Stubborn Love: Lost In The Amazon (Sonadow)

Step By Step

Day 15 Part 3

Later that afternoon, Sonic and Shadow were walking through the jungle. They had come up with a plan together at the river to completely abandon the river and travel straight forward, deeper into the jungle in hopes of finding a way out. They had no idea how far they had to travel to leave the rainforest, but Shadow had estimated that they would have to walk at least a hundred miles, if they kept going straight.

“Shadow,” Sonic suddenly spoke. “How are we supposed to know that we're going straight? We don't have a compass to guide us.”

“Don't worry, nature will be our compass.”

“How?”

“Well, you know how the sun always sets in the west?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, there's a type of moss in the jungle that always grows on the north side of trees and rocks.” Shadow explained. “I've seen it before we started walking. That's why I chose this path. As long as we keep following the trail of the moss, we'll be going straight.”

“Alright then, that's all I needed to know.”

Shadow stopped suddenly and turned to look at his blue companion, an eyeridge raised at him.

“You seem to be putting a lot of trust on me.” He frowned. “Why?”

“Because I trust you, Shads. You promised me that you would protect me, and I know that you're not gonna break it.”

“But… the rapids… I lost you, Sonic.” Shadow sighed in melancholy, hanging his head with his eyes closed. “We were apart for five days. You were attacked by jaguars, ants, and mosquitos. You probably already have Malaria, and not to mention, the food was lost too. I broke my promise, Sonic. I broke it… again.”

“Shadow…” Sonic reached to grab the ebony hedgehog's shoulders, turning him to face him. “That was not your fault. You couldn't predict what was gonna happen at the rapids, that was all nature taking its course. You didn't break your promise to me. And this whole ‘again' thing. If that's about your promise to Maria, you didn't break that either.”

“But…”

“Yes, you tried to destroy the world before, twice, but both times you lost your memories and were manipulated by others who wanted to use you for evil. That's not your fault. If anything, it's their fault for trying to use someone as caring and compassionate as you for their evil deeds.”

“Caring and compassionate?” Shadow smirked slyly, making Sonic blush.

“Yes Shadow. Caring and compassionate. That's who you are, deep down inside. It just… takes time for one to get to it. Your promise to Maria was to keep the people happy, and they are happy. Afterall, I'm happy.”

“Are you really though?” Shadow raised an eyeridge. “Are you really happy being stuck with me?”

Sonic let go of Shadow's shoulders and smiled bashfully, his hands clasped behind his back, with his head down as he traced the dirt with his foot.

“You'd be surprised, Shads.”

To be honest, Sonic was happy to be stuck, alone with Shadow. Before, he had thought it was because it would help them create the bonded friendship Shadow was aiming for. But as they shared those butterfly kisses just hours before, that warm feeling came back, and this time, Sonic knew what it was.

He had a crush on Shadow.

At Sonic's words, it was Shadow's turn to blush, causing Sonic to laugh.