A/N: Happy holidays, all! Here's a little Christmas cheer, served for you on a "silver" platter! . . . Pun may have been intended. ^_^" *crickets chirping*

Anyway, here's my annual Christmas fic, this time I'm working with some characters I don't normally work with in a genre that I never thought I'd ever work with. So if I mess anything up, please feel free to leave a review telling me so because this is a bit different. Also, I've been on a fairly tight schedule, so I'm not entirely sure if I'll have this whole story up before Christmas, but we shall see. Thanks, all, and Merry Christmas, happy New Year, and everything in between! :)

A red mug spun slowly around in one spot on the coffee table as Silver pressed his finger against the handle and gently pushed it so as to make it turn. The fire in the fireplace was slowly beginning to die, and the logs adjusted themselves, as if to keep the fire going. The hedgehog shivered as a chilly breeze entered the house, signaling the opening of the front door.

"Silver, I'm back," came a soft voice from the doorway, "Amy was generous enough to make us a full batch of cookies. I thought you might want some."

At the mention of the sugary treats, Silver suddenly appeared next to Blaze, eyes wide.

"What kind?" he asked, hopeful.

"Sugar," Blaze replied, eyebrow raised at the sudden appearance of her friend. She set a small box of cookies on the kitchen table and said, "Careful not to eat them all at once, now."

"Oh, I won't," Silver said with his mouth full. Blaze peered into the box and noticed that nearly half of the cookies had vanished.

"Silver!" she scolded, "Not another bite until after dinner."

"Ah couldn't heppit," the hedgehog said in response, crumbs dangling from his lower lip.

"Goodness, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were a chipmunk," Blaze mumbled, quickly replacing the lid of the box. "Don't get carried away."

"Mmkay."

Blaze sighed, then sat down in a chair by the kitchen table. She pressed her fingers on her forehead and shut her eyes.

"Goodness, what a day," she said, "The little ones were simply wild."

"Had to watch Charmy and Cream, did you?" Silver inquired, taking a seat himself.

Blaze responded with a slow nod of her head.

"They're rather energetic, especially at this time of year," she answered. "Though they're quite crazy, I was able to sit them down in front of the television for a little while."

"Ah," Silver said, "That always seems to work, huh?"

"It's true," Blaze replied with a smile. "Though it doesn't last for long, especially when a pirate cartoon plays and they're inspired to pretend to be pirates for the rest of the afternoon."

Silver smiled and gently flicked one of Blaze's ears.

"Well, we still love 'em," he said, "Don't we?"

"I'd never do anything to make them upset, of course," Blaze confirmed. Her small, white fangs glistened from the light on the ceiling as she sweetly smiled again.

"Have you done any of your Christmas shopping?" she asked Silver nonchalantly. "I'd be happy to help you with your Secret Santa gift."

It had become a tradition that the Mobians would do a Secret Santa gift a choose a name from a hat. Silver and Blaze often shared who they'd picked, mainly because Silver wasn't the best when it came to shopping.

"Uh, well, I might actually need some help," Silver admitted, recalling how much shopping he'd gotten done. Doing some quick math in his head, he added up the total amount of money he'd spent on gifts so far.

A big zero.

"Why? Who will you be buying for this year?"

Silver almost hesitated. He realized in that moment just how difficult it would be to think up a gift idea for his Secret Santa.

"Ahh . . . Shadow."

Blaze stood up and moved the box of cookies to a cabinet above the kitchen sink. She frowned thoughtfully and put a hand to her mouth.

"Well . . . I'm sure we can come up with something for him. We must, after all."

"Yeah . . . what about you?"

"I'll be shopping for Vector," she replied, "I'm not too concerned about it, though."

Silver chuckled.

"Yeah, he shouldn't be too hard to shop for."

There was a silence. Silver tried to remember the date in his head – December 21st. He still had a few days to go shopping, but it would be an absolute mess in the stores. He never should have put off the shopping, and now he was concerned with trying to get Blaze a gift.

That's right . . . what would he get Blaze for Christmas?

Well, it hopefully wouldn't be too hard. He'd managed to get together something for Blaze once he got around to shopping. As a matter of fact . . .

"I'm gonna head out for a bit," Silver announced suddenly. Blaze raised her eyebrows.

"Would you like me to come along with you?"

"Nah, it's all right. You stay here and get some rest, Blaze."

Silver flashed a wide grin at the cat, who returned the gesture with a gentle smile.

"If you say so," she said mysteriously. "Be back soon, all right?."

"I will!"

With another smile and a wave, Silver slipped on a winter jacket and gloves, stepping out into the crunchy snow and shutting the door behind him. He descended down the stairs of the front porch, making his way to the village shops in hopes that he would find something for Blaze and maybe Shadow.

Silver had barely arrived at the jewelry store before clumsily bouncing off another Mobian. The purple eyes glared into Silver's amber ones.

"Watch it," he said gruffly, then softened. "Oh, hi, Silver."

"Hey, Knuckles . . . sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," the echidna replied, "I'm a bit edgy, so I'm sorry for snapping."

" 'S fine," Silver answered, forgiving. "So, uh . . . what brings you here?"

"I'm trying to find Rouge her gift this year," he said, browsing a display of bracelets that glinted in all different colors from the lights in the case. "I just don't know if I can top last year's."

Silver furrowed his brow, trying to recall the gift that Rouge had received from Knuckles. Knuckles noticed the confusion and sighed.

"I gave her a necklace," he said, answering Silver's silent question. Before Silver could mention that he'd gotten Blaze a necklace previous year, Knuckles spoke up again. "I spent months digging for a genuine emerald shard on Angel Island. I knew that I wouldn't be able to top that. I suppose that's why I'm a tad edgy."

Silver opened his mouth, and then closed it again, both impressed and jealous of Knuckles' efforts from the previous year. There wasn't much he could say, so he only uttered,

"Wow."

"Yeah, I know. I still don't know what to get her this year."

There was a brief and awkward silence between the two. Silver noticed the song playing over the store speakers - "Sleigh Ride". He hummed to himself quietly, watching over Knuckles' shoulder as the echidna growled to himself.

"I just want something that'll . . . I dunno, matter. It sounds sappy, but I just feel like something superficial won't be enough."

A looming guilt settled unpleasantly in Silver's mind. Suddenly, he felt that every idea he'd ever had was lame. All he could manage was a nervous chuckle.

Knuckles sighed, irritated with himself.

"Well, I'm going to poke around here for a little bit longer. Did you want to stick around, too?"

"Hm? Uh . . . no, thanks," Silver replied, breaking out of a daze. "I'm going to head somewhere else for now. Wish me luck!"

Knuckles' response was a grunted "Good luck". Silver walked through the automatic doors and pulled his coat tighter around him. The sinking guilt became amplified as he stood for a few moments outside of the store. He couldn't shake Knuckles' words from his mind - "I just feel like something superficial won't be enough." Silver found himself reevaluating every gift he'd ever gotten Blaze, wondering just how Blaze felt about them. What if she didn't like them? What if he hadn't been putting enough thought into the gifts?

"This year will be different," Silver announced to himself, "I'm gonna get something that matters!"