¿Him or Her? {Sonadow}

Chapter Fourteen

__Shadow was sitting in the bathtub, which was filled with warm water. He had part of his face under water, keeping his nose out of it. His ears were down and his eyes were narrowed as well. He was extremely tired. Navi was hanging onto the tub, staring at Shadow as he sat there. It took Shadow a few minutes to realize Navi was there with him. He sat up straight and looked at Navi as water dripped from his chin. He then brought his hand out of the water, looking at the inhibitor ring that was still on his wrist before softly rubbing his finger under Navi's chin.
__"Chow!" Navi moaned happily as Shadow continued. She then climbed over and fell into the tub. Shadow retracted his hand and watched Navi's head poke out of the water. Shadow had to slouched down in the tub so that Navi was able to sit up easily in the water.
__"Remind me again how I tolerate you?" Shadow muttered. He was still upset after Rouge was trying to butt in on his business. Navi seemed to notice this and pressed her cheek against Shadow's. She slowly rubbed Shadow's cheek before pecking at it softly with her tiny lips. Shadow managed to grin as he felt himself relax. "You're a nuisance, but I dont care."
__His phone then started ringing on the counter. He growled as he struggled to get out of the tub without slipping. All the water fell from his feet and left puddles on the floor as he made his way to the counter. He dried his hands off before answering the phone. He saw that it was Nate's number and tried to calm himself down. "Yes, commander? Is there a problem?"
__"Good afternoon, Mr. Shadow," Nate began. "Are you sick?" He sounded suspicious.
__"No, sir." Shadow then realized he never showed up at H.Q. today. He didn't even make a call to let anyone know he was staying home.
__"Ms. Rouge told me you were."
__"I'm not." Shadow knew there was no backing out of this now.
__"Well, you are expected to come tomorrow," Nate said, this time more commanding. "I have a special mission for you."
__Shadow's suspicion came back and he narrowed his eyes. "What kind of mission?"
__"Well, it's not really special. I've been asked to join the president for a meeting. I think it would be best that you came with, as just an agent standing by his commander."
__Shadow stifled a growl as he replied. "Why me?"
__"Because the president is very fond of you," Nate said brightly. "I figured seeing you would make things easier."
__I see. You plan on using me to your advantage. Shadow decided to play along since he had nothing better to do. "I'll be there then. Just let me know when and where."
__"I'll text you the details. Bye now!" Nate then hung up the phone.
__Shadow put the phone down and found himself laughing. He wasn't happy, though. "I'm just the help!" Navi looked nervous as Shadow continued laughing.

__The next day, Shadow was on his way to meet Nate at the president's office. Right now he was walking by the fence the separated the beach and the city. It was a hot day so a lot of people were at the beach. He loathed the thought that everyone was having fun hanging out with one another. He growled and flattened his ears as he heard some of them laughing happily. He couldn't help but envy what they were doing.
__Shadow decided to stop. He leaned onto the fence and watched the activity on the beach. Once again he thought of Maria. He remembered all the games that they played together. They were some of the only times Shadow would ever laugh happily. He sighed as he felt his heart start to ache. He wanted nothing more than to be with his best friend again.
__Shadow looked up when a big bird was flying across the sky. He thought he saw that it was made of metal. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the bird was gone. He then checked the time on his phone and his heart sank. He was late. Dammit! He started to walk hurriedly when he heard the people at the beach screaming.
__"Oh my god!"
__"He's fallen in!"
__"He's gonna drown!"
__"Where's the damn lifeguard!?"
__"Someone has to help Sonic!"
__Shadow perked his ears. He shook his head since he figured Sonic could get himself out of danger like he always does. But then it occured to him that Sonic couldn't swim. Acting upon instinct, he hopped over the fence and ran for the beach. Everyone that was panicking stopped and looked at Shadow with hope and relief.
__"It's Shadow!"
__"Thank goodness!"
__"Who needs a lifeguard anyway?"
__Shadow scanned the ocean and growled as he looked at the people. "Where has he fallen in!?"
__"Over there!" A human girl pointed at the pier, which the wood at the end was broken.
__Shadow quickly ran over to the pier. He couldn't see Sonic anywhere. He backed up a bit and jumped into the air. He curled up into a spin dash and dove into the ocean. He opened his eyes and felt the salt water sting his eyes, but he ignored it. He looked up and saw he was at least ten feet below. He then started looking around for Sonic. He found him. Sonic had his foot caught in some coral and was struggling to pull it out while holding his breath. Shadow quickly swam over to Sonic. Sonic had looked at Shadow and opened his mouth in shock before quickly closing it. Shadow had grabbed onto Sonic's foot and tried pulling on it, but it was to no avail. He saw that Sonic had given up on his foot as he closed his eyes and covered his nose and mouth. Shadow had pointed his palm to the coral and shot a small beam of Chaos Energy into it, breaking it a part and setting Sonic's foot free.
__Shadow felt some kind of joy after freeing Sonic. He looked at him and his heart sank again. Sonic's eyes had slowly opened as his hands moved away from his face. Sonic's mouth had opened, letting out small air bubbles. Shadow felt that he was running of of air too and began to panic. He grabbed onto Sonic as he tried to figure out what to do. He then remembered his shoes were rockets. He held Sonic tightly and activated his shoes. They were in the air in seconds, but Shadow didn't have control over them. They crashed into the sand, rolling over to different directions. Once Shadow stopped he struggled to get up as he was breathing in and out excessively. More people began shouting.
__"Holy crap!"
__"Is he okay!?"
__Shadow shook his head and looked at Sonic. He was lying on his back. He didn't seem to be breathing. Shadow hurriedly rushed over to Sonic's side. He continued to panic as he stared at Sonic in horror. He didn't know what to do.
__"Where is that stupid lifeguard!?"
__"Does anyone know cpr!?"
__Shadow was brought back to sanity. He did know how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He tuned everything else out and focused on Sonic. He brought his hands to Sonic's chest and pumped it five times. He then used one hand to plug Sonic's nose and the other to open his mouth. It didn't phase Shadow as he pressed his lips against Sonic's and exhaled into his mouth. Shadow started to repeat the cycle, desperately trying to get Sonic to breathe.
__Never once would Shadow be so desperate to save Sonic's life. Now that he was here nothing else, not even his pride, mattered right now. Come on! He repeated the cycle again. Come on! And again. Come on! And again. Breathe, dammit! And again.
__Shadow slowed his process when he figured now it was too late. At the fifth chest pump, Sonic's eyes were suddenly wide open. Shadow moved back as Sonic sat up and threw up salt water beside him, coughing and gasping for air. Shadow was finally aware of his surroundings when he heard everyone cheering.
__"Oh thank god!"
__"He's okay!"
__"Yeah, no thanks to that lifeguard!"
__"Will you shut up about the dang lifeguard!?"
__"Sonic's okay!"
__Sonic's ears were down and he hugged his chest as he started trembling. He looked around the area and his gaze rested on Shadow. His eyes were filled with tears, most likely from the heaving pain in his chest. Shadow didn't dare move under Sonic's gaze. He was confused. What's going on? Why are you looking at me like that? Just say something.
__Sonic had shut his eyes and threw his arms around Shadow. "I'm sorry!" Shadow froze. This was a hug from Sonic. But it didn't feel like Maria's or Rouge's. This was different. He didn't know if it was good or bad.
__Shadow's ears then twitched as he pushed Sonic away. "What do you mean? You have nothing to be sorry for."
__Sonic didn't look at Shadow. "As I was staring at you underwater, I realized you were telling the truth that night you tried to apologize. You risked your life for me." Sonic then started coughing again.
__Shadow could tell Sonic wanted to say more, but this was private. He looked at the people and began shouting. "Everything is fine! Please vacate the area!" No one objected. They all left the beach willingly.
__Sonic was able to stop coughing and sniffled as he wiped his eyes. "Thank you." He then sighed and looked into Shadow's eyes. He was about to speak, but Shadow spoke first.
__"What the hell happened!?" He growled. "You could've died! You were lucky that I was even around here!" Sonic wasn't phased by Shadow shouting. He took it with patience and replied when Shadow stopped.
__"I was chasing after an Eggman robot," He explained tiredly. "It stole a Chaos Emerald and I needed to get it back. I wasn't thinking when it led me to the pier. It shot lasers at the plank and I fell in." Sonic coughed again before continuing. "I guess I blacked out for a bit. I have no idea how I got caught in the coral."
__Shadow sighed. He finally felt relief from the situation. "You're alive at least."
__Sonic smiled, which made Shadow flatten his ears. "And I have you to thank for that."
__Shadow looked away. "Anyone would've jumped in to save you. I just happened to have ran in first." Sonic laughed. "What's so funny?"
__"Nothing. I'm just glad." Sonic rasped. He looked really tired. "Look, that night you came to my house...I'm really sorry I didn't believe you."
__"Shut up already," Shadow muttered. "I don't care about that now. And you need to go home and rest."
__Sonic closed his eyes and started to slowly lean forward. "So tired..." He then rested on Shadow.
__"Sonic." Shadow didn't move. Sonic had fallen asleep on him. Once again he didn't know what to do. Something about the atmosphere felt different. Sonic felt warm even though they were still wet. His slow breathing was satisfying. Shadow felt different, too. He didn't know what it was. He felt warm. His arms started moving on their own. They wrapped around Sonic and held him carefully. He then closed his eyes and rested his head against Sonic's. For some reason, this felt normal.
__"Mr. Shadow!" Both Shadow and Sonic lifted their heads up, startled. Nate was glaring at Shadow. "You never showed up!"
__Shadow quickly let go of Sonic and stood up. "Commander, I..."
__Nate had walked over to Shadow, still glaring at him. "The president was very angry when you didn't show after I promised you would! He wouldn't listen to me at all!"
__Even if Shadow knew Nate was plotting against him, he felt small with him yelling like this. "Forgive me. I was..."
__"What!? Hanging around with your boy toy when you were assigned a job!?" Nate yelled.
__Boy toy? What the hell does that even mean!? Shadow dropped it and tried explaining himself without losing it. "I wasn't hanging around. Sonic was..."
__"I don't want to hear your excuses!" Nate growled. "My plans are ruined because of you!"
__"Because of me?" Shadow repeated.
__There was rage on Nate's face that Shadow had never seen on him before. "You're done, Shadow."
__"Done?"
__"First you accuse me of sabotage, then you just decide not to show up for work yesterday, and you flaked out on this important meeting!" Nate forced himself to calm down. He then looked at Shadow with this dead, cold stare. "That's three strikes, Shadow. I'm afraid I have to fire you."
__Shadow's eyes grew wide. "What!?"
__"You heard me," Nate then started walking away. "Clean out your stuff before midnight. Otherwise they belong to G.U.N."
__Shadow stood there frozen as Nate disappeared. He didn't understand what was going on. He was just mad and upset, had to save Sonic from drowning, was no longer envious, and then just got fired from his job. He had no job now. G.U.N. was the only job he actually liked. He had lots of money in his savings, but that wouldn't last forever. He now felt helpless.
__Sonic had finally got up and stood by Shadow. He looked guilty. "I got you fired?"
__Shadow immediately whipped his head around to face him. "No. You were just in danger. You had no fault in this."
__"But because you saved me, you were late to meeting the president," Sonic said, sounding upset.
__"I was already late," Shadow explained. "And your life is more important than a job." He then sighed and looked away. "I'll try finding a new one somehow."
__Sonic flattened his ears and carefully placed his hand on Shadow's shoulder. Shadow didn't jump this time. "Shadow, look, I owe you my life. Whatever you want, whenever you need it, I'll give you anything or help you with something. It can be something drastic or dangerous."
__Shadow only moved his eyes to look at Sonic. "You don't need to."
__Sonic nodded. "Yes I do. It's the least I can do with what you just sacrificed for me."
__Shadow didn't object and nodded. He found himself focusing on Sonic's touch. His glove was still wet and had sand all over it, but it was nice and warm. He thought back to when Sonic hugged him and fell asleep on him. He wanted that to happen again. Sonic's touch was comforting. Shadow should be upset, but he wasn't. He just stood there, enjoying Sonic's hand on his shoulder. What is happening to me?