I Will Not Bow

Old Memories

Sonic's POV

"Sonic!" Tails jumped in happiness as I walked in through the door.

"Hey! I missed you too." I hugged him. "I brought some food." I told him taking a bag out. He looked into it.

"Well, I'll take what I can get." He said taking a bite of his sandwich.

"What do you want to do tonight?" I asked him. He swallowed the food he had in his mouth.

"You could go hang out with Shadow?" He said.

"What? How do you know him?" I asked him.

"He came by earlier and gave me this." He said placing some paper bags on the table. I looked in them.

"Food?" I asked. He nodded.

"But, you said you wanted me to stay here with you." I told him.

"I have things to do too." He said taking out some paper. "The teacher said she's moving me to a higher level in learning." He said.

"Congrats!" I hugged him.

"Oh, and he also gave me this." He handed me a note. I read it. I looked up at Tails. "He's outside waiting." He pointed at the back door.

"Thanks bud." I messed with his hair before walking out to the back porch. He stood by the handle bars attached to posts on the porch.

"Hey-" But I cut him off.

"Alright Mr. Nice Guy, whats the scam?" I asked him smiling.

"Scam? There's no scam. I just wanted to see you." He said.

"Uh-hu. So what's up with all the food?" I asked him crossing my arms.

"Nothing-"

"It's not poisoned is it? If you dare-" He put a finger to my lips.

"It's not. I'd never hurt you brother. It's just I felt bad because you have to work so hard to get food. That's all." He smiled. I smiled.

"No, really what's up with this?" He sighed.

"Oh come on!"

"I'm not coming on. I wouldn't trust you for a hundred paper bags." I told him.

"What about a hundred million?" He asked.

"What do mean?"

"Well you know, since you value the moonlight so much, I was thinking about taking you to see it but no...you can just go back inside, and I'll leave-"

"Blahgua! Wait-" I saw him smirk. "What about we go see the moon, then I'll go back home and you'll go back to your wall." I said.

"Brilliant!" He exclaimed. "That way we both get what we want." He said. "Okay, let's go-"

"Wait...I feel bad leaving Tails alone." I admitted. He sighed

"You could ask him." He said. I ran inside.

"Hey Tails would you like to come see the moon with me and Shadow?" I asked him.

"Sonic..." He groaned. "You go enjoy your night, I've got mine to enjoy too!" He smiled. I smiled.

"Thanks bud." I ran back out. "He said he's staying."

"Alright. Wrap your arms around me." He said.

"But you're a criminal." I smirked.

"Do you want to see the moon or not?" He asked. I wrapped my arms around him. In the blink of an eye we were on a tree. I had my eyes covered by his hands. "Ready?" He asked.

"More than ready." I said. He uncovered my eyes. It was beautiful! Both of the moons were full. I laughed. Shadow looked at me.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just a thing when I was smaller, and the moons." I smiled.

"What was it? Can I know?" He asked.

"Okay, promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Promise."

"Okay, when I was just a kid and the moons were full, my parents used to dress me in this cat outfit. I didn't know it was a cat outfit, it was fluffy and white with bows and a little jingle bell. They said I was a were-cat. It was the best game to play," I laughed. I heard him chuckle too.

"That's the cutest thing I've ever heard." He said. I took out a folded photograph.

"Here, this what I looked like." I handed him the photo. He smiled.

"That's adorable." He headed it back. I smiled. "You know, I was going to force you to-" He was cut off a branch snapped. He got a grip of my leg and pulled me down with him.

"Ow..." I groaned. I rubbed my butt. I opened my eyes and noticed I was on top of Shadow.

"Argh..." I heard him groan. He looked up at me with a weak smile. "Good thing I broke your fall otherwise you'd be in the pain I am." He said arching his back to take something out, the branch.

"Here, let me help." I said already on my feet and stretched a hand out. He took it, but whimpered. "What's wrong?"

"It's my back." He said. I smiled.

"Let me help." I turned his back to me and put a knee on his tailbone then took his shoulders and brought them to my chest. I heard a pop. He sighed and turned back to me.

"Gee...thanks." He said. Our faces were close to each other. My nose touched his nose. He gave a small gasp.

"Relax." I whispered. He looked into eyes and I looked into his. Fireflies were starting to glow.

"Sonic..." I heard him say.

"Yes Shadow?" I asked softly.

"I'm amazed." He said.

"Me too." I told him. My eyes began to close and I leaned closer to him. I could feel his lips centimeters away, but before they were connected, I felt a sudden force stop me. I looked down, and Shadow's hand was on my chest, stoping me from going any closer.

"No..." He whispered. I looked confused.

"Are you alright?" I asked him. He broke away from me and put his hands to the sides of his head, and dropped to his knees. He looked like he was having a mental breakdown.

"I...I can't do this. Not this time, I can't have another person get hurt because of me..." He said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"I can't loose you too." He said. "I don't want to replace those old memories with new ones again." He said. I got down on my knees next to him.

I stretched my arm out to touch him, "Shadow, it's okay-" But he slapped it away.

"No it's not okay. It happened to her, I don't want it to happen to you." He whispered. "Please don't touch me, get away from here...leave before you get hurt." He said. I got up and walked away soon leaving the wall and going over to Tails. He was asleep already.

I have to help Shadow... He can't live like this...