Amy sped up. "Shadow?" The black hedgehog had been avoiding her for months (three, if you want the specific number) for a reason she didn't know. He acted perfectly fine around Sonic, she knew. At the thought of the blue hero she frowned. She had eventually realized her supposed "love" for Sonic was actually just an obsession, and had slowly (but surely) started falling for Shadow (and it was real this time).

After she had admitted it to him (she wasn't shy about these things, and she had made sure it wasn't just an obsession with him before telling) he had started avoiding her. At that moment she was in the mall, forcing her way through the crowd towards the retreating obsidian figure. Suddenly Sonic was in front of her, with a smile on his face.

"Hey Ames."

"Not now Sonic!" The blue hero's face registered shock as she pushed past him and continued pushing towards Shadow, who was almost at the exit. "Shadow!" She called, she saw him pause and look back, then hurry forwards, faster than before. In a few seconds he was out the door.

When she reached the doors and looked at the snow, she only saw twin tracks, revealing which way the Ultimate Life-form had gone, but they disappeared at the edge of the parking lot, which told her he had used Chaos Control. "Darn it Shadow!" She growled. The pink hedgie turned and stomped back to her car, grateful for the fact that she had at least done all of her shopping before, this time she was only there to do some window shopping.

She started up the car, turned the heater up, and then exited the lot and drove home. Sonic was watching her from the entrance of the mall, with a thoughtful look on his face.

Amy went into her house and slammed the door, making the wreath on it swing from side to side. "Curse it." She muttered as she went into the kitchen and started making herself a hot chocolate. Why was he avoiding her? Shadow wasn't the sort of person who wouldn't tell her he didn't return her feelings.... if in fact, he didn't love her.

Grumbling, the pink hedgehog put whipped cream on top of her drink and started sipping it. A pleasant warmth spread through her body, similar to the warmth she felt when she gave someone a hug (a true hug). The phone rang. She went into the hallway and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Hi Amy!" Came Tails's voice.

"Oh hey Tails." She rested the phone on her shoulder and held it there with her cheek, the mug was held between her hands, warming them.

"Sonic said he saw you at the mall today, but you were in a hurry because you had to meet someone. He was going to call you but G.U.N. called and told him Eggman was acting up again, so he asked me to call you and say hi."

"Thanks Tails, tell him I said "Hi" too."

"I will." Said Tails, from the sound of his voice Amy could tell he was smiling. "So how are you Amy?"

"Okay. Just settling down to wait for Christmas to arrive."

"Amy, it's only a day away, are you sure that you can settle down?" The fox's voice was joking, and held a barely contained laugh behind it.

"I'm sure I can." She replied, firmly.

"Alright then, I'll see you at the party at Shadow's tomorrow." The fox hung up. Amy stood frozen, the receiver still on her shoulder as the dial tone played in her ear. A Christmas party at Shadow's house? Shadow didn't host parties, he was dragged to them by Rouge. She must have misheard.

Maybe she should call Tails again and make sure...? No, that wouldn't be right. She put down the receiver, then emptied her mug and put it in the sink before going outside to check her mailbox. Inside, tucked around the back, in the dark, was a plain white envelope addressed to Amy.

There was no stamp, so it must have either been delivered personally, or by Sonic, because no one else she knew had been by her house that she had been able to see. Only Shadow would have been able to pull it off.

She went inside and sat on the couch before carefully prying the envelope open. She pulled out a simple pale green card with golden lettering on the front saying "You are invited". She flipped it open and stared at the message inside. In neat blue ink was written the date, time, and location of a Christmas party. The signature at the bottom was Shadow's. The location... Shadow's house. She stared at that invitation for awhile. It fell to the floor.

Why would he invite her to his house if he wished to avoid her? Until Amy fell asleep that night the question whirled around her head, without an answer.

The doorbell rang. Amy sat up, after the third ring she went to the door and answered after checking to see who it was. Cream smiled at her friend. "Merry Christmas Amy!" Rouge was there too, also smiling at the pink hedgehog in pajamas.

"Good morning." Said Amy sleepily.

"Get dressed girl! The party starts in half an hour!" Amy blinked, alarmed. Half an hour? She dashed back into the house and picked up the invitation, she hadn't really read the time before. But there it was, in navy blue handwriting: 10:00.

"Why is it in the morning?!" Amy yelled as she dashed up the stairs. Cream closed the door and locked it while Rouge went to the stairs and called up.

"Probably because Shadow thinks it should be almost all day long!" Then, as an afterthought, Rouge asked, "Did you want me to help you with your makeup?"

"No thanks!" Called Amy.

"Come on! I could give you an astounding look!"

"I don't want to wear any makeup today!"

"You've got to be joking!" Said Rouge, sounding stunned, she never went a day without makeup unless it was unavoidable. Amy smiled and quickly slipped into a green dress she'd bought for the Christmas party that inevitably happened each year. It had little Christmas trees embroidered around the hem and cuffs, which looked as if they were planted on the brown border.

The pine needles of the trees were a darker green than the dress, which was the colour of moss. She put on a green headband and some dark brown boots (which she wouldn't have worn with the dress if it wasn't so cold) and then came down the stairs.

"How do I look?" She asked, turning in a circle.

"Perfect!" Said Rouge. "And next time, take me with you when you decide to go get killer dresses like that!" Cream giggled when Rouge said that.

"You look nice Amy." Was all the rabbit said around her smile.

"Now let's go!" Said Rouge, anxious to get to the party where her boyfriend (Knuckles) was waiting. Amy grabbed her coat and slipped it on before going outside, down the steps, across the sidewalk, and into Rouge's car. The bat turned up the heat until Amy wondered how she could keep her coat on and act as if she wasn't affected, and they pulled away from the curb.

Predictably, the bat turned the radio on and raised the volume on some Christmas love song. Something she did every year, whether or not she was driving friends to the party, or if she was hosting the party herself.

When they reached the forest, which seemed to be covered in a blanket of white, she turned the radio down until they couldn't hear it before clicking it off. They drove through the snow in silence. Amy was fascinated, she'd never been to Shadow's house before, she'd only seen pictures of it.

As far as she knew, only Rouge had been there before, and because of this, Rouge had had to give everyone else (who was not going to be driving with her) directions. When they arrived at the imposing mansion, that seemed like it had just mysteriously appeared in the forest one day, there were already a few cars (and a van) parked outside in the driveway. Rouge parked her car behind them and then unlocked the doors. "Everybody out." She said, grinning.

They stepped out into the cold and it hit Amy like a blast, making her wish, like she had every other year she'd had to drive with Rouge, that the bat didn't turn the heat up so high. They crunched through the snow to the stairs and then the porch, and Rouge knocked on the door while Cream and Amy hugged themselves to keep warm. Shadow opened the door, his face was blank as usual.

He stepped to the side wordlessly. They walked inside. Amy shivered as she looked around herself, even though it was warm inside, the decorations made her feel as if she was back outside.

She suspected Rouge had helped the black hedgehog decorate his house. She almost jumped when he stepped behind her and helped her take off her coat, before going to Rouge and Cream and helping them as well. She looked at him, maybe he liked her after all...?

But she couldn't call him helping her out of her coat special treatment, seeing as he had helped Cream and Rouge as well. She followed them to the living room, where everyone else was, talking. Sonic saw Amy and waved. She waved back. Vector was sleeping in an armchair, he had obviously fallen asleep after arriving. The crocodile wasn't a morning person.

Espio was meditating in a corner, and Charmy was whizzing around, somehow managing to not spill the food he had on a plate for himself, or the drink he had. Shadow left them there, and moved off.

Amy went to the buffet table to choose her breakfast. She ended up taking some bacon and putting it between toast with butter. Sourdough toast. As she quietly ate her meal, she watched everyone else.

They all had things to talk about. A year ago, she would have been the same. But now... all she really would have had to talk about where things like "I saw this dress here" or "I saw some really nice lipstick there". Nothing that could really include guys... and after that she would have only been a listener. She sighed.

"Is the party not to your liking?" Whispered a voice in her ear. She jumped.

"Shadow!" He looked at her, then repeated his question. "Er... no, they're just fine. I'm just thinking." He nodded.

"I was just thinking too."

"About what?" She asked, curious.

"You'll find out." He said, then disappeared. She frowned. Just great, her curiosity seemed to have driven him away. 'Way to go Amy.' She thought to herself sourly. Shadow reappeared by Sonic, easily sliding into the blue hedgehog's conversation with Knuckles. Amy watched him. He was just so... perfect... no, that wasn't what could describe him properly... flawless.

Utterly flawless. She knew that both words had almost the same meaning pinned to them, but flawless seemed to work better with Shadow. She sighed and put down her plate, her appetite gone.

"Bring out the presents!" Yelled Sonic. Tails started laughing. When Charmy started chanting "let's have the presents", Espio opened one eye to glare him into silence.

So the morning passed into afternoon, some dancing was done, presents were opened (Amy received a rose pendant, made from ruby, from Shadow), and gossip was swapped. And Shadow didn't talk to Amy after their brief exchange that morning.

Then, in the evening, when Amy was coming back from the bathroom, she almost collided with Shadow. He gripped her shoulders and prevented them from falling. Amy stared into his eyes... such fiery red eyes..... she was snapped out of her reverie by his asking if she was okay. "Yeah." She said.

He looked at her for a moment before telling her to follow him. They went into a room full of paintings. Amy gasped. Most of them were of her. "I've been trying to capture your face on canvas." She looked at him, speechless. "I haven't been able to succeed." He came closer. "It is nearly impossible to make anything that comes close to rivaling the real thing." He was now so close that their noses were almost touching.

"What are you trying to say to me Shadow?" She asked, trying to sound strong. But her voice shook.

"Amy Rose, do you believe in love at first sight?" He asked softly. She nodded uncertainly, she knew it had been like that for Cream and Tails. "Then let me tell you something Amy." He took hold of her hands, and whispered into her ear. "I have loved you since the day I first saw you." Then he kissed her. She leaned forward and returned the kiss. After a few minutes they broke away.

"Why did you start avoiding me then?" She asked as they went back downstairs to the party.

"I didn't know how to react, I had been wanting to hear you say you loved me for so long, but had made myself believe you never would say it, that it was a shock to actually hear you say it." He stopped and drew her to himself, wrapping her in a hug. She rested her head on his shoulder and returned the hug.

"Well then let me say it again." She smiled up at him. "I love you Shadow." They kissed again. The kiss stopped abruptly when a camera flash disturbed them.

"Finally!" Said Sonic, smiling. He was holding mistletoe over them.

"I am going to kill you Faker!" Roared Shadow, leaping at Sonic, who dodged. The black hedgehog zoomed after Sonic, yelling threats.

"Well how does it feel, being girlfriend to Shadow the Hedgehog?" Asked Rouge as they went back to the living room.

"It feels wonderful." Said Amy in a dreamy voice. Her Christmas was now perfect. Even if it had rained instead and left slush for Christmas morning, she wouldn't have cared. She had everything she wanted.

Finis is what I think they would say. :P Merry Christmas to you all! ^_^ May you all get everything you asked for (and other goodies besides that), and may I get what I want! XD But seriously, Merry Christmas, and if you don't celebrate Christmas, then Happy Holidays and may you enjoy whatever holiday you celebrate! ^_^

Disclaimer: CrazyNutSquirrel doesn't own anyone in this story, she doesn't own the pairing either (that would be totally absurd). Unfortunately though, she does own me, and the inspiration for this story. So R&R if you liked it (which I seriously doubt).

Stop trying to drive the reviewers away Disclaimer. HAPPY HOLIDAYS/MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!! ^_^