Forever Bound

By Kirbymon (-^.^-)^

DISCLAIMER: I'd like to give credit to sonictailsbros and his fanfic Brotherly Bonds for the inspiration to create a oneshot collection that accepts requests. Please check out that fic, it's Sonic/Tails brotherly and it's amazingly cute! sonictailsbros is a promising author and he works very hard, so give him some support!

AN: Well, here it is. The first oneshot of Forever Bound! I will be taking requests after this one, my only rule is that it must be Knuxonic friendship, not Yaoi! If I see any Yaoi, or any excessively mature content, for that matter, I'm just going to ignore it. Also, please keep in mind that I am not waiting for requests. I will do them if you have them, but I will also post my own oneshots. Finally, please don't complain if your request takes a while, especially if it's long and complicated. I have a fairly busy life and a lot of things to do, so I'll try the best I can, but don't rush me.

Anyway, this is a Knuxonic fic about Knuckles on his 19th birthday (his birthday also happened to be the day he met Sonic ((or in other words, it's when 3K happened)) in my headcanon) reminiscing about his life...and Sonic's there too, of course. Why is it about his 19th birthday, you ask? Because it IS his 19th birthday! On February 2nd, 1994, Sonic 3 was released in America, so many fans consider that date his birthday. I'm uploading this fic in celebration, and I'm also going to try to beat S3K with Knuckles without savestates (yes, I realize I suck _).

Enjoy the first oneshot, everyone!

The Greatest Gift

Original Idea (AN: This basically means that the basis for this story was not requested by a reviewer).

He awoke to the sound of birds chirping and the sun shining in his half-asleep eyes. As his eyelids tried to flutter open, he had to constantly blink so his eyes would adjust to the light. After he was finally able to open his eyes without having to squint too much, he sat up from his sleeping position and yawned while stretching his arms.

It took a few minutes for the island-dweller's mind to actually start thinking about the day. He knew there was something important he was forgetting, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. He arose from his spot on the stone steps of the Master Emerald altar and started to head out to his secret stash of important items in the Hidden Palace. In his stash was a calendar he had received as a gift for his-

Oh. That's right.

Knuckles the Echidna had already reached the bottom of the stairs when he came to a sudden halt. He slapped his palm to his face, baffled as to why this didn't come to him the moment he woke up. How could he forget his own birthday?

Today was February second. His nineteenth birthday. Yes, he'd existed for 19 years already, and he'd spent at least three-quarters of his life doing absolutely nothing. Knuckles groaned as he headed back up the stairs. He didn't like birthdays...or at least his own, anyway, for two reasons.

First, he hated having to remember the fact that he didn't really accomplish anything. The purpose of birthdays was to celebrate your life, yet in his case, there wasn't really anything to celebrate. Yeah, he saved the world a few times, but it's not like he did most of the work anyway. That honor would belong to the hedgehog, of course.

Ah, yes, the hedgehog. The second reason. Or, part of it, rather. On his fifteenth birthday, his now arch-enemy, back then a stranger and the first human being he'd ever met, crash-landed his giant Death Star ripoff on Angel Island. He was able to trick the naïve guardian into thinking that two jewel thieves were going to invade the island in order to steal the precious relic, the Master Emerald. As mentioned before, Knuckles believed the rotund visitor right away. He had a couple of doubts, sure, but he couldn't take any chances with the emerald.

Sure enough, a blue, supersonic hedgehog and a two-tailed, orange fox arrived at the island and started romping around all over the place. Knuckles constantly tried to impede on their progress, but he often did little more than be a nettle. He had soon fallen in a fight to the hedgehog in the Hidden Palace, where the strange scientist from earlier revealed himself to be Dr. Robotnik, an evil genius who wanted nothing less than complete world domination. To put it simply, Knuckles was so pissed he let his guard down and lost the emerald. He was ready to give up, discouraged, when the hedgehog and his sidekick offered to help him get the all-powerful jewel back. Knuckles was shocked that the two he'd been hindering now wanted to assist him, and although his inner pride screamed at him to decline their offer, he couldn't turn them down. The three set off to Sky Sanctuary, where Knuckles collapsed from exhaustion. The other two anthros carried on, and to the echidna's great surprise, obtained his emerald.

Soon after, the heroes and the guardian parted ways on good terms. The day had been such an eventful one, Knuckles had nearly forgotten it was his birthday. He didn't particularly care, anyway, but he was glad that his special day ended on a good note. Although he wouldn't admit it for a long time, he saw his allies off with great gratitude that day, wondering if one day they would meet again.

He highly doubted it, of course, but he did see them again. And again. And again. And many times after that. So many times, in fact, that he'd gotten to know the two very well, and they became his closest friends. He also befriended many others along the way, and although he'd never tell anybody for a million dollars, he was glad. He had the closest thing to what he could call family.

Back in reality, the echidna smiled to himself as he leaned against the Master Emerald. Although the day he was reminiscing about was hectic, he had fond memories of it. He had succeeded in the first of many adventures he would embark on, and that made him proud.

Knuckles was snapped out of his thoughts when the faint whirring of a propeller was heard in the distance. "Huh?" he mumbled to himself, jumping down from the altar and gliding to slow his fall so he would have a soft landing. At first he thought he would have to deal with Robotnik's, who was now known as "Eggman", forces on his birthday. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the approaching figure was a red biplane, and he sighed in relief.

The hedgehog. Sonic.

Knuckles relaxed his tense muscles and plopped down on the second-to-last stair. He waited patiently for Sonic to land his plane, the Tornado, on the island and rush up to the altar at supersonic speed. Knuckles never bothered to greet him at the edge of the island, as the cobalt one knew the path to the altar well and could dash through it on his own perfectly fine. He quickly straightened his crimson dreadlocks when he heard the hedgehog's speedy, loud footsteps become closer to the altar with every passing second.

When Sonic was within a few feet of the echidna, he slowed himself until he came to a complete halt. Knuckles leaped out of his seat and greeted the blue blur. "Hey," he said, and waved nonchalantly. Sonic waved back with a grin. "What's up, you old man?" he chuckled.

Knuckles gave him a wide-eyed look of surprise. "You...remembered?" he queried. Not many people actually acknowledged his birthday in the past. Sonic rolled his eyes. "Well, duh," he replied, "it's not like I got amnesia or anything. Who do I look like, Shadow?"

Knuckles laughed and remarked, "Well, if I'm really an idiotic Central City resident, yes."

Sonic smirked. "Good times, eh?" he said, thinking back to when he and the gang had met the ebony hedgehog for the first time, and all the humans thought Sonic and Shadow were the same person.

Sonic's smile quickly turned into a slight frown. "Anyway..." he began, staring at the ground, "Things were pretty hectic back at home, so I never really had time to get you anything, and no one else really remembered your birthday...sorry." he apologized somberly. Knuckles felt his shoulders sulking not because of the fact that his friends had forgotten, but because the hedgehog had all this pressure put on him. "It's...it's alright," he reassured, straightening himself out, "Honestly...I never really wanted a present anyway. It kinda makes me feel spoiled..." he blushed.

"Spoiled?" the hedgehog questioned, "It's your birthday! You shouldn't have to feel that way!" The echidna shrugged one shoulder. "I guess it's the whole echidna honor thing. The pride and whatnot. It's just kinda...natural for me to feel."

"I guess." Sonic said, shrugging as well. "So...you're nineteen, huh?" he pointed out, changing the subject. "Yep," Knuckles nodded, "but I still feel like I'm two." They both laughed. "You know, you do act like it sometimes," cobalt teased.

"Shut it," Knuckles chuckled, playfully slugging his companion in the arm. The two giggled and then stood in thoughtful silence for a few minutes. Knuckles wondered how Sonic remembered his birthday in the first place. He didn't recall telling him...then again, he didn't recall most of their conversations, as they were normally relatively short.

"Sonic..." Knuckles whispered suddenly, causing the hedgehog to turn to him. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Sonic, I...never really looked forward to my birthday, you know."

"Huh? Why not?" Sonic questioned.

"It was always kind of depressing for me. I mean..." Knuckles explained, "I never really thought there was anything to celebrate. I haven't really done anything worthwhile, you know?"

Sonic shook his head and sighed. "Knuckles...if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be able to save the world as much as we do, you know?" he pointed out. "Besides..." he continued, "your life isn't all about what you do. It's about who you are! And if I were you, I'd be pretty proud of myself..." Sonic put his arm around his friend's shoulders. "You're a great guy and a terrific friend, Knux, and I want to make sure you know that. You're the most heroic person I've ever met, and whether you realize it or not, if it weren't for you, I don't think I would've pulled through all of our battles and adventures. I don't care how little or how much you accomplish, you're my best friend, and I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Th-thanks, Sonic..." Knuckles stuttered, not sure what to say. He'd never been complimented like that before. Sonic chuckled. "Okay, so I got a little more emotional than usual...but it's all true, you know."

"I-I know." said crimson, a bit teared up. As he stood there just staring into his friend's eyes, he wondered if Sonic remembered if today was also the day they met. He highly doubted it, as Sonic never recalled the dates of days as eventful as that one, since it was such a blur.

"Sonic, do you remember the day we met?" Knuckles suddenly asked. "Of course," Sonic replied, "how could I forget?" The blue one cocked his head in confusion. Why would Knuckles bring this up now?

"Do you...happen to remember what date it was?" Knuckles questioned, feeling a smile tug at his lips in anticipation, wondering how long it would take the hedgehog to realize. "Well..." Sonic started, "I don't really know...sometime in Feb-"

That's when it hit him. He stared at Knuckles in disbelief. "It wasn't...today, was it?" he asked rhetorically, as he already had a feeling what the answer was. Knuckles beamed. "Sure was...I never really got a chance to tell you that it was my birthday that day, though." Knuckles then added, "Some birthday, huh? It was only four years ago, too..."

Sonic laughed. "Yeah. I could only imagine how confused and cluttered your thoughts were that day." Knuckles let out a small giggle and tried to recall exactly what was on his mind that day. The Master Emerald, probably. It was amazing to think how just four years ago that jewel was the only thing on his mind twenty-four seven, and now, here he was with a living, breathing friend. A best friend.

"As hectic as that day was, that was still the best birthday I've ever had. Not to mention the only one where something actually happened." Knuckles stated, getting a warm feeling in his chest that reminded him of how proud and grateful he felt that day. Sonic, too, had a warm feeling on the inside, glad that something other than fighting and destruction had come out of that day.

"You know..." said Sonic, "I still wish I had time to get you something. I bet it would make you feel really good, and it is your birthday..." Sonic sighed. Knuckles sensed his friend's disappointment in himself. "You know what, Sonic?" he announced, "I don't need a present today. Because if you yourself aren't the best birthday gift I've received in my entire life, then I don't know what is."

Knuckles had never thought he would say that, but he did. And he felt good, because it was true. "You...mean it Knux?" Sonic asked, tears forming in his eyes. "Why shouldn't I?" crimson confirmed.

All of a sudden, without thinking, out of joy or maybe even love, Knuckles flung himself into the hedgehog's arms. "I've changed my mind, Sonic," he cried happily, "This is the best birthday I've ever had. Thank you..." Sonic was in shock and awe at Knuckles's sudden embrace, but he smiled and returned it gleefully. "Happy birthday, big guy. You deserve it."

They spent the rest of the day sitting at the altar together, talking and laughing and occasionally bickering (as per Sonic and Knuckles tradition), but in the end, they enjoyed each other's company and had a great time.

And, indeed, it was the best birthday Knuckles had ever had, because he got to spend it with his brother, the person he loved most.

Okay, okay, so it got a little OOC at the end. But I had to, you know? It was just too cute of a moment to pass up! 3

I'm surprised I actually managed to finish this on time...I thought it would take longer. I'm really glad, though, because now I feel like I've actually properly celebrated my favorite character's birthday. Happy 19th, Knuckles! 3 3 3

And with that, requests are now open. If you'd like to make one, please head back to the top of the page for the author's note in case you missed it before, as it contains all the rules. Thanks everyone...I can't wait to see what you guys come up with! And don't forget to review the actual story, of course ;)