It is with deepest sadness, time to finish the fic...lol about time! lol j/k
It's been really great writing this story. Lemme tell you how it came into my head...(if you have the time or can be bothered to read it!)

The title comes from the song "Stockholm Syndrome" by Blink 182

"Life's Temporary...
(After we're done!)
...like New Years resolutions..."

lol so yeah I was listening to that when I had the idea of a time travel fic. Shadow obviously had the lead, as he's my favourite character. The rest just came as I wrote: D

Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed, esp those who reviewed every chapter they read and stuck with the story all the way! You're nice comments drive me to write more and more! Enjoy this last chapter and look out for my next story soon!

Chapter 26

Life was finally beginning to settle down for Shadow. He lived happily with Amy and their son, Ray. A few months after Ray was born, Amy and Shadow decided to buy a bigger place and, in the end, found a great house by the beach. Shadow was very grateful for living so much closer to the beach, because it meant he could sit on the sand in the evenings and enjoy the tranquillity up close.

As for the others;
Sonic carried on living his city lifestyle and often visited Shadow and Amy (but they knew it was an excuse for him to just sit on the beach all day!)

Tails carried on inventing in his workshop in Mystic Ruin, Knuckles stayed on Angel Island, leaving to visit Station Square on special occasions. In fact, everyone of the gang continued the same life they'd always been living.

Eggman tried as hard as he could but his many attempts to escape prison failed and he found himself trapped…nowhere to go and nothing to live for. He ended up taking his own life, in a bid to find at least some kind of light and hope.

Earth was finally free.

15 years later

The time was early morning and the sun was slowly rising from the glittering sea. A young black hedgehog was sitting on the sand, his legs tucked into his arms. His fur blew in the slow wind.

He had similar spikes to Shadow but was black all over, except a small tuft of fur on his head, which was highlighted pink. His eyes were an emerald green. There was also a small amount of white fur on the hedgehog's chest.

The sea was calm and, slowly, began to come in. The young hedgehog closed his eyes and sighed. He lay down on his back, putting one hand behind his head.

"I can see what Dad means…" the hedgehog said quietly, embracing the softness of the atmosphere.

Just then, the hedgehog could hear footsteps.

"I see I'm not the only one who wanted to come and relax!" said a voice.

The young hedgehog blinked, opening his eyes, and sat up. He turned his head to see who it was that had spoken.

It was Shadow.

"Morning Ray." He said, smiling.

Ray smiled back and looked back at the sunrise, the relaxing orange glow shining on his face. Shadow sat beside him.

"You're awake early…" he said.
"Yeah…I couldn't sleep anymore!" Ray answered with a hint of excitement in his voice.
"Neither would I, if I were you." Shadow replied. "It is your birthday, after all."

Ray smiled.

"I was just thinking about seeing Uncle Sonic and the others again. It's been a while. Plus we could all have a race down the beach!" he exclaimed.

Shadow closed his eyes and smiled.

"Yes. He does a very competitive streak about him…" he said.

He began to think back to other side of time; where he'd spent 4 weeks with the older version of his friends. He remembered falling to his knees in front of Sonic's grave…the weather wasn't anything like it was today….

"Everything's changed…just how I hoped it would…" he thought.

He shook his head and opened his eyes. He reached his hand into the spines on his back and pulled out a small wrapped present.

"I was gonna give this to you later, when the others were here, but…I suppose now's a good time." He said and handed Ray the present.

Ray took it and carefully opened it. Inside to paper were two golden wristbands. They shone as the morning sun hit them. Ray smiled.

"They're like yours…" he said, looking at Shadow.
"Yes. Take care of them…" Shadow replied.

Ray quickly slipped the golden bands around his wrists and admired them.

"They're so cool!" he said, beaming.
"I'm glad." Shadow replied. "Now, the party doesn't start for a good long while yet so try and get some more sleep. You'll need the energy."

Ray nodded and stood up, walking slowly back to the house. Shadow stood up too, about to follow but found that the morning sky dragged him back. He stood and stared at it, for it reminded him of what Maria once said to him, about how pretty the Earth was. It was many years ago now though, so Shadow found that he couldn't remember exactly what she'd said to him. But looking at the wondrous Sun appearing over the sea brought Maria's face back to his mind. His thoughts then switched to what he'd said to Ray before he'd left the future.

He smiled at the memories but wondered why this random sequence of thought had suddenly played in his mind.

He shrugged.

"It's good to know they are still there anyway…" he said.

He turned and began walking back to the house.

THE END