author's note: So...this story is seriously almost twelve years old. Goodness gracious. It most certainly still holds a special place in my heart and will be completed, you betcha. Onward, with what is hopefully the final rewrite of this chapter with many more to come. Super special thanks to Hoverbike Girl for riding with me on the journey to improve and really complete ye olde-fic! The first couple o' chapters couldn't possibly be this good without her. I sincerely hope you enjoy the ride!

disclaimer: No profits being made!

chronologically speaking…
written by: kaz miller

chapter 1 - child from afar

"Who are you?" Tails questioned, wondering how such a little girl got out by herself, all by her lonesome. He was rubbing his aching head, blinking away the last of the stars that faded from his vision.

She blinked a few times, and then tilted her head to the side. That was an odd question coming from him. While something did seem a bit off about his appearance, she didn't fully comprehend why he wouldn't know who she was. The hedgehog girl was sitting atop his working desk, licking a cherry-red lollipop as she swung her legs to and fro. A small hedgehog was she, about less than half of his best friend Sonic's height. She was dressed in white overalls with a red shirt and sneakers that strangely resembled that of the true blue hedgehog hero's. Tails presumed that she might have just been yet another crazed fan of his. But her mellow personality and seriousness suggested otherwise. It made the two-tailed fox think for a little bit.

"Tails? Don't you remember me? Soniti?" she asked worriedly, wondering just how bad the hit he took to the head was. She didn't mean to cannonball into him...

"'Remember'? Uhh..." he scratched the side of his cheek, sweatdropping at her freakishly eccentric name. Why was she addressing him so informally as if they've been friends for a long time? Was the little girl possibly delusional? It was a frightening prospect. Tails was quite aware that he was well-known around his residence, but…

"Er, no! I'm sorry, I really don't."

She frowned, folding her little arms across her chest. Tails was mildly unnerved by her pouty demeanor.

"Um...okay, where are you from?" he asked hesitantly. He had no idea what to anticipate next.

"I'm from Seaside Hill," the little purple hedgehog piped, jumping atop the work desk to swiftly turn and face the window. "It shouldn't—" she peeked out of the mechanic's workshop as she lifted a finger, but slowly started to lower it down. "It shouldn't be far...at all..." she mumbled in a doubted tone. She sighed, fighting back tears of worry and fear. The young girl was always taught to think positive thoughts when she got to this point and quickly jammed her hand into her pocket. She pulled out another piece of candy while holding her lollipop in the other hand.

"Would you like some candy?" she smiled brightly, holding out a distinctive piece of mint candy. He could smell it the moment she pulled it out of her pocket.

"Sure, why not?" the orange fox replied, wondering where her shift in interrogation came from. He reached over and took it out of her extended palm. "Thank you."

"You're welcome!" she continued grinning harder than she had been, glad that was one aspect that hadn't "changed" about him. Her cheeks lit up almost like someone he knew...

"Hm..." Tails rubbed his furry chin in contemplation, staring at the miniature bit of confectionery in the palm of his hand. It was his favorite kind! But since when had the company's logo changed? It looked pretty minimalist and modern. He made a note to himself to look for it next time as he unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth. He snapped out of his thoughts to see the little girl looking at him with a strange sort of eager anticipation. He shifted uneasily. Was she bribing him? But how could she have known?

"I don't even know where to begin to try and help you…" he said as his ears lowered out of fear of disappointing her further. "I'm sorry I'm not being so helpful." Her face fell when her attempts to jar his memory seemed to have failed. Maybe someone could help her...

"Aha!" The little girl bounced up again, her squeaky voice too much to bear. "Do you have any idea where daddy is?" she asked, hoping to knock some kind of sense into the fox.

"No...I don't know your parents at all," he replied idly, thinking hard. He was stumped. Soniti gasped as her little hands flew up to her rosy cheeks.

"You must have amnesia!" she exclaimed. Tails was taken aback. "Don't you 'member anything?" she yelped, almost getting angry. Yes, it was true that she knocked him out for a couple of moments upon her arrival (the lump on his head was the telltale sign of his unfortunate injury), but he couldn't have forgotten everything.

"Sorry, sorry!" Tails squealed, waving his hands about in a frantic and defensive manner. He didn't want to anger the little girl—who knew what she was capable of? His throbbing headache was already some sort of indicator of her strength. The poor boy turned around and in one second, the child quite literally appeared out of nowhere! Everything about her circumstance was just unusual, to say the least. "M-maybe if you tell me who your parents are, I'll know. Full names?"

She thought for a second, tapping her own nose.

"Umm...oh, I know! Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose."

-insert dramatic, villainous music here-

"AAH!" Tails yelped, hopping on top of his desk, startling the young one out of her wits. "You're Sonic and Amy's daughter?" he pointed, shocked beyond words. "No way!" Soniti tilted her head, a little bit confused.

"Uh...y-yes way...?" It was Soniti's turn to be taken aback. Clearly he knew who those two were. But the connection wasn't being made. What was going on?

"But that doesn't make any sense! They aren't even holding hands yet!" Tails hopped down, trying to fully understand what the child was saying when he realized something. "Wait a second...just how old are you?"

"I'm four and a half!" she grinned as she held up three fingers.

"Oh my g—"

In that inopportune moment, Sonic burst into the messy workshop, slamming the door against the wall. This halted the two in the middle of their odd conversation. Without even noticing the little purple one atop the workbench, he started toward Tails, about to explain a new and fascinating discovery of his.

"Heya, Tails! There's a—"

"Daddy!" Soniti wailed with delight, hopping off of the table.

"A 'daddy'? What?" Sonic turned his head in what appeared to be slow-motion when he saw a small child hedgehog leaping toward him, knocking him backward with the force of a gust of wind. "Whoa!" Many of Tails' belongings were toppled over, but he hadn't even noticed. The twin-tailed fox was still processing the news he received. It just didn't make any sense...

"What—?" Sonic exclaimed, startled. He was on the floor, with a hedgehog barely bigger than his hand latching onto his chest. A sweatdrop formed on his head as she began to nuzzle her nose against his. He turned his head toward Tails, immediately pulling her off of his person to set her on the floor as if she were made of a slimy substance. She looked up at him adoringly, clasping her tiny little hands. Sonic looked back at the girl with an uncomfortable grimace as she approached him. Her actions reminded him way too much of...

"You came just in the nick of time, papa!" she chimed, grabbing the blue hedgehog's leg as he stood up to dust himself off. He grimaced further, trying to wiggle her off.

"Ugh...Tails?" Sonic kept his eyes locked on his little brother, who seemed very lost in thought. He definitely did not appreciate these overt displays of affection. At the risk of sounding rude, he asked, "Is this your new best friend or something?" Tails's ears perked up when he realized that Sonic was speaking to him. "A bit young, isn't she?"

"N-not at all!" Tails yelped coming to his senses as he hopped up to help Sonic gently remove her from his leg. He eventually pried her off of the blue hedgehog's lanky leg, who was now straightening his spines. Soniti stared for a second, looking stunned at Sonic's unfamiliarity with her.

"This is Soniti, and, um..." Tails trailed off, biting his lip. How was he going to word this to him without it sounding as strange as it was? Sonic was clearly unfamiliar with the young tyke who so genuinely claimed to be his. When they stood side-by-side however, they did have quite striking, uncanny resemblances, the fox noted uncomfortably. The speedster scratched his head at his brother's sudden silence, staring back at the young girl. She didn't look too happy now. After a long and awkward silence…

"She's pretty tiny, but yet she looks sort of...familiar?" Sonic questioned as he cocked his head to the side. The child was almost relieved before she deemed everyone off of their rocker. Even though everything most certainly didn't look exactly the same as they did an hour ago, even her own father didn't recognize her. Was there something on her face? She rubbed the side of it vigorously. "I can't quite put my finger on it…"

Tails thought for yet another second. Thankfully, Soniti was far too preoccupied with cleaning her face as to further disrupt the puzzle he was trying to put together.

"Sonic...have you ever rescued this little girl or something?" He highly doubted it, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Sonic's saved millions of people a countless number of times, but distinctive purple hedgehog that shared his bright green eyes would be pretty hard to miss.

"Never seen'er before in my life," he shrugged matter-of-factly. That possibility was shut down.

The purple piglet gasped in protest. A lightbulb went off in his head and Tails turned to Soniti. He could just ask he how she got here! "How did you—"

"Well, if you really wanna know," she began in a sing-song voice. "I accidentally stepped into your invention thingy that you told me not to because Teacup was hiding from me! But I do admit was a liiiiiittle curious and I didn't see anybody get hurt from it yet because nobody tried it so I just had to try it to see what it was like so that you could determine whether it would be safe or not and once I poked my head in, a bright light went 'FWOOSH!' and it felt like I was on some kinda roller coaster and and you got much smaller…I ended up bowling into you!" Soniti blurted, with a sheepish grin. Tails and Sonic just blinked at her with wide eyes.

"I'm really sorry...now that I've realized it…but it's not my fault, really! I'd try to fix you but...I don't see it anymore. And I've still gotta find Teacup, my Chao! But this place looks different..." Then she turned to Sonic. "So do you, daddy! But just barely!" Sonic blinked, thoroughly confused.

"Wha?" was all that his brain could come up with after a few muddled thought processings. Something appeared to go off in Tails's head a second time.

"Sonic! I need to tell you something pretty important..." the mechanical genius said in a melancholy tone, his ears flattening against his head. The orange fox gingerly led the confused hedgehog out the door.

"Hey, don't leave me!" Soniti cried, but to no avail. Must've been one of those "important grown-up talks" again. So she sat, shrugged, and continued suck on her lollipop.


"Sonic!" Tails rasped under his breath as the blue hedgehog's ears perked in alarm. "Apparently, that's your little girl in there! Bundle of joy! Your offspring!" the barely-teenaged boy flailed wildly, arms flapping about. Sonic titled his head, as if he were thinking deeply.

"That's bad...right?…What's an off—WAIT A MINUTE!" Sonic yanked the door open again, gawking at Soniti who was licking that lollipop, albeit sadly. His mouth suddenly dropped open, and then he slammed it shut again.

"That came from ME?" the blue hedgehog yelped, jerking a thumb at himself. Tails nodded, but stopped in-between.

"Nonono," the fox started. "From you and Amy!" Sonic was perfectly still for a second. Even the wind died down to show that the world had temporarily stopped.

"Sonic?" Tails then slapped his hand over his mouth, giggling. Everything was coming together now. "It's a wonder why she's purple..."

Sonic fainted.


Hours passed, and Tails was waiting for the new father to get up from his unfortunate state of sleep. Soniti took heed and decided that a nap would be best as well.

"Hm..." he hummed, doing repair work on one of his many communication devices while simultaneously analyzing the distinctive candy wrappers that Soniti left behind. All of a sudden, Sonic jumped up out of the cot he was lying in and grabbed Tails by the shoulders.

"YEARGH!" he shrieked, tails on end.

"Tails, this is a nightmare, r-right? Amy and I, we never—" Tails patted Sonic's shoulder calmly as if to reassure him.

"I know, I know...but you didn't have to scare me like that!"

Soniti walked out of the back room at that moment, rubbing her eyes. "Daddy! You're finally awake!" she giggled, and latched onto the blue hedgehog's tail. Sonic's ears flattened as he heaved a sigh. A very, very heavy sigh. This amused Tails to no end.

"Aww...man, I..."

"Wait 'til Amy hears about this..." Tails smirked, trying to contain his laughter. Sonic slapped his hand over Tails's mouth.

"Whaddya mean? She doesn't know? Don't you dare say a word to her! Not a single one!" he threatened, with the fear obvious in his higher-than-normal voice. Tails let out a quite muffled laugh, then bit Sonic's hand.

"Ow!"

"OK, OK. I won't tell," the fox started as Sonic's features relaxed. "...Yet." Tails folded his arms across his chest, firm in his reasoning despite his brother's contorted reaction. "Besides, she has every right to know 'cause Soniti's as much hers as she is yours. She might have some ideas of how to get her back home, after all." Sonic frowned. He could already see where this was going.

"But—"

"I think and can assume I know what happened. Problem is, how are we going to send her back to the future?"

"The future?" Sonic groaned. His suspicions were confirmed. Tails nodded.

"Well, supposedly…you and Amy uh…got married—otherwise, Soniti wouldn't be existing, right?" Sonic hated to admit it, if any of this were true to begin with! How did he and Amy end up getting married? She wasn't even his girlfriend now. Sure, he did care quite a bit for her despite how incredulously annoying she could be, but marriage? Couldn't he just keep the kid and not marry Amy?

"Aw, come on! This is so not cool. Don't you think that's jumping the gun a bit? Seems a little wacky to me!" The blue hedgehog was shocked, worried, angry, and scared all at the same time. How could something like this happen? His ears were twitching uncontrollably as he complained. The tiny purple hedgehog blinked, looking up at Sonic in astonishment.

"My own dad..." she sniffled, her already high pitch rising with every word. "My own papa doesn't even care for me!"

"Uhh," Sonic said, taken aback when tears started to flow. "N-no, it's not like that! It's just—!"

Tails couldn't help but snicker.

"Tails..." Sonic growled through gritted teeth as he shot him a dirty look. He then sighed, got down on one knee, and picked a sniffling Soniti up.

"Hey, look now," he began. "Don't cry. You're supposed to be my kid, you say...?" he asked slowly as her whimpering ceased. The tiny hedgehog nodded earnestly.

"Yeah! I guess you forgot for whatever reason," Soniti rubbed the back of her head smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Tails!"

"No problem. I'm actually enjoying this," he replied nonchalantly. The new father would have lunged at Tails and beat the very existence out of him, but Soniti was here, and well...he wouldn't want to set a bad example, would he? Sonic cleared his throat.

"Anyway. There's only one way to really prove it!" the speedster exclaimed as he placed the little girl on her feet. "Let's go and see how fast you can run the Mystic Ruins!"

"All right!" The hedgehog duo sped out the door without a second to spare.

Tails almost fell over on his chair and slapped his forehead. "Talk about your father-daughter relationships..." Tails shook his head. "Sonic shouldn't mind if Amy came over...besides, Soniti would be thrilled. We've gotta put our heads together to get her back home." He dialed her number as he blatantly ignored Sonic's earlier threat. Oops.


Amy was sitting on her couch in her downtown Station Square apartment, eating cookies and watching television with her mischievous NiGHTS Chao companion, Nighty. It was a little late in the afternoon, and she felt like relaxing on this uneventful evening.

"I kinda wish something awesome could happen soon…it's just been so boring around here, don't you think?" Nighty nodded, and the ended up purposely spitting cookie crumbs all over the carpet that Amy had just vacuumed earlier. "Ah!" Then the telephone rang. "I'll get you, Nighty..." she warned as the old Chao let out a venomous villainous cackle. Amy picked up the receiver, sighing. "Hello? Amy Rose, here."

"Hiya, Amy! It's me, Tails!" he cried, over the line. Amy smiled.

"Well, you sound quite cheery today! And considering you only call here once in a blue moon…what's up?"

"Umm...well, I can't tell you right now. Come over and look for yourself! This is a huge, and I mean huge surprise! And it's not Sonic. Well, actually, it's kinda small, but then it's huge in a sense, y'know?" he babbled on.

"Uh...yeah, okay." Amy giggled. "OK then, I'll be right there! See you in about an hour!"

She hung up. "Yay! This is gonna be exciting!" She picked up Nighty to tuck into bed, and got dressed in a haste. What could possibly be so awesome?