Yo! Haven't heard from me in a while.
Link: Bet they would've preferred it that way.
Hahaha...very funny. Just for that you won't get any presents.
Link: Huh! (Tears)
(Sigh) Be a good boy, and I'll reconsider...
Link: Yes, D.W.
...Hmmm...
Link: Would you like me to do the disclaimer?
...Why yes, that would be nice. I could get use to this. (Smile)
Link: Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters do not belong to D. Wander. D.W. owns nothing.
Mistletoe
DING-DONG! Amy's doorbell rang. "Coming!" she sang, excusing herself from her other guests, the pink hedgehog opened the door to see her last three guests. "Well, it's about time." She chide.
"Don't blame me." the tallest said. "The kid had to go and build a snowman at every corner."
"Nuh uhh!" the smallest pouted.
"If you look outside, you'll see for yourself." The last one recommended. After beckoning them in, she did so. Standing, or best defined as slumping, was a snowman, complete with two twigs for arms, and a scarf around the 'neck'. The hedgehog smiled, and turned to the boy. "Thanks a lot Charmy. He's perfect."
A broad grin, spread across his face. Immediately, he flew off to find Tails and Cream. Vector shook his head, apologizing for the bee's lack of manners and proceeded to pick up the young boy's scarf and coat. Amy's smile never vanished, as she gave them a quick tour. To their left was an arched, open doorway that led to the kitchen. Mouth watering aroma's find their noses, teasing them. To their right was a hallway leading towards the master bedroom and bath room, the guest room and the second bathroom. In front of them was the great room, where two couches, a love seat, tables, and lamps adorned the room. There was a brick fireplace at the end of the room, where a fire had been built. It filled the house with warmth and sound. There was a second open doorway connecting the great room and kitchen together. Plus there was another hallway, where the garage door was located along with a laundry room.
It was a nice house the Chaotix team admit. And a nice getaway from their old apartment. "Thanks for inviting us, Amy." Vector spoke.
"Oh sure. No problem. I'm so glad you guys came. It wouldn't be much of a Christmas party without you guys."
"Are you sure, you're going to have enough room for everyone to spend the night?" Espio questioned.
"Yeah, don't you worry about a thing. Go ahead and enjoy yourseleves." She shooed them away from the entrance and into the great room, where they were greeted by the others. "Good everyone's here." the pink hedgehog spoke to herself. "Now, time to get that dinner done. The sooner it's done, the better the chance I have of getting him under the mistletoe." Smiling cheerfully, although it was on the border of cynical, Amy ducked into the kitchen.
After checking the chicken, Amy untied the apron. Dinner was almost done. And it was only two o' clock! Not bad. Now, when dinner was ready to serve, all that had to be done, was the bread, cook the vegetables and she just had to keep the chicken warm.
She sighed, hoping that she would catch her secret crush under the mistletoe. She stepped out, and thought maybe, just maybe, she went too far with the plant. A sprig of it hung in front of the fire place, another in the doorway between the kitchen and the entrance way, a third in the hallway leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms, and a forth hanging on the patio roof.
Errr...yeah, Amy. Maybe just a little...,she mentally smacked herself. Observing, the pink hedgehog scanned for her guests. Cream, Tails, and Charmy were playing with the various board games she had stowed away underneath her couch. Vector was chatting away with Rouge, Sonic, and Knuckles. Meanwhile, Shadow stood outside being anti social. Of course he wasn't the only one. Espio had hidden himself in the hallway, where the third mistletoe hung. Whether he knew the plant was there or not, Amy couldn't tell. "Stupid, anti social jerks." She muttered. But wait? Where was her friend, Tikal?
Amy, scanned her house, before ducking into the kitchen once more. "Tikal!"
"Oh!" the Ancient Princess gasped, dropping the ladle into the large pot. "Amy, you scared me."
"Sorry." she smiled apologetically. "What are you doing?"
"Making something for the children to drink. After all, they will want to play outside sooner or later." Tikal replied. "And I'm sure they will make us participate as well."
"Ugh...what is it?"
"Hot apple cider."
"Mmmmmm...sounds good." Amy replied. "If we have to go out, I'm looking forward to it, since we have cider to come back to." She then fell silent, remembering Shadow. Immediately she giggled.
Taking her eyes off of the large pot, and smiling, Tikal asked, "What is so funny, Amy?"
"Oh, nothing." She giggled again before leaving a confused echidna. Tikal, getting over friend's strange laughter, finished with the hot drink. Just as she was leaving the kitchen, about to enter the living room, sapphire eyes homed in on a red and black hedgehog. Instantly, she recognized it as Shadow. So, she grabbed a cup of hot apple cider, snatched a scarf off of the rack, and walked outside.
Shadow continued to watch the snow fall. All was quite, and it gave the dark hedgehog a soothing effect. He felt...content, peaceful. Two things he hadn't felt in a long time. Not since Maria had died.
"Here." a quite voice said, a hand holding out a steaming cup. "It will warm your hands."
"Thank you." The dark hedgehog received the drink, sipping at it carefully so as not to burn his tongue. Suddenly, his thoughts strayed towards the Ancient Princess. As to why, he didn't know. The reason evaded him. Shadow recalled their first meeting.
It was after the falling of ARK. Shadow, once seeing his new found friends were safe, had turned towards the in coming earth. He suddenly realized that his hand was wrapped around something hard and sharp. A Chaos Emerald?
His decent began building speed, small flicks of heat licked his face and body. Dark crimson eyes looked into the yellow depths of the fake Emerald. 'It has the same properties as a real Chaos Emerald.' Tails' words echoed in his mind. But how did it end in his hands? Feeling his skin burning, and his lungs compressing, Shadow used the fake Emerald. If it really did have the same properties he would be able to control the power within. "Chaos Control..."
Low and behold, it worked! He crash landed into Angel Island. Surprising a certain echidna. Tikal searched the land, finding the source of the mini-explosion (as Shadow was unable to transport himself any closer to Earth than one hundred feet). The female echidna nursed the broken hedgehog for more than half a year. And they formed an unbreakable bound between them. He was as close to the Ancient Princess as he had been with Maria. Recently, a strange feeling surfaced in his chest, whenever she came around. It wasn't necessarily uncomfortable. In fact it was quite the opposite.
Strange, Shadow thought. He gazed at her out of the corner of his eye. Why was it now, he noticed how lovely she looked. An urge to embrace her filled his mind. But why now? At such a time? Was it because of the holiday mood? Or was it because he finally came to terms with this feeling? This strong attraction...this strong urge to protect her...his feeling of...love? Yes, love.
Yet, the dark hedgehog didn't budge. It wouldn't be polite and rather rude, to suddenly lip lock with her. But, now, after understanding he loved her, how was he going to hold it in now? Letting out a small sigh, he looked up. And guess what was hanging there...the mischievous mistletoe. Shadow began thinking Amy went over board with the darn thing.
After hearing him sigh, Tikal looked over to him. She knew that sigh. That small sigh of discoverment, which usually meant the dark hedgehog had a problem. "What's wrong Shadow?"
His gaze lowered down. "Tikal...could you...could you ever hate me?"
"Hate you?" She smiled a little at his silly question. "I could never hate you." I love you, she thought, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks. He swallowed, before placing his hands around her waist. Instinctively, her arms wrapped around his torso. Their faces closed the distant.
And they kissed.
It began as a mere kiss. Nothing but a gentle touch-and-go. But it soon deepened, the two releasing their hidden/discovered feelings for one another. It exploded in one fatal kiss, leaving the two panting for breath in each other's arms. He smiled at her, she smiled at him. And they stood outside, watching the snow fall.
Meanwhile, inside...
"Ewwww...it's mistletoe..." Charmy whined. The three stood underneath the second mistletoe. The one in the doorway between the entrance way and kitchen. Vector had recently handed them some hot cider after Charmy's consecutive whining. Left alone, once again, he and continued to talk with Knuckles in the kitchen.
Tails, also gave a disgusted look. "I don't understand why this tradition was made in the first place."
"It's just an excuse for adults to kiss each other..." the bee explained. As he pointed towards Shadow and Tikal, who were blissfully unaware of their pint size audience.
"Gross."
"Icky..."
Again, the two gave a sick look. Their third companion, pouted. "I don't think it's gross or icky."
"You're a girl. Of course you wouldn't." It appeared the two boys were going through that stage of 'Girls and anything related to them is disgusting' aka 'Cootie Fever'. Cream frowned, her eyes traveling towards the small object. Kissing wasn't gross. Miss Amy told her that kissing was something people do when they really like each other, and she voiced her opinion.
"Well..." Charmy began.
"I like Sonic a lot, but you don't see me kissing him." Tails vouched.
"And I like Vector and Espio." his companion backed their logic up.
The twin tailed fox, sipped at the cider. "And you like Amy a lot, but you don't kiss her."
"Yeah."
Frowning, she gazed into her, now empty mug. The small rabbit still didn't see anything icky or disgusting about kissing and mistletoe. Her mind started working. She liked Charmy and Tails a lot. And the mistletoe hung above them...Cream then smiled and giggled. Quickly, she gave the two boys a kiss on the cheek. "Well...I like you two a lot. And we're under the mistletoe. So, it can't be that gross." Nodding at her own logic, the small rabbit skipped off towards the kitchen, in hopes of getting more cider. Tails touched his cheek, and Charmy stared at Cream's exit. Then slowly, they faced each other. And two goofy grins formed on their faces.
"Maybe..."
"Mistletoe..."
"Isn't icky after all." The two finished together. They laughed and the twin tailed fox, pulled out a game of checkers from the couch. The two played until Cream came out to join them again.
Knuckles strolled towards the fire place, his eyes wandering around. He saw Tikal and Shadow, embracing each other. While the three youngest members sat around playing battleship. The echidna had just finished with a nice, but long, talk with Vector. Knuckles liked to consider himself more social than Shadow and Espio, but now he felt as if he had his fill of socializing to last him the night.
He noticed Rouge and Sonic were in there own conversation, allowing him some down time. The fire crackled and popped at him.
"Hey Knuxs."
"Hey Amy." he nodded at the pink hedgehog. His hostess stood beside him, offering some company.
"Enjoying yourself?" she asked, tilting her head in an adorable way.
Whoa...did he just think she was adorable? "Yeah, I am. Though, I think Vector talked my ear off." They laughed a bit, though he still pondered over that last thought. Since when did he think Amy was cute? Besides...isn't she still head over heels with Sonic? Strangely enough, he felt his chest constrict at the thought of her with Sonic. She deserves someone who will actually pay attention to her, and care for her. Sonic wouldn't do that. He publically stated he would remain a bachelor for the rest of his life.
It was true. The blue hero had been caught on camera, during last years Valentines day, rejecting another fan girl. And when the reporters questioned his actions he replied, much to the dismay of all the fan girls out there, he wasn't looking nor interested in any relationship. Surely, Amy knows this. And has given up on him. Why am I even worrying about her and her crush with Sonic?
Poor, poor, Knuckles. It appeared that he didn't know exactly why he was fretting over her and Sonic. Amy and Rouge, on the other hand, knew why he was. Call it a woman's intuition, but they concluded that the knucklehead had developed a crush on Amy without even realizing it. Not that it came as a surprise for the Treasure Huntress. Rouge noticed the two had been spending more and more time together.
"Knuckles?" Amy questioned. He had been extremely quite lately. Perhaps he didn't want to talk with her. Frowning, the pink hedgehog poked him. "Hey...I'm talking to you." A hint of annoyance slipped out with the words.
"Uh? Oh sorry." He apologized. The Guardian's mind wandered again towards these strange thoughts and feelings surfacing.
Amy Rose noticed he once again went into deep thought, or something. As he was completely ignoring her and her flirts. Now, she was getting anger. "Rouge promised me that it would get him to fall for me..or help fall for me." She set her half empty mug down. "Alright, Amy...time for the direct approach. Now, I'm grateful I hung so many mistletoe." Emerald eyes flickered up, then down. "Ready or not, Knuxs here I come." Smiling deviously, she closed the distance between them.
The echidna, wandering inside his mind, didn't stand a chance. It happened so fast, so suddenly, it took him a moment to react. Amy was kissing him! Not that it was a bad thing...but he wasn't sure if it was a good thing.
Her tongue slipped inside of his mouth with ease, as the Guardian was still in shock. Amy smiled to herself, as her actions caused her crush to moan. She was in pure bliss. Cloud nine. In heaven. She felt like she was flying. But it all came crashing down.
He pulled away. Violet eyes, shimmered in the fire light.
"Knuckles...I..." Oh, no...he probably hates me... "...I...um...mistletoe..." was all she could offer.
Swallowing, he took a deep breath. "Amy...I...that is...I don't know..."
It then dawned on her. Knuckles didn't know what he thought. It was clear, to her at least and to Rouge, that he felt something for her. But, the echidna was having a hard time coming to terms with his feelings and sorting them out. "Here." she grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Let's take it slower. Okay?"
"Thank you." he murmured. The echidna let himself be lead towards the couch, where they sat down. Carefully, Amy laid her head on his shoulder, feeling him tense. With a reassuring squeeze of her hand, the Guardian relaxed. As the minutes passed, the others giving the two some space, she wormed her way into his strong embrace, head resting on his chest, with his arms loosely wrapped around her waist. That's where they stayed until the three young members whined to go outside and play in the snow.
Espio rolled his eyes. Mistletoe was causing all sorts of relationships to develop. He grimaced, as his mind wandered towards the future and a certain trio. God, Charmy's teenage years were going to be a pain.
"Hey, Mister Antisocial..."
"Go away Vector." was his curt reply.
The green crocodile firmly stood in front of his smaller companion. "What's with the frown? This is a party! You should be celebrate'n."
Golden eyes blinked at him. And the look the chameleon gave, could only be described as 'What are you? Nuts?' A heavy sigh escaped his long jaw. "Come on, Espio...even Shadow is talking." The two looked over to see the dark hedgehog talking with the three musketeers, rather awkwardly at that. Tikal was helping them get dressed for a ramp in the snow, and it seemed everyone else was joining them.
"At least join in the snowball fight."
It was tempting. Espio thought, as he would have a clear advantage. Hmmm...and smacking Sonic and Shadow with snowballs would be worth while...
"No."
Vector's jaw dropped. 'No?' Had he really turned down a chance to thoroughly pummel the blue hero and the dark hedgehog? Apparently so. For after blinking, the chameleon was gone. Shrugging and muttering his hatred for Espio's camouflage skill, Chaotix's leader bundled up and made an extravagant exit er...entrance. He nailed Knuckles in the face.
Making sure that they were all busy, the let his guard down. Instantly, he reappeared in the same spot as before. He smiled, relishing in the silence. Espio despised parties and large crowds. Yes, he considered any place with more than three people a crowd. One could blame his lack of social skills to his aggressive Ninja training, but since no one knew what the chameleon went through, no one could. When you get down to it Espio was about as experienced as a newborn was with socializing.
Espio's eyes were slowly closing, his mind on the verge of meditation, when he sensed another presence. Who wasn't enlisted in the snowball fight? Golden eyes saw a familiar figure walk out of the kitchen. Rouge, holding a steaming cup of cider, caught sight of him. Smiling that charming smile of her's, the white bat strolled over.
"Hey there."
"Rouge." was the simple reply. He vaguely noticed the black dress pants, and the lavender wrap shirt, the whole outfit accentuating her body.
"How come you're not out there?" she asked.
"I could ask you the same thing." The smell of apples and her perfume mingled together, filling his senses.
"Well," she offered the cider, which he declined. "I bet I have a better reason than you."
"Oh?"
"Kitchen duty." Rouge shrugged. "Might as well, as let Amy and Tikal spend some time with their teddy bears."
"Teddy bears?" he raised an eyebrow.
Her grin broaden, pearl fangs showing. "What else are men good for, aside from cuddling with? You saw them, right? Amy was totally in his arms, as was Tikal."
The Ninja rolled his eyes. "Is that really what you think? If so, then you're shallow."
That caused her grin to disappear, quickly. "Shallow?" Then it came back. "You're just jealous."
"Oh? And how do you figure that out?"
"Well," she set the cup aside, "you're covering up for the fact that you are lonely, and want to be a girl's teddy bear, by insulting what you want."
Did that make any sense? He wondered. But had little time to think, as he suddenly noticed how close she was getting. "And what is it that I want?"
She laughed very nicely, reminding him of bells. "Why, Espio, you silly boy. You want me."
"You?" he shouted. Hadn't been expecting that. Gaping at her, his mind worked rapidly.
The truth was, the chameleon was attracted to her, there wasn't a doubt. Not that he was the only one out there, but that was beside the point.
And he would admit, only to himself, that he had developed a mild crush on her. Rouge was exotic, feminine yet strong, sexy and so much more. A treasure huntress, a thief, part time government agent, and the list must go on.
Rouge smirked at his dumbstruck look. It was...cute on him. She had gotten excellent in reading body language, and facial expressions. With this kind of popularity, you got experience in finding those who offered a one night stand, and those who offered a long relationship. The Treasure Huntress, had watched the Ninja, out of curiosity at first. He reminded her much of Shadow, and yet at the same time, he seemed like Knuckles. It intrigued her.
He had Shadow's aloofness and Knuckles stubbornness, but that was where any similarity stopped. How could she describe him...?
Espio was cold and distant, repelling those around him. It took time, and dedication to understand his actions, words, and ways that showed he cared for you. If you held his trust, he wouldn't turn against you unless you did it first. He was prideful, which promised to land him in difficult situations. He was intelligent and decisive in life threatening dilemmas.
"Espio, if you stay like that, your face may freeze that way." She giggled.
The Ninja shook his head. "You?"
"Silly boy." Turquoise eyes gazed up. "Now are you going to kiss me or stand there all day?"
Golden eyes also looked up. And saw the dreaded mistletoe. The next instant, her lips were on his. The sweet taste of apple cider and lip gloss, delighted his tastebuds, as she explored his mouth. As quickly as it happened, it ended. The kiss, left him weak in the legs, and his mind clouded with ecstasy.
"Merry Christmas, Espio." Rouge whispered. Winking, she turned on her heel, reentering the party. He watched her go, wanting to run after her and press his lips on her, but his mind and legs would not work together. So he watched Rouge leave, her hips swaying suggestively. Tilting her head, the Treasure Huntress winked.
A goofy grin formed on his usual impassive face. And he was sure, he would be able to catch Rouge underneath the mistletoe again.
Okay, first I'd like to say this. Don't kill me. Don't flame me, at least not now. You, meaning Knuckles/Rouge and Sonic/Amy fans, can flame me all you want after Christmas. Okay?
Link: Yes, don't give her a flame review as a Christmas gift.
...I really could get used to this.
Link: Don't. Cause once the holidays are over, I'm done.
Fine...(sigh) It was too good to last. Oh well. Anyway, I've kind of gotten sick of seeing all the Knuckles/Rouge out there. No offence to them, nor the Shadow/Rouge. I think Shadow/Tikal is much better anyway. And Espio is so unappreciated. Yeah, I'm just giving reasons as to why I wrote an Espio/Rouge. If you like it, try reading my Silent Guardian. It's one sided Espio/Rouge, but still holds the Knuckles/Rouge for you K/R lovers out there. Yeah...that's about it. I really appreciate you guys and gals for reading this. Okay. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanza. And Happy or Merry whatever you celebrate. And have a good New Year's!