Once again, as a reminder, do not make any editing or corrections to this, do not point to me of any mistakes. I will not make corrections. I`m leaving this mostly as is of what it was when Tojo and I rped this out. We both have different rp styles so expect there to be some inconsistencies in things such as apostrophes and tenses.
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It felt like an eternity, Shadow waking up with a start; miraculously, he had no more wounds. He wore all the belongings he had on him before entering the dream world..the bandages that Maria had wrapped on him were back on her dress, Marias dress all in one piece..And they were both back to normal. Shadow felt his black fur, touched his face, and then he looked to Maria who had her arms wrapped around him. Slowly, he began to near her face, as if he were about to kiss her.

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

She feels a little tired but her fever has completely gone and she otherwise feels fine.

"..." Suddenly, his head jerk away from hers and he looked off. "..M-Maria..we're..in the real world."

The sound of waves crashing against rocks, they were on a small island along the Emerald Coast, and it was late at night. Any thoughts of dismissing all of this as a dream had to be discounted; it all felt so real. Shadow felt his forehead; he was him again, and not wounded. And Maria was herself again, her dress as perfect as if she had just gotten it.

Even her shoes were back on her feet. Maria releases Shadow and puts a hand to her face. Yes, that feels normal. She looks around the area they are in. Since Shadow hasn`t taken her here before, this area is unfamiliar to her. But this definitely feels different than the other places they were in. She looks down at the sand with a smile as a wash of relief comes over her,"Oh thank goodness..."

"...." Shadow, for a little while, looked awkwardly towards her. Eventually, he spoke slowly. "..I showed a lot of weakness and self-doubt in front of you, back there.." Feeling his face, the memory of his painful battle came back to haunt him, he glared towards the water in thought. "...I'll protect you with my life, always, Maria..You're all I have left.."

Getting up, kneeling down to lift her up without another word.

Once she has been lifted up to her feet, Maria looks at Shadow for a moment, looking right into his red eyes. Her look is gentle yet serious and sincere,"Shadow...Thank you."

"..You're welcome, Maria.. You know that I would do anything for you."

He started to near her face like he did before, as if leaning in for a kiss..yet instead, he nuzzled the side of his face against hers as they normally did. "Let's return to the hotel..think things over."

Nuzzling Shadow back, Maria closes her eyes and smiles. It feels as though it has been a long time since she gave a happy smile. She quietly responds to Shadow,"Yes...We should retreat to the hotel..."

Suddenly rushing off like he had done in the forest, on the floating island, he sped through the board-walks, kicking up a lot of sand as soon as he hit the shores, passing by the empty picnic tables and tanning-chairs that lined the beach. Leaping over the closed gate, he displayed his ability..as if proving to himself he had it now. They were outside of the hotel now, he gently set her down, yet kept his arms around her.

"..Anything you wanted to say? ..Talk about?"

"Um, well..."

Maria`s thoughts fumble for a bit before she finally speaks,"Well, I think that...maybe we should...do a prayer."

She looks at Shadow,"For our doomed friend."

"..Doomed friend?" He slowly asked, having completely forgotten about the G.U.N. soldier..although never having met him in his human form didn't help matters. "..Who?"

"Jacob."

"Jacob.. the G.U.N. soldier.."

He narrowed his eyes. "..After what they did to you, it's proper they bite the bullet for you for a change.."

Maria seems to feel a little surprised she is saying this but yet she knows it is how she really feels,"He helped us, Shadow...When we were on the Arc, we went looking for you and he kept those...monsters from harming me. And he made it possible for us to escape those birds."

"...." Stubbornly, for a good five minutes, Shadow just glared at the thought of the establishment, but seeing Maria so insistent, he softened his glare and looked off. After a short while, he started to speak. "..I..guess, Jacob..we owe you..our thanks."

He struggled to say the whole sentence, looking back to Maria.

Maria hugs Shadow, grateful that he complied to show some appreciation for what the soldier has done for them.

Shadow slowly hugged her in return, inviting her to rest on a shoulder..although thoughts floated through his head at the thought of their new-found enemies.

Back in New Babylon, Jet announced that the cowards ran away from him after receiving a bloody pounding and there were a few witnesses to back his story. He sent them all to rest in lavish rooms for the night. The G.U.N. dog was leashed and collared, and sealed away in a dank dungeon. And now, using what limited power he had left in the day, he stood over Wave and was healing her wounds, aches, and pains; although they never really acted like it, he did have a big soft spot for her...

Revitalized, Wave wakes up. She groans a little bit as she lifts herself up from the ground but remains on her hands and knees. Her expression is that of surprise,"Ah...What happened?"

She looks to her side and sees Jet standing there,"Jet?"

She was in his pent-house suite, the lavish surroundings and furniture shown around them. "..Great to see you're still in the land of the living."

Grinning slightly, he bent down and without asking, helped her up. "No biggie..the prick got lucky, doesn't mean you're a wimp or nothin'.. I beat him down real bad, just for you. Just ah..be more careful next time, alright?"

Patting her confidently on the shoulder.

Wave turns to Jet and gives him a smile,"Thanks, Jet."

"Don't mention it.. only catch is, they got away."

Crossing his arms, his smile faded. "That mutt decided to play with knives.."

Wave rolls her eyes as her smile, too, fades,"Ugh...Damn dogs..."

"You can go kick him around if you want..he's chained in the basement. We'll have a proper revenge.. I had a, couple ideas, you know?" Walking over towards the Master Emerald.

Wave approaches the master emerald with Jet, but her eyes are on him. Once they reach the emerald, her hands go on her hips,"What`re your ideas?"

"We ah..manipulate some people, they'll get the wrong idea about each other and start turning on themselves, then we sit back and watch real easy like..all the while we prep the city and make our dreams become reality."

Patting the side of it, he turned back to her. "..Then, while they're all tired out, we take over and cap' em."

By cap, he meant capture, as opposed to shooting them.

"Good idea. Why waste our own energy when we could get them to waste their own?"

"Yeah; then, when Shadows on his knees, I'm gonna let you get your revenge easy-like."

Confidently grinning, he had plans rigged up for the future.

Wave gives Jet an approval smile,"I like the sound of that."

"All our pals, they went to bed..you should probably turn in too."

Walking a bit off, taking hold of the railing and staring out the window at the artificial landscape he created himself.

Back at the hotel.

"..I won't show you weakness anymore. I don't know what came over me..I really don't, Maria.."

Maria is sitting on the edge of the bed, removing her shoes,"It`s all right, Shadow."

She turns around and smiles to Shadow,"I`ve forgiven you..."

The girl is like a saint. Even though she was dying from being shot, one of the last things she said to Shadow before his pod got launched to Earth was that she wanted him to forgive the humans. Forgiveness was something she had struggled to teach Shadow but it always seemed to be something very difficult for Shadow to grasp for his own use towards others (aside from her, of course).

"..I can't believe it.."

He continued to ramble on for a little while about how he "had failed" her in her time of need, but eventually shrugged it off; this was probably the face and attitude he took at some point in time during her absence, when she was "asleep." After calming down, he was laying on the bed beside her; he kicked off his shoes and socks, and just lay there staring up at the ceiling. "..Weird experience, being a human..how did I look like to you?"

Laying down in the bed, Maria is glad that for the moment, he wasn`t looking in her direction to see the small blush coming on her face. She quickly answers,"Good."

Then this bit came out in a whisper,"(Really good...)"

She turns her head to look at Shadow,"What about me as a hedgehog?"

"...?" His ear flicked at her whisper, then Shadow turned to look at Maria with a serious expression. It was shortly after he answered. "..Gorgeous, as beautiful as you are now.."

After a moment of awkward silence, he folded his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling again.

Maria`s mind runs over Shadow`s last words. Beautiful? He really thinks of her as beautiful? A smile comes on her face as she remembers something else they did when they were on the Arc years ago. She rolls over onto her side and sits up, facing Shadow. She reaches both hands over and takes a hold of both of Shadow`s ears. Her thumbs touch the insides of his ears while her other fingers touch the backside of his ears. Her fingers begin to move and circle about, massaging his ears. Maria has a very happy smile on her face as she does this.

"..M-Maria..?" Shadow seemed startled at the sudden show of affection, looking over to her; not that he made any movements to get her to stop. This brought back memories..His expression returned to normal. He really began to relax..falling limp as his eyes closed, being comforted by her. "..I remember..I was tired from training that one night..Gerald didn't come to get me right away..and we went to your room..you invited me to your bed.."

Maria laughs a bit and looks back down at Shadow`s face as the ear massage continues,"And you just melted when I massaged your ears like this..."

"..Like I am now.." It was an accurate representation of the here and now; he had melted under her touch.. It was a great change from their past two nights of horror and struggles. Shadow began to stretch beneath her.

Maria`s smile grows a little more, looking down at Shadow`s relaxation.

For a while, he just lay there, resting; eventually he looked up, looking over to her. "Maria, I know I'm usually silent about this sort of thing, but..Can we talk?"

Maria slowly withdraws her hands from Shadow`s ears and repositions herself so that she is reclined on the bed next to Shadow,"Yes, Shadow?"

"..Well, it's just..something I was thinking on the back of my mind for a while now and.."

Pausing for a few good minutes, he looked as if he were about to say something, but didn't. As she'd likely inquire what it was, he rose his hand. "It's not..really important, but I wanted you to think..of where you wanted to live.."

She could find subtle hints this wasn't what he wanted to talk about.

She gives a knowing smile and shifts her eyes up to the ceiling and lays her hands in her lap,"I actually never really thought about that. I spent all those years just yearning to visit this planet. I never thought I would get to live here..."

"..Well, now our dreams can become realized..I know you probably wouldn't want to live in that rocky-ruin.. I wanted to..build a house or cottage where you'd want to live.."

"Some place quiet would be wonderful..."

"..The mystic ruins? ..I think I know of a place we can go." Shadow spoke, looking over towards her.

Maria moves her gaze back to Shadow,"Yes, Shadow?"

"..There's a little house in the mystic ruins. It's been there a long time..before I appeared.."

Getting up a little, in a half-seated position, looking to her. "..It's been abandoned..I don't think anyone would care if we bought up some furniture and renovated it..We can decorate it any way you'd like it.."

Maria smiles at Shadow for a moment. It seems like he is always striving to please her,"You`re sweet, Shadow..."

"..." An awkward silence settled over him, and he started to look off. "..Ah..thanks, Maria.."

Going back against the bed, he spoke up again. "..Despite everything that's happened..I don't feel tired anymore."

Maria lays her head against the pillows and closes her eyes,"Heh, that shouldn`t be surprising...You were built to be that way...To have the energy and strength to keep going..."

"You're right..now that I'm..me again."

Looking over to her, he turned off the lamp-light and settled down next to her, pulling up the covers. "..Although, I wouldn't mind it, if we came back still..as we were. So long as I'm with you..I can tolerate anything."

Maria`s head turned to Shadow and her eyes open half way. The street lights peeking through the curtains illuminate her blue eyes, making it possible for Shadow to really see them. She looks tired but very content and peaceful. Her hand slowly moves to grasp Shadow`s hand gently, as what she sometimes did when they slept together in her room in the sleeping quarters on the Arc. She doesn`t say a word, though.

Nor did Shadow, as she could see his naturally glowing eyes..It was after a fair amount of time that he spoke softly to her. "..Get some sleep..after everything that happened today, tomorrow, I want you to have a good time.."

The memories of their suffering, and a greater sense of caution now settling over him, he let go of Marias hand and gently wrapped his arms around her in embrace.

Maria puts one hand on Shadow`s shoulder as she tucks her head underneath his. She closes her eyes and nestles the side of her face into the patch of white fur on Shadow`s chest. She hadn`t done that before. Maybe she`s scared and wants a little extra security?

Shadow made no complaints, even welcomed her with open arms..And thus he held her firmly, but not too tightly, to him, and pulled up the covers. He started to force himself to sleep, closing his eyes after looking at her face; the patch of white fur on his chest was in fact soft and served as a sort of pillow for her.

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