Christmas morning could not have been more pleasurable. The girls had traveled from Amy's house in Station Square to Sonic and Tails' place in Mystic Ruins, towing gifts and cookies of all shapes and sizes. Tails had made the others make sure everything was perfect for Amy's inspection, and was pleased when Amy found everything just as she had imagined, if not better. Knuckles' ability to cook with foreign foods was put to the test, and the unique breakfast of tropical fruits saved in Tails' specialized refrigerator was certainly delicious. The echidna had picked all the fruits late in the summer, and Tails had a new invention to preserve perishable foods for years before going bad, and chose to test it with Knuckles' harvest. Of course, the stash was only infiltrated because Tails discovered the hedgehogs had raided the breakfast foods the night before.

Just when they finished their meal, Cream insisted they exchange gifts. The girls and boys had all exchanged among themselves the night before, but it was the couples' turn to give. All agreed, and they decided it would be best to take turns and watch as each gift was opened, one by one. Since the rabbit had volunteered, Cream and Tails went first. The fox was absolutely thrilled with his new screwdriver, and Cream was nothing less than delighted over the dress Tails had gotten her.

Next were Shadow and Rouge, who reluctantly swapped gifts while avoiding eye contact with each other. Shadow cautiously opened the gift, wondering what on Mobius Rouge could have gotten him. He was pleasantly surprised to find a rocket-repair-kit for his shoes. While he tried to thank Rouge, he could not be heard over the screams of joy coming from the bat. She danced in front of the other girls excitedly, clutching a large sapphire necklace to her chest and squealing with delight.

"Alright," chuckled Sonic. "Knux? Who're you giving to?" The echidna grinned and pulled out two boxes. "Oh, c'mon, man, don't tell me you're a two-timer!"

Knuckles shot a dark glare at the cobalt hero. "Hardly. I simply was unable to give Tikal her gift last night. The other is Shade's." Blushing a little, he handed one box to Shade, while giving a smaller one to Tikal. Shade opened hers first, and was shocked to find it contained an old weapon from Nocturne.

"H-how?"

"I found it on Angel Island. It must have been left there. I figured… you would like it."

"Like it? I love it! Knuckles, this is a leech blade! The nicest model, too!" The female echidna wrapped her arms around the Guardian's neck, causing his cream cheek fur to turn almost as crimson as the rest of him. "Here's yours." Knuckles opened the gift to find a Rubik's Cube.

"What?"

"For when you have to watch the Master Emerald alone," Shade explained. Knuckles smiled.

"Thanks."

"Your turn, Tikal," Sonic murmured.

Wondering what she could have possibly received from Knuckles, she opened the tiny box to see a small golden locket. When the heart clicked opened, she nearly broke down into tears. Inside was a picture of the entire group, taken right after Tikal had been released from the Master Emerald. "Kn-Knuckles… it's gorgeous!" she whispered. Knuckles blushed again, while Shade sat beside her and expressed her joy for her friend.

Silver and Blaze decided to go next. Blaze handed her gift to Silver, blushing a little as she did. Curious, Silver opened to gift to find a bracelet much like Shadow's. "It'll let you keep energy in it, in case you ever need more power for your telekinesis," she explained. The white hedgehog grinned and handed his gift to Blaze. When opened, Blaze found an intricate ruby necklace, which, when placed under the right light source, looked like flames.

Finally, it was Sonic and Amy's turn to exchange. It was the exchange everyone else had been looking forward to. Amy gave her gift to Sonic first, which was well received by the cobalt hedgehog and somewhat boring to those expecting a hammer-blow to the head. Sonic blushed a little as he handed Amy her gift, which was a tiny box that looked too small for most pieces of jewelry. Confused and with her curiosity piqued, Amy opened the box to find a small piece of paper in it. She read the note out loud: "Your gift is right above you."

The female glanced up to see Tails flying, holding a piece of mistletoe above her and Sonic, grinning. Amy gasped and looked back at Sonic, who was watching her nervously. "R-really?" she whispered.

"Really." Both ignoring the others, Sonic pulled Amy close and kissed her softly on the lips, which received soft "aws" from their audience, which quickly turned to quiet applause when the kiss grew more passionate. They parted, smiling at each other, while Tails landed back on the ground.

"Alright, all of you!" called Silver. "There's a lot of cooking to do for lunch, let's go!" Everyone crowded into the kitchen, when the doorbell rang. All curious as to who would be interrupting them, all eleven of them answered the door, Sonic at the front. A large robot stood at the door, a blank expression on its face and a suit carefully painted on its frame, Eggman's logo on its fake nametag.

"Who're you?"

"I am from the Internal Revenue Service," stated the robot blandly.

"The what?"

"The IRS, Sonic," hissed Tails.

"Oh…" muttered the hedgehog. "Whaddya want?"

"I have come to tax your--" Sonic slammed the door shut, showing an expression of mock fear as he turned around to face the others.

"That was the worst Eggman robot I have ever faced in my life," he said firmly. "Downright evil."

The others nodded with false severity, replying in unison: "Agreed."

Well, that's the end of it! Merry Christmas, all, and I hope you enjoyed the Advent Calendar!

~Wolf~