*Rachel's POV*
For once in what seemed like ages, Rachel couldn't remember what she dreamt that night. She simply closed her eyes, and the next thing she knew, she had opened them to find herself in the same room, on the same bed, being lit with daylight rather than moonlight. This, rather than the insane delusions Dreamland had put her through, was much of a relief.
Was Shadow really all it took to temporarily wave away the fog that her love for Silver had littered her mind with?
Either way, it was noon. She had about 7 hours to relax before she had to prepare for her first date with Shadow. With anyone, for that matter.
The entirety of those hours, that was all she could look forward to. Wherever it was that their hearts placed them, he'd be decked out in a handsome tuxedo, and she'd be showing off a cute, flowy dress. No longer would this be something she could only daydream of. No longer was this something she could only see or hear. Finally, the experience was hers to control. Hers to take advantage of.
Who knew? Maybe they'd end up walking, and his hand would take a delicate hold of hers. Perhaps they'd somehow end up leaning against each other, either for warmth against the chill, or just to relish in something new. Something completely unforeseen. Possibly, he'd take her in his arms and hold her while he flew into the sky so they could see the world together… Hey, wait a second… Where did that come from?!
8 o'clock took forever to arrive, but when it was there, it seemed so unexpected. Rachel sat on her bed, in her black and white dress, her winter coat (which was actually a little longer than the dress), and black flats. The snow wasn't all that overwhelmingly plentiful.
She had looked off to the side when finally, her heart was jolted awake by the sound of 3 gentle, yet solid knocks on the door.
"He's here!" Rachel called, seemingly to nothingness. She then got up and opened the door, coming face to face with a new Shadow.
A Shadow she had never seen before. He was, indeed, decked out in a fancy tuxedo, but instead of some sort of rugged facial expression, he stared into Rachel's eyes with a bold smile on his face and a single red rose in his right hand, which he then held out to her.
"W-Why, thank you," said Rachel. "…How sweet!"
As she turned to find a glass and take the first step to preserving this rose's life, she was completely astounded. Where had this Shadow come from? He seemed to have gone from a collected, joy-hiding boy… to a man who seemed to be traced from the template of the man of her dreams. She could safely say that she was wooed.
Once the red rose was safely resting in a glass on her bedside table, she walked back over to Shadow, who suddenly took her hand.
"CHAOS CONTROL!" he shouted.
And suddenly, Rachel found herself on the snow-free, chilly shores of a beach. Emerald Coast, she presumed. The sun was reflecting beautifully off of the water. Heck, the sand wasn't even cold! All seemed right. It was Valentine's Day, and she was finally on a date.
Eventually, they decided on a place to sit down. The wind blew calmly through Rachel's hair, and she sat and faced the sunset, looking at both it and Shadow repeatedly. She wasn't sure which brought more warmth to her heart at the moment.
Every time Shadow looked at her, it was with a compassionate smile, and crimson eyes that almost seemed to sparkle with delight.
Then again… there was something in the sun as well.
Within a few seconds, she found herself getting lost in the view of the sun. This wouldn't have occurred if it weren't for its ever yielding brightness. It was already tucked in and had yet to fall asleep. It was simply a pink circle in the art-like sky.
Then, out of nowhere… came this. The very halt to all this joy she found in Shadow. Her mind was messing with her again… and this time, it was not even right. Not even remotely natural.
Yet, once again, it was Silver. The images… they felt so out of place that it made Rachel a little sick to her stomach.
What was it? The recollection of that Valentine's Day party from Dreamland, along with a variety of new instances.
The sun… she couldn't help but imagine running along the shoreline without that pesky winter coat on, being chased by Silver. The sun would bring true warmth instead of a misleading warm color.
The water… she couldn't help but imagine it looking inviting instead of cold.
Shadow… she couldn't help but imagine it being Silver…
*Shadow's POV*
In an attempt to get a good, long look into Rachel's eyes, Shadow sensed something abnormal in her concentration on the ever-dimming sunset. She had such… wistfulness in her eyes. Wistfulness that the common man would pass off as admiration of the sunset.
Shadow, however, knew better. That's when the reality of the situation's impact began to make sense. It hit him that she had acted differently around Silver these past couple of weeks.
Specifically, he remembered a question she had answered for him on yet another moonlit night.
"Why do you love spending so much time with Silver?" he had asked.
"Well…" Rachel had replied, blushing. "He's a great… f-friend."
Nobody should be that hesitant in mentioning a friend, he figured.
In Rachel's wistfulness, Shadow could finally make out a core. If nothing else, it was a mere possibility. Mere is exponentially larger than nonexistent.
Perhaps she…fancied him? The very thought riddled his system with poison.
He leaned against her… hoping that his warmth would convince her otherwise…
*Rachel's POV*
That was when she thankfully snapped back to reality. Back to the insipid mid-February sunset. Back to icy waters. Back to Shadow, who was suddenly leaning against her… like she had previously longed for…
"Are you okay?" Shadow asked. "You… zoned out."
"I… guess so," Rachel sighed, still recovering.
"…I-I understand it's kind of boring here this time of year," said Shadow. "…Let's move on." At that, he grabbed Rachel's hand. "Chaos Control!"
Rachel then found herself within town. You know, the town with the arcade. The town where by the handover of a wallet, she had met… him…
They ended up walking until they reached the park. It was completely abandoned, except for surprisingly clean heaps of snow.
She had no clue what Shadow had in mind. At all.
They approached a snow heap. While Rachel stood trying to piece the situation together, Shadow was carefully and quietly putting together… a snowball.
Within a second, Rachel felt something hit her shoulder and slide down and off of her coat. That was snow, she knew.
She looked up, seeing that the thrower of the snow was, indeed, Shadow. He gave a small chuckle and dug his hands into the snow heap again.
Rachel was no fool. She dashed over to another part of the heap and got herself a snowball. She only had another second before she felt Shadow's next shot hit the snow very close to her hand. She carefully inspected the ball for any ice, then hurled it Shadow's way. To her delight, it had hit him square on the chest.
At first, a twinge of guilt rammed her. That was a tuxedo he was wearing, after all.
To her relief, he looked back at her, laughed again, and made another snowball.
So many years had passed since she had had a legitimate snowball fight. She had teased to start one with Sonic in the past, but he'd always pout and complain that the snow was too cold.
20 more minutes found Shadow and Rachel completely tuckered out. They looked up and saw that the moon was shining more brightly than usual.
"Shouldn't you be getting home?" asked Shadow.
"I guess so," said Rachel.
They both found the forest trail and followed it to Rachel's cabin.
"This was fun," Rachel smiled. "I hope to see you again soon!"
As she walked inside, she could hear Shadow say "Sweet dreams, Rachel."
She then climbed into bed, bracing herself for another horribly dreamy battery of dreams about Silver. She knew that at this point, there was no escape. No escape at all from this newfound love for Silver.
*Shadow's POV*
The way she had told him "This was fun"… He had known that the circumstances were light years from remotely romantic. The beach was all he could think of, and by the time they had gotten there, it had dawned on him that winter was still very much in the air. The snowball fight was a last minute decision, and it turned out to be the saving grace to the night.
The way she told him that… was exactly the same way she told him that Silver was simply a great friend. She was far from a cheating liar, and only because he knew she had the proper reasoning.
He skated away from the cabin, thinking about the possibility over and over again. Every time it ran across his mind, it became more and more secure of a belief.
The possibility that that coveted spot in her heart belonged to Silver, and he didn't even have to know it.
Author's note: I feel like I sort of went on a bit long there at the end, and if you thoroughly believe that, I'm sorry. My legs hurt. It's been another long day. But you know what else I've realized? I'm going to be kinda sad when this fanfiction comes to a close. Out of anything that's in-progress at this moment, this fanfiction provokes more of my thoughts and emotions than I ever thought possible. I have to give a shout out to a new friend of mine who's been selflessly spreading the word about this fanfic as well. RCTSG… thank you. Simply thank you. I hope my fans take a liking to your story as well. (*cough* Check out RCTSG's story "WATCHMAN OF MOBIUS" *cough* *hack*)