Annette's hands touched the cold, slick bricks before her, looking past the bridge's handrails into the cold water far below. The river ran slowly, meandering lazily beneath Garreg Mach, carefree and unburdened. The tiny silhouettes of fish beneath its surface seemed to radiate light, their red and orange scales like flames beneath the clear, white waters.
A shiver ran up her spine. Why couldn't she have been born a koi? Living a serene life of swimming through the beautiful clear river, surrounded by friends and family as equally untroubled. Not knowing the terrors of the world, the horrors of war, having no responsibilities and nobody to disappoint.
With concern, Annette realised her hands had turned numb, quickly taking them away from the smooth granite capstones and rubbing them together. Her fingers looked small and frail - weak fingers upon bony hands. What were they good for? They couldn't even protect her friends in the times it mattered most. Her staff had slipped from her grasp after a blow from an unseen soldier's boot against the centre of her back, blurring her vision and snatching her focus from the spell she'd conjured. Before her, Mercedes had turned, the panic in her voice just audible through the static ringing in Annette's ears.
"Go!" She'd tried to shout to the woman, but another hit to the back had choked her, made her scream. Trying to breathe through the soldier crushing her lungs, Annette had heard the creak of a bowstring before her world had gone black.
Hot tears escaped her eyes now, searing the skin they rolled across. Trying to blink them back, she looked up, finding the towering monastery in the distance above her - crumbling, but still somehow powerful.
After blacking out, she'd woken up to Mercie's face over her - a bleeding scar across one pale cheek, the sight tightening Annette's chest until it felt suffocating. Mercedes had spoken words of comfort, a smile curling around her full, rounded lips despite the split in them. Ashe in the distance had called out her name, rushing over to them, and before she could even comprehend it, she felt herself being embraced by Sylvain, mass of red curls obscuring her vision. She'd felt his tears on her neck, seen Mercie bring one scarred hand up to her own chest as if to hold her heart. In that moment, Annette had realised. She was nothing but a burden.
Constantly falling, powerless to the wrath of their enemies. Her concentration failing, her magic fizzling during the heat of battle. Being dragged to safety by her friends after one too many battles. A deep breath rattled Annette's throat, and she quickly pulled her sleeves up to her face to stifle the cascade of tears. In the darkness beneath her eyelids she saw Ashe's concern, Mercedes' weeping, Ingrid's panicked shouts. Even Felix was there - hard eyes softening as he scanned Annette's tiny frame and bloodied clothes. Would Dimitri be proud, Annette wondered? Prideful of the lives she'd saved and the enemies she'd disposed of under his command? Or would she just disappoint him - make him fret with her unreliability and track record of failure?
"Hey." A soft voice sounded beside her, making Annette jump a mile. Hurriedly, she wiped her eyes with her sleeves before looking, the white light of the snow stinging her eyes. Mercedes approached her, donned in her usual pretty dress that she wore when frequenting the hospital wing. She had left her hat elsewhere, though still she looked captivating; her short hair glinted almost golden in the low sunlight, frosted with tiny dewdrops from the recently-fallen snow.
"Are you okay?" she asked, stopping to stand next to Annette on the bridge, resting one slender hand upon the grey stone.
Annette nodded in response, eyes still raw from the tears. At Mercedes' pitiful smile, however, the forced happiness faded from Annette's lips, and instead, she shook her head.
"Tell me." Mercie's voice was always so quiet, no more than a whisper barely audible above the running water below them and wind in their ears. Pulling away from Mercie's violet eyes, Annette looked back up to the monastery. Once, she'd found it foreboding; a stern structure, with harsh, rugged outlines, casting a shadow upon the people below like some great brooding titan. Yet now, with Mercedes beside her, its towers looked calm and still, watching over its inhabitants as a guardian would; a protector - how a mother should be.
Mercie could have that effect on her, Annette had noticed. She was brave; despite her quiet, she was a strong spirit, hard-willed and fearless when her friends were in danger. Standing beside the woman, Annette could feel her strength, a warm aura that seemed to emanate from her very core.
The words spilled from her lips before she could contain them. "How are you so brave?" Annette's eyes met Mercie's again, finding a furrowed brow, but a soft smile.
"What do you mean?" Her tone reflected her expression, a sort of gentle confusion.
"I mean," Annette drew a breath, still shaky from the sobs that had racked her chest moments ago. "You're always so brave, so fearless. You always just do what's right, and don't hesitate to put yourself in danger if it means helping us—"
She was cut off by Mercie's small chuckle. "I couldn't be fearless at all if it wasn't for you, Annie." She spoke with a smile.
Annette's eyes widened. "How could I make you brave? What do I ever do for you? Yesterday you almost died, and all because of me!" Tears rose again, choking her voice. "All I ever do is put you in danger! Why am I even here if all I do is jeopardise the party?"
Mercedes' hands took hold of Annette's, enveloping them in their soft, yet unyielding grasp. "None of us would be here if it wasn't for you." Mercedes' hands held her tenderly, those eyes like a winter sunset looking searchingly into Annette's own. "The only reason I can help everybody is that I know I can rely on you - that I know you have my back. We're a team, Annie. I couldn't do it without you." Before Annette's eyes, a fleck of white drifted slowly downwards. The women looked up, finding fresh, crisp snowflakes falling calmly down from the wispy clouds above. Mercie's gentle smile broadened as she gazed back into the deep blue of her partner's eyes. "I'd be long dead without you. Your magic is amazing." A long, lean finger tucked a ginger curl behind Annette's ear. "You're amazing."
Annette's voice turned quiet. "I need to be better—" she began, but was quickly silenced by Mercedes' lips against her own; hot, and firm, pressing with ardour but not hungrily so. One of her hands cupped Annette's chin, the other wrapping around her lower back. Fireworks erupted inside Annette's stomach and she kissed back shyly, hands slowly reaching up to rest her palms upon Mercie's shoulders, feeling the comforting warmth radiating from the woman she realised she loved.