A week passed sense that night with the ice cream. And Esme and I have found a semi normal routine for the day to day. Thanks to my chaos energy, I healed a lot faster than what Esme had expected. I have been without the bandages for a couple days now. I knew that I was going to need to leave soon, but I'll be honest, I was enjoying some time without any worries, but I feared that soon, I would be needed. And I felt that was going to be soon. I didn't want to leave Esme without an explanation.

After our dinner that night, she began to take care of the dishes. I walked over to her and grabbed the hem of her shirt. How would she react to my part in what happened? She paused her work and looked down at me worried.

"I have a story to tell you." I said, avoiding her eyes.

She could tell it was a struggle. Drying her hands, she bent down and got eye level to me. "Shall we sit outside?"

Taking my hand, she led me outside and we sat on the grass. This time outside enjoying the sunsets and stary nights became a comfort to me, and Esme was there to support. We sat in silence, and she just waited for me to speak.

I gathered the courage and began. "I don't know where I came from, but somehow I came to earth in a meteorite… over 50 years ago." Her eyebrows lifted a bit. "I was found by a division called Guardian Units of Nations. Often called G.U.N. They thought they could use the chaos energy I can generate to lead to a new renaissance in technology. The project was led by Dr. Gerald Robotnik. And during that time, he brought his Granddaughter, Maria to live at the facility. She needed medical support, and they hoped that maybe my abilities would help them find a cure for her illness.

"Maria, quickly became my best friend. She was basically my sister. Beyond all the tests and examinations from the lab's doctors, she taught me how to have fun and enjoy life. But when Robotnik wasn't providing the results the governments of the world wanted, they sent their G.U.N. soldiers to shut things down. Dr. Robotnik took me and Maria, and we ran. But as we were running, the soldiers caught up to us. They opened fire, and one of the shots hit a container of my chaos energy…" My heart ached as I recalled what happened. But I had to continue. "There was an explosion. And… Maria… didn't make it."

"Robotnik was taken away and locked up." I continued, refusing to look at Esme as I knew the worst was coming. "Commander Walters, one of the leaders of G.U.N. had me placed in suspended animation. They didn't plan to wake me up. I spent 50 years living nightmare to nightmare of seeing Maria's death over and over. It filled me with rage, and hatred. After 50 years, I was awoken. Gerald Robotnik had broken free and freed me. And we planned to take revenge on what happened to Maria.

"We found Dr. Robotnik's lost grandson, Ivo Robotnik, and we planned to raise something called the Ark, to take our revenge. We hurt people, and we fought those who genuinely wanted to protect everyone. I was blinded by rage and thought that Maria would want this. We succeeded in raising the Ark into space, and I used my chao energy to start up the laser.

"There was resistance. Sonic, and his friends, tried to stop me, but I didn't let them. It wasn't until I hurt someone close to Sonic that he stopped pulling his punches. When he had me defeated and could take revenge on me, like I wanted to for Maria, he let me go." I looked up at the moon, where the confrontation ended. "He said, 'There are no winners with revenge.' Being on the moon, looking out at the stars, I let his words sink in and I told him about Maria and my rage.

"He returned his understanding of grief as he too had lost someone close to him. He taught me that the pain doesn't go away, but the love we held for them was stronger. And I remembered the most precious lesson I learned from Maria. 'The light still shines, even though the star may be gone.'" I took in another breath. "Thanks to Sonic and Maria, I decided to work with Sonic to save the world I had doomed. I wouldn't have been able to do it alone, but thanks to Sonic's help, we were able to prevent the planet's destruction. I couldn't prevent the moon from casualty, but I did use what was left of my power to push the Ark away from the earth. I truly thought my life would end.

"But, after the explosion, I found myself beaten and bruised. With my power depleted, I ended up collapsing after getting my rings back." I looked back to my feet. "After that, that's when you found me and you know the rest from there."

I finished my story and waited. Would she tell me to leave? Would she turn me into G.U.N.? I didn't know, but it was important she knew why I was leaving. It was better for her safety. Silence. She said nothing.

"I thought I better tell you before I…" I was interrupted by her pulling me into a strong embrace.

I heard a sharp inhale as tears fell from her eyes. She was crying for me. Her arms were strong around me and she just held me there for a long time.

"You've been through so much. I knew you had a hard time, but I didn't know how much you went through." She said between sobs. "I'm so sorry, Shadow."

My own eyes began to water and I just grabbed her shirt and pulled myself closer. She truly just wanted to comfort me. And I hadn't had something like that in a long time. After some time, our cries calmed and she only released me when I eased my grip. She looked down at me with caring eyes.

"Shadow," she began. "I know you probably have to leave soon. But I hope you know you will always have a home here. If you ever need a break, or just want to say hi, you are always welcome here."

A small smile came to my face. And I nodded.

"But, at least get a good night's rest before you leave, okay?"

I nodded again.

The sun had set and the stars showed themselves to us. We spend the rest of the night staring at them before we went to sleep.