Shadow leaned against a wide oak with his eyes closed and his arms crossed. It had been fifty-nine years ago to the day since the Ark incident. Since he lost his first and only true friend.

His dark eyelids tightened as he fought the sudden onslaught of memories. He had tried to put the past behind, but it felt like it didn't want to be forgotten, not that he could. He had tried.

He opened his eyes and stared up at the bright summer sky. It was a beautiful day, he realized, a day where even someone as dark as he could enjoy it. He had the day off from GUN, and Rouge was busy harassing a certain echidna on Angel Island. The sable agent actually had some time to himself, which had become more rare the longer he worked within the agency. Shadow smirked to himself as another thought flitted across his mind. Nine years ago he wouldn't have set foot within the building, but time had a way of changing people, even if they were immortal.

Mystic Ruins

Sonic and Tails gingerly strolled through the jungles surrounding their remote home. With Eggman recently defeated, the two brothers and the remaining freedom fighters finally had a moment of peace. However, the two-tailed kit had roped his older brother into a new quest far too soon for the azure hedgehog's liking.

"Tails," Sonic whined, "as much as I love exploring, don't you think we need at least a little break in between adventures?"

The yellow kitsune looked up from his Miles Electric sheepishly, "I know, Sonic, but my handheld has been going crazy over some energy surge in this area. And I wanna check it out and find it before Eggman does."

"Good point," he sighed, "So what kind of energy is it? Is it a chaos emerald?"

Tails looked at the screen in deep thought, "No, it's not as strong as an emerald, but it isn't weak either. I'm not sure what it is exactly."

"Well, let's go check it out!" Sonic replied and grabbed his little brother's free hand.

"Sonic? What are you?--Aah!" he yelled as he was suddenly pulled deeper into the jungle at the speed of sound, "SONIC!! S-SLOW DOWN!"

"Huh? What? Oh! Hehe, sorry little buddy," the blue hero laughed nervously. He always did have a bad habit of jumping in too quickly, which always led to trouble. Like six angry Zeti trying to eat you, he thought as he remembered one of their most recent adventures.

The two looked around at the now very unfamiliar patch of jungle they had, or more specifically Sonic had, wandered into. They stood by a towering waterfall with a small pool and clearing at the bottom. It was a beautiful site, and Sonic whistled in acknowledgment of that fact.

"Dude, this is nice!" he exclaimed and found a nice tree to lounge against while his genius younger brother unceremoniously shook his portable computer.

"The energy source is close by, but it's hard to get an exact reading," Tails stated.

After a few minutes of trying to fix his device (which included not just professional tinkering but shaking and smacking it repeatedly), he finally gave up and sat on a large, smooth rock beside the small lake. What neither he nor Sonic planned on was for him to slip right off the rock and into the pool below.

Sonic jumped from his place and zipped to the splash site just in time for his best friend to resurface, splashing a lot of water on him in the process.

"Yuck! Tails! Keep your water to yourself," he complained and shook droplets off himself in a way similar to a dog. The kitsune grumbled about pushing him in under his breath as he wrung out his twin namesakes, but before he could voice his idea, his eyes caught a glimpse of light reflecting off the rock he had previously sat on.

"Uh, Sonic? What is that?" he asked as the two made their way over to inspect it.

The cobalt speed demon shrugged and wiped his glove on the layer of grimy moss covering the rock only to discover something very important. It wasn't a rock. It was a capsule, and it wasn't empty.

Tails wiped away a metal name piece at the top of the container and gasped as he read the simple inscription.

Property of Space Colony Ark. Escape capsule 014.

"Should we open it? I think I see somebody still inside!" Sonic said as he peered into the dark glass. He could only see the faint outline of a small figure sleeping inside.

"Hang on, Sonic. We don't know how long this has been here, or if whoever inside is friendly or not. Let me scan it first," Tails intervened and held up his Miles Electric. It blinked and bleeped a few seconds later, and the kitsune frowned in confusion.

"Systems are stable. It says that a fatal condition of some kind was cured along with a gunshot wound thanks to some sort of transfusion process before the pod was ejected. The person inside has been in stasis for over fifty years!"

"That's around the same time as Shadow," Sonic mused, "I say we open it and ask this person ourselves."

"Wait! Sonic!" Tails called, but it was too late. He had pushed the release button, and the glass capsule door swung open, giving them only a split-second to dodge. Fog drifted ominously out of the machine as it opened for the first time in several decades.

"Ow, my head. Where am I?" a soft, feminine voice asked herself as she sat up and tried to climb out of the pod, "Why do I feel so...weird...and tired?"

A honey-colored, female hedgehog shakily tried to pull herself out of the capsule. Her ocean blue eyes matched the blue and white outfit she was wearing, along with her azure headband. Sonic was by her side in an instant to help.

"Hey, miss, are you okay?"

"Eeek!" she screamed and promptly fell out of the pod and was just barely caught by her cobalt rescuer. Sonic gently set her into a sitting position as she stared up at him in shock, as well as fear. Tails carefully walked up to her and sat beside her, while Sonic sat on her other side.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said gently, using a voice he would often use to console a terrified citizen after one of Eggman's attacks. The girl hugged her arms from a sudden chill, then frowned.

"Huh? Fur?"

Sonic laughed, "Well, yeah, most hedgehogs have fur."

"Wait, what!?" she shrieked and turned to see her reflection in the water. Her eyes widened as she put a hand to her muzzle and felt her gold, hair-like quills. "I-I'm a hedgehog? Just like...Oh my goodness!" she gasped and turned to the two mobians, "What planet is this?"

"Earth. Or Mobius, depending on who you ask," Tails answered, "I'm Miles, but everybody calls me Tails. And that's my big brother Sonic. We found you in that pod over there. Were you not always a hedgehog?"

The girl shook her head, "No, I don't think so. I remember being a human girl, but that's not important. Right now, I really need to find a friend of mine. He could be in serious trouble."

"We'll help ya out," Sonic agreed with his signature thumbs up and wink, "But first, how about you tell us your name?"

Her answer made them both stumble over in surprise and ask her if she was certain several times. The two of them shared a knowing a look before Tails spoke up.

"We need to call him."

Shadow's Hill

The charcoal hedgehog's communicator vibrated on his wrist, waking him up from an impromptu nap he had fallen into. He looked down at the caller ID and answered a few seconds later.

"Shadow, here," he stated.

"You won't believe who we found!" Sonic shouted from behind Tails, who looked annoyed that he had been interrupted. The dark agent rose an eyebrow and waited for the fox to continue.

"I'm sending you my coordinates. You really to come see this. I still can't quite believe it."

A light on his watch beeped as he answered, "Coordinates received. What's going on?"

"You won't believe me! Just please hurry!" Tails said and ended the link before Shadow could question him further.

"Mystic Ruins? Well, it's not like I'm that busy today. As long as it's not another trick to race Faker," he sighed and teleported to them.

Mystic Ruins

Shadow arrived in the secluded clearing a second after he had received the call, and his chaos senses began to buzz involuntarily. Had they found a new energy source or another chaos emerald?

No, he thought, this feels too similar to my own energy.

"All right, what's this all about, fox?" he asked smoothly with his arms crossed. Tails and Sonic were standing side by side, as if they were trying to hide something behind them.

Sonic grinned, "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes, "Her?"

The two friends smiled at each other and parted to reveal a golden hedgehog staring up at the sky in a small state of awe. Shadow's jaw slackened as he gazed at her, and for a moment, he thought that she was glowing like a young sun. The whole world felt like it decided to slow down. He knew that chaos signature anywhere.

Her sapphire eyes looked down from the sky and locked with his ruby orbs. She recognized him; he could feel it. Her mouth made a small "o" shape, and she tentatively stepped closer to him. However, she wasn't as used to her new legs as she thought she was and tripped. He instantly caught her, and she slowly looked back up at him. The two hedgehogs held their breathes, waiting for the other to speak first. Sonic smirked as he watched them.

"Shadow? Is that...?" the blond asked as she cupped his tan muzzle in her hand. He unconsciously leaned into it, her touch warm, gentle, and familiar.

"Maria," he breathed with a voice barely above a whisper. She smiled, and for a second, Shadow thought he was that same ethereal glow surround her fragile frame.

She hugged him tightly, resting her chin on his shoulder. She gasped when she felt him cling to her, pulling her closer, and a few seconds later, she felt a warm droplet roll down her sleeve. She didn't have to pull back to know what was going on, and soon she felt hot tears of her own slide down.

"I thought I lost you forever," he whispered, which made her cry harder, and she felt his hold tighten.

"I missed you so much, Shadow."

"I missed you too. I promise, I won't lose you like that ever again."

"You and your promises, Shadow," she laughed as they pulled apart, "I hope you haven't done anything foolish while I was gone," she said with a knowing grin.

The ebony male broke eye contact nervously, "Actually, about that. I think I've done a lot of--"

She held a finger to his lips to interrupt him, "Whatever it is, I forgive you. We're together again, and that's all that matters right now. As long as you didn't blow up the moon or something."

"Um...well, not the whole moon," he chuckled. Maria stared up at him for a moment before her laughter filled the air.

"Oh, Shadow! Well, I think half a moon is just as good as a whole one," she smiled, "You always did have a knack for trouble, but I'll be happy as long as you show it to me."

For the first time in over fifty years, Shadow released a genuine smile, shocking the other two mobians present, "Of course," he replied and took her hand, "Come on. I have a lot to show you."

She laughed as he began to walk away with her, keeping a slow pace as she found her footing. But two more sets of footprints followed behind them, and Sonic's voice caught their attention.

"Hey, wait up, Faker!"

Shadow chuckled and shook his head as Maria asked, "Faker?"

"It's a long story."

The golden hedgehog rolled her eyes, "Why am I not surprised?"

The black and red hero looked up to the sky through the trees and breathed a silent thankful prayer. He finally had his angel back.