Yep, this is another part in the special chapters I mentioned in the last chapter. The level of things are going to rise and build up. This chapter in particular is going to mean a lot to me, as well as the next one, though it may not make sense as to why. You`d have to be really familiar with my life to get it.
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With the last class of the day coming to an end, the weekend begins. Most students have plans of hanging out with their friends for various activities for the entire weekend while a few others may be spending it with their families or working. The same applies with the Sonic Gang where they would usually get together, sometimes Shadow would go along, sometimes he wouldn`t. But this weekend will be a little different.

Most of everyone is hanging around in front of the elementary school, as usual, waiting for the young kids to come out. Maria is sitting on top of the concrete and brick wall that lines the stairs leading to the entrance of the school. Shadow is in front of her but sitting on one of the stairs; this puts his shoulders at knee height to Maria. His head is tilted back and his eyes are closed while Maria appears to be giving Shadow a scalp massage. In actuality, she`s playing with his black and red hair but it feels good enough to be a massage for Shadow.

Sonic has his arms folded and taps his foot, getting impatient with how the young kids are being held up. Must be an auditorium thing going on today. Amy looks over and notices the interaction between Shadow and Maria. She can`t help but smile. If anyone else tried touching his hair, Amy is sure they would loose an arm.

Finally, the kids come out of the school. Most are rushing to get out, wanting to hurry and get home so they could play. Tails, Cream and Charmy bee line for their teen crew. Cream and Tails head for Maria and give her a greeting. Being distracted by the kids, Maria stops playing with Shadow`s hair to give them her attention though her hands still rest on his head with her finger buried among the blackness. Maria stopping causes Shadow to lift his head a little and open his eyes, shifting them towards the kids as best as he can without moving his head.

Cream and Tails excitedly ask Maria if she is going to join the group to hang out at Rouge`s club tonight. Maria shakes her head,"No. Shadow and I are going on a vacation this weekend."

As the kids voice their disappointment, Amy asks Maria,"Really? Where are you going?"

"The Mystic Ruins."

Sonic whistles,"That`s a great place for a vacation."

Maria smiles,"I`m looking forward to it."

Seeming to take that as a cue, Shadow gets up from his sitting position. He turns to Maria and both of his hands take a hold of her waist, in which instinctively Maria puts her arms around Shadow`s neck. He lifts her up from the wall and then sets her down on her feet. Tails promptly hugs Maria around her waist, being that his smaller height only allows him to reach that far,"We`ll miss you, Maria."

Cream hugs Maria as well,"That`s right. We`re all going to miss you, Miss Maria."

Maria leans over and give both kids a hug at the same time,"I`ll be back before you know it."

Maria releases them and steps back towards Shadow. Both of her hands take a hold of his right hand. Shadow`s left hand is holding the red chaos emerald. Shadow recites his famous "Chaos Control" line and the both of them disappear.

They appear back in the condo building but on the first floor. Since they`ll gone on a trip for a while, it`s a good idea to check their mailbox. As Shadow checks their mailbox, Maria is standing beside him with her hands clasped together. She smiles excitedly and expresses this excitement she has for their trip to Shadow.

Coming down the steps is a woman. In fact, it`s the same woman who had appeared at their condo door to deliver cookies but then ran off. She stops on the steps, taking notice to Shadow and Maria`s presence. Her once happy expression has changed to a fearful one. She only hears Maria speaking, putting a hand over her mouth as she listens in how excited Maria is about going away on a trip with Shadow. The woman only has to hear a couple of sentences and that is enough. She quickly, and most importantly, quietly, turns around and dashes back up the stairs to get back to her own condo.

The mail is collected so then Shadow and Maria begin their own ascend up the stairs to their condo. Once inside, Maria heads into the bedroom to start packing for the trip. Shadow briefly looks through the mail. When he sees that nothing overly important is among the pile, he nonchalantly tosses the mail onto the coffee table to be dealt with at a later time. Then Shadow enters the bedroom.

Maria is setting her chosen clothes for the weekend on the bed as Shadow enters the room. he approaches the bed and takes off his messenger bag. He opens it and dumps out the school supplies onto the mattress. Then Shadow sets the emptied messenger bag closer to Maria and walks away from the bed to go to the closet for gathering of his own clothes. Maria starts putting her clothes into the bag. She also packs in her digital camera, hair brush and medicine. Shadow comes back to the bed and adds in his own clothes inside the bag. The bag gets closed up and Shadow slings it back on. Then he gathers up the top blanket from the bed and slings that over his shoulder as well.

Now they both are on their way.

Shadow first takes Maria near one of GUN`s many bases. This is where Shadow keeps a few of his vehicles. They will be riding to their destination rather than just teleporting or running there. Shadow thinks that Maria would enjoy the trip getting there as much as actually being at the place, so the slower vehicle drive is chosen. But one problem, Shadow is still hiding Maria from GUN. So he has her wait just outside the base, hidden away while he enters inside the place to retrieve the car. He takes the blanket and bag with him to go ahead and toss them in the car. Maria stays put where Shadow leaves her, patiently waiting. She won`t be waiting long.

Within minutes, Maria hears an engine roar to life. This prompts her to peek from her hiding place, curious as to where the sound is coming from. It sounds a bit distant for a moment or two, and then it begins to grow louder.

Shadow in his black and red 72 monte carlo slowly approach Maria. The car itself is original but has had some upgrades made to it. It`s quite different from all of the modern cars Maria, and everyone else, has seen on the roads. This car looks well kept and has a shine to the body. The black arms symbol that Shadow is famous for sporting (a patch of it on the sleeve of his jacket, the pendant on his necklace, a decor on the frame of his motorcycle) is also present on the hood of this car.

Maria circles around the front of the car to get to the passenger`s side. Watching Maria excitedly circle the car in a predatory fashion, Shadow enters his private thoughts, thinking about Maria on the hood of his car. But he quickly dismisses this as Maria opens the passenger side door and enters the car. She sits down on the seat and closes the door.

The modern upgrades to the car are more obvious. The hand cranks for the windows have been replaced with an electrical system so that all one has to do is press a button to roll up or roll down the window. An mp3 player has been installed into the dashboard. The locking system of the doors are like modern cars where again, buttons are used to operate them. There is a panel on the dashboard that, currently, displays the current temperature outside. It can also display other stats, such as current mpg. The speedometer has been upgraded to a digital one. There is also a built-in GPS in the car, though Shadow rarely has to use it. Many more upgrades were done to the car, however.

As this will be her first time in a car, Shadow takes a moment to teach Maria about seat belts. Not only how to use them but also why they are so important to use.

With that set, now they are ready to finally get going on their trip. Shadow shifts the car to drive and the car starts moving forward. Maria turns around and looks to the back seat. It has Shadow`s very full messenger bag and the blanket set back there. She reaches back and digs out her digital camera from the bag. This will be an exciting trip and she doesn`t want to miss things. The camera will capture moments that she will be able to look back on and remember forever. This furthers her appreciation for the gift.

She begins taking photos with the camera, even taking pictures of Shadow driving. Shadow isn`t fond of the photo-taking but he tolerates it and doesn`t voice to Maria or even show that he is disliking it.

Shadow takes the car onto the highway. No traffic lights. Decent speed. Although he isn`t speeding too much on the highway. The speed limit is 60 but he is actually driving 70. There isn`t a hurry to get to the Mystic Ruins but it`s still quite a drive to get there. At this speed, they should arrive sometime during the night. Hopefully the traffic along the way won`t be too bad and won`t interfere. As they go along the highway, Maria snaps a few more photos before she turns off the camera and sets it in the cup holder for retrieving later.

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