Yuri still had a limp in his leg and heavy bags under his eyes. Byleth took one look and said, "You two should stay here. Keep an eye out. Everyone else, let's go. We've got one more battle to win." Everyone nodded and followed Byleth to the swamp.

Leaning on me, Yuri and I found a spot on the grass nearby to sit down on. "Are you really okay?" I asked Yuri, taking his face into my hands.

He nodded. "I'm fine. A bit roughed up but nothing I can't handle." He placed a hand over mine. "And you?"

"I-" I swallowed and looked away. I pulled my hands away, but Yuri held onto mine. "I'm fine. I'm sorry. I couldn't-" Hugging my knees to my chest, I scooted closer to him.

"It's all right. Sometimes, there are just some demons you can't face alone," Yuri said.

"I was so worried, but in the end, I couldn't even walk down the hallway to find you." I buried my face in my knees. I wasn't strong enough, not like Yuri or Byleth.

"It's okay. It's not your fault." Yuri hugged me. "You still found me, didn't you?"

That was one way of looking at it. I unfurled myself to hug him back. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Yuri pressed a kiss to my cheek. "Me too." He pulled away to look me in the eyes. "Don't beat yourself up. I would never ask you to walk through hell for me."

But I wanted to be able to. "Do you think I'll ever not feel this way?" I said, squeezing Yuri's hand.

He nodded. "Of course. It just takes some time and maybe a little help, but you don't have to do it alone."

I smiled and bumped my forehead against his shoulder. "Thanks."

We sat back and watched everyone else fight. Once again, we had strength in numbers that our opponents didn't seem to expect. Byleth, Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude led their groups in fighting the strange ghost-like beings.

I remembered reading about this in Byleth's notebook, how Thales had somehow brought Nemesis's preserved body back to life. They were taking down the ten elites first, while Nemesis waited at the most northern tip of the swamp.

"You can join them, if you want," Yuri told me. "I'll be fine here by myself."

I shook my head. "I think I've had enough fighting to last me a lifetime." The sun was starting to set. We'd want to leave soon to make it to a town before twilight. Even though we'd signed a temporary truce, we still needed to work on a peace treaty that everyone could agree with - including the Church - before we could call this war over. And after that, there was more work to do, to help Edelgard dismantle the Crest system, to help the Kingdom restore its relations with Duscurians, and to help see Claude open Fodlan's throat.

"What are you thinking?" Yuri asked.

I looked at him and smiled. "I'm thinking I'd like to marry you before I drown in work."

He smirked. "Oh?" He brought my hand up to his lips. "I suppose it has been five years, hm?"

I nudged him with my shoulder. "And you?"

"I've wanted to marry you for a while now," Yuri said. "And that hasn't changed."

I grinned. "Let's do it then."

We spent the night in the town of Hyrm. No one said a word when Yuri and I disappeared into the same room. Leaving my sword on the bed stand, I curled up beside him and fell asleep quickly. But I dreamt of Thales haunting me, eyes wide and blank while blood dripped from his face. Then Solon appeared, and I was back in that room, in that bed, and he had another needle prepared.

I woke up gasping for air and reached to my left for Yuri. I found his hand and held on as if he were a buoy in the ocean, while staring up at the dark ceiling above me. I told myself I was okay. I was safe.

"Bad dream?" Yuri asked in a whisper, wrapping his hand around mine.

I nodded, still shuddering, before rolling onto my side towards him. I bumped my forehead against his shoulder. "Sorry, did I wake you up?"

"No, I couldn't sleep either way," he said, turning towards me. He rubbed my shoulder with his other hand, and I felt the fear in me melt away.

"Too much on your mind?" I asked.

"Something like that."

"Do you want to talk about it?" I closed my eyes.

"Just… thinking about everything that happened. And what I'm going to have to do once I get back to Abyss. And what we should do. You're going to keep working for the Kingdom, right?"

"Mm-hm. And you want to stay in Abyss?"

"For a little while more. A few more years."

"It's okay." I squeezed his hand. "Don't worry about it. We'll figure something out."

"I know."

"Just think about some sheep," I said. "Fluffy, cute sheep in a grass meadow. Sunny day and blue skies, and some sheep just munching on grass. Munch, munch, munch."

Yuri chuckled. "What is this for?"

"To help you fall asleep. Peaceful sheep. Peaceful sleep."

"And then a wolf runs in and takes a big bite out of a sheep," he said.

"What?" My eyes opened. "No, no, no! It's supposed to be peaceful, not violent and gory."

Yuri was giggling to himself. "All right, peaceful sheep."

"Yeah, or imagine a rainbow. It just stopped raining. There are frogs chirping in the grass, going ribbit ribbit," I said. "A pretty little rainbow in the sky. Water droplets dripping off of leaves. Drip drop. And worms are out on the ground too."

"Keep talking," he said, so I continued rambling about random imagery in my head. A deer in the woods, a bunny hiding under a bush, and a squirrel climbing up a tree. My voice grew quieter and my words fell into a mumble. I was on the verge of falling asleep myself when Yuri's breathing deepened.

"Good night," I said in a whisper and drifted off to sleep.

The next day, we rode back to Garreg Mach, where we sat down and worked on a peace treaty. When the Church members returned to the monastery a week later, we had an initial draft for them to view.

It took another week and a half of arguing and debating before we settled on the terms of the treaty and signed it. Then everyone scattered back to their respective nations to reorganize after the war. Yuri came with me to the royal palace, where we planned our wedding. Rose helped me pick out a dress, and Jeralt sent me a letter saying that Lady Rhea offered to host our wedding at Garreg Mach.

At the beginning of Garland Moon (6), we welcomed our guests to the cathedral. Of course, Lady Rhea, Seteth, Flayn and other Church members were invited. Edelgard and her Black Eagle Strike Force, Claude and his Golden Deer classmates, and Dimitri and my Blue Lions classmates all showed up. Yuri also invited his Ashen Wolves, our old crew, and his new crew. At Dimitri's request, we allowed a few reporters from each nation to sit in as well.

Talia from the royal palace helped do my makeup, braided my hair into a half ponytail, and assisted me in donning the white wedding gown. It was an off-shoulder dress that reached my shins with lilac lace lining the edges.

Talia walked with me to the double doors that led to the cathedral, where Jeralt was waiting for me. He smiled at me, dressed in a gray suit, and held his left arm out. "You look beautiful," he said.

"Thanks," I said and cleared my throat. "Father." The word still didn't roll off my tongue like Jeralt did, but Jeralt's smile widened.

Talia and Cyril opened the doors for us, and we stepped in. People clapped and smiled as we walked down the aisle. Once we reached the front, Jeralt went to sit beside Rose and Byleth in the first row, while I joined Yuri at the altar in front of the priest. He was dressed in a white suit with ocean blue accents on the sleeves and collar.

The priest started off with the usual celebratory talk. Then we spoke the standard vows to take each other as our spouse, before exchanging rings. They were simple silver bands. Afterwards, the priest gestured for everyone to rise.

"Please join us in a prayer to the goddess," the priest said and turned forward, clasping his hands together and lowering his head. I did the same, closing my eyes. "We thank the Goddess for bringing all our loved ones together for this special day, in celebration of Byleth and Yuri's union in marriage. Please bless this new couple with a long-lasting relationship of love and faith. Please bless them with children, so they may start a loving family and home."

I tried not to snort at the children part of the prayer. There were a few more lines about happiness and health and then a prayer for everyone in attendance. Once the priest was done, he bowed, and everyone followed suit.

The priest returned to his small prayer book and then squinted at the scrap of paper with the amendment we had made. "You may now, ahem." He cleared his throat. "Hug?"

Yuri and I did. He squeezed me tightly and even picked me up to twirl us around in a circle. "Ah!" I said, laughing.

"I love you," he said, after setting me down.

"I love you too," I said with a smile. People clapped and then we all walked out together to the cafeteria for dinner. There were stews, breads, pasta, salad, and roasted meat. We sat together with Rose, Jeralt, and Byleth.

"Now you have to call me Mother," Rose said with a grin on her face. "Oh, it's such a joy to see you two together!"

I laughed and said, "Okay, okay, Mother."

"What are you two going to do now?" Jeralt asked. "Are either of you planning on moving elsewhere?" Yuri and I exchanged glances. We'd discussed this over the weeks leading up to the wedding.

"We were thinking of getting a place in Charon," Yuri said. "But I'll be at Abyss for a while more."

"And I'll probably be in Fhirdiad for a while," I said. "I'll visit Garreg Mach, though. We still have a lot to do with the Church." There were still several ideas I wanted to put in motion as Dimitri's advisor.

"Charon's a nice mid-point," Jeralt said with a nod. He'd moved to the monastery when Lady Rhea and the Church members returned, but Rose was planning on staying in the palace with me. There was good pay, she'd told me, and I was going to stay there too.

After dinner, there were drinks and cake in the Great Hall, while Yuri and I went around greeting the guests. We went to Lady Rhea first. "Thank you for allowing us to use Garreg Mach," I said with a bow. "Are you sure there's no way for us to compensate?"

"Oh, the others already took care of the compensation," Lady Rhea said.

"The others?" I looked at Yuri.

"Yes, Dimitri, Edelgard, and Claude. Did they not tell you?" Rhea asked, eyebrows lifting. I glanced at Yuri again. By his calm expression, he already knew.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked him in a whisper.

Yuri shrugged. "His Majesty asked me not to, said you'd probably feel bad about it."

"Well, he's right," I said. "Can you imagine how expensive it must be to rent out the whole monastery?"

Yuri nodded. "Yes, I can." Which probably meant that he knew exactly how much money had been exchanged.

"If it makes you feel any better, we'll be using the funds to help rebuild the monastery," Rhea said with a small smile. "Some of the walls are damaged, and there's dust everywhere."

"I see. Thank you," I said. We left Lady Rhea and made a beeline for the three house leaders, who were conveniently conversing together in a corner of the room.

"Congratulations, Byleth," Edelgard said.

Claude nodded. "Yeah, congrats."

"Thanks," I said, grinning at them. "I heard from Lady Rhea that you all paid for the space?" I watched as the three of them exchanged glances, before everyone stared at Dimitri.

"It was my idea," Dimitri said. "I thought since you were going to invite all of us that this could be a good diplomatic event. We would show the rest of Fodlan how we're united and working together now."

I nodded. That was why the reporters were here. "But we didn't have to host it here," I said. "A church in Fhirdiad would have been good too."

"But the war started and ended here," Dimitri said.

"Besides, we did wreck the monastery a bit," Claude said with a chuckle.

"And the Church's income is largely through donations," Edelgard said.

"Regardless, thank you all," I said. "It's very generous of you."

As we left the leaders, Yuri leaned towards me and said, "I'm going to go talk to the crew." He tilted his head in the direction of where the old crew was.

"All right, I'm going to go talk to my classmates," I said. "And grab some cake."

Yuri grinned and pecked me on the cheek. We parted ways. I took a slice of the large vanilla cake and joined my Blue Lions classmates, who were standing in two circles chatting. Mercedes and Annette gave me a hug, so I proceeded to hug every one of my classmates, except Felix who refused.

Then I went to see the Golden Deer classmates, then the Black Eagles. It was a little awkward stepping into their conversation with a half-smile on my face. "Hello," I said.

"Hey, Byleth," they said.

"Congratulations," Hubert said.

"Thanks," I said. "I'm happy that you all showed up. I wasn't sure if everyone would."

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Lady Edelgard," Hubert said, to no one's surprise.

"Well, I'm surprised you invited us," Dorothea said.

"I mean, the Kingdom held you three captive for some time." I scratched the back of my head.

"Well, we had your now-husband for some time," Ferdinand said with a grin. "So let's call it even!"

"That makes us sound awful," Caspar said, shaking his head.

I chuckled and said, "I guess that does make us even."

By the time I left the Black Eagles to see Byleth next, I'd finished my cake and stopped to leave the plate on a table. I had to wait for a minute while he finished talking to Catherine, before he looked me in the eye and smiled. "Hey, Byleth," he said.

"Hey to you too, Byleth," I said. It was still a little weird to look my twin in the face and call him by my own name. "I don't think I got to tell you thanks, for… you know, the help."

Byleth shook his head. "No need. You were the one helping me, actually. This is what I've wanted. All this time, just this." He gazed past my shoulder, so I turned my head to follow his gaze. Throughout the Great Hall, my former classmates were mingling amongst each other, almost like the night of the White Heron Cup. Lysithea and Annette were competing to see who could finish eating a large slice of cake first. Raphael and Caspar were arm wrestling with Ignatz and Lindhardt talked beside them. Petra and Felix were chatting - about swords, probably. Bernadetta was knitting in a corner next to Marianne and Hilda, who was talking to Sylvain and Ferdinand.

"Yeah, I can't believe things actually worked out," I said.

"And it's thanks to you," Byleth said.

"Everyone helped." I shrugged. "I couldn't have done much without your notebook. Speaking of, do you want it back?"

"No, I won't be needing it anymore." Byleth smiled.

I smiled back. "Do you… want a hug?"

"Yes, that'd be nice," he said, so we hugged.

I found Yuri talking to some newer crew members. Not just any crew member, but Garren, the one who didn't like me. Garren was holding a bouquet of white lilies and purple roses. He held it out to Yuri, who accepted it, as I was crossing the room towards them. I took one look at Garren's expression and felt a pebble sink into my stomach. I knew that look, eyes warm with affection and a slight smile on his face. I'd seen that look before on Yuri's face and wondered if I looked at him like that too.

Garren stopped talking just as I reached earshot. He glowered at me, but I smiled at him and said, "Those are pretty flowers."

"They're not for you," he said. "You better treat him well." Then he turned and stomped away.

Yuri chuckled and looked at me. "You'll have to excuse him. I think these flowers are actually for you."

"Oh I know he hates me," I said, pushing the bouquet back towards Yuri. "I'm not that oblivious. He likes you, doesn't he?" Yuri raised one eyebrow and bit his bottom lip. It was the face he made when he was thinking of lying but didn't think it was the best idea. I raised an eyebrow back to signal him that lying would indeed be a bad idea.

"All right, you're not wrong," he said, tucking the flowers behind his back. Hearing him confirm my suspicion was more disheartening than I thought it'd be. Yuri had always been popular. An image of Yuri and Garren smiling together flashed in my head. A part of me wondered if Yuri would be happier with someone who liked him back romantically. But another part of me didn't want to see that happen. Even if he might be happier, I didn't want to let him go.

I looked at Yuri and said, "Well, it doesn't matter, because I love you the most! And I understand you the best. I think. And I'll definitely treat you well."

Yuri burst out laughing and slung an arm around me, burying his face into my shoulder. "You didn't have to take his words so seriously," he said in between giggles. "Goddess, I love you."

"I love you too." I wrapped my arms around him. "Now, why don't you put those flowers down and dance with me?"

Yuri left the bouquet on a nearby table, and I pulled him into the middle of the room. When we started to dance, I could feel people's eyes on us. But the room faded away at the edges, leaving nothing but the music, Yuri, and myself. Forward one step, right one step, back one step, left one step.

I couldn't help smiling. Yuri smirked back and said, "What?"

"Nothing, just happy," I said.

"Me too."

It didn't matter if our relationship was unconventional. We cared about each other and that was enough. We were enough.

If you read all the way until here, thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed the story and journey. :) Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. Look out for an epilogue next!