Byleth woke to a knocking on her door.

Panicked, she shot out of bed, dressed quickly and gathered her textbooks and teaching supplies before answering the door.

"Ah excellent, you are awake, Professor."

The unexpected morning visitor was Seteth, the advisor to the Archbishop. Byleth hadn't gotten a very great impression of him the first time they had met, and so Byleth couldn't figure why he was waking her up. Unless had she done something wrong? Her second day of teaching had gone well, she thought. At least after she had dragged Bernadetta into class, to begin with.

"Good morning Seteth. Um, if you don't mind me asking, what brings you here?" she let out a giant yawn as she asked him.

"I was told to inform you that there are no regular classes on Sundays. The Archbishop forgot to mention as much and did not want you to be confused."

(So I get a day off? Sure I'll take it.)

"Well, thanks for keeping me informed. I definitely didn't remember hearing about this before. But what do the other teachers do with their free days?"

Seteth crossed his arms and looked deep in thought for a moment before replying.

"Well, Manuela has her station in the infirmary. Classes or not, the school medic must be available should the need arise. As for Professor Hanneman, he rarely leaves his study if given the freedom to do as he chooses. In truth, there are no actual responsibilities for the day. You are free to spend the day as you so desire."

The door slammed just then, and Byleth flopped back into her bed, shutting out the rest of the world from underneath her bed covers.

"Hey, Captain?"

"What is it, Leonie?"

"I didn't want to question your judgement, but I already know how to fish... so why are we wasting precious training time doing this instead?"

Jeralt sighed. It didn't surprise him that his apprentice cared for little outside of training. He figured he knew her well enough for that; hell, it may have even been entirely his fault. However, he was convinced that she needed to settle down and enjoy life a bit more. So today's time at the monastery fishing lake was training after all, just of a different sort than Leonie was expecting.

"If you stop and think about it, this is training too."

Leonie raised an eyebrow and looked at him disbelievingly.

"Fishing is training? Like I'd believe that."

"Think about it this way; how much energy are you using when you fish?"

"How much energy? What do you mean by that?" she chirped back, confused.

"Well, right now, neither of us is catching anything. We're just sitting here with our feet dangling over the edge of the dock. The fishing rods are light and almost weightless if you're comparing them to any standard weapon. So overall, I'd say we're using very little energy doing what we're doing."

"Why are we comparing fishing rods to weapons again?"

"Never mind that, just listen." Jeralt hushed. "So, when the fish do start biting, which they will any minute now, obviously we'll be caught by surprise and lose our rods into the water, right?"

Leonie stared at Jeralt as if he wasn't taking her seriously.

"Um, no, we won't. That makes zero sense. We're waiting for the fish to bite. Why would we be caught so unawares by it happening?"

"Of course, you're right," replied Jeralt, a smile creeping up his face. "right now, even though it looks like we're just lazing about, we're both intensely aware of many things. The stillness of the water, how tight our fishing line is, who's nearby in the vicinity, even your heartbeat is slowed down with how focused you are right now."

"Captain Jeralt, if you're so focused on who's nearby, then why hasn't anyone spoke a single word to me since we all sat down to fish? I haven't even uttered a single joke this whole time!" spoke up Alois, who sat hunched over dejectedly next to Jeralt.

Both Jeralt and Leonie jumped in surprise, neither having paid much attention to the friendly knight since they sat down.

"Sweet Seiros, Alois! How long have you been sitting there in utter silence!" chuckled Jeralt amicably.

"Long enough to have fished half the lake dry, I should imagine! Here I've sat for the last two hours or so, catching pikes and loach like you wouldn't believe! It seems my fishing luck has turned!" Alois beamed with excitement. "I guess I've done enough fishing for now, though. I should probably scale it back a bit. Heh, heh."

The Captain and his Apprentice looked on, refusing to comment on his weak pun. Alois really got going if you gave him the slightest indication that he was humorous, so often ignoring him was the safest bet.

Jeralt scratched a sore spot on his shoulder before he turned again to Leonie.

"Distractions aside, the lesson here is patience and focus. Not all battles will be won by strength or aggression alone. I've learned what happens when you lose focus in a fight. Whether it's your emotions getting the better of you, or giving in to the adrenaline after being wounded, you cannot lose focus. Without patient focus, even something as simple as catching a fish becomes impossible."

"Is that all?" Leonie asked expectantly, her head tilted to the side.

"What do you mean is that all?!" I spent a solid thirty minutes thinking that one up. It's not easy, finding an excuse to laze around but also teach a life lesson!"

Leonie's jaw dropped.

"You mean that all along your plan was to kick back and relax? That's unthinkable, Captain Jeralt! Ugh! I could've been using my time productively, but instead, we've wasted most of the morning fishing!"

Jeralt stretched and allowed a hearty yawn before replying.

"No kid, I'm dead serious about the whole patience training stuff. You're just too young to appreciate it now. One day you'll look back and agree with everything I've ever taught or tried to teach you."

Leonie pulled her fishing line from the water, then set about packing up her borrowed fishing gear.

"Whoa whoa whoa kid, where are you going? The lesson's not over yet!" Jeralt called out to her as she walked away.

"There is no lesson here. Sorry Captain, I probably have some schoolwork needing doing. We can train later if you're up for it."

(Oh well, I did try to get her to relax. Can't fault a man for trying.) thought Jeralt, now left with Alois as his fishing partner.

As Leonie left the area, she could hear the sound of Alois's loud voice echo across the fishing hole and the sound of Jeralt's unamused sighs in return. She smirked.

"Alright, there's no way I'm letting you take on the endearing character trait I've already established for myself, so wake up silly little mortal! You must leave the sleeping to the sleeper, and I'm the sleeper."

(No, Sothis. I'm tired, and I need my rest. Leave me be) Byleth responded in thought-form. (Why can't I seem to get rid of this person?) she thought, referring to the green-haired girl who floated next to her bed in a glow of light.

"I am likewise unsure of what binds me to you, but that is of little consequence presently. What you should concern yourself with is the student at your door, I think."

Byleth's eyes opened slowly, and she peered towards the door. Sure enough, a knock sounded from outside.

"Sorry to disturb you, my teacher," came the voice of Edelgard, which was a reassurance to Byelth. She had feared it was her father, or perhaps Seteth again.

"I had thought it would be a good idea for us to go over our strategy for the mock battle coming up. Discuss which students take place, what terrain we should look to hold, etcetera."

Byleth swung the door open. Her student looked shocked for a moment before she regained her composure. Byleth's hair was a mess, her thin teal strands curled out from all sides, and her clothes wrinkled from being slept in. To top it all off, her eyes were half-shut, the sunlight coming through the open door nearly blinding her. She looked like a mess and she knew it.

stretching her tired arms, she asked,

"Mock battle? What mock battle?"