Three hours. It was three hours of agonising anticipation before Hilda was able to tell him where she'd heard the name "Byleth" before.
He had rushed through his usual post-workout routine, only to be met with Hilda shrugging at him as she went through her socials. He paced about, waiting. He opened a door only to close it again. He made tea for them and watched his go cold. He opened three different documents for work but didn't type a word. He spun himself one way then the other in his office chair. He waited. He waited.
"Oh, here we go." Hilda said at last, unaware of what those words did to him "Holst of all people mentioned a Byleth." She hummed, reading back over the message "I don't think this could be your Byleth though, the way he describes her… she sounds-"
"-Quiet and intense with a look that pierces your soul!?" Claude demanded, suddenly standing above her, fists clenched in an effort to not grab her phone to see for himself.
"Well… yeah, I guess. He's not all poetic about it though." She said, and then "Really? That's your type?"
Claude wasn't listening. Already he was planning the fastest way to get to the Locket. He'd be able to get permission to land at the airbase, right? If he called his Father right now the royal jet could probably arrive in Derdriu in-
"Hello?" Hilda called "Earth to Claude? You need to breathe, sweetie."
Right. Oxygen, yes. Claude. Playing down the royal connections thing. Yes. Okay. Plan. When was the next train to the Locket?
Hilda huffed, clearly seeing straight through him "If we leave now, we wouldn't get there before midnight. Honestly, Claude. If we get the first train out in the morning tomorrow, that'll give us almost the whole afternoon out there before the last train."
Claude blinked "We?"
"Like hell I'm missing this." Hilda answered.
~o~*~o~
It turned out, a night to reorient himself wasn't a terrible idea. By the time morning came he had attained an almost fatalistic sense of calm. They made it to the earliest train -Hilda grumbled about it, and immediately pulled dark shades over her eyes to go back to sleep, but she was on time.
Still, when the train finally rolled into the station he had worked himself back up into a jittery mess of nerves. The Locket was primarily used as a joint air-base between Fódlan and Almyra, with a tiny runway for civilian use included (along with thirteen dozen extra security checks). The attached town wasn't too big; but there was more than enough space in it to not find a person. He started having visions of turning a corner just as she'd left the street, of entering a shop a moment after she'd exited by another door. What if she was on the air-base? He might never find her!
"Okay," he said looking out at the street as he and Hilda got away from the station entry "if we start on the South and work our way up the mountain we'll probably get tired too soon, so we should start on the East so we have a good vantage of the town and-"
"-Or I just call Holst and set up a meeting." Hilda interrupted him and Claude turned to stare at her with wide eyes.
"Or you just call Holst and ask him to set up a meeting" he repeated, breathlessly, gripping her shoulders. "Hilda, have I ever told you how genius, how clever, how-"
She was there.
That was her. Right over Hilda's shoulder, she was there.
Byleth was right there.
He practically threw Hilda aside as he bounced down the street towards her.
"Byleth!"
~o~*~o~
When she caught up, Hilda was not amused. Claude was rambling at light-speed at the poor woman who was mostly just looking at him confused. Still, as Hilda came to a stop beside them, she saw the gradual dawning of recognition crossing her face.
"-Wait," she interrupted his ramble "Khalid?"
Wait, what? That was his Almyran name- Hilda only knew it because she'd picked up his mail a time or two. As far as she was aware he only ever went by "Claude" in Fódlan, how long-
"Yes!" Claude exclaimed, eyes lighting up in excitement.
"Goddess, Khalid, I can't believe you even recognised me, I was only, what, fifteen? When my family left Almyra? You can't have been more than twelve!"
WHAT!?
~o~*~o~
Claude was somewhat aware that Hilda had just imploded next to him. He was aware of this mostly from the utter silence coming from that direction, but he couldn't bring himself to focus on the potential danger. Byleth was here.
"I guess it has been a while," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head, "but you look so much like your mother it could hardly be anyone else." He said, and was about to enquire after her parents, when he noticed the side-glances and double-takes happening between the two women.
"Have we met?" his friend asked.
"I was just wondering that," Byleth answered "you do seem familiar. Hi, I'm Byleth Eisner." She introduced, offering her hand.
"Hilda Goneril," Hilda replied, and it was clear Byleth recognised the name.
"Oh! You're Holst's sister!" Her other hand came up to clasp around Hilda's "I owe you a thanks, I stayed in your apartment a week or so ago!"
Wait what?
"Oh, Balthus's friend!" Hilda chimed "Oh, Leonie's friend! You were at Garreg Mach!"
"Yes!" Byleth agreed "That's where I've seen you. Small world."
Wait what? Leonie? But that was-
Balthus had called him first-
"Well, if you do want to thank me, there's no time like the present." Hilda was continuing "Why don't we get lunch?"
"Oh," Byleth glanced between them with an apologetic look "I wouldn't want to interrupt a date."
MOTHERFU-
Hilda laughed, high, with a hint of the maniacal about it "Oh no sweetie, you aren't interrupting anything."
~o~*~o~
Claude took some comfort in the routine of evaluating the place Hilda had dragged them off to. Just a local pub with a decent selection of sandwiches and a soup of the day, but he noted the shine on the cutlery, the genuine smiles on the faces of the waitstaff, the happy beat of a practised kitchen. He could do this.
He found himself sitting opposite Byleth in the booth.
He couldn't do this.
"So, you and Claude have actually known each other a long time, huh?"
Okay, Hilda could do this.
"Claude?" Byleth asked glancing back at him.
"Ah, pen-name." He explained "Easier for the Fódlan market, you know how it is."
"You're a writer?"
"Food critic, with the Derdriu Star." He answered, almost wishing he'd agreed to his Grandfather's plans so he could call himself something more impressive.
"That's a coincidence… you're the second critic I've met this month." Byleth mused, with that adorable head tilt he remembered so fondly.
"How about you?" He asked, planting his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his hands.
"I'm studying to be a physiotherapist," she replied "working as a personal trainer in the meantime."
"Oooooooooooh" Hilda cut in "So you're with the veteran hospital? The training program? Holst was telling me they'd opened placements here."
"Yes," Byleth agreed, "because I speak Almyran as well, they were willing to partially sponsor me, so long as I'd do my term in the Locket."
"So, you guys met at school in Almyra then?" Hilda pressed.
"Back at the palace," Byleth agreed, thanking the server who had brought their drink order over; tea of course.
"…The palace?"
Byleth looked back over at him and he widened his eyes, shaking his head as subtly as he could, very aware of Hilda's eyes darting between them. No, Hilda did not know his background, and no, they were not going to get into him technically being in line for the throne, even if his position was sinking by the year with each new niece and nephew. It seemed that Byleth got the message as she continued;
"Of course, their Majesties were, are, very keen on education. All the embassy kids were given access to the royal tutors. It was practically a school in the palace. Some of the Family were there, ambassador's children, a few of the head servants kids too. They even invited me; I didn't have any political reason to be there, they were just nice like that. My Dad ran Ambassador Cethleann's security detail, and I think my Mum is her second- maybe third- cousin or something, so we were technically considered part of her retinue, I guess. We were welcome to stay out there with him."
Hilda was still looking between them suspiciously, but seemed to let it pass. "And this was… twelve years ago?"
"When I left. I think I was five when we first moved out? I don't remember living in Fódlan before, so I must have been quite young."
"You were always there as far as I remember." Claude agreed. Byleth smiled back at him across the table.
"Oh shoot!" Hilda exclaimed after a moment "I should call Holst and let him know I'll be a teensy bit late." She added, standing and glaring exaggeratedly at him when her back was turned to Byleth, "I'll be right back!" she chirruped, and made her way across to the bar.
Claude felt the buzz of his phone in his pocket even before she made it there, as the first of what he was sure would be a barrage of messages arrived.
"So, physiotherapy huh?" he asked, leaning back in across the table "It suits you. How'd you get into it?"
Byleth's smile faded a little "Ah, Dad took a wound in Dagda," Claude sat up sharply, but Byleth made a dismissive wave with her hand "it wasn't life threatening, not even career ending, but it was a lot of work to get him back on his feet, y'know, I guess that got me started." The smile found it's way back onto her face "I can't say I'm at all surprised you'd find a job that let you eat as much as you liked."
Claude shrugged, grinning "What can I say? I'm a man of simple pleasures."
She smiled, but was interrupted by a phone ringing, "Ah, that's- um, my client, I'm sorry, do you mind if-"
"Go ahead," he answered, waving her off, and she smiled slipping out of the booth and lingering over near the door. Claude took the moment to read his own messages.
Hils: 12 YEARS!?
Hils: What the HELL Claude?
Hils: THE PALACE?
Hils: She wasn't even your GF was she!? This whole time this was just a childhood sweetheart1!?
Hils: omg this was a PRETEEN CRUSH!?
Hils: CLAUDE.
Hils: CLAUDE.
Hils: CLAUDE. I don't know if this is the saddest thing ever or the most romantic.
Hils: omgyou think Sylvain gives good relationship advice.
Hils: Claude, don't. Just don't fuck this up. We will get through this, I will help u.
Hils: 12 years! Claude you'd better fucking marry this girl!
Me: Working on it.
He fired a message back and put his phone back in his pocket (even though the buzzing resumed at increased frequency) as Byleth slid back into her seat.
"Sorry," she said tucking her hair behind her ears "one of my clients is a tri-athlete, and has a habit of over-doing it. Where were we?"
"It's no trouble" he answered. "We were going over my deep and abiding love of feasts, I think. Though as I recall it you were right there with me. Sometimes even ahead of me." He added, with a wink.
Byleth laughed, snorting into her teacup before allowing the giggles to bubble freely up, just as they had used to flow so freely between them. He'd made her laugh. Byleth was laughing. He was aware, somewhat, of Hilda lingering at the bar, of the limited time they had before their food arrived and the moment was interrupted, but what did it matter? Here he was with his friend again, laughing. Something, deep in the depths of his soul, slid back into place, and the whole world seemed to lighten around them.
"So I was," she agreed, answering in Amlyran, and this, this was what home was supposed to feel like, "Do you remember-" she continued,
"-Yes" Claude answered immediately; for what could she ask that he didn't? What memory could she conjure that he hadn't been clinging to? Did he remember their first meeting? Did he remember the time spent in class together? Did he remember really becoming friends in the infirmary, where she was confined because they'd discovered her arrhythmia and he because he'd "fallen over" again? Did he remember the adventure of their escapes from under nurse's eyes? Did he remember the hours they didn't dare escape from under Sitri's? Did he remember the hours they didn't want to escape as they curled up on either side of Sitri as she told them stories? Did he remember watching Byleth fall into a pond the very moment she got the all-clear to start being active again and somehow come up having caught a fish? Did he remember the times they spent cloud-gazing, star-gazing, in his mother's gardens? Did he remember the banquets where they stole whole platters of food away to their secret balcony? Did he remember when they discovered that their balcony was not-so-secret, and his parents, Ambassador Cethleann, Nader, Jeralt and every security person they'd never met knew exactly where they were? Did he remember that glorious moment she'd defended him from his brothers? Did he remember brave, beautiful, commanding Byleth squaring up to boys twice her size and snapping "Better a half-anything than a whole jerk." -oh, he could invent far better come-backs now, but then, then…
Did he remember his hand pressed against the glass as his friend, his first friend, his best friend, flew out of his life? Just another "political necessity"?
He remembered.
From the way her eyes softened, it seemed she did too.
She smiled, that faint touch about her lips that he remembered so well;
"I- I have to be in Derdriu next week." She said "Do you maybe want to meet up? Deliberately I mean?"
Claude's answering smile had never been truer.
~o~*~o~
"Did you experience any palpitations, were you aware of your arrhythmia, at any point during the trial period?" Lysithea asked, running her eyes over the graphs on her screen.
"No," Byleth answered "my heart was behaving."
"Then what, exactly, happened here?" Lysithea continued, tapping one point on her screen "your heart-rate is all over the place."
Byleth leaned over to look at the times the researcher was indicating.
"Oh, that's when- … I, um, met an old friend."
"…An old friend?" the researcher continued with particular inflection. "And what was this about?" she added, pointing to a particular spike.
Byleth noted the time-stamp… and recalled the entrance to the station, lit up by the sunset. She recalled Hilda going on ahead, and strong arms pulling her into a tight hold against a broad chest, the murmur of a reluctant farewell. The sensation she was certain had been the drop of a kiss against her head.
"Ah." Lysithea concluded, reading whatever it was she needed from the blush Byleth could feel spreading over her face. "Well, thank you for your participation. This is going to be a great help!"
Byleth nodded and started awkwardly gathering up her things "You're welcome." She responded, giving Lysithea a quick smile and making her way out of the labyrinth the university had set up for this particular research project.
Outside, Khalid (Claude while they were in Fódlan, she reminded herself) was waiting for her, face tipped up to the sky, hands locked behind his head. He looked back down as she approached and beamed, tilting his head in the direction they were to go -he was taking her for what he claimed was the best seafood in all of Derdriu.
"I was in a study here not long ago, y'know." he started conversationally "My neighbour, Lissy, asked me to. Then she had the gall to say that I was average!" he pouted.
"It's not slander if it's true," Byleth answered absently as she patted her pockets down to be sure she had everything.
They froze.
"No." Claude said when their eyes met, wide with realisation "No, no, no, no, this can't- this cannot possibly have happened!"
Byleth watched his face morph through various expressions of disbelief and felt the laughter bubbling up in her, those giggles that only he had ever drawn from her so easily.
"Goddess!" she managed around a shaky breath "I think the universe really wanted us to meet again,"
"Well," he said, stepping close and taking her hand, disbelief giving way to his own laughter "we'll just have to be sure to keep a hold of each other this time."
He was smiling, his eyes lit up from within. Byleth smiled back and shifted her grip so their fingers were intertwined.
Yes, this was how it should be.