(A/N) Got a chance to post yet another story. Three things you should know. This is set around the time of Christmas, the cast is about 3 years older, and I live in Florida. I have never truly seen snow. Well on T.V., but I don't think that counts. All I know is it's cold and wet. So, don't get mad that I forget to mention everyone's wearing winter gear, I'm in shorts still. Oh, and Ryuu is a dark-colored Hedgehog(Grey with black strips) wears a black jacket(Because it's cold) and is about 21. Make up the rest with your mind.

Disclaimer: I own not Sonic, Amy, Shadow, or any other SEGA Character. Just Ryuu. He's mine. MERRY CHRISTMAS!


The room was dimly lit by the warm glow of a Christmas tree. The entire apartment was filled with the smell of burning cinnamon candles and carols of Silent Night from the radio.

Amy sat next to her tree and watched the decorations glisten and spin on their hooks. A small sigh escaped her lips along with a tear down her cheek. There was nothing different about her Christmas wish this year. She always wanted Sonic to be with her, especially this time of year. But this holiday was going to be different, Sonic was dead this year, and he was never coming back.

She had tried to keep hope that her loved one would make it home to her, but it was apparent now that Sonic was never to return to her.

Amy brought her knees up to her body on the sofa and sobbed into them bitterly. She could still remember the events that took him away from her. The failed attempts of all her friends, Sonic risking it all to save the planet he loved, the words of comfort that were vainly made.

o.

Snow was falling heavily limiting visibility to almost nothing. The cries of friends hallowing for help or partnership in this confusing moment was all that could be heard.

"Sonic! Sonic!"

The entire team had been separated fighting a new rival Ryuu. Ryuu seemed to come from nowhere and had brought Eggman to a place of submission. The entirety of Eggman's bases, weapons, and inventions was now at the full command of Ryuu. To add to the burden, Eggman was ever constantly supplying Ryuu with more equipment.

"Sonic! Answer me!"

Ryuu was a hedgehog of another kind. He was relentless and lived to his word. Unlike Eggman, and even Shadow in tactics, Ryuu killed anyone who posed a threat to his mission. Sonic was just that, a threat that needed to be dealt with.

Ryuu had set Sonic and his friends up. Ryuu had the whole battle planed. From the snow storm's arrival to Sonic's downfall, he was three steps ahead and had the full advantage.

Half beaten and almost ready to give up, Knuckles had finally defeated the machines sent against him. Knuckles had seen Sonic being lead farther away from the others during the fight before the weather had become strong. Unfortunately, with problems of his own, he was unable to give aid to the blue blur. And now with the storm bearing down so hard, it would be almost impossible to find Sonic or the others. Them being Amy, Tails, Rouge, and Shadow.

All of them were facing challenges of their own. Ryuu's attacks and machines were even a hand full for Shadow to handle. Thinking of this only discouraged Knuckles. Ryuu had personally taken Sonic on.

"I'm gonna find you Sonic, just hold on."

Just then something came into focus up ahead. A blueish heap in the snow.

"Sonic!" Knuckles ran up beside the fallen hero who laid motionless on the ground. "Sonic, wake up." Knuckles shook Sonic's lifeless body to receive no response.

"He's dead."

Knuckles looked up to see a blurred image of Ryuu. The smile across his face built up a rage in Knuckles.

"I'm gonna kill you!" The words were almost unintelligible through his clenched teeth. The Echidna rose to his feet and gave his all as he ran for Ryuu, fists extended. The smile never removed its self as Ryuu quickly jumped the approaching blow and pulled a syringe from his quills. Without a moment of hesitation Knuckles turned to face his opponent only to receive a sharp driving pain...

Waking the echidna from a nights sleep.

"Sonic!" Knuckles breathed heavily as he sat up next to the master emerald. Knuckles gripped his offended side where a bruise was left from the battle only four weeks ago. He could remember waking up only to see that Sonic had been removed by Ryuu. What was he thinking? He could have taken Sonic to help. No, he had to let his temper, once again, get the best of him.

Trying to shake the recurring memory, Knuckles laid back down only to see Rouge peering back down at him from atop the emerald.

"Gaw, What Are You Doing Here!" Yet another start to the heart.

"It's Christmas Eve, thought I'd pay you a visit," The bat replied, "Unless your really up for fighting over the emerald again." Rouge slid down the side of the gem and stood over Knuckles. Taking notice of his slight discomfort being under her, Rouge lowered herself to sit next to him.

Knuckles made no eye contact with her, just stared off into space. Rouge watched him for a while before following his gaze. The night sky was brilliantly lit by the stars, and, the island's weather conditions being controlled by the master emerald, the island stayed relatively warm year round.

"Think they're going to change any time soon?" Rouge said in vain to try and break the silence. Looking back over at Knuckles she took note that his eyes were glazing over. He was thinking of Sonic no doubt, and how he let Ryuu slip through his fingers. Rouge turned her attention up to the stars again. She didn't really know how to relate to him in this situation.

Rouge wasn't close to Sonic, and though his death was shocking, it didn't affect her as much as it did the others. Still, it was hard to watch them struggle with the fact that Sonic was dead.

"You know Knuckles, it wasn't your fault."

Knuckles simply rolled to his side so as not to look at her, or her on him. Yet a tear leaked from his tightly shut eyes, hopefully unnoticed. Rouge keep her focus on the stars, acting as if he never made a move. "None of us saw it coming. Ryuu was planning our fall and is still doing so."

Despite her attempt, Rouge was only angering the guardian further. He wanted to be alone. He felt it was his fault, and nothing she was going to say would change that fact in his heart.

"Why don't you just leave now," Knuckles replied flatly rasing to face her. All traces of anguish now replaced by a forced anger. "You've well worn out your welcome."

Turning down her eras, Rouge stood for take-off. Knuckles watched as she made a hasty flight from the island. A small feeling of remorse come over Knuckles at this moment.

"Idiot." He breathed softly viewing Rouge's outline disappear into the night sky. Knuckles mentally slapped himself. It would be a while before he could cox himself back to sleep, and her company would have been much appreciated. It wasn't truly anyone's fault that Ryuu had killed Sonic, but it was just so hard to accept that he was never coming back.

Trying to hide weak emotions and retain a calm composer only took its toll on the troubled echidna. Letting only his anger show wasn't going to bring Sonic back or change the events of that day. It would only end up ruining other opportunities for friendship, or more, in his life.

Knuckles laid back down and tried to let sleep overtake him once more.


Snow continued to fall over the mainland, Station Square. Shadow had spent the last four weeks walking the streets aimlessly. Sonic's death, Amy's tears, it all reminded him of Maria.

Shadow stopped outside of one of the department store windows. The toy store had closed for the night, for all Christmas shopping had been completed. Shadow gazed at his reflection a moment.

"Maria."

This had been Maria's favorite time of year. And though he did not get much out of it, he loved watching her happy face and figure dance about on Christmas Eve.

"Come on Shadow," Maria smiled warmly placing a few wrapped gift before her friend. "Tomorrow's Christmas!"

"Indeed," Shadow watched as the girl wrote the names of several scientists close to her on the boxes.

"I made something special for Micah this year."

Micah was Maria's favorite person aboard the Ark. He was very kind to her and often brought her gifts from his journey to Earth for an internship. He had even helped her get an Earth bought present for her grandfather. "I want you to see it before I wrap it." Maria rose to her feet and went to her dresser. Shadow positioned himself on the girl's bed as she brought before him a small box. The hedgehog's curiosity perked up a bit when Maria began to open it.

Inside was a perfectly cut piece of glass in the shape of a rose. Each petal was tipped with a pale red and curved to natural perfection. Shadow smiled. He could tell Maria had a slight crush on the young Micah, and this was truly a perfect gift for him.

"It's nice."

Maria grinned from ear to ear.

"I sure hope so," Maria took the box back to her dresser for safe keeping. "Grandfather helped me make it in the lab while he was away." Shadow chuckled. "What are you laughing at?" Quite entertained in his thoughts,

"When are you two going to marry?"

"Stop it Shadow!" Maria quickly grabbed a pillow from the end of the bed and started what surely would be the pillow fight of the year.

"Her pointless games were always best." Shadow sighed and embarked on yet another trip down memory lane.

Sonic was not his concern, nor was his lovesick stalker. Yet watching Amy's pain-stricken face when she heard the news was more the Shadow wanted to take.

Ryuu had designed a creature just for Shadow, a mechanical beast holding the power of three chaos emeralds and a data-based filled with Shadow's information. The monster knew all his attacks and abilities. Still, Shadow had reduced it to only a useless heap. But this battle couldn't prepare him for the worst.

Through the rage of the storm, Shadow simply stayed low. This storm would soon pass, and he could hopefully team up with the others.

It was now apparent what Ryuu had done, Shadow only wished he had seen it sooner. Ryuu was separating them through the fight to weaken them. Plus the conditions of the storm would add to the hero's downfall.

Shadow watched for what seemed like countless hours as the storm lightened up. Once he could see clear enough to understand his surroundings, Shadow began searching for the others. The first he came upon was Amy. She was fighting way more than she could handle. Each machine had cat-like qualities and faster reflexes than Amy.

Using chaos spear, Shadow rapidly destroyed the mechanical devices. The two stuck together as they came to Tails and Rouge finishing off the last of their attackers.

"The Tornado's damaged," Tails hollered over the sound of the wind. "We'll have to look for Sonic and Knuckles from the ground."

Shadow didn't waste time. He knew the others could tend to themselves now that they had each other. He dashed off through the snow, skimming the landscape for signs of the high-speed hedgehog or the guardian.

"Stupid of us not to fight together," Shadow mumbled to himself as he slowed his pace. Ryuu had probably left his mark on Sonic, but surely the blue blur had stopped Ryuu. Or at least scared him in battle.

Suddenly, something red caught his eye.

"Knuckles?" Shadow took a sharp turn sending snow out behind him. Kneeling next to the echidna, Shadow could see the brand left by the syringe. Keeping an eye open for the offender, Shadow gently shook the echidna. About this time Amy, Tails, and Rouge came onto the scene to see Shadow checking for vital signs.

"What happened!" Rouge came alongside Shadow.

"He's been poisoned, but I don't know by what."

Amy joined the two by their fallen comrade.

"Is he going to be alright?"

"He has a pulse."

"Maybe we should take him to a doctor?" Tails also joined the group.

"What about Sonic?" Amy protested looking about for her beloved.

Knuckles winched a bit in pain as he began to regain consciousness. As his vision came into focus, Knuckles was surprised to see everyone.

"Where's Sonic?" He gestured to the place where Sonic had been laying.

"What do you mean?"

Knuckles then did as best he could to explain what happened. Shadow watched as Amy broke down into tears unable to handle the news. Tails, too, had a difficult time accepting this fact. Could Sonic honestly be dead?

"NO!" Amy's cry could have been heard for miles. "Where did they go!" Amy dropped in front of Knuckles.

"I told you, Amy, I don't know."

Tails fell to his knees and sob softly denying the truth to himself. Amy joined him only a bit more vocal.

"I refuse to believe he's dead, Ryuu's trying to fool us."

Shadow felt a slight sting of pain remembering falling from the Ark. How he wished he could deny the fact, but it just...it was so.

His tears brought him from his thoughts. Whipping them away, Shadow continued his walk of the planet. His mind vaguely on Amy. She had kept her hopes up for so long, and to this day hadn't admitted to believing in his death.

Shadow turned to look back on the road he had traveled earlier.

"Amy."