[She can't be sure, but Maria is putting two and two together again...and this may be yet another time flux for Shadow. It feels like even more time has passed between them than even before, and if he's this happy to see her, then...in the future--]
It's alright.
[He doesn't have to say anything, Maria understands completely without any words being spoken. Shadow...her dear friend, her precious brother, he must have been lonely for a good, long while. She would apologize, but she doesn't exactly know what to apologize for, aside from possibly leaving him in some way (she assumes her illness took her, that her grandfather couldn't finish his research in time). It feels hollow - an apology without knowing the cause of upset - so she just lets the hedgehog hold on a while, smoothing a hand down his topmost spine.]
no subject
It's alright.
[He doesn't have to say anything, Maria understands completely without any words being spoken. Shadow...her dear friend, her precious brother, he must have been lonely for a good, long while. She would apologize, but she doesn't exactly know what to apologize for, aside from possibly leaving him in some way (she assumes her illness took her, that her grandfather couldn't finish his research in time). It feels hollow - an apology without knowing the cause of upset - so she just lets the hedgehog hold on a while, smoothing a hand down his topmost spine.]