"Bernadetta!"

The girl in question squealed as she heard someone yelling her name. She didn't recognize whose voice it was in the panic that immediately ensued, so she slowly glanced over her shoulder. When she saw it was Edelgard who was currently storming towards her, her panic increased tenfold.

"EEEP!" she cried as she immediately took off as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Bernadetta! Wait!" Edelgard cried as she took off after her.

"NO! I'M NOT READY TO DIIIIIIEEEE!" the young girl cried as she booked it across the monastery. She felt no exhaustion, only the will to survive as she made her way towards her room.

"BERNADETTA!" Edelgard screamed after her as she slowly began to catch up. But before she could reach out and grab the girl, she slipped into her room, slammed the door, and locked it. Edelgard pounded on the door and pulled at the handle but it wouldn't budge. "Hey! Bernadetta! Let me in!"

"NO! YOU'LL KILL ME AND THEN BURY ME SO THEY'LL NEVER FIND ME!"

"I'm not going to-" Edelgard started, then sighed. "Look, Bernadetta, I just wanted to talk to you about the last mission." Bernadetta gave a squeak in response. "You didn't cover me properly when we were fighting those bandits, one of them nearly got me."

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry-"

"Bernadetta, stop that!" Edelgard said, her annoyance growing. "We were lucky the professor was there to cover me but you need to do better! You have to keep your eyes on everything in your surroundings!"

"I-I try! I'm sorry! I just get so frightened!"

"Well, you can let that get to you! One mistake can cost you your life! Or the lives of your allies, you do understand that don't you?"

"I do-"

"Then please act like it!" Edelgard said with exasperation. "I need you at the top of your game as much as possible if you're going to support me in battle! If you can't do that, then I'm going to force you to take extra classes and drills!"

"I-I understand, I'm sorry! Please stop yelling at meeee!" Bernadetta cried, and Edelgard had to suppress a growl. She knew the girl had potential, but her lack of self-awareness and confidence was grating at times.

"As long as you're aware. I'll go now," Edelgard said as she stalked away, able to hear Bernadetta whining behind the door. She sighed. "Seriously, if she's going to be capable, she needs to learn to get over this."

"You know it's not that easy."

A voice stopped her in her tracks as she turned and found Byleth lounging against the wall. She immediately straightened.

"My Teacher, h-hello," she said and cleared her throat. "What did you say?"

"Bernadetta is…special," he said. "Not in a bad way, just…she's someone you need to be willing to work with to get what you want."

"I know, but-"

"Edelgard, I'm going to be blunt. You handled that very poorly." Edelgard's cheeks flushed. "When it comes to Bernadetta, you can't act that way, or else you're just going to drive her further away."

"But she needs to know that-"

"She made a mistake, yes, but there's better ways to do it than what you said, and how you said it," he replied. "I think you should apologize to her."

"What?! But-"

"Look, there's a fine line when it comes to discipline," he continued. "You have to be firm, and let them know that yes, they did something wrong, but you can't be mean about it. You have to be understanding and patient. With Bernadetta, if you aren't softer with your words, then she's just going to be more afraid of you, and it'll throw off her concentration even more. She won't want to be around you." Edelgard opened her mouth to object, but couldn't. Byleth went on.

"So I think you need to apologize and get your message across a little differently, okay?" Edelgard gulped. "Think on it if you need to, but please try to be softer with her from now on, okay? Don't coddle her when she makes mistakes, but don't be harsh."

"I-I understand, My Teacher," she said with a small bow. Byleth dipped his head and turned, walking away as gracefully as ever. Edelgard sighed and glanced back at Bernadetta's door. She then faced away and began to walk back to her room.

The next day, after classes had ended, during which Bernadetta had avoided her gaze as much as possible, Edelgard found herself back in front of the girl's door. She'd thought over what she wanted to say but still felt hesitant. She reached up and hand and gently knocked on the door.

"Wh-Who's there?" Bernadetta asked from the other side.

"It's me, Edelgard. I wanted to talk to you." Edelgard swore she could almost hear the girl tensing up.

"I-I said I was sorry! It won't happen again, I promise!"

"No, I…I wanted to apologize," she said, and Bernadetta didn't respond. "Look, I was…a little harsh with my words yesterday, and I'm sorry." Still no response. "I stand by what I said, that you need to be more careful on the battlefield, but I'm sorry for the way I said it. It was wrong of me to be as harsh as I was. Can you forgive me?" Silence for several moments.

"You…don't want to kill me?"

Edelgard almost laughed. "No, I don't want to kill you. I think you're a good ally, and maybe even a good friend, but you just need to pay better attention to your surroundings. We're all relying on you, the same way you rely on us."

"I-I don't want to be relied on. I'm not reliable!"

Edelgard clamped down on her retort. "I'm sorry but…there isn't really a choice. All you can do is keep trying. Try to do your very best, and if you make mistakes…I'll let you know. But next time, I'll be better about how I get that across, okay?"

"O-Okay…" Bernadetta responded, her voice softer.

"So will you try for me? For all of us?" Edelgard asked softly. Yet another few moments of silence before Bernadetta spoke.

"I-I can try," she said, and Edelgard loosed a breath.

"Thank you, Bernadetta. And once again, I'm sorry."

"I-It's alright. You're just…er…very scary sometimes," the girl responded, and this time, Edelgard did laugh.

"I suppose I should try and get that fear across to our enemies instead, huh?"

"Y-Yeah, if you did that with Hubert, you'd be a total powerhouse of fear."

Edelgard giggled, and gently laid a hand on the door. "I'll see you in class, alright? Or any other time you wish to train."

"R-Right, see you," Bernadetta responded, and Edelgard finally walked away, a small smile on her face.

She felt lighter on her feet than she'd felt in a while.