Everything was going splendidly. Dimitri had returned to his senses. The war was finally going in the right direction. Morale was high. Yes, everything was going perfectly and the price that needed to be paid was a relatively low one.

Byleth felt horrible for thinking that way. Every death was terrible but if the death of just one man was enough to turn the tides, then she couldn't help but believe that it was an easy lose to make. She didn't want to feel that way, especially after seeing Dimitri breaking down from it, or seeing Felix struggling to come to terms over his loss. They were both painful sights and yet she still believed that it was a necessary loss.

Despite her feelings, guilt still ate away at her. It was truly a frustrating emotion. It made working with Dimitri even harder than when he was a deranged man. She couldn't even look Felix in the eye, nor could she handle being in the same room as him. She longed for the days when she had no emotions.

Avoiding Felix wasn't something she wanted to do but she couldn't help but do it anyways. She very much always wanted to be at his side and yet she knew she didn't deserve to. When she first started to avoid him, she painfully discovered how easy it was to do so. Besides the weekly meetings the leaders held, she actually didn't see him that often now that Dimitri was back to his old self. It was a painful thought but at least it made things somewhat easy.

Another long day had come to an end. The exhaustion that once frustrated and plagued her was now welcomed. It now came with progress and no longer did she feel like her efforts were going to waste. Another bonus to the exhaustion was that she couldn't be consumed with guilt if she was unconscious.

Slowly she made her way to her room after one unnecessarily long meeting with church officials; she just couldn't understand how Seteth always came up with new and different issues to address ever week. Thanks to the meeting she had once again missed dinner but that was alright as it wasn't the first night she went without a meal; though she did hope that it would be her last.

She had hoped to just collapse onto her bed and wait for the first offending ray of the sun to wake her but upon finally reaching her room she knew it wouldn't be possible. Standing in front of her door was someone, and not just anyone, it was the man she had been avoiding, Felix. The desire to run away was strong but she knew he would eventually hunt her down. With a sigh she walked over to him.

"A fine night isn't it?" she asked, only to beat him to the punch of speaking first. With a ferocity that he hadn't directed at her in a long while, he snapped his head up to glare at her. With a shaky smile that she had worn when dealing with feral Dimitri on his good days, she spoke again, "What can I do for you?"

"Cut the crap!" he barked, and she sighed through her nose. He loudly stomped his way over to her. "Why the hell are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not avoiding you." His scowl deepened.

"Bullshit!" She flinched at how harsh he was. "You are avoiding me, and I want to know why!"

Unable to look at him, she stared at the ground from the corner of her eyes. "Like I said, I'm not avoiding you. I have just been busy, is all."

"Really? Is this really how you are going to be?" She still couldn't meet his gaze.

Without any warning he grabbed her arm and began to drag her away. All her inquires were ignored as he silently pulled her along. Quickly, she dropped her protest and went along, al bit reluctantly.

When they arrived at their destination, she realized that she should have expected to have been taken to the training yard. Still utterly silent, he tossed her a training sword and walked to his end on the yard. She frowned down at her sword and didn't budge.

"We are going to have a duel!" he declared by pointing his sword at her. "If I wen you will tell me why you are avoiding me!" A snort quickly turned into a full-blown laughing fit from her. "What is so damn funny?"

"I'm sorry," Byleth said between laughs. "It's…It's just…" She had to pause to gasps for air. "It's just such a typical response from you is all."

She enjoyed the look of the massive blushed that overtook his features. He stared at the wall and his voice no longer had such a harsh edge to it. "It is the only way you will talk." For his sake she fought back her laughter, but she couldn't help but think that he was adorable right then.

"No, it's not." He gave her a look of disbelief. Her little jovial mood quickly vanished, and she turned her sights onto her sword. Battle was far easier to deal with than emotions. "If you knew how I felt, I'm sure you will come to hate me. I do not want that…," she mumbled the last part.

"Is it about my father?" She flinched and didn't dare tear her eyes away from her sword. "Are you feeling guilty because you think his sacrifice is a small price to pay?" Squeezing her eyes shut she didn't move.

Sighing loudly, she heard him make his way over to her. She gripped her sword tighter as she braced for whatever he was going to do. His footsteps stopped but she didn't open her eyes.

"Byleth," he called, and she flinched but didn't move. "Byleth," he said it more sternly, but she still didn't move. "Byleth!" When she still remained frozen, he forced her to look at him as gently as he could by gripping her chin.

Reluctantly she opened her eyes. Instead of being stared at with the hate filled look that she was fearing, he looked at her with relief and something gentler and sweeter. She allowed herself to relax to his touch.

"I agree." Her eyes widen. "I may not agree with his foolish idea of an honorable knight's death, but I am not blind to see that his death has had a positive impact on this wretched war and that Boar."

She couldn't find her voice, so she just continued to stare at him. His cheeks began to turn a light shade of pink and he released her. All the guilt that she had been eating away at her for a while now had simply vanished.

"Do not avoid me please," Felix had mumbled so quietly that she wasn't sure if she heard him properly.

"Excuse me?"

"I said you are not to avoid me!" His eyes widen briefly before he tsked and looked away. More redness colored his cheeks as he mumbled something she couldn't hear.

"I have no more desire to do so." She smiled brightly at him. "I wish to continue to be by your side."

He looked at her for a moment before looking away. His hand covered the bottom half of his face, but it was too late, the blush had already spread to his ears. She hoped that no one else got to see him like that, except for her.

"Good." He still wouldn't look at her but he pulled his hand away and she spied his small smile.

A little over a week ago, I decided that I would finish this once one-shot as a little story so here we go. I don't expect to have too many other chapters after this.