A/N: Because you demanded it, here’s a continuation. I planned on adding something after the previous chapter, but I didn’t know what, but now I do ^^   --  

Shadow and Rouge in…

 

Nothing Lasts Forever: Epilogue

    “When caught in the stream of days and nights going past, gaze anew at your steps… for there all the confusion will end.”~ Sorcerer’s Book (KH2)   --   Voices. Endless voices. They pursued him. ...Wouldn’t let him go… Was his sacrifice in vain?  His body had disappeared, but his essence continued to live on. Why? Why did it continue to live? Was it because he wanted to live, or...was it for ‘her’? Gradually, complete silence eclipsed the raspy and overlapping voices. Soon, from that silence, a soft gentle sound spiraled delicately into his mind.   "You are alive as long as there are those that show care for you."   …That voice---soft, sweet and understanding…  

Maria…

  If Maria was indeed there, he knew exactly where he had gone.   Slowly, the essence known as “Shadow” slowly lifted his heavy lids from his eyes and ‘awakened’.   Where… Where are you…? he wondered, his voice wavering within the unknown space. …Did someone bring me here? … I thought I—   Died?   He didn’t think he would ever return to this place—this empty void where nothing but the voices of spirits and those stuck in-between worlds lingered. He never actually saw any of those other tortured souls. The only lost and trapped spirit he ever really saw was Maria’s.   Could it possibly be that he could only see her because he knew her?   Far off in the distance, the soft sound of footsteps echoed throughout the void. They were small steps—timid and delicate, but exact. The closer they seemed, the warmer their essence became. Slowly and carefully, the steps neared closer and Shadow anticipated their full arrival. Once the warmth reached him in its near entirety, he softly let his eyes crumble to a close and accepted the sensation. Closer and closer it crept, and Shadow welcomed it eagerly with widespread arms.   Maria… he uttered in his thoughts.   Then suddenly, the progression of the warmth stopped. Curious as to why, the hedgehog’s eyes instantly opened in bewilderment. In shock, a faint echo of a gasp escaped him as he beheld the spirit of the young girl before him. Standing poised with her hands securely clasped together in front of her, the young girl gazed down at him. Instead of cheerfully greeting him, Shadow could detect a hint of sadness swimming in her lucid eyes. Wordlessly, he forced a flicker of a thin smile, then turned sadly away from her. Part of him was glad to see her, but, under the circumstances of how he was able to, he wasn’t too thrilled about it.   And neither was she.   A long silence fell between the two of them as they were only mere inches away from the other. The girl knew what he had done to return to this place in-between worlds, and her expressions told the whole story. Softly, she called out to him. “Shadow…” she voiced in a slight whisper. When the one who was being referred to looked her way, his vision soon became obstructed as she fell to her knees and embraced him in a very large hug. Gripping him tightly, her shoulders began to shake as did her form. Warm crystalline tears formed beneath her eyes and caressed her soft cheeks upon their descent. “You came back…” she murmured, her words slightly muffled from her holding him so closely. “…Shadow… you came back…” Nodding slowly, he returned her embrace. “I’m sorry…” he spoke tenderly, rubbing her back, his fingers lightly brushing against the ends of her hair. “I know… I know you are…but don’t worry, Shadow. I forgive you…” she said, barely audible.     They wanted to see the other again, but not like this. They knew it was wrong, but both were thankful they actually did get to see the other. Being in-between worlds allowed the opportunity to be returned to the world from whence they came.   As this meant hope for Shadow, it also meant hope for Maria and the others as well. However, there is a place for everyone, and Maria accepted hers. And now that she knew how much Shadow cared for Rouge and vice versa, she could contently step back and allow them to continue with their love. She had no desire of returning to the world she was born from. Her ‘son’ had grown up and moved on. She was fine with directing him in the right directions and giving him, and also Rouge, sound words of advice when needed. Especially when they least expected it. And that was her goal-—to guide them and to be there. She couldn’t see directly into their futures, but she had some pretty good hunches.   Silencing her cries, she slowly pulled away from him and placed her hands on his shoulders. Nodding to him, she smiled sadly and gave his shoulders a squeeze. “She’s looking for you, Shadow. Did you know that?” Smiling faintly from the thought of Rouge always being there, he chuckled a bit.  “…Of course I know… Rouge can never sit still when it involves me… She’s always willing to help…” he trailed off, his memories of her continuing to drift into his mind. Seeing this, the girl smiled broadly and hugged him one last time. “Goto her…!” she whispered, pushing him. But because he was not willing to leave just yet, he remained next to her.  Shaking his head, he took one of her hands in his and patted it. “I can’t go back now. Not yet. I…still have some loose ends to tie up before I can see Rouge again…” The girl placed a finger to her chin in contemplative thought. “Hmm…and what might that be?” she asked, referring to the ‘loose ends’. Then her eyes lowered. “It’s those voices you’ve been hearing, isn’t it?” He nodded, not looking at her. “Yeah…I need to get rid of them. I don’t want to continue being a threat to Rouge like this…” “Then… don’t be. It’s that simple, Shadow. Do what you believe is best to do.” Curious, the hedgehog raised his eyebrows in understanding. “What I believe is best…huh. Allright…” The girl nodded and smiled at him for a brief moment, but it quickly faded. “…Shadow…” she began softly, her light voice sounding as if it could be part of the calm wind whispering through a meadow somewhere. “I know you want things to change…but the more you end up here, drifting, the longer its going to take. Yes, it was good to see you again, but it should not ever happen again. Not like this. You’re lucky you’re not doing this alone.” Then she giggled. “Not everyone has someone to watch over them like you do.” She mused, playfully hinting to herself.   Her words caused him to blink, then a smile crept across his lips as his features brightened. The thought of her being a guardian angel of some sort seemed to fit her perfectly. Having an idea of what he was thinking, the girl’s eyes lowered slyly and with a small smile, she rose to her feet and helped him up as well. Stepping closer to her, he opened his mouth to speak, but she placed a finger to his lips to stop him. “No, allow me.” She whispered and hugged him once more. Planting a feathery kiss on the top of his head, the girl drew her delicate fingertips upto his face and cupped his cheeks. “Now… you don’t have to do this, but this is the best advice I can give you. Stay by your lover’s side…” The hedgehog nodded. He wasn’t sure where all this was going, but continued to listen anyway.   “…And also…” she paused, her lids lowering as well as her hands as they slid to his shoulders. “…Please, Shadow…never…come back here…again.” “What?” he questioned but before he had the opportunity to utter another word, she again gave him a small push. Only this time, he actually willed to return to Rouge-—unresolved problems and all.   Issues or not, he realized that he couldn’t save himself---without her.   Closing his eyes as he fell through the void and through the depths of the unknown, the faint sound of the sweet and maternal young girl’s comforting voice lingered delicately in his ears. “ …I will always be with you…”   --   It was daybreak. Rouge continued to stand on the summit, waiting and hoping for a sign that her hedgehog would return to her. The emeralds continued to glow, but nothing and no one appeared. After minutes, that seemed like hours of nothing happening, Rouge had only then begun to feel the strain and stress of all the two of them had been through the night before and fell to her knees. The wind drifted softly through the air and ruffled the grass against her leg. Shuddering as if she felt nothing, but knew it was there, Rouge looked down to the grass and watched it sway with sympathetic eyes.   It continued to bend and sway with the changing courses of the wind, but did not become damaged. Her eyes lingered on the path of flora that peeked out from under her weight. Although she were crushing it, it still responded to the wind’s caresses.   Why...why didn’t it succumb to its demise?   Why was it still alive—responding to life as if nothing had happened?   Narrowing her eyes, in the back of her mind, she had to admit that she was feeling pretty jealous of the grass right now.   Why couldn’t she withstand the crushing weight of reality and still be eager to continue on? Because she had lost all that really mattered to her? Because she had no place else left to go?   Her body began to shudder as a dull sting of tears nipped from behind her eyes but she held them back.   Slowly, she let her heavy and worn out body sink further down into the grass and laid there. “Shadow…” she whispered, fighting the urges and pleads her body was telling her to just give up and rest.   But stubbornly, she continued to wait for him—ignoring the fact that she would be found by GUN soon and collected to be executed. Part of her accepted that out of exhaustion, while another part of her refused to be killed by them—especially in front of that man… The President… The thoughts of actually accepting authority under the eyes of that wretched man got her stomach to churn. If she had known that he was going to turn on her like this, she would have taken him down one of the countless number of times when she’d had the chance to. But all that aside, she was suffering now. She received no comfort, no sympathy. She waited and received no reply, but she had stayed with him as long as she could and was able. Lowering her lids, she took a final gaze at the bright fiery sun before her. She shivered as its warmth began to almost feel foreign and strange to her.   It had been so cold lately—but now that Shadow had gone, the sun finally chose to show itself?    Was that how things went?!   She forced the ridiculous thought from her mind. ‘Don’t be so foolish, Rouge’ she told herself. Then she thought about it another way. Maybe the sun resurfacing was another way of saying some of Shadow’s pain had ended and he would be able to shed some light on his situation? She chuckled weakly and lightly lowered her lids a little more. She was making things way deeper than what they were.   Or so she wanted to believe.   A faint ripple of air drifted from between her lips as a sigh. She had been too exhausted to manage it properly. Laying almost completely motionless, save for her breathing, Rouge let one smile curve her lips as her eyes crumbled to a close. The wind began to increase in its speed at that moment-—the grass and trees in the area starting to sway and bend a little more than what was considered normal.   Seconds later, a military chopper with the letters GUN striped across it on either side meticulously hovered a mere 5 feet away from her prone form. With the wind from the chopper blowing everything wildly, two husky silhouettes leapt out the doors of the helicopter and jogged over to Rouge’s body.   Carefully, they bent down, bending at the knees, and securely lifted Rouge with both of them holding onto her from either side. One of them took hold of her legs while the other lifted her by the shoulders. Discreetly, they carried her over to the vehicle and re-entered the door, with her limp form in tow. Once its cargo was secured safely, the helicopter rose from the summit and took off into the skies.   Luckily, the persons ignored the chaos emeralds, as they continued to lay in the grass, seemingly unmoved or untouched by the wind. It was as if they were rooted in the ground, but solidly in place, they remained.   And just moments later, a bright white light sparked in the center of their colorful ring and their soft and faint glow intensified instantly. There was a sudden and blinding supernova of light—its luminosity engulfing nearly half the size of Central City in its entirety. Once the brightness lessened, in its center, the lithe and powerful form of Shadow the Hedgehog …appeared.   --   Okaaay so yeah ^^;; By popular demand, there will be a sequel. O.o I’ve already got it planned out lol. Typing it out is the tricky part that takes so long lol It’s title will be “Deliverance” so be on the look out!   Thanx so much for all your support. I need to get better tho.   -Mel