There was no denying it any longer. Yes, after that phone call, there was no possible way on God's green earth that Shadow could lie to himself or anyone else anymore. He loved her. He lovedAmy Rose. He had fallen in love with her ever since they had been left alone in the house that day, ever since he had laid eyes on her angelic face, and ever since she had said his name and put a hand on his shoulder, he knew that he wanted to be with this girl for the rest of his days. But the hedgehog was having second thoughts about the whole idea, and questioned his nervousness intently. First of all, didn't Amy love Sonic? From past experience with her, he knew that the only thing that was on her mind half of the time was his rival. And if Sonic was the predictable character he was, Shadow knew that he liked the girl too, even if he hadn't admitted it yet, and there was even a possibility that he would admit that love to her one day and Amy would fall into his arms. But if Shadow did, what would happen? He knew that she would probably resent him, not only because he wasn't Sonic, but because of the uncanny similarities the two had shared. If Amy was with him and her love of Sonic was still as strong as it was when she accidentally hugged him on Prison Island a few weeks ago, then that would only lead to even more heartbreak for Shadow, and that was something that he wasn't willing to go through anymore.

Secondly, his obligations were to Maria, right? She was one of the main reasons that he even came into being. Also, she was the only person aboard that entire space station that he could even relate to, someone who he could be open to, and someone who was always willing to be around him, share their thoughts, and all around be a wonderful friend. Maria had also saved him time and time again from a horrifying death, like the past few weeks and last night's dream, where the hedgehog just felt so horrible and like such a failure that he was quite tempted to consider suicide as a means to escape his unbearable pain. But she was there all the time, very calm and very wise. She was there to assure him. She was there to let him know that everything was not as bad as he made it out to be. She was his love. But then... there was Amy. In a way, she had saved him too. She was more than willing to take him in and was very tolerant of his past behavior. She cared for him, she fed him, she talked to him... And over the time they had been together, he had even begun to pick up oddly familiar quirks about her, like the way she would comfort him by scratching his ears and watching over him while he slept, the way her dress would swing as she walked about, and the way she would seemingly play with him even when he was being very serious with her himself. Overall, she was simply this happy person, always bright, always hopeful, with barely a worry on her mind...

That brought him back to his dream, which he believed held all of the answers he was seeking.

And I may even be closer than that, Shadow... you just have to know where to look.

"I just have to know... where to look..."

That was it. That was his answer.

"Alright... alright, okay," he sighed deeply, "I'm gonna tell her today... I have to. If I screw this up, I doubt I'll get a better chance," he gulped nervously.

The thought of her still loving Sonic continued to rob him of his courage. But he kept his mind steady on the good outcome, which would probably come if he could just say those three, very powerful words.

Okay, don't think about the faker, Shadow. That's not important. What's important is what you say to her... What do I say to her?... Alright, um... "Amy, look. Over the past few weeks we've been together, I've been watching you–... well, not like that! Um, well... ya see... I've noticed how you've been treating me, and well... I kinda, sorta... love you..." Huh, yeah. That'll get you a girl any day!... Smooth. Real smooth, Shadow.

As his ears lowered in helplessness, the confused hedgehog gave a sigh of defeat.

"I'm hopeless."

As he was contemplating and scolding himself over his pathetic rehearsal, he heard a rhythmic set of footsteps continue to get louder as they continued on down the stairs. Once he heard them hit the floor, he waited for Amy to come around the corner so he tell her his thoughts right away (if he could get them together) and once she revealed herself, he was immediately love-struck once again. Amy was wearing a burgundy colored leather jacket, with a matching large-brimmed hat and purse. He didn't know what it was about the simple outfit, but he felt that Amy in it would automatically make someone's jaw drop (as his did)

"Wow, Shadow... I didn't know you liked this outfit that much," she said modestly, turning around a few times to show off the outfit.

"Hmm, wha–..." he shook his head rapidly, "Oh! Um, no... well, I just... I–... ugh, where are you going?"

"Out to the store. After three weeks of feeding two, I figured that buying provisions for one isn't going to cut it anymore until you leave..."

Shadow noticed a bit of sadness in her tone as she barely whispered the last few words, and he figured that that was the perfect time to go on in.

"So, I'll see you in about half an hour. I doubt you need any food, right?"

"Well... Amy? Um..."

"What?... Oh no, you're hungry again!"

"No! No, uh, it's not that... it's–"

Alright Shadow... just say it!

"I have to tell you something... I–... well, I... I..."

Amy's curiosity was immediately aroused, and she kept her eyes steady on him at all times. He was never so jumpy with her before. Something was serious...

"Yes... Shadow?"

"I–..."

He looked up at her, quickly catching glimpse of her sparkling, pleading eyes, and was immediately brought under their hypnotizing spell, which rendered and weakened any resistance that the hedgehog had to look away and break free for the moment. Now, he was sure to mess up. Every time he locked onto those beautiful jade emeralds of hers, he could never get a word out. Not one! Although his mind had once again become the unlucky victim of Amy's eyes, he was soon able to realize that he was starting to embarrass himself, and he didn't want to go any farther than that. He needed just a bit more preparation time to tell her, so he closed his eyes and thought of a predicate off the top of his head.

"–really liked those pop-overs from yesterday."

"...What?"

"Yeah! I was wondering..." he sighed, "if you wouldn't... mind picking up just a few... more..."

"Sure... Shadow... I'll see you..." She said, walking away.

He only waved at her, listening to her footsteps as they got farther and farther away from him, and finally, he heard the door open and close. Once assured he was alone, he whirled around, so mad at himself that he didn't know what to do.

"Why didn't I just say it! How hard is it to say, 'Amy, I love you'! Ugh..."

He slumped down in the covers, finally calming down and thinking things through. He realized that he indeed, had competition. It was bad enough that he had to deal with the fact that he was equal to Sonic in terms of speed and strength, but just the very thought of losing Amy to him was even worse than if he should ever become paralyzed from the waist down. And that was simply unacceptable. He was determined to tell Amy how he felt about her, by any means necessary. And as he thought more about it, he figured that it probably would have been better to have been told 'no' than to have never told her at all and miss the possible chance to be with her. After all, this was more Amy's choice than his. He closed his eyes and sighed several times, clearing his mind of everything that was plaguing him with doubt. He would just be straight up front with her and he figured that whatever happened, happened. His promise was to make everyone happy, and Amy was definitely part of that group. If he had to leave her forever in order to fulfill that promise...

Then so be it.

Unknown to Shadow, Amy was beginning to have similar doubts and second guesses as well, which had mostly been brought on by the cool, wet weather, the traffic, and the long lines she had encountered in each aisle. What had really been on his mind for those few moments? After the good meal she had cooked for him, she doubt that he would even mention the word food, unless it was a compliment for her. She wanted to know what he was going to say... probably the exact same things that she had wanted to tell him. She had developed very strange and intimate feelings for him... and she didn't know why. Maybe it was when she had first realized that Shadow was a much better person than he made himself out to be. Or maybe these feelings had been aroused when she had noticed that she had made a habit out of watching over him during the lonely nights while he rested... or maybe it had happened today, when Shadow had succumbed to his good-natured side and was willing to be open to her... but there was still things that he could not say to her, but when he attempted to, she felt right away that he wanted to spill his guts out and get some things off of his chest. However, there were things that she wanted to admit too, things that she had already told to Sonic, but the Blue Blur hadn't taken them to heart... Would she face the same resentment from Shadow?...

"Hello! $105.17!"repeated the cashier at the counter.

Amy was brought back to Earth before a very angry crowd of once-patient customers waiting in line. Her face turned as red as the dress under her coat, and she nervously got out her wallet from her purse, in turn taking a credit card from the wallet and handing it to the cashier.

"Um... debit?"

Amy had taken twice as long as she had predicted to arrive back home and when she did, she was worn out. The shopping, long lines, and traffic itself were enough to wear on anyone's nerves. And then the food had to be put up, and with the amount of items that she had brought home, that was bound to tire the little hedgehog girl out even more. Shadow insisted on helping her out as much as he could, but Amy just let him figure out the hard way that she had to do the job by herself. Shadow would have told her right then, but he wanted her with a cleared mind so she could think things through with what he had to say. He knew how people could act when they were tired, so he decided to postpone his announcement again. But he figured that more time could be a good thing. He would have more time to prepare himself and lessen his nervousness. And besides, he was still exhausted also. The effects of food would always pervade until the victim healed themself by taking a nap, and that's exactly what Shadow did once he found that Amy had left him alone once again.

Shadow opened his eyes, moaning tiredly and yawning a couple of times. Once he stretched and became aware that he was actually still alive, he sat up with surprise after noting the low lighting of the room, the elongated shadows around him, and the darkness that surrounded and closed in on their home just outside of the windows. It was the middle of the night. He had only meant for a light nap so he could hear Amy if she had ever come downstairs from her slumber, but the longer he listened to the absolute quiet, the more he had slipped farther and farther away from this world and into the world of deep sleep. He thought he had missed her on several occasions, mainly because the comforter had mysteriously made its way from his waist to across his shoulder again. The hedgehog then looked around the room at nothing in particular, then focused onto the clock on the cable box.

"8:30," he whispered.

Well, that's not too late, he thought. She was more than likely to still be up and about, so he turned on a movie to simply wait it out. Since he wasn't the type to at least try and get involved in most movies, unless it had "gotten involved with him" as he liked to put it, within five minutes he had become bored. To him, each minute felt dragged out to an hour, and he was starting to wonder if she really had gone to bed for the night. There wasn't anything really wrong with waiting as long as it could take. After all, if he was now just admitting the love he felt towards her after a few weeks, he could surely wait a few more hours. But he just wanted to get it off of his chest before he went mad, like the precedent of when you do something wrong and your conscience kicks in. Sometimes, you can wait forever to tell the truth if it's not something too serious, but all the while you wait, that little voice will kept edging you and pushing you, until eventually you have to tell or you'll feel like the worst thing that God could have ever created. That's how Shadow was feeling at the moment. The explosions and gunshots on television were not taking his mind off of his secret in the least, and he figured that he might as well go back to sleep and let the time pass that way. Just as he laid back down on the pillow and grew warm, sleepy, and comfortable again, he started to close his eyes. But as he enjoyed the few seconds of rest, the hedgehog opened his eyes again and went on the defensive as he was jumped from behind.

"Oh! What the–!"

"Ha, ha! Gotcha, didn't I?" laughed Amy, putting her arms around him.

"Hmph, do you like surprising people?"

"Well, it can be fun from time to time. I wanted to get you when you were most vulnerable."

"You couldn't have come at a better time, because I was about to go to sleep. I thought you had gone, too."

"Not really. Just got caught up in a movie. I say, people could not live without a good movie."

"Heh, I could..."

"What you're not into a good action movie? Knowing you, I was sure one would cause you to stare at the screen for two hours straight."

"Nah. It's better to live it. Once you've done all that stuff, you become a bit of a realist."

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry about that. I'm sure you've been bored stiff from all this time."

"Hmmm, no... not really... I've had plenty to think about."

"We've all had, remember?"

Shadow chuckled and nodded his head. After their talk, the two remained quiet for a few minutes, both trying to focus on the television, but focusing was found to be very difficult. Their thoughts were still as strong as ever in their minds, which in turn filled the air of suspense and uncertainty. Although the two were at a loss of words, they were still bonding even more; unwinding, enjoying the quiet, throwing quick, questionable looks back and forth. It was a nice way to spend time with each other, and with their feelings still aroused, they were naturally in a more relaxed mood. Both hedgehogs were at peace, suspended in an unexplainable trance-like world which one usually enters when one is at rest and there is nothing wrong on the earth for the time being. As much as Shadow tried to fight against it, he was going to go to sleep again at this rate, but he was flung back to reality once more when he felt another pain in his back.

"Ouch..."

"Shadow? What's wrong?"

"Ah... nothing much. My back's just sore from leaning on this thing for so long. I guess that's what I get for being lazy these past few weeks," he laughed.

"You're not lazy. You're just... incapacitated, a bit."

"Lazy, incapacitated; same thing to me."

"Oh, hush you!" she laughed, putting her hands on his shoulders, "And here. Let me help you out. After all of the adventures I've tagged along on, I know what it's like to be sore."

As soon as she began to massage his shoulders and back, he melted in her hands. He moaned, sighed, and slowly rocked back and forth as her hands worked on his muscles. In the back of his mind he was thinking that this was as close to the blue fields of his visions as he was going to get. Amy turned her head to the side, noticing his lameness and the dreamy, half-sleep look on his face, and she just laughed. She loved how cute people where when they were star-struck, especially him, since it was a bit out of his character.

"What's so funny, huh?... Ahhh–ouch! " She hit a really hard knot in the middle of his back.

"Oh, nothing, nothing! I just thought about something."

"Heh, heh. Shoot."

"You said you waited for me..."

Amy paused and smiled deviously, holding onto him a bit tighter.

"Yeah... Well... There's something that's been on mind all day..." he took one of the hands from his

shoulder and held it firmly, bringing it to his cheek and closing his eyes, "... And it's something that's been in my heart for three weeks now."

Amy backed away from Shadow slightly, looking at him, but didn't worry too much about it. She leaned on his back, and he brought her hand down, kissing it tenderly.

"Amy... I really can't wait anymore... and I don't care what you say, but..."

"Yes?"

"I want you to know..."

He pushed himself up and led her around in front of him, and she sat down on the edge of the couch, her eyes just as big and wondrous as ever. Shadow's heart and intentions were stronger than they were that morning, but still he had not found a way to fight through her eyes' hypnotic hold on a person's mind...

"I-... well, I really..."

This time, however, it affected him a lot more subconsciously than he had realized, and he did not know that he was nearing her...

"I... I–..."

"Yes... Shad... ow?"

The girl was nearing Shadow also, unwillingly under his spell too. Both were drawing from each other. They knew the love that was present in their hearts, but were still unwilling to admit that love which they had figured was much more suited for another, but their hearts knew better than their minds, and were drawing that secretive knowledge from each other. That's why they needed each other...

"I–... I..."

They were so close to each other. They didn't realize it, until Shadow felt her smooth hair brush across his face, and finally for the first time... they kissed. Shadow was reluctant at first and drew away, but he ultimately gave in to his feelings and wrapped his arms around her back. As he fell back onto the pillow, she went with him. He began to run his fingers deliberately through her hair and spines as she did in a similar fashion to his white fur. This is where Shadow wanted to be. This is what he wanted for the rest of his life. He was now in the fields, under the willows, and in the grass with his love. Shadow was again the content, happy, and loving hedgehog he was 50 years ago, and he knew that he was finally at home.

"Whoa..."

"What?"

"That was... unexpected," Shadow chuckled, "What I wanted to say was that I l–"

Amy put a finger to his lips to silence him.

"Shh... I got the entire message. To tell the truth, I had been thinking the same things. I didn't want to admit it, but Sonic may like me... but there's no true love between us. Never will be."

"My love was for another too..."

"Hm... We shouldn't think too much about the past right now."

"Yeah... We'll think about it later."

And the two gladly went back in...

I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey

The more I get of you

Stranger it feels...

And now that your rose is in bloom

A light hits the gloom on the grave...

Now that your rose is in bloom,

A light hits the gloom on the grave.