*Shadow's POV*
We spent the day in the kitchen, and she wanted to bake some cookies for me. When she was done, she left me some already made batter in the freezer, lots of it actually. Too much.

"Now you can just make small balls and put them in the oven when you miss me." She said as we both sat down on the couch. I pulled her closer and hugged her. She hugged back as she cried.

"I'm so sorry." I managed to get out. The more time passed, the more she was starting to dissappear. Her leg was half gone, and her arm wasn't there anymore. She was feeling weak, but she kept smiling. "Sonic should be here with you." I whispered.

"He wanted you to have this alone time with me." She spoke softly. "Sonic wanted you to be able to say goodbye to me without holding back. He told me not to say anything to you, but he can't get mad at me anymore." She giggled. "Sonic liked you way before you even know about. He said he'd give this moment for you to be able to feel comfortable and grieve like you should." I looked at her shocked. "He'd do anything for you, don't you know that?"

"Maria, I don't -" She shook her head at me.

"I know you like him. Stop holding back already, Shadow. Live your life with the one you love, you'll meet me again someday if you just accept you want to be happy and you deserve to be happy. I knew from the start that even if you two did get together, I would still disappear because it's not my timeline anymore. Time travel is so confusing." She laughed softly. "I just wanted to spend my last moments with my parents. I am going to leave, but you're going to be okay, I promise. Sonic is going to make sure you are okay. And if you do decide to ask him out someday, don't give up on him if he says no. Keep asking. He's just as scared to love someone just like you are." She held my hand. "But I promise he will make you happy. I heard some stories about Maria, the one you two named me after. I know she would have said the same thing. You deserve happiness."

I held her hand tighter as I listened to her continue. "Sonic would always sacrifice everything for you. Give yourself a chance someday. Please."

I started crying once I saw her body start to disappear as well. "I can't lose you."

"You can. Shadow, you will be okay. I promise." She kept smiling. "Thank you so much for everything. For being there when I needed you even though I was a spoiled brat to you and caused so much mess in your kitchen." She laughed. "You're the best dad I could have asked for. I have the most amazing family." She smiled brightly at me. "You will be okay. Everything is going to be okay. Stay by Sonics side, will you? Even if you still don't think you like him. Stay with him as his friend."

"I will." I promised her. Her hand was gone, I was holding air now. "I will. I promise." I said and cleaned my tears.

"He will be here soon." She used her other hand to clean some tears off my face. "Be there for him like he will be there for you." I held her, I held what I could as her shoulders and her face started to do the same thing. "I love you. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Maria. I hope I see you soon." She smiled even brighter at me when I said that.

Suddenly, she was gone. I was left hugging the air as I cried.

"Goodbye."

*Sonic's POV*
I got a message that morning from Maria. A goodbye text saying she knew this would end up being her last hours. I didn't reply, I needed her to spend the time with Shadow and only focus on him. I kept rereading her last words, 'I love you'.

At four in the afternoon, I suddenly felt as if something was taken from me, something that was part of me. I knew what that meant and didn't hesitate. I dashed off to Shadow's house and opened the door without even knocking. Shadow was on the couch. He looked up at me, and I noticed he was crying. He looked back down at his hands, and I knew then that she had just left.

I dashed to him and hugged him tightly, Shadow didn't tense, he didn't push me away, he simply hugged back as he tried to calm himself down but hearing him cry made me cry as well. Shadow always put up a tough act around everyone, but in reality, he was just as weak as the rest of us. I knew this, I knew this very well, which was why I wanted him to be the one to be with Maria when she left. He was able to say goodbye without holding back.

We stayed in each other's arms for a good while, we had stopped crying but we both remained quiet. It felt wrong to move or say anything at the moment. But we remained close to each other, only we knew how the other felt, and that was comforting.

"She left something for you." Shadow whispered after a while. I was a bit surprised at that. "She left like a years supply of cookie batter."

"Is that why your kitchen is a mess?" I smiled at remembering how messy she was.

"Yes. It's staying that way for a while." Shadow muttered, making me chuckle.

"Shadow the Hedgehog, who would've thought." I gasped playfully while holding a hand to my chest. "You're messy, you love sweets, you eat coffee beans instead of brewing them, and you even have an off switch." He laughed at that, and I smiled.

I promise, Maria. I will make sure he lives a happy life.