Shadow the Hedgehog

"very well," replied Hope.

"I'm sure there's lots of places to avoid, but we'll find the right spot eventually." "Mind if I have a look Dylan?" asked Hope

"Just so long as it's not in the Zone of No Return," thought Hope

"That'd be great. Though where should we put the castle?" "Ok no worries," said Hope

"We'd need land first. Lot's of land in fact. But it is something to strive for." thought Hope as she saw Anna's giggling. "Did I miss something?" she asked

"Hehe good point. I could do with one of those." thought Hope. As Rouge took a bite out of her slice, Shadow leaned into her ear. "You know-" before he could finish his comment Rouge put a piece of her cake in his mouth and shut his jaw with her hand, then leaned next to his ear. "Let's save those comments for later," she whispered with a mischievous smile. Shadow nodded and swallowed the cake, making sure she didn't just break any of his teeth.

"It's fine. Nothing worng with reminiscing about the past, plenty of people do it. This castle of yours sounds more interesting by the minute."

"That's a good idea Melody. Try before I buy."

"Good point. Maybe one day then. It's not exactly an urgent decision."

"You think so? It's never really crossed my mind, I'm pretty happy the way I am." thought Hope.

"I'd like to think it's my personality that's sealed the deal, but I suppose if I were walking around with a red-headed bob he never would've taken an interest in me to begin with," thought Hope, inwardly chuckling. "I could go for ice cream and cake," she said out loud.

"She did. And I do look like them, for which I'm grateful."

"No. Shadow stormed out when he realised I wasn't Maria, I just look like her.

Hope was trying not to laugh. "No not like that!" she thought. "Sure I'll have some," said Rouge, her eyes looking to Shadow in preparation for a snarky comment that never came.

"There's not much to tell. Locke abducted Shadow and inadvertantly myself. Apparently he wanted to use him to find his family somehow. I stopped Shadow from killing him after he broke free, but the way he talked to Shadow... I don't know what he was planning but it seemed clear he didn't care what happened to him, as if he was nothing but a tool that Locke felt he had the right to use no matter the damage caused. I'm just glad I stopped anything from happening to either of them," thought Hope.

Granted, it's the Tails Doll from all those Internet stories, and he's not happy about the libel. I wish for more time to get this work done.

"Exactly. That would not be a pleasant scenario for day to day life. And Shadow would have none of it either given Locke's not exactly high up on the list of people he trusts, seeing as he abducted him a while back."

"I'm more objecting to the parents if anything. I'm human after all. A human with a job in a far away place. I have a different way of doing things to them."

"Oh don't worry I'll never let that happen. I'd sooner let Eggman adopt me," thought Hope, laughing in her head.

"It's fine, you did nothing wrong. I needed to let you know sooner or later, but I really should've picked a better time. Now smile for the camera, this is a happy occasion. We can discuss my personal life later."

"I can't really come up with ideas about your family photos. That's not my area of research oddly enough. I've never even had one in recent memory, given my parents are gone."

"I'm sure you'll have plenty more," thought Hope as Crowley teleported next to her so he wasn't in the shot.

"I guess so. But still, it was your brainchild," thought Hope.

"No problem. You're the one who thought of it and grabbed it. I just spotted the store."

"Yeah. She definitely seems happy with it."