The steady sounds of the locomotive were oddly soothing to Rean as he relaxed in the almost completely empty passenger car while staring out the window at familiar sights. If there was one thing he appreciated about the Imperial Government it was their efficiency in ensuring that Erebonia's critical railway network was in peak condition - It only took a few weeks after war's end to make sure the rubble of Garrelia Fortress was cleared away for trains to resume their trips to the empire's newest province, allowing him to return home in peaceful comfort.

Peacefully, unfortunately, was not the same as happily. Riding the train like this reminded him of all the field studies that Class VII had taken part of during the year. All those times spent chatting about the upcoming location before settling in to challenge each other to games of Blade.

Fond memories that he would never get to partake in again.

At least the situation in Crossbell had ended in time for him to return to Thors for the final stretch of the year. His biggest worry when accepting Captain Lechter's mission had been that the duration would be so long that he would miss seeing his friends graduate and leave the academy for good. Luckily it seemed that terrifying scenario wouldn't be realized. It wouldn't be for long, but at least he could see his friends for a few final days before they spread across the country and beyond.

The lonely swordsman let out a tired sigh. Physically he felt fine, as while he had been in his fair share of fights during his time in Crossbell none of them could compare to the exhausting trials Class VII had faced at the bottom of the Old Schoolhouse and the Infernal Castle. Emotionally, however, was a completely different story.

For the most part his deployment hadn't been too bad. As much as he didn't want to fight Calvardian soldiers, that they presented a clear and obvious threat to the occupied citizens of Crossbell made his decision to fight a relatively easy one. Although it provided little solace he could freely accept that he had at least made a positive contribution to the awful situation.

It was the very last mission he took that left the swordsman feeling so exhausted.

A simple trip to Crossbell's labyrinthine underground Geofront network ended in an encounter Rean wouldn't soon forget. What started as a simple mission to access one of Crossbell's hidden terminal networks ended in something a lot bigger.

Lloyd Bannings...

Their fight hadn't been long, nor had it been conclusive, but it was one that stuck with him. Despite being caught in such a terrible situation the young detective and his ally Rixia Mao were able to fight for a cause they believed in. Something which he – despite his fancy new title and all the acclaim received for it – lacked sorely. Something which he found himself feeling so envious of.

In a way he was glad that he wasn't able to complete the mission. Had Bannings not downloaded the data from the terminal in time Rean would have been forced to use Spirit Unification and the fight might have taken a darker turn. As it was all he needed to do was use Valimar to destroy the terminal and allow the two future fugitives to run off, leaving him and Altina on their lonesome.

His thoughts turned towards Millium's sister. Had anyone told him that he would have been working alongside the one who kidnapped his sister and the princess he would have laughed, but fate had a funny way of working at times. And by all accounts it sounded like she would be his partner on any other Ashen Chevalier deployments.

It was something that he had first noticed aboard the Pantagruel, but working alongside Altina showed him just how different the girl really was. How could he possibly hate someone who didn't even understand how to be human? Even Fie at the beginning of the year had shown far more emotion than what the black rabbit possessed.

If she was to be his partner on any future mission then so be it. Despite everything Altina was an impossible girl to dislike. Instead he simply wanted to help her so those past mistakes wouldn't continue into the future.

Glancing out the window he witnessed the myriad windmills and scenic landscape that could only mean the train was approaching the rebuilding Celdic. Were it a normal passenger train then there might have been an announcement about it, but Rean began to prepare himself all the same – Trista would be the next stop. That notion was enough to shake him out of any lingering doubt about his recent exploits.

He was finally coming home.

Half an hour later and that thought became reality as the train rolled into Trista's station. As much as he wanted to rush out and find his classmates he knew he needed to check on Valimar first. Even if the Divine Knight was the cause for his current situation he didn't fault Valimar one bit. In fact he was willing to say that his relationship with the machine had been growing steadily by the day.

He and Valimar were partners in the truest of senses. They were two sides of the same coins.

After making sure his robot friend had endured the uncomfortable trip strapped to the back of the train, Rean passed the knight off to the approaching mechanics. A part of him was surprised that George wasn't with them since they would be taking Valimar to the Engineering Building for maintenance, but given it was still the middle of the day and classes were in session he waved it off as unimportant.

"Welcome back, Rean. You must be exhausted."

Unfortunately for him he couldn't simply wave away Captain Claire the same way. Instead he plastered a fake smile onto his face before turning to the Ironblood, "Not really. I barely did anything. Everything went off without a hitch mostly thanks to Valimar's power. Not to mention the planning of your people."

A part of him winced knowing he was unable to keep the malice out of his voice, especially with that last line, but the rest of him simply didn't care. He was no longer sure what he felt about the RMP captain. Sure she had always been helpful and friendly to him in the past, but at the end of the day she was one of Osborne's top henchmen. How much of her caring persona was real and how much of it was simply a guise worn by the infamous Icy Maiden!?

He barely remembered the small talk up to that point as he ran on autopilot, simply wanting to get through the conversation as soon as possible so he could go see his friends, but there was one thing he was truly curious about and that curiosity compelled him to take the conversation seriously, "...Did you really not know about my real father?"

Claire's eyes widened in surprise and initially she refused to speak, but Rean was patient enough to allow her the time to gather her thoughts, "I didn't have any hard evidence, but I did suspect that might be the case. You just seemed somehow similar. The air about you, your facial features... I was always puzzled by how fascinated he was by your class as well."

At some level, deep down, the Ymir native was glad to hear that she didn't actually know. And despite himself he couldn't help but trust her words. That said, right now he had no interest in talking to Osborne's agent any further, "I see. Excuse me, then." Turning away he walked towards the train station's exit while doing his best to ignore Captain Claire's parting words.

Was he being childish? Probably. But he couldn't help but think he was allowed to be childish in that moment.

Exiting the train station and entering the ever familiar scenery of Trista did help his mood a little. That it hadn't changed a bit was a relief. To think that this peaceful little town could become a second home to the swordsman in such a short period of time. And it was a home he would be continuing to live in for another year...

And just like the first time he stepped off the train he was greeted by a falling lino flower petal. Spring had finally arrived. That nostalgia, however, was tempered by a chill that had little to do with the March weather.

Trista might not have changed, but he had. Could the town and school hold the same charm after everyone left? It seemed impossible, but it wasn't as if he had any choice but to hope for the best.

"As much as I like flowers, if you stare at 'em that much you're gonna miss what's in front of you."

"Gah!" There was only one person he knew in the school who could possibly sneak up on him like that, "Fie!?"

"Sup?" The amusement of her expression faded away as the little jaeger quickly wrapped him up in a tight hug, "...Missed you." She mumbled into his jacket.

"I missed you too." He responded, even as he returned the hug, "Not that I mind this, but why are you here. Isn't class...?" She wasn't cutting class just to see him, right?

There was an amused snort from the girl attached to him, which was further reinforced when Fie pulled away just enough so he could see her grin, "Really? That's your first worry? If you must know, Sara turned class into a study session. Best part about being the fastest person in class is that I'm the first one here."

Glancing away from Fie for just a moment confirmed that indeed the others were coming down the path from Thors, albeit at a far more sedate pace than what Fie had used. The sight would have been enough to thaw his chilly heart had his girlfriend not already done so with her actions.

His entire world would be changing in a few days, but that didn't mean he should waste his time dwelling upon that. Right now his mission – far more important than anything he had done as the Ashen Chevalier – was to spend what time Class VII had remaining to its fullest.

It was a mission he would not fail.

Returning to class after a long absence was starting to become commonplace to the young Schwarzer, but that didn't make it any less weird. Even though he wasn't graduating alongside his classmates he still chose to join them in their accelerated courses, which ended up a total pain after having missed so much of the curriculum. His head was still spinning after spending an entire day trying desperately to keep up.

Even if he didn't need to pass he still wasn't someone who liked to fail!

But now classes were finished for the day. Normally he would have considered staying a little longer for some extra study to help alleviate his problems, or maybe go and see if Towa needed any help as she closed out the year, but instead he found himself with a mission. The previous night he had done his usual routine and checked in on all of his classmates in their rooms. Most of those meetings had gone about as he expected as his friends took the time in catching him up on things he misses while also revealing the progress they had been making towards future plans.

Two of them, however, had been a little different. When he visited Fie he could tell the girl was hiding something from him given her shifty glances and tight expression, but when he tried to press her on it she deflected his efforts with ease. The girl was just too good at controlling herself for him to find an opening.

The same was definitely not true of Laura. If Fie was the master at hiding her true thoughts than Laura was her opposite. As soon as he started pressing the noblewoman on her odd behavior she stuttered, stammered, and nearly revealed whatever it was they were hiding from him. Sadly for him she managed to somewhat recover after a calming breath before giving him a pleading expression.

"...Can you come to the Old Schoolhouse tomorrow? I promise we'll tell you everything then."

Naturally he accepted the request, because no matter how cute a flustered Laura was and no matter how much his curiosity burned away at him, at the end of the day he could never say no to her. Either whatever secret they were hiding from him had something to do with that mysterious building – which was a worrisome thought to be sure – or Laura simply wanted to cross blades with him after whatever it was they needed to tell him.

Which honestly didn't sound like a bad idea at all. While the fighting done during the war had done wonders for his strength and skill, everything save for that lonely trek down the mountain had been with allies at his side. They were his greatest strength, but the past month had reminded him that they wouldn't always be by his side. A spar against Laura would be a good way to help with his personal strength.

...His jaw still ached a little from where it met a tonfa.

All of that explains why instead of doing what he would normally be doing the swordsman found himself taking the trek down to the abandoned building, tachi at his side. It hadn't eluded him that both Fie and Laura had slipped out of class as soon as they were dismissed, presumably to beat him there. He wasn't particularly worried about that, as he trusted them too much to fear whatever surprise they had in store for him.

Along the way he couldn't help but notice all the glances and whispering he was getting, causing him to let out a resigned sigh. He couldn't fault them for being curious about him – he had only told his classmates about the things he accomplished in Crossbell – but it was still entirely too awkward for him.

Rean's earlier hopes that people would lose interest in his status as the Ashen Chevalier had, at least for the short term, been completely dashed. Every victory he had achieved during his month in Crossbell ended up on the front page of the Imperial Chronicle – often embellished greatly. And if he was to continue accepting jobs for the government...

Being a hero was a lot harder than he had expected.

Still, even if some of his friends were now looking at him differently it didn't change the fact he wanted to hang out with them, one final time. Beyond just Class VII there were so many second year students he had befriended during the year that would soon be making their exit from the school. It was a good thing that the next day was a free day as that was the only possible chance he had.

And that didn't even include the likes of Towa, Angelica, and George! With everything that had happened since the war he had barely shared a dozen words with the diminutive president. Perhaps he should insist upon doing one final batch of student council requests just so he could have some time with the girl who had become something of a mentor figure to him?

Approaching his destination he noticed the two girls were standing in front of the door. That made sense considering he was the only member of Class VII with a key. Hurriedly he checked his pocket to confirm that he hadn't actually done something as embarrassing as forgetting the key. They would never have let him live it down.

Not that either Laura nor Fie would have noticed, as they seemed to be completely engrossed in their own conversation, "...Can't believe we're waiting here like a pair of idiots. Why did you have to tell him to meet us here?!"

"I couldn't help it! I panicked!"

Fie just let out a groan, "And what about the plan? We had it all worked out and everything!"

"I was panicking!" Laura insisted, "I know we were planning on telling him together so I blurted out out the first thing that came to mind!"

"...One of these days I'm gonna teach you how to lie and cheat."

"I don't want to lie and cheat!" Laura protested.

"Hmm... Better. I almost believed that lie."

Laura tried to sputter out a denial, but the words weren't coming to mind. Deciding to take pity on the swordswoman before Fie's teasing got any worse he finally made his presence known, "Please don't teach Laura how to lie and cheat. I like her the way she is now."

The Arseid let out a startled 'eep' at his words, but Fie didn't react, confirming his theory that she knew he was there. Ah well, one out of two wasn't bad, "Why are you both so boring?" The silver-haired girl groused.

After recovering from her surprise – and shooting him a quick glare for his role in it – Laura turned her focus back to Fie, "If you constantly find us to be so boring then you are free to leave whenever you want."

"Nah." She responded immediately, "You might be boring most of the time, but those moments when the mask slips and you are true to yourself? Totally worth it."

"I... well..." Watching the Arseid sputter was both hilarious and adorable. That didn't stop him from avoiding eye contact when she turned to him for support. Fie was right – Those moments when Laura snapped and became an entirely different person were definitely worth it.

Realizing she had no support Laura groaned before burying her head in her hands, "...Can you please unlock the door so we can enter?" She asked dejectedly.

Taking pity on her he did just that. The swordsman couldn't help but feel a sense of strange nostalgia as he entered the abandoned building that held so many memories for him – both for good and for ill. Glancing behind him he could see similar thoughts in Laura's eyes.

Fie meanwhile... "I wish we'd remembered this place earlier. Could've banged without anyone finding us."

...Clearly her mind was in a completely different place. Still, Rean couldn't help but kick himself internally. As embarrassing as it was to think about, she clearly had a point...

"Fie! We're not having sex in the Old Schoolhouse! That's just...!" A red-faced swordswoman exclaimed.

"Why not?" The little tease asked innocently with a tilt of her head, "We haven't done anything fun since that debacle on the Courageous. I'm sure you're just as frustrated as I am."

"Well..."

"And look at Rean? That look on his face is one of a guy who is mentally kicking himself for not having thought of it sooner."

"Rean!"

The swordsman couldn't help but laugh nervously under the gaze of the two girls – one with an amused look and the other reddened horror, "Haha... sorry. Fie does have a point, though. It's rather frustrating that we haven't been able to do much more than kiss with all our classmates and friends always around us."

"Oh...!" Fie exclaimed with a jolt, "I hadn't even thought of that! This upcoming arrangement is looking better and better..."

He was clearly missing something important, especially as Laura's flush seemed to grow to critical levels at Fie's words. A part of him was afraid she might pass out from the rush of blood.

"Can we please get back on topic?" Laura practically pleaded after the many many minutes it took for the girl to regain her composure.

"Sure, but I'm still down for a quickie after."

"Fie...!" The frustrated growl from the Arseid was enough to cause Rean to take a step away for his own safety. Still, this time she was a lot quicker to recover, shooting the little gremlin a withering glare before returning her focus to him, "Ahem. As I was saying..." She shot a pointed look towards Fie, but the jaeger had no more interruption to offer. In fact Fie's entire demeanor had shifted to something a lot more serious as she moved to stand next to Laura in a show of solidarity.

"While you were in Crossbell we both pondered on our future. And we both separately came to the same conclusion. Once our decision was made we took it up with Instructor Sara and the Principal, who then made it official..."

"We've both decided to stay."

Rean froze.

He couldn't have heard that right.

It was impossible.

"W-What...?" He croaked out at last, "What do you mean, stay?" The answer was pretty obvious, but his brain was in denial at this point. There was no way that they had decided to-

"What do you think she means?" Fie countered, "We're staying at this school for another year." The girl gave a shudder at those words, "Eugh. Can't believe I signed up for another year of classes. You'd better be grateful."

"N-No!" He protested, despite how weak his voice was, "But... I thought... What about the Bracer Guild?" He turned back to Laura, "And weren't you going home to achieve mastery?"

The blue-haired girl fixed him with a kind smile, "Hasn't the past year proven that there are other ways to get stronger?"

"I... I guess, but-"

"We can wait another year before joining the guild." Fie cut him off with an easy shrug, "Plus, Sara set us up with a pretty sweet gig. We can do bracer work after classes while she keeps an eye out for Zephyr for me."

Distantly a part of his brain noted that she used the word 'we' and not 'I'. What did she mean with that?

Rean shook his head. Not important, "But... You guys shouldn't have to give up your freedom just because of me!"

"I have no doubt that were our positions reversed you would do the same. And not just for us, either, but for anyone in Class VII."

"But that's different!" He protested without thinking, "You two have more important things to do while I-"

"Finish that line and I'll smack you." Fie warned with narrowed eyes as she waved a tiny fist in front of him threateningly, "You can be really annoying sometimes."

The swordsman quickly wiped the moisture from his eyes with a free hand, "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. But even still..."

"Did I not tell you that I wish to share in the burden that's been forced upon you? If remaining at Thors for another year allows me to do so then it is an easy decision for me to make. And I am certain that Fie feels the same way."

Fie made a so-so gesture with her hands, "Maybe I've decided to take classes a bit more seriously? It's impossible to keep up with these accelerated lessons, so an extra year to learn everything sounds pretty good..." The corner of her lips curled upwards at her joke.

It took some effort for Rean to choke back a sob to laugh at her words, "F-From anyone else I might have believed that. But you?"

"Wow. Rude."

Laura giggled at their byplay, "And even if you were to somehow convince us to change our minds I believe it is too late now. The principal and board made their decision and the paperwork to keep us here was already filled out. I doubt we could convince them to change their decision again even if we wanted to."

Looking at the two girls was growing harder, but even still he gave it a shot. It didn't take a genius to see the confidence and unity in their expressions. Deep down he knew it would be impossible to convince them to change their mind. And yet he had to try, one final time, "I-I'm sure if you..."

"Just stop." Again Fie cut him off, "You're wasting your breath. Do you really think you could convince us to go while you're standing there crying like that? Doubt you could convince Sara to drink a beer right now, and that's like the easiest thing ever. It's okay to be selfish, you know?"

As much as he had tried to ignore it, she was right. The tears just wouldn't stop flowing no matter how hard he tried. And why wouldn't they?

"You're right." He admitted at last, "I still think you're being incredibly foolish by staying here..." He raised his hand to forestall the protests from both girls, "...but I can't deny it."

Through tear-stained eyes he gave the biggest smile he could possible give, "You've both made me so incredibly happy. Crossbell was awful. Spending those days fighting in a battle I didn't believe in while thinking I was going to be all alone again... It was almost too much to bear. But you've saved me from that..."

"So... Thank you. Thank you for always being there for me, even when I don't deserve it. Thank you for loving me."

It took everything he had to remain upright as a pair of human-sized missiles slammed into him. The swordsman sobbed freely as he found himself trapped in the middle of their group hug. Were any bystanders around they would probably comment on how lucky he was to be with two beautiful women like that. While he would certainly agree, in that moment it was the last thing on his mind.

Instead he had an epiphany. Laura and Fie were going out of their way to help him, but it wasn't out of any sort of obligation or responsibility. They were doing it because that was what they wanted to do. He didn't need to feel guilt for their actions, because he finally understood it.

This was love.

Heh. No wonder Elise got so angry at him when he threatened to repay his family's love by walking out on them.

"What was that?"

Oh. Did he say that out loud? Not wanting to dredge up old awkward memories he shook his head, not that either of the girls could see it, "It's nothing. I'm just starting to realize I'm never going to win when you guys set your minds to something, am I?"

"Nope." Fie responded, pulling away just far enough for him to see her mischievous smile, "Maybe you should have thought about that before you decided to date two girls at once?"

"My decision? I don't recall ever being given much choice in the matter, actually." There was no humanly way anyone could possibly refuse when cornered by a pair of extremely powerful and extremely willful girls in a bath!

"Are you complaining?" A mirthful Laura asked even as she finally pulled away from him.

Rean shook his head, "Are you kidding? Aidios knows how lost I'd be if you weren't around to keep me in line."

"Glad you realize it." Fie groused, "Thought you'd be easier to deal with after the war, but you might be the most difficult person on the entire continent."

He wasn't that bad, right? He turned a questioning look towards sweet, kindly, Laura. The swordswoman must have understood the unspoken question as she gave a placid smile, "She's right. As... unorthodox as our relationship may be, I am starting to believe that it was a necessity. Without Fie's assistance it would be impossible to keep you in line."

Rean let out an awkward laugh, "Haha... Right now it feels like I'm back at home listening to another scolding from mother- Ouch!"

He found himself hopping on one leg while dealing with the lance of pain on the shin of his other leg. The source of that pain was Fie, who was glaring after having kicked him, "Think about your words, idiot."

"Ow..." Still, it wasn't as if he could complain about her kick, could he? Comparing his girls to his mom was definitely a mistake, especially after the things they had done, "Can you just... forget I said that?"

"Hmm... I dunno. What do you think, Laura?"

"I am not so sure we can forget it, but you can make it up to us. I noticed you brought your tachi with you."

She wanted a spar? Previously he was all for it, but after the emotional whiplash he had just gone through he felt exhausted. Plus it was still hard for him to see clearly through puffy eyes. Agreeing would almost certainly spell the end for him...

"Sure, that sounds great." ...A shame he could never say no to either of them.

Future Rean would look back upon this moment with great regret. His anticipated poor performance proved to be very true. And unfortunately for him while both girls might have been willing to stick with him through all his troubles, that didn't mean they were unwilling to take advantage of the chance to work out their frustrations upon him. The hour that followed would be one of the more physically painful ones in his life.

...At least the end was quite enjoyable as Fie proved to be remarkably persuasive at getting her wish.