Out of the Slump~Shadamy

Glimpse at the Past

Amys Pov

I wasn't expecting the words that had left Shadow's mouth. In all honesty, I was wholeheartedly prepared for my inquiry to be denied. He was always a person that liked to keep to himself. I knew this before we even began to get close. So, of course, I was surprised when he agreed. But I didn't want the moment to pass, so I quickly thought up my first question.

"Hobbies?" It was a simple question, but still, one I had no answer to. So I found it a good one to start with. He said nothing for a moment. With only the moon as lighting, I can barely make out the crease of his brow as he thinks of an answer. 

I had intended for the question to be pretty easy, but I also realize that it's not in Shadow's nature to talk about himself and because of that I wait patiently for him to piece his words together.

"Guns, cars, motorcycles, being alone." I can't help but snicker. They were all things that matched his personality perfectly and I found it funny that he added the part about being alone despite being where he was.

"What an emo." I poke fun. He huffs, but I could make out the small glimmer of playfulness that flashed through his crimson eyes.

"Just ask the next question."

"Out of the five senses which is your strongest?" 

"My hearing is pretty good, better than my others but my other senses aren't bad either." 

"If you could rule a country what would be your first law?" 

"I would ban all idiots. Like that blue jackass, for example." He says this with a completely straight face and tone, and I bust out laughing.

"What's funny?" He asks trying to keep his serious look but a small smirk plays on his lips.

"What kind of law is that?" I howl. My ribs starting to hurt, from all of the laughing.

"I can only deal with one faker in this world, imagine dealing with a whole country of them." He shivers visibly, for comedic effect. I hope.

"Who knew you had such a good sense of humor?" I spoke between small giggles.

"If only I was joking." 

We went back in forth for a bit about how that was a dumb law before we calmed down and moved on to the next question.  

"What's the longest you've ever gone without sleep?" 

"Without a complete night, two weeks." 

"What!? How are you alive?" I immediately realize that a few months ago I had also been struggling with sleep and that my reaction was hypocritical but I wouldn't say that out loud. 

"It was back when I was first awoken by Robotnik. He had sent me out on a mission to retrieve one of the chaos emeralds that at the time were much harder to come by. It was being guarded by some of the echidna's ancestors at the time. And they were...bothersome to say the least. But not anywhere as close to bothersome as the journey there was. Monsters, thieves, bandits, bad weather. They all played a factor and I had to bring back the emerald in three weeks. So I trekked on, taking three-hour naps every other day if needed." I had almost forgotten that Shadow was alive way before any of us. It was pretty easy to forget because it never felt like I was talking to some old guy. But this just proves how much I don't know.

"Woah." That is all I could manage to say. 

He quickly turns to meet my gaze as if realizing something. 

"Uh sorry if that made you uncomfortable." He looked away this time. Shame took over his expression. 

"Shadow," I reached out a hand to hold one of his. He stiffened but didn't move away so I continued. "There's no reason to be ashamed of it. We all have to be made in some way." 

"Yea, but others aren't manufactured for destruction." I heard something in his voice that I never thought I'd hear from Shadow. In my eyes he was strong. He didn't need other people and wasn't capable of expressing trivial emotions like sadness or hate. Because they just weren't things strong people felt. But I heard it for the first time in those very words. The hate he felt and the sadness that thoughts of his past brought on.

No one is born evil. But Shadow was born to be the evildoer in others' schemes, and then put to sleep for 50 years, just to be woken up and do it all over. 

"But you aren't destruction, even if that's what they wanted you to be, you aren't." I squeeze his hand a little tighter once I felt the small tremble of his own. "You're more than any of them could've manufactured, so don't be ashamed." 

We lay quietly beside one another. Though wordlessly we had agreed that just for this one night I would be the one to comfort Shadow and not the other way around.