"Ananias!" Kaze cried, lightly jogging up to said man the moment he laid eyes on him and had gotten his attention.

Ananias let out an exasperated sigh. "Yeah? What is it?"

Kaze shook his head reassuringly. "Nothing." He then gave him a respectful and grateful bow before reaching into his pockets for something. "I simply wanted to thank you once again for what you did for me last time. I couldn't possibly imagine getting myself out of that particular situation without you."

"What?" Ananias deadpanned. "You mean telling all of your angry and hurt admirers that I was a thief who stole all of their gifts to you and sold them off for a hefty profit? Don't mention it."

Kaze frowned. "Was that… a bit of dry sarcasm on your part?"

Ananias heaved out a weary sigh and nodded. "Yeah. Getting mobbed, ganged up on, and beaten the snot out by a bunch of love-crazed admirers…," he stretched out the kinks in his back for a bit as he let out a painful groan, "it changes you a bit."

Kaze cringed and nodded his head sympathetically. "I… I see. My humblest apologies. I had never intended for you to go through such a terrible ordeal. Please," he offered Ananias a small, wooden container, "take this, as a token of my thanks."

Ananias eyed it curiously for a moment before picking it up and carefully opening it to see its contents. "Is this… some kind of balm or ointment?"

Kaze nodded. "Indeed, it is. It has healing properties to it, so if you apply it to those wounds and bruises of yours, it should allow them to heal significantly faster."

Ananias let out a low, but impressed whistle before closing the container and placing it into his pocket. "Gee, thanks."

"It was the least I could do."

"Yeah, well, can't say the same about me," Ananias muttered. "Thanks to me, you're back where you started, with all of those gifts sitting around, collecting dust, and taking space at your place. Sorry about screwing it up so badly."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of," Kaze reassured. "You had the right idea, it was just that you ended up running into some unforeseeable bad luck in the end."

"So what? Are we gonna give it another try then, or what?"

Kaze solemnly sighed. "Or what, unfortunately."

Ananias raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Hmm?"

"Ananias, I am sorry, but as much as I appreciate you taking all of those gifts off of my hands, it wasn't until yesterday that I realized just how important those gifts were to those who gave them to me. The looks of betrayal and disappointment on their faces… my apologies, but I simply cannot bear to subjugate them to that kind of pain ever again!"

Ananias sighed. "Aw, geez. Here we go again with you." He placed a hand onto one of Kaze's shoulders and looked solemnly into said man's eyes. "Kaze, man, you don't have to accept the gifts if you don't want to."

"But if I do not -"

"Then what?" Ananias firmly interjected. "They'll feel a bit sad and disappointed for a little while? Because, no offense, but feeling a bit sad and disappointed is just a part of life." When Kaze remained silent for a moment, Ananias gently added, "Kaze, you can't just take it upon yourself to protect people's feelings like this. It's not humanly possible!"

"Y-Yes," Kaze admitted with a nod. "Perhaps you are right, but," he shook his head, "I cannot let that be an excuse as to be so callous as to other people's feelings!"

"Oh, for Pete's sake," Ananias grumbled under his breath. "Please tell me that I was never this stubborn when it came to helping people."

"Hmm?" Kaze asked, raising a curious eyebrow in surprise.

Ananias quickly shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. "Forget it." He then thought for a moment before carefully asking, "Kaze… why do you care so much for other people's feelings in the first place? Like, what made you realize that you wanted to be like this?"

"What made me want to become like this?" Kaze murmured solemnly to himself. He thought it over for a bit, before answering, "I suppose… the day the Lord Sumeragi died and that Corrin was kidnapped may be the cause of it. The tears shed that day, the unbelievable sorrow of everyone there to mourn the loss." He shook his head. "I was there, Ananias. I could've done something, anything, to prevent it all… but I didn't."

"Kaze, come on," Ananias gently chided. "You were way too young then. The best you could've done would've ended up with you getting yourself killed."

"Perhaps," Kaze admitted. "But still, that day will forever haunt me as my greatest failing, especially when Corrin and Lady Mikoto's reunion was so short-lived. I simply cannot bear being the cause of any more such pain and suffering."

Ananias was silent for a moment upon hearing this, but eventually ruffled his own hair in mild frustration as he let out an exasperated sigh, and said, "You know what? I get it."

Kaze raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Hmm?"

"Seeing so much sadness and disappointment around you, it does things to your mind, especially around that age," Ananias explained. "You start to wonder if you're the cause of it, even if you aren't. I should know." He placed his hands onto his sides and looked sheepishly down at the ground. "I've… dabbled in that line of thinking a few times myself."

Kaze eyed him inquisitively. "Truly?"

"Hey, you've met my aunts, right?" Ananias indicated towards himself. "I'm the odd one out. Can't do anything the rest of the family can do in their sleep. And as much as they tried to hide their disappointment, I always saw it, even as a kid. I felt so guilty, I just wanted to keep making it up to everyone as much as possible, even though they never blamed me for not meeting their expectations. I did everything I could around the house to help. Same with the shop, family reunions, you name it, I tried making myself useful at it. It got to the point where I even did it for all of my for all of my friends, because I began to fear if they thought of me the same way, a disappointment."

Kaze was quiet for a moment, before asking, "So, how exactly did you overcome that?"

Ananias crossed his arms and shook his head. "In a way, I never really did. I'm still going around, helping people as much as I can and doing my best not to be too much of a burden on anyone else. That hasn't changed, and I'm starting to wonder if it ever will."

Kaze nodded gravely. "But in terms of feeling sorry for yourself? Did you at least learn to find a way to overcome that?"

Ananias heaved a sigh and answered, "Let's just say that a lot of bad things happened. Like, a LOT of bad things happened. Too many things to blame myself for, too much weight to put on my own shoulders. Even with all of the 'feeling sorry for myself' stuff, there just comes a point where you just naturally get kind of sick of it and just move on, you know?"

"…Yes, I suppose that would be the natural response after a while."

Ananias nodded. "Yeah," he muttered. The two were silent for a moment, before Ananias said, "Listen, if you want to keep helping people, then fine, do that. There's nothing wrong with that, and the reasons behind it shouldn't be my business, but… just, don't be me, alright? Don't… guilt your life away, even when people tell you that you shouldn't. It's not good for you, or them. You're a good man, Kaze. You don't owe anyone anything… and you deserve your own happiness too. Don't rob yourself of that because of some misplaced guilt."

Kaze let out a sad chuckle, before replying, "I promise to make the effort, if you promise to make the same effort as well."

"I make no promises."

"If you insist. Then I will simply take it upon myself to encourage you to make more of an effort."

"Aw, come on. Don't take time out of your day to look after me."

"I insist."

"Well," Ananias sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "now you've got me feeling all guilty again."

Kaze smiled. "My sincerest apologies."

"You don't mean that."

"And yet, you cannot prove that it is insincere."

Ananias smirked. "You jerk."

"Birds of a feather…."

"I don't care."

"Then neither shall I."

Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! This ends Kaze's supports. Next will be Nyx, followed by Charlotte, Niles, Effie, Female Corrin, Benny, Anna, Ophelia, Camilla, Gunther, Setsuna, Kanna, Selena, Beruka, Xander, Azura, Flora, Odin, Laslow, Rinkah, Arthur, Silas, and Leo. Got someone you want to support with Ananias? Request it. Remember, all Nohr first generation characters, Soliel, Ophelia, Anna, Kanna, Rinkah, Subaki, and Setsuna are allowed to support with him as well and it is a first come, first serve system.