WHOO HOO! Finally FFN is letting me log in so I could post this! I kinda wanted to post this yesterday...but that's okay. Today is still technically my birthday (in some time zones! lol! It's like 1am on June 4th here...My 20th bday was June 3rd...EEKS I'm old), so that's why I wanted to wait until now. Well, actually, I just finished this chapter yesterday, but I actually like the way it turned out. Yes...November 24 is Locke's bday...so I wanted to post it on MY birthday:giggle: Anyway, there is quite a large time difference in this chapter than the last Locke and Rachel-y chapter...but that's okay. Not much happened, so it's all good! I have to still write the second part of this...part...But that'll be chapter 16. :) It's so funny because a lot of the information that happens in this chapter won't be explained (again) until the MUCH MUCH later chapters. I'm talking chapters 36 and 37...depending on how many more chapters I add. Oh well. Okay, I'm shutting up so I can go to bed...I have to be at work at 9! Night night!

15. A Birthday Surprise

On a cool November morning, Locke woke up to the sound of the birds flying around Rachel's window and opened his eyes. The sun was shining directly on him and he had to squint from the extreme bright light before he could focus on anything. He almost forgot where he was, but when he felt the young girl in his arms shift in her sleep, his memory was refreshed.

He smiled, scooted closer, and kissed her on her bare shoulder, emitting a sigh from her lips as she began to wake up. With a small moan, she turned over so she was on her back and looked up at Locke, a pleased smile on her face.

"Good morning, beautiful," he whispered as he brushed her lips with his own. As soon as she started to be more conscious, she gasped and opened her eyes wide. "What is it?"

"Guess what today is!" She asked as she began to wiggle her toes under the covers. Locke yawned and scratched his head as he watched her excitement grow.

"Thursday?" He asked with a shrug, even though he knew what she was going after.

"I know it's a Thursday, silly!" She said, wrapping her arms around his chest and pulling him closer. "But what's the date!"

"Well, I do believe that yesterday was November 23rd, right?" He asked as he pretended to think about it.

"Uh huh," she replied cheerfully. Locke wasn't sure how she managed to get so excited and not explode, so he was amused just watching her. "So, if the 23rd was yesterday's date, what would today's date be?"

Smiling, Locke put one hand on his chin and tapped his lower lip with his index finger in thought. "Well, I guess that means I would have to add another number to 23, so that would be—"

"It's November 24th, Locke!" She interrupted quickly, moving his finger so she could kiss him. "Since I don't want to play the guessing game again, today is your twenty-fourth birthday!"

"Ugh, must you keep reminding me?" He groaned and threw himself back down on the bed. "You have had a countdown going on for, like, the past month and a half and it's just a constant reminder of how old I'm becoming."

She giggled and with a nod said, "Yep. Twenty-five is just around the corner and that's a quarter of a century!" After thinking about her statement, she added, "Wow, you are old."

"I know, I know," he agreed with a playful shove as he sat up in bed and reached for his clothes. "Oh well. For now I'm just going to convince myself that it's just a number. A rather large number, but there's nothing I can do about it. It's not like I can stop time or anything."

"I wish we could," she said as she sat up and put her arms around his chest. "I wish we could stop time and stay like this forever."

He smiled, reached over, and grabbed his watch that was resting on the table next to the bed. After looking at the time, he sighed and put it back around his wrist. "Unfortunately we can't. Sorry to say I have to get up and leave so your father doesn't come home and shoot my ass out of here."

"Aww, he wouldn't do something that crazy," she said, receiving a look of disbelief from her boyfriend. "Locke, we've been dating for about nine months now. I don't think he hates you that much."

"I beg to differ," he argued as he handed her her shirt that was lying on the floor. "Here. You should put this on."

With a whimper, she took her shirt in her hands and watched him stand up and put on his boxers. "Do you have to leave? I mean, I highly doubt my father will come home until later in the evening. Who knows? He might just come home tomorrow!"

"I'm not willing to take that risk, Rachel," Locke confirmed, putting his hands on his hips. "I would like to live to see my twenty-fifth birthday, thank you very much, quarter of a century or not."

"Well, I still want to see you tonight," she protested as she put her shirt over her head, crawled out of bed, and placed her hands on Locke's bare chest. "I mean, you only turn twenty-four once, and I might have something planned."

He chuckled and kissed her on the forehead. "You 'might' have something planned? Uh oh."

"Okay, okay, I do have something planned," she admitted with an innocent smile. "That's why I know my father is going to be out until much later tonight. I asked him and he told me that it was going to be a late night so I was able to conjure up my plans. I have no idea what he's doing, but I really don't care. As long as he's not here tonight to ruin what I want to do, that's all that matters to me."

Locke furrowed his forehead with intrigued curiosity and put his arms gently around Rachel's waist. "And may I inquire to what it is that you're planning?"

"Of course not," she replied as she picked up her skirt and slipped it on. "If you asked, I would probably give away the surprise and what fun would that be?"

He playfully sighed and continued to get dressed as he spoke. "All right, I'll let you be and just let my curiosity eat away at me. You know I'm overly curious, so this is torture."

"No, the torturing is in store for tonight." Locke whipped his head up to see Rachel seductively sit down on the bed with a seductive smile on her face. He raised his eyebrows at her and bit at his lip.

"Again I have to say 'uh oh.'" He walked over to the bed and put his hands on either side of her legs so he could look her in the eyes. He matched her flirtatious look, kissed her, then backed away to speak. "So, do I have to wear anything special, or is it going to be one of those things where it won't matter because clothing won't say on long?"

She cocked her head to the side as she thought about it, then looked back at him. "Hmm. Well, that's beside the point, but for a short period of time I do want you to look nice. I can't tell you if we're going anywhere, but I just want you here at six o'clock. How's that?"

"Six? That's dinner time," Locke mentioned, trying to pry for more details. She caught onto his intentions, pushed him away and stood up. "And if you can't tell me that we're going anywhere, does that mean that we are or we aren't?"

"No more hints, Locke!" She exclaimed as she shook her finger at him in shame. "You know just how to get to me, and it's not fair! I have a hard enough time keeping secrets as it is!"

"Okay, I'll stop now," he replied with a laugh. He bent over to grab his bandana that was on the floor and slowly tied it around his head. "I'll be here tonight at six o'clock sharp, I promise."

"Not a minute later, Mr. Cole!" She bounced on her toes and threw herself into his arms. "If you promise to be here on time, I promise that I'll make it a night to remember."

"Rachel, all the nights that I spend with you are nights to remember," he said, smiling at the fact that she started to blush. "But, you have my word."

She walked him to the door and brought him into one final embrace. "Yay! I'm so excited! Now, you need to get out of here so I can get everything ready!"

"I love you too," he stated as he scrunched his nose at her.

"Aw, you know what I meant!" She clarified, opening the door and pointing to outside. "I'll be able to spend lots and lots of time with you later tonight, okay? But you can't forget!"

"I won't be able to forget something that deals with you," he said with a quick peck on her lips.

"I won't either," she replied softly with a smile, causing Locke to smile as well. "I'll see you at six. Dress nicely and be prepared for anything. Those are the only hints I can give you."

"Works for me." He grabbed his coat off of the coat rack and put it on once he felt the chilly morning air. "I love my birthday and all, but I just wish it was warmer!"

"Well, at least the sun is out." Locke smiled at her optimistic attitude and nodded. "Bye, Locke."

"Bye," he responded as he turned away from her and started to walk down the porch steps.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, causing Locke to quickly whip around. "Okay, I guess I do have to tell you something or else it might end up in disaster!"

"What's that?" He asked with a playful smile on his face.

"Part one involves us going to see the new opera that is premiering tonight at the Opera House!" She stated, running down the stairs of the porch so she could be closer to him. "I figured I better tell you so you knew exactly how to dress."

"The Opera House?" He tried not to make a face because that wasn't what he wanted to do on his birthday, but he knew how much Rachel loved the opera. Instead of frowning, he pasted on a fake smile and acted excited. "I mean, wow! I didn't know that there was a new opera! Thanks for telling me though. Now I know that I should wear a tux."

"Exactly!" She squealed and kissed him again on the cheek. "I bought a new dress and everything! You'd be surprised what I had to go through to get us tickets!"

"As long as it doesn't involve prostitution, I'm happy that you went through the extra effort." Rachel giggled and shook her head at his statement. "Okay then, I'll see you tonight."

With a gentle squeeze, she kissed him and ran back up to her house. "Bye again!"

"Bye," he replied with a wave as she shut the door.

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"Where the hell have you been?" Xane asked when Locke warped into the Quantz hideout. Locke froze, thinking that he was in trouble, but by the excited look on Xane's face, he could tell that he was in the clear. "There has been some massive shit going on here and you haven't been here to witness it."

"Take a wild guess to where I was," Locke replied with a smile as he put the warp stone in his pocket. Xane didn't answer, but instead nodded in understanding. "So, inform me of what has been going on since I've obviously missed something."

"About ten minutes ago, Vaughn told me about this big hunt that he wants you and I to go on," Xane said with a smile. Locke stopped in his tracks, looked up at the ceiling and shook his head. "What?"

"Please don't tell me that he wants us to go on this hunt as soon as we can," Locke muttered with a sigh.

Xane chuckled and stated, "Well, you know Vaughn. He's not a very patient man, but he wants us to wait until the big show that is going on tonight. He literally said, 'the second Cole comes back, I want you two to make plans then head toward the Opera House at around six.'"

Locke groaned at Xane's statement then rubbed his face with his hands. "You have got to be kidding me. Why the Opera House? Why at six?"

"Think about it," Xane began as he walked in front of Locke. "The Opera House is where all kinds of rich people go and show off their wealth. It's a game of who has the most expensive jewelry and clothing, you should know that. And why at six? Because the show starts at seven."

"Yeah, I do know that, but what's so important about going tonight?" Locke bit at his lip and tried to think of a way to get out of it. "Can't we make it another night? The opera plays four days a week. Any night but tonight would be fine with me."

"What's wrong with doing this tonight?" Xane asked as Locke gave him a pleading look. His smile grew as he read the expression on Locke's face. "Oh, that's right! Today is your birthday! Happy birthday! I can't believe I forgot. Thirty is just around the corner!"

"Ugh," Locke said with a shudder. "Thanks, but I'll hit twenty-five first. Besides, you'll be the one hitting thirty before I will."

Xane laughed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, true. I'll shut up about it. So, I take it that you have something big planned for you and Rachel?"

"I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen, but Rachel has it all planned out," Locke stated, innocently blinking his eyes as he explained. "I know that she put a lot of hard work into planning this all out, and I don't want to disappoint her by telling her 'no.' She'd pout and then explain how I 'only turn twenty-four once.'"

"Yeah, true, but you also don't get very many chances at the jewels that the main star of tonight's opera is wearing," Xane added with a smirk and a raise of one of his eyebrows. "She's wearing the Queen of Doma's own jewels only for tonight at the premiere, and unless you really want to travel by boat all the way to Doma castle, you won't get another chance at this one."

"Jewels again? You've gotta be kidding me!" Locke groaned again as he studied Xane. "Come on, look at what happened the last time we went after a damn jewel; we left empty handed."

"You honestly want to go into Vaughn's office and tell him that you're not going to do it because you have a romantic night planned with your girlfriend, who, may I add, is the daughter of the richest man in the World of Balance? Not to mention that you are aware of that fact and Vaughn curses at you behind your back every time you go over there because you return without the diamond," Xane said very matter of fact as he crossed his arms over his chest. Locke gave him a look of surprise and Xane only shrugged. "I'm telling the truth. Vaughn couldn't care less if you were dating VanLente's daughter, but it's that you haven't tried once to get the diamond. I'm not going to intrude and ask where, but I'm assuming that you do know where it's located, do you not?"

"Yes, I do," Locke replied as he thought about it. When the VanLente's moved from Jidoor to the small house in Kohlingen, they removed one of the shelves in the bookcase so they would be able to put a chest with the diamond back there to hide it. When the diamond was safe, the Baron rebuilt the bookshelf so it looked as if nothing was hidden there. Rachel, Baron, and Locke were the only three who knew that it was there, and Locke only knew because Rachel trusted him and told him. "I could easily snag it if I wanted to betray Rachel's trust and have her father murder me, but I don't want to see that happening anytime in the future. Sorry to burst your bubble."

"You're bursting Vaughn's, not mine. I honestly couldn't care less as long as it stays there," Xane stated with a shrug of his shoulders. Locke narrowed his eyes at his statement, so he sighed and changed the subject. "Anyway, tonight we're going to the Opera House. The show starts at seven and we don't want to miss the overture!"

With another smile, Xane turned on his heel and started to walk toward his room but Locke grabbed him by the shoulder before he was able to go far. "Wait a minute! I'm serious, I can't do this tonight! Rachel already has tickets for the show and she wanted to drag me along!"

"Ha, some birthday present! You hate opera," Xane said with a laugh as Locke nodded his head. "However, when you think about it, it works out perfectly."

"I hate it when you say that," Locke mumbled with a grimace. "Now I'm afraid to ask, 'why does it work out perfectly?'"

"Well, if you told Rachel that you would go tonight, you can't back out on her. But you can get the jewel while you're there!" Locke scoffed at Xane, so he raised his shoulders. "What? It's a wonderful idea! You can say you have to get some fresh air or something, sneak into the dressing room, and then as you stealthily walk pass me in the crowd of people, you pass it to me. It will be flawless. That way you can go back to Kohlingen with Rachel and I'll come back here and give the jewel to Vaughn. You'll be happy, Rachel will be happy, and since Vaughn will be happy, I'll be happy! Everyone's a winner!"

Locke thought about it and watched Xane's smile grow with every second that passed by. Well, he's right…It'll be like killing two chocobos with one stone…

"You're thinking about it, so that's a good thing," Xane stated, pointing to Locke as he spoke. "Since you're batting it around, I'm going to finish your thought process by saying that you'll do it. Think about this; if you do it, maybe Vaughn won't bitch about the Clemix diamond anymore. How's that?"

Locke whipped his head up and gasped. "I'll do it," he replied instantly.

"Great! Our plan will go down after the show!" With a pat to Locke's shoulder, Xane turned around and walked down the hall.

"Nice, Locke," Locke mumbled to himself as he watched Xane turn the corner. "If Rachel finds out that you're doing this, she's going to murder you. Happy twenty-fourth birthday to me."