"… And that's the end of that," Ananias drowsily said as he finally finished writing down the instructions the messenger would need to follow in order to reach either Ylisse or Chon'sin safely and who they had to ask from there in order to properly deliver Lady Elise's message. He let out a relieved sigh as he leaned back in his seat and let the ink on the parchment dry before curiously glancing at the peacefully sleeping princess sitting beside him, her body leaning forward and her head resting against her arms on the table as she snored softly. She had become sluggish once they had finally reached the finishing touches of their letter and, after a bit of insistence from him to rest up a bit so that her health wouldn't accidentally ruin the letter she was going to send, agreed to rest her eyes and head against the table a bit, but had made it quite obvious that after Ananias was only halfway through his written instructions, was unintentionally sleeping like a log.
"Look at her," he mumbled to himself. "A princess who's very kingdom is at war… and she's sleeping like she doesn't have a care in the world." He shook his head as he let out an incredulous chuckle. "And when she's not doing that, all she can think about is how to help endangered species from an entirely different kingdom from either being endangered or lonely." He stared intently at the sleeping girl's face. "People like you aren't exactly common." The corners of his mouth went up a bit. "I'm honored that I was able to be your retainer. Even if this is only temporary." He then slowly got up and picked her up as best as he could as not to wake her. "Now, off to bed with you." He walked towards Elise's bed and was about to lay her down onto it until he suddenly felt something pull against his shirt as he was letting her down. "Huh?" His eyes widened in surprise before looking towards the sad and drowsy eyes of the youngest princess the kingdom of Nohr had to offer. "Oh." He blushed and averted his eyes to the side. "S-Sorry for waking you, princess. I was just about to set you down -"
"Ananias?" Elise asked softly.
Her temporary retainer turned back to her, a look of dutiful concern on his face. "Yes?"
Elise was solemnly silent for a moment before tightening her grip on Ananias' shirt, cuddling closer to him, and asking, "Are you… going to be leaving soon?"
Ananias' eyes widened in surprise for a moment before he recomposed himself and let out a weary sigh. "You heard all of that, didn't you?" he asked, as he slowly set her down onto her bed as he intended to.
Elise nodded. "Yeah."
Ananias leaned down so that he and Elise could talk to each other face-to-face before shaking his head. "Lady Elise, I can assure you, I'm not going to be going anywhere for a long time."
Elise frowned. "How long is 'a while'?"
Ananias opened his mouth to respond, but stopped himself once he realized that he really didn't know. "Well," he began, "I'm not going tomorrow. Or, at least, I think I'm not." When he saw how badly Elise was taking this due to her hanging her head despondently and her twiddling her fingers anxiously, he sighed as he rubbed his eyes again in mild exasperation. "Lady Elise, I'm just a temporary retainer, you know that."
"… So?"
"So… that must've meant that you knew that this was going to happen, at least eventually."
Unshed tears were beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. "But I don't want you to leave." She looked at him with those tear-filled eyes of hers. "I want you to stay! Things just won't be the same without you here!"
Ananias stared at her uncertainly for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "Lady Elise, you know that's not true. I haven't been here for that long. Once I leave, things will just go back to the way they used to be, that's all. You'll barely even notice the transition back."
"Well, I will!" Elise insisted. "And I'm going to miss you, and I'm going to be so mad that you left, and… and…," a few tears fell down her face as she let out an audible sniffle, "and everyone else here will miss you too, and…."
Ananias looked on guiltily as Elise quietly began to cry right in front of him for a moment before gently holding her hands into his and giving them a comforting squeeze. "Lady Elise," he whispered, "you don't know how happy that makes me, to know that you feel so strongly about me in such a short time."
"Well, how couldn't I?" Elise quietly demanded. "It's not fair! You can't just come into our lives, my life, like this and just suddenly leave forever!"
"Then I won't," Ananias replied simply. "I'll come back to visit every once and a while. And every time I do, we can catch up. How's that?"
"But you used to be a messenger, right?" Elise asked. "And if it weren't for Selena, Odin, and Laslow, you wouldn't have come here at all!"
"Well, yeah," Ananias admitted, "but things are different now. I've got you and everyone else to come back to now."
"But still, I can't just ask you to make constant detours for our sake!" Elise shook her head. "Your plan… it isn't realistic!"
"Since when has realism ever stopped you from doing what you wanted?"
"Since I realized that I was being selfish!" Elise let out another disappointed and sad sniff before wiping her face with her hand, taking a deep breath, and declaring, "Ananias, when you finally have to go, then just go."
Ananias stared at her incredulously. "Lady Elise…."
"It's okay," Elise said with a smile. "As long as I can remember all of the times we've had together, it won't matter how sad I am when you leave. After all, I'm lucky that I met you at all!"
"But, Lady Elise… what if… I don't want to leave?" he asked. "What if I want to come back and visit?"
"But your work!"
"Well then, we'll just have to figure out a reason for me to constantly come back," Ananias reasoned.
"Like what?" Elise asked. "It's not like going out to work and then coming back home! Don't you have a home or a family somewhere else?"
"Well, I mean, I've got family everywhere, but… what if I did make Nohr my new home? What if I did have family here?"
Elise's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean, we can do that?" she asked excitedly.
Ananias shrugged. "Well, I mean, kind of."
"How? How?"
Ananias took a deep breath and muttered, "It's way too late for this, but," he held Elise's hands up and kissed them, much to Elise's surprise, "Lady Elise… I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life with you. Would you?"
Realizing what exactly Ananias was proposing, Elise let out a relieved gasp before smiling happily and hugging her red-haired retainer excitedly. "Yes!" she cried. "Yes! Of course I wouldn't!" She laughed joyfully as Ananias winced at how much noise she was making.
"Lady Elise, please!" he shushed. "You'll wake everybody up!"
Much to his surprise, Elise snuggled closer to him and let out a dreamy sigh. "I don't care. Let's spend the rest of our lives together, okay, Ananias?"
Ananias let out a small gasp upon experiencing first-hand how affectionate Elise was being before smiling a bit, wrapping his arms around Elise, and whispering, "I'd like that."
Ending: Ananias – Mysterious Messenger
Once the war was over, Ananias said his goodbyes and disappeared just as mysteriously as he had appeared. Sightings of him popped up from time to time, but one thing was for certain, he almost never stayed in one place for very long.
Ending: Ananias and Elise
Ananias continued with his humble life as a messenger almost immediately after the war had ended, his home being the only guaranteed place anyone looking for him could find him. His wife, Elise, grew out of her childish ways into a talented healer of extraordinary compassion.
Author's Note #1: There is no Male Corrin supports due to the fact that most (if not all) of the Female and Male Corrin supports are basically the same except for the fact that the S-Support takes it a bit further. Because of that, the supports up until the S-Support will be mostly gender neutral. Sorry.
Author's Note #2: Welp, there ends the Elise supports. I hope you all enjoyed them. Next up is Soliel, followed by Peri, Felicia, Jakob, Lana, Kaze, Nyx, Charlotte, Niles, Effie, Female Corrin, Benny, Anna, Ophelia, Camilla, Gunther, Setsuna, Kanna, Selena, Beruka, and Xander. Got someone you want to support with Ananias? Request it. Remember, all Nohr first generation characters, Soliel, Ophelia, Anna, Kanna, Rinkah, Subaki, and Setsuna are allowed to support with him as well and it is a first come, first serve system.
