I Am...All of Me

Reparations

A/N: I know the numbers will probably change once I update the other stories, but as of right now, WE ARE OFFICIALLY 100 CHAPTERS IN! AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! Thank you all so much for the reads, votes, comments, and fanart. You interacting with this book is what keeps bringing me back to the Sonic fandom. <3<3<3

I've had this particular story in the back of my head for a while now, so please tell me what you think of it! I don't know much of the canon of Maria's family, so I've invented my own. But if any of you amazing readers know anything, please let me know!

Part 1: More to the Story
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Reparation: the act of making amends, fixing a wrong, or paying money to compensate for damage, injury, or a historical injustice.
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White Space faded, and with it, the last of Shadow's connection to Black Doom. The dark hedgehog sighed, his shoulders slumping.

   This had been one of his most exhausting adventures yet, not just because of the physical toll of being forced to transform with every new Doom ability he gained. No, the greatest strain came from seeing Maria and Gerald again, alive, if only a for a brief time.

   He hadn't realized how he had started to forget little things about them until that moment. The sound of Maria's laugh or the dimple in her left cheek whenever she smiled. The way the professor spoke like a teacher whenever he told a story or how kind he used to be before the madness. He'd missed the feeling of Maria's arms around him in a hug and the gentle, reassuring pressure of Gerald's hand on his shoulder.

   He had missed them every day since Maria's death, but seeing them alive, if only for a moment, had carved his heart out and left him feeling hollow. When they began to go back to their own time, Shadow tried to warn them, but they wouldn't let him tell them what the future would bring.

   He wonders if Gerald knew. He wonders if Maria sensed the tragedy coming, and that was why she gave him those last words of reassurance.

   No matter what draws us apart, I will always be in your heart.

   Shadow breathed deeply and looked out the glass wall of Team Dark's penthouse apartment overlooking Central City. Omega was in charging mode, and Rouge had left a few hours ago to manage her club. That left him with a quiet night, and he spent it on a new hobby.

   Going into White Space had brought up a lot of old memories, both good and bad. Fighting not only Black Doom but the Biolizard, Neo Metal Sonic, Mephiles . . . with every battle, forgotten memories slid into place. But this time, Shadow wasn't taking chances with his mind.

   After leaving Sonic's birthday party, he bought a simple leather journal and a decent pen. And on quiet nights like tonight, he wrote everything he could remember. From his time aboard the Ark to the adventures he had while still recovering from amnesia to the mundane things he and his team did between missions. He dated everything to best of his ability, his time aboard the Ark with the Robotniks had instilled a bone-deep need for accuracy and detail. If anyone tampered with his memory again, this book would help him build a timeline of his life.

    It started as a contingency, but the daily habit of journaling his life also became a release. He could express his own thoughts about the events, things he had noticed, his own feelings. He didn't delve too deep into that last one, but just an acknowledgement of emotion was good enough for him.

   Tonight, he wrote about White Space, the events leading up to it all the way until saying goodbye to Maria and Gerald. Trusting that no one would read what he wrote, he even confessed to the tears he shed when he had to skate away. No one, not even Rouge, knew about this journal, and by chaos he'd keep it that way.