A/N: Another entry on the weekend - I hope you enjoy the Easter Eggs I put in this one!

A for Effort

"Hmm…" Fie folded her arms and stared at the assortment of objects in front of her. She looked once at the clock, and looked back again at her ingredients. A little bit of everything: meat, fish, cabbage, tomatoes, cheese, rice, eggs…

Just staring at the assemblage before her was enough to make her head spin. Why had she promised to make Rean something again? She could have picked a thousand other things to do for Rean. When they had made some rations in Ymir, Rean's mom was more than happy to give them suggestions and a friendly push in the right direction. But now?

The bracer known as Sylphid was at a loss.

It also was her day off. Having finished several missions over the course of the last week, Toval had insisted that Fie take at least a few days off, despite her initial protests. When the other bracer had mentioned Rean, Fie found herself drawn towards the suggestion of taking some time off to see him. That, and Toval had made an offhand suggestion:

"You should see if you can convince Rean to become a bracer - considering that he doesn't have to work for the government anymore, I'd wager he'd at least consider it. Plus, it's coming from you!"

Fie had punched the blonde man in the arm, but not before giving Toval's suggestion some thought. If Rean became a bracer, the two of us could be together all the time. That would be amazing. The former jaeger cocked her head to one side, giving the proposal some thought before shaking her head vigorously. Can't think about that right now. Time to focus.

She had about five hours, give or take. When she made the suggestion to Rean to visit her in Heimdallr, the black-haired man was more than happy to take her up on the suggestion, especially considering that exams had just finished up. Thus, she invited him over to her apartment in Heimdallr, and before she knew it, she had mentioned to Rean that she was going to cook them both dinner.

In the jaeger corps, dinner was a fairly simple affair - something nutritious, quick, and long lasting. But no girlfriend who wanted to dote on her boyfriend would serve him ration bars on a romantic night for two. And now that she had offered to...well, she certainly wasn't going to back down.

Making explosives was easier than this. And I promised to have at least two dishes.

Fie facepalmed, bemoaning her lack of skill in cooking and foresight.

It was going to be a long five hours.

Rean Schwarzer walked down the street, whistling as he turned a corner onto an unfamiliar corner of Heimdallr. The Bracer Guild apparently now rented out these apartments to the bracers based in Erebonia, especially so since the government looked much more favorably upon them. After asking for some directions, the Instructor of Class VII walked up the stairs before finding the apartment marked "267."

It was lucky he had bumped into Toval at the Guild branch, and lucky that Toval had been gracious enough to give him Fie's apartment number. He was certainly a little early, but the man was more than eager to surprise her. Adjusting his jacket and tidying his hair, Rean knocked on the door and waited.

And waited…

And waited.

He crossed his arms, somewhat confused. I don't sense any danger. And what's more, I don't sense anything around either. Giving the moment another minute, Rean knocked one more time before trying the door handle. It was unlocked.

"Fie?" Rean called out before walking through the apartment to see if she was elsewhere. As expected, Fie's apartment was fairly plain, aside from a few cargo boxes, some pairs of Stregas, and a few plants. Finding a closed door, Rean gripped the handle and pushed it open very slowly to reveal an empty room and a somewhat messy bed. The Ashen Chevalier smiled unconsciously as he turned away, somewhat perplexed. I guess I deserve this, considering I showed up an hour before I was scheduled to come over. Heading back to the kitchen, Rean's gaze immediately went to the plate of strange bars on the dining room table.

Brown in color and extremely geometric, they reminded him very much of gold bars. But these were edible ration bars.

Picking up one of the bars, Rean tried to get a whiff of it first before taking off an end piece. It doesn't smell like anything. Popping it into his mouth, the man was more than perplexed as his memories took him back to when he and Fie had attempted to make field rations for everyone in Ymir. And it often seemed that no matter what they tried, they either had no taste, or were absolutely disgusting. Huh. They actually don't taste too bad. I'd actually say they're pretty good! Rean broke off another piece of the original ration bar and popped it in his mouth, a slight grin on his face.

Sitting down at the dining room table, he took another glance at the kitchen. It clearly was in use, with food wastage still remaining on several cutting boards and a few mixes of some kind in various bowls and pots. All this effort was just for me, huh?

It was at that moment that Rean sensed something coming, and his instincts kicked in as he shot up from the chair. Reaching for his tachi, he was in mid drawing when a very familiar looking girl opened the door with her gunswords drawn. The two stared at each other for a few moments before Rean broke the silence.

"Uh...hi, Fie."

She stared at him blankly.

"Sorry, I came a bit early, and your door was unlocked, so…"

"I guess you saw my creation, huh?" Fie's voice was flat and somewhat discouraged. Putting away her gunswords, the girl's head drooped. "I'm sorry, Rean. I tried...I promise you, I tried. I'm just not...cut out for cooking, I guess." She looked away from his general direction.

Without a word, Rean moved silently in front of her, pulling her closely and letting her bury her head in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, running a hand through her long hair slowly. The two stayed like that for a moment before Rean broke the silence. "You say that, but did you get a chance to try your own ration bar?"

"No. I was too annoyed and went for a walk to clear my head." The girl responded, her voice muffled. Releasing her from his grip, Rean gently guided Fie towards the ration bars. Giving him a quizzical expression, the silver haired girl pulled off a small piece and popped it in her mouth. A moment passed as Fie swallowed the piece, her eyes going back to Rean.

"So?" Rean raised an eyebrow.

"You were right. It was better than I expected." The girl shuffled her feet, clearly somewhat uneasy still. "I'm just...I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Rean tilted his head. "Why?"

"I promised to make two dishes, and instead all I made were ration bars after failing and making some inedible blobs for about three hours straight. I wasn't able to make you what I'm sure most other girls are able to. In the end, it was just some measly ration bars." The girl looked at the floor.

"Fie…" Rean started slowly. "If you made me a five-course meal, that certainly would be impressive or amazing, but…" He let out a small laugh. "I suppose it wouldn't have been very Fie. And honestly, the thought and the effort that you put in today were worth more than I can express in words. I saw how the kitchen looked, and how hard you were working to make today a success." He took in the sight of her, a soft smile on his lips. "It doesn't matter if you couldn't do what other girls can do - I could feel the love you put in, even if the end result was ration bars. So...thank you, Fie."

The former jaeger stared at him in disbelief before breaking out into laughter.

"Hey now, I was trying to make you feel better. That wasn't supposed to be funny!" Rean mock frowned, but his frown immediately dissipated when he saw Fie's massive grin.

"Typical Rean. A cheesy speech to save the day." Fie straightened up. "Though I have to admit...I kind of needed a cheesy speech this time. You're a dork, you know that?" I don't know how he does it, but he always makes me feel better.

"Well, if this dork can help you out and remind you of how awesome you are, then I'm more than happy remaining a dork." The man turned his attention toward the kitchen. "Well, with that out of the way, what say we cook dinner together? I can't imagine it'll be quite as frustrating or as bad as when we first tried to make those rations."

"Deal."

In the end, they settled for some simple dishes after all - a simple carbonara Rean had learned how to make during his time living alone, and for dessert, a pan of freshly baked airy meringue cookies that Fie had found the recipe for (they both decided to save the ration bars for later).

"Well, I'd say that went pretty good, all things considered." Rean remarked, an arm around her shoulders as they sat together on the couch, Fie leaning heavily into Rean.

"Yep." Fie nuzzled his chest. "Next time, I'm going to actually make you food on my own. You weren't supposed to lift a finger today."

"Well, when it comes to you, I'd fight McBurn and Zephyr at the same time." His eyes met hers, twinkling with amusement.

"You doofus." Fie giggled, unable to wipe the beaming smile off of her face as she prepared her next attack. Giving him a significant look, the girl raised her eyebrows suggestively. "It's already pretty late, so...why don't you stay the night?"

The former jaeger couldn't help but smirk as a massive blush spread its way across Rean's face like a wildfire.