Disclaimer: I don't own Shadow or Amy, they belong to SEGA, blah, blah, blah…

x*The Mini Adventures of Shadow and Amy*x

-Chapter Nine: Thinking Part II-

It was strange, yet intriguing at the same time. To think the whole thing started when she wanted to get to know him a little better…

Shadow sighed as he felt the rain droplets hit his fur and closed his eyes. Taking a few deep breaths, he opened them again and looked around the empty park. Treading carefully on the wet walkways, he made his way to the little meadow he found the pink hedgehog in. The great sea of yellow and white swayed slightly as a breeze flew in to say hello. He sniffed a little.

It could've gone a lot worse…and a little better in my opinion.

Ever since he'd told the pink female what he thought of her, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Not just a few minutes in the past two days he'd last seen her, but nonstop; constantly tugging at his mind.

Crimson orbs looked from one end of the field to the other, thinking of the beach they'd walked on that night. She hadn't noticed, but he had found himself looking at her. Her bare feet avoiding the crab snapping its claws at her; the way she walked in-step with him - adjusting her stride to keep up with his; her jacket hanging off her shoulders, not entirely off nor on; her quills flying around in the wind and he wondered if she purposely left her headband at home, her bangs partially hiding her face. She looked…beautiful.

I felt so compelled to tell her. I probably shouldn't have, I don't know how I feel about her…yet.

He pointlessly shook a few droplets from his drooping quills and started back to the entrance of the park and went to the left. Amy's home wasn't too far away. He had to see her. An unexplainable longing to see her in person, not as a memory…

"I know this isn't necessary now, but I think you should learn a little bit more about other girls. Get to know some of the others here." Maria had told him the one day he refused to leave her side in an attempt to cure his boredom. Shadow didn't, of course, but he wondered if he had, would his confession have gone a little more smoothly.

I played it off as 'a joke between friends' like an idiot. I know I could've done better than that! I'm the Ultimate Lifeform, I should not get tongue-tied when explaining uncertain emotions to a girl…

But she wasn't just some girl. She was Amy Rose. The expert on all things emotional! Her perspective of life was that of living it to the fullest; without emotions, there wasn't much to life. Shadow lived most of his life trying to remain as emotionless as possible, but being in a team of enthusiastic characters with personalities of all sorts, he found that difficult. So, he eventually gave it up little by little.

Then Amy came to fully break through the steel walls he worked hard to put up.

"Not every girl is the same as me, Shadow. Every one has a different personality, but us girls have different ways of standing out. It could something simple as wearing boots that oddly look like sneakers with leggings and a tutu, to something complex as a particular way we do something."

The ebony male had seen a or two of Amy when she was eight and wearing her tacky orange tutu and green shirt, and oddly enough wearing sneakers. At first, he didn't believe it was the same pink hedgehog he knew, but the resemblance was there. And she did have a peculiar way of doing certain things; friendship activities…he shook his head thinking about it.

Those caught me off guard, but even she was shocked when I played along with it. To think she loved such a simple flower like dandelions…what if I called her Dandelion for the heck of it? he smirked to himself, just imaging the look on her face if he did.

Her house came in sight as the rain battered against him harder. Still, he kept his slow pace as he approached the door. He saw a figure moving from one of the windows, but shrugged it off, knowing it was probably her. One swift push of the doorbell and a few moments later, he was greeted by her surprised yet, pleased face.

"Shadow…!"

And there you go. Hope you enjoyed it! I figured I'd give you guys an early Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) gift. A back-to-back update and three chapters total! Happy Early Christmas (or whatever you celebrate)!

Next Chapter Title:

Nurturing the Flower

Until next time… -D.A.K