Anne watched expectantly as Garland took up his new weapon that she improved and spent hours on. Her hands were singed slightly and her face was covered in dirt. She wiped her brow and watched Garland test out the new features to his sword. After five minutes, Garland just walked away. Anne furrowed her brow in frustration.
"What, not even a thank you?" she spat in contempt.
Garland stopped and turned to her.
"…Your talents are very useful."
And he disappeared around the corner. Anne sighed and fell onto her bench.
"Sheesh, would it kill to even say thank and you together?" she asked to the wall in front of her.
She curled her knees into her chest and wiped away the tears from her eyes. Here she was, in the lair of Chaos. Cooped up just around the corner where she had her tools and materials to make weapons and armour. There wasn't even a sink where she could wash the dirt off her hands and face. There was absolutely no-one that appreciated her efforts. She even went the extra mile with some weapons when an upgrade idea occurred to her. Only Sephiroth seemed to stop by to give her food and spend five minutes with her before leaving. Anne yawned tiredly and rested her head against the wall, closing her eyes to drift off to sleep.
"Get up, girl."
Anne winced when something hit her calf sharply and opened her eyes, glaring at the emperor who towered over her with an unfriendly sneer.
"What do you want?" she asked tiredly.
"My boots are worn out. Make me another pair."
Anne snarled and got up, gesturing for him to sit.
"In my world, we say please," she spat as he seated himself on the bench and bent down to measure his boots.
Mateus said nothing, just watched Anne take note of his measurements then taking off a boot to examine it.
"Oh, I see how they got worn out easily," she sighed and tapped one of the boots "They're made out of gold. Very weak."
"Well? What are you going to do about it?" Mateus snapped at her.
Anne's brow twitched as she looked up at him.
"I'm going to make a better pair of boots so you won't come back so soon," she snarled as she got up and grabbed her hammer.
She grabbed her supply of diamonds and got to work rather vigorously, taking her anger and stress out on every strike she made to weld the diamonds into boots for the moody emperor.
"I must say, I'm impressed that a woman like yourself is capable of blacksmithing."
Anne paused to turn and glare at him.
"I see that in your world, men were sexist to women," she snarled and kept working.
In a couple of hours, Mateus was admiring his new boots and simply stalked off without even giving Anne a compliment. Anne slammed her hammer into her anvil in frustration before flopping back onto the bench for a quick nap.
"Oh sleeping beauty!" a high-pitched voice called "Wakey wakey! Or do I have to kiss you to wake you up?"
Anne jolted upright to a sitting position.
"Oh! Never mind!"
Kefka cackled as Anne rubbed her eyes and glared at him sleepily.
"What do you want?" she growled.
"I just thought that perhaps a little change in the clothing should do!" Kefka sat next to her and clapped his hands "Come, come now!"
Anne stood up.
"Stand so I can take your measurements and examine your armour!" she snapped.
"Ooo~! Is someone on their period?"
Anne raised her nailed bat, which sat neatly in the corner, as a warning. Kefka stood up, holding his hands up to calm her down and she placed her weapon down to start measuring him. She frowned as she took a handful of his shirt and examined it.
"Are you really only wearing a poncho?" she asked "I think a bard's tunic should help out a bit more, let me get my materials together…"
"Hey, if you're so smart, why aren't you rich?"
Anne nearly dropped some cloth at the statement and looked at him.
"Excuse me?" she asked with narrowed eyes.
"If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?"
Anne remembered Sephiroth telling her to not bother making sense of Kefka's words but Anne really wanted to answer him.
"Because no-one appreciates me here," she said as she sat down and got to work sewing up a bard's tunic for the insane mage.
Kefka began rambling and cackling about something as Anne furiously stitched and sewed the bard's tunic she had promised him. She winced as she accidentally pricked her finger.
"She pricked her finger!" Kefka shrieked "Is Sleeping Beauty going to fall asleep now?"
Anne snatched her bat and raised it at him.
"Please, toots!" Kefka scoffed "You don't have the guts to use your little play toy!"
Anne's brow twitched and she took a huge swing at him. Kefka howled as he jumped, only getting scrapes from the deadly sharp nails.
"OK! OK! I'll shut up!"
He hopped away as Anne placed her bat down and continued sewing. It seemed hours for poor Anne but after a half hour of dedicated sewing, Kefka was prancing off in his new tunic, leaving the poncho behind. Anne sighed exasperatedly and collapsed onto the bench, carefully examining the poncho to see if she could maybe use the material for something else.
"Excuse me, um…"
Anne looked up and saw Kuja standing at the foot of her little territory. She placed the poncho down.
"It's Anne, would you like my help?" she asked politely, not really expecting a polite response.
"Uh, yes actually," Kuja walked over to her and looked down at her "May I ask your opinion?"
"Um…sure, I guess," Anne shrugged.
"Do these boots match my outfit?"
Anne blinked and looked down at them.
"They look a bit worn," she said "I could make you a new set which can match your outfit just as well."
"I asked if they matched or not, dear," Kuja sighed as he tossed his hair.
"But I…"
Kuja simpered and petted her head.
"You're so naïve," he said "Doing extra for the Chaos members will only make them trick and take advantage of you."
"But…your boots will wear out…" Anne mumbled and Kuja tittered.
"You're cute. I can levitate, I don't walk much. They won't wear out too soon."
Kuja's feet left the ground as if to make a statement.
"I'd do your best to make sure I'm not trampled if I were in your position," he said "I'll see you later."
He flew off, leaving a rather confounded Anne.
"Anne, I'm back."
Anne's eyes lit up as she saw Sephiroth approach her and ran up to him, giving him a big hug. Sephiroth was nice, he was friendly and apparently they're from the same world. Anne sighed as she buried her nose into the leather of his jacket. She didn't know why, but it soothed her. As if she had done something like this before. She gasped as Sephiroth hugged her back and stroked her hair.
"Sephiroth, is something the matter?" she asked carefully but Sephiroth just hugged her tighter.
He picked her up and reclined on the bench, leaning against the wall for support. He held Anne in a protective embrace and stared ahead in thought. He sighed and closed his eyes, remembering the memories he had just recovered…