*Shadow's POV *
A few more days passed and Sonic started to feel better but was not sure he felt ready to announce he was alive to everyone. He felt nervous and scared and didn't know what he was going to say or how to even tell everyone. He felt like if he told his family, they would tell everyone else before he could but if he told his friends, he felt he was betraying his family by not telling them first.

"Sonic, relax, it's not like they're going to kill you for you coming out alive." Tails laughed as he watched his best friend pace around the living room. I was currently sitting at the table drinking coffee.

"You don't know that! What if they do? Amy probably will, she'll immediately summon her hammer and try to hit me with it." Sonic raised his arms expressing how scared he was.

"Well... she did look pretty mad every time someone would even say your name." Tails rubbed the back of his neck.

"Exactly! She's going to kill me." Sonic continued pacing around, messing with his gloves.

"She's not going to kill you." I said from the table making Sonic look at me then rub his face and groan.

"And how am I supposed to explain that Shadow now likes me and is protecting me?"

"Still haven't gotten an answer back, by the way." I hummed as I took a sip from my coffee and making Sonic stop in his tracks then pinned his ears down.

"Shut up." Sonic said making Tails laugh softly, I knew Sonic liked me back because Tails had told me but I kept it a secret that I knew and Tails did too.

"Sonic, the only thing they will care about is that you're alive. I could call everyone to the park, the newscast as well, say that Shadow and I have found something related to your disappearance and that way everyone will know." Tails suggested and I nodded.

"That sounds good. If you're ready we could do it today. The longer you wait, the more you'll overthink it." I put my mug down and walked to the living room.

Sonic stayed quiet then slowly nodded. He then proceeded to walk to me and wrap his arms around me then hide his face on my chest. "Fine..." He mumbled. I looked at Tails who only shrugged at me with a small and quiet laugh as he mouthed something at me.

'Ask him out again.' He said making me roll my eyes and petted Sonics head.

I had asked him out two days before but Sonic stayed quiet and decided to change the subject looking nervous and shy. I wasn't hurt by his reaction since Tails confirmed me that Sonic still liked me but that he was probably very worried about everything else going on.

"Are you going to give me an answer." I leaned down and whispered in his ear making him tense up and I could see as his ears turned red. He pushed me away then walked to the spare room. I had been sleeping in the couch while Sonic stayed here too.

"Just give him time." Tails chuckled. "He likes you, but he's really confused right now." I nodded.

"I know." I sat down. "I'll send a message to the group and his family, you call the reporters to the park."

That afternoon, Tails and I were standing in front of a pretty big crowd at the park as Sonic hid behind some trees by us.

"Tell us, what did you find?" The reporter asked, Queen Aleena, and Sonics siblings and uncle were there as were everyone from the group. Including Rouge who kept her arms crossed and looking at me hurt. I tried not to let that affect me.

"What did you find?" Queen Aleena asked, Tails and I looked at each other then took steps to our sides to reveal Sonic walking now from behind the trees to stand between Tails and I.

"We found Sonic." Tails said with a smile as I kept my arms crossed and watched everyone else.

Aleena looked at her son in disbelief, tears threatening to come out as she took a step closer and touched Sonics face then hugged him tightly as Sonic hugged back.

Rouge froze and took a step back, shocked to see Sonic was actually there, standing before her. Sonics siblings and uncle joined on the hug.

Rose's reaction was similar to Rouge as the Echidna chuckled and nodded, happy to see his friend was back. The reporters and some citizens who had gathered around had gasped and were now cheering to have their hero back. The reporter had moved closer and decided to ask Tails and I a million questions.

"Please leave them alone." Sonic spoke up as he noticed that more people were gathering around. "Thanks to Shadow and Tails, I am able to be standing here today. They saved my life, I don't want to give any details as of now but I want to thank them for not giving up on me and having hope that I was still out there." Sonic spoke up. I saw Rose growl and raise her hammer but I stopped her. "I know my friends and family have a lot of questions and are angry at my decisions..." He sighed. "I just hope that they can forgive me for I will make sure not to be so stupid again, I want it to come to light that Eggman is gone and no one has to be scared of him anymore. As for the others who are terrorizing the cities, just know I am back, and I will come after you if need be." He smiled.

The reporter asked a couple more questions before they finally left and it was just our group and his family. I was going to get closer to Sonic to make sure he was okay when I was suddenly hugged by the queen.

"Thank you for finding my son." She thanked me then hugged Tails as well.

"Will you tell us what happened?" The pink brat asked, she had managed to calm down and I had made it clear I wasn't going to let her hurt him.

"I don't want to talk about that at the moment. All I can say is that I was locked away this entire time. I was kept unconscious until just a few days ago. I didn't even know it had been 3 years since that night." Sonic explained, Tails and I standing behind him, both of us making sure he knew we were there for him.

"And you expect us to believe YOU helped find Sonic for absolutely nothing in return?" The brat said pointing at me making me raise a brow. Before I could answer her, Rouge answered for me.

"Shadow doesn't need nor want anything in return. Don't try to put him down, he's better than you, better than all of us. While we gave up on finding Sonic, both him and Tails still continued. Leave him alone." Rouge rolled her eyes at Amy, they usually never fought but the group hadn't been together for a while now. I'm not surprised they were fighting now, they were basically strangers. "I'm sorry I didn't stick with you, Hun." She sincerely apologized to me but all I could do was nod.

"It took me a few days to get better, they both took care of me and helped me with what I needed until I was able to get up again."

"What happened to Eggman?" Knuckles asked.

"Him and Metal are dead. That night I tried to stop him from doing something dumb and the explosion killed them both. I don't think there's anything else we should worry about, I am going to retire."

"Where have you been staying?" Rouge pulled me aside and asked me.

"With Tails." I answered shortly.

"Tails? Not 'the fox'?" Rouge gave me a soft smile.

"Tails." I said again.

"I'm happy to see you again, Shadow.  I'm really sorry about what I said, I went back to apologize that same day but you were gone." She explained and I shook my head not wanting to think about it.

"Shadz?" I turned when Sonic called me. "Are you coming back with us?" I nodded and looked at Rouge again but remained quiet and followed Sonic back to Tails house.

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A/N:
Erm, idk why people keep asking if I am okay but I assure you I am! Happy to hear yall worry about me tho :) I am just working on 3 different stories at the same time, and taking some days in between to rest <3
I hope you all still enjoy these stories like back then, I sure have fun writing and end up losing track of time lol

Ps. Yes, 3 stories. I'm working on another one that hasn't been published yet.