𝓣๑ribell

‎♡‧₊˚ Sometimes you still had flashes of your old life.

♡‧₊˚ A thousand subjects at your beck and call, when all you wanted was a glass of water from the kitchen. You felt genuinely bad about making so many people obey your commands practically for free.

♡‧₊˚ Of course, that changed when you met Sonic and the rest of your friends.

♡‧₊˚ Amy was the closest to you, though. The bubbly hedgehog would never make you feel alone again.

♡‧₊˚ And there was Shadow.

♡‧₊˚ You didn't exactly know how to describe your relationship with him.

♡‧₊˚ Sometimes you would sit in the same place together, in an awkward silence that was never broken by either of you.

♡‧₊˚ You tried to make conversation, of course, but he just answered directly and the topic died shortly after.

♡‧₊˚ You were used to people trying to interact with you, as any princess or royal mobian would be used to. Being the one to start the conversation was a change.

♡‧₊˚ Still, you found yourself enjoying his company, even if it was silent.

♡‧₊˚ And strangely enough, he find himself enjoying your company, mostly because it was quiet.

♡‧₊˚ No one knew you were slowly becoming friends with these silences.

♡‧₊˚ Because even you didn't know.

♡‧₊˚ But, from one day to the next, having a short chat with Shadow the Hedgehog became a task you daily waited.

♡‧₊˚ You had more in common than you or Shadow could ever imagine.

♡‧₊˚ While you were used by other because of your royal title, Shadow was used by others because of the title of The Ultimate Lifeform;

♡‧₊˚ You both suffered from the pressure to become what others expected you to be;

♡‧₊˚ When all you two wanted was to spend more time with the ones you love.

♡‧₊˚ And although there were all similarities, there were also differences.

♡‧₊˚ ... Which surprisingly made you complement each other very well.

♡‧₊˚ Shadow learned to overcome the pressure of being the Ultimate Lifeform by making others lean on him while he took care of whatever else was left to do, embracing the title as himself.

♡‧₊˚ You, however, learned to overcome the pressure of being the perfect princess by relaxing with your friends, becoming a regular mobian, and blending into the crowd.

♡‧₊˚ You leaned on Shadow on battles, and he got your back. Always.

♡‧₊˚ Suddenly, you felt a different kind of sensation when you were around him.

♡‧₊˚ Your face would get hot at certain responses from him, you felt your heart ache when your fingers accidentally touched.

♡‧₊˚ Wait...

♡‧₊˚ Maybe you're feeling sick??? D:

♡‧₊˚ You ran to Amy to tell her about the symptoms, not wanting to suffer a heart attack.

♡‧₊˚ Amy was desperate with your despair.

♡‧₊˚ Until you explained what you were feeling. From your aching heart to your sweating gloved paws.

♡‧₊˚ Her despair vanished in a matter of seconds, replaced by a joyful smile.

♡‧₊˚ "You silly! Of course you're sick! Sick of looove!~"

♡‧₊˚ She teased you about your newfound crush, and you only managed to blush more.

♡‧₊˚ "Who is it?! ... It isn't, uh... Sonic, by any chance, right?"

♡‧₊˚ You told about you and Shadow.

♡‧₊˚ She looked relatively surprised. And relieved.

♡‧₊˚ It seems that really no one noticed your proximity to the black and red hedgehog.

♡‧₊˚ You didn't like to talk about your own feelings, something you learned in royalty. The princess' wishes don't matter if they aren't material.

♡‧₊˚ But still, Amy was the best and most supportive friend you could ever ask for.

♡‧₊˚ She told you that feeling this way is completely normal, and that your feelings don't deserve to be ignored. (poor things!)

♡‧₊˚ And she also supported the idea of you telling Shadow how you feel. According to her, it's better to try to confess and know the answer right away than to live in the dark.

♡‧₊˚ It seems that Amy gave great advice, but didn't follow them herself...

♡‧₊˚ You were unsure how Shadow would react. Even though it was easy to think that knowing his answer was better, the idea of being rejected was still terrifying.

♡‧₊˚ You would need to speak in a way that he could understand, especially since you knew he didn't know much about feelings either.

♡‧₊˚ But it was so hard! Your princess classes didn't have the topic of "confessioning to hedgehogs"!

♡‧₊˚ "I like you more than Sonic likes chilly dogs."

♡‧₊˚ Maybe?

♡‧₊˚ Nah, he would stop listening to you and roll his eyes the moment you mentioned Sonic.

♡‧₊˚ "I like you more than Big likes Froggy."

♡‧₊˚ Maybe?

♡‧₊˚ Nah, Big's friendship with his frog companion is too precious to compare.

♡‧₊˚ "I like you more than I like being a princess."

♡‧₊˚ Maybe?

♡‧₊˚ Nah, it isn't that hard. Besides, he doesn't even know you were a princess.

♡‧₊˚ "I like you more than Kylie likes Espio."

♡‧₊˚ Maybe?

♡‧₊˚ Hey!! No, you don't!!! What are you even talking about?

♡‧₊˚ "I like you."

♡‧₊˚ ...

♡‧₊˚ Yeah. Perfect.

The morning on Angel Island was silent, as always. The breeze blew through the trees, and the steady sound of the waterfalls and the birdsong were the only choruses Knuckles was accustomed to hearing. He sat on the stairs leading to the Master Emerald, arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the horizon, strangely pensive for someone like Knuckles.

On the last days, he hadn't been able to act like himself. The echidna was overthinking, acting clumsy and awkward, easily distracted from his mission of protecting and guarding the great emerald behind him. All because of a certain someone.

A certain someone that was heading towards him now, in which Knuckles twitched his nose as he heard light footsteps approaching.

"Good morning, big guy!" your voice called, appearing with the usual smile you always gave the echidna. Knuckles took a while to move toward you, but when he did, his posture was the same as always: arms crossed and a grumpy expression.

"You come here more than you should..." he replied, his voice deep and calm, but without the weight of a reprimand.

"Of course I do. I can't leave you alone all the time, what if you grow moss?" You laughed at your own joke, and managed to catch Knuckles giving a low scoff with a smile.

The echidna couldn't understand why he felt this way around you, but he knew exactly what he felt. Rouge and Amy teased him all the time, catching him glancing at your smile out of the corner of his eye. You vaguely remember an old interaction with her about it.

"I’ve seen that boy almost snap his neck because he heard you laugh and wanted to see why you're laughing… But yes, keep telling yourself you're just friends!”

Damn Amy for knowing exactly what to say.

You always arrived full of energy to keep Knuckles company, bringing a different atmosphere to that isolated place. At first, Knuckles found it irritating, an unnecessary distraction from his mission. But now? After feeling alone for several mornings before you arrived, after allowing you to see a more vulnerable side of him that he would never share with anyone, after watching the sunset countless times with you by his side… It was almost as if he was waiting for you to appear. Almost as if he counted every second until he heard your voice again.

That damn voice that wouldn't leave his head.

The two of you sat in silence for a few minutes, as you always did, that comfortable silence you only felt around Knuckles—and he around you—but of course you tried to strike up a conversation every now and then, while Knuckles listened more than he spoke. But today, the echidna was more restless than usual.

"I'll never understand how you can stand here all day."

Knuckles felt uncomfortable, frowning as he turned to sit back down on one of the steps of the staircase.

"If you don't respect my mission, you can leave."

All he heard was a carefree laugh. From you, obviously.

"You know better," you said as you sat down next to him, just like you had many times before. But for some reason, this time felt different. "I never come here with the intention of disturbing you. I come here so you won't be alone."

Knuckles took a deep breath, his fists clenching before turning to you.

"And why don't you want to leave me alone? Maybe I like it, after all, I'm a lone warrior! I've always worked well alone."

"Yeah. But do you like it?"

That took the words right out of Knuckles's mouth, and he could only blush in response. You laughed again and looked up at the sun, which was now almost setting.

It took him a moment to tear his eyes away from you.

"You're so..."

You glanced at the echidna out of the corner of your eye, waiting for him to continue. Suddenly, he seemed to realize what he was going to say and immediately blushed deeper, turning his face to the sun so hard that you almost worries about him snapping his neck as Amy said.

"Annoying!" He yelled.

Your heart skipped a beat. You don't know why. It wasn't even a compliment.

You brought your gloved hand to your chest, feigning pain in a sarcastic way.

"Ouch! My heart, Knuckles!"

He seemed worried for a split second so short that even you couldn't tell if it was real or if you had invented it in your head, but he responded with the same sarcasm right after.

"What? Hit by the truth arrow?"

You burst out laughing, closing your eyes in the process and listening to the ridiculous sound coming out of your mouth echoing across the island.

But as soon as you open your eyes again, you find Knuckles looking at you from the corner of his eye, as if he was watching you.

Creep. You think.

But the truth is, he was just admiring.

Finally, you two return to the comfortable silence of before, with no more teasing or playful nagging. It takes a moment for you to take a deep breath and speak your mind, as you always did. But this time, you didn't control what came out of your mouth.

"I admire you so much, you know?" You said while breaking the silence. "You always stay here, in front of that big ass emerald, and manage to handle every threat that comes your way. Like, do you have any idea how cool you are?"

Knuckles clenched his fists tighter.

"I know you say you're 'too strong' to feel lonely or vulnerable, and that's something I admire about you, too."

Now he was gritting his teeth.

You didn't realize, you were too distracted telling what you kept to yourself and promised yourself to only show through gestures. You've seen Knuckles' vulnerable side, how he really feels pressured and lonely, but he still keeps fighting and getting back on his feet. That's what impressed you, and you couldn't be silent anymore.

"It's kinda weird how we became friends. You're so cool, Knuckles. And I'm just…"

"Shut up."

"Hm?" You turned to face the echidna, finally realizing his situation.

Knuckles had shadows where his eyes should be, clenching his teeth and clenching his fists tightly as if he were holding something metal. Finally, he stood up from the step, still not looking at you.

"Shut up! You come here to keep me company, but you always leave me feeling even more confused!"

You would have been sad if it weren't for his next words.

"Always with that 'I admire you so much' talk. Damn. Do you know how much I admire you? Do you know how much I spend in front of the Master Emerald, dishonoring my mission by thinking about you and not the potential threats around me?" His shoulders tensed. "Because I admire you so much! I like the way you don't leave anyone alone, even when it comes to me; I like how you stand out among all our companions, not because of your strength—well, yes, that too—but because of your personality; I like our training sessions together because you're in it!"

Knuckles looked away, staring at the ground for a second. When he looked back at you, his purple eyes were serious, but his expression held something else, like a child puffing out their cheeks to get what they want.

"I like you."

You blinked, not immediately understanding.

Is this a dream?

You knew Knuckles was blunt, but you had to replay the entire day's interaction in your head to understand where this came from.

Knuckles took another deep breath.

"You're annoying, you talk too much sometimes, you show up whenever you want, even though I kick you out on the first day... but I wait for it. I've learned to wait for you every day. I want you to feel that way about me too, damn it!"

The silence hung for a moment. You stared at him, clearly surprised by your wide eyes and small pupils, as if trying to process every word. Your ears were low, but your rosy cheeks gave away that it wasn't from sadness.

Knuckles saw your state, thinking to himself that he'd just ruined everything, but continued anyway:

"I don't know how this works. This whole... sentimentality thing, I'm still learning. But I know I don't want you to stop coming to the Master Emerald... Coming to me. Ever."

Finally, his purple eyes glowed with the purple of the sunset sky.

"So... I insist you love me back! I can train harder, I can punch everything you want, but... Feel the same way about me! Look at me the way I look at you."

It was almost as if he were begging, but without any real obligation or pressure behind the words. You remained silent, heart racing, and the shadows mixed with the afternoon glow now passing over your face as night took over the sky.

What will your answer be?

୭˚. ᵎᵎ dividers by @cafekitsune

‎♡‧₊˚ Shadow didn't even know when, where or how he started to like you around so much.

‎♡‧₊˚ At first, he probably just thought of you being useful to Team Dark and a great help.

‎♡‧₊˚ But now? Now Shadow finds himself quietly watching the moon, seeing you there instead of the stars. Remembering the details of your face smiling, the way you laugh, and the way you treated him.

‎♡‧₊˚ He obviously doesn't know what this feeling is, after all he has never felt something so powerful for someone since Maria. He may even have thought it was selfish of him to compare you to her, not wanting to see you as a "replacement" or something like that.

‎♡‧₊˚ He doesn't like to talk about feelings (especially his), but Rouge is attentive enough to care about him and notice how he feels around others, especially around you. She must have noticed it before Shadow himself did.

‎♡‧₊˚ "Are you in love?"

‎♡‧₊˚ Nonsense. Where did she get that from? Shadow had no time for love. Love is a powerful word, a word he would only use to describe his relationship with Maria, practically his only family back then.

‎♡‧₊˚ But this got Shadow thinking.

‎♡‧₊˚ Was he in love?

‎♡‧₊˚ With you?

‎♡‧₊˚ This distracted him on missions, it occupied his mind more than he admitted or let on, until a point where he simply started avoiding you, thinking it was your fault. You waved at him and he ran; You got close and his spines stood on end; You smiled, and he refused to smile back.

‎♡‧₊˚ After a few days, he finally stopped to ask himself.

‎♡‧₊˚ Why was it your fault?

‎♡‧₊˚ It's not like you have the power to put feelings in him, and he knows that very well, he's not naive. But he also doesn't know how to deal with it yet.

‎♡‧₊˚ Shadow apologized and went back to his usual behavior around you, but if you were observant enough, you'd notice he was different. That he looked at you differently.

‎♡‧₊˚ Your dynamic was the same as always, but now Shadow felt an intimacy he hadn't felt with anyone else before. A certain discomfort, perhaps?

‎♡‧₊˚ Oh, he felt so guilty feeling uncomfortable around you, believe me.

‎♡‧₊˚ But he had already understood that this wasn't either of your faults, since, as living beings, you can't control your feelings like machines. He knew that.

‎♡‧₊˚ And yet, he still secretly wished he had a database to completely erase this folder of feelings that was making him malfunction.

‎♡‧₊˚ But... It's not like he doesn't like feeling this way about you. It's not like he hates the feeling of wanting to have you around.

‎♡‧₊˚ It's not like he's hating loving you. Really.

‎♡‧₊˚ This was something that made him and Rouge talk more than ever, since Omega himself wouldn't be of much help.

‎♡‧₊˚ "You just have a crush, Shadow. It's fine. It's not the end of the world."

‎♡‧₊˚ Oh, but it was the end of his world. At least that was what he told himself constantly.

‎♡‧₊˚ He's afraid of getting too attached to you and ending up like his trauma with Maria again, he's afraid of focusing more on feelings than on his missions, he's afraid of failing you by thinking about you like that.

‎♡‧₊˚ Even though he's practically over fifty years old, Shadow still thinks about feelings like a teenager, asking questions back and forth as if he'll get answers.

‎♡‧₊˚ You treated him like a friend, someone close, someone important, and not like a weapon. That's okay, all of his friends did that.

‎♡‧₊˚ But you?

‎♡‧₊˚ You didn't treat him like someone special because he had talent.

‎♡‧₊˚ You treated him like someone special because he was special to you.

‎♡‧₊˚ And he couldn't understand why.

‎♡‧₊˚ Why did you think he was special to you? Why did you stick around when no one else did? Why did you keep following him when everyone else was going the other way?

‎♡‧₊˚ And why did he have a shred of hope asking this?

‎♡‧₊˚ A hope that maybe, just maybe, you would look at him the way he looks at you.

‎♡‧₊˚ You already saw him better than anyone else, but he still wanted you to see more of him, he wanted you closer (physically and emotionally), and he felt selfish about it.

‎♡‧₊˚ It's kinda funny, really.

‎♡‧₊˚ The Ultimate Lifeform suffering from having a crush and not knowing how to deal with it.