Chapter Text
A milky moon hangs above the bat and hedgehog. All is quiet while he sleeps and as she watches the flames of the fire. There's little on her mind until she notices her dearest friend shift and struggle in a certain unease.
“Maria,” Shadow mumbles as if he were in pain. “No… Maria…”
Her eyes close sadly. On her knees, Rouge crawls toward the hedgehog lying near her. She places a delicate hand onto his head and runs her fingers along his fur until he wakes.
Shadow wakes with almost a gasp as if he just resurfaced above water. Even though he is perfectly safe under Rouge’s hands, he still calls out for the girl who now only lives in his memories. “Maria?”
“Maria came to visit you again, Shadow,” Rouge says with a forlorn smile as she waits to meet his gaze. She can see the tears nesting in the corners of her beloved's eyes. “What did you dream about?”
“Rouge,” he says almost as a realization. He's awake now and rid of the imagery from his past. Instinctively, he buries himself in an embrace around Rouge's waist with his head in her lap. His breathing is still rattled.
“I'm here,” Rouge says sweetly like a lullaby. “I'm always here.”
“It was… that day again,” he breathes.
“In your dream?”
“Yes,” Shadow answers. “But, I…” he pauses before he coughs out a cry. “I-In my dream, I told her that I hated her. But, I don't know why. I don't h-hate her. I could never… ever hate her.”
“Oh, Shadow,” Rouge says. Her heart aches for him as she sinks down to lie next to him. Closer now, Shadow folds into her arms.
“The way her face looked after I said that…” his brow furrowed in disgust. The tears began to roll down, burning his cheeks. “She knows. She knows that’s not true, doesn’t she?”
“Shh… Of course she knew,” Rouge says, rubbing the saltwater tears from his face. “That's why she trusted you to make her wish come true.”
When she holds him like this, he can't help but feel like a little child. He's practically in the palm of her hands. “Thank you.”
“It's all my pleasure. You know I adore you, Handsome.”
“Rouge…” he almost whines.
“It's okay,” she hums while she continues to pet his inky quills. “You don't have to say it back. I already know how you feel, Shadow.”
“You do?” His eyes flutter open when he asks. She looks so beautiful in the dying light of the fire. He's unsure if it's the effect her hands have on him or if it's how her eyes glitter in the firelight that's stealing the breath from his lungs.
“You tell me all the time without words, baby,” Rouge says. She leans in to leave a kiss on the apple of his cheek. “All the time,” she whispers against his skin.
Shadow's breath starts to even out and his eyes similarly fall shut. “Rouge…”
“One day you'll open your heart fully to me, Shadow,” she softly says as the fire finally goes out.
Rouge steadily strokes Shadow until he's taken by sleep. It's not long until she joins him in dream land where she hopes no more nightmares will find him.