Disclaimer - I own none of the characters. They are copyrighted to SEGA. This is only a fan-made story and will not profit in any way.
~MS
That Fateful Recipe
~ Shadow x Amy Tribute ~
Ingredients
1 cup milk
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
And love, the secret ingredient ~
She never knew whose idea it was to bake pastry cream pies for Christmas. It was one of the recipes that were left taped by its corners to the refrigerator on the to-do list. Amy was expecting a dessert more on the lines of the traditional pumpkin pie after the annual turkey. Though quizzical by the change from the usual menu, the pies weren't a concern in comparison to the turkey that would cook for hours and require a regular check up. According to the recipe, the pies should take no more than an hour's worth of time. To makes things much more smooth and simple, Cream and Vanilla helped her cook the pies themselves. Making a simple filling didn't pose a challenge. Especially not for a couple of pastry pies.
"I'm sorry we can't help you finish the pies," Cream apologized, reluctantly wrapping her orange scarf around her neck, its length draping over her ivory winter coat. "Mother feels really bad about not having enough to cook with."
With a smile gracing her features, Amy took the recipe off the fridge, into her hand. "Don't worry about it, Cream! It's okay with me."
"Are you sure you don't want some help?"
"I'm sure!" Amy insisted, taking out the necessary daily products from the top shelf of the refrigerator. "It's going to be okay."
Cream reluctantly zipped up her coat the rest of the way and adjusted her scarf. "Thank you Amy. If you need help, please ask!"
"I will!" she assured the rabbit, setting three eggs on the counter and placing the carton back in the fridge. "Good luck!" Now alone in the kitchen, she took a measuring cup and two measuring spoons from the top shelf. After measuring the amounts of milk and butter, they joined the eggs in the refrigerator. Before reading the recipe over, her eyes caught a glimpse of the glass oven door, its light still left on. Amy looked down at her ingredient list a couple times, realizing there were three pies left to stay warm and not one as she thought there to be.
She'd have to triple the recipe.
Frustrated, she swung the fridge door open and the dairy products returned to the counter. How could she not notice that one pie filling wouldn't be enough? She almost regretted not taking the offer for help while she had the chance but she shook the thought away and returned to the measurements on the recipe, adding two servings more to the measuring cups. While she searched desperately for the sugar container, recognizable by its fading label that needed to be replaced, she heard the front door open from the kitchen.
"Hey guys, what's up?" At once Amy knew it was Sonic. An hour ago, he left for his morning run. "I didn't miss too much, did I?"
"No, nothing much happened." Hearing Tails' response clearly from the kitchen, Amy knew at once it was a lie. In the hour Sonic was gone, Knuckles and Rouge ended up engaging in one of their usual quarrels with Shadow as the mediator and since then, the Ultimate Lifeform had an angrier demeanor about him. It was difficult enough convincing him to even come over to celebrate with them but to act as a go-between didn't make things better. If anything, it showed patience on his part, but not without much displeasure. Fortunately, Sonic didn't question Tails any further with the matter.
Taking her attention away from the conversation in the main room, Amy took out the chilidogs that were prepared beforehand – an annual tradition that took place every Christmas Eve, courtesy of Sonic the Hedgehog himself. Amy mentally thanked herself for preparing it long before Cream and Vanilla had to go out grocery shopping. She carefully placed it on the table, making sure to keep her eyes away from the others. She was still somewhat edgy from the earlier quarrel that Sonic thankfully wasn't there to see.
"Thanks Ames!" Sonic said gratefully. Amy, despite her nerves, managed a cheerful trademark smile of hers.
"You didn't think I forgot, did you?" Sonic shook his head and leaned back in the nearest armchair.
"I couldn't see that happen for a second." He gave a thumbs up after trying the first chilidog. "Not bad, Ames!" From the corner of Amy's eye, she caught a quick and brief scowl on Shadow's face before he turned back to Knuckles and Rouge. Since he intervened, they stayed unusually silent, staring at the Christmas cartoon repeats on the television. "I heard from Tails you were looking after those pies for Cream."
"Yeah," Amy nodded, remembering the filling she had yet to finish in time. "I'm taking care of that for her."
"I'm sure you'll do great!" Like any other time, she could always count on Sonic to be faithful to her, regardless of her obsessive behaviour in the past. Though a changed individual in one year's time, she still found her thirteen year old self flattered by his compliment. "Are you sure you don't need some help though?"
"It'll be okay!" Amy replied, turning to head back to the kitchen. "I've got everything taken care of."
Back at the counter, she tried to organize the ingredients, putting away the leftovers back in the refrigerator in their respective places. Flour, vanilla and sugar… where did Cream tell her where they were last time they cooked together? Giving the bottom shelf a check, she found the sugar container and pulled it out. The last two letters were barely distinguishable as she remembered them to be. The vanilla and flour were still in a problematic spot – she didn't know the first place to look.
"Looks like you're in a hurry to me," Sonic replied, unconvinced, by the door. Amy looked to the tiled floor bashfully. Did she really look like she was hurrying to get everything done? Maybe, if Sonic noticed it. She frowned and measured three times the amount of sugar specified on the recipe.
"Sonic, really, I'm fi-"
Sonic turned his head back to the main room where Knuckles and Rouge still refused to say a word to each other, Tails absentmindedly watching the credits scroll down the television screen, and Shadow standing close by without any particular concentration on anything. With a grin creeping up on his face, he turned back to Amy, who fell silent and looked to him cautiously. "I don't believe that for a second. There's gotta be somebody who will help you." He took another chilidog from the platter. "Since Shadow isn't doing anything, why doesn't he help you?"
The ebony hedgehog who never budged in the last half an hour suddenly appeared animate again as he curiously inclined his head towards his blue rival. The scowl that seemed as though it was plastered directly to his face lessened. The change that should be so subtle, Amy saw clearly in his expression. The whole room fell quiet in the short amount of time that transpired since Shadow contemplated the idea – something he never would have done last Christmas. As quickly as he seemed interested by the idea, the frown once again became more prominent, leaving Amy to think his change of mood was her imagination.
"Fine…" With a skeptical glance towards Knuckles and Rouge, he left them to watch another repeat of a Christmas cartoon opening. Wordlessly, Tails took Shadow's former spot, getting the hint that the two still needed 'supervision.' Yet the two tailed fox couldn't help but feel the mutual shock that swept across the room.
"He's actually going to do it?" Knuckles asked, disbelievingly. Sonic chuckled and settled into the armchair, taking a bit of his chilidog.
Amy tried to push aside the awkward butterflies that swarmed her stomach. It was a constant sensation that she felt since her previous Christmas. It was as though all the memories came back to her; the decorating, the mistletoe, the gifts, the times they shared… She shook the memories away and concentrated on finding the flour and vanilla. Soon enough, she found the intimidating sized bag on the lower shelf. When she tried to lift the full bag, she struggled to move it off the ground. A pair of hands took hold of the bag, almost overlapping on her own. Amy felt her face warm to a rosy shade of pink.
"Do you need any help?" he offered.
Amy tried to think of the best, most sensible answer she could give without stumbling on her words but soon gave up and settled with a reluctant nod of her head. The bag was taken from her hands and placed it on the counter with relative ease. "Thank you," she managed, finding the vanilla bottle before her heart settled down to a normal pace.
She caught a quick glimpse of a smile as he looked to the recipe. "How did you want to do this?" he asked, not seeming at all irritated to be there like she anticipated. Amy took one more look at the instructions, trying not to think of how close they were to each other in the process.
"I'll get the milk heated up," Amy decided, surprised she wasn't stuttering while she spoke. She pointed at the second step on the page. "That's what you can do."
iIn a heatproof mixing bowl, beat egg yolks until smooth. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until pale yellow. Beat in the flour.i
"That's fine," he replied, quickly finding the mixing bowl on the end of the counter.
"Don't forget to triple the recipe!" Amy told him before looking for a saucepan.
Shadow looked down to the large bag of flour, sugar and nine eggs in front of him. As much as his memory went back, he never remembered even cracking open an egg in his life. He felt some of his confidence drop in the tip of a hat, looking once more to the eggs. Those i nine /i dreaded eggs. He hesitantly picked up the first one, unsure of what to do. Noticing Shadow having difficulty, Amy placed the saucepan on the stove and took one of the eggs in her hands. She banged it against the edge of the bowl and let the yolk pour out.
"Just like that," she said with a warm smile. "Now you try."
Following her demonstration, he carefully let the egg crack against the bowl. He poured the egg yolk out cautiously, much slower than Amy's example but a success all the same.
"I know you could do it!" she praised. The butterflies soon returned to unsettle her stomach as she poured all three cups of milk into the pan and turned on the heat. From experience, she knew it would take at least a few minutes for the liquid to reach boiling point. Trying to pass the time, she glanced over to the counter. By now, Shadow had broken all nine eggs but was awkwardly stirring the yolks to their intended, smooth mixture. Thinking to herself, Shadow never would have beaten together any ingredient before, she left her saucepan to warm up and stood quietly by Shadow, trying to think of the most suitable way she could offer her help. At times like these, she felt helpless. With Cream, it was a different story. They never hesitated to ask each other for help. Being with Shadow, on the other hand, was a completely different matter.
"Um, Shadow…" she began, seeing the yolks half mixed, half in their whole form. "It's… like this." At that point in time, she felt all sense of self control disappear; a barrier she promised to never break but like all things, it had to come to an end. The Amy Rose in control would have grabbed another utensil to demonstrate. However, her hand landed on another – one that should have instinctively moved away but didn't under her touch. A few examples into her example, she stopped and pulled away with a cherry red face. "Then you just do that with the flour and sugar!" she added before hurrying back to the stove, completely ashamed of herself. She could have sworn she could have heard a chuckle from the counter and her blush deepened.
She temporarily forgot her embarrassment as she saw the milk bubbling rapidly. She pulled it from the burner and reluctantly returned to the counter. She carefully poured it into the bowl, careful not to look at Shadow.
"Just beat that in and I'll take over from there," she said.
"Thank you for the help," he replied, sending another blush across her face.
"It's nothing, really," Amy denied. She put the saucepan on top of the marble block on the counter and moved the bowl over the pot of boiling water that Cream thankfully took care of for her before she had to leave. About to reach for her stirring spoon and balancing the bowl in one hand, she found it wasn't there and almost panicked. From the corner of her eye, she saw Shadow smirk as he began to stir the mixture himself.
"It looked like you needed some help," he explained, quick and to the point.
"T-Thanks!" she stuttered, knowing by now, it was impossible to hide her face from her friend, or was that the appropriate word to describe him? After the mixture thickened and cooked for the next couple of minutes. Amy put in the butter and vanilla and began to tend to the dishes while Shadow wrapped it up and placed in the fridge. As she moved, however, she felt the slightest brush of lips against her warm cheek. Before she could question if it was a part of her imagination though, the front door opened.
"We're back!" Cream said, a much happier mood about her than before.
"Hi Cream!" Amy said, more than grateful for her return. "How did it go?"
"We found everything!" she beamed. "How was the cooking?"
"Oh… it was…" she paused for a moment. "It was great!" Was that truly the best way she could have described a whole, awkward but wonderful, minutes with Shadow?
"She and Shadow had it all under control, Cream!" Sonic added, with a smug look on his face.
"Mr. Shadow helped too?" Amy wished at that moment the floor would have swallowed her whole. The feelings she felt around Shadow, Cream knew very well. She could tell by the smile that graced her friend's face that she was more than happy to hear the news. "That's wonderful!"
As tempting as it was, Sonic never planned to tell Amy that it was him who came up with the whole pie idea. He knew from knowing her so long, she could have cooked the filling on her own. But why not pass up the opportunity to arrange a get together? And the ingredients Cream and Vanilla thought they needed? A sonic second trip to the pantry with the ingredients he removed from the cupboard took care of that. In the end, it was safe to say it all worked according to plan.
He wasn't a secret matchmaker for nothing after all.