"You thought I forgot, didn't you?"

Rouge shook her head violently.

"No, I didn't, you slimy bastard!" she yelled, her temper rising, "I . . . I didn't realize you'd be . . ."

"You didn't think I was gonna find you, didja? Too late, cupcake."

Rouge rubbed her temples, trying to ease the tension headache that was forming in the front of her head.

"I tell you, now is not the time! I've got way too much stuff going on here!"

Bruce stepped dangerously closer to the bat.

"You'd better cough it up, princess. You promised to have that debt repaid, and here I am to get what you owe me."

"Give me some more time!" Rouge cried, her voice trembling, "I just can't this time of year."

"You were built on excuses and lies, Rouge the bat," Bruce said in a low voice, "I need that money."

"For what? So you can keep on gambling your life away?!" Rouge practically screamed at the lizard.

"I learned from that mistake, okay?!" Bruce's frill opened with a woosh. Before the bat could react to the defense mechanism, Bruce took her by the neck. He held her against a wall and breathed heavily with anger rising and falling in his chest. The lizard gazed at the bat's greenish eyes and recalled his anger issues, thus he tried to let his rage melt away. The rage didn't disappear, but it returned in a different form—despair. The lizard thought about his kids. Their smiling, innocent faces flashed in his mind. He took it further by allowing his brain to show him what would happen if they faced the same fate as his wife. Tears of anxiety swarmed in the lizard's eyes, and one rolled down his cheek. Loosening his grip on Rouge's neck, Bruce lowered his head and began to cry. Rouge pulled free of Bruce's grip and stared at the crumpled figure with a look of false pity.

"You're just as pathetic as back then," she scoffed after regaining her breath. "Look at you!"

Bruce wiped bitter tears from his eyes, trying to pull himself together.

"Don't say that," he pleaded, "I know I'm a horrible guy. You gotta give me that money, though."

"Why should I trust you, Sternitt? You're no better than you were back then; I can feel it," Rouge snapped back harshly.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. Just hand it over, I'm beggin' ya, hon . . ."

While Rouge pondered Bruce's pathetic show, the lizard noticed an indent in his palm. He traced it a few times, and then peered at Rouge's neck. A glare of light caught the Angel Island necklace and drew Bruce to it. He stared at the emerald in awe and then shook his head. Rouge, oblivious to Bruce's discovery, turned back to the lizard.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you, Bruce. I don't have the money now, you'll have to come back when I do."

Bruce stood up and grimly brushed himself off.

"A deal's a deal, sweetheart," he said, "either you repay your debt, or I'll punish you for it."

"What're you going do?" Rouge challenged, spreading her arms.

Bruce, becoming angry again, pulled a switchblade from the inside pocket of his jacket and held it up to the bat's chin.

"I don't want to resort to this, hon, but if you don't pay up, you leave me no other choice," he said, voice shaking with fear.

When the doorbell rang, Bruce dropped the blade and moved back a few steps. The door opened suddenly, revealing two whimpering lizard children.

"Kids-!" Bruce uttered as they ran to him. Rouge stared at the two little frilled lizards in shock.

" . . . 'Kids'?"

The lizard ignored Rouge talked to his children, who were both trying to fight back tears.

"Guys, wha' happened? How'd you find me?"

"W-we looked everywhere f-for ya, p-pop," Leo stammered, playing with his red scarf, "th-the theater . . ."

"It . . . it caught fire," Lucy finished. Bruce widened his eyes.

"No . . . tell me you kids weren't foolin' around with cigarettes," he said in disbelief. Both lizards shook their heads rapidly.

"I-it wasn't us, pop. The buildin' next to us caught fire first, and then got the theater . . . it . . ."

"It burned down," Lucy concluded with tears in her eyes. Bruce hugged his children tightly.

"You guys ain't hurt, are ya?" he asked softly. Leo turned slightly to show his father a blackened portion of his frill. Bruce gasped and examined the injury closely. "Oh, Leo, buddy . . ."

"Don't worry pop," Leo piped up, "I tried t' be tough, like you. Lucy said, 'Leo, your frill is on fire!' real loud, and then I rolled in the snow 'til it was gone. See, pop? I didn't even cry."

As Bruce continued to ask his children questions, Rouge stood silently, watching what was unfolding before her. She picked up and connected bits and pieces of the conversation, until she had a loosely connected puzzle that was Bruce's current life. The lizard had two children, Leo and Lucy, who had been living in an old theater until it burned down. They had no mother, only Bruce, to take care of them. Now they had no home, either. Rouge fiddled with her gloves as she began to take guesses at why Bruce needed the money.

The lizard sighed and rubbed his eyes. He gave Rouge one last despairing glance, and then looked back at Lucy and Leo. The two kids were scrutinizing Rouge, curious, but Bruce tried to turn them away and out the door.

"Let's not waste any more of this lady's time," Bruce said to his kids with a horribly bitter tone. Lucy walked sadly to the door, while Leo, to Bruce's confusion, ran right up to Rouge.

"I dunno who you are, miss," he said quietly, "but Merry Christmas anyway."

Leo pulled the scarf from around his neck and offered it to Rouge.

What a montage of feelings overcame Rouge as she looked down at the mini-Bruce's large and saddened eyes. Bruce really had been trying to provide for his family with the money, and she didn't have it. Guilt was first in the emotional flood, and Rouge tried to push it away. She wasn't to blame . . . not entirely, anyway. What came next was something tiny—sympathy. Poor families never caught her attention; she didn't care for them. This child was offering her all that he had, even after losing his living space. No, no, she was too dignified to feel this way. The boy held the scarf up high for her to accept it. Leo took her hesitance to mean that she was disgusted by his offer.

"Don't worry, ma'am, I only had this for 'bout a day. Fella gave it t' me yesterday, so it should be pretty clean."

Rouge didn't say a word. She tried too hard to shoot down the emotions she was feeling and to replace them with pride.

"Th-thanks, kiddo," she said faintly, accepting the child's offer. Leo nodded and noticed the emerald necklace around her neck.

"You're welcome, ma'am. That's a real nice necklace you got there."

"Thanks," she mumbled in reply, as her internal battle between feelings raged on. She felt the scarf between her fingers, feeling in the back of her mind that it was familiar.

As Leo ran to catch up with his father and sister that were standing in the doorway, Rouge felt the necklace around her neck, thinking the unthinkable.

No, no, no, I can't do that . . . she thought, anything but that . . . this was a gift. It's mine; I . . . I'm keeping it . . .

The door closed behind the Sternitt family, just as Rouge threw on her winter coat.

"Bruce!"

She flung the door open, causing Bruce and his kids to look back in questioning. Rouge undid the necklace, removing it from her neck. Bruce frowned in confusion. Rouge squinted through the snowflakes at the shiny Angel Island Emerald, pursing her lips. Bruce turned around slowly and walked back up the steps of the front porch.

"Yes?"

Rouge took a final look at the fine piece of jewelry and covered her eyes as she held it out to the lizard.

"Just . . . just take it," she stuttered, "take it and leave me alone."

Bruce stared at the necklace, dumbfounded. He slid the necklace from Rouge's hand and felt it between his scaly claws.

"Rouge, I . . ."

"Don't!" she cried, holding up one finger, "Do not say another word. Just . . . leave me alone."

She rushed back into the house and slammed the door, leaving the lizard in the snow with his two kids. For the first time in a while, Bruce smiled genuinely.

Which emotions won Rouge's war?


You might be wondering what happened to our dear friend, Shadow. Here's how it went: After being dragged through the alleyway by Smokey and Bones, they invited the hedgehog to have dinner with them in a small, run-down old bar. Of course, Shadow refused the offer multiple times and continued to struggle. Soon enough, Smokey and Bones couldn't take Shadow's struggling anymore, and they decided to just let him go.

"Wh-what?" Shadow asked once Smokey let go of him, "You can't possibly be serious . . ."

"We are, pal!" said an annoyed rabbit, "we try to be nice to a fella on Christmas Eve, but we get rejected."

Shadow crossed his arms.

"Forcing a guy into a bar by pushing him and covering his mouth isn't exactly considered nice at this point."

Bones chuckled.

"Yeah, sure. Well, be on your way, mac. Have a Merry Christmas."

The rabbit and the rat started to walk away, leaving Shadow in the snow, grateful yet baffled. The first thought that came to mind was Rouge, so he took off to see if she was all right. Once he arrived at her house, Shadow didn't bother knocking or ringing the doorbell. He barged in on a rather discombobulated bat, who lay on the floor.

"What are you doing?" he asked, "Did something happen?"

Rouge chuckled as if she had gone mad.

"Yeah, too much," she said. "Where have you been? And where's Omega?"

Shadow frowned.

"Omega's at Amy's house, having Christmas dinner with them. I'm trying to figure out what happened to you."

Rouge explained everything as quickly as she could before getting back to her paperwork. Shadow listened carefully, and then nodded slowly.

"And you actually gave it up?" he asked, disbelieving.

Rouge nodded.

"The kid's eyes were so freakin' big!" she exclaimed. "Oh, and I don't suppose you'd know where this came from?" She held out the red scarf.

Shadow chuckled.

"The kids' eyes were pretty big, weren't they?" he said, taking his scarf back, "I just gave this to him; why'd he give it back?"

"Who knows?"

Shadow then recounted his own story to the bat, explaining the first meeting with Bruce and then the encounter with Smokey and Bones. Rouge's eyes widened upon hearing the names.

"I knew those guys once . . ." she muttered, "we were friends before, you know. All with Bruce."

Shadow nodded solemnly and then clicked his tongue.

"Well, sorry to break the sappiness, but you've got some paperwork to tend to. I should probably get Omega."

"Shadow!"

"Hmm?"

Rouge pulled on her gloves and slapped on a hat.

"I'm coming, too."

Shadow looked at her, puzzled.

"You've got—"

"I'll get to it, don't worry. I want to come just to Amy's, and then right back here."

Shrugging it off, Shadow took Rouge to Amy's house to retrieve their friend.

Amy's house was very quiet. The only sounds that came were the sounds of the young children snoring away on the floor and on furniture, and Amy and Blaze cleaning up the kitchen. Once Shadow knocked on the door, he and Rouge both jumped back after seeing who answered the door.

"Your robot friend seemed to recognize me and my kids. He wanted to invite us for dinner," Bruce Sternitt said with a grin to Shadow. "Want something to eat, you two?"


Christmas Day had come at last. The kids threw wrapping paper all over, leaving a great mess all over the place. Sonic ran from Amy's pleas to give her a "Christmas Kiss", no matter how many times he stepped under the mistletoe on accident. Knuckles sat on the couch with Rouge as she told her story and apologized for giving away the gift.

"I'm having a hard time believing you," he said coldly, "you'd never give something away like that."

Knuckles' views were only changed after Bruce held up the emerald necklace for him to see.

"Turns out lil' Rouge has a heart after all," Bruce said, ruffling her hair.

That Christmas, even though there had been some tension before, left everyone even more cheerful than anyone could remember. Even Shadow and Omega got along very well that day. It may have been the togetherness of the family, the guests of honor, or the fact that something had been changed in a hard heart and a broken heart. Everyone could feel it unfolding, and that made the season's peace and joy become something to be remembered. Through the gift-opening, the carols, and even the Christmas dinner, happiness pulsed through everyone's hearts.

Rouge did finish her paperwork the day after, for those who were wondering, with the somewhat willing Shadow and Omega's help.


"Another year has come and past

like moments in an hourglass

and at the end of this year's trail

an offering; a final tale

of love, long lost

and then refound

and the child by which

those dreams were bound."

~Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Story of "The Lost Christmas Eve"


A/N: Welcome Christmas, while we stand, heart to heart and hand in hand.

Merry Christmas to all!