Chapter Text
Amy Rose had been having the same dream every night for the last week. Actually, to be truthful, that wasn't entirely accurate. She had been having this dream for her whole life, but in the last seven days it had warped and changed into something that confused her.
She knew dreams were open to interpretation - she read Tarot as a side hustle, which was a similar deal - but the dreams in question were rather self explanatory. For years, she had dreamed of walking into a Chapel, her friends filling the pews on either side of the aisle, the train of her dress held by Cream. Her face was veiled, making it a little tricky to see details, but she had had this dream so many times that she had memorised every inch of the room. She knew that there were sashes of pale blue draped on the ends of the seating. That pink and blue roses filled ornate vases at the altar. That everyone was staring at her, and waiting for her to walk down the aisle and marry the man of her dreams. When she got there, having taken her time to soak up the joy on her friends' faces, she waited for her husband-to-be to remove her veil. She clutched her bouquet tightly, her heart light and full of love. She looked to where her fiancé's face was, and he lifted the veil.
Normally, when the veil was lifted, she was face to face with Sonic. But as of seven days ago, the face had changed. Instead of Sonic's warm, cocky grin, now she was faced with a smirk. Instead of peach lips, they were tan. And instead of viridian eyes, they were blood red. Before her stood not Sonic, the love of her life, but Shadow the Hedgehog. And despite the fact that the conscious part of her mind recoiled and tried to get away, her subconscious self stood, smiled, and turned to the wedding officiant.
The motions were gone through, all while her mind thrashed and screamed that this was the wrong hedgehog - this wasn't her Sonic - and when the officiant asked if there were any objections, the room was silent.
She wanted to shout, 'I object!' but her mouth would not work. She locked eyes with Sonic in the pews. He was smiling. No one objected. The rest of the ceremony went on. They were married. They kissed. And they both looked pleased.
Every morning, she woke up in a sweat, breathing heavy. And every night she wondered why her brain was doing this to her. It was ridiculous. Shadow the Hedgehog was perhaps the least appealing option for a husband she could think of. Sure, he was the ultimate lifeform as he would often remind people, but he sure as heck wasn't the ultimate boyfriend. Shadow was moody, stubborn, and egotistical, and that was why he was not husband material.
On the morning of the eighth time she had this dream- no, nightmare- she woke exhausted. As she sat at her vanity, running a brush through her quills and making an attempt to conceal the dark circles of poor quality sleep beneath her eyes, she wondered what she had done to deserve the mental battering of the last week.
She poked at the puffiness under her eyes and sighed. "Why today," she whined. "Today of all days, I needed to look good. It's his birthday. There's no way he's going to want to date someone who shows up to his birthday party looking like they haven't slept in a week," she grumbled, applying foundation and concealer to her undereyes. She swiped lipstick over her bottom lip, pressing it to her top lip and admiring her work. "Hmm… maybe not a week. But at least a day." She signed deeply. "It'll do."
She stood, grabbing the dress she'd prepared the night before and stepping into it, zipping the red fabric together once it was on, then descended the stairs, grabbing her bag from the end of the handrail as she went.
When she arrived, only Tails was at the venue. Which was odd, considering it was Sonic's house. She raised a brow at him, looking around for the blue blur. "He's just popped out for a few things," Tails assured her.
"Already? With no one here yet?"
"He forgot to go shopping," the yellow fox said with an embarrassed grin. She rolled her eyes.
"That's my Sonic," she said, the tired smile barely reaching her eyes.
The rest of the group filtered in over the next few hours. Everyone on the guest list, except for Shadow.
As she scanned the faces around her, seeing every mobian she'd ever met and a few she hadn't, she found herself wondering where the black and red hedgehog was. He never showed up to these things. She knew that. And yet… she wanted to see him. Here. Amongst their friends. She shook her head, trying to physically remove the thought but managing only to make herself a little light headed. He wasn't here, and that was more than fine, she told herself.
His best friend, Rouge the bat, was present, however. She had a phone to her ear and a frown on her face, and Knuckles, toddler in hand, to her left looking sympathetically at her. "Shadow, you can't just not show up because you think he's a-"
Amy waved to Rouge, catching her eye and causing her to pause and hold the phone away from her ear. "Oh, hi Amy - wait there I'll be two seconds. What was I saying? Oh, you can't-"
Muffled noises on the other end of the phone cut her off again. She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Amy's here. Why would I be talking to her if she wasn't here Shad-" The incoherent noises on the other end of the phone interrupted again. A frown formed on her face. "O…kay. Hmn. See you in a sec, then," the bat said, managing to finish a sentence for the first time in the last minute, and turned her attention to Amy.
"Lucky you," Rouge said with a small huff of a laugh. "The grumpiest member of our group has agreed to attend this little shindig now that he knows you're here." Her tone was teasing, but the incredulity that used the humour as a hiding spot wasn't quite obscured.
As if on queue, Shadow appeared in a flash of green light, perhaps ten paces away from Amy. He wasn't that far away for long, though, as he marched towards her and jabbed an accusatory finger at her. "You," he hissed, low enough for Amy, Rouge, and Knuckles to hear, but too quiet for anyone further away. "What are you doing to me!?" He continued, his voice quiet but dripping with venom.
Amy held her hands up, backed away, but then remembered herself. Anger flashed across her face and she leaned into his finger, pressing it into her collar bone. "I haven't done anything, you weirdo," she snarled.
"Yes you have," he challenged. "You've done something. I know you have."
She slapped his finger away from her, butting her head forward until her forehead was only a few inches from his own. "I haven't done anything to you, Shadow, so back off!"
The onyx male backed away from her, the look of panic in his eyes as he regarded her from the further, safer distance, almost suggesting he was scared of her. But there was something that didn't quite tally. He snarled at her, making a 'tsk' noise as he did, then turned and stormed away.
Shadow was aggressive, violent, and argumentative, she concluded - and that was why Shadow was not husband material.
Amy shrunk back, no longer having to tiptoe to match the taller mobian's height, and brushed herself down before turning back to Rouge and Knuckles - only Knuckles was no longer there. He appeared to have backed away with their child, clearly not comfortable with exposing the three year old to aggression or potential violence.
"What the hell is his problem!?" Amy snapped, tugging at her dress to correct the fabric that had been displaced. She ran a hand along her quills, smoothing them back down. They'd prickled up in a subconscious attempt to make herself look bigger - a natural reaction, but one that embarrassed her none-the-less. "Getting all pissy with me! What a jerk!"
"It's no excuse," Rouge began, helping with the quills. "But he hasn't been sleeping well recently. He's been having some weird dreams, which he thinks are your doing for some reason," the bat said. "He muttered something about witchcraft, then scolded himself about that not being scientific, if that helps."
"Tch! As if I'd waste magic like that on him!" Amy seethed, crossing her arms.
But then the words sunk in. "Wait, weird dreams? That's odd… I've been having a weird dream about Shadow, too," the hedgehog confessed. Rouge scoffed.
"Oh, trust me hun, your dreams are no where near as weird as his is," the bat said as she turned to her phone and scowled, texting furiously for a moment before returning her attention to Amy. "Sorry hun, work."
"No it's fine - but, I don't know Rouge, I've been dreaming- well, having nightmares, really- about marrying him."
Rouge's phone clattered to the ground, her mouth agape and her eyes wide. "Excuse me?" She sputtered.
"I've been dreaming about marrying Shadow," Amy clarified.
Bewilderment passed over the bat's features as if it were a thick fog rolling through a valley - shock becoming confusion and then settling halfway between. "Are you messing with me?" Rouge asked as she stopped to retrieve the phone. "Tell me you're messing with me."
"I'm not," Amy protested.
"No, you have to be - you must be. No way you and Shadow are having the same dream about each other. I don't believe it," Rouge said.
It was Amy's turn to be confused now. He's… having the same dream?
Before she could grill Rouge further, the bat said, "sorry Amy," and rushed over to Knuckles, who was trying to coax their child out from under a table.
She watched the pair with an odd sense of envy. They'd been together since they were seventeen, and now, seven years later, they had their own little family. That's all she'd ever wanted. Just a partner and a baby. What could she say - she was maternal like that. But that didn't seem to be working out for her. I just wish Shadow would see that I- she thought, her mind screeching to a half as she realised that was the wrong hedgehog's name.
As if he'd heard her, the crimson striped hedgehog swaggered into her field of view, kneeling next to Knuckles and Rouge. She watched as he spoke with them, then sighed and removed a limiter ring, using it to coax Opal, the couple's child, from under the table. He let the toddler chew the band, knowing it wouldn't be harmful, and Amy saw his lip quirk up into the smallest smile she'd ever seen.
Shadow was good with children… but bad with adults and emotion, she reminded herself. And that was why he wasn't husband material.
Despite her best efforts, Amy found herself consistently looking for the moody male for the next hour. She would find him, stare for a moment from a distance, then try to think of an excuse as to why she was there. In the kitchen, she would pick up a drink even if she had one already. In the living room, snacks from the table were her reason for being there, not catching a glimpse of him. This may have worked if she were only trying to convince herself. But others were catching on.
Within an hour of Shadow's arrival, Vector had asked Amy when she had stopped fawning over Sonic and taken an interest in Shadow instead. She'd laughed nervously and denied it. Vanilla had called her out on her behaviour too, but she'd told the rabbit it was nothing.
But two more of her friends had clocked her. They knew what was going on, and they had caught Shadow doing the exact same thing.
"Knuckie," Rouge said, sitting their child on her lap and wiping the chocolate mousse she had given them from their face. "Tell Shadow to get something out of the coat closet, would you?"
"What for?" Knuckles asked, frowning. "And get what? There's just coats in there-"
"I'm setting a little something up," she said with a smirk. "Tell him Opal threw her pacifier in there and you can't find it - make a comment about his superior vision, he's always more likely to do things when you feed his ego."
Knuckles opened his mouth to argue, but quickly shut it, and instead stood to go and find Shadow.
Rouge, on the other hand, finished wiping her child's face and picked her up, going to find Amy. When she found her, absentmindedly stirring a drink with her straw. "Hun, could you do me a favour?" Rouge said. Amy's head snapped to the bat.
"Sure, what's up?"
"I left Opal's pacifier in her coat, which is in the coat closet, but I need to ask Tails something - could you grab it for me?"
"Sure thing!" Amy beamed, putting her drink down and heading off.
Rouge smirked, looking to Opal to put a finger to her lips and make a 'shh'ing noise. When Opal covered her mouth with a smile, Rouge knew the toddler knew it was quiet time, the game they played every so often, and started following the pink hedgehog.
Shadow was already in the closet looking around for signs of the pacifier when Amy reached the open door. She stepped inside before she noticed him. Her eyes widened, her mouth pressing into a thin line as she started to turn to retreat. But then she felt a hand on her back. Pressure. And she yelped as she fell into the room, colliding with Shadow and knocking him down in the process.
Before they'd even hit the ground, she heard the snikt of a door locking, and much to her embarrassment, the rrriiiippp of fabric and a felt a sudden lack of compression on her hip as the seam of her dress popped.
Luckily, the room was dark. Unluckily, she was currently lying on top of Shadow.
"What the-" Shadow cursed, his eyes adjusting to the dark. "What the hell are you doing!?"
"I was pushed, okay!" She yelled. Shadow sighed angrily. Something told her he didn't believe her.
"I don't have the patience for this. Chaos-" she stuffed her hands over his face, silencing him.
"No! My dress is ripped! If you chaos control us out they'll see!" His eyelids fell half closed, his lack of amusement evident. Muffled noises came from his mouth, and she tilted her head. She couldn't understand a word.
He sighed, tearing her hand from his mouth.
"And what do you suggest instead?" He snapped. She thought for a second.
"You could- You could take me home so I can change, then chaos control back?" She proffered.
Crimson eyes stared at her for a long moment, until he sighed. "Fine. Just hold tight, okay? With the change of location and going from horizontal to vertical, it can mess people up."
She nodded, slipping her arms around his neck and holding tight, resting her head on his chest. His cheeks flushed, and he hesitated to wrap an arm around her waist, but caved. "Chaos Control," he muttered, in the calmest voice Amy had heard from him all evening, and they disappeared.
Next Amy knew, she was back in her living room, holding on to Shadow as if letting go would mean falling to Earth from the stratosphere. He smells like lavender… she found herself thinking, as the heat of his body and the even timbre of his breathing surrounded her. "You can let go now," he said against her ear, as he released her waist. He seemed… reluctant.
"Oh, right, yeah," she stuttered, hands immediately releasing him and grabbing the frayed fabric at her hip instead. "I'll- I'll be right back."
She rushed upstairs, feeling somehow… lost. Where his hands had been felt… cold. And not just because there had been something warm there until a few moments ago. It was closer to an emptiness, like something wasn't there that should be. This morning, she had been irritated that he'd invaded her dreams and made her sleep so unrestful. But now… she wondered what it would be like to wake up next to him. To have breakfast with him, and have a family with him.
She realised she had barely even thought about Sonic all day, despite being at his house, at his birthday party, no less… That didn't mean she liked Shadow though, surely? He was emotionally unavailable, he was… could be… harsh… and… he was also kind enough to help her when she needed him… so maybe he was... husband material? No. Not a chance. No way. She shook the thought from her head.
You're mixing up feelings from dreams with real emotion and fact, Amy. Like those girls who dream their boyfriends cheat on them then get mad at them for it. Stop it.
Hurriedly, she changed out of the ripped dress and held it up to check the damage. She cursed - the chances of it getting fixed were slim. "Damn. Looks like I need to replace it," she muttered, and selected a different garment from her wardrobe.
Once changed, she padded down stairs, expecting Shadow to be gone and to have to make her own way back to the party. Yet, when she got to the bottom of the stairs and walked into her living room, there he was, stood where he had teleported to, waiting patiently for her.
Sonic wouldn't have waited, her traitorous thoughts goaded. He goes too fast, doesn't have patience. Shadow has patience.
"Ready?" He asked, unable to stop himself from glancing at her new outfit. She nodded. He extended his hand, watching her reach for it, pull back, and look him in the eye. "I'm…" he started. "I'm sorry for getting angry at you. By the way." He admitted, cutting his gaze to the ground in shame. "I've been struggling with sleep recently, and while I don't strictly need sleep like you and everyone else, it does help me get rid of some stress. You didn't deserve me shouting at you. I'm sorry." He started retracting his hand, but before he could drop it to his side she grabbed it with both of hers.
"It's okay," she said quickly. "Rouge explained and, weirdly, I think we're having the same dream. It's been affecting my sleep too."
He stared at her for a long moment, and she stared right back. Words were crowding his throat, all wanting to be the ones he used to tell her how he felt about that dream. All wanting to be the ones to gauge how she felt about it.
She opened her mouth to speak, stopped herself, and looked away, collecting her thoughts. She frowned, eyes searching for an answer but coming up short. Her eyes flashed back at him, chartreuse pools not sure of themselves, where ruby ones were.
Shadow leaned forward, twisting his head and planting his lips squarely on hers. With his free hand he cupped her cheek, digits shaking and heart thrumming loud in his ears. It drowned any doubting thoughts he had, burying them deep down as he let himself enjoy something he'd been dreaming of doing for the last eight days. He was waiting for her to pull away. Push him away. But she didn't.
What she did, though, was make a surprised, but still pleased, whimper. She released his hand, letting him wrap his arm around her waist again, where it belongs, she thought to herself, and snaked her arms around his neck. She pulled him closer, eliminating the space between them entirely. This felt right. Kissing Shadow in her living room as if it were theirs and they were the only mobians in the world. It was all she could ever ask for.
They parted, breathing hard and red faced, and rested their foreheads against each other. For a few seconds, it was bliss.
But Shadow cleared his throat and moved her arms, holding both her hands in front of him. "I…" he started, eyes half lidded. "I'm sorry," he said.
She appeared in Sonic's house in the middle of the living room. Shadow was nowhere to be seen. But she could still feel where his hands had been, where their lips had touched, and she couldn't help but run a finger slowly along her bottom lip.
Maybe Shadow was all the things she'd called him today. Maybe he was none of them. Or maybe he was a mixture of them all - but one thing Shadow was, in Amy's mind at least…
Was husband material.