(Disclaimer: I do not own the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, all credit goes to the original creators at Paramount Pictures. Please support the official release).

(Note: This short story exists within the same continuity as my first Sonic movie fanfic, and ties into my upcoming sequel fanfic. Think of this as a prequel).

~We'll Always Be Family~

"Happy Birthday!"

It had been two years since Sonic and his adopted human sister, Penelope, who had taken care of him when he first arrived to Earth, were taken in by the Wachowski's. Tom and Maddie had adopted her as their daughter and she and Sonic had been living with them ever since.

After that, Penelope had to go to high school but due to her starting so late, she had to take the GED exam before she could graduate. Then after graduating from high school, Penelope had applied for all sorts of colleges and universities that specialize in technology and robotics. She had discovered that she had an interest in technology and inventing, specifically she wanted to be a robotics engineer; although unlike Robotnik, she wanted to make technology to benefit people.

So she had sent out applications letters to the universities of her choice and was still waiting for any of them to reply, saying they had accepted her. At the moment, she was celebrating her nineteenth birthday with her family. After blowing out the candles on her cake, Penelope picked up a knife and started slicing it up.

She kept the first piece for herself and then handed a slice to Sonic, Tom and Maddie.

"Man, Sis! This cake tastes awesome!", said Sonic through a mouthful of cake.

"Well, I've got good taste. There's nothing better than chocolate cake!", said Penelope.

"Have you heard anything from any of the colleges you applied to?", asked Tom.

Penelope sighed as she sat at the kitchen table, "No I haven't...well, actually two of them rejected my application and I haven't heard from any of the others. I'm not gonna give up but stuff like that isn't exactly encouraging", she said.

Maddie placed a hand on her shoulder, "It'll be alright, Penelope. You just keep a positive attitude and hopefully, one of those schools will accept you. Now, why don't you open your presents to take your mind of it?", she said. Penelope smiled as she picked up the first gift from Tom, she peeled off the wrapping paper to reveal a 107-Piece STEM Robot Kit.

The second present, from Maddie, was an electronics kit as well as a large book all about the ins and outs of robotics, mechanical engineering and programming. "Wow, these are amazing! Thanks so much, Mom and Dad!", Penelope said.

"Why are you so in to robots anyway?", asked Sonic.

"Well, despite how much I hate him for what he tried to do to you, I have to thank Robotnik for one thing: he made me realize what it was I want to do with my life. He was someone who used his knowledge of machines for his own personal gain; as a kid, I had always liked taking old and broken things and repairing them, making them new again.

"I then thought...what if I could build robots too? Robots made to help people rather than cause harm, and thus, I made my final decision. I'm gonna become a robotics engineer and build technology to benefit humanity", said Penelope.

Sonic shrugged and then left the room to go get something, he then came back holding a crudely wrapped gift in his hands. "Here ya go, Sis. Happy birthday!", he said. Penelope took the gift and unwrapped it, revealing a handmade picture frame, decorated with little fake gems, colorful beads and pieces of dried macaroni. Inside the frame, was a picture of Sonic and Penelope when they had went camping last summer.

"I made it myself, took me like an hour and a half too. I hope you like it", said Sonic.

Penelope smiled as she crouched down to hug Sonic, he was still quite small and she had grown taller in the last two years. "Awww, thank you Sonic! I absolutely love it! Hey, you wanna help me build this little robot?", she said. Sonic smiled and nodded as he followed her to the living room while Tom and Maddie cleaned up the kitchen table and placed the leftover cake into the fridge.

[Time Skip]

Two and a half hours later, Penelope had finished building her robot with Sonic's help. It was a small green humanoid robot with treads for feet and a small black screen for a face. Penelope had just finished programming the motherboard and inserted it into the robot.

"Alright, let's see if this'll work", she said as she picked up a remote control for the robot. She pressed a button to activate it, it took a few seconds before a pair of pixelated yellow eyes appeared on the screen.

"Greetings! I am Unit SP-112, how may I assist you?", said the robot.

Penelope and Sonic cheered and high-fived each other, "Alright, Sis! You did it!", said Sonic. Then he found himself being lifted up into Penelope's arms, "No...we did it! Together. Thanks for your help, even if all you did was just hand me the tools I needed since you don't know anything about robotics. I really appreciated it", said Penelope.

Sonic smiled as he hugged her, "Happy to help, Sis. Glad I could help even though all this stuff is way too complicated for me to get", he said.

The two spent the rest of the night playing with their new robot, making it do all kinds of tricks and say funny things; Penelope had filmed the robot with her cellphone and sent the footage to the email addresses of the universities she applied to, in the hopes that this will convince them to consider her for acceptance.

It wasn't until close to around midnight when Tom decided to shut down their fun, "Alright you two, it's pretty late so you should head off to bed now", he said. "Oh come on, Donut Lord! I was just about to see if we could use this robot as a karaoke machine!", Sonic complained.

"Dad's got a point, Sonic. It is late and I'm feeling pretty tired, so we should head upstairs to bed. And don't think you can fool me, I know you're sleepy too", Penelope said with a cheeky smile. Sonic was about to object when he was interrupted by a deep yawn, he rubbed his eyes as he quickly realized she was right, much to his chagrin.

"Okay, I get it. I'll go to bed", he said. Penelope laughed as she turned off her robot and then picked it up to put it away as she walked up to the attic, Sonic following close behind her. The two got into their pajamas as they laid down and went to sleep.

[Time Skip]

The next morning, they sat at the kitchen table waiting for Maddie to finish making breakfast. Penelope was reading the robotics book while drinking coffee, and Sonic was tapping on the table with his utensils as if he was playing a drum.

Tom walked into the room, holding a small stack of mail in his hands.

"Hey, the mail's here! Whatcha get, Donut Lord?", asked Sonic just as Maddie placed the food down onto the table.

"Let's see, then: electric bill, cable bill, phone bill...oh wait, there's actually something new here. It's a letter addressed to you, Penelope", said Tom.

Penelope looked up from her breakfast and took the envelope from Tom, she looked at it to see that it was indeed addressed to her, and that it was a letter from the Boston University College of Engineering. "It's from one of the schools I applied to, I hope this is finally an acceptance letter and not yet another school turning me down", she said.

She used a butter knife to open the envelope and pulled out the letter, then she unfolded it so she could read it out loud.

"Dear Penelope Wachowski,

We have reviewed your application and, while your educational experience and student portfolio seem unorthodox, we are happy to inform you that you have been selected to the attend our university and study in the Robotics Engineering Program.

The first Semester begins next month, we hope to see you here and we hope we can assist you in taking a step closer to your career and a brighter future.

Signed,

Dean Walden of the Boston University College of Engineering"

Penelope's eyes widened in shock, she read the letter over and over again in her head at least three times just to make absolute sure that this wasn't a mistake. It wasn't, it was clearly written there on the paper that she had been accepted.

"Oh my God! It finally happened, they accepted me! I got in!", she shouted with excitement.

"Way to go, Sis! I knew you could do it!", said Sonic.

Penelope bent down and pulled him into a hug, swinging him around as she whooped with pure joy. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, she just abruptly stopped. "Huh? Why'd you stop, Penny? What's wrong?", asked Sonic.

"I just realized that this college is in Boston, Massachusetts. If I want to attend, then...I'm gonna have to go live in Massachusetts!", Penelope said.

Everyone else gasped at this realization as well, "No you don't! Can't you just take your classes on the computer? I've seen people in movies do that, not to mention some of the kids at school have parents or older siblings who take college classes on the computer. You don't have to go anywhere", said Sonic.

No one seemed to notice the small quiver in his voice, as if he was trying to suppress his nervousness.

Penelope sighed, "Its not that easy, Sonic. If I was gonna be an accountant or an office worker, then taking online classes would be just fine. But I want a career in robotics, so I need to have hands-on experience. I have to take these classes in person, but I don't have a job so I can't rent an apartment and I don't have any family living in Massachusetts who could give me a place to stay...", she said.

She sat at the table sadly, dropping her head down onto her arms. "I can't believe this! I finally got accepted into the school I wanted but now I can't go because I won't have anywhere to stay while doing so!", Penelope said. She sounded as though she was going to cry, feeling bitterly disappointed that she won't be able to go to the college.

Sonic patted her on the back, trying to think of anything he could say to cheer her up. Before he could, however, Tom suddenly spoke.

"I think I have a solution to this problem", he said.

"What do you mean?", asked Maddie.

"I remember Wade telling one time that he has a cousin who lives in Massachusetts, he lives in a house with his wife but they don't have any kids of their own. I could ask Wade to speak to him and ask if you can stay with them while you go to school", explained Tom.

Penelope sat up abruptly, a look of happiness on her face. "Really?! Oh, thank you so much Dad! Thank you!", she shouted as she rushed over to hug Tom. She then let go of him as he went to go call Wade, then she turned towards Sonic. "Isn't this great, little bro? If all goes well, I'll be able to attend this university!", she said excitedly.

Sonic gave her a halfhearted smile, "Yeah...that sounds awesome. Um...if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go outside and get some fresh air", he said. Then he stepped out through the front door and sat on the doorstep, holding his head in his hands.

Ozzy came out through the doggy door and sat next to Sonic, letting out a small whine as if he knew something was bothering the hedgehog. Sonic sighed, "Ah, Ozzy...its not that I don't want Penny to go to college. You saw how happy she was when we got that robot to work, she's really passionate about this.

"But I didn't realize she'd have to live somewhere else to do it. I'm scared because I heard it'll take four years for her to get her degree, if she was going to school here in Green Hills it wouldn't be so bad, but if she goes to live in Massachusetts, I'm afraid she'll forget all about me", he said sadly.

Ozzy whined as he leaned over to lick Sonic's cheek, making the hedgehog giggle. "Yeah, you're right. I'm probably just overreacting, maybe it won't be so bad. And that's even if Wade's cousin will let her stay at his house. If not, Penny will be sad but at least she'll still be here...", he trailed off.

"YES!"

Sonic was startled when he heard his sister let out a loud scream, he raced back into the house to see Penelope hopping up and down like a toddler on a sugar high. Maddie stood by laughing and Tom was on the phone, "Okay, thanks a lot, Wade. I owe you big time, and tell your cousin I said thanks too", he said as he hung up.

"What's going?", asked Sonic.

"Well, it turns out that Wade's cousin is willing to let Penelope stay at his house with him and his wife while she goes to school...on the condition that she helps around the house and gets a part time job while she's there", explained Tom.

"Yes! I'm gonna go to university! I'm gonna get my Master's degree and I'll be able to build machines that will benefit people in the future! By the way, when's the sooner I can go over there? The letter said that the first Semester starts next month", said Penelope.

"Wade's cousin said the soonest you should go is next week, he said by then they'll have the spare bedroom all set up for you. Once your there, sign up for your classes and then look for a part time job when you've got free time", said Tom.

Penelope smiled, "Okay, good! In that case, I should start packing my stuff. I'm gonna need some luggage, not to mention I'll need some new clothes and plane tickets. By the way, how long is a flight from Montana to Massachusetts anyway?", she said.

"Its about 4 hours 50 minutes long, I can take you into town to do some shopping for clothes and luggage", said Maddie.

"In the meantime, I'll buy the plane tickets online for you", said Tom.

Penelope then walked over to hug them both, "Thanks so much, Mom and Dad. I've never been this happy in my life! I'm gonna go grab my jacket", she said as she ran upstairs.

During the whole exchange, Sonic stood there silently as an expression of disbelief and sadness slowly overtook his face. It seemed as though no one had noticed and it made him feel like he was being ignored, he slowly and quietly walked upstairs to his room and threw himself onto his bed.

Seems like she's already forgetting about me, he thought as he could feel tears well up in his eyes but refused to let them fall.

[Time Skip]

An hour later, Tom was sitting at the kitchen table, looking at a laptop. He was on the JetBlue website, looking for affordable tickets for a flight from Montana to Massachusetts. He heard a noise, like the sound of small footsteps, and turned to see Sonic walking into the kitchen.

"Hey buddy, you were really quiet for a while. You feeling okay?", said Tom.

Sonic looked at him as he opened the refrigerator door, "Yeah...I'm fine, I was just taking a nap", he said. He wasn't lying, he had actually cried himself to sleep and had just woken up now because he was feeling hungry. He gathered some things to make a sandwich and when he was done, he sat at the table and ate quietly.

Tom gave him a questioning look, "You sure you're feeling alright, Sonic. You look pretty down to me", he said.

"No, I'm great! I'm perfectly fine! Sis is gonna go to the school she wanted, which is in another state that is super far away from here! I couldn't be happier for her, really!", Sonic shouted in a sarcastic way.

Tom raised an eyebrow as this but before he could comment, his cellphone went off. He picked it up, "Hello? Hey Wade, what's up? Oh really, that sounds great! No, she's out shopping with Maddie. I'll tell her when they get back, again thanks", he said as he hung up.

Before Sonic could ask what he was talking about, the front door opened up as Maddie and Penelope walked holding a few shopping bags. Sonic noticed that Penelope was wearing a new white summer dress.

"I see you're back", said Tom.

"Yeah, we found some luggage and Penelope here found some really cute summer clothes to wear, which is good considering that it'll get warm very soon", said Maddie.

"Check out this dress, isn't it really pretty?", said Penelope.

"It's nice. Oh, by the way, Wade called and he said that his cousin said that the soonest you could head over to his home is next Thursday. Which is great because now I know for what date and time to get the plane ticket, you can leave in the morning after breakfast, I can drive you to the airport", said Tom.

Penelope smiled as she hugged Tom, "Thanks a lot, Dad! I guess I should head up to my room, take the tags off my luggage and start packing", she said.

Just then, Sonic threw the plate he had been using across the table, causing it to hit the floor and break into pieces. This startled everyone as they looked towards the young hedgehog, "Sonic! Why'd you do that? What's the matter with you?", asked Tom.

"What's the matter with me? I'll tell you! My sis is leaving and she doesn't even seem to care how I feel about the whole thing, all she talks about is how happy she is! So happy that she's abandoning me for four years and will probably forget all about me!", Sonic shouted.

Then he sprang up from the table and bolted out the door, speeding into the nearby forest. Sonic didn't stop running until he was deep in the woods, he sat down on a tree stump as he furiously tried to wipe his tears away.

"Why? Why did I say all that? I'm so stupid and selfish!", Sonic shouted. He then picked up a nearby rock and threw it as hard as he could across the forest, then he sat down and stared at his feet. Just then, he heard the distant hooting of an owl; the sound made him think of Longclaw, "I wish you were here right now, you always knew what to say...", he murmured.

Just when Sonic was about to turn away and head back, he heard a noise. It started low but then it began to grow in volume, he turned around to see a full grown grizzly bear; the large animal was growling menacingly, leading Sonic to assume that he had accidentally hit it on the head with the rock.

Sonic was frozen with fear since he had never encountered a bear before, so he had no idea what to do. The bear rose up on it's back legs and swung its left fore paw at Sonic, he screamed as its claws had scratched his cheek, both arms and his right leg. With adrenaline pumping through his body, Sonic took off running, though it was difficult since his leg was injured.

The pain became too much for Sonic and he collapsed, but just as the bear began chasing after him, a loud snapping sound was heard as the bear roared in pain. Sonic looked up to see that it had gotten one of its legs caught in one of Crazy Carl's bear traps, he sighed in relief as he fell back and passed out.

[Time Skip]

When Sonic woke up, he found himself laying in his racecar bed with the blanket wrapped around him. He looked to see Ozzy sitting at the foot of his bed, he sat slowly and then noticed that he had bandages wrapped around his right leg and both arms, then he touched his face and found that a bandage was on his right cheek.

"Wha...what happened?", he asked.

"You nearly died, that's what happened!"

Sonic looked over to the side to see Penelope sitting on her daybed, a mix of anger and sadness evident on her face. "Sis? What happened to me? How'd I get back here?", he asked. "After you said those things, you ran out of the house. Mom, Dad and I went looking for you, Ozzy found you passed out a few feet away from a bear stuck in a trap.

"I carried you home and Mom patched you, then I tucked you into your bed and I've been sitting here for about forty five minutes waiting for you to wake up. By the way..."

Penelope suddenly stood up, walked over to Sonic's bedside and then delivered a swift slap to the left side of his face, the uninjured side. Sonic held his face as he looked up at her incredulously, "Sis! What the heck was that for?!", he shouted angrily. But then his anger quickly faded when he looked at Penelope's face, tears falling from her eyes.

Then she dropped down onto the bed and pulled Sonic into a tight but loving embrace.

"Sis...?", asked Sonic.

"You really scared me, you little idiot! I thought I was going to lose you! Also, Sonic, about what you said earlier...do you really think that I would forget about you while I'm away at school?", said Penelope.

Sonic pulled away as he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, he tried to wipe them away but was failing miserably. "Its not that I'm not happy that you got into the school you wanted and you get to work to achieve your dreams, I'm just scared because you'll be gone for so long that you might forget all about me...", he trailed off.

Penelope let out a small laugh as she patted him on the head, "Oh Sonic, do you really believe that after all we've been through since we first met that I would forget you? There is no force on this world, or any other for that matter, that could make me forget you", she said.

"But the way you were talking to Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady...you seemed to be completely ignoring me, not asking how I felt about the whole situation. It made me think that you were already starting to forget about, like your school stuff was more important than me", Sonic said sadly.

"Sonic, my school stuff is important. Without a Master's degree, I can't work in robotics and I want to because I want to build robots and other machines that can help people, unlike Robuttnik who used them for his own selfish gain!", Penelope said.

She paused to let Sonic laugh at the nickname she came up for Robotnik before she continued speaking, "But I would never let my desire to become a Roboticist get in the way of my love for my family. I love Mom, and Dad, and Ozzy, but most importantly, I love you Sonic. You're my little brother and you will always have a special place in my heart, don't you ever doubt that".

Sonic looked up at Penelope with a smile on his face, "Thanks a lot, Sis. And I'm sorry for how I acted earlier, I was being stupid and selfish. I really am happy for you and I hope you do achieve your dream", he said as he hugged her.

Penelope hugged him back, "Oh, and by the way, Dad's taking the money to replace that plate you broke out of your allowance", she said. She laughed as Sonic groaned in annoyance.

[Time Skip]

A week later, Tom sat in his new truck outside his house as he waited for Penelope to come outside so he could drive her to the airport; it was the day where she would head out to Massachusetts to stay with Wade's cousin while she went to school.

Upstairs, Penelope placed the last item into her luggage and zipped it closed. Sonic sat by watching her the whole time, fiddling around with the small robot he helped her build.

"Well...this is it, Little Bro. I'll be gone for four years, the only time we'll get to see each other is over video chat and when they let me go home for big holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm really gonna miss you", said Penelope.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Sis. Things won't be the around here without you, guess I'll have to find someone else to hang out with", said Sonic.

He stood up from his bed and walked over to give Penelope a hug, then he let go and sped over to his bedside drawer; Sonic opened it and pulled out a small box, he zipped back over to Penelope and gave her the box.

"What's this, Sonic?", she asked.

"Its something super important I want to give you, don't open it until after you've made it to the house and get settled in. Goodbye, Penelope. I love you, Sis", said Sonic as he gave her one last hug.

Penelope hugged him back one last time before heading downstairs, Sonic stood in the doorway of the house next to Maddie and watched as Penelope placed her luggage into the trunk and then went to sit in the passenger seat next to Tom.

"Bye Mom, bye Sonic. I love you guys!", she called out.

Sonic and Maddie waved goodbye to her as Tom pulled out of the driveway and drove to the airport, the young hedgehog smiling as he watched them leave.

[Time Skip]

Four hours and fifty minutes later, the plane Penelope rode on had finally touched down in Boston, Massachusetts. After it landed, she grabbed her luggage from the overhead compartment and exited the plane; then she walked around the airport, looking for Wade's cousin since he told Tom he would meet Penelope at the airport.

"Over here, sweetheart!"

Penelope turned to see a middle aged man waiting for her near the restroom area, she walked over to him.

"Hello. I take it you're Wade's cousin?", said Penelope.

"That's right, but you can just call me Harvey. I'll take you to my house, my wife's there waiting for us with dinner", said the man.

Penelope followed Harvey outside to his car, she sat in the passenger seat as he placed her bags into the trunk; it was a twenty minute drive from the airport to his house, he pulled up into the driveway. Standing by the front door was a middle aged blonde woman wearing a white apron over her dress.

"You must be Penelope, nice to meet you dear. My name is Cheryl, and I want you to know that our home is your home while you're going to school. Though we do expect you to help out with the chores", she said.

"Not to mention, we'd like you to get a part time job to help out with the expenses too. But we can worry about that in due time, you're probably tired from the long plane trip. Why don't you go upstairs and get settled in? You can unpack after dinner, the guest room is the third door on the left upstairs", said Harvey.

Penelope thanked the couple and walked upstairs, she opened the door to the room to see that it had a closet, a dresser, a full sized bed and a flat screen TV hanging on the wall above the dresser; she set the luggage down by the foot of the bed and then sat down on it.

"Well, I'm here. Soon I'll start school...oh wait, I almost forgot!", Penelope said as she stood up suddenly. She open one of her bags and found the box Sonic had given her, she opened it to find a small coin purse and a folded piece of paper. She unfolded the paper to find a letter written on it, it read as follows:

"Dear Penelope,

Another reason I didn't want you to go was because I was scared that you might get into danger and I wouldn't be there to help you. So, I decided to give you these just in case, don't worry I still have plenty more left. If you're ever in any serious danger, just use one.

I'm really happy for you, Sis. I hope you'll pass and get to make all the cool gadgets you want, so you can help people. Good luck!

Love you,

Sonic"

Penelope then opened the coin purse and dumped the contents of it onto her hand, out of the purse fell ten of Sonic's warp rings; Penelope was surprised for a moment but then she smiled fondly at them and the letter, "Thank you so much, Little Brother! I promise I'll make you guys proud", she whispered.

"Penelope, dear, come on down! Dinner is ready!", shouted Cheryl.

"Coming! Just give me a minute!", Penelope called out.

She put the rings back into the coin purse, then she folded the letter and slipped it into it as well. She placed the coin purse into her pants pocket before left the room to head downstairs for dinner.

[The End]

Author's Note: That was my prequel story, which will tie in to my version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I haven't yet seen the movie since I plan on seeing it on my birthday, but when I do I will write the sequel. This story is just to hold you over until I write the sequel, similar to the Sonic Movie 2 prequel comic they released.

Until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!