Shadow and Maria reclined against the recess of a high round window, gazing at the stars. It was the same window she showed him after his endurance marathon test. Like before, a book and blanket lay in the center, untouched, but she was determined not to fall asleep this time.

It had been two days since Cake Day, two days since they last took a trip to the cafeteria.

She glanced at his face. He wore a dark look of concentration. It was hard to tell if something was bothering him, but at least it wasn't the same way he looked when the bespectacled old man accused him of stealing. That was true anger.

She couldn't remember the last time she was angry, but she could recall her most recent negative emotion: feeling panicked last night when Abe came to play. He wanted her to read him a story, so she told him to pick something from the bookshelf. She froze when he pulled out a book with a pale blue cover.

"Hey, what's this? It doesn't have a picture on the front like the others."

"No, don't!"

He tried to open it, but failed due to her snatching it out of his hands. She hastily explained that it was her diary and he was forbidden from ever looking through it. The boy coaxed and prodded, but gave up when she changed the subject by suggesting they read one of his favorite books. She even allowed him to keep it afterward.

Part of her felt guilty for being secretive, considering what the old man revealed about Shadow on Cake Day. The news glued itself to the back of her mind and wouldn't come off. Now that they were alone in a calm place just for them, she decided to ask about it.

"Is it true what that man said the other day about you not needing to eat?"

Shadow blinked as if pulled from another reality. He glanced her way and resumed staring out the window. After a pause, he answered. "Yes and no. I do need food, just not as often as everyone else. It gives me energy, and I'll become comatose if I starve myself for too long."

"So you can't die from hunger, but you can still get weak?"

"Right."

"How long can you go without eating?"

"Years."

Maria stared, then noticed how rude she was being. She turned toward the window. "Oh... I see." She swallowed, imagining what it was like to live without eating for that long. "I... never knew that about you."

He shifted uncomfortably. "I didn't mean to hide it from you, but I worried it would... change the way you see me." He absently rubbed his temple.

She gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "I get that you're the Ultimate Life Form, but you're also Shadow the Hedgehog. You're not just an experiment to me. I wouldn't mind knowing all there is to know about you."

"Heh." The corner of his mouth lifted. "The old man did get that part about secrets right. There are things about me even I don't know, and I think the Professor keeps me in the dark on purpose."

She nodded in sympathy. "It must be hard not knowing everything about yourself, but I'm sure Grandfather has his reasons. Plus, it's normal for everyone to make new discoveries about themselves later in life. We don't have it all figured out from the start. And it's normal to keep some things to yourself; you don't have to share them if you don't want to."

Shadow sat quietly. Then he said, "I don't want to keep anything from you." His eyes met hers. "Ask me something."

Reflexively, she looked away to hide her grin, happily taken aback by the sudden demand. "Hmm. Give me a minute." She put a finger to her chin and thought. "When are you happiest?"

"When I get to see you after days of being away from you." He smirked. "Come on, give me something tougher."

"Okay," she giggled. "What's the worst thing you've ever done?"

His smirk slowly faded as he considered. He muttered, "Worst thing..." as he looked out the window.

She waited with her hands folded in her lap. A silence settled heavily on them, and she frowned in worry. "Sorry. You don't have to tell me if it's too much."

She received no reply. The dark concentrated look was back on his face. At last, he said, "I broke someone's wrist once."

"You...?" She stopped herself. Her hands unfolded and reached for his.

He didn't move his head, but he accepted her touch. His thumb brushed against her fingers.

"Was it on purpose?"

He stared at the stars and was slow to answer. "Maybe." He took a deep breath and began his recollection. "I saw one of the researchers giving his colleague a hard time. Normally I don't care enough to get involved, but the bastard kept grabbing her hand after she kept pulling it off and saying no. Then they were against a corner, and she said he was hurting her. Loudly. I moved and next thing I know, I'm yanking his hand away and crushing his wrist. I started telling him off, squeezing more and more until..." He winced, shut his eyes, and opened them again. "...I heard a snap."

In her mind, Maria heard it too. She waited for him to go on, but he didn't. She looked at the window, still holding his hand. Their reflections bore grim expressions.

"Whether you meant to hurt him or not, you got him to stop, right?"

He chuckled darkly. "Stop with Professor Hayden, yes. With me, though, he was just getting started. Never misses a chance to insult me whenever he gets near me now. But his bark's worse than his bite; he's no one worth worrying about."

A memory flashed before her of Shadow saying the same words about the overseer she encountered on Cake Day, the man with the permanently irritated face. So he really did have a grudge against the hedgehog.

And he wasn't the only familiar person mentioned just now; she knew Professor Hayden, too. She was a slender woman with a kind smile, blond hair, and blue eyes. Maria got along with her immediately upon their first meeting because they had much in common.

She didn't realize she was staring at Shadow again until he turned to her. He opened his mouth, but she interrupted. "You should know that I haven't changed the way I see you. I don't regret learning new things about you."

He nodded solemnly. "I'm glad."

She squeezed his hand, let go, and turned toward the blanket. "I want to read you this book."

She picked up her diary. Having already read him the first book she kept on the sill, she switched it out this morning for her diary due to Little Abe discovering its existence last night.

She was ready to pay him in kind for letting her get to know him more. Surely it wouldn't change the way he saw her.

As she expected, he didn't know what a diary was. He asked why bother writing secrets down if it risked exposure and she explained that it was relieving to express your thoughts tangibly instead of keeping them to yourself all the time. Diaries also served as daily recordings, no private confessions necessary.

She opened the book to the first page and began reading. Most of the entries were the simple musings of a sweet young lady, but there were parts that revealed a side of her Shadow wasn't acquainted with. He learned she was sometimes jealous of others' skills, sometimes resentful when she overheard researchers talking badly of things and people she liked, and sometimes painfully insecure about her own easy-to-make mistakes.

There were a few entries he recognized, like the time she had spinach stuck in her teeth. He shifted self-consciously when she read—more like gushed—the parts about him. She always had something nice to say whenever he was brought up.

After they read the final passage, he thanked her for sharing her diary with him. He was happy to know her better.

Sharing all of that with someone, getting it all off her chest, revisiting all those memories, was invigorating. So invigorating that she decided to begin a new entry right then and there. She flipped to the middle of the book, where she'd kept a pencil wedged between the pages. Leaning back against the curve of the window, she did a quick mental brainstorm and spoke aloud as she wrote.

"Dear Diary, today I showed Shadow my diary and read every last page to him. He didn't make fun of me or think badly of me at all and told me he was glad to learn new things about me. I like him a lot and can always trust him and I wish everyone else knew how great he is. Also, I like holding his hand. It's always warm and feels nice. Oh, and I really like the way he looks when I'm writing about him. He's in front of me right now, looking away but I can tell he wants to smile, which he should because it is so wonderful when he does."

The next day, Maria decided to share a couple pages of her diary with Abe since showing it to Shadow yesterday gave her confidence. She only made it past a few entries when he said he was bored and had hoped she had cool stories to tell about the Ark. The coolest ones she remembered involved Shadow, but she knew he wouldn't want to hear about those. So instead, she grinned and asked if he had any stories like that himself. He proudly recounted exaggerated tales of amazing adventures that made her laugh with their absurdity. She thought about Shadow and wondered what sort of adventures he would have when he was able to go to Earth, and if she could partake in a few herself.