"You never loved me! You only wanted me to be her! I'll never be Aurora!"
"Shut up, you ugly jealous *%#$," Aurora broke, hoping Selene would just stop with this nonsense. She just wanted attention, but she'd come around.
Selene didn't disintegrate. Her dark blue eyes glinted as she puffed a laugh.
"You're one to talk."
When Aurora blinked, Selene was on the ground, holding her face under her long hair. Her hand was open, and it stung a little.
That was the last time Aurora ever saw Selene alive again. She woke up screeching sixteen years later, wailing. Fifteen years ago, she didn't think anything of Selene running off. She'd come back. She was too weak; she'd come back saying sorry.
She disappeared, and died. There was no apology, not even a chance to.
I have to find the father. I have to find them both. Her grip tightened on the sheets, as if it was the father's neck.
If he hurt her... I'll kill him.
"Wow, Shadow!" she beamed, skipping ahead of him. "I can't believe I got on with you- that was amazing! I feel like I'm still flying!"
He watched her jump around ahead of him, spinning and giggling and- this wasn't the girl who tried to drown herself a month or so ago, was it? Was this what she was meant to be?
"Hey, Shadow! Come on, we're gonna miss the crosswalk light!" She turned around and saw him lagging, then stopped bouncing on her toes. "Shadow? What's the matter?"
He just smiled at her. "You were kicking and screaming the whole way," he lied, crossing his arms. "I think you owe me an apology."
"What? For that? You can't be serious."
"You're right. But you owe me something."
"Huh?"
"I said, 'Lennie, I promise nothing's gonna happen to you as long as you come with me,' and you said, 'I won't enjoy it, just to warn you,' and I said, 'Oh yeah? If you don't enjoy it, I'll buy you a milkshake in one of those expensive souvenir cups, but if you do enjoy it, I get to have something from you.' And you said 'Deal.' So here we are, in Allodole, on Pleasure Street, with you bouncing around like a pinball. So I get what I want."
She laughed nervously. "Okay, so what do you want?"
"I want you to stay."
"Huh?"
"I want you to come live with us back in Sonic City. Me, Metal, Haku and you."
"Shadow-"
"Come on, Lennie. We'll take care of you. I won't let anything happen to you."
"But-" she looked scared in her eyes, but she didn't shiver. Just tell her.
Her ears picked up, and she locked eyes with him, "Tell me what?"
"If something happened to you, I'd never forgive myself- Let me take care of you."
Her ears twitched, and a little pink came to her cheeks. Shadow did the same and he turned, biting his tongue. Me- I meant we- we, ah-
"Do you really mean that?" she whispered, and he had to turn and face her before she elaborated, "A-about... taking care of me. You...you would do that?"
He stared at her, taking a deep breath before finally saying, "Yes, Selene. I would." Say it. Tell her! "Because- Because..." he had to take another breath, then, "Because I love you, Selene."
Her face went bright red and her dark eyes widened. His words flooded back into his mouth and he felt like he was drowning. Aw, #-
"You...you do?" she breathed, and her eyes... looked wet. Say something!
"Yes- I do... I-"
She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest. He wobbled a bit but caught himself and put a hand on the back of her head, starting to pet her black hair. She shook, was she crying? He rocked her back and forth, cooing.
"It's okay to cry, Selene... Crying's o-"
As he was saying "okay," he looked down and suddenly his lips were locked with hers. Half a second and she jerked back, holding her mouth.
"I...I didn't-" she started, but then she shook her head before marching over and wrenching his shirt collar and pulling him into a kiss again. He held her tight this time.
"I love you too," she whispered as she laid her head on his shoulder.
Metal Sonic watched Silver as he wiped down the tables at the start of lunch break. He was on the last two, and then he'd have to sweep the floors and change the trash bags. He was making good time, though, and being thorough. Hard worker, sure. But how long would that hold?
"Shiruba! Yin! Come to the back, please," Haku cried out. The young hedgehog set down the rag and hurry to the back.
"What's with all this names?" he mumbled as he stepped into the back. "Haku? What's wrong?"
"Look at this! Isn't it pretty?"
"...It's a... cake?"
"Baka!" Haku hissed, "It's a choklad souffle!" She started rambling on in Swedish about how difficult making a soufflé was, and that it had taken months of failed experimenting to create this perfect puffy dessert.
"Now mange! Iss! NOW!"
Metal walked into the back before Silver dove into the soufflé to see how it turned out. The dish was about to deflate, and Haku was right to demand Silver to start eating it. He picked at it with his fork and chomped into it, probably expecting cake, but-
"Oh, wow," he mumbled through his bite. "It's puffy, not like a cake."
"Look, Metaru! I did it! Ich hab's geschafft! Ich habe Soufflé machen!"
He nodded, "Ja, ja, du habst! Sieht lecker aus! Ich wünsche ich könnte es Essen."
"Danke schön, Metal." She winced, then asked, "Bist du... gut?"
"Ja, ich komme gut zurecht. Macht nichts."
"Um... Haku?" Silver poked into this foreign exchange. "Would you like some of this?"
"Sure!" she chirped, setting down on the table and digging into her masterpiece, humming. "I finally did it this time," she chewed. "I have to call mom and dad about it, right away!" She rushed around the corner and started talking Chinese to her mother about how she finally made the elusive dish, the devilish chocolate soufflé!
It does look tasty, Metal admitted, finding his hand over his muzzle... which was made of metal, without an opening, digestive tract, or taste buds. He tapped his metal fingers on his metal snout. Clink clink clink...
He cursed at himself. If he had a digestive tract, he would have to rely on food, if he had to rely on food, he would be susceptible to changes in supply, food poisoning, etc, etc, etc.
Still... it would be nice to feel a breeze... or smell grass after it rained... or be able to kiss Haku back.
Ich komme nicht gut zurecht.
"So, have you thought about what the doc said?" Haku asked Shadow as they waited for a pizza to arrive via Metal around the island in the kitchen. "About seeing Silver and having a little chat?"
"I thought about it," he admitted, resting his head on his hand. "But it just seems like it'd just make things worse. For him, I mean. What about his family with the Hedgehogs? Do you really think he'd be happy as Silver Narkissos Phoenicia, here?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I think about it sometimes, but, I think we were lucky when those nice hedgehogs picked him up in the park. It wasn't the best way to get him away from you, but it worked, yeah? Anyway... forgetting all the time-alien blood-mumbo-jumbo, if he was with us, I don't think he'd faired any better. I mean, if Lennie was still alive, that'd be one thing, but... if she wasn't... what if we looked at him the wrong way?"
"Yeah... that's what I thought. What if... what if we raised another tragic Phoenicia tale?"
"You did the right thing," she assured, patting his shoulder. "It was hard, I know... hard for all of us to keep him from you. But... it had to be done, you know?"
"Yeah..." Shadow slumped onto the counter with a heavy sigh. "Do you think that shrink is going to make us play with a Ouija board or something?" Haku hummed, then started giggling before erupting in laughter at Shad's comment. He smirked and chuckled before Metal came in with a large pizza, still hot.
"All right, you savages," he announced, holding the pie in the air. "I have brought you your sacrifice- I hope it pleases the irritable gods that are your stomachs, and will favor me for another day."
"Put the pizza on the counter and nobody loses an arm."
AN: Sorry about all that German! -D-;
In short, Metal says "Looks delicious, I wish I could eat it" which makes Haku concerned since eating and feeling and so on is a touchy subject around Metal, who is unable to do such things. I just put in German so I could brush up on mine, and I'll try not to do so in the future.