Chapter Revised [x]

(Rachel's POV)

I lay on the bed in my room quietly, almost silently, except for the exhales of deep exasperation that kept leaving my chest. The lights were shut off. The only light shredding through the darkness came from the gap underneath the door, but even then it was very scarce. My arms were crossed behind my head as I stared blankly at the ceiling. I wasn't anywhere near as tired as I was when I first arrived here. All I did here was sleep, and eat those disgusting nutrient bars. Other than that, there was absolutely nothing to do. The boredom was so intense, it made me feel like I was slowly withering away.

I've lost track of time now, but I know it's been only a few days at the most. I can't go on like this for the rest of my time here. I just can't.

If only I had my mp3 player. I could really use jamming to some of my favorite songs right about now. I want to avert my mind to anything but this, and music has always been the quick solution.

But then, a light bulb went off in my head. Hey, why not just make my own music? Sure, I have a horrible sense of rhythm when it comes to drumming or beat boxing.. But I still have my voice.

I can just sing. Why the hell not. It's been a while since I have, and it was the only way I could think of entertaining myself.

I thought for a moment on what song to choose, and after bypassing all the depressing tunes that surfaced from my mood, one instantly came to mind. I inhaled a small pocket of air and opened my mouth.

(Shadow's POV)

That Rachel girl and I hadn't conversed in quite some time. Dr. Eggman informed me that we had already entered the Tadpole Galaxy and were due to land in Tragaria in a few hours. He had sent me here to give her the news, only because he couldn't find Bokkun for some damn weird reason.

I wasn't looking forward to it. Every time I talked to her, even though it had only been a few times, some sort of conflict broke out between us. It was starting to get annoying. I didn't like arguing with a teenager when I couldn't even find the strength to physically hurt her and teach her a lesson like she deserved.

Of all the things that seemed to intensify my frustration with her, they all paled in comparison to the time when I found out she had Maria's necklace in her possession. She wouldn't even let me see the necklace that rightfully belonged to my friend from six decades ago.

I thought that necklace was long gone by now. I thought it had been lost when the G.U.N. soldiers infiltrated the ARK sixty six years ago. But I guess that wasn't subtle thinking. Tower survived the incident, so he was bound to still have it with him, and for whatever reason kept it all these years.

Maria could've gotten the chance to wear it herself and maybe perish with it. But no, I remember very well how puny Tower was as a kid. He was scared of everything, including, if not mostly me. Even to the point that he wouldn't talk to Maria if I was nearby. Him being frightened of me didn't bother me, but it didn't appeal to me either. A lot of people were scared of me. Maria was the only one who seemed to replace fear with interest.

Instead of Maria wearing the necklace, it was now strapped around the neck of Tower's grand-daughter. A stubborn, arrogant, smart-mouth kid. She was the exact opposite of Maria. She didn't understand anyone's feelings, nor did she bother to. All she cared about was her own wellbeing. She refused to believe any of the things I told her, all of which were cold hard facts. The Commander really must have fed her some harsh lies about me, and just to victimize himself? How revolting.

It ground my gears to see that blue charm, something that would've looked so well on my friend, matched her trademark dress and her eyes, on Rachel. It was being worn by the wrong granddaughter.

I finally arrived in front of B-12, which was her room. I sighed quietly to myself and lifted my hand to enter the access code. Nothing left to do but get this over with.

But just as my finger brushed past one of the keys on the screen next to the door, I heard some sort of melodic music coming from within the room.

…The hell?

I drew my arm away and listened closer, completely baffled.

What's going on here. How can the girl be playing music? There were no stereos in there, no sort of device that could play audio. But I realized that the music had no instrumentals. It was purely vocal. And what disturbed me more was that the voice was familiar.

It was... Rachel?

I now had my ear pressed against the door in order to hear better.

Yes, it was indeed her. She was singing. From what I could make of her muffled voice, it didn't sound like it normally did when she was angry or shouting at me. It sounded more pure, and even haunting like a siren. The song itself was slow, resembling an infant's lullaby. I listened carefully.

"And I've been drinking like a fish,
and sinking in my deep blue sea.
I'm trying to drown out the bad and the nasty thing you done on me.
And nothing seems to fit, I'm weeping on my knees.
And all that I've left to say concerning you is...
what a lucky escape for me."

An unwelcome chill scattered down my back. It was hard to believe that the girl I was hearing now was the same girl I'd been fighting with for the last couple of days. Her voice alone made me feel unusually grim, and started resurfacing all my worst memories. But strangely, I couldn't bring myself to rip away, and flattened my ear to the door completely.

After a few more minutes passed, her voice whole-heartedly had me caught in some sort of trance. I released a quiet sigh. This music seemed to break through my toughest barriers. It felt like it had surged through my mind and was reopening all the wounds, and strange emotions were beginning to flow again. It was different from anything I'd felt, almost like nostalgia in the form of sound waves. And I wanted to hear more.

It wasn't like some sort of desperate need to hear her voice continuously or anything. But once I realized she'd stopped, I found myself frowning disappointedly.

"Hey! What are you doing standing outside the door, Shadow?" I heard a high pitched voice squeak from behind me, breaking me out of my thoughts. I turned around and saw a hovering, dumbfounded Bokkun gaping back at me.

Almost embarrassed for myself, I panicked immediately. The scene must have looked very strange from a third person point of view.

"Shutup!" I hissed quietly, jumping away from the door and smacking him back as well. But it was too late. Rachel would have to be deaf to have not heard him. This was just great, because now she'll find out I've been here eavesdropping the entire time.

I didn't hear her say anything from the other side of the door. Nothing but air, and the quiet humming of the Egg Carrier zipping through space.

I wished I could've just walked away and pretended this never took place. But then I recalled my objective. I still needed to inform her about landing in Tragaria. I reluctantly started entering the access code.

And now, cue the silence before the storm. I hope she doesn't gain suspicions or blow a circuit on me after she figures it out. Knowing what little I do, I know she'll never let this go. Then again, it's her fault for luring me into this demise with that voice.

And it's my fault for being an idiot and sticking around to listen.

(Rachel's POV)

After I finished singing, I realized that I had almost lulled myself back to sleep. I started to seal my eyes, when I suddenly heard voices coming from outside the room. My head craned to the side and I watched the long shadows underneath the gap of the door.

"Hey! What are you doing standing outside the door, Shadow?"

"Shutup!"

The shadows suddenly melted together and shuffled around quickly.

I raised my eyebrows and sat up. The voice that was speaking was Bokkun, accompanied by some other. But didn't he say Shadow?

Was Shadow standing outside my door?

I then realized the extent of the situation and hopped off the bed with wide eyes. Shadow had been standing outside my door! How long had he been there? Does that mean he heard me singing? I felt my cheeks douse in scarlet heat.

My gosh. Knowing how unforgiving he is, he would probably never let this go.

At first, nothing happened. But then I heard the familiar key pressing and the beep, indicating the door had unlocked. It slid open, and there stood the ebony hedgehog's silhouette contrasting against the lighting of the hallway. Bokkun's tiny figure slipped inside and flicked on the light switch. I squinted through the brightness until my pupils had shrunk to the appropriate size.

"Woah. That's mighty creepy of you. Sitting here in the dark and whatnot," he chirped at me jokingly.

But I wasn't paying attention to him. I had my eyes glued on Shadow. He looked angry, no surprise there really. But I could detect something else behind the hard glare. Another emotion that was near impossible to decipher.

He suddenly ripped his eyes away from me and looked to the side, opening his mouth to speak. "We've entered the uh...Tadpole Galaxy. We're...landing on that planet soon...Yeah," he said.

I lifted an eyebrow. He sounded different than usual. It wasn't nervousness. It was almost like he was ashamed.

He then turned his back on me to leave. "That's all I came for. To tell you that. And now that you've been told, I'm leaving." he stated before walking out.

Right before he left, Bokkun perked up. "Oh really? That's the only reason you came? Because it looks like you ended up sticking around prior to telling her anything!" he giggled tauntingly.

I watched Shadow shoot him a dirty look, followed by a low growl. I intertwined my fingers together and twiddled my thumbs. "What do you mean, Bokkun?"

Bokkun appeared more than happy to explain. He pointed a gloved finger at Shadow. "Mr. Sunshine and Rainbows here had his ear all up on your door when I showed up. I don't know what he was listening to, but he seemed very interested!" he teased.

I almost laughed out loud at the nickname. Somehow, the knowledge of him eavesdropping didn't shock me as much as I thought it would.

Shadow gritted his teeth angrily and reeled back an enclosed fist, threatening to punch the little hovering messenger into a coma. "You'd be wise to shut up now. I'm only here because you were nowhere to be found when you were actually needed!" he said.

However, Bokkun didn't appear to be fazed in the slightest. He flew off, emitting his high pitched laughter as he did.

After his laughs had faded off, I untangled my hands, now crossing my arms over my chest. "So, you were listening to me, Shadow?" I asked him with half lidded eyes.

He didn't answer.

I frowned impatiently. "Well were you? Own up to it, Sunshine and Rainbows."

He snarled with rage, turning back around to face me.

"I might have been. But don't go getting any stupid ideas. I just came to give you that information, only to find you going off in here like some sort of bird. Figures, you would do something pathetic like that. But, come to think of it, why were you doing it anyway? Already going insane?"

His question caught me off guard. "No I...I was just bored? I had nothing better to do! I can't leave my room, there was no other way to keep myself occupied. And I-...wait a second! I don't have to explain all this to you! What I do in the privacy of my room is none of your business. Buzz off!"

After I blurted those last words, I half-expected Shadow to say something like, "You do have to answer to me. You're our hostage." Or, "Watch what you say to me. You know I'm capable of killing you," or something hostile like that.

But instead, he did something I thought I would never see him do.

He smiled.

It was very small and hardly there. But it was still a smile. He laughed softly to himself.

"Mkay. Whatever you say, Rachel," he said.

Right then, the door slid shut, cutting him off from my room. I stood there gaping back at the space where he once stood. His footsteps eventually died away as I groaned to myself.

What a weirdo.

I crashed back against the sheets on the bed, humming the song I had previously sung. It was a song my mother used to sing all the time. Not to me directly. She sang lots of different things absent mindedly while she showered, gardened, and even in public when she went shopping. It used to embarrass me, but now that she stopped altogether, I sort of missed her sweet voice. But not near as much as I missed it now.

Oh well, I suppose it's back to sleep I go.

(Shadow's POV)

As much as Rachel annoyed me, her little antics were becoming somewhat humorous. They didn't change a thing, though. She was still another human that I had every reason to hate. Just one who could sing, apparently.

Looks like she's way more than what I bargained for.

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(A/N) Like, omg. What a random chapter, AWOL-iNSANiTY. What were you thinking?

This isn't a filler chapter little ones. I've decided to do a small side chapter between every chapter where they go off to get a Chaos Emerald. That way Shadow and Rachel have time to bond when they aren't on missions. Also, it could be a little comic relief. Even if it isn't funny, you know what I mean. Just…relief.

I'm still debating on whether or not these two should end up together. A lot of people hate human/hedgehog. I personally have no problem with it. I mean, these aren't normal animals we're dealing with. They're anthromorphic, and possess human qualities. I even think it could be cute. Does that make me weird?

You all probably think I have mental issues now.

I could always just make this a friendship story, with no romance, and just change the category. Or, I can make it a like a forbidden love story, which is what I originally planned. I promise, I can do this and make it non-cheesy. Their relationship will be badass either way. I know I'm supposed to write for myself, but would you guys like it better if this was more about becoming friends, rather than love?

Okay, I'm done blabbing. Review and tell me what you think! And thank you to all those who have reviewed already, especially the ones who are continuous reviewers that watch my story and wait for updates. You know who you are!

Thanks, bye!