*Sonic's POV *
"So you haven't seen her?" Silver asked Tails and I as we ate breakfast together.

"No. Who is she?" I asked, trying to play as if I had never met the girl. I had woken up that morning thinking I had dreamt the whole thing until I saw Silver that day and was shown her picture.

"She's a girl who went missing. I am helping to find her and take her back home." Is all Silver said.

"We will let you know if we see her." Tails answered as he stood up. "What are you doing today, Sonic?"

"I was just planning on going out for a run. Then I need to go home and clean. Metal attacked me last time at home, and I still haven't cleaned up the mess." I said I knew I had to go visit Maria, but I wasn't sure it was the right idea to go to Shadow's house. I couldn't stand him.

"Okay. Well, if you need anything, I will be in my lab most of the day. I am working on upgrading our communicators." He said, suddenly making my ears go up as I remembered Maria's communicator.

"Okay." I nodded. I said bye to them and walked out of the house then went to where I had met Maria. I saw some parts of Metal still there.

I guess Eggman had taken him already to work on him. I wonder if he knew about Maria. He was programmed to kill me. Maybe he sensed she had my DNA as well?

"Blue!" I turned and saw Rouge running towards me. It hurt to see her every time I could hear Shadow blaming me for her injuries.

"Hey, Rouge." I said as I looked at her chin, I couldn't look her in the eyes. I felt like I had let her down. Her wing was still bandaged. I wonder if she'll ever fly again.

"Hey Hun, I have been needing to talk to you alone. Shadow is usually with me, so I haven't been able to, but it sounds like he's busy with someone else today." She smiled, I looked at her confused. "Shadow has company over today."

"O-Oh. Did you see who it was?" I asked, and she shook her head.

"No, but I am sure it's someone important for him to be so calm about his kitchen being a mess." She chuckled. "Anyways. I wanted to apologize to you for everything Shadow has said. I know you tried your best, and Shadow doesn't want to listen to me, but I know you needed to get to Tails first, or he wouldn't have made it." She said, my ears going down as she spoke.

"Rouge. I-" I was interrupted. 

"It wasn't your fault I got injured, Blue. It's just the line of work we are in." She gave me a smile, but I still couldn't look her in the eyes. "Shadow may not listen, but I know you did what you could, and I just want you to know it's not your fault and that I am okay." I felt my heart break at her words. I had been hurting ever since that day weeks ago, nearly a month ago. Hearing Rouge say those words gave me peace made me feel better.

"I am still very sorry. I should have, I don't know, done something different so you wouldn't have been so injured." I sighed. "I'm so sorry. I risked your life. I- I-" I couldn't come up with anything else to say.

I lay awake every single night thinking of what I could have done differently. Thinking of what would have happened if I had just gone to save Rouge instead of Tails but no matter what scenario I came up with, one of them would have died if I hadn't done what I did.

"How's your arm anyways?" Rouge asked as she looked at my arm. "You could have lost it." She took a step forward to see the scar that I now hid under a jacket every single day. I took a step back as well.

"Shadow doesn't know, right?" I asked. The only ones who had seen my injury had been Tails and Rouge because Tails was the one helping Rouge and I heal.

"You told me not to tell him." Rouge sighed. "You haven't fully healed, have you? You fight with Shadow every day."

I touched my shoulder and then lower to my scar. "No. I haven't." I could feel the bulge where the bandage was under my jacket.

"Don't listen to Shadow, Hun. You did what you could. You jumped in front of me, and you nearly lost your arm because of it, taking most of the hit. I still got hurt, sure, but we will both be okay. That's what is important." She said as she kept her distance, realizing I couldn't be close to her.

"Thank you, Rouge." I smiled softly, but I really wanted to cry.

"Please let your arm rest. Tails said it could be dangerous if you kept fighting." She sounded worried about me. I couldn't nod, I couldn't speak. I knew no matter what, my injury would never fully heal. I wasn't like Shadow. My injuries will remain.

"How's your wing?" I asked her. Trying to change the subject.

"I can move it around. It's just not strong enough for me to fly yet." She explained. "Your arm?"

"I am surprised Shadow hasn't realized how weak my punches are with this arm when we fight." I confessed. "I can move it, I can lift stuff, but it hurts." I continued. "I was scared when I woke up and could barely feel my arm."

"So was I with my wing." She nodded. "I'll let you go Hun. Please dont let what Shadow says get to you. I'll try to talk to him again soon."

"Thanks, Rouge. I'll see you later." I smiled back at her and watched as she left.