Free Forever More

Why the fuck was I not informed of this!

Vincent stood, arms folded atop his bed in the medical tent. Anna was still unconscious, but stable and alive. Vincent glared at Chrom. Why was he the last to hear about Emmeryn's kidnapping?

You are an idiot, though. They probably figured you wouldn't care.

I may seem like I'm insane, but I do have a heart.

Vincent sighed tiredly, "I suppose it's time for a plan?"

Chrom nodded wearily.

God, I hate being a tactician. I'd rather be a spy or something. Sneaking around? I'm good at that. Manipulating that manakete we recruited to play with someone else? Been there done that. Winning a drinking contest with Gregor? A plus.

That last has nothing to do with being a spy.

Shut it.

Vincent stood in a pensive manner overseeing the troops. The war would be entering the turning point today. Would the battle to rescue the Exalt succeed? Only time would tell, as well as Vincent's plan.

Anna began to close up her shop for the day. They had paused their forced march for the day. No matter how urgent the mission, rest was mandatory. Well, that was what Vincent said earlier.

Leave the tactics to him, and the funds to me.

He had appointed her in charge of finances for the army with Chrom's permission. It was an easy job for someone who grew up with money for playthings.

She sheathed her display of swords. From bronze to silver. A tiring task, usually Vincent helped her out. But he had something going on today he said. She had felt slighted. But Anna had to realize he was a man in power, who had things more important than her.

He is one of the few people who look at me as a woman and friend rather than a source of money.

She collected her earnings from below the table she sat at between customers. Not as profitable as she hoped, but the soldiers were otherwise occupied with resting. Explainable, but unfortunate.

There was a knock on her tent.

How do you knock on a tent? In all my years of being a merchant, I never grasped that concept. Though usually the customer played the part of knocking…

"Come in!" was her response. Perhaps one last customer had come by after sleeping like the rest of the encampment.

And Vincent poked his head through. Grinning as usual. "Hello Anna! How's the money coming in today?"

Anna was surprised, he said he had things to do and that he wouldn't be by. But here he was. But was she complaining? Not the slightest.

Who doesn't prefer the company of friends over being alone?

"Not quite as good as I hoped, are you here to buy something?" She purposely put on an eager face. But it wasn't a lie, she did hope for his money.

"Well, yes. In part. Need a new Arcfire tome. Some idiot forgot to grab mine when it fell out of my hands last battle. But that wasn't the main reason, I brought you these." He held out some flowers. Red flowers that matched her hair.

She didn't really know what to say. People skills and merchant skills were two different things. Merchanting you never needed to know anything about your customer. But your friends? You need to make a good impression or else they'd leave you. And having friends was a luxury she had lived without for a long time.

"Aw! I love them!" A safe response. And Vincent looked pleased as well. Cha-Ching!

"I'm glad you do, I spent the afternoon looking for them. Sorry I couldn't help in your shop," he sheepishly ruffled the back of his slicked back hair.

"But…why did you spend so much time getting them? I mean, I appreciate them, but why me?" she said cautiously.

Vincent's face seemed to get slightly red. Anna followed up on her own statement, "I should be the one thanking you for saving me last battle."

"Well…I, er… thought you would enjoy them. They do match your pretty red hair," Vincent said flustered.

Vincent flustered? Odd.

"…You think my hair is pretty?" Anna said slowly. No one ever complemented her hair. It wasn't like it was special, she just washed it and put it in a ponytail.

"I…well, yes. In fact I think you're a really pretty person." Now Vincent was blushing extremely hard.

"What…are you trying to say?" Anna said slowly.

Good move Anna. Now we'll see what his intent is.

"Um…" Vincent froze. Then he began to move towards her. They were inches apart.

And he kissed her.

What is he-

It ended as quickly as it started. Vincent leapt back, or stumbled more like it. The tactician muttered something and quickly left the tent.

Anna was blushing profusely, still holding the red flowers. She grabbed a vase from her stores and filled it with her canteen of water. She would treasure these flowers. And find Vincent in the morning. She couldn't think straight.

Because honestly? She was in love.

Alright, let's do this!

Vincent's strike team cut a path through the Plegian forces. It consisted of himself, Gaius, and Kid.

And Anna.

Gods, what a stupid thing to do. I didn't even get a chance to apologize this morning with the rush of battle.

But he kept an eye on Anna during their…incursion. She fought harder than ever before.

Why? I'm missing something obvious…I'll get it in an hour.

The archers were keeping the attackers on the Exalt at bay. Soldiers flooded into the gap the strike team made. The Plegians were divided in half. A dark mage joined after Chrom talked to her. She was creepy. And a cleric, no…priest? joined as well.

The pegasus knights who were to rescue the Exalt were well on their way.

Into a trap.

Risen spouted up from the ground. Archers. The pegasus knights were no match. None survived.

Vincent heard Chrom's howl of fury and he redouble his efforts. Fire swarmed the Plegians along with Kid's wind. Maribelle, who had recently learned how to use tomes, fought alongside them. She wasn't quite powerful yet though, so she focused on healing.

Is that…a ring on her finger? I don't remember her having that. And Kid is…grinning? No…he didn't! Did he? I am so cornering you after this Kid!

Wyvern knights flew in a formation at their rear.

Damnation! Let's do this.

Vincent began to channel his magic. He knew it wasn't a good idea to do this. He wasn't at full strength already. He began to recite the incantation to the spell he invented a few days ago. "Let's do this! Death from above!" The sap on his strength was imminent. He knew he had only seconds. He waved his hand in a downward motion. And fell to his knees.

A giant meteor of fire fell from the sky at the wyverns. He could faintly hear the screams as they broke formation and fled in all different directions. The wind mages picked them off quickly.

But Vincent was barely conscious. Using that much magic…could be life threatening. But so long as he stayed awake, he should be fine…

The tactician felt someone grab him. Shouting nearby…irrelevant. He needed to concentrate. If he broke his concentration, he might fall asleep. On the battle field. Bad choice. Not even a bed of grass…

He felt someone's breath on his face. He spared a glance to see red. Lots of it.

Red…equals Anna…Anna equals… money…

Dammit! You don't have time for this! Focus Vincent!

He focused on Anna, and only Anna. She looked him straight in the eyes and hugged him. She voice was quiet, but she was right near his ear. She whispered, "I love you."

And time slowed. Vincent could feel himself being picked up by his red clad heroine herself.

Am I imagining things...?

He blacked out.

Vincent bolted straight up in his bed. He wildly looked about the dark area. His bed jostled. He was in a wagon.

What's happened?

There was a groan from next to him and Anna poked her sleepy head up. As soon as they made eye contact, she smiled. Her head was bandaged.

"What happened?" he said looking at her head concerned.

"Lady Emmeryn committed suicide. We won the battle, but the Exalt is dead," she said sorrowfully.

"Shit! …But what I was really asking was about your head," he said.

"Oh! It just tripped while carrying you, nothing major. Nothing healing and money can't fix!" Anna said energetically, her cheerful persona emerging again.

"You were carrying me? Why?" Vincent wondered.

She cocked her head, "Didn't you hear what I told you before you lost consciousness?"

"Well, yes. But I was hallucinating, right?"

"…No. I love you Vincent. Thank you for helping me realize it yesterday."

Mate, you just got the girl so you know what to do. Kiss the girl!

And that is exactly what he did. Actions spoke louder than words anyway.