The past and the future. The unknowing future that will eventually become the present, and the past of which forms the current present. Mostly unchangeable. Things may not always go as planned, but if you keep going, your path will be yours to climb.

…

…

…

That sounded a bit better in my head. Well… the penultimate chapter of this story. And, being honest, while I do enjoy this couple, writing this story has been a bit of stress. There's a reason that I made Trancetober once every week… mainly because I knew I couldn't handle doing more than a little at a time. Ah well. Live and learn.

Let's go ahead and get the penultimate chapter going.

Disclaimers: Fire Emblem belongs to Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, Koei Techmo, etc.

Marianne looked around the monastery, fondly looking at some of the flowers that she had planted, some of the artwork that had been made by some of the others, and a few of the training areas they had all spent so much time in. She then walked into the classroom the Golden Deer used and couldn't help but smile a little…

Marianne nervously walked on into the room, and then noticed that she was the first student to have arrived. She nervously looked around and then saw that Byleth was at the front and writing some stuff on some papers. Marianne quietly walked over to her seat and got in place.

"Good morning," Byleth greeted after a moment.

Marianne gave a small 'eep' and hid her face behind her book.

"Glad to see you," Byleth told her.

"Um… uh… um… g-g-good morning…"

"How times have changed…" Marianne smiled as she walked over to her former spot in the room.

"You are surrounded by Pegasus Knights and Falcon Knights in the air. However, you are able to see your allies in the distance? What is your best course of action?" Byleth asked the class.

"Charge towards your allies as fast as you can go?" Claude offered.

"Incorrect. You are going to be easily spotted and harmed," Byleth responded.

The class then thought for a bit before Annette gave a small shrug, "You attack the knights in the air?"

"Possible for magic users, but not everyone."

Marianne then raised her hand and Byleth gave her a small nod, "...should you remain hidden until your back-up gets to your location?"

"Exactly. Wait for the maximum, opportune, moment and then make your move," Byleth smiled.

Marianne couldn't help but look a bit surprised she got it right, but she had a faint smile in response to this.

She let out a small giggle before she heard somebody walk on in.

"Hey, I was looking for you," Byleth informed.

"Oh, hi Byleth," she smiled.

"What brings you here?" Byleth asked as he joined her.

"Just… thinking about the past…" Marianne admitted as she turned to him, "Just… a lot of memories were in these halls."

"Yeah… lots of memories both here and out there…" Byleth nodded.

Byleth stood by his father's grave, tears dripping down from his eyes, before he heard somebody walk up. He turned to see Marianne, with flowers in her hands, and simply let her walk over.

"Professor…" she whispered.

Byleth didn't say anything in response as she put the flowers down. She then sat down next to him and began to pray. All Byleth did at that moment was try his best to stop crying as she remained by his side.

A few hours had passed, and Marianne had not left Byleth's side. The two simply remained side by side before Byleth proceeded to pull her into a hug. She was a little surprised, but then simply returned the hug. Neither said anything, yet the hug could say a thousand words…

"Mari?" Byleth spoke up.

"Yes?"

"...I want to thank you…" Byleth smiled.

"For what?"

"Giving me strength. You being by my side… you've given me strength to keep going. And we're each-other's hope… remember?"

Marianne couldn't help but smile at that reminder.

"And, well… you helped me figure out what I want for my future," Byleth informed, "I'm going to go with the proposition of being a king. And, well, I don't know what else will happen… but I'm going to at least do my best to unite the nations."

With that, Byleth was about to walk out of the room, before he heard Marianne clear her throat a little.

"I can promise you something," Marianne spoke up.

"What's that?"

She then walked over and stood in front of him, "I promise that, no matter what happens, you'll always have my support. And if you ever need me, don't be afraid to get me. I promise that I'll always be with you."

"...thank you, Mari," Byleth smiled, brushing away a few tears that started to form, "You are… amazing."

"You're amazing too, Byleth," Marianne responded.

"...hey. If you got some time, can you meet me outside? I want to talk a little more to you about something… special."

Marianne simply nodded and allowed Byleth to head out. Unbeknownst to her, Byleth was looking at a ring that he had…

I gotta be honest. I did enjoy this chapter, even if it was the one that I feel like I had the least amount of ideas for. I sort of enjoy the way I have these two interact. I'll admit I've been worried about characterization, but I'm enjoying this.

Gotta be honest… don't really have a favorite part. Just a nice and short one.

Next time… the finale of this story. ...thank Arceus.

Also, it's the one I think I may miss the deadline for because I got stuff for school due tomorrow. We'll see how it goes, like always, I suppose.

Just Live More.