Wrote this for an ultra rarepair big bang, you can find the accompanying art here: twitter /chibichangaas/status/1300950953886130177 (just add the '.com' after twitter)

"C'mon sweetheart, you're not getting tired already, are you?"

"Hmm, you're the one falling behind. Do I need to stop and carry you?"

Balthus barked out a laugh as Byleth glanced over her shoulder at him, an eyebrow raised as a small grin spread over her face. Their journey across southern Fódlan had been a long one, but they were currently crossing into the outskirts of their destination: his mother's home of Kupala.

It had been a while since Balthus had visited the quiet mountain village, as the war had obviously kept him rather busy. He was happy to finally be able to see his mother again, but he was even happier that he was not alone, but rather accompanied by the woman that he loved more than anything else in the world.

"Heh, you better watch what you say. I may...surprise you!" Balthus suddenly sprinted up to Byleth, and before she could react, he scooped her up into his arms and held her tight.

"Balthus!" Byleth laughed as he spun her around, and, Goddess help him, Balthus would never, ever tire of that ethereal sound coming from her. It was hard to believe that this was the same, practically emotionless woman that he had met in Abyss all those years ago.

Balthus remembered that day well. Abyss was in a tissy about an 'intruder' from the surface, but this so called intruder was just the new, and apparently curious, professor at the Officer's Academy. She didn't look like much, but the blank look in her eyes had unnerved him a bit, as well as the lack of emotion in her tone as she spoke. He had been surprised to learn that she was also a mercenary, and a damn skilled one at that, as their first battle together had clearly shown him.

From that day on, Byleth became a regular visitor of Abyss, and she always made a point to stop and talk to Balthus while she was there, which was another thing that surprised him. Most people were pretty intimidated by him, but she always seemed unphased when they were chatting. He liked that, and decided that he wanted to see more of her, so he asked to sit in on her lessons sometimes. She actually let him - and her surprising him was starting to become an interesting trend - and he had learned more that he had anticipated from her when he did show up to her lectures and training sessions. She really had a natural knack for teaching.

As they grew closer over time, Balthus started to notice subtle changes in Byleth's demeanor, mostly in respect to her emotional state. Instead of blankly staring at him with her bright blue eyes, she would actually smile in response to his over-the-top boasting about his grappling skills, or raise a dubious eyebrow when he asked her for money, and she had actually laughed when he made a stupid joke while they had tea one time. It was the first time he had ever heard her laugh, and it was a moment that would be etched into his memory for a long, long time.

When Jeralt died, Balthus had been a close witness to Byleth's first expressions of sorrow. She had shut herself away for a few days after the fact, and Balthus had become worried enough to actually venture to the surface to find her. When he did not find Byleth in her room, he searched the entirety of Garrag Mach, the last place he looked being the Goddess Tower.

And sure enough, there she had been, standing at the railing overlooking the entire monastery, bathed in the soft glow of the moonlight. Balthus could hear her soft sobs from where he stood by the stairs, and it was a sound that he never wanted to hear coming from her again. He had crossed the room and stood silently next to her, waiting for her to notice him. When she had finally turned to look at him, his heart clenched painfully at the devastated, broken look in her red, puffy eyes. He did the only thing that he could think to do at that moment; he pulled her into his arms and let her cry against his chest.

Balthus held her silently, as his hands ran gently over her back and through her hair, until her tears had run dry and she had cried herself hoarse. Balthus had smiled at her as he wiped the tears from her cheeks, before he pulled out a bottle of wine he had been saving for a rainy day. He joked that he had managed to find some of that 'fun juice' that they had missed out on when they won the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, and he smiled when she let out a quiet laugh. It was a bit lackluster, but it was definitely better than hearing her cry, anyway.

They sat together for a while, passing the bottle back and forth and watching the stars. They talked about whatever came to their minds, as long as it didn't have to do with the terrible current events, and eventually an exhausted Byleth fell asleep with her head resting on Balthus' shoulder. He had watched her peaceful, sleeping face for a while, and he hoped that someday she could be that peaceful while awake too. Balthus had carried her back to her room, wrapped up nice and warm in his coat, and he was happy when he saw that she was acting more like her old self the next day.

In the month to come, Balthus had trained hard with Byleth, and noticed the fires of revenge blazing in her eyes, and he was all too eager to help her achieve that goal of vengeance. He had grown wary, though, of her getting too reckless in battle, and he voiced that concern when she helped him fight off some goons sent by his stubborn shrew of a stepmother. He wanted her to keep out of it for her own safely, and it was then that she said something that genuinely shocked him.

'I can protect the both of us.'

Balthus had always been proud of how strong he was, and he had no problems fighting his way out of even the most perilous of situations. He never really gave any thought to having someone protect him. The King of Grappling, needing a protector? It seemed a bit pointless to him. But, if it was going to be anyone watching his back, it really couldn't have been anyone other than Byleth, the mercenary-turned-professor who had begun to unknowingly pry her way into his heart.

Life could be a cruel mistress, Balthus knew this well, but the day that Byleth disappeared reminded him of that fact in the most bitter and heart-wrenching way possible. For five long years he wandered Fódlan as a mercenary, helping those that he could and returning to Abyss every once in a while to make sure it was safe. He kept himself busy, but not busy enough to stop him from thinking of Byleth every single day. And eventually, he figured out the exact reason why: He had fallen in love with her.

He couldn't pinpoint exactly when or how it happened, but as soon as the possibility crossed his mind, Balthus could think of no other plausible explanation. Byleth was an incredible woman, with a good head on her shoulders, a refreshing sense of humor, a fierce loyalty and protectiveness for those she had taken under her wing, and Goddess above, she was the most beautiful woman that he had ever met. How could he have not fallen head-over-heels for her?

That's why it hurt so much, not knowing when or even if she would return. Or even if she was still alive at all. That thought haunted him for many nights, but Balthus stubbornly refused to believe that Byleth would die so easily. It was the thought that she was still out there fighting the good fight that helped him push forward and continue to live his life the best he could with a war raging around him.

It was by chance that he had been back in Abyss at the same time as the monastery's millennium festival that would have been celebrated had the place not been completely abandoned. The buzz among the Abyssians was that the Knights of Seiros had returned to the monastery, but nothing could have prepared Balthus for the moment when he looked up from cleaning his gauntlets to find Byleth standing before him, looking just the same as she had five years ago.

After he had hugged and twirled her around for a bit in an uncontained fit of joy, relishing in the fact that he could listen to that godsdamn beautiful laugh of hers again, he promised to help her out in any way that he could. And just like that, things between them went right back to normal. Well, as normal as they could with a war going on, anyway.

They trained together, talked about his mother and Kupala, and shoved as many tea breaks in as they could in between the many grueling battles. All the while, Byleth began looking more and more like the woman of his dreams, so Balthus tried desperately to come up with a plan to confess his feelings for her.

Unfortunately, he really couldn't come up with much of anything, besides coming across the perfect ring for her and blowing a good chunk of his savings on it. Balthus had decided then to focus on finding a way to secure protection for Kupala first in order to give himself more time to plan out a perfect way to ask Byleth to marry him.

When the war was finally won, Balthus was left dumbfounded when the spy he had paid to watch over Kupala informed him that a contingent of knights had been stationed in the remote village already. There could only be one explanation for that, so with all of his plans thrown out the window, Balthus knew that it was now or never.

He climbed the Goddess Tower that night, crossing his fingers the entire time with the hope that Byleth would do the exact opposite of what he expected and accept his proposal. She looked as beautiful as always standing there in the moonlight, and he started rambling at her immediately before he had a chance to lose his cool.

After asking Byleth to marry him in about the most embarrassing way that he possibly could have, Balthus thought his heart might give out as he waited for her to give him an answer. She gazed at him for a moment, those beautiful eyes of hers never leaving his, before she smiled and said yes.

She said yes, and that night, he became the happiest godsdamn man alive.

"Um, Balthus?"

Pulled from his thoughts, Balthus blinked rapidly as Byleth poked his cheeks with her fingers, and he laughed as his arms tightened around her.

"Heh, sorry. Got a bit lost in thought."

"Oh?" Byleth raised a curious eyebrow. "That's unlike you. What were you thinking about so deeply?"

Balthus grinned as he leaned up, pressing his lips against her cheek, coaxing a pretty little giggle out of her. "Why, you, of course! About how lucky I am that a goof of a guy like me is engaged to be married to the most beautiful and amazing woman in the entire world."

He watched with an amused glint in his eye as Byleth's cheeks flushed a deep pink, and she cupped his face with her hands as she pressed her forehead against his. "Well, this goof completely stole my heart, so I feel like I'm the lucky one."

"I guess we'll have to agree to disagree there, love." Balthus' voice dropped to a whisper as his eyes locked with hers, and she leaned down to press her lips against his in a tender kiss. Gods, he swore that he could get piss-drunk just on the taste of her lips, considering the fuzzy, weightless feeling that rushed through him every time they kissed. Their intimate embrace lasted a bit longer, before Byleth pulled away and wiggled out of Balthus' arms.

"We should keep moving," she said, adjusting the pack on her back as she held her hand out to him, "I'm eager to finally meet your mom. You've always had really nice things to say about her." Balthus smiled as he took her hand in his, their fingers lacing together as they continued up the mountain path.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure she's gonna love you!" Balthus chuckled as he let go of Byleth's hand and slung his arm over her shoulders, "I know exactly what she's gonna say too: 'How'd a big doofus like you manage to charm a pretty woman like her?'" He had pitched his voice up to try and imitate his mother's tone, but he definitely failed miserably at it.

Byleth held a hand to her face to muffle her snort as she tried not to laugh. "I wonder the same thing sometimes."

"Ouch. There's that biting wit that I love so much, sweetheart." Byleth couldn't contain her laughter this time, and Balthus laughed along with her as he hugged her tight to his side.

Byleth suddenly tensed up against him, and Balthus immediately understood why. He could hear shouting coming from up ahead, and the sound of metal striking metal caused a pit of fear to form in his gut; Kupala was in danger. His eyes flicked over to meet Byleth's for a moment, before they both whipped out their weapons and charged on ahead.

Soon enough, they stumbled upon the source of the commotion; the Knights of Seiros were locked in combat with what looked to be just some common bandits. Balthus clenched his jaw as he charged into the fray without a second thought. He wasn't going to stand idly by and let them harm his mother, or anyone else in the village. With a few swings of his gauntlets, Balthus had already made quick work of three bandits, but when he blocked an attack with both gauntlets, another bandit made a jab at his exposed flank.

The bandit's blade never made contact, however, because he was impaled and sent flying by Byleth's wicked awesome whip-sword. As it began to snap back to her, Balthus laughed and shot her a wink as he pummeled the bandit in front of him.

"Yeah, nice one!" he called out, but when he turned to look at her again, his blood ran cold at the sight. A bandit was closing in on her from behind, his ax raised over his head, and Balthus knew that she wouldn't be ready to block his attack in time.

"Byleth!" This time his voice was frantic, and he started sprinting towards her, praying that he would make it to her in time. Even just the thought of losing her...was like driving a knife through his heart.

However, as he watched in horror as Byleth turned around, eyes wide and locked onto the bandit about to attack her, the bandit was cleaved across the neck with an ax and knocked hard to the ground, dead on impact. Time seemed to stop for a moment as Balthus tried to comprehend what had just happened, but when he realized exactly who had just saved his beloved, a huge smile slowly spread across his face.

"Are you alright?" his mother asked as she hefted her ax over her shoulder, and Byleth nodded as she sheathed her sword. Balthus noted that the knights seemed to have finally run off the rest of the bandits, so he strode up to his mother and Byleth. His mother hadn't changed one bit since he last saw her, with her curly black hair pinned up in a bun and a bandanna wrapped around her head. Her strength certainly hadn't dulled at all either, and she seemed to be as healthy as always. Balthus was grateful for that.

"Well, well, I can see where I got my scrappin' genes from!" Balthus watched as his mother turned around, her confused expression morphing to one of shock and then joy in the span of five seconds.

"Balthus? Is that really you?" She laughed as she cupped his face with her hands, and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

"The one and only!"

"Oh, my Baltie! I'm so glad you're safe!" She pulled away and gave him a once-over. A small frown crossed her face as her brows furrowed thoughtfully.

"Hmm, you seem to have kept up your strength all this time, but you do seem a bit thinner…"

"Mom."

"Have they been feeding you properly in that Abyss place? Oh, I'll have to get some proper meals in you while you're here."

"Mom…"

"And what is this mess on your head?" She reached up to pinch a bit of Balthus' hair between her fingers. "Didn't I teach you anything about grooming yourself properly, boy?"

"C'mon mom…"

"Oh, and you still haven't introduced me to your friend yet. Where are your manners?" She gave him a light slap on the arm, and Balthus sighed as he glanced at Byleth, who had been watching their exchange silently with an amused smile on her face. Balthus grinned and grabbed her hand to pull her to his side.

"Byleth, this is my mom, the one and only Ariana von Albrecht! And mom," Balthus said, turning his adoring gaze onto Byleth for a moment before he looked back at his mom, "this is Byleth Eisner. She's the love of my life, and we're engaged to be married."

Ariana looked back and forth between Byleth and Balthus a few times, with a dubious eyebrow raised, before she leaned towards Byleth.

"How'd a big doofus like him manage to charm a pretty woman like you?" she asked with a chuckle, and Byleth immediately burst out laughing, while Balthus groaned and smacked a hand over his face.

"See? I told you she was gonna say that!" Balthus said, but his own laughter soon joined theirs, and when it died down, Ariana pulled Byleth into a hug.

"I'm just teasing you, hun," she said to Byleth as she pulled away, "It is very nice to meet you, Byleth. I do hope my dear son has been behaving like a gentleman around you."

"I'm not sure he knows how to do that," Byleth deadpanned, and Balthus gawked at her.

"Hey!"

"Oh, you're probably right." Ariana let out a defeated sigh and shrugged. "I raised him the best that I could, but I guess some things went in one ear and out the other."

"I'm standing right here!" Balthus pouted as Byleth giggled and his mom grinned at her, but he couldn't help but smile at the two most important women in his life. The fact that they were getting along so well already blunted the blows to his pride a bit.

"Well, we should let the knights handle the clean up here," Ariana started, before mumbling under her breath, "Although they really shouldn't have let it get this bad in the first place…" She then smiled and grabbed Byleth and Balthus' hands. "Let's get to the village. You two must be tired after your long journey, and I must tell everyone the good news. Oh, and preparations must begin quickly…"

"Uh, preparations for what?" Balthus asked with an eyebrow raised.

"For the celebration of your engagement, of course." Ariana waved off his question as if the answer should have been obvious. "There's lots of food to cook and barrels of ale to crack open before nightfall!"

"Oh hell yeah! I'm always up for a good party, aren't you, sweetheart?" Balthus said, wrapping his arm around Byleth. She smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course. I'm looking forward to it."

"Great, follow me then." Ariana strapped her ax to her back and started towards the village, with Balthus and Byleth close behind. Balthus knew that this night was going to be one to remember, for all of them.

Byleth was certain that she had never been anywhere quite like Kupala before. The villagers were friendly and welcoming, especially after finding out that one of their own was engaged to be married. They had been quick to prepare for a celebratory feast, and before she knew it, Byleth found herself sitting by the largest of many bonfires scattered throughout the streets of the village. With a full mug of ale and some of the best food that she had ever tasted filling her stomach, she was already having the time of her life.

"Ah, here you two are! Drink up, there's plenty to go around!"

Byleth smiled as Ariana sat down next to her, handing her and Balthus full mugs of ale. The three clinked their mugs together before taking a swig, and Balthus' arm fell back to rest over Byleth's shoulders. She giggled when he pulled her close and placed a kiss on her cheek, and Byleth was glad to see a small grin cross Ariana's face as she took another slow sip of her drink.

"Heh, watching you two being all cute and cuddly really brings back memories." Byleth tilted her head curiously as a pensive look crossed Ariana's face, but she quickly changed the subject. "Have you two made any plans for the wedding yet?"

"Nah," Balthus said with a shrug, "I would've been fine with getting hitched right after I proposed, but I know you'd have killed me."

Balthus chuckled as a sour looked crossed his mother's face. "Of course I would have. I can't believe you'd even consider getting married without inviting your own mother."

"Geez, I was just kidding, mom. I'd never dream of leaving you out of the happiest day of my life!"

Byleth smiled at that, and she felt herself blush as her face grew warm. The happiest day of Balthus' life would be the day that he married her, huh? The thought made an excited giddiness bubble up within her, and Byleth knew that she would feel the same once that special day finally came.

"You better be kidding, boy." Ariana raised an eyebrow at him, and her gaze shifted to Byleth. "How did he propose, anyway?" Byleth glanced at Balthus, who had choked a bit on his drink. When he recovered, he let out a nervous chuckle and rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Ah, it was really nothing too special, no need to go into detail-"

"He rambled on for a bit to stall and then said 'Marry me, pal.'" Byleth deadpanned, and an absolutely horrified look crossed Balthus' face. Ariana stared at them for a moment, before she burst out laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face by the time she recovered enough to speak.

"You...you said what?" Her voice came out in a wheeze, as Ariana was still trying to catch her breath. "Oh, Byleth honey, I am genuinely shocked that you still said yes after that. You must really love this big goof." She barked out a few more laughs until she started coughing, and Byleth turned to find Balthus pouting at her.

"Sweetheart! You promised not to tell anyone about that!" he said, and Byleth tilted her head at him.

"But I thought you'd want your mom to know at least."

"She's the last person that I wanted to know!"

Byleth couldn't help but giggle as Balthus sighed, but he was soon laughing too. When they all recovered, Balthus pulled Byleth into his arms and hugged her tightly.

"You guys gotta give me a break here," Balthus said, and Ariana raised an eyebrow at him, "I was really nervous that night, and I...didn't actually think that you'd say yes."

"Oh?" Byleth blinked as she turned her head to look at him. "I thought how I felt about you was obvious."

"...You can be a bit hard to read sometimes, to be fair."

"And you," Ariana cut in, "can be a bit dense, Baltie. You two seemed to have your work cut out for you, trying to court each other like that."

"Ugh, I guess…" Balthus mumbled, downing the rest of his drink in one gulp, "You guys need more?"

"Oh, of course," Ariana said, and Byleth nodded. Balthus smiled as he stood up and gathered up the empty mugs. He made to leave, but paused for a moment to lean down and place a chaste kiss on Byleth's lips.

"Be back soon, love."

Byleth smiled fondly as she watched him go, and she turned back to Ariana when she heard the older woman chuckling softly.

"He's such a handful," Ariana mused, "I do hope that he was on his best behavior when you introduced him to your parents."

The smile fell from Byleth's face, and her gaze slowly shifted to the ground. "I, ah, my parents are...dead." Before now, she never really gave any thought to the fact that her parents wouldn't be present for her wedding, and now that the topic had come up, it really made Byleth's heart sink.

Ariana didn't respond right away, but she did shift closer to Byleth and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, hun. Losing loved ones is never an easy thing." Byleth lifted her gaze back up as Ariana gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Will you tell me about them?"

Byleth hadn't really talked about her parents since Jeralt's death, but for some reason, she felt very comfortable around Ariana. This seemed odd to Byleth, but it might have had something to do with the fact that she was the mother of the man that she loved. Nodding slightly, Byleth took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Well," she began, "I never knew my mom. She died shortly after I was born. But...My dad told me that she smiled the most when she was pregnant with me, and that she loved me with all of her heart." Byleth swallowed thickly, trying to clear away the lump that was trying to form in her throat before she continued.

"My dad was all that I had. He taught me everything I know, especially about fighting. He...wasn't the most emotional person, but then again, neither was I. But he always supported and encouraged me to be the best that I could be." Byleth stared down at her hands, which were clenched into fists in her lap.

"He...was murdered while I was teaching at the Academy. The day that he died was the first time that I ever cried...He seemed so happy that my first tears were for him…" Byleth tried to say more, but she choked on her words as tears that she did not know that she was shedding fell down her face. She sucked in a shaky breath, trying to compose herself, but a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around her, and she was pulled into Ariana's warm embrace.

"There, there, it's okay," she whispered, and Byleth let out a sob as Ariana gently guided her head to rest on her shoulder, and Byleth started crying in earnest. The last time she had cried this hard was when Balthus had come to comfort her after Jeralt's death. It was an interesting coincidence that his mother was the one who was comforting her now.

"You've been through so much, Byleth," Ariana said, rubbing a hand over Byleth's back soothingly, "I know that we just met, but I can tell that you are a good woman, and that your parents would be very proud of you." Byleth swallowed thickly as she lifted her head from Ariana's shoulder, and she choked out a small laugh as she rubbed her eyes.

"T-Thank you." Byleth took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I really hope that I've made them proud. I heard from a good friend of my dad's that I really was the most important thing in the world to him…"

"Oh I don't doubt that for a second. It seems like he was a good man." Byleth nodded as Ariana spoke, and she held Byleth's mug of ale out to her. She gladly took it, and downed the rest of the contents in one go. Ariana chuckled softly as she took a sip of her own drink.

"You know," Ariana said, "I always knew the day would come when my Baltie brought home someone he loved and wanted to spend the rest of his life with. But there was a small part of me that worried about exactly what type of person he would choose."

Byleth listened intently, and Ariana smirked and shook her head as she continued. "It was silly for me to worry, though. Balthus may have a history of making poor financial decisions and jumping head-on into brawls, but other than that, he always did have a good head on his shoulders. And, more importantly, he has a good heart."

"He...really does," Byleth interjected, "There were many times that he risked his own life to protect Abyss and Garrag Mach. I know that he also worried about you a lot, too."

"I'm well aware of that." Ariana chuckled as she turned her gaze to the other campfires scattered about the village. "That fool boy, spending money that he didn't have to send spies here to watch over me, and the rest of Kupala."

"I am...eternally grateful that he still cares about me so much," Ariana said, a sad smile crossing her face when she looked back at Byleth, who tilted her head, confused, "It broke my heart when I had to leave him with his father when he was still a boy, but I knew that he would have a chance at a better life there. He really did grow into a wonderful man, and I am so proud of him."

Byleth smiled and reached out to take Ariana's hands in hers. "You're a good mom, Ariana. Balthus was and is lucky to have someone like you to look up to." Ariana stared at Byleth for a moment, before she laughed and shook her head.

"It's nice of you to say that, hun. I really was worried for nothing. My Baltie really found someone special to spend the rest of his life with." Byleth blushed with embarrassment when Ariana placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"I am really looking forward to welcoming you into the family, Byleth. I never had a daughter, but if I had, I think that I would have wanted her to turn out like you." Byleth's eyes widened at Ariana's words, and she could feel fresh tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. "I wouldn't mind if you started calling me mom from now on, if you'd like."

"Mom…" Byleth whispered, and a warmth that she had not felt before welled up inside of her chest. Byleth had never had anyone to call mom before, and being given the opportunity to do so now was quite overwhelming.

"I...I'd like that...mom…" Byleth said, and she brought a hand to her face as she started crying again. Ariana's warm embrace engulfed her again, and Byleth sobbed harder when she felt her place a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"Er, am I interrupting something? Should I come back later?"

Byleth looked up to find that Balthus had returned, and his eyebrows were furrowed as he looked back and forth between the two women. As Byleth wiped the tears from her face, Ariana rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the arm.

"Get over here, you goof," she said, and Balthus laughed as he set down the drinks that he carried and wrapped his arms around Byleth and Ariana.

"Well, I can't say no to my two favorite ladies, can I?" Byleth giggled when he kissed her cheek, and Ariana smirked as she ruffled his hair.

When they all parted, Ariana grabbed one of the full mugs of ale and held it up. "How about a toast?" she said. Byleth shared a glance with Balthus, who smiled fondly as he handed her a mug and hoisted his own into the air.

"To the happy couple! May your future be filled with all of the happiness and love that you two truly deserve," Ariana said as their mugs clashed together and laughter filled the air. As the night went on, full of merriment and mirth and lots of love, Byleth knew that she would think fondly upon this moment in her life for many, many years to come.

"You warm enough, sweetheart?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Balthus placed a kiss against Byleth's hair as his arms tightened around her, and he heard her sigh as she pressed her back flush against his chest. From their spot cuddled up together on the roof of his mom's house, Balthus gazed out across the village, where the last burning embers of the many campfires were finally starting to snuff out. The quiet of the night was a nice contrast to the excitement of the celebration, and Balthus was glad to finally be alone with the love of his life.

"That was some party, huh? I almost forgot how much the people here like to let loose," Balthus said, and Byleth giggled as she turned her head to look at him.

"I had a great time. Kupala really is a wonderful place," Byleth said. Balthus smiled as he gave her a quick kiss and nuzzled his cheek against her own, coaxing another string of giggles from her.

"I gotta say, I'm pretty glad that my mom seems to like you so much already."

Byleth placed her hands over his and nodded. "Yeah, she's really wonderful. She told me outright that if she had a daughter that she would have wanted her to turn out like me."

"Well, you are the most amazing woman in the world, so I can see why she'd say that." Balthus grinned when Byleth rolled her eyes at him, but she then shifted in his lap so that she was facing him.

"You're so cheesy," Byleth said as she leaned up to place a kiss on the tip of Balthus' nose, causing a light blush to rise high on his cheeks. "She also told me that she's...really proud of you, Balthus."

"...Really?" A tightness formed in Balthus' chest, his eyes becoming a bit misty as he looked up at the stars. "I...always kinda thought that I was a bit of a let down, you know, because of my recklessness and, er, money issues."

Byleth was silent as Balthus ran a hand through his hair, letting out a deep sigh as a few tears fell down his face. "I just...sometimes feel like I should have done more for her, you know? If I hadn't been such a screw up, she could have lived a better life." He hung his head dejectedly, and his eyes widened when he felt warm hands cup his cheeks. His eyes wandered up to lock with Byleth's, and a small smile crossed her face as she wiped away his tears with her thumbs.

"This kind of talk is unlike you, love," she said as she pressed her forehead against his, "I think your mom is perfectly happy here, and you already have done so much for her. She knows that you've been sending people to watch over her and Kupala all this time. I can tell that she loves you so, so much. And I know that she knows that you feel the same."

Balthus lifted a hand up to brush away some of Byleth's hair that had fallen into her face. She was right, of course. He was being unnecessarily self-critical. The past was done and over with, and he needed to focus on becoming a better man for the future. Wrapping his arms around Byleth, he pulled her tight against his chest as a huge smile crossed his face.

"You're right, sweetheart." His voice had dropped to a whisper, and he heard Byleth sigh contently as she practically melted into his embrace. "I'm the luckiest bastard in the world, you know? I still don't think I'm worthy of your love in the slightest...But I promise you that I'll never stop working to better myself, to become truly deserving of you."

Byleth laughed as she lifted her head from his chest and raised an eyebrow at him. "I already told you that I love you just as you are, Balthus." She paused to take his hand in hers and entwine their fingers together. "When we exchanged rings that night, you said that being able to protect each other was what marriage is all about, right?" Balthus nodded. Of course he remembered that; every beautiful detail of that night would forever be etched into his memory.

Byleth smiled softly and lifted his hand to her face, placing a kiss on her mother's ring that wrapped around Balthus' pinky (it was too small to fit on his ring finger). "Well, I think a big part of protecting each other is to help each other improve in every way possible, so that we will be stronger as individuals. Which would make us stronger together, to be able to handle anything that life throws at us." Balthus stared at her with wide eyes, before a tender smile crossed his face as he cupped her cheek with his free hand.

As her hand moved to rest on his chest, Byleth leaned up and pressed her lips to his. Balthus' eyes slipped shut as he deepened the kiss, and feeling her smile against his lips made him feel a certain kind of happiness that he never really got from anything else. When they finally parted, the way Byleth's eyes sparkled when she looked at him would have taken his breath away, if the kiss that they shared hadn't already done so.

"You're absolutely right, my love," he said as he gently caressed her cheek with his thumb, and Byleth's face flushed a cute shade of pink. "When I first met you, that day in Abyss all those years ago, I never would have dreamed that you'd end up being the love of my life. I love you so much, Byleth."

"I love you too, Balthus. You're the only one who has and will ever have my undying love, always." Byleth smiled sweetly up at him, and a sly grin crossed Balthus' face.

"Heh, and you called me cheesy."

The sound of laughter filled the air as Byleth delivered a playful swat to Balthus' chest, and soon Byleth was wrapped in his arms again as they both gazed up at the beautiful, star-filled sky. As they spent the night basking in the warm embrace of each other, Balthus was looking forward to seeing what the future held for him, especially when the love of his life would be with him every step of the way.