Shadow stood quietly by letting Amy cry. He considered placing a hand on her shoulder or something to let her know he was there, but he couldn't. So he just stood.

Amy wept, tears slowing only with time. Shadow watched as the weakened hedgehog took a praying position. The same way Maria had after hearing about Micah's leaving.

The salty tears ran down the clenching hands of a kneeling Maria. The news of Micah's leaving had ruined the evening and reduced Maria to crying in her room. Shadow didn't know what to say to her or how to comfort her. Not only was comfort not his best subject, but he didn't know how to relate to her pain. Before the ark incident he had never lost anyone dear to him. Maria was, sad?

Maria was sad for about an hour. Mouth slightly ajar, Shadow couldn't see Maria in every move of Amy's. Amy wasn't like Maria at all. Maria did not really love Micah, she merely had a crush on him, and now, seeing Amy, Shadow realized that what he was looking at was not just a crush but real...

"God, I don't...I don't want Sonic to die. I want him here!"

...Death is swallowed up in victory.

"I.. love him. Please don't let him be dead. I won't believe he's dead."

...but the greatest of these...

"I will not lose hope! He is not dead!"

...Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

Amy's prayer deteriorated into only tears. She could no longer speak. Perhaps it would have been best for Shadow to leave. Amy turned to the sound of Shadow's feet shuffling as he backed away from her.

Both froze as an odd silence passed between them. Shadow stared into the watery red eyes; Maria's words coming to mind.

"It's okay Shadow, I'll get over Micah."

Amy wasn't going to 'get over' Sonic that easily. Amy had come to either love Sonic, or fool her self into thinking she did, and his death was a major blow to her heart. Sonic was a dear friend. He was Shadow's 'friend.'

Shadow watched as Amy tried to force a smile, but could not. The girl got to her feet and ran into Shadow's arms. Burying her face into his soft fur, Amy wept gently. She just wanted to be held. She didn't care that it was Shadow. She didn't care how he got into her house. All she knew was someone was there to hold her. Someone was there.

Shadow was completely taken back by Amy's behavior. He never would have expected her to do this to 'him.' He wasn't even close to her; they had just recently come to friendly terms. Still, he couldn't push her away from him when she was like this.

Shadow looked down at the girl hugging his middle. She was slowly calming down, but not removing herself from his chest. Not sure what else to do, Shadow hesitantly began to rub Amy's head. Which in turn silenced her tears altogether, only a few whimpers left.

Shadow couldn't help but feel a small smile forming on his face. Amy did have her faults, but in this moment, something seemed different. Amy had been the one to first help him realize what Maria had really wanted him to do. Amy had never done harm to him, and always wanted to include him in the ridiculous victory parties. With all considered, Amy had been treating Shadow as a friend since they had formally meet.

Amy tightly shut her eyes as she tried to hold back another flood of tears. She really hadn't meant to cry all over Shadow. Little did she know that he was actually taking slight pleasure from it.

The two stood still. The world outside Amy's apartment continued at its fast pace, their time, short as it maybe, seemed to last forever. For Shadow it would. He cherished it. Maybe he even cherished, Amy. Just a little.

Shadow, leaving one hand to stroke Amy's quills, gently returned the young lady's embrace. For a split second Amy enjoyed the warmth his hug provided, but then reality sunk in; Shadow the Hedgehog was hugging her. The dark, creepy, mean guy who tried to destroy all of Mobius was hugging her!?

Amy quickly withdrew from Shadow and whipped the remaining tears from her eyes.

"Sorry," The girl turned from Shadow. "I didn't mean t-to do that. I'm just upset and, yeah." Amy gave a nervous laugh as she went back to taking down the Christmas decorations. The black hedgehog watched for a moment before trying to help. Shadow took a few of the caroling dolls and placed them in one of the empty boxes. He did what he could while Amy tolerated his presence. She didn't seem to mind his being there in the least, until Shadow caught glimpse of the decorative ceiling items. He stared at one in particular, a loranthus europaeus if his memory didn't fail him. Maria had put one over her bedroom door once. She had said she wanted to put it over Micah's desk, whatever that meant. Maria also had a different name for it.

"Leave it alone."

Shadow faced Amy. "I'll get that one later. By myself. Just stay away from it." Shadow did as he was instructed and left the plant mounted on the wall.

Once the house had been mostly rid of its Christmas adornments, Amy went to the kitchen.

"Can I make you anything for helping clean up the house." Amy addressed Shadow as he cautiously entered the kitchen. "Coffee maybe." Amy laughed lightly.

"I don't wish to take from your..."

"I'll make you breakfast again! You must be starving!" With a smile Amy set to work making hash browns and sausage. Shadow didn't fight Amy's desire to fed him. Instead he sat and watched her work. It was kind of relaxing to watch her. It felt good to be with Amy.

"Here you go, hot and ready to eat."

"Thank you." Shadow eyed the food in front of him. He wasn't very hungry, but would eat to please his anguished hostess. She had an incredible knack for cooking.

After eating in silence Amy cleaned her and Shadow's place at the table, staking as many plates and cups as possible in her arm. An awkward moment like the previous breakfast passed between them. Amy fumbled with the dishes she tried to keep from looking back at Shadow. It was rude to stare, plus his stare was creepy. He hadn't looked at her that way before...had he?

Amy suddenly dropped one of the tea cups she had been balancing; it shattered a crossed the kitchen floor.

"I'm so clumsy." The pink hedgehog set the other dishes in the sink and went to the broom closet. Shadow peered over the table at the mess on the floor. Slowly he got up and crouched next to the broken glass. Scooping as much as he could into his hand, Shadow carefully collected the pieces in his hands and discarded them in the trash. Shadow then went to the sink and got a wet rag to wipe up the remaining tea from the glass.

Amy was surprised to find the mess had been cleaned before she came back.

"Shadow did you... I guess that's a dumb question?" Why was Shadow...it didn't matter. She should be thankful he was willing to help her and that he let her cry all over him. How he got there didn't matter anymore. But this awkward silence needed to go. "Do you know how to play Candy Land?"

"No."

"I guess it would be strange if you did. How about Uno?"

Shadow went to Amy and took her hands in his. Amy's face went flush.

"I want to take you out."

Was he asking her out?! "I don't want you spending time like this." Like What! Shadow released his hold on Amy then headed for the door. "Put something warm on."

"What? Why, where are we going?"

"You were happy the other day when Cream took you to the park, I want to do the same."

Shadow wasn't trying to date her, he was...trying to make her feel better? Why would Shadow do this for me? Amy decided not to ask further questions and go with Shadow. She might even enjoy what will happen.

Dressing in winter attire, Amy allowed herself to be carried by Shadow to the same skating park as yesterday. Shadow set her down outside the park gate.

"Shadow," Amy spoke up as the black hedgehog broke the lock off the gate. "The park doesn't open for another hour." Shadow looked at the sign posted next to the entrance. Sure enough the park hadn't opened. "We should come back later, it's not open yet."

"No, we're just early." Shadow pushed the gate open waving for Amy to enter.

"I blame you if we're caught." Amy added gruffly as she walked into the winter park.

The sight was beautiful. The iced over lake was smooth and untouched for the day. The light snowing that night had laid a thin layer of fresh snow; clean and unmarked. The morning sun glistened through icicles hanging from trees and stands. It truly was a winter wonderland.

Amy's eyes were wide with amazement. Living in the city she hardly ever got a chance to see untouched snow. Nor had she ever been to the park this early.

"Wow."

Shadow watched the small puff of warm air coming from Amy's mouth. She seemed to be the most captivating thing on all of Mobius. Shadow grinned at her happiness and turn to close the gate.

Splat!

Shadow had been hit. Angered, Shadow turned to face whatever it was that got him, only to receive another snow ball in his face.

"Gotcha!" Amy called running from Shadow to hide behind a group of trees. "Come on Shadow." Amy snickered. Maybe it was wrong catching him off guard; he probably didn't even know the game. Amy scooped another hand full of white powder from the ground and rounded the tree to beam Shadow. He was gone.

"Here Amy!" Two snowballs smacked the back of Amy's head. Amy quickly rounded to throw her weapon just in time to see Shadow disappear. He was cheating, he was using chaos control.

"You have to stay where I can see you cheater!" Amy waited for a response from Shadow. None came. "There has to be an unwritten rule about stuff like this."

Amy packed another handful of snow together and began her search for Shadow. He wouldn't have gone to far, he must still be in the area. The benches would make for a good hiding spot. They had four large bushes planted near them. Shadow would probably be getting more snow from there. The pink hedgehog tip-toed over to the wooden benches. Amy placed a hand between two branches then yanked back the plant. He wasn't there.

"Heads!" Shadows voice could be heard above. He had perched himself in an oka tree and had just shaken a snow laden branch. The load of snow buried the unsuspecting hedgie below.

Shadow gave a small smile as he dropped from the tree. She wasn't a very decent opponent. Yet, this fight seemed to remind Shadow of the pillow fights he use to have with Maria. Always a 'fun' waste of time. No one was really hurt.

The snow started shifting as Amy's hammer emerged from the powder.

What was meant by ' no one was really hurt,' was that no one ever played that game with Amy.

"So you want to play dirty," Amy's temperature alone got her out of the snow pile.

"Isn't that what we're suppose to do in this game?"

"I'll show you what we do in this game."

Using her hammer as a snow bat, Amy pelted Shadow with hundreds of snow balls til he was just as covered as she had been.

"Ha! Take that!" Amy laughed at her victory. Shadow wasn't about to let Amy win like that. The two spent a better of the hour fighting pointlessly. The insults flew with the snow and so did a slight bit of something else. Finally tiering, Amy sought a bench to relax on.

"Time out Shadow." The girl heaved as Shadow came near the bench.

"Tiered of losing?"

"No, just catching my breath, so I can launch another one your way." Amy pulled her sneak attack from behind her back. The last snow ball of the day smacked right into Shadow's face.

Shadow shook the remaining snow from his face before seating himself next to Amy.

"Guess you win."

"Yep, but not a bad fight, Shadow."

Amy rested her back against the bench and closed her eyes. She had never realized how mush fun Shadow could be. She always imagined him as being too anguishes or a loner. Shadow was...interesting.

And very, very close.

Amy snapped her eyes open to see Shadow was now staring intently at her...

"Uh..." What was she suppose to say? Shadow was seemingly inching closer to her.

Suddenly a noise in front of them caught both their attention. Before them a small flicky was flapping helplessly in the snow. It had fallen from the tree above and seem to have broken its wing.

"Aww, Shadow look."

Not that he hadn't already noticed, Shadow watched Amy kneel next to the bird and gently rub its back. "I think it's hurt. We have to help it." Shadow raised an eyebrow. After animals got hurt they never usually returned to full working order. The bird was better off dead. But for Amy he could try to say something comforting.

"Amy," The black hedgehog stood over the girl. "I think the bird will be okay, if we take it out back, and break its neck."

He must have said something wrong. The look Amy gave him was some kind of mix between disturbed and sick. "I think that would be best."

"No, no, no! Get away from the bird!" Amy scooped the frightened flicky into her coat and headed for the gate. "I'm going to take her home til she gets well. That, I think would be the best choice."

Shadow stood behind as Amy walked out of the park. He had just ruined a nearly perfect morning. Great.

(A/N) Sorry for any mistakes in this chapter. I'm also sorry it took so long to update. I am beyond busy. I have stepped into the realm of perpetual time consumption. Everyone I know seems to want a piece of my time. I will try to update more often...yeah.