Phoenix

Emi's Birthday

Emi strolled through Crocus and made her way to the guildhall. Kira had told her Master Rue called a mandatory meeting to go over some important matter. She opened the heavy doors to the hall and screamed in surprise as all the guild members shouted.

"Happy birthday, Emi!"

Emi looked around and saw that every wizard was present. She couldn't help the tears that escaped as she stood there and took it in. Kira and Ayame ran over to Emi and hugged her tight.

"We wanted to surprise you!"

"You certainly surprised me. How did you do all this without me knowing? You were always with me."

"Sting actually helped get everything ready. And he actually did a decent job so I'm impressed."

Emi laughed and looked around for Sting to thank him.

"Um, where is he anyway?"

Kira laughed as she looked behind Emi to see Sting out of breath. He managed to get out a short sentence between his pants.

"I...forgot your...present."

"Well it's about time, idiot. You missed the big surprise."

Sting glared at Kira before yelling, "I thought I asked you to hold her off so I could be here."

"Yeah well I couldn't control her walking pace. Not my fault you left without her present."

"Present?"

Sting and Kira stopped bickering at the sound of Emi's voice. Ayame walked back over to the three of them.

"Of course there's presents, Emi! It's your birthday...Well your designated birthday at least."

"Okay everyone," Master Rue called, "let's get this party started!"

"Master Rue, you were in on it too?"

"I always love to see my children enjoy themselves, so of course I helped when Sting and Kira came to me about this event."

"See, Emi? Isn't a guild a great place to be?" Kira and Sting asked with wide smiles on their faces.

Everyone looked at Sting before Natsu asked why he had changed so much.

"You used to care about your guild mates, so what made you change to only caring about yourself?"

Sting looked at Natsu before denying the fire mage an answer and watched the memory.

It was towards the end of the party when everyone suggested that Emi start opening presents. She awkwardly sat at a table as people stacked presents in front of her. Everyone laughed at the faces she made as she watched the pile grow.

"You guys didn't have to get so many. This must've been a lot of jewel."

Ayame pushed her to open the presents, and Emi reluctantly agreed. She was shocked at all the different items she got. She opened Ayame's present.

"It's a container with fog in it."

"It's actually a gas that I made. It's one that makes people fall asleep without any dreams."

Emi smiled and thanked her, telling her that she would use it often. Ayame gave her a quick hug before handing her the next present. Kira clapped in excitement, signalling that it was hers. Emi laughed at her enthusiasm and began to unwrap the box.

"It's a bow."

"It goes in your hair. It's matching mine!"

Kira spun around and pointed to the white and gold bow that held her ponytail. Ayame decided to ask if she would ever use it, saying that nobody ever saw her hair from under her cloak. Kira smirked.

"She can wear it when it's girl time with me. Then we can really match!"

Kira went over and gave Emi a fist bump before handing her the last present. Sting and Lector watched her intently as she started to gently open the box. Emi's eyes lit up when she grabbed what was in the box.

"How did you know I wanted this?!"

Sting and Lector laughed before Sting told her that he saw her frequently going into the shop and picking it up. Kira looked over Emi's shoulder to try to see what it was that made her so happy. She saw a book with an outline of a dragon on the cover.

"It's a book all about dragons. Dragon types, dragon history, dragon magic, dragon origins, dragon--"

Sting chuckled as he listened to the excitement in her voice. She eventually calmed down and started to go around and thank everyone. She approached Ayame, Kira and Sting and gave them all tight hugs. She turned to Lector and opened her arms, causing the exceed to fly into her arms. Everyone laughed at him, as he was always acting "tough" around everyone.

"So now that the party is over, what do you wanna do?"

Emi turned to the group and excitedly told them that they should go get ice cream. They all agreed and Kira and Ayame started walking towards the center of town to the popular ice cream stand. Sting and Lector started walking in the opposite directions towards the outskirts of town.

"Where are you guys going?" Sting asked the girls.

Kira turned around and sassily spoke, "To the ice cream stand, duh."

Emi giggled before explaining that there was a special ice cream flavor at the shop on the edge of town. Kira and Ayame looked at each other before following the dragon slayer to the bakeshop. Emi ran to the doors of the shop before walking through the door as the little bell on top dinged.

An older woman smiled at her and Sting and said, "Well hello you two. It's nice to see you again. Your usual?'

Emi nodded before motioning to Ayame, Kira and Lector.

"Oh! Is it a double date tonight? How fun."

Sting and Emi blushed at the assumption, Sting quickly shutting it down.

"Oh ho ho," Ayame giggled. "Sting's been bringing Emi here for quite some time then."

Kira gave Sting a sly look, making Sting blush again.

"Lady Emiko, Sting! You came to get ice cream without me?" Lector cried.