Hello, fellow fanfiction authors. This is a Shadow and Tikal oneshot requested by ultimateCCC that I hope you'll enjoy. Please read and review.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Uncanny Attraction

He hated when Rouge did things like this. Shadow was sitting on a bench in Westopolis park. The reason, you ask? Rouge had come up with the wonderful idea of setting him up on a blind date. Shadow was aganst the idea, but Rouge had already set up the date, so he wasn't in a position to argue. That didn't mean he was keen on the idea. Shadow was, by no means, the dating type. Frankly, he found it beneath him. After all, what was the point of dating? You spend time with someone and just expect to automatically fall in love? Shadow didn't believe in love at first sight.

After spending about thirty minutes waiting for his supposed date, Shadow was just about to leave until he heard a voice call out from behind him. "Excuse me? Are you Shadow?" Shadow turned around to find an echinda girl behind him. She wore a white tank top and a tribal dress with beige, green, and red triangular patterns that was fringed along the bottom hem. She wore white sandals with white straps around feet and up her legs. On her wrists were thick, cobalt-blue braclets and a golden braclet on her upper right arm. She also wore white gloves on her hands. On her head was a golden tiara-like band with an elliptical jewel in the center, and she wore a large golden necklace with a jewel in the center and triangular markings in its segments.

This was Tikal, a member of the Knuckles Clan, the same clan Knuckles was descended from. The strange part about her was that she was supposed to be dead. Her clan was wiped out when her father attempted to misuse the power of the Chaos Emeralds, incuring the wrath of Chaos, the guardian of the Master Emerald. To stop Chaos's rampage, Tikal had to seal herself and Chaos in the Master Emerald. Many years later, Dr. Eggman broke the seal on Chaos, hoping to use the creature for his own debased purposes. But Sonic and co. managed to stop him. From then on, both Chaos and Tikal lived their lives in peace.

Months later, Tikal somehow found a way to enter and leave the Master Emerald at will. With this ability, she began to spend more time with Sonic and friends. But there was one person who interested her above all else: Shadow the Hedgehog. Tikal didn't know why, but there was something about Shadow that fascinated her. Part of her wanted to get to know Shadow better. But Shadow's aggressive and dark demeanor combined with her timid personality made this nearly impossible. At least, until Rouge came up with this blind date. Now here's hoping it would work.

Shadow, for his part, stared at the young echinda girl. "Yes." Shadow replied. "I take it you're my date?"

"Yes." Tikal replied. "I'm Tikal. It's nice to meet you." She said with a smile. Shadow, meanwhile, continued to stare at Tikal before finally asking. "So, what do you wanna do?"

"I don't really know." Tikal replied. "I'm not all that familiar with dating."

"That makes two of us..." Shadow muttered. "Well, I guess we'll just go out to eat."

"That sounds good." Tikal began, "But, are you sure that's okay? I don't have any money."

"It's alright." Shadow replied. "I'll pay for the meal. There's a resturant across the park. Let's go." And without another word, the two made their way to the resturant. Once inside, the waiter came to take their orders. Shadow ordered a steak with orange soda while Tikal ordered a salad with lemonade. Once the waiter left, the two stared at each other and said nothing for the longest time. Neither of them being experienced with dating made it hard for the two of them to come up with something to say. Tikal decided to say something. "So, Shadow, would you mind telling me a little about yourself?" she asked.

Shadow gave a slightly annoyed sigh, expecting this question. "There's not much to tell." he replied.

"Why not?" Tikal asked.

"Because I don't want to talk about it." Shadow replied.

"Why?"

"I just don't." Shadow said. Tikal paused a bit before asking, "Well, would you like to hear a little of my past?" Shadow gave another sigh and nodded in compliance, realizing Tikal would not stop asking. "I'm the daughter of the chief of the Knuckles Clan." Tikal began. "My tribe was once a peaceful one, but then my mother died when I was little. That was when my father began to change. He started warring with others and became more aggressive and violent. Eventually, it came to a head when he tried to use the Chaos Emeralds. That angered the guardian of the Emeralds, Chaos. His wrath grew so great that he anhiliated the Knuckles Clan and would have done the same to the world had I not stopped him. But to do so, I had to seal both him and myself in the Master Emerald."

Shadow listened to her tale with a thoughtful expression before speaking up. "Believe it or not, I have a similar story." Shadow said. Tikal perked up and gazed at Shadow with an inquisitive expression. "I was created in a place known as the Space Colony ARK. Professor Gerald Robotnik created me in an attempt to find a cure for his granddaughter Maria, who was suffering a from a fatal disease. But he didn't get far in his research. An organization called GUN deemed the project too dangerous and ordered everyone who had knowledge of the project be killed. Maria sacrificed her life to save mine. I never saw her again."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Tikal said.

"It's alright." Shadow replied. "I've long made my peace with it."

"But it must still hurt." Tikal said.

"I'd be lying if I said no." Shadow said.

"But at least you have Sonic and his friends by your side." Tikal said. Shadow gave an unamused snort in response. "What's wrong?" Tikal asked. "I just think a more appropriate term for them would be 'assoicates'." Shadow replied. "But don't you help them sometimes?" Tikal asked. "Only when it suits me." Shadow said. "But you do care about them, don't you?" Tikal asked. "...I suppose." Shadow said. "Well, that's good." Tikal said. "It's good to have someone by your side and-"

"Here comes our orders." Shadow interrupted, relieved to have something to take their minds off this conversation. The waiter put their orders on the table and the two silently said their prayers before eating. After their meal, a voice came over the intercom. "Attention guests! The dance is about to begin!" the voice said. "All who wish to participate can head on down to the ballroom." Tikal's face lit up as she grabbed Shadow's hand. "Want to dance?" she asked. "I'm not a very good dancer." Shadow replied. "Oh come on!" Tikal yanked Shadow towards the ballroom and the two began to dance. Shadow, admittedly wasn't the most skilled of dancers, but Rouge taught him a little bit. At the least, he was savvy enough to avoid stepping on her feet.

The dance lasted a good while and for the most part the two seemed to be enjoying themselves, though Shadow didn't really express it. Eventually, the dance was over and the two decided to leave. But as they got out, they were accosted by a hoodlum. "Hand over your money and no one gets hurt." he said as he pointed his gun towards the two. "Sir, please." Tikal pleaded as she walked toward the man. "There must be a way to solve this without violence." The man simply backhanded her to the ground. "I said I want your money!" He was about to fire his gun only for Shadow to teleport in front of him and grab his wrist. "That's enough." Shadow said as he tightly held onto the guy's wrist, causing him to drop the gun.

Shadow then reared back and punched the man, his fist energized with Chaos energy. As the man tried to crawl away, Shadow created a Chaos Spear in his hand and prepared to impale the man only for Tikal to grab his arm. "That's enough, Shadow." Tikal pleaded. "The guy tried to kill us." Shadow replied, annoyed. "Yes, he did." Tikal began. "But kill him, and you're no better than he is. Besides, I've seen enough violence in my life. I don't want to see it again." Shadow was about to protest further, but when he looked into Tikal's eyes, there was something about them that reminded him of Maria. His mind flashed back to that fateful day, right before he was jettisoned to Earth, Maria's last words to him were to give humanity a chance to be happy.

Shadow then took a look at the quivering hoodlum. "The only reason I'm letting you go is because I'm on a date." he said. "But if I see you again, you won't be so lucky. Now scram." The hoodlum ran off screaming. Tikal looked to Shadow, partially astonished that he actually listened to her. "How about I take you home?" Shadow asked, his expression unchanged. "Sure." Tikal replied. Shadow grabbed Tikal's hand and pulled out a Chaos Emerald from his quills. "Chaos Control!" Shadow yelled, and instantly, the two were teleported to Tikal's home. "Thank you for the date." Tikal said as she walked towards home. "It was quite enjoyable."

"Yes, it was." Shadow replied with surprising honesty. Admittedly, he really did have a good time. Shadow turned to leave, but was stopped by Tikal. "Wait! I just have to ask you. What made you change your mind about killing that man?" Shadow paused for a moment, not looking at Tikal before he finally replied. "You remind me of her." And with that, Shadow teleported away. As Tikal watched him leave, a smile grew on her face. She had a good time, and she knew she had gotten somewhere with Shadow, even if he didn't show it. With that thought, she walked inside her home, the night's events still fresh in her mind.

The End!

Well that end's my tale! I hope you've enjoyed it.