Shadow suited up for the voyage ahead of him and thanked Maria for the useful information regarding the chaos emeralds. It helped that she remembered a document listing where The Dark Arms hid all the emeralds, so he was very grateful to her. He gave Maria a tight hug for emotional support.

"I'll be back very soon," he assured. Shadow knew for a fact he would come back. He couldn't afford to fail such a crucial mission. Not with Maria on the line...

He reluctantly let go of her and stepped back. While Maria did release him from the hug, her fingers were still firmly intertwined with his. Shadow knew she would suffer while he was gone, and it pained him to think of her crying alone. They stayed together with their hands interlocked for ten minutes straight... before Maria eventually let go.

"Good luck, Shadow...," she told him softly. Maria gave him a warm smile of encouragement. Shadow knew she wasn't just encouraging him... She was also telling him that no matter what happened, she would accept it. He would not be at fault. Maria would love him forever from the world beyond, even if he chose to abandon her and never come back.

Kind of like (Y/N).

Shadow blinked. It was a peculiar thought. He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about what happened to her and that he didn't feel more for her. It wasn't something he could control. And besides, how could he ever abandon her if he was never with her to begin with? Shadow shook the bizarre thought from his head and refocused on his upcoming journey.

"Two days tops," Shadow promised. He internally vowed not to break his word. Maria's assured expression relaxed him a bit.

"Two days," Maria agreed. "I'll hold you to that, Shadow." She chuckled lightly. Something he hadn't heard her do since before the incident on the Ark. That too was assuring. It told him she was slowly recovering from the trauma. Slowly but surely.

Shadow hesitated for a moment. He looked toward Maria one last time. She looked so small... But so alive. So grateful to him. To (Y/N). To everyone who helped make her dreams come true. Despite it all, she continued to have hope. Her hope gave him the strength he needed. Shadow headed for the door. "I promise you. I will come back, Maria." Shadow paused for a moment before continuing his thought. "...I love you too much to leave you here."

Maria smiled. She knew he meant love like a protective sibling type of love. "Love you too, Shadow. Stay safe."

(Y/N)'s POV

You were torn over who to stay with during Shadow's quest. On the one hand, Maria needed your support. On the other hand..., you were curious about Shadow. Would he be able to find the emeralds? Were your instructions too vague? Not knowing would torment you too much, so you decided to follow him. Maria would understand your decision.

As a ghost, travel became significantly easier. You could practically teleport because there wasn't any matter to stop you. Shadow would zip around the globe, and you would follow easily. Thankfully, with your obscure directions and his chaos emerald homing sense, he had no issues finding them. Shadow stole the green chaos emerald from the city (again), found the one in the mountains, G.U.N.'s base, etc. You were beginning to think that maybe following him was a foolish idea. Just as you were about to turn around to go back to Maria, you noticed something interesting was happening. Something... different.

During Shadow's voyage, he stopped at one point to take a short power nap to regain his strength for teleports. While the chaos emeralds recharged most of his energy, he still had to sleep from time to time so his body can repair itself and he can relieve fatigue. You found it interesting that Shadow had no qualms with resting his head on the cold, hard ground. Maybe he couldn't bring himself to care considering the dire situation he found himself in. It wasn't the fact that he was sleeping on the ground like a wild animal that piqued your interest. Instead, it was what Shadow was mumbling while he slept.

He wasn't subconsciously worrying about Maria, for once. Shadow was mumbling to you.

...Huh?

He seemed to be remembering something either extremely emotional or extremely violent because he began thrashing about. Shadow clawed at the grass and was growling fiercely at whatever this memory was. Perhaps, he was fighting something? You grew more worried when he started screaming from his state of pseudo-sleep. It was very unlike him to be so angry at anything... What could he possibly be dreaming about that would shake him up this badly?? And what did it have to do with you?

"Death...!" Shadow suddenly snarled in a dark voice you had only heard him use twice before. "...to ALL who oppose me..., DOOM EYE!"

Finally, he was so riled up that he snapped back to reality. The darkness in his voice calmed down again, and he was frantically trying to regain his senses. You worriedly hovered over him and tried to see if he had a fever that might have caused a nightmare. No, physically, he was definitely fine.

Shadow blinked several times and tried to shake the dream from his head, but it likely didn't budge. He was still frazzled, and he gave the chaos emerald he was holding a stern glare. "The hell was that?!" he demanded to the jewel. It didn't respond. "What kind of nonsense are you making me dream up?! And why over–!"

His sentence dropped dead and his eyes became distant. You suddenly realized he was more in tune with the chaos emeralds than you thought. The emeralds could... talk to him? Show him things? There was only one thing that could have possibly triggered such a violent response from Shadow. The chaos emerald... must have been showing him the previous timeline.

It made some semblance of sense... sort of. The chaos emeralds are timeless, and they are time capsules that store memories with extreme emotions linked to them. Maybe... Shadow could tap into those moments trapped in time? Hidden deep in the chaos emeralds' core lies a dormant timeline where he once cared about you. For whatever reason, the emeralds seemed to be trying to bring it back some life.

Shadow shook himself from his daze. He no longer had an accusing expression on his face. Suddenly, it all became clear to him. It became clear to you too, actually. If chaos emeralds are connected to turning strong thoughts and feelings into power, then perhaps they were doing their best to fulfill another wish. One from the previous timeline. It was Shadow's wish to set things right. The Shadow from the alternate timeline had wished so hard to not forget you and to continue caring about you that the emeralds are still in the process of fulfilling that wish. In order to care for you, Shadow had to remember what happened that brought you together in the first place.

Maybe it wasn't only Shadow's wish that was causing this. It could be that Barrett, Gilbert, and Maria from the last timeline also desperately wished for you and Shadow to remember each other. As obnoxious and strange as Barrett was, nothing made him happier than seeing his little sister happy. The same went for Gilbert. And Maria... Maria, the ever-selfless angel in disguise, never once would have thought of herself. She would wish stronger than anyone that all of the hard work you and Shadow put in would keep the two of you together.

It was childish and selfish of you, but you felt a flutter of hope in your chest. Was it possible that Shadow... remembered you? Could he possibly have remembered everything that happened between you two?

No..., that would require much more than a twenty-minute power nap. It would take something closer to a coma. You stifled your hope and prayed he'd keep his focus on the mission. This wasn't about you anymore. In fact, it never was. Maria is the only one Shadow should be thinking about now.

Shadow's 3rd Person POV

Shadow's head was reeling with information he knew he wasn't supposed to have. It's unlike him to dream at all. And now he's receiving visions of (Y/N)? And torture?? Shadow huffed with annoyance. Why couldn't the chaos emeralds keep his goal simple? He knew they were trying to steer him toward saving (Y/N) for whatever reason. Who cares what the world used to be? Who cares what he and (Y/N) might have shared once? It means nothing to him now. That was some other Shadow, and he no longer exists.

"Why did I even care about her at all? What did she do for me?" Shadow asked himself. It was a reasonable enough question to be asking.

Taking up his challenge, the chaos emeralds responded with an answer. "She gave you someone to save. She gave you hope. She gave you a purpose."

Shadow shrugged off the answer without a second thought. "I don't need a new purpose. I already have one."

Of course, the emeralds didn't listen to a word he said. "You have no future without (Y/N)."

"That's stupid. I'll have Maria. What more would I need?" Shadow asked them. It was a rhetorical question, and one he wasn't expecting them to answer. They did.

"What will happen when Maria becomes an adult? When she finds a man? Gets a job? Has a family? Where will YOU be when a new man takes your place in her life?" they asked him. Again, those were very reasonable questions to be asking.

Shadow stopped. He had never thought about that before. Actually, he had never thought that far into the future before. What would he do? Where would he be? Before he could begin to question himself, he shook his head. He wasn't about to be thrown into a crisis by mere jewelry.

"My life is not about me. It's about Maria. That's the way it's always been and always will be. If we ever reach a point where she doesn't need me, then I'll wait for when she does. Everything I do is for her," he stated firmly. Though, he couldn't help bristling at the thought of Maria allowing some ordinary human to win her affections and replace him.

The emeralds were not pleased with his response. "Maria would never be happy with that. She'd halt everything going on in her own life to help you sort out your life. Whether you wanted her to or not."

'Shoot, they're right,' Shadow thought to himself. He was getting fed up with their sensible logic. "Then I'll think of something to do. I'm not saving (Y/N). End of story."

"...Shadow, Maria won't live forever, even if you wish us to heal her."

"Neither would (Y/N)!" he retorted bitterly. "Why are you taking the side of someone already dead? (Y/N) made her choice! It would be cruel to undo her sacrifice. She loved Maria enough to do that for her, so let it be."

"You're remembering her. Your feelings are slowly returning. By the time you find the last chaos emerald, you will have remembered everything. Just like you begged us to."

"I never begged for—!"

Suddenly, he became engulfed by a flash of bright light that sucked him into another world. It was another vision similar to the ones he was forced to see and experience before. Shadow saw himself kneeling on the ground with a chaos emerald in his hands. It was just before (Y/N) used them to go back in time and change reality. He was murmuring to the emeralds with such conviction that the present Shadow was almost moved by it. Almost. The kneeling Shadow whispered into the jewel, but Shadow could still hear what the other version of himself was saying.

"Please..., please don't let me forget her. (Y/N) only wanted someone to care about her, and this could take that away. If anything goes wrong, please, let her know that I still care about her... I still love her. She deserves the best..."

The vision ended. Even though it was brief, Shadow got the point. This wish was going to be fulfilled whether he wanted it to or not. Rather than arguing with the emeralds anymore, he continued on his mission. Shadow just had to hope that he could finish his journey before he lost his senses with pointless feelings for Maria's dead twin. Moving forward was all he could do now.

~A day and a half later~

Shadow finally had all of the chaos emeralds in his possession. He had some encounters with GUN, but they were no match for his speed and power. The emeralds continued to show him memories. He saw (Y/N) dripping with sweat in a small, cramped apartment building. She could hardly breathe, and he felt so... guilty. Thankfully, the guilt was only temporary. She eventually recovered, and he thought it smart to drag her along with him on some adventure. How stupid could he be? He was just asking for failure!

The visions kept coming. He saw (Y/N) trip, fall, and tumble down the hill. She wasn't injured, but he couldn't help but smirk at her expense. She's such a clutz..., and there was something kind of cute about it.

He saw her asking him not to leave her behind. She wanted him to protect her, to be her friend, to promise her his loyalty. The pain shot through him again... She's so much like Maria. How did he not see it before? And yet..., there's something different about her that he never saw in Maria. He just couldn't put his finger on it. This new perspective gave him a sense of security around her... Accepting his new mission and trying to uphold his promise to her, he grabbed her hand.

These visions were starting to get to him.

Sometime around the sixth chaos emerald, he saw (Y/N) running on the beach with him. They were... playing. He could tell he was smiling. She was splashing him, and he splashed her back. When was the last time he felt like that? The last time he was able to play without having to worry about some deadly illness in his playmate? ...But then that sense of security disappeared. She face-planted on the ground.

Each vision progressively got more and more vivid and emotional. None of them came in the correct order, and he would have to string them together. He saw them fighting in bloodcurdling shouts on the beach. There were two men that really got on his nerves, the blonde one especially. He saw himself snuggling (Y/N) affectionately. Then there were those damned aliens. Of course... Why must his megalomaniac father insist on being involved in everything? Volcanoes, lizards, mind control, mangoes, roleplay... And then–

...Uh.

Shadow's face flared bright red, and he covered his face. Oh god, no... Did that really happen? That moment of intimacy at the bottom of the ocean?! WHY?? What was he thinking?! What was she thinking, letting him leave such scandalous marks all over her body? Was she even thinking? Was he thinking?! It was his fault. Toying with her clothes, rasping his tongue against her skin, driving teeth marks into her soft flesh, growling and heaving like some savage animal. And that was only the beginning...

Needless to say, Shadow was VERY glad he wasn't in public when the chaos emeralds cheekily forced THAT vision onto him. It took him a hot minute to regain his composure.

Now, he finally had the last of the emeralds. Thankfully, he didn't have any encounters with his controlling father or any of his minions. Perhaps they were waiting to get complete control over his mind before making an appearance. Shadow knew they would never get control of him again. He wasn't about to lose his sanity for any reason. Now that he had a plan and all of the chaos emeralds, he just had to bring them back to Maria to make his wish. How could he lose his head over something simple like that?

But..., what about (Y/N)?

Shadow felt his chest flutter simply at the thought of her name. Damn. The emeralds were right. He could recall every bit of the last timeline and recite it both backward and forward. Shadow remembered every feeling and every thought he had. It was so... unfair. Why did he have to remember?? Why did they have to ruin his perfect mission?! He knew EXACTLY what he was going to do, but now they had to go and screw up everything. Curse them all. Curse them for destroying everything he tried so hard for. His peace of mind, his confidence, his security, his dreams... And for WHAT? A girl??

"No... She wasn't just a girl. And I should stop trying to convince myself that she didn't mean anything to me...," Shadow sighed. He was doomed. He fell for her all over again a long time ago... All the anger he felt was directed towards himself, not you. He felt guilt, sorrow, despair, and hopelessness. There was only one way this story could end: he had to choose between them for real.

The chaos emeralds leveled out the playing field. (Y/N) had as good of a reason to be chosen to live as Maria. They both deserve the whole world, and neither of them would be upset about not being chosen.

Shadow knew he was the only loser here. No matter what he chose, he would still feel responsible. He'd still feel like he lost a crucial part of himself.

...

There wasn't any time left for him to decide. He had to return to Maria. She was expecting him, and he was already late. Maybe the jog back to the hospital will clear up his head.