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Title: Ghosts of the Ones She Loved

Rating: Teen and Up

Warnings: Major Character Death

Fandom: Fire Emblem Awakening

Relationship: Lucina & Morgan

Characters: Lucina, Morgan, Grima

Additional Tags: Bad Future Timeline, Angst, Sad with a Happy Ending, Background Robin/Tiki

Word Count: 1,814

Ao3 Link

Lucina couldn't remember the last time she cried; it had been many years since then. She had become very numb to everything around her; it was hard to feel anything when everything around her was black, brown, and ember colored. She didn't even feel desperation at this point, there was no point to it. She was trying to save a land with nothing left; no people, no vegetation. With ever step Lucina took, the plants beneath her feet turned to dust. Everything she loved was taken from her, starting with her mother and father. She only had their weddings rings and her father's swords as their last reminder. Her chest tightened whenever she thought of the people that Grima took next, Gerome and Laurent, her most trusted retainers. Lucina felt tears rolled down her face as she remembered her retainers using their bodies to protect her life to save their world.

Her tears rapidly dripped down her face as she started to remember the pain of losing the rest of her friends, especially her younger cousin. They had grown up together, trained together, fought together, did everything together. Owain went against her orders and to fight a mission that she never wanted him to do. It killed her when he never returned, and she could never find his body. If it weren't for her, if it weren't for this situation, he would be alive and she could keep hearing his boisterous laugh, to his bright smile, to see him write the multiple stories he has in his mind. They still could have been a family, but there was never going back. That's all she ever wanted, something she'll never get.

The worst came when she lost her closest friend Morgan. Lucina's world crumbled when Morgan protected her from a Risen army; it was hard to watch a powerful dragon fall in battle. Morgan was the strongest Manakete there was to live, right after her mother, Tiki. But alas, Tiki fell to the husk of her beloved husband, and so did Morgan. Lucina knew she should have gone back to Morgan when she heard her cry from the many weapons hitting her body before Grima had arrived. Leaving Morgan was the biggest regret Lucina had in her life, but there was no going back. All she could do at this point was end Grima's life so Morgan's, her parents, all of her friend's, and all of her people's lives could rest easy knowing that she had done her job as Exalt.

Lucina had one more chance to finish all of this, she needed to go back to the Dragon's Table to finish off Grima. While she was making her way there, she began to feel a pit in her stomach and the beginnings of a headache. The barren desert wasn't any better than the crumpling foliage and burned down cities she was used to. Lucina could feel a dark void loom over her as she walked through the sandstorm; it reminded her of the first time she was here facing Grima's twelve Dreadlords. She wanted to vomit as the pressure set into her body; she felt her body wobble the closer she got to the temple. Lucina sighed, seeing her breath in the sky as the sun was setting. It was probably for the best that she stopped for the night; she needed whatever strength she could get for tomorrow.

She didn't pack much with her on her journey here, only a small bag filled with a blanket, a feather pillow, change of clothes, and the Falchion. She didn't think she would need much more; she wasn't planning on staying in Ylisse afterwards. She was the only person that lived in her country and there was nothing left of it for her to stay. Lucina sat on the sandy ground, holding her knees together as she looked up to the night sky. It had been a long time since she had seen the stars. Lucina didn't know why, but Morgan was trickling into her mind. She usually does late at night, Lucina didn't have much else to think about. At night, she would hear Morgan's voice, trying to talk to her.

She would hear Morgan tell her to stay positive, to keep going, and to not lose hope. She could hear Morgan that Lucina needed to end Grima and happy days will return. Her voice soon evolved into Morgan seeping into her dreams and nightmares. Lucina found solace in Morgan either dying or living depending on what happened during Lucina's night. It felt better seeing her over the painful deaths of her friend's and family. Lucina always found her nightmares and dreams of Morgan, and the headaches she received when she would wake up, was the retribution she deserved. She would bear it all, if it mean repentance from Morgan.

Lucina took one last breath before putting out the fire in front of her. She placed her head on her pillow, slowly falling asleep. Her dream was fuzzy and all she could see was Robin's husk swallowed in a wall of flames before Robin's body finally being reduced to ash. She could hear a faint voice, something familiar, but before she could look for who it was, Lucina woke up. She rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of the grogginess. She sighed, shaking her and rubbing her head before changing. This was it, it was either her or Grima. Part of her wanted to die and get it done with, but the other part of her was holding on to the last shred of hope she had. Lucina walked up to the temple doors, letting out one last sigh before opening the doors.

She felt the eerie atmosphere put pressure on her shoulders as the hollow sounds of her footsteps accompanied to the altar. It was hard to see where her father died at the hands of his most trusted friend. She could only imagine would Frederick would have said to her father when he found out what Robin had done. Lucina put her hand on the hilt of her sword as she hear a loud wind sound coming towards her. She blocked the blow by unsheathing her sword. There were a few attacks back and forth before Grima revealed himself.

"It's been a long time coming, child of light!" Grima laughed, limping towards her. "This will be where you fall!"

Lucina didn't say a word, she rushed him and attacked him as furiously as she could. She was lucky to land a few blows; if it weren't for his already weakened state, she probably would have been dead by now. But after having to use a good portion of his strength, Grima had to hide back into his vessel.

"Why won't you die, child!" Grima growled, using the last bit of strength he had to try to land a blow on her.

"Because, I have the dead who saved my life crying out to me," Lucina cried, cutting off Grima's arm.

Before landing the final blow on him, she felt the heat rising in the room. Lucina shielded herself from a bright, hot, blueish green flame burning consuming Grima's body. When the flames subsided she watched Grima step backwards before turning to dust. In the distance, she could hear someone call out her name. Lucina rushed towards the noise, her face shocked to see Morgan holed up into a cell. Lucina could see her body was shaking and a paler green. She didn't know how long she was here and had been fighting off Grima; if only she knew it sooner.

"Mor...gan..." Lucina softly spoke, her voice breaking.

"It's been a long time, Princess," Morgan said, voice shaking. She use whatever strength she had left to transform back to her human form. "I'm so glad to see you again."

"It has," Lucina cried, breaking the lock of her cell off. She pushed the bars open, pulling Morgan into an embrace. "I thought you died."

"I thought I was going to be killed," Morgan said, looking up to Lucina with a smile. "But Grima only wanted to hold me captive. It's a bad plan."

"Yes," Lucina agreed, wiping her tears off with one of her hands. "I'm glad his plan backfired on him."

"Me too, and I'm glad you were able to see me in your dreams," Morgan said, slowly closing her eyes.

"Those were you?" Lucina gasped, trying to keep her awake.

"Yes, they were me. It's what depleted my energy," Morgan said, blinking her eyes open. "I knew it was a risk to do, mother told me as much. But it was a risk I was willing to take."

"I'm glad you took it, but get some sleep and I will try to heal you the best I can," Lucina said, gently laying her on the ground.

Morgan nodded her head, closing her eyes as Lucina walked around to find medic supplies.

Lucina smiled as she tended to Morgan's wounds. She felt warmth in her body and a sense of relief through her body. She wasn't alone anymore...She wasn't alone.

When both Morgan and Lucina healed from their injuries, they traveled around the continents looking for their friends and families bodies. It was a long arduous process, but they were able to find everyone to give them a proper burial. The amount of pain that the both of them went through would be too much for anyone to bear, including them. Now that the war was finally over, Lucina didn't know what to do. The only plan that she had was leave this continent and go somewhere else. She didn't have a reason to live here, it was only her and Morgan. No friends, no people to rule over, why stay?

Lucina sighed as she felt a tug at her sleeve. "Yes, Morgan?"

"There is somewhere we can go," Morgan smiled, letting go of Lucina's clothing.

"Where would that be?" Lucina said, with no hint of emotions as she looked blankly over her barren kingdom.

"There is a few places," Morgan chirped, pulling out worn down notebook. "There is Valla, Hoshido, and Nohr we could visit."

"Three different Holy Lands from legend," Lucina said, not flinching. "Owain would always talk about them. He believed that they truly did exist."

"There is some truth to these," Morgan said, putting her hand on Lucina's back. "He really researched all of this in what little free time he had. So there must be something to it."

"I suppose," Lucina sighed, turning away from the city. She grabbed a few things before turning back to Morgan. "We should go. There is nothing left here for us to stay."

Morgan nodded and followed Lucina through the castle.

Lucina looked back at her fallen kingdom before leaving. Hopefully, in these new places there isn't any turmoil.

--------------------------------------------------------

Here is my fic for @/thewizardmus on Ao3! This was a fun prompt to write about, a nice angsty prompt to write about. A nice break from all the fluff I normally write. I do still find it criminal that F!Morgan and Lucina do not have supports. It would have been chaotic and funny.

[lapinbunwrites]

WAAAAAHHHH LOOK AT THEM!!! They are so precious and so cute!! They look so cozy T-T

Thank you so much for them!!

I hope your Christmas is filled with joy and warmth!!

My secret Santa gift for @lapinbunwrites I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

[lapinbunwrites]

My secret Santa gift for @lapinbunwrites I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

[lapinbunwrites]

Artwork by Kore! And Kore's IG!

Title: The Dish That Went Wrong

Ratings: Gen

Warnings: None

Fandom: Fire Emblem Three Houses

Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic & Mercedes von Martritz, Mercedes von Martritz & Ingrid Brandl Galatea, Annette Fantine Dominic & Ingrid Brandl Galatea

Characters: Annette Fantine Dominic, Mercedes von Martritz, Ingrid Brandl Galatea

Additional Tags: During Canon, Fluff

Words: 2,665

Ao3 Link

For as long as Mercedes could remember, she was in the kitchen baking. Every time she made something, it always brought back fond memories of when she was a child—baking with her mother and brother always gave her a nice warm feeling in her chest. She wished she could go back to those times, but she knew that it was never going to happen. Mercedes learned to live with that fact and moved on—but, she was able to make new friends and meet new baking partners.

Baking with Ingrid and Annette was a trial and a half. Annette, in her own sweet but scatterbrained way, set multiple fires and destroyed many cookware supplies. Ingrid on the other hand, tended to get too excited for food and miss her steps, often combining multiple steps at once, or would stop to eat in the middle of the baking session. Needless to say, they ruined many dishes they intended to make, but Mercedes was still happy that they were spending time with her baking sweets together. If there was one trait that Mercedes inherited from her mother, it was patience. She needed a lot of it when she baked with those two.

“Let’s see,” Mercedes whispered to herself. She checked over the list of ingredients that she needed. “I have flour, two different sugars, butter, and—”

“There you are Mercie!” Annette chirped, walking over to her.

Mercedes was distracted as her friend talked when she looked over her list, concentrating on it to confirm that she had everything to make a cheesecake.

“Mercie,” Annette asked, shaking Mercedes.

“Oh!” Mercedes yelped, turning to her friend. “Sorry, Annie. I was lost in thought.”

“You seemed really entranced,” Annette noted, letting go of her.

“I was so focused on counting I didn’t even hear you.” Mercedes gave her a soft smile. “Was there something that you needed?”

“Ingrid and I were planning on going shopping,” Annette smiled. “We were wondering if you wanted to come along.”

“Oh, I wish I could,” Mercedes frowned.

“Why is that?” Annette asked. “Something going on?”

“I promised Dimitri that I would bake a treat for everyone,” Mercedes replied, putting her basket of ingredients on the counter.

“Oh!” Annette said, excitedly. “Let me go get Ingrid and we both can help!”

“It’s alright,” Mercedes started as she watched Annette rushing off.

Mercedes shook her head and smiled to herself. As she waited for Annette to get Ingrid, she took the ingredients out of her basket and placed them all on the counter. She began to think of all of the steps, or everything her mother did, to make the cheesecake. Without realizing it, she began to crush down the graham crackers to start the crust. With all the stress she had recently, dealing with the war, training, and checking up on everyone, it was very therapeutic. The recipe and steps instantly began to come back to her.

“Mm,” Ingrid said, walking into the kitchen with Annette, interrupting Mercedes’ silent baking. “It smells so good.”

“Heh I just melted down some butter and combined it with the graham crackers,” Mercedes chuckled.

“It looks very tasty,” Ingrid said, salivating.

“Really?” Mercedes teased, grabbing a pan. “It’s just a bowl of crackers and butter.”

“Yes,” Ingrid reassured her. “I would still eat that by itself.”

“You really shouldn’t,” Mercedes reminded her, dumping the concoction into a round pan.

“I am more than happy to help to get it done!” Ingrid insisted, joyfully tapping the counter.

“Very well, but you must go step by step,” Mercedes said, hesitating for a few seconds.

“Of course! I will not disappoint!” Ingrid smiled.

“You can start by flattening out the crust on the bottom and pushing it up the sides just a little,” Mercedes instructed as she watched her friend carefully.

“Oh!” What can I do Mercie?” Annette chimed in with sparkles in her eyes.

“Hm,” Mercedes murmured, placing her finger on her chin. “Let’s start putting the dry ingredients in a bowl.”

“That sounds way too simple and boring,” Annette pouted.

“Annette’s right,” Ingrid agreed, wiping her hands clean of the crumbs. “We should be able to combine some of these steps.”

“If we do that, we risk messing with the taste of the cheesecake and how it bakes,” Mercedes reminded them. “We need to do the simple things first, as they are still very important.”

“Fiiine,” Annette sighed, slumping. “So what do I combine?”

Mercedes placed all of the dry ingredients in front of Annette. “These all go into a bowl and need to be whisked together.”

“Why are you making cheesecake?” Ingrid asked, distracting Mercedes from Annette.

“Dimitri asked me to make something for everyone to help lift up spirits during the war,” Mercedes explained, looking back over to Annette. She giggled as she stared at her friend who was covered in flour and sugar. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Annette coughed. “I was mixing one second, and the next I got it all over me.”

Mercedes chuckled as she handed Annette a towel. While Annette was cleaning herself off, Mercedes put the cracker crust into the oven.

“Ingrid, do you mind watching the crust?” Mercedes asked. “It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.”

“Of course,” Ingrid agreed, looking attentively at the oven.

Mercedes looked over the ingredients and she realized that she was missing one item.

“Is everything alright, Mercie?” Annette asked.

“Oh, yes,” Mercedes reassured her. “I’m just trying to remember the recipe correctly.”

“You don’t have this written down anywhere?”Annette asked, tapping the counter and humming.

“No,” Mercedes sighed. “When my mother and I were living in House Bartels, my stepfather didn’t give us much peace.”

“Mercie,” Ingrid said, taking her eyes off the oven. She walked over to Mercedes, placing her hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“When my stepfather left us alone, my mother would make me happy by taking me into the kitchen,” Mercedes said, faintly smiling. “She would teach me how to bake and tell me how to make the treats. She has an amazing memory, she remembers every recipe she ever learned. She could remember anything really.”

“Heh, only if you had that kind of memory outside of baking,” Ingrid teased, trying to lighten the mood.

Mercedes somberly laughed at her friend’s statement.

“Oh, Mercie,” Ingrid paused. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Mercedes reassured Ingrid, walking over to the oven. “I know I can’t go back to those days standing in the kitchen with my mother and brother, but I have you two now—and we can bake whenever we get the chance.”

“Yes!” Annette agreed. “We can even make new and happy memories.”

“That’s right!” Ingrid nodded.

“Anyways, what should we do next since the crust is out of the oven?” Annette took a whiff of it.

“Mmm! This smells good,” Ingrid agreed.

“We make the filling,” Mercedes faintly smiled as the conversation turned.

“So what do we do first?” Annette chirped.

“We take a bowl,” Mercedes replied, taking out a large bowl. “Mix in cream cheese and granulated sugar.”

“Awesome!” Annette said as she unpackaged the cream cheese with Ingrid.

Mercedes quietly watched the two putting the ingredients together. Mercedes quietly watched the two putting the ingredients together. It was hard for her to focus on the other two when all of her thoughts were stuck on her family. She wanted to be with them again, but at least she had Ingrid and Annette. She took one deep sigh, trying her best not to show her shaking hand, as she stopped Ingrid from dumping too much sugar into the bowl. She watched intently as Annette put all her strength into creaming the ingredients together.

“Is everything okay?” Ingrid asked, watching Mercedes walk off.

“Oh, yes,” Mercedes reassured her. “I just need to get some fresh air.”

“Oh, okay.” Ingrid nodded. “Is there anything specific you want us to do?”

“You just need to beat in the eggs, vanilla, and cornstarch until it’s combined,” Mercedes instructed. “Once that’s done, mix in sour cream.”

Ingrid and Annette looked at each other, making sure that they didn’t hear her wrong. By the time they looked back to Mercedes, she was already walking out the door.

Mercedes took one deep breath and exhaled. The stress of this war was starting to get to her; even her friend’s well-intentioned help was getting to her. She had to tell herself not to complain about it, she was still lucky to be alive and able to have the peace and down time that she currently had. Not everyone was lucky enough to have it. She had seen many soldiers lose their lives, she had seen Dimitri and Byleth run around their camp sites in a frenzy to make everything perfect, she had seen the amount of training Felix, Dedue, Ashe, and Sylvain put in. All of it was so stressful, even for her to watch.

It was hard for her to take her mind off of it. Even the cheesecake that she was trying to make was to help those who needed a morale boost. Mercedes took one long sigh as she heard a crash in the kitchen.

“Are you alright, Annie?” Mercedes asked, rushing over to her.

“Yes, I’m fine!” Annette reassured her, getting up from the floor.

Seeing all the ingredients all over the floor and all over Annette, Mercedes laughed from deep in her stomach.

“Mercie?” Annette asked, wiping herself clean with the help of Ingrid.

“Hahaha,” Mercedes laughed as she helped out. “I’m sorry, Annie! It’s a little funny that you were able to get the mixture all over yourself.”

“Mercie!” Annette pouted. “It’s not funny.”

“I know, I know,” Mercedes said, her laugh dying down. She took a little lick of the mixture off of her finger. “Hmm, this is a bit off.”

“Mercedes?” Ingrid asked, trying to get her friend’s attention.

“Sorry, sorry,” Mercedes said, heading back over to the counter. She looked into the bowl and breathed a sigh of relief. “Luckily, we still have enough to make.”

Mercedes smiled as the other two excitedly watched her pour the batter into the pan as if she was a professional chocolatier. She made sure to even out the pan before chucking it into the hot oven.

“What do we do now?” Ingrid asked, looking over to Mercedes.

“We wait,” Mercedes replied.

“How long do we wait?” Annette asked.

“Hm,” Mercedes hummed out, looking at her fingers to count how long. “About two hours.”

“That is so long,” Annette complained.

“It’s alright,” Mercedes smiled. “We can always do something while we wait.”

“Yes,” Ingrid nodded. “We can always train. The stronger we get, the faster we can end this war.”

“We can do something more fun than that,” Annette suggested. “We can go shopping like we originally planned.”

“That sounds lovely,” Mercedes agreed, clapping her hands together. “We still do deserve time to relax.”

“Fine, but not for long,” Ingrid pressured. “We still need to get this out of the oven.”

“Of course!” Mercedes and Annette said in unison.

The three of them gathered a few of their things before walking into town. They stopped into the various shops, grabbing a few things that they wanted. They teased each other on the spoils that they got. Mercedes with her fabrics and sewing needles she was going to use to mend clothes for everyone. Annette with the many plushies she bought for her closest friends. And Ingrid with her new weapons.

“Here,” Ingrid said, handing both of them a knife.

“Ingrid?” Annette asked, biting her lip.

“Ingrid!” Mercedes gasped.

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Ingrid reassured them. “An old friend of mine told me about knives and their meanings. He told me about the meaning of knives in the Alliance and how they are a symbol of friendship. So I’m giving you each one.”

“Hehe,” Mercedes laughed, clutching it tightly. “Wouldn’t it be better to give each other white roses instead? They are a sign of friendship.”

“I, uh,” Ingrid mumbled. “Did not think about that.”

“It’s alright. There is a flower shop right over there,” Annette laughed.

Mercedes nodded as Annette dragged them over to the shop. She bought a small bouquet of white roses, giving a few to the other two before leaving.

“Whaaa!” Annette screamed.

“Is everything alright?” Ingrid asked, very concerned.

“It’s been over two hours and we forgot about the cheesecake!” Annette said, rushing towards Garreg Mach.

“Oh!” Ingrid said as she rushed right behind her.

Mercedes chuckled, knowing full well she was not going to run. That was too much work for her to do and she knew that the two of them could handle a fire. Better yet, she knew Ingrid knew how to deal with a fire.

“I’m so sorry Mercie,” Annette apologized profusely, holding up the very burnt cream cheesecake. “I don’t know how this happened!”

“It’s alright,” Mercedes reassured her, walking into the kitchen, smelling the burnt air.

“I’m still willing to eat that,” Ingrid said, taking the pan from Annette. She stabbed a fork into the confection. “Mm, not bad. I can still taste the bitterness of it, but it’s still sweet enough to eat.”

“This reminds me of a basque cheesecake my mother would treat me and my brother,” Mercedes laughed.

“Ah, so it’s still good!” Annette cheered.

“Yes, but I still wouldn’t take Ingrid’s words for it. Her taste buds are still very much different than ours,” Mercedes teased.

“Heh. That’s true,” Annette laughed, taking a fork herself. “Hm, it still does taste good!”

“Right?” Ingrid agreed. “Though we shouldn’t serve this. I don’t think anybody would be too happy.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Mercedes said, looking through the cabinets to see what they had.

“I have picked up a few things, Mercedes,” Ingrid said, handing a baked good to Annette.

“Really?” Mercedes said, looking over to Ingrid.

“Yes,” Ingrid said, holding her basket full of a few goodies. “I got them just in case.”

“How did I not notice that,” Mercedes said, walking over to her friend.

“You are a bit ditzy, so I didn’t expect you to,” Ingrid teased.

Mercedes chuckled as she shuffled through her basket full of ingredients. She smiled as she realized the confection she could do, chocolate chip cookies. While Annette and Ingrid devoured the cheesecake, she quickly made the batter for the cookies. Mercedes was able to make many batches of the cookies before they were able to finish the cheesecake.

“Mm, that smells so good!” Annette chirped, reaching over for a cookie.

“It does!” Ingrid agreed, following suit.

“Thank you!” Mercedes said, taking the last of the cookies out of the oven. “That is the last of them.”

“Hooray!” Ingrid and Annette cheered.

“Well, I better get these wrapped and handed out,” Mercedes said, wrapping the cool cookies up.

“Oh right, I forgot about that,” Annette said.

“Would you like any help handing them out?” Ingrid asked.

“Oh, that’s alright,” Mercedes replied. “I like the long walks around the monastery. It’s very soothing.”

“If you wish,” Ingrid nodded.

Mercedes smiled at them both, waving them goodbye before leaving. She walked around the monastery, handing out the cookies to everyone. Seeing their enlightened faces, was easing the stress off of her shoulders. It was nice to see everyone in good spirits again during this trying time. Just seeing their smiles gave her warmth in her heart.

When she got back to her room, she felt the warmth becoming warmer when she saw her things safe and sound. Her smile grew bigger when she saw that Annette and Ingrid put the white roses she had into a vase on her windowsill with the knife and lion plush toy next to it. Thinking about it, Mercedes was grateful that Annette and Ingrid were in her life and that they still helped her with making the confections with her.

It was a great sense of relief having them both with her during this war.

---------------------------

I got to be apart of a lovely Blue Lion's Ladies centric project that was so much fun! This is the piece I made for it! Just little shenanigans with each other. Hope you enjoy!

Also leftovers are currently open! You can your copy here!

[lapinbunwrites]

Waaahh!!! Thank you again for the very cute Sakura!! She is so precious!!

SECOND PART OF MY SCUFFLE SILLIES!!!

Commission status is in my pinned post!

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I can't believe I never saw this until now, I am truly sorry. But I'm so glad you love this fic so much!! Thaank you for all the kind words!

Title: A Childish Tea Party

Rating: Gen

Warnings: None

Fandom: Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn

Characters: Humor, Friendship, Post-Canon

Additional Tags: Friendship, Humor

Words: 795

Ao3 Link

Naesala couldn't remember the last time he had a pleasant conversation with Sanaki. She was always more condescending than he was, and everyone has told him his is the worst. He, for some reason, took great pride in that. But when he heard it coming out of a small child, he realized, it probably wasn't the best thing in the world. Last thing he wanted to deal with her complaining since that she is an Empress, she could do whatever she wanted. Naesala has done it, and it never worked for him so he's a little irritated a child could get away with it.

"Naesala!" Sanaki demanded his attention.

"What?" He said, focusing his attention to her.

"You haven't paying attention like you should," she pouted.

"I'm sorry your royal empress," he sighed, taking a sip of his tea. He was hoping this little tea party of hers would be rather different from what it was. He thought is going to be more pressing than what she wrote him about. "Listening to you talk about the food you've eaten in the last day isn't all that interesting."

She let out a little growl, giving him a stink eye. "Well I think it's better than hearing you talk endlessly about Leanne."

Naesala pinched the bridge of his nose. "That was weeks ago and I'm surprised you were paying attention."

"Well, I thought I could find something to use as blackmail against you," Sanaki teased.

"I'm surprised that you would use it, considering that you have no need for it," Naesala smiled, taking a sip of tea.

"I was hoping for a something juicy so I could try to con sweets out of you," she laughed, trying to take a bit of her treat.

"Well, you can keep trying, but no one is going to say anything," he reminded her.

"Hmph, I could always ask Tibarn, Reyson, or even Leanne," she said.

"They won't say a thing, or at least I hope not," he said, getting out of his chair.

"Where are you going?" Sanaki asked, yanking him back to the table. "This isn't over."

"Well, I have more important things to worry about having a tea party with a child," he said, trying to pry her fingers off of him. "For someone who is only thirteen, you have one hell of a grip."

"I am fourteen now!" She reprimanded him, roughly pulling him back.

"Yeesh kid," Naesala said, using his strength to pull her out of her seat and holding her off the ground.

Sanaki held onto Naesala's arm tightly as she kicked the air, trying to look for the ground.

"What are you doing?" He asked, waving his arm up and down.

"PUT ME DOWN!" She demanded.

"Fine, but I'm leaving afterwards," he sighed, placing her on the ground.

"Why, I thought you were excited to be here?" She asked, smoothing out her clothes. "I just wanted to spend some time with you."

"I didn't think you would enjoy my company," Naesala grumbled.

"I really do," Sanaki murmured, walking back to her seat. "I don't have many close friends, especially many near my age. So I was hoping that maybe you would like to be my friend."

Naesala wishes he could say that he was hard for him to make friends, but he always had Rafiel, Reyson, and Leanne. He's known them since a very young age so he's never had to worry about being alone in his life. He couldn't imagine what Sanaki would of gone through by herself without any friends. She ascended the throne at such a young age without any true childhood to talk about. Most of her life he could imagine that she was in and out of meetings, war councils, and training sessions. It really wasn't a traditional childhood to him so he could see her not having any friends to have. Sure, she had Sigrun and Tanith, but they were more guardians than anything.

He took on deep sigh before letting giving her a smile. "Fine, I will stay and listen to you-"

"Oh, hooray!" Sanaki said with a sparkle in her eyes.

"But," he smirked.

"But what?" she asked, her earth shattering for a split second.

"You must listen to me and what I want to talk about," he bargained, sitting his seat.

"Fine fine! If you insist," she agreed, taking a bit of her food.

Naesala smiled as he ate his food as he listened to her talk. Thinking about it, being in her presence and listening to her talk, wasn't such a bad thing after all. Maybe he will take her up on more of the tea parties she invites him to. Maybe even make it a tradition only to see that smile of hers.

---------------------------------

Consistent writing style, who's that? Anyway here is yet another revenge fic @aptericia! Hopefully this two little bickering duos feel you with the same amount of joy you gave me!

[lapinbunwrites]

Fandom Ask Game!

Some are specific to writers or artists, but I made sure to include questions for everyone!

OTP?

OT3?

NoTP?

Is there a popular pairing you don't necessarily dislike but aren't too invested in?

Out of all your fanworks that include [character], which is your favourite?

Show us a bit of a WIP!

Is there a piece of clothing you think [character] is particularly fond of/that you imagine them wearing a lot or like to draw them in?

How did you come up with the title to [insert fic]?

Write a recommendation of someone else's fic you enjoyed!

What's your favourite piece of fanart for [character]?

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Have you noticed your style change over time?

Do people irl know you participate in fandom?

What's a book, movie, or show you think [character] would like?

Type [charater]'s name and tell us what the autocomplete suggests as the next word

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[lapinbunwrites]

Random ask game asks

Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?

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A show everyone criticizes that you like

A music artist everyone criticizes that you like

Last show you watched

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Your go-to genre of music?

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Colored pencils, markers, or crayons?

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What's something in your room that makes no sense without context

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Favorite subject in school?

If you could visit any place in the world where would you go?

A show/movie thats been on your watchlist forever but you for some reason keep putting off

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If you were to have a kid what names would you have in mind?

Do you think things like anniversaries are a big deal?

Mobile games or PC/console games?

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Long sleeve + shorts or short sleeve + pants

Can you do any voice impressions?

What was the first fandom you were genuinely into

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would you be fine having your partner completely provide for you?

Plain clothes or vibrant and eye catching clothes?

Worst date youve ever been on?

Movie date or restaurant date?

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[lapinbunwrites]

Title: The Songbird and The Crow

Chapter One: Letters to The Songbird

Ratings: Gen

Warnings: None

Fandom: Fire Emblem Three Houses, Fire Emblem Three Hopes

Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius

Characters: Annette Fantine Dominic, Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius

Additional Tags: During Canon, During War, Angst, Arranged Marriage, This Fic Is Not Historically Accurate

Word Count: 2,164

Ao3 Link

Felix couldn't remember the last time he physically saw Annette. The last memory he had of her was when they were still int the academy fending off Edelgard and her army, losing their professor in the process. For about six months, he was able to keep in touch with her by writing her letters. He didn't write much, just sending a scrap of paper wondering if she was doing alright. Then it soon faded when he couldn't think of other things to say, or when some of the Faerghun lords bugged him, Sylvain, and Ingrid where the prince Dimitri was, or when the waging war took up much of his time. If he had it his way, he would physically go to Dominic territory and see her again. Felix would take a hold of her hand as she sang song of her, dancing with her in one of her family's gardens full of blue poppy flowers, purple iris', black tulips, thistles, stock, and white and yellow spider lily's. All he truly wanted was to see her again.

He felt his shoulders ease up a bit when he received a scrap of paper from Annette, even if there was little writing on it. It reassured him that she was still alive and well during times like these. He wasn't one to admit his feelings, but he was glad that he was very happy that he care about her. He sighed, slumping back into his chair; he could only wish she knew that. Hopefully he could see her again to tell her how much she meant to him. He let out another sigh before picking up his quill and hovering it of a blank piece of paper. He confess his feeling right then and there, but he knew that was a bad idea. Instead, he just gave her a little bit of an update about his life and how things were in going in Northern Faerghus before sending it off to her.

He paced back and forth in his room after sending his note to her. How was she going to take it? Would she be happy? Would she hate him? Would she feel solace in receiving his meager letter? The many thoughts that swirled in his head began to give him a headache. Felix could only hope that he was not another villain in her song, he was hoping to be a hero or and companion in her song. He wanted to be something sweet in the things that she sang. Within the next few days, waiting for her to send him another letter, he still thought about the music she sang. It was constant in his mind, and for some reason it was the only keeping him sane as waited.

Felix shuffled through his papers, still a little dejected that he still hadn’t received a letter from her. It was just normal official noble mail and all the lords wanting to know if Dimitri is dead. He pushed them side, leaving the more his father, he wasn't Duke Fraldarius after all. He slumped his chair, having it sit against the windowsill as he looked up at the ceiling. His thoughts were still on Annette, hoping that she would be okay. He felt the chilling breeze flowing through the window, he could only hope that she was under multiple blankets to stay warm.

It brought a smile to his face and warmth to his heart imagining Annette scrunching her nose as she was trying to suppress a sniffle. Felix sighed, she was so cute and thinking about her made him wallow in pain that he hasn’t felt in years. He never realized that he would miss her bubbly and bright personality. She gave him so many good memories and some of the best feelings he felt since the death of his brother. He just wished he knew it sooner. Maybe he would have been able to convince her to come to Fraldarius. Though, he would have to keep her away from Gilbert. Annette hasn’t had the best relationship with him since he abandoned her and her mother.

He couldn't imagine how she felt after he decided up and leave her and her mother. Rodrigue was many things, but Felix knew that his father would never abandon him and his mother. He would never admit, especially to his father, but he knew Rodrigue had too big of a heart and loved him and his mother very much. As much as hated to admit it, Felix knew the death of Glenn took it's own toll on him, but it was hard for him to get back into his old habits, not that he wanted to. All Felix wanted was to be in Rodrigue's arms again and hear him say that he was proud of him and that he loved him. The worst thing about it, Felix knew Rodrigue would absolutely do if he asked and that Felix didn't know how to ask without feeling some strangeness and weirdness about it.

Felix let out a sigh, hoping it would help him get rid of his thoughts.

“Is everything alright?” A low, deep voice asked as he opened the door. “It’s not like you to cry, little one.”

“Shut it old man,” Felix growled.

"Ah, there is my grumpy little punk of a son,” Rodrigue chuckled, walking towards Felix.

“What do you want?” Felix asked, sitting up right.

“I was just checking up on you,” Rodrigue faintly smiled, standing right next to him. “No one has seen you all day and I got worried.”

“That’s new,” Felix said, suppressing a sniffle.

"Felix," Rodrigue sighed. "I always worry about you. A father always worries about his child."

"Not always," Felix softly said, peering over to his father with Annette's and Gilbert's relationship running through his mind. He huffed, peering down at the empty page that's on his desk.

“You’re still thinking about Annette aren’t you,” Rodrigue cooed, pulling Felix in close to him. “It’ll be alright, I’m sure she’s fine.”

“What if she isn’t?” Felix asked, placing his head on Rodrigue's chest.

"She's a strong woman," Rodrigue faintly smile, running his fingers through his son's hair. "She's resourceful, she can always find away out."

Felix breathed out, nuzzling his head against his father. He only hoped he was right.

Felix bursted up in the morning, shuffling his blankets around his bed. He looked around, not noticing that he was was moved from his office to his room. He barely remembered what had happened after his father came to check up on him. He shook his head, wiping the gross buildup in his face before getting ready. Throughout the day, everything seemed off and not normal. Everyone was more irritating than usual, his form was off during training, he had zero energy for his paperwork, and everything tried to catch during hunting wasn't working. He could feel his shoulders tense up again. The only time he was feeling any better was when he was in his room, staring at a blank piece of paper. Maybe, just maybe, if he put something on it, he would feel better.

He grabbed his quill, dipping it in the ink, and kept his hand hovered over the paper. He had nothing in his mind to say anything. A few minutes passed and he put down his quill, maybe it was just better to wait until she responded to his last letter. He wasn't a patient man, but for her, he would be. Felix rolled his eyes as he walked over to his window, looking into the midnight sky; there were many stars and birds. Looking at the stars, they shined much like Annette’s smile and personality. The birds only reminded him of her singing, so lovely and so calming. They entrapped his mind and his soul. Listening to the birds, it finally came to him. He only wondered what Annette was thinking, wondering what she was doing.

Felix grabbed out a notebook before sitting down at his disk, dipping his quill into the ink, and began writing into the late hours. He couldn’t believe that he was able to put so many thoughts in his notebook. In the morning, he looked over what he wrote before putting it in a drawer before getting back to his usual schedule. He trained, and trained, and trained, keeping his mind off of her. His mind started lose his thoughts of her, finally able to breath and finally able to focus.

Something in the back of his mind began itching at him. It had been weeks since Annette replied to the letter that Felix had sent out, and it was started to worry him. It didn't used to take so long to get a letter from her, but now it seems like it's nonexistent. He didn't want to admit, but he felt a pit in his stomach when it wasn't returned. He didn't want to give up on her, to lose her, but he knew there was a point in time the he had to move on, even when he didn't want to.

"Felix,” Rodrigue called out.

“Yes, old man? What do you need?” Felix sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I hope this isn’t about my latest training session.”

"Oh no,” Rodrigue assured him, walking closer to his son. “I can tell that you’ve been distracted these last few weeks, maybe this letter will be of help.”

“A letter?” Felix asked, quickly grabbing the paper out of his father’s hands. He opened up and a smile crept across his face. He felt a great sense of relief when it was Annette had finally written him back. “Oh thank the Goddess she is alright!”

"Annette?” Rodrigue chuckled as he felt Felix’s hand squeeze his arm.

“Yes,” Felix said, letting go of his father to hold the letter close to his heart.

“How is she doing?” Rodrigue asked, giving his son a smirk.

“She says she is doing well for the most part,” Felix replied, reading over the letter carefully. He squinted at the letter, holding it up closer to his face. “She says she misses everyone and that she was not in Dominic Territory.”

“Why’s that?” Rodrigue asked, leaning over Felix to read the letter with him.

“It’s because her uncle is thinking about betrothing her to someone!” Felix growled. He didn’t know whether to rip up the letter or destroy the things around him. “When did this happen?”

“I have no idea,” Rodrigue sighed, holding his son tightly.

“Does Gilbert know about this?” Felix said, pushing his father away.

“I don’t think he does,” Rodrigue said. “He hasn’t been in touch with his family since the war started.”

Felix let out a growl. There were many things that Felix could say about Rodrigue, but at least his own father was trying, Gilbert on the other hand, was not.

“I know that look, Felix. What are you planning? I hope it’s nothing stupid,” Rodrigue said, holding onto Felix’s arm.

“I’m not going to do anything stupid,” Felix reminded his father. “I’m just going to write to Annette.”

Rodrigue nodded, kissing his temple before letting him go, trusting Felix in his words.

Felix paced back and forth in his room, trying to process through his emotions. He felt anger and frustration that she was going to be with someone else, angry and frustrated that it took her this long to say something to him. Then began to feel something in his heart that he felt in years, he felt something swelling inside of his heart. A twinge of pain clutching in his heart that didn't feel good. He felt tears welling in his eyes as he sat down at his desk. He didn't like these feelings, he always swore to himself that he would never be like this again. Yet here was trying to control his breathing so he didn't feel like that helpless little child when he couldn't control his life when something went wrong. He just wanted these feelings to be gone, and he hated that writing them down would help it.

He grabbed his notebook, flipping the pages until he got to an empty one and began writing. All of what he wanted to say, he wrote down, and it's all so messy. Putting down his quill, he looked over out the window, looking at the setting sun. His mind was finally clear, he could finally write how he really wanted to say to her. Felix took one deep breath and exhaled before taking a piece of paper to write down all his thoughts. He laid on his bed, feeling a little bit better for only a few seconds. His mind began to spiral again, thinking of the many ways he was losing Annette again. In his thoughts, he thought of a million plans for his future and what lies ahead. His mind was so stuck on them that he didn't realize that he fell asleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Not me over here not posting this fic to Tumblr even though it's been well over a month since I posted this on Ao3 lmao.

This fic was originally going to be a gift to the person I got paired for the NetteFlix winter exchange. I got like a good 10k done of this fic before I changed it to something else because this felt more self-indulgent to me than them. I'm going try to go through what I have and spruce it up and hopefully complete a multi-chapter fic for once in my life. That's if work, projects, and playing a video game of mine doesn't consume me first.

[lapinbunwrites]

Waaahhh!! I comm @kwoojii for Lambert and my oc of his first wife, Aisla Lucia Blaiddyd/Aisla Lucia Cuínn and just a little character pose of her as well! They are so beautiful! My fave is how Lambert looks at Aisla so tenderly and she looks at him so bubbly and cheerfully T-T

Thank you so much kwoojii T-T

Also, please do not repost/edit/reproduce/use for AI or NFTs!

[lapinbunwrites]

Title: A Sleepy Proposal

Rating: Gen

Warnings: None

Fandom: Fire Emblem Three Houses

Relationship: Byleth Eisner/Claude von Riegan

Characters: Byleth Eisner, Claude von Riegan

Additional Tags: Post Verdant Wind Route, Fluff

Word Count: 495

Ao3 Link

Byleth couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Claude. The last she saw of him was in the Goddess Tower when the war shortly ended, he was gone in the wind. With the little amount of time they had spent together, he left a lasting impression on her, but she knew that she left an even bigger impression on him.

It was hard for her not to think of him right now, with the amount of work that she had to do. She was overloaded with problems to fix, from reforming the church, handling the lords both in the old Empire and the old Kingdom, dealing with the last reminits of the TWISTED, and dealing with uprisings for the late Emperor. It was a lot to deal with. She missed the days sitting down by a campfire with her old mercenary group, listening to old tales from her father. Now, she was ruling a new kingdom by herself.

Byleth placed her quill down, looking out the window to see the plushy grass swaying in the wind under the bright blue sky. The wind shortly picked up, flowing into the room she was sitting in, tussling her hair. It was truly hard not to see Claude in everything, it put a twinge of pain in her heart knowing that he was gone.

She couldn’t take this much longer, so she left her room to get a breath of fresh air. It felt nice being able to stretch her arms out in the open field. Byleth let out a little yawn as she laid down on the grass, feeling the warm sun on her face.

“Claude,” Byleth groggily said, shifting around, not realizing he shifted her head onto his lap.

“Good evening, Byleth,” Claude smiled, helping her sit up as he rested his back against his wyvern.

“When did you get back to Fódlan?” She yawned as she made herself comfortable by sitting in between his legs.

“A little while ago,” he said, yawning as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Someone’s a little tired,” she chuckled, nuzzling her head onto his chest.

“I rushed all the way here to ask you something,” he smiled, placing a kiss on her temple.

“What would that be?” Byleth asked, her voice lowering as she closed her eyes.

“I wanted to ask you if you wanted to marry me?” Claude asked, following her lead.

“I would love to,” she muttered before falling asleep against him.

“I love you,” he said, placing one last kiss on her head.

In a short few moons, their wedding took place in the same grassy field they fell asleep in. Byleth was in a beautiful black wedding with a wedding lacy wedding veil that was just as long as her dress. Claude matched her with a nice black suit that was accented with a lot of gold. It was a joyous day as they spent it around friends and partying for a full day.

------------------------

Not me over here forgetting to post this up on Tumblr a week and half after posting it up on Ao3. Anyway this is a revenge fic for cynical_mystic who gave me a lovely Sylveth fic months ago.

[lapinbunwrites]

Mercedes took one deep breath and exhaled. The stress of this war was starting to get to her; even her friend’s well-intentioned help was getting to her. She had to tell herself not to complain about it, she was still lucky to be alive and able to have the peace and down time that she currently had. Not everyone was lucky enough to have it. She had seen many soldiers lose their lives, she had seen Dimitri and Byleth run around their camp sites in a frenzy to make everything perfect, she had seen the amount of training Felix, Dedue, Ashe, and Sylvain put in. All of it was so stressful, even for her to watch. It was hard for her to take her mind off of it. Even the cheesecake that she was trying to make was to help those who needed a morale boost. Mercedes took one long sigh as she heard a crash in the kitchen.

My preview for @bluelionsladies zine which is currently in preorders! If you wish to buy a bundle, you can go here!

[lapinbunwrites]

Artwork one and two by Mawwy Mawwy

Artwork three, four, and five by @vellatra

Title: The Distance Between Us

Rating: Teen and Up, Gen

Warnings: Graphic Descriptions of Violence, Major Character Death

Fandom: Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn

Relationship: Ike & Mist, Mist & Titania, Mist & Rhys

Characters: Ike, Mist, Titania, Rhys

Additional Tags: During War, During Canon, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Morning

Word Account: 5,155

Ao3 Link

Mist let out a breath, seeing it in the winter air, as she looked at the town in front of her. The town she was in was hustling and bustling and it brought a smile to her face. There were so many people here with their families playing games, eating food, and hanging it. Seeing the families spend time with each other, especially the siblings, made her jealous. She couldn’t even remember the last time her and Ike hung out with each other. The last time Mist could even remember it was before their father had died, but that was over three years ago. This wasn’t going to do, she needed to spend some time with her dear older brother. Whether he likes it or not, she was going to force him to spend some time with her and she knew exactly how to do it.

She slapped her face, reminding herself why she was in the town to begin with. She needed to pick up the ingredients to a certain medicine Rhys had wanted to make. Mist was on a mission, not only for the ingredients, she also wanted to see all the games her and Ike could play together. It was truly amazing to her that, even in the midst of a war, people still found the time to have fun and have a festival. It brought her so much joy to her heart. Maybe more days could be filled like these ones when the war was done.

Mist skipped around town, picking up everything Rhys needed. She felt pretty accomplished being able to hunt down everything he needed, even the rarer things. She wasn’t surprised to see him constantly overworking himself by healing their soldiers.

“Hello Rhys,” Mist greeted him, handing him the ingredients.

“Hello Mist!” Rhys chirped, taking them off of her hands. “I assume your trip into town was a safe one.”

“It was! It was really nice being able to see everyone being so lively,” she said, sitting right next to him to help him out with his patients.

“Wonderful!” He smiled, going over to his little desk. He took out a little mortar and pestle to grind up the medicine into a paste. “Was there anything there you got for yourself?”

“No,” she said, slowly wrapping the bandages around the soldier’s arm. “There are a few things that I want to get, but I don’t want to go back there alone.”

“Why’s that,” he asked, handing her the medicine.

Mist took the paste from him and walked over to another patient. She rubbed it all over the man’s arm, allowing it to set before banding him up. “There is this festival taking place there and I want to go with Ike.”

“That’s a wonderful idea!” He chirped again, helping her with her patient. “I bet he would love to go with his beloved younger sister.”

“Are you sure?” Mist asked, starting to feel the crushing loneliness setting in her body. After her father died, it was hard to get Ike to do anything with her and she felt a void take over her body. She felt like crap ever since then and it felt like it was never going to go away. “He has been so busy with war councils, training, and running our mercenary band, he has been all over the place.”

“I’m sure,” he reassured her, patting her head. “He may not be the most emotional man, or the most expressive unless you have meat, but he does care for you. He would do anything for you. I’m sure of it.”

“I want to believe you, I do,” she sighed, placing her hands on her knees. “But it just seems like he’s ignoring me.”

“Mist, go ask your brother or I will,” he glared at her.

“What about everyone here? You need help,” she said, getting up.

“I’ll be fine,” he reassured her, putting his hand on her shoulder to stop her.

“You’ve been at this all day. You need a break,” she reminded him, trying to pry his hand off of her. “I don’t want you to fall over in exhaustion again.”

“I will be fine. I have more healers coming to help me,” he said, pushing her out of the tent. “Now go ask your brother to spend some time with you.”

“Fine, fine,” she said, caving in.

Mist took one deep breath in and exhaled, she knew this was going to be a challenge to find Ike. He was always hard to track down; she knew he could be anywhere in camp. She walked around, and around, and around but he was nowhere to be found. Mist began to feel another void enter her body. It felt heavy, staticy, and it hurt her a lot. Could Rhys be right and that he truly wants to spend time with her? Or was she right and he was just trying to avoid her? The many thoughts that swirled her mind were giving her a headache.

She started to sniff, trying to hold back the tears she didn’t want to cry. She has cried too many tears the past three years and all she wanted to do was laugh, like the people in the town nearby. It hurt her that she couldn’t do that right now, or at all. Her brother was not being kind to her right now, she couldn’t find him at all.

Deciding to give up her search for him, she thought it would be best to go back to helping Rhys. Mist, stopping a few feet away from the medical tent, clutched her stomach. She could feel her stomach begin to burn; maybe coming back was a bad idea. Mist knew that if she didn’t come back with good news, Rhys was going to scold her again and she didn’t want that. She decided the best course of action was just going back to her own tent.

She fell right onto her cot, curling up under her blanket, the warmth was not helping her get rid of the emptiness that she felt throughout her body. Not even the tears that were strolling down her face weren’t helping, and they usually did, if for only a few days. Before she knew it, she was asleep in a groggy haze dream.

Mist could see herself reaching out towards an axe on a cliff, feeling the rain drop against her skin. She recognized that axe, she felt her heart sink when she recognized the person behind the weapon. It was her father. Her heart beat faster, and faster, and faster, trying to catch up with him as he turned his back to her. No matter how far she ran, no matter how fast she went, she could never reach him. Before long, he vanished in thin air, unable to hug him one last time.

Then she felt her body chuck her somewhere else, into a field full of flowers and grass. She could feel the breeze violently move her hair and dress around. Between trying to move her hair out of her face, and looking around, she was able to find Ike standing a few feet in front of her. For only a few seconds she felt a great sense of relief, but it slipped away when he turned around and started to walk away.

He was getting further and further away from her and she couldn’t keep up with him. Mist cried out his name but she was getting no response. By the time she was able to catch up with him, he disappeared, leaving her behind. She could see herself picking up the Ragnell and holding it close to her body as she fell to the ground to cry.

“Mist,” a low voice called out to her, lulling her out of her sleep. “Mist wake up.”

“Ike,” she groggily said, rolling over to her side to face him. “Ike!”

She sprung into his arms, holding tightly as she began to cry.

“Mist, what’s wrong?” Ike asked, wrapping his arms around her body. “What’s wrong?”

“Ike!” She cried out. “I’m so happy you’re alive!”

“Of course I’m alive,” he sighed, pushing her back. He took his hand, wiping the tears off of her face. “I have too many people depending on me to end this war.”

“Including me,” she cried, clutching onto him.

“Mist please,” he groaned, trying to pry her off of him. “If you don’t tell me what’s going on, I can’t help you.”

“It’s-It’s because you won’t spend time with me,” Mist said, slowly breathing. “You’ve been avoiding me lately.”

“I’m sorry Mist,” he sighed, helping her clean up her face. “This is to be expected in a war. It’s not like I don’t want to spend time with you, I have other pressing matters to deal with.”

“Ike,” she softly said, moving away from him. She laid down on her cot, her back facing her brother. “Then go, I will be by myself then.”

“Stop it Mist,” he said, shaking her body.

“If you want to make it up to me, you can take me to the festival that’s happening in the town next to our camp,” she pouted, not even fending him off.

“You know I can’t do that,” he reminded her, stopping what he was doing.

“Then go, I don’t want to spend time with you then,” she said, coldly.

“Fine,” he sighed as he left her tent.

Mist glanced over her shoulder, watching him leave. What a brother she had.

She closed her eyes, hoping that this next dream won’t be the same as the last couple. She was all wrong. It was the same dream she had, Greil and Ike both leaving her.

What was unlike Mist, she avoided Ike whenever she could. It didn’t go unnoticed, most of everyone became concerned about it.

“Mist,” Titania said softly, taking a hold of her arm.

“Yes, Titania?” Mist asked, turning around to face her.

“Is everything alright?” Titania asked, letting go of Mist.

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?” Mist asked, curling her lips.

“I’ve noticed that you have been avoiding Ike lately,” Titania sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I have not,” Mist huffed, trying to storm off.

“You are a bad liar,” Titania said, stopping her.

“I am not!” Mist said, moving her feet, but unable to move anywhere with the second-in-command’s grip held tightly on her.

“You are. You get all huffy when you are hiding something,” Titania rolled her eyes before getting Mist to face her. “What is really going on?”

Mist took one deep breath. She didn’t know how Titania knew saw right through her, but she isn’t surprised. They have known each other for years. Mist looked up into her green eyes before looking at the grass beneath them.

“Mist, it’s okay, I won’t judge this for this,” Titania said, placing her hand on Mist’s chin to look her in the eye.

“It’s, it’s because,” Mist said, beginning to fidget with her clothes. “It’s because Ike won’t go with me to the festival close by. Something to do with being a commander.”

Titania chuckled a little. If she could choose, she would much rather deal with a sibling squabble than dealing with this war. “He’s always been thick headed.”

“He has, and he doesn’t want to spend any time with me,” Mist vented, kicking the grass. “He hasn’t for a while.”

“There is a way to get him to spend time with you,” Titania smirked, putting her hand on her hip.

“What way is that?” Mist gasped, clutching her clothes.

“Beat him in a training match,” Titania said, placing her hand on Mist’s head, and ruffling her hair.

“You know that’s not going to work,” Mist pouted, moving Titania’s hand off of her head. “He is already years ahead of me and he trains relentlessly.”

“If you keep talking like that, you won’t get anywhere,” Titania scoffed, squishing Mist’s face. “Plus you’re not half bad with a sword. You just need some refinement and I can help you with that.”

“Really?!” Mist asked, her voice becoming higher.

“Yes, really,” Titania smiled, releasing her face. “Just meet me in the training grounds in a few hours and we can train for a little bit.”

Mist nodded and watched Titania walk off. She went back to her tent to grab her sword, but was unable to find it. She rushed around camp trying to find it, but with no luck. This was just as frustrating as trying to get her brother to spend time with her. Mist whined a little as she took her training sword instead. Her breath was heavy when she saw Titania stand in the middle of the training grounds, flailing her axe around in the air.

“I’m here,” Mist said, interrupting Titania’s training.

“Hello Mist,” Titania greeted, moving her arm to her side. “Ready to train?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Mist said excitedly.

“First you will need to stretch,” Titania said, ruffling Mist’s hair again.

“Right! I always make sure to have everyone else stretch so it won’t be a good idea if I didn’t,” Mist laughed, getting on the ground.

Once Mist was finished with stretching, Titania showed her how to hold a sword properly. They started with basic techniques, slowly moving to some lighthearted training against each other. They practiced a lot in the day, and a lot more throughout the week. With the amount of training Mist did, she felt confident that she could take on Ike and at least land one blow on him.

“Ike! Ike!” Mist called out.

“What is it Mist?” Ike asked, walking out of his tent.

“I challenge you!” Mist chirped, holding out her training sword.

“What? Why are you acting like Mia all of a sudden?” He asked, moving her sword out of his face.

“No, I’ve just been training a lot,” she smiled, clutching her sword.

“Oh, so you want to train with me now. Are you sure about that? Dad didn’t exactly go easy on me,” Ike smiled, warmth swelling in his heart.

“Yes, but on one condition!” Mist smirked, putting her hands on his arm.

“What would that be?” Ike sighed, as she tugged him.

“If I win, we will go to that festival in town,” she said, unable to make her brother move.

“Mist, I told you I don’t have time for that,” he groaned, feeling her trying to push him.

“If you have time to train, you have time for fun,” she whined, still not being able to budge him.

“Mist, training is important because we are in a war,” he reminded her, taking a hold of her. “The stronger I can get, the better.”

“So is relaxing,” she said, hitting his leg with her fist. “It won’t mean much if you overwork yourself. You can die that way.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ike sighed, dropping her on the ground. “Fine, I will train with you and if you win, I’ll go with you to the festival.”

Mist laughed, kicking his leg in return for dropping her. She followed behind him as they walked to the training grounds. She held up her sword, positioning herself in a normal myrmidon stance. She smirked as she looked at her brother, who seemed a little impressed with her. It was all she needed to feel the fire igniting in her body. She knew she would be able to beat her brother. She knew all his tricks from watching him train with their father.

She waited as long as she could, hoping her brother would be bull-headed and rushed her first. She dodged his attacks as much as she could, he was unrelenting. It was becoming hard to fend him off, she was unable to even land a blow on him before her sword slipped out of her hands. Mist let out a sigh as she fell to her knees, feeling a pit in her stomach. There were many things she thought of that began to fry her brain.

“I won Mist,” Ike said, reaching his hand down towards her.

Mist swiped his hand away from her, not saying a word.

“Mist, why are you acting like a child?” He whined.

“Why do you care?” She mumbled, turning away from him, and clutching her knees close to her chest. “You haven’t cared before. Why start now?”

Ike pinched the bridge of his nose before walking away. “Whatever. When you are done acting like this, you know where to find me.”

Mist peered over her shoulder, watching him leave. Remembering her dream, she reached out for his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

“Mist?” Ike asked, looking down at her.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said, letting go of him.

Mist felt her heart wrench when she watched her brother shake his head and walk away. It was almost as she was being thrusted back into one of her nightmares. The feeling of the breeze in her hair, the smell of the nice flowers, and the grass swaying around her. She only wished it could rain, it was more befitting than her starting to hate such beautiful scenery. Tinted with the somber hues of orange, purple, blue, and white only to be undercutted by the crisp breeze that carried a faint smokiness through the air.

The worst part about this whole ordeal was that Ike is right. He was way too busy with the war, commanding an army, making war plans, confirming war plans with Soren and Titania, carrying out missions and many more things. Why would he have time for her selfish request and going to a festival with her. She knew it was better just to spend time with him the way she has been for the past three years. Her priority, much like her older brother’s, should be ending the war and she needed to be okay with that.

Mist finally got up off the ground, taking her time to get to her tent. Her eyes grew dim when she approached the mess hall that was illuminated by the candles in the midnight sky. The appetite she worked up trying to beat Ike, and crying over him, she lost when she looked at the building. She knew it was a bad idea to go to bed hungry, but she would rather not be near people, especially her own brother. She knew only more heartache was going to creep into her already broken soul.

She wiped the last of her tears off of her face as she entered her tent. Through the heavy heaving, she smushed her body whole into her cot. Mist wishes she could enjoy the nice warmth of her thick blanket, but not with what's been happening lately. She always told herself that a nice warm sleep was deserved after a joyous and kind day, but she didn’t deserve this, especially not after the past week has been going.

She wished her father was alive, he was always able to get Ike to spend time with her. That was so long ago and they were children, it wouldn’t work now. Not with Greil dead and gone. Thinking about her father, she sniffed herself into a deep sleep. Her nightmares didn’t let up, they were just as bad as before. Mist couldn’t believe what she was seeing, the battlefield was covered in fire. She placed her hands over her nose to cover the stench of the decomposing bodies.

Standing before her was Ike. She watched as her arm reached out towards him as he rushed someone. Her eyes began to water when he was struck down, falling into her arms. He was wrapped in her arms, letting out his breath. Her tears falling onto his lifeless body.

Mist twisted and turned, patting the ground around her. She had latched onto something weirdly portioned, something that was hard as a rock. She didn’t care very much, she just held it as tightly as she could. Only after hearing a grumble that followed with the person shaking her off.

“Mist,” Ike grumbled, prying her off of his arm. “Get off of me.”

“Ike,” she murmured, letting go of his arm. “Where…am I?”

“You’re in my tent,” he replied, pushing her away. “Why are you here?”

“I don’t know,” she said, rapidly blinking. “I was in my tent when I fell asleep.”

“I need you to leave,” he sighed, rolling his eyes.

“No!” Mist chirped, attaching herself to his arm again.

“Mist! Stop this!” Ike groaned, trying to pry her off again.

“No! I’m not leaving!” She said, tightening her grip.

“How is your grip so strong?” He asked, giving up. “Why are you acting like this?”

“Not any of your business,” she mumbled.

“It is my business, you’re my little sister,” he said, hitting her on the head with his free hand.

“It doesn’t feel like it is,” she sighed, loosening her grip on him. “You’ve been ignoring me for a while. Ever since dad died, you really haven’t cared.”

“Mist,” Ike softly said, putting his palm on the top of her head.

She let him go and as she began to leave, he held onto her. “Let go of me.”

“No.” He sighed, pulling her closer to him. “I’m sorry Mist, I didn’t mean to make you feel like that.”

“I know,” she pouted, prying his fingers off of her. “I just miss spending time with my brother.”

“I know you do,” he softly said, letting go of her. “How about we go to that festival then?”

“Really?” Mist asked, her face lighting up.

“Yes really,” Ike smiled. “Now go get ready.”

She nodded her head and rushed out of his tent. She quickly cleaned herself up and grabbed a few things before meeting up with her brother again. It was mostly a quiet walk to the next town over. She bounced up and down, letting a little gasp, as she saw the many people that were here. Mist smiled, grabbing Ike’s arm as she dragged him further into the town.

There were so many things that they could do, she couldn’t decide. Luckily for her, her brother already knew what to do. Not that she was surprised that he went straight to eating some meat. She laughed a little, there was nothing new with Ike inhaling his food. Mist looked around, trying to find something they could do together. She was a little surprised there weren’t very many games they could play. The more surprising thing to her was that everything was food related. It was baffling to her that this town was able to have all this food during a war.

She shook her head, trying not to think of the logistics of it. Mist was just happy that people were able to eat and have fun. She turned her attention back to her brother, who was chowing down on some kind of meat dish, with it all over his face. She laughed, handing him a napkin.

“Why haven’t you gotten anything to eat?” Ike asked, taking the napkin.

“I’m not really all that hungry right now,” Mist smiled. “Plus, I need to keep my appetite. It looks like we are at a food festival.”

She laughed even more when she watched her brother’s face light up, wondering why he didn’t decide to come sooner.

“I better finish this then,” he said, inhaling his food.

“You need to chew first!” She gasped. “I don’t need you to choke on your food!”

He nodded, slowing down his chewing.

“Seriously, if I weren’t around, you would be dead by now just eating your food,” she sighed, shaking her head.

“Whatever,” he laughed, finishing up his food. “We better get going.”

Mist nodded as she got up from her seat. She walked with him around the town, looking at all the yummy desserts that they were passing by. She couldn’t choose what to get. There were coffee cakes, cream cheese cakes, coffee eclairs, strawberry shortcakes, chocolate mousse, and so many other things. She was drooling when she stared longingly at the food. Mist could hear her brother laugh.

“If there is something you want to eat, I’ll get it for you,” Ike smiled, patting her head.

“No, no,” she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I still need to make space in my stomach.”

“How are you related to me?” Ike laughed. “I thought you would have a big stomach like me.”

“Thankfully, I’m not you,” Mist teased, turning to face him. “I actually appreciate the food I eat.”

“I appreciate the food I inhale,” he scoffed, playfully hitting her shoulder. “Why do you think I shove it down so fast?”

“If this war doesn’t kill you, you eating will,” she laughed.

“Ah, that would be the life,” Ike smiled. “Let’s keep walking, you want to work up that appetite don’t you?”

Mist nodded, following him around. She smiled as she watched everyone be like her brother, quickly eating their food while they laughed and told stories. It brought her relief that people were still able to have fun right now. If this meant anything, it meant she needed to end this war faster so they could have many more days like this. She shook her head as she looked back up to her brother who had the dopest look on his face. He found a little area where a small group of people were holding a little sword competition. She could tell he was giddy. Mist gestured for him to go over, and without a second thought, Ike rushed over.

She watched her brother have fun beating everyone that fought him. He didn’t even break a sweat when he battled against anyone. Not that she is surprised by it, his training was insane. Everyone was impressed by his skill; they even asked him to give them some pointers on how to train and use their sword. Deep down, it made her so happy that he was actually enjoying himself and being able to relax for once. She could tell he was a lot less stressed than he usually was at camp.

“Hey Mist,” Ike said, stretching his arms.

“You had fun playing with everyone?” She chuckled, walking up to him.

“I did,” he smiled, meeting her half way. “Are you hungry yet? I think I am hungrier than ever right now.”

“I mean you just went up against ten people and helped them train,” she said, poking his face. “You usually get hungry afterwards. I would be concerned if you didn’t.”

“You know me so well,” he agreed, fending off her finger. “But you still haven’t eaten yourself, I’m getting concerned.”

“Yeah, I think I’m getting hungry,” she smiled, persistent on her poking.

“Will stop that,” he groaned a little, grabbing her hand.

“Let’s go around to get something to eat,” she laughed as he let her hand go.

“Onwards,” he gestured for her to lead the way.

She looked around, seeing that the town was starting to wind down a little bit. It also looked like some people were starting to gather around the food stalls. She rushed around, trying to find something that would be filling and she could carry around. She smiled as she came across a stall with nothing but potatoes. She gave the vendor two gold to get twenty mini potato pancakes with a couple of other vegetables.

Mist let out a little gasp as she tasted the potato goodness. The butter tied into the wonderful taste of the salt, pepper, and other spices and herbs the person cooked it with. The other vegetables that went with it, helped it so much more. She waved at Ike to come try it along with his other meat dish.

“Taste this,” Mist demanded, shoving the potato into his mouth.

“Mist-” He said as he bit into the little snack. Without a second thought, he grabbed another and another. “This is so good. I think this is better than what Oscar can make.”

“You better hope that he never hears that,” she laughed, handing him another piece. “You know how much he likes hearing your compliments.”

“Do me a favor, never tell him that,” he said, choking on his food.

“Don’t worry, they will never come out of these lips,” she smiled, eating a little more. “Just make sure you tell him you appreciate what he makes.”

“You know I will,” he said, coughing up his food. “Anyway, what do you think is going on over there?”

“I have no idea,” she said, looking back at the people in town. There were even more crowding the stalls. She thought the town was winding down. “We should go see.”

“Right,” Ike nodded, following her.

They then realized that everyone was gathered around certain areas, it was because of a taste testing contest. Mist laughed loudly when she saw Ike was beside himself. He looked like a child in a candy store. When they walked around, she grabbed any dessert she laid eyes on. It broke her heart when she was dragged somewhere else by her brother.

It was unsurprising that he found an area that had taste testing for people making ribs. It was his favorite food after all. She sighed before smiling when Ike handed her different types of ribs. She kept to herself how she really felt about them, she really wasn’t impressed by the taste. It was a bit bland, the sauce wasn’t really helping to cover it up, and the meat was a bit chewy. Mist didn’t mind too much, whatever she had leftover she would give to Ike and it made him so happy.

By the end of the night, she could feel her stomach overflowing with food. She knew she would be able to sleep easy tonight. She could also tell her own brother was getting sleepy from the amount of food he ate. It almost looked like he would fall to the ground and just sleep there.

“Hey Mist,” Ike murmured out, holding onto his sister.

“Yeah?” Mist asked, holding her brother.

“Here, I have this for you,” he smiled, handing her a cup full of chocolate mousse.

“No way!” She gasped, letting go of him to grab the dessert. “When did you get this?”

“When we were at the corner with the ribs,” he said, falling to the ground. “I snuck a way for a few minutes to grab you some. Sorry if the freshness isn’t the greatest.”

“It tastes amazing,” she laughed, bending down to the ground to pat his back. “Thank you.”

“Good,” he smiled, trying to get off the ground.

Mist put his arm around her shoulder, helping him get back to camp and into his tent. He was out as soon as they got back. She rested next to him, and for the first time in weeks, she didn’t have a nightmare when she went to bed.

----------------------------------------------

So I got to participate in @telliusbigbang and got to write for one of my fave dynamics, sibling bonds! I wrote about Ike and Mist trying to bond together but Mist failing most of the time but happy that she was finally able to! She is having a time to say the least. It was also very fun to work with both Vellatra and Mawwy Mawwy who drew the cute art that went with this fic!

[lapinbunwrites]

Title: Felix's Embarrassing Holiday

Rating: Gen

Warnings: None

Fandom: Fire Emblem Three Houses

Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Glenn Fraldarius, Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius, Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Felix's Hugo Fraldarius' Mother

Characters: Annette Fantine Dominic, Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Glenn Fraldarius, Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius, Felix Hugo Fraldarius' Mother

Additional Tags: Modern AU, AU Where Christmas Exists, Fluff, Comedy, Meeting the Family, Original Character

Word Count: 3,426

Ao3 Link

Felix groaned as he read a text from his mother, she wanted to meet Annette. He always told himself he was never going to tell Rodrigue anything else that happened in his life, but that was never going to happen. Deep down, even though he would never admit to anyone (he barely admits it to himself), he did love his father and did enjoy being around him. While he knew his parents were excited to meet his girlfriend, and Annette felt the same, he did not. Felix knew they were planning something, but he never knew what. He always ended up being unprepared when he was around him and it always gave him whiplash.

He pinched the bridge of his nose before texting his mother back saying that he will think about it, and instead of replying back to her, he just locked his phone and put his phone in his pocket. He walked down the sidewalks in Fhirdiad to find this little shop that his girlfriend wanted him to try out. He knew she loved sweets and she had a knack for finding little places filled with any sort of confection, but he always kept an open mind about them. Annette always found a shop that always served him something he would end up liking. Felix smirked as he peered into the shop's window, looking at Annette as she sipped on her hot chocolate.

"Sorry I'm late," Felix said, wrapping his coat around her shoulders.

"Oh, you're fine," Annette reassured him, clutching his coat. "I got here a few minutes myself."

"You lost track of time, didn't you?" He asked, sitting across from her in the booth.

"Yeah," she squeaked out, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Annette," he said softly, placing his hand on hers. "Do you I need to get you an alarm? You keep drowning yourself in your homework."

"No, please don't" she whined, fiddling with his coat. "It's the end of the semester of my last year of college. I want to make sure I pass and graduate."

"If you don't relax and keep going, you aren't going to run yourself ragged," he reminded her, raising his eyebrow.

"I know, but I can't miss a beat or I will fail," she protested, taking a drink of her hot coco.

"Annette," his voice low and deep that she couldn't resist.

Annette felt her face heat up the moment he spoke her name.

"I can't, in good conscious, allow you to continue to do this to yourself," Felix smiled at her.

"Felix," she tenderly said, placing her free hand on top of his.

He thought for a couple of seconds of plans that they could do to distract her from her studies while she ordered food for the both of them. The only thing that was sitting in the back of his mind that could be a plan was meeting his family, but he knew he was going to regret that. He kept quiet as he drank his coffee, thinking of a million other plans, but they all came back to his family.

"Felix, are you okay?" Annette asked, taking a bit of her strawberry and banana crepe. "You're unusually quiet."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he reassured her, taking a bit of his spicy turkey focaccia sandwich. "I'm just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" She smiled, wiping the chipotle aioli off of his face.

"My family," he offhandedly said, taking her hand off of his skin.

"Oh! Are you finally going to let me meet your parents and your brother!" She chirped placing her hands together.

"Uh, not exactly," he rolled his eyes.

"Felix, I've been asking for this for months," she whined, placing her hands on her lap.

"Annette, it's not like that," Felix said, trying to reassure her.

"Then what is it like?" Annette asked, staring at him with her bluish green eyes.

He sighed, he was not going to win this fight. "Fine, but only if you relax and pull yourself away from your studies more, I will let you meet my whole family."

Annette clapped her hands and cheered.

Felix rolled his eyes as he smiled, but he knew he was going to regret this. He pulled out his phone, texting his mother to set up a date. He groaned when he saw his mother's next text, it was for Christmas.

"What's going on now?" She laughed, shoving the rest of her crepe in her mouth.

"My mother wants you to come over on Christmas," he groaned, falling back into the booth.

"Tpaft's wonpfrul!" Annette chirped, swallowing her food.

"Yeah, wonderful," he laughed, wiping the chocolate off of her face.

"Oh! I'm so excited!" She laughed as he patted her face.

"I know," he smiled, moving his hand back to his lap. "I will let my mother know."

"Thank you! But I need to get back, class is going to start in a few minutes," she gasped as she looked down at her phone.

"Annette," he sighed, pulling the check towards him. "Go."

He smiled as he watched her rush out the door. When he left the shop, everything finally hit him, and it hit like a truck. The meeting was in two days, he completely forgot that it was close. He rushed around town, heading to a couple of different places before heading home. He was grateful that his parents weren't home when he got back, they were they weren't his favorite people at the moment. He smiled when he received a text from Annette, he was relieved to received it from her. Felix stayed up late into the night, messing up his own sleeping schedule to talk to her.

He woke up in the morning, not realizing that he fell asleep with his phone on face. He rubbed his temples, feeling pressure build up. He groaned as he got out of his bed to get ready for the day, he had plenty to do. He sat in the living room, near the Christmas tree, with wrapping paper, scissors, tape, and pre-tied ribbons. He consistently cursed to himself trying to line up the boxes on the wrapping paper as he tried to get it to stay before taping it. The worst part for him was when he taped the corners. He tried multiple times to fold them into perfect triangles, but they ended up into squished, misshapen triangles. He sighed and just put a bow on the rest of his gifts before putting them under the tree.

The rest of his day was spent cleaning and organizing the house. He made sure to find all of the family photo albums and hiding under his bed like he was a horny thirteen year old boy with a porn magazine. Felix looked around the house, trying to find any other embarrassing thing that family might use against him and placing them in his closet in his room. Annette wouldn't go through there right? He could only hope that her curiosity didn't get the better of him and she decided go through his stuff. When he woke up the next morning, the pain in his head only grew worse. It didn't help that his parents were already up.

"Morning, Felix," Rodrigue smiled as he drank his black coffee.

Felix just grunted as he dragged his feet into the kitchen.

"Well, you're in a good mood," Rodriuge said sarcastically. "I hope this isn't the attitude that you aren't going to have when Annette comes over later tonight."

"Sorry, I just have a splitting headache," Felix lied as he put some headache pills in his mouth and washing it down with water.

"Dad, he's stressed about us meeting his little girlyfriend," Glenn teased his brother as he laughed and stretching out his face.

"Stop that you fool," Felix protested, fending off his brother.

"It's so cute to see you in woove!~" Glenn laughed louder as Felix pushed him.

"Oh, do you think we are going to embarrass you?" Emmeline asked, smirking.

"Yes! Yes I do!" Felix declared, trying to go back to his room.

"You are exactly right!" Glenn said with a giant smile, holding Felix by his collar. "And you aren't going anywhere. You're helping mom with cooking and baking this year. It's your turn."

Felix groaned as he stopped fighting his brother.

"I saw that you already grabbed everything," Emmeline said, clapping her hands. "I'm assuming you want to make spicy fish and turnip stew and saghert and cream." a "Yeah, those are a couple of Annette's favorite dishes," Felix murmured, scratching the back of his neck.

"Awe, you're so cute," she smirked, walking into the kitchen. "We better get started, that stew is going to take some time to make."

Felix shook his head as he helped her get out the ingredients. The two barely spoke to each other when they cooked, but it always brought them together. He preferred baking over cooking because when he formed dough, he was able to beat the dough to release his stress and anger. It would also help clear his mind when he baked, nothing seemed to matter. What helped him was the smell of the stew that his mother worked on. Smelling the smokiness of the fish, hearing the bubbling of the stock, hearing the turnips being shaved, made him feel calm. It even made smile. Doing all of this transported him back to his childhood where him, his parents, and Glenn were all together in the kitchen making a giant stew dish with many different vegetables.

Reliving those memories where short lived when he felt his chest tighten up when he heard the doorbell rang. Felix rushed out of the kitchen, tripping over his feet as he tried to get to the door. He felt defeated when he heard Rodrigue's laughter when his father beat him to the door.

"Hello Annette," Rodrigue greeted with a smile. "My wife and Felix are currently making dinner so why don't you come into the living room with me and Glenn."

"Hello! That would be lovely!" Annette chirped as she took off her shoes when she entered the house.

"I'm not in the kitchen," Felix moaned out as he picked himself off the floor.

Annette laughed as she gave him a little peck on his check.

"How are you?" He asked, trying to hide the kiss he gave to Annette.

"Ehuehuehue, look at the two little love birds," Glenn teased.

"Awe, you two are very romantic," Rodrigue teased along with his oldest son. "You two are just like me and your mother!"

Felix did his best to suppress his groans and hide his blushing face. He could feel in his bones that is was going to be a long night.

"Hello," Emmeline greeted with a smile. "You must be Annette."

"Yes, I am!" Annette cheerfully said, turning to face her. "You must be Felix's mother."

"Yes, you can call me Emmeline," Emmeline said, placing her hand on Annette's face to take a good long look at her. "My, you are very cute. No wonder my son fell for you."

"Mother!" Felix growled.

"Oh hush and get back into the kitchen," she said, pushing him. "I have some very important business to take care of."

Felix rolled his eyes as he went back to baking and cooking. He was no longer able to space out again, not when he could hear his family laughing in the background. He could think of the many things they could be saying and none of it was good. He did his best to ignore their laughter as he continued to cook, he was at least prepared with hiding the photo albums and embarrassing childhood items.

"Oh my goodness!" Annette squealed. "He looks so cute!"

"What? What's going on?" Felix said rushing into the living room.

"Felix you look so cute!" She said, showing Rodrigue's phone to him. "I didn't know you had a bowl cut when you were a little ity bity baby!"

"Old man!" He growled, holding a knife up to him. "How did you get that picture? I hid all of our photo albums."

"Felix, I have a phone that I downloaded it to," Rodrigue reminded him, taking the phone from Annette to show her more pictures.

"How? You are the least tech savvy person I even meet?" Felix asked, trying to take the phone from his father only to be fended off.

"Your brother did it for me," Rodrigue said, trying to find a very specific picture. "Glenn, do you know where that picture."

Felix's eyes became wide and he felt so much tension in his shoulders as he rushed to his father to grab the phone. Glenn lightly pushed his younger brother out of to grab Rodrigue's phone. Felix did his best to grab the phone, but by the time he could, Glenn had found the picture of Felix in his emo phase. He was dressed all in black, trying a different hair color, and got a tongue piercing.

"Oh, wow Felix, that is a look," Annette laughed, taking a good long look at him.

"Yeah, I know," Felix groaned. "Being thirteen was a time for me."

"Clearly," she said, handing Rodrigue's phone back to him. "Do you still have the tongue piercing?"

"No, the whole closed up a while ago. You should know this by the amount-" Felix then felt his face begin to heat up again. He was even in on embarrassing himself. "Never mind."

"Hohoho, how far have you guys gotten?" Emmeline teased, smushing Felix's face.

"None of your business!" Felix said, his voice going up an octave.

"Look at you, you're face is so warm!" Emmeline laughed, kissing his forehead. "You are adorable."

"Can we stop now, please?" He asked, his voice going back to normal. "Plus dinner is done."

"Wonderful, what did you make?" Annette asked, taking a hold of his hand. "My mother and I made spicy fish and turnip stew with saghert and cream for dessert."

"Felix, you are so sweet!" She chirped, as he led her into the kitchen.

He grabbed a plate out for her, placing a heaping amount of fish and stew on her plate. He helped her over to the table, moving the chair so she could sit down before placing the plate of food in front of her. Felix grabbed his plate of food, along with dessert.

"Look at them," Emmeline mused, placing her head on Rodrigue's chest. "They are so cute."

"Yes," Rodrigue agreed, hold her tight to his body. "Much like us when were their age."

Emmeline nodded and gave him a kiss.

"Are you guys going to eat or are you guys going to have a mush fest and gross me out?" Felix sneered at them before taking a bit of his food.

"Yes, yes," Rodrigue laughed. "Come on Glenn, you don't want to miss out."

"Oh no, I want to give Annette all the embarrassing stories of when Felix was little," Glenn smirked walking over into the kitchen.

"Be kind on your brother, I think he has had enough embarrassment for the day," Rodrigue smiled, following his lead.

"We'll see about that," Glenn laughed, sitting down at the table.

Over dinner they told stories of their lives, filling the room with laughter and warmth. Rodrigue told how he met Emmeline and how they had Glenn a little younger than they wanted, but saying he was a bundle of joy and by the time Felix arrived, their family was complete. Emmeline even told them Annette about Felix's laugh when he was young. That if she ever she was sad, she would make him laugh, she would feel one-hundred times better. Glenn made it even worse by asking how Annette met Felix. Annette being her, told them that they met in class, or at least in passing. She was running a lot earlier to class than she planned, thinking she was going to be late, bumping into Felix, and dropping all her school supplies to the ground, which included her and Felix.

That probably was the most embarrassing story Felix heard all night. The only way he could get it to stop was to redirect them to the presents. He didn't care if not everyone finished their food, he just wanted to stop the stories. He did not realize that his presents that he bought were wrapped, he remembered that he just put a bow on all of them but one, and that was Annette's. It didn't matter though, he just wanted to get the night over with and go to bed. It would be one more day closer to him going back to college.

Felix sat down on the ground with Annette between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her as Emmeline handed her a gift.

"Thank you," Annette smiled, opening the gift. "Felix look! That little teddy bear that I wanted! The one with the drums!"

"Yes, I know," Felix smiled, giving her a kiss on the back of her head.

"Sorry it's not sewn very well," Emmeline faintly smiled. "If I had more time, and if Felix was more prepared, I would have sewn the teddy bear correctly."

"What? You sewed this yourself?" Annette gasped, holding the teddy bear closer to her heart. "That's amazing!"

"Yes," Emmeline nodded. "Felix showed me a picture of it a while ago and I thought the best gift to give to you on short notice would be that."

"This is a wonderful present," Annette smiled, kissing the teddy bear's nose. "I love it."

"Thank you," Emmeline said, with a giant smile.

Felix smiled as Annette fiddled with the her gift.

They all grabbed their presents, opening one by one. Felix let out one long sigh looking at the 'gift' Glenn gave him. He looked up to Glenn, who had a giant smirk on his face, then threw it at him. After a few choice words they had with each other, they opened the rest of the presents. The one Felix got for Annette was the last to be opened.

"Wow, this is, some good wrapping," Annette teased.

"What like you can do better?" Felix scoffed.

"I can, because I'm a perfectionist!" She laughed.

"Oh, so you finally admit it," he said, tickling her and kissing her.

Annette laughed to the point it started to hurt her side. "Okay! Okay, you win!"

Felix laughed, helping her to sit upright. "I know I do, now please open the present."

Annette excitedly ripped off the wrapping paper to reveal a small box, letting out a gasp from everyone. "Felix! Is this?"

"What?" He asked, taking a few seconds to realize what she was asking. "No, it's not. We are way too young for that."

"Oh, sorry." She sighed, opening the box to see a necklace. "This is so pretty!"

"Yeah, I guess," he muttered, reaching for the jewelry. He unclasped the lock to put around her neck. "I saw you looking at at that shop on our way to Mercedes bakery. I asked the jeweler to replace the gem inside to an emerald since you were born in May."

"It's beautiful, Felix," she smiled, giving him a kiss.

"You're welcome," he said, kissing her back. "It looks very pretty on you."

"Thank you," she said, nuzzling her head in his chest.

"Well, since all the presents are all open," Rodrigue started, picking up all the wrapping paper. "Why don't we go to bed."

"Yeah, it's been a long day," Felix agreed, pushing Annette back.

"Right, I should be going," Annette said, getting up. "My father is probably getting worried."

"Annette, please stay," Emmeline insisted. "It's getting late and you probably live so far."

"It's alright," Annette said, getting her stuff.

"Not a chance," Felix said, holding onto her. "You and I both know you are just going back to your dorm room and study."

She let out a little whimper, knowing he was right. She stayed the night, staying in his room with him. "Hey, Felix?"

"Yes, Annette?" Felix asked, turning over to face her.

"Would you ever want to get married to me?" She asked, moving his long hair out of his face.

"Yes, but in the future," he replied without missing a beat.

Annette gave him one last kiss before laying down on her side. Felix began to fiddle with her hair, humming for her as she blinked her eyes to help her go to sleep. He kissed her head before laying down next to her, wrapping his arms around her before going to bed himself.

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I am finally able to post up my fic for the NetteFlix Winter Exchange! I got to write this lovely fic for meatsuru on Ao3 and I choose meeting the family prompt that they had and put Felix in yet another stressful situation. I love putting him in situations, he is my favorite little play thing sometimes and it's fun to see him being stressed. This is also featuring meatsuru's version of Felix's mom!

[lapinbunwrites]

Title: A Lost Memory

Rating: Gen

Warnings: None

Fandoms: Fire Emblem Fates

Relationships: Xander & Felicia, Xander & Camilla

Characters: Xander, Felicia, Camilla

Additional Tags: Fluff, Angst, Post-Canon

Word Count: 1,918

Ao3 Link

Xander exhaled a loud groan as he tossed and turned in his bed. As he sat up, he yawned and stretched, releasing a sigh and scratching the back of his head. Knowing he wasn’t going to enjoy the day, the crown prince contemplated sneaking into his office and working so he wouldn’t have to take a day off.

He shook his head as he forced himself to get out of bed, washing up and changing clothes before leaving his room. Walking around the castle, he kept a lookout for his knights and his sister so they wouldn’t catch him going to his office. Once no one was around, he opened the door to his office, letting out a sigh of relief when he found it empty.

As Xander began to work, he heard footsteps, every pace drawing his attention to the door until they passed. Growing more irritated, he rubbed his face and slouched back into his chair. Thanks to the many knights walking past his office, his focus had dissolved. He sighed and decided his time would be better spent doing something else.

Xander rubbed his neck as he walked around the castle, wandering in idle thought. He couldn’t remember the last time he truly rested and relaxed. Maybe it was in his childhood. Or was it when she was…

He stopped walking when he saw the edges of a picture frame come into view, scowling as he looked up at the painting. It was of his father and…

The crown prince shook his head as he continued walking, eventually finding himself in the kitchen. Since he was here, he could at least make something to eat. He was a little hungry anyway. He rummaged through the pantry and the fridge, grabbing several ingredients. After assembling the food on the counter, he took out a Dutch oven, placing a liberal amount of butter into the pot as it heated up on the stove.

While Xander took to cutting the vegetables, he blanked out, staring off into space as memories started to flood his mind. He remembered running into the kitchen with a big smile on his face. He approached the counter, watching a woman in the midst of cooking. Moments later he was picked up by her, and Xander recalled clutching to her arms as she started to hum. Her presence was calming. Warm.

She stopped humming and placed his hands on the wooden spoon to help stir what she was cooking, and he could hear her voice telling him to watch the Dutch oven. As they waited, she would go to the spacious part of the kitchen and begin to sing and dance with him.

Xander put the knife down and clutched the edge of the counter, feeling the tears roll down his cheeks. He took one big breath and wiped the tears from his face before picking up the knife again. The more he cooked, the more he started falling back on old memories, and there were some he wished he could forget.

He snapped back to reality when he heard a loud crash in the next room over, putting the knife in the sink and washing his hands before investigating the commotion. It was no surprise that it was Felicia who dropped an entire tray of teacups and a teapot. The poor girl was being scolded by some random noblewoman. Xander sighed as he walked over to her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“What’s going on?” He asked, glaring at the noblewoman.

“M-My lord,” Felicia spoke, startled by his presence.

“Your Majesty!” The woman scowled. “This terrible maid crashed into me and spilled hot tea on my beautiful dress!”

Xander glanced down at Felicia. “Is that true?”

“N-No! I promise i-it wasn't me this time!” Felicia stuttered as she left his grasp. “I had all the-the dirty dishes and-and,” she gasped for air.

“Felicia, please,” Xander pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I was just trying to take these dirty dishes back to the kitchen. I saw her so I moved to the side and stood still so I wouldn’t crash into her. But she walked right into me. I didn’t realize that the tea kettle still had some tea in it,” she said hurriedly.

“That is not true!” The woman yelled. “She is a notoriously bad maid and a klutz! She saw me coming and purposely tripped, spilling the tea to ruin my dress and burn me!”

Xander sighed. “I understand that Felicia isn’t the best maid and that she is a klutz, but she is not one to lie. You, however, are.”

“How dare you!” She accused, storming off.

Felicia took a few deep breaths before picking up the dishes. “Thank you, my lord.”

“It’s nothing special,” he reassured her as he helped collect the broken pieces. “Are you unharmed?”

“Y-Yes. I am fine. I’m just a little shaken up.” She stood, holding out the tray for him to put the broken pieces on.

“Why don’t you help me in the kitchen?” He suggested. “I’m making some stew.”

“Are you sure?” Felicia asked, a touch anxious.

“Yes, I’m certain. Cooking always helped me calm down as a child,” he said, letting the words slip out.

“Really?” She giggled, dumping the broken dishes into the trash bin.

“Yes,” he replied.

Felicia smiled as she walked over to the counter, observing as Xander worked.

“Why are you staring at me?” He asked as he stopped cutting the meat.

“Just watching you.” She said, softly.

“Well, if you want something to do, you can always clean the table and dishes.”

“Of course!” She exclaimed, skipping over to a cupboard to grab a dishcloth.

As he cooked the stew, he watched her clean the table; the longer he did so, the more memories came to his mind. Xander remembered the woman who would watch him scurry over to the table to clean it, recalling how she ruffled his hair because he did such a good job. Together they would set the table, and she would wear such a big smile as he ate the food she had made.

“My lord?” Felicia softly said, glancing back at him. “Was there something that you wanted?”

“Oh,” he released the breath he had been holding, realizing his arm was outstretched to her. “I just wanted to learn about your responsibilities as a maid.”

“Really?” She laughed, clapping her hands.

“Yes,” he lied. He didn’t really want to, but he couldn’t say what was truly on his mind.

Felicia’s smile grew as she walked over to him. “We can start with making tea!”

Xander nodded as she began to instruct him. Trying—and failing—to absorb all of Felicia’s many tea instructions, he watched her as she moved around the kitchen, his eyes following her as she stared attentively at the teapot.

“My lord,” Felicia asked, bending down to meet his gaze. “Are you paying attention?”

“Yes,” he lied once more as his eyes found hers.

“Hmph, then why don’t you be a maid for a little bit,” she giggled.

“Wait, really?”

“Yes!”

A loud groan left his lips as she took his hand, carefully receiving the platter from her.

“Why don’t you try walking to the table?” Felicia said with a huge smile. “You saw me do it—now it’s your turn!”

Xander rolled his eyes as he made his way over to the table. After placing all the silverware, cups, plates, and napkins, he looked over to Felicia with a faint smile.

“Wow, amazing! I have never seen anyone do that so gracefully! Not even Jakob,” she praised, her mouth agape.

Xander said nothing and scratched the back of his head.

“Is everything alright?” Felicia asked, placing her hand on his shoulder.

“Yes, everything is fine,” he reassured her.

“Are you sure? You keep staring off into space.”

“I assure you I am fine,” he doubled down. “Now let’s get back to this whole maid thing.”

Felicia smiled and dragged him back to the counter. He smiled politely as she talked his ear off, and watched her walk over to the table to show him how to pour tea. Xander laughed a little as she crashed into the table, taking the teapot, teacups, tablecloth, and table down with her.

“I’m so sorry King Xander, I didn’t mean to break everything!” Felicia apologized, moving the broken dishes off of her.

“Are you alright?” He asked, holding out his hand. “I’m surprised you didn’t scream when you spilled the tea.”

“Yes, I am fine,” she reassured him, taking his hand. “I dress in extra layers so I don’t feel how the tea burns.”

“That’s…something,” he remarked, handing her a towel, to which she began to clean herself off with.

“Oh please, when you spill tea all the time, you figure out ways to protect yourself. Anyways, I should change.”

Left alone once more, Xander tended to the stew. It had been a long time since he saw and heard dishes crashing against the floor. After adding some extra spices, he grabbed a broom and a pan to clean up the mess, placing the table back onto its legs before sweeping up the broken dishes. As he tidied up, he fell back on his memories again. He remembered being a child and crying because he broke many plates, as well as a gentle hand held out to him and being held in a comforting pair of arms. Xander remembered her placing his head to her chest to feel the vibrations of her humming.

“Hush now child, please don’t cry,” he began to sing as he cleaned. “The sun will come out again.”

As he continued to sing, he cleaned up the broken dishes. Afterward, he stayed by the stove to keep an eye on the stew. More tears began to roll down his face.

“Let the sun shine…”

Xander grabbed a bowl, filled it to the top with stew, and walked over to the table. He looked out the window and sparsely ate his food.

“Let the sun shine,” he sang as he heard footsteps.

“Oh, there you are,” Camilla smiled. “Mm, it smells like her stew.”

“That’s because it is,” he said, looking over to her. “Pray it tastes the same as it did back then.”

She walked over to him, arms wrapping around him in a hug. “I miss her too.”

“I hope she is looking over us,” he sighed.

“She is, and I know she is proud of you,” she reassured him.

He nodded. “I just wish she were here.”

“I do too, but…” she trailed off, matching his silence.

“Why don’t I get everyone and we can enjoy the stew together,” she smiled. “I know Elise has been dying to try this since she was a child.”

“You told her all about it, didn’t you,” Xander chuckled.

“Yes,” she sighed. “I ran out of bedtime stories to tell, so I told her about your mother’s homemade recipes.”

“Heh,” he smiled.

“What?” She chuckled. “You have your mother’s cooking skills.”

“That I do, and I’m glad to be at least a little bit like her,” he affirmed. “Go get everyone and I will set the table.”

“Gladly,” Camilla agreed.

As she left, he rose from his seat and began to prepare the table for his siblings’ arrival. It wasn’t long before everyone shuffled into the kitchen. He faintly smiled as everyone ate the stew and laughed, a warm familiarity growing in his heart as they ate.

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I finally get to share my piece for the Xander zine that I was in! It was a blast writing about him and him remembering his mother with the stress of Felicia, whom I care for very much. He gives me so many feels.

Leftovers are open so you can buy your stuff here.

[lapinbunwrites]

Waaaahhh! In this FE 3H art scuffle that I participated in, I received this lovely attack by @loola-a of a Fraldarius Family portrait featuring my oc of Duchess Fraldarius, Amelia and Glenn!! Also, please look at baby Felix, his little bowl cut and his eyes. He has not seen the horrors of the world, he is to pure for this world.

Please do not repost, steal, edit, use for AI/NFT, sell, etc. without permission!