'Was that…your first kiss?' asked Amy, blushing. Something about his reaction told her that might have been the case.

Shadow nodded, Maria did kiss him on the cheek before numerous times, but that was different. He stroked Amy's cheek lightly and smiled, albeit a small smile.

'It was, Amy..' then he kissed her again 'and that was my second.'

Her breath caught in her throat for a second, to experience these amazing feelings so soon after their first kiss. And he initiated it, learning fast.

'H…hope it wasn't too bad of a kiss,' she was blushing a lot now. Amy blinked and took his hand, gingerly. 'Can you stay here with me tonight? I miss you when you are away. I will understand if you can't….But I would like you to'

Shadow held her hand, 'I missed you too, Amy. I'll stay as you ask me to. I will need to go somewhere tomorrow, though.'

Amy smiled and nuzzled into his soft fur, happy that he was so close, not for away fighting his own battles. He held her closer, and there was nowhere else she would rather be, than right here, in this moment with Shadow.

They talked in the soft light from the moon that filtered in through the curtains until they got too tired. Amy snuggled up to Shadow with her head on his chest. She heard his breathing get steady and slow and looked up at his face. He was sound asleep already, and his face looked more relaxed. It usually had a scowl or a frown even when he wasn't on guard, meaning he was always thinking about something and had known life's harsher side. Amy smiled and blushed again, with not very appropriate things concerning Shadow running through her mind, until she too fell asleep, so comfortable in his arms he might as well be made out of feathers and clouds.

...

It was afternoon when Amy woke up, stretching then looked around when her bed appeared to be emptier than she thought. Shadow wasn't there, but his smell was, and she could still feel his kiss on her lips, she vaguely remembered him kissing her in early morning.

A now cold cup of coffee was on her nightstand, along with some pastrys they didn't have in their fridge…So he must have made them from scratch. Her dad wouldn't do that so it probably was…Shadow.

She smiled and squeaked happily, this has been the best morning so far, minus he fact that Shadow wasn't here anymore. When she got up to eat her breakfast she saw a pineapple plush toy next to the plate. She sniffed it and it had Shadow's smell on it too. The pineapple had a cute face on it, something she wouldn't imagine Shadow picking out on his own…

Awhh…he is so sweet…I should get him something in return

There was a paper note under the plush. Amy picked it up and saw a handwritten message. The font was a little hard to read, since the skill wasn't used too often…

'I will need to come check on this pineapple until the day we can eat it'

Tears came to Amy's eyes. This was too cute, he meant their meetings won't ever stop.

She smiled and hugged the plush toy close to her. Shadow already meant so much to her, and it was clear that she meant a lot to him too.

Amy got ready and headed out for a day of shopping, it was always fun. But now she could look for a gift for someone special.

I wonder what Shadow likes?

...

The alarms sounded loud in the air as Shadow dodged the shots from the robot guards that were chasing him. For some reason a lot of them were built for high speed chases, which made it harder to escape than usual. He couldn't teleport out of here either, something was stopping him. This was a lot more difficult than getting the first Chaos emerald.

Suddenly something hit him from behind. Shadow gasped and turned around, punching out the robot that was chasing him, putting him out of commission until it could repair itself.

The spinning circle that just hit him stopped and now looked like a hedgehog.

'What's your problem?…jerk' growled Shadow. The other guy had a similar style, but his face was way more annoying and his quills were bright blue rather than black.

'Name's Sonic' the guy introduced himself. 'You have a Chaos emerald I came here for. Hand it over!'

'Well…let me think about it…No. It belongs to me.' Shadow kicked him and ran for the exit, but Sonic caught up with him.

'Who are you anyway?... And why are you after the emeralds?'

'If you want chit chat you came to the wrong place,' growled Shadow and sped up even more, running through hallways and dodging weapons as it was his nature. 'Why are you?'

'To stop Eggman…I need their power!'

'Who's Eggman?' Shadow was confused about this feud between an egg and a frozen ice-cream fast food chain…at least that's what he read about those sounded like.

'The guy that owns this base! Who threatens to take over the world! Eggman Robotnik, you know.'

Shadow's eyes went wide. 'Robotnik?!...get lost, I have no business with you'

Before Sonic could protest, Shadow stopped at the entrance to the base, letting Sonic get ahead of him and teleported out of there.

...

His back still hurt a little from where he got hurt, but it was nice to be back at Amy's place.

'Shadow!' she ran up and hugged him as he walked through the door. 'I got a present for you! And thank you, I liked the breakfast you made.'

He hugged her back, refraining from kissing her just yet since her dad was nearby. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable. 'Really? What is it, Amy?'

She grinned happily and pinned a pink butterfly to the fabric above his glove. 'I am sorry it is so girly, I wasn't too sure what you liked s..so….' She stuttered, noticing his expression.

'It is just like you…' he smiled and nodded. 'I will wear it, Amy'

She giggled. He sounded like he was taking on a mission, even though it was just a pin. His smile was lighting up more and more, which made Amy happier.

'Oh and I got you a t-shirt you might like and some snacks and yeah…are you okay? You are wincing every other time you move,' She put her hand on his shoulder, concerned.

'M…yes. My back hurts a little, but it is nothing major. You look cute,'

That sounded like a distraction but she smiled anyway, to distract him too from the pain.

'Awh thank you, Shadow' she brushed a hair out of her face. 'Let's have some tea, I got it for us'

They ate a dinner with hot tea while watching some shows in the living room. When they got back to Amy's room, she insisted on giving him a massage. Shadow agreed and once he felt better and Amy was done she gave her a kiss in thanks.

'Be safe, Shadow, I need you,' said Amy, holding him close.

'I promise I will be,' he petted her hair softly to reassure her. 'I need you too, and I will always protect you, my love. I won't let anything bad happen to you.'

Amy smiled and kissed him back instead of the response. 'Do you need to leave tomorrow too?'

'No, I will spend a few days here,' said Shadow and kissed her again.

'Yay!' those were amazing news. She cuddled up to him as they fell asleep together, that pink pin still on the cuff of his gloves, with his fingers tangled in her hair.