Author's Notes: Well, this is it for this story, just closing loose ends. This is finally finished after almost three years!

I'm going to be working on my writing. I have a new story in the works that I am strategically planning. I'm hoping to finish it first before I post so I may not be around for a good amount of time.

Hope all of you have enjoyed this story. It sure took long enough to get here. Thank you all so much for reading. It is very appreciated!

Fading Reminder

Chapter Twelve: A Promising Future

There Sonic and Tails sat in a large room, much more elegant then anything they have ever lived in. All around were pictures of men in politics and all who had an inspiration on the development of their world.

Sonic's leg bounced uncontrollably and in between his hands he twisted a green Chaos Emerald back and forth. Tails couldn't help but notice.

"You look like you drank eight cups of coffee."

Sonic scoffed, "I want to get this over with. I can't believe I left."

Tails sighed. He did feel bad about making his friend leave the hospital, but it was something that had to be done. "You know that if you didn't come here in person, it wouldn't have an effect at all."

Sonic waved him off, "I know, I know. I'm doing the right thing, yeah, but what if he wakes up and no one is there?"

Tails put a hand on his shoulder, "he'll be just fine." He really didn't know what else to say.

The two of them had been sitting in the "waiting room," so to speak, for about twenty minutes. They were lucky if they'd even be able to get fit in for an appointment. It was last minute and the president after all.

"Mr. Hedgehog?"

Sonic's head lifted immediately.

The presidential administrative assistant stood before the hedgehog and the young kit. She had blond hair tied in a bun, a clip board in hand, and a very professional suit on with black heels. "Mr. President will see you now."

Sonic nodded with a smile and practically sprang out of his seat. "Thanks." He and Tails followed the young woman.

The two walked through large double white doors to enter the oval office.

The president was sitting behind his desk with a small stack of papers in front of him. He was an older man in a pressed shirt and tie. He folded his hands on his large desk and smiled as the two walked in. "Ah, Sonic the Hedgehog. So good to see you again! And Tails, correct? Very nice to see you as well." He stood to shake their hands.

If they had thought there were a lot of paintings of political memorabilia in the other office, they hadn't seen anything yet. Practically every president that sat in this room hung on the wall, along with mountains of book shelves. Sonic didn't exactly pay much attention though. He shook the president's hand and sat right down in front of the desk to get straight to the point.

The president began as he sat back down, "What brings a great hero like yourself here today? Something important I assume? It was difficult to fit you in on such short notice."

"Sorry about that," Sonic began, "but we came to talk to you about the murders at Station Square about two months back by that black hedgehog."

The president's eyes seemed to narrow and he nodded. "Yes, that was a tragedy indeed. GUN had him captive a few days ago but he escaped."

"That's the thing, they captured the wrong hedgehog."

He seemed taken aback by this. This wasn't a direction he expected the visit to go in. "Go on."

Sonic took a deep breath. He wasn't too great of a liar...but he had to do what he had to do to protect Shadow. "Doctor Eggman found Shadow the Hedgehog half dead after the incident on the Space Colony Ark. He did a mess of tests on the guy and managed to clone him. He released the clone a few days before what happened at Station Square Bridge. So, the Shadow that GUN captured recently was the real one, but the one who did the murders was the fake one."

The president lifted an eyebrow. "How are you sure about this?"

Tails decided to jump in with some technicalities. "You see, sir, Eggman found Shadow in a very weak state. He was dying. He fell from the colony ARK while saving the world with Sonic," he made sure to add that in there to help Shadow's case, "and he almost burned to death in the atmosphere. Eggman took him to his lab to do testing on him. Shadow was unconscious for a long time, and while he was, Eggman found a way to copy his DNA exactly to create a replica hedgehog. When Shadow came to, he fled from Eggman's captivity because he did not want part in his evil plan. Eggman sent the clone to murder him, and when the humans interfered, he went on a rampage and killed all of them."

Sonic nodded and smiled inside. He was very proud of his friend's knowledge. He bought the story with no problem, now to hope the president felt the same way.

The president nodded, interested, but it wasn't clear if his thoughts on the matter were wavered. "I see. Where are you suggesting we go next then?"

"GUN has been trying to get into Shadow's hospital room since I helped him escape from Military Island."

"That was you?"

Sonic gulped. He had hoped he wouldn't be charged for something like that. That was the last thing he needed at that moment. "Yes, sir. I helped him because he was innocent."

The president nodded, interested in what else the heroes had to say.

"Like I said, GUN has been trying to take him prisoner again and we would just like for you to call them off. Shadow didn't do anything wrong."

"What about this clone that you two claim was responsible for the tragedy at the bridge?"

Tails joined in again, "We infiltrated Eggman's base and destroyed that and another prototype that he was working on. That issue has been dealt with."

The president leaned back in his chair and put a hand to his face, thinking over all of the information that he was just given.

Sonic was trying to keep his leg from bouncing with nerves but he needed to get out of there. All he wanted was a quick answer to get GUN off their backs and get out of there. Shadow was in the hospital for about four days now. He could wake up any minute. Sonic had to be there.

Tails noticed Sonic's leg bouncing again and gave him a particular look. His face was saying for him to calm down and that they'd be out of there any moment. Sonic nodded in return and seized his nerves from shaking. The two had known each other for so long that it was simple to speak without words.

"Well, Mr. Hedgehog," the president began. Sonic grew a little nervous. He wasn't sure if their story sounded legitimate enough. "You've saved the world many times for us. I have no reason not to trust you. All in all, I think I owe this to you. I will give orders to have GUN leave Shadow the Hedgehog alone. After all, if he is who you say he is, he did help you save us one time as well."

Sonic nodded, unable to contain his excitement. "Thank you very much, sir! This is greatly appreciated."

The president nodded. "Not a problem. If there is anything else at all that I can do for you, please do not hesitate to ask. I owe you my life, this is the least I can do."

"Woohoo! That wasn't hard at all! Now Shadow can walk around without a problem." Sonic yelled over the whirring of the Tornado.

Tails smiled as he piloted, "yeah, this is great. We won't have generals hovering around the hospital, waiting for him to recover so they could take him into custody. Hopefully the president's orders go through right away."

"Hopefully. Let's hurry back to the hospital."

"Are you sleeping there again?"

"Of course. I can't have him wake up alone." It felt good to be open about his feelings for Shadow. He could only be that way with Tails because Tails knew how he felt. He couldn't be like this with the others, which didn't really bother him anyway.

Tails smiled. Sonic had this glow about him. He was worried about Shadow the whole time he was in the hospital, but the more and more the hedgehog's condition improved, the more excited he grew. Tails was happy for him. He was getting his friend back, possibly something more.

"Wake up, silly."

A black figure was lying on a silky white bed. Shadow turned around onto his back, "hm?" He was obviously tired and just awaking from a very peaceful sleep. Being disturbed was the last thing that he wanted.

A young girl with shiny blonde hair, a blue dress, and white puffy slippers sat beside the hedgehog's bed. She looked well rested. "Please, Shadow?"

He rolled over and opened one eye, then smiled at his friend. "Good morning, Maria. Why are you awake so early?" He figured it was early because he still felt so exhausted.

She smiled down at him. Her face was angelic like and she appeared flawless. Her skin was smooth and even, her eyes glistened, her body delicate…everything about her was vibrant. "I'm proud of you, Shadow."

He sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes, "What do you mean?"

"You've returned to who you once were. For awhile there, I thought I was only a fading reminder of who you used to be. You never were a hateful creature. It hurt me to see you like that. You are powerful, but I know that you are caring, compassionate, curious…"

Shadow tilted his head in confusion. He wasn't sure what she was talking about.

She smiled, "just listen, Shadow, and remember what I tell you. Do not let anger cloud your mind. Approach everything with a kind heart, an open mind, and you will stay true to yourself. You will be happy again if you just let yourself."

Shadow blinked a few more times and she slowly began to fade away. "Maria? Wait…don't go…I want to stay with you."

She smiled down at him again and put a delicate hand to his face. "It's not your time yet. Live and be happy." Her hand slipped away. "Remember, I'm always watching over you."

Shadow's eyes blinked open and he was greeted with a dimly lit room. It was much different than the white room he and Maria were just in. He turned his head and noticed a tiny night stand beside his bed. There was one vase filled with flowers on it, as well as a telephone and a clock that read 4:42 AM.

He blinked a few more times and his vision was as it should be. It was a relief to see the world clear instead of through blurred eyes. He stretched his legs out. They felt normal as well, albeit his nerves were somewhat tingly. There was a soft cover over his body. He heard a consistent, dull beeping to the right of him. He turned his head to the direction it was in and saw there was a machine monitoring his heart. The beat was steady and to his knowledge, that meant it was normal.

Just then, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, a figure not far from him slumped in a chair. He attempted to lean up in the bed he was in, and though it was somewhat painful, it wasn't nearly as bad as how it was the last time he remembered moving. Besides that dream…

What was that dream anyway? It felt like a mixture of a flashback and Maria actually speaking to him. He wanted to believe he spoke to her, but his mind began to rationalize and decided that he just created it. But whatever did happen, he would remember it. It made him feel better. It was a comforting thought.

He leaned his back against the headboard of the bed. He realized that he was in a hospital. The room resembled one. It was very simple, clean, and filled with all sorts of medical instruments.

Shadow swung his legs over the side of the bed and attempted to stand. It was seemingly simple to do so. When his feet came in contact with the floor, he stepped onto his hover shoes. He bent down to put them on. He also noticed that he was wearing one of those hospital gowns with the ties in the back and he thought what was the point of it? He walked around without clothes anyway.

He pulled the clothing off of his body and placed the cloth on the bed. As he did so, he noticed his wrists were bandaged. He lifted his hands up and examined them curiously. He removed the bandages and noticed that there was nothing wrong. He narrowed one eye in confusion.

Just then, he heard a snore to his left. He turned his head and saw that same sleeping figure he noticed when he first woke up. He walked over and knelt down in front of the creature. He smiled when he saw who was sitting there.

Sonic was curled into a pillow, his feet folded beside him, and a small trail drool was seeping from his mouth heading for his chin. He was in an obvious uncomfortable position, but nevertheless, he was still fast asleep.

The chair sat only a foot or so away from the end of the bed. Shadow leaned back and sat himself on the corner of the sheets. He let an elbow lean on his knees for support, and pressed another hand to Sonic's shoulder to wake him up. "Sonic? Sonic, wake up."

Sonic moved slightly, and then just a few seconds later of no additional movement, he jumped in his seat with eyes wide open "Forget it, Eggman!" He looked as if he had just come out of a state of shock, or an intense dream. He blinked, sat up, and looked around in complete alert and in a bit of a sweat. "What?" He sounded confused.

Shadow just gave a small grin at the situation.

Sonic came completely into his conscious state and realized just what was really going on. "Shadow?" He smiled and immediately leaned up to hug him.

Shadow was caught off guard a bit but then lifted his hand to hug the blue hedgehog back, who in turn, immediately jerked away just as fast as he gave the hug. "I didn't hurt you did I? I didn't mean to do that so suddenly. You were in pretty bad condition."

Shadow shook his head, "no."

The blue hedgehog tilted his head. "The doctors did say you were healing abnormally fast, but not this fast." He picked up Shadow's hand and looked at his wrist which looked like there was nothing wrong in the first place. "Jeeze, look at you you, Mr. I-heal-faster-than-the-rest-of-the-world. The patches of hair they shaved off even grew back already."

Shadow looked over his body and Sonic was right. There wasn't a hair out of place or missing.

The blue hero let go of Shadow's wrist and sat up in his chair. "You were out for five days. By the time Tails had got to South Island, you had passed out. I told you to stay awake. Way to listen, Shads." Sonic smiled slightly, lightening the mood a bit with a small joke.

Shadow let out a crooked grin at the joke then looked down at his hands and glanced over the rest of his body. "I was out for five days?"

Sonic nodded, "you kept puking in your sleep too. It was gross and purple. The doctor said your body was rejecting some kind of poison GUN created. Well, it wasn't poison, it was some long, six syllable name that I didn't care about learning, so I just keep calling it poison."

"Did you stay here the whole time?"

Sonic nodded as if staying in one room for five days straight didn't bother him. "Well, Knuckles, Tails and Rouge have been in and out, but I haven't really left." He looked down at his lap, "I mean yeah, I left once…" He looked up in thought with a squinted eye, "maybe twice, but I've been here. I didn't want you to wake up alone. I mean, that would freak me out. I figured you wouldn't want that either."

Shadow smiled, "thank you, Sonic. I appreciate you staying with me."

Sonic shrugged, still not looking at his ebony companion. "It's no problem, really. Just as long as you're, you know, okay and stuff."

Shadow nodded, looking over the blue hedgehog that had showed him so much compassion over the past few months. After the two had been rivals only last year, they saved the world together and now…now he didn't know what they were, or what they could be. Shadow knew that he cared about him just as much as he did Maria, except in a different sense.

This creature helped Shadow in so many ways. Without Sonic, he would still be out with a taste for revenge and a lust for murder. He would still be blinded by the death of Maria and all of the good memories of her would still be just a haze of nothingness.

The black creature looked down and a big smile formed on his face. It somewhat surprised himself. His mouth was a wide grin with fangs and teeth showing of the like. It was an odd stretch for the Shadow Sonic had come to know. It could be the reason why the blue hedgehog was sitting there with a surprised look on his face.

"Whoa."

Shadow looked back over to his blue companion. "What?"

Sonic smiled, "why, Shadow…is it possible you are in a good mood?"

Shadow shook his head with a feint laugh and his sly grin that was his usual 'smile' peeled onto his face. "I wouldn't go that far, hedgehog." He scoffed another laugh just before standing up.

Sonic stood as well, "what are you doing? You should lay back down. I know you think you're fine but you still need your rest." Sonic squinted an eye with irony after he spoke. So many times his friends had told him that when he was injured and he was stubborn as anything.

Shadow just looked at him and ignored what he said. "Come on, I want to go for a walk." Then he began to pull out the IV needle stuck in his arm. Immediately, machines flat lined and began beeping.

Before Sonic could object further, Shadow was out the door. "And by walk, you mean run." Then he followed out the door with a quick dash to catch up.

Shadow immediately moved to the next available room, shortly followed by Sonic. He shut the door and looked out the tiny window on it to watch the rushing nurses pass by. He grinned evilly and turned around to Sonic who was hovering behind him to look as well.

"Come on," he began, "there's a window over there."

Sonic shrugged, "well I guess the front door is out."

The two jumped out the window and ran down the side of the building. Shadow realized that the hospital that he was in was a major building in Station Square. Sonic stayed only an inch or so behind to see exactly where Shadow was taking him.

Shadow didn't seem to have a destination in mind but he realized one that he could go to once he spotted Emerald Coast just a few blocks to his left. He decided to take the path and Sonic followed blindly.

Shadow came to a halt and looked at Sonic who stopped just beside him. In the distance, they noticed the sun rising over the ocean. Without a second thought, Shadow sat upon the sand. Sonic looked down at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Watching."

Sonic lifted an eyebrow. "watching what?"

Shadow just shook his head and looked forward. "Just sit down, jeeze."

Sonic laughed as he plopped next to Shadow. "You said jeeze. I say that all the time."

Shadow rolled his eyes, "it's not a big deal…jeeze." He laughed lowly.

He noticed that he was letting himself go and laugh more. A feeling of angst that was pinned to his back was lifted and he felt lighter. That dream, or whatever it was, with Maria, really struck a chord in him.

Sonic looked forward as well. An orange hue began to lighten the sky.

Shadow focused his attention forward. "I've never seen one of these before."

Sonic looked surprised for a moment. "I keep forgetting that you are new to all of this. I enjoy the sunset better. You don't have to wake up so early for it. Remember when we saw one of them?"

Shadow kept his head forward and nodded. That's when he began to really notice the feelings he had developing for Sonic.

The thought of that made him look back on what had recently happened. How Sonic had taken him into his home and how he lived with betrayal in him the entire time. He shook his head and cast it down so that it focused on the sand.

Sonic noticed this body language. "What's wrong?" There was a concern in his voice that Shadow never received from anyone before. Sonic was a genuine soul. He was thankful to know him.

Shadow turned his head to look at him. "Thank you."

A confused look appeared on Sonic's face. This was a sentiment out of nowhere. "For what?"

"For having faith in me. I almost killed you when we met again and then I sold you out to the Doctor." He turned his head away again. The words created a shameful cloud above his head. "You could have walked away at any moment but you stuck with me through it all. You saw the good in me. That's a gift, Sonic. You truly are an amazing individual."

Without thought, he placed his hand over Sonic's. He curled his finger tips just enough to grasp the other's palm in his and he smiled. "I've been wanting to tell you something that Maria explained to me before."

Sonic watched with an interested heart. Shadow was being very sincere with him. He wasn't used to this.

"I realized it just before Doctor Robotnik attacked…that I love you. You are who I survived for when I fell from Ark. I saw how upset you were when I was dropping quickly away and I used every bit of my strength to hold on and I did. You are the reason I live today."

Sonic looked down. He was really touched and red permeated onto his cheeks. He wasn't used to situations like this. Amy telling him that she loved him, and Shadow telling him that he loved him were two very different ballparks–he preferred this one. "I love you too, Shads."

Shadow took in a deep breath. It felt so good to love someone and to have that person love you in return. He felt fresh and new. "And I am sorry about your home. I was not–"

Sonic interrupted him, "don't worry about it." He was burnt out from that whole situation. It was over. He'd move somewhere else.

Shadow nodded, getting the hint that Sonic did not want to talk about the subject. It went silent for a moment, not at all awkward, but just for a moment.

"Jeeze, look at you. You got all mushy on me. Let's go for a run!" Sonic jumped to his feet, not letting go of Shadow's hand, which caused him to be yanked to his feet as well. The two were now face to face. He shot Shadow his trademark grin, leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "That's unless you don't think you can keep up." He let go of the other's hand, kicked up some sand beneath his feet and darted down the beach.

Shadow smiled to himself as the cloud from the sand quickly began to dissipate into the air. He touched a hand to his face where Sonic had planted the short kiss. "Of course I can, hedgehog." He pulled his green Chaos Emerald out from his shoe. He glanced into the gem as more than ten reflections looked back at him. He tossed it in the air and caught it without a problem. His smile turned into a smirk.

"Chaos Control."

The End