Title: Happy Birthday, Reimi

Characters: Edge/Reimi

Rating: Teen

Disclaimer: I do not own the forum Star Ocean and its places, characters and transportation. The forum belongs to Square Enix and Tri-Ace. I do not make any profit/money or take any credit from creating this fanfiction. There is no copyright infringement intended.

Summary: Edge remembers Reimi's birthday and gets her presents to make up for the last birthday he had forgotten…

Timeline: Post Game – in connection to PA-12

Warning: Spoilers for Game and private action if you haven't completed/got the action

Happy Birthday, Reimi

Edge peeked into the bedroom to see that Reimi wasn't about. Looking on either side of the hallway, he saw that he was completely alone. He entered the bedroom that he shared with Reimi when they were on the Calnus and hurried over to his bed. Pulling the drawer from underneath his bed, he spotted the two colourful wrapped packages. One of the presents was for the year before that he had forgotten between with everything else that had been happening at the time.

Looking over his shoulder to make sure the girl in question wasn't walking into the room; he tried to think where he could give her the presents. Most of the places they used to go were out of the equations.

Aeos. Even though they had good memories there, they had lost their team members and leader there.

Lemuris. Their friends, Lymle and Faize were there but they were trying to keep their distance from interacting with the others at the moment, wanting to give people more time to deal with the changes in their lives at the moment.

Roak. Reimi had fallen sick there and he had almost lost her. They had lost someone who Faize had developed a bond with. They had almost lost Sarah so that was pretty much a no-go.

En II. Bacchus and Myuria were there. They were trying to keep their distance from the couple knowing that Myuria was slowly getting over the lost of her husband and Bacchus was getting used to his human form once more. Either way, Edge couldn't think off a place where he could give Reimi her presents. Sure, there were the Sanctuary but he didn't want to go through battles in order to reach there. He didn't think Reimi would like that on her birthday.

Thinking harder, an idea came to him and he brightened. Placing the presents on the bed, he closed the drawer and headed over to Reimi's bed where the spare blanket was. The heating on the Calnus liked to change and Reimi was more sensitive to the temperature than he was. He grabbed the presents and stuck his head out of the doorway, checking to make sure the coast was clear before he hurried out of the room and toward his destination.

Reimi hummed from where she was baking in the kitchen of the Calnus. Ever since she and Edge started travelling on their own, she had the chance to bake more stuff than she used to. The flights in between worlds were long and there weren't a lot of things the Calnus needed worked on. It was just a normal ship without the modification the old Calnus used to have.

Reimi set down the bowl of batter she was currently beating together when a ping came from the oven, telling that that the cookies she had made finished cooking. Brushing her hands over the apron that protected her clothes from the ingredients and reaching for the oven gloves, she opened the oven door to allow the steam and heat to escape before she reached in, pulling the tray out to reveal golden cookies with chocolate chips generously filling each one.

With a smile, she placed the tray off to the side, taking the glove off one hand and reached for the spatula. With the utensil, she got the hot cookies off the tray and placed them onto the cooling rack. With a quick swipe of a damp sponge, she cleaned the tray of any remains of the cookies before drying it quickly. Picking up the bowl of mixture, she sorted it out to make more cookies.

Once she was finished with the batter, she placed the tray back into the oven and set the timer before turning to the cakes she had made earlier and left off to the side on the cooling rack to cool down. Picking up the bowl of icing she had made earlier, she started icing her cakes as carefully as possible.

Edge loved her cakes. She was actually surprised with that considering how much he was always the taste tester for her recipes to see what needed to be changed. When they were young and she was starting out, she had a habit of making him sick. You'd think that would have put him off but he just kept coming back but thankfully she had grown more confident in her food which resulted in her cooking good food one after the other, probably much to Edge's relief.

After she finished icing her cakes, she placed them next to the cookies that were nearly cool. She just needed to leave it for a few more minutes and then they would be perfectly cool.

Reimi turned back to her bowls and started packing them in the dishwasher, making sure the surface was wiped clean before she thought about what she was going to make for dinner. Knowing Edge, his taste depended on what he had been doing during the day. If there hadn't been a lot of work done, he didn't like to eat a lot. If there had been a lot of work, battles and such, then he could eat a lot of helpings.

The timer on the oven pinged, breaking Reimi out of her thoughts and she turned back to the oven, smelling the baked cookies. Looking through the glass, she switched the oven off and opened the door to let the steam and heat out while donning her oven gloves on once more.

Picking up the tray and closing the door, Reimi turned back to her cakes and cookies only to frown when she spotted they were missing, along with the two plastic boxes she had left out to put the treats in when they were finished cooling down.

Placing the tray that held the new batch of cookies on the hob, Reimi removed the oven gloves and apron before heading out of the kitchen, intending to find the culprit that had stolen her treats. She knew Edge loved her treats but he had never gone as far to stealing them the moment her back was turned. He didn't have that much of a sweet tooth.

"Edge?" she called out, looking for the Captain of the Calnus and her boyfriend of nearly a year. The common room was empty. Checking the heat sensor scanner on the wall next to the bar, she saw that there were no bodies in the front of the ship.

Heading over to the stairs, she made her way up. Reaching the landing, she looked round the hallway, searching for the missing boy. She was about to head into their bedroom when she heard a noise of someone cursing and looked toward the battle stimulator with a frown. That sounded like Edge. But he rarely swore. Something her parents had instilled in him when they were teenagers. They didn't like people using bad language and had made it very clear when they were growing up.

Moving toward the door of the battle stimulator, Reimi jumped when the door suddenly opened but she wasn't the only one as Edge let out a yell of shock before he breathed.

"Damn, I am so glad I didn't have my weapon on me!" he exclaimed. Reimi just chuckled nervously. She felt the same. Edge shook his head, bringing him back to reality and suddenly blocked Reimi's view of inside the battle stimulating, arousing her curiosity. She's never seem him like this before. "What are you doing here?"

"The cookies and cakes that I made went missing," Reimi explained, remembering the reason why she came up the stairs in search of the man in front of her. She crossed her arms under her chest and tilted her head. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, hmm?" Edge stammered for a moment and Reimi arched an eyebrow, waiting for an answer and Edge sighed.

"You weren't supposed to find out right now," Edge muttered, disappointed that a part of his plan hadn't worked out. Reimi's other eyebrow joined her arched one in confusion, wondering what had gotten into the boy.

"Edge?" she asked and Edge sighed, his left hand going to the pocket on the back of his jeans. Reimi had to blink when she realised that Edge wasn't in his usual outfit. He was wearing a pair of light blue demin jeans and a white shirt with two buttons undone at the throat.

Refocusing her eyes, she noticed that Edge had pulled out a long black scarf and she eyed him for a moment.

"Turn around," he told her. Reimi's brows furrowed and he gave her the puppy dog eyes look. "Please? Everything will be explained in a moment," he promised. Sighing in resignation, Reimi turned around, her back toward Edge and he stepped forward, bring the scarf over her eyes and tying it at the back of her head. Turning Reimi around, he waved a hand in front of her eyes and she scoffed.

"No, Edge, I can't see your hand," Reimi told him. Edge narrowed his eyes in suspicions. "I can feel the air moving when you wave your hand in front of me though," she explained and Edge shook his head amused, taking in the sight of his girlfriend. She was dressed in a simple light blue skirt that was just above her knees and a light pink halter top. She also wore black knee high laced up boots that she had seen one day while they were shopping and had bought them on the spot.

Edge rounded Reimi so he was behind her and placed his hands on her waist.

"Ok, start walking. I'll squeeze your waist when I want you to stop," he told her. Reimi nodded and walked carefully into the battle stimulator, curious to what Edge was up to. She had a nagging feeling that she was missing something. She stopped when she felt Edge's hands light squeezed her waist before he removed his hand and she heard footsteps receding away from her.

There was a clicking sound and the door closed before there was another clicking sound then footsteps heading back to her and the tie behind her head coming loose. "Keep your eyes close." Reimi nodded and felt the scarf pull away from her face. Keeping her eyes closed, she heard footsteps as Edge moved about for a moment then his hand on her hand. He tugged her lightly and she came forward. "Ok," Reimi stopped. "You can open your eyes."

Blinking her eyes open, she gasped when she saw the scene before her. There was a large picnic blanket on the ground at her feet. There was a large wicker basket off to the side with numerous of plates with different food. Her cookies and cakes were on separate plates. There were sandwiches, meat, vegetables and fruits. There were even bread, cheese and crackers with different assortment of jams.

The scene around them was no longer the battle simulator as Edge had switched on the stars, making it seem like they were suspended in space. Reimi turned to face Edge with a confused yet happy look and he smirked.

"You forgot," he teased her. Reimi's confusion just deepened and Edge chuckled. "Reimi, what day is it today?" Reimi thought about it.

"The 28th," she told him and Edge nodded, still with the smirk.

"And the month?" he teased. Reimi thought about it some more before her eyes widen as she gasped.

"March! It's my birthday!" she exclaimed and Edge laughed.

"Now you know how I felt when you reminded me it was my birthday," he teased her. Reimi flushed.

"I can't believe I forgot," she muttered and Edge shrugged.

"Happy 21st birthday," Edge told her, leaning into kiss her cheek before he gestured to the blanket. Sitting down, Reimi looked at everything as Edge sat down next to her, reaching into the basket and pulled out two colourful wrapped presents.

"Edge, you didn't need to get me anything," she told him. "You remembered; that's all that matters." Edge grinned.

"I know, but I also forgot it last year, remember?" he told her. "I promised you that I would get you a real present and I remembered what I had planned to give you last year so I got it." Reimi smiled as Edge handed her the one with the pink and silver wrapping paper. "That's last year's present." Reimi took the present into her hand and unwrapped it as carefully as possible.

Once she unwrapped it, she gasped when the dark oak wood came into view. Looking up at Edge, he nodded, gesturing her to finish peeling the wrapping paper away. Once she did, she was left with a wooden box with a silver handle on the lid. Pulling on the handle, the lid creaked open and a soft tune escaped the box. Tears filled Reimi's eyes as she held the replicator of her music box she had lost when she was ten.

"Edge," she choked out and Edge smiled shyly.

"I contacted your parents to ask them where your grandmother had gotten the music box from. They told me that your grandfather had it made for her so I reached Bacchus and Meracle, asking if they could help me to make the music box. I asked your parents what the tune was and they sent me a recording of it. I gave it to Meracle and she made the winder so it would play the tune."

Reimi threw herself at Edge, her arms going around his neck as she buried her face in his neck. Edge just grinned as he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close. He remembered the broken heart look on her face when she realised that she had lost her music box. It had torn through his heart and he had always kept a look out for any music box that could make up for the one she lost.

Just before they left for their trip to Aeos, he had found one but unfortunately was unable to pick it up. He forgot all about it until he, Bacchus, and Meracle had created the music box for the little girl whose music box had broken.

"Thank you," Reimi whispered and Edge shook his head.

"There's still another present," he told her and Reimi pulled away, placing the music box off to the side as Edge picked up the present with the blue and purple wrapping paper this time. "This is this year's present," he joked. Reimi laughed as she took the present and unwrapped it.

When she unwrapped it, it revealed to be a long thin black velvet box. Curious, she opened it only to gasp when she saw what lay inside. A long thin silver chain with different charms attached to it. She looked at Edge, who smiled, reaching in and picking up the chain before he took her right wrist and interlocked the clasp.

Reimi lifted her wrist up so she could see the different charms, each one representing a part of their lives.

There was a blue crystal flower attached to a silver stem. She giggled as she realised that Edge was pointing out Aeos where she had spotted the beautiful flowers and asked Edge what he thought only for him to blurt out that he thought she was beautiful.

The second one was a small silver kitten with green crystals for eyes, reminding her of the time they had been given a mission to find the lost kitten for a little girl on Lemuris.

The third one was a cluster of stars and she smiled shyly as she remembered the promise Edge had made to her when they were children. She had asked him if he remembered it and proceeded to embarrassed her with his tale of proposal.

The fourth one was in shape of a bunny rabbit, the same bunny rabbit they had adopted when they were on Roak, which they nicked name Astral for some reason.

The fifth one was in a shape of a slice of cake and she laughed, knowing of her fondness for sweet thing. It reminded her of the time she had agreed to search for a recipe in order to learn it and searching for a female firefly which netted her a piece of shortcake.

The sixth one was in shape of a small egg, reminding of the task they had undertaken to find a Psynard Egg. They had managed to get one and it hatched into the most adorable little bird Reimi had ever seen. She had fallen in love with it and had been heartbroken to give it up.

The seventh one was in shape of a teddy bear, one that reminded her so much of her childhood teddy bear that Edge had gotten her for her birthday. She had left it behind with her parents when they had started their training, fearing that she would lose it.

The eighth one was in shape of a '3', reminding her of how close she, Edge and Crowe used to be. There were jokes of how they were the three musketeers because you never saw one without the other two tagging along.

The ninth one was in shape of a Sabre, reminding her of their first otherworldly friend – Faize. They had almost lost him but he had somehow managed to come back to them and was currently living in Lemuris with another one of their friend.

The tenth one was in shape of a dog holding a staff. Reimi giggled as she remembered Lymle's pet that she would summon with her staff whenever she felt she was in dangerous or just plain annoyed.

The eleventh one was in a shape of a machine, reminding her of Bacchus. He had transformed himself into a cyborg in order to make travelling easier without the hindrance of falling ill or catching a disease. He had now transferred back to a human body while living with his wife.

The twelfth one was in shape of a flute, reminding her of Meracle. A fun-food loving cat, who, Reimi had felt, had a crush on Edge. It wasn't until later that Meracle had admitted that's she was jealous of Reimi and Edge's friendship because she wanted someone who had been there for her the whole time.

The thirteenth one was in shape of a thunder bolt, reminding her of Myuria, a woman who Reimi had gotten close to during their trips. Myuria had helped Reimi face up to many fears while Reimi tried to help Myuria with the death of her husband. She was still living on En II, slowly getting over her husband.

The fourteenth one was in shape of a feather, reminding Reimi of Sarah. A naïve girl who had been a source of entertainment for everyone but she was quiet and thoughtful. Many things she had said had helped the gang through any problems they were facing at the time.

The fifteenth one was in shape of a scathe, reminding her of Arumat, a man who had taken over Faize's spot when Faize had left with Crowe due to his fellow men were in danger.

The sixteenth one was in shape of a funeral bouquet. Tears filled Reimi's eyes as she remembered Edge tirelessly making the flowers so he could give one to each team member so they could do what they wanted with it before they took on the last mission.

The last one was in shape of a heart; one side had an 'R' on it while the other side had an 'E' on it. Lifting her eyes, she met Edge's green ones and gave him a brilliant smile. He just smiled back, relieved that Reimi had liked the present. He had been worried when he picked up the present but he was glad that he had. It was worth it to see the smile.

"Thank you," she told him as she cupped his cheek before leaning in and pressing her lips against his in a kiss. Edge kissed her back before they broke away and Reimi shifted so she was sitting closer to him before looking down at the food.

"Happy birthday," he told her, picking up the plate that had Reimi's favourite treat – Millie-feuille. Reimi smiled in delight before giving Edge a kiss on the cheek before taking the plate then eyed her boyfriend.

"Just a question," Edge looked at her after he picked up a sandwich, "Just how do you plan on topping this next year?" Edge grinned.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out then." They laughed as they tucked into their meal, feeling at peace and happy.

The End