As Flayn had expected, Seteth hadn't been particularly happy to let her go to Zanado, even with her classmates and Cyril. Even after Manuela had offered to go with them, Seteth had only sanctioned the quest with five fully-trained Knights of Seiros accompanying them. He had wanted to send more, but she had insisted that any more than five would attract too much attention. As a result, the Eagles had been forced to bring Alois, Catherine, Gilbert, Shamir, and Roger, the former Gatekeeper of Garreg Mach. (To be honest, she hadn't actually known his name before.)
Speaking of Garreg Mach, it made her Crest Stone ache to see it like this; a burned ruin of the city that had once been her home. Looking at her friends, she could tell they were all greatly saddened by its current state as well.
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Dorothea put words to what they all were thinking.
"I'll say," Alois agreed. "The best years of my life were spent in this place."
"It was special to all of us," Bernadetta said sadly. "And now it's gone."
"Hey, Yuri. You insisted on waiting here for someone?" Caspar asked.
"I did. And here they come now," Yuri pointed out several wyverns approaching from the east, along with some pegasi. Once they landed, the Eagles and Knights instantly recognized their former schoolmates (and Professor Hanneman).
"Claude sends his regards," Hilda said. "He wanted to be here, but he was busy with the war effort. The rest of the Golden Deer came as soon as we heard."
"Professor Eisner might not have been our teacher, but he was always there for us when we needed guidance," Lorenz concurred. "If he still lives, we will scour the depths of the Red Canyon for him with you."
"After all Teach has done for us, we can't leave him out to dry," Sylvain agreed.
Once they reached the canyon floor, the search party scoured through the area below Garreg Mach, and began working their way downriver. For a few hours, they found nothing, but eventually Shamir saw something. "I think that's him."
Flayn ran over and checked his life energy. "He's still alive!"
"Don't move him!" Manuela shouted. "Flayn, can you sense what's wrong?"
"O-okay, let's take a look..." Flayn said nervously. "14 different breaks in the rib cage, shattered right humerus, broken right shoulder, punctured right lung, bruised right kidney, fractured skull, broken right hip, oh Goddess, that leg...okay, it's okay, we can fix this. Hopefully." She started healing right away. "Goddess, Great-grandmother, Sothis, grant me the power to heal these injuries."
It took Flayn eight hours, thirty-five minutes, and sixteen seconds to fix Byleth's injuries, with help from Linhardt, Marianne, Mercedes, Manuela, and Dorothea. After that, he took another twenty-three minutes and thirty-seven seconds for Byleth to finally wake up. "Flayn?"
"Professor!" Flayn shouted, and threw her arms around him. When he tensed, she released him and backed away. "I am so sorry!"
"It's fine," Byleth said. "I'm just feeling sore." He looked around.
"Welcome back to the world of the living, Professor," Yuri said.
"I am thrilled that you are not dead!" Ferdinand exclaimed.
"It is good to be seeing that you are alive," Petra agreed.
"How long was I...asleep?" Byleth asked.
"It's been almost a year," Dorothea told him. "The Church, Faerghus, and Leicester have been fighting against Edelgard's forces since you fell at the battle of Garreg Mach."
"The battle...Rhea. Is she still alive?" Byleth asked, his voice betraying his fear.
"She was captured by Imperial forces during the battle," Yuri told him. "From what my people can gather, she's alive, but Edelgard had her moved to a secret location. Hubert covered his tracks well."
Byleth calmed himself. "We'll find her. What else has happened in the last year?"
"There was a rebellion by a band of Duscuri seeking revenge for the retaliatory massacres after King Lambert's death," Mercedes said. "Among those killed were Dimitri and...Dedue."
Byleth closed his eyes and inclined his head. "I'm sorry."
There was a brief moment of silence before Roger helped Byleth up. "Here. We'll head back to command, and we can give you our report on the way."
Felix handed him the Sword of the Creator. "You're going to want this."
Byleth took the Sword and strapped it to his back. He then stopped for a moment and looked at his students and friends, and smiled. "It's good to see you all."
After several exhausting hours of labor, and several more hours of sleep, Rhea was finally able to hold her baby in her arms. She was a healthy little girl (though if one didn't know Nabateans had green blood and pointed ears, she might look a little strange). Rhea had decided to name her Leraye.
Dimitri was nursing a recently-broken hand. He had held her hand through the delivery, and even despite the strength granted to him by his Crest, she had broken a few of the bones in his hand. Even so, he hadn't cried out. Mae had healed his hand, but it still hurt.
Edelgard, upon hearing the news from Hubert, had come to see Leraye. "She's so small."
"Would you like to hold her?" Rhea asked.
Edelgard was shocked that Rhea would offer to let her hold Leraye, and some of the surprise must have shown on her face, because Rhea elaborated, "It is because of you that Leraye will be able to live. And perhaps even live in a world where she will not have to hide who she is. I trust you with her safety."
"I don't understand. How can you forgive me?" she thought. But rather than express the sentiment, she allowed Rhea to hand Leraye to her. She held her as carefully as she had held anything, as if afraid the baby would somehow break in her arms.
She silently held Leraye until she awoke and began to cry. Edelgard worried that she had done something wrong, but Rhea assured her otherwise. "She is just hungry. If you would give us some privacy..."
Edelgard and Dimitri both left the room, and Dimitri closed the door behind them. Once she had done so, Edelgard allowed her emotions to break through. "How? How can she just forgive me? As if everything I did to her never even happened?"
"You did save Leraye," Dimitri pointed out.
"I am the entire reason Leraye was in danger," Edelgard countered. "If I had not attacked Garreg Mach, there never would have been a threat to Leraye's life in the first place."
"Are you sure?" Dimitri asked. "Those Who Slither In The Dark infiltrated Garreg Mach before. They could do so again."
While Edelgard contemplated this, Dimitri continued. "And even if Leraye would have been safe at Garreg Mach, Rhea didn't learn she was pregnant in Garreg Mach. She found out in a prison cell, where she knew she was powerless, and you were her only hope. You could have decided it was not your problem. It would have cost you nothing. But you didn't. Whatever you may have taken from her, you saved what she loves more than anything else. That love outweighs any resentment she might have felt."
"I still don't understand. What could love like that even feel like?" Edelgard wondered.
"I don't know," Dimitri told her. "My anger, my resentment, my hate. The torment I face at the hands of those I lost. Those feelings run deeply within me, so deeply that I might have thought it better if I died. Only the drive to avenge my father, my mother, Glenn, and the slaughtered people of Duscur kept me from taking my own life." Edelgard looked at him with wide eyes, but Dimitri wasn't finished. "But I want to feel love like that. Even if just for a moment, I could love enough to quell my hate...I think life could be worth living again."
Edelgard backed away. "Don't do that. Don't give me hope." With that, she ran away from him.
Dimitri watched as she left. "I don't want to lose you too, El."
Edelgard and Dimitri have achieved B Support. Don't forget to review!