[Feels warning cause we're gonna get really emotional here.]

"Woah, Shads! Calm down!"

"Not until you tell me who you are!"

"I'm Sonic! Y'know your beloved hero and savior?"

"Don't flatter yourself, hedgehog. Who are you really?"

"Come on, Shads! Do you really not believe me!?"

"How should I believe you if you've been telling lies all along!?"

Sonic couldn't find anyway out of this. How could he hide this any longer with the barrel of a gun pointed at his head and the scared, angry eyes of his rival staring at him. He sighed as he looked away.

"Please, Shadow.... Put the gun down...."

"Why should I?"

"Because I wouldn't keep anything from you unless it was really important."

Shadow didn't move an inch. Sonic was silently panicking as he stared deep into the eyes of the other. Shadow was scared, and of course he decided to take that and turn it to anger. It was in Shadow's nature after all. Honestly, the hedgehog was having a hard time not going up and hugging the other, as weird as it sounded. Even though Shadow wasn't of his own creation, he still cared for him. Seeing him in this state of fear and anger....

"Alright.... I'll tell you...."

Shadow didn't lower his gun, but tilted his head curiously. Sonic's emerald eyes burned with apprehension.

"My name is Mahkah."

"What?" Shadow blinked.

"That's who I really am, okay...."

Shadow's gun lowered as he stared at the other with bewilderment. Sonic was that god from his dream.

"Y-You are...."

Sonic looked away nervously. "I'm Mahkah.... I'm sorry that you had to find out like this, Shadow...."

"That's why you've been so excited about this Farah thing...." Things started to click in his mind.

"Yeah...."

"So you must know why Heolstor is going after me!"

"I'm sorry, Shadow, but I have no idea why he's after you...."

Silence filled the forest, not one thing making a noise as the two hedgehog's thought over things. Everything started to make sense to Shadow, and he honestly didn't know what to do. Sonic is Mahkah....

"Shadow...." Sonic's voice alerted him to the approaching hedgehog. He quickly put his gun back up.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

Another silence came over them. Sonic felt his heart pacing, his mind going blank. "I'm still the same person you've known ever since Dr. Eggman woke you up, Shadow. I haven't changed."

Shadow was shaking from frustration and something equivalent to fear. He didn't know what to do, staring at his old rival. Sonic took a small step forward, and Shadow was shaking more. "Stay back!"

"Shadow.... please just put the gun down." Sonic frowned, wanting to help the poor hedgehog. "Shadow, I'm not gonna hurt you."

Shadow was shaking so bad that the gun just fell out of his hands. He then fell to his knees, tears gathering in his eyes for some reason that even Shadow didn't know why. Sonic, acting quickly, ran the few feet between them and wrapped his arms around the shaking hedgehog. "Shadow.... Hey, it's okay. Come on, don't cry. What's wrong?"

"I.... I don't know...." The other mumbled. "Something... snapped and I just...." He couldn't finish his sentence. Why was he crying? It was just a strange sudden amount of emotions when the realization of Sonic being Mahkah hit him. He felt almost as if he was reuniting with a loved one, even though he knew that it was still Sonic. He felt as if he was suddenly someone else.

Sonic just held him and allowed him to cry. He was still confused as to why his black furred rival started crying, but he was always there to comfort the ones he cared for (which would basically be anyone). He calmly rubbed the others back, trying to get him to calm down. Finally he did, and he was nuzzling into Sonic tiredly, causing the hidden god to smile and pick him up.

"We should probably head back. It's getting dark, and we wouldn't want to face Heolstor in his element." The blue one said, walking out of the forest.

He only got a drowsy reply. "Thank you for still being with me, Mahkah...."

But when Sonic went to question him, he was already asleep and snuggling into the other.

_______________________________________

The next morning, Shadow found himself in an awkward situation.

The last thing he could remember was sobbing into his rival's arms, and now he was suddenly cuddled against the other on a maroon couch. He tried his best to remember everything, but it was no use. He stiffened as the other hedgehog groaned. He looked to the other's face seeing blue lids open to reveal dazzling green eyes.

"Oh, morning Shads...." The hedgehog awkwardly looked away.

"What happened?" Shadow quickly asked.

"Oh! You fell asleep on our way to my house. You wouldn't let go, so I just decided to let Knuckles have my bed and I slept here with you."

"I don't remember coming here.... I don't even remember leaving the forest...."

"Yeah, you were gripping onto me, so I had to pick you up. By the way, what did you mean about that thing you said before you fell asleep?"

"What thing?"

"Y'know that thing you said. 'Thank you for being with me, Mahkah?'"

"I don't remember saying that...."

Sonic was silent before untangling himself from the other hedgehog and standing up. "Okay I guess...."

Shadow sat up, feeling the loss of the others warmth and not necessarily liking it. Sonic looked to him and smiled kindly. "Would you like something to eat?"

Shadow absentmindedly nodded and watched as Sonic gestured for him to follow. He did so, and the blue blur lead him to the kitchen, where he pulled out a chair for Shadow to sit in.

"So, what do ya want?"

Shadow sat down and looked to the hedgehog. "It doesn't matter...."

"Alright then, chili dogs it is."

"For breakfast?"

"Of course." Sonic chuckled. "It is past noon after all."

Shadow had a small smile before watching the blue hedgehog move around, gathering his ingredients and working on his masterpiece. As he was working,he struck up a conversation. "So you're not weirded out by the whole 'I'm a lost god' thing?"

"I've heard weirder." Was the reply.

"So, um.... Could you not tell anyone else about this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've been keeping my real identity a secret for thousands of years, Shadow.... I want it to stay that way.... At least until I can find Farah...."

Shadow was silent for a bit before he nodded. "Okay."

"Thanks." Sonic smiled as he put a plate down in front of Shadow, the other one still in the blue one's hands. Shadow simply looked at the messy thing before picking it up and attempting to eat it without a mess.

That failed to say the least. He could feel the chili and grease on his mouth. Sonic only chuckled as Shadow exasperatedly sighed, "How do you eat these things without hardly making a mess!?"

"Observe." Said the deity simply, taking his own chili dog and promptly swallowing it whole.

Shadow only blinked. Noticing it, Sonic laughed and handed him a handkerchief. Shadow took to wiping his face off before denying anymore of the messy food.

Soon enough, the two were sitting on the couch, Sonic watching TV and Shadow reading up on an old echidna religion book.

"Did you really make mobians by accident?"

"Best accident I've ever made." Sonic chuckled.

Shadow put the book down, silently forming a question in his head. "Don't you miss them?"

"Miss who?"

"Your family...."

Sonic turned off the TV and looked to Shadow seriously. "Well, yeah. Of course I do."

"Why have you never gone back to them?"

Sonic sighed. "I don't have the guts to go back to them.... Farah died because of me, and I just don't want that same mistake to happen to them...."

"I understand...."

The two sat in silence for a little while.

"Hey, Shadow?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for bearing with me on these problems. I'm sure it's not easy to know that the being of darkness is after you."

Having a new found feeling in his stomach, Shadow smiled to his lap. "I'll stay with you until you can find Farah again...."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Lava]

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!! Ugh, it makes me so happy to read your comments and reactions to what I write!

Anyways, if you're wondering why Chapter 8 was uploaded a little bit ago and then reuploaded now, it's because my brother accidentally made me hit the publish button on my phone before I finished it. But here it is now, so enjoy!!