Bonus V
10 years later, in another city:
"Here you go.," the dark hedgehog said and placed the wrapped gift on the counter. "Thank you so much!," the young female feline thanked him and took the gift carefully. "You're welcome, best wishes to your son. I hope, his birthday tomorrow will be a success.," the hedgehog smiled. "Oh, it will be with this gift! Have a nice day!," the female beamed and turned around to leave the shop.
She hadn't even reached the door, before a male cougar mobian in an expensive looking suit came closer to the counter.
"May I help you?," the hedgehog behind it asked politely. "Indeed you can.," the other nodded. "You see, I am collecting marionettes." "An exotic hobby.," the hedgehog remarked. "I hear this often.," the cougar chuckled.
"Are you interested in one of my creations, then? Or do you want to order a special one?," the hedgehog asked, gesturing to the shelf to his right, filled to the brim with dolls and marionettes.
"I am indeed interested, in those three marionettes there. Is there a special reason, why they are in this glass case?," the cougar asked, pointing towards something behind the hedgehog. He didn't need to turn around to know, what marionettes he meant.
Behind him, over their heads, were the marionettes of a yellow, two-tailed fox in a vampire costume, a young bunny in a ghost costume, the hood had been taken off, so that her – or his, it was hard to tell – head and ears could be seen clearly, and a mature rabbit, that looked like the younger one's mother. Unlike the other two, she didn't wear a costume, but an old fashioned dress.
"I'm very sorry, but those three marionettes aren't for sale. They were a gift to my wife – and he treasures them dearly." Both males looked over to the blue hedgehog, kneeling in a corner and helping a little girl to choose fitting clothes for her doll. They were at it for 30 minutes now, but the blue hedgehog never lost his patience, waving off the apologies of the embarrassed father next to him.
"I see, I'm sorry for asking, then. But if I may, what inspired you to create these three of all possible forms? Especially the fox is unique..." "They are my love's closest ones. He lost them a while ago, due to an accident. To make sure that he won't ever forget them, I created those marionettes."
"That's a sad story. Your wife seems to cope just fine, though." "Of course, he is strong, after all. Now, may I interest you in another marionette?," Shadow asked, looking over to his love again.
It had taken five years, but he had finally broken, surrendering to his new life. Sonic was now Master's – and his. He still remembered the occasions, when Master had allowed him contact to his love, when it had needed a monthly break, how hateful he had been, how he had sworn to avenge all the killed children.
The worst had been probably, when he had presented him the marionette of his last dear person, Vanilla, so to say as reassurance, that everyone he loved was with him now. Which had only resulted in him yelling profanities at him, until his voice had given out and that had been repeated during every break Master had to take for a whole year after that, until it had denied him his right to speak freely by gagging him during his other meetings with Shadow. Finally, it had locked him up completely, in total darkness, allowing no contact at all, but Shadow could still feel the hatred, seeping through the wood.
It had all been forgotten though, just weeks ago when the counter had cracked open to one side and his love had rolled out, trembling like a newborn calf trying to stand, so weak and insecure at first – and so loving from second one, with Shadow worshiping him as well.
Since they couldn't marry the normal way, they had just started to call each other wife and husband, pretending to be married – who could ever prove the opposite? The wedding rings had been easily enough made out of material for the creation of the marionettes.
Black furred ears twitched, when the familiar sound of the door getting locked sounded. He looked up to see the shop empty of all customers. Huh, seemed, as if he had spent another day with reminiscing, working on autopilot.
"Daydreaming again?," Sonic asked, amused, and Shadow looked over to him. His emerald eyes had lost a great bit of their shine and his whole behavior had changed in certain ways, but he could ignore that easily enough. He was his, that was all, that counted.
"Maybe. So, did Master choose?" "Yeah. The girl I helped with the doll-dresses. It should be easily enough to lure her in. She'll make a beautiful marionette. Can we keep her?," Sonic asked with puppy eyes.
"Depends on whether we're staying here, or not.," Shadow replied vaguely. Sonic gasped happily and hugged him tightly, as if he had said 'yes'. "Did I ever tell you, how much I love you?"
"Not today, no.," Shadow replied, pulling him closer. "So? Then let me show you...," the blue one replied with half-lidded eyes.
If people passing by the shop late at night heard several noises resembling wood hitting wood, then they wouldn't mind. That noise had been always there, since they remembered.