Hey, guys! This is for the celebration of my favorite Knuckles' birthday! 🎂 Enjoy!! 😉😉

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~ No Family to Care For Me ~

That night in the attic room, Knuckles could be seen twitching as he appears to have a hard time sleeping. His face turns into a grimace and worry like he's having a bad dream. In his dream, he finds himself in a white room.

"Where am I? What is this place?" he questioned, eyebrow raised.

The room changes to a village, Mystic Ruins. His eyes widened in recognition as his body freezes.

"This is... my home.."

He begins tearing up just looking at them.

"No... no... it's-it's... just a nightmare..."

"PLEASE COME BACK!"

He looks to see a younger version of himself standing by the very same house as he watches his father and the tribe walk away.

"I NEED YOU HERE! YOU DON'T NEED TO GO HUNT DOWN LONGCLAW..." young Knuckles cried out, looking down. "What... about... me?"

For a moment of silence, he drops his spear and starts sobbing.

"WHAT ABOUT ME?! FATHER, PLEASE COME HOME!"

Back in the attic room, Knuckles instantly he gets up with a gasp, looking all sweaty. He pants heavily and looks around to see Sonic and Tails sleeping then he turns to his side to see Gwen sleeping by his side. He sighs in relief and strokes her cheek.

"Oh, good. They're... they're still asleep."

He recalls his nightmare as he remembers himself screaming for his father to come back home and starts tearing up more, holding his knees up. He breathes shakily as he tries not to cry. But this didn't go unnoticed as Gwen opens her eyes after hearing him getting up. She turns to see him crying and frowns, getting up.

"Knuckles?"

Knuckles gasps to see her awake and quickly wipes his tears away.

"Gwen... I... didn't mean to wake you up."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You're crying, aren't you? It doesn't seem that you're fine to me."

"No, m-my nose is runny, that's all. D-Don't worry about it."

Gwen doesn't like that answer and scoots closer to him, placing a hand on his.

"Knuckles, you can talk to me. Be honest. It's okay. I know we've been through a lot but... you can trust me. I'm always here to listen."

He grips her hand back.

"It's okay, Gwen. It's... nothing. I-I'm fine. You're better off going back to sleep." he said, glancing away.

Gwen sighs, knowing she can't push him further, seeing how sad he is.

"You know... I miss her."

Knuckles turns to her.

"You mean, Longclaw?"

Gwen nods.

"I know I told you this before, but you know, before me and Sonic escaped here to safety. We miss her every day, sometimes I dream about me and Sonic being back in Green Hills, I miss training with her, exploring around Green Hills, where I feel free without any worries. I even wish that if me and Sonic still stay in Green Hills, I would've still play with you like the good old days and help reunite your tribe and mine to come together as equals where there will be no more war, no more hunting... But now all I do is worry."

"... You see, Gwen, that's the problem with growing up." Knuckles said.

Gwen looks at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Growing up means you gain more responsibilities. I had the responsibility of finding the Master Emerald my whole life." he said, staring at his boxing glove. "And now, you, me, Sonic, and Tails share that responsibility."

He closed it into a fist.

"And now we also share the responsibility of protect this house. The Master Emerald, and stopping Robotnik in case he comes back."

"So you mean since I've gotten older, I have more worries since I have so many responsibilities?" she asked.

"Exactly. But you don't have to carry those on your own. You've got your family."

"You still won't tell me what's wrong? I won't tell anyone about it. Heck, I'll even make sure my brother doesn't hear about it since he loves to tease you."

Knuckles smiles in amusement and sighs, knowing he can't keep a secret from her since she's his girlfriend, his love of his life.

"Alright. Since you won't let me in peace of my hour of sorrow."

"Oh, I make sure of it. I just don't want to see you suffer."

"...You're not the only one who misses your home planet."

"You mean with all the other echidnas?"

He looks down.

"Yes, I miss my father. I wish I could've gone with him when the tribe went to go hunt down the last of the owl warriors. But I also wonder if I'd be here right now. I had a nightmare where I rewatched my father walk away with the rest of my tribe. I know that I am brave and strong..but... Every time I think of him... I-I just feel... like that the n-nightmare will keep on going."

She notices his voice started shaking the more he talks.

"I'll just break down crying like it will never end..."

He begins to cry as he lets his tears fall onto his boxing gloves. Gwen hugs him, resting her face on his shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. Just because you need to let out your emotions and cry, doesn't change that fact that you're brave and strong." she said, pulling herself away for her to face him. "You are a warrior that could break through anything that comes in your way with your knuckles. Heck, I'm jealous that you have the ability to do that. I would even use that to help me escape through anything."

Her words made him chuckle.

"And the strength you have to continue on, is so much more powerful than your physical strengths. We all suffer with memories that haunt us. But it's how you handle them and move on from them that makes you even stronger. You may remember your moments with your father, but you can't keep focusing on the past with your tribe and finding the Master Emerald."

Knuckles stares at her, smiling.

"Your quest has ended. You found the Maser Emerald and you found a new place to call home. We're all here for you, Knuckles. I'm here for you and I always care about you." she said.

In tears, he kisses her and cups her cheeks, which she kisses back and wraps her arms around his neck. They pull away after, staring into each other's eyes.

"Thank you, Gwen."

"No problem, Knuckles." she said before kissing him again.

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~ Turn of Events AU: Waterfall ~

Ever since Sonic, Gwen, and Knuckles discovers the loss of their loved ones, they have traveled around the world together to find a perfect home together while having some great adventures as they grow up. As they grow, their friendship grows as well, especially the spark between Gwen and Knuckles as they grew very close than her relationship with her brother. Right now, they're by the waterfall.

"Alright! I've always wanted to swim." Gwen said excitedly, placing her weapons down.

"You guys sure this is safe?" Sonic asked unsurely, looking down at the water.

"You scared, hedgehog?" teased Knuckles.

"N-No! No! Pfft! I can handle water!"

"Whelp, if you think you can, then let's go!!"

Gwen lets out a cheer as she jumps down first as Knuckles comes next and Sonic with some hesitation comes down last. Gwen and Knuckles cheers as they head straight into the water while Sonic screams. As they fall, Gwen and Knuckles stares into each other's eyes with a hint of pink sparkles. Before they knew it, they landed into the water with a big splash. Gwen and Knuckles swims up the surface with glee.

"WOW!! THAT WAS AMAZING!!"

"HECK, YEAH!!"

What they didn't notice Sonic didn't resurface after landing into the water as the water ripples stops moving.

"I kinda wanna do it again!" Knuckles said.

"Yes, let's do it to it! Right, Sonic?" Gwen said, turning to her side.

They stopped smiling as they noticed Sonic isn't here.

"...Sonic?"

"...hedgehog?"

In a matter of second, they realize Sonic couldn't swim and isn't coming out of the water.

"HOLY SH- HEDEHOG?!"

"SONIC?! OH MY GOSH!!"

Gwen dives down and pulls Sonic up to the surface and swims him towards the land with the help of Knuckles as they place him down.

"What were you thinking, Sonic?! Why didn't you tell us?!" Gwen shouted with worry.

"Yeah! Who the hell jumps into the water without learning how to swim?" Knuckles shouted, glaring sternly at him.

"Hehe... Sorry. I forgot." Sonic laughed nervously.

"Don't scare me like that ever again. I thought I lost you." Gwen sighed before hugging him.

Sonic hugs back.

"Don't worry. I promise."

Knuckles smiles at the scene while gazing at Gwen.

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~ Making a Move ~

"Are you guys serious?" Knuckles deadpanned.

"Yeah! The bet's a bet!" Sonic grinned.

"You can't turn back on this one." Tails added.

Knuckles is standing outside, seeing Gwen sitting by the tree reading her book. Long story short, Sonic and the boys were making a bet to see if one of them can do it or not. Let's just say, Sonic make a bet on Knuckles that he can't make a move on his sister while Knuckles betted him back that if he lost a bet, Sonic has to steal Tom's secret donuts stash without being spotted. And then it comes to now as Knuckles takes a deep breath and starts approaching Gwen. Sonic and Tails are hiding behind the bushes to watch this scene.

"He's so gonna blow it." Sonic snickered.

"I hope so." Tails giggled.

Knuckles clears his throat, catching Gwen's attention as she looks up from her book.

"Oh, hey Knuckles. What's up?" she asked, closing her book.

He glances away, looking nervous as he twiddles his thumbs.

"Uh... hey, Gwen. Um... Can you... do me a favor? It's kinda important."

Gwen tilts her head at his sudden nervousness, which makes him look away more trying not to squeal at how cute she is.

"Sure, why not? Is everything alright?"

She gets up and looks at him with concern.

"Everything is fine. Just... trust me."

"Alright. I trust you."

Knuckles knew that there's no turning back as Tails said.

"Uh... close your hands like this." he said, clasping his gloves.

"Okay."

Gwen clasps her hands as her fingers are intertwined. He gulps and speaks the last words he surely will regret.

"Now, one side of the fingers up."

She then holds one of her one side of her fingers up.

"Like this?"

Knuckles takes off one of his boxing gloves and does something that Gwen never expects nor see it coming. He grabs her fingers that are holding up as he intertwines his with hers and holds both of her arms up and pins her against the bark of the tree. With his free hand, he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her close.

"Whoa! K-Knuckles?!" she yelped in shock, blushing bright pink.

"He actually did it?!" Sonic whispered out, just as shock as her.

"I can do that, too..." Tails grumbled in jealousy.

Knuckles also blushes as his cheeks are brighter than his red fur.

"S-Sorry. It was a bet that Sonic made me. I just... wanted to prove him wrong that I can make a move on the woman I love."

Gwen feels speechless and in awe that he did this for her. She smiles and kisses his nose, surprising him.

"Oh, Knuckles. That's so sweet of you. But you don't have to prove him that you can do it when I know you can. You just need some time that's all."

He stares at her for a moment before sighing, leaning his forehead against hers.

"How did I get so lucky to have you?"

"Since we were kids."

"Yeah..."

They stayed like this for a moment, apart from Sonic looking unhappy that he lost the bet while Tails looks ready to blast Knuckles into bits.

"...You can let go of me now. You've won the bet." Gwen suggested, feeling embarrassed at this position.

Knuckles thinks for a moment and smirks.

"Nah, I think I like this. It makes you look cute."

"S-Stop that..." she stuttered, looking away.

Knuckles smiles amusingly and kisses her cheek.

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A/N: And that's all folks! These specials are based on the comics that inspired me to write them. Most of them are from the artist Lucia88956289 while one is from the video I watched earlier. Love ya!! Peace out!!

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