Long time no see. So I'm sure you all saw that trailer for Three Hopes and the "twist" so to say. With Byleth being the villain and all, and personally I'm not a big fan of it. But I won't bother getting into it, after all I think we'll all know that there's probably more to Byleth being the villain then meets the eye.

Anyway, after seeing that twist I got rather depressed for many reasons. So to help vent that I came up with this Bernie short.

Enjoy!

What was she doing out here? In this terrible place, chaos on either side of her. The yelling and screaming of soldiers fighting, explosions of fireballs and strikes of lighting commanded by both enemy and friendly mages alike.

Gronder Field...Last time Bernadetta was here was just a friendly competition...But now none of that mattered anymore...So much had changed in the past five years that all the memories she made in Garreg Mach seemed almost pointless to think about now.

An explosion next to her scared her from her thoughts, she clutched her bow tightly as she jumped away from the spreading fire. She was stationed atop a hill in the center of the battlefield. A strategic position, but also a dangerous one. The archers she were with fired volley after volley at the approaching enemy, and every once in awhile she'd get the courage to fire a few arrows as well.

She saw some of her classmates down there, her old ones. Sylvain, Ingrid, Marianne. She tried to ignore them, tried to ignore when Annette got run through with a spear, tried to ignore when Dimitri gored a student with white-hair. She fought back tears, fought back the scream that bubbled in her throat. Just ignore it Bernie, you'll be back in your room in no time. Then you can let it all out.

She heard screams from behind her, her fellow archers. She turned around to see them collapse to the ground dead, and standing over their bodies was...

"P-Professor...?" Bernadetta couldn't believe her eyes. He was alive, he hadn't died all those years ago, he was alive the whole time. But any joy she felt at seeing him alive again was quickly shattered as he look up at her with cold, merciless eyes. There was no familiarity in them, it was like he had no idea who she was. He charged her with ferocious speed, Bernadetta just barely able to jump backwards, just barely missing a swing from his glowing sword.

"P-Professor! Wait!" But her cries fell on deaf ears as she narrowly avoided strike after strike. The Professor stopped swinging and instead dug his foot into the ground and thrust, until Bernadetta let out one final cry of pain...Looking down she saw his sword, his holy relic, sticking out of her abdomen. Blood spilling and pooling beneath her. She coughed up blood, some drops getting on the Professor's face. She dropped her bow and clutched his sleeve desperately.

"P-Professor please...I-I don't wanna die! Please don't leave me!" Tears welled in her eyes. "Please hold me!"

He paid her cries no mind, gripping her shoulder and in one full motion yanking the blade out of her stomach, she clung to his sleeve but he shook her off, Bernadetta collapsing to the ground in a bloody heap. Byleth wiped her blood off his face and stepped over her body, moving on to his next victim.

Bernadetta's breathing slowed, as she reached out a hand towards her former teacher.

"P-Professor..."

She woke with a start, breathing heavily, she clutched her abdomen, expecting to find a wound or blood but there was nothing. She heard something shuffle in the bed next to her.

"Bernadetta?"

She let out a yelp and spun around, swinging the palm of her hand towards the source of the voice.

Slap!

"Ow! Bernadetta!?"

When her eyes adjusted to the dark she realized who she just slapped and she gasped, moving closer to them.

"Byleth! I-I'm so sorry you startled me!"

He chuckled, waving off her concern as he held his reddened cheek in his hand. "It's alright Bernie...What's got you so worked up? You were tossing and turning like crazy."

The recluse shuddered upon recalling the events of that horrific nightmare.

"I...I had a nightmare...About Gronder Field..." She held her arms together. Byleth frowned, moving his hand from his cheek to her slim shoulder.

"Again? It's been three years."

"I-I know...But this one was...Horrifying..." She replied, Byleth remained quiet. Waiting for her to continue.

"I had sided with Edelgard against you, and we met on Gronder Field only..." Tears started to well in her eyes. "It was like we never even met...The way you looked at me, it's as if I was just another random soldier. You killed me so mercilessly, so easily..." Tears streamed down her cheeks as she began to sob gently.

Byleth was taken aback by this, he knew when his students first met him that they were more of less terrified of him, especially Bernadetta; and it certainly didn't help that his reputation as the "Ashen Demon" followed him wherever he went. But to think that his wife would have such a horrifying dream...

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "It's okay, Bernie...It's okay...That was just a nightmare, the war has long since been over...Nothing like that will ever happen." He rubbed his hand up and down her back, Bernadetta finding solace in his embrace, burrowing her head deeper into the crook of his neck as she clung tightly to him.

The two remained there, Bernadetta's sobs eventually quieting down, until she fell asleep in Byleth's arms.

Hope you all enjoyed this short little thing.

This is to also help serve as a reminder to myself that Three Hopes takes place in an entirely different timeline. So my precious little head-canons are safe and sound...Still, its depressing that it looks like its time for people to move on from Three Houses. I'm certainly not ready to say goodbye to it anytime soon, and will stubbornly hold onto it like there's no tomorrow.

Despite my issue with Three Hopes I am very excited for it, especially because Monica has been confirmed as playable. (and perhaps that means Kronya as well?) if you are however expecting a Three Hopes story from me I would not get your hopes up. I am quite comfortable spending my time with Three Houses. But who knows, things may change.

Until next time