Dreams Don't Come True

Author's notes - This one is for Taranea. I had to write it - the idea wouldn't leave me alone. Hope you enjoy!

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It was past midnight in Emerald Hill. All was silent save for the whistling of the wind through the palm trees and the rushing of water as the river hurtled over the waterfall and downstream towards the sea.

This particular area of Mobius was a favourite vacation spot for Sonic the Hedgehog. He could happily spend days racing over and through the various obstacles dotted about the zone while the cheerful sun warmed his quills.

But right now he was sleeping peacefully, curled up on a big, soft bed, covers pulled up to his chin, the soft night time breeze wafting in through the window.

The other occupant of the bed, however, was not sleeping so peacefully. The darker hedgehog writhed in his sleep, his expression twisted into one of near pain, accompanied by disgust and a touch of fear.

Finally, Shadow woke from his tortured slumber. He reached over and shook his companion awake.

"Huh, wha?" Sonic slurred as he stirred, "Shadow, what's wrong?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Do you know a human girl named Elise?" Shadow asked urgently.

"Um… she's the Princess of that human country, isn't she? Sleanna or something."

"Soleanna." Shadow corrected.

"Whatever." Sonic yawned.

"But you have never met her?" Shadow pressed.

"Huh? No, I don't hang out with Royalty much. Why?"

"Promise me you will never go there - at least not without me." Shadow all but ordered.

Sonic's eyes widened then, "What?" He asked, disbelieving, "Shadow, what's wrong?"

Shadow shifted uncomfortably, "… I had a dream. You were in it - and so was she."

Sonic shrugged, "Maybe you saw her on the news or somethin',"

"Maybe." Shadow said dubiously.

Shadow looked him closely, "Wow, that dream really shook you up didn't it?"

Shadow didn't answer.

"C'mere," Sonic said, holding out his arms. Shadow slightly reluctantly leaned into Sonic's warm embrace, "So, what happened in this dream that's got you so worked up? I get horribly killed or somethin'?" Sonic asked, wrapping his arms around Shadow and managing to avoid all of the black hedgehog razor-sharp quills with the kind of instinctive skill only a hedgehog could possess.

"Or something," Shadow muttered, "Lets just say it wasn't pleasant."

"Fate worse than death, huh?" Sonic asked with a faint smile, "It was just a dream, Shadow. I'm fine."

Shadow gave him a look.

Sonic sighed, "All right. If it'll make you happy, I promise I'll never go to Sallyanna without you."

"Soleanna." Shadow corrected impatiently.

Sonic rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Ready to go back to sleep, now?"

"All right."

The settled down to sleep again. Sonic sprawled on his back while Shadow lay on his side using Sonic's chest as a pillow. A few minutes later, Shadow nudged the other hedgehog awake again.

"Hhnnn… now what?" Sonic groaned.

"You don't know a hedgehog named Silver, do you?"

"Wha?"

"He came from the future and had telekinetic powers."

"Dude, have you been watching the Sci-Fi channel with Tails or something?"

"… No?"

"Gah. When we get home I'm cancelling our cable subscription."

"If you do, Tails will kill you in your sleep. And I might not stop him."

"Okay, okay. But seriously, time travel? Did he have a blue Police Box or something?"

"He used the Chaos Emeralds." Shadow said flatly.

"Can Chaos Control really do that?" Sonic asked, more interested, now.

"…"

"Didn't think so. I mean, I'll accept with teleporting - that's just like going so fast even the universe can't see you. But time travel? C'mon, even I can think of a bunch of ways that would be screwed up."

"Sonic CD." Shadow stated flatly.

"Doesn't count," Sonic replied just as flatly, "It isn't my fault the damn Miracle Planet keeps shifting Time Zones."

"He was trying to kill you."

"Who was?"

"Silver the Hedgehog."

"The dude with telekinetic powers, yeah. Right. Sure." Sonic sighed deeply, "Shadow, this is supposed to be a vacation - just the two of us, so we can both relax. So relax already, okay?"

Sonic lay back down and they both closed their eyes again. Almost an hour passed this time before Sonic was awoken yet again.

"Geez, Shadow, now what?"

"The name Mephiles the Dark wouldn't mean anything to you, would it?"

"Hell no. Sounds like a character from a cheap vampire flick."

"I think he was supposed to be my evil twin."

"Wait, what? Aren't you meant to be my evil twin?"

Shadow punched him in the arm, "I am not engaging in incest."

"Ow! I didn't mean it that way! I mean, you're like my 'dark' version, right? And a dark version of a dark version just sounds… lame."

"Hmph."

"How did you get an evil twin anyway?"

Shadow looked away, "He emerged from my shadow."

"… So, a shadow of a Shadow?" Sonic laughed, "Even lamer. You need to fire whoever writes your dream plot."

Shadow growled and punched him in the arm again, "It isn't funny!"

"Yes it is!" Sonic chuckled, "Dunno how you can be so worked up about a stupid dream."

"He killed you."

Sonic blinked, "Say what?"

"Mephiles. He killed you."

"Seriously? Damn, Shadow, no wonder you were worked up over it. Seeing someone you care about die - even in your dreams - would freak anyone out." Sonic said, gathering Shadow up in a hug.

"That wasn't what bothered me so much." Shadow murmured, absently stroking Sonic's arm.

Sonic raised an eye ridge, "So what did?"

"That human girl… you were…" His face screwed up in distaste, "You were… flirting with her."

Sonic winced, "Oh gross."

"Then she kissed you to bring you back to life."

"Oh Chaos, Ewwwww!" Sonic made a face like he was trying not to gag.

"So I shouldn't be concerned about you running off with this Princess?" Shadow asked with a smirk.

 "Are you kidding? A human? That's just sick and wrong on so many levels. You need help, man. Your subconscious is seriously twisted."

Shadow punched him in the arm yet again. He would probably have a nice bruise there come morning.

"I mean, god, the only person around here that digs human chicks around here is you!"

Shadow glared at him, a low growl building in his throat as the crackle of Chaos power built up around them.

"No offense!" Sonic backpedalled frantically, "I mean in a purely platonic sense in your case."

 Shadow's eyes narrowed.

"I just… don't hang out with humans much. They're too… uh… tall. And stuff." Sonic finished lamely, "I'll stop digging myself in, now."

"Hmph."

"Well, um, now we've established that I'm not into humans and time travel is a dumb idea, Maybe we should go back to sleep?"

Shadow lay back down without a word, Sonic a few moments later. There was tense silence for a few minutes - an eternity to supersonic hedgehogs.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, faker."

"Love ya too, Stripes."

They both drifted off to sleep once more. Everything was peaceful and still for awhile until:

"Sonic…"

"Go back to sleep, Shadow."

"This is important!" His voice was filled with horror.

Sonic opened one sleepy eye, "What this time?"

"Do you know a boy called Chris?"

FIN