Author's note: This is a Shadow Thanksgiving Special! Enjoy! ~PierceTheBre


Endless Shadow Oneshots, Chapter 3 - Thanksgiving Special

Shadow, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, and Eggman - who had been invited only because he had no family - sat at a rectangular table in Amy Rose's house. The smell of turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie wafted through the house and up Shadow's nose. Amy and Blaze were in the kitchen, preparing the food for a Thanksgiving dinner. It was chilly outside, and the fireplace in the living room kept the Sonic Team warm.

"So, Eggman...have any plans for Christmas?" Rouge asked awkwardly.

"Um...no," Eggman replied, his hands resting on the table. "It'll just be me and my robots."

"That's a shame, I guess, " Knuckles huffed.

It had been Shadow's idea to invite the Doctor. Of course, the only one who knew that, was Amy. Shadow felt close to Eggman, with him being related to Maria and whatnot.

Rouge then said, "So...anybody found any...nice jewels lately? Knucles, have you?"

Knuckles laughed. "Like I'd tell you if I did, bat girl."

Rouge giggled. "I'm going to steal all your jewels, Knuckles."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "You people make me sick."

"Someday you'll find a beautiful girl like me, Shadow, and you won't be 'sick' of people like us then," Rouge retorted.

"You're disgusting. I'm going for a walk." With that, Shadow stood up and walked out of the room.

Once Shadow walked onto the porch, he took a seat in a wicker chair and inhaled. Cold air filled his lungs. The only girl that would ever, ever be beautiful to him, was Maria. At times, though, he almost felt like he forgot about her...it had been over fifty years, after all. He would never truly forget her, of course, but sometimes, it was hard for him to imagine her face...

"Shadow! Come back in, please! I'm sorry!" Rouge was standing in the doorway. "Amy and Blaze are almost finished cooking, Shadow. Come back in and enjoy Thanksgiving with us!"

Shadow sighed. "Whatever." He stood up and walked back inside, to the same place he had been sitting before. The Sonic Team waited in silence for about five minutes, and then felt their stomachs rumble with hunger when Blaze and Amy walked out with an extremely large turkey.

"You're welcome!" Amy said as the two girls set the turkey on the table. "Now, just wait a minute while me and Blaze bring out the rest of the food."

Over the course of ten minutes, they brought out mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, dressing, broccoli casserole, bread rolls, butter, corn-on-the-cob, and pumpkin and chocolate pies.

"This is cool, Amy! Thanks!" Sonic said as he grinned at the pink hedgehog. Amy blushed.

"Okay, everyone, go ahead and eat!" Blaze said.

Just as everybody picked up their plates and were about to help themselves, Amy shouted "Wait! We have to say what we're thankful for first!"

"Oh," Tails said, his voice barely audible.

Everybody put down their plates. As Blaze and Amy sat down, Amy said, "Okay, who wants to go first?"

"I'll go!" Sonic said. "Well...I'm very thankful for this dinner you made for us, Amy. It's going to be great. I'm thankful for my legs, obviously. I'm thankful for the wind that blows through my quills - "

"Sonic," Eggman said sternly. "You're getting a little big-headed."

"And I'm very, very thankful for my running shoes! I'm also thankful for Eggman not trying to kill me at the moment. Oh, and I'm thankful for - "

"Okay, we get it. You're very thankful," Blaze interrupted. "Tails?"

"I'm thankful for my high IQ!" Tails said. "I'm thankful for technology! And also, I'm thankful for Sonic."

Sonic smiled. "I guess Knuckles is going next?"

"Yeah, I guess," Knuckles said. "I'm thankful for the Master Emerald, and I'm thankful for...um...my rapping skills."

The whole table busted up laughing, except for Shadow and Amy.

"I'll go now," Amy said. "I'm very, very, very thankful for my Sonikku! I'm also thankful for my Piko Piko hammer, so I can teach him who's marrying who around here!"

The table fell silent. "Awkward," Sonic finally whispered.

"I guess I'll go next," Blaze deadpanned. "I'm thankful for fire. I'm thankful for our heroes. I'm thankful for the Sol Emeralds."

"Ooh, ooh, I'll go next!" Rouge shouted. "I'm so thankful for jewels! I'm also thankful for men. They make my life better."

"Awkward, Rouge," Sonic said again.

"I'm thankful for my robots," Eggman said, without volunteering. "They're my companions. I'm thankful for my high IQ, as well. And you may not believe it, but I'm thankful that you all keep me young. Hohohohoho!"

Everyone giggled at that.

"So, everyone's said what they're thankful for? We can begin eating now!" Amy said.

"Wait! Shadow hasn't said what he's thankful for yet!" Tails inquired.

Shadow chuckled. "No. I'd rather not share what I'm thankful for with you guys. I appreciate the concern, though."

"C'mon, Shadow, be a good sport," Sonic said, socking Shadow playfully in the arm.

"Don't hit me, Faker," Shadow snapped.

"Please, Shadow! I'd like to hear what you're thankful for," Tails said.

"Come on, Shadow!"

"Tell us, little guy!"

"Who said that?!" Shadow growled. "No. I'd rather keep it to myself."

"Shadow, everyone else did it." Amy said.

"No."

"Please? For me?"

"For nobody." Shadow snapped.

"For Maria?" Rouge asked.

"What the hell does Maria have to do with this?!" Shadow jumped up from his chair, nearly knocking over the table in his rage.

"I...I was just trying to help..."

"Well, you didn't, did you? No."

The group looked up at him, all their eyes wide. "Shadow..." Eggman said. "You need to pull yourself together."

Shadow took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "All right, fine. You guys want to know what I'm thankful for? I'm thankful for everything Maria gave me. She gave me acceptance, trust, love...she gave me friendship. You know...I'm thankful for what you guys have given me, too. Hateful, untrusting gestures. Dirty looks. Middle fingers. It almost hurts me. But it makes me want to try harder, to be a better hedgehog. I'm thankful for all of that, too. Now, have a nice day." With that, he skated out of Amy's house, for the second time that day.

Sonic sighed. "I guess I better go talk to 'im."

Just as he was about to dash out the door, Tails said, "Don't. Let him blow off some steam."

"I don't wanna eat without him," Knuckles muttered. "That's just not right."

Sonic shrugged. "He might come back."

Blaze closed the door, which Shadow had left wide open, while she said, "He probably won't."

"Can I...be excused?" Rouge softly asked, and ran into Amy's bathroom.

"She must feel pretty bad," Knuckles said.

"I would," Sonic said.

"So, um, how about...how about Paramore these days?" Amy asked, trying to lighten the now-dim mood.

"They're too mainstream now, Amy," Tails said gruffly.

Amy sighed. "Okay. I know we haven't eaten yet, and it's taking a long time. But we shouldn't eat without Shadow. I guess we can just wait for him to come back."

Nobody said anything, except for Knuckles, who chuckled and said "Doubt he will."


Shadow walked to a quiet little meadow, a place he went to when he needed to think. Usually, his thoughts would drift to Maria, but this time, he thought about how those incompetent fools had treated him. Was it immature for him to just walk out on a Thanksgiving meal like that? Probably. Should he go back and apologize? Most definitely. Did he really want to? No, not particuarly.

He sighed. "I guess I should go back." Then, suddenly, his thoughts did drift to Maria. He envisioned her long, blonde hair and her soft, feminine features. Was she watching him? Did she see what he had done? They deserved it, didn't they? No, she wouldn't think so, even though he, himself, did. "I should just let them have their special day."

He skated back to Amy's house, inhaling sharply as he knocked on the door. He stared at the ground, his arms crossed across his chest.

Blaze opened the door. "Shadow? Oh, you're back. That's great. Come in."

Shadow didn't say anything, and instead sat back down where he had originally been seated, to the right of Sonic and the left of Rouge. Nobody had eaten yet.

"You...you all didn't eat without me?"

"Of course not, buddy," Sonic said, giving him his signature "thumbs-up" signal.

Shadow shrugged. "Well. Thanks, then." He glanced at Amy, who smiled brightly at him.

"I'm glad you came back, Shadow! We can eat now!"

Eggman stood up quickly. "Just one more thing before we eat."

Everyone groaned, except for Shadow.

"I have another thing I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for Shadow. He has been a great assistance to me, at times."

Blaze sat down in her chair, and grinned. "I'm also thankful for Shadow! Whether he realizes it or not, he's an amazing hero."

Tails followed along, saying, "Yeah, Shadow, you're great!"

Rouge then slid back into her chair, her eyes swollen and red, presumably from crying. She picked up where Tails had left off. "I'm so thankful for your partnership, Shadow. There are so many missions I wouldn't have been able to complete without you."

"I'm thankful for you, too, Shadow!" Amy exclaimed.

"I'm also thankful for you, bro," Knuckles said. "We should chill sometime."

Everyone discreetly looked at Sonic, waiting for him to give his two cents. "Well, ya know," Sonic said as he stood up and put his hand on Shadow's arm, "Shadow can be a great ally, but he's also a pain in my butt, always trying to outdo me. I mean, who can actually outdo me?! Anyway, that's not the point here. The point is, I'm thankful for somebody who can actually put up a competition with me. I'm thankful for you, Shadzy! And by the way, wanna have a race later?"

Shadow shrugged, trying to hide the small smile that was creeping its way onto his lips. He didn't quite enjoy Sonic calling him "Shadzy", but he did appreciate the meaning. "Thanks, you guys," he said quietly.

"Okay. Now, can we please dig in?" Knuckles shouted.

"Yes! Dig in, before the food gets cold!" Amy replied.

Everyone began piling the food onto their plates, as the clanging of silverware and laughter filled the room.

Whether they realize it or not, I'm honestly thankful for them, too, Shadow thought as he took a tiny bite of turkey. And Maria, I'm thankful for you, too.


A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this! I know the only country that celebrates Thanksgiving at this time is the U.S., but everyone in every country has something to be thankful for, right? I appreciate your reading! ~PierceTheBre