A/N:

HI I'M BACK!

So... I went to college! And it was great! But now it's finally summer, and that means I finally have time to write :) I can't apologize enough for this crazy hiatus, and though this is a short and relatively uneventful chapter, I'm really proud of what I have here and don't plan on abandoning it anytime soon, so thanks for sticking with me!

Sending the most love, and can't wait to hear from you all again!

xoxo Ever


There are no words to describe the months after the fall of Garreg Mach.

Edelgard's army destroys everything in its path, and the once hallowed halls of the monastery are little more than rubble by the time she is done with it. The unification of Fodlan begins, just as it will undoubtedly continue, with bloodshed.

The former inhabitants of the Officers Academy scatter across the country like leaves in the wind, but none disappear as well as Lady Rhea does, who is not seen again after her transformation into the Immaculate One. The remaining Knights of Seiros scour the country looking for her, but have little success.

Seteth does not join them.

Instead, he searches for her. He looks everywhere - even attempts to enter Empire territory and almost gets himself brutally murdered in the process - and yet, it's like she never existed.

If it were not for the lives Byleth touched during her time at the monastery, there would be no trace of her left in this world at all.

Never before, not in his entire immortal existence, has he felt the weight of the years as heavily as he does now. Every day is slower than the one before it, and his eyes stay closed for a little longer with every morning that passes.

With Flayn at his side, Seteth retreats to a small, seaside town that's barely five miles from the ruins of the monastery. For the first few months after the siege, he attempts to keep in contact with the Knights of Seiros. Attempts to do his best to contribute to the hopeless search for Rhea.

After four months, they stop contacting him for help. They stop contacting him altogether.

The worst part of it all? He sees Byleth everywhere.

Her shining cyan eyes are reflected in the lilting waves of the Fodlan sea, her rare laugh whistling alongside every gust of wind, and at night, when Seteth stands outside on the porch for hours, he cannot look at the stars without crying.

He used to be strong, didn't he? Even when Flayn's mother died, he was able to pull himself together. He had to save his daughter, after all. Now, that beloved daughter can barely look him in the eyes.

One year passes. Two years.

"Father, is there anything you require?"

Flayn hovers uncomfortably in his office doorway, watching him with a wary gaze from where Seteth sits, staring aimlessly at an open book on his desk. It's not hard to tell that he's not really reading it.

"No, I am all right, Flayn. Thank you for the offer." He forces himself to look up at her, and the sadness - the pity - in her eyes makes him flinch. Some father he has turned out to be. What would her mother think of him now? "I… Would you like to go into town today? We could take a trip to the fish market, if you'd like."

"Oh, Father, you do not have to do that for me." Flayn enters the room and gingerly sits on the edge of his bed. "I know how hard it is for you to go out there."

"It's not about me. Not everything has to be about me." Seteth puts his head in his hands, pressing his fingers so hard against his eyelids that he sees stars. Not the damn stars again. "I'm so sorry, Flayn. For my absence. For how useless I've become. For… all of it."

"Father…" Flayn moves closer to Seteth and takes one of his hands in her own, pulling it away from his face. "We have lost so much. You have lost so much. But we must not lose hope."

"Hope," Seteth repeats, turning the word over and over again in his mind. He had held out hope, in those first few months of searching, that he'd see her again. That one day, he'd open his front door, and Byleth would be standing there, smiling. He missed that little half-smile more than anything.

How can he have hope, now? Two years have gone by without her, he should no longer feel this broken, this battered. He should no longer tear up at any mention of her name.

"Yes. Hope." Flayn squeezes his hand, her round eyes full of tears as she looks up at him. "She's out there somewhere, Father. I know it. The Professor came back from beyond time and space, after all. She will come back from this."

"I wish that I had known this would happen," Seteth says, more to himself than to Flayn. "I wish that I had known I would lose her, and then I never would have let myself love her in the first place."

"You don't mean that!" Flayn exclaims, and suddenly, before he even realizes how upset she is, she bursts into tears and runs out of the room, her quiet sobs echoing through their empty home.

Seteth doesn't mean it. He would rather live a hundred lifetimes alone than lose the one in which he loved Byleth Eisner.

He only wishes that the ache of her loss wasn't slowly eating him alive.

Three years pass. Four. And then….

It happens well into the fifth year of his crushing loneliness.

Seteth and Flayn sit at the dinner table, making weak conversation about Flayn's fishing trip she took earlier that morning, tapping their spoons against the sides of bowls containing stew made from that very catch.

Flayn seems so much older, now, than she ever has before. He knows that's his fault.

"And then there was a great big pull, and I had to hang onto the fishing rod for dear life, Father, and -"

Knock.

A sharp, rapping knock echoes through their small kitchen, and Seteth jumps to his feet, his senses immediately on high alert. Being former members of the great Church of Seiros, Seteth and Flayn have many enemies in this world - enemies who may want to hurt them. May even want them dead.

Flayn begins to rise from her chair but Seteth waves at her to remain still as he makes his way over to the door, cautiously lowering his eye to the keyhole to try and make out who stands outside.

When he finally does, he can't help but gasp.

The figure that stands before him wears heavy white armor that spikes up on the shoulders, and familiar wrinkles caused by years of laughter line his mouth. Seteth would know this face anywhere.

His mind no longer focused on any potential danger, he slowly opens the door, staring slack-jawed at Alois Rangeld, who stands before him with his hands on his knees, panting like he's just run a marathon.

"Alois?" is all he can say, and Alois barely looks at Seteth before shoving past him to enter his home. Seteth can do little but shut the door behind him, incredulous.

"By the Goddess… Alois, what are you doing here?" Flayn is standing, now, pure confusion creasing her brow.

"I… From… Garreg Mach… She…" Alois's words come out in short gasps, and it's a whole three minutes before he finally regains enough composure to stand up to his full height, drawing in deep gulps of air like he's just been drowning. "My apologies, the both of you. Needless to say, I ran all the way here."

"Whatever for?" Seteth cannot imagine what would bring the Knight of Seiros to their door. He's been out of contact with the Church for nearly five years.

"Seteth…" All of a sudden, Alois turns as pale as a sheet. It's like the more he takes in Seteth's haggard appearance, the more he no longer seems as eager to share his important message. "You look… what has become of you?"

"Never mind that," Seteth says harshly. He cares little for what he looks like, these days. He cares even less for what Alois thinks about it. "Why are you here?"

"Seteth… she's returned."

In that moment, it's as if time itself slows to a jarring halt. Seteth stares blankly at Alois. He can't have said what he's just said. It's impossible.

"Who? Who has returned?" It's Flayn who steps in, covering for her brother's complete, overpowering shock. "Please do not joke with us, Alois. Seteth, he… he cannot take it."

"This is no joke!" Alois raises his hands in surrender, his gaze wild-eyed. "The remaining members of the Church were gathered at the monastery in hopes that Lady Rhea might return for this, the day of the millennium festival, when… when there she was, just like she'd never left."

"Who, Alois? You must tell me!" Flayn springs forward, clutching Alois's hands in her own. She, too, is deathly white.

Seteth still feels like he's drowning. What is going on?

"Byleth Eisner, Flayn. By the will of the Goddess alone, and perhaps with a little help from my old friend Jeralt beyond the stars, Garreg Mach's best professor has at long last been found."

Byleth Eisner. Byleth Byleth Byleth Byleth.

Seteth sinks to his knees without even realizing he's doing so. This can't be true. He's being tricked. He's being lied to. For so long he's been without her, has pined for her, has longed for her… how can she now suddenly have returned to him?

"Seteth!" Alois rushes to Seteth's side and takes his arm, pulling him up to his feet. "This is no lie. I ran all this way to tell you that she's here, she's alive, and she's asking for you."

"Oh, Alois…" Tears are pouring down Flayn's cheeks, Seteth notices vaguely, and she's fully sobbing as she clings to Seteth's other arm. "Thank the Goddess. You cannot know… you cannot know how hard I have prayed for this day to finally arrive."

"Is he alright?" Alois asks, still holding up Seteth's limp body. "Does he believe me?"

"Father." Suddenly, Flayn is before Seteth's eyes, her hand gently pressed against his cheek. "Father, you must stand. We must go to the monastery. Is your heart not full of joy? Are you not happy?"

"I…" He doesn't believe it. He cannot believe it. "Five years, Flayn. She has been missing for five years."

"I told you never to give up hope, Father. You must not lose it now." Flayn's gaze is so determined, her words so wise even choked by tears. When did his little girl have to become his guide?

Wordlessly, Seteth nods. He is crying too, now, though he isn't sure why. He's dreamed of this moment nearly every night since he lost her. Is now, though he can feel every breath he takes with sharp intensity, not simply another dream?

But even if it is… Oh, what he'd give to see her again.

And so, though his thoughts spin around at top speed and his heart threatens to beat out of his chest, he summons that old, tight-collared decorum he has long since given up on, and clutches his daughter's hand.

"All right, Alois. Show us the way."


The monastery is in ruins, covered in dirt and splintered concrete and makeshift dens that must be crawling with thieves. Seteth makes sure to grab Flayn's hand as they follow Alois up the once grand staircase, his grip tightening as they pass a pair of shoes sticking out from underneath the rubble.

"By the time we arrived, Eisner and her students had already cleared the place of any stray bandits," Alois says, speaking slowly and gently as if to a very young child. "Back from the brink of death and already coming in swinging, ha."

"Her students?" Seteth shakes his head, still not believing this madness he's found himself submerged in. "You mean to tell me she somehow managed to gather up the Golden Deer House during her time away?"

"Oh, but of course! The millennium festival!" Flayn smacks herself in the forehead, quickening her pace to keep up with Seteth, who's practically running down the hallway. "Before the war, we made a pact to meet here again in five years. It seems they all remembered their promise. I can't believe… I can't believe I'd forgotten."

Flayn's voice is so full of sadness that Seteth can help but squeeze her hand tighter, knowing he should slow down and console her but not in the right mindset to do anything of the sort.

He knows it's his fault that she forgot. That she had to forget any of that old life and devote herself to looking after her haggard, wreck of a father.

He owes her so much more than a consolation. He owes her the world.

"That's right," Alois confirms. "The Knights of Seiros have gathered as well. It's just like old times, Seteth."

It's an attempt at lightening the mood, but Seteth can barely hear it. All he can see is the door in front of him, the huge archway that leads into the grand cathedral of Garreg Mach.

That leads to Byleth.

Alois pauses in front of the door, turning back to face Seteth and Flayn, a tremor of something almost like fear reflected in his gaze.

"Everyone is just through here. Seteth… you were the first person she asked for."

Seteth's eyes fill with tears. All those years, all those sleepless nights, all those long, pointless days… Were they all really to lead him here? Back to her?

He never forgot her, not even once. He can't forget her now.

"I dare not keep her waiting," is all he says, and this time it's Flayn who clutches his hand tighter, looking up at him with shining eyes of her own.

Slowly, Alois nods, and with a gentle hand he guides the great doors separating Seteth from his long lost goddess open. The light of the cathedral floods Seteth's gaze, and for a moment, he's blinded, his vision flooded with harsh white light, and then…

And then, he steps forward. Once. Twice. Three times. Four. Five.

A step for every year he lived without her.

And then? He opens his eyes.

All around the room stand people, people Seteth knows and cares deeply for, but in the center, a figure looks straight at him, a figure he can only describe as an angel.

Her hair is alit with flames of light reflected through the stained glass windows of the cathedral, dressed in the familiar battle uniform she wore to her death all those years ago.

And yet… it's like no time has passed at all. Byleth looks just the same as he remembered her. As when he loved her.

"Byleth." He hears himself say her name but doesn't remember making himself do it, and then he's walking closer to her, his heartbeat raging in his chest as he extends a hand towards this beautiful ghost, this phantom of his dreams, this angel of his past.

This can't be real. She can't be real.

But then she's running towards him, too, tears shining in her eyes, and then her arms wrap around his neck and her head nestles into his shoulder and he pulls her close and he is overcome.

Seteth falls to his knees, Byleth still clutched in his arms, and sobs.

"I'm so sorry," he hears her whisper against his neck. "I am so, so, sorry."

"Didn't we say no more apologies?" He manages the words through his racking sobs, and then Byleth is crying, too, or maybe she's laughing, he can't quite tell, but whatever it is, he's never heard a more beautiful sound.

"I cannot imagine what you've been through." She can't look at him, only whispers quick, sharp words into his shoulder. "I cannot imagine the pain. For me, our parting was barely a few hours and already I feel an ache so deep in my chest I can barely stand it."

"You are here now," Seteth mumbles, barely able to speak. "You are here now, and that is all that matters."

They stay like that, for a minute. For many minutes.

And though it takes a while, slowly but surely, Seteth is convinced that this beautiful, crying creature in his arms is no dream.

At long last, the love of his life has returned to him, and it feels just as he always dreamed it would.

I am with you, now and for always.

When Byleth finally pulls away to face him, her cheeks are shining with tears, but that sweet half-smile plays upon her lips, and it's the most emotion Seteth has ever seen her convey.

"I came back," she says quietly, gently taking his hand in her own. "I know not how, or when, or even why, but I came back."

"I thought I'd never see you again." Seteth shakes his head, taking her in. Drinking in the sight of her. He's fairly certain that even if she were to disappear again in just a moment, this one second of holding her could last him through another five years. He never thought he'd hold her again.

"Seteth!"

He's pulled back down to Earth with the sharp rasp of Catherine, who stands among the rest of the Knights of Seiros, leaning on Shamir's shoulder with her usual swagger. Still, her eyes are smiling.

"Hate to interrupt this reunion, but we've got business to discuss, and lots of it." She steps forward, gesturing to the people that surround the cathedral, and only then does Seteth take them all in.

Claude, his arm slung around Hilda's shoulders, smiling softly at his teacher with that same easy grin. Marianne, her fingers entwined with Hilda's, looks more confident than he's ever seen her before. All around them, the Golden Deer encircle the room, leaning on each other for support as they await their teacher's orders.

Even now, she commands their attention. Seteth isn't surprised in the slightest.

"Of course." He stands, brushing himself off, and extends a hand to help Byleth to her feet, too. For the first time in five years, he feels a sliver of his old self return to him. He feels Saint Cichol prick at the back of his mind again, asking gently to be let in. Seteth gladly accepts his aid. "How is the search for Rhea progressing?"

"Well, unlike you, none of us are crazy enough to set foot in Empire territory, so we've got next to nothing." Catherine shakes her head sullenly. "We'd thought that maybe the millennium festival might draw her out, but… no such luck."

"It's no wonder she didn't want to return to a dump like this," Claude points out, gesturing to the piles of rubble surrounding them. "Probably had an aneurysm at the sight of the most holy site in Fodlan being used as a den for thieves."

"You have a point, von Riegan." Hanneman steps forward now, surveying the damage. "There are centuries of valued literature in these halls that require safe-keeping, let alone its threat to the safety of the locals surrounding this place."

"It is in a prime location," Shamir muses. "Could be one hell of a base."

"Then we must return it to its former glory." It's Byleth who speaks now, stepping out from behind Seteth's shadow to cast her own over the inhabitants of the cathedral. "We must all work together if we wish to restore this monastery."

"She's right." Alois raises a fist in solidarity, and quiet murmurs of agreement ripple through the crowd of knights and students alike. "I'll gather some skilled craftsmen. We must get to work right away!"

And just like that, as though their worlds were not all shattered and put together just in one day, the former residents of Garreg Mach disperse, clamoring over who will complete which task - or who will do no tasks, in the case of Hilda - as they pour out of the cathedral, leaving Seteth and Byleth standing alone in the middle of the hall. Even Flayn has disappeared, her sweet voice returning to its normal joyful trill as her hurried conversation echoes through the hall.

Seteth's head is spinning. He hardly understands what's just happened. How has any of this just happened?

"Seteth…" Byleth trails off, and when Seteth turns to her, she can't meet his eyes. "I'm told… I'm told I've been away for five years."

"What do you mean?" Seteth doesn't understand. "Where have you been, Byleth?"

"I… was asleep," is all she says, and for the first time since their reunion, he feels a twinge of something like anger enter his heart.

Is this some cruel joke? How could she have simply been sleeping, her consciousness kept tucked away and safe from harm, for five whole years? While Seteth was dying a little, every day, from the loss of her?

"What do you mean?" he repeats.

"I hardly know how to explain it myself, Seteth." Byleth shakes her head as if to clear it, her gaze still locked on the floor. "One minute I was falling off that cliff, and the next I was waking up on the riverbed, explaining to some villager why I was floating downstream like a piece of driftwood."

"I don't understand how this can be." Seteth puts a hand over his eyes, blocking out the now harsh light of the cathedral. "I searched for you, Byleth, I looked everywhere! I remember going down to the river's edge, even, wading through the water… You mean to tell me you were merely sleeping down there, in some sort of coma for five whole years?"

"I don't know," she says, and it's so full of sadness that Seteth immediately curses himself for raising his voice at her. Five years go by, and suddenly he's forgotten all manners he ever had. "I'm so sorry."

"No, Byleth, that's not…" Gently, Seteth takes her hands in his own, breathing deeply to center himself. "It's not your fault. How could it be?"

"But me going after Rhea was risky in itself, Seteth, and if I had known what would have happened I would never have -"

"You could never have known." Seteth cuts off her tirade with a hand on her cheek, and finally, Byleth meets his gaze. "You were lost somewhere between time and space, it would seem. Besides, it's not exactly a kind Fodlan you've found your way back to."

"It's all true, then, about Edelgard." Byleth puts a hand to her temple. "Our only hope is to join forces. I have spoken with Claude about joining the fight against the Empire, and he says the Alliance would be more than happy to offer support in this battle."

Seteth can't help but smile at her. She's only been back a matter of hours, and already she's ready for battle.

"Seteth…" She interrupts his thoughts, and he looks up at her.

"Yes?"

"This may not be the time or place, but I find myself quite… hungry." The serious look on her face strikes something within Seteth, and before he can stop himself, he stars laughing, tears pricking the corners of his eyes as he doubles over, the feeling of laughter one so familiar and so long-abandoned that he can't seem to make himself stop.

"Then please, darling, let me offer myself as your companion. It's been so long since we've frequented the Dining Hall." Seteth extends an arm and Byleth takes it, smiling softly at him. "As long as you promise me one thing."

"Anything." Byleth grazes his arm with her fingertips, slightly, and her gentle touch sends a shock through Seteth's system. Goddess above, it's been so long since he's felt that touch, and it sends him reeling.

"Never leave me without saying goodbye. Not ever again." He means the words with all of his heart and soul, and from the soft furrow of Byleth's brow, he knows she feels their weight, too.

"Never again." Byleth interlaces the fingers of her free hand with his, clutching his arm like a lifeline. "Not for as long as we both shall live."