Sylvain watched Eve fall into step behind Dimitri as they made their way back towards the front lines. It reminded him of how they had been the day she arrived at the monastery, standing just behind him as she met the Blue Lions for the first time. There was a similar timidness to her stance, relying on Dimitri to provide context to her presence. But Sylvain couldn't help noticing how small she looked beside him now. Back then, she had stood at almost his same height— a commanding presence. And though now her stance stood just as tall and confident, she was dwarfed by Dimitri's looming form.
But as they continued to walk, Sylvain found himself believing that there was no one else who could stand beside His Highness like that. Eve might've looked physically small next to him and she certainly seemed anxious about the reunion she was about to face, but she did not look weak standing beside a king come home.
As they began to make their way through the lines of soldiers, murmurs rippled throughout the ranks. Those who did not know who she was were speculating who the person in Empire garb was with the prince. People were turning to stare, but Eve kept her head high. Sylvain could tell she was nervous, afraid of how her friends would receive her, but she could never show her vulnerabilities.
"It cannot be." Gilbert was the first to see her, having been intently watching for Dimitri's return.
His astonished gasp prompted some of the others on the front lines to turn and see who was approaching. Sylvain could see all of their shocked expressions, mixtures of wonder and relief and disbelief.
"Eve?" Ashe was the first to say her name out loud, his voice cracking with surprise.
Sylvain watched closely where he knew Felix was. He saw as his friend's back stiffened and the younger man fought not to turn around. Sylvain knew that Felix would not turn around unless he knew absolutely that it was Eve. He could not risk getting his hopes up one more time only to be reminded that the woman he loved was dead.
"What?" Ingrid, though, who stood beside Felix whipped around at Ashe's exclamation.
"Is it really her?" Mercedes craned her neck trying to get a glimpse of the person approaching.
"Well, I'll be damned." Yuri smirked as their group arrived at the front line. "She lives."
It was this that finally allowed Felix to cave to his curiosity and he turned to see Eve just as she passed him to stand before everyone. Sylvain was happy for his friend, glad that he could finally release the grief that had been holding him hostage. He deserved a boon after losing his father.
"Eve…" His voice was just barely a whisper, but it carried in the silence that had fallen over everyone.
She looked out at all the people she had learned to call friends five years prior, unsure of how to address them. They were all so grown up, five years of war apparent in their faces, but they were somehow all still the same people. And though she felt that she had let them all down, she could see in their eyes that none of them thought that of her.
"I'm sorry I'm late." She said finally, eyes only fixed on Felix.
"How…?" Ferdinand tried to ask the question on everyone's mind, but couldn't manage more than one word.
"I'll explain everything later." Eve nodded in understanding. "But for now please allow me to fight with you all… for Fhirdiad."
"Yes... Let us begin." Dimitri gave Eve a complicated look, years of emotions flooding back to him, before he projected his voice to address everyone present. "Everyone! Listen well! This battle is for all that the Empire stole from us. It is a fight to reclaim the days of peace we once enjoyed. I give you but two commands—stay alive, and follow your heart. That is all I ask. The gates to the Kingdom capital are open. Join me! It is time to take back our home!"
Various rallying cries sounded out as their forces moved to enter the city. Eve, for her part, fell so easily into line with the rest of her peers. Despite their years spent away from each other, the Blue Lions felt like one unit when they fought together. It was especially true as they fought together under the guidance of both Dimitri and the Professor.
Sylvain had at first intended to keep an eye on her as they battled the Dukedom forces, but the chaos proved too much. It didn't help that she had slipped away almost immediately as the fighting started. He could tell that Felix had probably had a similar idea the way he was looking about as if searching for something, but Eve had become just another body within the conflict.
But as the battle raged on, Sylvain couldn't worry about Eve's whereabouts. She was back now and he didn't believe she would disappear again anytime soon. What they had to focus on was winning the battle while still protecting the people of Fhirdiad. Cornelia had clearly directed her men to kill anyone in opposition even if they were civilians, so their mission had become one of both offence and defence.
As they finally began to make progress deeper into the city, Sylvain finally found Eve on the battlefield. And it was when he laid eyes on her that he finally saw the effects of the five years she had been missing. She had looked so much the same when he first laid eyes on her, blinded by nostalgia, that he had missed the darkness—no, the dullness— of her eyes.
She had always been formidable on the field, citing her centuries of experience as the reason, but he had never seen her be quite so terrifying. He watched as Eve plunged her blade into the side of an enemy soldier and as a second moved to attack her while her blade was still stuck, she used her other blade to slash across her own stomach. Immediately, the glow of her Crest illuminated the space between her and her assailant, and Sylvain watched the enemy keel over in pain. It bought her enough time to remove her blade from the first soldier to then attack the second.
Eve was using her Crest offensively in a way that was nothing short of horrifying to Sylvain. While slicing through her enemies, she was simultaneously slicing through herself to create injuries she could transfer to the Dukedom soldiers. It was a display that made Sylvain feel like he was going to vomit despite all the horrors he had seen throughout the war. And as she raised her arm to plunge her blade into her own thigh, Sylvain finally sprung into action. He spurred his steed on and rode to her side, catching her wrist just before she could inflict anything more upon herself.
"Eve!" He shouted at her over the din of battle. "What are you doing?"
"Sylvain." She seemed to snap out of something and a glimmer of clarity returned to her eyes as she looked up at him.
"What are you doing?" He repeated.
"I can't save all of you." She shook her head, looking out at the mayhem around them before looking back up at him with a saddening amount of apathy. "But I can kill all of them before they hurt you."
"Eve…no." Sylvain balked at her reasoning. "What happened to wanting to learn to be a healer? Wanting to find out how to get rid of pain?"
"What happened?" She echoed. "I got captured and spent five years behind enemy lines. Who was I supposed to save then? Who was I supposed to heal? I couldn't help you all from Adrestia, but I could kill your enemies before they could ever make it to the front lines and hurt you."
"Look around." Sylvain pleaded, motioning to where their allies were forcing Dukedom soldiers to retreat. "You're not alone anymore. You're home, Eve. You don't have to fight like this anymore."
She looked around, seeing the people she had spent five years wondering if they were alive or dead. She had fought so hard for them all these years in the only way she thought she could without being beside them. But Sylvain was right, she was home now. After years of considering herself less a person and more a weapon, she was beside the people who saw her as more than her Crest.
"I'm…home?" She breathed, looking back up at him.
"I'm so sorry, kitten." Sylvain softened. "I don't know what happened these past few years, but yes, you're home. You're home and we're here with you, so please… Don't do this to yourself."
He watched her try to grapple with this, a flurry of emotions flashing across her features. There were so many questions he had for her about what had happened after she left the Battle for Garreg Mach, but he knew they would have to wait. The rest of the Kingdom forces were closing in on Cornelia and he knew the battle would be over soon. They needed to be there to support His Highness in this final push, so they questions bubbling up in his chest had to be sidelined for now.
"Come on, let's be there for him when he defeats Cornelia." Sylvain urged her on, jerking his chin to where Dimitri had the Dukedom leader cornered.
Wordlessly, she nodded as her eyes were fixed on Dimitri. Sylvain wondered what was going through her head. How did she feel about Dimitri? How did she feel about Felix? Did any of that stand or even matter after the last five years?
"Here." Sylvain yet again pushed his questions aside and offered Eve his hand.
He pulled her up onto his horse and the two of them rode forward to meet up with the rest of the Blue Lions. They were in the final stretch, Dukedom soldiers already putting down their arms and surrendering while Cornelia was busy trading blows with Dimitri.
The prince had a quiet fury about him as he advanced on the woman who had betrayed him. She threw spell after spell at him which he dodged and sliced through with Areadbhar. And as the last of the Dukedom soldiers laid down their arms, Cornelia's pained cry echoed across the field.
The Blue Lions watched on as Dimitri pulled his weapon from her torso. She smiled through the blood that leaked from her mouth as she murmured something that only the prince could hear.
"How dare you!" He cried out, running Areadbhar through her once more.
"There's nothing left for you now…" She choked with her last breath. "Nothing but despair."
Rallying cries and victory songs rang out through the halls as the Kingdom forces made their way into the royal castle. Eve felt as if she was hearing everything through cotton, though, as she wandered into the halls she had last seen five years ago.
Everyone was celebrating their victory already, but she felt haggard. For weeks she had been trying to catch up to the Blue Lions and now that she was here she wasn't sure it was the right decision.
She had seen the horror in Sylvain's eyes when he saw how she fought. How could she tell him that this was how she had survived all this time? Once their excitement at her return wore off, would her other friends look at her like that too when they realised what she had become? Eve was worried she would disappoint them by coming back. They were expecting the friend that had disappeared all those years ago, and she wasn't sure that's who she still was.
But still Eve followed when the Blue Lions gathered together with Gilbert and Seteth and the Professor in an atrium on an upper level of the castle. Before them was a balcony overlooking the city square below
"Come, Your Highness. You still have some responsibilities that must be carried out. Your people have been patiently awaiting your return." Gilbert motioned to the open balcony.
"Do you mean..." Dimitri trailed off, his eye wide as he shook his head. "No. I can't bear to face them after all that I—"
"You must face them." Byleth cut him off, not so much stern as simply firm.
"Professor..." Dimitri trailed off, looking between his Professor and the balcony. "Right you are, as ever. I am their king, after all..."
But as Dimitri moved to make an entrance for his people, Gilbert suddenly stopped him.
"Actually, Your Highness, wait one moment." Gilbert held his arm out and then turned his attention to Eve.
"Me?" She muttered in surprise when the knight ushered her over.
"You should greet the people with him." Gilbert said to which Eve frowned in confusion.
"Why?" She asked, glancing at Dimitri.
"You are his wife— his queen— are you not?" Gilbert asked in return.
Eve blinked in shock and her eyes darted to Dimitri once again. After all these years she would not have thought that anyone would consider their marriage legitimate, especially not after both of them had been presumed dead for so long. But Gilbert was right, Eve was Dimitri's wife. And presenting a united front to the people of Faerghus would be good for their cause. Edelgard had very aggressively spread her propaganda making Dimitri out to be a villain who had forced Eve into marriage with him using the Kingdom's connection to the Church. Standing by him of her own volition would help put any suspicions to rest.
But beside all of the political implications, did she want to stand beside him? She had seen him on the battlefield and she could see the way he held himself now. Much in the same way she was unsure she was the person she had been when they parted, she was unsure of who Dimitri was now after all this time.
The silence as she debated this was deafening and Eve was all too aware of all of the eyes on her. Finally, she reached into her shirt to pull out a weathered cord from around her neck. With one swift tug, the cord snapped and she held one end to dump the items that had been on it into her open hand.
First was a wooden figure, a wyvern with a distinctive notch in its wing. The second item clattered against the wooden figurine in her palm and glinted just slightly in the light.
"Am I?" She answered Gilbert's question with one of her own directed at Dimitri.
She stuffed the wooden wyvern into her pocket, but presented Dimitri with the second item— a ring, his mother's ring, her ring.
Dimitri gingerly took the ring from her, marvelling at it. Despite the fact that every item of clothing Eve wore was tattered and dirty, the ring was in pristine condition. And as he examined the ring, Eve held her hand out as she had the day they married and he had first put that ring on her.
"You both have your duty to the people." Gilbert said as Dimitri continued to look at the ring in his hand.
"Yes." Dimitri said finally, whether in response to Gilbert or Eve it was unclear. But nevertheless he reached out and slipped the ring back onto Eve's finger.
Eve watched him intently, trying to glean anything about what he was thinking from the way he looked at her. But he was unreadable and she instead turned her focus to the balcony. The two of them walked out together this time to be received by a deafening roar of cheers from the people below.
"What... what is this?" Dimitri stammered as Byleth and Gilbert stepped out behind them.
"As you can see, the people are rejoicing at the return of their King." Gilbert said with a hint of pride in his voice.
"Even though I turned my back on them, and fled the Kingdom in disgrace..." Dimitri's voice cracked.
"Even so... the spectacle before you does not lie." Gilbert shook his head. "We are a Kingdom in need of a King. A hero to save the people from their long oppression. Your Highness... It is truly a blessing that you have returned."
"Do I really have the right to stand here? Will they accept me as their king? Bloodstained as I am... Am I fit to be king?" Dimitri struggled to choke through his words and for the first time in five years, Eve reached out to grab his hand.
So easy it was to reach out to him once more as if no time had passed. It was as if the moment she heard the conflict in his voice her body was compelled to offer him a lifeline.
"Don't cry, Dimitri. This is a happy time." Byleth said gently as a quiet stream of tears trailed down Dimitri's face.
"These are happy tears, my friend." Dimitri sniffed and ever so slightly squeezed Eve's hand in his. "I am finally home again... Faerghus... How I missed you..."
