The one who stayed //Sonadow//

Chapter ten.

Previously

"I will love you then." he whispered in my ear, telling me the absolute truth with his deep voice. "Then that's the plan." I replied, content with the moment I was in.

~

"Then you're going to have to come and get me" Shadow whispered with a wink, running away from the blue hero to entice him in another race. The hero groaned out his playful distaste and ran after the ultimate lifeform. "Again?!"

"I'm trying to cheer you up blue." Shadow smirked, "Have you lost your spark?"

Sonic's eyes widened at his comment. "Never!" he shouted as his legs worked harder to run ahead of the ultimate lifeform. Shadow chuckled and ran after him but kept closely behind him. He felt bad for winning their race earlier. He saw how much it bothered Sonic and that look of disappointment on his face was unsettling to Shadow.

"That's the Sonic I know."

Sonic looked back at him and smiled brightly at him, making Shadow's stomach flip.

"How far do you want to go this time?"

"Not that far." Sonic chuckled, moving from side to side as he dodged the trees. "That helps." Shadow said dully, rolling his eyes. A louder laugh left the hero's lips. "Back to my house then?"

"That could work." The ultimate lifeform teased, a smirk pulling at his lips. "You're gross." Sonic commented, running faster to escape the sudden rush of heat that filled his chest and spread out to flush his cheeks.

Shadow let out a quick laugh and pushed himself to catch up to the speedster, glancing at him before jumping over the underbrush. "Says the one who wanted me so badly this morning."

Sonics cheeks burned brighter with a blush, even reaching the tip of his ears. "Did not! I was simply teasing!" He exclaimed as the wind rushed by and drowned out his words towards his charcoal counterpart running beside him. Shadow's heightened hearing, however, picked it up with no obstruction.

Shadow the Hedgehog pushed forward to pass the hero of Mobius, teasing him and, without knowing, becoming an image of absolute flawlessness and precision in Sonic's eyes. Emerald orbs watched as the black and ruby red hedgehog dodged tree's and jumped over the sodden underbrush with ease, his body limber to the worlds natural, untouched domain.

A low hanging branch grazing the top of the speedsters' quills was enough to bring him out of his stupor, making him realize that he was slowing down and that the ultimate lifeform was a few feet ahead of him now.

"Heeeeyyy!!" Sonic yelped out in surprise, not wasting a second to catch up to Shadow. The dark hedgehog rolled his eyes and glanced at the blue hero, "Are you okay? You're not running as fast."

"Well your banter is throwing me off my game!" Sonic shot back, throwing a playful glare in Shadow's direction. This only made Shadow smirk. "I'll be quiet then."

The hero huffed and pushed himself to run next to the ultimate lifeform, their bodies working in unison as they mirrored each other in speed and dexterity.

"You're a jerk." Sonic mocked playfully, though the light distaste in his voice twisted the small jab into a slightly barbed insult. Shadow chuckled, knowing the speedster was only teasing, and winked at him.

The two broke apart once again as a tree cut in between them. Sonic grinned at this and turned, pushing himself onto the left side of the ultimate lifeform. Shadow looked at him knowingly and the two shared a smirk as they used trees to switch spots. Weaving through the tall oak to make a figure eight pattern in the grass.

Sonic laughed at their little game and glanced at Shadow, his smiling face making the ultimate lifeform grin. That look that the hero had on now brought back so many happy memories. When was the last time that I managed to get him to smile at me like that? Shadow thought, amazed by the happy gleam in Sonic's bright emerald eyes.

Those eyes shifted to the path in front of him, observing the way the clearing glowed like a door to heaven. As beautiful as it was, Sonic was not ready to cross that bridge yet. He enjoyed the fast life right now here on earth, so heaven can wait.

"So, who is going to win?" Shadow questioned, his deep voice loud over the rushing wind.

"Me!" Sonic groaned as he forced himself to break away from the ultimate lifeform, speeding ahead of him. "Don't hurt yourself." Shadow commented, almost regretting it as what happened next played out too quick.

As Sonic turned to his counterpart, wanting to know what he said, the side of his face collided with a tree. The impact sent him down just as fast as he had run into it, and his scream passed his lips once he hit the grass.

Shadow stopped abruptly, burning the ground with his shoes. He rushed over to the dazed hedgehog and kneeled down next to him. "Sonic! Are you okay?!"

Sonic opened his eyes at the sound of Shadow's voice, his gloved hand rubbing his head were a bump, as big as his fist, was already starting to form. His vision was blurred, however, making Shadow spread out into an image of three.

"Y-Yeah...I think so..." he mumbled as he raised his hand towards Shadow, touching nothing but air. Shadow frowned and grabbed Sonic's hand, watching as emerald eyes shifted frantically left to right. "Oh yeah? How many of me do you see?" Shadow asked cautiously, worried for the answer.

The hero squinted his eyes, only to make his vision worse and create even more duplicates of the worried face of his dark counterpart. "...uhhhh...the fourth from the left..."

The ultimate lifeform sighed and carefully picked up the mumbling and groaning hedgehog, "You're not okay."

With a slur in his voice and a quick raise of his hand, Sonic yelled, "I can still save the day rock!", before passing out in Shadow's arms. Now Shadow knew he wasn't okay and took note to never let Sonic run into any trees anytime soon.

~

Shadow carefully laid a bag of ice on Sonic's forehead as he laid still on his bed, only to move away from the cold that he felt against the pain on his head.

"You're a handful." Shadow commented as he tried to keep the ice on the swelling spot on the hero's head, but even if he was sleeping now, Sonic refused to keep still. He curled into himself and kept his head tucked away from the cold ice that, in his mind, kept trying to attack him.

"Stop moving so much."

Sonic responded with a low purr, smiling in his sleep. Shadow rolled his eyes and put the ice on the night stand next to him, rubbing Sonic's arm instead.

The hero had been through a lot these past few hours, so letting him sleep was all Shadow could do to make things alright again. The sight of the sleeping hedgehog, who would probably wake with a headache worse than anything he has ever felt, made Shadow suddenly have a bombardment of old memories with scenes similar to this rush back before he could stop them.

His mind was soon plagued with memories he wished he could forget.