"You intend to use it again, just so the arrogant one will believe you?" Sothis did not hide her irritation.

Once more, I promise, Sothis, Byleth tried to enunciate his thoughts. After this, we'll have a much needed, long break.

Sothis let out a long sigh inside of his head, "very well, I will trust your judgement."

Think about how this could benefit us, he continued, keenly aware Edelgard was awaiting his answer. With her help, we could train the class even better. Maybe we wouldn't have to use it ever again, or at least, a lot less than we have been.

"I already said yes," she replied. "Besides, I am curious as to how you intend to prove such a thing. Once you turn back the hands of time, she'll forget anyhow."

Not if I do it right, Byleth smirked.

"My teacher?" He turned his head to face her, he could tell he piqued her interest.

"Manuela keeps her parchment and quill on the desk over there," Byleth began. "I want you to write a series of numbers on it. Don't go easy on me, I want it to be a combination that I could only know if what I claimed was true."

Edelgard eyed Manuela's desk hesitantly.

Byleth nodded, "go ahead. And make it something hard, I don't want you claiming it was just a lucky guess."

She rose her chair and made her way toward the desk. She peered back at him as she slipped out a single piece of parchment and lifted the quill from its inkwell, "you want something impossible to predict…" Edelgard's words were uncertain.

He gave her another, firmer nod. Byleth turned his head as she began to scratch the nib of the quill against the parchment. "I'm not even looking."

"You wouldn't be able to see what I'm writing from there, anyhow," Edelgard replied, the scratches never ceased.

"Still," Byleth couldn't help but grin. "I wouldn't want you to call me a cheater."

"I would never call you such a thing, my teacher," He could hear her drip her quill into the inkwell before the scratching continued.

"Not to my face," Byleth simply replied.

He heard Edelgard let out an unexpected chuckle before the sounds of her writing stopped.

Byleth turned his head to find that she had already folded her paper several times, hiding any hint of ink that might shine through.

"Good," he lifted his brow. "I see you've already hidden it."

"Yes, I have," Edelgard smiled mischievously. She must have sensed his improving attitude. "On this paper, I wrote my numbers. It would be statistically impossible for someone to merely guess it's contents."

Byleth couldn't help but to take a moment to admire her smile. It seemed he wasn't the only one who had changed.

"What are you looking at?" Edelgard brought her free hand to wipe around her mouth. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No," Byleth resisted the urge to say anything further. He knew she would forget, but still, it seemed wrong to voice what was truly going through his mind.

The door swung open unexpectedly, Professor Manuela emerged, "sorry to interrupt but my heel broke and I know I left the glue in here somewhere."

"Of course, Professor Manuela," Edelgard motioned toward her desk. "I believe I saw it on the top shelf."

"Aren't you a sweetheart?" Manuela gushed as Edelgard handed it to her. "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone, but you know I couldn't resist another chance to gaze upon our dear professor's naked chest."

Edelgard's cheek began to flush and Byleth was suddenly aware that he had not covered his scars since Edelgard entered. "We're not-"

Manuela shut the door before Edelgard could finish her sentence.

She paused for a moment before she lifted her folded parchment between her fingers, "are you going to tell me now what numbers it contains?"

Byleth could tell she was desperate to change the subject, but there was also a hint of excitement. "You have to show it to me first."

Edelgard frowned, "if I must show it to you, then this isn't a very good trick."

"I have to see it first before I can go back and tell you what's written on it," Byleth tried to explain. He held out his hand. "Don't worry, you won't remember this. Oh, and it's not a trick."

Edelgard hesitated several times. She seemed uncertain about showing him the contents of the paper.

"It's okay, just let me see," he tried to reassure her.

Edelgard forcefully shoved it into his hand before she turned and made her way to the opposite side of the room. She placed her palms on her cheeks and kept her eyes firmly planted on the ground.

Byleth scrunched his brow, she was acting awfully peculiar at whatever was on her parchment. He unfolded it and ran his eyes across the contents.

She did, indeed, write several numbers. She even threw a few letters in there, he had to commend her for that. She tried to mislead him by numerously stating that the paper contained her numbers. But there was something else.

It looked like a crude stick figure. It had short, dark scribbles for hair and several sharp teeth. Edelgard drew the brows downward to make the stick finger look evil.

"Is this…" Byleth tried to decipher it as he turned the paper in different directions, hoping one of them might reveal its secrets, "supposed to be me? I didn't think I was that evil."

"It's not you," Edelgard moved her hands to cover the front of her face.

"Then who is it supposed to be?" He inquired.

"No one, just a random drawing."

Her answers were too fast to ring true. "Then why is there a speech bubble that says, 'that's not what partners do' coming from its mouth?"

"It's Shamir, okay?" Edelgard snapped.

He was taken back from her tone. She still hid her face so he couldn't read her expression, except that she was embarrassed. "Do you not like Shamir?"

"It's not that," Edelgard's muffled words made their way out between her fingers.

He waited for what seemed like several, long seconds, for her to elaborate.

"You two just have so much in common," Edelgard finally explained. "It's like you're inseparable."

Byleth had to admit, he was unfamiliar with this emotion. Edelgard did not like that he had grown to be close friends and battle comrades with Shamir, but he didn't know why. Perhaps, she wished to be his brother-in-arms, or in this case, sister-in-arms.

"Or something more," Sothis giggled.

Byleth furrowed his brow at her insinuation. But the more he thought about it, he realized he never considered Edelgard's feelings in regards to his friendship with Shamir.

He held up the paper and pointed at two letters, "E and L, is that a word? You put them together."

Edelgard finally dropped her hands to reveal her red face, "it spells 'El,' it was my nickname only those close to me used to refer to me. But there's no one left to call me 'El.'"

Byleth nodded as he returned his eyes to the paper, he recited the series of letters, numbers, words and scribbles that she wrote to himself, and repeated it again, and again.

"What are you doing?" Edelgard mustered the courage to speak.

"Memorizing it," Byleth lifted his eyes to meet hers. Her eyes seemed sullen, as if she had been caught doing something wrong. "Don't worry, El. You'll forget any of this ever happened."

Edelgard's eyes shot up as he put his arm in front of him and made a fist.

"You called me 'El," her words were beginning to muffle, though the surprise in her voice was unmissable.

His surroundings vibrated violently around him as the shapes turned to blurs and circled him. Byleth closed his eyes, believing it was this part that contributed to his dizziness. At least that's what he told himself.

He kept his fist tight as the vibrations intensified. Byleth released his grip once he was convinced he had gone back far enough.

"Yes, I have," Edelgard smiled mischievously. "On this paper, I wrote my numbers. It would be statistically impossible for someone to merely guess it's contents."

Byleth was getting good at his timing.

"Let's wait until after Manuela comes in looking for the glue for her broken heel," Byleth could feel his head swimming, albeit not as strong as it was last time.

Edelgard scrunched her face in confusion as she firmly grasped her piece of parchment between her fingers.

"You saw the glue on her desk, you can go ahead and get it for her," Byleth decided to up the stakes. Surely being able to tell not only what was written on her paper and to be able to tell her about events that haven't happened yet would only add to the proof. He put the palm of his hand and pressed it against his forehead.

"She's going to call us 'lovebirds' when she leaves, don't let it bother you," he continued. "She's provocative with everyone. She just enjoys getting people riled up."

Edelgard kept her eyes on the door, but nothing happened. "I don't see Professor Manue-"

The door swung open unexpectedly, Professor Manuela emerged, "sorry to interrupt but my heel broke and I know I left the glue in here somewhere."

Edelgard's mouth hung agape as the professor passed her, holding her shoes in her hands.

"You guys haven't seen it anywhere, have you?" Manuela's eyes scanned the corners that lined the rear side of the room.

"It's…" Edelgard trailed off as she turned behind her to look at the desk. "It's on your desk."

"Oh, aren't you a sweetheart," Manuela beamed as she grabbed it from the top shelf and hastily made her way toward the door, "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone, but you know I couldn't resist another chance to gaze upon our dear professor's naked chest."

The door closed but she continued to stare at it for several more moments, clearly trying to find a justification. "You're a mercenary, you're able to see things the rest of us can't."

Byleth closed his eyes and began rubbing his temples.

"My teacher," Edelgard began softly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, each time I turn the hands of time, it just…" he trailed off, "makes me dizzy."

"Your nose," Edelgard turned swiftly and retrieved a white cloth from one of the countertops. Byleth held out his hand, expecting her to place it in his hand. Instead, he felt the cloth press gently against his nostrils.

He opened his eyes to see Edelgard leaning in front of him, holding the cloth to his nose before gently wiping away any lingering drops. "You… already went back in time, didn't you?"

Byleth nodded as she pulled the cloth away. She kept her gaze on his nose for a few moments, until she was certain the bleeding had stopped.

"Your parchment," Byleth began, "It has the numbers 1016, 8, 214, 3, 96 and 49 written on it."

Edelgard turned her head to the chair where she had laid her paper down to tend to his nosebleed. It sat neatly folded and undisturbed.

"It also has the letters F, R, N and Q written below the numbers." He continued, his throbbing head prevented him from appreciating her attempt at deception, "in the top left-hand corner, you wrote your old nickname 'El,' it's what those close to you used to refer to you as. But there's none left who call you 'El."

"Now, you're just showing off," Edelgard tried to shoot him a smile. He raised his head to meet her gaze and grinned.

"And in the bottom right-hand corner…" Byleth continued.

"We-we don't have to talk about that one," Edelgard stumbled over her words.

"Is a stick figure drawing of Shamir with sharp teeth, angry eyes and a speech bubble that reads 'that's not what partners do' coming from her mouth"

She plopped down in the chair next to him, on top of her parchment. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open.

"I want you to know," Byleth weakly smiled. "Shamir and I are just friends."

"That's not- it's not…" Edelgard seemed to be at loss for words, a rarity for her. "It's beside the point."

"You don't remember this, but I made you show me what you had written and then I memorized it before I turned back the hands of time, " Byleth explained. "So that, without showing me, I'd know what was on your paper."

"My teacher," Edelgard shook her head, her eyes still wide. "I don't even know where to begin."

"It's a lot to take in, I know." Byleth nodded in understanding. "Trust me."

"If-If… you have the time," Edelgard began. "Would it be too much if I asked you to start from the beginning? I wish to know everything."

Byleth felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Edelgard tried to push away the guilt of ever having doubted her teacher. "So the first time you did this, it was when we met?"

Byleth nodded, "Kostas, the bandit that pursued you, Dimitri and Claude was rushing at you with his axe, you only had a small dagger. I stupidly turned my back. That's when I learned… that I could do this."

"How many times have you done this?" Edelgard's concern grew. His nose began to bleed and his head was clearly bothering him just to read to her what she'd written on a silly piece of parchment. She couldn't imagine what such an impossible act would do to the human body.

"I lost count," Byleth swallowed hard as he lifted two of his fingers. "At Gaspard, Ferdinand and Leonie had fallen in battle, so two there."

"Fallen?" The word almost caught in her throat.

Once again, he nodded. "Ferdinand took an arrow to the back for Lindhardt, and Leonie was nearly sliced in half."

Edelgard dropped her eyes to the ground and thought about the things he'd seen. It was unfathomable.

At least for now. Edelgard's stomach began to turn as she thought about Solon and her nightmares of the students at her feet.

"The Holy Mausoleum was…" Byleth trailed off. "That was hard. Petra fell, and Bernadetta took an arrow to the… eye, twice before I was able to save her. And after all that, you had jumped in front of the Death Knight's scythe to protect me."

"Me?" Edelgard recalled that moment. She was desperate to stop Jeritza from ending her teacher, but to her recollection, her teacher had prevented her from moving any further. He even went as far as to instruct Hubert to hold her in place. "Is that why you tripped me?"

"Yeah," Byleth sheepishly answered. "I was already feeling weak, and I was on the ground. The best chance I had at saving both of our lives was to roll right into you. So that's four more."

Six. And that wasn't including the latest battle, the one that ended with her teacher on the ground and a new scar on his chest.

"And at Conand tower," Byleth shook his head and shut his eyes. Edelgard could feel him recalling painful memories. "Dorothea was crushed by the creature's foot. And you and Hubert… Well, you asked how I knew the ceiling would fall in that exact spot."

"Eight?" Edelgard blinked several times. She saw what using this power just once did to his body, but to multiply that by eight.

"Nine actually," he continued. "I naively turned my head away from Miklan after he was defeated, I tried to talk him into abandoning his anger. I didn't want to have to kill him. But… he decided to plunge the Lance of Ruin into my chest instead. We almost died."

"We?" Edelgard prided herself in being a very careful listener.

"I almost died," Byleth rubbed his temple. "Sorry, I'm still dizzy. Anyhow, I was barely able to turn back the hands of time before I died. When I opened my eyes, I was able to deflect his underhanded attempt, but my chest…still throbbed."

"That's where you received the scar," Edelgard finally understood. It was what he meant when he told Shamir it was what 'laid in between' that had drained him of his energy. It was also why he was hesitant letting his students engage in battle when he was already fatigued.

"But the thing is, I was able to turn back time before I died." Byleth shook his head. "This wound technically never happened, and yet here it is."

"As you said, you were dying," Edelgard's eyes darted from side to side, searching for the remaining answers. "What if that time it was less effective because your strength was dying along with your mind. So when you came back, the wound had not fully undone itself?"

"I suppose that's a possibility," he weakly replied. "I wouldn't rule anything out."

"And each time you do this," Edelgard reached out and once again laid her hand on his forearm. "It takes a toll on your body, on your mind."

"That's an understatement," Byleth muttered, followed by a chuckle.

"Your poor body…" Edelgard stood and moved her hand over his chest. He jumped at her approaching fingers toward his newest scar. She swallowed hard before she gently placed her fingertips on the edges of his scar. "It's been tearing you apart, my teacher."

Byleth didn't reply. He only watched her fingers upon his chest. Edelgard quickly pulled her hand away. She stood above him, wishing she could say more. That she could console him for all he had been through.

"You put yourself through this torment, this pain," Edelgard began, "for us?"

Byleth furrowed his brow, "did you peg me as the kind of person who would allow people he cared about to die even if he could do something to prevent it?"

"Never," Edelgard firmly replied. She just felt a deep remorse that she had played a part in his deteriorating body and mind. She knew Hubert would gladly throw himself in front of her to shield her from any danger. But never in her life had she ever expected there would be another willing to suffer, or potentially die for her life. "But you have to stop, you have to stop turning back the hands of time or I fear what will become of you."

"I can't," Byleth vigorously shook his head. "Not if it means leaving any of you dead. For good."

"I figured you'd say as much." She was more than delighted that her teacher held her in high enough regards that he'd risk everything to keep her from harm. But the price was much too high to pay.

"Now that you know everything," Byleth interrupted her thoughts. "I need your help."

Edelgard tightened her grip on his arm, "gladly. However I can, my teacher."

"We have to push the Black Eagles harder," Byleth met her gaze and looked deep into her eyes. "I hate to be that kind of professor, but I need them to move faster, be more agile, more attentive. I need my students to move like Shamir and I do. I need ideas on how we can speed up their training."

Edelgard nodded slowly as she began to see where he was going with his request, "minimize their danger. The less danger they're in, the less you'd have to use your… power to undo a terrible fate."

"You as well, Edelgard," Byleth blinked slowly. "You have to listen and see as I do. You would've heard the crackling in the ceiling… and you have to stop throwing yourself in front of me."

"To quote what a wise teacher once said, 'I can't.'" Edelgard gave him a smirk. "But know that I don't think it's wise to reveal any of this to the students. Should they learn you're able to manipulate fate… well, they could become careless. Some might even think themselves invincible with you by their side."

He gave her a weak nod in agreement. For several moments he blinked and rubbed his eyes.

"Are you feeling alright?" She studied his movements and looked to his ears and nose for any blood.

"I'm fine, I'm just… tired," her teacher's words were barely audible.

"Please, lean back," Edelgard lifted his pillow and positioned it directly under his head.

He didn't protest, he didn't claim that he was 'fine.' Byleth simply leaned back and let his head melt into the pillow she prepared.

Edelgard waited a few moments and watched his face for any distress. But he had closed his eyes and remained motionless. She slowly sat in the chair next to his bedside as she contemplated all that she had heard.

Edelgard recalled his pained face as he described each death he had undone. She couldn't recall any of them, but his eyes were that of a tortured soul. Seeing her classmates fall had clearly affected him.

He had suffered so greatly that he would not awake for six full days over the lives he had come to care for. And Edelgard sat beside his bed, her destiny nagging in the back of her mind.

She summoned the memories of her own nightmares, of Mercedes and countless others, slain by her axe as she rose to lead the Adrestian Empire.

Her teacher had divulged so much to her, secrets that she imagined no other pair of ears had ever heard. And yet, she still sat, with many of her own secrets still festering inside of her.

Edelgard was certain that night had arrived some time ago, but she was determined to stay as long as she could. She thought about what his face might look like when she shared her role in some of those events. Would he become infuriated when he learned that it was she that was meant to cleanse the world of the Goddess's children and free humanity from the shackles of their crests?

It was then that Edelgard realized she had used the words "when he learned" instead of "if he learned."

Her teacher had told Miklan that he sympathized with his reasoning. Would he also see the reasoning behind her actions?

Edelgard's chest tightened as she came to the realization that she could no longer lie to the man that she… well, that she cared a great deal for. She may need a little time to figure out her own thoughts and for the right time to arise, but she would tell her teacher everything. It mattered not how he would react.

He deserved the truth, even if it meant that he would shun her for having to fulfill her own destiny. It would break her heart to no end, Edelgard knew this. The thought of having to miss out on a future she would gladly spend at his side pained her. But that was the funny thing about destiny, it doesn't usually include love.

Even if he and Shamir were only friends. Her heart fluttered when those words left her teacher's mouth. For a moment, she even entertained the idea of confessing her own feelings. She very much enjoyed basking in the emotions that her teacher made her feel. The feeling that nothing else mattered, nothing else existed when he would stare into her eyes. The feeling of her chest tightening at every wide smile she saw him make. Even how fast her heart beated as they demonstrated The Dance of Water to the class.

Dorothea said it best. She absolutely savored the idea of being a normal teenager. But one day simply wasn't enough. With each passing new moon, she came closer and closer to having to fulfill her destiny.

And yet, a man laid before her. His suffering beyond her comprehension, all in the name of changing fate. Was it not her destiny to be crushed by falling debris? Even before that, it seemed her destiny was to be slain by the Death Knight.

But he changed it.

For the first time in her life, Edelgard allowed forbidden thoughts to enter her mind. Perhaps the destiny they carved for her was not her true fate. Though, even if it was, why couldn't she change it?