Blue Heart - Sonadow

It was a very calm night at Green Hill, with only the cold wind blowing through. Most animals had already gone to sleep, enjoying the peace of their home. However, one of them stayed awake. It was none less than the very famous Sonic the hedgehog.

He had recently saved the whole planet from being destroyed by the dangerous Finalhazard. This lizard woke up after Gerald's words were heard. It had fused with the Space Colony Ark and started taking its course towards the planet. However, Sonic, along with his rival Shadow, used the power of the Chaos Emeralds and bravely fought it. Because the enemy was almost impossible to defeat, they had no other option but to warp it far away with the help of Chaos Control. That successfully worked as the beast was no longer seen. Unfortunately that potent Chaos Control drained Shadow from all his energy, and thus he fell back to the planet unconscious. All what remained from his was one of the Rings he usually wore on his wrists.

A full month had passed after that incident, and the blue hedgehog was still trying to search for his rival, without any success. True, Shadow had been against him for a long time, and people had been blaming Sonic for his actions, but Sonic never cared, even less when he saw the ebony hedgehog's actions. Besides, he would never want something bad to happen to anybody, not even to his worst enemy Eggman.

Sonic was growing worried as time passed. To be honest, he thought he had never been this worried before, but he decided not to think about it. Sonic lay down on the grass and gazed up at the sky full of stars, still wondering where the black hedgehog could have fallen, and if he was ok. The wind caressed his soft quills, lulling him to sleep.
After some minutes he woke up. Giving a look around the place made him realize he wasn't truly awake, but in a dream. Even since Shadow disappeared, the blue hedgehog had been having those dreams, almost if his subconscious knew Shadow's location and was trying to tell him through his dreams.

However, this dream was way different than the others. It was very dark around him, but he could see the gray clouds all above him. Sometimes, a lightning fell from them and gave a temporal illumination to the place, but that didn't really help Sonic to decipher where he was. All he knew was that he was completely alone. Risking himself, Sonic started walking around in hopes of finding something. Sonic didn't want to admit it, but all that silence and darkness surrounding him was getting on his nerves, especially because he wasn't sure of the dream he was having. There wasn't any noise that usually came after the lightning fell from the sky.

After a while of wandering about, he started noticing something weird. The more he went forward, the less gray clouds he could see. With that, less lightning came and helped him. This entire situation was extremely frustrating and pointless by now; all he wanted to do was to escape.
"S-Sonic…" The blue hedgehog gasped and twitched his ears at the pained voice that called him. It was very faint, but Sonic could guess from who it was.

"Shadow? Where are you? Keep speaking!" He yelled while moving his ears.

"So…nic…" The voice was weaker and weaker until the point that silence was back. Sonic was very worried by now, so he ran towards the place he thought he had heard it. Not many seconds had gone by when the hedgehog suddenly tripped and fell over with something.

"Ugh… what hit me?" He groaned as he got up and put a hand on his head. To his surprise, he felt that his glove was wet. Sonic gazed at the floor for a few seconds, but because of the black cloak surrounding him, he couldn't understand what the thing he touched was. He had to look down again after hearing a deep but hurt growl below.
"You idiot… Do you think… you will defeat me?" The hedgehog was now confused. What did that mean?

"B-But I haven't even touched you. How can you say that?" Sonic asked in despair. All of the sudden a circular spot was illuminated to reveal what, or rather who, was on the floor. The blue hedgehog was very shocked to find Shadow surrounded by a blood pool. Shadow had several wounds going through his whole body. One that Sonic thought was alarming was a large scrape at the side of his head, surely where most of the blood had come out.

"You must be happy… because I'm close to my end…" The black hedgehog had either ignored his blue rival's words or was too proud that he decided to instead show his strength. "But I'm not the Ultimate… Lifeform for nothing…"
With much effort from his part, he started crawling forwards, each time letting out a sore gasp.

"I love how you are trying to struggle for your life, you stupid hedgehog, but you have to admit you can't go on anymore." Sonic looked around in attempts to spot who was the other one in the place. "So, I will end up your fight this time."

'Who is the other one? Who is torturing Shadow to death?' Sonic kept asking himself in his mind. The reply came quickly to him when his own arm extended and a black sphere formed at the end of his fingers.

'What?! No! It can't be me the one who did this! I'm a hero, not an assassin!' He did his best to stop himself. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough. His hand let go of the sphere, flying rapidly towards the hopeless black hedgehog.

"Shadow!!"

---

Sonic woke up screaming like crazy and breathing hard, sweat going down his cobalt fur and several tears on his cheeks. The first thing he did was to look around very fast. He clearly remembered that nightmare where he killed Shadow with his own hands. To his relief he was back into Green Hill. His gloves weren't covered in blood anymore, and there was no blood pool to be seen. That also meant the black hedgehog was still lost somewhere. The cobalt hedgehog looked up at the sky, clearly seeing some sun rays going across the white clouds, accompanied with some bird chirps. He knew he had to find Shadow, and fast. He took out Shadow's Ring and ran at his signature speed. He started wiping away his shed tears, and couldn't stop wondering why he had cried so much for somebody. He knew he had never cried in his entire life, not even when bad dreams tormented him at nights. However, this time was different, very different. He started realizing that difference when the ebony hedgehog went up to him just to help him on the mission to save the planet. He remembered his determination, but at the same time he couldn't stop thinking that there was some other feeling hidden in those ruby eyes. The question was which other feeling. Sonic shook his head to clear his mind so he could keep on searching. He had run through all West Island, and even went through Angel Island. He had yet to search at Metropolis, Eggman's very first base.

---

After giving a second look to all the places in South Island, which took him several hours to do since he searched even behind the small rocks or bushes, it was time to check up Metropolis. Without Eggman taking control of the base, the contamination around it had intensified with the course of the years. Tails had tried once to stop the base from functioning, but the man had put several codes so the fox couldn't pass through his security system. As a result, all machines inside wouldn't stop working, and thus the contamination started. The sky had a yellow and grey shade, with dense smoke surrounding it. Thankfully, most lights were still turned on, and that really compensated with the lack of natural light.

Sonic stepped inside and glared at all things he saw. It was a place where Eggman had been after all, and he knew there could be hidden traps waiting for the cobalt hedgehog to step on them. After some minutes of unsuccessful searches, he sworn he heard groans not too far from where he was. He couldn't totally ensure whether it was Shadow or not, but he had to give it a careful look. Just in case, he started tip-toeing, his ears perked up all the time. He entered a strange and small room, which was full of rusty robots and broken boxes. On top of one of the biggest boxes stood Shadow the hedgehog, grabbing his head and blinking a lot in attempts to focus his sight. He just had some small scratches around his arms and on his torso, but nothing serious apart from that.

The cobalt hedgehog felt extremely happy to find him finally, and to see he wasn't as wounded as he saw him in his nightmare.

"Shadow!" Sonic shouted at the top of his lungs, never feeling this relieved before. The ebony hedgehog felt as if his head was spinning like mad, but he managed to hear a recognized voice quite close to him.

"So I see you are here… Sonic."  His dizziness quickly went away and he could look at the blue hedgehog in front of him. It was Sonic's turn to blink when he swore he had seen warmth in those ruby eyes. "I didn't need you to search for me, you idiot. I'm the Ultimate Lifeform after all." Sonic couldn't help but to laugh at that comment.

'Yep, that's the good old Shadow.' He thought as his rival gave him a death glare. The blue hedgehog just shrugged.

"Calm down, will ya? I was worried sick for you all this time, and had to make sure you were safe." Shadow's glare softened until he was just looking serious, but there was a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"Well, as I told you before, I didn't need you concerning about me. It was just my first time using such a strong Chaos Control without using my Rings, so it was normal I fainted." He stood up and walked closer to the cobalt hedgehog, then extended his hand.
"Huh?" Sonic looked at his glove, which was heavily torn, showing his black hand and the end of the crimson stripe that travelled his arm.

"My Ring, you have it."

"Ah right, your Ring." Sonic laughed nervously as he handed Shadow the Ring he had been keeping for a month. For a second, he had misunderstood the ebony hedgehog's action. Shadow put on his Ring on his left wrist.

"Have I told you before you are a weird hedgehog?" For some weird reason, Sonic felt his face growing hot the more he heard Shadow speak. It was their first time being completely alone without having to fight or to worry about other thing.

"N-No… But why do you think s-so?" He didn't understand his own reactions, but tried his to hide them. A raised brow from Shadow made him see he was failing.

"Well, I don't know, could it be because of how you are acting?" He questioned a bit sarcastically. After a while he sighed when he realized Sonic wouldn't reply.

"Anyways, I hate this stupid place. Let's get out of here." His rival didn't listen to his words; his emerald eyes showed how lost in thoughts he was. Shadow groaned and grabbed his hand.

"Wake up, dammit! We must get out!" Sonic snapped out and looked at the hand Shadow was holding. His face turned a beet red, but just merely nodded. Shadow ran out of Metropolis, still holding Sonic's hand. Strangely, Sonic was having a hard time to catch up with him, mostly because of all the questions he had inside his mind.

'Why being with Shadow makes me feel complete? Why I can't stop blushing? What is wrong with me?'

Shadow felt really stupid to pull Sonic and help him run. If somebody saw him there doing that, he would feel totally embarrassed. He just wanted to avoid them all, to be unseen. It would be easier if it weren't for Sonic's fault. Shadow growled as his speed increased, going towards Green Hill. Thankfully, the animals that lived there were gone; there wasn't sign of them coming earlier either. He screeched to a halt and let go of Sonic's hand. The other one looked at him quite stunned.

"I can't believe your behavior, Sonic." The black hedgehog scolded. "What if somebody saw us together? Put yourself together already!" Sonic gasped at the rough words coming from Shadow, but at the same time he knew he was right. Their reputations would drastically change, and that was the last he wanted to happen. He let out a deep sigh and weakly nodded to let Shadow know he understood. The black hedgehog sighed and lay down on the grass, looking at the clear sky.

"She was right, this planet is beautiful." He said to himself while remembering his times with her best friend Maria. Some tears dared to come out, but he managed to stop them. Sonic felt bad for him when he saw his watery eyes, so he sat down beside him.

"May I know who are you talking about?" He asked gently. Shadow looked at him surprised, because in the small amount of time he was with Sonic, he hadn't seen that kindness.

"Maria." He started. "She used to be my only best friend, the one I could rely on, the one that helped me when I was confused about my existence, she meant all to me. However, that stupid GUN took her away from me, which is the reason I promised revenge on all humans." He stopped a bit because he felt a tear trying to fight him. It was the first time the cobalt hedgehog saw Shadow so sad and crushed, even though the black hedgehog hated to show his emotions. He respectfully stayed in silence, until Shadow felt strong again to keep on explaining.

"I stayed in a deep sleep for several years, until Eggman woke me up. As that time passed my memory started failing me, until I only could remember the need to kill. But when you started stopping me, something started bugging my mind, something that my mind was trying to recover. As the Finalhazard was close to destroying the planet… that's where I remembered all, even Maria's words to visit the beautiful planet someday. I'm glad you managed to stop me from hurting people, or even destroying this planet." He turned to look at Sonic. Crimson eyes met emerald ones, and a deep silence fell. Now Sonic was totally sure he could see happiness and kindness in his eyes, and he felt even gladder than before. It had been quick, but after Shadow told him his experiences and about his life, he understood why he was feeling complete. He wanted to make Shadow happy and help him enjoy the beauty of the planet. However, that didn't mean he would tell him just right now. Maybe he would say it later, when he got the chance to stay more with the black hedgehog. Sonic looked at Shadow worriedly when he heard a gasp coming from him.

"Shadow? What's wrong?" Shadow was feeling very weird. His heart was aching.

"N-Nothing Sonic…" He replied as he managed to get up, holding his chest. He felt his heartbeats going faster and more painful. Sonic stood up and put a hand on the left part of Shadow's torso. He also felt the strong heartbeats.

"S-Shadow?? What is the meaning of this?" He asked concerned, trying to understand what was wrong. The ebony hedgehog moved Sonic's hand away from his chest.

"I said I'm fine!" Yelling was the mistake, as the heartbeats increased to the point he couldn't stand the pain and started screaming hard.

"Shadow!" Sonic got more worried. Quickly taking action, he picked up Shadow and put him on his back.

"W-What… are you doing…?" Shadow did his best efforts to talk esven though the immense pain at his chest. Sonic placed a finger on his mouth to shut him up.

"Ssh don't speak Shadow. Everything is going to be ok, I promise." He said reassuringly as he ran the fastest he could, grabbing Shadow very carefully so he wouldn't fall off of his back. Shadow was totally confused, but he couldn't think too much as the pain kept returning, and each time harder. His sight was a bit blurry by now, but he never gave up and managed to hide most of his screams.

---

After several minutes of constant running, Sonic decreased his speed. They had entered Central City, the place with most buildings in all Mobius. The cobalt hedgehog remembered it perfectly because that's where his best friend Tails lived. However, he didn't have any plans on visiting him. In Central City there was a hospital that was very well-known for its excellent services. Sonic pushed open the doors and walked inside, searching for a doctor that could help the agonizing black hedgehog. A black wolf stepped towards him.

"Welcome to-" Sonic interrupted him by laying down Shadow on a sofa.

"Please don't start with that. My friend over here is in great pain, I need you to help him." The wolf looked down at Shadow, who had his teeth clenched due to the effort he was making for not screaming. His face was wet because of his sweat. The wolf picked up a dispositive and called more doctors. Seven of them came over with a stretcher. They picked up Shadow and placed him on the stretched, then started walking quickly towards the Emergency Room, Sonic always following them. After Shadow was put down on a bed, all doctors connected wires to him. They turned on several machines that were very complicated to understand, and started checking on him. Because Shadow was having too much trouble for breathing, the black wolf placed a mask to help him breath correctly. Another doctor took a blood sample from one of his arms and started analyzing it under a microscope.
Sonic was forbidden from entering the room meanwhile the doctors were checking on the ebony hedgehog. He was very angry when the doors closed, but that anger quickly went away when his mind was clouded with thoughts. Being the impatient hedgehog he is, he walked around and kept staring at the door, wishing Shadow was ok. Suddenly he felt a pat on his left shoulder. He turned around and noticed his twin-tailed best friend looking worriedly at him.

"What's the matter Sonic? I was told you came in pretty altered." Sonic sighed and looked again at the doors.

"Tails… I have finally found Shadow, but something is wrong with him." The hedgehog answered and continued walking in circles. The young fox gasped surprised and looked at the doors.

"That's very weird. I mean, what could have harmed him?" Sonic clenched his fists while walking. Even though Tails had helped him a lot in the past, all he wanted to do was to stay alone until he knew the black hedgehog was better, without speaking or listening to other people. Tails noticed how his friend's expression changed from sad to anxious. He wanted so badly to comfort his "big brother", but at times like this he knew it was wise to stay silent.

---

Hours quickly passed by, and there was no notice of Shadow's status. No doctors had come out of the room still, which made Sonic grow more worried. The only sound that was heard was the tic-tac of a clock. Finally, the black wolf exited the room and walked towards the duo. Sonic walked towards him.

"Doctor! How is he?" The doctor had a sad look on his face.

"Not well, I fear. We analyzed his blood sample and we found out that a strange but powerful virus had grown deep inside his heart. This virus grew up by feeding on parts of his heart." All the tears that Sonic had stopped before came out quickly.

"B-But how? I was with Shadow this afternoon and he seemed perfectly fine, except for some wounds." Sonic complained, finding it harder to speak because of his sobs. The wolf looked at some papers he was holding.

"This virus is new, we have never seen it before, but we can tell that it has been inside his heart for a month or so. If only we had seen it before one month earlier, maybe Shadow would be saved by now." That last sentence was devastating for the poor blue hedgehog; he couldn't take more of it and so he ran towards the room. Tails was puzzled about Sonic's concern for Shadow, but he said nothing as he looked at his friend.

Sonic entered the room and looked at a very weak black hedgehog fighting for his life. The monitor showed that his heartbeats were very slow and weak. Shadow was close to crossing the line between life and death. Sonic clenched a fist and punched the side of the bed, letting all his tears come out. The doctors didn't have a cure for that virus because it was recent, so there was nothing they could do to save the helpless hedgehog. Shadow had his eyes closed and was breathing weakly. The black wolf came in.

"I was going to tell you that his body couldn't stand the heart damage, and so he fell in comma." Even though he tried explaining things as calm as possible, Sonic wasn't paying attention at all. He only heard the most shocking word: Comma. Sonic cried more, his sobs increasing. He hid his face in the blanket that covered Shadow.

"It's my fault that Shadow ended like this." His muffled voice came out. "I was supposing Shadow would be fine, just a bit hurt, but nothing else. I didn't listen to my dreams that warned me about his death, because I thought he was very strong to be defeated. I thought I would find him quickly and help him out with his wounds. I had thought so many wrong things, that now Shadow is paying my mistakes with his life." More tears fell from his eyes as Sonic kept on talking; he was speaking more to himself rather than to the doctor. The black wolf sighed and put a hand on his shoulder, giving sympathetic looks at the hedgehog.

"What I did to him was not fair. When I first met him, I knew he was at Eggman's side, and I considered him my enemy just because of that, not caring about his past. He remembered all about his life and told me how hard it was before Eggman woke him up and used him for his own purposes. After saving the planet and finding him, I simply thought I could make him happy. I was going to show him Mobius and see that it has great things to enjoy. He was going to have a fresh start with his memories back, but I wasn't fast enough to find him on time. Now that stupid virus is quickly taking his life away, taking him away from me!" He let out a weak and sad growl, and then he kept scolding himself. The wolf didn't know what to say, but he thought that letting Sonic speak alone was what he needed for the moment. He left and closed the doors behind him, giving Sonic some privacy. The blue hedgehog's ears perked up at the noise. He was glad he was alone with Shadow. Now he could express all what he wanted to say. When he was about to look up at the black hedgehog beside him, he heard a strong noise coming from one of the machines. He quickly turned around and noticed it was the machine that showed the heart rate. He recalled seeing weird forms when he entered, but now it was a simple line. He knew what that meant. His eyes widened and let out more cries, hugging Shadow's dead body.

"No! Please Shadow, don't leave me! There were many things I wanted to tell you!" His tears touched Shadow's face as they continued falling endlessly. The black wolf came by and looked at the machine. He sighed and turned to look at Sonic.

"There was nothing we could do." The hedgehog gave a deadly glare at him.

"Of course there is something!" He yelled and then put a hand on top of Shadow's chest. "If the problem was his heart, then we can give him another, right?" The wolf blinked surprised at his sudden question.

"There are several problems with doing that, Sonic. The biggest one is that Shadow is-" A beeping noise coming from the electrocardiograph interrupted his words. Both turned to look at it, and were delighted to see that Shadow was still alive. Sonic started feeling his weak breaths again. He gave a weak smile as he hugged Shadow again, shedding happiness tears.

"Well… that's a problem solved, and I can't understand how it happened. Maybe his heart is giving its last beats. But there are some problems left." The blue hedgehog looked at him very interested, hoping to give a solution to whatever problems were missing. "We don't have a heart right now, and even if we did it wouldn't be an appropriate one for him. You and I know he runs at very fast rates. A heart from any animal would die if he ran at that speeds." Sonic lowered his head. He didn't have the slightest idea of what to do. They could give him a new heart, but what use would have if it wouldn't support Shadow's great speed. There was no one that had that heart…

"Doctor, I have a solution for that." Sonic stopped hugging the black hedgehog and walked towards the wolf, who only raised a confused brow.

"I also run as fast as Shadow, maybe a bit faster. So, you can donate him my heart." He pointed as his own chest. The black wolf blinked surprised.

"Are you totally sure about that decision Sonic? If we give him your heart, he will live, but-" Sonic nodded before he could keep on.

"I know I am taking my own life by doing this, but Shadow deserves to live more than I. So please, give him my heart." He had a great determination on his face and was willingly going to give up his own life.

"Sonic! Don't do it!" A scared scream was heard outside as the two-tailed fox ran inside and hugged Sonic. "Please big bro, I don't want to lose you. You are my only best friend."
The cobalt hedgehog gave a sad look to his small friend, but returned the hug. "And you are my best friend, buddy. I will never forget you, no matter what. I just want to be of help to Shadow." Tails started crying, knowing that Sonic wasn't going to change his mind no matter what he told him. The fox sighed and smiled weakly.

"I heard all what you said some minutes ago, Sonic, and I just want to tell you that you don't have the fault of this. You didn't know what was wrong with Shadow. I…" He couldn't keep on talking. This was the last time he would talk with his friend, and he really wanted to use that time, but he was sad that he would never see his big bro's smile again, that he wouldn't talk to him about his inventions. No more interaction with him like this one.

Sonic kept patting his head while smiling weakly; at first he had forgotten about Tails' reaction when he left. He felt pretty bad for doing that to his small bro, but he wanted to give a second chance to Shadow, the hedgehog who deserved to make his best friend happy. Sonic almost took away that opportunity, but he was going to compensate it.
Tails nuzzled Sonic's chest for what seemed like hours.

'I want Sonic to be by my side… But I'm being selfish if I think like that. He has always been a hero, so if he gives up his life for somebody else, he would still be the hero I know.' That was the last thought that went through Tails mind before he looked at Sonic's eyes. There was total silence because Tails wanted to remember that glow from his emerald eyes.

"I-I'm sorry for distracting you, Sonic. I will always be supporting you, no matter which decisions you take. I will miss you a lot big bro." Sonic wiped away his buddy's tears and smiled.

"Buddy, meeting you was the best thing that could have happened in my life. You were always helping me and always showed me new things. Even when I'm not here I promise to be with you, always. Thanks for being my best friend." The fox wanted so badly to cry again and hug the hedgehog, never let go of him, but instead he gave the warmest smile he could, saying lots of things without words. His head was caressed once more before Sonic looked at the black wolf. "I'm ready."

He nodded as he left the room to get some more medical instruments, leaving the two friends alone. Tails stared at the ground, deep in thought. Sonic could just look at him a bit sad, but he knew his buddy would be strong and continue his life after a while. Tails suddenly put a hand over his shoulder. When Sonic looked at him, he was surprised to see a strange device on his other hand.

"This." He said as he put the camera on Sonic's hands "Is a camera. I think you wanted to tell Shadow something before he "died", and now that you are going to let him live, you won't be able to tell him. Just record your message so he can see it." The hedgehog eyed the device very curiously, seeing what buttons did which function. When he understood everything, he gave a last hug.

"I really needed this camera buddy. I'm so thankful for your help." He gave his smug smile. His friend giggled a bit, then exited the room to let Sonic record whatever words he wanted to say.

---

"Ready for this?" The black wolf had returned after the hedgehog had finished recording and told him to lie down on another bed that was beside Shadow's bed.

"Totally. You can continue." Sonic gave a thumbs-up and looked at Shadow because he was a bit scared of seeing the procedure. "Shadow… I'm sorry for not being too fast to help you the first time." He felt the scalpel cutting through his chest and going downwards very slowly. "I hope you understand my feelings when you see the video. Oh… and enjoy this planet, will ya?" He laughed weakly before the black wolf started searching carefully his heart. Soon, the blue hedgehog's sight was very blurry.

"Goodbye… Shadow the hedgehog."

---

"Come on, wake up already." What was that annoying voice that called him? He groaned as he started opening his eyes. He blinked a lot and finally could see where he was. A white room with machines everywhere.
"Ah, you woke up. That's great. Tell me how are you feeling?" Who was talking to him? Anyways, he had to reply.

"I feel heavy and a bit sore."

"That is normal." At last, the one who kept asking him question appeared in front of him. A black wolf wearing a white lab coat. "My name is Duke."

"Duke… huh? I don't think I have heard your name before." Duke giggled.

"It is because this is your first time in the hospital. Ah right, somebody told me to give this to you. I think you will need privacy to check it out." Duke handed him a strange device with a small screen and some buttons covering it. He looked at it a bit confused and heard as the black wolf left him in the room. He clicked on the ON/OFF button, and a video started playing after that. A blue hedgehog was sitting there, tapping the device.
"Is this thing recording? Ah, yes it is." He cleared his throat and backed up a bit so he could see him better "Hey Shadow, I know you may think it's a bit stupid of my part to record this instead of telling it to you face-to-face, but you will eventually know why. I don't think I have much time to explain, and besides I suck at that, so I will try my best. Remember when I found you at Metropolis? Well… To be honest, I had been searching for you for over a month, but I just couldn't find you anywhere. I didn't expect for you to be at that base. Just imagine my happiness when I saw you. I had been having weird dreams about seeing you in a very vulnerable state, you glaring at me for hurting you, and that only made me want to search for you faster. I wanted to tell you so many things in that moment that I couldn't tell which one would be the first. When you told me about your life with your best friend Maria, I felt really bad for treating you bad before. My wish was to introduce you to all of the beautiful things that Mobius offers, to become your best friend and help you. I saw in your eyes you weren't meaning to cause trouble, but GUN had provoked you. I even wished to tell you about the weird feeling that went through my head when you touched my hand. I had never experienced this before, but I guess it is what people call… love" Sonic played nervously with his fingers as a gentle blush appeared on his cheeks. "Everything fell down for me when the doctors told me you had a virus that ate your heart. You are very close to dying, but I'm not going to allow that. You sacrificed yourself for saving Mobius, now it's your turn to enjoy the place you rescued from the Finalhazard. I will always remember you, Shadow, and I hope you understand you really meant a lot to me, even though we didn't get a chance to know ourselves.

Sayonnara, Shadow the hedgehog." The recording stopped and showed a "Replay button". He put the camera on a small table to his right and started thinking. When he thought about it, he also had feelings for Sonic because he was the only one who did care to listen about him. Eggman was a bastard who just used him to collect the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow and Sonic at first used to fight, but when all ended, they just had some minutes to stay together, and he had truly enjoyed them. He wanted so badly to find Sonic and tell him he also felt the same for him, until he remembered the part in the record where the blue hedgehog told him "Everything fell down for me when the doctors told me you had a virus that ate your heart" Shadow gasped as he looked at his own chest. A large scar where his heart was could be seen. Then he recalled Sonic's words "Sayonnara, Shadow the hedgehog"

His eyes widened as he finally understood all what Sonic said. He clenched his fists, no longer able to hide his tears.

"You idiot… Why did you give me your heart?" He growled as he slowly got up and walked towards the door. The black wolf was in front. By looking at Shadow's small tears he could guess he had understood Sonic's message.

"It's ok Shadow, you can go now." He stepped out of the way so the ebony hedgehog could walk outside. Shadow was very depressed. First Maria, and then Sonic. Just when he thought he could have a good friend with him, and just when he started having feelings for Sonic. He sighed as he made his way back to Green Hill. Now all the animals were back and eyeing him curiously, but this time he didn't care. He lay down on the grass to look at the now dark sky. He put a hand on his chest to feel the heartbeats of Sonic's heart.

"Thanks for the opportunity Sonic. I will make good use of it. Maria, please take care of Sonic, will you?" For first time in several years, he smiled weakly as he let Sonic's heart lull him to sleep.