PROLOGUE

It had been a year since he and Sonic had saved the world. Shadow was just resting in his cave when Sonic entered. "Shadow?" he called, "Where are you?" "I'm right here," Shadow called back from the other side of the cave. "What do you want?" Sonic walked towards him. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me save the world," he said. "No problem," Shadow replied as he left. Shadow waited until he was gone to go to bed. As he laid down on his mattress, he wondered. Shadow often wondered about many things, and tonight was no different. He wondered if Maria would've liked life on earth. It didn't matter. She was gone, and he couldn't change that. He eventually fell asleep, and continued living normally the next day.

CHAPTER ONE: ONE MONTH LATER

Sonic was taking a stroll through the forest when he heard someone crying. He ran towards the sound and saw Amy, sitting on a stump, crying. "Amy?" he said nervously, "What's wrong?" "Shadow stole my hammer!" she replied with a face full of tears. "Now I have nothing to defend myself with!" Sonic couldn't believe this. Shadow, the guy he used to trust, betraying his friends like this?! Sonic immediately ran to Shadow's cave to confront him. He angrily stepped inside. "SHADOW!" he yelled furiously, "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!" He was just about to beat the living hell out of him when he heard a strange sound. Shadow was . . . crying? That was strange. Shadow never showed any emotions, let alone cry about something. Sonic turned around and saw that Shadow was just about to hang himself. "Finally . . . I can see Maria," he whispered. Sonic immediately untied the rope and asked him what was wrong. Shadow told him that in the last week, Amy had told all of his friends that he had stolen something from her. She had previously placed the items in his cave, so that his friends would find and return them. Now, all of his friends hated him. "I just want to end it all," Shadow whispered, "and see Maria." Sonic immediately gave him a hug. Shadow started crying again, so Sonic told him to let it all out. As he hugged him, Sonic realized he could feel Shadow's ribs. The poor thing must have been starving himself. 'Amy's going to pay for this,' he thought. Eventually, Shadz had cried himself to sleep, so Sonic lifted him up and carried back to his house. He laid him down on the guest bed and gave him a warm blanket. Finally, Sonic laid down on his own bed and went to sleep.

CHAPTER TWO: MORNING

Shadow woke up in the guest room of Sonic's house. He sat up and drank some water from the glass on the bedside table. "Oh, good, you're awake," Sonic said. "I thought you might be hungry, so I brought you breakfast." "Where am I?" Shadow asked him. "You're staying at my house," Sonic explained. "Why?" He asked. "Because I don't want you to kill yourself," Sonic replied seriously. "Now could you please eat your breakfast?" Shadow reluctantly nodded and took the tray of food. Sonic quickly left the room to do some chores while Shadow ate his breakfast. He drank the rest of his water and went back to sleep.

CHAPTER THREE: SHADOW'S ILLNESS

Sonic had finished his chores and was going to call Tails. He had been out of town for a few days to look for materials. He needed them for his next invention. Suddenly, he heard Shadz coughing. He needed to schedule a doctors appointment for him. The guy was seriously ill. Sonic quickly looked around for some cough syrup in the cabinet. He then brought it to Shadz, who was very upset that he didn't get to sleep more. Sonic sighed and gave him the medicine. Shadow took it and went back to sleep. Meanwhile, Sonic called the doctor and scheduled an appointment. It was scheduled for May seventh. Now that he had done everything he needed to, Sonic finally called Tails and told him what happened. He mentioned that Shadow's appointment was tomorrow. Tails said he would be home in a few days and would do as much as he could to help.

CHAPTER FOUR: THE APPOINTMENT

Shadow was woken up by Sonic, who had scheduled a doctors appointment for him. He slowly got out of bed, trying to stay awake. He slowly walked towards the door, careful not to bump into one of the many things in the room. He put on his air shoes and went downstairs. "C'mon Shadz, you don't want to be late, do you?" Sonic said. "The only thing I want right now is my coffee," Shadow replied, "and to know the reason you woke me up at 5 in the morning."" You have a doctors appointment, " Sonic said, "I scheduled it yesterday. Now let's go, I don't want to be late." Sonic led Shadow to the garage. "Why are you driving a car when you can just run?" Shadow asked, confused. "I don't want you to try to run and hurt yourself." he explained, "Now c'mon, let's go already!" Shadow reluctantly got in the car. Although he would never admit it, the blue hedgehog had a good point. If he tried to run, he'd probably hurt himself. They soon arrived at the doctor's office, and it was finally time to get rid of whatever stupid illness Shadow had. The doctor analyzed his symptoms and gave him some pills. "Take one pill everyday," she said. Sonic thanked and paid her, and the two hedgehogs went home.

Xenica had noticed that Luna loved apples. Every time she ate one, she always felt better. Xenica loved seeing her best friend enjoying the simple things. It made her feel good to see Luna happy. Every time she went to the grocery store, she would always get apples for Luna. That would always make her feel happier than she already was, because she was always happy.

The only thing that Luna ever asked for from the store was apples. If they were out of them, she didn't mind. Luna just loved the look in Xenica's eyes when she fondly watched her eat one.

At the end of the day, both of them loved apples and would never get tired of them.

"For the last time, Travis, it is chest fur, not chest floof," Xenica said angrily. "It's floof," Travis replied mockingly.
Xenica floated towards him, her tail lashing furiously. "Say that again," she said. "I dare you." "Floof," he said stupidly. Xenica grabbed his neck, and was about to slice his head off when Luna floated into the room.

"XENICA!" she screamed, horrified. The long-furred Mira turned to face her, letting go of Travis' neck. She immediately went to comfort her friend. "I'm so sorry, Luna, are you okay?" she said, already feeling guilty. "Yeah, I'm fine, just please explain what's going on," Luna replied, still a bit shocked.

Xenica explained the situation, and Luna calmed down. "Travis," she said calmly. Can you please stop calling her chest fur chest floof?" Luna asked, a bit annoyed. "Fine," he said. "But only if I can touch it."

Xenica was completely caught off guard by his request. Travis was also very shocked, not knowing what to do. Luna was slowly processing the situation, and was utterly confused. Travis teleported away immediately, blushing like crazy. Xenica set her mind straight and shook Luna out of her confused state. Luna and Xenica floated towards the living room and decided to watch a movie to clear their heads.

At the end of the movie, Xenica was about to fall asleep. Luna just managed to wake her up in time before she actually fell asleep. Soon, it was almost time for Xenica to go back home. "Bye Xenica!" Luna called after her. "Bye!" Xenica called back. It had been a weird day. She was rethinking everything she had thought about her rival. Hopefully, this would all be over tomorrow.

Xenica finally realized, just before she went to bed, that Travis liked her. She tried to ignore it, but she knew she would never be able to forget about this. She sighed and went to bed.

The next day, Travis went to school and found a note on his desk. It read, "Meet me behind the school during PE, -Xenica." So, he did as the note said. Xenica was waiting right where she said she would be. "So," she said. "Care to explain what happened yesterday?"" Oh- uh- I-It was nothing personal, " he said nervously. Xenica punched him in the face. "OW!" Travis exclaimed angrily. "What was that for?!" "I know how you feel about me," she said calmly. "Well never be anything more than friends."

As he heard those words, he collapsed. His whole world was destroyed. He accepted her decision and flew back home.

Luna was slowly but surely starting to truly understand Xenica. She needed to understand her to be her best friend. It was not easy. Xenica was very complicated, after all. She did notice small things about her though.

For example, Xenica loved to go birdwatching.
Luna would sometimes notice her observing birds in the sky during their daily run. She sometimes went outside in the late night to observe the flying creatures. Luna was too impatient for birdwatching, but she respected Xenica's opinion.

Xenica secretly played the flute. She often got up very early to practice, playing a beautiful melody to anyone who wanted to hear it. Luna loved when Xenica played the flute. It felt good to see her best friend do something she enjoyed.

Xenica absolutely loved Halibut. She always savored every bite, and always got a second helping if she could. Luna also enjoyed it, just not like Xenica did. She usually gave her leftover Halibut to her if she had any. It was a rare time when Xenica would smile, and Luna loved Xenica's smile.

Xenica loved almost any type of music. She could often be found secretly listening to music in her room. One time, Luna had asked her what song she was listening to, and had nearly scared her to death. She ran out of the room, too embarrassed to speak. Luna never asked again.

Xenica also loved the look on Luna's face when she ate apples. Xenica always wanted the best for her, so that Luna could have the best life ever. She didn't want her to go through what she had. Similarly, Luna always enjoyed seeing her best friend smile when she ate strawberries, since they were her favorite fruit.

She also noticed that Xenica treated her differently compared to other miras. She was able to be her weird, quiet self around her. Luna was her best friend after all. It was interesting. Xenica never got mad at her either, no matter what she had done. That was the main difference, at least. She also smiled most around her, which was really awesome, in Luna's opinion. She had always loved Xenica's smile.

Xenica awoke to find Travis snuggled up in her chest fur. She was about to push him off of her, and then she remembered what happened last night. She hugged him gratefully and let him relax. Little did she know, Luna was watching happily. She was just glad that Xenica was actually getting along with Travis for once. Eventually, Xenica fell back asleep, with Travis still nuzzled in her chest fur.

Xenica woke up a few minutes later, just as Travis was waking up. She was just about to overheat anyway, so he would still have to get off. Moonlight shone through the window, lighting up the room. She waited for Travis to get up, and relaxed.

Travis woke up to find his crush hugging him. He blushed, dark blue blood rushing to his face. He quickly got off of her, hiding his blushing face. Xenica snickered, amused. It was one of the rare times she did so much as smile in his presence. She got off the couch, and the two frenemies headed downstairs for breakfast.

Travis lay on his sleeping bag, thinking. Xenica was asleep on the couch. As he looked around the house, he noticed Xenica's tail puff up in fear. She seemed to be having a nightmare. As he watched her toss and turn in her sleep, she suddenly awoke from her nightmare, tears streaming down her face. "Xenica, are you okay?" he asked, worried. She didn't seem to notice him. In fact, she didn't seem to notice anything. Even though they were still rivals, he couldn't help but feel bad for her. Travis floated up to her and gave her a big hug. Slowly, she calmed down. She hugged him back and fell back asleep on his shoulder. He noticed how fluffy her chest fur was. He nuzzled his head in it, knowing that Xenica wouldn't wake up. She slept like a rock. Her fur was so soft and warm. He had wanted to do this for so long.

He woke up to find that she was still asleep. It was six in the morning afterall, if you could even call it that. Miras were nocturnal, so it was really 6 PM. He knew not to be as mean to her at magic school tomorrow. How could he be after seeing her like this? It was just cruel. He hugged her again and went back to sleep.