Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Me: So, this is my first Sonic story and I'm in the middle of a writing pause with my other stories.

I'm hoping that writing this will get the creative juices following again.

I watched the movie not too long ago, DON'T READ THE STORY AT THE RISK OF SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED IT YET, I DON'T WANT TO RUIN THE MOVIE EXPERIENCE FOR YOU! This is going to be an AU through so things will be different.

Anyway, I struggled with how to make my own Sonic story and this opportunity presented it for me.  I hope you enjoy this story.

Shadow didn't know how long he walked. He escaped that awful G.U.N. Prison and there was no way he was planning to go back there. He didn't want to be forced to sleep again. He didn't want to do a lot again.

He wanted Maria back, he didn't know where G.U.N. took the Professor, and the thoughts floating around his head wouldn't leave him alone. He kept seeing her there, kept seeing Maria's death replay like it did all that time he was asleep.

He could feel the Chaos burning under his skin, just waiting for the right trigger for it to burst out. The rain did little to calm him, all it did was reflect his mood, and he didn't know where he was going. The humans walked by him, going on with their day, ignoring him completely, and that only made the feeling worse. Here he was, escaped from a forced imprisonment that he didn't know for how long and with memories he'd rather forget, and they all ignored him. What was around this area of the world that people wouldn't bat an eye at a living, breathing creature like him?

He had no idea what his species was called, only he was a hedgehog of some sort. He didn't know a lot, but Maria tried to help him find out. She used to write down silly theories and they would speak back and forth about why Shadow was not this or that, or some random thing. That alone brought the storm in his eyes again, the anger and pain.

He walked alongside the sidewalk, getting closer to some plaza with a lot of crosswalks and directions to go. Funny, he didn't know which way to go.

What happened next would change the course of the future, for the simple action of an interaction could change someone's path.

Someone stepped in front of Shadow's path and didn't move. Growling, Shadow stopped and glared up at the person. He thought it was some businessman who thought to bother him, maybe a woman who thought he was some child, he knew he was the size of a small one. However, the person wasn't either of those things and it honestly drove Shadow for a loop.

It was a young girl, a teenager. She looked older than Maria did, maybe by a couple of years. She had light tan skin and green eyes that looked bright. However, she also had green hair that was wet from the rain, which made Shadow's head spin because humans can have green hair?! She was wearing a white hoodie with the hood down. She had white pants that were being held up by a green belt. The bottoms of her pants were tucked into some green boots with white accents and bottoms.

Compared to the rest of the humans he'd seen, her appearance definitely threw him off. However, like him, no other human seemed to stare at the girl. It was like the two of them were in their own little world, separated from the rest.

The girl stared at him, tilting her head as her face made no expression. Suddenly, she spoke, "I know that look."

Shadow blinked, not knowing what to say, confused. The girl seemed to understand.

"The look in your eyes. The look of loss, devastation, anger," the girl spoke, and Shadow gritted his teeth, his fists clutching. What did this girl know?! The girl merely glanced at his hands and then looked back into his eyes, seemly unconcerned by his anger.

"I've seen that expression in the mirror of my own face, to recognize that look."

Mirror? Was she talking about her reflection? Her expression? Why would she make that expression unless...she lost someone too? Shadow's anger seemed to disappear at that, his fists uncurling as he stared at the girl with calmer eyes.

The girl made a small smile as she knelt. Shadow felt his breathing hitch, it was almost like he was looking at Maria's eyes again, even though they were different. But the eyes of the girl before him were still kind as she stared at him.

"Your expression is too life-like to be anything but that, and it's oblivious to anyone with eyes that you are not a child in a suit," the girl said, gesturing to Shadow. Shadow glanced down at himself. Perhaps some people did have brains. He still didn't say anything.

"It's also oblivious that you don't really want to be alone right now," the girl continued, "Much less deserves to be."

Shadow looked down, bringing his hands up to hold himself. How did this girl know? Did she know what he was feeling? The anger and resentment he felt all seemed to have become sadness and pain. And he desperately wanted to get rid of it.

A hand appeared in his line of vision, making Shadow gasp quietly in surprise as he looked back up at the girl. She was smiling at him, understanding in her gaze. She let out a soft chuckle.

"Come with me. I may not know who you lost, but if they were anything like mine, they would not want you to go through this alone."

Shadow shallowed, biting his lip. The girl was right, Maria would hate it if he was upset and didn't accept comfort. The first time he did, she refused to leave him alone, following him around and even chasing him until he finally stopped and let her hug him. That or she won't steal and keycard to use the lift to show him the stars. She would be yelling at him right now to take comfort.

He took the girl's hand.

"By the way, the name is Rina Raewyn," the girl, Rina introduced herself.

Shadow took a deep breath, "Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog."

Rina chuckled, "Knew you were a hedgehog of some sort."

This was not how Rina expected her day was going to go. She had left the rather pricey hotel where her foster parents, for now at least, were staying during their business trip slash meeting slash party to gain parents to better the business. Honestly, she was only brought along to get sympathy points from the other corporations to her foster parents.

Losing her parents and being sent through different foster homes until she got the one family she's with now. The Thorndykes were rather wealthy, Nelson Thorndyke owned a rather big business he got from his father Chuck when he retired, and Lindsey was a part-time actress due to the fact she wanted to be with her son, Christopher Thorndyke.

It sounded like a nice family to be fostered with, only if Nelson wasn't working at his business all the time and at home, Lindsey always dressing fancy with make-up and all, and on the phone with her agent to get parts in movies. And Chris Thorndyke was a spoiled brat, always saying he didn't have friends when he did at school, Rina saw and heard the kid call him his friends, and always trying to get his parent's attention.

Good damn grief.

Anyway, she left the hotel to get away from the party going on and to just explore. She's glad she can speak Japanese thanks to her father being a language teacher who was a Polyglot. Their favorite pastime was speaking in different languages around her mother, who could only speak one. Used to drive her nuts. She's going off-topic again.

She was just exploring the sights Tokyo had to offer her before it started raining, and Rina decided to head back to the hotel. She was standing at the crosswalk, waiting for the right time to go and that's when she saw the most interesting and strangest thing in her life.

An anthropomorphic hedgehog. Walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the street.

It was black with red stripes, its eyes almost like a ruby. It had gloves on its hands and some nice-looking boots. It wore golden bracelets around its wrists. But none of that was what caught her attention. Instead, what got her was its expression. It was the face of someone who lost someone important to them recently. She lost her parents nearly three years ago and she still has that expression when she looks in the mirror sometimes.

There was no way that was some human creation or someone, maybe a child, in a suit. No suit or man-made creation could make an expression like that.

When it was time to cross the road, she didn't waste any time walking and ran to the other side, fearing losing the creature that was clearly in pain. Stopping in front of the creature, a 'he' based on appearance if Rina guessed right, she didn't have to wait long for him to realize that someone was in front of him.

Exchanging some words allowed Rina to see that he was confused at first, before getting angry at her implying she knew what that he was feeling. She knew that too. However, the moment she mentioned seeing her own reflection the hedgehog seemed to lose his anger, becoming withdrawn and rather sad. She could see that when the hedgehog looked down he didn't know what to do.

Anyone else could have walked away, she was not them. She knew that the moment she saw his expression, the moment she spoke to him, and the moment she offered him her hand, stepping aside or walking away was not an option. It was never an option.

She could've cheered when the hedgehog took her hand and introduced himself. He was definitely a living creature not of Earth, she'll freak over that later. And Shadow was a nice name.

Shadow huffed, bringing a hand up to mess with his quills. Rina hummed, looking the quills over with her eyes before glancing around. It was pure luck that no one else was really looking at Shadow at the moment, too busy trying to get out of the rain or something else to care, but someone else was bound to see that Shadow was more than what he was.

She had to hide Shadow's appearance and there was only one way that easily solved that problem. She took off her hoodie, revealing a long-sleeved turtleneck that had a green heart with some design around it on the chest area underneath. Her turtleneck was getting soaked, but Rina didn't care as she offered her hoodie to Shadow, who looked at it in confusion.

Shadow stared at the hoodie in confusion, wondering why Rina was holding it out to him.

"Take it."

"Huh," Shadow looked up in confusion.

"To cover yourself. You are lucky that only I saw that you were not something humans could come up with and not some child in a suit and that you're clearly not from Earth, right?"

"I came to Earth in a meteorite," Shadow stated, raising an eyebrow. Rina bites her lip because damn, that eyebrow raise made Shadow look cute.

"Knew you couldn't have been from Earth," Rina said, "Awesome."

Shadow raised both eyebrows at Rina, who had to press her lips together in an effort not to coo like a dog person over a dog or a cat person over a cat.

"That doesn't concern or weird you out? That I'm not from Earth," Shadow asked.

Rina shook her head, "Nope. I'm a weird human. I don't do normal."

"I can second that and we just met," Shadow dryly said, narrowing his eyes slightly at Rina.

Rina laughed, "Yeah, well, being normal is boring and overrated."

Shadow huffed, and let a small smile appear on his face. Rina didn't bother hiding her enjoyment and excitement at seeing that smile. Shadow looked like a little kid, something to think about later. Rina coughed and gestured her hoodie to Shadow again.

"Put it on," Rina said, "You'll look like a little kid in a big hoodie instead of a hedgehog from space."

Shadow considered the hoodie and Rina's reasoning and decided that wearing the hoodie might be better than nothing. He took the hoodie and tried putting it on, but his quills were getting in the way. Rina chuckled, "Here, let me help."

With Rina's help, they were able to move Shadow's quills inside the hood carefully. It wasn't a tight fit, it was rather snug, but anyone looking would not be able to guess that there were quills under the hood. After they took care of the hood, Rina helped Shadow adjust the sleeves, folding them back so his hands were free.

Rina looked Shadow over, nodding to herself. He looked like a little kid borrowing a hoodie from his older sibling and not a space hog. Standing up, Rina offered her hand to Shadow again.

"Let's get going. I'd think getting out of the rain is a good first step."

Shadow looked at her hand only for a moment, thinking about what Maria would want for him before he took it.

Rina grinned and started walking forward, Shadow turning to follow, away from the plaza he was heading to. Seems like he found a direction to go. Shadow looked at his and Rina's joined hands. He couldn't help but think that the feeling reminded him of Maria when she used to hold his hand.

They only got to the other end of the sidewalk when vehicles driving past them drew Shadow's attention, making him clutch down tight on Rina's hand. Rina winced from the sudden grip but stopped to look at Shadow. Seeing Shadow staring at the passing vehicles that surrounded the plaza, Rina followed his gaze and watched as armed people exited the vehicles around the plaza.

Rina wasn't a fool, and couldn't afford to to be. She saw the armed people, saw Shadow tense up like a bowstring, his grip tightening to the point of blocking the blood flow in her hand, and knew that Shadow knew those people.

Rina quickly kneeled down, ignoring the people around her who looked at the plaza in alarm and confusion. Her attention was on Shadow. Shadow's eyes were filled with anger, but under that, she saw fear and many other emotions that were appearing in Shadow's eyes. In an effort to help, Rina pulled the hood Shadow wore down more, trying to cover more of his face. That action snapped Shadow out of his state.

Shadow was lost in memories the moment he saw the G.U.N. personnel. They were after him, of course, they were. He was their biggest secret, they couldn't let him get out. They'll take him back and force him to sleep again or go back to running tests on him. He didn't know how he woke up the first time, but he didn't think that they'd let him wake up a second if they caught him.

Rina pulling the hood down to cover his face more drew his attention away from G.U.N. to look at Rina, she was staring at him with a hardened gaze, looking between him and G.U.N.

"Shadow," Rina muttered, "Do you know who they are?"

Shadow doesn't know what compelled him to speak. Maybe it was the way Rina's hand that was still in his tight grip had squeezed his hand back. Maybe it was the way she had her other hand still on the hood of the hoodie, pulling it down to cover his face to keep it out of sight. Maybe it was the way Rina had angled her body to block his sight from G.U.N and in turn, him from them. Maybe it was the way her eyes seemed to scream protection and many other things he didn't take care to name at the moment.

He told her.

"They are G.U.N. They forced me into a sleep for who knows how long. I just escaped the Prison they kept me locked up in. They killed..."

Shadow stopped, he couldn't finish, but he didn't need to from the way understanding filled Rina's gaze as she glanced over her shoulder. People were starting to run away from the armed people looking around. Rina didn't move.

"Do you know when they put you to sleep," Rina asked, deciding that asking about the other thing was not the right idea at the moment, "If not the day, then the year?"

Shadow slowly nodded, "I don't know the day, but I know the year was 1974 when I was imprisoned."

Rina's jaw dropped as she gasped, "1974. Are you sure?"

Shadow nodded, confusion in his eyes as he pondered Rina's reaction. He didn't have to wonder long.

"Shadow, it's the year 2024."

Shadow gasped this time, the amount of time he spent asleep shocking him, "50 years? I've been imprisoned for 50 years?"

Rina took in the shocked hedgehog in front of her and looked over at her shoulder at G.U.N. They were looking for Shadow around the plaza, and with that came the dreaded realization that if she didn't stop Shadow when she did and offer to take him someplace, he would have wondered right into the plaza, right into G.U.N.

There were not enough 'damns' in the world for Rina to speak.

Rina took in the running crowd, the G.U.N. Agents searching, and finally, the still shellshocked hedgehog who was clearly being hunted. She was afraid to ask his age after learning what he went through and the bombshells, but it would help her later on helping Shadow. The first time: Getting Shadow out of here.

"Hold on," Rina said, before wrapping her free arm around Shadow, and picking him up. He didn't let go of her hand, which made adjusting him difficult, but she was able to have his head pressed into her shoulder. Shadow had wrapped his legs around her waist by instinct, but he was still shocked. What was with this strange girl that kept surprising him?

Rina stood up, grunting a bit because Shadow was heavier than he looked, though it appeared to be more from his shoes than anything.

She adjusted Shadow once more and glanced once more back at G.U.N. to make sure they weren't spotted, before blending in with the crowd and running away from the scene. Getting back to the hotel was the objective.

"What are you doing," Shadow asked looking up at Rina in disbelief. She didn't leave him once she learned that he was being hunted and was in a prison?

"Helping you."

"You can't."

"Why?"

"They could kill you," Shadow voiced, desperate for Rina to know that she was in danger of helping him. Anyone was.

Rina chuckled, a smirk dancing across her face as she glanced down at Shadow, turning a corner and decking into the first alley she saw so she could focus on Shadow once they were out of G.U.N. sight. Shadow pushed himself away from Rina's shoulder enough to look at her in her eyes.

"Death doesn't scare me Shadow. Not anymore," Rina grinned, much to Shadow's disbelief.

"They could kill you like they did my sister," Shadow cried out. He didn't want another person to die for him.

Rina's grin faded at that. Screw waiting, she had to know at least one thing because Shadow sounded young when he said that. "I'll ask about that later because that seems to be a story best suited to being out of the rain and in safety, but answer this for me. How old are you?"

Shadow blinked and thought for a moment, "Fourteen, I think. I'm getting close to fifteen."

Rina growled, banging her head against the wall behind her, much to Shadow's alarm, "Rina!"

"Shadow, I'm seventeen. Your just a freaking damn kid that should be doing kid things and not running from an obvious government group wanting to lock you up and who knows what else for just existing," Rina stated, huffing in aggravation.

"Damn kid," Shadow echoed quietly as if he didn't register that he was technically a kid, and that made Rina's heart hurt.

Rina sighed, "Anyway Shadow, we may have just met, but I'm not going to let you face that alone. You need help and I'm more than happy to provide it."

"But you could die helping me," Shadow argued, baring his teeth a bit as Rina fought him.

Rina raised an eyebrow, "I face death every day Shadow, and it hasn't killed me yet. But if me dying has you so concerned, let me tell you this little bit of information."

Rina pulled her hand free from Shadow's grip, bringing it up to grasp Shadow's chin so he wouldn't look away from her gaze. Shadow gasped when he saw her expression because Rina looked fierce in that moment like she had nothing left to lose, like him.

"The universe tries to kill you the moment you're born, and it won't stop until you're dead," Rina stated, her gaze hard, "However, that doesn't mean I'm just going to hand over its victory. This life is mine, I'm going to live it, so screw the universe. So if helping you means I get to live it after looking for something to live more for, I'm not walking away."

Rina pulled her hand away from Shadow's chin to rub at his head as he stared at her. Her words seemed to echo in his head as he stared at the first human interaction in 50 years, a kind one at least.

"Life is not about survival, Shadow. It's about making sure you live a life worthwhile. There's a difference between surviving and living," Rina said, "And I'd rather live than survive."

Shadow didn't say anything after that, looking down and thinking hard about her words. Rina pulled him close again, Shadow's head was tucked into her neck this time, her arms wrapped around his back and legs.

"Let's get to the hotel and out of the rain," Rina spoke, rubbing Shadow's back, "We can talk more there."

Shadow nodded, it was small but Rina felt it judging from the tightening of her grip. She peered out of the alley, looking left and right to make sure there were no G.U.N. personnel around before she took off running again. The two didn't know the changes they made as Rina ran away from G.U.N. carrying Shadow in her arms.

That Shadow wouldn't attack G.U.N. when they cornered him in the Plaza. He had chosen a different direction.

That three Mobians wouldn't be 'asked' by G.U.N. for help in confronting Shadow without any information. They celebrated the arrival of one of their own with their humans for the rest of the night.

A plan 50 years in the making wouldn't be carried out the way a revenge-driven man planned. Rina had been in the right place at the right time to unintentionally ruin that plot.

The simple action of an interaction could change someone's path, but that included anyone else they interacted with. And not only would Shadow's path be changed, but so would everyone else's.

Me: I've been waiting to do this idea for a while and when the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie came out, I realized I had the perfect setup.

Rina and Shadow will bond more later, don't worry about that. However, what antics should the two of them get into?

See ya in the next one. All Hail Shadow.

Chapter Text

Me: I'm glad I'm getting attention with this story.

This story replaces the events of the movie with something else more light-hearted, but rest assured the movie events will happen, just not right now. This is also the first part of a series.

Enjoy!

They were able to get back to the hotel with no problem, however, another problem presented itself. Rina had stopped near the corner of the fancy luxury hotel, the Cerulean Kio, her foster family was staying at, looking at the people stationed at the desk, the people milling around, and the doorman at the door.

Rina had set Shadow down when they were outside but now tried to figure out how to get him inside. This was the type of place that remembered and she left without anyone, so coming back with a child-sized being would bring attention. She could have Shadow take off the hoodie and pretend to be a stuffed animal, but she didn't know how he would take that.

As Rina contemplated the solution before her, Shadow looked between her and the hotel Rina was staring at. He didn't say anything after Rina's words rendered him silent as she brought him to the hotel. She risked G.U.N. coming after her if they got caught, she still could be. Yet, she didn't fear that, she was more worried about him.

"Rina," Shadow said, pulling on Rina's hand. Rina jumped in surprise, looking at Shadow. She quickly looked around, like she was making sure no one was watching them, like G.U.N., before kneeling down next to him.

"What is it," Rina asked.

"What are you doing," Shadow tilted his head towards the hotel windows.

Rina glanced at the windows and straightened, realizing that Shadow could help her decide what to do instead of just guessing.

"I'm trying to figure out how to get you in the hotel. This place remembers the number of people they have because they cater to a specific group of people on different days. They even have pictures matched to the room number to make sure you're not bringing anyone in. Meaning if I walk in there holding your hand, they're going to stop me because you're not supposed to be here, since with you wearing that hoodie you look like a little kid. You could pretend to be a stuffed animal, but that means that you can't move or blink, plus breathe very slowly. Unless of course, you know of a way to get in without getting caught?"

Shadow hummed, narrowing his eyes as he looked inside. Bringing up a hand to his mouth as he thought about it. He could pretend to be a stuffed animal, but he also could run in, or teleport.

"Where do you need to go," Shadow asked.

Rina pointed over to the elevators, which were in a hallway behind the sign-in desk and the people running it, "We need to go there, the elevators."

Shadow looked around the lobby of the hotel and then looked back at Rina, "I can run in, or I can teleport."

Rina coughed, looking back at Shadow in surprise and shock. She exclaimed in the quietest voice she could so it came out like a hiss, "What?!"

Shadow blinked up at her innocently, like what he just said wasn't giving Rina a mind blow-up, "I can run inside or I can teleport next to you when you get to the elevator."

Rina's mouth was making a very good impression of a fish, "Okay, I understand the teleporting, but running?"

"I can run fast, like faster than what your eyes can see, and I can go faster due to my air shoes," Shadow explained, gesturing down to the shoes on his feet.

Closing her eyes, Rina sighed. Bringing a hand up to her eyes and repeating to herself in a manga, "Geek over it later. Geek over it later" much to Shadow's confusion.

Rina shook her head and brought her hand down, taking a deep breath to settle herself. Once she felt like she was ready, she looked back at Shadow.

"Teleporting sounds safer," Rina said, finally after some thought. She pointed to the elevators, "When I get to them, I'll give you a signal. Wait till I do because someone might be in there."

Shadow nodded in understanding. Rina gave one last look around before standing up and entering the hotel lobby, the doorman letting her in. Shadow watched as Rina walked up to the sign-in and spoke to the lady behind the counter. He watched the lady mess with the computer and after a bit, nodded at Rina. Rina nodded back and walked to the elevators, going to one that was different than the others with the letters V.I.P. on it, pressing the button to go up.

She waited until the doors opened and gave it a peek inside. When she saw that no one was inside, she took another look around, looking up at a corner of the wall. She turned to the window and pointed up over her shoulder. Shadow looked over Rina's shoulder and saw that she was pointing at a camera. Shadow nodded at her, showing that he saw it. Rina waved and Shadow took that as the sign and teleported right next to Rina, out of the camera's sight.

Rina jumped but quickly pushed Shadow into the elevator before the doors closed. Rina sighed, "There are no cameras in the elevator, at least this one."

"Why," Shadow said, looking up at her.

Rina gestured around at the elevator, "This elevator is only for the penthouse suites, that camera watches only the outside. My foster family are important people so they got the important rooms, lucky them."

"Foster family," Shadow echoed, the term confusing him.

Rina glanced down at him, "A family that takes in a child whose family is ill-suited, unable, or dead to take care of them."

Shadow's eyes widened when he heard that, Rina's words echoing in his head: I've seen that expression in the mirror of my own face, to recognize that look.

"Does that mean..." Shadow started to say as Rina pressed a button on the panel. He didn't finish as Rina nodded, a solemn, "Yeah" was all she said.

Shadow let that information brew in his head. Rina was with a family foster since hers was unable to take care of her, and since she said that she knew the pain of losing someone, that meant that her parents were...dead. He glanced up at Rina, who kept her gaze on the elevator doors. He could see the pain in her eyes. It never goes away, does it?

Shadow brought up one of his hands to play with the hood of the hoodie he was given. Now that both of them were out of the rain, the hoodie was dipping a puddle on the floor. It was drenched from the rain and was getting uncomfortable to wear, not to mention he had enough of being wet from the cryo capsule G.U.N. kept him in and then from the rain. He wanted to be dry.

He started pulling the hoodie off, grunting when the hoodie got caught on his quills. Huffing, Shadow tried giving it a hard tug, only to freeze when there was a loud ripping sound. Hearing the rip, Rina looked down and brought a hand up to her mouth.

Shadow froze as soon as he heard the rip, eyes lacing up at Rina to see her looking at him and covering her mouth. For a second he thought that she was angry at him for ripping her hoodie, only to hear her snort before laughing.

"Oh Shadow, your face! You look like a deer caught in headlights!"

Shadow frowned, but a small smile grew on his face as Rina continued laughing. Rina laughed for a couple more seconds before she reached out to help Shadow pull the now-ripped hoodie off him.

Shadow shook himself slightly only for Rina to hold her hand out, "Hold on, there's a bathroom attached to my room, and the shower is enclosed so you can shake yourself off in there instead of getting the elevator wet and leaving me with a story I don't want to explain."

Shadow raised an eyebrow, "How did you know I was going to shake?"

Rina chuckled, "You have fur. Most animals on Earth that have fur shake themselves to get the water out of it. That and I took a guess."

Shadow tilted his head as he thought about that before he shrugged, "Fair."

Rina chuckled once more, putting the ruined hoodie over her shoulder. It was at that moment she looked up and saw that she was almost to her floor and that made her remember that she shared the suite with three other people who could not know about Shadow's existence, her foster family.

"Crap forgot about them," Rina narrowed her eyes as she ran a hand through her green hair.

"What," Shadow asked, looking at Rina, concerned.

Green eyes met red eyes as Rina kneeled down next to Shadow.

"My foster family. They don't know about you and I rather they didn't," Rina said.

"Are they untrustworthy," Shadow asked, tensing like he was preparing for a fight.

Rina made a sound as she brought a hand up and tilted it side-to-side, "Kinda. They're not bad people, they just have a different set of morals than I do. And if they knew about you they wouldn't hesitate to try and use that to make themselves look good."

"Like alerting G.U.N.," Shadow stated and Rina nodded.

Shadow frowned, a serious look appearing in his eyes as he thought. He peered over at the panel and saw that they were a floor away from the suite. Thinking fast, Shadow curled up into a ball, knowing that he would be seen as something else in that form.

Rina looked surprised but quickly realized that Earth hedgehogs could curl up into balls, so it would make sense Shadow could as well. However, she was confused about Shadow's shoes disappearing in his balled form. She didn't get a chance to ponder because the elevator stopped and dinged, the doors opening.

She picked Shadow up and was surprised to find that he was lighter when he was like this.

"Shadow," Rina whispered.

Rina flinched in surprise when the 'ball' shifted and Shadow's eyes opened. Snorting, Rina grinned, "Talk about 'eye' balls. This is cool."

Rina bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing when Shadow gave her a flat look. Chuckling, Rina walked out of the elevator and stopped, letting the doors close behind her. She took a quick look and saw that no one was in the area so it was safe, but she stayed quiet since she could hear movement deeper in the suite past the doors.

"What? Don't like puns," Rina teased and strangled a laugh when Shadow's eyes stayed flat, but narrowed.

"I do not get your humor," Shadow whispered disprovely.

Rina giggled, not able to help herself. She gestured to the forward with her head and Shadow understood, closing his eyes and resuming the act of being a 'ball'. Rina took a deep breath, tucking Shadow close to her, and walked deeper into the suite, intending to head to her room.

She entered the living area of the suite and saw Chris sitting on the chough, playing on his Switch. He was wearing a suit and dress shoes, telling Rina that he was going somewhere important soon. That fact was further cemented when she saw Lindsey standing in front of a mirror, adding some touches to her hair. She was wearing one of her gowns, a green floral one, with silver heels, and her makeup was done up.

Guess some people were going to a party. Well, she ain't going.

Lindsey glanced over at Rina through the mirror and gasped, turning around completely.

"Rina! You're all wet," Lindsey gasped, starting to walk over to her.

Rina huffed, adjusting her grip on Shadow to move him away from Lindsey's approach.

"I was outside when the rain started. I was exploring the shops and everything. Found something neat," Rina gestured down to Shadow's balled form, "However, I'm tired of being wet so I'm going to go get dry."

Turning away, Rina started to walk to her room, however, this brought Lindsey's gaze to Rina's hoodie and the state it was in.

"Oh, Rina! What happened to your hoodie," Lindsey exclaimed, pulling the hoodie off Rina's shoulder.

"Huh, it got caught on something really good," Rina said, rubbing the back of her neck as she pulled Shadow's balled form closer to her. Of course, that was the moment Chris looked up from playing his switch to see Rina, or more really, Shadow's balled form.

"Oh, a ball," Chris said, setting his switch aside to get up from the couch and walk over.

Rina felt Shadow shiver in her grasp and felt dread as Chris reached out for Shadow. Thinking quickly, Rina used both hands to hold Shadow above her head, out of Chris's reach.

"Hey," Chris exclaimed, reaching for Shadow despite not being able to reach, "I've been wanting to practice my soccer skills. Let me see it!"

"Your skills are the equivalent of a bull in a china shop. That's why you can't make the team," Rina retorted, leaning away from the kid, "Six broken windows. School windows, mind you."

"That's why I need to practice! So give me the ball," Chris rolled his eyes like that was common knowledge.

Shadow shivered again, not wanting to be in the boy's grasp. He did not like the boy already. Seemed like Rina shared the sentiment because she growled and took a step back.

"I thought your mother taught you manners," Rina sassed, narrowing her eyes, "Besides, this isn't a ball. It's a pillow."

Chris stopped reaching to stare at Rina confused, "You brought a pillow? Why on Earth would you do that when the hotel has its own? And better ones back at the mansion?"

Rina rolled her eyes at the boy, "I like the simple things. I liked the way it looked, but it needs to dry out before I can use it. Besides, even if this was a ball, I wouldn't give it to you, Thornkick."

"Stop calling me that," Chris whined.

"You wanna whine? I'll give you something to whine about," Rina said, leaning close to Chris suddenly, making the boy step back much to Rina's satisfaction, "I'm wet and all I need to do is shake and get water all over that fancy suit of yours."

Chris stepped clear away then, "Stay away psycho!"

"That's enough," Lindsey sternly said, crossing her arms, "Rina, don't ruin Chris's suit. It's new."

"Of course. It's new after all," Rina muttered, bringing her arms down and pulling the ball of Shadow close to her, covering him with her arms as much as she could.

Lindsey turned to Chris, "And Chris, I taught you better than that. Where are your manners? Tell Rina you're sorry."

Chris looked down, "I'm sorry."

Rina huffed rolling her eyes, knowing that he didn't mean it, but if she didn't accept his 'apologies' or point out that he didn't mean it, Chris would complain and Lindsey would lecture her on manners. Again.

"I accept," Rina sighed, looking away.

There was the sound of a door opening and closing before Nelson walked out of the nearby hallway to the bedrooms.

"I'm all ready," Nelson said, adjusting the watch on his wrist.

Lindsey and at her husband before turning to Chirs, pointing at the switch, "Save your game and put your Switch away. We need to get going."

Nelson looked at Rina, looking her over "Ah, Rina. You looked soaked."

"I am soaked," Rina said dryly, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, the three of us are going to the party upstairs. After all, I'll need to find some partners in the business. After you get dry, will you care to join us," Nelson asked.

Rina quickly shook her head. Oh heck no, she was not going to the party to be a source of new pity deals, even then she wouldn't want to go at all because it wasn't a party, but one ain't boring conversation.

"Nah, I'm beat. I'm mostly likely going to get myself dry and then get some rest."

"What kind of person misses going to a party," Chris comments, setting his Switch on the coffee table and walking over to his father.

"The kind of person who has better things to do than die of boredom," Rina snarks, moving her head as she did it. She felt Shadow shake at that and bit her lip. Guess he found that one funny.

However, Lindsey did not. "Rina, don't joke like that."

"I can joke however I like," Rina said, turning away and rolling her eyes. She started walking to her room, "Goodnight."

Nelson sighed, and started leading Chris to the elevators, "That girl."

"Don't forget to take your medication," Lindsey called out as she walked away.

Rina sighed, "Yes, yes, I will."

Shadow frowned. Medication? Was Rina sick?

Rina practically ran to her room, opened the door, and quickly entered it, closing it just as fast and locking it. She set Shadow down and watched as he uncurled from his balled form. He stood up and gave her a hard stare.

"That boy is annoying."

"Chris? He is. You won't get used to it. I didn't," Rina commented, waving for Shadow to follow her as she led the way to the bathroom attached to her room.

Opening the door Rina walked in, Shadow pausing in the doorway as he took in the large size of the bathroom. Shadow was shocked, taking in the large room that could honestly be its own bedroom. A shower, a bathtub, two sinks, and a strange bathtub was built in the floor.

"Shadow."

Shadow blinked and looked over at Rina, who was standing next to the shower. Rina had opened the door to the enclosed shower and was gesturing inside.

"You can go first if you want to shake yourself dry or take a shower to clean yourself off. I'm good. The rain was a good shower anyway."

"I'll shake off. I'm tired of being wet," Shadow said, walking into the shower, Rina closed the door after him.

Rina watched as Shadow shook, water splashing onto the glass between them. Shadow stopped shaking, but he was unsatisfied with how wet he still felt. So he activated his air shoes to hover in the air. Rina gasped, stepping back a bit as she watched in amazement. Shadow spun in the air, increasing his speed until he was nothing but a blur and getting the leftover water off him. Finally satisfied, Shadow stopped spinning and dropped to his feet with a grin, quickly running his hand through his quills and fur to resettle them.

Shadow looked at Rina through the glass and saw the amazed look on her face. Chuckling, Shadow teleported out of the shower to stand right next to Rina. Rina jumped, taking a step back in surprise, and looked down at the dark hedgehog.

Rina looked between Shadow and the shower a couple of times and said, "Was that your speed? You were just a blur!"

Shadow's grin got bigger, "That was only a small portion of my speed."

Rina couldn't take it anymore. She finally let herself geek.

"You can teleport, which is so cool, plus you have super speed! You can hover with those shoes of yours. I am just so amazed about what you can do! What else can you do," Rina exclaimed, a massive grin spreading across her face.

Shadow let out a small chuckle and held up a hand, letting some of his Chaos energy flow through it. Rina's eyes got bigger as she saw it, speaking with a dumbfounded "What?"

"I can use Chaos energy. I'll go into detail later if you want?"

"'If I want' he says. Of course, I want to," Rina grinned, bringing her hands to her chest, clutched like a little kid who couldn't control their excitement. But just like that, the moment her hands touched her wet clothing, Rina remembered that she had to get dry.

Rina chuckled, "After I dry myself off. You can wait in my room when until I'm done. I put my night clothes in here earlier so out you go!"

Shadow let himself be pushed out by Rina before she shut the door.

Shadow could hear Rina speaking to herself about how cool Shadow's powers were and chuckled to himself. Then he stopped to think for a moment. He smiled and laughed a whole lot more in the past couple of minutes then again he was asleep during his time with G.U.N., and the only time he smiled and laughed before was with...Maria.

Frowning, Shadow realized that Rina had become a distraction to his thoughts about Maria, and everything. Not wanting to think about that, Shadow decided to explore the room.

It had a giant bed in the center of the room, a dresser, and a massive TV along with a small seat and table. There was even a balcony attached to the room. Shadow walked around, seeing pieces of Rina's belongings around the room, like the random things on the dresser or what looked like a computer on the bed. The computer confused him since there was nothing attached to it.

Looking around more, Shadow's eyes stopped looking around when he laid eyes on an object resting against the table leg. It was a pair of skates, they were white with green accents. Shadow wondered if everything Rina owned was white and green.

Shadow walked over and picked the skates up, a frown on his face as he contemplated the objects in his hands. As he studied the skates, he was hit with a sudden memory.

He remembered sitting in a lab with monitors attached to him, three scientists were in front of him and doing something, he didn't know besides studying him when the doors opened. He turned to see who it was but saw no one. That was until he noticed movement coming from below did he see Maria peek up from the table's edges. He remembered smiling as they quickly switched Shadow with a teddy bear before booking it out the doors. Maria had tied a rope around Shadow and told him to skate around the halls, and he did, dragging her around on his skates. He could hear her laughter behind him and her sudden warning, only for him to crash into the desert cart. They ended up making 'food' angels.

It was a nice memory. And a painful one knowing he would never have that experience with her again.

"Shadow?"

Shadow jolted, realizing that he'd been so lost in the memory that he didn't realize that Rina was behind him. She was wearing, not to his surprise, white night clothes with green trims. Honestly, everything that she seemed to own was white and green.

"You okay? I've called you a couple of times," Rina asked, concerned.

"I'm okay," Shadow said, not at all okay, which Rina seemed to know judging by her raised eyebrow. Shadow sighed, "I'm just remembering."

Shadow put down the skates and Rina glanced at them. She smirked, "My skates. I used to skate in these professional skate competitions. Dancing to the music while on skates was not easy to learn, but it's so fun now that I know how to do it."

Shadow looked at her, "You're a professional skater?"

Rina shrugged, walking over to the dresser to grab a hairbrush to untangle her hair. "It's professional rollerblading, but yeah. I've been skating ever since I was a little girl and when I learned that there was something almost like a sport for it, I wanted to take it. So I did. Maybe I'll show you one of my dances when I get the chance."

"Alright," Shadow nodded, as he sat down on the chair next to the table. When he did, he noticed a white and green purse, surprise Rina surprise, and a small orange bottle with a white lid next to it. Frowning, Shadow reached over and picked the bottle up. He saw Rina's name on it, and another word but he couldn't pronounce it.

He glanced over at Rina who just set down her brush.

"Rina, what is this," Shadow asked, holding up the bottle.

Rina turned to look and froze in surprise when she saw what was in Shadow's hand. She walked over and gently took it out of Shadow's hand. She sighed as she walked over to her bed, sitting on the corner, Shadow having a perfect view of her.

Rina chuckled, but unlike her other ones, Shadow noticed that this one was bitter. Rina looked over at Shadow as she opened the bottle and took out a pill, popping it in her mouth as she closed the bottle again. Once she swallowed, Rina spoke, "It's my medication."

"Medication? Are you sick," Shadow asked. Rina laughed, tilting her head back and forth, "Something like that."

Rina took a deep breath before sighing heavily and weakly chuckled, "I guess it's story time."

Despite saying that, Rina didn't speak for a good couple of minutes. Shadow didn't say anything as well, seeing that Rina needed time to gather her thoughts. Finally, Rina seemed to harden herself before looking at Shadow.

"I was born to Mavin Raewyn, my father, and Katrina Raewyn, my mother. My father was a language teacher and my mom was a nurse. I was their blonde little girl who loved to skate. I would skate every spring and summer, and my parents would request songs for me to make up dances to. There would always be a night when we would have a movie night, well, not always but most of the time. It was so much fun."

As she talked, Rina's gaze lowered to the bottle in her hand. Shadow stood up and moved to sit by Rina. He didn't say anything but offered his silent support as he listened to Rina speak about this subject that was clearly painful.

"Then the accident happened. It was during the winter, a storm had hit. It wasn't a bad one, but the roads were still filled with slush and snow and that's bad for driving. Dad and I were in the car when he slowed down to make a turn, like you should do. However, the car slid and we ended up going off the road. Dad didn't panic, he couldn't afford to be with me in the car. He was able to pull over to the side of the road and make sure everything was fine but that's when everything went wrong. He was just about to move the car when another vehicle came around the corner. The driver of the other vehicle was hitting their brakes and they even used their e-break, but the snow just kept them sliding right into the side of our car, right where my dad was. The force of the hit made the car of down the embankment, rolling a came of times. I don't remember what happened because I lost consciousness, but when I came to, I was in the hospital and my mom was next to me in tears, but my dad wasn't there. I was told that...dad died due to the car hitting the driver's door and hitting his head during the rolling. The other driver also died from a broken neck. I was the lone survivor. I was fourteen."

Shadow's ears went flat against his head as he looked at Rina in sadness. She lost her father in such a way. Why was the world so cruel? Why did it take people from others?

"But then the doctors told me and my mother even more news."

Shadow's ears tilted forward as he leaned closer to Rina, "What?"

Rina chuckled and shook the pill bottle in her hand, "A tumor. When the doctors took medical scans of me, they took some of my head and found that a tumor was there. My mom demanded they remove it, but they just shook their heads, saying that they couldn't because it was in an area they couldn't remove it from without killing me. An inoperable tumor. There are other ways, and why I take this medication. But the tumor won't go away."

Shadow knew what a tumor was. One of the scientists who used to work at the lab had to leave for a while because of it. He didn't think they came back for a good couple of months. So the fact that Rina had one in her head?

"But don't tumors, kill people," Shadow asked, suddenly finding himself fearing for Rina's future.

Rina nodded, "Max is five years depending on most of them. I'm on year three."

Shadow shook his head, grabbing frantically at Rina's arm, "There's got to be some way!"

Rina tossed her pill bottle onto the chair Shadow was in previously before gently wrapping Shadow's wrist with her hands. "Shadow, I've made peace with this. I face death every day with this tumor in my head and I don't care."

"Why don't you," Shadow exclaimed, scared and confused. He just met Rina not even three hours ago and he was already this attached? Was he that desperate or was he just hoping that the first person who treated him with kindness since Maria's death and his escape wasn't going to die?

"Because I'd rather live and experience what life can offer me. I want to see the sights and experience the trills. The world is cruel Shadow, but there are wonderful things in it that make it so special. The world doesn't stop for the death of one person, but I'd rather keep moving forward than stay in a dark place and let my fears and anger drag me down. I'd seen it happen before."

"What do you mean by that? A dark place," Shadow asked. Rina let go of Shadow's left wrist but held on to the right one.

Rina sighed, "My mother."

Shadow swallowed, realizing that he missed an important fact: Rina was with a foster family because both her parents were dead, but only her father died in the accident. So what happened to her mother?

"What happened," Shadow asked, biting the bullet.

Rina looked away, "When I was diagnosed, my mother nearly broke. The love of her life was dead and her daughter had an inoperable tumor in her head. She started working every shift she could, leaving me with hired sitters or nurses. Her fears were getting the better of her, that one day I wouldn't wake up or just fall dead. She was my mother, I understand that fear. As I got older, I learned how to live independently and started exploring, but my mother tried everything possible to save me. These pills I take are supposed to help kill the tumor, my mom got them for me. She was so desperate to save me and make sure that I would survive, but she was so concerned that, she missed the fact that I just wanted my mother. One night after she made an early dinner, she left for a late shift and..."

Rina breathed heavily as she closed her eyes, "She stopped for gas and there was a robbery at the gas station she was in. She got shot when she walked in because she surprised the guy robbing the store. She was shot straight in the chest and died minutes later. I found out because I called her phone to wish her a good night. It was after the police got there and they answered. I think my wails could've awoken the dead."

"Rina," Shadow spoke softly, sorrow in his voice as he heard Rina's story. Rina wiped some tears from her eyes as she continued, a small smile appearing on her face.

"The police looked up my address through mom's ID and the officer I spoke to had driven all the way to my home to comfort me. I was lost and grieving and he comforted me Shadow. He didn't even know me and yet he stayed until the sun rose from the horizon, until social services came to take me. I was a complete stranger and yet that action he did restored my faith and made me realize something: The world was cruel, but there was kindness in there too. If I let the fact my parents were dead and I had no one along with the fact I had a tumor in my brain get to me, it would destroy me and every memory of my parents."

Rina looked at Shadow, tears were slowly falling down her face but she ignored them as she spoke.

"I realized what I was doing, what my mom was doing, was all to make sure I survived. I was surviving, but I was so focused on that, that I completely forgot to live. So I started living my life, seeing the sights, all the trills that I could."

"Life is not about survival, but making sure you live a life worthwhile," Shadow said, echoing Rina's words from earlier.

Rina nodded, smirking, "Life is not about reaching the end in a well-preserved body, but to reach the end, sliding in, and exclaiming, "Wow! What a ride!". That's my favorite sign. I always wear white and green because green represents nature and life while white represents light and hope. I even dyed my hair green."

Shadow stared at Rina as she pointed to her hair, looking at her in a new light. She lost everything and was given a life-ending diagnosis, yet she still looked on the better side of life. Yeah, she saw the negative, but she didn't let it overwhelm her even when she felt it. She had all the reason to hate the world that took everything from her, but someone helping her made her see that all was bad.

Maybe...he can too? Would Maria want him to do the same? What G.U.N. did to him, and to her, was wrong. They were only children. They were...only children.

They didn't deserve to have the world ripped from them. Yes, Maria wouldn't want him to live in the past and let what happened destroy everything they held dear to each other. Maria would want him to live for her and for himself.

Rina told her story, now it was his turn.

"I already told you that I came to Earth in a meteorite," Shadow started, waiting for Rina to nod before he continued, "When I landed, I was found by G.U.N. I was taken to a lab and was experimented on. I don't know how long I was there, but Professor Gerald Robotnik was the one in charge of studying me. He said that by studying me and my Chaos Energy, humanity could reach a new era, for a greater good."

Rina looked angry when she heard Shadow was being experimented on. She wanted to scream as her tears stalled, but she took a deep breath and gestured for Shadow to continue.

"Time passed, and then one day, I heard I noise coming close to the pod I was in. When I turned around I expected to see a scientist, but instead, I saw Maria. Maria wasn't scared by my angry look, she drew on the pod with a marker. She drew a bunny face on me and laughed. After I realized she wasn't there to do anything to me, I calmed down and then she put her hand on the glass. I copied her and it was like a bond formed instantly.

We did everything we could together. We would dance, watch movies, and eat popcorn. She had skates as well and she used to sneak me out of the lab, tie a rope around me and have me run around the halls and drag her along. We had so much fun. I remember one night when we looked at the stars and she told me I wasn't a monster despite what others thought of me, that Earth was my home, and that I could be whatever I wanted to be and not because of my power, but because of who I am."

Rina chuckled, "She sounds like a great girl."

Shadow smiled sadly as he looked to the side, "She was."

Rina heard the use of past tense and frowned, "What happened Shadow?"

Shadow shakily took a breath, calming himself down when he felt his Chaos energy surge through him at the reminder.

"G.U.N. happened. They were tired of waiting and wanted me as their weapon, so they attacked the lab. They were ordered to kill anyone who worked on me and to capture me. Gerald, Maria, and I were trying to escape and we were so close, the exit was right there. One of the soldiers went to shoot us when Commander Walters started shouting, "Those are children!" and I didn't bother turning around. The soldier fired and missed us and ended up hitting a canister of my Chaos energy, which was next to an entire shelf of them. The canister cracked and exploded. The three of us were caught in the blast and...and...and..."

Shadow couldn't finish as the tears started falling down his face. Chaos energy started to crackle around him. Rina gasped and leaned away when she was zapped, but seeing that that Shadow was breaking down, she braced herself and pulled Shadow in her arms, hugging him tight.

And that broke him.

His Chaos energy disappeared as he let out a wail, burying his face into Rina's shoulder as he finally let himself grieve the loss he suffered 50 years ago, which to him was only days. Rina rocked back and forth, letting Shadow cry his heart out, her own tears falling from her face as she listened to Shadow cry. In her thoughts, she was glad her foster family had left for a party, otherwise, she would have had a hard time trying to explain the loud crying that wasn't her.

"She died," Shadow wailed, clutching Rina's night clothes tight, "Gerald and I survived, but Maria didn't! She was my sister, and she died! And they covered it up! Gerald was the one blamed for the accident and was jailed for life, and I was put into the cryo capsule and forced to sleep! I had Maria's death play on repeat all that time! I broke out somehow and I attacked the G.U.N. agents that were guarding me and I just ran. I got to the city and met you and now I'm here and...and...and I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ANYMORE!"

Shadow had shouted at the top of his lungs, finally breaking down completely as he let out all the emotions he had in for too long. Rina let him cry into her, shredding her own tears for Shadow and for Maria, a girl who died way too soon.

Time passed as Shadow emptied his tanks of tears, but even when he ran out of tears and just sniffed, Rina held him. Shadow didn't move, just limply laid against Rina as he thought about nothing in particular. It felt good, no it didn't feel like that. But more like relief.

After letting all that out and letting himself grief, he felt strangely relieved. He still felt the pain, but after letting all that out, he felt better. Shadow sighed, finally pushing himself away from Rina's shoulder. He found that Rina had pulled him into her lap. Blushing, he pulled himself out of her lap and just sat next to her. However, her arm stayed around his shoulders, which comforted him a little.

"I'm sorry for what you went through Shadow. It wasn't fair to you, either of you," Rina stated.

"I was angry, still am. I'm angry at G.U.N. and the people who took Maria from me. I want them to pay," Shadow admitted before looking up at Rina, a frown on his face, "But that won't bring her back or solve anything, won't it?"

Rina shook her head, "No. Besides, is revenge something she would want?"

Shadow instantly shook his head, "No. She believed in payback and justice, but not revenge."

Rina nodded, "And as much as you hate G.U.N., some of those people most likely didn't know you existed or didn't want to be part of the attack. You said Commander Walters yelled out "Those are children!" when they shot at you, right?"

Shadow nodded, an angry look appeared on his face, "He's also the one who put me in the cyro capsule in the first place."

Rina looked surprised. A hard look appeared on her face as she thought about it, a thoughtful hum coming from her.

"Did he care about you? You and Maria?"

Shadow froze at the question, thinking back to all the times Commander Walters would smile at them when they would run past doing their usual antics. He would smile at Maria, but that smile stayed the same when Commander Walters looked at him. Shadow knew that Commander Walters was nervous about him, but he still saw him as a child. He called them that. But if he cared, why did he seal Shadow away?

"I think he did," Shadow muttered, confused.

"Maybe putting you in that cryo capsule was the only way that he could protect you," Rina stated, making Shadow look at her in surprise, "If he couldn't protect Maria, maybe he tried the only way he knew to protect her friend. Maybe you are not the only one reliving that day."

"I didn't think about that before," Shadow said.

Rina shrugged, "It's easy to let anger blind you. It's harder to let it go."

"Do you really think he tried to protect me," Shadow asked, remembering the blank look on Commander Walters's face as Shadow was lowered into the ground and the cyro capsule filled up. Was he trying to prevent others from seeing his true feelings?

Rina shrugged once again, "Maybe I'm right and he did, or maybe I'm wrong and he let his own fears blind him. G.U.N. may not have changed in the 50 years you've been asleep Shadow, but the people inside did. Those who are there now, might not have been there 50 years ago."

Shadow nodded, listening to Rina's point. Rina rubbed the top of his head, being careful of the quills.

"What happened to us sucks a ton, but I'm glad to have met you Shadow. I think you're the first friend I've had in a while," Rina revealed, much to Shadow's shock.

"You want to be friends," Shadow asked, blinking at Rina.

Rina chuckled, "Shadow, we just poured our hearts out and shed tears on each other, I'd think we were good friends. Unless you want to leave?"

Shadow frowned and raised an eyebrow, tilting his head at Rina as he gestured to the door, "Yes, I'll leave when it's raining, dark outside, G.U.N. looking for me, and having nowhere to go. No thank you, I'll stay here," Shadow then hesitantly smiled as he brought his arm in to play with one of his inhibitor rings, "Besides, I'd think I'd rather stay with a friend."

Rina laughed, "So you want to stay with the dying girl? You'd be the first!"

"Really," Shadow said, surprised.

Rina smirked dryly, "No one wanted to be friends with the dying girl, Shadow. Every friend I'd had I lost touch with and anyone I could have been friends with didn't want to face the fact I was basically dying. Guess no one was dying to what I'm all about."

Shadow rolled his eyes and sighed, now understanding a good portion of Rina's humor.

"Well, I want to know this girl who wants to live life to the fullest. I'm not leaving."

Rina laughed, a big smile appearing on her face much to Shadow's delight, "Okay then, guess you stuck with me! High-five!"

Shadow and Rina high-fived, Shadow smiling himself when he heard how delighted Rina was. Rina stopped laughing and clapped her hands, grabbing her laptop and moving over to the pillows, grabbing a charger, and plugging her laptop in. She turned it on and glanced back at Shadow, gesturing at him to come over.

Shadow crawled over to her as Rina lay down, Shadow laid down next to her. Rina grinned at Shadow.

"Now that the tears are over, let's watch some funny videos. Do you like cats?"

They spent the rest of the night watching cat videos until they both fell asleep. Shadow discovered that he really did like cats. They didn't give a damn about what anyone thought of them or wanted them to do. Yes, he liked cats.

Me: Rina and Shadow have trauma bonded over their past. Rina has become a guiding point for Shadow. Seriously, all that kid needed was space and time to grieve healthy, not made into a ticking time bomb. Thanks, Gerald.

The next chapter is the two of them having some fun and I included some fun easter eggs. Also, if Shadow were to hide in a plane, a private one, how would he do it? What would Rina and him do to keep Shadow from being discovered?

See ya in the next chapter!

Chapter Text

Me: I like seeing the responses I've been getting. It makes me feel great.

This is part of a series I'm calling "Giving The Light A Changed Fate". This is the first part.

Now, time for more Shadow and Rina.

Rina woke up slowly, groaning softly. She was lying on her stomach. She could hear a video playing, someone's voice saying 'Get off that!' and blinked her eyes open. The first thing she saw was her laptop, which was playing a video of a cat sitting on a printer, their owner trying to get them to move, but the cat kept slashing at them. She reached out a hand to pause the video but soon heard a new sound that the video blocked out.

Soft snoring.

Remembering that Shadow was with her, Rina looked down to the right at him and instantly reached for her phone, which was right next to the laptop. Shadow had moved in his sleep and was curled into her side, his front facing her. He was breathing softly, a small smile was on his face, and one hand was clutching her nightshirt.

Rina giggled, taking a picture of the cuteness because something told her that Shadow would deny it, checking the time before setting it to the side. She gently pulled her shirt out of Shadow's grip. Shadow groaned as Rina slowly pulled herself off the bed, feeling the warmth that was next to him leave.

Rina chuckled sorrowfully at the sound Shadow made but regretfully walked into the bathroom. She had business to take care of and clothes to change into. Night clothes were comfortable, but if she needed to go anywhere, different clothes were needed. She's going to wear the same pants and belt, along with the turtleneck sweater, but she'll wear a green shirt underneath today. Has to stay in her color code after all.

After a couple of minutes, Rina exited the bathroom, refreshed. Her clothes were next to the heater, so they dried overnight. She pulled on some fresh socks and grabbed her hairbrush. As she brushed her hair, she noticed that Shadow was still sleeping. Chuckling, she set her brush aside and walked back over to the bed.

"Shadow," Rina sing-songed, nudging the black hedgehog on the shoulder. Shadow grunted, blinking an eye open before shutting it again. Rina chuckled, shaking him again, "Come on, get up. It's almost 5:30 am. The Brady Bunch are still sleeping, so it should be safe for us to get to the kitchen area and grab something. Plus, I think you would like to use the bathroom."

Shadow sighed and rolled onto his back, bringing up a hand to rub his head. Opening his eyes, Shadow stared at her, confused. "Brady Bunch? Why are they here? Aren't they older now?"

Rina blinked, confused for a moment before understanding. The Brady Bunch was out in 1969, so Shadow would have been able to have seen it. She chuckled, shaking her head.

"It's a joke. The Brady Bunch isn't here, I just called the Thorndykes that for no reason. Do you like that show? I know that show was out around you were around."

Shadow shook his head. "One of the scientists I didn't like watched it all the time. I think he knew because he would turn the volume up high every time I was in the room, and since I was being studied, I couldn't leave the room."

Rina winced, "Ouch, yeah, I understand that will lead to some resentment. Well, enough of that, let's get something to eat and come back here to plan what we are going to do today."

Shadow shrugged, getting up, "Ok."

Rina gestured to the bathroom, "You know how to use a bathroom, right?"

The black hedgehog looked at her strangely, "Yes, I do. I may have come from space, but I lived on Earth for a good while."

"Well, I think now that your settled, your body is feeling safer now to untense itself."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Crossing her arms, Rina raised an eyebrow at Shadow, silently telling him with her eyes what she'd meant. Shadow made a sound of understanding when the urge to relieve himself made itself known. Nodding, Shadow walked into the bathroom, Rina quietly chuckling as he shut the door.

After a couple of minutes, Shadow exited the bathroom and found Rina waiting for him by her bedroom door.

Rina unlocked the door and opened it, peeking outside and looking around. Shadow peeked out of the door after her, also looking. He could hear the three other people in the suite, their breathing indicating that they were sleeping.

"I hear them," Shadow said, his ears twitching, "They are asleep."

Rina glanced down at him, seeing Shadow's ears twitching. She smirks, "Okay. That's good news for us, but let's stay quiet just in case. If you hear one of them wake up, teleport back into my room."

Shadow nodded, looking at Rina so seriously that it was like she had given him a mission to carry out instead of sneaking around. Well, guess it was a mission then: Don't Get Caught.

Rina led the way to the kitchen, Shadow looking around since he hadn't really gotten a chance before. As Shadow looked around, his nose caught a scent that he recognized. He looked towards the kitchen and realized the smell was coming from there. Following the smell, Shadow walked over and looked around, trying to pinpoint the scent. Finally, he found it, a small bag that said coffee beans.

"Coffee beans," Shadow exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. Rina paused in her grab of what looked to be a bowl of noodles and steak mixed with various veggies and looked at Shadow.

"Huh?"

"Coffee beans," Shadow said, pointing at the bag like a little kid, much to Rina's confused amusement, "I know the smell. They taste good."

Rina snorted, "You eat coffee beans?"

Shadow frowned at Rina's reaction, "Yes, I like the taste of them. It tastes better than coffee to me. Is that weird?"

Rina laughed, unwrapping the food she planned to share with Shadow and putting it in the microwave, letting it warm up.

"Shadow, if you knew even a quarter of the weird things humans will eat, you would find yourself on the saner side," Rina tells the black hedgehog, grabbing a clear plastic cup and filling it with coffee beans before handing it to Shadow. Shadow curled his hands around the cup protectively as he looked down at the cup in shocked delight. Rina smiled sadly for a moment, knowing Shadow probably didn't get a lot of chances to eat something he loved before wiping that thought away. Shadow didn't need that right now.

"I'm on the saner side," Shadow asked, knocking Rina out of her thoughts, "What weird things do humans eat?"

Rina snorted, bringing a hand up to her mouth, "Best not to discuss that right now."

Shadow frowned but nodded. Rina kneeled down and brought her face to Shadow's, bringing a hand up like she was telling him a secret. Shadow remembered when Maria used to do that with him when they were around others and knew that whatever Rina said next was either going to be serious or complete mischief.

"Besides, Nelson is the only one here who drinks coffee. I can't wait to see his reaction when he finds someone has been in his coffee beans," Rina grinned, a mischievous smile on her face.

Mischief then.

"50 years may have passed, but I doubt people are less picky or territorial over their coffee," Shadow said, a smile now gracing his face as he shared Rina's amusement.

"Shadow, if everything, the coffee lovers got worse," Rina chuckled, standing up to stop the microwave at one second so she wouldn't wake the other three souls in the suite.

She grabbed two forks and thought about grabbing another plate but realized she could explain the fork more easily if she was questioned. Getting a second fork because of dropping the other would be easier to explain than having to explain a second plate.

She grabbed an apple for Shadow and a banana for herself from the fruit bowl and walked back to her room. Shadow followed behind her, eating coffee beans in delight. Rina glanced behind her and chuckled, amused and happy that Shadow was enjoying himself.

Once they were safe on the other side of the door, Rina locked the door again to be on the safe side. The two ended up eating at the coffee table quietly, enjoying the silence. They finished the main meal, they started eating their fruit. Rina hummed, thinking about the day and what they could do without getting Shadow caught.

"Shadow, anything you want to do?"

Shadow paused, the apple in his mouth, for he had just bitten down. Since he couldn't answer, he raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking what she meant. Rina huffed in amusement.

"What do you want to do," Rina asked, "Anything specific?"

Shadow chewed and swallowed his bite, confusion and uncertainty flooding his eyes. "I...don't know."

"Really," Rina asked, finishing her banana and tossing the peel on the corner to take care of it later, "Surely a kid like you has something they always wanted to do, or at least something along those lines."

He looked down at the ground, tapping his fingers against the apple in a nervous manner.

"I don't know," Shadow finally admits after some tense thinking, "I was trained to be a weapon, and I was constantly being studied. I don't know how to be a kid. I mostly followed Maria. We would gaze at the stars, watch some movies, and skate around the lab. Sometimes, she would play music, and we would dance to it, and she had a guitar she sometimes played music on. But we really couldn't do much in the lab since we weren't allowed to leave it."

Rina breathed deeply, counting in five seconds and out seven. The more she heard about the lab, the angrier she got, but she held it in for now. Instead, she has a task in mind and that was to help Shadow be a damn kid.

Once she calmed down enough, Rina gave a wry chuckle, "Guess we need to do some Viva La Vida."

Shadow tilted his head in confusion, "Viva La Vida? What does that mean?"

Laughing, Rina grinned, "It's a Spanish saying. Viva La Vida means Long Live Life. I'm just saying we need to do some living."

"Why," Shadow asked, genuinely confused.

Rina sighed, shaking her head at the young hedgehog, "Shadow, for so long you just survive, let me show you how to live. After all, surviving will only get you so far. If you need help learning how to be a kid, then I'll help you."

Shadow felt emotions fill him, too many to name. He felt grateful that Rina was helping him, but weak that he didn't know simple things like being a kid. He felt happy that he wasn't alone but confused about what he had to do next.

Swallowing, Shadow ducked his head, feeling tears come to his eyes, and bit his lip, not wanting to cry. The next thing he knew, there was a hand touching the side of his head, gently tilting his head up. Rina was standing in front of him, having on getting off her seat to approach Shadow when she saw he was getting emotional. She wiped his tears that fell away, the smile never leaving her face.

"Don't hold back the tears, Shadow," Rina told him, "Holding emotions back when the situation doesn't call for them is alright, but holding back the ones that need to be let out isn't."

Shadow let out a shaky breath, not saying anything, but he let the tears fall. Rina only continued to dry them away, not saying anything. Eventually, they stopped; however, that left Shadow feeling awkward, not knowing how to break the silence.

Lucky for him, Rina knew what to do since she was thinking of an icebreaker as she dried Shadow's tears. After she did, she planned some payback against G.U.N. if she ever got the chance.

"So you like listening to music," Rina said, stepping away to go back to her laptop, going on YouTube. Shadow cleared his throat, tossing his finished apple next to the banana peel.

"Yes. If it doesn't suck," Shadow admits.

Rina laughed, "Ain't that the truth! Finding good music is hard sometimes. However, I found someone on YouTube, a YouTuber who made some great songs. Some have lyrics, but others are just pure instrumentals. I subscribed to him to locate his video more easily."

"Youtube, Youtuber," Shadow asked, confused once again, "What are those?"

Rina snorted, remembering that Shadow might have been on Earth longer than her but had spent most of those years asleep. He needed to be caught up with the times.

"YouTube is an American social media and online video-sharing platform. People post videos they make on it. Be careful about which ones you watch because some are just cringey, and others are supernatural-based, etc. There's a lot of things people post on YouTube."

"Oh," Shadow said, taking in that explanation, "So, who is this Youtuber that you found whose music you like."

Rina pulled up one of her favorites of said YouTuber, grinning over her shoulder at her friend, "The name they gave themself since people give themselves names to go by on here is BlueBlur."

"BlueBlur," Shadow questioned, raising an eyebrow at the name, "They call themselves that?"

Rina laughed, "People can name themselves anything. BlueBlur sounds young; I think he's in his young teens, but he makes great music. This one is called 'Live Life' and it's one of my favorites. Just listen."

Rina pressed play, and music started playing. Shadow took in the music, hearing the sounds of a guitar being played. After a bit, a young voice started singing, and Shadow was surprised that Rina was right in her guess about BlueBlur being in his young teens. Rina was nodding her head along to the music, mouthing along with the words.

Take a look inside your heart
What seems fair today,
Tomorrow it may not.

Just a walk or a journey
Don't stop reaching high.
Don't let the time pass you by.

So many ways that you can, t ry to forget.
So many ways that you'll find,
Wake up to regret.

Ooo-oohh

Someday,  One Day,
We'll say live life, I know!

Hold on,  Hold Tight!
Don't let go,  Don't lose sight.

(Short instrumental melody)

Feeling like the road.
It's winding you on every turn.
But there are lessons to learn.

Take a look inside your heart.
What once seemed impossible,
Today is not!

So many ways that you can,
Try to forget.
So many ways that you'll find,
Wake up to regret!

Ooh-oooohh

Someday,  One day,
We'll say live life, I know!

Hold on,  Hold tight!
Don't let go,  Don't lose sight.

Some day,  One day,
We'll say live life, I know!

Hold on,  Hold tight!
Don't let go!

Can't imagine,  Can't imagine,
Making it on your own!

You got it inside,  You got it inside of you!
So let it out!

Some day,  One day,
We'll say live life, I know.

Hold on,  Hold tight!
Don't let go,  Don't lose sight!

Some day, (Some day)
One day, (One day)
We'll say live life, I know!

Hold on,  Hold tight!
Don't let go,  Just Live Life!

(Instrumental plays)
Live Life!
( Instrumental plays)
Don't let go!
(Instrumental plays)
Live Life!
(Instrumental plays one final verse)
Live Life!

Shadow felt something in his throat and cleared it. He laughed to himself. Rina seemed to like to surprise him. He could feel the emotions coming from the song. Almost like the person singing it wanted to pour as much feeling into it as possible. Like they wanted to live their life as much as possible no matter what road they're on, the good things, and even the bad. It was...fitting and refreshing.

"I see why you like his music. Seems to fit your theme," Shadow noted, a smile appearing on his face.

Rina laughed, "Thanks. Want to listen to another?"

Shadow nodded. Rina hummed in thought, thinking which one to play before snapping her fingers, knowing a good one. She turned back to her laptop, pulling up the video. As the music started to play, Rina turned the volume up so it played throughout the room. She turned to Shadow again, "This one is called 'Reach For The Stars'."

Take off at the speed of sound.
Bright lights and colors all around.
I'm running wild, livin' fast and free.
Got no regrets inside of me.

As the music played, Rina started dancing to the music. Shadow watched, transfixed as Rina did a rather impressive flip, landing on her feet before spinning in a circle. Laughing, Rina did a little jig to the music. Her eyes light up, making her way to Shadow.

"You said Maria and you danced to music?"

Shadow nodded. Rina beamed and held out her hand, "Dance with me."

Shadow looked at Rina's hand, feeling a little conflicted. Dancing to music was something Maria and he did, but it wasn't fair to compare Rina to Maria. She wasn't Maria, but Maria wasn't Rina. They were their own people. Rina wanted to help him be himself more, something Maria wanted. And that...was fine with him.

Not lookin' back, n ot givin' up.
Not letting go,  I'll keep on running.

Shadow took Rina's hand, letting the girl pull him to the more spacious side of the room. Rina let Shadow's hand go and just started dancing to the music. Shadow looked confused about what to do, not wanting to ruin Rina's flow.

"Just dance to what the music makes you feel," Rina explained, giving Shadow a smile, "There's nothing wrong with some freestyle."

"Freestyle," Shadow muttered.

I'm gonna reach for the stars, a lthough they look pretty far.
I'm gonna find my own way a nd take a chance on today.
A sky with stars so bright, t he colors feel so right.
I've never felt like this,  I'll keep on runnin'.
A sky with stars so bright, t he colors feel so right.
Just take my hand, we're gonna reach for the stars.

Tonight!
Tonight!

Rina made a scooping arm into hip sway and various other dance moves, something she learned while practicing on her skates. Shadow watched Rina, seeing that the green-haired girl was just having fun. Slowly, Shadow started moving to the beat of the music, having an easier time when the beat started picking up. Rina laughed.

"Yeah, Shadow, that's it. You got it," Rina praised.

Shadow laughed and felt like her heart was about to burst from how carefree the laughter sounded. The laughter was infectious, making Rina laugh loudly. Shadow looked at Rina, a massive smile on his. Wearing a teeth-showing smile, Rina held her hand out to Shadow. The hedgehog wasn't hesitant to take it.

Wake up, livin' day by day.
Do what I want, and I'll do it my way.
The world is flying right below my feet.
Got no regrets inside of me.

Not lookin' back (Not lookin' back), n ot givin' up (Not givin' up).
Not letting go,  I'll keep on running.

I'm gonna reach for the stars, a lthough they look pretty far.
I'm gonna find my own way a nd take a chance on today.
A sky with stars so bright, t he colors feel so right.
I've never felt like this,  I'll keep on runnin'.
A sky with stars so bright, t he colors feel so right.
Just take my hand, we're gonna reach for the stars.

Tonight!
Tonight!

As if they connected through the mind, Rina and Shadow started to do various dance moves. Rina spun, picking Shadow up with surprising strength with one arm and swinging him in the air.

When Shadow landed on the ground, he bent down and wrapped his hands around Rina's ankles, he gave her a look telling her to brace herself before he lifted her with surprising strength that shocked Rina still for a couple of seconds before she grinned, adjusting her feet carefully so that her socked feet rested on Shadow's palms.

"Damn your strong. This is awesome," Rina exclaimed, amazed that the black hedgehog, who was smaller than her, was able to lift her with no problem.

Shadow laughed, "Damn right you are."

Rina grinned, leaning down a bit before backflipping off Shadow's hands, landing in an impressive handstand before righting herself. She spun around Shadow, the hedgehog spinning around her so they crossed each other.

"Seems like I taught you a word you like," Rina teased, a glint appearing in her eyes, "Damn."

"Looks like I'm catching on damn quick," Shadow shot back, a matching grin on his face, "You must be a good teacher."

Rina laughed, "Thanks for the compliment."

[Instrumental Bridge]

I've got it in my sight, t he colors feel so right.
Got my feet off the ground,  I'll keep on runnin'.
Oh, I can feel it now, t he colors all around.
Just take my hand, we're gonna reach for the stars.

Just take a chance, (Just take a chance).
We'll do it right, oh yeah.
(We're gonna reach for the stars).
Just take my hand, (Just take my hand).
We'll take a chance tonight, r each for the stars.

Tonight!
Tonight!

They didn't speak as they started a little competition, seeing which one could best the other. Shadow thought he got it when he did a backspin on the ground, but then Rina did the Moonwalk leading into three backflips and into a spin move right back to where she started dancing when the music ended.

Rina chuckled at Shadow's surprised look.

"I learned quite a few dance moves while I practiced on skates. To pull those moves on skates, I had to learn the footwork first," Rina explained.

Shadow opened his mouth to ask her about her skills when there was a loud knock at the door. Rina and Shadow jumped at the knocking, the zone they were in being torn away from them.

"Hey! Turn down the music! I'm trying to sleep in!"

Rina sighed, "Chris."

Shadow frowned, huffing and crossing his arms. He grew alarmed when the knob turned, but there was the sound of frustration from behind the door as the door wouldn't budge since Rina had locked the room. Shadow smiled.

"You hear me?! Rina!"

"Yes, Thornkick, I can hear you," Rina snarked.

"Stop calling me that," Chris complained, twisting the doorknob, "And unlock the door."

"No. This is my room."

"It's a hotel room!"

"This is the room I claimed while we are here. The same bedroom rule applies, luxury hotel or mansion."

"Why are you arguing with me?"

"I'm not arguing. I'm just explaining why I'm right," Rina grinned, looking at Shadow. Shadow brought a hand up to his face to cover his amused snort. Rina grinned; the snarky and sassy side of her came out when you pushed the right buttons. And Chris pushes them all instantly.

"I think you need to be more polite. Mom and Dad didn't have to take you in; the least you can do is be supportive. You didn't even show up at the party last night. You missed out and-"

As Chris continued to speak, Rina yawned, looking bored and muttering, "You always this charming, or am I just lucky?"

Shadow shook where he stood.

"-and you...Are you even listening to me," Chris asked when he realized that Rina wasn't responding to anything he was saying.

"Sorry, I stopped listening after 'I think'. I'm busy right now. Can I ignore you some other time?"

Shadow's knees started shaking, bringing up another hand to cover the laughter that was breaking through the cracks.

"Do you ever care about what others think? It's almost like you don't care about other people. Here I am trying to speak to you, and you won't even open the door," Chris complained. There was a sound; Shadow recognized it as a kick.

"You always have something negative to say, don't you?"

"You have negative things to say! You say those jokes all the time! About yourself, Mom, Dad, and me!"

Rina laughed, bringing a hand to her mouth, "I have so many things to say about you, as well. But you aren't mature enough to understand that."

Shadow felt the laughter growing in him. He felt that one more comment and he would burst.

"No wonder no one wants to be friends with you. So rude and inconsiderate of everyone else. You only care about yourself. What do you have to say for yourself, you-ungrateful-to-be-alive delinquent?"

Rina grinned massively, her smile full of teeth as she turned slowly to Shadow. Once she made eye contact, Rina opened her mouth, and Shadow knew he was done for before the words even left her mouth. Rina spoke, "Interesting take. You practice that in the mirror?"

Shadow broke. He crumbled to the floor, laughter escaping him as he tried hard to cover his laughter. Rina fell to her knees in front of him, her own laughter escaping as she tried desperately to cover Shadow's mouth to prevent Chris from hearing him.

"What is that?" Oops. Chris heard.

"A video," Rina said quickly, laughing as Shadow shook, "A funny one. Something just happened to the kid onscreen, and the recorder is cracking up."

"S..st..stop," Shadow said through gritted teeth as more chuckles escaped his mouth.

"You..you...you.." Chris seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Error does not compute. File not found," Rina snarked, "Why not go away until your brain returns with some IQ?"

"St...stop it...ju..just...stop," Shadow pleaded, his laughter not stopping. Rina gestured to the door, Chris's footsteps fading as he walked away. Rina snickered as she removed her hands from Shadow's face, "Okay, okay, okay, I'll stop, I'll stop. He's gone."

Shadow laughed for a long while, Rina content to watch him laugh like the child he was. Eventually, Shadow stopped laughing, but he now had what Rina happily called The After-Giggles, where once someone is done laughing their heart out, they get the giggles afterward. Still, the sight of Shadow laughing filled Rina with joy.

"You good," Rina asked, brushing Shadow's quills slowly and carefully so she didn't get pricked.

She made a mental note that she needed to look up information about hedgehogs. Shadow may be from another planet or something along those lines, but he is still a hedgehog. She wondered if tubes and hedgehogs were true. Maybe she should find a big one and ask Shadow to stick his head in it. In fact, now that she had that idea, she really wanted to do it.

Shadow nodded, taking a deep breath as he calmed himself. He gave Rina a glare that held no heat, "You are brutal."

Rina snickered, "Thanks. Still, you okay now?"

"Yeah," Shadow said, running his hands through his quills to ease them down. Once his breathing was back to normal, he spoke again, "Now that I'm no longer laughing thanks to you-," Rina grinned, having no shame, "-I believe I was to ask you about your skills. You said you skated but also did something called skate dancing?"

"I can rollerblade, but the dancing while rollerblading is called Jam skating, or Jamskating. It's also called Jammin'; it is a skating style consisting of a combination of dance, gymnastics, and roller skating, performed on roller skates or blades," Rina explained, used to telling people what she did, "I can show you."

"I would like that."

Rina went over to her laptop and went through her files to pull up some of her videos. Shadow watched a younger-looking Rina skate to music. Her hair was blonde, he remembered her mentioning that, but her eyes and face remained the same. She was dancing to a song called 'Speechless', moving to the beat. Shadow was impressed, for Rina was making rather difficult moves while on wheels as she was moving. She must have a very good balance.

"How long did this take you to learn," Shadow asked after watching a couple more. Rina was taking one of her pills as she dug through her suitcase, looking for something. She hummed, swallowing the pill to allow a victorious smile to spread across her face as she pulled out a green hoodie from her suitcase. She knew she had another one packed, but this time, she planned on making sure this one didn't rip.

"It took a while," she said, answering Shadow's question, "I failed and fell quite a bit, but practice and time helped me get better. I haven't Jamskated in quite a while. My foster homes didn't really have any place for me to go besides the road and sidewalk. The Thorndykes have a big mansion and a lot of space so I'm able to do a lot there. But even then, they didn't want me to do it too much since they believed it would tire me too quickly."

Rina grabbed her skates, walking over to Shadow.

"Let's put this on you," Rina said, gesturing to Shadow with her green hoodie, "You and I are not hiding in this room all day."

Shadow looked at the hoodie and glanced at Rina, "Won't here be safer?"

Rina shrugged, "It would be, but we would have three people knocking at the door all day and wanting to come in the room. If we leave for a bit and come back, they will leave us alone."

Shadow thought about it, and he really didn't want people knocking on the door all day. If need be, he could always teleport away with Rina. He reached out and grabbed the hoodie. They worked together to pull the hoodie on Shadow.

"Teleport outside to the alley, the one right next to the hotel," Rina said before giving Shadow a questioning look, "Can you teleport that far?"

Shadow smirked and instead of answering, teleported out of the room. Rina blinked and snorted, a wry smile appearing on her lips, "Show off. Wait, Shadow's on his own. I didn't tell him what to do if someone saw him!"

She grabbed her purse and her skates, exited her room, and bolted to the elevator to go down, praying to god that no one appeared. Her prayers were answered when no one appeared to speak to her when the elevator doors opened. She went inside and pressed the elevator to go down.

She left the hotel, waving to the receptionist, and headed over to the alley next to the hotel, hoping that Shadow was there. She got to the alley and felt panic and fear flood her heart when she didn't see Shadow. He may be black-colored, but her hoodie was green, so she should have been able to see Shadow in the dark of the alley. She quickly ran in, looking around wildly.

"Shadow! Shadow! Where are you," Rina harshly whispered, looking at every place that Shadow could hide.

"Up here."

Rina gasped, looking up to see Shadow sitting on an air conditioning unit, the hood of her hoodie covering his head and quills. He took in Rina's look and worried expression and her panicked breathing. Growing worried that something had happened when he teleported away, he jumped off the air conditioning unit and ran up to her.

Shadow didn't know what had happened. He teleported away and into the alley, like Rina told him to, and hid on top of the box against the wall in case anyone that wasn't Rina walked into the alley. Did something happen while they were apart?

"What's wrong?"

Shadow gasped when Rina bent down and hugged him tight. He froze, not explaining this action. The only time the two of them hugged was last night after they told each other their stories, their traumas. That hug was desperate and comforting. This hug was all relief and something else.

"I didn't tell you what to do if someone saw you, and when I came around the corner and didn't see you, I thought that someone-" Rina cut herself off, grunting as she hugged Shadow tighter. Shadow slowly brought his arms up to hug Rina in an attempt to comfort her. He didn't think she would be this torn up about him being taken.

"Why do you care about me so quickly," he asked, "I can take care of myself. No human is going to get the drop on me. I'm too skilled and powerful."

"I don't doubt your abilities," Rina chuckled, pulling away enough so she could look Shadow in the eyes, "Humans have a tendency to form a pack bond with people or animals or anything very quickly. I guess you managed to worm yourself into my heart much quicker than I thought. Besides, we're friends. I'm allowed to worry about you."

"Friends. Right, we're friends," Shadow said, remembering the conversation that they had last night.

Sighing, Rina pulled away from Shadow, standing up. However, she left her hand on his covered head. "Next time, let me finish speaking before you teleport. You may be powerful and skilled, but anybody can be taken by surprise."

Shadow frowned, thinking over Rina's words and finding them holding merit, nodded his head. He caught sight of Rina's skates and pointed to them. "Your skates?"

He also wanted to change the conversation. Rina smirked, raising an eyebrow, knowing what he was doing. But she had calmed down enough and she wanted to do something fun.

"You were asking me about Jamskating, so I was thinking I could show you in person instead of the videos you saw. Besides, you were asleep for 50 years, I think your limbs would like something to do."

Shadow shuddered at the mention of his forced slumber. "I would appreciate that."

Rina held her hand out, letting Shadow take it before leading him out of the alley. Both of them stopped at the entrance, looking around to see if anyone was staring at them. After making sure no one was, Rina led the way to a park that was nearby. It was big enough that she could skate, and Shadow could move around as well.

They found an area in the park that didn't have a lot of people. Shadow climbed a tree that was next to a bench as Rina put on her rollerskates.

She tossed Shadow her purse, telling him not to let anything happen to it. Shadow nodded so seriously that Rina had to quickly turn her head so she could hide her smile. Messing with her phone, pulling up a song, Rina slipped her phone into her pants pocket, letting herself slip into her skate mode.

As she danced to the song Queen by Loren Gray, Shadow watched as she danced. It was graceful, Shadow decided as he watched Rina bend backward on her skates, making a circle before she straightened, leaning forward to hold her hands to the sides and bring on leg up.

Rina felt in her zone. She loved the feeling Jamskating made her feel. The controlled movement, to the random acts she could do to liven things up. The complicated movements, to the relaxed ones. Jamskating was fun to her. It was always exciting, it made her feel alive.

After the song was over, Shadow politely clapped, a smile gracing his face. Rina laughed, bowing as she skated over, slowing to a stop under the tree.

"Want to see another?"

"Sure," Shadow nodded.

It went like that over a while, Rina Jamskating to a song she knew and Shadow watching her. He climbed the tree while Rina took a break, jumping from branch to branch or to another tree that was on the other side of the path, making Rina jump in surprise. Rina decided that Shadow knew what he was doing, even if some of the things he did startled her.

Shadow even showed Rina his hover shoes. "Their air shoes", Shadow had exclaimed to which Rina had laughed after she called them that.

After about two hours, Rina got a call from Lindsey, who said that they, well Rina because she didn't know about Shadow, should head back to the hotel.

Rina took off her skates as Shadow jumped out of the tree, his hood falling off his face for a second before he yanked it back on. The green hoodie was a size bigger than the white one. Rina said that the oversized hoodie felt comfortable when Shadow asked.

As they walked back over to the hotel, Shadow thought about the past couple of hours. He woke up, escaped, and ran into someone who helped him. Is it really the second day, or was it the first since he escaped at night? It felt like it was longer.

"I can show you how to skate," Rina says suddenly.

Shadow looked at Rina funny, "I already know how to."

"Nah Nuh," Rina teased, shaking a finger, "You can hover in the air as you skate, I saw. Balancing on wheels is entirely different than your hover skating."

Shadow hummed, thinking about it. It couldn't be that different, could it?

"We shall see," Sahdow said finally, believing that it wasn't all that different, "And it's not hover skating."

"Then what is it?"

Shadow didn't answer, and Rina laughed.

When they got back to the hotel, Shadow teleported to the bathroom in Rina's room, per Rina's request, because her bedroom door was unlocked and someone might be in there. Rina took the long way because people saw her leave. When she got to the room, she saw Chris playing his Switch again and Lindsey and Nelson in the kitchen. Rina bit her lip when she saw Nelson holding his coffee bean bag.

"And I'm telling you, someone took my coffee beans," Nelson spoke, looking at the open bag. Rina saw that that was a cup of coffee being made, so that is how Nelson knew someone was in his coffee beans.

"Well, it wasn't any of us," Lindsey stated, "You're the only one that drinks coffee here."

Lindsey turned to Chris, "Chris, put your game away and pack up. We're leaving in an hour to go to the airport."

Rina snorted quietly as Chris complained, but that sentence made Rina realize something important, and she quickly walked over to her room. Once she locked the door, she set down her rollerskates and purse at the coffee table, walking over to the bathroom to knock at the door.

"Shadow, it's safe to come out."

Shadow left the bathroom, handing Rina her hoodie that he had slowly taken off himself so his quills wouldn't rip it again like the other one.

"Not a single rip," Rina teased, looking her hoodie over, "Learned from the last one?"

Shadow glared at her. Rina laughed, tossing the green hoodie to the coffee table. She sat on the bed, sighing in relief, and fell backward on the bed. Shadow sat next to her, watching her calmly.

Rina huffed, "We're leaving in an hour."

Shadow blinked. "What?"

"We don't live here, Shadow," Rina stated, "My foster family is only here because of a business convention and to create business ties. Nelson for his business, Lindsey for her acting career for sponsors, and Chris to create friendships with the children here."

"Where do you live then?"

"USA," Rina stated, "Bellemont, Arizona. Coconino County. Close to the border of Utah. We're leaving now because the flight leaves at 9:00 am. When we land, it will be around 5:00 pm the previous day. Gonna love time zones. We flew here by plane, which reminds me-"

Rina sat up, looking down at Shadow, "We need to brainstorm a way to get you through the airport. The Throndykes own a custom private plane, but the space is small. The flight is 12 hours and 7 minutes, and being in such close quarters will be hard. The problem is that there are two bedrooms, and the flight crew we need to worry about. However, there's a living area where Nelson and Lindsey will be, but when Chris gets tired, he'll head into our shared room."

Shadow hummed, "Do you have floor plans?"

Rina chuckled, grabbing her phone, "I got pictures."

Rina showed Shadow what the plane looked like on the inside from the pictures she had taken beforehand. Shadow looked over the pictures with a critical gaze, making Rina smirk.

"From the look on your face, you remind me of a spy," Rina joked.

"They were training me to be one," Shadow stated.

Rina lost her smirk, "What?"

"G.U.N. had me training to be a spy," Shadow commented, glancing at Rina. Because he was looking at her, Shadow was able to see rage fill Rina's expression before she breathed deeply.

"Oh, I swear, G.U.N. will get their karma," Rina muttered before she looked at Shadow sharply, "Don't let the history they forced on you define who you are."

Shadow's eyes widen, While Rina's words weren't the same as Maria's all those years ago, they still carried the same message. You can be anyone you want to be, and not because of your power.

"You...sounded like Maria for a second there," Shadow commented, looking down.

Rina reached out and gently turned Shadow's gaze to her. The anger was still there, but Shadow knew it wasn't at him, and Rina appeared to be calmer now.

"Shadow, Maria would have wanted you to live, from what you told me of her. Live for her, breathe for her, explore the world you haven't seen before. I'll be right by your side, and as I do, know that Maria is standing with you. For every breath, for every heartbeat, she lives through you, and now through me," Rina spoke, "The more of Maria you share with me or anyone, the more she lives on in memory."

Shadow felt tears start falling from his face again and wiped them away. He chuckled. Maria would have loved Rina. She would have begged Rina to skate with her. They would have been terrifying together. And he would have loved it.

"She would've loved you," Shadow smiled.

Rina ducked her head and blushed, "Thanks. That means a lot," she looked back at Shadow, the blush still on her face, "This is your damn moment, thrive in it."

"Well," Shadow smirked, "I damn will."

Rina laughed before a wicked look crossed her eyes, "By the way, Nelson noticed that someone was in his coffee beans. He is so confused!"

Shadow chuckled, "Someone is in his coffee beans. Of course, he is worried."

Rina shook her head, "I'd say terrified- wait, that's it! Chris doesn't like anything scary. When I want time alone, I put on a supernatural-based video or a zombie movie, he leaves the room."

"What are you thinking," Shadow asked.

"I'm thinking that I can show you a movie series called Resident Evil. The movies freak Chris out, but I watched them with my family. Zombie movies were a thing, the good ones at least."

"I think I saw one zombie movie with Maria," Shadow mentioned, "I can't recall the name, though."

"Well, I can say zombie movies have come far since you saw them last. All movies, making them in general, have come far, in making them at least. Now," Rina clapped, getting up and gesturing around the room.

"We can plan as we pack what's left. I already packed yesterday before I went out yesterday and met you, so just help me put everything else away."

Shadow smirked, looking around, and quickly ran around the room. Rina gaped as all she saw from Shadow was a red blur. Within seconds, everything that was left was packed and set aside by the door. Even her laptop was put away. When Shadow stopped, he stood in front of Rina, the confident smirk still on his face.

Rina raised a finger, looking around her room. Finally, she spoke, "That was cool."

Shadow grinned.

Rina looked down at Shadow, a smile appearing on her face, "Now, let's go back to planning."

The two didn't know that a streamer was recording in the park and filming Rina Jamskating and that when Shadow jumped out of the tree, the streamer recorded Shadow's hood falling off before he yanked it back up. While the streamer would comment about the costume Shadow wore, by the time G.U.N. would see it and looked up Rina, said girl and the hedgehog she was so determined to protect were already on the plane, hours into the flight.

Me: What a wonderful bonding time the two of them had. And I couldn't not have Shadow have his coffee beans. That's canon! Also, how many of you laughed at Rina roasting Chris? I hope you were just like Shadow. And the Youtuber BlueBlur, I think you guys know who that is.

Now, oh no. A streamer caught sight of Shadow and thinks he's just a kid in a costume, which is good. However, G.U.N. would have been watching for videos like that in case someone caught Shadow on video. What will happen next?

See ya in the next chapter!