Shadow kept staring at her with open mouth. The blood was throbbing in his ears, and the voice kept pestering him about her delicate neck. It seemed Amy would move closer to him, and Shadow was about to yell at her to not get close when the door opened.

"The breakfast is here!" Sonic happily announced. Both heads shot in his direction. The young boy's eyes slightly widened as he saw sitting Shadow. His small heart started to pound a bit louder, and his throat was suddenly dry. "Father Shadow, you are awake!" he said after a few seconds of silence and quickly closed to door with his leg since in his hands he had a big basket.

He put the basket on the bed next to Amy. The action looked normal, but the boy was nervous, and Shadow could smell it. Sonic was scared of him, and the priest felt shiver ran down his spine.

"Thank you, Sonic, for bringing the food," Amy noted with a still tired smile. She lifted the clothe over the basket.

"I have got everything you asked me for." He took out a checkered blanket.

"Perfect! Let's have an indoor picnic," the girl rejoiced. She took the blanket and started to spread it on the floor.

Sonic picked the plates and cutlery. He wondered how she could have so much money. When Amy gave him her wallet, he was shocked to see how much she had. He never thought he would see so much money at one place. For a moment he felt a bit jealous, but he didn't ask her any questions.

He rushed to the market getting everything ready. He was kind of glad. He was still scared to be close to the priest. The blue boy bit his lip in depression. No matter how much he tried to convince himself Father Shadow was a kind person, the brain kept telling him he should run away. 'He can't be a bad person! He took care of you!' he reminded himself as he put plates on the prepared blanket. However, he didn't dare to look into Shadow's eyes.

Amy's words interrupted his gloomy thoughts, "I'm so excited, I never had a picnic before." She started to hum a simple melody, and for some reason, Sonic felt his spirit was lifted.

Shadow was equally soothed by the simple melody. He had no idea why it was possible, but it worked on him. He noticed it the moment the voice was gone. His brain was still enveloped by a strange haze, and he kept staring in front of himself.

The blanket was gradually filled with apples, hard to get oranges, bread, cucumber, butter, ham, and sliced cheese. There was even a small cake, and everything smelled nice, but nothing around felt real to the sitting Shadow. His eyes were solely focusing on the orange fruit as strong pangs of pain hit his heart.

The pain was unbearable, and he felt like ripping his heart out to get rid of it. Tears were pushing out of his eyes, but none slid down. It was like he was unable to cry. 'Why is this... so painful?' A blurry vision of bizarre scene started to unfold in front of him like a distant memory.

"Here, have a sandwich." Amy offered him a plate. She interrupted Shadows' thoughts, and the image was shattered to million pieces. "Everything looks better with a full stomach." Her smile was bright and wide.

Shadow simply nodded and accepted the plate. He still had no idea what to think and what was real or not. He took a bite of his simple meal, but he didn't feel any taste. He was merely eating out of the habit.

He wasn't aware of his surrounding. All the sounds slowly disappeared, pushed out of his consciousness. The colors melted and started to waver like during hot summer, and the fiery vision returned to swallow him. He opened his mouth, unable to inhale and distant scream reached his ears. It pierced them how sharp it was. He grabbed his head, not realizing that sharp sound came from the plate he let fall on the floor.

Amy and Sonic turned towards him with worry in their eyes. Amy slowly stood up, approaching Shadow's trembling body. She heard him wheezing, and one look into Shadow's now crimson eyes told her he was having a panic attack. The girl reached for him, but the priest snapped out, abruptly standing up.

Shadow made a horse sounds, and his body seemed to be hardly in the control of its movements when sharp toe-claws dug into the wooden floor. It caught him off guard and painfully reminded him he was a freak now. On the last second, he redirected his fall to the bed hitting the wall. He curled up while sitting, putting the knees under the chin and covering his head with hands. The pain he felt was nothing compared to the fear that filled him.

"Father Shadow," called him Sonic unsure what to do. He felt a big lump in his neck. He too well knew he went shopping just to be far from Shadow. He was scared and disgusted by himself at the same time. He prayed in his mind for Father Shadow to be normal before he returns, but the signs of his horrendous transformation were still visible.

"Mr. Shadow, there is no reason to be afraid," Amy spoke with a soothing voice. She stood up, stepping closer to the sitting figure.

"I'm just a monster!" he barked unable to look at her. He shivered when his back started to burn. "No!" The small wings began to grow, and saliva filled his mouth. The two children smelled so delicious. Panic flooded his mind, and he dug his growing claws into his quills. "No! No! Stop! Enough!"

His body refused to listen to his pleas and commenced to slowly undergo transformation to full demon. He bit his lip, tears gushing out of his eyes. "Please, stop!" he whispered. Suddenly he felt something hugged his head. His eyes widen and urge to tear it apart had risen inside of him.

"It's alright," Amy whispered, gently patting his quills. "Can you hear it? My heartbeat."

"Wha-?" Shadow inquired confused, realizing it was her who hugged him. A warm feeling started to spread through his whole body. It was odd as his body was already hot, but this warmth wasn't hurting him.

"Forget anything else, and just listen to it." It wasn't exactly an order, but the priest felt a huge problem should fall on his head if he wouldn't listen. He did his best by tightly closing his eyes and listening.

Her heartbeat was periodical and slow. She wasn't anxious or scared. Compared to her, Shadow's heart was beating like a wild drum. It was unsettled and fast, unable to take a rest. The priest listened more, pushing all other sounds out of his head. Amy's caressing hand helped him to calm down a bit, and with more minutes his breathing resumed its normal style.

'What is this feeling? It's so warm,' he realized in his head. Was it just Amy's body-heat? It felt so nostalgic. He couldn't put his finger on it, but for some reason, he felt at ease. 'Who?' For a brief moment, he saw a snow-white figure flashing in front of his eyes, but it was soon gone. He wondered if it was just light playing tricks on him, but as his heartbeat settled down, he let it be.

"Yes, that's right. Don't push it. Let it go on its own," Amy again softly spoke into his ear. It was like being stroked with a silk blanket, it made him almost sleepy.

Shadow slowly uncurled his body and let his hands slid down, resting them on knees. However, he left his eyes closed. His mind was emptied, and a serene atmosphere filled him. He no longer felt any emotions, it was like floating in endless emptiness. He could only hear Amy's voice guiding him forward.

"The wings are getting smaller. Can you feel it? Smaller... and smaller..." Even Amy felt a strange calmness like never before. The whispering voice from the back of her head was with her, encouraging her to continue. She would to it anyway, there was no way she would watch Mr. Shadow suffer. She couldn't see his eyes, however, she felt his soul was finally free from the inner turmoil.

Neither of them had an idea what Sonic was doing. For the whole time, he kept sitting, feeling like an idiot for doing nothing. He wanted to help too, but his legs refused to move. When he heard about the wings, he finally convinced his body to stand up.

He got in front of the bed to see the wings as they got bigger. They now had the size every eagle would envy him. He watched them, noticing they began to shrink until they recovered the normal size Shadow once showed him. Sonic looked at Amy, but from his position, he couldn't see her face. However, he could tell the aura around her was peaceful.

"That's it. Just thinking how it grows makes it grow. Think the other way, and they shrink back." She petted black quills for a few more strokes before she let go of priest's head and jumped down. She stepped back to give Shadow some personal space too.

The ebony hedgehog had to push his desire to keep Amy touching him back. He instead just slid his hand over the other arm, feeling the faint warmness to linger. He slowly looked behind, afraid to see, but to his shock, they were small like before. "How did you...?" He looked at her with wide eyes and ajar mouth.

"I only used old advice from my mother. The pain goes away faster the less you think about it. I'm glad it worked." She tilted her head, clapping hands in front of her stomach. She was glad it worked, but she still couldn't figure out whose voice it was. Since the situation was already enough stressful, she decided to pursue her problem later. There seemed to be no harm from it, so it could easily wait a few days.

Shadow's ears twitched as he got a sudden idea. He looked at his hands. "So maybe..." He closed his eyes and concentrated, imagining his claws and fangs shrinking, and his fur turning black. He stayed like that for ten minutes or so, before he had the courage to open them. "It's... gone! It really is!" A bit twisted smile appeared on his face, and a huge burden fell from his heart.

"Your eyes are back to normal too," Amy ensured him.

Shadow let out a loud sigh. While this was good news, this was far from over. This could happen again in anytime. He was becoming more dangerous then he thought, then he could imagine. "I have to go," he mumbled, standing up. "I can't stay with you... Ugh!" he bit his lip as he suddenly went weak in his knees, plunging back on the bed.

"What do you mean by that?" Amy interrogated him with a big frown and crossed arms.

Sonic looked at her, astonished once more by her strong personality. There was no hint of fear in her voice. How was that possible?

"Mean?" Shadow repeated as he finally stood up. His body was shivering, and his muscles were sore. "I could hurt you... attack you," he tried to argue with her, but his voice soon turned quite as he continued, "I'm turning into a monster!" Echo of the latest memories hit him.

"But you haven't hurt us," she objected.

"That's a relief," he agreed. "But I still have to go. Now!" Shadow made a step toward the door almost stepping on the plate he dropped before.

"No way!" Amy barked without raising her voice and spread her arms. Her eyebrows were so knitted it made her face look dark. Shadow unwillingly winced as she continued, "Not in this condition! Just look at you!"

That simple sentence shot him right into the brain, and he quickly checked his attire. The last time he checked he was properly clothed. However, that was before meeting the small demon and turning into a monster. Now his trousers were torn, his boots were full of holes, and his robe kissed him goodbye who knows where.

"First," she put her hands on her hips, "you have to do something with your visage. Walking street like this won't help you." Her voice was firm, showing she wouldn't budge on this matter.

Shadow admitted Amy was right, but he shook his head. "You don't understand!" he barked, desperate to get away from everything.

"Ha!" she snapped at him, and for some reason, Shadow had a strong urge to sit down and wag his tail. The way she was looking at him was making him feel bad for his behavior. "Panicking won't help!" she continued with a firm voice, " First, calm down, then think about a solution."

Sonic gasped. Was there any limit for her? Amy was barking at Father Shadow like nothing. She was standing in his way, not wavering. He was almost afraid to talk, he felt uneasy in Shadow's presence, remembering how scary he was. The boy's fear was stopping him from getting closer.

Whenever he tried, the flashes of memories from the factory appeared in front of him. Those claws were still too big, too close, too real. Yet Amy seemed fine, despite she almost panicked the last night. He recalled how she shivered when she cleaned Shadow's body.

'No, she is scared like me. She just knows how to hide it.' He again pondered how was Amy raised as this was the most un-girly behavior he had seen.

"Mr. Shadow, please, hear me out," she talked in a calm manner. "it's true, you have a big problem, but you also have smaller ones." A small smile formed on her face. "Those being clothes and an empty stomach."

The ebony priest covered his belly when agreement sounded from it. He flopped his ears a bit in embarrassment.

"Let's focus on them first then you will have enough time and brain capacity for the bigger one. Not to mention," she connected her hands behind her, tilting her body to the other side, "you and Sonic saved me twice. I would never forgive myself if I wouldn't repay you for that. Getting you new clothes is the smallest thing I can do for you."

Shadow averted his eyes. Amy was right in all cases. He needed to look like a normal citizen, and rumbling stomach wouldn't help him a bit.

"Doing something ordinary will help you to clear your head too."

The ebony hedgehog felt ashamed. He was used to encouraging others, it was never the other way. He tiredly sat on the chair. "Amy... thank you," he silently mumbled. Despite his problem was hardly solved, he felt better.

"No problem, that's what friends are for." She picked the fallen plate, wiped it with a tissue, and placed a new sandwich at it. The priest got up, resuming his place and this time he could enjoy his meal.

For the next half of the hour, they ate, and Amy made sure to engage both in conversation. Sonic tried to sound normal, but he was sure he was far from it. For him this time was unbearable, but he endured it.

Shadow wasn't any better as he knew the boy was scared of him. He did his best to sound cheerful, however, it was obvious his happy smile was fake.

Once the meal was over, he let Amy bandage him, covering the wings. To his surprise, he didn't find any wounds, and his body felt less sore. Sonic meanwhile packed their belongings into the suitcase. There wasn't much of it, so it took him only a short while.

They no longer could stay here, and as Shadow glanced out of the window, he felt he no longer could hide from himself.