I was thinking on the ending of SA2 a while back, and I wrote up this one-shot.

Sonic the Hedgehog belongs to Sega, but I hope you already knew that.

Coffee Shop

Sure, Sonic and his friends had to focus on chasing those Black Arms out of the city. And sure, the Black Arms seemed capable of destroying the planet and such. And yes, Sonic was well aware of the urgency in getting rid of the invading forces.

He was well aware of all of that.

But something came up that was more important for him.

Sonic sat at a table outside of a coffee shop, silently waiting for someone. He tapped his foot worriedly and impatiently. He tapped the lid on the cup he'd bought just minutes before. His heart was thudding, and he wasn't entirely sure why. Sonic was normally able to relax for events like this. And he thought that he should've been able to relax. It was just coffee with a friend. Well, an accomplice at most. They weren't exactly friends.

Maybe that was the problem. The one Sonic had invited here this morning wasn't exactly his friend. Heck, he wasn't anyone's exact friend, preferring to be on his own more often than not. There was nothing to guarantee that he would even come today.

Hushed gasps suddenly arose from the crowd sitting outside. Sonic looked across the street, his heart leaping up. His visitor was walking across to the coffee shop- Shadow the Hedgehog himself. The black hedgehog halted in the middle of the crosswalk, seeming to scan the area. A car had stopped right where he was, the driver too timid to honk his horn at him- which made sense, because why would you want to honk your horn at Shadow? Eventually Shadow continued walking, making his way to the coffee shop. He found where Sonic was sitting and pulled up a chair right across from him.

"Good morning, Shadow," Sonic greeted him, a friendly smile on his face. He held his hand out for the black hedgehog to shake.

Shadow had his head turned away from him, not bothering to even give him a glance. Sonic pulled his hand away in defeat. Shadow's brow seemed furrowed, his crimson eyes reading out the thoughts in his head. He'd been like that since his apparent rise from the dead three months ago. Though, if Sonic was being honest, that was the only way he'd ever known him.

"Um, if you want to head inside for a minute, we can get you something to eat or drink," Sonic muttered.

"I don't need anything," Shadow replied. "Actually, I don't take you for one who enjoys coffee, surprisingly enough."

Sonic giggled, pushing his cup over to him. "Oh no, I hate coffee. This is hot cocoa," he explained.

Shadow glanced at the cup. "That makes more sense."

A minute of silence fell between them. Now what was Sonic supposed to say? How was he supposed to get his thoughts out so that Shadow would understand him?

"Is there a problem?" Shadow asked.

"Hm?"

"There's something off about you, today. You seem less...excitable, than usual. You look like you have something that needs to be said."

That was true. Sonic rarely took anything seriously. He knew how to, but that somehow seemed worse than having fun with a mission or adventure. If there was fun to be had, then things didn't seem as scary.

"I do," Sonic muttered.

"So what is it?"

Sonic's mouth felt dry. Gosh, how was he supposed to get this out? "W-well, I kind of just needed to...talk to you about our history together," he stammered.

Shadow frowned, rubbing a temple. He made a move to get up out of the chair.

"Wait wait! What are you doing!?" Sonic shouted.

"I'll tell you what I told the others about that," Shadow growled. "I'm not interested in your help. I can find my own way."

"But I really need to talk to you about this!"

Shadow paused. He looked at Sonic again. His expression was of subtle confusion. "What do you mean?"

No comment.

"Do you want to talk to me about this to help me, or help yourself?"

"M-myself, I guess."

Sonic felt horrible saying that. It was the most selfish thing that had ever been uttered from his lips. He shouldn't be talking with anyone just to help himself. It was his job to help others, and it was far worse when he was helping himself by taking advantage of others.

But the comment seemed to convince Shadow to stay. The black hedgehog sat back down, elbows on the table. "Then I can probably stand this better," he muttered.

Sonic didn't reply immediately. He was trying to plan out his next statement. It wasn't as if the two of them had known each other that well prior to the black hedgehog losing his memories. In fact, their relationship had been rocky at best. Sonic didn't know anything about Shadow, let alone what to do about his memories.

His foot started tapping again. "Well, I haven't really been sleeping well for a while," Sonic began slowly. "I've just been thinking of you, and your death or disappearance or whatever, and I've just felt guilty about it. And...I think the others kind of blame me for what happened."

"I don't see how," Shadow muttered. "It's not like you had any ability to stop my apparent death."

Sonic's foot stopped tapping. He found himself becoming stiff, his breathing a bit more shallow and his stomach a bit more queasy. "Except...I think I did," he stammered. "I was in space with you. We had both used the Chaos Emeralds to take on super forms in order to keep the ARK from crashing into the Earth. It wasn't long after the battle when our powers started fading, but...but yours seemed to fade faster. You'd lost those rings of yours, so that might've been it, but..."

"You couldn't save me," Shadow noted calmly. "Though you did try."

Sonic nodded curtly. "I rushed after you, and something teleported me back to the ARK. My super form had completely faded at that point, and..."

"Well, as long as you tried-"

"But it's not good enough. I'm supposed to save the day. I was the only one out there who could do anything to help you, and I didn't. I didn't save you. I wasn't fast enough to save you. It's my fault for what happened to you."

Shadow scoffed. "So this chat is about me after all, huh?" he wondered.

No comment.

Shadow released the frown and furrowed brow, his eyes becoming more melancholic. "It feels different than I thought."

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

"You're trying to help me, but you're not pitying me while doing it. Rather, you're pitying yourself. That doesn't seem as good, but you're not looking at me like I'm broken, at least."

Sonic leaned in a bit. "Is that what you're worried about?"

No comment.

"It doesn't have to leave here, I promise."

Shadow gave a curt nod, and continued, "I did try asking about my memories before. I talked to Rouge one night, and after that decided that I wouldn't ask for help on this ever again. She looked at me with sad eyes the entire time as she relayed the events on the ARK, looking at me as if I were a damaged vase laying in front of her. It was sickening. And then several others started looking at me like that. I promised that I wouldn't ask for help again."

"Because you didn't like the way you felt around them?"

Nod.

"And you're worried that you might...be broken?"

No comment.

"Yeah, those looks, they're just...I think Rouge was just shocked to see you alive again. We were all kind of shaken up by your return. We'd all decided to just let go and move on when we thought you died, but it didn't really work. I think the others are just afraid of losing you again."

Shadow breathed heavily out of his nose. "Is that so?"

Sonic nodded.

"And is that also what you're worried about?"

"Everyone was upset after what happened to you. And like I said, I was the only one out there who could've helped you. To them, it's probably like I did nothing."

"But you know you did everything you could. That should be enough."

"It's not, though. I didn't do enough."

Shadow slammed a fist on the table, causing Sonic to jump back. The movement was angry, though swift and calm at the same time. Shadow wasn't one to show anger in his downtime, that much he remembered. Even these bouts of anger had a sense of control to them.

"You had reached the limit of your capability at that point," Shadow continued. "You had done everything you could. It wasn't enough, but that doesn't matter. You did everything in your skill that was possible for you, but you are not infallible. You have your limits, and that was one of them."

Sonic didn't reply.

"Honestly, if you want anyone to blame for what happened, you're looking right at him. I'm this Ultimate Lifeform. I'm supposed to be the one with more capabilities. My skills should exceed yours. Despite that, I fell from space. My power leaked out that day. I'm the only amnesiac at this table. Therefore, I claim full responsibility for the event."

Sonic straightened himself out again. "I don't think it was like that," he insisted. "I always figured that you got a little too excited. I know I always got like that during my first few transformation into my super form- it's not everyday that it happens, you know. And your rings did come off, so...hey, I gave one of them to Rouge. What did she do with it?"

Shadow touched the ring on his left wrist. "She gave it back to me."

"I thought she might have."

Another minute of silence fell between the two of them. Sonic spoke up again.

"Hey, you know, you're not...you're not broken. There's nothing wrong with you. Your amnesia's not holding you back from anything. You can still do everything you could before. Yeah, you need to look for answers now, but that's not something that only you have to do. I guess...just make sure you know what it is that you're looking for, okay?"

Shadow pulled a napkin out, handing it to him. Sonic gingerly took it, only becoming aware now that tears were falling down his cheeks.

"You wanted to apologize to me," Shadow said. "That's why you invited me here this morning."

Sonic nodded.

"Are you hoping that I'll forgive you?"

He nodded again.

"I won't. Because you have nothing to apologize for. You did everything you could. Now repeat that to yourself."

Sonic shook his head. "I don't believe that."

Shadow got up from the chair, walking around to Sonic's side. Sonic jumped as the black hedgehog placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up, noting that Shadow's eyes held the slightest bit of sympathy- a rare thing for him to have.

"Then let it out," Shadow decided. "Everything you're building up. Just let it go. It doesn't have to leave here, just like you said."

Sonic nodded, and then he let himself go on pouting. His guilt and fear released themselves in a trickle of tears. "I wanted to do more for you," he choked out. "I wanted to make sure you got back. It wasn't very fair."

"It wasn't fair," Shadow agreed. "Not fair at all. And a lot of things happen that aren't fair. It's kind of pointless to judge things like that, isn't it?"

Sonic dabbed the napkin to his cheek, but a few more fell down afterward.

"I doubt the others would blame you for what happened. And it certainly doesn't seem like they see you any differently. And it doesn't really matter, does it? We're alive. We might be a bit worse off than before but...we're alive."

Shadow really didn't seem to mind, did he? He was just brushing off the ideas that Sonic was throwing at him. That was just like him, wasn't it? He probably would've been just like this even if he remembered what happened. You did what you could. But I don't need anyone to save me. That was Shadow, alright.

And none of his friends had mentioned anything about it, either. They might've been trying to keep quiet about the event again, or just accepting that things had turned out okay after all.

"Do you need another minute, or are you alright?" Shadow asked.

Sonic wiped the tears away. "I think I'm good," he decided.

Shadow took his hand away. "Then I think I should be going. I have work to do. You do as well, I assume."

"None of this will leave here," Sonic promised him.

"I'm going to hold you to that."

He didn't doubt it. "Hey, thanks for coming today."

"Yeah."

Shadow hid himself on the roof of a tall building, escaping the gaze of a few soldiers. They'd been on his tail since the alien invasion started. Boy, had it been a risky move to meet up with Sonic that morning. He'd contemplated on not going at all, but the hedgehog's face when he got there compelled him to see it out anyway.

If anyone had paid attention to their vulnerability, it surely would've killed him.

He studied a Chaos Emerald, running a finger along the gem's cuts. So far, he had three, and memories of the ARK fifty years ago were coming back to him. Which didn't really help when it came to the people currently living who knew him. Sonic seemed pained by the events that transpired much later, blaming himself for Shadow's amnesia. Maybe these memories were more of a pain than anything else. They'd certainly given pain to that lesser hedgehog, and it wasn't an enjoyable experience to see his spirit faded like that.

Shadow clutched the Chaos Emerald harder. No. He had to go through with this. As much as Sonic insisted that he wasn't broken, Shadow needed to find himself again.

It was funny, though. He felt bad about dismissing Rouge before, because talking with someone did help jog it a little.

Shadow was almost certain that he'd forced Sonic back onto the ARK in order to protect him.