The school releases it`s students at it`s normal time. Wave is absent however, due to her case of being roboticized. Shadow and Maria are absent today as well. Amy has been worrying about that since the last time anyone saw them, Maria was in tears. But Sonic has been reassuring Amy that everything is fine, that perhaps they just needed some time by themselves considering what has happened. Amy is still concerned for them, though.

The group begin heading to their favourite burger shop and start discussing among themselves what they will do for the day. Before they actually make it inside the building, Amy`s cell phone begins to ring. She pulls it from her pocket and looks to the preview screen to see who is calling her. Needless to say she is shocked when she sees that it`s Shadow calling her. Her mouth drops open,"Oh my god...It`s Shadow!"

This makes everyone stop in their tracks and turn to Amy. Shadow never calls anyone in the group. Why would he be calling Amy? Amy nervously answers her phone,"H-hi, Shadow. What`s going on? We were just wondering where you and Maria were."

Then silence falls over Amy as she listens to the phone. Sonic crosses his arms, watching Amy have a discussion on the phone. He has a pretty serious expression on his face. This is very curious...Then Amy speaks up again,"Oh, sure. What time?"

Sonic`s eyes widen a little. What is going on? Amy nods her head,"All right, see you soon, Shadow. Bye."

Amy closes her phone and looks at Sonic,"Shadow wants someone to be with Maria while he`s on a job. She`s sick today so he doesn`t want to leave her alone."

Hiding his feeling of relief, Sonic forms a smile on his face,"All right."

"He asked me to come right away so I`m going to head over there now."

Cream looks up to Amy,"Do you want someone to come with you, Miss Amy?"

Amy turns down the offer,"I don`t think Shadow wants a bunch of people in his condo."

Knuckles rolls his eyes,"It`s a miracle that he even asked any of us to do anything for him."

"Seriously...All right, guys, see you later."

Amy gives the group a wave and she starts running off to where the condo buildings are. Sonic watches her go with his arms still crossed.

When Amy arrives to the condo, Shadow allows her into the building and takes her up to the actual condo room that he and Maria reside in. He doesn`t say a whole lot except for her to keep an eye on Maria in case anything happens. Then he leaves Amy with Maria, closing the door behind him and locking it. Amy takes a deep breath. She can`t deny that she feels nervous about doing this. With someone in Maria`s condition, anything could go wrong. And if something goes wrong, most likely Shadow will hold Amy responsible. He doesn`t exactly have a track record of being nice when someone is responsible for some disaster. She makes her way to the bedroom and enters inside.

Maria is laying in bed in a position that is combo of on her side and on her stomach. In her arm she has one of Shadow`s jackets which she is hugging to herself with the one arm. Her head is tucked down into the jacket where her eyes are just above the level of the jacket. She seems to be still asleep. Amy makes a smile at this. This must mean that Maria isn`t angry with Shadow. Amy pulls up a chair beside the bed and sits down in the chair.

She takes a moment to look around in the room since this is her first time seeing their bedroom. She admires the chosen furniture and takes note of how clean and organized the room is, like the rest of the condo seems to be. Amy also notices the cup on the dresser. By now, it is half full with water. This must be water for Maria. Amy looks at Maria again, smiling once more. She mentally notes to herself how well cared for Maria really is.

Maria`s blue eyes slowly open half way,"Shadow...?"

Amy is startled by Maria suddenly waking up. She has a quiet tone to her voice since the noise level of the condo is so quiet (like being in a library automatically makes you want to speak in a hushed tone),"Shadow isn`t here right now. He`s gone to do something but he`ll be back later."

Maria moves a little, bringing Shadow`s jacket closer into herself. Amy takes this to mean that Maria is worried that Shadow has abandoned her,"Oh don`t worry. He`s definitely coming back."

"I`m not worried about that...I`m worried about what he could be doing..."

"Well, GUN does more than just shoot things. A lot of their time is spent doing investigations or rescuing people, retrieving items...They actually do good things."

Maria shifts her eyes up to Amy. Amy makes a smile to Maria,"The people who are in GUN now aren`t the same people that were GUN those years ago. They have made improvements since then. Heck, Shadow`s involvement was a big piece to making GUN become a better organization."

"Shadow made them better?"

Amy nods her head,"Yep."

Amy may not view Shadow in the same way she does with Sonic but she holds a lot of respect for the guy. This is why she acts like a whole different person around him. While she knows better than to get in his way or anger him, she also knows that he isn`t the bad person people tend to think of him as. Amy knows that Maria views Shadow differently from everyone else but she also wants Maria to know that Shadow isn`t the way he was back when he was awakened by Eggman. She wants to see the two of them happy,"Trust me, Maria. Even though people are still scared of Shadow, as I`m sure you`ve seen, he isn`t out to get anyone. He has done a lot of good and has helped Sonic out big time with some major things. He is a hero, too. It`s just that this "air" he carries with him is very dark and strong. Most people just don`t know what to do with that. They know of his history and aren`t sure whether or not they can overcome that and trust him. His first impression on the world was that he was going to kill them all. It`s...hard for people to forget things like that. But I`m sure with time, they will begin to see Shadow as not some menace. Shadow hasn`t made perfect choices. Everyone makes mistakes now and then. After Rouge showed us Gerald`s journal, I can see where Shadow`s coming from and why he did the things he did."

The smile on Amy`s face widens,"He cares about you a lot, Maria, he really does. You shouldn`t feel afraid of him nor should you fear what he might do. You`re his first priority and that`s what will dictate what choices he will make. He skipped school for quite some time-"

Maria makes a concerned expression at this. Amy quickly responds to this,"No no, Maria, he was skipping school when you returned. He was busy working on getting this condo for you and buying clothes for you, making sure you had everything that you needed so that when you got out of the hospital, you had some place safe to go to and to call home."

Amy puts her hands on the edge of the chair on either side of her legs. Then she leans forward a little towards Maria,"Believe me, Maria, you are the luckiest girl in the world to be the one Shadow focuses his attention on. Heck, I wish Sonic would do some of the things for me that Shadow has done for you."

Considering everything Amy has said, she is right. Maria smiles a little. She is lucky to have Shadow. Sure he was wrong to want to destroy Earth, but it was because of a misunderstanding and not even on his part. His mind was warped to have that misunderstanding but when he realized what the truth was, he quickly corrected things. Then a tear rolls down Maria`s cheek,"Oh...Poor Shadow...He has gone through a lot..."

Amy nods her head, silently agreeing that Shadow has been through some rough stuff. It`s quite understandable that anyone would become emotionally unstable after some serious trauma. Maria lifts her eyes up to Amy,"And all because of me..."

Amy parts her mouth open, rather surprised to hear that from Maria. She is about to protest Maria`s statement when Maria continues,"Will he ever recover?"

Silence falls over Amy. What should she say? Realistically, a full recovery is not possible. But saying that might upset Maria. As Amy tries to think of a way to bring the news to Maria in a positive way, Maria speaks up again,"I guess not..."

This doesn`t mean, however, that Maria will abandon Shadow. Not by a long shot. Maria smiles a little,"That`s ok. He`s still my best friend."

Maria closes her eyes and nuzzles her face into Shadow`s jacket that she is hugging to herself,"We have so much catching up to do...And I`m going to help him like he helps me..."

Amy begins to smile again, happy to see Maria`s spirits lifted. If she is happy, then maybe Shadow will at least feel better. Amy leans back into the chair, leaning into the back of the chair, watching Maria enjoy Shadow`s jacket. Her nuzzling finally comes to a stop, leaving the side of her face to be buried into the jacket. Maria makes a soft sound, thinking about how the jacket still smells like Shadow. Her smile widens a little more, eager to have Shadow come home soon.

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