Together (Sonadow)

13

*Sonic's POV*
"I'll ask for another two weeks off for him. I'm sure he will need them." Rouge said after I pulled away from the hug. I nodded at her and rubbed my face.

"Thank you, Rouge." I said, and she left. She was still not able to fly, but her wing was clearly healing, just like my arm was.

I looked at Maria and hugged her tightly again. I didn't want to let go at all, I wanted to keep her in my arms forever, hoping she'd stay. I let a few tears roll down my muzzle as I held her, but I quickly wiped them off before she could see. I gave her a big and bright smile, then kissed her forehead.

"You should stay at his house until then." I offered. I knew Shadow would have the hardest time saying goodbye. I knew Shadow would want to be alone with her at least one more time. He didn't break down his wall when I was around, so even if it meant I wouldn't be there when she left, I wanted Shadow to be able to be able to say goodbye.

"But dad -" I shook my head.

"It's okay." I smiled at her and walked inside the house, taking her to my room so we could talk without waking up Shadow. I couldn't keep my tears in anymore. "I am so happy I met you, Maria. Even if Shadow and I didn't end up like you wanted, you helped us get closer." She sat beside me and rested her head on my shoulder. I wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her arm.

"You're not going to see me anymore if I go with Shadow." She sobbed. I nodded.

"Shadow would never express his true feelings if I am around. I am okay with not being there if it means he gets to cry with you. He didn't get to say goodbye to his Maria the first time, he will this time if I am not there." I explained softly. "Shadow doesn't know this, but I would do anything for him. He may think I still hold a grudge over what he said to me, but I don't. I care about him, always will, maybe not the way you wanted me to but close enough." I looked down at her. "Thank you, Maria. I hope one day I do get to meet you."

"So you do like Shadow?" She looked at me a bit surprised. 

"I always have had a crush on him, way before the accident happened. I always told myself that there was no way we would ever end up together, even if he liked me back. I would never end up with him. Many things would stop me from actually being with someone. It's nice to know that we did. That we even had you from our love. But things are more complicated than you think. I just want him to be happy, and our lines of work would always prevent that. I promise I will make sure Shadow lives a happy life, I will go visit him and make sure he is mourning your loss properly. I will be there for him every single day." I cleaned away some tears in her face as mine clouded my vision. "I'm sorry there was nothing we could do to help you."

"I always knew I would end up disappearing anyways. I just wanted to be with my parents one last time. I love you, dad." She cried a bit louder and hugged me tightly again. I hugged back and rubbed her back as I quietly cried in her shoulder. I didn't want to let go, but I had to. I pulled away after a while and cleaned my tears.

"I love you too, Maria." I kissed her forehead again. "Spend these last few moments alone with him. He needs you." I took in a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm myself down. "Don't tell him I said any of this about him. And don't tell him about what's going on until you're at his house."

I got up and walked to the living room where Shadow slept. I crouched down to be at eye level with Shadow and gently shaked him to wake him up. He groaned quietly and opened his eyes slowly, groggily getting up.

*Shadow's POV*
I hadn't noticed I had fallen asleep until I opened my eyes, and Sonic was crouching beside me. I stretched as he got back up and smiled at me. I remembered what had happened and stood up.

"I'm going home." I rolled my eyes.

"Maria is going with you." Sonic said before I reached the door. She came out of Sonic's room and ran to us, then hugged us both at the same time.

I hugged back, and so did Sonic, but I was a bit surprised not expecting this as soon as I woke up. We pulled away, and I opened the door as I waited for Maria. She hugged Sonic tightly and whispered something in his ear, then walked towards me and smiled at him, then waved goodbye. There was something in his eyes that felt wrong, but I was still too tired to even bother with it.

Sonic said bye to me and then her then we left. Once we got to my house, we both said goodnight and went to our rooms. I woke up the next morning with Maria hugging me tightly in her sleep. She had the habit of coming into our rooms while we slept so she could hug us. I had gotten used to it by now, but I was not expecting to look down and see her entire arm looking nearly gone.

She didn't have much time with us.

"Wake up." I said as I sat up. Maria opened her eyes slowly and looked at her arm. She didn't look hurt this time. She simply smiled at me. "You're almost gone, aren't you?" I asked, and she nodded.

"I thought I had more time. But, I think this may be my last day with you." She sat up and looked at me, her ears lowered as mine were pinned down. "I told Sonic yesterday before we came here. He already knows and said goodbye to me."

Suddenly, I realized why looking at him felt wrong yesterday. He had been crying. He had said goodbye to Maria.