CHAPTER 13

FINALLY FREEE

The spears embeded in Eggman's distruction device. "What are you doing?" the mad scientsit demanded, letting Helen drop to the floor. "You're going to blow up the entire building.

Shadow hadn't thought of that. He had to get out of here!

The black hedgehog ran toward Helen but an explosion caused the whole left wall to blow out. A piece of debree struck Shadow on the side of the head. He fell to the floor, shaking stars out of his vision. He tried to get up but the place was rocking so hard he couldn't. He heard Helen's scream from close by but couldn't see her.

"Look what you've done!" Eggman shouted behind him.

Another explosion. Running feet dying away.

"Shadow!" Helen screamed.

Shadow still couldn't move. His head buzzed and the rocking got worse. Darkness filled his vision and he lost conciousness.

Helen made her way to Shadow who hadn't moved since a large chunk of the wall had it him. I hope he's okay, she thought, pulling herslef toward him.

Electricity burst and sparks showed over the floor. She screamed and put her arms over her head to protect herself. We have to get out of here!
Smoke filled the building. Helen started coughing and ducked her head as she crawled toward her friend. She wasn't leaving without him!

When she reached him she grabbed his arm and started shaking him. "Shadow wake up!" she shrieked, panic in her voice. "C'mon I need you! If you can hear me open your eyes. PLEASE! We have to get out of here! Don't die on me!"

When he didn't respond she panicked and shook him hard. "Shadow! SHADOW! DON'T LEAVE ME AGAIN! I NEED YOU! I LOVE YOU!"

Suddenly he moaned and moved under her hands. He opened his eyes but she sensed something was wrong. His retinas reflected no light and they seemed blurred.

"Helen, are you there?" he asked, looking around.

"I'm here," she said.

"Where?"

"Right in front of you."

"I can't see you."

Oh, God, no!

"Am I blind?" he seemed so calm for some reason.

"Shadow...," she said.

He took her hand. "We have to get out of here," he said.

"But how? You can't see."

"I still have my Chaos Emerald."

"But what about my chair?"

Shadow smelled smoke and sensed her panic. "We must hurry and get it." He put his arms under her body and lifted her. "You'll have to be my eyes," he told her.

"Okay."

Shadow started walking. Helen was trying her best to tell him where to go but she wasn't having much luck.

Another explosion knocked them over. "Forget about the chair," she finally said. "Let's just get out of here!"

Shadow's face showed relief. He held her in his left arm and used his right one to pull out his Chaos Emerald. He lifted it into the air. "Chaos Control!" he shouted.

The next instand Helen found herself in the forest close to the lake where her island was. Shadow still held onto her. She noticed his face was troubled and his eyes were still clouded over.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"We're in the area where you found me," she replied, as she looked around.

"We are? How can you tell?"

"I smell water. Freshwater. The lake where my island is."

The black hedgehog fell over letting her go.

"Are you alright?' she asked him.

"I'm feeling tired," he replied. "I need to rest."

She smiled. He had had a long day. "All right," she said. "you go ahead and rest."

Shadow rested his head in his hands, breathing deeply. Why can't I see? he asked himself. What happened to me?

The girl noticed his distress. "Shadow, maybe if you get some sleep your eyesight will return to normal," she suggested.

He nodded. "Maybe you're right."

He rested his head on her lap and was soon sound alseep. At least I hope you get it back, she thought, as she stroked the fur between his ears. I don't know what I would do if you were blind...

Sonic decided to check and see if Helen had returned home yet. Ignoring Chris' constant chatter, he ran out of the Thorndike mansion, across Station Square, and came to a stop at the front door of Helen's house.

The girl's parents had nothing new to tell him. The blue hedgehog could tell they were both upset. Helen's mother's eyes were red, as if she'd been crying.

"Sonic, please find our daughter," the girl's father pleaded.

"Don't worry," Sonic vowed. "I'll find her. I promise."

Then he was off and running. Maybe I should check out Helen's favorite place again, he thought. Maybe she got away somehow. Why was Shadow so upset when I confronted him? Was he really worried about her? I wonder if he's with her...

He headed to the town park.

The sun was beginning to go down. Shadow's stretched and grew with every passing minute. The crickets began their evening song.

It will be dark soon, Helen thought. We won't be able to get out of this forest if Shadow can't see. Oh, I hope he gets his sight back.

She felt a movement on her legs and looked down. She saw the black hedgehog stirring. He was waking up.

"Shadow?"

He opened his eyes. Some of the mist had left them but but they weren't right yet. "Helen?" he said, lifting his head.

"Can you see yet?"

"Shadows... Nothing but shadows and some colors."

"It looks like your sight is coming back a little."

He stood up slowly. "But not enough," he said, beginning to walk away. "Not nearly enough for us to go anywhere."

The girl grabbed his arm. "I think you should wait until you can see better," she advised.

Shadow looked down at her. He rested his one hand on hers. "I wasn't going to leave you," he said.

Helen felt that warm loving feeling again. She started to blush.

"Back there you said you loved me," he said, sitting down.

Her blush got redder.

He reached out for her face and found it. He moved his hand over it, feeling the soft smoothness. "Why did you say that?"

"I-I do," she said slowly.

He smiled. "Love. I never really understood that that ment. I always hated that word."

"Why?"

"Maria."

"Maria..."

Suddenly it seemed as if he was overcome wth emotion. Before Helen knew what was happening Shadow wrapped his arms and her and hugged her tight.

"Helen," he said. "You may think I only care because you look like Maria but it's not true. That may have been the reason at first but it no longer is. I do care. I care about you. That's no lie."

Helen returned the hug. "I understand," she said soflty. "I care about you too."

She felt his tear soaking her hair. Yet. I just wish I undersood all that happened to you...

The black hedgehog let her go a few minutes later. She was now able to see his eyes again. They were a lot cleared but not all the way there yet.

"I can see you better," he said, slowly reaching up to touch her cheek again.

"Hey! What are you doing to her, faker!" a voice came out of nowhere.

Shadow dropped his hand and turned his head. He saw a blue blurry thing come charging at him. He didn't know what it was so he couldn't react. The thing slammed into him, hard.

With a yelp the black hedgehog went flying. His body slammed into a tree and he fell to the ground.

Helen stared at the thing that had attacked him. A big blue hedgehog. Sonic? she thought. What is he doing?

Sonic ran up to the half blind Shadow and grabbed him by his fluffy white chest hair. "What were you doing to her?" he demanded. "You better not have hurt her!"

Shadow tried to answer but the only sound he made was a loud gulp. The girl saw blood coming out of his mouth.

"Sonic!" she shouted.

The blue hedgehog looked at her. "Helen, are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Now let him go!" she commanded.

He stared at her. "What?"

"I said 'Let him go'!"

"But, I saw him...!"

"He saved my life!" she shouted angrily. "Now let him go."

Sonic let the black hedgehog go. "He saved your life?"

"That's right," Shadow said grouchily, as he rubbed blood off his face. "Eggman was going to kill her."

"Why?"

"Let her explain."

Sonic looked at her expectantly. Helen took a deep breah and explained everything. As she did Shadow got up and returned to her side.

When she was done Sonic said. "So you're telling me Shadow was protecting you this whole time and trying to get you home?"

She nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"And," Shadow said, picking her up. "Now that I can see again I still intend to do that."

"What happened to Eggman?" the blue hedgehog wanted to know.

"He got away but his invention was destroyed," Helen replied. "Shadow destroyed it.

Sonic was speechless.

Shadow looked at the girl. "Shall I take you home now?"

She nodded. "Yes, that would be great." She looked at Sonic. "Want to come with us?"

"Sure," he said. "Your parents asked me to find you and bring you home anyway."

"Oh no, you don't!" the black hedgehog shouted, running off with her.

"What did you do that for?" the girl inquired.

"He was going to take credit for finding you," he explained.

"Oh..."

Suddenly Sonic was right next to them. "I hope you didn't think you could get away that easily, did you?" he called to the black and red hedegehog.

"GO AWAY!" Shadow shouted.

"Let him come," Helen said.

Shadow sighed. "All right," he agreed. "But only because it was you who asked me."

Author;s note: Sorry I took so long to update. I've been busy.