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If he were moving at a normal pace, he would have heard a myriad of night time sounds, from the chirping of glossy dark crickets calling for mates to the eerie call of barred owls warning others from their territory. There would have been the crunch of sticks and grass under his feet, the sound of soft wind rustling leafy branches, maybe even the playful sounds of a child preparing for bed in one of the many homes nestled on the border of the dense woods.
But he didn’t hear any of that.
Instead, his own heavy pants of exertion echoed back into his ears along with the pounding of his heart as he pushed himself to his limits. But that was to be expected when traveling at the speed of sound.
Quicker than the normal eye could follow, nothing but a blur of blue in the dappled moonlight, Sonic the Hedgehog darted, dodged, jumped, and soared around obstacles, his superior agility and reflexes the only thing saving him from winding up a hedgehog pancake, flattened thinly against one of the ancient old oaks that barred his path.
He glanced to his right, and though he saw nothing but flashes of brown and green against darkness, he knew his rival was there, pushing himself just as hard to the predetermined finish line. No one challenged Sonic like the crimson-striped hedgehog flying through the night nearby. No one even came close.
And maybe that was part of what drew him to Shadow. He was his equal. More so than anyone on the planet. Or planets for that matter. In the beginning that’s mostly what there was… a spark of interest, the intrigue of challenge, the never-ceasing question of who would come out on top. So evenly matched were they, that despite numerous races, fights, battles...Sonic still couldn’t answer that question.
And after a while, months and then years of moving from tense allies to something akin to friendship, Sonic had started to feel...something. It took him a long time to realize what it was, longer than it should have, but discovering he had feelings, romantic feelings, for his dark counterpart wasn’t something that he was immediately equipped to deal with. Throw a few hundred badniks at him, sure no problem. Acknowledge and process that being near Shadow made his heart all a flutter? Well...that was gonna take him a minute.
But eventually those feelings morphed from tiny little butterflies to something else entirely. Something deeper. Sonic wasn’t sure exactly when, but at some point, against his will, he’d fallen completely in love with the grumpy G.U.N. agent.
And so tonight was the night. He was finally going to admit his feelings and come clean. He’d imagined every possible outcome multiple times, from getting strangled with his own entrails to...reciprocation and maybe a...kiss. Despite the fact that it was already racing, his heart beat even faster, and he swallowed down his nervous butterflies as he flew through the cooling evening air.
With a final burst of speed, the one that he always seemed to find even when he was at max, he pushed through the forest and out onto the plateau of a seaside cliff. He immediately started to slow, lest he go over the side and into the dreaded waters below, but it was apparently too hard of a break in speed.
With a yell, he went spinning across the open ground as Shadow barreled into him. A mix of black and blue, the two crashed across the picturesque landscape before coming to an abrupt and painful stop a handful of feet from the plummeting edge.
Sonic lay on his back, gasping for air, while the ebony hedgehog at his side groaned. The blue hedgehog glanced over and immediately broke into exhilarated laughter.
Shadow lay on his stomach and slowly inched himself up onto his forearms, cracking one crimson eye to glare at his rival. “Idiot, you could have killed us! What about that is funny?”
“But we didn’t die, and come on, Shads, you have to admit that was kinda fun.”
An irritated huff was the only response as Shadow gingerly pushed himself up into a sitting position.
Sonic lay where he was, still panting, his emerald eyes watching the other closely. For the last time in secret, he took in the dense muscles that shifted under shining black fur, the way the red stripes contrasted in such a way with black that it served as a subconscious warning of danger that only served to thrill him. That white chest fluff that looked so soft and comforting he wanted nothing more than to rest his head there and comb his fingers through the tufted silky strands. The way Shadow’s mouth curved down ever so slightly into a permanent frown. Sonic wanted so badly to kiss the edges there, to make him smile. Chaos he lived for Shadow’s smiles, rare though they were.
Finally, the older of the two looked from the blue hedgehog and down at himself curiously. “What? Why are you looking at me like that? Did I land in something?”
Sonic chuckled and bit his lip as he sat. “No, you look...great.”
Shadow roughly slid his hand down his arm, brushing off more dirt. “You’re being weirder than usual, hedgehog.” He moved to stand, but Sonic reached out to tug on a white glove. “Stay? The stars are beautiful tonight.”
The ebony agent looked up, and sure enough, they were. Thousands upon thousands of glittering balls of light twinkled against the black expanse. Whenever the stars were like this, they always made him think of Maria. She used to sit with him along the massive windows in the ARK, staring out at all the worlds they could only imagine. They’d point out the brightest stars to each other and make up stories about what the planets that circled that glowing orb might be like. They’d describe those worlds and their peoples, make up stories and adventures. Sometimes they were humorous--Maria had had a truly delightful sense of humor--but other times, the stories spoke of the loneliness so ingrained in each of them that the only reason either hadn’t perished from it was the other.
He thought of her often, that sweet blue-eyed girl who had been his only and most beloved friend, and in the end, his savior. Through her sacrifice, he’d been able to do some good, just like he’d promised her he would close to sixty years ago. And part of that was because the blue idiot at his feet was the most persistent, stubborn creature he’d ever encountered. He wouldn’t let Shadow push him away, no matter how hard he’d tried. He made him want to do good. He made him want to be better.
Sighing exasperatedly, Shadow lowered himself back to the ground, settling onto the cushion of thick green grass as the sea breeze brought the scent of salt water and crashing sound of waves hitting the stones below.
They lay there like that for a while, Sonic wasn’t sure how long. Finally, he took a deep breath and turned his head to Shadow. After a moment of silence, crimson orbs met his, an eyebrow raised in question at the prolonged stare.
Sonic swallowed, his mouth suddenly very dry. “Shadow...there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you…. Could you just, maybe do me a favor and promise that after I tell you, you’ll mostly leave my internal organs where they are?”
The G.U.N. agent shot him a look. “I’ll do no such thing.”
“Oookay, well I guess, that’s about what I expected….”
“Out with it, Faker.”
Sonic took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. So, we’ve been friends for a while--”
“Friends seems a bit strong.”
“We’ve been friends for a while,” Sonic emphasized dryly, “and we’ve known each other a long time, and I guess somewhere along the way, I started to...care about you.”
Sonic pushed himself up so he was sitting cross-legged, eyes drawn down to his fidgeting hands. “What I’m trying to say is I care about you, but….” Here came the kicker….”As more than friends.” He didn’t look up. He was far too afraid. But he was still breathing, so that must be a good sign, right?
“I can’t stop thinking about you,” he continued. “I live for these moments with you. I want to be around you all the time. I love your edgelord status, your abrasiveness, the way you seem to frown all the time, but then Chaos, when you smile, I swear my heart stops. I think I can still count on one hand the number of times I’ve heard you laugh, but I remember every detail of each time, and I think sometimes...that feeling I get when I hear you laugh? Maybe that’s the heaven the humans talk about all the time.” He paused. “Shadow...I’m in love with you.”
Time passed in silence except for the sound of the sea and the occasional call of a nocturnal avian. Sonic’s heart threatened to beat out of his chest, and his stomach was tied in enough knots to make a boy scout proud. In all the battles and wars and impossible sets of circumstances he’d faced, he’d never been as scared as he was in this moment.
A slight rustle had his eyes flickering upwards, and Sonic felt his ears droop slightly as he watched Shadow sit and stare off into the distance. His eyes flew back to his hands. “And you know, it’s okay if you don’t feel the same, I just--”
“Shut up.”
Sonic’s head shot up in surprise only to find the striped hedgehog suddenly very close. He held his breath, unsure if these were his last moments alive, but then something miraculous happened. Shadow’s eyes grew softer than Sonic thought he’d ever seen them. Crimson irises dipped down to peach lips and then back to emerald eyes.
Shadow inched closer slowly, the rest of his body so tense it was as though he was ready to run at the slightest provocation. He stopped, a moment’s hesitation, before pressing his lips softly against Sonic’s.
It was the gentlest, briefest of kisses, but Sonic would swear until the day he died that there were fireworks. Loads of them. Illuminating the night sky in a million different colors.
Shadow broke away and pressed his head against the cobalt hero’s. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time….”
Eyes still closed, Sonic pressed his lips together, savoring the fleeting feeling of Shadow’s kiss. “Why didn’t you?”
Shadow sat back, admiring the blush that darkened Sonic’s muzzle. “For a lot of reasons, the biggest of which was...is...fear. I still don’t know if it’s something I can face….”
“What are you afraid of? What people will think--?”
“No,” the dark hedgehog shook his head dismissively. “People can go to hell. I’m...I’m afraid of loving you and then facing an immortal life without you in it…,”
Sonic sat for a moment in quiet, an odd occurrence for the hedgehog. He knew Shadow was immortal, but it had never occurred to him that...he wasn’t. The chaos energy that hummed through his body may prolong his existence, keep him healthy and seemingly young longer than the average Mobian, but someday he would die. But with the way he lived, there was every possibility that old age would not be how Sonic the Hedgehog blinked from existence. He could die tomorrow, or the next day. Maybe one wrong move with one of Eggman’s creations. Hell, maybe even just a tumble off a cliff into stormy waters.
Maybe Shadow could live forever, but he could also still die. He lived the same crazy life as Sonic, maybe even crazier because of his missions with G.U.N.
Sonic’s hand slid across the grass to tentatively touch Shadow’s. When the other didn’t jerk away he scooted a little closer so that their arms just barely touched. “I didn’t think about that. What it would be like for you to watch me get old and…” he shuddered, “slow. But Shadow, neither one of us is guaranteed a certain amount of time. Even your immortality isn’t a promise.”
“I am very hard to kill, hedgehog. You saw me fall from orbit.”
“Yeah, please don’t ever do that again….”
The ebony agent snorted. “It’s not an experience I’d like to repeat.”
“What I’m trying to say is something could happen to either one of us tomorrow, or the next day, or the next…. There’s no way of knowing. The one thing I do know is I want to spend the time I have with you. And if that’s not something you’re able to return, I’ll take whatever you give me because, dammit Shadow, I love you. I tried really hard not to, I tried to ignore it for a long time, but everyday it just grows.”
Shadow looked down at their touching hands and placed his own on top, entwining their fingers. The sight was one he’d never even dared to hope would come to fruition. Shadow’s head tilted back, eyes searching the expansive blanket of sparkling night. With a sudden flash, a shooting star shot across the sky, beautiful and bright, its long tail billowing out behind it for only a second before disappearing.
“Wow! Did you see that?” Sonic exclaimed in excitement.
The dark hedgehog smiled softly at the sky, feeling a surge of strength, resolve and...hope. Thank you, Maria, he thought to himself.
He took a deep breath. “I love you, too,” he whispered.
“What?”
Crimson eyes met emerald, that same soft smile on Shadow’s face. “I love you, too.”
“You do?”
“Against my better judgement, yes.”
“Really?”
“Do you need me to say it in another language? Si, oui, hai--”
He was cut off by the press of Sonic’s lips on his own and he sighed happily into the kiss. “I thought you wanted to stargaze?” he teased, breaking away for a moment.
“Why would I want to look at the stars when I’ve got something way more beautiful right in front of me?”
Shadow laughed lightly. “That was very cheesy.”
“You like it.”
Shadow’s kiss was his affirmation.