star_ocean_fan | Impromptu Birthday Wishes

I apologize for not posting in advance that I planned on giving Maria a June birthday. I wasn't sure of the date I wanted to give her, and decided today that today would be her birthday. That would make her a few days older than Fayt in my universe so . . .

Please note that any birthdays I declare for any character outside the list of The Last Hope cast of playable characters is subject to change.

Title: Her One Wish
World: Till the End of Time
Characters: Fayt Leingod, Maria Traydor, Lieber
Pairing: one-sided Fayt x Maria, one-sided Lieber x Maria
Rating: PG13-ish
Warnings: implied character death
Disclaimer: I do not own Till the End of Time or the characters of Fayt Leingod, Maria Traydor, and Lieber. They rightfully belong to Tri-Ace and Square Enix. I do not profit financially from writing this story.
Summary: Every year, she wished for the same thing, knowing it would never be hers.

Some days were never easy.

It was such little truths that Maria often consoled herself with when things weren’t the way they were supposed to be – computers malfunctioned, supplies ran short, and the arguing amongst her crew when they’d been away from home too long . . . not to mention the seemingly endless bickering of diplomats who wanted everything their way or no way at all. No matter how hard she tried to keep supplies in her ship and her crew happy, something was bound to go wrong at some point. It was simply how life worked, and, as the leader of Quark, Maria learned to accept such days.

However, there were some days when such incidents were more than what she could bear. Sometimes, she couldn’t always pinpoint what was wrong when a particular day arrived or why it bothered her . . . she simply awoke irritated and ready fight whoever was of the mind to argue against what she wanted. On the anniversaries of her parents’ deaths . . . and Fayt’s . . . those were her worst days, and sometimes . . . so was her birthday.

There was so much that she’d wanted to tell him in the aftermath of the Creator’s defeat, thoughts and emotions she couldn’t tell him before. They weren’t related to each other so she’d felt safe in nurturing her feelings towards him even as she envied him for the life he had at the same time. All they needed to do was survive.

And survive Maria had. She’d led the charge against the Creator, even as Fayt hesitated and ultimately stayed out of the fray. She had delivered the killing blow to Luther, showing him no mercy as he’d done the same for countless of innocent people across the universe. In her mind, someone who tried to control her very thoughts and emotions didn’t deserve to live or forgiveness. If she allowed Luther to live, he could continue to harm and threaten her and the people of her universe. For that, she delivered justice.

In rendering her justice upon Luther, however, Maria failed to notice that Fayt, too, was dying, sustaining the same injuries as the Creator. Only at the last moment, Albel had noticed, had made the connection to Fayt’s pain and Maria’s actions, and he’d tried to stop her. Too little, too late, he reached her. Luther fell dead at her feet, and, behind her, so did Fayt.

Maria stared forlornly at the cake in front of her. Sophia had sent it to her for her birthday, had done so for the last five years. Every year it said “Happy Birthday”. In the holo-card the younger girl sent, it said “I hope all of your wishes come true”. Lieber tried his best to cheer her, always attempting to say more to her but always losing the courage. She thought he might have a crush on her, but they were feelings and thoughts she couldn’t return. Her heart had always been with Fayt and, upon his death, it, too, had died in a sense.

With Fayt gone, she knew wishes were never granted. Not the ones that mattered, anyway. If they were, he’d still be alive, and she could celebrate to a life of happily ever after.

When she was alone, she danced.

It was a little secret of hers, something she did for herself when she needed moments to herself. Something about the way her body stretched as she moved relaxed Maria and helped her to reestablish her focus.

Dancing also helped to sharpen her mind and her skills with her gun. Maria wasn’t one for close combat. Combined with the martial arts skills she learned from Cliff and Mirage, performing difficult pirouettes enabled Maria to dodge an enemy.

There was one final reason why Maria danced when no one else was around to watch her. When she was by herself, she pretended her mother was there, observing her and smiling. Jessie had danced, had taught Maria what she knew.

With the stars under her feet, Maria felt at peace, if only for a short while.