AN: And this is what happens when I can't sleep the night before my birthday. I guess I was just that excited knowing that I was getting Splatoon 2 this morning. Honestly, I didn't want to write a sequel to From Rivalry to Romance until after Super Mario Odyssey and Sonic Forces were released, but this idea's been bugging me since before I finished the first story, and suddenly last night I had written an outline and a couple of chapters. I don't know how it happened either, insomnia apparently inspires me.

Anyway, like stated above this is indeed a sequel to From Rivalry to Romance, though fair warning going into this is that it's going to be significantly darker than it's predecessor. I know this first chapter is lighthearted, but I assure you it won't stay like that for long. There's also going to be some heavily suggestive content as another warning.

As per tradition with multi-chaptered fics of mine, reviews will be responded to at the end of every chapter. And no, there won't be a consistent schedule for this fanfic either, but like with Throughout the Years I'm hoping to have a chapter out each month.

Anyway, with all that out of the way, all I ask is that you please enjoy and let me know your thoughts!

Italics = Flashback

~Forgotten Memories~

/~/

~Chapter One: Birthday Celebrations~

His thoughts were incoherent; fuzzy. His head throbbed; groaning he opened his eyes, putting a hand up to shield his face from the sun burning his retinas. Confused he glanced around, discovering that he was in the cockpit of a plane - his plane? It had to be...

He heard commotion around him, and groggily sitting up noticed that quite a few local animals had swarmed around the plane wreckage, chattering amongst themselves in confusion. He could relate - he had no idea where he was either.

One of the animals - a squirrel - bounded up to him.

"Are you alright? What's your name?" she asked.

He opened his mouth to reply, but found he couldn't for two reasons. One, no matter how hard he thought about it he couldn't recall his name, and even if he did he seemed to lack the ability to vocally say it.

/~/

Sonic woke with a start, sitting straight up in bed with the dream dissolving like soap bubbles. He frowned as he turned his head to check the time, that was the third time this month he'd had dreams about his crash-landing on South Island. He blinked as he squinted at the neon numbers - 7:30 a.m. Time to get up, though it wasn't as if Sonic minded. This was the one day of the year he preferred to wake up early.

After making himself presentable, Sonic made his way down the hallway and chuckled at the sight in front of him. Tails had passed out at his workbench again, his head resting on top of the blueprints for the teleporter adjustment he was making. Sonic crept over and shook the fox's shoulder.

"Hey buddy, it's mornin'."

Tails groaned in his sleep, opening his eyes and glancing around in a daze before seemingly remembering what day it was. "Oh, Sonic! Happy birthday! I'm sorry you woke up before me, I was working on the teleporter adjustment and I almost have it figured out and I really wanted it done in time for today and-"

Sonic placed a hand over Tails' mouth in order to quiet him down. "It's fine buddy, don't worry 'bout it. As long as I'm able to speak with Mar today I'll be happy."

"Okay..." Tails then brightened, grinning widely. "But anyway, did you want to do anything special for your birthday?"

"I kinda just wanna go for a run right now..." Sonic admitted. "But if I think of somethin' I'll let ya know!"

"Okay!" Tails chirped, going back to his work.

"An' make sure to eat somethin'!" Sonic called as he slipped out the door and felt the morning breeze ruffle his quills. 'Though I'm one to talk...'

Standing out in the field Sonic closed his eyes, deeply inhaling the clean air before opening his eyes again and sprinting in the direction the wind took him, which happened to be south today. A laugh escaped his lips as he felt the breeze whip through his quills as he eyed a hill off in the distance. Perfect - that would be his first checkpoint, and then he'd decide where to go from there.

Making his way up to the top of the hill, Sonic stopped and took in the sight that greeted him, a smile gracing his face as he gazed out at the beautiful landscape. Pristine and perfect - the way it should be. The rooftops from the buildings in Station Square caught Sonic's attention, and after mulling his options over in his head he decided that a trip out to the city would be good for him.

A normal person would have taken the skytrain in order to get from the Mystic Ruins to Station Square. To Sonic though, that was too boring. He found that running there was a lot more fun, and smirking took off in the direction of the city they were slowly reconstructing after Chaos' attack all those years ago. Zipping through the streets, Sonic was about to turn a corner when a voice caught his attention.

"Oh, happy birthday Mr. Sonic!"

Skidding to a stop, Sonic smiled at Cream the Rabbit and her mother Vanilla, who had just exited the grocery store. Even though Cream was now a young teenager, she retained the same kindness and politeness she'd held as a child.

"Aw, thanks!" Sonic grinned, ruffling Cream's short hair. Her Chao, Cheese, flew up to Sonic and affectionately nuzzled against the side of his face before hovering next to his owner.

"Do you have any big plans for today?" Vanilla asked, Sonic shaking his head.

"Nah, I don't think so, unless Tails decided to throw me a surprise party again. Though, since the whole 'Time Eater' thing happened, somethin' tells me that's not the case."

"I remember that!" Cream announced. "That was really scary, but I was brave!"

"You sure were!" Sonic exclaimed. "Y'know, I'd love to stay and chat longer, but I'm kinda on my mornin' run..."

"Oh, don't let us keep you then," Vanilla smiled, taking Cream by the hand.

"Goodbye, Mr. Sonic!" Cream brightly sang, Cheese waving before heading after his owner and Vanilla. Smirking, Sonic took off running yet again... only to bump into Amy a few minutes later.

"Happy birthday, Sonic!" she called, Sonic once again halting in order to greet his friend.

"Heh, thanks Ames."

Thanks to Sonic being in the Super Smash Brothers and not aging there, him and Amy were around the same age now, her quills having grown out to her mid-back and dip-dyed a light purple. Not only that, but she'd matured quite a bit since her younger years, having moved on from her crush on Sonic and surprisingly dating Silver instead.

"So, how's Tails' machine going?" Amy asked.

"He said somethin' about wanting to have it done for today, but he's runnin' into some issues I think."

"Oh, what a shame!" Amy pouted. "Well, let me know when it's up and running. I really want to see Peach and Daisy again, and I know for a fact that you miss Mario."

At the sound of his boyfriend's name, Sonic's heart fluttered for a moment before he composed himself. "Yeah, I miss him, but at least we get to stay in contact. How are things with you an' Silver?"

"Good," Amy replied, a bright smile on her face. "That's actually who I was going to meet right now, so I kind of have to go."

"Alright. I'll see you around!"

Waving, Amy headed off in the direction of Twinkle Park, as Sonic continued his morning run. Emerald Coast seemed like a good place to go, and smirking headed off towards the sandy beach where he'd rescued Tails from his plane crash all those years ago. It sure brought back some memories...

Sonic skidded to a stop and glanced around at the beach. It hadn't changed much in the years that had passed, and thankfully Chaos' attack hadn't done any major damage to the area. Taking a deep breath of salty air, Sonic fell back onto the warm sand and stared up at the blue sky above.

"I wonder if Mar likes the beach," Sonic murmured to himself, before allowing his thoughts to drift to Mario. He didn't have Mario's golden coin on him; he'd lent it to Tails so he could modify his teleporter, while Mario had done the same with Professor E. Gadd. However, he knew Tails would let him talk to his boyfriend on his birthday, and Professor E. Gadd was likely to do the same.

It sure was comfy down here on the beach. Allowing himself to relax, Sonic began to study the faint wisps of clouds above him. He'd always enjoyed finding shapes and making pictures in the sky, no matter how childish that may have seemed to others. As a cloud Sonic thought was shaped a little like a Chaos Emerald floated by, he heard the familiar sound of his two-tailed little brother approaching. Sitting up he found Tails flying towards him, wide grin on his face.

"I almost got it to work!" he exclaimed, Sonic's face lighting up at the new development.

"Really? Mar can actually be here for my birthday?"

"I think so!" Tails exclaimed. "Come on, let's go back to the Mystic Ruins!"

/~/

"Okay, so I just have to make a final adjustment..."

Sonic tapped his foot on the ground as he watched Tails mess with his invention. He was anxious to see Mario again, and he resisted the urge to tell Tails to hurry it up, even though he knew that Tails needed a few more minutes.

"Gotta connect the wires here," Tails mumbled, securing a handful of wires with electrical tape. "And now all we need to do is give it some juice!"

"Grape or orange?" Sonic joked, Tails giving his brother an exasperated look.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" he exclaimed, plugging his invention into a socket in the wall. Almost immediately the device whirred to life, Sonic looking at in in awe. No matter what it was, Tails' inventions never failed to impress him.

"Now, I need you to contact Mario so that we can see if this will actually work," Tails explained. "Professor E. Gadd apparently has his device done as well, and I know that Mario was going to stay at his laboratory because E. Gadd has your ring and Mario really wanted to talk to you today."

Sonic smiled at that statement, plucking the coin from it's place on Tails' workbench. Closing his eyes he concentrated on speaking to Mario, and soon enough the item was engulfed in a blue light, a hologram of Mario appearing after a brief moment.

"Happy birthday, Sonic!" Mario immediately exclaimed, Sonic smiling and giving a short laugh at the statement.

"Thanks Mar. Tails says that you're with Professor E. Gadd. Is that true?"

"Very true!" Professor E. Gadd said, walking into view. "And we'll just cut the connection soon so that we can get this fellow over to your world!"

"Are you ready, Professor E. Gadd?" Tails asked, Professor E. Gadd nodding.

"I sure am! Hopefully this works out and this fellow here will arrive wholly intact! We don't want another incident."

Sonic couldn't help but snicker as Mario's face paled as Professor E. Gadd said those words. "Wait, what?" he cried as the connection went dead, Sonic handing the coin off to Tails.

"So I just need to place this here..." Tails murmured, setting the coin down on a small metal plate. The machine sparked once again, Tails stepping back to admire his work. "And now all we need to do is pull this lever... and if things have gone according to plan then you'll be able to spend your birthday with Mario!"

Sonic tried to hide his excitement, but it was difficult to as Tails pulled the lever, the machine whirring and sparking as it crackled to life, a blinding white light engulfing the entire thing; forcing Sonic to cover his eyes. When the light subsided, Sonic's heart lept and he couldn't keep the grin off of his face even if he tried.

"Mar..."