A birthday story for StarryHeavenDragon, one of my best friends on Deviantart. :) Here you go, Amiga! :) Happy Birthday! :)

Sonic The Hedgehog belongs to SEGA. Balan Wonderworld belongs to its respective owners. Rebecca belongs to StarryHeavenDragon. I own nothing.

A/N: The Sonic characters in here are from the two live-action movies. :)

The Best Party With Awesome Friends

"I'm going to get you, Sonic!"

"Think you can match my speed, Rebecca?"

"You bet I can!"

The playful banter belonged to a blue hedgehog and a beautiful dragon with pure white fur, her green eyes sparkling with mischief as she flapped strong wings as the hedgehog took off running.

The merry game of chase did not escape the notice of a few others. One was a two-tailed yellow fox, another was a red echidna, and the third was a tall man who wore a white suit with red and gold accents, a white hat with a red hatband pulled down over his face to double as a mask.

These of course were none other than Tails, Knuckles, and Balan. The fox chuckled. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone outrun Sonic," he said.

"He is a fast one for sure," Balan said. "He reminds me of two of my cast members, who like him have hearts that are pure."

Knuckles was watching the two with confusion. "Why does the dragon try to outrun the hedgehog when she knows he is too fast for her?" He asked. "What is the point of the race at all then?"

Tails chuckled. "They're just playing, Knuckles," he said.

"They are not competing to see who is best?" He asked, still a bit confused.

Balan smiled at the echidna. "It is a competition, but a friendly one," he said. "No physical prize, but merely true friendship as the reward of good fun."

"In other words, Rebecca knows she can't outrun Sonic, but that doesn't stop her," Tails said.

"Hmm," Knuckles hummed thoughtfully. "In my village, we had such matches to see who was strongest. The winners became the best warriors to take the place of the older warriors who trained the younger ones to be their strongest for any war that would arise."

Balan looked at him a bit concerned. "While training is good, surely it was not done every night and day?" He asked. "Surely you were allowed some time to simply relax or play?"

Knuckles shook his head. "There was no time for that," he admitted before looking away. "I...I am still learning the sort of life that Sonic has grown up with."

"I guess when you've known one way for all your life, trying to fit into another way can be a bit difficult," Tails said sympathetically.

"A conflict truly from the start," Balan said, his tone gentle. "Trying to make sense of something new while staying true to your heart."

Knuckles looked at Balan. "Do you think...I may never truly fit in?" He asked curiously.

The tall man looked thoughtful for a minute. "To truly fit in, one must be willing to open themselves to learn," he said, his tone still gentle. "To be strong yet flexible, much like a leafy fern."

"I think we can translate that to a 'yes'," Tails said. "It just takes some time, that's all."

"Whoa!"

A sharp cry from Sonic made them all look up to see the blue hedgehog had run up a wall in hopes of surprising Rebecca, since she was flying, but he apparently had misjudged himself and was now high up in the air with nothing to run against and he had begun to fall down as gravity took effect.

Rebecca, seeing Sonic was freefalling, dove down as fast as she could, worried her friend wouldn't be able to correct himself in time to land safely. A few moments later, she managed to pass Sonic and get underneath him, turning around and holding her arms out. Barely a second after she did that, the hedgehog collided with her.

Grunting from the impact, the dragon managed to correct herself and was soon flapping her wings gently to stay afloat in the air as Sonic clung to her for a moment. "You okay, buddy?" He asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, thanks, Rebecca," he said. "Didn't quite plan on going airborne."

She chuckled as she glided back down to the ground and found their three friends looking relieved but also worried.

"What happened?" Tails asked.

"Are either of you hurt?" Balan asked.

"What idea did you have, Sonic?" Knuckles asked.

"Guys, we're okay," Rebecca said.

Sonic grinned. "Takes more than a small hitch in a plan to hurt me," he said as the dragon set him down.

Knuckles shook his head, still trying to understand the nonchalance that the hedgehog seemed to have an abundance of. "You could have been hurt, Sonic, if Rebecca hadn't saved you," he said.

"Yeah, but she saved me and I'm not hurt," Sonic said. "So we're good."

Balan chuckled. "It is good that you are well and carefree," he said. "But take heed to be more careful, lest you get stuck in a tree."

Tails gave a sheepish chuckle at that, making them look at him. "You okay, Tails?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Balan's words just reminded me of the time I got stuck in the tree in the backyard of Tom and Maddie's home."

"How did you get stuck?"

At the dragon's curious question, the fox turned a little red in embarrassment. "I was working on the plane when Knuckles came up behind him while doing a perimeter check and spoke, startling me to the point that I accidentally hit the eject button on the control panel and the seat ejected me straight into the tree," he explained. "Tom had to get a ladder to get me down."

Sonic laughed. "You should have seen Knuckles' face. I don't think I've seen anyone look as dumbfounded as that," he said.

Thankfully the echidna had learned that dumbfounded was another word for confused. "I wasn't even trying to sneak up on him," he said.

Balan and Rebecca laughed before the tall man gently patted the fox's head. "As amusing as your story is, I'm glad you were not hurt in the end. Though to be more alert of your surroundings do I recommend," he said.

"Yeah," Tails said.

Knuckles looked at the grill where the hotdogs and hamburgers were cooking, along with the squash and corn. "Um, is the grill supposed to smoke like that?" He asked.

"Whoops!" Rebecca said, quickly grabbing an oven mit and lifting the top of the grill. Smoke billowed out and Sonic quickly ran in the circle they had dug around the grill prior to lighting it, creating a vacuum that helped clear the smoke, to which Balan and Rebecca checked on the food, finding it to be done perfectly. "Looks like lunch is ready," the dragon said. "Good eye on the grill, Knuckles."

As the food was all laid out, Balan snapped his fingers. "Cannot forget the most important part of this today," he said. "Wishing our good friend a happy and wonderful birthday."

"You're right," Sonic said with a grin, holding his fist out for a fist bump. "Happy Birthday, Rebecca."

She bumped her fist against his with a smile. "Thanks, Sonic," she said before feeling a light tap on her side and seeing Tails shyly reach out to her for a hug. Smiling, she hugged him happily and he smiled.

"Happy Birthday, Rebecca," he said.

"Thank you, Tails," she said, smiling back at him.

Knuckles gently clapped a hand to the dragon's shoulder. "May you continue to grow strong and stay true to your path," he said before looking a bit pensive. "Um, happy birthday," he ended a bit awkwardly.

"Thank you, Knuckles," she said, touched by his thoughtful words.

Balan hugged her warmly. "Happy Birthday, my dear," he said. "I am so proud of you, as I have been over the past two years."

Rebecca felt happy tears sting her eyes a bit and she wiped them away, smiling. "Thank you," she said. "You guys are some of the most awesome friends I could have."

"Feeling's mutual, Rebecca," Sonic said as Tails and Knuckles nodded.

They then dug into the delicious food, enjoying the good meal along with the good companionship they all shared.

Happy Birthday, StarryHeavenDragon! :)

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