it.
"If you're sad and angry when you come here, you will be sad and angry forever. I don't want that for you, Shadow.
"I want you to go back. I want you to have a happy life. I want you to live a long, long time... maybe even a thousand years.
"But no matter how long it takes you, I'll be waiting.
"And I'll always be there with you, Shadow. As long as you remember our wish..."
"The wish?" Shadow blinked in surprise. "Your wish? For everyone to be happy...?"
Maria shook her head. "Not my wish... our wish.
"You were born to be timelessness embodied. If you remember our wish, it'll last forever. If you teach it to others, it'll last even beyond us. It's something that will last for eternity." Maria looked at the sky.
"I want to be remembered by that wish... I wanted it so that everyone, everywhere could be happy.
"I was always alone before I met you... I was satisfied on ARK, but when I met you, I realized how unhappy I had been.
"I've watched you ever since I got here... and now I realize that doing something like making everybody happy will be difficult."
Maria smiled.
"But nothing is too difficult when you have forever to do it.
"Please try, Shadow. Please remember me..."
Shadow nodded. "How could I ever forget you? Even when it seemed like everything I'd loved was gone... I still remembered you...
"... I still felt... almost... happy..."
"That's what I'm talking about! If everyone can find the one thing that truly makes them happy... then I'll be happy."
"But... what about people like Dasendo?" Shadow asked.
Maria sighed. "I don't know about them... I watch Earth from here, and I see people become corrupted from pursuing power or money... and I wonder if they truly think that they'll be happy when they find what they're searching for. I don't think that's what everyone really wants, though... surely, there's something else that they love." Shadow nodded.
"I thought getting revenge would make me satisfied... but now that I think about it... I felt so empty inside... as if it wasn't the right path..."
Shadow and Maria stood, facing the ocean, silently.
"I'm happy that things turned out the way they did," Maria said quietly.
"I just wish that... you didn't have to die..." Shadow responded.
"No... it's all right. Just think about it..." Maria smiled. "If even one thing in the past changed, how would the future have turned out? Surely not the same. And if there's a happy ending, that's all that matters..."
She laughed. "Of course, it's far from over! We're only in the middle of the story! We have forever to finish it...
"And I want part of your story to be on Earth. Will you go back, Shadow?"
Shadow looked up at his friend. At the very thought of leaving her behind, his eyes began to blur. He swallowed, feeling that familiar tightening in his throat. Afraid that more tears might fall, he remained silent.
'How can an ending be happy if there are so many tears...?'
Suddenly, Shadow saw a tear fall down Maria's face. She was crying...
... a sudden vision...
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Sniffling... a little girl crying...
"What's wrong, Maria?" a hedgehog child asked, his voice almost that of a baby's.
"I'm afraid... what if I never get to go to Earth?" the young girl whispered between her tears.
"Why not?"
"Grandpa says I'm sick... he says that it's too dangerous for me to go to Earth... I might get more sick..." Maria sniffled.
The little hedgehog tilted his head, still not sure why his friend was crying. However, just the sight of her tears was enough to start him sobbing, too.
Maria looked up. "Now why are you crying?"
"Because Maria's sad." The hedgehog looked at Maria. "But why? Why does Maria want to go to Earth? If you go to Earth..." The hedgehog's red eyes began to brim with tears.
"If Maria goes to Earth... then Shadow will be alone..."
"No, silly," Maria said with a hiccuping laugh. "I'd never leave you alone! If I go to Earth, you'll come too!"
Shadow stood there for a moment, tears still running down his face. Suddenly, he ran to Maria. "Don't leave Shadow alone!"
Maria hugged her friend, her tears running into his fur. "I won't...
"I love you, Shadow..."
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And Shadow was back in her arms, once more...
"You said you wouldn't leave me... but here I am, leaving you," he whispered.
"It's just for a little while..." Maria said. She smiled.
"Over here, it might seem so nice... but there are so many things on Earth that might even be nicer..."
"Please go, Shadow."
Shadow stepped back. Through his tears, he smiled.
"... I will."
Maria nodded.
"B... besides..." Shadow smiled. "I can't just leave Sonic here to tear up the afterlife as well as our world, right?" Maria laughed.
"I'm glad you've found a friend..."
"Yeah..." Shadow looked back toward the field.
"Looking for me?"
Sonic suddenly appeared in front of Shadow. "So... ready to go back yet?"
Shadow blinked. "Already?"
Sonic grinned. "Exactly what part of supersonic speed do you not understand?" The blue hedgehog stretched, still grinning. "It's great here! It's like I have all the energy in the world! I can keep running forever!" Sonic laughed. "But even so, it's not home.
"So... I mean, not to rush you or anything..." Sonic shrugged. "But I bet the others are worried sick."
"Mm..." Shadow nodded. He looked up at Maria.
"I won't forget you. I'll never forget you."
"I know..." she whispered.
"I'm sorry I can't stay longer... I'm sorry I have to leave you for so long..."
"It's all right..." Maria said. "You'll come back someday... and who knows... maybe you'll even find another way to warp here again. But please rest up when you get home."
"I will..."
"I'm sorry I can't come with you..."
"That's all right..." Shadow said. "Don't worry..." He smiled.
"You'll be with me, remember?"
Maria nodded.
Suddenly, Tikal appeared. "Shadow... your Super form is going to disappear soon... you must leave."
It was true. Shadow felt the power of his Super form starting to ebb slightly...
"Maria..." he whispered, looking at her.
Then, Maria suddenly bent down and gave Shadow a kiss on the cheek. Shadow smiled shyly, while Sonic grinned like there was no tomorrow.
"I'll see you again someday..." Shadow said. Focusing, he drew the power of the Chaos Emeralds into his hands...
Shadow smiled. "Good-bye... Maria..."
And quickly, before he could change his mind...
Shadow released the energy into a Chaos Control.
Sonic and Shadow disappeared in a flash of light. Behind them, the air shimmered and sparkled.
But behind them, Shadow could hear Maria's last words, hanging on the air...
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"Good-bye, Shadow...
"I love you..."
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Amy was sobbing, and Tails was trying to console her. Rouge was standing off to the side, silent, while the G.U.N. workers and soldiers stood around, not sure what to do since their base had just been annihilated.
Suddenly, a bright flash lit up the air, back at G.U.N.'s base. Rouge, Tails, and Amy all looked at each other knowingly, then set off for the light.
When they arrived, they saw Sonic, supporting a limp Shadow.
Both were looking at the sky...
... and Shadow's face glistened with tears.
But despite the fact that the tears were obviously because of Maria's absence...
... the now-black hedgehog was not truly sad.
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'There was no more misery. There was no more anger. There was no more hatred.
'Even though leaving her made me sad, I knew that someday, I'd see her again... somehow, I'd find a way.
'And just that made me happy again.
'Good-bye, Maria...
'... good-bye, my friend.
'... I love you, too...'
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Our world is missing that magic
With only the excitement of love, enclosed in our tears
Boy, together we'll look for that spell
In the country where we can dream forbidden dreams
We'll secretly meet alone tomorrow
Someday, where the small bird lies
On the hill where you can see the sunrise
In the cold morning mist, if we are hand in hand
The seal to the shining road will break
Forever