Chapter 1
Old Friends
"There we go, all set up and ready for business!" The red-haired merchant looked upon her handywork of setting up the tent, stretched slightly, and returned into her stall, waiting for her first customer.
This was not her first time in Ylisstol, she knew the city's habits and demands like she knew the alphabet. She had her best merchandise set in front of the less demanded, and had a small crate to the side of the stall to give to little children as a treat (with every purchase of 10 gold coins or more) so the Ylisseans would feel the need to visit her again.
Her sales throughout the day were staggering to the other businesses, as she raked in gold faster than Donnel cleaning a pig pen (which is fast, mind you).
She was in a fairly good mood, and not just because of her success, but because she was finally getting over Robin. She remembered well the conversation with Priam, and even though he was having love-problems of his own, he still brought a sort of peace to her mind, "Be brave, merchant. You have a thief problem with your stall, right? Well someone is bound to steal your heart, as you steal his."
Hmm...She thought, Even if I do find a man, I would have to let him in on the secret... She then saw the royal family walking down the cobblestone path, I'll save these thoughts for another day, I have selling that needs to be done!
"Oh, powerful Exalt! You would be wise to view my humble stall!" She spoke regally, she didn't want to offend him. Even though they talked when she was first recruited to the Shepherds, that was the only time they talked. They never spoke afterward.
"Oh honey, it's an Anna." Sumia pulled Chrom's arm toward the stall. Chrom nearly lost hold on the infant Cynthia, but returned to cradling the small baby in a normal fashion. Toddler Lucina was holding her mother's hand, trying to stay balanced on her own two feet from lack of experience with walking.
"So it is." Chrom tried to keep the infant balanced in his arm and attenpted to keep pace with his wife. "Excuse me, but are you the Anna that fought along side the Shepherds?"
"That I am, sir!" She bowed politely, then started to showcase her wares. "I see that your youngest is still in diapers. Why not upgrade to Anna's special 'magically leak-free diapers'?"
"'Leak-free'? Chrom, that would be PERFECT for Cynthia!"
"Hold on, now, Sumia, we haven't even found out how much they cost."
"I assure you they are the best quality diapers you can find in the halidom!" Anna spoke up, "They are definitely worth the small price you pay."
"...Fine," Chrom surrendered, "How much?"
"For Ylissean royalty? 19 gold and a piece of silver for a case."
Chrom's eyes widened, "Wow, that IS a bargain!"
"And you can't find them in any other stall! In fact, this is my last case." She spoke as she pulled out a medium sized crate and set it on the counter.
"Chrom, we need to get it before Maribelle gets her hands on it!"
"Don't you think you're being a little paranoid?"
"If you won't buy it, Chrom, I'll pay out of my own pocket." Sumia pulled out a small pocket of coins and poured them on the counter. The total added up to 26 gold and 4 silver.
"This should cover it!" Anna quickly swept the money off of the counter and into her cashbox. She then pulled out the crate of sweets and pulled out a lollipop shaped like a butterfly and held it out to Lucina, who was hiding behind her mother's dress, "This is on the house, don't be afraid I'll charge you for it."
The little Lucina slowly emerged from her parent fortification, extended her hand slowly, and quickly swiped the sucker from Anna's hand, retreating to her mother again.
Chrom handed Cynthia to her mother, "Thank you, Anna. I know we don't know each other well, but you are a good person, even if you do come across as greedy." Sumia jabbed him hard in the ribs with her elbow. He grunted in pain and picked up the crate.
"You... you see me as greedy?" Anna spoke slowly and quietly.
Sumia gave her a concerned look, "Don't take what he said to heart, Anna. He doesn't know how to talk to women anyway. Please, don't give it a second thought." But it was too late for that, she was already thinking. Is that why Robin didn't like talking to me? Is that why he chose her over me?
"Are you alright, Anna?" Sumia asked in a worried tone.
"Huh? Oh... I'll be... fine..."
Anna was still thinking. It all made sense now. Why didn't she see it before? She might have been happily married to the brilliant tactician, but it is too late now...
"Don't hesitate to talk to me, Anna. I'm a very understanding individual. If you want to talk, I'm free anytime." Sumia set her hand on Anna's shoulder. Sumia had no idea what was wrong with Anna, but she knew that if she could help, she would.
"Thank you, but..." she cleared her thoughts for a moment, "I need to get back to business. Have an amazing day!" she spoke with a smile that everyone saw as genuine. Everyone but herself.
"Thank you, Anna. You too." Chrom led his family back down the road heading in the direction of the castle. Sumia was still looking over her shoulder to see if Anna's smile was real, or just a mask to cover her emotions. She saw no change, and returned to facing forward before she would tripped over some unseen object.
As Anna watched the family, her thoughts were filled with longing.
At least it makes sense, now...
"Bah, no good sweets in this stall. And none over here..."
The Ylissean thief passed over stall after stall in search of sugary delicacies, finding nothing in any of them. He had no bag of coins to pay for the candies, anyway.
I shouldn't be stealing, anyway. Chrom's grace only extends so far- Hey! That kid has a sucker!
Somehow, through the crowd, he saw a small stick extending from the toddler's mouth. No average man could have ever picked out that small detail, but after being an assassin for so long, he learned to spot candies, in all forms, from any distance. He started to make his way through the crowd. He couldn't see the kid fully, only the sucker. So when he got close enough to see that it was Lucina, he approached with caution. Hmm... yanking the sucker from her mouth is going to be near to impossible... Just got to approach her slowly...slowly...slowl-
"Gaius? Why are you sneaking around?"
"GAH... Chrom?! What a coincidence..."
It really would have been, if Gaius hadn't been following his family for the last five minutes,
"Answer the question, Gaius." Sumia said, "Were you planning on stealing Lucina's lollipop?"
"Me? Stealing a simple, little, sugary... sweet..." His eyes glazed over as he stared at the stick extending from the toddler's mouth.
"Gaius, if you want your own, Anna has a stall just down the path with a whole crate of candies."
"A...whole...CRATE?!" At those words, he bolted down the cobblestone road, barely hearing Chrom's final words, "Don't steal them. Remember, she doesn't know you're a thief."
It was true, there were a handful of Shepherds who had never been told of Gaius' profession. Basilio and Flavia never knew because their trust in Chrom's judgment might waver. Virion was never told because he had a horrible experience with thieves in the past, but Cherche discovered the truth through extensive spying. Frederick never knew because he would instantly slice him into a filet the first time something went missing. Anna was never told because she HATED thieves above all others, even Validar, in her opinion, was below the horrid cutpurses.
So I can't steal them, mainly because if Anna complained to Chrom, he would know who did it and where to find me...I'll just try to speak with her. But he was shocked as he witnessed a couple of potential customers walked away after offering the cheery merchant money for an object.
Hmm? Normally she would haggle down her price... I wonder what has gotten into her.
"Excuse me, miss. How much for this fine item?" The customer asked Anna.
"That item is an oddity on this side of the realm, only found in Valm! That means it'll cost you more than you thought." She said, taking a look at the gold in the man's hand. The man exchanged glances with his traveling partner and then said, "good day,then" to Anna.
Ugh! There goes another sale... My head isn't in it right now.
"Hey, Red. What's got you under the weather?"
She looked up to see the auburn-haired, shadowy figure of the sugar connoisseur. He was one of the few Shepherds she had spoken with that she felt relaxed around. He and Tiki were good friends who helped her get used to living in the barracks. He, specifically stood by her as she cried after Robin and Cordelia's marriage. He was almost always there for her, unless he was searching for more candy to put into his mouth. He was almost like a chipmunk in that way. She faked a smile, the same one for the customers that had just visited.
"Oh hey, Gaius!" she didn't want to talk about what she was thinking about, so she changed the subject, "I guess you're here for the candy."
"Well, I was at first, but it looks like you need a bit of sugar yourself. You look so down." He could see right through her mask, "What's on your mind?"
She sighed and her cheery facade fell, "Gaius, do you... think I'm greedy?"
Gaius popped a sucker from his bag into his mouth. After sucking on it for a while, he replied, "Well, I'd be lying if I said that it doesn't help your business."
She looked at the ground before closing her eyes to shut out all other thoughts.
Gaius continued, "But, to be honest, you gave a lot during the countless battles we fought in."
She looked up at him with a frown, "I was simply repaying a debt to Chrom..."
Gaius pulled the lollipop out of his mouth, making a 'pop' sound before he lightly chuckled, "They saved your life once, Red, nothing more. I know you well enough to know that you gave it your all in those battles and wars. If you were repaying a debt, you would have quit before the Valmese War, but you didn't. I consider that and everything you did for the army, like getting us to those resort Outrealms free of charge, generous."
She smiled weakly, "Thanks, Gaius." She wasn't completely at ease at the moment, but for now, she was fine. Her natural, merchant smile came back, "How would you like one of these suckers out of this crate? I'll even give some to you for free."
"Hmm..." he glanced at all of the hard candies in the box, even examining them like they were some form of rare mineral. "Nah, I'll be fine." She was shocked. He was also inwardly shocked himself, Wait, did I just turn down free candy?
"Are you sure? They're some of the best candies in the continent."
"I have plenty of candy in my secret stash." What's wrong with me?! Stop saying stupid things, Gaius!
"Well, alright then." She set the crate behind the counter, out of Gaius' reach. "But don't come around here later and steal them." she said lightheartedly with a laugh.
"Uh, yeah... ha ha..." Gaius cursed himself inwardly.
"I'm closing up shop for the day." Anna said as she started to pull all of her merchandise inside the tent, "Gaius, I just want to thank you for being a great friend."
"My pleasure, Red. See ya around!" He waved to his friend and traveled back to his living space. After he no longer could be seen by Anna, he started to think to himself, I bet this was all about Robin, again. I need to find a way to get her to forget about him, but how?
He put the thought out of his mind and continued to walk the path back to his humble shack. When he arrived, the dog on the front porch jumped up to him and put his paws on his midsection.
"Hey, Fur-ball. Have you gotten any of those critters under the house?" The dog, didn't understand the meaning of this phrase and merely nuzzled into his master's stomach. "I didn't think so..." he said, patting the dog on the head.
HEY!... That is right, Gaius has a dog. This isn't canonical, but what the heck, why not? Anyway, If you were confused by some of the statements made by the characters, then check out my story, The Warrior's Way and that might clear things up because this story branches from it.
Anna's nickname in the Summer Scramble is Red (when Gaius goes to get his swinsuit from the resort), and I really couldn't think of a good idea myself so this is what he'll call her throughout the story.
Anna and Gaius are obviously the main pairing in this story, and there will be a lot of trust issues between them, but they will come around eventually. And yes, I know I made Anna seem depressing, but this is just the first chapter. Don't dismiss it before it gets good!
Yes, Anna doesn't know Gaius is a thief. It will have significance in later chapters... much later... It will get interesting when Frederick finds out... :)
Also, if you have any fan art for this couple, a cover photo would be great! I know there are artists out there, so PLEASE help me!
Thanks for opening this sister story/fanfiction to The Warrior's Way. Please leave a review on what you liked, what you hated, and what made you go "uhh...". I really don't care what anyone says. Whoever says, "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all." Needs to be brought into the street and shot... Constructive and destructive criticism is ALWAYS appreciated.
Once again, thanks!
~TheSearcherer