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Cover Art by Electrikitty
The cemetery was quiet. Beyond the endless rows of gravestones, white stone columns etched with stars were silhouetted against the overcast sky. In the decades since the memorial to the victims of Space Colony Ark had been erected, the stones had begun to turn grey, blending in with the skyline of Central City.
The rain descended like cold sand trickling through an hourglass, soaking into Shadow’s jacket and fur. He knelt in front of one of the graves and rested a bouquet of white bell flowers on his lap.
When she was younger, she’d said that she wanted to be cremated, and she’d wanted him to scatter her ashes across the world. She’d loved freedom for as long as she’d lived, and it only made sense to let the wind take her when she was gone. But he’d always faltered every time that he’d agreed to comply with her request.
He gingerly twisted the wedding ring on his finger, staring at the freshly engraved words on the tombstone. They blurred before his eyes.
Eventually, she had coaxed him to tell her about his reservations. The truth was that he had never been able to bury the people he’d loved. For all he knew, their bodies had been unceremoniously burned. He’d never had closure. He’d never been able to grieve. He had still tried to defer to her wishes, but it was no use. She’d changed her mind … or so she had insisted.
Shadow closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the cold marble. He had a lump in his throat, and his eyes were burning.
They had often joked that she was his sole weakness. She was the fatal flaw of a living weapon. They’d often had to hide their relationship in order to protect her from being used against him. Over time, he’d realised that she was the only person capable of causing him to come undone.
And how right he’d been. If her presence had been enough to undo him, her absence was enough to bring him to his knees.
He loosened his grip on the bouquet, placing it on the grave. He’d gathered the flowers from the field of white blooms that he would often visit when he needed a reprieve. He’d often imagined taking Maria there, daydreaming about a future that had never transpired.
He’d thought this would be easier. He’d been able to spend seven decades with the woman he loved. She had passed peacefully, and she hadn’t been taken from him like Maria had. He had been able to lay her to rest in the city they had lived and worked in their entire lives, looking out over the world that she had helped to make a better place.
Shadow traced the words on the tombstone with his fingertips, biting his lip to keep it from trembling.
Rouge. 1983–2076.
It was a gentle kind of loss. It was the opposite of everything he’d endured. It was the best that he could have hoped for.
So why did he still feel like he had been cut to the bone?
The cold rainwater dripped from his lashes, mingling with burning hot tears.
He’d known from the very beginning that if he allowed himself to love her, then he would have to live with the consequences of his choice for eternity. He had decided that he would rather live with the pain of losing her than the regret of not having loved her. He had decided that it would be worth the risk. He knew all of that … but knowing was one thing, and feeling was another.
And as he knelt in front of her grave, it felt as though he had become completely and utterly undone. His chest ached with every breath. His body felt fragile, as if it were made of glass. The knowledge that she was no longer with him soaked into his skin and bones, irreversibly staining his soul.
A faint whirring underscored the sound of the rain, and a large, metal hand rested on his shoulder. ‘Prolonged exposure to the elements will increase the risk of compromising your biointegrity, hedgehog.’
Shadow stared at the words on the tombstone until they began to swim in front of his eyes. He gradually became aware that his sodden dress shirt was clinging to his fur. His suit jacket was soaked through. She had always taken great pride in dressing him properly, now that he thought about it.
He cleared his throat. It felt like he had forgotten how to speak. ‘… It doesn’t matter if I get sick. I can’t die.’ The words triggered a fresh surge of pain, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Even if it were possible for him to die, he didn’t even know if he would see her again in the afterlife. He simply had to keep living without her. He had no choice. And at the end of everything, he would still exist, and she would not.
He slowly doubled over, buckling under the weight of his new reality … a reality that he hadn’t come to terms with yet. He gripped the wedding ring on his finger. He had been the one who had wanted to see their relationship through to its logical conclusion. He had no choice but to wear his inhibitor rings, but at least this was a ring that he had chosen to wear.
He had chosen this. He had chosen a life with her, and he had chosen a future without her. He had thought that letting someone go would be easier than having them ripped away … but he was starting to realise that he might have been wrong. It was like the difference between being stabbed through the heart versus being sliced across the chest. A shallow cut could burn like fire and leave an ugly scar, but this pain was different. In the same way that their love for each other had deepened with time, so too did the blade of losing her cut even deeper.
He drew his rain-soaked jacket more tightly around himself, as though he was attempting to staunch blood loss. He was wounded, in a way. And he knew that even if he lived until the end of time itself, he would never fully heal.
Omega had continued whirring while Shadow had been lost in thought, and he finally spoke. ‘Your imperishability is irrelevant. The bat prioritised your wellbeing, and she is our team leader. You should follow her directives.’
Shadow blinked rapidly and looked over his shoulder. ‘Was.’ His voice felt weak. ‘She was our team leader.’
Rainwater tracked down Omega’s lenses. ‘Invalid assessment. Until you assume her position, she is still our leader.’
Shadow’s eyes unfocused, reducing Omega’s exterior to a red-and-black blur.
It wasn’t just his voice that felt weak. Every part of him felt weak. She had made him softer, gentler and kinder … things that he’d used to see as literal weaknesses. She had helped him to become more than a mere weapon. She had allowed him to live a normal life.
She’d had an indelible impact on his life … and now he would have to live the rest of that life without her.
Shadow rested one hand on the tombstone, gathering the remnants of his strength in order to get up. He heard the sound of machinery clunking, and Omega removed his hand from Shadow’s shoulder, holding it out to him. Shadow swallowed hard and grasped Omega’s clawed fingers, allowing the robot to pull him to his feet.
He blinked the tears and rainwater from his eyes, looking up. Omega’s fingers twitched, seemingly affected by an unseen electric current. ‘Your creator should have made you out of metal. Your current composition is vulnerable to adverse weather events.’
Shadow couldn’t bring himself to smile, let alone laugh. It was too soon. His chest still hurt, and it felt as though laughing would cause his ribcage to fall apart. But he gave Omega a faint shrug, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
He looked over his shoulder, and he could almost imagine Rouge’s ghost leaning on the tombstone, giving him a sunny smile that illuminated the overcast skies. His hand trembled, and he raised it slightly. Then it fell back to his side.
When they had first met, he barely tended to his needs, let alone pursued his wants. She had taught him how to pursue his heart’s desires, but no matter how badly he wanted to see her one last time, he would never be able to reach her, hold her or talk to her again.
Shadow slipped his hands into his pockets and lowered his eyes, fixing his gaze on the flowers lying on the grave. ‘… Can you make your own way back?’
‘Affirmative.’ Omega’s head rotated, and his lenses zoomed in. ‘Do you require backup?’
Shadow’s ears twitched, scattering water droplets onto his shoes, and he glanced up at one of the towering apartment complexes in the distance. ‘I’m just going home.’
‘My query remains unaltered. Do you require backup?’
‘… No.’
Over the past few years, he had seen Omega very rarely. All of Shadow’s time and attention had been dedicated to his wife as her health began to worsen and her memories began to fade. In the meantime, Omega had continued working with the organisations that had taken GUN’s place, using their connections to hunt down and destroy the countless robots that had survived Dr Eggman’s death and the subsequent collapse of his empire. As soon as Shadow departed, Omega would likely pick up exactly where he had left off, deploying to yet another battlefield in order to keep fighting.
Shadow materialised his Chaos Emerald, and the faint green glow illuminated the rainswept cemetery. He turned his back on the tombstone and began to walk away, raising one hand in farewell. ‘… Chaos Control.’
A flash of green light engulfed him, and he stepped into the penthouse apartment that he and Rouge had spent the latter years of their lives in. Rain trickled down the floor-to-ceiling windows. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to return here for longer than strictly necessary since her passing.
He shrugged off his sodden jacket, and his gaze landed on a low coffee table. An unfinished jigsaw was scattered across its surface. He averted his gaze and swallowed hard. He began to clumsily unfasten the buttons of his shirt with gloved fingers. Two half-empty coffee cups sat on the dining table. An old DVD that she had wanted to rewatch lay on the sofa. His shirt fell from his shoulders, gathering around his elbows.
He turned away and stumbled into the bedroom. He hadn’t wanted to come back, but he hadn’t known where else to go. Every room was imbued with memories. He would never be able to make her coffee in the morning again. He would never be able to hear her talk until the sun dipped below the horizon again. He would never be able to hold her in his arms as she fell asleep again.
He didn’t need to eat or sleep, but she was the one who had taught him how to take better care of himself. But it had been easier to do those things with her … and now he didn’t know how to do them without her. He didn’t know if he was even capable of doing them now that she was gone.
He came to a halt, staring at the bed. The crumpled sheets lay exactly where he had left them after the last time they’d slept together. He hadn’t even had to watch her die. She had passed peacefully, asleep in his arms. She had still been warm from the heat of his own body when he had awoken, as though she was still with him. He hadn’t even been forced to fight the temptation to bring her back. It was over as swiftly as it had begun.
He sank onto the edge of the bed, and the sweet taste of her perfume filled his lungs. An unfinished book lay on her bedside table, next to a trinket tray that held a necklace and her wedding ring.
He had used to cope with loss by suppressing his emotions, but then he had learned that suppressing your emotions could lead to cause you to lose your memories. He hadn’t cared about the potential repercussions back then. He had wanted to move on from his past. He wanted to forget what he had been through.
But he didn’t want to forget her … and now she was a part of his past, too.
Fresh tears welled up in his eyes, and he removed his rain-soaked gloves, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. His wrist guard grazed his cheek, and his inhibitor ring felt cold against his temple. It hurt far more than he ever could have imagined. It would be so easy to shut down and attempt to stifle the pain, but he was already afraid that he would forget her one day. He didn’t want that day to come any sooner than it had to.
His shoulders shook, and he buried his face in his hands. What memories he had of Maria were already becoming clouded, and it had only been a little more than a century since her passing. On one hand, the pain of losing her had eased as his memories of her had begun to fade. He could only hope that the agony he was in now would also begin to ease one day … but he didn’t want it to come at the cost of his memories of the one he had loved.
He got to his feet and wrapped his arms around himself. It felt like he was holding his body together so that it didn’t fall apart. He couldn’t do this. He didn’t want to lose his memories, but he was drowning in the emotions that they invoked, and he could taste her perfume with every breath.
He limped to the window and looked out over the Central City, trembling with the effort of maintaining his composure. He knew that no one was watching him. He knew that he had every right to collapse to the floor and let his grief consume him, but he didn’t know if he would have the strength to get back up afterwards.
The cityscape came into focus, and he found himself staring at GUN’s former headquarters. It had been turned into an office complex since the organisation had dissolved. The meetings that took place within its walls in the present were about shareholder profits, rather than about saving the world from its own men.
His gaze flicked to an even taller building that drowned GUN’s former headquarters in shadow. The letter “A” was emblazoned on its side, and the tinted windows were opaque. AXE was the new paramilitary branch of the United Federation, and it was led by Jacob Tower, the grandson of GUN’s former commander. Something stirred in his chest, and he faltered, looking down at his ungloved hands.
He had rarely left Rouge’s side during her final years. He would only step away if the world were truly in danger. He would disappear once she had fallen asleep and return before the sun rose, slipping back onto bed with half-healed wounds and a broken bone or two. AXE wasn’t the only three-letter organisation that had sprung up in GUN’s place, and there had always been an implicit understanding within the sector that he would resume his regular work as a private military contractor once his partner had passed away.
He took a deep breath and exhaled.
Then he slipped into the walk-in wardrobe connected to their bedroom. Hues of pink and purple bled into the edges of his vision, and he stood in front of the single bay that held the few articles of clothing he owned. He shook himself dry and took out a worn military jacket. He shrugged it on, yanking up the zipper. The medals on his chest had begun to lose their lustre, and he had ripped off GUN’s armband long ago, before the organisation had even collapsed.
The stiff fabric hugged his aching chest, and he couldn’t help but wish that her arms were hugging him instead. The gun safes mounted on the walls gleamed beneath the downlights, as though they were exhibits in an art gallery. He keyed in a passcode and opened one of the doors, taking out a handgun, a holster. The metal still shone like new. He’d maintained these weapons for years, silently acknowledging that a day would come when he would use them again.
He stared at the firearm in his hands, and his fingers trembled. He didn’t want to go back to simply being a weapon. He didn’t want to lose the warmth and kindness that Rouge had instilled in him during the decades they had spent together. He wanted her back more badly than words could express. He wanted to return to the life they had shared together mere days ago, but there was no going back now.
He also didn’t want to linger in this apartment full of ghosts, and he had no other direction to turn. He needed a distraction.
He strapped the gun to his leg and took a slim earpiece out of the safe, turning away as he fitted the device to his ear. He caught sight of himself in a freestanding mirror. His eyes had a hint of redness, but you could only see it if you knew what you were looking for. He wrapped his arms around himself again and walked out of the wardrobe, pulling on a fresh pair of gloves, but the glimmer of Rouge’s ring caught his eye. He hesitated. Then he picked it up and slipped it onto his ring finger. It clinked against his own ring, reminding him of the time that she’d first put it on his finger. She’d been wearing black, and he’d been wearing white.
The fur on his bare hands gleamed dully beneath the lights, and it occurred to him that he was always wearing black. He would be in mourning for as long as he lived. He swallowed the lump in his throat and pressed a brief kiss to her ring. Then he pulled his gloves on, turned out the lights, and materialised the Chaos Emerald between his hands.
Shadow reappeared in the cemetery and found himself standing in front of Omega. The robot hadn’t moved, and his lenses refocused to account for Shadow’s presence.
‘I …’ Shadow realised how hoarse his voice sounded, and he cleared his throat. ‘I-I need backup.’
The rain had begun to dissipate, but the skies were still overcast. Omega’s processors whirred. ‘Acknowledged. Define parameters.’
Shadow slipped his hands into his jacket pockets, and he could feel the pressure of the rings on his finger, beneath his gloves. ‘I’m coming with you on your next mission. I don’t care what it is, but I can’t … stay here.’
‘The bat warned me that you would do this.’
Shadow’s throat tightened, and it sounded as though someone else was speaking when he responded. ’What do you mean?’
‘She told me that you would attempt to resume your duties as soon as she perished.’
Shadow’s ears flattened against his head. He knew that Omega’s bluntness was just how he was programmed, but his choice of words still stung. ‘So? I was always going to continue working as a field agent.’
‘I am aware. She told me to remind you that you do not need to return to the battlefield immediately.’
Shadow’s shoulders curved inwards, and his voice began to shake. ‘I know that. But I need a distraction. I can’t stay in Central City, and I can’t bear to be alone with my own thoughts.’
‘Acknowledged.’ Omega held out a hand, and his claws reflected the tombstone beside them. ‘Now that I have passed on her message, I have fulfilled my obligations to the bat. Let us depart and raise hell.’ His other hand disappeared, replaced by a double-barreled laser gun.
Shadow chuckled weakly. It hurt to laugh. The sensation felt as though air was escaping a puncture wound in one of his lungs. ‘Are you still working with AXE?’
Omega clicked and whirred. But before he could respond, Shadow heard a familiar voice.
‘… Hey, handsome.’
He froze and turned towards the gravestone. He half expected to see Rouge leaning against it, giving him a smirk and a wave. But the graveyard was still desolate, and the skies were still overcast. He held one hand to his earpiece, listening in silence.
’If you’re hearing this, it means that you must be getting back in the ring. I don’t know if it’s been five minutes or five years since we last spoke. Probably more like five minutes.’ Sadness filled her voice. ‘You’re already trying to take your mind off things, aren’t you?’
Shadow sank to his knees and knelt beside her grave, resting one shoulder against the cold stone. He could barely think straight. The sounds of distant traffic faded away, and all he could hear was her voice.
‘I wish I could tell you to take some more time for yourself, but I know you won’t listen to me.’
‘That’s not true –‘
‘I could never talk you down from things. You’re already going to go back to AXE, aren’t you?’ He fell silent again, and she sighed. ‘ Saying “AXE” is what was supposed to trigger this message. I can’t blame you, sweetheart. I just want better for you.’
There was a moment of silence, and the crackle of static mixed with a distant rumble of thunder. Rain began to fall again in the far distance, blurring the skyline of Central City.
‘You’ll look after yourself, won’t you? One of my hardest-won victories was getting you to take better care of yourself. Don’t let all my hard work go to waste.’
Shadow laughed weakly, but it sounded more like a sob. He covered his mouth with one hand to muffle any more involuntary sounds.
‘We had a good run, didn’t we?’ Her voice softened, and the wind ruffled his fur. It felt like she was petting his head, like she had used to do when they had lain in bed together at night. ‘I know it wasn’t easy for you to let yourself fall in love.’ Her voice cracked, and the cold stone felt like ice against his cheek. ‘Thank you for taking a chance on me.’
Hot tears trickled down his cheeks, and he could no longer pretend that they were raindrops dripping down his face. He closed his eyes, listening to the faint traces of static. He didn’t want this to end. He didn’t want her to stop speaking. He didn’t want to have to stand up and walk away, because then he would have to admit that this chapter of his life was over.
He would never share this same warmth and companionship with anyone ever again. He couldn’t. No one could replace her or even compare to her, and he had no choice but to live with her loss forever.
He had known that, and he had understood the risks … and he had loved her anyway.
‘I hope it was worth it,’ Rouge said. ‘It might not feel like it right now, but for your sake … I do hope it was worth it.’
He nodded tightly, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
Rouge laughed weakly. ‘You weren’t the only one with memory problems, at the end. I probably didn’t even remember everything you did for me, after it was all said and done. But you made me so happy. You really did.’ Her voice cracked again, and he could tell that he was struggling to maintain her composure. ‘It doesn’t feel fair. You were created to give other people a chance to be happy, but it was always at the cost of your own happiness.’
Shadow blinked back his tears, and her voice quietened. ‘I don’t know if you ever learned how to be happy, but I hope that you were happier when you were with me. I know that I was always happier when I was with you.’
Shadow opened his eyes and stared at the words on the gravestone, resting one hand against the tiny, granite monument to the life that she had lived. He remembered smashing his fists against the glass of a containment capsule in an attempt to reach the person on the other side. But even if he broke the glass or smashed the stones, the people he loved would no longer be there. Death had taken them to a place that he couldn’t reach, and he could only hope that wherever they were … they were happy.
‘I’d be happier if you were with me,’ Rouge said softly, as though she had read his mind. ‘But … don’t try to join me, all right? Wherever I am, it’s probably pretty boring.’ She lowered her voice to the gentlest whisper. ‘I know the life ahead of you won’t be an easy one. I don’t know if I made it easier or harder for you. I can only hope that I made it better.’
‘… You have no idea.’
She had no idea how much she had changed his life. He had done his best to convey it while she was still alive, but his efforts had been clumsy, and his words often fell like they felt short.
His voice became choked, and he said, ‘You have no idea how much I want you back.’
‘I’ll still be with you, in a way,’ she said. ‘You picked up my habits. You even ended up sharing a little of my accent. I think you were always kind, deep down … but I like to think that I brought out the best in you.’
Her voice saddened, and she said, ‘I know you won’t allow yourself to fall in love with anyone else … but I hope I taught you how to let other people love you. I hope you won’t lonely. I wish …’
Shadow’s chest began to ache. He had been bound by other people’s wishes far too many times, and for far too many years. Surely she wasn’t about to let history repeat itself?
‘I wish that we could have had more time together. They say you can have too much of a good thing, but I don’t think it’s true.’ She fell silent. ‘… You were so good to me.’ He heard the soft sound of a kiss as she pressed her lips against the receiver. ‘Talk to you later, sweetheart. I love you.’
The static cut out.
Shadow’s hand trembled, and he began to lock and unlock one of his inhibitor rings. He needed something to do with his hands. He wanted to lay his head down and weep.
He hadn’t been created to withstand his own existence. He couldn’t even function without his shoes and rings, nor could he function without her in his life. He had been created to be immortal and self-sufficient, wanting for nothing … but he needed her more than words could express. She had been the fatal flaw in an ultimate weapon. Sooner or later, time and history would forget her, and as aeons passed, maybe he would forget her too … even though he couldn’t begin to fathom that idea right now.
He didn’t want to go back to merely being a weapon. He wanted to go back to being hers.
He reached up, steadying himself against the tombstone as he braced himself to get to his feet. She would have helped him up if she had been here. She would have cackled, called him an ‘old man’ and told him to get over himself. She had been selfish and kind – a dichotomy as great as someone who had been created to be a weapon and a cure.
Omega held out one clawed hand, and Shadow stared at it. After a long silence, he placed his hand in Omega’s and allowed the robot to help him to his feet.
Suddenly, Omega stood stock still, and his limbs froze. ‘… Voice-activated keyphrase detected in audio transmission. Stand by.’ His lenses shuttered, and Shadow blinked to clear the blurriness from his eyes. Come to think of it, Rouge had said that she would talk to him again soon. Had she recorded another message for him?
Omega’s lenses snapped open, and a synthesised voice that wasn’t his own drifted from his speakers.
‘Access granted. You have 33,481 new voice logs. Would you like to listen?’
Shadow’s knees buckled, and he steadied himself against Omega’s exterior. Thousands of voice logs? Why were there so many? Even if Rouge had recorded one every day, it would have taken her years to record this many …
He stared at the tombstone. 1983–2076. They had met in 2001, and that meant …
Rouge had recorded a message for him for every day that they had known each other.
Omega whirred abruptly, and he reached behind him, yanking open a service panel. He removed a USB stick and dropped it into Shadow’s open palm.
When Shadow heard his own voice, it sounded as though someone else were speaking. ‘I-Is this the voice logs?’
‘No. The bat used this to upload the files to my hard drive without my knowledge.’ Shadow heard a disgruntled whirring, but it soon faded. ‘She likely wanted to ensure that the files would not be destroyed, and she knew that I would not be defeated easily.’
Shadow stared at the USB stick. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even know what to think.
Omega’s processors whirred. He likely didn’t know what to say either. He had been created to safeguard Shadow and to stop him from losing control. He had been created for the sake of another, just like how Shadow had been created for the sake of Maria, yet neither of them had been equipped to truly help the people they cared about.
‘The file names contain dates,’ Omega said abruptly. ‘If you have no self-restraint, you may listen to all of them at once. It will take you 8,372 hours, 6 minutes and 19 seconds.’ His voice box crackled, as though he were glitching. ‘But if you listen to one per year, as the bat intended, then it will take you 33 millennia to get through them all. If you are still alive at that point, then you can begin re-listening to them –’
Shadow covered his mouth with one hand and looked away. ‘O-Omega?’
‘Yes?’
‘You d-don’t have to keep talking.’
The skies opened, and rain descended on them like a light mist.
‘… The bat talked frequently. She was incessant.’
She had been incessant … but she had still ceased to be.
‘You don’t have to try to replace her.’
‘I cannot. I will not.’ Omega turned and looked down. He rested one clawed hand on Shadow’s head. ‘But we are down one operative. Both of us will have to do more to compensate.’
The rain mingled with the fresh, hot tears streaming down Shadow’s face, and he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. His sleeve caught on the medals on his breast, and the braided cords on his shoulder glowed crimson, like the red string of fate that had bound him and Rouge together.
He took a deep breath and exhaled. He gazed at the grave at his feet, and he felt a pang at the sight of the bouquet of white flowers. Their petals were already beginning to scatter. He whispered something under his breath and blinked away the last of his tears.
Then he materialised his Chaos Emerald in his hands.
Fifty years ago, he had protected the world for the sake of a girl who had loved it. Seventy years later, he found himself protecting the world for the sake of someone else – a woman who had given him a lifetime of memories, ones that he could truly call his own.
He raised his eyes to the monolith of AXE’s headquarters in the distance.
‘Chaos Control.’
He and Omega disappeared, leaving a flash of green light and a swirl of flower petals behind.
A ghostly figure folded her arms over the gravestone, holding out a hand as the petals passed through her palm. She blinked back tears. ‘… I guess I was right. This place is pretty boring, huh?’
A girl leaned against the grave next to hers, looking up at the towering monuments to the people who had lost their lives aboard the Ark. ‘I don’t know. I think it’s beautiful, in its own way.’
‘Of course you do.’ Rouge gave her a weary look and bit her lip. ‘Does it ever get any easier?’
Maria turned toward her. The crimson bloodstains over her heart were as fresh and as vivid as the day she had died. She didn’t answer the question, but her gaze softened.
Rouge gazed at the skies above and asked, ‘Do you think we’ll be here forever?’
Maria startled, and she hesitated. A bittersweet light filled her eyes. ‘My presence in this world is … weakening. I believe that spirits linger if they have unfinished business. I want to know that Shadow will be all right, and I fear that my inability to leave is due to my own wishes.’
‘… I guess that makes two of us, Rouge murmured. ‘And I guess we’ll find both peace once he finds peace with our deaths.’ She sighed and said, ‘We could be here for a while, though. What with him being immortal and all.’
‘I wish I weren’t here,’ Maria said in a choked voice. ‘Because I know that my being here means that he hasn’t found peace.’
Rouge rested a hand on her shoulder. ‘His heart might be artificial, but it isn’t shallow. His love for people doesn’t fade quickly … and I suppose that means our presence won’t fade quickly either.’
Maria looked down at her own fading essence, then glanced at Rouge’s illuminated, crystal-clear form. She forced a smile. ‘Mm.’
Perhaps that’s where Shadow got his habit of forcing himself to smile for the sake of others from. Perhaps he had gotten it from Maria herself.
Rouge looked up at AXE’s headquarters in the distance and reached up, ruffling Maria’s hair and making her yelp, then she opened her wings with a broad sweep. ‘Come on, kid. Let’s get out of here.’
Maria’s eyes widened, and she straightened up. ‘Are we going to go and find Shadow?’
Rouge shook her head. ‘Definitely not. Despite what I’ve told him in the past, he’s not a pretty crier. Let’s give him some space.’ She grasped Maria’s hands. ‘You don’t have a lot of imagination, do you? You’re incorporeal. I thought you would have learned how to get your feet off the ground by now.’
‘Miss Rouge –’
Rouge scooped Maria up, and they left both the ground and the cemetery behind, soaring over Central City. ‘You’re so straightlaced! Now I know where Shadow gets his personality from!’
Maria burst out laughing, and her arms entwined around Rouge’s neck. ‘Thank you, Rouge.’ She buried her face in Rouge’s shoulder, and tears glimmered in her eyes. ‘I’m glad that you were able to be there for him. He was locked away for 50 years, but you were able to love him for 70 more.’
Rouge hugged her tighter, and her gaze landed on the windows of AXE’s headquarters as they shot past. She caught a glimpse of Shadow and Omega crossing the marble floor of the foyer. Shadow had his hands in his pockets, and his shoulders were slumped. His eyes were reddened. But when Omega spoke to him, and he turned to look up and respond, the sunlight hit his eyes … and there was still a softness in his gaze, mirroring Maria’s own.
… Thirty-three thousand years. It would merely be a few grains in the hourglass of his life. She wondered if he would still remember her or Maria by then. His mind had been designed to be perfect and pure, but it had been damaged by his creator.
But maybe Shadow didn’t need to remember her after all. The sunlight rained down on her and Maria of them, refracting through their ghostly forms as they flew above the streets.
Even at the end of time itself, maybe he just needed to remember that he had been loved.
The End
