A/N: Uhm... Hi. I'm typing this at ... (Looks at clock) 10:33 p.m. And it's my birthday. And my sugar-hyper thing left. Now... I'm just tired. Well, I could go on and on about random crap like that, but you'd all leave! So, on to the story that I wrote on Christmas but was to lazy to type until now!

A/A/N: My computer was being slow yesterday, so I couldn't upload it until now. Like, I mentioned, yesterday, February 2, was my birthday. I'll shut up now.

Disclaimer: I only own this plot. All of the characters mentioned in this story belong to Sega/SonicTeam. If I owned the characters, it'd soon be ShadowTeam...

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Snow. It coated the ground. If a chao were walking through it, only the emotion ball over it's head would be visible. Shadow the Hedgehog was slowly trudging through the snow in a slightly forested area outside of Station Square. The ultimate life form was wearing a green scarf and a warm, green jacket, along with his gloves and air shoes. He was shivering from the cold and rubbing his upper arms, trying to keep himself warm. Yet, instead of turning back, as others would have done, he continued to wander deeper into the trees.

Tears filled the hedgehog's crimson eyes and he frowned sadly. It seemed as though he was thinking deeply about something, which was the case. He was having one of the numerous flashbacks that seemed to torment him rather than help him.

(Shadow's thoughts)

Shadow was on the Space Colony ARK fifty or so years ago. He was walking through a hallway, unable to sleep. He glanced at a very convieniently placed digital clock and saw that it was already 6:43 a.m. He paused for a moment, the sound of Maria's voice reaching his ears. The hedgehog ran to Maria's room to see her tip-toeing out. Confused by the girl's actions, Shadow decided to follow her.

Maria eventually came to a strangely decorated tree with weird boxes under it. The boxes were decorated in ribons and bows, also acompanied by envelopes. Shadow stared at the unusual items and walked towards the human.

"Maria, what in the world is this?" Shadow questioned.

The kind human looked to Shadow and smiled.

"It's a Christmas tree, silly!" Maria giggled.

Shadow stared at Maria as if she had gone insane.

"Chri- What?" the black and crimson hedgehog asked, not understanding the concept of a holiday. "And what are those strange boxes for?"

"They're presents, silly!" Maria explained happily as she picked up a purple box with red ribons. "Oh... Wait. This is your first Christmas, isn't it? No wonder you're so confused."

"So, what's a Christmas?" Shadow asked, still having no understanding of what was going on.

"Christmas is when you celebrate being with family and friends." Maria explained as she put the present that she was holding back down. "And you get a lot of presents as well! Though, it's being with the ones you care about that matters the most."

"Oh. Okay." Shadow agreed "I think I understand."

Maria sifted through the presents and picked up a red box with a sapphire ribon. Since the box was addressed 'To Shadow, From Maria,' she handed him the box.

"I got a present for you." the human explained, a smile on her face. "I hope you like it."

Shadow gently slid the ribons off of the box and opened it. The gift inside was a picture of Maria and Shadow, both looking very happy. The darkly colored hedgehog smiled warmly and hugged his friend lovingly.

"Thank you, Maria." Shadow whispered, remembering that most of the humans were still asleep.

"Merry Christmas, Shadow the hedgehog." Maria whispered back, returning the hug as she did so.

(End of Shadow's thoughts)

The black hedgehog's eyes shed a few small tears from the warm memory. Just then, he came to a single gravestone in a clearing. Numerous plants and moss had grown over the stone. Shadow gently cleared them away and placed a single rose in front of the gravestone.

"Merry Christmas, Maria." Shadow whispered, wiping the tears away from his eyes. "Merry Christmas..."

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Uh... Yeah. That's it. I admit that it's short, but at least I tried. Please review me now. Please?