"Come again?"
"Chao. What do you not understand, hedgehog?" Shadow groaned in displeasure, when the blue hedgehog seemed to be so dense at the moment. He tried to explain, what kind of creatures these are and what they do during their lives. Even though, he himself did not know fully everything about them, like, how they even reproduce. When there are so many of them, they have to have some sort of system for sure, but Shadow couldn't figure out such system. The only idea he had was, that perhaps a new chao just randomly appears with the natural chaos energy their bodies contain, but even such theory was a little bit too unreal.
"Uh, alright, so... chao. That's interesting for sure. Also, what does it mean, when there is an exclamation mark above their heads?" Sonic did not pay attention to the way Shadow was irritated, as he casually asked another question.
"From what I have learned, it usually happens, when they're interested in something," Shadow answered the question calmly and picked Onyx up, when he saw him crawl over to him. Sonic saw the same chao from earlier waking up and looking up at him before getting up with its paws lifted towards him as it stood on its toes and formed a desperate grimase on its face.
"Pick it up," Shadow instructed the blue hedgehog. Sonic crouched down to the chao and opened his arms, which made the creature cheer up and rush to his embrace while nuzzling him.
"How come the others are unbothered by our presence?" Sonic asked, as he stood up with the chao now in his arms.
"My guess is, that only one of them chooses their new owner. Like.. Onyx was the only one cooperating with me, when I was here to get the chaos emerald, which I needed for your revival," Shadow elaborated and Sonic looked at him with strange expression on his face.
"What?" Shadow hissed while frowning.
"Did you name him like that?" Sonic asked and approached him, which caused Onyx and Sonic's chao glare at each other with frowns on their faces.
"Not really. Look," Shadow shook his head and pointed at the drawing on the grassy surface, which Sonic checked out and noticed the names above the drawings of Shadow and the chao himself.
"Oh wow, your chao is... really talented, must I admit. Also, how come it's so dark? Ohhh waiiiit, because it belongs to a dark and brooding dada~" Sonic at first complimented the chao's skills before glancing at Shadow and Onyx with a smirk on his face, whilst he let out that tease.
"Urgh, shut up! I am just taking care of him, nothing more!" Shadow growled in response.
"Haha, worth it! But okay, now seriously, will this chao change too, if I take care of it?" Sonic laughed at Shadow's reaction, honestly expecting that, because he already knew him so well.
"Eventually, I suppose?" Shadow ignored the other's antics and shrugged in response.
"Wait, how long have you been taking care of yours?" the blue hedgehog raised a brow in genuine curiousness.
"Over the whole week for sure," Shadow replied quietly, while Sonic started softly stroking his chao's head, which made the creature completely melt as it smiled and showed a long lasting heart above its head. Its color was gradually changing to a lighter shade, until it was fully white with blue paw tips, yellow belly and tiny double-outgrowths appeared on the back of its head, which also had the blue hue on their tips.
"Whoa!" Sonic stopped petting it after seeing these changes and gripping the chao by its round-shaped chest he held it in front of him to take a proper look at it.
"That was fast," he stated with a chuckle, while Shadow stared at him in awe. He didn't know, that the chao could change the appearance this fast.
"Aww, look at youu, so sweet and unique are you~" Sonic gently nuzzled the chao's chest with his nose, making it giggle and clap its paws. Shadow rolled his eyes at the sight, while Onyx watched the blue hedgehog with question mark above his head and his paw resting on his mouth in thoughtful manner. He seemed to wonder, why Sonic acted like that towards his chao and deep down wished to be treated in similar way by Shadow.
"Chaooo, chao!" Sonic's chao exclaimed, when the blue hedgie started simply play with it and laughed softly along with it.
"How about I now teach you how to walk?" Sonic asked the creature, completely forgetting about Shadow and Onyx at the moment.
"Chao!" the chao showed heart above its head and Sonic set it down on the ground afterwards, which made the chao sit on its adorable butt and look up at him in anticipation.
"Alright, trust me, okay? I will grab your paws and you'll try to use your feet to walk," Sonic instructed and gently gripped the chao's paws, then lifted it up onto its feet and tugged on its paws to make it try to walk. The chao lifted one foot and moved it forward, but wasn't able to balance itself on one foot, so it fell, now sort of hanging thanks to Sonic constantly holding its paws.
"It's okay, try again," Sonic supported the creature, which nodded in determination as it moved its feet fully on the solid ground and again tried to make a step forward. And it succeeded!
"Chaoo!" it gasped before exclaiming in pure joy, making Sonic smile in proud manner.
"Good job, buddy!" the hedgie praised the chao's little success. As Shadow watched him interacting with the chao in such caring way, he could see the hedgehog's soft side straight on display here and for some reason it caused his heart skip a beat. He never before thought, that Sonic had such side in him, until now. Even though, the massage and other affectionate touches Sonic gave him some time ago proved such fact as well. Yet, he still felt unworthy of it, he broke Sonic's trust, he betrayed the only person, who seems to love him with his whole heart. He caused harm to him and nearly got him killed. He isn't worthy of his love. Releasing a soft sigh he put Onyx down and gently patted his head before heading towards the portal. With Onyx of course following him and again holding onto his ankle to stop him from leaving the garden.
"...chaoo," Onyx pouted sadly at him, straight pleading him to stay.
"No, Onyx. You stay here, I.. I need a moment, alone," Shadow shook his head and patiently waited for the chao's reaction. Onyx sighed and finally, reluctantly, let go of Shadow's ankle, then watched him leave through the portal until the hedgehog disappeared. Onyx hung his paws low and formed spiral above his head as he returned to Sonic and his chao, sitting nearby them he started quietly sobbing.
The sad noises finally got Sonic's attention, as the hedgehog paused the walking lesson and looked at Onyx before realizing, that Shadow is gone.
"Wait a second, buddy," he said to his chao and let go of its paws before lifting Onyx up and giving him a comforting hug.
"Shhh, it's okay, Onyx, it's okay. He will come back eventually," he spoke to him quietly to comfort him and help him cry all the pain out of his body. Yet, he himself had to admit, he felt disappointed, that Shadow decided to leave, once again. Since Lyric's gone, he was sure, that Shadow is up to nothing bad this time, so he decided to stay here with their chao creatures and take care of them in the meantime. A few minutes later, Sonic put Onyx down onto the grass and saw his chao walk over to him and hug him as well.
"Chaooo," it said softly, as if trying to tell Onyx, that it's there for him.
"Awww, aren't you my little angel?" Sonic softly giggled as he sat down next to them and made his chao smile at him while nodding in agreement. Onyx hugged the other back and sobbed to its embrace.
"Chao, chao... chao," Sonic's chao gently rubbed Onyx's back and nuzzled him to make him feel better. Eventually, Onyx finally stopped crying and just sat there with the other standing in front of him.
"That's it, your name is gonna be Angel, look at how sweet and caring you are," Sonic spoke to his chao, who cheered up at the name given to him and jumped a few times on spot while flapping his wings. Sonic smiled brightly at him and found his behavior adorable.
"Just like your papa~" he chuckled and had Angel instantly snuggle close to him, whilst Onyx rather sulked now in jealousy. He wanted to be with Shadow here and heck, he did not even learn how to walk, when Shadow always just let him wander around in a crawling motion. Sonic noticed that, so he set Angel down and picked Onyx up.
"Hey, how about we teach you how to walk as well?" Sonic suggested, earning a shrug from Onyx. Yeah, it's pretty obvious, that Onyx took a lot after Shadow's attitude.
"Alright, just like I did with Angel, I will hold your paws and you will try to walk," Sonic spoke to Onyx with patience as he let him stand on his feet and held his paws for support.
"Now try to make a step towards me, okay?" he continued the lesson and Onyx luckily cooperated, as he moved his foot forward and nearly fell, but caught himself swiftly with his other foot and balanced himself.
"Good job, Onyx! Keep going!" Sonic smiled brightly at him, whilst Angel clapped his paws and cheered for his new buddy. Onyx smiled a bit shyly at the support from the both of them and did his best to learn how to make the steps without falling. It took him a while, but soon he finally figured it out and walked all the way towards Sonic's lap, where he dropped down and laughed.
"There you go, good boy," Sonic chuckled and gently patted Onyx's head in proud manner.
"Chao!" Angel exclaimed cheerfully and extended his paw towards Onyx, which flustered the dark chao as he hid his face in Sonic's lap.
"Aw, come on, don't be shy now, Angel is trying to help you," Sonic laughed softly at Onyx's behavior and helped him out of the shy shell by picking him up and setting him next to Angel, who instantly grabbed his paw to hold it. Onyx stared at the ground while even faintly blushing and felt a small tug on his paw, which made him look at the other in confusion. It seemed like Angel wanted to take Onyx for a little walk. Onyx soon understood and along with Angel started making the steps forwards. At first, they were a little clumsy, but soon they both were able to decently walk around the garden. Sonic felt proud of them both and standing up he caused them pause and look up at him.
"Don't worry, guys, I will be right back. I am just going to try find Shadow and talk to him for a bit, okay?" he explained himself to them, earning a nod from them both before heading towards the portal and getting back outside the sacred cave.
Afterwards, he speeded off towards Shadow's cave, thinking, that the dark hedgehog is going to be exactly there. Upon arrival he could see the door slightly open, which peaked his curiosity and he gave in to it as he carefully peeked into the cave through the gap.
"Shadow? Are you in there?" he called out, hearing his voice echo through the cave's walls and returning to his own ear drums. Then, silence took over the place, so, releasing a small sigh, Sonic quietly entered and walked through the interier. He could see some mess around there, which made him frown in worry, as he wondered, what in the world happened here. He even found pieces of a broken vase on the ground, which was a clear clue of what the hedgehog has been doing.
"Get out of my cave, hedgehog!" Shadow suddenly growled behind him, making him flinch and quickly turn around to face the angry hybrid.
"Shadow, what's all this supposed to mean? I thought we're on good terms now?" Sonic instantly defended himself while raising his hands to express his innocence.
"Yeah, you thought that, correct! I never said we are good," Shadow crossed his arms while frowning at the other.
"Oh come on, man! We talked things out, I sort of forgave you and you even told me your backstory, thanks to which I at least understand you much better now! Do you really wish to throw all this away? As if it was nothing?" Sonic tried to make a good points here and once again convince Shadow, that he is damn worthy.
"Tch, I should have never told you in the first place!" the hybrid growled lowly.
"Shads, that's... there is nothing wrong with me now knowing about it. If anything, I am grateful, that you trusted me enough to tell me. And I promise, I won't say a word to anyone without your consent," Sonic made a slow steps towards the hybrid while speaking to him in calm tone and again using the sweet nickname, because he wanted to further prove Shadow's worth.
"But you can't even trust me anymore!" Shadow still opposed, despite them talking things out earlier in the chao garden.
"Shads, I can trust you again. I know, that what you did was awful, but you did it for a good reason. If I ever lose Tails in some way and there would be someone offering me such a great help with bringing him back, heck, I would be probably reckless too and do anything the person wants, just so the main desire would be fulfilled. I'd do exactly the same mistake like you, Shads, that important Tails is to me. Or even you yourself, I... I can't imagine my life without you anymore. It would destroy me, if you're gone for good. So, please, stop with the self-hatred and just keep going forward. It's the least you can do for me, for yourself. For our chao's too," Sonic gave him a long speech and proceeded to fully approach him. Due to Shadow walking backwards for the whole time, his back met the cave's wall, so he couldn't move any further and Sonic used advantage of that, as he placed one hand on the wall next to Shadow's head to pin him to it and prevent him from escaping.
"G-Go away, Sonic... I am n-not worth it.. you can find s-someone much better than me," Shadow slightly teared up while keeping his head low now, but Sonic gently placed his free hand on Shadow's chin and lifted his head up to make the eye contact with him.
"You're right, Shads. I can find someone better out there, but I don't wanna. Because you are the best choice for me already, I chose you and in a million years I will always choose you over anyone out there. You are special and unique, one of a kind. And... I don't also want you to be alone for the rest of your immortal life," he replied in a deeply meaningful way and was surprised, that he is capable of such thing at all.
"I love you, Shads, with my whole heart and soul. And I will patiently wait for you to make the first move in our relationship, I won't do anything uncomfortable to you, I promise," he continued, when Shadow remained just silently staring into his eyes. Tears filled the hybrid's eyes and finally Shadow gave in as he hugged Sonic tightly and cried in his embrace.
"There, Shads, let it out," Sonic whispered as he hugged him back and held him close to his chest while stroking his quills to comfort him. The poor hybrid was so stubborn and needed to be proven wrong so many times before he'd finally accept the fate. But that's why Sonic was here, always by his side. Not even such terrible betrayal, which almost costed Sonic's life, was able to fully separate these two hedgies.
"Why me, though? W-Why would you choose someone like me?" Shadow sadly questioned the other, once he stopped crying and broke the hug, yet felt his hands getting held by Sonic in the process, which made him feel a strong urge to free himself from the other's grip and build a barrier around his heart.
"Because you are the only one able to keep up with me and put me to place, when it's necessary. If I don't count your cool looks, I also really like your hidden soft side, which you let me see a few times and I would never trade that for anything. I cherish it deep in my heart," Sonic spoke openly about his feelings, his tail was now wagging rapidly behind him.
"Tch, you're pathetic," Shadow scoffed in disbelief and wanted to cross his arms, but couldn't due to Sonic still holding his hands.
"Do I need to say it~?" Sonic grinned at him in playful manner, earning a soft growl from the hybrid, which wasn't threatening at all.
"Say what?" Shadow fell oblivious while tilting his head to a side.
"Love you tooooo~" Sonic mused playfully and quickly planted a soft kiss on Shadow's cheek before speeding out of the cave.
"HEY, COME BACK HERE!!" Shadow blushed darkly in flustered manner before following Sonic outside and chasing him around the beach.
"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, SLOWPOKE!" Sonic yelled back while laughing as he kept the chase going and soon changed the locations to make the chase more interesting.