It's Christmas time, Cream and Cheese had just come out of the last department store in the shopping district. All was good, the downy soft snow crunched every time she took a step in her brand new orange boots. Cream got a gift for her mother, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Silver, and even Mr. Shadow. But she knew that she was forgetting someone but she wasn't sure whom. As she stood there with a questioning finger to her mouth, the falling snowflakes that landed on her forehead jolted her memory.
Oh! I need to buy them both something, but, my allowance is almost gone.
Cream pulls out her last five bucks from her fur-lined pocket.
It's not enough for both gifts.
Cream's mom comes out of the store shortly after. She is juggling many brightly wrapped gifts in her arms as she looks around for Cream.
"Cream? Oh there you are. You shouldn't leave my side for so long sweet pea." She says as she softly scolds her daughter. "I know your excited but please..."
"Mom can I have five more bucks please? I just realized that I forgot a couple of people." Cream asks sweetly.
"Sure honey. Wow you have a lot more friends than what I remember." Cream's mom said as she smiled rabbit ear to rabbit ear.
Cream runs back inside the store and finds her final two gifts. Cream comes back out and walks alongside her mom, helping her with her bags until they reach the car. They stuff all of the red and green packages in the trunk and keep the more fragile items tucked within layers of clothes. Cream and her mom listen to the carolers sing out loudly on the streets as the twinkling light strings hang above them as they drive back home. When they reach home, Cream automatically bolts from the peach car and runs inside. Cream's mom lugs in her packages as Cream tries to help her mother out.
Cream wraps up the gifts with care and puts them into their respective gift bags lined with tissue paper. She drops a few pieces of candy into each bag and stores them away for later. Cream then swallows a mug of hot chocolate and goes outside to play in the new fallen snow. She looks at the barren forest, now coated in ice and is intrigued by a glow coming within. Cheese continues to make himself a snow chao and pays no attention to his friend who has wandered off. Darkness is coming fast.
Getting lost in the mystical wonderland, Cream realizes she had strayed too deep into the woods. But the light that had drawn her in was getting brighter. Fire was being held tenderly within two pairs of hands that were as cold as their owner's hearts . Mephiles and Iris held it up above their heads and turned around to gaze at Cream who stood completely still. Night had come to the world wholly and stars started to show.
"Mr. Mephiles, Mrs. Iris! I haven't seen you since well... the crystal castle. Not really anyways. Why are you out here in the cold?" Cream asked.
Iris visited her quite frequently, once a week consistently. They would talk at the tea parties Cream held by the forest's edge right before twilight. Cream had to sneak out of her room to keep up her friendship with Iris. Her mother always forbade her from ever seeing her regal friend, so she took matters into her own hands. Mephiles had only visited her once. It was the dead of night and she might have even been dreaming, but she swore she had seen his watchful green eyes from the shadows of her room.
Mephiles spoke first, handing the fire to Iris.
"We were both curious about this place, what it would have been. What it would have looked like." He said as his unmoving eyes observed the shivering rabbit child. "Did the fires draw you out here my child?"
"It was a church Mr. Mephiles. If you are interested in them, you can come with me to mass on Christmas Eve."
Iris opened her eyes wide. "Are you inviting us into a place of holy sanctuary, Cream?!"
Cream then realized that what she had said could have been highly offensive and shook her head.
"Oh no I...I am sorry. I forgot for a minute.. what you both were. I did not mean to disgust you."
Mephiles and Iris sat down next to Cream on the frozen stone ground.
"You did not disgust us, I did not mean for it to sound that way." Iris explained, smoothing down Cream's ears as she looked into her eyes. "It was an unusual request was all. But if you want us to..."
"Then we are able to enter painlessly, and subdue our lingering curiosity." Mephiles finished as he stared into the snow. "We will come with you to church."
"Then I'll see you Christmas Eve. Come to my house, but do not let my mom see you! Maybe come in disguise or something I don't know. Oh and hey... If this used to be a church, how come you are able to enter?"
Iris briefly takes out her 'special cross'. "Strong protection. I figured it would be enough to keep the pain at bay. It was."
"Oh." Cream says as she looks at the foul thing. "Right then. Just don't bring that. Or if you do keep it hidden, please."
Iris nods and hides it in back in her velvet dress, knowing that having Cream look at it brings her discomfort. So Cream gets lead back to the edge of the forest just as her mom bursts out of the house in a frenzy. She runs towards Vanilla as her nose turns red and cheeks tint pink. Her mom sheppard's her inside and kisses her, relived that she's safe. She takes her daughter's cold hands in hers.
"Cream! Where in the world were you?!"
Cream smiled and gave her exasperated mom a big hug. "I was okay mommy, I was just with friends."
Cream looked out of the window over her mother's shoulder and saw that both of them had disappeared without a single footprint left behind. She smiled.
Unique friends.