Ever since that day in the greenhouse, Felix had been powerless to Annette's food song. It haunted him in the blanket of the night. Visions of cakes and steaks regaled him so often that he now made more trips down to the cafeteria just to get a clearer picture of them. And he didn't even like sweets! He must've screwed up the lyrics somewhere. That's what this was. Until he'd solved the issue he'd continue to be plagued by the very notion of steaks and cakes.

"Professor," he began one morning after class had ended. Byleth looked up from her paperwork at her place at the podium.

"How may I help you, Felix?"

Business with his professor usually involved him challenging her to another duel. She was incredibly strong, having come from a family of mercenaries, and he hoped to one day best her. There was only so much a knight could teach you before their own martyring principles came into play. That or they had absolutely no useful advice for what you should do in the case that you were wrested of your sword. A knight without his sword was a dead knight. But a mercenary without a sword was just as lethal with their hands and their feet.

Today was not a day of personal training though.

"Last week I requested to undertake all of Annette's chores for this month. Her name is still on the list."

Byleth rounded the podium to check the billboard which hung outside in the hall. In the courtyard, his classmates were lounging about in the sun, chatting or meeting up with students from the other houses. Sylvain was currently making his way over to a crowd of girls, purposefully lengthening his strides as if that might make him look cooler than he was.

Felix muttered a curse under his breath. His professor looked at him with a hint of mischief tugging at her lips. "Sylvain has much to learn," she said. "And you're correct. I must've accidentally switched up the schedules. Thanks for letting me know, Felix. I'll have the new one up before lunch. Hmm, actually maybe during lunch."

"So long as she's no longer busting her ass then that's fine. Thanks, professor."

As he started toward the training grounds, he heard a laugh. It was high and clear and it fluttered like a bird's feathers on a skirl of wind. He would've recognized it anywhere.

Mercedes and Annette sat on the grass to his left, partially obscured from his view by a part of the classroom's pillar. They hid in the shadow cast by the building, but it wasn't working out so well for them. The sun really wanted to bake everyone alive today. Felix wiped the back of his sleeve over his forehead and grimaced at the sweat soaking it.

He watched with fascination as she ripped a handful of grass from the ground and blew it into the air.

"Felix," Byleth said, nudging him gently on his shoulder. "Felix? I was worried I'd lost you just now. You very rarely ever get distracted," she said with a knowing smile. He simply stared back at his professor, oblivious to it all. "Anyway, I have to see Hanneman soon. Let Annette know the schedule changed just in case I can't fix all of the billboard's in time."

"Understood."

With a small nod, his professor left to go see Hanneman, her coat sleeves billowing in the wind.

There was plenty of time to train and then fill up on lunch, but he'd need to pass on this information quickly or he'd lose precious time. He approached the girls; his shadow fell over them and as one, the best friends turned their faces up to him.

Mercedes smiled and said, "Oh, Felix. How are you?"

"Fine," he said curtly. Mercedes cupped her chin in her hand and looked up at him curiously with her cornflower blue gaze.

Annette went bug-eyed the second he glanced at her. "Hey," he addressed her. "You're done with your chores for the month."

"What?" she gaped at him. "How come? Did you make a mess of the greenhouse?" she accused him.

"I did no such thing," he retorted. He rarely did favors for anyone but when he did they always assumed the worst of his intentions. How come? "That's all. Good luck with your studies."

Mercedes made a strange, considering noise in the back of her throat. Like she was mulling over something. "That's very kind of you, Felix. I'm certain she'll score the highest again."

Why did she seem so surprised by what he'd said? Slightly annoyed by the mixed signals he was getting from the girls and unsure of what to do or say next, he spun around on his heel and left the friends to themselves.

Halfway to the training arena, something snagged his sleeve. He reached out to brush off whatever it was and his hand met with something soft and warm. Definitely not a branch. He looked over his shoulder and found himself gazing down into Annette's large, blue eyes.

"Do you need something?" he asked her.

She puffed out her cheeks like a squirrel and then pulled him with her behind a tree. Looking around the area as if she were about to engage in an illicit trading deal, she faced him. And proceeded to tap her foot against the ground in a staccato beat. He waited for her to say something, but he all he could think about was how that rhythm sounded so similar to her food song. Already, he was seeing cakes stacked atop platters of steaks. He had to know if he'd memorized the wrong lyrics.

Right as he opened his mouth to ask her, she blurted, "So what's the deal? Did the professor say anything? I saw you two talking earlier. Oh no, what if I really messed up? I'm a huge klutz and I can't ever cook anything without something exploding but I've never done anything to the plants!"

"Calm down," he said but it only riled her up more. "Look, I just asked to take over your chores for you."

It was like he'd told her that the secret to flying was by simply counting to ten. "You what?"

"You've been really stressed out lately and I have time to kill."

Annette's gaze searched his as if she didn't believe him one bit. A little furrow knotted her brows together.

"Well, that's...unexpected." The furrow deepened further. "I mean, that's unexpectedly kind of you. But why?" He had the strange urge to smooth it out with a finger.

"I don't know," he said honestly. "Seeing you get so bent out of shape over a stupid test is...annoying." The last time they'd had an exam, Annette hadn't slept for two whole days. All in order to get a perfect score. It perplexed him, how a number could mean so much to someone. Not to mention how taxing those all-nighters had been on both her mind and her body. She'd get sick from doing that. What if she wasn't in top-form during the next battle?

The idea of her dying bothered him.

Annette leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. "Do you have any idea how hard I had to study just to get into this place? Studying is all I'm good at. It's all I can do to prove myself and if I don't pass, I'm not sure what I'll do."

"There it goes again," he said, watching her brows knit lines together. She let out an indignant snort of air through her nostrils and tugged absent-mindedly on one of her bright orange braids. He could've sworn he'd seen a flower in the greenhouse that was the exact same shade. What was it called again?

"Why am I bothering to explain myself? You only want to bully me. Look," she began, "thanks for the help. But I got this, alright?"

He nodded. "You do."

Clearly he'd said something surprising. Annette deflated in one exhale, leaving behind a dispirited girl. Alarmed, he reached out as if to steady her. But somewhere along the way to clapping a reassuring hand on her shoulder, he wound up pressing his index finger right into the little groove between her brows. The slightest pressure was all it took to ease the tension between them.

"Much better," he told her. "You heard Mercedes, didn't you? You'll get the highest score. You always do. Besides, if Sylvain got into this academy than anything is possible. Also, I've been meaning to ask: what are the lyrics to that food song?"

Her orange eyebrows pushed into a fearsome scowl against the pad of his finger. To his amazement, a rush of heat blazed across her skin; he pulled away from her, wondering if she was conjuring a blaze of fire magic to burn him with.

"I can't believe I thought you were being sincere just now!" she exclaimed. She opened her mouth to say something only to shut it with a resounding clack of her teeth when a group of three passed by their tree. Had she chipped a tooth? Once they had passed, she rounded on him and unleashed her fury. "Felix, you're such a bully! Is this fun for you?"

"What on earth are you talking about?" he replied, stunned. "Look, you have the week off so don't wear yourself out."

She let out a gasp when he turned around. "You're gonna regret this! I'll make sure of it!"

He glanced back at her with an incredulous look. "Alright. Bye."

And off he went. But it wasn't until he'd begun his training that he realized he'd made a grave error. His results against the training instructor were concerning: his swings carried less strength, his lunges were slower than normal, and his defense was poor at best.

Annette's song wasn't just the issue. Her voice was constantly playing for him. And when he thought of her voice, he naturally began to think of her. Would she use this time to study herself to the bone? Or would she take care of herself more?

The exam was in a few days. He hoped that when that day arrived, she was in good health to take it.

Over the next few days, Felix lived on a fixed schedule. He ate, trained, and attended classes. Then he trained again before lunch. His day would end with him having finished Annette's chores and then he'd retire for the night.

At least he tried to.

"Not again," he muttered, tossing about in his bed. "Was it 'all the treats I long to eats' or 'all the sweets I long for a feast?'"

Tomorrow was the exam and he'd all but slacked on his studies. He would do just fine, there was no need to worry about that. So why couldn't he fall asleep?

Felix rolled out of bed. He pulled on his boots, strapped on his sword and then he was walking down the corridor of the dormitory. Maybe a few laps around the place would tire him out.

It was dark in the halls save for the few candles lit at regular intervals along the walls. He followed its winding bends and curves until he'd arrived at the library. The doors were closed but candlelight spilled out from underneath.

Who else was awake at this hour?

Felix pushed the doors open and was greeted with the most peculiar sight. One of the many tables was covered in stacks of books and mountains of papers and a scattering of quills. Crumpled wads of paper littered the polished wooden floor. Candles in their holders stood front and center on the table, shedding their light against the floor like molten gold and dousing the library in warmth.

In the middle of the room, Ashe paced about in a straight line like a harried hen.

His silver-gray hair was amber in the fire's light and his pale complexion took on a sickly hue. "You're so stupid," he was muttering to himself. "You should've done it for her. Oh you're such a chicken - Felix?!" Ashe let out a startled cry at the sight of him and stopped in his tracks. His eyes shone with a film of tears.

"Yes, that's me," Felix said. He noted two distinct piles of paperwork. Ashe's slanted handwriting covered one half while the other was written in a completely different hand. Someone else must be here. "There's no way you're gonna cram anything into that skull of yours before tomorrow."

Ashe's face crumpled. "If only that was the most pressing matter right now."

"Seiros above," Felix huffed irritably. "Why's everyone letting some arbitrary score drive them mad? You and Annette both need to just calm the shit down." He flipped through some of the paperwork and squinted down at the unmistakably flowery scrawl. "Of course Annette can't just take it easy can she?" he murmured. Even with a whole month off from her chores she was still slowly killing herself through sleep deprivation. Not to mention all of the times she'd skipped meals just to devour the information in her textbooks.

Still, textbook information wasn't exactly nutritious. So he'd gone the extra length to give platters of food to Mercedes to deliver to Annette. The first time he'd tried to personally give her some food she'd refused to talk to him. It was like she was mad at him. He wasn't sure why. As far as he could tell he'd been especially kind to her as of late.

He frowned. Why was he giving her special treatment?

"I'm so sorry," Ashe said, his voice cracking.

Felix pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Whatever. I bet she dragged you into a late night cramming session." Ashe flinched, looking extremely guilty. "Now where is she?" He asked him, glancing around the library as if the little warlock was hiding somewhere in the shadows.

Ashe seemed to shrink in on himself, his gaze darting about. "About that...Felix. Do you believe in ghosts?"

"Do I what now?" he deadpanned. "This is exactly why people need to be in bed at this hour." To be fair, he should be in bed too but he wasn't about to say anything. Especially when that reason had everything to do with Annette's food song.

How would that even go down? He imagined telling the kid that her songs were conjuring visions of sweets every night. Nah, that would be weird.

"No, I'm serious!" the young archer took a step toward him and held out his hands in a pleading gesture. "I know it sounds far-fetched but...they're real. I mean, I think they are. There's no way there'd be so many stories about them if they weren't!" He sounded as if he were trying to convince himself, but Felix guessed that the fear of these phantoms only propelled him to believe in them. "If only I weren't so afraid of them I wouldn't have let her go alone."

Felix cocked his head to the side and his gaze narrowed to slits. "What?" He hadn't meant to sound as harsh as he did but his tone was sharp enough to cause Ashe to look down at the floor in shame."You'd better tell me what's going on or we'll be here all night."

With a shaky breath, Ashe drew himself up to face him head on. "Annette said she left something at the greenhouse. Some doll her father gave her, I think. We were going over stratagems earlier - and I just can't ever seem to wrap my head around it all. She's absolutely brilliant though. Thanks to her I was actually starting to understand some of it. But then she started freaking out saying she must've dropped her doll in the greenhouse a few days ago."

"Is she still there?" Felix cut him off.

Ashe hesitated. "I'm not sure. I offered to go with her but she said it was alright since it wasn't dark out. But now it is and she hasn't come back," he choked on air. "Felix! What if the ghosts got her? I should be out there looking for her but I'm too afraid -

"How long ago?"

"What?" he sputtered.

"How long ago did she leave?"

Ashe's lips drew into a thin line. Finally, he said, "It's been at least half an hour."

A cold feeling gripped at Felix's chest. Half an hour? What on earth was she doing? She was scatter-brained as hell so it wasn't unlikely that she was still looking for the doll she'd lost. Unless..."Stay here," he told Ashe, an edge straining his vocal cords. "Actually, no. Get to bed. I'll find her."

"But shouldn't I come too?" he stammered, racing after Felix as he exited the library. "I should've gone with her. The least I can do is try and help you find her."

"I thought you said there were ghosts out there?" he asked him.

Ashe tripped over his own feet and barely recovered before he face-planted on the ground. "But she's scared of them too and she's out there all alone."

Felix stopped abruptly and spun around to look at Ashe. "You'll only get in my way." The poor kid looked absolutely heartbroken, but it had to be said. "You can't even walk in a straight line. I'll find her so just get to sleep, you dumb idiot."

Ashe stared at him, as if he was searching for something he could use to convince him to take him along. But then he clutched at his chest. "I understand. I'm sorry for being so irresponsible."

Felix tsked. "Then let this be a lesson. If you're afraid of something, than face it. Not tonight, though. Annette can handle herself. You've seen her zap away enemies into dust. I'm sure even a ghost wouldn't try anything."

"Um, if you say so. I mean she is strong but who knows what a ghost can do?"

Felix only rolled his eyes. Ghosts didn't exist. "Then I'll deal with them."

AN: I used a tiny bit of Ashe's support with Annette in this chapter. I adored how Ashe faced his fear of ghosts to get back something she'd lost and wanted to see how Felix would handle it had he been in a similar position. As always, reviews are sincerely appreciated 3