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I had a dream where I was waiting for a miracle.
Only fools waited for miracles. And yet, as Edelgard pondered the long and treacherous path before her, she could only admit that the best hope they had was exactly that- that one of their many plans would bear fruit and grant them a rallying symbol. And the woman standing beside her was exactly that and more.
Was that sudden kiss just a fluke?
The soft touch of Byleth came upon her more often than she had ever dared dream. Edelgard had withered at the touch, but on a deeper level, had always nourished the hope that the other woman wouldn’t take that warmth away.
Hey, it’s not fair to stop and say sorry.
That had always flickered at her. Her time at Garreg Mach was an obligation at best, she had never seriously considered anyone who spent a year in the Church’s graces someone who might give the notion the Church needed a complete overhaul any serious thought. She had pushed away not only Byleth, but Dorothea, Lysithea, and all her classmates. And all of them had proved persistent enough to come running back.
I still can’t tell you what I want to tell you.
There was so much more to say. Every drip of her fear locked under Enbarr, the complex web Thales had weaved in the Adrestian nobility, and the knots that threatened to fray under the weight of her reforms. But even if she had the freedom to say them without worrying for the safety of everything held dear, there simply weren’t enough hours in the day for them all.
So I’ll stand beside you gazing at the sky again .
She had missed the sky so much. Even after her release, the constant need to press nose to grindstone had meant she had spent precious little time under the sun. As soon as Dorothea had learned of this, she had mandated that Edie spent one hour a day staring at the sky with someone, and she was quite frankly flattered by how many of her friends had taken the job seriously.
If I’m waiting for a chance, now’s it!
There simply was not a better time to be Edelgard von Hresvelg. Toppling the Church actually seemed possible. With the powers of the Sword of the Creator, Thyrsus, Brigid, Luin and even more joining by the day, Edelgard knew that the advantage would be in her court before long.
Our intertwined fingers will tell me I should stop deciding it’’s over all by myself.
How many times had she considered the idea that Fodlan was doomed to wither and die under the Crest system? How easy it would be to take her own life and spite her captors, or flee to Brigid and live a life as a homeless hunter, or otherwise abandon her ideals and leave Fodlan to its doom? Even before her friends knew the extent of her plans, they were the ones who told her to keep fighting for a better tomorrow, the ones who reminded her just what was at stake if she didn’t make it. The ones who reminded her to keep going.
If I search the world, I won’t find another like you.
Not even Byleth’s own creator planned on making her. The miracles of Crest magic involved in her birth, death, and regeneration were unknown to anyone except Rhea, and she certainly seemed neither willing to share nor interested in exploring how they worked. Given her way, surely there would never be another Byleth. What point was there in a society based around one thing if it wasn’t even explored?
I may find someone who looks similar, but no one I find would be you.
How many people in Enbarr were like Dorothea, unable to sing their way to freedom? How many women in Faerghus were like Ingrid, unable to make their way into an academy of knighthood? Even her own sister in story, Lysithea, had channeled her shortened lifespan into an adventure of filling out her own life experiences.
Black clouds bring storms that take everything away.
Edelgard was embarrassed to admit that she did not fully know what form the Agarthan’s calamities took. She knew they were the ones who destroyed Ailell, but how did they do it? Something fell from the sky, she knew that much, which meant anything in the sky other than bright blue decorated with fluffy white clouds was an omen of disaster in the making. Not like normal rain wasn’t awful, but at least it helped the farmers.
With a shy smile on your face, you’re here before my eyes!
Byleth always had that little smile. It had been months since it started, but not even Jeralt’s death could fully take it away from her. She had to have a secret of her own, but what it was had yet to make it to Edelgard’s ears. Knowing Byleth, she might not fully understand the new feeling herself yet. One day, the Eagles would find out.
Please remember how things were when we first met.
Young, and foolish, Edelgard’s vast and intersecting network of plans had collided, and she had found herself facing an uncertain fate where she might genuinely have died of the fault of several people- one of whom was no doubt herself- when Byleth came to her aid. Byleth, the Ashen Demon who slaughtered destruction, protected the most destructive person in all of Fodlan. And that’s just how things kept going for everyone in the Eagles.
And let’s fall in love all over again!
With a new us, I’m sure we’ll do better. With our faith in today, we’ll change our destiny. Unable to say I love you, I retreated into my heart and stayed far away from you all. Look directly at me and come closer to me slowly. That day you nearly turned your back on me, but don’t apologise. We’ll make it through this together. I love you.