Author's Note: While something of a transitional chapter, there's still quite a bit going on here. All the individual parts were fun to write, so I hope they're just as fun to read.

Chapter Five: Continued Visits

"Honestly, that went better than I thought it would. I'm surprised you've been handling this so well."

Dimitri sighed and rubbed his face as he walked out of the conference hall. He'd just had a particularly long and tiring discussion with most of Faerghus and Leicester's major houses. Their efforts at joining with the previous Imperial territories were going well and poorly at the same time… Trying to ease everyone's worries on the matter was tiring, to put it lightly. As much as he wished they could speed up the process, Dimitri knew they couldn't rush the Adrestian houses, either.

"I know, Catherine," he groaned. "I just…I don't see what else we can do, unless we want to sit back and do nothing. Someone has to look after things, and we've had enough success so far I didn't think it would be this complicated."

Catherine had been staying at the castle for the past few weeks, too. Politics weren't her forte, she'd always said. Still, much like Mercedes, Catherine had been itching for something to do, so she'd sat in on a couple meetings for moral support. And this time, he'd very much needed it. There had been so much arguing on what to do with the still-resisting Bergliez and currently-gone Arundel that Catherine getting so vocal in his defense was vastly appreciated.

She sighed. "Still, you've done much better than I expected, too. Don't forget that, all right? Everyone needs their king to keep his head up right now, but I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that."

"Yes…" Dimitri sighed and shook his head. "I do appreciate it, though, really. But for now, I think I'm going to…"

Catherine's gaze softened as Dimitri trailed off. "You still go and check on him, don't you? I understand. I would've done anything for Lady Rhea, too, even with everyone saying how much she changed."

Catherine was also one of the few people who hadn't criticized Dimitri's decision to keep Dedue in the castle, and that was something else he appreciated. Maybe Rhea hadn't changed in the same way Dedue had, but Dimitri knew the sentiment was there. He'd heard more than enough whispers of Rhea's personality shift during the war, but he'd had little choice but to turn a blind eye and accept what help he could get. And…he could barely imagine how he'd feel if he'd actually lost Dedue, like Catherine had lost Rhea.

"I know." Dimitri smiled tentatively at her. "And I'm sure you would've preferred to return to the monastery, but…"

"It's just not the same without Lady Rhea there." Catherine sighed again. "I hear they're doing pretty well now, though, you know? And that makes me happy. It really does. I'd just rather be somewhere else right now, even if I have to deal with all these stuffy nobles I hoped I could avoid. …No offense."

"None taken." Dimitri managed a laugh; despite being nobility herself, Catherine had never been a typical noblewoman, and he knew that well. "I'm sure you could join the knights here, if you wanted. But I don't want to push you, either."

"…Thanks," she replied, giving him a crooked half-smile. "I'll think about it."

With that, she turned on her heel, likely headed to the castle's training grounds to blow off some steam. Dimitri was tempted to join her, but he instead glanced down the hall in the same direction he'd looked earlier. He'd been planning on visiting Dedue, and that was a relief in and of itself.

It would likely consist of repeating most of the same frustrations he'd already vented to Catherine, but…well…

The more he spoke to Dedue, the better he felt, and Dimitri needed all the positivity he could get right now.

"Thanks, Dimitri! I'll see you again in a few days."

Dimitri smiled and nodded as he watched Cyril dart down the hallway. He, too, had been staying in Fhirdiad for the past few weeks. Much like Catherine, he didn't feel right returning to the monastery without Rhea.

Cyril was tentatively considering applying for knighthood, and, somewhere in their recent discussions, the fact that he was illiterate had come up. Despite everything else Dimitri had on his plate, he'd offered Cyril reading and writing lessons, but they usually had to be kept short. Nor could they be every day, but that was fine. Cyril was eager enough to learn that he did plenty of practice between sessions, and he was improving quickly.

Dimitri's thoughts carried him to Dedue's room. As usual, he knocked and waited a few seconds before entering. And, once again, Dedue was in his usual spot by the window.

"Hello, Dedue," Dimitri called, closing the door behind him. "How are you today?"

Dedue shifted around at the sound of his voice, grunting out something that almost sounded like a greeting. It was hard not to smile, really. While Dedue had always acknowledged the presence of others, this felt more…deliberate, somehow. Maybe Dimitri was reading too far into it, but he didn't care.

Dimitri seated himself on the bed, still miraculously in one piece, as he glanced around the room. The kitchen staff hadn't delivered as much food to Dedue lately, not since he'd been eating on their hunting trips. Still, there were a few bits of dinnerware scattered around like bizarre decorations, some whole and some broken.

"I was giving Cyril writing lessons again today," Dimitri commented. "You remember him, don't you? I don't think you spoke much, but he stayed in Fhirdiad with Lady Rhea and Catherine during the war. He's decided to stay here for now."

Dedue growled again in maybe-curiosity, and Dimitri kept going.

"It…reminds me of when we first met, you know?" He smiled wistfully. "It reminds me of teaching you how to read and write. You remember that, too, right?"

Dimitri swallowed, hands tightening around the slightly-dusty sheets. Dedue sat silently, though he was still watching Dimitri closely. There was no verbal response, but the continued attention was a good sign, wasn't it?

"Anyway," Dimitri said, pausing to clear his throat. "Things are going better now with the reconstruction efforts, too. Did I mention the Gautiers found a little girl at an orphanage in their territory with their Crest? They've decided to take her in as their heir."

She even had the signature Gautier flaming-red hair, too. The margrave had brought her along the last time he'd come to the castle, and Dimitri had met her then. Her name was Estelle, and, judging from her age, she was more likely to be an illegitimate child of Miklan's than Sylvain's—provided she was related to them, of course. Miklan's lack of a Crest didn't rule out the possibility, as Gilbert and Annette knew well.

"House Nuvelle has agreed to join the Kingdom, too," he continued. "Even though their heir fought with the Empire, she admitted they didn't have much of a choice. Bergliez has finally joined the Alliance, too; House Aegir did a while back."

Dedue made a rumbling sound that was hard to decipher; Dimitri decided it meant he was interested.

"However, Lord Arundel is still missing, and we haven't decided what to do with Vestra and Hresvelg territory yet." Dimitri sighed. "And that has been the crux of our debates recently…"

Really, this made Arundel look quite suspicious. Dimitri hadn't retrieved the Alliance's Relics from him yet, and then he'd simply…vanished without a trace. Honestly, Dimitri could understand the state Lorenz had been in when they'd attended the Archbishop's ascension ceremony, but…where should he even begin? That was the real issue, wasn't it?

Dedue was still staring at him. Dimitri was once again tempted to remove the mask, curious to see his expression and figure out if he was bored or interested. Honestly, he couldn't blame Dedue if he understood this but found it dull. The Goddess knew Dimitri was already frustrated enough, even if repeating it to someone who couldn't yell at him made him feel better.

"…Dedue, would you like to go on another hunt?" he said eventually. "I believe it's been a few days since our last one."

At that, Dedue made a noise that was much more clearly one of delight. Dimitri smiled, stood up, and headed for the door. Perhaps this would be a good way to take his mind off things, too—and if it made Dedue happy, that was even better.

A few more weeks stretched by, and Dimitri found things were getting easier to handle.

The houses who'd joined the Kingdom and Alliance so far had pooled their remaining resources together to help with rebuilding any damaged territories. Some were more reluctant than others, but they realized they had few other options. Vestra and Hresvelg were ultimately divided between the two countries. There were still bumps here and there, but…for the most part, unification was starting to look like a real probability.

The issue of Lord Arundel's disappearance was still a problem, and an admittedly large one. But if that was the biggest issue Dimitri had to deal with, he would take it. It meant he'd have more time and resources to devote to it, after all.

He could also focus on the efforts to rebuild Arianrhod, too. Dimitri hadn't been able to give it as much attention as he would've liked until now; as such, he hadn't gotten to look into what happened. It was a bizarre story—how did an entire fortress just disappear?—but the repairs were going well, from what he'd heard. At least there was a positive spot between everything else going on.

Catherine and Cyril had officially joined the Faerghus knighthood, too, giving Dimitri another thing to be excited about. They were both serving under his direct orders, and Cyril's reading and writing were steadily improving. He only had issues with especially complex words now, and he was rightfully proud of his progress.

"You know, Dimitri," Cyril mused, "we didn't talk a whole lot back when we were at Garreg Mach, but you sure have done a lot for me. I'm kinda glad I came here, you know? I thought it was weird at first, but…I'm pretty happy, too."

He was one of the few people who didn't much prodding to call him by name instead of title, which also made Dimitri happy.

"I am, too, Cyril. So, remember—"

"I know, I know, tell you if I need anything." Cyril laughed. "I think I'm gonna go train with Catherine now, though. See you next week?"

He proceeded to stride away, and Dimitri couldn't help grinning. While curious to see how Cyril's sparring sessions were proceeding, Dimitri was sure Catherine had no trouble putting him through his paces. Fighting had always been one of her strongest suits, after all.

Dimitri was still in a good mood when he arrived at Dedue's room. Though, much to his surprise, Mercedes was just outside the door, and she had Ashe and Annette in tow. The three of them blinked and waved at him, and he waved back, curious.

"Oh, Your Majesty—I mean, Dimitri!" Ashe greeted him. "We, uh…I know it's been a while since Annette and I have been here, but…"

"Well, we wanted to visit Dedue," Annette finished. "And I knew Mercie was still here, so…I figured we could all go together?"

"Yes, I thought it was a lovely idea," Mercedes agreed. "Do you think he'd like that?"

"I do," Dimitri replied. "He does like having company, so I'm sure he'd enjoy having more visitors. Let's go, then."

He turned, knocked on the door, and pushed it open. Annette gasped behind him, and it took Dimitri a second to realize why. He was so used to the messy state of Dedue's room that it didn't always register on him.

"Has it…always been like this?" she asked, carefully stepping around a splintered chair. "We should try to—BAH!"

Annette tripped over a dinner plate, rubbing her forehead and groaning as she stood up. Ashe looked around uncertainly as well; Mercedes was the only one of them used to this. Dimitri glanced sheepishly at them as he spoke.

"I actually have tried to clean it up a few times, but…he seems to like it like this. Or, rather, he likes being able to arrange things the way he wants. Isn't that right, Dedue?"

This time, Dedue was at the far left side of the room, away from the window and hunched over something. At the sound of their voices, he turned around and lumbered towards them. Dimitri peered around Dedue and saw what he'd been up to once he had more space… Apparently, he'd been in the process of stacking up parts of a damaged bookshelf, almost but not quite making it resemble the way it had stood before.

It sounded bizarre, Dimitri was sure. With how organized Dedue had always been, it probably made no sense to hear that he liked his room this way. But he had his own process for everything; it made sense to him, and Dimitri wasn't going to argue with it.

Dedue leaned down, examining both Ashe and Annette. Ashe held his breath, trying to stare evenly back at him. Annette was still pouting and rubbing her face, but she greeted him nonetheless.

"Hey, Dedue! I don't suppose you remember us, do you?"

Dedue growled, reaching a hand out towards her. Annette shrieked instinctively and hid behind Ashe, and Dedue lowered his arm. He shrank down, almost looking hurt, and Annette laughed awkwardly as she replied.

"Oh, sorry! You were probably just…trying to say hi, weren't you?"

She took a deep breath and stepped back out beside Ashe. To his credit, Ashe looked more surprised at Annette's reaction than Dedue's. That was…good, right? Dimitri shook his head and stepped forward, reaching out to Dedue. After a long pause, Dedue extended his hand again, two giant fingers taking up Dimitri's entire hand.

"See? He's doing quite well," Dimitri commented. "There have been a couple of rough spots, but…it's really given me hope for him."

Dedue still couldn't speak, but he responded much better to things than he had before. While he'd been fairly responsive even at the start, it felt like Dedue was more invested in their conversations now. Either way, watching him greet Dimitri seemed to reassure Ashe and Annette, too.

"Right," Ashe said as Dimitri lowered his hand. "Well, anyway, Dedue, we brought you something! Mercedes has been checking on your plants down in the garden, actually… She was telling us about it on the way up here, so we thought you'd like to see how they'd turned out?"

He paused, carefully pulling something out of the bag strapped to his back. It was a small vase full of brightly-colored, speckled flowers with broad petals, the very same ones Dedue had planted in the garden months before his transformation. Ashe carefully set it on the nearest flat surface, a sideways bookshelf.

"There are still a few down there, of course," Ashe continued quickly. "We didn't want to pick all of them, you know? We thought leaving some of them would remind everyone that you're here. But we also thought you'd like to have some in here, too?"

Dedue leaned down, reaching out to touch the flowers surprisingly gently. They looked even smaller next to his massive hand, but Dedue delicately traced a claw around the petals, face as close to them as he could manage. He made a noise that almost sounded forlorn, and there was another lump in Dimitri's throat.

"…Thank you," he said shakily.

The three of them smiled and nodded quietly in response, and Dimitri could only hope the gesture meant as much to Dedue as he thought it did.