Silver found himself in that haze before one wakes up. His body felt like overnight it had been possessed and was returned damaged. He managed less-than-half-opened eyes. Grunting, he willed against the torture of proping himself on his elbows and lower arms. He rubbed his right eye with the adjacent fist.

"Silver," he heard a familar dark voice murmur, as if he had been sick in his sleep. "So good to see you awake." Oh, that's Dad. The silver hog's eyes widened.

Dad? Wait, wasn't I- Then where's-

I died. Vanity killed- I'm alive. "Dad..." his voice started to waver. The black hedgehog moved closer to the tearing boy, enclosing him just like he did with his mother. The young one wept. "I thought... I thought I'd never see you again..."

"There, there," Shadow soothed. "What matters is that you're alive. And immortal."

Sniffles vibrated in the dark one's ears, most of them in the left, where that shoulder got damp. A phrase that hadn't been used since the hog was five swelled in his throat.

"Dad...I...I love you."

He said it. A warm tear formed on the black hedgehog's muzzle. He finally said it. "I love you, too, Silver." Whimpers emitted from the lighter hedgehog as they froze. "You'll probably hear this too much from me, but you're so much like her. All we have left of her."

His head poked out, eyes red from the tears. "Leaf. Where's Leaf?" Shadow chuckled as he pulled away.

"Sorry; she's wrapping Christmas presents. All this time we've been fighting Vanity's coming back at us."

Nodding, Silver nudged him out too. "Get out, I've got presents too." A tiny sound came from him, then "And make me some lunch."

When Silver emerged the house was decorated in a simple way. "That's a really realistic tree," he mewed, reaching out to touch it, then, once he rolled the needles in between his fingers, "It is real; how'd-"

"Leaf grew it," Mephisto blurted before biting into his third pizza slice. The hog smirked. I knew she was strong enough.

Noting his cousin's grin, the demon puffed. "You should've seen her when she avenged your death. The ground split apart. Scary, that girl."

"That's my Leafie," he replied, like he owned her. The front door knob turned, and in stepped in a hedgehog with six head quills curving up at one point, like the ears, except for the two lower corner ones; those curved down and behind. Bat wings and a snake's tail made him not hedgehog. His eyes were Mephiles', and he wore a long sleeve dark indigo jacket, layered under neath with a gray V neck shirt displaying the same gray in chest fur.

"Hello, everyone," he greeted as he balanced the packages on his right as he shut the door with his left. The stranger had a more elegant voice than who he was being compared to, and he had a mouth. "That is, Silver and Mephisto." As he came to the tree to arrange his gifts, Silver asked who he was.

The black creature swished his serpent tail and stood up. Facing the hedgehog who was shorter than his eyelevel, he snickered. "Ah yes, the last time I came you were just a fetus. My apologies,"- he made a bowing motion. "My name is Mephistopheles the Dark. Consider me your grand-uncle." His grand-nephew took a breath but he interupted with, "Yes, I'm the very same demon in the legend of Faust. Unfortunately these days a good soul is hard to find."

"It's made him incredibly soft," Mephisto puffed. "He can't take what he can. You're so picky."

"I'd rather starve than eat fast food," the elder retorted, "however, I was able to have a meal yesterday. She was so twisted and dark, it was like a pretzel dipped in the darkest of chocolates." This made the other demon cackle.

"But I suppose one ought not to make inside jokes," Mephistopheles informed. "I've come to celebrate Christmas with my nephews, regardless if they're really mine." Under his breath he added, "As ironic as that sounds, a demon celebrating Christmas."

Leaf sighed as she flopped backwards into the grass. Her fingers ached from folding wrapping paper and pulling tape. A headache from fatigue of repairing the forest damage from yesterday grew stronger. At least I finally grew the perfect Christmas Fir this year. And, Silver's okay, too. She sighed as she imagined her boyfriend cooing in peace.

The crunch of frozen grass approached her body. "Leaf," Shadow's voice bounced into her ears, " Mephiles and I have to go get some things. Mephisto made a pizza; you should get some before he eats it all." She hummed and bobbed her head, dismissing the crunches. Her limbs ignored the stomach's pathetic complains.

Intangible ice flew past the green hedgehog, inducing a shiver. I should've brought a blanket. I forget that I'm my name a lot. To ease herself, she thought about a warm lit fireplace and a furry afghan. How it was the softest and warmest on her chest and that it supported her head on its rest.

When it sighed her eyelids flew open. Magnificent layers of amber, gold, champange, honey and canary, honey on the top now beamed in half-opened eyes. "Leaf," their owner murmured.

"Silver!" Mephisto called, making his way out of the patio. "You'd better find Leaf or this pizza's-" He started recoiling and making digusted noises as soon as he saw the couple. "Get a bush or something! There's no misteltoe anywhere!"