Zack: I've looked through my lil bro's USB and found some stories. This is a Christmas story he was working on some point this year. I wanted to post it for Christmas I guess.

Sky: I'm back. I know I've haven't updated in a year or so but I've been busy. I still have an outdoor life, i do usual stay in but I'm becoming more outdoors now. Anyway, because I've been such a bad writer all year, I decided to repent by writing you a Christmas story. This one is dedicated especially to my girlfriend: Lyricthehedgehog. Love ya to death.

Shadow: I'm still cold.

Sky: Grab a hot chocolate then.

Shadow: The snow has covered you appliances.

Sky:...

Shadow: Let's go to your story then.

The story is a one shot fyi.

I do not own Sonic, SEGA does.

Mistletoe

Shadow glanced at the falling snow, his bloody red eyes shifting between each snow flake. Christmas was nearing, just merely a few hours away. Everyone had decided to have a Christmas party in Tails' house; the brightly decorated tree was filled with colourful wrapped presents underneath it, at least from when he last saw it.

The first time he had ever heard of this occasion called 'Christmas' was from Maria. It was around 10:22 PM when she has explained to him what Christmas was. She said that Christmas was about Santa giving presents to nice kids. Shadow didn't understand the occasion, especially how an old, fat, long bearded man in a red suit can climb down a chimney and deliver presents all around the world in under a few hours. Sure, Shadow could probably do that but wouldn't have the strength to carry all the presents. He was quizzical about it, still feeling a little sceptical.

50 years later, Rouge had almost fainted when she had heard Shadow didn't understand Christmas. She explained, saying it was a holiday to be nice and give presents. He was still mystified, still not understanding the meaning of the word 'Christmas'.

Since he didn't know anything about Christmas, he would stroll around town, glimpsing people enjoying Christmas, he was trying to piece this puzzle together.

And there he stood in the street corner, watching the kids rip open their Christmas presents and staying up all night to play with the things they had receive. He grasped his head, racking his brains to the meaning of Christmas.

Eventually, he gave up and turned around, slowly walking back to his apartment. He had no need to rush or to waste energy. Trudging through the snow, Shadow passed by some shops and peered inside. The first thing he had seen was the display was decorated with 'Christmas' trees, lights were brightly lit among the green, vibrant tree. Decorated Christmas ornaments were placed all over the tree. The element that made the entire thing stood out was the golden shining star placed on the top of the tree. Gift wrapped presents were scattered underneath, laid near the roots. Deciding to get out of the streets before the snow storm arrived, Shadow tiredly gazed at the Christmas tree one last time before walking away.

'What does Christmas mean?' Shadow pondered.

[Elsewhere]

A pink hedgehog wearing a red dress stumbled through the snow, dragging a sleigh filled gift wrapped presents. Her thoughts were running, not about Sonic but his counterpart, Shadow. She had briefly glimpsed the black hedgehog earlier, wandering around the streets, glancing at the people enjoying Christmas. From what she overheard from Rouge, Shadow did not know what Christmas meant. This interested her, sure Shadow has missed out on alot but she never thought he would miss out on one of the most important occasions of the year. Feeling sad for the hedgehog's misunderstanding of Christmas, she sighed and tugged her sleigh.

As she led it down the street, the snowflakes were starting to fall, coating the street in a steadily growing pile of snow. The wind howled, raging the snowflakes wilder than she thought. Growling, Amy harshly tugged the sleigh, wanting to make it to Tail's house before the snow storm arrived. The storm only grew worse, the snowflakes were blinding her, her fingers were slowly freezing and she can barely see anything. She strove forward, tugging the sleigh with her. The wind blew harder, knocking Amy of her feet and crashing into the freezing snow under her. She gazed around; she can barely make out anything through the heavy downfall of the snowflakes. Deciding being found was the best option, she ripped the bell of her sleigh and started to ring it wildly, hoping someone would hear it.

A minute or two later, orange fire-like lights were emerging from the foggy snow. As Amy got up and stared at the approaching figure, more details about it were revealed. It was a hedgehog, a black one, with red haunting eyes. It had rings wrapped around its wrist and feet. It had red stripes around its body; on its quills, arms and legs.

"Shadow" Amy uttered.

Shadow glanced at her, eyes flicking between her sleigh and her.

"What are you doing outside during a snow storm?" Shadow asked as his arms crossed into his chest.

Amy got to her feet, brushing away the snow off her outfit.

"I was going to Tail's Christmas party when I got caught in the storm" She explained.

Amy calculated the chances of her making it to Tails' Christmas party with the snow storm, she wouldn't make it. She would get lost and would have to find some shelter till the storm passed. She would have missed the party by then. She needed to find shelter first or risk freezing in the cold.

"Um... Shadow, do you think you can give me ride all the way to Tail's house?" Amy asked, fidgeting in an awkward manner.

Figuring out what she just said, she cursed. She (indirectly) asked Shadow to be a transportation vehicle. She glanced at him, his eyes flickered to her and then behind him.

"With this storm up, I can't get to Tail's House; it is simply too far away for me travel. Getting lost in this storm is a very bad idea" Shadow replied.

Amy bit her lip, she wouldn't make it to Tail's party but there was no way she could get back home with the storm raging like this. The storm grew fiercer, the howling winds and the blizzard of snow was increasing.

"Can you get back home?" Shadow asked as his eyes flickered back to her.

She shook her head; there was no way she would make it back. Shadow sighed and then turned to her.

"We need to get you out of the storm, my apartment is close by" Shadow suggested.

Now don't get this wrong, Shadow doesn't have any level of attraction to her, at least for now. He merely sees her as a friend, a hard position to acquire since he rarely let anyone in. Hell, Rouge hasn't even reached the position, she was just an ally. What got Amy to acquire the position of 'friends' was still unknown to him, perhaps it's because she reminds him of Maria or otherwise it might be her kind attitude around him. Whatever it may be, she still wormed her way to his heart, lodged right next the memory of Maria. Besides, he made a promise to her and Maria that he's determined to keep: To make the residence of earth happy.

She nodded and walked next to him. He grabbed the rope of the sleigh and tugged it home, leading Amy back to his apartment home. The walk to his apartment was quiet. As far as Amy know, only Rouge and Omega has been to Shadow's apartment. Amy fidgeted, she was nervous. She knew Shadow was always the secretive type, he always had an ulterior motive but glancing at the ebony hedgehog, she saw no deceit in his eyes.

The ebony hedgehog led her down into a hotel, an expensive one, and tucked her sleigh in his arms while carrying the presents in his right hand. He got into the elevator and clicked a button. After the silence that enveloped them, Shadow was rapidly thinking about Amy.

He didn't know what pulled him to her; there was this care-free aura she radiated to everyone around her. It was infectious but Shadow stood strong, he kept up his guard. He wasn't gonna risk getting hurt over a stupid decision. Still, she was friendly to a fault, making the ebony hedgehog doubt to guard his thoughts. After having enough of thinking, Shadow wearily shook his head and exited the elevator into the seventh floor. He strolled down the hallway and opened his door.

Amy peeked in; it was dark, very dark. From what she could see, Shadow had the essentials; Bed, Kitchen and shower. He didn't have a T.V. and no consoles; Just furniture and a couple of opened boxes.

"It's not much" Amy commented.

"It's good enough" Shadow uttered.

He threw the sleigh into the corner and placed the gift wrapped presents near it before he vanished into another room. Amy glanced at the bare living room, it was nearly empty; Just a couch and a table, nothing else. She glanced out the window, the snow was howling hard outside. She crawled to the couch and slumped into it. She really wanted to go to the Christmas party but she couldn't with the storm outside.

Hearing the shower run, Amy glanced at the boxes, a mischievous smile growing in her face. No one had ever gone through Shadow's stuff, he was always defensive but since he wasn't here, she could take a quick peek. Rising from the couch, she crept over to the boxes and ripped open the top, revealing...Christmas decorations?

Amy glanced at it, shocked. From what she heard, Shadow didn't know what Christmas meant then why did he have decorations then? She opened the other boxes revealing more Christmas related items, seems like The Ultimate Life form had done some Christmas shopping.

Glancing behind her, the door was still slammed shut, shower still running. A sudden after thought hit her, Shadow had all the necessary stuff for Christmas celebrations and she wanted to have a Christmas party. A plan formed in her mind as she madly dashed around the room, carrying the Christmas decorations with her.

[With Shadow]

Shadow sighed; it had been a relief to be out of the blizzard. The drizzle of hot water running down his black fur eliminated the coldness that had crept up from the blizzard. Shadow then recalled the earlier events.

Amy Rose, an intriguing character to him. Ever since the ARK incident, Shadow had grown considerably tolerate of everyone around him but none more than Amy Rose. Shadow had developed an emotional attachment to her. She was there when he was going to make his biggest mistake, she was the one who convinced him and she was the one who made him realise that humanity was more than just a bunch of simpletons with selfish intentions. Shadow personally learnt that from Amy after she readily introduced him to some human friends she had. She was the person that Shadow had opened up to, she didn't have any evil intentions or any ulterior motives, she was brutally honest to a fault but she did have violent tendencies when angered (which he personally likes). While he didn't have any level of attraction for the pink hedgehog (for now), she was certainly an okay choice. Given that she was clingy, Shadow found the rest of her personality to his liking. Her cheery attitude with her violent tendencies, she was what Shadow was looking for but currently, Shadow was not interested in entering this so called 'relationship'. She was still madly obsessing over the blue blur and Maria still lingered in his mind.

Feeling a headache in his head, Shadow let out a frustrated growl. Thinking about it was starting to give a horrible headache.

With that, he turned the shower off and dried himself; his guest should be in his living room.

After fixing his inhibitor rings and drying his quills, Shadow reached for the door know of the shower and turned it. Entering the living room, Shadow found that the decorations that Rouge had given him were all over the place. The lights were off and the Christmas lights dimly lit different colours, giving a very sleepy vibe to the room. The corner off the room were by far the one that stood out from the darkness, the bright golden orb of lights lit up the tree, the star on the top kept flashing with brighter and brighter intensity.

A soft melodic bell ringing happened and it caught Shadow's attention, his eyes flickered over at counter. Amy stood there, a delicate smile on her lips. An IPod was connected to a speaker as she slowly approached Shadow, a gift in hand.

As the song started playing, he recognised the song; he had heard it in the radio a few days ago. It was 'Believe'by Josh Groban, a soundtrack for a movie titled 'The Polar Express'.

As she handed him a gift wrapped present, she smiled sincerely and then spoke.

"Merry Christmas Shadow"

Shadow froze as he held the present in his hand, trembled by the simple actions. This is what he was trying to solve, the mystery of Christmas. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Amy.

"Christmas is a season where families and relatives exchange gifts to their cherished ones. I know your trying to piece this together Shadow but..." She trailed off as she glanced away, looking at the Christmas tree.

"...Amy..." was all he could say.

"...You just need to believe" She finished as she gazed back at his crimson eyes.

As Shadow's find pieced together the mystery, his mind clicked, he found his answer. It wasn't about Santa, It wasn't about gaining gifts. This season was purely to give presents to those you cherish. His objective was done; he found what he was looking for. This hedgehog in front of him had provided the answer for him.

She gestured over to his present, giving him a small smile as her green eyes gazed at him. Shadow tugged the ribbon, taking it off the box and then peeled away the opening. He froze as he saw his present, it was an inhibitor rings. It was marked under his name and Shadow didn't remember when he had lost one when his eyes widened in realisation.

'At The ARK' Shadow thought as he gazed at it.

Amy fidgeted, smiling. She had been under pressure to what to give to Shadow when she remembered that she possessed Shadow's inhibitor rings from the ARK. Rouge had given it to her after the hedgehog had recalled on how she convinced Shadow. She decided to give it to him, as a way to show her affection for the Shadow.

"...Amy..." Shadow started.

She perked up when her name was called, her ears twitching slightly.

"...Do you...care for...me that much?" Shadow ended as he watched the pink hedgehog.

She smiled lovingly and nodded.

"I do Shadow" she said.

Shadow let a small smile grace his lips and then trudged over to the boxes and whipped out a gift wrapped present. Walking back, Shadow handed it to her and lent close to her ear.

"...Merry...Christmas Amy" he uttered sweetly into her ear.

She smiled as a warm feeling spread through her chest. She let out a breath and started to unwrap her present.

She gasped as he held in shell shock; it was a large hammer, much larger than her Piko Piko hammer. It was designed with pink in mixture with black, engraved with 'Property Of Amy Rose' on the handle. Feeling it's weight, it was incredibly light and then she slammed it down, causing a large crater to form on the ground. It was unbelievably strong and durable. A shuffle behind her and a soft voice spoke into her ear.

"I always did like your violent tendencies" it said.

She smiled and turned to face him, Hammer put aside by the counter. As Shadow gazed lovingly down at her emerald eyes, she gave a mischievous smirk and then pointed above them. Shadow followed her hand and it led to mistletoe above them. She smiled as their eyes met on the way down.

Shadow knew what mistletoe was, Maria had hung one above them 50 years ago.

He gave a chuckle and then slowly leant into, Amy doing the same. Time slowed as they slowly moved closer. Their lips made contact, a growing warmth spread across Shadow's chest and around his stomach as blood flooded his cheeks.

Amy felt fireworks crackle and explode into her, she expected kissing to be exhilarating and her guess was holding up quiet well.

They reluctantly separated after a minute and they started to feel the soothing effects of drowsiness. Shadow gestured over to his bed and Amy followed suit. As they lay underneath the blankets, Amy cuddled closer to Shadow and they drifted to sleep, one thought apparent on their heads.

'Best Christmas Ever'

So how about that? I was in the Christmas season and decided to make a story for , I have to go. Got some stuff to do.

S.O.S
(Signing Out Suckers)

Sky Of Darkness 64

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!