Knuckles woke up with the first ray of the sun, sat and stretched his muscles, then turned to see that Shadow was still resting peacefully next to him-This is awkward, if someone told me a couple of days ago that I'll woke up someday next to the "ultimate life form" I certainly wouldn't believe it- he thought-Well, better get going-He stood and walked outside the cave, leaving Shadow behind.

When Shadow woke up, he looked around for Knuckles but he wasn't anywhere to be found-Well, I guess that I'm on my own again-he walked outside from the cave, and stood still, looking at the horizon-What am I gonna do now? My daily routine was spying on Knuckles; now that I've found that he isn't a menace and that he's not going to kick me out of the island, I've got nothing left to do. What's worth living for? Not that I'm going to kill myself or anything, but still, what's the purpose of been alive if you don't have anything to do with your existence?

-Those are really big thoughts for this hour of the morning, don't you think?-asked Knuckles, who was holding a basket of food. Shadow didn't realize that he was thinking out loud and that Knuckles heard everything.

-I thought you left…-he mumbled, feeling a rush of warm blood in his cheeks.

-I did, I went for breakfast, want some?-Knuckles approached the basket to Shadow.

-Well, because I'm the ultimate life form, I don't need any food, so thank you, but I'll pass.

-You don't need it but it will not harm you, so, try it. Who knows, maybe you'll like it-Knuckles smiled a little and continued-You should try new things in order to find your "life purpose" unless you want to spy on me for the rest of your life-The guardian winked at him, obviously making fun of Shadow. Shadow blushed big time, started to mumble inaudible things, trying to explain himself but it was useless, he wasn't able to build a sentence.

Hey! Take it easy, I was just messing with you, no need to over react-Knuckles handed him a piece of bread and an apple-Here, try this-Shadow picked it with curiosity, the apple was a bright red color, similar to the echidna's, he saw the apple and sniffed it.

-It's not poisoned I swear-joked Knuckles.

-All right-Shadow bit the apple, he felt a very soft and sweet flavor fill his mouth-It…it's not that bad-he mumbled, and bit another piece. Knuckles took another apple from the basket and started to eat too. They were both sitting at the edge of a cliff outside the cave, their feet were hanging in the air, Knuckles was constantly moving both of his feet, like he was anxious or something.

-So…are you ready to tell me why you were spying on me?-Shadow opened his eyes wide, he didn't expect the guardian to ask that question all of a sudden, he gulped and tried to be cool about it.

-Well, when I decided that I was mostly recovered, I started to explore my surroundings and found your temple, and I saw you, you were familiar but I didn't remember from where, so I stayed close until I could figure that out, and yesterday I decided that it was time for me to show up. I must say I was getting bored; you do pretty much the same thing over and over again.

Yeah, I know, I get bored sometimes too, but, it is my job you know? Guard the emerald, so no evil can put its hands on it. If someone managed to steal it, not only this island will fall to the ocean, causing great damage to all the animals that live on it, but the chaos emeralds power would get out of control.

You've got a big weight upon your shoulders, Guardian. Maybe…-Shadow paused for a second, thinking deeply in the words that he would use-maybe you don't have to guard it alone.

Say what…?-Knuckles eyes widened for a second, but he managed to stay calm, thinking that Shadow was just naïve; he didn't knew anything about the earth after all.

-Guarding the Emerald has always been a one person job, done by the same family of echidnas; it's my pride to be the last guardian of it. I couldn't imagine sharing my duty with someone, it just doesn't feel right.

-Knuckles…-Shadow tried to speak as soft as he could-Do you realize that you are the LAST ONE of your specie, when you're gone, who will guard the emerald?

-I guess I'll have to get married and have kids or something.

-With who? There's no echidnas left to marry! Besides, you're always in the temple, taking care of the creatures of the island, you don't have visitors neither girl friends around you. You'll kidnap a girl and make her your spouse or what? Do you even have a plan for this?

-No.

-That's what I thought, see, I was about to propound…

-I know what you're trying to say Shadow, and the answer is no. I barely know you, how could I possibly trust you?

-You trusted me long enough to fall asleep in my presence. I could have killed you in your sleep or something. You're a strong guy, but let's face it, that would not be enough for an army or something if they're committed to steal that rock from you. Actually, who is guarding it right now?

Me, I can sense it. See? That's why no one but me can do this job.

That's fascinating-Shadow stood up-but I'll show you that you need some help-With that he started running towards the emerald temple.

Knuckles looked at him, amazed at first and then he became angry-What the hell is wrong with that hedgehog?! Why is he so stubborn?!-he ran after him, and he found Shadow aside of the emerald, resting his hand on it.

-Don't you dare!-Screamed Knuckles, he was furious.

-Or what? Come on! Show me your "only guardian powers" I'm ready.

-You'll regret this Shadow; I told you that you could stay as long you weren't a menace to my duty.

-I'm not! But you just won't listen! You're as stubborn as a child!

-Look who's talking! I'll count to three and if you don't let go of my emerald, I'm going to give you the boot!

-The what?! Argh, forget it, let's do this!-Shadow adopted a fight pose-Guardian, if I win this match you'll let me stay and help you and If I lose, I'll leave the island and you won't see me again, do you agree?

-Of course I do, there's no way that you could beat me!-Knuckles also adopted a fighting pose; he looked at Shadow, as if he was waiting for him to make the first move. Shadow just held his pose, looking straight into the echidna's eyes. They locked themselves in a staring contest for a couple of minutes, not moving a muscle, Knuckles started to wonder if they were going to fight after all-aren't you going to move or what?!-Yelled the echidna-Why do I have to move first?!-replied Shadow-This can't be happening!-Yelled Knuckles, he kicked a rock near him in anger, well, guess I'll have to deliver the pain to you!

-Your trash talk is still lame! I could fix that if you just let me help you with the emerald!-Screamed Shadow, as he approached to the guardian, ready for the fight.

When Knuckles was about to throw the first punch, someone suddenly screamed.

SHADOW! OH MY GOD!-They both turned their heads to see what was going on and saw Rouge, with her eyes wide open, her skin was pale and she seemed like she was about to cry.

Shadow arched an eyebrow and looked at Knuckles-What's Rouge doing here?

Ah, never mind her; she's always sneaking around trying to steal the emerald from me.

-I see-Shadow broke the fighting pose and stared at the bat girl. She approached, inspecting Shadow with her eyes only, not able to believe what she was seeing-How, how did you manage to survive?

-Well, I'm the ultimate life form? Remember. What are you doing here anyway?

-You surely haven't changed, not even a hello. Well, if you must know I was here to visit the little red head-She smirked and winked at Knuckles, who went angry and red as a tomato at the same time-But now that you are here my plans surely are going to change…

-Why?-interrupted Shadow

-Well, my bosses must know that you're alive. If you've got nothing better to do, which I'm sure you don't, you should join the G. U. N. team.

Shadow's eyes widened in surprise, he gave a few steps back and saw Rouge incredulous-What?! Why in the world I would work for the bastards that killed my only family!?-Shadow clenched his fists and teeth-There's no way I'm going to join them…

-Geez Shadow, that happened 50 years ago, G. U. N. is not the same as it used to be, I'm sure there's an explanation for that. Remember that your memories are blurry, you can't fully trust them. I'm working with these guys and their policies are mostly about the well being of the inhabitants of this planet. Come on, give it a try…

Shadow looked away, he still felt the anger consuming him, when he suddenly felt a familiar touch in his shoulder, it was the guardian's hand-Hey, are you alright?

-Yeah, I'm fine-Shadow moved his shoulder so Knuckles' hand would fell-Shadow…-whispered the guardian, so the hedgehog could be the only one who listened-I've always known what my place in the world is, my destiny was written, but you have to figure yours, your future surely isn't here. I'm not saying G. U. N. is your destiny, but, this is your chance to leave the island and find it- Shadow looked at Knuckles deeply in the eyes, those amethyst eyes were begging him to take the bat's proposal, although he didn't know why the guardian was so concerned about his well being, he gave a quick smile to him and turned his glance to Rouge-I'm going with you Rouge, not because I'm joining, but I need answers-he turned his sight at Knuckles and smirked-Sorry Guardian, but our fight will have to be another day-Knuckles smirked back-that's fine by me, I already know how it was going to end.

Rouge looked at both of them, not understanding what was going on between those two, but she decided that asking them was no use-Well Shadow, maybe if you talk with them you'll see that G. U. N. is just right for you-She offered Shadow her hand and he took it, then she started to fly away from the island.

Knuckles looked at them both flying away-Well, that was fortunate-thought with a smirk, and then he went back to the temple.

A few months passed after that, eventually Shadow understood that G. U. N. in that time was trying to protect the earth from the "ultimate life form" that Sonic and he destroyed, that Maria's dead was an unfortunate accident and he talked with a guy who told him that he met Maria in the ARK, and they both shared memories of her. So he thought that if that guy, who also happened to appreciate his friend, was working for G. U. N., he could give it a try.

Shadow became Rouge's partner in missions (although he had some of his own) but when he stopped to think about it, Rouge was just that, his partner, he didn't felt that comfortable around her because he couldn't trust her. The day that Rouge found him, he asked her why she'll visit Knuckles, and she answered-Well, you see, Knuckles is very strong and smart, but he is naïve and shy, I want that emerald to myself so I figured that the only way to take it away from him without a fight was to slowly gain his trust and flirt with him a little, see? The perfect plan, it is actually going pretty well-Shadow didn't say a thing that day, but he was angry as hell with Rouge. Knuckles was all the things that she said, but he was a good guy and for Shadow he didn't deserved that. So, with those words he understood that the bat girl was not worthy of his trust.

He also wanted to visit Knuckles some day, but with all the work that G. U. N. gave them that seemed really far away, until one day they finally had a weekend off, so Shadow picked his chaos emerald (G. U. N. gave one to him for his missions) and chaos controlled to Angel Island.

He arrived near the temple, but something in the environment felt odd. He instantly felt his hair bristle and ran to the temple, he knew something was wrong. When he finally saw the temple, there was Knuckles, fighting against some weird robotic creatures-there's too many of them-Shadow thought and hurried to help the guardian.

Knuckles was struggling with the robots, trying his best to keep them away of the temple, but he was heavily injured because they were so many, attacking him at the same time-I…I can't give up! They're going to steal the emerald over my dead body!

-No need to be dramatic!-said Shadow, kicking a robot far away from the temple.

-Shadow!-yelled Knuckles in surprise, he wouldn't admit it, but he was happy to see the hedgehog-What are you doing here?!

-Well, I heard that there was a party over here so I decided to show up-Shadow gave a quick smile to the guardian and then focused on the robots, destroying them record time. Knuckles smiled back at Shadow and continued to destroy robots-You know, I was doing totally fine-said the echidna.

-Yeah sure, whatever you say-Shadow punched a robot and turned it into pieces-You shouldn't keep all this fun to yourself, you selfish weird specie which's name I can't remember.

-Hey!-Knuckles frowned-Are you here to help me or to make fun of me?

-You know, I'm multitasking-Shadow smirked, and then they punched the last robot at the same time.

-I see you are fully recovered-said Knuckles.

-And now you look like shit-said Shadow, with a short smile. Knuckles frowned again, and suddenly felt a strong pain in his leg, which made him kneel; he started to shiver and grabbed his leg, clenching his teeth. Shadow saw this and immediately kneeled to inspect Knuckles-Your leg, it's bleeding-You're smart-said Knuckles, sarcastically-Shadow looked at him and grabbed a gauze pad and some bands that he carried from his missions.

-Maybe this is gonna hurt-Shadow put alcohol in the wound; knuckles growled in pain. Then Shadow put the bandage on Knuckles leg.

-There you go-said Shadow, finishing the last knot-Thanks-answered shyly the guardian, avoiding the eye contact with the hedgehog and rubbing the back of his head.

Those robots, I wonder who sent them-started Shadow.

-I bet they're Eggman's, he's getting better in building those things-Knuckles looked at his leg-Usually I can destroy them easily without even a scratch, but now…

-YOU…NEED…HELP-said Shadow, with emphasis, Knuckles growled and looked away-Argh, shut up, I had the situation totally under control…

-No you didn't, why can't you just admit that this duty is overwhelming?!-Shadow looked at Knuckles deeply into the eyes; the red head felt like his guard was disabled.

-I…I…-Knuckles voice started to tremble, Shadow's eyes opened wide, Knuckles always seemed so tough, strong and confident but now, he seemed vulnerable. The guardian clenched his fists-I should be able to do this alone! and if I fail, death will be my punishment for been unfit!-Knuckles eyes widened, as he felt Shadow's hands in his shoulders-don't be so harsh on yourself-Shadow wasn't good comforting, he just stared at the guardian, unable to say anything else, Knuckles lifted an eyebrow-Um…Shadow?

-Yes?-He still was holding Knuckles by the shoulders.

-What are you trying to do?

-I'm trying to comfort you, am I doing it wrong?

-Yes you are, this is creepy as hell…please let me go.

Ok-Shadow let go of the guardian's shoulders and looked away, embarrassed. Then he opened his eyes in surprise, he suddenly had a great idea, Knuckles saw this and stared at him with curiosity, then Shadow put a device out of one pocket and handled it to the echidna-This is a communicator, I want you to have it-Knuckles stared at it, then at Shadow-Thank you but, why?.

-I…-Shadow looked away in embarrassment and continued to talk-I would like you to call me if something risky happens in the island, and then I'll come and help you out with it. Please…

-Shadow…-mumbled Knuckles, not able to believe the hedgehog's actions-Why are you doing this? I just don't understand, I'm sorry but, you don't seem to be the kind of guy who cares for another.

-you're right, I'm not-Shadow looked at the guardian straight into the eyes-I see that the earth's inhabitants are hopeless, they are selfish, rude, cruel…all of them except you-Knuckles blushed at Shadow's words and looked away-that's not true, I'm just like anyone else, you know…

-No you're not! You sacrificed your own life, guarding the emerald so the world will be in peace, you care for all the habitants of this island, you give them food and protection, without any kind of reward-Shadow started to smile, without even noticing-You only leave your duty to help Sonic and the others save this planet, and also…you helped me when the thunderstorm hit the island-he softly smiled at the memory and continued-and not just that, you brought breakfast. See? You're a unique creature, and as a courtesy for your kindness that day, I will help you as far as I can, it is just fair that someone cares about you after all you do for the others.

Knuckles was now looking at the floor, unable to see Shadow in the eye, he was so embarrassed because all the nice thoughts that Shadow had about him, he wasn't used to the compliments-Shadow, I…I don't know what to say…

You don't need to say anything, just keep the device near you ok? I've got to go, but we'll keep in touch now.

-Ok, see you around-Knuckles smiled shyly and waved good bye.

-Shadow put his emerald out and chaos controlled himself to the city again. When he arrived to his apartment, he thought about all the things that he said to the guardian, he felt like something was wrong with him-I'm not like that, usually I just manage to say a couple of words, that was quite a speech…-but he meant every single word of it, he couldn't believe that he found someone like Knuckles, someone that he could trust. He was so naïve, kind and honest. Sure he had his temper but it was just because he was so used to be alone and do things his own way- I'm willing to know him more-he thought with a smile.