Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Space was a cold omniscient being, quiet within the thralls of itself.

It was a place where no one ventures alone, in a fear of drifting off, possibly with the risks of suffocating in silence.

Space wasn’t something Shadow feared, in fact it was something he was enamored with.

He remembers seeing the vast void every day on the arc. But there was a certain beauty to it, something he learned from her. Maria could see the beauty in the vast and void.

It’s all she could see that distracted her from possible demise. Her world was filled with dreams of one day to travel to Earth and to study what was below.

When she would tell him of Earth, he felt the warm lushness she described, how little creeks would develop or how birds could sleep. The sunset was something she loved seeing every morning, and she wondered how it would look on Earth.

He wanted to see what she could see in her dreams. 

Maria…

He remembers past the cold lumbering steel, her warm hand patting him.

After the failed transfusion with Maria, he developed a subtle fear of not knowing his purpose as a young lifeform. But her warm embrace always kept him grounded, not having that fear trudge in space.

Shadow was only here for her. And he would do anything to make sure she was okay.

Until fifty years ago.

All that remains is the void in space.

Shadow steps on broken shards left from the thousands of bullets that ricocheted  here.

All he could hear was the hum of several machines that still kept running after fifty years, despite it being a barren husk.

While working on a mission hunting down classified information for GUN, he came across  abandoned spacecraft in the snowy mountains up north from Holoska. 

He saw it was still in decent condition, and thought about returning to the ARK.

He wasn’t afraid to at least confront the brutality of what happened that day, even if it means tearing off worn out bandages. But he wanted to know what else was out there that was lost to time.

He walks down the empty corridors, with scattered papers leaving a trail behind. Broken beakers and cracked computers litter the ground, and Shadow feels a small crack under his shoes, seeing what could possibly be a broken finger bone.

The ARK became a graveyard of the poor innocent researchers who were taken out by GUN. All alone while orbiting in space, only to become junk like the rest of man’s creations. 

While walking around, he hears a small click, setting off an alarm. Shadow rushes over to see what was happened.

He knew where to look as the ARK still housed various intact pods that weren’t touched by GUN by pure ignorance.  He knew what would happen if a pod  releases, and he had to stop it before it was too late.

Shadow suddenly hears a pod release steam on a lower deck, and rushes over to look at what came out, or possibly whom. He hears a faint gasping voice, coughing, trying to get air.

Shadow gets into position, ready to drop his inhibitor rings, knowing how dangerous any creature could be here.

“Surrender or you’ll face my wrath on my terms.” He demands the creature.

Once the smoke clears, he couldn’t believe his eyes of what he saw. A blonde, bright blue eyed hedgehog falls out dressed in blue rags, trying to breathe in air.

They notice Shadow and look at him in terror, but soon relaxes. He stares at them with piercing anger, taking a good look into their eyes, and immediately notices no fear reflected in them.

Shadow walks closer, feeling slightly stunned at the innocence of this creature. 

“Sha…dow?” The hedgehog weakly says. “You…left.”

That voice, how sweet it sounds, how familiar it is, eerily too familiar. 

Shadow soon locks his rings back in place. 

She falls down again, only for him to pick her up and takes a good look at her face.

She looks exhausted, barely keeping her head up to look at him. Shadow looks at her to realize, with pure horror who this might be.

Shadow feels like his mind is playing tricks, this seriously can’t be who he thinks it is. He only knew to ask if this hedgehog really was who he thought they would be.

“Maria?” 

“Shadow, is that really you?” She reaches out slowly to touch his face but looks at her hand and gasps.

“What happened to me?” She panics.

“Maria,” He says calmly. “It’s okay.”

He grasps her hand to bring her in, for a small hug. He didn’t know whether to bring his guard down or not, but he gives in to this subtle embrace. 

“You’re safe now.” He tells her.

“Shadow…” She cries softly.

No wait, what am I doing? He thinks to himself. This can’t be her.

Maria died and he saw her take that bullet. This must be a dream, or she’s a fake.

He had androids of himself before, maybe it was just an android of her. 

But it pains him to think that this can’t be her. A part of him for some reason denies it.

There was a possible, subtle, sliver of a chance this could be her.  But he had to be careful for now, lest it backfires. 

“If you really are Maria-…” He pauses, thinking very carefully of what he’s going to say next.

He offers his hand to this supposed Maria.

“If you are who you say you are, then you need to come with me.” He says.

Maria looks at him with confusion, but follows his directions. 

“Okay.” she says, while taking his hand.

Shadow finds a lab coat to keep Maria warm for the trip back to Earth. He has plans to visit a certain egghead for answers.

Chapter Text

As they start their descent towards Earth, Maria glances at Shadow, seeing how much he’s changed.

Shadow in her eyes looks more grim, his fur more ragged. His demeanor has been altered into something more quiet and serious, a drastic change since he was much younger.

Even looking at her reflection, she could see how different she looked, almost looking like him.

“Shadow, how long has it been?” She asks.

“It’s been a long time.” He says. “I wouldn’t want you to get overwhelmed, it’s still a lot to take in.”

“You’re right.” She smiles. “What have you done to during this time?” 

Shadow takes a moment to answer, never really giving her eye contact.

“I’ve been working.” He says. “Nothing important.”

“You always seemed to enjoy keeping yourself busy.” She says. “I’m glad that it wasn’t time wasted.”

Shadow thought for a second of what he has done. Should he tell everything to Maria? Maybe it’s just the clone tricking him.

“I do what I can.” He says calmly.

“It feels strange seeing everything in a new way.” She says. “My body feels different, I feel like I can breathe now.”

“You’re going to need it when we land.” He says.

“I’m excited!” She beams. “I can see what the world looks like now! Especially with you!”

Shadow would imagine that’s how the real Maria would react to finally reaching earth after so long.

All he could do was glance at her, and see what could have possibly remained of Maria.

This hedgehog copy seems to have similar traits that Maria had. Her blue eyes, a hopeful gaze, her peaceful demeanor. She carries a familiar warmth he knew.

Maria looks over, noticing his curiosity, and continues to ask him questions.

“Tell me, do you have any friends you made? I hope you’re not as lonely.”

“I do have a few.” He says. “But they’re acquaintances.” 

“I’m glad.”

Maria just smiles, but quietly accepts how Shadow has changed. Everything feels different now, even if they didn’t land on Earth yet.

Shadow was able to land albeit without permission on Eggman’s territory.

Robots from each corner of his base approached Shadow, who was walking calmly towards the entrance while holding Maria’s hand.

Maria walks behind him, mildly intimidated by the vast size of these robots, but it was nothing different from what her grandfather created.

“Oh of course it’s you.”

Past the army of robots, Eggman walks towards Shadow slowly with his hands behind his back.

“And to what do I owe this surprise visit from you?” He asks with annoyance in his tone.

Maria notices how Eggman is very much a copy of her own grandfather.

Shadow grips Maria’s hand, hesitating only a little to then move Maria towards Eggman to show her face, and Eggman takes a gander but becomes bewildered.

“Well? What do you want? Who is this with you?” He scoffs. “You waste my time to present me with some random hedgehog? And frankly this is one I couldn’t spare the time for-”

Shadow gets annoyed at his questions and kicks Eggman down, stepping on his ankle.

“Enough with your pointless blabbering, old man. I need your resources to find out if this hedgehog is Maria.”

Eggman looks again at the blonde hedgehog and starts to laugh maniacally. 

“My god you went back didn’t you? You are just so ridden by guilt you had to go back and retrieve her?” He mocks Shadow.

Shadow grabs him by the collar, nearly ready to punch him. Maria puts her hand out to stop him, and gently nudges him off Eggman.

“Shadow…” She says with weary eyes. “Please…”

Shadow finally backs down, subconsciously obeying her calm voice.

She extends her hand out to Eggman to introduce herself.

“You must be Ivo, I’m sorry we couldn’t meet under different circumstances.” She says.

“Oh please save it. Dead or not, everyone always seemed to care about you more anyway.” Eggman says while getting up to flatten his jacket. “But fine, I’ll help you both anyway, whatever soothes that chip on your shoulder so you can leave me alone.”

Eggman with a snap of his finger has the androids follow him back to his base, and they push Maria and Shadow to follow them.

They walk into his quarters, with androids crawling around managing his various mechanics. Eggman gestures towards one of his chambers to where Maria and Shadow walk inside.

The chamber was filled to the brim with connections and setups, and at the center was a large platform.

“She must step on the platform so we can begin the scanning process, it’ll only take a minute.” He says. 

Shadow lets go of her hand, and she cautiously walks over.

The heavy machinery surrounding her made her feel slightly uneasy. She never liked the cold metallic feel against her skin. Maria gently steps on the platform with light feet, and takes a small breath in.

Eggman steps over to a computer to adjust settings with various buttons, and lastly flips one small switch on.

“Don’t move.” He says bluntly. 

Maria freezes in fear of anything happening, but the process feels painless.

Shadow witnesses the scanner pass through her entire body, slowly moving to the top of her head block by block.

The scanner rotates around until it stops and announces: Scanning complete.

“Give me a few minutes to process this.” Eggman says.

Eggman makes them wait for a period of time in another room, having to sit in solace with other machinery around.

Shadow started to feel slightly impatient with this waiting, as he assumed the doctor had the advanced technology to have the answers immediately.

Finally, one of his mechanical lackeys rolls inside.

“The doctor wants to see you, Shadow, but Maria cannot accompany you.” It says.

“Wait here.” He tells Maria.

The robot leads Shadow into Eggman’s main computer lab, where he sees the doctor analyzing various thermal levels within Maria’s body. Images of DNA spread the screen, to which Eggman looks closely in detail.

“I had the computer make various rescans to confirm my suspicions, but the computer says nothing is out of the ordinary.” He says. “This hedgehog is confirmed to be the real Maria.”

Shadow looks over at his computer, stunned to say anything. How could this be Maria? Why is she a hedgehog?

”I don’t understand.” He says, in genuine disbelief.

“From what I could gather, her memories are intact from the instance of that day. There has been no evidence showing that any memory was tampered with.” He continues. “I could easily tell that she wasn’t an android when you arrived. This is a regrown hedgehog with collected genetics from you, specifically. Her mind was freshly preserved by someone to be brought over into this new body. What we’re witnessing is a successful transfer from one subject to another.”

“How?” asks Shadow.

“Frankly that’s a mystery.” He says. “My grandfather was unusual in his methods. Perhaps this was carried on without any knowledge from GUN but we wouldn’t know unless we had more evidence from the ARK.”

Shadow becomes irritated by this outcome, it was a case left cold and he wouldn’t know what else to do unless he went back to the ARK.

But to think she now has an immortal body like his now, able to be free to roam wherever. He still feels this strong feeling within him that if this is Maria, then what will happen to her? What dangers of this world could possibly put her life at risk again?

“You should’ve never gone back.” Eggman coldly tells him. “I’ve learned in my line of work that man has been able to conquer anything, yet the wrath of death and love.”

He looks at Shadow who just stands there with his arms crossed, glancing at nothing, saying not one word.

“Take what you will with that, then.” He scoffs. Eggman leaves Shadow alone, tending only to his thoughts.

Shadow decides to walk back into the other room to get Maria but notices that she’s gone. He looks back, thinking the old man might’ve pulled some trick to kidnap her. 

But Maria comes in accompanied by an android, now wearing a completely different outfit, more suitable to her by today’s modern standards. It was a beautiful robotnik-esque dress combo of white and blue, metallic blue bracelets and matching headband.

She gives a happy little twirl to show Shadow the whole outfit.

“The androids were kind enough to make me a new dress!” She beams. 

“How oddly generous of him.” He says.

“The doctor requested that she now carry inhibitor rings to manage her capabilities.” Says the android.

Shadow takes her hand to look closely at the bracelet and notices that they were indeed inhibitor rings, complete with hinges to remove them when needed. How odd it is now that she needs these, at least to manage life normally.

”Let’s get out of here.” He says to Maria. “We already got what we needed.”

“Where are we going next?” Asks Maria.

”Anywhere else.”

Shadow didn’t really have a home to go to. He did manage to steal a few things from Eggman at least to provide some shelter for Maria.

Once they found a secluded wooded area to rest at, the sky started to dim. Shadow took some time to build a small fire for Maria, and make a small campsite with Eggman’s automatic camping gear. 

It was finally quiet and peaceful, where they could clear their heads and watch the night sky come to fruition. Maria looks up and slowly becomes enamored by how big and beautiful it was to view it from earth.

“Look at the sky!” She exclaims. It was everything Maria ever dreamed of seeing, the millions of stars everywhere around the forest.

They looked more radiant here than in solitude.

“It’s so lovely…” She gasps. “Gosh, everything seems so small now compared to the ARK!”

Shadow looks at her glow, and gives a small soft smile.

Maria starts to point out all of the constellations she could see: Cassiopeia, Perseus, Tuscana, and the Great Square of Pegasus.

“Shadow, don’t you remember what Pegasus looks like?” She asks.

“I don’t remember.” He says calmly.

”I still remember we went over it!” She exclaims passionately. “You have to follow the path where Enif is, the big star on the right! And then you follow that trail upwards to see the four stars connected to make the square. This is what happens when you skip out on homework!”

”Alright, alright. I promise you I’ll remember Enif.” He quietly chuckles.

He always thought it was a little funny at how Maria would get vocal about her love of astronomy. It brought him back vivid memories of how they would look at the stars together and connect them in her books. They would be able to stare at them for forever or at least until Maria fell asleep.

Funny enough, Maria soon starts to fall asleep. In this new body she wouldn’t need sleep, but she was possibly tired from this entire journey.

As usual, he carries her over to her sleeping bag and tucks her in with two layers so she doesn’t feel cold.

He couldn’t help but stare at the fire, getting lost in his thoughts again.

Now that Maria is here, what can he do to make her safe? There is so much at stake here.

Shadow knows that it could be dangerous if GUN knows. He could only trust one other person with this discovery.

Rouge was in the middle of a beauty nap when Shadow called her to come over.

It seems important for Shadow to actually call her in the middle of the night.

She flies down to his location and finds a campfire. She heads towards it and makes an elegant landing, dusting off her boots.

“Okay mister, this better be good.” She says slyly.

Rouge looks over to see Shadow tending to a resting pretty blonde hedgehog.

“Ohhh, so you got a girl with you?” She teases. “Is that what you wanted to share?”

“No. She’s family.” He says. “This is Maria Robotnik.”

Rouge looks over at her with some curiosity, but also with some concern. Shadow explains to her everything he knows.

“Shadow, this can’t be the Maria you always talk about?” She says. “Are you sure?”

“Eggman confirmed my suspicions, but even then I’m dubious.” He says. “The old man said her body was created with my DNA and that her mind was successfully transferred over by someone, but we don't know who.”

”How morbid..” She says with slight shock. “Does she know?”

“Not yet, I’m afraid all of this information will scare her.”

“Would GUN happen to know?”

“Even if they were involved, GUN cannot know about her being alive. I don’t trust them.” He says. “She was revived with my DNA, and carries similar capabilities to mine. Who knows what they would do if they found out.”

“Well she would end up back in a lab again.” Rouge agrees. “Then what’s the plan now for you two?”

“We have to stay off grid, away from any sort of person that would be suspicious.”

“And?” She scoffs. “What the hell is she going to do? Sit in a cave all day?”

“No. At least temporarily.”

Rouge smacks her face at how stubborn he is.

Who knows how long temporary is with Shadow?

“Shadow, think a little clearly this time. You can do what you can to keep her safe, but she has a chance to live now.” She says. “You should think about what she wants to do, and maybe she wants to experience the world.”

“Rouge, you agree with me that GUN is an obvious threat.”

“I do, but honestly you both can outlive GUN. And you said she has similar capabilities to you, might as well teach her how to use them.”

“Perhaps.”

Shadow ponders over this, but a small piece of him becomes concerned.

He wouldn’t want Maria to be like him. She’s not like that at all.

He wants to honor that for her at least, not to get her involved in his line of work.

“Do whatever you want then.” Rouge says, waving off his doubts. “Hell if she wants a roof over her head, just call me.”

Rouge takes one last glance at the girl before flying off into the night.

Shadow sighs to himself, and continues to sit by the fire until sunrise.

The sunrise came sooner than ever, and he watches the campfire slowly subdue, with the flames going away.

Shadow notices Maria rustle out of her sleeping bag, and gives a nice long stretch with her arms before approaching him.

“Good Morning Shadow!” She happily says. “Were you talking to someone last night? I thought i heard voices.”

“Yes, it was one of my friends.” He says.

“Gosh, I wish I met them!”

“Don’t worry about it, you looked tired so I didn’t want to disturb you.”

Maria notices how he avoided making any eye contact, only looking around them as if there was something coming.

“Is there something on your mind?” She asks.

“Not particularly.” He says. “We should get moving just in case anyone sees us.”

“What do you mean, Shadow?”

“I’m saying that we should try to find another safe place to hide.”

“But, I want to explore the world with you!”

“No!”

Maria is taken aback, suddenly teary eyed at his brash response.

“No, Maria…” he regrets his outburst immediately. “I don’t know, I-“

Shadow had to rethink what he said, it was miscalculated, how he just didn’t want her to be at risk. He wanted her to be that happy, lively person he always had.

“The world isn’t safe, that’s what I meant.” He grits his teeth at that thought. “I can’t risk losing you again. It was painful knowing you were gone…I can’t go through that again..no…”

Maria tries to fight back her tears, but suddenly her emotions spill out.

“I know, and I am scared, Shadow. But I don’t know anyone else here. I don’t even know if my family is still alive.” She cries.

Maria stares at her hands, now clasped with inhibitor rings, shaking.

“This is all so…scary.” 

Shadow looks up to see her, the bravest person he knows, terrified.

But what he sees most of all, is someone who was like him when he first woke up, alone and confused.

He cups her hands together with his, knowing this time he has to support her.

“You have me, Maria.” He says. “I’m going to be here no matter what, we’re here to protect each other.”

Maria smiles at him, while letting her tears fall.

“Thank you.” She whispers.

Shadow takes in mind Rouge’s words, that maybe keeping Maria isolated is the opposite of what she would have wanted while living on earth.

They have all the time in the world now to explore what beauty there is here. 

“What would you like to see the most on Earth?” He asks Maria. 

“Well, I would love to see the seaside.” She says through her quiet sniffles.

“We’ll go there tomorrow.” 

“Really? You mean it?” 

“I do.” He assures Maria.

Chapter Text

Shadow had to think where in the world they could go that would be safe enough for Maria to visit.

But the seaside? Where in the world is it safe to view a seaside?

He soon thought about Spagonia.

Spagonia was perfect, it had a beautiful beach and it was completely safe thanks to the large amount of tourists.

Even in his spare time, Shadow resided in Spagonia to take advantage of the quiet breeze and luscious greens.

It was a bit more further out than he wanted it to be, but that was okay as long as it was safe.

After breezing through the valley, Shadow lets Maria down from his arms to take a good look at the town.

Maria eyes widen at the view, seeing hundreds of buildings scattered around, and lively people walking around the cobbled streets.

“Shadow, it’s so pretty…” She gasps.

Shadow gestures to Maria to take her arm and they begin walking around town.

Maria can’t help but be enamored by the sights of the various antiquities that the town offered, a small piece of historical beauty. They walk all the way to the center of town, where a beautiful fountain rests near an extremely large old building.

Maria lets go of Shadow’s arm, and he almost hesitates as not to lose her. She runs up the stairs, chasing away various birds on the steps.

“Oh Shadow, this is everything I ever dreamed of!” She exclaims.

“Make sure to stay close.” He says.

“I will, I promise, it’s only a few feet from you.” She reassures him. “Come on! There’s a museum here!”

Maria takes his hand to take him to the entrance of the Spagonia Museum.

He looks at Maria who in turn stares at the high arcs of the museum. The sun emits a glittering light through the glass rooftops, creating a soft glow inside.

Maria slowly walks around to observe each painting, in awe at the creation of each one. It wasn’t until they reach near the end that Maria looks up to see a beautiful tapestry of constellations woven from an older time.

She looks closely to observe the sparkling threads, completely in love with the creation.

“Sometimes I wished I lived to see what astronomers dreamed of before they could view the stars through telescopes.” She says.

“Yeah.” Says Shadow.

“Let’s go to the market now!” She says with excitement.

Shadow once again lets himself get dragged out to the market, the only time he can ever allow it because it’s with Maria.

Out in the open market, there are collection of sellers vending things such as meats or cheeses or paintings. But what catches Maria’s attention the most were the flowers.

She runs over to a cart selling beautiful flowers that bloomed everywhere. She smells each flower of every color, but only one catches her attention.

“Oh they’re so beautiful!” She exclaims. “Could I have a bouquet of these?”

Maria points to a group of iridescent white flowers.

“A beautiful choice mio amore!” Says the vendor. “These are white lilies that bloom only around this time of year! They represent eternal love and everlasting peace, the symbol of Spagonia!”

Maria notices another plant on the cart, lying on the edges away from the flowers.

“I’d like these as well!” She says.

“Uhh, but they are just weeds.” He says, “Just decoration.”

“We’ll take them.” Says Shadow with a slight threat in his tone.

“O-of course, signore.” He stammers.

Shadow lets her fill the basket to the brim with flowers, and tosses some money at the vendor.

“Thank you so much!” Maria compliments the vendor. Shadow only gives a small glare, terrifying the vendor from unfortunately saying anything in return.

Rouge the night before, knowing how dense Shadow can be going around a normal town, gave him some money to buy something for Maria.

At least get the girl something! Food! Anything! She told him that night.

“Oh Shadow, the day is only beginning, but it feels so fulfilling!” Maria exclaims.

“I’m glad.” He says.

“How far are we from the seaside?”

“Only across the market. Feel free to keep exploring, we still have all day.”

One bird flys into her basket, pecking at the flowers.

“Oh, what a little cutie!” She smiles.

She gently pets the bird with her small finger before it flies away.

“Shadow look a bookstore!” Maria points to the backstreets and starts to skip happily.

Shadow drags behind, trying to catch up.

They spent the day looking at parks, stores, and streets all around Spagonia. Maria feels like she can experience her life now, and her glimmers of wonder sparkled again. She falls in love with how everything looks, the people walking around, little birds play in the streets.

Maria lights up when she sees a little cafe down the street.

“Let’s try a pastry!” She exclaims.

“You don’t need to eat as much anymore now.” He says.

“I still say we try it!” She huffs with determination.

“Alright then.” He sighs.

They walk into the cafe, and are greeted by an older woman icing a small cake in the kitchen.

“Please come in!” She smiles.

“Wow look at these cakes!” Maria exclaims. She gazes at a collection of mini cakes in a glass case, varying in unique flavors and colors.

“We have some tiramisu cakes freshly made on the counter over there.”

The woman points to the register where the tiramisu are stacked on a little glass plate.

“I’d love one please!” She says.

“And I’ll take a cup of coffee, all black.” Shadow says.

Shadow lets Maria sit down near the window, seeing her daydream, still awe struck by the beauty of this place.

“Shadow, tell me, what else have I missed?” She asks.

“Nothing much has changed. Frankly it’s a more quieter time you came back to here on Earth.”

“Do you help people?”

“You could say that. I’ve had my fair share of encounters with others that have similar motivations.” He says.

“I’m glad you’re at least keeping your promise. I knew Earth was always safe with you.”

The coffee lady comes by and serves Maria’s cake on a little decorated plate, and Shadow’s coffee in a simple teacup.

“Thank you!” Says Maria.

“Anytime, love.” The coffee lady smiles.

“Oh also, Shadow,” Maria asks. “When you came to Earth, did you ever find it daunting?”

Shadow hesitates. He holds his tongue as he wants to mention what happened when he woke up, but not yet.

“Earth was a vastly different place. But I adapted.” He says. “Believe me, I know it does feel daunting but there are some things here worth exploring.”

“Do you think we can explore the world together?”

“In time.” He says. “Once you feel more comfortable.”

Maria quietly smiles, having Shadow in her life, makes Earth feel not as scary.

Maria takes a small bite of her Tiramisu and is instantly enamored by the flavor.

“Oh Shadow, it tastes like coffee, try it!” She says.

Shadow takes a small bite from her fork, and is pleasantly surprised. It was a little too sweet for his taste but it was satisfying to eat.

Maria breathes in the salty air. It was so incredible seeing the ocean for the first time. The sea crashes against large boulders that scatter across the beach.

Looking over from a hilltop, Maria and Shadow lay in the nice green grass while seagulls pass by. The sun begins to set slowly near the ocean, creating enchanting orange skies near the water.

All Shadow wants to do is preserve this moment. This is all he ever wanted. Maria can’t help but get tangled in her thoughts, almost looking sad again in Shadow’s eyes.

“Grandfather would have loved this view. Wouldn’t you think so, Shadow?” She asks.

Shadow thinks for a moment, knowing that Maria doesn’t know about Gerald’s fate. But perhaps she already knew deep down he was already gone.

“I know he would have loved to see it with you.” He says.

Shadow consoles her by patting her back, but her sadness soon turns to pain.

“Shadow, I think I’m ready now.” She says. “You can tell me, please. How long has it been since…that day?”

“Are you sure?” He asks.

Maria looks at him intensely.

”Yes.” She says.

Shadow takes in a deep breath, before ultimately telling her.

“It’s been fifty years. Fifty years since everything happened.” He says.

She pauses with hesitated breath. All she could do was look in dread at how fifty years into the future, she’d be standing here, alive.

“Don’t get scared, it’s difficult to think about it.” Shadow tells her.

Maria can’t help but tear up, visibly shaking from the pain of hearing the truth. Maria clutches closely to her knees, and starts to cry.

“My family...” She cries softly. “They might not even be here…I…I hope I can at least find my little sister….”

“We can find her. I promise.”

“I’m sorry…” She says.

Shadow hugs her closely, letting Maria cry everything out. He wanted to tell her more, but he hesitates, this was still too much for Maria to take in.

With time, Maria. He thinks to himself.

Shadow notices the sun setting, and how dark it’s becoming.

“Let’s try to leave soon.” He says. “I don’t want you to get lost.”

Maria nods, looking visibly tired.

The shops start to close down after the sun disappears, and the number tourists to dwindle.

Shadow takes Maria’s hand and quickly walk towards the exit.

“I think we’re going a little too fast?” Says Maria.

“This might be more difficult with the flowers.” He says.

“Ah!”

Maria’s flowers get snatched up by a random dog, looking for a small treat.

She lets go to run around a corner trying to catch the dog.

“Maria, I told you we need to stick together-” Shadow walks back to the same the corner but lost her. “Maria?”

Shadow starts to panic, looking down alleys in Spagonia, but it was so cramped and dark, he didn’t know where to go. It starts to grow into a maze.

“Shadow?” Maria wanders around as well, but soon realizes she went too far, and starts to worry when she doesn't see Shadow anywhere.

But something wasn’t right. Like she was being followed by someone.

When she turns around, she witnesses a strange figure behind her. 

Shadow suddenly hears Maria screaming down an alley, and witnesses an explosion.

“Maria!!”

Shadow immediately dashes down the alley where he heard the explosion, and sees smoke covering the area. Shadow tries to look around, to find Maria.

“Maria!” He shouts again.

He soon hears a girl coughing, and registers it as Maria’s voice. The smoke soon clears and to his surprise, he sees Maria completely unharmed, surrounded by armed men that were knocked out.

Maria takes a look at one of her inhibitor rings to see it slightly unhinged, and collapses.

What did Maria do? Shadow thinks while panicking.

He picks her up from the ground and notices one of the unconscious men exposing a GUN badge in his jacket.

“Shit!” He curses. 

How did GUN already find out about us?

“Hey!” One of the men gets up, regaining conscious and points their pistol at Maria and Shadow. “You need to come with us!” 

“Tell the commander to leave us ALONE!” He growls. Shadow immediately darts out of the area with Maria, still unconscious.

Chapter Text

Once they were back at the campsite, Shadow immediately takes action to hide any evidence they were here. He lays Maria down while quickly destroying the camping equipment and fire pit. 

While destroying the equipment, he notices the flowers he bought for Maria, and without hesitation snaps the basket in half. The sound wakes Maria up and she sees Shadow ruining the flowers. 

“Shadow, wait!” Exclaims Maria. She runs to Shadow, trying to stop him from destroying them further. 

“We have to move now!” He shouts.

“What?” She questions.

Suddenly, Shadow hears a snap of a twig, and moves quickly. 

“Get down!” He tells Maria. 

With a quick kick, he slices a tree down, revealing a shower of bullets coming their way.

Shadow grabs Maria, and moves her aside.

He unleashes chaos spears to create a large explosion, sending dust flying out in the air.

Shadow teleports and holds Maria close, observing closely to any sound around them.

“Wait!!”

Shadow hears that familiar voice, reacting with a disgusted look.

“Stand down!”

Out of the dust, GUN Commander Abraham Towers appears pointing his pistol at him. 

“Tch. Typical of you using brute force.” Shadow sneers. He immediately puts Maria behind him.

Shadow gives a murderous glare to Abe, watching him over any suspicious moves.

“Shadow, you have to stop or we’re going to use force!” He commands Shadow.

“So you’ve been following us this entire time?” Shadow says angrily. “You crossed a line!”

“You went back to the ARK without our knowledge!”

“That was on my terms, and you have to respect that!”

“What was it that you found in the ARK, Shadow?” Abe asks.

Shadow tries to hide Maria behind him, but she looks over, to Abe’s shock.

“Who is that?”

“That’s none of your damn business. You need to keep your end of the deal.” He threatens Abe. “Or else…”

Abe doesn’t move, and they’re both at a standstill. Until, Maria witnesses a mini bomb thrown in midair.

“Leave us alone!!” She yells.

Suddenly, a blue burst of energy freezes everyone in motion. Shadow, Abe, and the GUN agents float off the ground, and are pushed out by force. 

Abe slams full force against his back on a tree, while the agents are flung out the forest. Shadow is able to counteract the force, but looks surprised at how Maria is capable of that.

The force throws the bomb out, letting it explode in the sky.

Maria sees blue sparks of energy glimmer around her, and finally looks back up, to see the GUN agents out from the dark, clearly for the first time.

She could suddenly hear the order they gave, echoing in her mind, fifty years ago:

Let go of the lever or I’ll shoot!

“It’s you!” She looks at them in horror. “You’re the ones who did it!”

His men get closer and point their firearms up again.

Once more, she causes everyone to float in a blue glow, with the energy starting to surge around them. The GUN agents get electrocuted, letting go of their weapons. Shadow notices that her bracelets fell off. She’s using too much power.

Abraham feeling stiff as a board, struggles to move.

“You took everything from us!” She yells at them, with tears in her eyes.

“Maria!” Exclaims Shadow.

Abraham looks over and stares at Maria, immediately recognizing those vivid blue eyes, passionate with anger. 

“Maria?” He murmurs quietly.

The GUN agents struggle to pick up their weapons, but one agent grabs theirs and places their finger on the trigger.

“STAND DOWN!” Abe yells angrily. He tries to signal, but gets shocked by a thousand bolts.

Shadow, with all his strength, floats down to pick up her rings, and grabs onto her hands. He focuses on getting them to close before the next burst. He clutches on hard, ignoring the violent outburst of sparks around them both.

“Maria, you have to understand! I was like you, I didn’t understand my own potential!” He says. “Don’t do what I did! It was because of you I changed!”

The shocks keep electrocuting Shadow, piercing his skin like a million needles.

“Maria, please listen!” Abraham begs. “It’s me, Abraham! Don’t you remember?”

Maria takes a good look and realizes who that man is, and Shadow finally locks her rings back in place.

Everyone finally collapses, and the GUN agents drop their weapons.

Abe drops his pistol, giving the signal to his men to back away. Maria lets go of Shadow, slowly and carefully approaching Abe. Abe kneels down to meet her at her shorter height, and goes in for a hug. 

“Abe…” Maria didn’t know what to say. It’s been fifty years and the boy she remembered was a different person.

She starts to shiver, looking much weaker now, accidentally draining so much of her own energy.

“It can’t be you…” He whispers. “It can’t be…”

Maria faints in his arms.

Abe starts to tear up, finally reunited with his long lost friend. He picks her up, quietly placing her on a spare blanket that wasn’t destroyed. They both look at Maria, unconscious again, looking weak and hurt.

Shadow’s fists tighten, and his teeth clench in anger.

“You need to leave.” He tells Abe.

“Shadow,” Abe says regretfully. “I truly, do apologize for the sudden intrusion. We only knew because we received an anonymous message from someone about how you went to the ARK and uncovered additional information that was still classified.”

That rat! Shadow thought. He immediately knows Eggman was behind that.

“Regardless of what happened, as part of our pact, you still have my assurance that GUN will do nothing to Maria.” He says calmly.

“Who knows if you will, you only seem to follow orders.” He bluntly retorts.

“Just tell her, I’m sorry.” Abe says, with a choked voice.

He keeps quiet for a moment longer, and leaves.

Maria wakes up to the smell of seasalt blowing by her face, and she finds herself back on the beach again. Shadow sits beside her, looking at the sun rise near the seaside.

Shadow, in all of his grief, thinks about what Eggman said in the end.

You should’ve never gone back.

Was it really worth it? He thinks to himself.

“Where is Abe…” She murmurs.

“He left. Hopefully they won’t bother us anymore.” Shadow tells Maria.

She sits up, and the memories of what happened start rushing in. Maria clings onto his arm, trying to find comfort after a terrifying experience.

“I didn’t know I was capable of that. It was so scary…” She tears up. “I-I’m sorry Shadow, I didn’t mean to do any of that…”

Shadow wraps his arms around her, brushing the top of her head.

“It came from a place of deep pain, years of lost time coming back all at once.” He says. “I only know about this because it happened to me.”

“What?” She questions him through her tears.

“I was forced into stasis for fifty years. I was angry. I was hurt. The world was nearly destroyed because of it.” He continues. “I paid for my sins, to save people from them. The worst I feared for you is that with my power, you could become someone like me.”

He holds her hand to reflect his inhibitor ring against hers.

“Shadow…”

“I was a monster, and I can’t hide that from you, and you’re my family. I just want you to live. Somewhere away from this madness.” He says, and even with all of his strength, choking a little.

He holds her close, clutching tightly to Maria, like never before.

“You were never a monster.” She cries. “Even after everything, you always knew what was right. I am so grateful to have someone like you, monster or not. Whatever coincidence was planned, it was worth everything to see you again.”

Shadow felt tears come down his face, knowing the ultimate answer to his question. He wipes them away quickly after finishing their hug.

“Let’s go somewhere, Shadow.” She says. “Anywhere that you think would be safe for now.”

“I think I know where.” He tells her.

Tangle hops on a tree branch while keeping an eye open while out on watch. Luckily nothing has happened much lately, so it’s an easy daily shift for her to play around in the trees.

But soon, over the trees, she sees a little black dot that looks very Shadow-shaped. She sees him making his way over to their location, alongside a pretty blonde hedgehog.

She gasps in terror, nearly falling out of the tree.

“Guys, intruder!” She yells.

“Please be for real, Tangle.” The patrol officer groans.

“I’m not kidding this time! Shadow is here!”

“Shadow?!”

The patrol officer gets tripped over by a blue blur zooming by.

Sonic casually zips over to meet Shadow face to face.

“Oh hey buddy, you interested in another match today?” He says with curiosity. 

Shadow brings Maria forward to the hedgehog.

“Oh, uhhh, who’s she?” Sonic asks.

“She’s family. I want her to stay here, as I feel she’s the most safe here.”

“I-uhhhm…” He stammers in confusion.

Maria sort of hesitates moving towards Sonic, and grasps Shadow’s hand.

“Shadow, are you sure about this?” She asks.

“They won’t hurt you. They should be able to help you.”

“Oh wait, so you trust us?” Says Sonic.

“Shut up.” He growls.

Amy walks up to them both, subtly pushing Sonic to the side.

“I’ll handle this.” She says. “Hi, what’s your name?”

“I’m Maria.” Maria says happily.

Amy shakes her hand.

“Well I’m Amy! Come with us, we can help you out with whatever you need!”

“Thank you, Amy.” Says Shadow.

Shadow talks to Amy about what has happened, while they walk around the Restoration area.

“And we barely managed to escape from GUN last night.” He tells her.

“I can’t believe everything you’ve been through.” She says with concern. “And are you sure GUN won’t get in the way?”

“We’ll see. The worst has passed.” He says. “Right now I’m focused on her safety, if she can stay here. Perhaps she could help out once she manages her abilities.”

“Absolutely Shadow! We’re always looking for a few more hands to help around here!” Amy entrusts him in her chipper voice. “She’ll be perfectly safe here! Oh, she could stay with me, I can show her around, and take her out on a few missions! Safe missions, of course.”

“Whatever works. We have run into an issue, knowing that she has strong abilities like mine. Her inhibitor rings are currently too weak to use.”

“I think that can be fixed by a certain someone here.” She smiles.

Maria and Shadow are taken to a workshop where Tails was tinkering high up near the engine for his plane.

“Maria, this is Tails, our go-to smarty pants, he should try to help you with this predicament.” Says Amy.

His ears perk up at the mention of his name, and slides down his ladder. Tails looks over to see Amy with a new blonde hedgehog he’s never seen before.

“Hi there!” Tails greets Maria happily. “How can I help-eep!!”

To his shock, he sees Shadow right behind her, to which Tails quickly moves behind Amy.

“H-heyy Shadow? What’s up? What do you need me for?” He asks with a slight nervousness to his voice.

“I’m not here for you, fox.” He says with an annoyed sigh. “I need you to help her.”

Tails looks over at Maria, who in turn, looks at him with wide eyes.

“Oh how adorable!” Maria kneels a little to meet his height and pats his little head. “Aren’t you the cutest little thing? Can you help us?”

“Well,” He gushes at the compliment. “I could say I’m a pretty handy mechanic, knowing my way around any tech.”

“Well,” Maria gives him her hand to observe her bracelet. “Can you help me fix my inhibitor rings? They don’t work very well.”

“Hmmm, come back inside and I’ll take a look!”

After Shadow explains everything to Tails, he takes a good look at Maria’s bracelets with a magnifying glass. He ponders a little, moving around her hand until he notices at a very small angle, something wrong.

“How odd. These inhibitor rings are made of pure platinum, and should already be incredibly strong. I think the problem is that they’re weren’t shaped well for your wrists.” Says Tails. “Since you developed telekinetic abilities, the bracelets slightly float by accident, causing them to open at just the right angle. We just need to make adjustments so they fully lock in place.”

“That certainly makes sense.” says Maria.

“Luckily, I have a similar set that you can wear for now!” Tails opens a metal box and hands her a set of temporary rings, and immediately gets to work.

Using a set of lasers, and spare material, he works to reform the bracelets to a more suitable shape for Maria’s wrists.

“And voila!” He grins. “Yeah, sometimes it’s funny how small adjustments make big improvements, huh?”

To his amusement, Maria giggles a little, but Tails starts to get nervous when Shadow doesn’t even say anything, only raising a brow.

“Yeah, yeah, Tails, and water is wet…” Tails sadly mumbles to himself.

“Thank you for everything today, Amy.” Says Shadow.

“Of course Shadow, anything for an old friend!” She exclaims.

After a long walk back towards the entrance, Shadow realizes it was time.

“Can you excuse us for a second?” He asks Amy.

Amy nods, and takes a step back, going around the corner of a house. She peeks at the both of them, seeing Shadow hold Maria’s hands.

“Maria, as I promised to you before, I wanted to find a place where you would feel safe. And I kept my promise. This is where we have to part ways for now.” He tells her.

Maria looks down at their hands, starting to look a little sad again.

“Shadow, I still feel like we had so little time together.” Maria’s voice cracks.

“I know.”

“Will you come back?” She asks.

“I always will.” He whispers. “I will come back every so often to make sure you’re okay.”

Maria takes him in her arms and embraces tightly, feeling tears fall on his shoulder.

“Why can’t you let me come with you?” She tells him through her sobs. “I still don’t know what I can do without you…”

“I need to fulfill the promise I made years ago…where I will continue to fight. And I will do what I can to help you, find anything related to you and your family. Anything to help close those wounds.”

Maria nods quietly.

“Remember why you’re here. You have goodness to give to the world, not just me.” Shadow tells her.

“And you as well, Shadow.”

Making sure no one is looking, he gives Maria a small kiss on the head.

“Goodbye, Shadow.” She says quietly.

Shadow gently lets go of Maria, walking towards the entrance, keeping his eyes on her.

“Hey Amy, is emo boy still here? Amy?” Sonic wanders around until he sees Amy sobbing, and he looks over to see Shadow leaving.

Sonic, still really confused over what is going on, just gives up and leaves.

Shadow finally takes his eyes away from Maria, and zips back down the valley.

He imagines in his mind what Maria would do after this. Maybe she helps Amy prepare food or work on a gadget with that fox boy. Maybe Maria will be able to study the stars, or help the team on some mission, and they would cross paths again on a whim. Maybe he can take her to see Spagonia again, and have a coffee at that cafe she loves so much. He imagines so many possibilities for Maria to live a life that was taken from her so long ago.

He knows she’ll be safe now, and hopefully, he can keep that thread of hope intact for the rest of their lives.