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It started with Amy and Rouge suddenly taking her out dress shopping claiming it was a “girls day” for all of them. Lunella had only gotten skeptical when they took her to some fancy dress store instead of the mall they usually shopped around in. But she’d been having a rough month running herself ragged to make sure she had enough money for her anniversary in a few weeks.
She got even more skeptical when they only tried on a few dresses while they shoved dozens into her hands until she put one on that made her eyes twinkle when she saw herself in the mirror…
Amongst the dozens thrust upon her she found one that made her heart soar, it was a shimmering white and light blue dress that had cute white lace flowers around the waist. It came with sparkly opera length gloves that were the same shade of blue as the dress. It was odd, usually she hated having her back and shoulders out…but with how the dress fit her she felt…beautiful all the way through.
She smiled slightly as she thought of what Shadow would say that she looked pretty, that even though he’d said formal wear is a waste of time he’d still probably look at her with that gleam in his eye that told her she loved how she looked.
She noticed Rouge snapping a pic of her in the dress and swiftly after that Amy and Rouge had ushered her out of the store—but not before she spotted something.
A cute heart shaped charm attached to a silver hooped ear piercing…she thought of Shadow’s already pierced ear and how something like that would almost be kinda adorable on him. She scrounged up the rings to buy it just in case…maybe Shadow would agree to wear it at some point.
After that everything was normal for a day with Rouge and Amy, they went out to their favorite diner for lunch and then hung out at Amy’s for tea and baked goods after.
Lunella shook off that day as just an odd day out…but she now knew what it had meant seeing the dress lying on her bed along with some accessories, a pink see through bow that adorned the back of the dress, and some blue matching heels with a white flower on the toe. With the dress came a note from Shadow to get dressed and meet him at 7PM sharp at his apartment.
…she’d been working all month to save for their anniversary and she’d forgotten it was today because of how exhausted she was. Shit it was already 4pm…she’d have no time to go shopping for something. She did have a bunch of leftover fabric though….an idea popped in her head but she had to work fast!
She just made it to Shadow’s apartment in the nick of time, 7pm on the dot. She wasn’t able to do much in terms of makeup as she had to rush to get ready, and she had to get a cab instead of using her ice to skate over, worried about ruining what she assumed was a VERY expensive dress and heels.
Before she could even knock on the door it swung open revealing Shadow dressed in a very expensive looking suit and a silk red shirt with silver chain across the collar. He made something so fancy almost look…casual. He looked handsome as all hell….
“Right on time…I appreciate your punctuality princess. You look….wonderful…truly you look like one tonight.”
Lunella’s face grew bright red as she looked at him wide eyed, Shadow always knew how to fluster her in all the best ways. She shook herself out of it but the flush still persisted as she spoke.
“Th…thank you. You look uh…REALLY handsome tonight…the formal look really fits you. You look like a prince….”
He lets out a soft chuckle before speaking again his tone teasing
“Then I guess we make a perfect pair? Huh Princess?”
Her ears perked as she flushed before giving him a hit light hit on the arm, pretending to be mad but her wagging tail betrayed her.
“You’re just trying to tease me now you prick!”
He chuckles again light and airy, a sound only she had been able to hear, a tone betraying his usual gruffness only for her ears.
“Let’s get going I have a reservation at that steak place you’ve been dying to try”
Her tail somehow wagged faster.
“THE ONE THAT TAKES A YEAR TO GET A RESERVATION AT??? HOW??”
She was unmistakably excited beyond belief, her pupils wide and her ears up and on alert, almost twitching with excitement.
“I’m very persuasive hun…I have my ways of getting what I want.”
At that he took her by the hand and abruptly teleported them to the front of the restaurant. Lunella almost fell over with how disoriented she was, chaos control was always just a bit dizzying to her. Before she could fall Shadow caught her.
“A little warning next time Shads…”
She steadied herself and brushed her dress off.
“Ah…yea apologies sweetheart”
He offers his hand to her. Smiling at her, another thing often reserved only for her…
“Promise no teleporting this time”
She laughs a bit as she takes his hand and they walk into the restaurant, her tail happily swaying behind her. Shadow’s tail having the slightest twitch of excitement only to the most observant eyes.
After a delightful dinner where Shadow became somehow more impressed with Lunella’s ability to shovel down a massive steak with ease, they stand outside the restaurant as Shadow seemed to have another event planned after dinner.
“So…where to next Shads?”
She looked up at him. She loved seeing his eyes sparkle like this when they were together…they almost looked like the most beautiful rubies when he was this happy.
“Would you rather teleport again or shall I skate us there to save you puking?”
“Skating please I’d rather not puke in this dress…”
He laughed before scooping her up into his arms bridal style. She held on tight to his neck as she felt his warmth…she loved that he felt like a space heater on her usually cool skin.
After a moment of making sure she was secure in his arms he shot off, speeding up the road faster than she could process the world zooming by around her. She simply held on as tight as she could while burying her face in his chest fluff her eyes wrenched shut to avoid anything getting in her eyes.
After a few minutes Shadow had stopped. Setting her down on her feet, her heels clacking on on the ground quietly. Her eyes still closed.
“You can open your eyes sweetheart”
She slowly opened them to see…a beautiful outdoor gazebo…with polished marble floors, high intricate looking windows that showed the shimmering stars under the night sky, and a high ceiling with a large glass skylight where the moon shone through perfectly.
“Woah…Shadow…this is…beautiful—how did you? When? I…”
She stared around in awe as Shadow simply smiled before grabbing what looked like a small remote from his suit pocket. At the press of a button the hidden speakers around the gazebo started playing soft music…one of Lunella’s favorites…
“Well when Rouge and Amy took you out it was actually recon for getting you a nice dress for tonight obviously. Before that though I used some connections to get that dinner reservation. Then I had Rouge help me reserve this gazebo for the entire night and your friend Prinxe helped me make a playlist of some romantic music…I remembered you’d said a long time ago we’d both expressed that no one had ever shown either of us kindness, let alone romance.”
He looked up at the broken moon through the skylight.
“You’ve always shown me kindness even when I’d originally often not given any back to you…you reminded me of what it felt like to be cared for and loved…I wanted to make sure I returned the favor. So I asked Amy and Rouge for help to help you feel like well…a real princess, princess…”
Lunella was speechless…she was full of emotion of happiness she’d never felt before, of love she hadn’t received before. A few fat wet tears rolled down her face as he looked back over to her now with a concerned look on his face from her tears.
“Shadow…”
She lunged forward and gave him a tight hug her face once again buried in his chest fur. After a moment of being surprised Shadow hugged her tight back giving her a gentle kiss on the fluffy fur on top of her head inhaling the wonderful sweet scent of her.
She pulled away, wiping her tears, thankful she didn’t wear much makeup.
“Thank you…I can’t begin to express how much this means to me…you…you’ve shown me love I could have never even begun to dream of before this…”
Her ears perked as she remembered her gift
“Actually I made something for you…hold on!”
She pulled out a small bag that seemed to be filled with something, she dug in it to pull out…custom made gloves made in a few different colors, red, black, brown, and even white like his old ones. And also a few different variations like some fingerless ones.
“You’ve always worn the same two pairs of gloves and while there’s nothing wrong with that…I figured it might be nice to have some choices from time to time…I know your probably very particular about how they fit so I tried my best to make them as movable and breathable as possible while making sure they still held up.”
He looked down at the gloves, his eyes shimmering, now he was the one left speechless. Without saying a word he simply removed his white gloves and put them in his quills before pulling on the pair of red gloves that matched his streaks perfectly.
“They’re perfect my love…they fit even better then my old ones. I’ll be sure to wear them all often.”
His ears perked
“Actually I have a gift as well…but this one is for us both close your eyes first”
She closed her eyes as he dug in his quills, she felt him wrap something around her neck, she heard something else clink as he reached back in.
“Open”
She looked down at her neck and saw a cute blue choker that matched her dress, with a heart charm similar to the one she saw in the dress store the other day.
“It’s detachable too so you can put it on your other chokers as well…and…”
He directed her eyes to his pierced ear where the earring and charm she saw at the store hung on his ear.
“We can match so we can always be together even if we’re apart…like if I’m ever on a long mission you can be reminded I’m still here…”
She pulled him down, her lips crashing against his in a deep kiss. She began pouring out all the emotions through her lips as she felt as he began kissing her back.
They pulled apart panting, both of them now flushed and wide eyed. They both felt electrified, like sparks flying out of a live wire.
Shadow quickly regained his composure and held out his hand as the music swelled in the background.
“Shall we have this dance my beloved?”
She smiled as she silently took his hand.
He led her in a slow dance, twirling her around the gazebo as the stars and moon lit them from above. While dancing Shadow slowed their movements before looking deep into her eyes.
“Happy anniversary my love”
She smiled back feeling happiness well up in her chest.
“Happy anniversary grumpy pants”
She giggled before leaning in to give him a soft kiss on the cheek. She removed her hands from his to wrap them around him, her face snuggled into his chest as they swayed back and forth around the gazebo. He held her close by her waist, his chin resting atop her head as he smiled happily…the stoic hedgehog finally knowing what true happiness felt like again.
They swayed and danced the night away.