Characters belong to SEGA.

"Now, Tikal!" Amy announced in a motherly tone, "You must stay put in bed for the time being until your injuries get better! I wouldn't want you to strain yourself again, understood?!"

"Y-Yes, Amy..." the echidna replied growing quite fearful of the pink hedgehog's attitude, "I hope I'm not being a bother though."

Amy sighed as she calmed herself down, "Tikal, your home is my home," she smiled softly, "Sorry if I'm being too rough about it, but I really don't want you to hurt yourself anymore!" She held the girl's shoulders, "Get some rest and call me up if you need anything!"

"Thank you!" Tikal said with a smile of her own as the pink hedgehog clasped their hands together, "I promise not to worry you so much!"

"It's no problem, Tikal!" Amy said as she hugged her friend, "Now, the laundry does need some cleaning..."

Tikal sat hearing Amy's voice trailing off into the hallway until the door shut quietly after her. The orange echidna let out a breath of relief and stared down at her bandaged leg, her expression saddening.

What was she thinking? Those robots were vicious and evil and yet, she stood there praying for them not to do anything to her. She hated violence and the idea of fighting to get someone's point across. All it lead to was someone getting hurt, or even worse, having their life at risk. It was fruitless though, as the robot had been ready to attack her without hesitation and grabbed her leg in a hurtful manner. If it wasn't for Sonic and Knuckles, she didn't think she'd be here right now.

She shook her head, her eyes feeling droopy. Taking in Amy's advice, she began to slide her herself into the bedsheets but a green flash of light stopped her from doing so. Tikal's eyes widened as the light began to fade away, replacing a familiar dark figure with it.

Blue eyes immediately locked onto red.

Tikal stiffened. "Sh... Shadow?"

The black hedgehog didn't say anything. Instead, he had his arms crossed in his usual manner with his stoic look. He stared at her with his signature demonic glare, the frown deepening upon his lips.

The echidna couldn't help but inwardly gulp, her gaze casting off elsewhere in the room. Oh, she's done it now...

She heard his footsteps coming closer towards the bed, until he stood by the side of it. Tikal looked over to see the hedgehog's expression souring as he sight caught of her bandaged leg, his arms falling either side of him slowly.

Tikal watched as he pulled up a chair and sat down, a low groan escaping his lips, his eyes squinting for a moment.

"Rouge told me," Shadow spoke as if he had read her mind, "About what happened..."

"I—"

"Don't," he snapped, those ruby eyes glaring at her, "Just don't..."

The echidna grew frail and weak at his words, her expression saddening again. She brought her knees up to her chest, face burying in them as she felt tears prickling from the corner lids of her blue orbs.

His hand suddenly touched her arm, but she didn't want to look up. She worried him enough to the point where he was angry with her. Sure, Shadow the Hedgehog was usually annoyed and angry with everyone, but to her, he rarely ever showed those emotions. Now that he was, she couldn't help but feel ashamed.

"Tikal..." he whispered suddenly, "Please look at me."

But she only shook her head, a sob escaping, "No..."

She heard him sigh and felt the mattress of the bed dipping. Shadow reached over and gently pried her arms off of her eyes but Tikal avoided his own completely, gazing away from them in discomfort.

However, the hedgehog didn't seem to want any of that and lifted her chin which, unfortunately for the echidna, forced her to lock her teary eyes with his now softened ones.

"I'm sorry," Tikal whimpered out unable to control her sobbing, "I'm... I didn't mean to..."

"You could've gotten killed," he interrupted her, his eyes slightly moving into a soft squint, "You should've stayed with Cream..."

"I know, I know," Tikal closed her eyes, "But everyone was getting hurt, I couldn't just stand there..."

"But look what it did to you," Shadow commented as he stared down at her leg before looking back at her again, "You knew you couldn't fight it and you got hurt instead." He moved his hand away from her chin and laid it against her cheek.

His tentative touch made the echidna girl relax under it, her blue irises slowly opening afterwards. She lifted her palms against them, rubbing off the tears.

Sniffing, she raised her hand to touch his, finding her eyes to lock onto the hedgehog's once again. Those eyes...gave off some sort of warmth that she couldn't explain. It was rare for him to show this side to someone, she knew that. At first, it scared her. Because when someone like Shadow - who always pushed people away - displays this rare emotion to you, you can't help but feel confused yet flustered. It was how they got closer and became something more. It warmed her heart to know she was the only one who could bring out the hidden softness from the male.

"Sleep," Shadow ordered lowly, his hand pulling away from her face.

She nodded, but hadn't obeyed his request just yet. Instead she moved closer, arms draping over the hedgehog's shoulders then around his neck. He didn't question her, as he just stared. The echidna pressed her lips together before leaning them towards his own. Between them, a few breaths were let out until Shadow broke the tiny gap.

Tikal's eyes fluttered shut as their lips began to move in sync. To think, she would end up with someone who had completely different views on the world that clash with her own. But then again, as one would say, opposites do attract. Shadow was so... mysterious in many ways. But that was what captivated her to get to know him better and deeper.

.

.

.

"Shadow?"

The hedgehog turned to face her, his stoic look plastering his face.

Tikal wilted under the gaze but that didn't stop her. "Would you like to go for a walk with me?" she asked, "It seems we're going in the same direction..."

Shadow's arms uncrossed themselves slowly as he nodded. The echidna was relieved and smiled, walking forward and grabbing his hand to lead the way.

She felt him tighten his grip on her hand and couldn't help but blush.

...

"You love chao, don't you?" Shadow asked, eyes squinting at the blue creatures climbing onto his legs.

"I do," Tikal began to giggle as she softly pet their little heads, "They appear to love you too."

The other bluntly stared down at them as one tried to climb up onto his chest, only to slide down in defeat. Shadow gently picked the little guy up, cradling it into his chest. The chao made a sound of satisfaction before snuggling into the white fur.

He felt Tikal suddenly resting her head upon his shoulder, a yawn escaping her lips after.

"Tired?" he murmured, shooting a glance at the echidna.

"Mhm," she answered, eyes steadily closing shut.

...

A knock was heard from the front door.

"Ah Tikal!" she heard Amy yell from upstairs, "Could you get that for me? I'm in the middle of fixing this lightbulb!"

"Sure thing, Amy," Tikal called back, turning the television off before walking towards the door.

When she opened it, her eyes widened in retrained surprise.

"Shadow...?"

"Hi," he answered back. She noticed he wasn't empty handed though as a picnic basket occupied his right hand. Tikal looked back at him with a questioning gaze.

"I was wondering..." he started off glancing off to the side, "If you would like to join me..."

It took the girl a second to understand what he was requesting. She then smiled softly and nodded. "I'll inform Amy..."

...

"Do you like it here?" he asked her as they sat onto a grassy hill, the site of the horizon glowing back at them.

"It's... different," she replied, "I'm still getting used to the modern day antics."

Shadow hummed in understanding and crossed his arms. "I'm assuming you're missing your time?"

"I am," she wasn't going to lie, however she smiled again, "But I like it here. Everyone's so supportive of each other. That's something that wasn't so apparent in the past..."

She then turned to look at the hedgehog who immediately turned his head away. Tikal couldn't help but giggle as she shifted closer to lean against his chest. After a moment, the echidna girl looked up.

Eyes met.

And so did lips.

.

.

.

They pulled away breathlessly with Tikal's cheeks looking flushed from the contact.

"Can you stay here with me?" she whispered ever so gently, the tiredness in her voice being noticeable. Shadow answered by slowly pushing her down onto the bed with himself laying next to her. Tikal buried herself into the white fur of his chest and closed her eyes, the sounds of the hedgehog's heart beating calming her down.

"Shadow..."

"Yes?"

"I love you..." she mumbled softly before snoozing off.

Meanwhile, Shadow just stared up into the ceiling with his usual frown. But he couldn't help it, and instead let out the smallest smile he could muster at her words.

Okay. So.

THIS WAS TERRIBLE. But my muse for this ship is off the roof and I just had to write something! Like you don't understand, this ship is such a guilty pleasure that idc if they haven't met. Cause y'all know that if they did, they'd be perfect for one another. LITERALLY. UGH. THIS COUPLE IS MY LIFE.

But enough rambling, I hope you all enjoyed it! This is also my first Sonic fanfic up on this site too so I'm kinda new despite following and reading the stories on here for years.

Let me know if you want more Shadikal fics and I'll see what I can spice up!