Tom Cruise has accumulated almost as many wholesome celebrity stories as he has stories about him risking his life for a stunt. There is the famous Christmas cake. Rosie O'Donnell says he has remembered her birthday for more than 25 years. He regularly uses social media to hype other filmmakers' movies and keep people going to theaters. I even recently learned that Millie Bobby Brown considers him a dear friend and has flown his helicopter. The guy apparently keeps a very interesting contact list. Still, Dakota Fanning's story may have all of those beat. During a new appearance on Happy Sad Confused, the former child star confirmed that Cruise is still carrying on the birthday tradition they started after making War of the Worlds more than 20 years ago. The exchange was shared on Josh Horowitz's Instagram, and the whole thing somehow gets sweeter once Fanning explains why the Mission: Impossible star refuses to let the tradition of buying her shoes die. She said:Still happening… We talk about it. We talked about it then, and he was like ‘I’m gonna keep doing this.’ He’s like, ‘I love this tradition. I love the check-in that we have once a year about it.’ He was like, ‘It’s gonna keep happening.’ And I was like, ‘I’ll take em.’Tom’s War of the Worlds co-star was only 10 when she played his daughter Rachel in Steven Spielberg's 2005 War of the Worlds. She turned 11 while they were making the movie, and the Top Gun actor gave her what was basically the holy grail of middle-school technology at the time: a Motorola Razr. After that, the gifts turned into shoes. Lots of shoes.Fanning has previously talked about how he has kept the birthday tradition alive, but I did not realize just how committed he apparently is to the bit. Horowitz asked what kind of shoes she gets after all these years, because presumably Cruise has worked his way through a decent portion of the footwear aisle by now. The Alienist star laughed and said:Yeah, you know, whatever the new vibe is. [Laughs]Then came the question I would absolutely ask. Is Tom Cruise personally picking out Dakota Fanning's birthday shoes every year, or does someone on his team receive an annual calendar notification that reads, "Dakota. Shoes. Don't screw this up"? According to her, the longtime action star says he is involved:According to Tom, he is involved. So, he is involved. So, I don’t know. I don’t know the specifics, I don’t ask.Honestly, I wouldn't ask either. As they say, “never look a gift Cruise in the mouth.” Or something like that. At some point you just accept that the Minority Report helmer apparently decided you are getting shoes for life.This is hardly the first story about the three-time Oscar nominee being weirdly thoughtful with old friends and co-stars. His white chocolate coconut Christmas cake has become Hollywood lore, with recipients practically treating its annual arrival like an event. He also regularly champions other people's movies. Earlier this year, Cruise gave Steven Spielberg and Emily Blunt's Disclosure Day a very public boost, continuing his habit of encouraging audiences to show up for theatrical releases even when his name is nowhere on the poster.But Dakota Fanning’s story gets me because the shoe gift has lasted for more than 20 years. The two met when she was a kid, and he found a simple way to stay connected and apparently decided there was no expiration date. At this point, I just hope the Twilight Saga actress has a very large closet or maybe a second home just for her ‘Cruise Shoes.’