Usually when I write a oneshot it's because the idea has been bugging me for ages, but this time, on New Year's Eve I started thinking about episode 40 of Sonic X, where they all celebrate the sunrise of the New Year. So, after staying up until 5am, this oneshot was created. :)
It's obviously based on that episode, so some of the dialogue is taken directly from it, but other than that I've completely adapted it to what I think should have happened ^_^.
Anyway, Happy New Year, and I hope you enjoy it!

Tradition

Amy's always wanted her dream kiss under the mistletoe, but when her plan goes horribly wrong, she's ashamed to even look at her hero. Luckily, Sonic might just have another tradition up his sleeve that will make it a year to remember.

"Just a few minutes to go!" said Chuck.

Amy clasped her hands together. "This is a perfect way to start the New Year!" she cried.

"Yeah, much better than celebrating at midnight!" Chris agreed, picking up the cardboard box from the floor.

"Celebrating the first sunrise of the New Year was a great idea, Mr. Tanaka!" Ella said warmly, elbowing the man beside her.

He smiled. "Thank you."

.

"Get ready, guys," Chris said, reaching into the box. "As soon as the sun comes up we use our noise-makers."

Everyone took a firecracker from the box, sharing smiles of excitement. They were standing in a circle on the deck of the ship, waiting for the sun to make its appearance. As the firecrackers were distributed, Cream hesitated to take one.

"Hold on, Chris!" she cried. "I think we should just wait for the sun instead because if we make too much noise we might scare the sun away!" Her large brown eyes were wide with worry.

"The sun isn't gonna get scared away, Cream," Chris said.

.

As Vanilla reassured her daughter, Amy drifted away for a moment, lost in her thoughts. When Mr. Tanaka had suggested using Mr. Thorndyke's cruise ship to watch the sunrise they'd all been happy with the idea and eager to try a new way to celebrate. It was a bit unusual, but that made it more interesting. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and thankfully there were hardly any waves so nobody was seasick.

.

Amy scanned over her friends one by one, reflecting over the past year. Chris, Chuck, Ella, Mr. Tanaka, Vanilla, Cream and Tails. They were brilliant friends and she loved them all, but someone was missing. She glanced up as she heard his name.

"Sonic needs one, too," Chris said, holding the remaining noise-maker. He glanced around the deck, searching for the hedgehog.

"Try that way," Tails laughed, pointing upwards.

.

Everyone looked up at the very top of the boat, where Sonic was sitting with his arms folded, staring out to sea. Amy's heart jumped in her throat as she watched him, suddenly wishing that she was up there too. His cobalt blue quills were lined with the moonlight, as if it were gently tracing his profile. His eyes, mesmerising pools of green, were trained onto the horizon but she could tell that his mind was elsewhere.

.

Eventually, she tore her gaze away, remembering that it wouldn't be a good idea if she could get up there anyway. Not after what happened on Christmas Day. Her excitement dissolved and she felt her cheeks burning at the memory. What if that was what Sonic was thinking about? It probably was. He was probably thinking how stupid she'd been and that he should stay away from her. Oh, but she hadn't meant to make him feel awkward! It certainly didn't turn out the way she'd planned it to.

.

She could picture every awful moment of it. All of the embarrassment came back to her in an instant. It hadn't been very different to any other Christmas. Every year she wished with all of her heart that she would finally get her kiss under the mistletoe with her crush, and every year was a disappointment. So - rather stupidly, she now realised - she'd taken matters into her own hands.

It was the Thorndyke's annual Christmas party, and their huge living room was filled with nearly fifty guests. Of course, Sonic and his friends couldn't be seen among the humans so they'd held their own party upstairs. They'd decorated the room with all of the typical festive things as they usually would: holly, wreaths, fake snow and of course a huge tree covered in baubles. However, this year, Amy had added a little extra. Right in the middle of the room, hanging from a hook in the ceiling, was a sprig of mistletoe.

.

She gazed at it from her spot on the beanbag with a distant smile on her face. That small berried plant was the key to her dreams. She could imagine it so clearly: Sonic standing underneath the mistletoe with her. They'd hold hands, staring into each other's eyes. Then they'd lean in, and… A happy sigh escaped her lips. She'd dreamed of this day ever since she'd met her hero, and she just knew somehow that it would be perfect. She'd already gone over it about a thousand times in her head, so she was more than ready for the real thing.

.

The door swung open and Amy's attention was stolen by him yet again. Sonic the Hedgehog entered the room, carrying a small stack of presents. Her eyes never left him as he placed them under the tree, before putting a Christmas CD into the stereo system.

"All set, Tails," he said, giving the fox a thumbs-up.

Tails flicked a switch and the room was instantly lit with tiny multi-coloured lights that danced around the ceiling. The room gained a sudden warmth and Amy was swept away with thoughts of romance and the idea that this was going to be her perfect Christmas.

.

Everyone arrived fairly quickly. Sonic, Tails and Cream were of course there already but they'd managed to arrange for their other friends to come. The Chaotix came along with Vanilla, and Knuckles had arrived with Rouge holding him tightly by the arm. Even Shadow had turned up, claiming that he was only there to escape the cold outside. They spent the night dancing, chatting and laughing at the awful jokes inside Christmas crackers. Then it was time to exchange presents: the moment that Amy had been waiting for. She could hardly contain her excitement, but nobody seemed to notice that she was practically bouncing up and down in her seat.

.

When it was her turn to give presents, she hurriedly handed them out, saving Sonic's until last. She stepped back slightly, so that she was in the middle of the room: precisely where the mistletoe was. "And finally… Sonic," she announced, holding the small wrapped parcel in her hands.

He stood up, smiling, and walked over to her.

"Merry Christmas," she breathed, slightly dizzy from the short distance between them.

"Thanks, Amy," he said, reaching out for the present.

"Wait!" she cried.

He paused.

.

"B-before you open it," she said softly, "there's something else I want you to do. Something that we can share." She ignored the snickering as a few of their friends realised what she was doing. "Look up."

He did, and his eyes widened as he realised he'd been tricked. "Oh," he said, his eyes moving back to hers. "Uh… I, um… Oh..."

"Don't you know what mistletoe means, Sonic?" Cream asked innocently, oblivious to his awkwardness.

Knuckles grinned. "Yeah, Sonic, surely you know what you have to do under mistletoe!" he taunted.

.

Sonic's face reddened. His eyes were glued to Amy's, though he wanted to give Knuckles such a death glare that he'd evaporate. Amy held her breath, feeling her own cheeks flush.

"Sonic?" she said breathlessly.

His mouth was moving but he could barely stutter a single word. His whole body was tense and he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists. "I-I…" It was impossible to concentrate with her emerald-green eyes captivating him, staring at him so pleadingly without hesitation. His heart hammered into chest and his pulse raced. Since when did it become so difficult to breathe?

.

Shadow crossed his arms and muttered something about a pathetic faker. Tails said nothing, looking apprehensive.

The Chaotix were chanting, "Kiss her! Kiss her!"

Knuckles was grinning like a madman, clearly enjoying the opportunity to tease Sonic. "What happened to everything being a 'piece of cake', Sonic?" he jeered. "Why do you look so blue? A little tradition isn't scaring you, is it?"

Rouge whacked him across the head, though even she said, "Come on, Big Blue, just kiss the girl!"

.

Amy smiled encouragingly at her hero, desperately trying to convey through her eyes just how much she wanted this. Please, Sonic, she thought. Please.

He swallowed, feeling stupid. His friends had a point. It wasn't that hard, was it? "L-look, Amy, I… I wasn't really expecting this. I'm not sure that I, you know… I-I don't think that…"

Amy's heart plummeted. He wasn't rejecting her, was he? He couldn't! Nobody was rejected under the mistletoe!

.

Sonic took a deep breath. "Sorry, Amy, but I didn't realise you were gonna… arrange this," he said slowly. "I just don't... I mean, I'm not ready to..."

At that moment the door burst open as Chris rushed in. "Hey, Sonic, sorry to interrupt the party but…" He trailed off, noticing the two awkward hedgehogs under the mistletoe. "Should I… come back later?" he asked.

.

Sonic, thanking his lucky stars for a way out, stepped back, forcing himself to look away from the others and at Chris. "No, it's cool," he said quickly. "What do ya need?"

"Oh, um, I was just wondering if you could show me where you put the wrapping paper but you could just tell me where you put it later," Chris said, backing out of the doorway.

"No, don't worry, I'll show you now!" Sonic insisted. He reluctantly turned back to Amy, feeling guilt stab into him at the sight of her hopeful yet pained expression. "Sorry, Amy," he said, and without wasting another second he rushed out of the room so fast that the tree almost fell over.

.

Silence fell among the party-goers. Amy blinked. Her mind was unable to catch up with Sonic's speed, slowly coming to terms with the fact that he was no longer in front of her. She couldn't believe it. He'd… ditched her. She'd been so excited, so sure that this would be her moment, and it smashed in seconds. She felt every pair of eyes in the room move from the door to her. She didn't dare look at them; she knew what she'd see. Surprise, pity and probably someone shaking their head as if to say, 'Will she never learn?'

.

She felt sick. Her eyes stung as tears threatened to spill out, but she blinked them back. She'd never been so humiliated in all her life, and all of her friends had been there to see it. They'd witnessed her selfishly trying to trick Sonic into kissing her and failing miserably. Her throat suddenly ached from her holding back tears, and she fidgeted with the hem of her dress.

.

Before she could catch hold of what was happening, Cream was tugging her hand, gazing worriedly at her.

"Amy?" she said.

"I'm fine," Amy mumbled. "Thanks anyway, Cream." She moved to the door, refusing to look at anyone. She knew that they were watching her. "Merry Christmas, everybody," she choked, suddenly needing to run. She sprinted down the stairs and out of the mansion, falling to her knees at the gate. She rested her head against the cold metal bars, feeling warm tears roll down her cheeks. Anguish, shame and regret crashed through her heart. Some perfect Christmas that had turned out to be.

Amy inhaled sharply at the sting of that memory. How could she have been so stupid? Not to mention thoughtless. Trying to get Sonic to kiss her in front of everybody wasn't really fair to him. She'd just been so wrapped up getting her kiss under the mistletoe, and now she was paying the price. Sonic hadn't spoken a word to her since Christmas Day. He'd barely even looked at her, though she hadn't attempted to talk to him either. She was too ashamed and too scared of his reaction. So they'd acted like strangers for the past week, and it was killing her.

.

That was probably why he was on top of the ship. He was avoiding her. From the look on his face she could tell something was bothering him, and she knew that it was because of what she'd done. What if he never spoke to her again? What if he just avoided her forever? A rush of panic invaded her body at the thought. She needed to fix things, but she was terrified of facing him. She didn't know what to do.

.

Little did she know that Sonic was having very similar thoughts about her. He winced as he replayed the memory in his mind. He'd been so idiotic, stuttering and acting like a coward. He wouldn't have been surprised if she never spoke to him again. She had every right not to. He'd seen the hurt in her eyes when he'd avoided the kiss; it was unmistakable. He'd just felt so pressured with everyone watching, and once again he'd stopped himself from getting any closer to her, thanks to his stupid nerves. It was because he'd been taken off guard, he supposed.

.

He'd hoped that this Christmas would be the one where he'd finally pluck up to courage to do it. He'd imagined himself having the guts to pick up that damn plant, pull Amy into his arms and hold it above their heads, and yet he'd chickened out. He hadn't been prepared for Amy to try it on him instead, and not in front of everyone. Even so, he had a chance and he blew it, all because he couldn't get a grip and kiss her.

.

That was partly why he hadn't spoken to her all week. He was embarrassed, not to mention guilty, that he'd thrown away the chance to kiss Amy Rose. She hadn't spoken to him either. Sonic knew that she either hated him or was just too upset to talk to him and neither one of those options was good. He jumped down onto the deck of the ship, ignoring his rising anxiety. He needed to make things right with her, even if the concept scared him out of his mind.

.

Amy looked up and realised that while she'd tuned out of reality, Sonic had rejoined the group and was holding a firecracker, talking with Chris. Her heart ached at the sight of him.

Oh, what have I done? she thought miserably.

"Okay, let's get ready," called Mr. Tanaka.

Everyone rushed to the edge of the ship, leaning over the railings in anticipation. Amy slowly moved to join them, but she stayed a good few metres away, making sure not to invade Sonic's space in the slightest.

.

She stared into the ocean below, trying very hard to block the horrible memory from her mind. She almost jumped out of her skin when a pair of arms came to rest on the railing beside her. She traced them back to their owner and found her stomach doing somersaults.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya," Sonic chuckled.

Amy made herself meet his gaze, unsure of what to think about the sudden communication. After a week of avoiding each other she felt almost like she'd forgotten how to talk to him. "I-It's okay," she said quickly. She was still stinging from embarrassment and painfully aware that she was treading on eggshells. Her ears were fully alert, waiting to hear what he'd say next.

.

He simply turned back to the sea, an unfathomable expression on his face. Amy was frantically trying to figure out what the silence meant. Was he mad at her? Was she forgiven? Or maybe he was going to pretend it had never happened. She was scared to say anything but it didn't look like Sonic was going to any time soon.

"Sonic," she said, surprised at how quiet her voice was. "I… I'm sorry about what happened… on Christmas Day."

"Don't worry about it," he replied.

Amy bit her lip. "Sonic, we haven't spoken since that day – of course I'm going to worry about it! I made you feel so awkward, I know that now. But that's not what I was trying to do."

"I know," he assured her.

.

She shook her head. "I didn't think! I pictured this perfect moment under the mistletoe and I just didn't stop to think that it wouldn't be what you wanted. It was wrong to try and trick you into kissing me. I was being selfish and I'm not proud of it," she said, her grip tightening on the handrail.

Sonic listened, watching her closely, but Amy didn't look at him. She was scared to.

"If I'd known how uncomfortable you were going to feel I would never have tried it," she said. "And I just… I was so embarrassed and ashamed it was so awful and I couldn't bear to face you!" Her voice softened until it was barely above a whisper, and she felt her eyes beginning to water. "That's why I didn't talk to you," she admitted. "I didn't want to ruin our relationship any more than I already have."

.

Sonic was taken aback. Before he even knew what he was doing, he was putting his hand over hers. "You haven't ruined anything," he said earnestly, ignoring the fact that his heart was pumping so hard it felt like it was escaping his chest. He'd always made it one of his personal rules not to get into heart-to-hearts, especially with Amy Rose, so naturally he had no idea what to say next. He was running on pure adrenaline, his mind in a frenzy. He just wasn't any good at these situations. He didn't like the way that his barriers came down, exposing a more sensitive soul than he'd like to admit. He liked having control of his emotions, and Amy was the only person who could take it away from him.

.

He sighed. No more running, he thought. Just be honest with her. "Listen," he said gently, glad this his voice didn't sound as shaky as he felt. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I didn't mean to react like that. I just wasn't expecting it."

"No, you had every right to react in that way," she said dejectedly.

"No, I didn't. It wasn't fair of me. I let my nerves get in the way and I hurt you because of it." He squeezed her hand gently. "I'm sorry. I was stupid and I felt guilty and that was why I avoided talking to you. And, you know, it's funny but… I was ashamed, too."

.

"Why?" she asked, genuinely surprised.

He smiled, though he was undeniably feeling very far out of his comfort zone. "Because I didn't have the courage to… to do what I wanted to do," he said nervously, feeling his cheeks heat up.

Amy's eyes widened. She'd gotten the hint. She stared at him, wondering if she'd just taken that the wrong way, but Sonic's tender smile told her otherwise. Could it be that all of his awkwardness… was down to nerves?

"But I know that I can make it up to you, with it being New Year's," he said, strengthening his resolve. Suddenly it was easy to speak, as if the sudden spark of joy in her eyes had melted his uneasiness. "After all, one tradition is as good as another, right?" He winked.

.

Amy felt weak at the knees. He hadn't really just hinted that he was going to kiss her, had he? He was staring straight back at her, his expression filled with hope, nervousness, excitement and affection that she now understood went beyond the line of friendship. She couldn't help but blink helplessly at him, wishing that her words could get past the lump in her throat. She hadn't imagined it! He was going to kiss her!

.

Sonic could no longer ignore the jittery feeling rushing through his heart. He was going to embrace it for what it was, and he was going to do what he should've done a week ago. He was not going to mess this up. The two hedgehogs smiled breathlessly, knowing that they were enjoying the same feeling. Sonic studied every inch of Amy's stunning emerald eyes, entranced by the power of the sheer happiness and love that was radiating from them. Knowing that he was making her happy, even for this single moment, was enough to leave him on cloud nine. He made Amy happy, and that thought alone made him want to shout it from the rooftops. There wasn't another feeling like it.

.

The spell was temporarily broken as they heard Mr. Tanaka announcing that the sun was about to appear. Their friends began to count down from ten, and Sonic grinned at the girl beside him. This was it.

.

"Ten! ...Nine! …Eight!"

.

"You do know the New Year's tradition, right?" he said, moving closer to her.

Finally she could move, and a smile broke out on her lips. "Of course," she giggled.

"Just checking."

They shared an elated and slightly timid smile, anticipating the end of the countdown.

.

"…Five! …Four!"

.

Sonic wrapped his arms around Amy's waist and pulled her even closer, until their breaths mingled. He had no idea how he was doing this without thinking about it but somehow it was happening.

.

"Three!"

.

She put her arms around his neck, tingling from excitement.

.

"Two!"

.

Sonic gently cradled her face in his hands, his thumb caressing her cheek. "Happy New Year, Amy," he said.

.

"One!"

Agh, I hope you guys liked the ending. I was experimenting so I'm not so sure how you'll react ^^'. But it's very obvious what happens next, which is kinda the point..
Anyway, I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated! :)
Happy New Year!