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He still didn’t quite know how to fit in and mingle with everyone. Dimitri may had apologized a few months back but he still felt disconnected with things. Like he had said, it was like patching a wound with a newer material. Never the same but still trying to fix some of the damage that had been done. Being around Felix’s company didn’t help matters either but since even before their academy days, Felix was, how to put it lightly, Felix. Dimitri had learned a long time ago that Felix never changing and keep his own ideals was somewhat a steady thing in Dimitri’s life. A small smile he kept as Dimitri mused over other constant and almost unchanging things in his life.
His thoughts immediately thought of his professor. Even after all of the small amount of years he had known the somewhat tiny stature woman, her own views didn’t change that much either. However, he still loved it when she smiled or joked with him. Those changes, albeit small, he liked best of all. There was times where he would only give out secrets to only her and her only. At first he really didn’t know why but Dimitri felt comfortable enough or maybe because he became attached to Byleth. Whatever the case was, he felt a strong connection to the person he had briefly met before entering the academy.
An ally, a friend, a confident, he had even told her about the situation with his sister, Edelgard. Byleth was the only real one he could trust and to somewhat forget his quest for revenge. Others had helped or hindered him at some point but the only one to truly care was Byleth. At the time, he was still gripped by cynical thoughts, he still is but at that time, it was far much worse. But the looks of pure worry etched on her face had made him angry, at the time. He quickly realized that she was concerned and a little guilty of being asleep for five years and not being able to help him during those times. As he kept wondering on how it might had been if she was able to be there for him, while he was at his lowest. he spotted something in the distance.
A small figure stooped over the last grave stone in the familiar cemetery area in the monastery, untouched by war. The scene was quite ironic since Dimitri was the one to stare at rubble and all sorts of things in the ruined place. The iconic coat that his professor would always wear, with the sleeves drooping over her shoulders and back, told him it was indeed Byleth. ‘Was her stature always that tiny and closer to the ground?’ He amused. Back in the academy, he was one of the tallest in the academy roster, only to be outclassed in height by a few others such as Dedue, Sylvain, and Raphael. Still, Dimitri didn’t quite notice about Byleth being smaller than most of the people she taught five years ago. He was always caught staring right into her, at the time he thought they were merely unemotional pieces of reflecting glass, eyes.
Still Dimitri was quite surprised that Byleth was here instead of the council room or the dining hall. As those were the places she had most frequented during the war months. Not counting the times where she has purposely had been almost out of his vision when visiting the cathedral during her first time back in the monastery, those Dimitri would had liked to forget. He was ashamed on how much nasty he had acted at the time to everyone but mostly to Byleth. But that was mostly in the past, he was here now, trying to be a better person, a man that would follow his heart and not the voices of the dead that had been screaming at him in his head since he was thirteen years old.
Realizing he had been staring quite a long time at the back of Byleth’s head, Dimitri had thought to go back the way he had came and leave the woman in peace. Surely, she was taking a personal time to visit her father’s grave. Well, actually both of her parents where buried there but he had never payed too much attention to that fact until recently. Putting flowers on every single one like he had been doing made Dimitri take more than a good few looks at the letters on the grave sites. Though, like his own birth mother, Byleth’s was also unnamed, forgotten by time. He had hoped that someday she would talk about her family with him, confide in something really personal. Heh, a fool’s wish. There was no way that was going to ever happen. As Dimitri was about to take his leave, a small snap of his foot hitting a tree branch had made Byleth turn around suddenly. Being spotted so easily, Dimitri wanted to run away so badly because he was looking like a caught animal caught in a hunting trap.
Stuttering in embarrassment, he tried to reason on why he was here. “Professor, uh, it’s a good day for horseback riding, is it not? I should get going and I apologize if I was bothering your alone time….”. ‘Smooth Dimitri, smooth’. However before he could truly bolt out of here, Byleth kept coming closer and closer to stand right directly in front of him, her head tilting slightly, showing that she was a little curious on his real reason on being here at this hour.
“It’s true that I was alone but I was just admiring the flowers that a certain someone had put here recently”. She had said with a small knowing smile, like she had already known who had put those on the graves. Blinking owlishly, Dimitri hadn’t expect that type of answer. But Byleth wasn’t one for traditional thinking, like she was outside of boxes instead of in the lines. He had to chuckle after he realized this.
“Ah, I see. Well, whoever this person is, I’m sure that they are just grateful for those who are buried here”. Dimiti had quietly, hoping that she wouldn’t quite hear him. Unlucky or maybe lucky for him, she had heard everything. In fact, she had taken another step closer to him. Please, not so close! I don’t think my heart can take you staring at me so!!’.
“How so?” Byleth asks curiously, wanting Dimitri to elaborate on what he meant by that. Why the special interest in one of the graves located here more than the others? It didn’t make too much sense since the blonde didn’t seem to have asked questions about her family in the past. ‘I wonder what has changed? Maybe he’s trying to open up more? I know the feeling since I’ve never had to deal with emotions before coming to the academy five years ago’. Byleth waited patiently for any type of answer.
“If not for them, I’d never would had come this far. In truth, if it wasn’t for them, I’d would had never met you. Got to experience your smile, your emotions, your guidance, being there for me when I was at my worst. A person who I could trust my life on”. Only until there was a long list of things that Dimitri had loved about Byleth did he realize that he had said too much and wanted to crawl into a hole. “I apologize if I was being too forward. Forget I said any of this”. Shame that he couldn’t control his feelings were gnawing at him today more than ever. Why did he even open up his mouth? Gods!!
The look on Byleth’s face was one with sadness and anger. She even shooked when she spoke her lines. “I may had let that slide in the past when you said you wished for us to be together forever in the goddess tower but not today. Or tomorrow, or in the future. Promise me you’ll never joke again about this, not when I care so much about you Dimitri”. Her hands had balled into fists, clearly upset about his remark about forgetting his confession.
Clearly, this shocked him the most. Not one time during the reunion had she gotten so upset at him. Never yelled or tried to cause a scene even though there was time where she should had done something about his rude and crude behavior. So now to get upset over something like this meant that she actually..had cared? This made no sense unless…No. Dimitri almost choked out the words.
“You feel the same way?” A pause of disbelieve and then continuing after some small silence of them just staring at each other. “Since when?” Dimitri asks, a little confused on when Byleth would had developed feelings for him.
“A little bit by bit, I suppose. Not right away of course. I was more focus on doing the job that my father said that I had to do. Frankly, I didn’t really want to become a teacher or attach myself to this place….at first. I suppose it was after my father had died that I truly saw you in a different light. That person wasn’t trapped in a vengeful cycle. Not at all. I saw through that metaphorical mask you always put up and saw the person who you truly were. They may had called you weakhearted and foolish, and they still probably will, even if you win this war. But I love all the sides of you, Dimitri. The good and the bad”. Byleth proceeded to take hold of one of Dimitri’s hands in her own small ones. “Promise me that once this war is over, you will be with me forever, just like in the past in the goddess tower”.
“That’s one promise I tend to keep, my beloved”. Byleth smiled warmly at him when he had declared this and Dimitri did the same. At that same time, a voice in the wind spoke almost silently, giving the couple a blessing on their shared feelings.
‘I always loved it when she smiled’.