Mistletoe ~ Part One

She hadn't expected him to comply with her request. She knew the black hedgehog almost too well, just enough to know he wasn't the sort of hedgehog to enjoy holiday festivities, or even holidays themselves. Especially Christmas. During December, he became more angst-like, more anti-social than he already was, and even more distant from her every year. Not just her but people in general.

Nevertheless, she was happy and surprised he accepted her offer to spend time with her this year. Amy Rose was the happiest, pinkest, hedgehog alive. Though curiosity kept pestering her. Why was he so cold during the holidays anyway?

She sighed, burying her muzzle deeper in the warm, pink, fuzzy scarf, rubbing her arms in an up and down motion to warm herself up. It was freezing. She hadn't anticipated the cold weather. She chose to wear a red long sleeve that was long enough to almost be a dress, black pants, and her red snow boots. The wind that whispered by sent shivers down her spine. She wished he'd hurry up already.

The park was beginning to start the holiday festivities, and he was nowhere in sight. Mobius has been preparing for the Winter Carnival for two months, and all their hard work was about to pay off. . . As it began getting darker the lights flickered on and the air became colder. Still no sign of him.

"Oh I really hope he didn't stand me up..." She thought aloud, whimpering into her scarf. Her nose was uncomfortably cold.

"No just got lost," spoke a voice from behind her. She turned with a startled gasp, her hands at her sides. There he was, in a red scarf, fluffy jacket, signature gloves and shoes; the infamous Shadow the Hedgehog. He leaned against the tree, analyzing her attire, his crimson eyes drifting up and down as if he was tired. It was a little strange to see the pink hedgehog in anything except her usual dress, though he didn't think anything bad of it. "Did I startle you?" He questioned, after his eyes found hers.

The pink hedgehog nodded, a small smile drifting across her muzzle. "Only a little... I'm glad you came..." Her words were laced with relief. He raised a brow, crossing his arms raising the question in his mind. "Did you think I wasn't coming?"

"Ah...well...Yeah I was here for a while..." She grinned big with a nervous chuckle.

He only shook his head, stepping closer to her until he was just in front of her. He placed two fingers under her chin, lifting her head so they locked eyes. "Amy I won't abandon you. If I said I'll be where I'm needed, That's where I'll be." He told her softly.

The hedgehog nodded her head in response, understanding. He turned his head, dropping his hands at his sides, on looking the carnival in motion. She modestly tapped her fingers together, her cheeks holding a warm glow, neither of them noticed. A strong silence passed between them and the cold as Amy recollected her thoughts. When Shadow was tired of observing the scene, he turned his head to gaze at her once again.

"I hope you didn't plan the evening standing around here did you?" He played her a sly smirk, noticing how she all the sudden she became nervous and fidgety. He couldn't deny how he loved catching her off guard like that. . .She was rather cute, all nervous like that. (though he'd never publicly admit that he thought so).

It took Amy a second to find her voice, clearing her throat a few times, as she recollected herself finally. "Oh no, of course not." She smiled taking his hand and marched forward, pulling him along. Truth be told, he was not expecting that! Now it was his turn to feel flustered, though he didn't understand why. She'd always take the lead on their small adventures. Nowadays, the two would visit almost more often than not. Being less active in "saving the world from constant evil" act, the two could take time for themselves, and relax from all the hero work. Even in those times, the two found themselves regularly meeting up with one another, and particularly becoming very close. So close even that one of them had somewhat fallen for the other. He dared not tell his secret, to him he thought to tell would just be pointless. The friendly Rose claimed she was in love with another and would just turn him down. Truthfully though, he subconsciously feared her rejection more than anything else in the world. More than anything he just wanted to. . .

"Hey, we're here!" The Pink hedgehog exclaimed, waving her hand in front of his face, startling him from his own thoughts. He blinked a few times, looking over her shoulder at the entrance of the carnival, then gazed back at her shinning green eyes. "Are you Okay?" She asked obviously worried. The expression her features held showed and told all. "You zoned out for a minute there."

He shook his head slightly, running a hand through his quills for a mere second. "Yes, fine. I apologize." He looked up at the sign above the entrance, reading the fancy text beautiful printed in red. "Mr. Leingmungh's Fabulous Winter Carnival...Interesting title..." He muttered, his eyes traveling back towards the snow under his feet as he watched the flakes of white slowly fall down to earth.

"I guess so. Kinda long." The hedgehog laughed a little, "Come on, let's go inside." She ran up to the window of the ticket booth, bouncing up and down on her toes. "Hi there! I'll take forty tickets!" She said reaching for her purse with a very excited demeanor. She stopped feeling a familiar hand on her shoulder, and gazed back at that hands owner, whom was Shadow, waving a finger at the girl.

"No Ms. Rose. I'll pay." He said suddenly startling the girl. She squealed rapidly waving her hands back and forth to stop him.

"What!? No way, you can't!" She shouted.

"Why Not?" The hedgehog asked raising a brow.

"Because it's...I have enough to pay for the two of us!" She said, frantic to stop him in his tracks.

"So...It's really no trouble, Ms. Rose."

"But you can't! It's just...You- I- eh...You don't need to pay, really it's okay."

"But I want to..." He chuckled a little at the way she was acting. He shoved his hands in his jacket pocket's to keep them away from the cold. Even with gloves on it was still cold. "You've already paid for me enough times to count how much I owe you." His statement so true, and without the intention of giving up. Every outing the two went on together, had led to Amy Rose paying for everything and spending money on him. Now it was his turn, and this time he wasn't going to let her talk him out of it. "Amy Please...Just let me?"

Amy sighed, stepping aside and letting him walk up to the window, muttering a small 'thank you' to him. She turned her head as he talked with the man in the box office, noticing her friends inside already, laughing and talking to each other before they dispersed within the crowd, disappearing in the variety of faces.

"Ready?" He asked, catching her attention and handing her half of the tickets he had purchased. Then the two proceeded inside the gate. "So...What's the plan?"

"Well I was thinking we could ride some rides and look around at the Art Galleries. What do you think?" Well, he'd never been there before, nor done anything like this, so all he did was shrug and nod his head.

"It sounds fine, Rose." He said shoving his cold fingers back into his pocket's. She began speaking again about some of the attractions at the carnival, though it was hard to tell if he was listening or not. He seemed to be somewhat in a daze. His expression was calm but clearly out of it. She started poking his chest and repeatedly, over and over until he finally responded and snapped out of it, halting in his footsteps. "What?" He asked plainly.

"I asked you a question." She said hugging her arms. A worried expression took place of her former happy one.

"You did?" He asked. "What did you ask?"

"I asked what ride you wanted to go on first." She repeated, titling her head to the side and placing a finger on her bottom lip as if in thought. "Shadow...are you sure you're okay? you seem to be day dreaming a lot."

A red color that could resemble a rose flushed his cheeks with embarrassment, thankfully turning his head before she noticed. "I told you already, nothing's wrong." He said, perfectly masking the fact he was very shy for the moment. Not like she'd notice his feelings for her anyway.

"Do you zone out often Shadow?" She asked in the sort of tone a therapist might use.

"What are you, my doctor?" He smirked. In return she smirked back and played along.

"Maybe."

"Maybe in your dreams." He replied with somewhat of a funny attitude.

"Answer the question. What do you want to ride?" She said, tapping her foot against the crunchy snow below, noticeably becoming impatient.

He shrugged, smirking at her once again, "What do you want to ride?~" Shadow poked her nose, causing her to blush and make a tiny but cute sneeze. "She frowned a little covering nose with her hands, her eyes then giving a fair warning to stop.

Her eyes darted around the carnival, looking every where until she spotted on of her favorite rides. She gasped and, like a child, started jumping up and down in her excitement. "Let's ride that one!" She shouted with excitement, awaiting his reply.

Just by looking at the ride she pointed at, it already gave the feeling he might up-chuck his lunch from earlier. It was called 'The Tower of DOOM!' He felt his knees weaken at the fifty thousand foot ride! "You want to ride that thing!?" He watched as it took its passengers up and all the way to the top, then halting as it left its victims in the suspense to look down at the world around them, he could imagine looking down and where he'd see people, he would see ants. Then it suddenly dropped, sending screams of the passengers into the foggy air with fear, but also with excitement! Something like that was sure to make him dizzy.

"Come on, it's not as bad as it looks!" Amy said taking his hand and started leading him towards the ride, which he did everything in his power to resist, but ended up being dragged all the way there.

Later, Shortly after getting off the ride, the both of them were dizzy and sick to their stomachs. Amy could barely walk, her legs felt so weak that Shadow had to help her walk, nearly carrying her.

"Not as bad as it looks, huh?!" He said staring down at her with half lidded eyes, just barely able to focus on her. She was panting. Drool slid down her chin as she moaned in pain, staring down at the ground as if it was moving far away from her.

"No..." She groaned looking up at him, giving a forced smile. "It was way worse." She let her head fall limp against his shoulder. "Let's ride something less dizzy." She trailed off in to a soft mumble.

He felt his breath hitch, not expecting her to get that comfortable. He felt nervous all of a sudden, his fingers starting to shake underneath her. He could probably blame that on the weather if anyone asked. He shuffled over to a nearby bench and sat her down, making sure she sat up. "Try and relax a minute. " He told her.

She sat up, looking around as her body started to overcome its sickness. Surprisingly, she was up and about in very little time, already blabbering about all the rides she wanted to ride next.

"You're going to make yourself sick." Shadow chuckled, standing from the bench when he too overcame the dizziness.

"Shadow, they're not all like this one." She protested placing her hands on her hips.

"I'm sure they're not as bad as this one either, right?" He smirked, knowing he just got on her 'bad list'.

"Well, fine!"She huffed crossing her arms. "Sit here and do nothing."

The two familiar hands of their owner, laid them on her shoulders as he smirked, almost whispering as he spoke by her ear. "Now why would I do that? I came here to spend time with you, Amy Rose~"

Her face lit up a rosy red color, as she twiddled her fingers nervously. He could feel her shoulder's tensing underneath his hands. He removed them, returning them to the warmth of his jacket pockets, watching her shyly look down at the ground. He rolled his eyes and took her hand, pulling her forward to start walking, much to her surprise.

"I think it's my turn to pick a ride." He said pulling her along. She followed absentmindedly, watching the back of his quills, as the two made their way through the carnival.

Mistletoe ~ Part two

It was warm, a solitude of brown warmth emanating through the Styrofoam and on his chilly hands. The smell was hypnotic in a way, and no matter how much it burned his tongue, it was still sweet and addicting. No wonder why It was called hot chocolate.

Amy had finished chatting with the cashier, while shadow inspected the drink in his hand. She stood next to him biting into a candied Apple, dripping with Carmel syrup. "Hey Shadow, ready to go?" She asked him, as he sipped the liquid, nodding his head again.

They both followed along the snow path, done with riding rides for the night, as they had decided to just take a nice little stroll through the carnival and enjoy the area that was more relaxing to be in. The ground was covered in flowers and trees in all shapes and sizes, creating patterns and shapes on the ground. A true art to anyone who enjoyed gardening. It was comfortably overwhelming with happiness. The plants here created that sort of presence.

Shadow and Amy kind of stood there, lost for words at the display of lights and plants that circled the area. "Wooowww," Amy said finally speaking up as she stepped into the winter garden. "They really did a good job this year." She said smiling at the little flowery wonderland.

"How'd they get these plants to survive the cold..." He wondered, looking around.

"Well...I don't know much about it, except that they plant them at the right time, and keep them in a warm place, feed them and water them, usual stuff. But it's a little sad because their leaves start to fall off the very next morning." She said a little saddened as she gracefully slid her fingers down one of the flowers purple petals.

Shadow looked on at the display, sipping down the rest of his coco before walking ahead. He licked his lips exhaling with satisfaction. The chocolate drink was tasty, he had to remind himself later to get a hold of some when he had the opportunity.

The duo took their time admiring the sites in the chilly weather, but with the silence becoming almost too awkward to bare, Amy spoke up. "So, did you have a good time?" She asked hopefully. He answered with a subtle nod that pleased her infinitely. "I'm glad you decided to join me tonight. I would have been wandering around this place all by myself, with no one to talk to." She said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "Sonic and Tails would have been too preoccupied to pay any attention to me. Or even notice I'm here...I don't mind, I just would have been lonely.

If Shadow recalled correctly, being alone was not a very pleasant experience. He understood full and well. "That's why I asked you to come with me..." She said shrugging a little and glancing over towards him, a small smile on her face. "I've had more fun with you than I have had chasing Sonic."

Shadow laughed a little, tilting his head. "Oh please, how is that fun in the slightest."

"Precisely." Amy giggled a little covering her mouth with her warm hands.

Shadow smiled back down at her, before it faltered as he gazed at the snow on the ground. "Well truthfully...I am happy that you invited me here. If not...Let's just say I wouldn't be particularly myself." He shrugged, though he didn't know how that made any sense, he wasn't exactly himself around her either. "Christmas isn't something I take too kindly."

That surprised her. "What? What does that mean?" She said confused.

"I don't find reason in this holiday. And I really don't care for it." He explained short and simple. He wasn't a holiday person.

Amy gasped with a sheer look of horror that confused him greatly. "How could you!" She said, raising more question marks in his mind. "Are you kidding me!? This holiday does too have reason! And you should care!" She said causing him to roll his eyes.

"Nothing you tell me is going to change my mind..." He said not too happy by the shouting she was exhibiting.

"Pffttt- then give me good reason why you don't care!" She demanded, folding her arms.

"You don't want to know..." He said twisting his head around so he wasn't looking at her anymore. Any second now she was going to start making those big Disney eyes and he'd have no free will but to give into her every word.

"I do too want to know!" She said shaking his arm. He rolled his eyes to look back at her and tell her no, but against his better instincts he ended up falling for those big green, sparkly Disney eye's. He made a nervous grin drawing his arm back, but he couldn't look away. they were almost hypnotic. "Please tell me Shadow-kun~"

"Eh?" He blinked a few seconds, frowning a little. He didn't really like that nick name she always gave him. "Hmph...fine..." He sighed, watching his breath fog up in the air before gazing back down at the snow. "No one ever cared about it in the first place." He began. "Every year on the Ark when this so called holiday came about, everyone was always too busy to pay attention to her. It was nothing unusual, the scientists were always like that. Even Gerald. He hadn't given her a thought or time of day most of the time, mostly because of his work. But every year Christmas came, Maria would be in the spirit and trying to get everyone aboard the Ark involved. But still no one paid her any attention. I would have done something, but I didn't even know what Christmas was. As she got older she just kept to herself about it. the loneliness had just become a routine, Maria didn't even want to see me on the holiday's. That's why I don't care...I don't care about a holiday no one had ever cared about in the first place."

Amy stood beside him in silence, before smiling softly and taking his hand in hers gently. "Oh Shadow...Haven't you learned by now you shouldn't dwell on the past?" She giggled a little causing him to blush. "If Maria where here, she'd want you to be happy, doing what she never could do. You should have fun Shadow! Enjoy something new, embrace the feeling, not hide from it." She said surprising him. She was like an angel. A wise angel personally sent down from Heaven, just for him.

The pink hedgehog wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling into the fluff of his jacket, sighing contently. "Please don't isolate yourself, being alone is never fun. Especially on Christmas. " Shadow took no hesitation in embracing her form, shutting his eyes, and taking in her scent. "You should come stay with me...All of our friends are going to have a sleep over... Sort of." She said giggling a little.

"If you want me to..." He said patting her head and tussling her bangs. The two held their embrace for a moment longer before a pile of snow came tumbling from the tree's and onto their heads. Amy squealed jumping back as she shivered from the chill.

"Oh, that was cold!" She said as Shadow started brushing the cold wet snow off her back, and quills. When she recollected herself from the sudden chill she rubbed the back of her neck, to see if she could regain any warmth. "I guess there's a lot of snow up in the-" Amy paused, upon looking up her face went bright red with embarrassment, realizing what they were standing underneath. Shadow raised a brow, looking up as well. There was a green plant hanging down from a tree branch above their heads that was tied delicately with a pink ribbon. "Oh boy..." Amy gulped.

"What's that?" Shadow asked, puzzled by the plant hanging off the tree branch. It looked like some type of decoration, but he wasn't sure.

Amy lowered her head to look at him tapping her fingers together nervously. "It's...It's Mistletoe."

"Mistletoe?" He asked again looking at her strangely.

She'd hoped she didn't have to explain this to him, but it wouldn't matter anyhow. "Well..." She sighed. "It's a sort of Christmas tradition. That if two people stand under it, they...th-they have to kiss...the plant symbolizes love..." She chuckled nervously.

Light bulbs went off in Shadow's head, as his face turned darker than the red streaks on his head. A wide smirk came across his face, as he stood up strait like a gentlemen, giving her a very mischievous look. "Oh it's tradition is it?" He asked with a sly tone.

Amy nodded her head slowly, watching him as he stepped towards her. "Y-yes, b-but we don't have to...Unless you want to.." She trailed off, mumbling the last part to herself.

She backed up, her back pressing against the back of the tree, swallowing the knot in her throat. He used his hand to lean over her, much to her modesty she looked down. "But what if I wanted to?" He asked, lifting her chin up gently with two fingers. "Would you let me?"

She shivered, feeling his hot breathe linger against her lips, and all she could do was nod her head slowly, unable to move her mouth or form words. Their eyes fell slowly to close as their lips connected, sharing a sweet soft kiss.

It could have lasted for ever, at least that's how it felt. Like an infinite pleasure, such a joy had to be treasured. They both pulled away simultaneously locking eyes with each other in silence. After the long moment before Amy awoke from her little day dream, she cleared her throat and started brushing off her clothes for no apparent reason.

Funny, though she never dreamed of giving away her first kiss to him, but she did and hadn't regret it in the slightest. Finally, after finding her words she smiled softly up at him, "That was..." She paused thinking of a word to describe it. "Romantic."