Baking
Shadow hated mornings. No, that was an understatement, to say the least. His missions necessitated the lifestyle of a night owl, almost inevitably, when lives were at risk from the various threats that beset the United Federation: extra-terrestrial invaders like Black Doom and a resurgent Eggman. Many a lonely evening had been spent alone working into the wee hours of the night.
Shadow never complained. He was after all saving lives. Still, the toll of work often made him a late riser.
But not this morning. This morning was different, and this morning was special. This particular morning, Shadow awoke while it was still pitch-black outside, stumbling out from his cosy bed with bleary eyes and cramped-up back. A quick glance out of his apartment showed an almost silent Central City with its usually bustling streets virtually deserted.
Almost.
Amy's place was too far away to see from his apartment, but Shadow knew that, if it had been visible, she would already be up and awake, preparing for a hard day of work at the bakery.
Groaning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he hurried downstairs and grabbed the bright pink scarf that hung by the front door. Years ago, to his considerable dismay, he had stained it in the washer and in spite of his herculean efforts he was unable to remove the stain. Consequently, it had stood, unused.
In the here and now, Shadow wrapped the scarf about his neck, taking a moment to appreciate its softness and warmth, before he stuffed it back into his pockets. He stepped out into the chill of an early autumn morning. He jogged through the empty streets of at a brisk clip, and he couldn't stop grinning to himself the entire way.
It wasn't until he heard the humming that came from the window above, faint yet unmistakable in its origin, that Shadow remembered why he was here.
Here Shadow was, always undertaking the daunting task of thinking of the whole world, all of its inhabitants, all of its places, all of its complexity. It wore on him but he had made a promise to his Maria long ago to make the world a safer place. But then Shadow turned his thoughts towards someone who, impossibly, could do all of that, who positively lived and breathed for the chance to meet and make friends with the whole entire world.
A warmth rose in his chest as he thought of her laughter and love. Of her green eyes, the colour of nature and of her smile, as strong as all his Chaos powers put together. Shadow smiling stepped through the door to Amy's apartment.
She has a new baking apprentice now, Cream. Yet, in spite of her inexperience, Amy never loses her smile or the sparkle in her eyes. She guides and cajoles, helping and calmly giving instructions in between giggles. Perhaps most miraculous of all is how fast Cream is learning.
Eventually, though all three of them have bits of batter sticking in their fur and clothes there's a plate of steaming fresh muffins to show for their efforts.
Baking lessons done for the day, Amy sends Cream off to man the counter below. Amy begins whistling cheerfully and completely off-key as she goes about cleaning. Shadow helps his fiance-to-be by wiping down the counters.
"Amy?"
Amy stops whistling. She turns toward him with a broad smile, her head tilted inquisitively. When she did, Shadow came to realize wasn't dark out anymore. The sun hung low in the east, bathing all of Central City in soft shades of yellow and orange, and before him stood the love of his life.
"You didn't use your powers today to help, thanks," she giggled.
He held his gift out.
"Is that-" Amy cut herself off with a little shake of the head and licked her lips. In a tone of soft wonder, she asked, "-for me?"
Shadow nodded, beaming, "Happy anniversary."A split second later, Shadow's on the floor, with a batter-dripping hedgehog pinning him down and peppering his face with a thousand little kisses. Shadow laughs. He supposes his little mistake came in handy after all.