"Chaos Control!"

A bright light appeared and through it came Shadow. He landed on the ground gently and the light disappeared. Shadow took a moment to look at his surroundings. He knew he was in Station Square, but he can't recall ever coming to this part of the city. He was confused as to why Rouge had asked him to come here. It didn't make any sense to him.

"Shadow."

The black hedgehog turned around and found Rouge walking towards him. However, he could see that something was off. Rouge had a look of sadness and concern on her face. This just added more confusion in Shadow's mind. Rouge stood before Shadow and gave a small sad smile.

"Thanks for coming." She said.

Shadow looked to Rouge with a questioning look.

"Why did you ask me to come here?" he asked.

Rouge's smile went away. She knew what was coming next, and she was dreading it. The uncertainty of Shadow's reaction brought great concern to her. However, she knew it needed to be done. The nightmares won't end until it happens.

"There's… something you need to see." She said, and she began to walk away.

Shadow watched as Rouge began to walk away from him. He's never known her to be this cryptic. She was usually straight forward and to the point with him. More and more questions just kept forming in his mind. Shadow began to follow Rouge, hoping to find the answers. Rouge led Shadow into a grassy field, though many stones seemed to cover the area. As Shadow looked at the moss-covered stones, he noticed they were even spaced apart.

Soon enough, Shadow had followed Rouge to a specific location in the field and saw the Sonic and the others were also there. Shadow was somewhat surprised to see them there and he took noticed to the concerned looks on their faces. He looked to Rouge.

"Why are they here?" asked Shadow.

Rouge didn't answer and took her place next to Knuckles. Shadow looked at the others, still unsure and confused as to the reason they were all here. Patiently he waited for one of them to say something. He didn't have to wait long. Sonic took a step towards him.

"Thanks for coming Shadow." He said.

Shadow took notice to the tone in Sonic's voice. It didn't have the same confidence and cockiness he usually had. He seemed more mature, but at the same time, sad. To say this surprised Shadow would be an understatement.

"I'm still not sure why I'm here. And what are all of you doing here in the first place. Rouge wouldn't give me a reason." Said Shadow.

At that moment, Tails stepped forward.

"We wanted to talk to you… a-about your nightmares." He said, nervously.

Shadow didn't show much reaction to what Tails had said. He should've known they would've found out one way or another. Still, Shadow also knew there wasn't any way to make the nightmares cease. Whatever they had planned, he knew it wouldn't work.

"What about them?" said Shadow.

"Rouge has been telling us that you've been these nightmares for the past few months. We brought you here to talk about them." Said Knuckles.

"We want to help you get past them and to talk about the reason they've been happening." Said Amy.

Shadow looked to Amy with slight annoyance.

"My nightmares are none of your concern." He said, with a more serious tone.

"Shadow, please, talk to us. You haven't been yourself. We just want to help you." said Rouge.

"Please, let us help you Mr. Shadow." Said Cream.

Shadow looked at them with little expression. This was a waste of time. He could be doing more important things rather than spending time talking with everyone about an issue that wasn't important. Without even taking time to consider anything else, Shadow began to leave the field.

"This is ridiculous." He said.

"Shadow, wait." Said Amy.

"Just leave me be. My nightmares are not of any concern to you. I'll deal with them on my own." Said Shadow, as he continued to walk away from the group.

He figured this would be the end of this conversation. However, he was unprepared for what Sonic will said next.

"We know about Maria." Said Sonic.

Shadow instantly came to a halt and his eyes widened in shock. How did they know about Maria? He never told them anything about her, not even her name or that she even existed. How could they have known? Shadow turned around and looked directly at the blue hedgehog.

"What did you say?" said Shadow.

Sonic looked at Shadow with a gentle expression. He knew he would have to choose his words carefully with Shadow, less he would suddenly lash out and attack him.

"I said we know about Maria, and what happened on the ARK all those years ago." Said Sonic.

Shadow was stunned by what he heard. How could they know anything about that? They weren't even there when the siege took place.

"That's impossible. I never said anything about…" said Shadow.

"You didn't have to, Shadow. We… looked at your file." Said Sonic.

Shadow didn't understand.

"What file?" he asked.

"The file the G.U.N. had on you. Your service record and any bit of information about you, including the ARK." Said Rouge.

"We saw everything that happened on the ARK and what Maria had done to save you." Said Amy.

At that moment Shadow's anger became apparent. He would never expect any of them to violate his privacy in such a manner. Sure, he never trusted them completely, but he did to an extent. And now, they violated that trust and have learned a dark truth about Shadow.

"You had no right to do that!" he shouted, angrily.

Everyone flinched at his sudden outburst. They knew he would be upset, but they never imagined it would be to this extent.

"We were only trying to help you." Said Tails.

"I never asked for your help!" shouted Shadow.

"Shadow please." Said Amy, as Cream retreated behind her.

"We never meant any harm. We only wanted to help you get the closure you need." Said Tails.

"Closure?! You believe I need closure?!" shouted Shadow.

"Shadow. Please, understand. We know Maria saved you and gave her life to do so. We know she was your friend." Said Rouge.

"You don't know anything about her!" said Shadow, in a venomous tone.

"We know she cared about you. That you two were very close to each other. We may not know the whole story, but we know enough to understand that what happened that day must've been extremely tragic for you." Said Knuckles.

"We can never understand the loss you must've felt that day, but we can and want to help you move past those feelings and move on." Said Sonic.

Shadow had enough of their words and began to walk away again. His anger didn't faulter in the slightest.

"Shadow. Don't walk away from this." Said Rouge.

"I'm not gonna stand here and listen to this any further. Do not contact me again." Said Shadow.

He only made it a short distance before Sonic had stopped him.

"So, you're not going to say goodbye to her?" said Sonic.

Shadow stopped in his tracks. What Sonic had just said didn't make any sense. How could he say goodbye to someone whose been gone for years? He turned around and looked at the blue hedgehog.

"What are you talking about?" said Shadow.

Sonic didn't give a response. Instead, he turned his gaze downward towards one of the moss-covered stones on the ground. Shadow didn't understand. He looked at the stone and then back to Sonic. He then looked to the others, who only looked at Shadow, but only Knuckles gave a small nod.

Shadow walked back towards Sonic and soon stood in front of the stone. Shadow stared at the stone, unsure of what he should do next. He looked to Sonic, but Sonic only looked back at the stone. Shadow looked back at the stone and he knelt down to it. He studied it closely but saw nothing that indicated anything. He began to reach out to the stone to clear away some of the moss. However, as his hand approached it a sudden eerie feeling came over him. His hand stopped just short of the stone. Shadow didn't understand why he was feeling this way. Why is he suddenly afraid of this stone? He shouldn't be. It just didn't make any sense. Taking a calming breath, Shadow reached again for the stone, this time grasping the moss in his hand. He then carefully tore the moss of the stone, and soon realized what exactly he was staring at.

Shadow's eyes widened in shock as he stared directly at a gravestone. More importantly, the gravestone of his closest friend. On the stone it read

'Maria Robotnik. Beloved granddaughter, and friend. Maybe she find peace in her dreams.'

Shadow just stared at the grave in absolute shock and horror. It all made sense now. He was standing in a graveyard. And now, he was standing at Maria's grave. After all this time, this is how he would find her. Shadow felt himself lose all the air in his body and his hands began to tremble. He felt himself fall on both knees. It all felt like a bad dream that he couldn't wake up from. It didn't even feel like he was there. All of a sudden, a painful headache came to Shadow and a memory that was buried surfaced in his mind. Shadow grasped his head, as another memory surfaced, and then another. Flashbacks of Maria flooded his mind and the pain grew worse. Tears began to surface in Shadow's eyes and the last barriers of Shadow's emotions broke away.

"AARRRGHHHH!" Shadow screamed in pain.

Sonic and the others watched as Shadow broke down. Cream held on to Tails for comfort, tears falling down her face. Tails held her closely, feeling his own tears give way. Rouge looked away, unable to watch her partner go through the pain of seeing his friend's grave. Knuckles held Rouge close and closed his eyes in solace. Amy began to softly cry, and was surprise when Sonic held her hand to bring her some comfort. Sonic's eyes never left Shadow. He kept his eye on his friend, knowing that this was what he needed.

Soon enough, the memories came to an end and Shadow looked back at the grave, tears streaming down his face.

"Maria…" he said, crying slightly as he did so.

He placed his hand on the grave, hoping to feel her spirit.

"Maria… I'm…. I'm so sorry. I should've been there for you. I should've done more to save you." Said Shadow.

He averted his gaze from the gravestone and looked towards the ground. His guilt building with every second.

"I could've stopped them. I was stronger than them. You didn't deserve this. You deserved more than anyone. I could've stopped all of it. It's what I was meant to do. It's what I was created for." Said Shadow.

He looked back at the grave.

"Maria. I could've broken out of the chamber. I could've done something to stop them. I could've saved you! It should be me in this grave! Not you!"

Shadow's frustration had reached its peak.

"What's the point of being the ultimate lifeform, IF I CAN'T EVEN SAVE MY BEST FRIEND!" cried Shadow.

Shadow breathed heavily and continued to cry. All the pain, the guilt, the nightmares, the memories, it was too much for him to handle. Suddenly, Shadow felt someone place their hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Sonic kneeling next to him. Sonic looked at Shadow with an understanding expression.

"Shadow. I can't imagine what you went through on the ARK or watching the one person who cared about you give her life for you. However, I can say that… I don't think Maria would want you to continue living your life like this. She wouldn't want you to live in the past." Sonic began.

Sonic looked at Maria's grave and continued.

"She wouldn't want you to relive that day over and over again. I believe that Maria saved you for a reason. I think… she wanted you to live so you could experience everything that she couldn't. She wanted you to live your life in a way that makes you happy. If you can do that, then I believe you would make her very happy." Said Sonic.

Shadow just stared at Maria's grave and without question, he knew Sonic was right. He has spent his whole life living in the past, letting the memory of Maria's death consume him. He kept blaming himself for what happened to her and not being able to prevent it. And Shadow knew that he couldn't bring Maria back, but he could live for the both of them. To experience Earth the way she had always dreamed about. To finally find the happiness that he never experienced before.

Sonic rose to his feet and looked at the others, giving them a nod. It was that signal that they knew meant it was time to let Shadow be alone with Maria. As they began to leave, Sonic stopped suddenly when he felt something grab his hand. He looked down to see Shadow grasping Sonic's hand. Sonic looked to Shadow, whose eyes haven't left Maria's grave.

"Thank you, Sonic." Said Shadow.

Sonic gave a sad smile to Shadow.

"Yeah, no problem. We'll… let you two be alone." Said Sonic.

With that said, Shadow let go of Sonic's hand, and Sonic began to leave the graveyard with Tails and the others. Upon exiting the graveyard, everyone looked at each other, but no words were spoken. They knew they had done the right thing. As they each began to leave in different directions, Cream looked back into the graveyard and began to walk towards Shadow.

"Cream?" said Sonic.

Cream stopped and looked back at the others.

"Is it ok if I stay with Mr. Shadow for a little longer?" said Cream.

Sonic looked at the others, who just gave a sympathetic smile. Amy gave Sonic a nod, saying it was ok. Sonic smiled and looked at Cream.

"Alright, you can stay. Just… give him a little space. Ok?" said Sonic.

Cream nodded and began to walk back into the graveyard. She made her way back to Shadow, who was now sitting on the ground, looking at Maria's grave. She could see that he had a reminiscent smile on his face. It was one of the few times Cream had ever seen Shadow smile before. Sensing her presence, Shadow looked at Cream. Cream nervously approached Shadow and asked

"I-Is it ok if I sit with you Mr. Shadow?"

Shadow looked at Cream and just gave a soft smile. He nodded and patted the grass next to him. Cream took her place next to Shadow and looked at Maria's grave. No words were spoken at first as Cream let Shadow remember all the memories of Maria he had. After what seemed like a long time, Cream looked at Shadow.

"Mr. Shadow? Can I ask you a question?" said Cream.

Shadow looked to Cream.

"Sure." He said.

"Are you feeling better now?" asked Cream.

Shadow chuckled slightly.

"Yes Cream. I do feel a little better." Said Shadow.

"I guess you and Maria were really good friends, huh?" said Cream.

Shadow looked at Maria's grave and smiled.

"We were. Maria and I were really close. I guess… you could say she was my only friend." Said Shadow.

"Really?" said Cream.

"Yes. Maria and I spent a lot of time together on the ARK. We would talk about her dreams of seeing the Earth and experiencing everything on it. I never really understood her fascination with this planet. That is, until I actually spent time here. I think I can say that I understand why she wanted to come here." Said Shadow.

Cream smiled and looked up at Shadow.

"What was she like?" asked Cream.

Shadow smiled; a clear vision of Maria came to his mind.

"Maria was… she was very kind and caring. She never saw the bad in anyone. There was just something about her that made you want to be her friend. Maria always knew how to brighten anyone's day." Said Shadow.

He then looked down to Cream.

"In some ways, she was kind of like you." Said Shadow.

Cream smiled at Shadow and gave a slight giggle.

The two of them looked back at Maria's grave feeling as though her spirit was there with them. Silence filled the air for a brief moment, until Shadow looked up at the sky.

"I made a promise to Maria." Said Shadow.

Cream looked up at Shadow and waited for him to continue.

"I promised her, before she saved me, that I would protect this planet, and all of the people who live here. Somehow, I think Maria knew she wasn't going to be here with me. If I didn't make that promise to her, it wouldn't have given me a purpose in life. I guess it was her final gift to me." Said Shadow.

At that moment, Shadow felt something touch his hand. He looked down and saw Cream's hand on his own. The little rabbit looked up at Shadow with a smile.

"Do you think you'll keep that promise?" asked Cream.

Shadow smiled at Cream and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll always keep that promise." Said Shadow.

And Shadow knew he would. There would never be anything that would stop him from keeping that promise. As long as Maria was with him in spirit, Shadow knew he would make her proud.