Thorns and Roses Chapter 11
by *Animegirl300
The blackness was starting to fade away. With every flutter of her eyelids Amy's vision grew and clearer and clearer until finally she could make out her surroundings.
High above her Amy saw the orangish-brown of a wooden ceiling. A cabin?
The green orbs lowered passed her chest and landed on huge double doors. They were opened only enough for her to see a nice ray of sunlight flitting through, but she could still not tell exactly where she was in the unfamiliar room. Slightly she frowned and rubbing one eye she looked to her left, only to gasp in surprise, amazement, and wonder.
Immediately she shot up out of the bed, barely noting she had been in bed at all, and she ran to the larger-than-normal window, almost falling out with excitement.
A scene so similar to Amy's last vacation to the beach with her friends met her eyes, making her heart flutter with pure delight. From wherever she was, Amy could see far over a vast jungle, all the way to the great mountains, and yet those mountains seemed so close she could have sworn that if she stuck out her hand she could touch them!
Over the treetops the tropical birds glided in great bands together, some dropping out of the air to land in the midst of the vegetating, only to come right back once the group swung around another time.
Amy spent a few more moments admiring everything, when her mind met with a thought; how did she get there? Amy looked over her shoulder into the area of the cottage she'd skipped over, and she almost giggled as she was met with her answer.
The other side of the cottage itself was the larger chunk of the building. One half of it was a complete living room; with half-wooden couches and chairs and tables on a nice big plush rug, and a bit further away, a couple of armchairs and a smaller coffee table placed in front of a large opened window, looking out over a white sandy beach with water so blue she could see through it from where she stood. And all of this was separated from a nice kitchen and dining area by a large gray-stoned fireplace. She would have to investigate the kitchen later however. At the moment she was more preoccupied by something else in the living room.
Sunken into one of the large armchairs was a sleeping Shadow the hedgehog, her 'new husband' she thought with something of an affectionate twinge.
In light of her recent discovery, somehow the thought of her being married, and even who she had to call her spouse, was not at all that bad. But maybe it was just the ocean air getting to her. Either way, Amy was well pleased.
She realized how much work it probably had taken him to do all this for their honeymoon, and she knew for a fact that it was completely out of character for Shadow to have even made a step in the 'honeymoon' direction. She had actually expected him to completely skip over the celebration, only to go home and isolate himself from her as much as he possibly could.
Happily she refrained herself from skipping over to him, and instead tiptoed towards the chair … before she whimsically broke into a run.
Shadow had just gotten around to waking up himself when instead he was woken up by a huge force. His eyes popped open, and for a second before the heavy chair and the object tumbled backwards to the floor, everything paused and all he could see was pink, In shock Shadow immediately pulled himself up to lean back on his arms and see what was going on, but then his eye met with a pair of bright, green, and happy ones of his wife.
"Good morning Shadow!"
For a moment Shadow tried to be angry; what kind of wake up call was THAT? Was this girl TRYING to give him a heart attack first thing in the morning? But of course when he recognized her arms around him, as she squeezed him into a hug almost burying her face in his chest-fur, he found that he couldn't. And the fact that he could not only led him instead to embarrassment. He tried to look away from her face to stifle the heat coming out on his muzzle. They were too close for comfort.
"Good morning, Rose-."
He stopped himself as he was reminded of her name change. But the fact it was his last name that was replacing the old one made him uncomfortable. But he supposed that Amy herself was not used to the idea of her new surname as she smiled up at him and gave the subject no notice.
"And to what do I owe this variation of a greeting?" He asked grumpily.
At the reproaching tone Amy grinned and picked herself up off her spouse. She was too pleased with him to let his mood dampen hers. Instead she ignored his question and happily skipped over to the kitchen to figure out what she would have for breakfast.
She was surprised when she entered the kitchen that there was still even more to the house. A part of the kitchen opened up onto a veranda, one side empty but looking over more of the ocean, the other side consisting of a nice sized pool surrounded by potted plants. Her smile broadened and passing the medieval version of a refrigerator she walked over and instead was distracted by the awesome view. She was actually so filled with excitement that she giggled, just as Shadow had entered the room himself after replacing the chair he'd been sleeping on.
"I see you are pleased." He said lightly as he grabbed a cup and started to make his coffee. A part of him was content now that he knew his wife was happy. Embarrassingly enough he realized that yesterday as they rode to this place he'd been a bit anxious of what her thoughts would be. He'd been spared from her immediate response on the ride here though.; despite Amy being very accustomed to riding for a very long time, it was usually in a coach, and by the time they'd got here she was too exhausted to even move, so he'd had to put her in bed. Last night they'd rode hard straight from the wedding reception, stopping only once to change clothing. Shadow smirked at the looks of his parents faces when he thought back to their escape. The reception had been drawing to a close after all the guests had eaten as much as they could and danced to the point of exhaustion. And the parents were just about to launch their 'attack' when Shadow grabbed his bride from the dance floor ( she'd been having her last dance with her father) and the two ran like hell to the horse Shadow had had prepared maybe a hour before.
Yes, he was quite pleased by how his plan had worked out perfectly.
Geoffrey had even had all their stuff ready for them before their arrival.
Amy glanced up just in time to catch Shadow's smirk before she smiled and walked over.
"Hey Shadow? What are we doing today?"
Shadow was pushed out of his thoughts once more and realized with a sinking feeling that already it was starting. Commitment. There was a long pause as he took a swig from his coffee, before finally responding.
"There is a town on the other side of the beach. Or you can explore as much as you'd like. I'll leave you to decide."
Amy poked at her lip thoughtfully then after a moment she exclaimed rosily that she wanted to go to the town, and immediately she ran to find her clothes and change in the large bathroom expanded from the bed room area.
An hour later the couple entered the town from the beach, Amy dragging Shadow by the hand. He was dragging his feet a little.
Warily the black hedgehog looked around the shopping area Amy was leading him through, and to distract himself from the too-many-for comfort amount of people staring at them he wondered if Amy was the type of girl who bought everything she put her hands on. Although money would never be a problem for him, he DID dislike spending any more than he deemed necessary. Fortunately Amy was more preoccupied with seeing the place than grabbing new dresses.
She pet the pretty horses of the passing officers while Shadow watched.
She stopped for half an hour at a telescope to see as much as she could on the island before a bored Shadow convinced her that she would see the jungle later.
Shadow was then forced to drag her away from the litter of puppies playing in front of the pet store, and no amount of begging would change his mind of not getting one. Although he did admit he was sorely tempted.
She saved a mother from a day of crying by fetching her son's ball that had gotten stuck in a tree, while Shadow protectively waited for her at its base.
The few stores they DID go into were mostly for old antiques; which Amy had a strange affinity towards.
From the bookstore Amy got a nice-sized pile of interesting looking novels that Shadow decided he would sneak some away later for his own entertainment.
After getting Amy and himself a cone from the ice-cream parlor Shadow was bullied into treating a little girl who'd dropped her own, something Shadow surprisingly could not mind.
Later on Shadow was cursed out by an old gypsy woman who'd read both their fortunes; Shadow's fortune having something to do getting eaten by a whale. Needless to say he'd been unimpressed and voiced his displeasure as rudely as possible. At least Amy was pleased; it'd been prophesized that she had a long journey ahead of her.
"Well of course! You told her we were from out of town before we sat down!"
"You're just mad because you're going to be eaten by a whale."
Shadow had nothing left to say on that.
Later on when the sky was getting dark, save from the very full moon, the two were sitting on a large swinging chair of the town's park. Shadow had gotten a pack of churros for themselves since Amy had not eaten much that day.
"I would have gotten you lunch if you'd told me you were hungry." He muttered and Amy popped her last piece in her mouth, and snuggled around Shadow's arm, startling Shadow who had no way of escape.
"Sorry! I was having too much fun and I forgot! Thanks" She added as he passed her the rest of his.
"Hmph. I wouldn't be surprised if this happened frequently. Now I'll have to monitor you eating too!" He muttered, ignoring the hugging sensation.
Amy grinned as she finished the last of the churro and giggled before hugging his arm tighter.
"Hee, hee; you care~"
As Shadow's cheeks heated up further and he looked away, and nervously scratched his nose with his finger. He didn't exactly WANT to. He glanced at the girl on his arm and inwardly he sighed as anxiety started to form up again. Although she was right, hadn't Shadow been trying NOT to care for her? If it had been a few months ago he would have been gone the moment she's started hugging him. Softly he nibbled on the inside of his mouth, careful of his fangs, and he decided that as soon as they got home he would make sure to renew his efforts of distancing himself. But he could hardly isolate himself on his honey-moon. That was actually the entire point of it.
He looked down at Amy again and realized the girl was starting to fall asleep. Her expressing was peacefully innocent as her eyelids began drooping, and her breathing slowed up. She mumbled something incomprehensible, and nuzzled his arm sleepily.
With a sigh Shadow decided he would have to wait for her to go to sleep before moving her, otherwise she would never fall asleep again. So he sat there for a few minutes staring up at the moon, mesmerized thoughtlessly until she was fast asleep, and after a few more minutes she was on his back being carried off towards the beach and to the cottage again.
"IT IS DONE!"
A loud dark booming voice echoed happily (if happy could ever describe such a voice) through every hallway, nook, and cranny in the castle, causing the entire structure to shake with an excitement to match the owner's.
The crowd of soldiers in the room stared in fear and wonder at their leader, who was on his throne sneering into the air at something unseen to them.
"S-sire?" On of his main henchmen inquired, unfortunately breaking the moment of pleasure for his Overlord.
The Black Arms king now looked at his minion with an expression so opposite of the elation he'd felt only a moment ago.
"What!"
"S-s-sir, y-you said 'I-it is d-done' s-sir, I-I just wondered-"
"Quiet you fool! Your stuttering displeases me." Black Doom ordered with something of a frown. But it quickly changed again as he focused on his great victory once more. "However, I shall spare you for now for your interruption, as I have the greatest of news."
There was a long pause in which the soldiers wondered if he would ever tell them exactly what this news was. Of course, some of the more experienced soldiers knew that their king would only tell them if he so choose. Unfortunately the soldier who'd spoken before was not very experienced or else he would have held his tongue.
"And what is this great news sire?"
Black Doom almost felt a vein throb in his temple. Why was it that he could never simply bask in his own glory and celebrate in his victory in peace? But that is what you get when you spawn thousands of children.
"The great news is that my plan is finally being further set into place to take over that damned Acorn government."
"Truly sire? That is great news! How have you managed to-"
"Enough. I am in no mood for conversation. Be gone to your duties."
At the command the soldiers picked up whatever they were doing and walked out of the throne room, shutting the door behind them.
Alone on the throne Black Doom glared after the group. Alone at last.
He closed his eyes and concentrated, frowning as he found the connection with the newest addition to his ranks.
"Why good morning. General Décolleté" He said mockingly.
And on the other side of the country the General Armand Décolleté stood in the shadow of his dormitory. He was a tall coyote Mobian with a grayed goatee and mustache, and now he was under Black Doom's control.
The General, through Doom's control now looked down onto the moon-lit pathway in the gardens surrounding the castle. He could see a small procession of people, with the King and Queen in the middle. He glared down at them as the Black Eye crawled up from behind his shoulder.
"You see them?"
Armand nodded, his eyes glowing with an orangish red;
"You know what to do."
The Black Eye flew away into the darkness again, while the General continued to look down at his former king, leader, and friend. But now in his state of mind there was no such thing. He was blank to everything; his mind resembling now an empty black space, except to one idea.
Killing King Maximillian, under Black Doom's orders.
Shadow was propped up on his elbow under the cool shade of a palm tree, as he once more observed his wife with amusement. She could be seen in the distance playing merrily in the water, searching for ocean critters to play with. Unconsciously he picked up a handful of sand, letting it pour out his palm softly as he gave something of a rueful smirk.
Even after their marriage Amy still managed to be just as interesting as ever; which was surprising as Shadow had always had the impression that marriage only ever made things dull. The marriage had done nothing to really strengthen their bond of course; but at least they were no longer fighting, completely, like cats and dogs. It was something of a difficult task as both hedgehogs were head strong and short tempered, and there had been a few tussles, but they managed well enough as they both had the same way of dealing with their problems with the other; pout on the other side of the room until the other gave in. It was usually the girl who gave up in those fights.
He watched her as she shrieked happily and shuddered ,wondering whether or not it would be another sand-tiger shark as she ran out the water with something in her hand.
"Shadow! Shadow! Look what I found!" she called as she skidded on her knees in front of him and held out the creature for him to see. Lazily he looked over the spiky water dweller and let out a small "hmm" as though unsurprised, but amused at her discovery. As he knew it would, her wide-eyed expression brightened excitedly as she assumed it meant he knew exactly what it was she was holding out to him.
"Do you know what it is?"
"Possibly."
"Tell me!"
The corners of Shadow's mouth lifted discreetly as he looked at her face. He had no idea what the hell it was, and he knew it; but he enjoyed playing around with Amy naivety.
"I don't think I will."
"What? Why not!"
Her beseeching look only added to his amusement, and he lifted his chin at her.
"Tell me why I should."
"Because it would be nice if you did!"
"But since when am I nice? Do you not always complain about my -er- lack of 'niceness'?"
"Well, maybe I wouldn't if you were nice to me; you could start now" she said brightly.
"Hmph. Why should I be nice to you to meet your approval? You're the one asking for a favor."
"Yes, but you want me to stop complaining of you not being nice to me."
He snorted lightly.
"I actually don't care what you say of me actually."
"Yeah huh!"
"I assure you I do not."
"Then why do you respond if you don't care?"
"Obviously to bait you. And it works every time."
"To bait me? What bullock are you going on about?"
"You see? You're falling for it again."
"I am not!"
"Indeed you are." He said gravely, and moved to scratch at his ear.
"Ugh! All I want to know id what this thing is I found, and now you've gone and turned it into me getting frustrated!"
"Nice to know I affect you so much." He said smirking, earning a hard glare from the petite female. He remained silent and stared lazily at her for a moment before she decided arguing with Shadow was a waste of her time. The sparkling excitement had left her eyes now.
"Fine then! If you won't tell me, I'll just find out myself!"
She stood up, and shook off the sand from her legs, ignoring Shadow's victorious smirk.
"And where, pray tell, do you plan to find that out?"
Amy, who'd already gotten a few feet away stopped. Then with all the childishness that was in her she turned around and very boldly, and frankly blew a raspberry at her spouse before turning and walking in the way opposite of their cottage and the town.
"And where do you think you're going?" He called mockingly.
She ignored him, and he chuckled.
He thought as he turned back to the ocean unconcerned; He knew that soon Amy would be back to 'bother' him with something else that would catch her ingénue attentions. He leaned back in the shade, and closed his eyes.
It was too bad that he was unaware that she would be back sooner than he expected.
Amy's head popped out from behind a tree and she tired hard not to giggle. She thought herself very tricky for having doubled back as soon as she was out of sight and going through the trees in her approach.
Now, her eyes glinting mischievously, she would find some way to pay Shadow back for his rudeness.
She looked around, and frowned in disappointment when she saw no creepy-crawlies to user in her next trick. She poked her lip thoughtfully.
She COULD try burying him in the sand…
But no; Shadow was too much in tune with his senses, and would hear her.
She COULD maybe drop a coconut on his head…
But no; although she was hardly afraid of Shadow, she didn't think she wanted to see his wrath is she actually caused him bodily harm. He WAS a knight after all… and she would feel guilty afterwards anyway.
She dropped that notion as well.
Glaring at Shadow for his lack of vulnerability, Amy walked a bit further towards the cottage. What were thinks that Shadow didn't like?
He besides annoying people, and being sick Amy couldn't think of much…
"Ah ha!" She exclaimed as the idea hit her. Shadow, didn't like getting wet unless he had already decided on swimming himself. Cold water especially was not in his favor.
Sneakily Amy ran up to the cottage steps, and grabbed a bucket that was near the door.
In the last two days they'd been at the beach, only yesterday had been rainy, so the bucket was only partly full of fresh water.
She went to the kitchen and poured the fresh water in a container for later, looking over her shoulder to the hedgehog on the beach every few minutes, and then after filling the bucket with water from the pool outside and dumping in ice from the freezer, she walked quickly back over behind the black and red male. He was still laying back silently and she grinned happily as she tip-toed closer and closer. For a moment she thought he'd spot her when Shadow turned over a bit. But then she was back to creeping closer as he settled down.
She had just about reached him, and was JUST lifting her cold bucket when she was scared into a pause.
"If you even THINK of dropping that water on me, I will make you pay for it."
Shadow was now looking up at her, his eyes cold as she met his.
He'd said it so quietly…
Amy felt her sweat drop, fearfully contemplating her plan… and then….
There was a splash and a loud but happy shriek, and Amy was bounding down the beach as fast as she could, laughing despite herself.
"Come back here you little ingrate!" Amy's eyes widened in fear as she looked over her shoulder at her follower.
"NO!"
"I said come back here!"
"I dun wanna!"
Amy jumped over a rock, on the beach and quickly dodged to the right to run right into the jungle; Shadow snarled deeper as he skidded a bit forward and just as quickly crossed over to follow the younger girl.
'She's was hoping to throw me off through the trees' his instinct told him, and he went faster, his eyes staying on figure ahead.
"You're not getting away with this!"
"Eep!"
She dodged tree trunk after tree trunk, almost falling on her face several times as she tried to outrun the noble male.
Then he was upon her; in mid run Amy felt herself grabbed back with enough force to take her breath away. The she found herself in Shadow's arms, staring into his cold eyes.
"Well hello my DEAR wife." He said icily, making Amy shrink back as much as she could in his grasp. Suddenly this game wasn't fun anymore!
"W-w-why hello Shadow d-dear! I was just thinking about you, you know?"
She stuttered nervously, aware that he was still both wet and cold.
"Oh really?" He said coldly looking down at her pale face.
"Oh y-yes!" She stammered "Really! I was JUST thinking of just how NICE, and KIND, and M-MERCIFUL you are!" She said with a tiny bit of pleading hope in her voice.
He regarded her acidly as he turned back towards the cottage.
"Ah! But that's funny' I thought I was known only for my 'meanest'."
"Oh! But that that was an exaggeration you know."
"No, no; I think it was an extremely accurate statement."
Amy twisted in his grip, now panicking as she thought of what he would do to her now.
Shadow was not at ALL a merciful person; his vindictiveness was too well known.
"W-what are you going to do to me?" Amy whispered.
Shadow didn't even glance down at her.
"I say; what are you planning!"
Shadow started ahead, only smirking in a way that Amy certainly did not like.
Amy played with her hands fearfully as she weighted her options. She could try running away again; maybe she was strong enough to break free?
He sensed what was on her mind, and Shadow cut in to the thought.
"Don't even think about it."
"T-think about what sweetie?" Amy said in a mock cheerfulness.
"Hmph."
He ignored her attempts to distract him as they got closer to their home. Secretly he had no idea himself what he would do to punish her. He wondered if the ideas of what he could possibly do were punishment enough. But after a while he realized Amy's imagination must have calmed down; she was now playing lightly with his chest fur.
"I wonder if I should dump you in the ocean; tie a block to your leg so you'll drown."
He said. Amy sniffed and didn't look up; she wasn't scared of him.
"It wouldn't do you any good; I can untie any knot if I want to."
"Then why don't I leave you up a tree somewhere?"
"I would just climb down."
"I could trap you in a cave, and cover the entrance with a boulder"
"I would just go exploring."
"… I bet you would." He said gravely.
She laughed and poked at his cheek undauntedly.
"Shadow, where are you taking me tomorrow?"
He frowned at her, now a bit more seriously at her informal tone.
"Why should I take YOU anywhere?"
"Because!" She said; "I'm your wife."
He was a little taken aback to say the least. She'd said it so plainly as if it were the most natural thing in the world, although he himself was still immensely uncomfortable at the reminded of their connection. It was as if 'wife' were a dirty word that implied something else entirely from what he wanted with her.
He wouldn't love her.
He carried her into the cabin and set her down, and without another word left Amy to change and whatever else she wanted. Amy peered at him once, and felt a bit disheartened at the obvious change in behavior. Only a moment ago he'd been joking with her, and now he was acting as if she weren't there.
"What's HIS problem?" she mumbled as she got out her bathing suit.
She found Shadow again later sitting on the porch, and frowned down at his back while he silently continued to sharpen his sword.
"I'm going into town." She said hoping that he would acknowledge her. He simply gave a small 'hmph' and continued his work. She sighed and moved on, closing the front door behind her.
In town Amy was pleased to find that everything was just as glamorous as they'd been last time. She got an ice cream cone to hold her over for the day, and first went to the antique store. After being greeted by the storeowner warmly Amy was pleased to look around and she found a few cute trinkets that she controlled herself from buying;
A small glass paperweight of two doves flying around a big bejeweled heart, and a lovely wind chime with an angle in the middle. But her favorite was a big music box; it had in the middle a figure of two lovers dancing. She wasn't sure when she left if it had brightened or dampened her mood.
After hanging out in the park, and playing ball with the kids there as discretely as possible to avoid stares, she went to a few clothing stores and declined a few storeowners of getting one before she settles on a beautiful white sunhat she fell in love with. For the rest of the day she tried to enjoy her freedom, and not be reminded of Shadow. At least not yet. But of course once she found that, she started to think more about him.
She wasn't quite sure what to do with her husband. She figured that he was bipolar or something with how one moment he'd be relaxed and then the next moment he would act as if she had the plague. She'd thought that maybe if she was nice and friendly he would eventually come around, but as determined as Amy was to make friends with Shadow, she was unable to see any type of progress. It was disheartening to know that despite her wants to get along with her husband might never be realized as was being implied by their relationship now. She sighed and her eyes misted over solemnly. She cared too much about him. And she knew that her feelings towards him were completely unrequited. But she also knew she was forced to try. Otherwise the rest of her life would be quite miserable.
So for now she decided that she would enjoy herself, and THEN she would give Shadow another go.
She was happy to visit the town hall where outside the mayor was addressing a rather large crowd about some sort of celebration.
She went to more stores to browse, but not buy, and she went on a short carriage ride tour the area. There she learned that the area had a popular monkey species, and sure enough during the tour she got a laugh when the conductor had his hat stolen.
Afterwards she went to a wishing well to make some sort of silly girlish wish that she knew was completely cliché and stereotyped. It was still one of her wishes though.
To follow up the latest line of activities she finally stopped back at the old gypsy to have one last fortune, since she knew Shadow wouldn't approve.
"Why good evening Child," The old women said Amy walked past the dark purple blanket over her door. The inside of the gypsies shop was covered in large dark purple or red or blue curtains hung over the walls; charms of all types hung from a large chandelier in the middle of the ceiling; multiple crystal balls laid around on shelves behind the rather large circular table in the middle of the room, And finally on the other side of her sat the elderly woman, almost buried in many folds of large purple shawls and gowns and blankets before the table.
"I knew you would come back."
Amy's eyes widened a bit.
"Really? How?"
"My crystal ball knows, my child. I see that your mind is disturbed."
The old lady had put the palm of her hand over the crystal ball in front of her, and she smirked although not unpleasantly.
For a moment Amy was at a loss. She thought she had hidden any feelings quite well.
But of course, she should have know THAT she couldn't hide; she was in the presence of a real seer.
"Hmm, you a quite an unusual girl, Mrs. Hedgehog; most people would be more skeptical of an old fortune teller- and rightly so- but you are quite sure that I am the 'real deal' so they say. It isn't too much of a wonder however; after all, you are the granddaughter of another 'real deal'."
She cackled when Amy's back straightened up and her expression turned serious.
"But now, my child, I shall not disturb the train of event much further. You are here I assume to know more about your future; especially in regards to a certain love interest."
Amy's face flushed vividly and she tried very hard to deny it, although she HAD wondered when she first walked in if she should have asked.
It was too embarrassing!
She tried to change the subject.
"I-I, no; I actually wanted to know more about… about… about my cousin! Yes. My cousin Rob'o'."
"You know very well your cousin is well. Why do you try to change the subject of your marriage I wonder…"
"Oh, I'm not trying to-to change the subject… I just didn't want to know, you know."
Amy looked away from the wise woman's face and picked at something at her skirt while the woman laughed.
"You are a silly little youth, you are! But of course, most women are silly little creatures!" The woman rolled her eyes. "The problem with you youngsters is you don't want to know something in case it is bad news, but many times what you though would be bad turns out to be a blessing!"
Amy's ears perked up, and she looked over to the elder suddenly.
"Does that mean that you have good news for me?" She asked hopefully, and the old lady smiled suspiciously.
"I think I shall not tell you if it is…" She looked at the ball and waved her hand over it lightly, staring into its depths. "Your marriage can be either very happy, or very destructive young one. How it will work out is very dependent you see…"
"Dependant on what?"
"That, I cannot say. I am just here to warn you."
"UgH!"
The woman smirked and asked if there was anything else after all Amy wanted to know, but by now Amy didn't feel like knowing more about her future.
She left for now to wonder more about what the lady had said…
Later on Amy was inside the bookstore. She sat in one large arm chair by the store window with her feet up completely focused on the book in her lap. Around her were several shelves reaching for the ceiling, and next to her was a small coffee table where a small cup of tea stood waiting for her attention.
The book was too engrossing for her to focus on her surroundings; it was a love story about a knight in shining armor, and a run away queen traveling the country to escape their troubles. She was right at the best part of the story when she was startled by something smacking against her head.
"Huh?" Her eyes flickered up, past the gloved hand resting on her head and into her husbands face as her squinted at the book in her lap.
"Hmph. Back to your novels again Rose?"
In surprise Amy stared for a moment then beamed up at the taller hedgehog. He eyed her steadily under dropping eyelids but turned his head tilted and away towards the window. He then replaced his palm with his elbow on her head, much to Amy's annoyance.
She frowned and tried plucking her finger at the limb.
"How'd you know I was here?"
"A lucky guess." Shadow said nonchalantly, although in truth he searched half of this god-forsaken village with something akin to concern. He knew that Amy could be something of a ditz, and he fully expected her to loose her way one of these times.
But he wouldn't want to give the impression that he cared or anything.
Because he didn't… sort of…
His eyes did a sweep over the immediate area for any danger that might arise. It was a habit he'd developed in battle, as well as simply any other occasion that made him uncomfortable. When they stopped on a bright white box next to Amy his brow rose, and Amy's who'd happened to look up caught the look and smiled once she found what he was staring at.
"It's nothing suspicious Shadow" Her voice made his ears jump up. "Just a hat I found."
His brows rose then fell in acknowledgement, and then he yawned.
Amy saw the movement and smirked.
"Tired Shadow? Maybe you need another cold 'shower'?"
"Hmph."
Amy went back to her book and there was a pause in conversation for a few minutes until Amy wanted to talk.
"So, did you get over your anger then?"
He glanced over, meeting her gaze.
"What do you mean?"
"You know; back at the cabin, you were acting all angry and ignoring me and stuff! The water thing was just a joke…" She mumbled, picking at the edge of the page unconsciously, and Shadow let out a chuckle only to make her temper rise.
"What's so funny?" She said viciously turning her face away. With a smirk Shadow patted her head and leaned to look over her shoulder, making her blush and her back straighten.
"You are most amusing Amy…"
She turned her head, ready for a rebuttal that never escaped her lips; instead they were met with his very unexpectedly. Her eyes were wide even when he broke away to lean on her chair and play with his nails. It was then that she realized she was clutching at the skirt of her dress a bit roughly and in embarrassment she buried her face in her book again, making Shadow smirk at her.
"I don't see how I'm funny." She muttered behind the pages of the novel that she was trying so hard to focus on.
"That's not saying much." He replied easily then mumbled "You miss quite a lot…"
At the curious glance she gave him he added,
"And I was not angry by the way; Quite the opposite actually."
He looked off out the window distantly, but not uncomfortably.
"I suppose you haven't forgotten to eat correct?"
At the mention of food Amy's stomach growled, and Shadow felt his sweat drop even as he fought a grin. His wife WAS amusing.
"Come then, my air-headed child. I can't have you passing out from starvation. Just think how that would look in a town of strangers?"
Amy was instantly ruffled;
"I am NOT an airhead, and I'm NOT a child." Came her indignant reply as she set down the book and grabbed her hat box. "And I could careless how you'd look too." She mumbled, although she knew it wasn't quite true.
Hearing the remark, Shadow rolled his eyes and led the way out of the bookstore. He folded his arms behind his back and lazily scanned the buildings surround them while Amy caught up.
"Do you have any place in mind Shadow?"
The black hedgehog shrugged negatively and Amy brightened as she took it as up to her.
"Can we go there?" She asked, pointing across the street to a fancy looking restaurant;
All day as she passed, it had teased her with the succulent smells that floated in the air surrounding the peach-bricked building.
After eyeing it for a second Shadow gave a noncommittal shrug before he found himself being dragged by the arm towards the eatery.
"Hooray! Let's go!"
The restaurant was surprisingly pleasantly for Shadow, despite his usual policy to stay eschew of large crowds. The two sat at the front windows where Shadow had insisted for quick escape and the full view of the room. He was leaning on the back of his hand with his elbow on the table, looking out the window uninhibitedly. Amy on the other hand was unable to contain a bit of her excitement;
She looked over at the other couples cheerfully, taking notes on the different people she saw.
Some of them were so strange;
There was one couple that consisted of a very plump richly dressed woman with a small poodle in her hand and her husband who was also rather plump, but much shorter and obviously much intimated by the woman he sat next to. There was a small little elderly couple that Amy couldn't help but obsess over; they sat side by side, holding each other's hands while that sat in comfortable loving silence. There was then a younger couple; two teenagers who'd obviously save up JUST enough to have this date, and were so passionately cuddled up with each other that Amy had to look away with a giggle.
She glanced up at the black hedgehog across from her happily.
"Hey, Shadow? What are we going to do tomorrow?"
He looked over to her and yawned.
"You tell me."
"Auh~ but I ALWAYS decide! What do YOU want to do Shadow?"
He smirked.
"I was under the impression that you enjoyed bossing me around."
He thought for a moment, ignoring Amy's exclamation; where DID he want to go? They only had another two days before moving on towards home.
"Oh! And Shadow?" Amy interrupted his train of thought for a moment, "Where did the horse go?"
Shadow frowned; "I'm surprised you haven't found it yet. He's at the stable towards the end of town."
"Oh!"
There was silence once again. Amy sipped at the drink in front of her uncomfortably.
"Exploring."
"Whut?" Amy looked up in surprise at the black hedgehog who was frowning uncertainly.
"I should like to go exploring." He said plainly.
"Oh! Okay! Cool!" Amy said cheerfully. And she brightened a bit; "We could go all the way to the mountain, and-and play with the animals, and then we could find a cave and-"
Shadow smirked once again as his wife went on to list as many possibilities as she could, and lightly he wondered if she would ever stop her cheerful rambling.