"....hedgehog! Wake up! Sonic!" someone shook the blue hero's body, which finally awakened him, blue eyelids slowly opened and revealed the emerald irises landing on the mobian's face above him.
"Hmm.... Shadow?" Sonic called the other's name carefully, seeing the blurry head above him slowly getting the features sharper and soon his vision became normal. He found himself laying on the ground with Shadow sitting next to him and once he sat up, he could see the Canyon environment surrounding them. Was he just... dreaming?
"Finally!" Shadow scoffed and removed his hands from Sonic's chest, his cheeks quickly warmed up upon the realization of where he touched the hero and turned to face the nature instead in order to hide his blush. Sonic looked at him from head to toe and had to admit, glad he was to see him alive and as healthy as ever. Smiling brightly at the memory of himself saving Shadow's life with the Amber he got so happy, that he just had to hug his ebony companion tightly and burry his face into his surprisingly really soft, milky white chest fur.
"Huh? Hey, what's wrong w-with you! Ugh, what're y-you doing!" Shadow instantly became defensive, seeing such embrace as a threat and bristled his quills, which prickled the blue hedgehog's arms, so Sonic was forced to quickly let go with a painful squeak.
"Shadow! I am just hugging you, not gonna hurt you, calm down, will ya!" the hero hastily explained himself, or at least tried.
"Why would you do that in the first place?" Shadow asked him while slowly relaxing his quills as he glanced into the other's eyes, deep down feeling some strange kind of connection with the other and felt an urge to be close to him. Which he didn't understand, why he got it in him so suddenly, not having a memory of anything after he fell unconscious behind Sonic's shack.
"Uhhh, well, I am just happy to... see you again? Heh," Sonic replied nervously now as his peach cheeks caught a pinkish hue and he rubbed his arm to subconsciously comfort himself.
"You're weird," Shadow stated while shaking his head as he got up and stretched his body.
"Thanks, love you too," Sonic smirked as he also stood up and just then he realized, what he said, which made him turn fully deep crimson in his face and cover his mouth while watching Shadow in anticipation.
The ebony hedgehog froze in spot, his ear flicked twice and his own face turned bright red from the words hitting his eardrums and settling down in his brain. Turning his gaze towards the hero he wore shocked expression, which soon transformed into an unreadable one, as he was slowly letting the words sink in his mind. His heart speeded up the pace a bit in response to such impulse caused by the simple words leaving the blue hedgehog's unstoppable mouth.
"Eeeeeh, nevermind, f-forget I said anything, heh, see ya!" Sonic panicked, when he saw Shadow stare at him so speechless and speeding off he tried to just simply run away from the situation.
"No, no, no... how could I? Ugh, I messed up so badly, he's now going to be angry at me! Hehe, I didn't really think, that he would ever like me back, huh? Who am I kidding, of course I did! Somebody help!" he frantically spoke to himself while running in high velocity all across the Seaside Island and trying his best to not think of the amazing first kiss he shared with his rival in the frozen temple, which, sadly, only he can remember. Shadow had no memory of it and if he did, maybe he would want to punch the life out of Sonic. The blue hero was sure of it.
"But I sacrificed myself for- OOF!" Sonic spoke to himself again, due to his unfocused state of mind he collided with someone's body and the impact made both him and the mobian fall onto the soft sand of the beach they both could find themselves on.
"Urghhh, that was a hit," Sonic rubbed his head and looked at the mobian he collided with, his eyes widening upon the sight of the echidna sitting halfway in the sand with his chest covered by a fresh fruity ice cream and an empty cone in his hand.
"Knuckles! I'm so sorry!" Sonic quickly stood up and offered the other his hand.
"You... t-this was my first specially flavored ice cream today! You... you made me waste it!" the echidna threatened to tear up. Sonic gave him a sheepish smile while rubbing his quills.
"Ehehe, come on, Knux, I can buy you a new one! Even double portion!" he promised to his friend, who slowly stood up and brushed the sand off of his body before using his long tongue to lick the ice cream away from his chest and thus clean himself.
"Yuck! Didn't have to see that!" Sonic grimased in disgusted expression while looking away as he let the echidna do his cleaning.
"Hmmm, it has a double-special taste now! You're fine, Sonic, I am not mad at you," Knuckles smiled at him innocently afterwards, as he crunched the cone and brushed his hands together, once he was done. Sonic looked up at him again and hesitantly relaxed a little.
"Thanks...? Heh and sorry again, I really didn't mean to ruin the little snack time for ya," he replied in apologetic tone, earning a small pat on his head from Knuckles.
"I know you didn't. But, why such a rush?" the echidna asked him, unintentionally making him deeply blush in embarassment, as the hedgehog crossed his arms and turned away from his friend. Except for that, he was of course glad to see him back to normal, assuming, that the others were going to be the same, since everything seemed normal as always.
"Uh... me and Shadow got into a fight again," he made up a quick excuse.
"I wouldn't exactly call it a fight," the said ebony hedgehog's deep voice said behind him, making the blue hero bristle up in shock and even yelp in startled fashion.
"S-Shadow?!" Sonic quickly turned to face his rival while giving him a sheepish smile and raising his hands defensively, when he saw the other hedgehog walk towards him in steady pace and with a frown on his face. Knuckles watched the two with interest and amusement filling his core and sitting down on a flat-shaped rock he enjoyed the scene in front of him as if he was in a theater. However, not for long, because Shadow teleported himself and Sonic away, once he got a grip of his arm.
"Aw, come on! This could have been so interesting to see!" Knuckles complained and sighing he decided to take a rest on the big flat rock, now that he was here anyway.
Shadow re-appeared with Sonic in front of the entrance of his secret cave home and finally released Sonic's arm, so he could cross his arms over his chest, burning the hero with his glare.
"Is this how you deal with stuff? Always run away and make an empty assumptions without seeing any proof of it being-hmpfmhmm," he started scolding the other in serious tone, but his eyes widened, when he felt himself getting cut off by the other connecting their lips together in their official second kiss - with Shadow going to remember this one as his personal first one. At first, Shadow didn't know how to respond, but eventually gave in as he gently cupped Sonic's cheek and closing his eyes he finally reacted by softly returning the loving kiss.
His heart pounded in his chest like crazy while he absentmindedly rubbed the other's cheek with his thumb and then felt Sonic's arms surrounding his neck, pulling him even closer to the hero's body. He complied and moving his other arm around Sonic's torso he tenderly rested his hand between Sonic's backspins and gently stroked the blue fur with his fingertips, earning a quiet purring noise from the hero. Sonic eventually pulled away, panting heavily he looked deep into the dark crimson eyes of his rival, noticing him being deep red in his face along with the tips of his ears. He himself now became a blushing mess.
"I'm sorry, Shadow... I-I panicked back there a-and thought, that you will be mad at me f-for what I said and-" Shadow pressed his index finger on the other's peach lips to shush him while staring into the emerald eyes, feeling conflicted deep down and so much unused to all this.
"Cease chattering, hedgehog. I.. I suppose you don't make me mad at all," he admitted while frowning thoughtfully.
"If anything, you confuse me a lot," he added and removed his finger from the other's lips, allowing him to speak up again. Releasing a soft sigh, Shadow turned away from his rival, now facing the ocean nearby the cave.
"First I find you napping in the Canyon, then.. you suddenly hug me in such.. dare I say 'desperate' fashion and lastly you... you say those words to me before running away. And now you kiss me... what has really gotten into you, hedgehog?" he shared his observations about the hero, his ears in flat position.
"Uh.." Sonic listened carefully to his dark rival and felt a bit guilty now for acting.. indeed pretty weird. Looking down at his feet he nervously brushed the sand underneath with the tip of it before moving to stand next to his rival while looking at him. In the slowly setting sunrays, the ebony hedgehog's fur caught a beautiful, nearly metallic gleam and his crimson irises got lighter shade, which made them look rather soft and less menacing.
"Promise me you won't.. get mad at me?" he carefully let his plead out while holding his hands together and nervously fiddling with his thumbs.
"I am not mad, Sonic," Shadow sighed in response and looked at him, waiting for him to continue. Sonic still gulped in anxiety and tried to regain his confidence at least enough to explain everything to Shadow.
"A-Alright, first... tell me, what all do you remember?" he asked him carefully. Shadow frowned thoughtfully and staring off towards the ocean again he tried to reminiscent any memories from days prior.
"Except for our meetings? The doctor trying to be annoying, as always... then, just darkness, ever since I fainted so suddenly, when.. I was on the way to your shack," he said calmly and it was Sonic's turn to frown in response.
"Why were you coming to my place?" the hero asked.
"F-for help..," Shadow mumbled while blushing, obviously hating to admit it.
"You see.. I didn't feel well for a few days and... when it got really terrible, I assumed, that only you could help me. But I never got there, as, like I said, I fainted. Next thing I remember is me awakening somewhere in the jungle, nearby the Canyon. I was confused, as to why I appeared exactly there and how come the weird sickness is gone now," he continued his side of the story with Sonic attentively listening to him.
"About this s-sickness, Shadow... I can safely tell you, that...um, I-I kinda got you rid of it," Sonic admitted while blushing hard, feeling even more nervous now, when he remembered kissing the unconscious male back in the temple.
"You did? How?" Shadow looked at him with raised brow, still so confused about what's going on here exactly. Sonic didn't dare to look at him, too afraid of his reaction.
"Long story short... there was a legendary crystal and using its power I... simply healed you?" he replied in questioning tone, as if he wasn't really sure, if he is saying it correctly. He said only half of the truth and Shadow could sense it.
"Hm... if it was this simple, why are you not looking at me?" Shadow asked with a small smirk on his face, having a theory in his head, but he wanted to hear it from the hero himself.
"B-Because, you see... uh, I.. I had to ummm, k-kiss you for it to w-work perfectly," Sonic stuttered badly now and felt embarassed while hanging his tail low and pinning his ears to his head.
"Tch, cliché," Shadow rolled his eyes and staring off towards the ocean he scoffed while shaking his head.
"Can't believe it actually worked. How ironic," he added in slight amusement.
"Wait.. you aren't mad, that I k-kissed you while you were... well, basicaly asleep?" Sonic asked in confusion as he raised a brow and looked at the side profile of his rival's face. Light crimsons then met the emeralds, getting locked in a long lasting gaze.
"No. I am not mad at you at all, I mean.. you saved my life, yes? I am grateful for that," Shadow replied in calm tone and Sonic, for the second time, believed, that he's just dreaming.
'No way Shadow is so kind and tender... maybe this isn't even Shadow at all,' a voice spoke in Sonic's head, setting a bug to his brain.
"Are you... serious right now?" Sonic asked carefully, unable to believe it. Where is the dark, brooding, edgy rival of his now?
"Do I look like a joke to you?" Shadow growled warningly while frowning at him and regretted being, for once, a bit more open towards the blue hero. There is the edge of the hero's rival!
"N-no, no! Not what I meant!" Sonic quickly shook his hands in front of him in defensive manner.
"I just dared to spill my heart to you and you assume, that I am not being serious," Shadow stated in subtly hurt tone, feeling upset now.
"Shadow, it's b-because you were always so... I dunno, distant and closed off! I was often just guessing, what you might think of at the certain moment, or what you feel... IF you even feel the same towards me and all..." Sonic defended himself before letting out a heavy sigh as he looked down.
"I just.. I couldn't just let you die, is all," he added quietly. Shadow stared at him with a conflicted feeling filling his core.
"..I appreciate that," he said carefully and averted his gaze afterwards.
"Good night," the ebony male added before vanishing to thin air, surely teleporting straight to his cave home, where he simply laid down on the makeshift bed and tried to get some needed sleep.
Sonic was left on the beach with confusion and total chaos in his mind. Shadow was so difficult to understand sometimes, he had to admit.
'Why do I even like him?' he asked himself and watched the sun setting down behind the horizon of the darkening ocean waves. Once the sun was fully gone, the hedgehog released a small sigh and glanced towards the cave, itching to enter it and sleep somewhere nearby his love interest. But no, he couldn't invade Shadow's privacy, unless he gets permission from him, he was forbidden to simply enter his home as if it belonged to him too. That night, Sonic ended up making a campfire and sleeping on the soft sand underneath, right next to the fire to stay warm.