"How do I look? Dreadful?"
"Ms. Amy! How could you say that? You look gorgeous!"
"Thank you Cream. What do you think, Rouge?"
"I'm of the same opinion as little Ms. Sunshine here. Though you could do with a bit of mascara and a little more eye shadow..." Amy laughed.
"Thank you Rouge, but we don't have time for a makeover right now." Rouge sighed regretfully, but nodded.
"I'd better go collect Knucklehead so he isn't late like last time." The last party, an after-Thanksgiving one since everyone had been extremely busy (Eggman having put another world-takeover scheme into action), had been fun, but Shadow had been unable to attend due to some G.U.N. mission or other.
Cream left with Tails, and Amy was just cleaning up a couple things so that the house would be ready for her return. When she turned to go to the hallway and get her coat, her heart skipped a beat and she squeaked in fright. Shadow's blood-red eyes were in front of hers. "Are you ready to go, Rose?" he asked. Amy nodded, a little too surprised by his sudden appearance to speak yet. When he turned, she noticed a flash of sapphire, and smiled, he was wearing the bracelet she had given him on Valentines day. Shadow held her coat out to her and she slipped it on. Shadow looked at the snow, blocking the doorway for a little while, then he turned to Amy and picked her up, bridal style.
"Shadow! What-?"
"The snow would ruin your shoes," he said shortly, before plowing through the snow, keeping her well above it. When they reached the sidewalk, he melted the snow away with fire from one of his airskates, then placed her down so he could unlock his car. He had seemed warmer at the Valentines day party. What had happened to make him act like this again? Once they were in the car and pulling away from the sidewalk, Amy asked if he was alright. He looked at her, a little surprised at the question. "I'm perfectly fine, Rose," he said. "Are you cold at all?"
"A little," she admitted reluctantly, knowing that the slight chill in the car wasn't bothering him at all. He turned the heat on, taking his eyes off the road. "Shouldn't you-?"
"-Keep my eyes on the road?" he finished. "I don't need to," he said, straightening and turning to look at her.
"Why not?"
"I can sense what's going on, so it is perfectly fine if I have to duck my head for a moment or so."
"Could you do that for an hour?"
"Perhaps, I have not tried."
"So, how's your year been? I haven't seen you since the Valentines party." Shadow glanced at her, then suddenly jerked the wheel to the side as someone almost hit them. Amy fell sideways, against him. "If you can sense what's going on, why didn't you sense that?" she asked, her heart hammering from the shock.
"I cannot sense what they're going to do. I can only sense what they are doing at the present moment, and act accordingly. But perhaps I did know what was going to happen, and didn't do anything until then because it would cause you to fall against me," he said, a small smirk on his face. Amy felt her cheeks heat up as she blushed.
"Shut up," she grumbled, looking out the window. Shadow shrugged and turned on the CD player. The first song was Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds. Amy looked at the CD player, then at Shadow. "You like eighties music?" Shadow shrugged again.
"Yeah, it's some of the only music I can actually tolerate."
"So what's this, an album you bought?"
"No, it is a collection of some of my favorite songs," said Shadow.
"Ah..." When they were only a couple of minutes from Tails' place (which he had expanded) a song by INXS turned on. The song was Need You Tonight, which made Amy glance at Shadow, then slowly turn back to the window to try and clear the image of Shadow singing that song to her out of her head. She could just imagine his voice singing the song instead of Michael Hutchence's.
They were just in time to see Sonic kissing a squirrel. Amy heard a sharp intake of breath and looked at Shadow, noticing that his eyes had narrowed and his grip on the wheel had tightened. Two jolts later, the front of the car was inches from Sonic, who was holding the now wide-eyed squirrel. "It's okay Sally, the bloodthirsty-lookin' guy behind the wheel is a friend of mine. Shadow, this is Sally Acorn." Shadow got out of the car, slammed his door, and (ignoring Sonic and his apparent girlfriend) walked around and opened the passenger door. "Who-? Oh hi Amy!" Amy smiled at him.
"Hi Sonic."
"Sonic, is this the girl who's always following you around?" Sonic was about to nod when Amy interrupted.
"Used to."
"Oh, I was under the impression that you still did," said Sally. "But then again, I haven't really asked much about it. It's nice to meet you Amy."
"Nice to meet you too, Sally," said Amy, extending her hand to Sally.
"I think introductions should be made inside, where it is warm," said Shadow, taking his coat off and putting it on Amy's shoulders to add extra warmth. Sally's eyebrow raised slightly, the movement so miniscule that only Amy noticed, seeing as she was paying attention to Sally's face. Sonic shrugged.
"Yeah, I suppose that would be a good idea. Come on Sal!"
"You go on ahead Sonic, I'd like to get to know Amy better." The squirrel smiled at Amy, who smiled back. Shadow stood very close to Amy, and once she was inside he helped her out of her jackets before disappearing into the living room. "How long have you known him?" demanded Sally.
"Um... Well I think it has been about... I dunno... maybe four years?"
"When did he start having feelings for you?"
"Whoa whoa whoa, time out! Who says he has feelings for me?"
"The fact that your bracelets are almost identical," said Sally. It was sort of true, seeing as hers had ruby roses where Shadow's had sapphire ones. And then the frames with the pictures were practically identical as well. Amy wondered for a moment if they had gone to the same place, but then dismissed that thought as ludicrous. "So, where's the frame with the special person in it?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows. They had moved into a side room by now, and had shut the door. This prevented Rouge from joining the conversation, though she was a little too busy with Knuckles when she came in to actually take herself away to join the interesting conversation. However, she had a remedy for this: send Shade to join the conversation.
The echidna entered. "Hey, Rouge says that I have to be here to listen in on the conversation if it involves hidden love." Sally informed the echidna that it did, and she was perfectly welcome to join them. Amy just rolled her eyes, but didn't object, so Shade sat down on one of the chairs. "Is it Shadow?" The squirrel and hedgehog nodded. "Then I feel it my duty to inform you that he is currently being cornered by Sonic, Vector, and Charmy." Espio knocked and stuck his head in.
"Shade is correct about him being cornered. Unless someone with a clear head manages to calm him down, he might blow half the building off." Amy walked past the chameleon, who flashed a quiet smile at her and squeezed her shoulder before vanishing from sight.
Shadow was, as the two had said, cornered, and his eye had developed a dangerous twitch. Knuckles and Rouge didn't seem to notice, too busy hugging each other. Apparently Knuckles had finally, finally, gathered the courage to ask Rouge to marry him. Amy would have to get the details later if she wanted Tails' place to remain warm. "So, I heard she's really pretty," said Vector.
"She'd have to be, to catch Shad's attention," said Sonic, smirking. Shadow's eyes narrowed dangerous. "Unless you're actually into the ugly...?" Shadow's eyes widened and his jaw tightened.
"Sonic, I suggest you-"
"Shadow, could I talk to you for a minute?" Shadow visibly forced himself to relax before he looked at Amy.
"Fine." He pushed past Sonic and Vector with a little more force than necessary, and followed Amy out of the living room, then outside into the snow. She turned and looked at him, but before she could say anything, he put his incredibly warm jacket around her shoulders. Again. "You forgot yours," he said quietly.
"Are you okay?" He shrugged.
"If not, I would have been in a few short moments." The slight smirk on his face suggested just what would have happened to Sonic. From inside, they could hear Sally's voice raising, telling Sonic off. The two hedgehogs paused to listen, and deduced that Sonic had been having something he shouldn't have been, and wasn't thinking straight at the moment.
"So, back to my earlier question, how has your year been? Rouge hasn't really been able to tell me what you've been doing seeing as she was equally busy." Shadow shifted slightly, a barely noticeable frown on his face.
"Nothing much," he finally said. "I've been assigned a new partner, even though Rouge threw a fit. She's called Bunnie Rabbot, and all the G.U.N. soldiers think that we're secretly going out."
"Are you?" asked Amy, a terrible dread welling up inside her.
"No, we're only alone when we're on missions. Besides the fact that I have absolutely no interest in her, she has a boyfriend already. A coyote named Antoine."
"Oh."
"However..." Shadow cleared his throat, actually looking very slightly nervous. "I would like to ask you something, Rose."
"Yes?" Before Shadow could say anything, Rouge opened the door and poked her head out.
"Hey! Get inside you two! We're going to start opening the presents shortly!" Loud renditions of 'Deck the Halls' burst forth from the house as the door shut. Shadow looked at Amy, who smiled slightly.
"We'll talk more inside then," she said. Shadow inwardly sighed and followed her, wishing that Rouge hadn't come out just then. He'd finally gathered the nerve (it had taken awhile to admit to himself that that was what he was doing) to ask her, and then it had been dashed to pieces. He only hoped he could gather it again this evening before he possibly lost contact with the others for around another year. His ear twitched as that irritating idea occurred.
Everyone else was filling up all the available wall space, so Shadow and Amy took a section of wall near a window, leaning side by side, almost touching. Rouge was carefully organizing all the presents so that everyone would have one to open at the same time, and when she came to two certain sets (she wouldn't let anyone else do this) she grinned and rearranged the pile. Then she started handing the presents out. While everyone else was tearing theirs open (like Charmy and Sonic) or carefully unwrapping them (like Espio and Tails), Rouge handed Shadow and Amy a present before going to get one for herself.
Shadow blinked when he noticed the tag on his said it was from Amy, and Amy found the reverse to be true for hers. They looked at each other, then Rouge came back over to them and nudged Shadow in the side. "You're standing under mistletoe," she said, grinning. Shadow glanced up then turned to her, furious.
"You set this-!" Rouge spun him around and then did the same with Amy and pushed them together. Everyone was looking at them now, so Shadow leaned towards Amy, feeling extremely awkward but not showing it. Amy leaned forward too, and upwards a little, seeing as he was taller. When they kissed, each holding a present from the other, they heard a click. Surprisingly enough (in Shadow's case at least) they didn't stop the kiss.
Charmy was the first to go back to his presents, seeing as somehow, he was able to tell they'd be kissing for awhile, and even two minutes was too long for his active mind. Espio and Knuckles also stopped looking, as did Sally, Tails, Cream, Shade, and a couple others. When Shadow and Amy pulled away from each other, the only ones still staring were Vector, Sonic, and Rouge. Shadow's mouth twitched into a small smile, and Amy gave a soft smile in return. "Open your present," she whispered to him. He switched his gaze from her to the present, which was wrapped in plain red wrapping paper with a black ribbon. He carefully took the wrapping off and opened the box to find a scarf inside. "It took me awhile to make it, but I got it done in time," she said. It was black, red, and Maria blue (as he had started to consider the particular shade). He looked at her, then in an extremely un-Shadow-like move, wrapped an arm around her and hugged her.
"Open yours now," he said, his warm breath making her ear twitch. "And thank you."
Hers was a set of earrings and a necklace. The box had no logo, which puzzled her. "Those took me awhile, and I had to ask Rouge which stones would be best for you," said Shadow. Amy blinked, then looked up at him.
"You made these?" she asked.
"Yes. Platinum and star garnet," he said. Amy swallowed, still staring at them. "Do you like them?"
"Yes!" she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug, and he blinked, surprised. Sonic whistled, wiggling his eyebrows at Shadow before Sally bopped him on the head. Shadow smiled slightly at Sally, who smiled back. Perhaps the squirrel wasn't quite so bad as he had first thought. "Shadow?" his attention switched back to Amy immediately.
"Did you want to go out for lunch sometime?" His smile widened a little.
"I would like that very much, Rose. However, I thought you were still chasing the Faker?"
"No, I've been chasing someone else for awhile now, even if it was only in my head."
"Oh. Who?" asked Shadow, feeling his good mood start to sink into depression.
"You," she said, before kissing him again. Rouge, despite some loud clearing of her throat, could not take their interest away from each other, so in the end she gave up and just put Amy and Shadow's presents in Shadow's car, deciding that it wasn't worth the trouble to try and separate them long enough to even pay proper attention to what they were receiving.
Shadow once again carried Amy, but this time it was from the car to the door. Then he went back and got her presents out of the back seat, his scarf wrapped around his neck. He went back up the path and into the house to put them on the hall table when Amy went past him and grabbed his things before locking his car and shutting the door to it. "Amy, what are you-?" She kissed him on the cheek.
"I'd like you to stay here tonight. Everyone else is having sleep overs, why not you?"
"But didn't you have one with Rouge?"
"She cancelled it for me," said the pink hedgehog, the jewelry from Shadow glittering. "Shadow?"
"Yes, Rose?" he asked, going to check what was in the kitchen and hoping there wouldn't be anything in the fridge so that he could take her out, as uncharacteristic of him as that was.
"Are we a couple?" he paused before entering the kitchen and turned to her, surprised.
"Yes, I suppose we are," he said, a smile lighting up his face. Amy smiled back.
"Good. Because if we weren't I'd have to hurt you." Shadow snorted.
"As if you could," he said. They both laughed. This was the best Christmas either of them had experienced thus far.
Okay, so seeing as people actually liked Chocolate Rose (as surprising as that is), I decided to write a sort of sequel. And in all the stories with Sally in them, she's been portrayed as something as a jerk. Now, I like those stories (not because of the jerk-Sally), but I did want something where she was nice to Amy, and wasn't hurting her by being with Sonic. And seeing as this was already destined to be a ShadAmy, there would be no problem with that. I just hope I wrote this in such a way that the people who enjoyed Chocolate Rose will enjoy this just as much. O_o Sorry if it didn't. Please R&R, seeing as I love to hear your opinions (no flames though, please).
Disclaimer: She doesn't own any of the characters except for me. *sulks*
Once again, a girl has spurned him.
Disclaimer: She has not! She just said she hated me and didn't want to go out with me.
Gee, I wonder why...?
Amy: Ahem. Happy Holidays everyone! And a question for any Digimon lovers who might end up reading this: Would Merukimon be an interesting main character for a Christmas fic? GranDracmon certainly wouldn't.
Thank you Amy, thank you Disclaimer. HAPPY HOLIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAYS! Again. ^_^ Oh, and you aren't allowed to ask about the title. -_- Originally, it was going to be Peppermint Rose, but in the end it became... well you know.
