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It had been a year since the eclipse canon had been destroyed. A year since Tom almost died. A year since they lost the master emerald. A year since…
Sometimes Sonic would look up at the sky and wonder, and hope, that maybe, just maybe, he was still alive. Shadow was the first hedgehog Sonic had ever met, well, the first hedgehog like him, he had been to plenty of pet stores. The blue hedgehog had a weird feeling in his chest whenever he thought about Shadow, was it true feelings, or just because he was the only thing like him? He wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter anyways, Shadow was dead.
Sonic found human romance… strange to say the least. He had asked Maddie about it once, about how in the movies they watched during movie night, the love interests were always a man and a woman, never two men or two women. Maddie explained to him that some people on earth were less accepting than others, that some believed it was unnatural for people to love in different ways. But she had reassured him, saying that he could be in a relationship with whoever he wanted, she wouldn’t judge, and neither would Tom.
Tails had also overheard the conversation, and joined in to put in his two cents. On Mobius, homosexuality was completely normal, and he personally found it strange that humans could be so unaccepting. That comforted Sonic a bit, but didn’t help his feelings at all. But again, the one who created these complicated emotions had died, so why was he getting so stuck on the topic?
The hedgehog was on his daily run, this is why he loved Green Hills, all the nice forest for him to run around in. Sonic slowed to a stop as he got his bearings, he was near his old cave. He zipped over, Sonic liked to visit his old place occasionally, reminiscing about old memories, but he hadn’t been there since he had the heart-to-heart with Tom, right before everything went downhill.
Sonic hopped into the space, staring around in shock as he realized that someone else had discovered his space. There was furniture, books, a bed, a chair, shelves. Who lived here? Sonic looked around on shaky legs, a lot of the books were about science, a ton on medicine, there were a few photos as well, one in particular caught his attention. It was a picture of Shadow.
He picked up the frame, immediately getting deja vu. It was a photo of Shadow with a little blonde girl, she couldn't have been older than fourteen. It was the exact photo Sonic had seen in the abandoned G.U.N. bunker, and as he looked around a bit more, he noticed a ton of stuff from there. The record player, the blankets, how was it all here?
Was Shadow alive?
No, that was impossible. But if not Shadow, who else would be living here?
Before he thought about it too hard, Sonic heard his name being called out in the forest by Tails and Knuckles. Shoot. It was probably dinnertime. Reluctantly, he left the cave to go home, vowing to return soon to explore more and find out who was there.
~~~
The cave would not leave his brain. It had been four days, and Sonic could not stop thinking about it. At this point it was keeping him up at night, it was three in the morning, and Sonic could not for the life of him fall asleep. It just bothered him so much, trying to figure out who was down there.
It was night, whoever lived there was probably there now, and if Sonic couldn’t sleep, he might as well go on a little run. The hedgehog quietly snuck out of his house, and into the night. It was a short zip over to his old cave, he quietly climbed down, not wanting to disturb whomever it was if they were asleep. The cave was dark, but Sonic could still somewhat see. As his eyes adjusted, he could see a small sleeping figure on the bed, he crept closer, trying to keep his cool.
When Sonic was above the sleeping figure, he noticed the chunky shoes next to the bed, the gold rings on the side table, and the red highlights in the quills of the sleeping hedgehog. Sonic stumbled back, slapping a hand over his mouth.
Shadow.
It couldn’t be, he watched him die.
Sonic needed to know more, but couldn’t wake him up. That would be rude. He took a few steps back, sitting on the floor in front of Shadow’s bed. He’d just wait for him to wake up. That proved harder in practice than in concept, as after just ten minutes Sonic had started to doze off, and ended up curled up on the floor, fast asleep.
~~~
When Sonic woke up, he felt warm, and the floor was a lot more plush than he remembered. As he slowly opened his eyes, he realized he was no longer on the floor, and was in the bed. Shadows bed, tucked in. He yawned, sitting up and looking around the cave. No one was there. Was it just a dream? No way.
Before he could overthink it too much, Sonic watched as Shadow appeared right before him. He stared at the hedgehog with wide eyes. It was real.
“Shadow…?” He said, sounding unsure, “it’s you isn’t it?”
Shadow turned around to look Sonic in the eyes, it was him. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m not here to fight! I just-”
“Please get out.”
Sonic stared at him for a moment. “If you didn’t want me here, why did you tuck me into your bed?”
“You were shivering on the floor, but you’re awake now, so you can leave.”
“That’s not fair!” Sonic swung his legs to the side of the bed, Shadow had even taken the time to take off his shoes, “I have so many questions, I watched you die!”
The darker hedgehog avoided his gaze, “well clearly I didn’t actually die, I’m here now.”
Sonic stared at him for a moment, pondering his next question. “The girl in the photo, is that the girl you mentioned watching the stars with? When we were on the moon.”
His words seemed to make Shadow relax a bit, “her name is Maria, she was Gerald’s granddaughter. G.U.N. took her from me.” Sonic noticed Shadows hands in fists, “but I’ve now remembered that her ideals were much different than her grandfathers.”
The blue hedgehog pat the bed next to him, surprisingly, Shadow sat next to him, still avoiding his gaze. “Have you been here? For the past year?”
“Not the full year, most of it,” Shadow fiddled with his inhibitor rings. “I wasn’t sure if you were alive, but once I found out you and your… team were okay, I didn’t really see a reason in going very far.”
“You were spying on us?” You could almost see the gears turning in Sonic’s head, “wait- wait! You thought I was dead?”
“After the canon went off, all I saw was you plummeting toward earth. So yeah, I made an assumption.”
“That’s… fair.”
“Why are you still here? Shouldn’t you be headed back home?” Shadow huffed, finally looking at Sonic.
Sonic frowned, “I mean if you really hate having me here that much-”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“I just-” Shadow looked at the floor, “I’m not used to hanging around other people, and I’m sure you don’t particularly enjoy my company after what happened to Tom.”
“What happened to Tom wasn’t your fault Shads,” Sonic reassured him, placing a hand over his.
“Shads?” The black hedgehog looked up at him, genuinely confused.
Sonic flushed a bit, not realizing the name had slipped out. “It’s a uh, nickname, like a silly name your friends give you. If you don’t like it I-”
“No I like it,” he looked away from Sonic, “it’s cute.”
Cute.
Did Shadow think he was cute?
“Right, um.” Sonic tried to remember what they were talking about. “I don’t blame you for what happened to Tom, and for the record, I quite enjoy your company. I mean, how many other hedgehogs do I get to hang out with?”
“That is true. Your company is welcome here, but only you, for now.” Shadow looked over at him, “I’m still getting used to being close to people again, so none of your colourful friends.”
“Of course!” He saluted, grinning brightly, “so I can come over whenever?”
“As long as you’re not bothering me too much,” Shadow was beginning to regret his decision.
“Sounds good,” the blue hedgehog leaned over, capturing Shadow in a tight hug, “I can’t wait to see more of you Shadow! We’re literally gonna be the bestest friends!”
Shadow was going to protest, but the touch was comforting, so he allowed it. The two spent the next few hours yapping, Sonic telling him about all his favorite things on earth, and Shadow listening along, making mental notes of everything that sounded interesting.
~~~
“Do you think it’s okay for me to love another man?” Shadow asked out of the blue one day. He and Sonic had been hanging out for a few weeks now, they lay on a cliff together looking at the stars.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Sonic rolled over onto his side to look at Shadow.
“Maria told me once she liked girls. She told me that she always felt more attracted to the women in the movies we would watch. But she made me promise not to tell anyone,” Shadow sighed, “is that a normal thing? Or is it a human thing?”
Sonic sat up, still looking down at Shadow, their eyes connected for a moment. “I think… I like boys. So if it's weird, we can be weird together. Maddie told me it's nothing to be ashamed of, but that some humans aren’t as accepting, but that’s no reason to not be yourself.”
Shadow maintained eye contact, something Sonic wasn’t terribly fond of, but with Shadow it was different. His eyes were pretty, they entranced him. “Like… human boys? Or…?”
“I’m not sure,” Sonic broke eye contact, looking back at the stars, “I mean, well, there’s not a ton of options for me.”
For us.
“Right, yeah. Me neither, I guess.” Shadow continued to look at Sonic, trying to muster up courage to continue his thought.
Sonic stood, “well uh, it's getting late,” he had definitely stayed out later before, “I should get going, I don't want anyone to worry.”
“Yeah,” the black hedgehog tried to conceal his disappointment, “well, good night Sonic.”
“Night Shads.”
In a blur, the blue hedgehog had gone.
~~~
“Is there something on your mind Sonic?” Maddie asked. It had been a week since he had last seen Shadow on the cliff. A month since they had initially reunited. Sonic and Maddie were sitting on the couch with Ozzie, watching some really bad reality TV. Sonic had noticed Maddie’s attempt at including more queer shows in their watch roster, he appreciated that.
“Kinda,” the hedgehog admitted. Since that night of the cliff, he hadn’t stopped thinking about Shadow. They had been avoiding each other since, all these pent up feelings were like a lit fuse, ready to go off at any moment. Sonic wasn’t ready for that, not yet.
Maddie paused the TV, turning towards her son, “if you wanna talk, I’m all ears.”
Sonic took a deep breath, “I think I have a crush on someone, but I’m not really sure.” He looked down, petting Ozzie for comfort.
“What makes you unsure?”
Here it goes, the fuse. “I’m not sure because he’s the only other thing like me I’ve met, like is this real, or is it just me wanting a relationship and he’s my only option? This was a lot easier when I thought he was dead but now- I don’t know.”
“What?” Maddie took a minute to process, “wait, Shadow is alive?”
“How did-” Sonic flushed, looking up at his mom with wide eyes, “how do you know it’s Shadow? I mean I could have met another Hedgehog or something-”
She raised her eyebrows, giving him a knowing smile, “okay then, who is it?” Sonic pouted at the question, looking back down at Ozzie, saying nothing. Maddie sighed, “look, love is weird. I had a girlfriend in college, but you know what? It didn’t work out, and that’s okay, we broke up, and eventually I met Tom. You’re young, it’s okay to play around with labels and partners, and figure out who’s right for you.” She reached over, petting Sonic’s quills to comfort him a bit, “but, if it is Shadow you’re talking about, I would like to meet him before anything happens okay? I trust your judgement, however we haven’t exactly met him on… the best terms.”
Sonic leaned into her touch, thinking for a moment. “So you’re not upset it’s him?” He said softly, Maddie had never heard him speak so quietly.
“No, I can’t say the same for Tom, but I don’t blame him for what happened. You came around, so I think all of us can.”
“Okay,” Sonic smiled, “can he come over tonight? I can go get him right now!”
Maddie chuckled a bit, “okay buddy, slow down a bit. I’m not saying no, but Tom is getting home early today and you should talk to him about it first. If he’s open to doing it today, then I’m fine with it. Okay?”
“Okay,” he felt his insides twist up with nerves. Just because he had forgiven Shadow, doesn’t mean Tom has. But Sonic couldn’t think about it too hard, because mere seconds later, the front door opened.
Tom was home.
Ozzie immediately jumped off the couch to greet him. He had a moment with the dog, crouching down to pet him and give him love. Maddie pet Sonic’s quills in an attempt to calm his nerves a bit, it did help a little bit. Tom stood, eyeing the two on the couch.
“Hey guys, everything okay?” He said, Sonic must’ve looked worried.
Maddie stood as well, giving Sonic a final few pats on the head. “I’m gonna leave you two, I’ll start on dinner. I’ll make extra just in case,” she reassured the hedgehog, making her way towards the kitchen.
“Are we expecting guests for dinner?” Tom furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
“That depends on how well you take the news,” she teased, disappearing into the kitchen.
Tom turned his attention over to Sonic. “You wanna go outside with me buddy? Get some fresh air?”
Sonic nodded, hopping off the couch. “Yeah, okay.”
The two went outside, sitting on the hanging porch swing together. There was a little bit of silence, Sonic was trying to find the right words to say. How was he going to tell his dad he had a major crush on the guy who tried to kill him? He was screwed.
“So,” Tom broke the silence, “you got something to tell me?”
The hedgehog nodded, looking at his lap. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself. “Yeah, um. Do you want the good news, or the not so good news first?”
“Let's do the good news first. That’ll be easier to get out, yeah?” Tom was looking at his son, slightly worried at how he was acting.
“Well, I think I have a crush,” Tom’s eyes widened at his words, continuing to listen, “on a boy.”
“Okay, well you know I’ll always support you no matter what,” he reached over, gently rubbing Sonic’s back, “what’s the other news?”
Sonic went quiet, twiddling his thumbs. Here it goes, no going back now. “Um, so, Shadow is alive…”
Tom’s hand paused, making Sonic nervous. “Okay, is that all?”
“I think I have a crush on… Shadow. I know he like, almost killed you, but he didn’t, and I know he didn’t mean to. We’ve talked about it, and he feels bad about it.” Sonic started to ramble, and at this point he couldn’t stop. “He’s actually a really nice guy! We hang out a lot, he was just kinda manipulated by that old Robotnik guy, he cares a lot about earth and about… me. He has no intentions of hurting me or hurting any of you, it's just because you looked like that Walters guy and-”
He stopped talking as Tom placed his hand on his head, Sonic’s thoughts were racing through his head, what if he didn’t approve? What then?
“If you’re happy, I’m happy,” Sonic looked up, Tom was looking out at the yard. “It’ll take some getting used to,” he looked down at his son, “but, if you say he’s a good guy, I believe you.”
The hedgehog grinned, getting excited, “so he can come for dinner tonight?”
“Tonight- oh is that what Maddie meant? I suppose so, as long as she’s already said you can.”
Sonic jumped up out of the swing, “I’ll get him now! You won’t regret this, I promise!”
“I sure hope not,” Tom sighed, watching his son zip into the forest. He got up, going back inside to help Maddie with dinner.
~~~
“Shadow?” Sonic hopped into the cave, looking around for the other hedgehog, “you in here?”
The black hedgehog was nowhere to be seen, Sonic was getting worried. What if he had left? They hadn’t seen each other in a week.
In a flash of red lightning, Shadow appeared in front of him. Sonic yelped out in surprise, not expecting him to just appear out of this air. He had forgotten he could do that.
Shadow stared at him for a moment, “what are you doing here?”
“Oh! Well, Maddie wanted me to invite you to dinner tonight. She really wants to meet you,” Sonic smiled bashfully, leaving out the part of why she wanted to meet him.
“Dinner?” Shadow continued to stare, “she wants to meet me? Even after what happened to Tom?”
Sonic nodded enthusiastically, “I talked to both of them! They really wanna see you, especially since y’know, we’ve been spending time together.”
Also because I’m in love with you.
“I-” Shadow pondered for a moment, “okay.”
“Really!?”
“Don’t make me regret it.”
Sonic had a lot riding on this night. He really hoped it would go well.
Shadow had taken Sonic’s hand, and used chaos control to teleport them both home. They ended up in the yard, neither of them letting go of the other’s hand. When they arrived, Tails was just coming out of his shed-turned-workshop, he saw Sonic first.
“Hey Sonic! Maddie said-” his eyes flicked over to Shadow, stopping dead in his tracks, “Shadow?” Sonic noticed as his eyes moved from Shadow’s face, to their hands, “you must be the guest Maddie talked about.”
“Hello fox,” Shadow said simply.
“Right! Yeah, Shadow’s alive tails!” Sonic smiled nervously, “and we’re… friends.”
Tails hummed, “yeah, friends.” He shot Sonic a look, before turning back to Shadow, “well any friend of Sonic The Hedgehog is a friend of mine!”
Sonic flushed a bit, pulling Shadow inside, “lets just get inside and not keep the others waiting.”
Inside, Maddie was just finishing up the food while Tom set the table. Knuckles sat waiting on the couch, he had been banned from the kitchen after one too many incidents. Knuckles perked up at the door opening, narrowing his eyes at Shadow.
“What is the more impressive hedgehog doing here? You’re not dead?” Knuckles looked between the two hedgehogs, noticing their interlocked fingers, “Sonic, are you courting him? I did not know you had found a mate!”
“Am I what?” The blue hedgehog flushed red, “what gave you that impression? We’re not- not yet- I mean, it’s not like that! Swear! We’re friends Knux.”
Knuckles didn’t look like he believed Sonic, but turned towards Shadow, “I don’t care about what kind of relationship you and my blue friend have, I don’t trust you.”
“I don’t expect you to,” Shadow spoke softly, reaching into his quills, “I do have a peace offering,” he pulled out the chaos emeralds, making Knuckles’ eyes widen, “you’re the protector of the emeralds, correct?”
Sonic stared in shock, “you had the chaos emeralds this whole time?”
“I still don’t trust you,” Knuckles hopped off the couch, taking a few steps towards them, “but you have my respect, Hedgehog.” He took the emeralds, then went back to his place on the couch, probably to combine them back into the full master emerald.
“My name is Shadow.”
“Don’t push it, it takes him a while to warm up.” Sonic pulled him through the living room, to the dining room where Tom and Maddie were. “Hey, this is Shadow, Shadow, this is Tom and Maddie.”
“It’s nice to finally meet you Shadow,” Maddie smiled at him, placing a few dishes on the table.
“Nice to meet you properly kiddo,” Tom said, noticing Shadow relax a tiny bit.
Shadow shifted uncomfortably, “I would like to apologise-”
“Apology accepted,” Tom interrupted him, “there’s nothing to apologise for, you’re okay.”
“But-” Shadow stared at him in shock, wanting to say more, but Sonic tugged his hand, pulling out a chair for him.
“Come on kids! Food is ready!” Maddie called, putting the rest of dinner on the table.
~~~
Dinner went better than anyone expected. Shadow was super polite, something that Tom and Maddie greatly appreciated. Maddie had cooked up a bunch of favorites, chili mac n cheese (Sonic’s second favorite food), some roast veggies, dinner rolls, and of course a bowl of grapes for Knuckles. Shadow at first was very confused about the grapes, though chose not to question it. He didn’t speak a ton, mostly listened to the others yap, chiming in occasionally. At one point, Tails made a comment about how Sonic was being quieter than usual, and Sonic started blabbering on, Shadow couldn’t help but notice how red his cheeks were in that moment.
When Maddie started to clear away people's plates, Shadow perked up, “do you need help cleaning up Mrs. Wachowski?”
“I’m okay, thank you Shadow,” she smiled, carrying the plates into the kitchen, “and you can just call me Maddie.”
“Sonic, why don’t you show Shadow your room while we clean up and make some dessert?” Tom got up from his seat, going to help Maddie in the kitchen.
“Okay!” Sonic jumped out of his seat, his parents could tell he was nervous, “come on Shadow!”
Knuckles also got up, “I will come with! I want to show the emo hedgehog my part of our warrior den!!”
Shadow tilted his head once he stood from his seat, not knowing what ‘emo’ meant, but he decided it was best not to ask.
“No Knuckles, we’ll need your help with the dessert,” Maddie went and ushered him towards the kitchen, “plus I’m sure Sonic wants some alone time with his friend.”
“Oh yes! I must ensure there are grapes in this dessert!” he momentarily forgot about the hedgehogs, making his way to look in the fridge.
“Alright! Well just call us when it's ready,” Sonic took Shadow's hand, quickly pulling him out of the dining room and upstairs to the attic.
Once up there, Shadow let go of the hedgehog's hand and looked around, the room was so very him. The street signs, the race car bed, the comic books, it was so opposite to Shadow’s but it was oddly endearing to him. Sonic smiled, watching him poke around in wonder, it was cute, seeing Shadow be so curious.
“Yeah, this is my room,” Sonic walked over, and sat on his bed, waiting for Shadow to come join him. His bed was in between two others, a truck bed and a plane bed, Shadow could only assume they were Knuckles and Tails.
“It’s… interesting,” Shadow walked over, sitting next to him on his bed. “It’s very you.”
“Thanks?” He frowned, tilting his head at Shadow. Was this the right moment? Sonic took a deep breath, looking at the floor, now or never. “I have something I wanted to talk to you about.”
Shadow sensed how nervous the hedgehog was, “is something wrong?”
“No! Um, everything is great, I just,” Sonic looked up, staring straight ahead at Tails’ plane bed. “Just nervous, I wanna confess something to you, but it’s a lot, and I don’t wanna scare you away but it’s nagging at me every time I see you and if I don’t tell you now, it’s just going to spill out when I’m not ready, and-”
“You’re rambling.”
“Sorry.”
They sat in silence for a moment, “is this why you haven’t come to see me in a while?” Shadow prodded, looking at him.
“Kinda,” Sonic let his head hang, “I didn’t mean to avoid you, I just had all these complicated feelings, especially after the conversation we had under the stars that night- I didn’t know what was going on and I was scared I’d say something I’d regret later because I didn’t know if these feelings were real.”
“What feelings?”
Sonic played with his fingers a bit, reluctantly looking up at Shadow and meeting his eyes. “I like you, like, I really like you. But I wasn’t sure if these were real feelings or not, because y’know, it’s not like I’ve met very many hedgehogs. But I think… they are real, and I want to at least try.”
Shadow turned on the bed, bending one leg on the covers so he could face sonic, “when Maria would joke about relationships, y’know, us both finding someone and settling down, she always talked about how maybe another hedgehog would also fall from the stars, and then it was meant to be. I was always a little bit more excited when she said this hypothetical hedgehog would be a guy… I dunno, it just feels like it was written in the stars, like it’s fate.”
The words hung in the air for a moment, Sonic stared at him in awe. “Wow, I was just expecting an ‘I like you too’ moment, not some heartfelt confession about how you think we’re fated lovers.”
“Was it not what you wanted?” Shadow felt his heart sink.
“Oh my god no! I mean it was unexpected, but not unwanted,” Sonic reached out, cupping Shadow’s face, “it was sweet, I liked it.”
He leaned into the touch, realizing how close they were. Sonic caressed his cheek with his thumb, making him relax, the touch was nice. “You always make me feel so… calm, there’s so many horrors in this world, things out to get us, but you make me forget about all of them. All I know is that I want to be here, with you, nothing could ruin this moment we share with each other.”
“When did you get so smart with words?” Sonic smiled, before Shadow could respond, he leaned in, connecting their lips and sealing their fate. They held the kiss for a while, Shadow moving a hand to rest on Sonic’s hip. They pulled away eventually, staring into each other's eyes for a moment.
Sonic leaned forward again, this time angling up and placing a kiss on his forehead. Shadow smiled at the affection, rare for him. “Just don’t go running off again, talk to me, okay?” He gently pet Sonic’s back, the fur was soft.
“Yeah yeah,” Sonic shifted, so he could lean his head on Shadow’s shoulder, “you’re stuck with me now, you’ll never get rid of me!”
“Wouldn’t want it any other way,” Shadow leaned over, kissing the top of Sonic’s head.
“Well if I wasn’t sure about you now, I sure as hell am sure about you now.”
“Oh?”
“You’re a really good kisser,” Sonic said sheepishly.
So they kissed again, and again, yapping in between, and stealing kisses whenever it got too quiet. Eventually the two found themselves in a cuddling position, Shadow laying on Sonic's bed, and the blue hedgehog laying on top of him. They were chatting still, but eventually they fell silent, just enjoying each other's company. Shadow was gently petting Sonic’s quills when he heard light snoring, he had fallen asleep. From what he heard, Sonic had a very stressful day, so it was okay, he deserved to rest. He smiled down at him, he always looked so cute when he slept, like nothing could bother him.
Not too long after Sonic had fallen asleep, there was a light knock on the door, before Maddie came in. “Boys, there’s dessert ready- oh!” her voice fell to a whisper when she saw Sonic, Shadow looked at her, a slightly frightened expression on his face. “Don’t worry, it’s okay, he sleeps like a rock,” she gave him a reassuring smile, quietly walking over, sitting on the edge of the bed. “He really likes you y'know, so don’t go breaking his heart, okay? I like you too, I think you’ll be good for him.”
Shadow was shocked at her words, but relaxed a bit, looking down at his now boyfriend. “I have no intentions of hurting him, I’ll care for him as best I can,” he gently smoothed out Sonic's quills, “I owe him my life, so I’ll be here whenever he needs me.”
Maddie smiled at the boys, “what did he do to deserve a sweetheart like you? You’ll always be welcome here Shadow, got it?” The hedgehog nodded as she leaned down, gently kissing the top of Sonic’s head and then got up, taking a few steps to lean over and give him a forehead kiss as well. “I’ll leave you two be, I’ll put the leftover dessert in the fridge if you guys get the midnight munchies, I made coffee brownies, thought you might like them. Stay as long as you would like, I think Sonic would be happy if you were still here in the morning.” She made her way back towards the door.
“Thank you… Maddie.”
She turned around, right before leaving, “Good night Shadow.”
By the time Knuckles and Tails were sent up to bed, Shadow had already dozed off. They had shifted in their position, so they were both on their sides and Shadow was spooning Sonic. Since they had fallen asleep on top of the covers, Tails grabbed a spare blanket, draping it on top of the two, and tucking them in. If you asked Tails, he would deny taking any photos of the two, but somehow come next morning, Maddie had several photos saved on her phone of the two cuddling.
For the first time in his life, Shadow made it through a night of no nightmares. He did see Maria, but it was a good dream, not a flashback of her passing. He had a peaceful sleep, which was good for him, he deserved real rest. Maybe Maddie was right, they would be good for each other.