In Cosmo's Shadow
By Kellie Fay
Disclaimer: Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Cosmo, and the others all belong to SEGA, Team Sonic, 4 Kids and other people not me.
Chapter 3
The Star Tree
A sweet floral scent greeted him when he got within visual distance of Tail's workshop. He peered inside to see Tails working at his computer, with Sonic peering over his shoulder. Sonic heard him first, and greeted him like always with a smile. "Morning Shadow," he said. Tails turned around, and nodded a greeting.
"It's almost noon," Shadow felt compelled to tell him. Sonic grinned like he knew full well why Shadow came so late. He ignored Sonic and faced Tails. "I just got your note. What can I help you with?"
Tails needed some large sheets of metal moved, and held in place until Tails could use his crane to hold them. Shadow welcomed the work. It kept his mind off his dreams last night, except for the brief moments where he saw Sonic's back. Along his left lower back to his second set of quills, Sonic sported an ugly purple bruise. Realizing it was his fault, Sonic got injured Shadow quietly did whatever Tails needed him to do. Sonic kept his front to Tails at all times, suspiciously hiding the injury, until Amy Rose came by.
"Hey guys," she greeted them cheerfully. "I brought you some sandwiches, and The Star Tree dropped six fruits for me. I'm not sure why we need the extra, but – Sonic! What the heck happened to your back?"
"Huh?" Tails now moved directly behind Sonic to take a look, and Sonic let him knowing the ruse was over. "Sonic! What happened?" Tails asked worried.
"Oh that?" Sonic tried to sound completely casual about it. "I took a tumble last night, no biggie."
Shadow wished they could drop it, or change the subject, but Amy insisted on fussing over Sonic. She made a poultice of herbs for his bruise and bandaged it up keeping a steady commentary on how he had to take better care of himself. Sonic tolerated Amy better than Shadow expected. On one off hand glance at Sonic his blue reflection just grinned and shrugged.
Then Shadow realized why Sonic was indulging Amy and her mothering. The more she fussed and paid attention to Sonic, the less both she and Tails paid attention to him. Shadow made a mental note to find a way to thank Sonic for drawing attention away from him.
"Well now I know why there are two extra star fruits," Amy said confidently. She passed two to Tails and Sonic, and handed one to Shadow.
Shadow already developed a fondness for this fruit, and eagerly began to eat his. It reminded him of the scent in the air that greeted him when he arrived. He closed his eyes to relish the delicate flavors, and only opened his eyes again when he heard Sonic chuckling. "Don't give me that look," the blue hedgehog teased. "You're no better than the rest of us when it comes to Star Fruits. If there were more of them I'd think we'd all eat ourselves sick on them." One Star Fruit seed already rested in Sonic's palm. He bit the second one in half and tossed the seedless half to Shadow. "Here think fast!"
Shadow caught the fruit half one handed, and popped the whole thing in his mouth. "They are certainly like nothing I've ever tasted before, and I suppose those are the flowers I smell nearby?"
"We don't pick the flowers," Amy said firmly. "We want all of them to develop into fruit."
"Then the tree must be very near," Shadow said.
"I made a place for The Star Tree just out back" Tails said, blushing a little. "It gets lots of sun there."
Shadow nodded then moved to the back door of the workshop where he could easily see a lush green tree six feet tall. The branches were full of thick deep green leaves, and dozens of pink and red flowers. In awe Shadow found himself moving forward until he stood directly under the tree completely enveloped in the drooping branches. The smell of the flowers intensified here. Shadow wanted nothing more than to stand here forever just breathing in the scent of the blossoms before him. Each one seemed unique and beautiful. Maria would have loved them.
Shadow saw Maria looking at the origami flowers he made for her birthday sadly. She had smiled, hugged, and thanked him earlier. "You really don't like the flowers," he said, feeling hurt. "You just said you liked them to be nice to me."
Marie noticing him dropped the paper flowers on the table, and drew him into a hug. "Oh no Shadow, I love the flowers they really are very beautiful, but I was just wishing they were real flowers and not just paper."
Shadow thought he understood. Even little things like flowers could make Maria very sick. She wasn't allowed to have real flowers, and the only reason she could be around Shadow was because he had been created here on the ARK. A puppy or a kitten from earth could make her sick to.
"The professor said you couldn't have real flowers," Shadow said. He wondered if they could grow flowers here on the ARK for her.
"I know," Maria said hugging him again. "And I do love your paper flowers. In one of grandfather's books it said that some flowers have wonderful scents that attract bees and butterflies to them."
"Why do they do that?" Shadow asked.
"The bees and butterflies help the flower make fruits and seeds so they can grow more flowers." Maria explained.
"I wish I could touch and smell real flowers," Maria said sadly. "But you're paper ones are beautiful too, and they won't make me sick."
Shadow then smiled broadly at Maria. "Well one day the professor will make you well. Then we'll go to earth and I'll bring you every flower that exists."
"Oh Shadow," Maria hugged him tightly laughing, and Shadow hugged her back."
A hand on his and a gentle voice calling his name brought him out of the memory. He turned to see Sonic looking at him worried, gently forcing his hand back to his side.
"We asked you not to pick the flowers," Sonic said softly. Shadow wondered why Sonic was suddenly so leery of him, when he realized that he must have been ignoring them during his flashback. He glanced around and realized that Amy and Tails were watching from the safety of the workshop. Suddenly dizzy Shadow pulled his hand away from Sonic's and put it to his head.
"Are you okay? You kinda spaced on us for a while." Sonic asked.
"I remembered something," Shadow said absently looking back at the flowers with longing. When he realized that Sonic still seemed nervous he said, "don't worry it was a good memory."
Sonic relaxed. "Good," he said then dropping his voice he said, "Shadow I'm glad your memories are starting to come back, but you've got to be careful. We don't want a repeat of last night."
Shadow nodded, feeling horrible. How in the world could he stop his flashbacks? Did he even want to? He wanted his memory back. He wanted to understand so many things.
He grunted and moved past Sonic to go back into the workshop. Sonic simply sighed and smiled and followed him in.
Inside Shadow knew that the mood had changed for some reason. Tails now watched Shadow cautiously out of the corner of his eye. Amy glared at Shadow out right. Shadow sighed, and kept his mind on the work Tails asked him to do. Sonic tried to communicate to the others that everything was all right. He didn't even look at Shadow. He lounged on the floor with his eyes closed, and kept up a steady commentary about almost nothing.
Shadow had a feeling that Sonic didn't fool his friends in the least. When he was done he quickly excused himself, and planned on leaving, but the beautiful little tree captured his attention again. He didn't get lost in his memories a second time, but the scent of the tree kept him dazzled until Sonic woke him up again. "Do you want to talk about it?" Sonic asked.
Without understanding why he did so, Shadow spoke. "Maria was never allowed real flowers. The only ones she could have were paper ones made for her. She always wanted to smell and touch real flowers." He managed to keep from admitting that he made paper flowers for Maria, but speaking about the memory didn't break him free of the spell the little tree cast on him.
Suddenly one of the yellow green fruits from the tree dropped from the tree directly in front of Shadow. Instinctively Shadow reached up, and caught the fruit. Behind him he heard Sonic laugh. He turned to ask what was so funny when Sonic pointed back to the tree and said, "Look!"
A single perfect flower slowly fell from the tree. Like with the fruit Shadow reached out, and caught the flower before it fell to the ground. Shadow couldn't resist. Before he could think about his actions he put the flower to his nose, and took in a deep breath. The scent filled his mind, and for a brief moment the entire world disappeared.
"Hey didn't we tell you -" Amy's sharp scolding voice snapped Shadow out of the spell. He opened his mouth to explain, but Sonic beat him to it.
"Relax, Amy. Shadow didn't pick it. The Star tree dropped the flower on her own. All Shadow did was catch it." Sonic explained
Amy seemed to be shocked. "The Star Tree dropped a flower?" She asked. Shadow wondered why this surprised her when Tails cleared things up.
"The Star Tree never dropped leaves or flowers before. You don't think it's sick." Tails asked worried.
Shadow managed to shake the tranquil feeling from the flowers, and start thinking again. Sonic had that annoying smug smile on his face like he knew something nobody else did. "Nah, the tree is fine." Sonic said confidently. Shadow frowned now. Sonic sounded too confident. He knew something, and Shadow wanted to know what.
Coming Soon
Chapter 4
Hedgehogs With Issues
"Hey Shadow," Rouge said cheerfully. "So are you done lifting for Tails?"
"What do you think you are doing?" Shadow asked her.
Rouge shrugged. "I thought I'd like a little roost here for a while. Don't worry you'll hardly know I'm here."
"You are not going to be here," Shadow insisted. "Don't you have a home near the Master Emerald?"
"I wanted a change of scenery," Rouge insisted. Shadow didn't buy that for an instant. It would take an act of Chaos for Rouge to abandon a gem even if it didn't belong to her.
"I don't know what you and Sonic are cooking up, but I don't need a baby sitter," Shadow insisted.
"Sonic? What does he have to do with anything?" Rouge asked. "Unless you want me to go fly by his house, and have a little chat with him."
Shadow seethed. "That's blackmail!" He accused.
Rouge simply smiled. "I like to call it creative persuasion."