I didn't get as much feedback as before but what I did get was overwhelmingly positive! Don't hesitate to point out mistakes i've made. Co-written by

Panda "In the clouds" luver11. I highly recommend you read her fan-fics, she was a huge inspiration for me.

We return to Team Dark as they are about to begin their one week vacation.

"Wait, how will we get to South Island?" Rouge asked when she realized they hadn't settled on a way there yet. Shadow thought for a moment before replying.

"We can't fly there, we're running out of fuel, and the team budget is running low as well so... do you have any ideas?" Shadow asked curiously.

"How about we get there by boat?" Rouge suggested. Shadow nodded in approval.

"That would be satisfactory, and affordable. What do you think Omega?" Shadow asked and turned to the robot in question.

"Yeah, you've been quiet this whole time, is there something wrong?" Rouge said, slightly worried.

"Searching for "affordable" boat ride tickets with built-in internet browser." Omega answered.

"What, did Dr. Eggman put a windows in you?" Rouge joked.

"Yes, Windows 95 to be exact," Omega said, and paused before adding, "... He was cutting development costs at the time." Shadow and Rouge began to wonder if there was anything Dr. Eggman could do right.

"So have you found anything?" Shadow questioned impatiently.

"Affirmative. I have obtained reservations for one not too far from here," Omega replied and pointed in the direction they needed to go.

"Good work!" Rouge gave the robot a thumbs up and walked quickly ahead of her two companions. "Let's go!"

And so they headed for the dock that Omega said the ship was at, and managed to get a ride before it left.

Once they were inside of the boat a woman walked up them and asked for their names, Shadow and Omega casually answered her.

"Shadow," he replied, eyeing the woman suspiciously.

"E-123 Omega." Omega answered. Before Rouge answered she looked at the lady who was asking for their names, and to her own surprise she recognized her.

"Agent Topaz?" Rouge said, but she needed no confirmation. It was definitely Topaz.

"Um... Miss, I don't know what you're talk-" Topaz began, but she was loudly interrupted.

"So this is what you do on your vacations!" Rouge added, knowing Topaz hated being interrupted Topaz held back any anger she had as best she could, then walked closer to her bat "friend" and whispered,

"Quiet, Rouge! I'm undercover!" Rouge raised her eyebrows, pretending to be ever-so-slightly surprised. Topaz sighed angrily.

"Listen, while you were gone there were sightings of Eggman heading this way, and I've been sent to arrest him on sight!" she explained, still in a hushed voice.

"Alright, well I might as well go along with it," Rouge replied in a whisper. Then she started playing along, and said with a smile, "My name is Rouge."

"Nice to meet you, Rouge. Would any of you like a tour of the boat?" Topaz asked curiously. Rouge and Omega agreed, but Shadow did not.

"No thank you," Shadow said before turning and walking away to the upper deck. He saw no need to have a tour of something he didn't plan to be on for too long.

Later, during the boat ride...

Shadow looked at the skies and noticed it was starting to get dark. He had stayed above deck for most of the ride. Below desk wasn't all that interesting to him, but Rouge and Omega stayed down there the whole time so far, both with their own different reasons. Both oddly had something to do with the sun. He could barely remember the conversation now, but when he asked what was wrong with the sun, Omega said something about over-heating, and Rouge simply said it was just a bat thing.

While Shadow was lost in thought looking at the sunset in front of him, Rouge came above deck without him noticing, and had walked up to him. Then she decided a conversation was needed so she asked curiously, "So what is it about me that attracts you? Is it my personality or-" Rouge started, only to abruptly be answered.

"Your eyes." Shadow bluntly said, not turning his gaze from the sunset.

"W-What?" Rouge wasn't expecting a straight answer.

"Your eyes, they're..." Shadow paused and tried to search for the right words, "...pretty," Shadow said honestly while blushing a little.

"Why are you so open all of a sudden?" Rouge asked, surprised by his answer.

"I've been thinking for a while now. About Maria, about you." Shadow said, causing Rouge to blush.

"I've mainly thought about you, wondering if I really genuinely love you or not..." Shadow added, he still hadn't looked at her yet.

"And, have you figured it out?" Rouge asked curiously. He finally turned and looked at her.

"Yes, I've figured out that I don't love you in an interpersonal way. I only love you in an impersonal way. I do like you, and as I said I also like your eyes, but I don't love you. Do you understand?" Shadow asked, afraid his friend would take it the wrong way.

"Yeah, I think I do. Thanks for being honest with me Shadow." Rouge answered with a smile.

"Thanks for understanding." Shadow said, feeling relieved somehow.

"And what about Maria?"

"That, I'm not so sure about."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Maria was good, but I'm not... I've killed people Rouge. Not just robots, humans! I can't begin to imagine what Maria would think of me if she were still alive."

"Tell me Shadow, tell me who Maria was. What she looked like, her personality, everything."

"Okay, I'll...try." Shadow took a moment to organize his thoughts into words before speaking again. "Maria was twelve when I met her. Her hair was blonde, and her eyes were blue. I don't remember how tall she was, and she wore a blue shirt and a light-blue skirt I think..." He began, then continued when he thought of her personality. "But I do remember what her personality was. Maria was always cheerful, optimistic, and kind-hearted. She could see the good in almost anyone, and she was a forgiving person."

Rouge quietly waited to hear anything else. "Maria was a pacifist, she couldn't hurt a fly if it killed... well, me! And that's why..." he paused, looking like he felt broken, "That's why I can't live with myself. Because the humans killed Maria, and I killed them in cold-blooded revenge. If she were alive... I wouldn't even be able to look her in the eyes."

"But you said she's a forgiving person!" Rouge finally spoke, "From what you've told me, she could never hate you!"

"Don't you understand!? How could Maria forgive me if I can't forgive myself!" he yelled, gripping tightly to the railing of the boat. Noticing what he was doing, Shadow sighed and apologized saying, "I'm sorry... I need some sleep" before he started to walk away.

"I still think she'd forgive you!" Rouge added, hoping to make him feel better. But this seemed to backfire.

Shadow clenched his fists before yelling again, "GOOD NIGHT, ROUGE." Rouge sighed and decided she needed some sleep too.

Rouge woke up hearing a lot of people yelling Of course she knew it had to be Shadow, so she got up and looked for him. She finally found him in the food court, and heard tons of people talking around him.

"Sonic! Can I have your autograph!" thousands of fans asked.

"NO! I AM NOT SONIC! I AM BLACK AND RED, AND HE IS BLUE, WHY DO YOU PEOPLE KEEP CONFUSING US!?" Shadow screamed in the middle of all the confusion.

Rouge couldn't help but giggle at the sight of Shadow so scared. But as that happened, the real Sonic walked up and said with his usual big grin, "Alright guys, could you please stop scaring Shadow? I'm over here!"

After the fans heard that, they immediately swarmed over Sonic as Shadow was left to catch his breath.

"Why... Is Sonic here? ...Couldn't he have used the tornado?" Shadow asked, out of breath.

Once Sonic was done signing all the autographs (in 6 seconds!) he ran up to Shadow saying, "Actually, Tails is working on some sort of new gizmo for the tornado so I'll have to travel by boat to get from place to place for now," Sonic answered. "Now you better hurry before they want your autograph!" he added jokingly.

Taking this seriously, Shadow ran straight to his room and locked the door. Rouge and Shadow were sharing rooms so when Rouge wanted to go back to her room...

"Shadow open the door!" Rouge ordered loudly while pounding on the door with her fist.

"NO! Not until we get to South Island!"

"Why?!"

"Because the fans will want my autograph!"

"And who told you that?"

"Sonic!"

Rouge sighed loudly before yelling again, "He was probably joking!"

Shadow then noticed that he probably looked like a complete idiot, so he opened the door and muttered, "Foolish Hedgehog..."

Once Rouge got in, the mic on the boat made a loud feedback noise. Then the announcer said, "We will arrive at South Island in approximately 5 minutes..."

"Are you two ready to depart?" Omega asked, approaching his companions. After turning to their robotic friend they both said in unison,

"Yes."

And so they were off to the South Island docks, Will Shadow finally come to terms with his memories of Maria? Will Sonic have a bigger role in Part 2? All questions will be answered next chapter! Special thanks to Pandaluver11 (My inspiration for writing this story in the first place) for being such a big help in writing this story.