"Do you want me to leave?"
Amy Rose was surrounded by green serenity. The mystic ruins seemed to engulf her in a world of silence and dense jungle. The warmth of the day was not oppressive, but never absent on such a clear autumn day. It was a setting best meant for solitude, meditation, and brooding over the most intricate complexities in life.
Amy wanted nothing to do with any of that.
A crack shattered the silence like thunder as a tree fell to the forest floor. Smaller explosions followed one after the other as Amy worked her way through the jungle. Sweat poured down her brow and her face filled with such determination for her quest. With every swing of her hammer she would growl, grunt and give a cry of frustration. Over and over again she would swing and her hammer would completely obliterate her targets. She wanted no silence; no thoughts; no feelings to intrude on her today.
No more talking. No more questions or what ifs. Just here and now!
God forbid she try to predict the future again.
"What are you doing?"
Amy stopped her hammer but allowed the momentum of the swing to turn her towards the voice. Her emerald eyes as wild as the jungle around her as she faced down her opponent.
The fight in her died the moment she saw Shadow the God-Damned Hedgehog.
The silence cascaded on her once more. The heat, the weight of her hammer and troubles had her lowering her hammer but her annoyance and bafflement kept her brain going in a loop that simply repeated...
"What?" she asked, breathless from her exercise.
Shadow rolled his eyes, "What the hell are you doing?"
Amy was silent. What the hell was she doing? She'd come to the Mystic Ruins for a moment of peace; a place to just be AWAY from...
"No," she thought, "You'll think about it again and start crying. Shadow's the last person to cry in front of."
"Nothing," she said finally.
Shadow's eyes widened in disbelief as he threw his hands out to motion Amy destruction.
"Okay, so maybe not 'nothing' in the strictest sense," she argued, "But no one else is here..."
"Because this is Federal Land owned by the United Federation and you are trespassing."
Amy's heart stopped, her face paled and her hands found their way to her growing headache, "You're not here to just say hi...
Her hammer disappeared and she looked to Shadow, her eyes watering but filled with determination, "Do you want me to leave or are you here to arrest me?"
Shadow's face was unreadable and Amy felt herself being judged by his gaze. She refused to falter or tear her gaze away from him, even as he reached behind him and pulled out a single ring. He threw it behind him and motioned for Amy to follow him. Amy gave him a confused look but obeyed. When the ring grew and revealed itself as a portal, Amy gave a snort.
"So it was Team Dark that broke into Rotor's files," Amy commented snidely.
"Not exactly."
They stepped through the portal into a place that was even more muggy than the jungle, with greenery to match. Amy had to shield her eyes from the bright lights as Shadow marched on.
"I'd hardly call the R&D department part of Team Dark." Shadow continued as he searched through the greenery, "We don't care where they get their ideas, so long as there's results."
"You could have just asked, you know," Amy retorted, "We would have been open to a trade."
Shadow snorted, "You have no idea what the Federation would have to do in order to facilitate such a trade in the first place."
"And the Ultimate Life form is totally okay with a political nightmare once Tails and Rotor find out who broke into their stuff?" Amy asked, "Much less how the King or Princess Sally will feel about it?"
Shadow finally stopped in front of a grove of oddly familiar saplings with a quizzical look on his face, "Politics aren't my problem. Besides, the only proof you have on the matter is my ULTIMATELY uninformed theory on it.."
Amy couldn't help the small smile that snuck onto her face, "Did you just...?"
Shadow gave a final nod before he looked back to Amy, "Hmph, you have bigger problems to deal with at the moment. How many did you destroy?"
Amy gave a blush before looking away, "Maybe five of them? I wasn't there that long..."
Shadow gave a dismissive wave of his hand, "I should have enough. We'll take ten for now and if we need more we can come back."
Amy's ears twitched towards the trees and Shadow, her brain not quite catching up to the situation, "And do... what?
Shadows eyes held hers for a moment, half-lidded and filled to brim with bemusement. Finally he rolled his eyes and grabbed two shovels leaning against the nearby wall.
"I thought you were the smart one," he murmured as he held out one of the shovels, "We're digging up the trunks and replanting the trees. In return, you won't be arrested for inciting a political nightmare of your own."
Shadow's face was smug but hers was puzzled. She raised an eyebrow before taking the shovel, "You're helping me out? Why?"
Shadow's eyes narrowed, then turned back and gently picked up one of the saplings, "You'd screw it up, otherwise," he groused.
Amy could feel the old smile sneaking back on her face. She mimicked his way of picking up the sapling before following him through the portal. The smile failed her once she stepped back into the jungle.
She'd destroyed far more than eight trees. She'd created a meadow of beheaded trees. What looked like dozens of stumps filled her with a sense of self loathing and guilt, as though the thousands of splinters she'd sent flying all landed in her heart.
"Of course you did," she thought, "This is why they did that. This is why you failed. Why you're not good enough. You're too stupid, angry, selfish, weak, pathetic..."
"Amy."
Amy's head swerved towards Shadow. He had a concerned look on his face and his hands were held out towards the sapling in her hands. She shook her head and handed the plant over.
"I'm fine, sorry. I just... didn't realize how bad it all was..."
Shadow paused at this. His ears turned back flat on his head and his eyes fell into a guilty look. He set the plant down next to his own and looked to Amy. He started to say something, but then shook his head and instead said, "This will take more than a day to fix. Luckily I have enough saplings, but I'll need to replenish those by taking cuttings from the other trees."
Amy shook her head, wiping her eyes as discreetly as possible in order to clear them, "Are you sure? I... I really messed this up here..."
"I only have about fifteen of this particular kind, but this jungle uses a combination of several different species. All told I have enough to replace five meadows like this one."
Amy's eyes widened in shock, "How many does G.U.N have?! Are you sure it's okay to take so many?"
Shadow snorted and a smirk grew on his face, "They don't have any. These are from my personal collection. Let's gather up the saplings I have then we can start digging up the stumps."
Amy's mouth fell open but followed him wordlessly back to the portal. Now she took the time to see the single biggest Green house she'd ever seen in her entire life. Floor to ceiling was covered with everything green with specks of bright colors here and there from some flowering vines. Amy couldn't help but marvel at just how much there was.
"I never knew you were a gardener," Amy murmured, "How do you have time for all of this?"
"I don't sleep."
Amy gasped at that, her hands turned to fists in her hips, "Shadow that's so bad for you!"
"Save it. I don't need as much sleep as the rest of you," he turned to her, holding two saplings in each arm this time, "Ultimate life form, remember?"
Amy gave a lame, "oh" and grabbed her own set of saplings from him, "Still... you can't take care of all this by yourself, can you? What do you do for missions?"
On this went for the time it took to move the saplings. In that time Amy learned he had started his own nursery business and that he used interns from the local university to help look after his trees while on missions.
"They're all idiots, but they're willing to learn at least. They're not so useless..."
She learned how to dig out a stump that day, sweat poured down her neck as she and Shadow raced to uproot over twenty stumps. Shadow won, naturally, but Amy couldn't help but have a good time. She learned that Rouge had challenged him to find a hobby six years ago and this was what he'd landed on. He'd started with flowers but he loved trees the most. She learned the difference between root cuttings and stem cuttings and all the different ways one could essentially make a clone of a plant. That he had a small seasonal garden set aside for food that he would practice cooking with when he had the time. That his dream was to grow his own coffee tree so he could make his favorite snack at home.
"Coffee plants are so damn finicky," he grumbled, "Good coffee beans are worth it though."
"Yea but... you really eat them raw?" Amy asked with a small chuckle, "That sounds so bitter!"
"Not raw, just after roasting them," Shadow corrected, "They're perfect. None of that dressed up nonsense people insist on."
"But you still like vanilla ice cream?" Amy questioned.
"I have a very wide palate," Shadow insisted, making Amy laugh again.
Amy was doing a lot of that today, she realized.
It wasn't until about sunset that Amy started getting tired and hungry and suggested taking a break. Shadow gave a small, derisive laugh but agreed.
He realized he was laughing a lot today, too.
After gathering a few sandwiches via the portals, Amy and Shadow sat to enjoy the fruits of their labor with ice cold water to wash it all down. They ate in silence, gazing over their hard work half done as the sun set. All the stumps were gone and a third of the saplings lay in their places. Peace had settled into Amy's heart even as she was sweaty and covered in dirt. The day felt hard-won to her.
Finally after a final swig of water, Shadow turned to Amy, took a deep breath and asked, "So what happened?"
Amy nearly choked on her sandwich. With her mouth still full, she looked to Shadow. She debated playing dumb or telling him something, ANYTHING else besides what'd actually happened.
If Shadow had shown any other face than the one he'd shown, she would have done it. She'd have told him she was frustrated that she wasn't as strong as everyone else, as fast, or as intelligent. Hell, she could have told him she was frustrated by which side of the bed she woke up on!
If only he'd done anything but look genuinely curious and concerned.
Amy gave a hard swallow, her half of her pride going down with the sandwich.
"It's... really stupid," she warned.
Shadow stared back, again in bemusement, "This isn't the smartest thing you've done.
Amy's mouth twitched, but she couldn't find an argument against that. She took a deep breath and a long swig from her water bottle. After one more deep breath in and out she looked on towards the meadow.
"... Sonic... proposed to Sally..."
A confused look fell over Shadow's face, "He... proposed what to the princess?"
Amy's laugh was hollow and painful sounding, "You're really going to make me say it?"
Shadow glared at her, but his eyes told her he was still waiting.
Amy rolled her eyes, cursing his genuine confusion, "And I thought you were the smart one..." she murmured.
She took a shaking breath as tears filled her eyes, "He, uh... asked her to marry him."
The sun set completely behind them, casting the world in the same dark and cold Amy felt.
"And... that's bad?"
Amy's head swung towards Shadow, his confusion making her more angry than anything she'd felt all day.
"OF COURSE NOT!" she cried, "It's great! It's beautiful! Everyone is happy! And if I really loved Sonic and had faith in my fate being tied to his forever, I'd be okay too!"
She started pacing angrily around the meadow, hands on hips and tears glittering in her eyes. Shadow jumped up, his eyes wide at her reaction. He had not been prepared to get her angry again, "You loved him?"
Amy stopped, took another deep breath, then tried and failed to leave the sarcasm out of her voice, "Yes... Shadow. A lot. I've always loved him. Ever since I first heard about him, I've loved him. Followed him everywhere. Fought for him. Watched him die, watched him come back, watched him save the world over and over, ALWAYS knowing that he and I would be together if I was just GOOD enough.
"I'm not, though. I can't compare to her! He had her from the very beginning and I was just too stupid to see it. He joined the Freedom Fighters for her, he fought for her country time and time again. And he'd say it wasn't just for her but we ALL know it was...
"But I could deal with ALL of that. I can deal with being angry and heartbroken, JUST FINE. But EVERYONE else just..."
The tears started falling then. She felt herself crumple, first her knees then her waist to curl her into a ball, her hands over her eyes.
Shadow for his part, approached Amy as though she were a bomb that had gone off. He knelt in front of her, took a deep breath and asked, "What?"
Amy sniffled, trying to stifle a sob, but trembling instead, "Sonic... proposed to her two months ago. They didn't tell me about it and I had to find out from the news today."
The pink ball curled still further, her hands wrapping around her knees and resting her now streaming eyes against her knees, "I'm twenty years old and my own friends still think I'm the same stupid little girl who's too fragile to deal with anything and too stupid to know it."
Shadow blinked slowly, letting the situation wash over him over and over, just trying to make heads or tails out of all of it. It left him with no answers and a crying pink hedgehog when he wanted neither.
"Do... you want me to leave?" Shadow asked.
"Please don't."
Amy paused then shook her head, "No, that's not fair. I'm sorry. I'm not your responsibility."
"Yes, you are," he corrected, "At least until we finish planting these."
Amy gave an unwilling chuckle. Her tears slowed and she gently uncurled herself, "Yea... We should finish this up."
Shadow shook his head, "That can wait until tomorrow. I don't want to be here much longer."
He walked towards Amy while pulling something out of his pocket. Amy looked closer to see it was a cloth handkerchief. Amy thanked him with a tiny voice and dabbed her eyes with it. When she tried to return it Shadow put his hands out.
"Blow your nose," he demanded, "Then return it tomorrow morning, after you wash it."
"But...!"
"It's fine. You won't ruin it."
Amy's ears fell flat against her head. She blew her nose and stowed the handkerchief away in her own pockets.
"I'm... sorry for unloading on you," she murmured, "And for destroying all these trees. I didn't really have anyone else to talk to and I let my feelings get the best of me. You shouldn't have to deal with..."
Amy couldn't finish her sentence. Her voice shook and she felt tears well up in her eyes again. Instead she motioned to their half finished job, slowly getting darker as the moon rose.
Shadow shook his head, "It was certainly stupid of them to hide that from you."
Amy's eyes widened at that. She openly stared at Shadow scratched his head in confusion, "I have no idea why they thought that was a good idea. I don't care about... romance or marriage or any of that, so I don't really understand why you're angry."
"But... I do remember what it's like to feel like you could follow someone to the end of the world," he admitted, "I do remember putting all my own hopes and dreams into that particular basket and watching it burn in front of me. It's not the same thing but... I can't really call you stupid for feeling the way you do. Especially since... if you hadn't, none of us would be here."
Amy felt her own wave of confusion wash over her, "Are you... talking about the Ark?"
Shadow nodded and smirked, "I never got to thank you for that one."
Amy blushed while her eyes fluttered back towards the ground, "I didn't do all that much. I just... sort of talked at you."
"And if you hadn't followed that Blue Hedgehog up into space you wouldn't have been there to talk me out of blowing up the entire world," he argued, "Or lead your own team against Dr. Eggman's armada a few months later; or put me back on the right track during the Black arms invasion; or any of the other times you risked your own neck to save people. You can say your intent was to impress and pursue Sonic all you want but in the end nothing matters but your actions."
Shadow gently but firmly rested a hand on her shoulder, "You've done a lot of good. Not getting what you want doesn't make you unworthy. It simply is. I would hope the hedgehog strong enough to do all that is strong enough to move on from... all this mess."
Amy's mouth opened slightly in awe and a smile began to creep over her face. She gently placed her hand over Shadow's.
"Thank you," she said earnestly, "I... I'm glad you heard me out today. And helped me rebuild all this."
It was Shadow's turn to blush. He retracted his hand as though it burned. He gave a dismissive wave, "Hmph. It's too late to finish tonight so we'll finish this tomorrow morning. I expect to see you here at dawn."
Amy's smile grew, more quickly and brightly this time. She gave a salute and a giggle, "I'll be sure to bring the coffee beans!"
It was too dark to see, but as Amy pulled out her own warp ring and leaped through into her living room, she could have sworn she saw Shadow give his own tentative smile in the dark.