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“Do you remember how we met?” Shadow asked.
“Do you really think I could forget? I still have the scars from it.” Sonic replied.
They stood facing each other, hands interlocked as the wind of the portal rushed around them, threatening to blow their quills off with it. A whirlwind of leaves and sticks danced around them as the vortex sucked in whatever debris it could, transporting it to a destination entirely unknown. The only place they could even think to look amidst the chaos was in each other’s eyes. Emerald met crimson for what they could only assume would be the last time.
“You were so moody,” Sonic continued, “you ambushed me at Green Hill all calling me a ‘faker’ and going on one of your edgy monologues.” He couldn’t hold back a laugh.
“I was different back then,” Shadow gave a soft smile. “I’ve changed a lot—You’ve changed me a lot.”
“We’ve both changed each other.”
They paused, taking a moment of silence to steel themselves in each other's embrace. To memorize every detail of their partner’s form so it could never be forgotten.
“Do you think Tails is right?” Shadow asked.
“He always is.”
“Then it’ll be like we never met. Like none of this ever happened.”
“It could. He said it’ll be just a little different when we go back. Different enough that we might be able to win this time.”
“Different enough that we might never date.”
“I know. I’m scared.”
“Me too.”
Sonic’s hands started to fidget, fingers rubbing over Shadow’s hands. “Maybe we don’t have to go, we, we have survival skills. We can make something work here.”
“Sonic, don’t-”
“I’m serious. We could build a wood hut and just live our lives out.” Sonic insisted. “We-”
“There’s nothing left for us here, Sonic. The whole world is destroyed, it’s all in ruins. I know you don’t want to go, trust me, I want nothing more than to stay here with you too,” Shadow’s voice cracked, a tear spilling down his cheek. “But there’s nothing here. We can’t eat pine needles and live in a wood hut while the world crumbles. You’re—We’re heroes, we have to go back and make things right.”
“I don’t want to be a hero if it means I have to give up a life with you.” Tears spilled from Sonic’s own eyes.
“You’re not giving up a life with me, we’re getting a second chance at life together.”
“But you don’t know that! If we go back everything will happen differently, and that… What if that means we never meet?”
Shadow moved his hands to Sonic’s shoulders. “Do you remember what Maria used to tell me?”
“That you’re short?” Sonic teased weakly.
“Oh, whatever. She used to tell me she thought people were connected by the webs of their hands,” Shadow removed the glove from his left hand, watching as it flew into the portal, “that two people would know if they’re soulmates because when they hold hands for the first time their fingers will interconnect perfectly, in a way they never have with anyone else. Like two pieces of a puzzle they never knew existed.” Shadow removed the glove on Sonic’s right hand, letting it fly into the portal as well. To a destination they could only guess.
Their hands interconnected again, and Sonic stared at where their fingers met, trying to find something of note. Anything that he could hold onto.
“What does that have to do with anything? It’s not like we made a habit of holding hands before we dated.” Sonic asked.
“When we used to fight, when we grappled we would hold hands—or at least our hands would interconnect—and when I held your hands for the first time, even in our first fight, I realized what she meant. Even with our gloves on, maybe even especially with our gloves on, they fit perfectly. I realized that she was right,” Shadow choked on a sob, “so in this lifetime, or the next, or this universe, or the next, when we fight, I’ll know. I’ll know that you’re the one, even if it takes me a while to come to terms with it.”
“But what if we don’t fight in the next universe?”
“I don’t think a thousand universes could keep me trying to beat you up.”
Sonic watched as a tear from Shadow’s eye flew into the portal. He tried his best to force a smile. “So you’re not scared?”
“I’m terrified. I… It doesn’t matter Sonic. It’s terrifying, and it’s awful, and we have to do it. We have to go.”
“I can’t do this. I don’t want to be a hero anymore, I just want to be with you.” Sonic shouted, his arms trembling as he embraced Shadow.
Shadow’s own arms trembled as he instinctively rubbed his partner’s back. “Sonic… We can do this. Together. We said we were ready, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, they all already went through. They’re waiting for us on the other side now, so just… Take a deep breath with me.” Shadow tried his hardest to take a deep breath, but it came out on exhale as another sob.
“I can’t believe we have to forget each other, and we’re just supposed to be okay with that.”
“It’s not okay. None of this is okay. But it’s our only chance at a better life together. We don’t have another choice.”
Sonic and Shadow squeezed each other in the tightest hug they could, hoping it was tight enough to carry into their memories in their next life. Tight enough that they could leave an imprint that might just guide them to one another no matter where the portal took them.
The portal flared, growing in size, the wind around them only becoming more violent.
“Are you ready?” Shadow asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“I love you, Sonic. You taught me how to feel love again, how to be loved. You’re everything to me. I don’t think I could forget you after a thousand lifetimes.”
“I love you too, Shadow. I hope… I know that we’ll find each other again. We have to.”
They looked into each other’s eyes for one last time, and, hands still held, turned to the portal. They took one terrifying step after the other, into the portal that would erase their lives, their memories, everything they had fought for and taught one another. The portal that would give them a second chance to save the world.
“I’ve been watching you for a while, faker. Unimpressive as usual.” Shadow said, jumping down from his perch in a nearby tree to stop Sonic in his tracks.
“Shadow?” Sonic groaned. “You’re the last thing I need right now. Get lost.”
“Make me.”
Shadow moved to shove Sonic, a test of his reflexes more than a real first strike, but Sonic caught his hand.
Their fingers interlocked, and Shadow’s heart skipped a beat.