Fixing My Broken Heart

Chapter 7 - Shadow's POV

(Around 9 pm)

Cream and Cheese were so exhausted that they didn't even hear the knock at the door. I chuckled to myself. Had they really wiped themselves out? "They did keep themselves busy all day today," I thought to myself. I opened the door and saw Vanilla there, who was holding a basket full of groceries. Her face, however, looked like she had has the best day of her life.

"Hi there, Vanilla," I said. "You look like you've fallen in love with someone upon seeing them." She gasped, shaking her head to get rid of her rosy cheeks, but they stayed. "Oh I believe I have," she said. "While shopping at the farmer's market, I met this really nice rabbit. Her name is Almond, and she was so nice. We spent the entire afternoon shopping together, and she even showed me how to get some of the best produce there. She also lives in this apartment complex, just two floors down."

I smiled. After hearing from Cream that Vanilla was finding it hard to find someone to love, I was glad to hear such news from her mother. "It seems like you've had such a joyous day today. Why don't you come inside? since Cream and Cheese both fell asleep. We also made some strawberry shortcake for you today."

Vanilla's expression brightened even more as she walked inside. "Oh, my sweet bundle of joy is so caring. I love her so much...Shadow, you wouldn't mind if I asked another favor from you, would you?" I handed her the wrapped-up strawberry shortcake. "Anything you need from me, I'll do my best. Do you want me to babysit Cream again?"

"Yes, please. Almond asked me to go out to the square to watch a movie with her this Saturday, so I'd figure I could drop Cream and Cheese off her again. Is there alright with you? If it isn't, then I can always just ask Sonic or-" I grabbed her hand. "Vanilla, I will gladly babysit Cream and Cheese this Saturday. G.U.N. work has been slow, and I don't have to go in as much. I don't think you'll want to put Cream into Sonic's care. He isn't exactly the most responsible."

Vanilla smiled. "I'm so glad you're willing to help, Shadow," she said. "Could you bring Cream down to the car? I doubt she'll want to wake up." I chuckled. "Of course, Vanilla. You go ahead and head down there. I'll be down there with Cream and Cheese." She nodded, then walked out the door.

"These two...you said their names were Cream and...Cheese?" Shadow turned around to see Mephiles behind the couch, watching over the two kids in their sleep. His positioning revealed he was curious about the two; had he never seen a child before?

"The bunny is Cream and the Chao is named Cheese," I said, kneeling beside the bunny. "I babysit them sometimes. They're...like family to me." Mephiles tilted his head. His focus seemed to be on Cheese. "Chao...I feel like I've seen one before...but with different patterns. A fiery red one with a small flame hovering above his head...and with small wings."

I shrugged. "It's possible. There's many variations of Chao in the wild, but I don't think I've ever heard of one like that before. Where did you see it?" Mephiles looked up at me, his green eyes glowing. "In a dream, I think," he said. I stared at him. A dream? No wonder I had never heard that description of a Chao before; it wasn't even real!

"These two seem to be important to you," Mephiles stated, looking back down at them. "You said that they felt like family to you. Like a sister?" I laughed, gently picking her up. "I guess so," I said, "but the one thing I'm certain about is that if anything were to happen to either of them...I doubt anyone would recognize me."

Mephiles looked rather puzzled. I sighed. "It's a figure of speech. It means that I would do things I wouldn't normally do on a regular basis just to keep them safe. That's what you would do for family." Mephiles stood there, his hand gripping the couch. "If what you're saying is true...does that make me and Iblis family?"

I shrugged, heading for the front door. "I mean, I don't know," I said in an honest tone. "You murdered someone just to merge with him, but that doesn't sound like something you would do for family. Back then, I believe you were just out for power. But now, though...I don't know what to say about it. You seem to really care about his well-being. That seems like something you would do for family."

Mephiles tilted his head. "Family...where are you going, Shadow?" he asked. I looked at him from the door. "Did you not hear Vanilla? I'm taking Cream and Cheese to her car. Stay here with River until I'm back. You can't be seen out here. It'll cause people to freak out."

He stood there sadly, but I used Chaos Control to teleport to Vanilla's car. She jumped in surprise, a hand over where her heart was. "I forget you can do that sometimes," she said, opening the back seat door for me. Gently, I set Cream in her seat and buckled her up, then placed Cheese in her arms. Cream's head fell to her side, and she used her ears to cover herself and Cheese up, in a way.

"Thanks again, Shadow," Vanilla said, getting into her car. "I appreciate your help. It means so much to me, since you make my angel so happy." I smiled, closing the door on Cream's side. "Anytime, Vanilla," I said. She started her car, waved him goodbye, and drove off.

I sighed as I watched her go, then used Chaos Control again to teleport to my apartment. River greeted me by coming up and asking for pets, while Mephiles was over by the large window, gazing out upon the city. "Station Square has changed since I was last here," he said. "And this was all in five years. It doesn't seem that long, but I guess it is."

I picked up River and walked up beside him, gazing upon Station Square as well. "Is Sonic still running around as a hero?" he asked. I chuckled. "Yep, but Amy finally managed to get him to live with her. They started dating two years ago, and I can tell they're really happy. I think Sonic even has plans to propose to her. I've never seen him this happy before."

Mephiles smiled a bit. "What about his other friends? The red one and the fox?" "Well, Tails still works on his gadgets at his workshop. He lives with Sonic and Amy, since his workshop is basically in their backyard. Knuckles still guards the Master Emerald, but I don't know much else. He's been rather...isolating himself lately."

"What about that bat friend of yours? What does she do?" I rolled my eyes. "She opened up a club," I told him. He tilted his head, puzzled. It made sense why he looked that way; I doubted he had ever heard of one before. "A club is like a place where people go to let themselves get loose, but also to get drunk and forget everything they did in the night. It can cause major problems for them in the future."

"I see...then I assume you've been living with your cat, then." I smiled. "Yeah, pretty much," I stated. "Five years can go by really quick." Mephiles smiled, but then turned away. He looked really sad. "I wish I could belong in a world like this. That I wasn't a shadow, but an actually Mobian. If it were only possible..."

I frowned, and out of nowhere, I grabbed his hand. He looked up at me, confused. "Well, maybe it's a good thing you're not a Mobian," I told him. "You can be true to yourself. That's always important, because it means you love how beautiful you are."

Mephiles smiled. "You...think I'm beautiful?" he asked. I blushed. Oh crap, what did I say? "Um, what did I say? Did I say that? No, no, not me! Uh, I got to, um, go!" And I rushed into my bedroom with River, closing the door. My heart pounded against my chest. What was I saying? I was letting my feelings slip! "Don't do that again, Shadow. He can't know the truth."