「 light in the darkness. 」

≻ . key

The sun was sinking and Light felt as though she'd been sat with the flowers for hours. The fur on her knees were mussed from kneeling there for a while. However, she'd been able to calm herself down and remove herself from that saddened state she'd fallen into. She almost wondered if these flowers radiated a soothing aura, because that was precisely what she was picking up around them. They had a way of calming her, though perhaps it was simply due to them being so beautiful, delicate. Shadow had shown them to her and she was grateful for that.

Once she'd calmed enough and felt ready to return to the cave, she did so slowly. She had Amy's jacket tugged around her body tightly to keep warm as the sun disappeared.

"Shadow?" Light called out softly, green eyes searching the inside of the cave. He wasn't near the entrance where he usually stood on guard, but deeper in where she could see his red and black quills from behind a rock where he was sat, eyes closed— whilst she'd been out with the flowers, he'd been allowed a moment of peace.

"I'm here," the male replied, his voice holding a calm tone rather than the usual annoyance.

The purple hedgehog moved over to him, slowly moving to sit beside him. He seemed.. just as calm as he sounded. His eyes were closed, his shoulders relaxed and Light was trying to remember the first time she'd seen him like this— she couldn't. This was it.

"You know, it's much easier to enjoy the peace when you're not here asking questions," Shadow spoke, a subtle grin upon his lips. However, Light only frowned. "Am I truly that much of a bother?"

"No. You still fail to detect when someone is joking, Light."

The male lifted an eye open, a quiet snort of amusement escaping him at her expression. She was still very much like a child in nature.

"If I remember correctly, I told you i'd have something for you." Shadow's arms unfolded, his closed hand extending towards her. "Hold out your hand for me, will you?"

Light's expression, though still confused, became mixed with curiosity. She held her hand out, palm facing upwards so whatever he had would he placed within it.

"While you were hanging with Amy today, I.. got you this," he began, placing the item within her palm and closing her fingers around it. "I can't keep you in this cave. You need a decent place to sleep and your own space— I need my space too. So you're gonna stay near Sonic and Amy and they'll keep an eye on you for me."

Once Shadow removed his hand, Light looked down at hers and opened it to reveal a key on the palm of her hand. This had her frowning and she looked back up at him. "You're sending me away— you don't want me around.."

"You misunderstand. If you want to stay here on earth, you have to learn to live as the others do. I can't teach you everything. You must learn from experience," he told her.

"But I want to stay here with you!" Light insisted, her frown only growing.

"I'll visit you. You're my responsibility, so i'll check in on you from time to time. But I am not your babysitter, so I can't have you here for me to look after all the time. Understand?"

The female's ears drooped, gaze lowering to her hands where she fidgeted with the key. She knew he was right, but she didn't want to leave him to be alone in this cave..

"If you start pouting, i'm gonna have to send you to the flowers again," Shadow spoke, but despite the way his tone may sound, he was simply joking— Light hadn't realized that until his knuckle nudged against her cheek. "You'll be alright. You'll have Amy and Sonic just across from you.."

"You promise to visit?" The purple hedgehog asked, looking up at the male with a hopeful glint in her eyes. This caused him to nod, his eyes closing again. For the most part, he was drowning her out again, though still very aware of her eyes on him expectantly.

"I don't make promises...
but i'll visit."