#and i don't know if evay realizes she set up the perfect fodder for stories about silver's parentage...

[atwas-creations]

(a little angst that some people might hate but oh well i'm making this post anyway)

The time: 150 years after Aurora passed away at a ripe old age

The place: Crisis City (but not destroyed, it's a living, thriving city similar to Station Square)

Shadow stands on a hilltop overlooking the city. It's just after sunset. An aurora borealis is beginning to appear in the sky. Shadow looks out over the city, knowing that some of his descendants are down there. By now, he's outlived the only woman he ever loved, and a few generations of his own descendants. He's become a legend among his own great-great-great-grandchildren. Even those who have met him don't know who he is, and some don't even believe the stories about him were real. He doesn't care. His legacy never mattered to him, only the lives of those he loved. He watches over them as a proud guardian, and he would not hesitate to step in if even his own descendants dared to raise a finger against the good people of Earth.

Shadow looks up at the aurora and sighs, closing his eyes. "Maria, and Light. I don't know if I believe that either of you can hear me. But I've kept my word, and will continue to keep it, for however long I remain in this life. It... grieves me..." He clenches a fist. "...to see how even my own children's children's children treat each other. No one recognizes me anymore. No one remembers either of you, remembers the goodness and love you gave to this world."

He opens his eyes and watches the lights dancing in the sky. "But I do. You were right, both of you. You have lived on in me. And I can see now, the good and evil that exists in the hearts of all men, and Mobians. It was always ever our choice, to hold onto anger and fear and vengeance, or to release it. No one is born good, or evil. I wasn't, Maria and Light weren't, and neither were my children. We made choices, and lived with the consequences of them, for better or worse.

"Knowing this, I can forgive my own children for the wrongs they've done. Just as I've forgiven all who have ever wronged me, or Maria, or Aurora, or my children."

He looks at his clenched fist, and slowly opens it. "It was always our own choices, to live in darkness, or in light. Darkness is always vanquished in the end, but the light never fades." Somewhat ironically, he says this as the aurora borealis begins to fade overhead. But the light doesn't disappear entirely, because now the brilliant stars become visible once more. "Even if the stars die, we see their light for many years to come."

Far off, in the distance, he sees a cyan glow, the glow of a strangely familiar hedgehog that Shadow has taken a particular interest in. One of his own descendants. Unless Shadow is seriously mistaken- which is highly unlikely- this one is a time traveler that Shadow has met many times before. And while the glow isn't the same color as Aurora's, it reminds Shadow of her.

"The light shines even though the star is gone."