A Rose And A Thorn

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A Rose And A Thorn

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: See that? CO-WRITTEN. Stop giving me all the praise, it’s getting on my nerves. This fic is a 50/50 effort. Okay, so it’s stored on my computer, and I edit it into its final form, but Froggy comes up with all the good lines spontaneously.

Froggy: Wow. Rouge is such a bitch.

Harley: Now, where was I? Oh, yes… sorry about the lack of updates, my account was being like Rouge. Aha. Aha. BUT IT WORKS AGAIN!!!! THAT KICKS ASS! ON WITH THE SEX!

Froggy: But there is no sex in this chapter-

Harley: Quiet, Frogman! Don't lull the readers into a false sense of security!

~~~

Chapter Three: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star…

A flash of green light blazed in front of Amy's apartment, and Shadow materialized back into existence. He tossed the emerald up into the air, caught it with a smirk on his face, and walked up to the door, which he knocked on firmly.

Amy opened the door, and her face lit up when she saw who it was, "Shadow!" she smiled, "Come right in!"

Shadow smiled back and stepped inside, holding up the emerald for her to see, "I had to go back to Rouge’s place to pick this up," he explained.

Amy looked at the green emerald, "So... how did Rouge take it?" she asked, "You and me, I mean," she added.

Shadow shrugged, "She was angry. She tried to win me back, and she failed… miserably," he said.

"I'm glad you're rid of her," said Amy, taking his hand, "Especially if she treated you as badly as you say she did."

"I am too," he said, slipping his fingers between hers, "But be careful around her, and question what she says," he warned her, "She may try to get back at us for this."

"She'll get over you quickly enough," Amy replied, "She's too shallow to hold a grudge against ex-boyfriends for too long - it gets in the way of acquiring new ones."

Shadow smirked, agreeing with her. Rouge would find someone else to pick on soon enough, probably that poor sucker Knuckles. And she had a permanent love affair with money and jewels. Looking at his young lover, he wondered what to do now... He wasn't particularly experienced with dating, and now that he thought of it... he didn't have anywhere to stay, "I have a favour to ask of you, Amy."

"Ask away," Amy smiled, sitting down.

"You see... leaving Rouge’s place means that I now no longer have a place to stay. I was wondering if I could stay here for the time being?"

Amy frowned a little and looked away, thinking. They had only been together for one night, after all. Of course, she'd known that Shadow couldn't possibly stay with Rouge once the white bat found out, but it was still a big step, taken very quickly.

"I'll understand if you don't want that," Shadow added quickly, "I'll be fine if I can't stay here."

Amy turned back to him, "Shadow, of course you can stay," she said, "But you'll have to sleep on the couch," she stood up, "Except for on ‘special’ occasions," she smiled, and kissed him gently.

Shadow kissed her back, smiling, "That will be just fine," he said quietly.

Amy nuzzled his chest fur for a while, "I don't want to stay in all day, it's so nice outside," she said eventually, "Shall we go out somewhere?"

Shadow hugged her to his chest, that strange but comforting purring sound escaping him, "Yes, we shall. Do you have somewhere particular in mind?"

"Twinkle Park is lovely at this time of year," Amy suggested, "Have you ever been there before?"

"No, I haven't," he replied. Old space stations, top secret military bases, and massive air fleets were more his kind of place, but an amusement park would be an interesting change.

"I guess we'll have to walk there, then," said Amy. She glanced at the Chaos Emerald, "You can leave that here if you want - I've got a little safe in my bedroom."

Shadow glanced at the emerald in his hand. In the back of his mind, he wondered if Rouge would break in and try to steal it... but then again, she wouldn't be able to keep it for long if she did. He could always feel the emerald's power. He nodded, "Thank you. I'll leave it here." With the emerald, he could use Chaos Control to get them where they wanted, but somehow just taking the longer way seemed more... romantic.

Amy took the emerald carefully from Shadow, and went into her bedroom. Behind a large picture of the entire team (taken soon after the events of Sonic Adventure), there was indeed a small safe. It was nothing like as secure as Rouge's safe, but it was a safe all the same. "2... 26… 5... 1..." she muttered, and opened it. Inside were a few items of jewellery, about R1,000 in paper, and a large photo album. She flicked through the album briefly. It was packed full of photographs and newspaper clippings of Sonic. She threw it into the bin. And stamped it down.

Shadow sat on the couch, waiting patiently for her to return. This was so different from his usual day. He couldn't think of a time that he went somewhere just for the fun of it. But then again, he hadn't had anyone to enjoy it with until now.

Amy returned to Shadow, and he stood up, “Now, let's go to Twinkle Park. Together," she smiled up at him, linking her arm in his.

Shadow smiled back down at her, and the two of them left the apartment together. Shadow had spent time honing his skills by running through the city, so he knew where the park was. They took their time, walking slowly, breathing in the fresh air, just enjoying being close to each other.

They got more than a few stares. They were practically celebrities; everybody knew about them. But nobody expected them to be together.

There were whispers, "Isn't that..." "Thought she was dating Sonic..." "Nearly destroyed the world..." Somewhere, the flash from a camera went off.

Shadow turned his gaze towards the camera flash, glaring at whoever had dared point it at them.

The man hurried away, and Amy tugged at Shadow's arm, "Ignore them, honey," she said, "They don't matter."

Shadow nodded, turned, and continued walking with Amy. But he gestured with one hand behind his back and snapped his fingers. The man cursed in the distance as a purple flash consumed his camera, completely melting its internal components, and the film.

~~~

About twenty minutes later, they arrived at Twinkle Park. It reminded Shadow a little of Amy's apartment - it was no surprise to him that she enjoyed it. He glanced around at the fluffy fantasy land amusement park. For whatever reason, he felt more out of place there than Amy's apartment. He just shrugged it off and looked around at the different games and rides to choose from, at the people wandering the park having fun. It certainly was different that what he was used to, but it sure wasn't bad. He let Amy lead the way; she knew the place better than him.

Amy led Shadow over to a little shop selling cotton candy. It was pink, of course. She wasn't sure how much money Shadow had, and she didn't like to ask, so she paid for two sticks, handing one to Shadow, "It's like sugar on a stick!" she explained with a giggle.

Shadow tentatively took the stick of edible pink fluff and eyed it curiously. He tore off a bit of it and put it in his mouth, the fluff dissolving almost immediately. Shadow hummed quietly to himself as he tasted it. Very sweet. He kind of liked it.

"Twinkle Park sure is nicer than any of Eggman's bases, huh?" Amy said through a mouthful of cotton candy.

"It is," he agreed with a nod, taking another bite of the candy. Anyone who looked at them would probably not know what to think: Amy Rose and Shadow, hand in hand and eating cotton candy.

Not far off, Tails was leading an excited Cream, who was holding a plush toy of a unicorn that was almost as big as she was. Tails must have won for her. Both were eating toffee apples. He spotted Shadow and Amy together, and hurried over, "Soni-" he stopped and started choking on his bite of apple. Amy stepped behind him and performed the Heimlich manoeuvre, which basically involved bunching up a fist and pushing it into his stomach sharply. He coughed it up, "Sh-Shadow?"

Shadow fought the urge to roll his eyes. How did a black and red hedgehog with red eyes, completely different quills, and a totally different mannerism, get mistaken for Sonic so often? But considering that the kid just nearly choked to death, he figured it best not to rant about it, "Surprised to see me?"

"Don't be tough on him, Shadow," Amy said, seeing his expression, "Cotton candy in the way, remember?"

Tails looked up at them, "Uh... Shadow? I... didn't expect to see you here... with... Amy..." he finished, weakly.

Shadow grinned. "And you would expect Sonic to be here with her?"

"Well... I'd expect her to be with Sonic," Tails admitted, "You know... following him around..."

"Things rarely turn out the way you would expect," Shadow said, crossing his arms and looking down at the young kitsune. Noticing that he still was holding the cotton candy, he quickly put his hands behind his back, a sheepish expression on his face.

"Tails," Cream tugged Tails' fur, "Amy told me she didn't love Sonic."

“That’s right,” said Amy, returning to Shadow’s side, “I realised it was just a childish infatuation.”

"What? When did she tell you that?" asked Tails.

Cream blushed, "This morning..."

Tails figured it out, looking between them, "Oh. Um. So... how long has it been going on?" he asked Shadow.

"Since last night," Shadow explained, "I ran into Amy last night and took her home. We discovered something new about both of us..."

"Ah..." Tails looked at Amy kindly. He was obviously nervous in Shadow's presence, but he plucked up his courage, "Amy... I know Sonic isn't the right guy for you... but have you really thought about this?"

"Not really," Amy confessed, "And I don't plan to."

"Well... okay..." Tails looked between them again, "I... uh... hope it works out, Shadow. Um. But Amy's one of my best friends, and if you hurt her... um..."

Shadow could see that the young kit was trying to be as brave - or perhaps as cocky - as Sonic, in front of a guy who was almost a foot taller than he was, and who could kill him with relative ease if he got pissed off. He smirked, amused by the kit's attempt at intimidation. Tails was a loyal friend, brave too, "Don’t worry,” he assured the boy, “Hurting Amy is the last thing on my mind.”

"Good," Tails swallowed. Somehow, Amy and Shadow were a lot less intimidating as a couple than either of them was alone, "Good. Um... Shall we go on the Ferris Wheel, Cream?" he asked her. Cream nodded, and they walked off. Tails threw a glance back at them though. He still looked amazed, but... he also looked pleased, in a way.

Shadow watched the two friends walk off, catching the pleased look. Tails was one of the good ones. In a way, he reminded Shadow how he’d once been, when he first had been brought into the world, "Sonic will know soon," he quietly told Amy.

“I know,” Amy nodded, "But even though Tails has grown up a lot in these last few years, Sonic still treats him like the mere sidekick he used to be. So he might not believe him. In which case I would say that their friendship isn’t worth much more that my childish crush on him."

"I think Sonic is afraid of change," Shadow said suddenly, "That is why he is always on the move, why he never wanted to get close to you, and why he treats Tails the way he does."

"And why he's so immature," Amy said. She looked uncomfortable suddenly, as if uncomfortable with saying something unpleasant about someone, "Come on, let's go on the boat ride."

~~~

It was getting late, the sun was going down, and it was time for the two young lovers to go home. Shadow felt good. He felt really good. Better than he had thought he could ever feel. And Amy was happy too, he could tell. It made him feel complete to know that. Leaving the park behind them, he noticed that Amy looked tired... he ducked down and scooped her up into his arms, smiling down at her, "Ready for a real ride?" he asked mischieviously

Amy smiled back - the day had indeed been exhausting for her. More people had taken photos of them together - Twinkle Park was full of click-happy tourists. Not that she cared a great deal, but she could tell it bothered Shadow, "No," she answered, after a moment’s thought, "But that makes it all the more thrilling."

Shadow smirked and fired up his jet shoes, taking off into the streets, holding her tightly to him, "Let's take the high road," he said, right before running up the side of a building, launching them both high into the air, using his jets and chaos powers to control their flight and eventual fall. At the peak of the leap, they had a great view of the city and the sunset. Falling back towards the Earth, he landed atop a building and kept going, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, speeding along as if it was the most natural thing in the world, "Trust me."

Amy gasped at the view, holding onto Shadow tightly. It was easier to not be scared if she didn't look down, but even so, she still felt safe in his arms. She was used to speed, but not speed as fast as this.

Up here, running at top speed with the wind in his quills, Shadow felt like he could fly. With Amy in his arms as he kept her safe, he felt like his heart could do the same. He didn't take them straight home though; he took her on a unique tour of Station Square, seen from the perspective of the Ultimate Lifeform, practically flying over the heads of mere mortals, seeing the world from an unrivalled point of view. The sun went down, the blue sky turned as black as his fur, and the moon and stars awakened. He ran beneath them without a care in the world as he made his way back to her apartment, finally coming to a halt on the sidewalk in front of it.

Amy regained her breath - the trip had taken it clean away. She took her keys out of her purse, and opened the door. They went in, "I had a lovely time today, Shadow," she said, giving him a hug and a kiss, "And the trip home was... amazing. It was as if I was flying. Is that the way you feel all the time?"

Looking down into her eyes he said, "Yes, but yet... more so now than before." He couldn't quite find the words he was looking for.

Amy smiled, wrapping her arms around her favourite hedgehog, and they kissed again.

~~~

Harley: All right! And on to the next chapter! A vengeful Sonic rapes Amy!

Froggy: Harley, don’t lull the readers into a false sense of security.