The girl removed her goggles, her breath misting the air around them. She laughed into the falling snow, tilting her head back. The laugh was not a girlish giggle, but the deep-throated chuckle of an older female. The snow fell on her eyelashes, and he realized they were white. Her pale blue eyes pinned him, and he could see her pupils were dilated with excitement. He laughed with her and removed his own goggles.

"You were...right behind me the whole time. I've never met anyone... who could ride a board like that. " He said breathlessly. She laughed, delight in those crystalline eyes.

"Well, you surprised me. I've never met my match before." She said. He brushed the snow from his quills, and was about to introduce himself, but found that he could only smile wider. He gritted his teeth to keep them from chattering in the cold. The girl hedgehog brushed a white tendril of hair out of her eyes and leaned in further to get a closer look at him. Unexpectedly, he swallowed hard and almost backed away. He could smell the wind on her. Wind and snow... and a wildness that was familiar to him. She smelled like...adventure. His heart skipped a beat, and he almost lost his balance. His legs felt weak, and he did not like the feeling.

"I've seen you before. In newspapers, and even on...TV?" Her eyes were unsure, and he kept smiling, but tilted his head ever so slightly in a nod. A look of triumph glowed in her eyes.

"You're Sonic the Hedgehog, aren't you?"

He wanted to shout out a cheerful "Yep!" and dash away, full of confidence and mystery, but something kept him from show-boating this time. This girl made him want to stick around, even though his stomach was in knots. Suddenly her eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing in IceCap, Sonic?"

He was taken aback by her suspicion. He had almost expected her to go all fan-girl and flutter around, like most girls did when they found out who he was. Her reaction was almost a relief.

"I come here all the time. It never seemed to be a problem before."

The girl smiled.

"There's no problem. I'm just amazed that you don't have anything better to do besides snowboarding."

"You mean like saving the world?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"Well, no. I know you have more of a life than that, right?"

"Do I?" He looked at the snow beneath his feet.

"I'm starting to wonder about that."

Suddenly he felt her hand grab his and squeeze a little. She wore pale purple gloves that he hadn't really noticed before.

"Well, hey! You can come here whenever you feel like it, okay? To give the world saving thing a break, right?" He laughed at her bravado.

"Right." Suddenly the air around them was pierced by a beeping sound. Sonic lifted up the edge of his glove and glanced at a device around his wrist.

"Oh, hey. I gotta go. It's my buddy, Tails." The girl picked up his board and handed it to him.

"Sure. See ya later?" "Um..." He glanced at the orange snowboard under his arm. "Actually, do you think you could keep this for me? You see, I kind of need to run fast, and the board.." "Yeah, that's fine. It'll be at the lodge with mine. Just come by when you want to ride the powder with me again."

"That'd be great. You sure are a challenge." He turned around to run, but then he stopped.

"Wait," He threw his head over his shoulder and smiled at her. "I didn't catch your name."

"It's Winter." She gestured around her at the falling snow when she said it.

"Well, that should be easy to remember."

"Yeah, Winter in IceCap. No problem, huh?" She laughed again, the sound bouncing off the cliff side and giving Sonic that strange feeling again.

"And I know I won't forget who you are, hero." She turned around, his board under one arm and hers under the other.

"See you around, then?"

He nodded and started to dash back up the hill, a flurry of snow scattering behind him. For some reason, he couldn't resist glancing over his shoulder one more time. He had created a gust of wind when he sped up and he wondered what she would do about it. He watched as she threw her snowboard under her feet and coasted backward on his wake, whooping with delight. He chuckled to himself as he sped up the mountainside, his head dizzy with excitement. He definitely had to see this Winter girl again.