Chapter Seven: Answers


Gaius noticed the way Anna blushed, which made him feel the heat on his cheeks as well. He looked down at the rough drawing in his hand. Something inside him urged him, telling him that he had to give her this. He badly—badly!—wanted to get on his knees right that moment and ask her to marry him.

Gaius shook his head a little. I'm going to need a proper ring. I'm going to need to borrow a forge and an anvil. I'm going to have to acquire some pure gold… and some rubies… and good heavens, I don't have the money for all that. While Gaius earned a fair soldier's salary while he was with the Shepherds, most of it went to his… sugary diversions. He'd never bothered to save up, not much thinking of the future. How long will I have to hold out on sweets for this? One month? Oh gods, two months?

Gaius put the slip of paper back onto Anna's lap. He couldn't bear to look at it for now. It was terribly out of his reach… well, there was the option of stealing the materials… Shame on me! Am I honestly considering giving the woman I want to marry something made out of stolen goods? Well, that is my way of living... oh gods.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he said, trying to dismiss his feelings by getting back on track on why he was here to begin with. "Didn't mean to yell and say all those things. So… here," he pulled out a small pouch from his pocket and offered it to her.

Anna laughed a bit when she opened it. "Sweets. Of course."

"And my best stash too!" Gaius said. "Look, it's not gold, I know, but I hope you like it the same."

She pulled out a piece of chocolate from the pouch, slowly opening it, then staring at it and sniffing it a bit. "Come on, Red, just eat it," Gaius said, almost sounding queasy. "Don't show it off in front of me—you're tempting me! Don't make me take it back!"

Anna smiled mischievously, and took a bite. "Delicious," she said. "Melts in your mouth. The texture is sublime… the chocolate was tempered very well, too—gorgeous shine on top. Not too sweet, just right."

That was it. Gaius pulled a hand up to grab the chocolate from her hand, but before he could grab it, she popped the whole piece into her mouth. Gaius gave a groan of defeat. This was his life if he intended to propose to her. Setting aside sweets for a month… or heavens forbid, two… just to be able to afford a ring.

"Mmmm, it's soooo good," Anna said, teasingly. She was obviously enjoying this. Gaius was feeling flustered. The idea that Anna was right there beside him, with top-caliber chocolate in her mouth, was very, very tempting. "Don't make me kiss you," he told her, only half-kidding.

Much to his disappointment, she actually just smiled and stopped teasing, so he had no excuse to assault her with a kiss.

And then her smile suddenly turned half-hearted. "You were right though. I'm a terrible gal who only thinks about gold."

"I wasn't thinking right when I said that," Gaius explained. "…You're the one who was right, so I got hurt. I'm a dude in a shady profession, not a guy that a family can be proud of. If I even make enough money to let them get by, that is."

"What? I thought burglary pays well," Anna said, with a laugh.

"Enough just to get you by and buy some sweets," Gaius informed her. "And it depends on how much money we make, or what treasure we find. When I work with others, we split the goods. If someone hires me, that's good pay, but really nothing like what you and your sisters make. Just enough for me and some sugary diversions every now and then." Speaking of sugary diversions, he couldn't resist reaching into a pocket of his shirt, and coming out with a sea salt caramel candy. He opened it and popped it into his mouth.

"Why do you like sweets so much anyway?" Anna asked Gaius, curiously.

Well… that was unexpected. Actually, no one bothered to ask him about his lust for confectionery. Chrom just… accepted it, Robin would just be found in his tent digging for chocolate in certain days of the month, and certainly Frederick didn't find it much of a bother, because he knew sweets can be used to control Gaius. "Well, it really is simple…" Gaius began, scratching his head. "Just because I never got it as a kid. I had to fend for my own when I was very young, you see… I saw kids with parents all the time and got rather jealous. Then I saw that their parents would give them sweets to munch on when they were crying or were sad… The first thing I stole was a sweet bun. It kind of… well, it really made me feel better. And years later, here am I today." He popped another caramel into his mouth. Thinking back to those pitiful days when he was a kid rather stressed him out. I need some sugar.

"So that explains it," Anna said, looking enlightened. She began tidying up the papers in her lap with a contented smile. "Something sweet helped you get through tough times in your life, so now you've associated it to something that makes you feel better—thus the candy addiction."

Gaius just shrugged, but admitted to himself that she was probably right. And then a thought entered his mind and he turned to her with his own question. "Is that why you're sooo attached to your gold, too?"

Anna turned to him in surprise. She didn't expect him to turn it to her. And at the same time, no one also bothered to ask her about her inclination towards gold and all things profit. "Well I… I suppose like you, I never had much money growing up?" she said, her words sounding more like a suggestion rather than a concrete answer.

Gaius raised an eyebrow. "You know, I always thought you were born rich. It's in the family, right?"

Anna shook her head. "Noblemen and the like are born rich. But merchants? We work to be rich. It takes quite a lot of effort before you effectively set up a stable monopoly—I mean, business, of course. It doesn't build itself overnight."

Gaius looked thoughtful, imagining the possibilities. "So… You were a poor kid who bartered her way to the top?" And then you saw the profit of going back in time to stabilize your business? Gaius knotted his eyebrows. This was confusing now. He felt his hand move on its own, putting an arm around Anna's back. He didn't understand everything about her, but he felt that he knew her anyway.

Surprisingly, Anna felt herself easing into his arm, instead of pulling away and flinching like when Inigo did it. "W-Well… Anna was…" she began, thinking back to the images and dreams in her head. "Anna was a girl who worked hard and made it to the top. And then she lost the people who only ever truly cared about her… which left her with nothing but money to make her happy."

"…So…" Gaius began, looking awkward, "you lost Jake?"

Anna was surprised, not knowing where or how Gaius ever knew about Jake. Who? From one of the other Annas? Gaius himself was surprised that he managed to ask her about it, after all the weeks that passed that he tried. "How did you—"

"I heard you talking in your sleep once. You called me 'Jake'." Gaius' face turned dim when he remembered it.

"Well, he's just… wait? You watch me when I sleep?"

"Whoa, whoa!" Gaius moved away from her a bit, worried that she was about to hit him. "It was when you were sick, silly! You know—when you were in the healing tent? Do you think me crazy enough to sneak into a woman's tent at night?"

Anna looked thoughtful. "…Actually, you've done that before."

"…Oh." Gaius said when he realized he did sneak into her tent, way back what seemed like lifetimes ago. They were on each other's throats back then. He never foresaw that he'd actually end up liking Anna when he started what he thought was just a game of wits with her. "Well, I stand corrected. ...So... Who is this 'Jake' entity?"

Anna pouted, as if finding some difficulty in explaining to it Gaius. "Well… Jake was Anna's lover. They had quite the passionate love, mind you. But he faded away and disappeared too, eventually. Anna never really had anyone but herself and her gold."

Gaius was pouting himself as well by now. "You talk of yourself in the third person. Is Vaike rubbing onto you now? Or is this some other—"

"Some other Anna? Yes," she answered, looking into the distance. The sky was getting dim now, and while it was not completely dark, a few stars were already visible. I already started telling this twisted tale… might as well finish it to the end. "I told you about the Original Anna, right? I'm referring to her. She was… a rather lonely person. She had no one for her in the end. Except money and herself so… well, she made multiple copies of herself and then placed them in different periods of time. Some far back in the Hero-King's time… some in the lands of Tellius, some in the Elibean legends... All these other Annas think they're sisters though, or relatives of some sort, but they really are just copies of one person."

Gaius was blinking, trying to process all this. "O…Okay… That's… odd. Well, I mean, that explains it better. I didn't quite believe you when you said it's just all about 'strong family resemblance'—you girls are similar down to the tips of your toes. So that's why?"

Anna nodded. "She did discover the Outrealm gates, you know. Been travelling the worlds, be they past, future, or some other place."

"And she's you," Gaius concluded. "I thought you weren't… well, immortal?"

Anna looked surprised, as if she was in denial. "Oh, goodness no, she's not me! Immortality isn't among our unique traits. The Original Anna passed away a long time ago—during what time, I'm not sure—but what happens when she does is that her memories and knowledge is passed on to another Anna… and when that one dies, it goes to another Anna, and so on. And here I am. I am the current Anna. I know everything that the others before me have seen or been through. I could tell you tales of the Hero-King's war in minute detail as if I was there. I could talk about the Tellian hero Ike like he was my best friend. I… know what everyone before me knows. I know the truth. Only… me."

Her face was cross, and she looked utterly sad that Gaius almost felt his heart hurting. "You don't look too happy about that," he said.

"Kind of," she said. "Knowing the truth isn't always fun."

Gaius remembered what he overheard of Anna and Say'ri one day. This is the problem with princesses. You don't know anything about reality at all. Anna was whimsical, yes, but she wasn't a girl with her head in the clouds, thinking of fantasies. She knew what reality was, and knew how harsh it can be. He remembered how she admitted that she wasn't very good friends with any of her other sisters. That's because she knew too much. She knew the truth. All the Annas can live in blissful ignorance, having each other as 'family' to turn to, when this one Anna-his Anna-knew that the truth was they were pitifully alone.

"…Hey, Red. There may be a dozen or a hundred girls who look just like you, but none of them ever go through what you do," he suddenly found himself saying. "None of them put up with Lissa asking you to go on another shopping trip, or Chrom not being able to tell you apart from all your other sisters. None of them ever have to put up fighting alongside me, that's for sure. Maybe that Anna was alone, but you're not. You got us. You got your own family here, alright?"

He patted her briefly on the shoulder, reassuring her. Anna looked quite surprised, flustered by his reassurance. It was an odd feeling... she had never told anyone about this before. Not her other 'sisters'... she never wanted them to feel the burden. She saw how they bonded and treated each other like family, even if the reality was that there were just pitiful shadows of a lonely woman who had nothing but money...

She couldn't bear to break their hearts and say things the way they really were.

"...And... you're not taken by some Jake fellow, are you? He's just a remnant of some other Anna's memory?" Gaius asked, looking distractedly at something among the trees.

"He was the first Anna's lover. So down the line, my 'sisters' all developed a particular fondness for a man named 'Jake'. I've not met one, though," Anna said, a puzzled look on her face as she stared at Gaius, trying to figure why he was so intent on asking that.

Well. Because he likes me, of course.

Anna looked down at her lap, his sketch of an engagement ring for her on it. Surely he didn't mean to... Anna blushed, thinking of the possibility. No, it can't be. I'm getting ahead of all this.

"I'll take care of your secrets," Gaius said, patting her gently on the shoulder. "I'm glad you decided to talk and get it off your shoulders."

Anna smiled. He was right. It felt good to get that all out.


But there was one more thing Gaius itched to ask.

"Say, Red... you've got other Annas in other points in time, right? Do you get wind of things from Annas in the future? Like... you know if we'll all make it alive in this campaign?"

"Gaius, I am the Anna of this time. I only inherit the knowledge of those before me-I can't communicate by some mental magic to those next to me," Anna said.

Gaius pouted. "Oh."

"Why'd you ask?"

"Nothing. Just asking."

...I wanted to know what the hell happened, why you and I don't have future children with ginger or red hair and an appalling affinity for sweets and gold surprising us.


Two weeks later, Gaius was at an all-time low. Gathering materials for Anna's ring was taking a toll on him, and the stress meant that he was burning through his sweets stash twice as fast. That was more bad news, as he resolved he wouldn't burn his cash buying sugary diversions while he was saving up for making that ring...

"You're almost drooling," Anna said, noticing the way Gaius' head was twisted to look far far behind them, towards the pastry shop which he noticed had an exquisite cake on the display rack.

Gaius shook his head, trying to quell his lust for the sweet treat. "No, no. It's nothing."

Anna was in line at one of the shops, running an errand for Robin, and she laughed a bit at Gaius' denial. "You're thinking of that pastry shop we passed by, yes? Oh good lord, Gaius. Go ahead and buy something if you want!

"Well, you see..." I'm saving up. Dammit, I need to propose to you and at this rate it'll take years.

Anna suddenly looked sad, coming to one conclusion. "...You're having money problems? Gods, Gaius, why didn't you tell me? Is that why you haven't been buying anything recently? I could always lend you some money-and promise to keep the interests fairly low."

"It's not that, Red... Well, okay, you're partly right, I am operating on a tighter budget these days, but it's be-"

But Anna just groaned, cutting him off. "If you're in such a financial bind, enough to make you look like you have your head in the clouds these past days... well then!" Anna walked away from the line and walked towards the pastry shop. "At least let me get the cake for you!"

"Anna, stop!" Gaius quickly grabbed her by the arm, objecting to what she was doing. Anna looked to him, with a questioning pout. "...I can afford my own cake," Gaius explained with a frustrated sigh. "It's just that i'm saving up for something these days, so I decided to cut back on some sugar. Exercising some frugality, something like that."

"But if it's on your mind so much then at least let me-"

"Red, I wouldn't like the thought of a gal spending for me," he told her. Well, that was partially true-admittedly Gaius wasn't one to pass up on something free, be it from a man or a woman, as long as he knew it was done in good will and not as some sort of blackmail. But... from Anna? After she once said I'd never earn enough for a family...

...Is that why I never have a family? Why Anna and me don't have a kid? She accused me of not being rich enough to support a wife and kids so... did she turn down my proposal? Gods that makes sense. I'd never pass the Anna standards.

"Gaius?" Anna spoke, snapping him from his rather depressing thoughts.

"...I changed my mind," Gaius told her. "Maybe I will get that cake." And he left Anna for a moment, and walked towards the pastry shop.

Two days later, Gaius was back to his usual candy consumption. He abandoned his plan of getting Anna a ring.

End of Chapter.


A/N:

Sorry this chapter took a while! D: Got busy over here.

So there goes my Anna theory. It's nothing too detailed and it's all not-too-clear, but as this has evolved to become a romance fic instead of an Anna-centric, i decided to just get that out of the way. My pals and I discussed the possibility of Anna being an entity from the future lots, as she's very versed in things like cameras, spa salts, swimsuits, and fanservice. Which lead me to think Anna may come from a future where she had access to cloning, and likewise time/realm travelling-very far ahead in the future, past our own time maybe. o.O

Of course, while they are many Annas, there's often one Anna in the games that becomes noteworthy. Anna from FE12 says she will help the Avatar (Cris) in deciding their fate or some such, etc. which lead me to think there must be a special Anna each generation.

Of course that's my take on it for this story, but I do believe the other theories on Anna, and personally just like to believe she is a luck goddess and is immortal. Also, I think Nintendo/IS really just intended her to be a witty, funny character who breaks the fourth wall, without any backstory.

Next chapter is last chapter. It's half done so it'll be uploaded pretty soon. Thanks for reading!