*I don't own any of the characters from SEGA. T_T*

Shadow walked out of his apartment, running to the meadow that Sonic had wanted to meet him in. Sonic said he "wanted to talk." Of course, Shadow just ignored him, saying "don't waste my time." Sonic was a persistent little bastard, though (in Shadow's eyes) and just kept asking.

His red eyes observing world around him, only five words were thought. 'Maria would have loved this.'

The thought sent a searing pain in his chest, so horrible he just wanted it to end. So he stopped thinking about Maria and focused his thoughts on Sonic.

Why did Sonic want to talk? There wasn't much to the ebony hedgehog, and if there was, it was for him to know and for Sonic to never find out.

Shadow slowed his run, his jet shoes slowly turning off. He was here. The meadow.

And the blue blur was not. Of course he wasn't.

Shadow groaned, turning around to go home.

"Wait!"

The agent sighed and turned around to give a regard to the hero.

Sonic was letting his feet slow, finally setting into a jog. He walked over to his dark twin.

Sonic observed the anti –hero. Shadow was standing there, waiting for him. His arms were crossed over his chest, the brilliant splash of white fur just above them. His jet shoes were nice and polished, ready for action. Shadow's rings were glowing faintly on each wrist, the cuffs holding them feeding off the energy. His sharp, upturned quills were all in place, the stripes of red leading down them.

Then Sonic saw his eyes.

A brilliant red. A dark crimson, like blood. So compelling, alluring to the eye, though just as frightening –you were looking into the eyes of death. Sonic found himself engrossed by the wondrous glow of the rubies.

"What do you want, Sonic?" sighed Shadow, leaning against a tree.

Sonic shrugged. "I honestly don't know. Just thought I'd wing it when I got here."

"… Well, aren't you going to do something?" asked Shadow. "If not, I should leave."

"No! I mean, c'mon, let's run through the forest. Bet I could get up higher," he snickered, racing into the forest. The hero had to bite down on his lip when he heard the annoyed moan behind him.

Shadow jump dashed from tree to tree, climbing up the branches to see just how high he could get.

Sonic followed, laughing and woo-hooing whenever he made a large jump.

When they were at the top, Shadow leaned his back against the rough, moist bark of the giant oak, closing his eyes. He frowned when he heard the blue dunce appear beside him.

…

"Hey Shadow?" he asked.

"… What?" he growled.

"Why don't you like me? Or the rest of the group. It's not like we don't like you."

He was quiet at first, thinking. Then: "It's not that I don't like you or your friends. Yes, sometimes you may be annoying, and yes, you can be childish, maybe even a little dumb… Where was I? Oh, but I do consider you… an acquaintance."

Sonic didn't like that. He wanted more.

"Why not a friend?"

Shadow's ears flattened against his head. "Because… Because the last time I got close with somebody, when I had a friend, I watched her being murdered in front of my eyes. And she died because of our friendship. I will not let this happen again," he vowed.

Sonic looked Shadow in the eye, shocked when seeing them glimmer. The tears did not fall, but they were there, and so was the pain. Sonic wanted to end the pain for Shadow. He wanted Shadow to live life to the fullest, to experience happiness. He wanted to see the smile that was fabled to exist 50 years ago.

"You don't need to worry about me being murdered, Shadow," he murmured. "I can protect myself."

Shadow's crimson eyes flashed, anger burning a fire deep within them. "How do you know this, Sonic?" he demanded. "How can I trust that I will not see you die –that you won't leave me alone? Maria had promised this also, so try ~convincing me why I should get attached to you or one of your friends."

Sonic locked eyes with the enraged Ultimate Lifeform. "Because I would never do that to you. I will always fight for you, no matter what."

Shadow closed his eyes. "I just don't want to be hurt again," he whispered, his voice barely audible. He jumped down from the tree, running into the forest again. Sonic called for him, dashing after him.

Sonic did not know why he was trying so hard to get the ebony to trust him. All he knew was that he liked being around Shadow, even if Shadow didn't like it himself.

Sonic wanted to see Shadow happy, and dammit, he was going to whether Shadow wanted to be or not.

When he was close enough, he tackled the dark one.

Shadow fell to the ground with a shout. Startled rubies met emeralds. "W-What are you doing Sonic?" asked Shadow. Hearing how timid he sounded, he went back to bad ass mode. "Never mind you. Get the hell off of me before I rip the fucking tree down and beat the crap out of you with it."

Sonic smiled and let Shadow up –but on one condition.

"You have to trust that I won't hurt you Shadow. I would never do that to you."

Shadow felt touched, though he would never show it. "Fine. Now get the fuck off of me."

Sonic complied easily, lifting Shadow up. "Wanna race?"

"No, not really. But I'll run back to the meadow with you, how about that?" he asked. He tried to calm down, to act like he was with Maria.

Sonic smiled, happy that Shadow was welcoming him. "Sure."

The two were nothing but streaks of blue and gold as they dashed through the forest. Sonic even heard Shadow laugh just before breaking the sound barrier.

Sonic didn't expect Shadow to make a tight turn.

And that is how Sonic the hedgehog had gotten stuck in a tree.

Shadow was further ahead when he noticed the absence of the hero. Confused, he looked around, waiting for another assault from the blue menace. When nothing happened, a very disoriented hedgehog ran back, looking for Sonic.

"Shadow!"

The dark one's head whipped around at the sound of his name, pinpointing the location.

"Shaaadddooowwww!"

He wasn't that far now. Another turn and he should be there. Besides, he wanted to shut up that annoying hedgehog. He was wining like a child. He was a child.

The "child" somehow managed to hurtle himself through a tree.

His stomach was inside, arms and head on the right, popping out on the tree. Struggling feet and a blue tail was all on the left. Shadow burst into peals of laughter.

"Oh, oh Sonic, this is good," he gasped through tears. "Hero of Mobius, defeated by a tree!" he chuckled, getting a hold of himself. "Ah, that was good. Takes a lot to get me laughing these days… heh…"

"Glad you enjoyed the show," Sonic grumbled. But he did like Shadow's laugh… it was dark and wild, like music. He wanted to hear this again. But first… "Why don't you laugh anymore?" asked the cerulean hedgehog.

Shadow thought about this. I don't feel happy without Maria. Not anymore. I feel happiness through pain, misery. All the things I was put through."

Sonic thought about this. "You shouldn't suffer anymore. And neither should I. Help me get out of this tree!"

The ebony hedgehog moved to Sonic's feet, pulling, yanking with all his strength, but to no avail. The hero had wedged himself in there pretty well

Shadow sighed, giving another desperate tug to Sonic's foot, making the hero scream in protest. "Hey, Shads, I kind of want my foot still attached to me by the time I get out of this tree."

Shadow ignored the blue hedgehog.

His eyes swept over the azure body, and he grunted, trying to yank him once more.

"Ah! Shadow, that hurts! Stop! Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!" he wailed.

Shadow let go, stepping back. "At this rate, you'll be as old as me by the time we get you out of here." The red orbs studied the conflict again. He walked over to where Sonic's head poked out of the tree, and whispered, "Stay very, very still."

Sonic took a quick intake of breath while blushing.

Shadow's palm began to glow with a ball of white lightening. "Chaos Spear!" he yelled.

The tree immediately broke into two.

Sonic was happy to be freed.

"Thanks, Shady," he said, pecking him on the cheek.

Shadow held his cheek, blushing. "Um, Sonic, why did you kiss me?"

Sonic froze. He let his emotions out for a sec. "Um, I didn't mean to. I guess it just felt like Amy there, ya know?" he asked, almost desperately.

"…Sure…" said Shadow.

Sonic picked himself up, accidentally throwing himself at Shadow, putting them in a lip lock as the unlikely couple fell to the ground with a shout.

The two were unmoving, the events of what happened (and what was still happening) not sinking in just yet.

Sonic finally removed himself from Shadow, blushing furiously. "I –I'm so sorry, I didn't…" The hedgehog was clearly flustered, looking embarrassed.

Shadow too was blushing, though clearly not as crazed as his light twin. "I'm sorry I put you through that," Shadow grumbled, picking himself up. Just as he turned to run away, he heard Sonic call out.

"No!"

Sonic's hand was outstretched, as if to pull Shadow back.

"I –I uh, mean… Uh! Listen, it's just that I've had this crush on you for –gods –who knows how long, and I just panicked. Please don't leave…"

Shadow walked back to the distressed Sonic, and connected their lips again. Hot tears trailed down Sonic's cheeks as he wrapped his arms around the ebony's neck.

Shadow pulled away and looked lovingly at the azure hedgehog. "Let's go home."

A/N: Hi guys! This is my first story, so be nice! Criticism not wanted! But praise would be nice… Until next time, Peace!