Chapter Text
Sonic ran as fast as he knew how to. He kept running and running; through the city, through the park, over the border, into the forest. Where was he running? Where would he end up? He didn't know, and he couldn't be bothered to think about it. If he got lost, it'd only be for the better. He'd screwed everything up again. Again! How had he let this happen!? He was supposed to be Sonic The Hedgehog, the hero everyone looked to, and yet here he was again, at fault of the city crumbling down, literally. He didn't realise what was happening before it was too late; he'd almost gotten himself killed! Shadow had dragged him out of the way to the rest of the group before the building toppled right on top of Sonic, but Sonic's heart plummeted so far into his gut that he wished he had been under the building. His friends desperately made a plan to fix Sonic's mistake, and Sonic wanted to help, to remedy what damage he had just caused, but...
"Guys— Wait, listen to me, I didn't mean for that to happen! You know I didn't! I— I'm really sorry, can I at least help—"
"Sonic." Amy drew her breath, her fists shaking as she tried to keep her composure. Her eyes shot open and she stomped over to Sonic. "Just... stay. To the side, for once. Okay?" She was breathing deeply as she did her best not to start yelling but Sonic almost wished she had just yelled. His heart, from where it was in his gut, ached with pain. He wordlessly tried to open his mouth to speak but Amy shook her head in disapproval and whipped around back to the others before Sonic could say anything. "C'mon guys, let's go." Amy stormed through the group and they parted for her.
They shared some glances before throwing Sonic saddened looks. They didn't want to take sides, but right now, it was more important to save the people in the city. Tails desperately looked between Amy and Sonic, he didn't know what to do. He wanted to comfort Sonic, knowing that he would be hurting, but he knew he had to help his friends in saving the city. Before he had the chance to attempt to talk to Sonic, Knuckles came up to him and dragged him away. Tails didn't bother trying to resist, knowing Knuckles wouldn't let go. He helplessly looked at Sonic and their eyes met. Tails tried his best to tell Sonic through his eyes that things would be okay like Sonic always told him, but before he even finished the thought, Sonic's eyes welled up with tears Tails had rarely ever seen and he dashed off to nowhere. Tails caught his breath as he tried to see where he had gone but he knew it was pointless. He looked to his friends, who were all too focused on getting down to the ground, and then back to where Sonic had been.
That's when he noticed Shadow. Shadow stared in the direction Sonic had run off in but quickly felt someone looking at him. He turned and saw Tails. He had desperate eyes and a pleading look Shadow couldn't ignore. He drew his breath and groaned as he realised he would have to run after Sonic; he hated that the tearful look Tails had affected him.
Sonic kept running and running as Amy's words rang in his ears. He really didn't mean for that to happen. Of course, he didn't mean it. He tried to keep his crying to just tears, but as he ran further and further into the forest, straying off the path, the ground grew more uneven and the trees grew thicker and suddenly—
"AHH!" Sonic found himself flying through the air before crashing into the leaves and mud on the ground. Everything seemed to go quiet. The flickies stopped singing, the wind stopped whistling, and even Sonic's rushing thoughts became deathly quiet. He tried to push himself off of the ground, but his arms wobbled and he dropped his head against the dirt again. He bit his lip and tears welled in his eyes again, and before he knew it, he started to sob. Curling up into a ball, on the muddy forest floor, he cried and cried and cried. No idea where he was, what was happening, or if his friends were ok. He cried without trying to suppress any emotions until the silence around him was broken.
His ears twitched at the sound of leaves being thrown in the air and twigs being snapped, and he quickly sat up, frantically wiping away the tears from his face, panicking at what was causing the sounds. He had thought he was alone.
"Who— Who's there?" Sonic tried his best to make his voice sound strong, but he didn't know how well of a job he did with the stammering. He didn't feel all that strong anyway. Suddenly, a familiar yellow blur came from in between the trees, and Shadow stood in front of him. Sonic's lips parted in surprise as he looked up at him from the ground. "Shadow?" Shadow was the last person Sonic thought he'd see right now. Shadow let go of a breath as he looked down at Sonic. "Why did you follow me?" Shadow hesitated, inspecting Sonic.
"The fox... 'asked' me to make sure you were okay," Shadow simply replied, clenching and unclenching his fists. Sonic's expression faltered as he gulped.
"Well, I'm fine." Sonic looked away from Shadow, slightly annoyed but also embarrassed. Shadow raised an eyebrow, giving Sonic a look.
"Really? The guy covered in mud, sitting on the floor, curled into a ball, crying, is 'fine'?" Shadow placed one of his hands on his hips as he spoke. Sonic caught his breath as he looked at himself. He really was covered in mud. Shadow let go of his breath and rolled his eyes, making Sonic look back up at him; to his surprise, he found Shadow had extended his hand to Sonic. Sonic held his breath as he accepted the help and got up off the ground. Shadow looked back at him and Sonic all of a sudden felt even more embarrassed of the state he was in, glancing away and rubbing the back of his neck.
"I am fine. Really. Just, I dunno, stressed? I don't think that's the right word—" Sonic stopped himself from saying anything more, knowing Shadow didn't actually care. Though that made Sonic realise something. He looked up at Shadow with a curious look. "Wait, since when do you listen to Tails?" Sonic asked, half out of genuine curiosity, and half because he wanted to switch the focus to something other than his rough state right now. Shadow drew his breath as he tried to find some answer that wouldn't totally ruin his reputation with Sonic, but when he met his eyes once more, he realised that he had an opportunity. This was a rare moment in which Sonic had been vulnerable, even if it was only because he didn't know Shadow was there, and this meant Shadow could let his guard down too, just to even them out. Shadow gulped and kicked at the ground as he turned around.
"Tails didn't actually ask me to follow you, he just had a desperate look in his eyes." Shadow kept his voice as neutral as possible. Sonic's eyes widened but he didn't say anything.
A short realisation came to both of the hedgehogs: this was a moment of true vulnerability between them, and because of just how particular the situation was, there was the opportunity for them to keep the moment alive for longer than they usually lasted. They hesitated as the thought crossed their mind, and quickly, they both made their decisions. Shadow looked over his shoulder at Sonic.
"Race you back to the city?" Shadow suggested. Sonic drew his breath but gave Shadow a small smile before both of them ran off at the same time while both attempting to get ahead of the other.
They stayed close together as they ran, making sure to run only forward in one direction in which they assumed the city was based on where Shadow had come from. They were silent until Shadow let go of his breath and acted upon the decision he made earlier.
"Stressed?" Shadow simply asked. Sonic looked at him with a surprised look before biting his lip and looking away.
"I dunno. That's not exactly it." Sonic didn't know how to formulate his thoughts into more than just incoherent strings of self-deprecation and panic. He had never had to even try to do that because he had never really talked about his feelings; not these ones anyway. But Shadow didn't rush him. He waited and kept glancing at Sonic to make sure he knew that he was waiting. Eventually, Sonic gulped as his pace slowed down just a tiny bit, Shadow following his lead, not actually interested in racing him at the moment. "I feel like, recently, all I've done is... mess things up and ruin all the efforts made by my friends," Sonic started. He was honestly putting more effort into not crying again rather than what he was saying. "And it's become almost like the new normal, for me to mess something up, and... I mean, at this point, things would honestly be better if I didn't even try to be a hero." Sonic half laughed at himself as he gulped down the lump that had tried to grow in his throat. Shadow's expression softened as he inspected Sonic while they continued to run. He stayed silent for a while before slowly turning his head to Sonic.
"You fix mistakes, Sonic, that's always been your normal: making up for everyone's mistakes. It's just you've begun making more yourself. That doesn't mean you should stop trying to be a hero, it just means you need a break. Everyone is bound to make mistakes, especially when they're exhausted."
Sonic's heart skipped a beat at the profound words from Shadow. He looked at him and they made eye contact. Sonic caught his breath and stared at Shadow, unsure whether what he had just heard was real. Shadow glanced in front of them and suddenly skidded to a stop, making Sonic stop too, though with a slight delay.
"Why did you—" Sonic was cut off when he felt his feet not on the ground any more and when he looked forward he saw— a cliff!? Shadow quickly pulled him backward and they ended up tumbling over each other and landing side-by-side in the grass, on their backs. "Thanks," Sonic said breathlessly, still in shock from almost having plummeted into the sea.
"Yeah." They lay beside each other for a while, both thinking to themselves. Why had they run into a cliff if they had been running in the direction of the city? Had they turned while they were talking and not noticed? Had they just run in the wrong direction to begin with? After a long pause, Shadow spoke up again. "You up to use Chaos Control?" Shadow looked to the side at Sonic. Sonic gulped and looked to the side too.
"Maybe?" He replied with a weary smile. Shadow's expression relaxed a bit and he looked back up at the sky. Sonic knew that if he wanted to get in a question with Shadow, he had to do it now, before they got up and used Chaos Control to get back.
"Shadow?" Sonic carefully started, biting his cheek while waiting for an answer.
"What?" ...
"Why are you being so... kind?" Sonic put it the best way he thought he could but when he looked at Shadow to see his reaction, all he found was an unimpressed stare with a raised eyebrow.
"Am I not allowed to be kind?" He mocked Sonic's stupid question. Sonic panicked.
"I— I didn't mean it like that, it just... I mean, it's not like you haven't been kind before but... not to me, at least, not unprompted." Sonic fiddled with his fingers as he spoke. Shadow stared at him with a blank expression before narrowing his eyes slightly and looking back up at the sky. Sonic continued to wait for an answer.
"Fighting with you is more fun when you aren't sad," was all that Shadow said. He said it in such a way, that it made it seem like the most normal thing. But Sonic's eyes went wide and his breath silently caught in his throat. Shadow didn't dare look at Sonic, he pretended that what he had just said wasn't anything out of the ordinary and put on his most blankest expression as he inspected the first stars to keep his eyes from wandering. Sonic blinked at him a few times before slowly turning to face the sky again. An awkward silence fell around them, and it stayed for a while. Sonic didn't know what to reply to that other than one word, but it seemed rude.
"Seriously?" Sonic used his most sincere voice to make sure it didn't come off as sarcastic or a joke. Shadow let go of his breath, relieved Sonic finally said something.
"Yes, seriously, you talk a lot and it's annoying, but it's worse when it's silent. Silence doesn't suit you." Shadow continued to treat what he said as casually as he could, but in reality, his heart was pounding. Sonic let go of his breath and let a small smile creep onto his face. He decided, for the first time in his and Shadow's relationship, he wouldn't let their moment of vulnerability end with a stupid comment.
"I'm glad to know you don't hate me," Sonic said with a bigger smile, turning to Shadow. Shadow scoffed, considering it one of Sonic's stupid comments, but when he turned to look at him, all he saw were his sincere eyes. Shadow blinked at him blankly before furrowing his brow.
"Wait, did you actually think I hated you?" Shadow sat up in disbelief. Sonic's smile faded as he sat up too. He hesitated, but eventually shrugged with an awkward expression, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well, no, but you don't make it easy to believe that you don't hate me." Sonic rolled his eyes as he spoke. Shadow stared at Sonic before letting his shoulders drop slightly, his expression twitching from trying to keep it as blank as possible for so long.
"You're stupid. And loud. And really annoying. But I don't hate you." Shadow lay back down, his head on his hands. He heard his own voice grow less jaded and he hated it, but by the time he'd spoken it was too late to change how he sounded. Sonic smiled at him again, making Shadow struggle with not looking at him when Sonic so obviously was. Sonic leaned back to look at the sky again with a wide smile.
"You're angry. And blunt. And stubborn. I don't hate you either though." Sonic didn't know why he had said what he had, but a part of him felt lighter after having said it. They sat there together for a minute, Sonic smiling to himself and Shadow with a more or less relaxed expression, before Shadow drew his breath.
"I think we need to go back now." He got up and again, reached his hand down to Sonic. Sonic didn't hesitate this time and bounced to his feet, feeling more confident and ready.
"Yep, let's go." Shadow took out his Chaos Emerald from in between his quills and held it out in between him and Sonic. He looked up at him to ask whether he was ready but found Sonic with another expression.
"Thank you," he said quietly, with not one of his goofy smiles, but one of his small timid ones. Shadow opened his mouth to say something but he closed it, deciding to simply nod instead.
"Ready?" He asked and Sonic grinned. He placed his hand on the emerald.
"Chaos, control!" They said together and disappeared from the cliff.