Let's lead off today's chapter with a fun fact. Today is, according to the registry information found within Three Houses' code, Byleth's birthday. Happy birthday to the professor of one of the most interesting FE games. You deserve all the happiness that you get. Also, you belong in Smash Ultimate and don't let anyone say otherwise.

It's time for the last chapter of 2021's Marileth Week. This one will be a bit of combined themes for cleaning and a new dawn. With this being the last chapter for this year's rendition, I thought it would be smart. Also, I promise that I'm not tricking you like I did last year. The only reason I even did that extra installment last year was because it just happened to be Marianne's birthday, and this final chapter is releasing on Byleth's canonical birthdate.

Alrighty… let's wrap this one up.

Disclaimers: Fire Emblem belongs to Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, Koei Techmo, etc.

Byleth and Marianne looked at the Golden Deer classroom and saw how much of a mess the room currently was. There were books that were left all over the place in no particular order, the tables and chairs were all out of place, there was some rubble in the area, some clothing had gotten stuck in places it didn't belong, amongst various other issues that made the room look like it was in disrepair.

"I've been in a coma for five years… and this is what happens to the class?" Byleth questioned.

"We were sort of forced to abandon the school until now…" Marianne stated in a calm tone, "I know Claude said that to you, but…"

"I know. Just an observation since I really don't know what else to talk about…" Byleth exhaled as he walked over to see his desk was actually in well maintained shape, "...huh?"

"...Claude and I occasionally snuck in here after you disappeared, just hoping you would come back. We decided to try to maintain something of you…" Marianne nervously explained.

Byleth simply smiled at Marianne before the two started to work on cleaning the room up...

"Um… I wanted to apologize for thinking you were a ghost…" Marianne told Byleth as they were taking some of the debris off of the tables, "It's just… I was so shocked to see you again and I just spoke without thinking."

"It's alright," Byleth assured her, "Considering the circumstances, I really don't blame you."

"I'm… really happy you're alive…" Marianne smiled.

"I'm happy you're alive too."

This remark caused Marianne to blush a bit, but then she got back to work cleaning the area. Byleth cleaned another part of the former classroom, which made him softly smile as he went about doing so.

The duo soon found themselves finishing the last little bit of the cleaning right near the front of the classroom. Byleth wiped off the last little bit of dust, then the two stepped back a bit to look at the progress. The room was decently cleaned up and looked fairly well, though it now looked a little bit more like some kind of a council room instead of a classroom.

"We did it," Byleth stated.

"Yeah," Marianne nodded.

Byleth soon leaned back a little and then looked over the room, "...once this fighting is over, I hope that, someday, a new generation of Golden Deer will be able to use this classroom."

"That would be the dream," Marianne nodded a little.

A few days had passed since then, and the former students were being a bit sneaky with something. Byleth ended up not really noticing some of it before seeing some of them sneaking around and doing their best to remain out of his line of sight. After some time, he ended up heading to the meeting area that was the former classroom and entered to see what the group was up to…

"SURPRISE!"

Byleth looked around a little bit, then he saw a little make-shift birthday set up in the classroom along with some slices of cake. He tilted his head a little, then glanced over at a calendar to check the date, "Uh… you guys do remember my birthday isn't for a while…"

"We know," Claude grinned, "You were out of it for five years, so… we wanted to do something for you to make up for lost time."

This made Byleth chuckle a little bit in response, but he smiled nonetheless at the group and walked over to spend time with them.

"Plus, with all of the war, we could do with a little bit of fun," Claude added on.

"Fair enough," Byleth nodded.

Evening rolled around and Byleth and Marianne were the ones left cleaning up some of the party supplies while the others had fallen asleep. Marianne simply gave a smile to Byleth, which made him turn over to her and smile back.

"...hope you liked it," Marianne told Byleth, "Um… it was my idea, actually."

"...really now?"

"I just… wanted to do something to make you happy."

Byleth gave her a fond smile in response, which made Marianne blush a little bit. He proceeded to go over and gently hug her, which made the blush come on even brighter for Marianne. She ended up returning the hug after a little bit, the duo simply standing in silence for a little while.

The months of the war went on before the final battle was held and it ended. Byleth looked out at the rising sun for a little bit, simply taking in the air from the victory. The former teacher soon heard somebody walk over to his side, making him turn around to see Marianne. She walked over to his side and they quietly watched the rising sun of a brand new dawn go up.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, Byleth. I really wanted to speak with you, but I understand if now's not a good time," Marianne told him.

"Now's perfectly fine," Byleth assured her as he turned to her side.

"Thank you. You've always been so accepting of me. You've never rejected me for my flaws. You have given me the strength and courage to look forward to my future. But I won't know what to do with myself when the war has ended. When I'm gone, will I keep moving forward or back?" Marianne told him.

"Well… what is it that you want to do?" Byleth asked.

Marianne exhaled a tiny bit before she continued speaking, "Well, my adoptive father wants me to return home right away. Though he put all that talk of marrying me off to a powerful noble on hold… for now. Apparently I'm being hailed as a hero back home. Can you imagine that? Me, a hero!"

"Well… you are one of the people who helped to save this nation, so it's understandable," Byleth remarked.

This caused Marianne to briefly blush, but she quickly calmed herself. She took a moment to breathe in and out, then spoke, "And now my family wants me by their side so they can flaunt my status about town… how silly. Even so, it is nice that my relationship with my adoptive father has improved. It is starting to feel as though I am a true daughter to him at last."

"You going to return home?" Byleth asked, "Whatever you do, know that you have my support."

"I'm not going to. I've been considering what would be the best course for my future, and…" Marianne spoke before she took out a wedding ring and handed it to Byleth, "Here. Please take it."

Byleth looked a bit stunned by this as he looked at Marianne, then right back at the wedding ring.

"I'm sorry for surprising you with this so suddenly. In truth, I've surprised even myself. It's unthinkable that someone who spent their entire life avoiding people could offer you a ring...But who I am now, it's all thanks to you. You've shown me a strength I didn't know I could contain. I wanted you to see how far I've come, and how much I've grown... I guess... I wanted you to see me show a little bravery…" Marianne stated with a smile on her face. She just kept smiling before a thought entered her mind and she spoke again, "I'm not asking you to marry me here and now... that would... be a bit much, perhaps. Maybe we can just think of this as a promise... that you will always be in my heart."

Byleth's surprise soon gave way into happiness as he proceeded to take out something that had been acting as his good luck charm for the course of the war… his mom's wedding ring. He gently handed it over to Marianne with a smile, "I'd be happy to marry you."

"What?! Really? You would want to marry me? Even with all of my flaws?"

"I'd be absolutely honored to marry you. I love you, Marianne."

"You know…" Marianne spoke as a few tears of joy formed in her eyes, "I'm stronger now, but I can grow even more if you stay by my side. I'll do everything in my power to support you... and I hope you will continue to support me as well! I... I love you. So very deeply. Thank you for giving me the world."

The two gently kissed as the sun continued to rise into the sky, with the brightness of a brand new dawn before them and for the nation rising alongside that sun…

I'll admit that the sixth chapter was actually going to contain a bit of their A-Rank Support, but I didn't know how to make it flow into the chapter. You can actually see a remnant of that idea with one of the lines in that chapter matching up with a line in the A-Rank Support.

I'll also say the reason I thought to include their S-Rank Support was because that's a moment at the game's ending as the supposed "new dawn" happens. ...at least I think the CGI scenes are the sun coming up. I still need to get back to Three Houses at some point.

Favorite part… probably the little birthday celebration just for it being kinda cute. Short, but cute.

With that… we are done. Thanks to the Marileth Twitter for giving us these prompts. While, I will admit, I was scrambling to finish things because I'm a bit busy… these came out well. Some may have been short, but it happens sometimes. I hope that whatever happens next year will be interesting… and hope I actually prepare in advance next year. We'll see.

Just Live More.