A/N: Hi again, HM community! I'm taking a(n extended) break from LRA and FTD for right now, but in the meantime I've got all these little ideas floating around in my head, so I decided to finally post another one.

This story will be another multichap (surprise, surprise!), but I won't bother with an updating schedule. It's lighthearted and doesn't follow too much of a plot, so it's more of a whatever whenever kind of thing. I'm mainly just writing it to fill my Raeger/Annie void...

In the future I'm planning on posting a Sunshine Islands fic as well, with an unusual Will/Chelsea pairing. That one'll hopefully be completed soon, actually, then I'll start posting it as it's kind of long.

As always, comments are welcome, and please add this to your favorites/follows if you like it! I'll try not to wait too long in between updates!

He had a lingering suspicion about her from the beginning.

She'd moved into town just days ago, so they hadn't even formally met yet.

He'd seen her around town at times, usually talking to Veronica or Gunther, but they'd never exchanged words.

Until now.

Trapped in conversation with Gunther, she looked hastily around the town square, and her eyes met Raeger's. Her jaw hung open in surprise and she bowed quickly to Gunther. Then she made her way over.

"I-I don't believe we have met."

Her voice was pleasant and soft, and he decided to greet it with his own lighthearted tone. He shook his head.

"No, not yet. I was starting to wonder if you would ever grace me with your presence."

Her cheeks instantly flushed. "I-I'm sorry! I think I must have come in on a Wednesday because the restaurant was closed... After that, I kept forgetting to introduce myself. I'm so sorry!"

Raeger forgettable? That was a new one. Normally, girls would practically be pounding on his door after learning he was there.

But at least that meant she wasn't another crazed fan. He relaxed at that.

He smiled. "It's fine. You don't have to apologize so much."

She lifted her head slowly, awkwardly, and nodded. She cleared her throat. "My name is Annie. I... don't know if you have already heard of me."

He nodded. "I've heard a little, but it's good to meet you in person. I'm Raeger, head chef, waiter, and owner of the restaurant."

He extended his hand out to her. She stared down at it and shook it shyly. Afterwards, she quickly retracted hers and locked it at her side.

"You run that restaurant all by yourself?"

"Yeah, but we don't get that busy too often."

She tilted her head. "'We?'"

"Oh." He laughed. "I guess I didn't realize I said that. Just an old habit."

Annie pursed her lips, looking probably the most serious he'd seen her yet, and the conversation quickly died, leaving a heavy silence.

"Uh... While we don't get that busy," Raeger started, "I should probably get back. My break's over."

Her mouth formed a wide "O" shape. She bowed her head. "I'm so sorry for disrupting your break."

"No, i-it's completely fine..." He stuck his hands up, not really knowing what to do. "You don't have to bow."

She waited a few moments before slowly lifting her head. "O-okay."

They stood awkwardly, Annie averting her eyes anywhere else.

He cleared his throat. "So... I'll see you around?"

She snapped her head back to look at him. "Y-yes. I'm sure we will meet again."

Raeger gave a nod and turned to leave, but then stopped. "Oh, and Annie?"

She stiffened, back straight. "Yes?"

"You're welcome at the restaurant any time. I've had some good recipes handed down to me throughout the years."

She smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

And with that, he began walking back to the restaurant, thinking about that chance encounter. She was a good, friendly girl with an awkward, overly polite way of speaking. He wasn't quite sure what to think of her yet.

Though, strangely, there was a sense of familiarity about her.

…

A few days later, Veronica called everyone in town to the trade depot. She'd requested they all take the day off from work several weeks ago but never explained why.

"Thank you for coming, everybody," she began, "and welcome to our newest farmer and resident, Annie."

All eyes turned to the young woman, who awkwardly averted hers and nodded.

"For the past season, I have been organizing an event. This is the first year we'll be doing this, but I hope it will become a tradition to promote unity and work ethic in the community. With the additions of all our newest residents, now is the perfect time to do it, I believe.

"I have set up a 'scavenger hunt,' if you will. There are five sites you and your partner will visit. At each site you will find a memo with a 'site word' on it. Collect all five words and record their locations, then come see me as soon as you can to be victorious."

She grabbed a box off the table behind her, holding it in her hand. "In just a few minutes, I will invite you all one by one to reach for a card from this box. Each card has the name of a flower on it and will determine who your partner is."

"Question!" Fritz suddenly called from the crowd. He raised his hand as high as it would go.

"Yes, Fritz?"

"What's the prize for winning?"

Veronica sighed, looking down dejectedly. "I was hoping that new friendships and a test of wits would suffice."

Fritz quieted down.

"All right, everyone," Veronica continued. "Please form a single-file line."

The townspeople congregated themselves into a line quickly, and soon the first few people took their cards from the box.

Raeger stood quietly and watched as Lillie took her turn. When she opened it up, she grew extremely red in the face.

"Is-is this okay?"

Veronica smiled at her. "It's just for the sake of determining a partner, don't worry."

Lillie looked around and her eyes met Raeger's, next in line. Her cheeks grew even redder and she started stuttering. "I-I-I got the 'lily' card."

Raeger stifled a laugh. "That's all right. You like lilies, don't you?"

She lowered her head. "Y-yes. I do."

He smiled and nodded, then she walked away. He stepped up to Veronica and reached into the box. As he was still among the first people in line, there were quite a few cards to choose from. He felt around the box and grabbed one at last.

He brought it up to his face and unfolded it. Written on it in Veronica's calligraphy was the flower "cherry blossom."

A smile spread across his face. Cherry blossoms were his favorite. Did that mean he would have good luck in the scavenger hunt? Who would his partner be?

His eyes focused on the other people in line. After him was Mistel, then Agate, then Annie. What would she draw?

He watched as she slowly picked a card from the box. When she unfurled it, she smiled warmly and held it to her chest. He wondered if she received her favorite flower, as well.

Annie returned to her original spot, next to Eda, and stood quietly. He decided to do the same.

When everyone had a card, Veronica smiled and set the empty box down.

"Okay, everyone. Once you've found your partner, stand together and then we'll begin."

People started to scramble around, voices overlapping as they tried to find the person with the matching card.

Pretty soon, Fritz came into his vision.

"Hey, Raeger!"

Raeger nodded to him. "Fritz. What do you have?"

He held out his card. "I got nadeshiko. What about you?"

"Cherry blossom."

Fritz perked up instantly. "Oh, you're with Annie then." He pointed to the girl a short distance away.

"I am?"

Fritz nodded. "Yup. I already asked her earlier. Go get her!"

Raeger didn't really know what to think or how to feel about that. When she smiled down at the card, was it because she liked cherry blossoms, too?

Well, it wasn't exactly an uncommon flower. A lot of people favored them. Still...

He cleared his mind and cautiously walked over to Annie, greeting Eda in the process. She seemed to be paired up with Iris.

"Hey there," he called.

Annie looked up and nodded. "Good morning."

"What did you pull?" Of course, he already knew, but she might have been frightened or embarrassed if he told her Fritz spread the word.

She looked away shyly. "Ch-cherry blossom."

He held up his drawn paper and smiled. "Me too. I guess we're partners then."

She nodded. "Th-that's what it looks like."

He stood in place next to her, hands in his pockets as he watched the remaining townspeople find their pairs. Elise found Melanie, Klaus found Agate, and Fritz eventually found Mistel.

Veronica cleared her throat once it seemed everyone was ready. She spoke in her normally powerful voice.

"All right! Good job finding your match, everybody. Now, let's begin. Your first stop is marked on your sheet of paper. The order is randomized for each team to reduce overpopulation of a site. If you get stuck, you have your partner, or come see me for help. Are there any questions?"

Beside Raeger, Annie began fidgeting with her hands. She looked like she wanted to say something.

He leaned down close to her. "What is it?" he asked quietly.

"Huh?"

"Is there something you wanted to ask?"

She quickly shook her head. "N-no. It's nothing."

He pursed his lips, hoping it really was.

"Good luck to you all, and I hope to see everyone back soon!" Veronica finished.

At last, she handed out the papers. The townspeople looked down at them, trying to decipher the clues.

Once Raeger got his copy, his eyes were immediately glued. Annie craned her neck to get a better look from afar.

There were five clues, corresponding to five different sites they had to find, just like Veronica said.

"All right," he said. "Our first clue is... 'a place one would catch a crustaceon.'"

Annie perked up. "There is a fishing dock near my house!" She glanced around shyly and lowered her voice. "I-I can find crabs there sometimes..."

He nodded. "Sounds good to me."

They started walking out of the trade depot, but they saw some teams break into a sprint.

"Should we run, too?" Raeger asked.

She averted her eyes. "I-I'm not very fast."

He smiled and folded the paper up, stuffing it into his pocket. "That's fine. Just hold on to me." He grabbed her hand and started running, leaving several other people behind him in the dust.

"R-Raeger!"

He stopped abruptly and looked back at her. That was quite the shriek, unlike anything he'd ever heard her say before. "Are you all right?"

She nodded slowly. "Y-yes."

"Then what's wrong?"

"N-nothing..."

"Is it my hand?" He smiled sadly.

She bit her lip and nodded. "I'm not used to... this."

Raeger let go of her hand and sighed. "You're right. We can just walk. Speed doesn't matter in this, anyway – wits do."

"Y-you're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

She looked away, not answering.

He shook his head. "No. What would make me upset is standing here and doing nothing. Let's go!"

Annie smiled shyly and nodded. "Yes."

…

They finally stopped at the dock between her and Eda's farms, looking around for the memo as confirmation.

Raeger ran a hand through his hair. If this was the right spot, wouldn't they see other people here, too? At least one other team, if there were only five sites to find?

He looked at the area with more trees. "Ah!" There was a note on a nearby rock in front of them. He crouched down to read it.

"It says 'Congratulations on finding this site. The confirmation word for this site is silk.'"

Silk? Was she just going to list all the names of the trading countries?

No... Veronica was more clever than that, otherwise anyone who figured it out would just write down the remaining countries' names and win. He could see Fritz doing that.

"See, I told you it was here!"

Speaking of Fritz...

Raeger and Annie turned around to see Fritz. Mistel was a short ways behind him, holding the paper in his hand.

"This is the crab site, right?" Fritz asked giddily.

Raeger crossed his arms. "I'm not telling you."

Now beside Fritz, Mistel rolled his eyes. "Why would you even bother asking? They are our rivals."

He walked past Fritz and stood by Annie. "How are you doing? Is Raeger treating you well?"

She nodded almost immediately. "Y-yes! Raeger is extremely kind!"

Raeger stifled a laugh. She said it as if she had practiced it.

Mistel smiled. "I see. That's good to hear." He turned to Raeger. "Annie is a nice girl. Please do not play around with her as you do your other women."

Raeger frowned. "I don't play around. They just don't leave me alone sometimes."

"Jeez, don't brag about it!" Fritz cried, butting in. "You know what a guy would do to be in your shoes?"

Raeger furrowed his brows. "It isn't as luxurious as you think."

"U-um..."

Annie's soft voice startled all three men. They turned towards her and she averted her gaze, noticing theirs.

"Sh-shouldn't we be going?"

Mistel nodded. "She's right. Let's scour the area, Fritz."

"Sure! Whatever that means." He grinned. "We'll beat you guys! This is already our second - "

"Fritz, don't make unnecessary provocations."

Raeger blinked, glancing between the two of them. "Wait, you two already made it past the first site?"

Fritz nodded triumphantly, ignoring Mistel's sharp gaze. "That's right, so you slowpokes better get going!"

Raeger looked back at Annie and nodded. They left wordlessly.

"Um... I'm sorry," Annie said once they were a good distance away.

He turned to her, stopping in his tracks. "For what?"

She fidgeted. "F-for interrupting you all... and for being so slow."

He shook his head. "It's fine, and you're not slow. I bet if I asked you to, you'd run with me, wouldn't you?"

She nodded timidly. "Would... you like me to?"

"Not right now. I'm not really concerned about winning, honestly. Fritz seems more excited than anyone, probably because the prize is bragging rights."

Annie smiled but didn't say anything else, and the atmosphere surrounding her reminded Raeger of earlier.

"What did you have to say earlier?"

She turned towards him and gave him a confused look.

"It looked like you wanted to say something when Veronica asked for questions."

She seemed to understand now, and she looked down at the ground for a moment. "I... I wanted to make sure it was okay for me to participate."

"What?" He stared at her incredulously. "Why wouldn't it be?"

She fidgeted with the fitted waistband of her dress, trying to pick at it. "B-because I just moved in here, and all of you... all of you have known each other for a long time. It feels like I'm intruding on sacred grounds."

Raeger resisted the urge to laugh. "That's quite the thing to say." He cleared his throat. "I'm sure nobody here feels that way about you. We all love it when someone new joins the community. It boosts our spirits."

"Really?" She looked up at him with wide eyes.

He smiled. "Yes, really. A new farmer means more profit for everyone - the town stores, the traders who come to sell their own goods. So don't worry about it." He reached down to ruffle her hair with his hand, an old habit he'd picked up from his late grandfather. She didn't flinch away, but she didn't seem very fond of the contact. He'd have to keep that in mind.

They continued walking at a steady pace, and before he could forget, he pulled out the paper. He jotted down "silk" next to the first site's clue.

"So, next is... 'an area snow never touches.' Do you know of – well, most likely not, right? You just moved here last week."

She nodded. "Sor - "

"Stop apologizing."

She nodded, then fidgeted.

He laughed. "Really. It's all right, I won't bite you."

Annie smiled and pushed her hair behind her ear. He watched her fumble with the loose strands under her hat.

He returned his attention to the paper. "'Snow never touches...' Maybe she means a house or a building? No... otherwise there wouldn't be just one."

He racked his brain for possible answers, then looked over at Annie. "Do you do a lot of farming in other areas?"

"Not... really."

"Hmm."

He thought maybe there was another field with some sort of shelter, even just a wall of trees. What other places were there?

"Oh. What about the rice paddy?"

Annie tilted her head.

"Do crops still grow there in the winter?"

"Um... if the climate is cold, then... I don't believe so. But I-I also think that snow wouldn't grow there, either."

"Snow grows?"

Her cheeks flushed even brighter. "N-no! I meant to say - "

"I know, I know," he said with a smirk. "I'm just teasing you. That's what you get for acting so formally weird around me."

He laughed and ruffled her hair after seeing her expression, already forgetting her apparent discomfort about it. "Show me the real Annie."

The one he suspected he knew from long ago.

…

"All right, so the paddy was good, and now we have... 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.'"

Raeger frowned. "Is it just me, or are these clues more like riddles? And they're progressively getting harder."

"Veronica said the order was different for each team, though."

"Maybe this was the original order?"

When she didn't answer, he shrugged it off. "You're right. Let's go."

"Have you figured it out?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. I kind of just wanted to walk, though."

"O-okay."

They walked and talked a bit, but neither had any idea what the clue was supposed to mean. Raeger suggested an apple tree, but Annie told him they don't bloom in the spring.

He slowed down the pace. "We could skip ahead. If the order's different anyway, no one will know we're not doing the right one."

She nodded hesitantly. "Maybe... we'll think of something for this one along the way."

"Now you're getting it."

He scanned the paper, reading through the other two clues. "While we're skipping, we should just pick the one we like better. Do you want 'gather up the light of fireflies at night' or 'sing the song of the birds and see where it takes you?'"

Annie looked around as she thought, fidgeting a little. "The firefly one... that makes it sound like a nighttime event. It isn't dark out yet."

"I don't think Veronica would keep us all out that late," Raeger said, unconvinced. Quite a few townspeople still had to work the next morning.

She looked down. "It sounds fun."

He smiled. "It does. You want to try out that one?"

"Yes." She bit her lip. "B-but the other one sounds more... interesting."

"The song of the birds?"

She nodded.

"Hmm... 'Sing the song of the birds and see where it takes you,' huh?"

"B-but I'll do either one. We could even go back to the apple - "

"No, let's do this one. There's a reason you picked it over the other one even though you liked that, too, right?"

"Yes." She smiled. "If you listen closely... you can hear the birds."

Raeger stood still and listened. Sure enough, he could hear several birds chirping in tune with one another. The suspicion was piling up. "How did you know?"

She tilted her head up toward the trees, watching the birds fly from branch to branch. "I... love birds. They are my favorite animals. There are so many different kinds and colors, each with its own voice. And they are free to fly whenever and how far they want to, and they're never alone."

Before she noticed Raeger's intense stare, she started whistling along with the birds. They were all singing the same song, just at different intervals. One would start, then the rest would follow. Annie would whistle with the leading bird like she knew the song by heart.

The birds welcomed her whistles as just another voice, but she performed even better than them.

"That kind of freedom is beautiful," she said softly after a while. "I envy them."

She watched them longingly, as if clinging to some sort of hope.

That was when Raeger knew.

She had to be Annie, the girl he met so many years ago during the summer he turned ten.

The Annie he knew loved birds, was very clumsy, and would never take no for an answer.

The Annie in front of him was gentle and awkward, graceful and overly apologetic, and seemed to have very little self-confidence.

So what changed? Did she remember him, too? Why didn't she say anything? "Raeger" wasn't exactly a common name.

...Or was he simply clinging to a past long gone?

Annie smiled widely and looked over at him. "Raeger, look! The birds are flying to different trees!"

Raeger just stared at her in amazement and wonder. "Yeah."

"Maybe if we follow them, we'll discover the site?"

He had so many different questions, but he couldn't even be sure it was really her. If he asked her outright, he would probably scare her off and sever their new connection. She only just now started loosening her tongue.

So he decided to just walk with her as they followed after the birds. She paid most of her attention to the sky and the trees, while he focused on the ground so they wouldn't trip or fall.

At long last, the birds nested atop a large tree overlooking some sort of meadow. Upon closer inspection, it was filled with lush, green grass and soft pink cherry blossom trees.

Raeger couldn't hear the birds anymore, though he was unsure if that was because they left or because he was paying attention to something else.

Annie stood at the edge of the meadow, mouth hanging wide open, eyes wider with delight. She looked at everything around before exclaiming, "This is beautiful!"

He smiled. "Yeah."

His Annie also loved cherry blossoms. It was the reason they met.

Petals fell and flew across the air as the spring breeze picked up. A few stuck in Annie's hair and she scrambled to get them out, reaching up and plucking at them.

Raeger grabbed her arm, stopping her. She looked up at him with her big brown eyes.

"Rae - "

"Tell me, Annie," he started, "did... did you used to live in a town called Grandsville?"

Her eyes widened and a look of shock spread across her face. "Y-yes."

He sighed, relief flooding through him. He wasn't crazy. "It's... it's unbelievable, isn't it? That we would actually see each other again after so long... It's me, Raeger. I lived at the bakery with my parents and grandfather. You and your mother would come in every day and order our special pork buns."

Annie shook her head. "N-no, I don't - "

"We would sit under the big cherry blossom tree and talk for hours – well, you would mimic the birds and I would try coming up with new ideas for recipes in the bakery."

She stepped back shakily, tears in her eyes. "Raeger, I... I never did that. I lived in Grandsville when I was younger, and I loved the cherry blossoms, but... but..."

Raeger swallowed a lump in his throat. So maybe he really was forgettable. Why did he think it would be that easy?

He smiled sadly and looked down at the ground. "You remember everything about the town... but you don't remember me?"

She closed her eyes and frantically shook her head. "No."

~CGA