Byleth Eisner started awake standing in a field of carnations.

No weapons, no vengeful spirit in control of their body. For a second, Byleth let themselves hope that the vague memories of what happened after Fhirdiad were just a bad dream, that this was reality for them. But they knew nowhere on Earth or Fódlan like this, with flowers covering rolling hills that stretched out towards infinity.

"My teacher."

Those words, that voice… Byleth spun around in time to catch Edelgard as she threw herself into their arms. Holding her here, squeezing her tight, Byleth let their worries fade away. This was it. If this was how their story ended, they could die happy.

But no. They still had work to do, and Edelgard was the perfect person to talk with about what Byleth knew. They were hoping to get through to Claude, but he'd want to put them in their powers six feet under before they could get a word in. Not that Byleth could blame him, power like theirs was dangerous beyond compare and Claude had no assurances they planned to use their abilities for good, but Byleth never asked to be a husk containing the goddess. Their entire existence was artificial, kept alive only by Sothis' godlike powers, and there was something fitting about using the goddess' strength to tear down the church. Sothis never did trust Rhea, after all.

"My teacher…" Edelgard looked up at them, "I feared I was never going to see you again."

"Same here, El. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Too long. Every time I fell asleep, I tried to contact you through dream. But every time, you weren't there." She nestled her head under Byleth's chin. Was there a world where they could stay like this together? "What happened to you?"

"It's a bit of a story. I believe Thales kept me on Earth most of the time since Fhirdiad, which is why you haven't been able to reach me through dreams. I was worried about you too, El. I knew the situation we were setting up was delicate, making an enemy of the church and crested nobles alike, but I'm glad to see it didn't all come crashing down."

"Actually…" She tensed up in Byleth's arms. "Why don't we have a chat over tea? It seems like there's a lot of catching up to do."

"And my news for you might be even bigger than what you have for me," Byleth said. "You said this is a dream world?"

Edelgard nodded. "We're both sleeping right now. This world is malleable, to an extent. Let me show you."

Byleth followed Edelgard over to an oaken table piled high with pastries and with a pot of steaming tea in the center. Same as back at the monastery. She poured out cups for both of them, and Byleth recognized the tea as the Hresvelg blend.

"I wanted to prepare your favorite tea," Edelgard said, "But asking around made me realize you always chose our favorite types without worrying about yourself. So I hope you enjoy this blend well enough."

"Knowing that it's your favorite makes it my favorite too," they said.

There it was. That little blush from Edelgard. Even an emperor's first real love was tender and passionate. Byleth wanted to pull her into their arms all over again. The time when they could live together in peace and love each other without being afraid of losing each other in the upcoming battle always seemed so far off, and now Byleth was forced to admit that they might have to compromise on their dream. It was a strange feeling for them. With Sothis' powers at their back, they had never yielded at much of anything before.

But now they could only hope that if Fódlan was saved, Edelgard would be happy with what little of Byleth was left for her to love.

"All right," Edelgard said. "Let me tell you what's been happening on my end."

#

Of course Claude was at the center of it all. As Edelgard recounted him, Dimitri, and Seiros reconquering all of Fódlan and marching into Enbarr, Byleth wondered if it had been a mistake to spare him. They felt for Claude, certainly, since Byleth claiming their own freedom of choice meant that all of his decisions were shut out, but he nearly killed Edelgard.

Still, he didn't. That knowledge shocked Byleth, but if Seiros could change after a thousand years, it wasn't unfathomable that Claude could grow a soft side.

"I killed Ferdinand," Edelgard said. "I let Hubert defend the streets, knowing that he would likely fall. Do you hate me for what I did, my teacher?"

"I don't have it in me to hate you, El. It's unfortunate that Enbarr saw so much bloodshed, but you were acting in self-defense when you struck down Ferdinand. I'm glad that you chose not to harm Lysithea."

Still, Ferdinand was one of their students too. Byleth remembered glaring at him when his back was turned, with all of his self-important pontificating and youthful overconfidence. But he blossomed into a person who, while still headstrong, was caring and compassionate. It was a joy to watch their students' growth over the five years when they slept in the chasm Rhea knocked them into. Petra, Caspar, Hubert, Ferdinand. Half of their sweet, eager students dead so young.

And all because Byleth wasn't strong enough to keep them alive. They trusted Byleth with everything, and Byleth vanished when needed the most. To the point that their students were even killing each other…

"I'm sorry for what happened," Edelgard said. "That I couldn't keep the Black Eagle Strike Force protected or even together after you left."

"It's my fault. I was supposed to make sure you didn't have to walk that road alone."

Edelgard flashed a sad smile. For a minute, they sat in silence, sipping tea.

"You know," Byleth said, "All I want is to stay here forever with you, rolling in the flower fields and never needing to look away from your face. But now it's time for me to tell you what happened on my end."

"I'm ready."

So strong. Even back at the academy, Byleth could sense that conviction in her. Now they had to hope that his strength was enough.

"Right now, I am not in control of my body," Byleth said. "I can see everything that happens from it, but I can do nothing to stop him. To stop Nemesis."

Edelgard tensed. Then she let out a hiss.

"Thales," she said. "If Claude and the others hadn't been so intent on crushing my Empire, we could have taken care of him."

"I don't think we can blame them for defending their own," Byleth said. "This was our mistake, El. Either we needed to conquer better so we could turn our attention to Thales, or we needed to back off from the war once we lured him out."

"You always had a soft spot for Claude, didn't you?"

Claude was everything Byleth would be as a regular person. Nonbinary, bisexual, a citizen of two worlds, targeted by Thales, a tactician and adviser dedicated to ending the war and restoring peace to Fódlan. Some of Byleth's greatest mistakes involved piling responsibilities on him. Even at their peaceful little school in Iowa, they should have helped him more instead of asking him to kill them if the time was right.

"What matters right now is that my body is back in Fódlan, and Nemesis is using it to cause devastation. Whenever I phased into his consciousness, I saw him marching towards Garreg Mach. He plans to kill Seiros."

"I mean, so were we. The church vilified Nemesis, but-"

"For all their flaws, they had every reason to. He committed genocide against the Nabateans and was determined to leave Fódlan in ashes and ruins. He'll do it for real this time if we don't stop him."

Edelgard stayed quiet. Byleth knew her opinion on Seiros and the other children of the goddess. Now wasn't the time to get into it.

"Like I told you, my teacher, I'm currently locked away in a cell. There's not much I can do."

"Could you persuade them to let you out and join the fight?"

"I doubt they'll trust me. Claude especially. I can still try if you want."

"Claude is… not going to be doing much of anything in the upcoming fight," Byleth said. "Barring some miracle. Which I suppose I shouldn't count out."

"You saw what happened to him?"

"Nemesis nearly killed him on Earth, and Thales was taking him away while my body got transported back to Fódlan."

"We'll see if I can persuade Dimitri or Seiros to let me out, then. Seiros has been trying to make me like her for reasons I can't comprehend, so I might even have a chance."

Byleth nodded. So long as there was hope, they were going to keep trudging forward. Until the bitter end.

"And if you can get involved…" Byleth sighed. "There's something I need to tell you, but before that I'm going to do something I should have done a long time ago."

They drank the last of their tea and rose up from their seat. As they walked around to Edelgard's side of the table, they saw the understanding dawn on her face. She stood up and met Byleth's gaze. Her pink irises had entire worlds inside of them, and Byleth could spend hours staring.

Byleth leaned in for a kiss.

Edelgard was the one who finished the motion, standing up straight, grabbing the back of Byleth's head, and pressing her lips against theirs. Byleth lost track of everything in the outside world as their lips moved in rhythm with Edelgard's. They kissed again and again for a solid minute. When Edelgard pulled away Byleth could only think about how in this moment, seeing Edelgard grinning with eyes that wanted more of them, they understood true beauty for the first time.

Then the smile dropped from Edelgard's face.

"And now's the part where you tell me to kill you, right?"

"It was that obvious?"

"Nemesis is in your body. Based on what you've said, we can't allow that. If there's any way to save you, I'll try it, but loving you means knowing when to end your suffering even if it hurts for me."

Byleth blinked to stop tears from forming in their eyes. They didn't deserve someone as wonderful as Edelgard. All of their anxiety, and they didn't need to be worried about this at all.

"If you do encounter Claude," Byleth says, "Tell him that I might be able to pull off one more miracle, but only one. He'll know what that means, and he'll be able to act on it."

Edelgard frowned. "Claude only?"

"The reasons why are complicated, but yes."

After a pause, Edelgard nodded. She had more trust in Byleth than they deserved after abandoning her in Fhirdiad months ago.

"And while there's no way to keep me alive without Nemesis being in control," Byleth said, "There is a way we can still be together by the end of this."

Edelgard frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Listen closely. If you do manage to kill Nemesis, follow this plan."

Another interlude from everyone's (least) favorite overpowered bundle of anime power. I wanted the BylethxEdelgard to play a bigger role than it has been, but having to filter everything through Claude makes it difficult since he just... don't care about their relationship. It was good for me to really get into Byleth's head for the first time this fic, and since I've been trying to ship them and Edelgard I do want to give the two of them endings that are satisfying, even if it's not the traditional happy ending in a romance novel.

Thanks for reading as always! :D