The other two just stared at him for a moment. Cream smiled brightly. “Of course I remember your name, Shadow! Momma says I’m good with names,” she said proudly.

“No, I mean in the first place,” he clarified, setting down the teacup. “I never introduced myself, but you called me ‘Shadow’ when Amy and I found you in Cryptic Castle.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Cream said, waving it off. “Remember when Metal Sonic was trying to take over and we worked together with Mr. Big and Mr. Sonic and Tails and Knuckles and Vector and Charmy and Espio and—”

She wasn’t kidding about being good with names.

“Ah, yeah,” he cut in. He could see Amy holding back a laugh.

Cream picked up a scone and started spreading strawberry jam onto it. “Well, I didn’t recognize you, so I asked Amy and she told me all about you!” She handed the scone to Cheese, who happily started munching on it.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shadow saw Amy twitch, but she looked away. Shadow squinted at her, then turned back to Cream. “What did she say?”

“She says you’re brave and strong and kind and devoted and you saved all of us! Twice!” Cream gushed.

Amy’s eyes were wide with warning, but Cream continued, oblivious. “I wanted to say thank you for rescuing me and Cheese, so I asked my mom if I could invite you over for tea. I can tell Amy wants to get to know you better, so I invited her, too.”

Amy choked quietly on her tea. Shadow raised a brow and smirked at her. “Is that so?”

She balked. “Well...I like meeting new people! I don’t know much about you, so—”

Cream bobbed her head. “Yup! And Amy talks about you a lot. She thinks you’re cool and brave and handsome—”

Amy spat out her tea. “Wh-wha—I didn’t—!”

Shadow’s eyes went wide. Cream and Cheese’s heads tilted in unison. “Don’t you, though?”

Amy’s eyes darted between all three of them. “I never said that!” she blurted. Her face flushed. “N-not that you’re not, I mean, of course you’re—!” Amy stopped, and her cheeks puffed out. She pointedly avoided Shadow’s intrigued gaze and glared at Cream. “Why would you think that?”

“Isn’t that why you stare at him so much?” Cream asked, unfazed.

“I don’t stare at him!”

“Yes you do! A lot. Like when you saw him again before Metal Sonic showed up, and when he was carrying Cheese back to me at the castle, and when he held my hand so I wouldn’t get lost, and when he showed up today in his new leather jacket, and Mr. Sonic said you were staring when he saved us from that big huge alien—”

“Cream,” Amy growled, teeth clenched. Her tone was fierce with warning, but the mortification was obvious in her wide eyes. Shadow chuckled under his breath, charmed.

Cream stirred her tea a few times, even-keeled as ever. “Well, you always say you don’t love Mr. Sonic for his looks. But you don’t stare at them the same way, so I figured it must be because you do like how Mr. Shadow looks.”

“Th-that’s not—I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant—I don’t—!”

“So why do you stare at him?”

“BECAUSE HE’S HERE, AND HE ALMOST WASN’T, AND IT’S ALL MY FAULT!”

The laughter died in Shadow’s chest, and silence hung over the room. Even Cheese stayed quiet.

Amy panted, eyes wide with fear. “I—!”

Suddenly, the fear in her voice struck a forgotten nerve in the back of Shadow’s mind. Images and words rushed to the forefront of his mind.

“Shadow! Please help us!”

“I beg of you! Give them a chance to be happy!”

“I have to keep my promise to Maria...and you.”

A fight, a flash...then darkness.

And he realized Amy had a damn good reason to be upset.

Shadow opened his mouth, then stalled out.

You saved me.

You saved everyone.

It’s not your fault.

You changed my life.

It was my decision.

It had to be done.

It had to be you.

You couldn’t have known.

I’m glad you were there.

I never meant to hurt you.

Thank you.

I’m sorry.

But every word died on his lips. None of them were enough.

Cream pouted as she looked between the two of them, her big brown eyes watering. “Did you not want to come to the tea party, Shadow?”

Shadow shook himself out of his stupor. He glanced at Cream’s hurt expression, then looked back at Amy. She was hunched over more than before, half curled up as any scared hedgehog would be. She wasn’t looking at either of them.

Shadow’s jaw clenched. He slowly reached for Amy’s shoulder, but he paused a few inches away. Instead, he reached down to take one of her shaking hands in his own.

Amy froze, then turned around to meet Shadow’s eyes. Her expression was tense.

Shadow held her gaze for several seconds. He glanced briefly at Cream’s wide eyes, but he mostly looked at Amy as he spoke, his tone hesitant and stilted.

“I’m...glad I’m here.”

Amy stared back, mouth open slightly. He lightly rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, and her shoulders dropped. The tense expression melted to make way for a smile, small but genuine. He nodded back.

That’s enough. For now.

Cream let out a happy squeal, drawing their attention. “I knew you’d like it!” Her eyes locked onto their still-joined hands, and her face lit up. “Oo, I know! You should have tea with us like this every weekend! You think so too, right, Amy?”

A choked noise got caught in Amy’s throat, but after a moment, she recovered and aimed a half-smile Shadow’s way. “Yeah...I’m glad he’s here, too.”

Cream and Cheese gazed up at him, eyes wide and pleading. Shadow glanced between all three, then sighed. “I’ll join you—on one condition.”

“Really? What is it?”

Shadow picked up the teacup he’d set down. “I’d like more sugar next time.”

Cream and Cheese both tilted their heads. “More sugar?”

Shadow nodded, then sent a gentle smirk Amy’s way. “I’ve always liked sweet things.”

Cream giggled across from him, and he could feel Cheese crawl into his lap to be petted some more, but his eyes didn’t leave Amy and the rosy cheeks she was trying to hide behind her teacup.

—

((Some fans speculate that Shadow doesn’t remember his talk with Amy aboard the ARK. I don’t necessarily subscribe to that because it seems like he got all his memories back at the end of ShTH and I don’t think he’d be so conspicuously, consistently gentle with Amy unless he remembered what she did for him.