A/N: Wahey! BigRouge!
What follows is the first chapter in a story that I will (hopefully) get finished on Christmas Day.

My Christmas gift to my friend Polly the Hedgehog! =D

Snow was falling all around, and the city of Station Square shone with millions of lights. Children dressed in warm, woollen coats and hats played all around. Festive music played everywhere, from large department stores to small cafes. Everywhere there was jollity and celebration.

On top of a large skyscraper, far from the lights, where the Christmas songs were just background noise, a bat was curled up in the shadows.

Shivering, she held her knees close, her eyes shut tight. Desperately, she tried to block out the winter wind. Her large ears, flattened against her head, had tiny icicles forming on the end, and the tears running down her face froze before they had a chance to roll off her face. Not even the beautiful Chaos Emerald in her lap could keep her from sobbing uncontrollably.

That stupid emerald! What had it bought her but despair?

. .

Two days earlier

"Yes! The Chaos Emerald is mine!" Rouge grinned manically down at the glowing yellow gem in her gloved hands.

Of course, it hadn't been hard to get it. It was just sitting there on that fox boy's worktop. It was practically asking to be taken!

The dark room suddenly lit up, and the fox boy himself entered in a deep blue dressing gown. His eyes widened in shock.
"Rouge! What are you doing here?"

Rouge raised an eyebrow.
"What does it look like, Tails? I'm taking this Emerald."

"You can't! I found it! I need it for the X Tornado!"

"Well, tough. Finders keepers. See ya!" And with that, Rouge spread her wings and flew out through the hole she'd made coming in.

Rouge laughed as she flew away from the workshop, over the Mystic Ruins. She came to rest for a moment on the top of the ancient temple in the heart of the jungle. Looking around, she thought she saw a light twinkle on the forest floor, but dismissed it as a trick of the light.

Holding the Chaos Emerald close, she whispered "Merry Christmas, Rouge."
She chuckled darkly, and stood up; preparing to fly to her base inside the abandoned storage unit that once belonged to Eggman. As she pushed off, her foot slipped on an icy patch, and her ankle twisted, causing her to slip and fall down the side of temple.
Falling, Rouge desperately tried to flap her wings, but rebounded off a ridge, causing the Chaos Emerald to spiral away into the darkness. "No!" Rouge cried out breathlessly, before falling onto the stone snake head, and bouncing down the many stairs.
She was unconscious as she hit the ground and rolled to a stop.

. .

Rouge wailed in despair. That damned icy patch! If it wasn't for that slip, she could be at home, celebrating Christmas with her beautiful jewels all around, and he-
He. He would be happy...
Happiness. What was happiness?
All her life, she'd been convinced that she would be truly happy when she had the most beautiful jewels in her possession.
She never realised that the true jewel had been right there all along.
Right there...
So close...
The despairing bat sobbed loudly. Everything was wrong! She had the Chaos Emerald! She should be happy!
She'd never felt this way before...

. .

Rouge woke up, her whole body aching. She started to shuffle, but a sharp pain made itself apparent in her left wing and right ankle.

"Gah!" She clenched her fists and scruched up her face in pain. Upon opening her eyes again, she shrieked when the first thing she saw was two large yellow eyes looming above her.

The creature didn't recoil, just looked at Rouge curiously.
"Hello, buddy. You were hurt pretty bad out there. Did you fall?" The creature spoke slowly.
"Get away from me!"
The creature moved back, a sad look forming on its face.
"Soorry..."

Looking it up and down, Rouge could see it was a cat. A tall, purple cat. A large purple cat. Very large.

Rouge tried to sit up, but decided against it when the pain coursed through her body.

"Froggy says you shouldn't move for a while. Your foot looks funny and your wing looks bad. I put it in a bandage."

Rouge gingerly turned her head to face her wing. It was bandaged with what, reeds? Stuff that! She didn't need ineffective, cumbersome baggage. She pulled it off, and immediately regretted it. The large wound would certainly need more than a plaster.
But she was Rouge the Bat, world-famous treasure hunter! She didn't mind a bit of pain now and then. She would simply walk back to her base.

She looked up, and was startled to see that the cat was still staring at her simply. Rouge looked back at him. She wasn't fazed for long; she'd had experience with guys staring before.

"What do you want?"

The cat blinked.
After what seemed like an age, it finally opened his mouth.
"What's your name?"

Rouge frowned. What was with this guy?
"I'm Rouge. What about you?"

"I'm Big. And this is Froggy. He's my best friend."

Rouge raised an eyebrow.
"That frog is... Your best friend?" She asked, unimpressed.

Big nodded eagerly.
'I wonder what his other friends are like...' Rouge thought.

"Do you want to be my friend?" Big asked suddenly.

Rouge did a double take. She was about to quickly reject his offer, but then thought the better of it.
'I dropped the emerald as I fell.' She thought. 'If he's seen it, then I can make this work to my advantage. It'll be so easy to get him to lead me to it! Not to mention that if I stay here, that fox boy and the blue hedgehog won't be able to find me. I'll 'befriend' this stupid cat, find the Emerald, and get out. I'll be long gone before he notices I'm not here.'

Rouge smiled, batting her long eyelashes.
"Of course I'll be your friend, Big. I think we'll be a great team."

Big grinned joyfully.
"Yay! You'll have to get along with Froggy, though!"

The frog croaked, almost as though it was agreeing. Rouged forced a smile.
'That slimy thing? Yeucch!'

"Of course!"
'I have to get that Chaos Emerald. I'll just have to make a few sacrifices.'

. .

'A few sacrifices.' Ha.
She never thought she'd have to sacrifice so much.
She certainly never thought she'd have to sacrifice a friendship.

A/N: So what did you think of the first chapter?
I managed to keep Big and Rouge in character, I think...

I know it was a bit dark... But, um... Rouge isn't happy... As you may have guessed...
I look forward to reviews! Hint hint ;)