A/N: It has been a pleasure, but this will be the last story I upload here. I've decided to house all my future fanfiction on Archive of Our Own (AO3) under the same username (AceTiff12). If you want to stay updated on my latest works, follow me there.

This final fic will have a total of 10 chapters.

As she took her morning shower, Maria went over her lecture notes one more time inside her mind. She turned the water's heat up so that steam began to rise and cover the glass door in fog. When she was sure she had the material down, she began to sing.

It was still early, thanks to the pre-test jitters that beat her alarm clock. After reassuring herself that she would pass with flying colors, she decided to fill the time with an extra-long and extra-comfortable shower. She sang to her own melody and lathered soap across her arms.

More than once, she bumped her elbow against the wall, too distracted by the music playing in her head. She laughed it off whenever it happened.

After rinsing away all the sudsy soap, she turned the water off, still singing, and stepped out. She wrapped a towel around her body and a second around her hair as she switched to a different tune.

Her voice cut off when she noticed the bathroom door standing ajar. Hadn't she shut it when she came in?

Clutching the towel to her chest, she noticed something else.

On the sink counter were her bra, panties, and a single sock, whose partner now lay on the floor. Her blue dress was missing.

It was the last clean outfit she had before laundry day.

Caution turned into irritation. She knew of only one person on the Ark who would barge into her quarters and swipe her clothes when she wasn't looking.

She marched out the bathroom door and into her bedroom. Her eyes searched around and under her bed, in her closet, and beneath her desk. She marched out the bedroom door and into her small living room. After checking all the hiding places there, she huffed in frustration.

If he wasn't lurking in her cozy, personal home, he could be anywhere on the Ark. Hopefully he hadn't gone too far.

From the living room, she approached the fancy metal door leading out into the space station's residential district. It automatically slid open when she got close, proving she hadn't locked it last night.

She stuck her head out, looked right and left down the long hallway, and called, "Abraham!"

No one answered. She sighed, figuring she should have seen this coming after what happened yesterday. Abraham really wanted to play hide-and-seek with her, but she had to spend all her free time studying for today's test. Stealing her dress was his revenge, a way of forcing her to play.

The test was still a while away, but that didn't matter. She'd told him on multiple occasions not to take things that didn't belong to him. Stealing was bad. So was borrowing without permission.

It was also wrong to go into her room without getting her okay first!

She headed down the hall, thinking, I have to start remembering to lock my door at night...

The hallway was long and empty, with a break in the middle that branched off to one side. A similar divide was at the hall's end. She hoped he wasn't hiding in one of the scientists' rooms, but it was unlikely someone carelessly left their door unlocked the way she had.

A fit of giggling sounded from around the midway branch. A small boy with mousy hair and two differently colored eyes leaned into view, grinning at her. Something blue stuck out from his hand.

She raised her voice to make herself heard. "Give that back!"

He waved the dress tauntingly. "Maria, people aren't allowed to walk around with no clothes! You'll get in trouble!"

"You're the one who's in trouble! I told you not to steal or go into my room!"

"You're naaaaked!" he sang.

Her body was still wet, so she marched calmly and quietly instead of running, clutching the towel to her chest.

Little Abe waited in place with his mischievous grin. She almost reached him when his eyes widened and his mouth slackened. His head snapped to look at something down the hallway from which he leaned.

There was a flash of blue. As the dress fluttered to the ground, Abraham's back appeared as he fled down the main hall, away from her. He ran to its end and disappeared around the corner.

She blinked, raising an eyebrow. What in the world had gotten into him?

She moved slowly, narrowing her eyes at her abandoned dress. As she neared, she heard footsteps. She halted right before the intersection, listening hard.

Shadow the Hedgehog walked into view, looking down in confusion at her dress. He stopped in front of it, then stooped to pick it up.

"Shadow!" she breathed in relief.

He raised his head to her, flushed brilliantly, and dropped the dress.

"Oh!" She stepped back, turning her face away and gripping her towel tighter.

Shadow moved back as well, shielding his line of sight using the side of his hand. "Oh—I—Sorry—!"

"It's fine!" For some reason, she lifted her hand to hide her face, like he was doing. She was acutely aware her towel only reached to mid-thigh.

"I—ah—They sent me to... tell you about your test. It's in lab 204 now, not 308. They tried calling your room number, but you didn't answer."

"They did? Oh, right, I was in the shower. Thanks for coming to tell me—"

"Yeah, no problem. Here—"

They both reached for the dress at the same time. Their hands touched, and she jerked back, blushing deep red, water droplets flinging off her.

Shadow apologized again in a rushed voice, his face glowing, and turned his back to her with tight fists at his sides.

They both insisted for the other to go ahead. They both moved at the same time, made eye contact, and looked away again.

An awkward silence fell upon them.

She'd never seen him like this before... Until now, he was always cool and poised. It was a new side of him, but she was too embarrassed to dwell on how lucky she was to witness him off guard.

Shadow cleared his throat and said, "It's your dress, so go on."

"But you were just trying to help..."

"Forget it, I was stupid."

"No you weren't." Maria laughed aloud, at what he said, at the whole situation.

Smiling widely, she turned around and calmly bent down to retrieve her dress. She stood up and readjusted both the towel around her body and the towel around her hair. "I'll... see you later, then."

"Right," he replied, still keeping his back to her.

She took a few steps backward, then turned to make her way back to her room. A thin but noticeable trail of water on the floor led all the way there. "Oh, darn."

"What's wrong?"

"I dripped water all along the floor. I hope it dries up soon, or someone might get hurt."

"I'll get a mop and clean it up now."

She looked at him, or rather, the back of him. "Thank you, Shadow. That's very kind of you." It wasn't the first time he'd offered to fix something that was initially her fault. Although today it was Little Abe's fault, she still felt responsible.

"You're welcome." He cleared his throat once more. "Oh, and... Maria?"

"Yes?"

"I thought I saw a kid here a minute ago. Did you see them, too?"

"Oh, yeah, don't worry about him, that's just Little Abe. He must've heard you coming and ran away earlier. If it weren't for you, I might've had to chase him all over the Ark for my dress. He's a mischievous child, but he means well."

"Huh... I thought you were the only kid on the Ark."

"Nope, I'm not the only one." She smiled at his back, then continued her walk. She expected to hear him leave to go get a mop, but it was oddly silent. Curious, she glanced back and saw him standing firm, glued in that same position.

She made it to her door, which slid open for her. She looked back again and saw his figure in the distance, facing her this time.

He gave a start and disappeared around the corner.

She smiled and went to finish her morning routine, all the while thinking about seeing him blush for the first time and how happy it made her knowing he could be silly every now and then.