Author's Note: Woohoo! Chapter 20! I can't believe I made it this far! And just before Christmas too! So, Merry Christmas to y'all. I can't say Happy Hanukkah cause it's over already. Anyways, there's a lot to talk about in this Author's Note.

First, I got a review from more than a torchic on Bulbagarden, who I wouldn't say is a friend but is someone I've talked too enough that I can recognize them, that can basically be summed up as "The prologue sucks but I'm excited to see where this is going." And I agree. That's why I rewrote the prologue to hopefully be better. If you're reading this it should be up. It was actually a lot more salvageable than I thought it would be.

Second, I'm sorry for things getting sad. I promised you a lighthearted comedy fic and now everything's all depressing. Though it could be comedy depending on how well I handled it. I think I handled it well but it could turn out to be Narm. Either way, only the first half of this chapter is sad so it's not that bad.

Third, this was actually originally supposed to be a support. I turned it into a chapter when I realized I planned to set it around the same time I planned to kill Jeralt. Whoops.

Also, I would like to admit that this isn't the most well made chapter but I felt I had to finish it fast to make up for missing Christmas last year. So, yeah.

Part One

White Clouds

Byleth's Birthday

The week following the Umbral Beast incident was turbulent to say the least. Rhea insisted that not a single person involved divulge what happened to make sure nobody else tried to pull the same stunt Aelfric did, the Chalice of Beginnings was reluctantly placed in the Church's vault for safe keeping, as it turned out it was impossible to destroy, and the Ashen Wolves were disbanded effective immediately with each member going their separate ways. Constance headed to the Fhirdiad Royal School of Sorcery, Hapi headed back to her home village, Balthus left intending to go from being the Indebted King of Grappling to the Well-to-Do King of Grappling, and Yuri intended to continue the work he had been doing before he came to Abyss and keep his people safe. Claude, Dimitri, and Edelgard promised to look after Abyss in their stead.

The final event of the week was Jeralt's funeral. The cover story they came up with was that he'd been on a mission and was ambushed by a particularly nasty giant wolf. This frustrated Byleth, as she felt that Jeralt deserved a much more noble fake death but unfortunately, it was all out of her control. The only thing she could really do was make damn well sure that Rhea didn't hide Jeralt's body in a cave somewhere. After that, she could do nothing other than watch as his casket was lowered into the same grave where Sitri had supposedly been buried.

And then… nothing. Things mostly went back to normal except that Byleth disappeared into her room and refused to come out. Everyone let her be because it was understandable she'd go through a mourning period and any attempts to get her to come out were generally met with non-response at best and yelling at worst.

One week later, Byleth was still shut in her room, laying face down on her bed. She was mainly subsisting on rations she had hidden in the room. It wasn't their intended use but she didn't really care anymore.

Sothis, meanwhile, hovered over her with her arms crossed. While she could leave Byleth's room and explore within the limited space she was allowed by whatever rules governed her powers whenever she wanted, something about Byleth's heightened emotional state kept drawing her back there. And it was really starting to grate on her nerves. She groaned irritably.

"Enough of this!" She shouted. "You've been sulking for days now! I can't stand it anymore! You're never going to achieve your goals if you keep going on like this!"

Byleth lifted her head up to look at Sothis. "What goals?" She asked miserably. "Don't you see, Sothis? I've failed!"

"What do you mean, you failed!" Sothis shouted.

"Jeralt's dead!" Byleth shouted, tears welling in her eyes. "I was supposed to save him and he died! What if… what if that happens again!? What if someone else I try to save dies!? What if I can't save anybody!?"

Sothis shook her head. "So one person died! It doesn't matter!."

"What!" Byleth shouted, despair turning to anger. "Of course it matters! He wasn't supposed to die! I stopped it! I stopped her!"

"Sometimes things happen!" Sothis countered. "You can't always control life and you can't go back and change things!"

"But I did!" Byleth protested. "I did go back and I did change things! And look where it's gotten me! Absolutely nowhere!" She slammed her fist into the bed.

"That's not the point!" Sothis shouted. "The point is that it already happened and you can't change it so there's no point in whining about it!"

Byleth reeled back like the statement had physically hurt her. "Whining about it!?" She shouted. "I'm not whining about it! My father died! I think I have the right to be upset about that!"

Sothis growled in frustration. "Why are you so infuriating! You are acting like a child!"

Byleth clenched her fist. "Why you…" She growled, unleashing the full power of her signature glare on Sothis. "Just shut up! Leave me alone!"

Sothis didn't have a response for that. All she could do was look down to avoid making eye contact with Byleth. Because for a split second, mixed in with the rage and sadness, she saw hatred in Byleth's eyes. Hatred for her.

Byleth flipped down on the bed again, her head turned away from Sothis. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the world. For a moment, everything was quiet. And then… the silence was broken by a beautiful voice.

"In time's flow… see the glow of flames ever burning bright…"

It was the same song Rhea had sung (would sing? Byleth didn't know anymore) when Byleth had seen her during the ball and later when she was recovering from fusing with Sothis. She opened her eyes and turned over to see Sothis singing.

"On the swift river's drift, broken memories alight…"

Byleth lifted herself up so that she was resting on her elbows. "Sothis…" She said in bewilderment. "What…"

Sothis looked just as surprised as she was. "I don't know. I just… I saw that I had hurt you and started singing. I think… I think I used to sing that song when… someone…" She scrunched up her forehead like she was trying to remember but gave up quickly. "...was sad." She shook her head. "But it doesn't matter. I'm... sorry that I said what I just said. I just… I really don't like seeing you sad and I acted stupidly because of it. I'm not very good with emotions, am I?"

Byleth looked down. "I'm sorry I glared at you like that. What you said was terrible but you didn't deserve that."

"Yes I did." Sothis said somberly. "Now… maybe you should try to sleep. You've been awake for over a week. It has to be taking a toll on you."

Byleth rubbed the tears from her eyes and yawned, for the first time realizing how tired she really was. "Yeah… maybe you're right."

Slowly, she lay back down and closed her eyes. As soon as her eyes closed she passed out completely, finally crashing after days of emotional stress.

Sothis smiled sadly. "Good night." She said.

Byleth always slept with a knife under her pillow. One of the first things she had learned as a mercenary was that she should always, always, be within arms reach of a weapon. This had led to several close calls where she had almost stabbed people who weren't hostile. The only people who were capable of waking her up without being attacked were Jeralt (before he died, obviously) and Sothis.

Edelgard Von Hresvelg, Heir to the Adrestian Empire, did not share this privilege, hence why there was currently a knife pointed at her throat.

"Professor, it's just me." She said with her hands raised above her head.

Byleth squinted. "Edelgard?"

"Yes, it's me." Edelgard said. "I request that you please lower your knife."

Byleth slowly lowered her blade and placed it on her bedside table. She took a second look to make sure that, yes, the person in front of her was Edelgard. She rubbed her head.

"Sorry about that." She said, still slightly groggy. "This happens every time someone tries to wake me up. Speaking of, why did you wake me?"

"It wasn't my intention, I assure you." Edelgard said.

"Then what was your intention?" Byleth asked, raising an eyebrow. "I can't think of many reasons for you to be in my room. Or, for that matter, how you're in my room"

Edelgard sighed. "Oh. Well, I guess since you're awake there's no way to hide it from you. We found out that today's your birthday so we all worked together to make you breakfast."

She gestured at a large plate of pancakes (of the "birthday cake" variety), eggs, and bacon sitting on Byleth's bedside table that she had somehow managed to miss. Next to the plate was an envelope and some utensils.

"Who's we?" Byleth asked.

"Well, everyone." Edelgard replied. "Me, Claude, Dimitri… even Bernadetta and Felix pitched in."

"That's… a lot of people for breakfast." Byleth said, slightly caught off guard by this turn of events.

"Oh, that's not all we did." Edelgard said. It could have been her imagination but Byleth swore the Adrestrian Princess had a small smirk on her face. "But that can wait until you've eaten. Claude, Dimitri, and I will be waiting in the courtyard."

With a swish of her hair she turned around and left the room. As the door closed behind her, Byleth made a mental note to get a magical lock on her door as soon as possible, since obviously the normal lock wasn't working.

"So, happy birthday." Sothis said from within her head.

(Ugh.) Byleth replied mentally. (I haven't thought about my birthday in… ages. I kind of forgot it existed.)

"Lucky you, your kids didn't." Sothis said. "I didn't either but I'm afraid I don't have a present for you, sorry."

(Don't worry about it.) Byleth replied. (You being here is enough.)

"Even after what I said?" Sothis asked.

Byleth grabbed the plate of pancakes and began to eat. (What you said was horrible and I definitely haven't forgiven you, but that doesn't mean we're not still friends.)

"Why does it sound like you're consoling me?" Sothis asked. "You're the one whose father died."

Byleth looked down and sighed sadly. "Yeah… he is." She said quietly, taking another bite of pancake. She shook her head. (You were sort of right. I have to move on. At the very least, I have to hold it together long enough to celebrate my own birthday.) She chuckled though it sounded forced.

She put the plate aside and grabbed the envelope. She used the dagger she had pointed at Edelgard to open it. The letter inside was huge. At the top it said "Happy Birthday" followed by three pages worth of signatures. She gave a small smile and placed the letter back down on the table.

"Well," She said, standing up. "Guess it's time to go see what my kids are up to."

With that, she left the room, locking the door behind her, though she doubted it would do anything.

Byleth found the House Leaders in the courtyard, just as Edelgard had said they would be. They seemed to be debating something.

"Strength isn't everything, Princess." Claude was saying. It sounded like he was countering something Edelgard had said.

"Arguing again?" Byleth asked. The sly smile she'd normally have for such a comment was missing.

Claude turned to face her and smiled. "Oh, Teach. Glad to see you out and about."

"Yes, I was almost afraid you wouldn't come." Edelgard added.

Byleth attempted to smile. "Hey, you guys are putting in the effort to do something nice for me. The least I can do is indulge you." She rested her right elbow on her left arm and placed her palm on her left cheek. "How did you find out it was my birthday, anyways?"

"Believe it or not, Rhea told us." Edelgard said. "I never thought I'd say this but she actually helped out quite a bit."

"I think that's enough chatter." Claude said. "We're wasting daylight." He turned to Dimitri. "You have the blindfold, Your Princeliness?"

"Of course." Dimitri replied, holding up the aforementioned blindfold.

"Wait, blindfold?" Byleth asked, confused.

"Humor us, Teach." Claude said.

"Fine." Byleth said.

Dimitri took the blindfold and tied it around Byleth's head, effectively blocking her vision. She allowed Edelgard to take her hand and guide her.

Edelgard led Byleth in a direction that Byleth was pretty sure, if she remembered the layout of Garreg Mach correctly, led to the dining hall. It turned out she was correct. When the blindfold was lifted she was greeted with a dining hall filled with, well, everyone. Every single person she knew was there. Students, Teachers, Knights. Everyone.

"Happy birthday." They all chorused, though quite a few of them put their own spin on it.

"I… what…" Byleth stuttered.

Dimitri spread his arms. "Ta-da."

"Have we managed to surprise you." Edelgard asked.

"I… well… yeah." Byleth said, amazed.

"Excellent." Edelgard replied, hands on her hips.

Claude patted Byleth on the back. "Come on, Teach, party time."

Upon Byleth entering the dining hall, she was immediately greeted by Rhea.

"Happy Birthday, Byleth." The Archbishop said warmly.

"Thank you." Byleth said, still a bit shocked. "I honestly wasn't expecting this."

"That would be the point of surprise parties." Rhea replied. It could be Byleth's imagination but Rhea seemed notably snarkier than usual.

"Still, this is huge." Byleth said, gesturing to, well, everything.

Claude chuckled. "Yeah, things might've gotten out of hand. We really just wanted to hold a party to cheer you up a bit."

Byleth rubbed the back of her head. "Thanks guys but, to be honest, I'm rather overwhelmed."

"Sorry, Teach." Claude said. "You don't have to stay here if you don't want."

Byleth looked around. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and, honestly, just that fact did make her a little happier. "No, no I think I'll stay." She rested her right elbow on her left arm and placed her palm on her left cheek. "So… what's next?"

"Whatever you want." Claude replied. "You could mingle, eat cake, open presents, whatever. It's your party and the day's still young."

Byleth enjoyed the party. For the first time in days she almost forgot about her sorrow. It was still there, of course, lurking in the back of her mind, but for now other, happier feelings were at the forefront.

Most of the people who were at the party were people Byleth expected. Ashe, Linhardt, and Hilda - who had been informed of the truth of the incident as everyone felt she deserved to know - were there. So was Alois who gave her a massive and very unwanted hug.

"I'm fine, Alois." Byleth said, disentangling herself.

"Byleth, Forgive me for being blunt but you've been shut up in your room crying for over a week." Alois replied. "You are most certainly anything but fine."

Byleth raised her finger. "I…". She didn't even bother to finish the sentence. She looked down and let loose a long sigh. "Yeah… you're right." She gave Alois a big hug (or, as big as she could manage while being shorter than him). Alois patted her on the back.

There were also people at the party she hadn't expected. Hubert was there and, though she suspected he was mainly there to protect Edelgard, he seemed to be having a good time. Though it seemed he'd managed to scare poor Bernadetta out of her wits.

More surprisingly to her was that Catherine and Shamir were there. Byleth's curiosity got the better of her and she headed over to greet the two of them.

"Catherine? Shamir? What are you guys doing here?" She asked.

"Attending your party, obviously." Catherine replied.

"Well I can see that." Byleth said, managing to muster some of her old snark. "But why? I kind of thought you hated me."

"What gave you that idea?" Catherine asked.

"Well, there was that time you threatened me." Byleth pointed out.

"Oh, that?" Catherine asked flippantly. "You were disobeying direct orders from Lady Rhea. It wasn't personal."

It had felt pretty personal to Byleth. Especially considering Catherine's fanatical devotion to Rhea.

"Well, that's nice to know." Byleth said with a shrug.

"If it makes you feel better, I don't like you." Shamir said. "They keep making me sub for you when I have better things to be doing."

Catherine laughed and wrapped an arm around Shamir. "Don't listen to her. She won't admit it but she's warming up to your kids."

Shamir rolled her eyes. She pulled away from Catherine, crossed her arms, and hmph'd.

Byleth actually let out a small chuckle. Maybe she should hang out with Catherine more often. She'd probably be fun to spar with too.

"Well, I guess I'll… see you later, then." Byleth said.

"See ya." Catherine replied. "And if you have a chance, join us at the bar in town sometime."

"Maybe I will." Byleth said with a wave.

There were other conversations Byleth had but none particularly notable. She had cake, which was delicious, and was given gifts which she decided to open at a later time. Before she knew it, night had started to fall and the party began dissolving until it was just her, Edelgard, Claude, and Dimitri.

"Well, I suppose I should head back to my room." Byleth said.

"Not yet, Teach." Claude said, holding up a hand. "We have one more present for you. Well, it's a present for all of us, actually."

He took a package out of his pocket and handed it to Byleth. It was plain compared to the other gifts, wrapped in brown paper and tied with a rainbow piece of string.

Figuring she couldn't take the gift back to her room like the others, it being for the four of them and all, Byleth unwrapped it right there. She pulled at the string which immediately became undone and carefully removed the paper to reveal a set of four rings. Each one had a different sigil on it set against a background evenly split into four colors: Red, Blue, Yellow, and Purple.

"I had these made a week ago to represent our friendship and figured now would be as good a time as any to hand them out." Claude said. He pointed to one of the rings, inset with the sigil of the Golden Deer. "There's one for me." He pointed at another ring, inset with the sigil of the Blue Lions, and looked at Dimitri. "One for you." He pointed at the third ring, inset with the sigil of the Black Eagles, and looked at Edelgard. "One for you." He pointed at the fourth and final ring, inset with the Crest of Flames, and looked at Byleth. "And one for you."

"Wow." Byleth said, stunned. "This is… a lot."

"Hey, we fought a giant monster together, if that doesn't make us friends I don't know what does." Claude said with a grin. He took his ring and slipped it on his finger. "From now on we are officially the Best Friend Squad!"

"We're still not calling ourselves that." The other three chorused and Byleth laughed for the first time in weeks.

Author's Note: And that's that. Man, Catherine and Shamir are more fun to write than I thought. Now I get why they're a pair, they bounce off each other well.

Not much else to say, I guess. Happy holidays and I'll see you in the Supports. Unless you don't follow Supports for some bizarre reason in which case I will see you next chapter.