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"Byleth.”
She turns around, and for a moment, all she can see is blue; eyes bluer than the sky and deeper than the ocean.
“Is it really you?” A man with golden hair and an eyepatch appraises her warily, keeping his distance.
“Who are you?” She manages to ask, trying to reign in her shock. “And how do you know my name?”
The man sets his mouth in a thin line, looking disappointed. “You don’t remember me, do you?” He asks, rhetorically, before looking away with a sigh. “I should have known it would be too good to be true.” He kicks at the sand with frustration, and the grains scatter in the air like a burst of glitter.
She must be dreaming; she surmises as she looks around them. The world around them looks like a watercolour painting, with vague strokes of a sunset and a beach.
“You are not dreaming.”
Her eyes snap up to meet his, perplexed. “Can you read my mind?” She asks.
His lips quirk upwards slightly, almost sardonically. “No, I just know you very well.” He pauses as if reconsidering. “Well, I knew you very well.” He corrects, which only serves to confuse her even more.
There’s something frustratingly familiar about the stormy intensity of his gaze, and it only sets her on edge even more. “Have - have we met before?” She asks him hesitantly. “You seem really familiar, but I can’t remember you - why can’t I remember you?” For reasons that she cannot fathom, she feels something akin to panic bloom in her chest. She rarely gets panicked, but when she does, it’s usually when things are truly that bad.
“Byleth,” He says her name yet again, making her look at him in shock. “It’s okay.” He says comfortingly, but it does little to ease her. He chuckles then, albeit a little darkly. “I suppose this is the Goddess’s way of punishing me for my sins.”
“Why can’t I remember you?” She asks again, and his expression softens a little upon seeing her distress.
He puts a gloved palm to her cheek, and she doesn’t protest.
“Because you moved on, but I couldn’t let you go.” He says softly, a pained look crossing his handsome features. “It’s not because I didn’t try, because I did. Goddess, did I try.” There is a tremor to his voice as he traces her features with his hand. He is so close that she can count every single golden eyelash of his, but yet, he seems worlds away. “It seems my love is so strong it has transcended dimensions.”
When she leans into his familiar touch, he pulls his hand away, as if burned. His single eye is filled with emotions that she’s not worldly enough to recognise, but it still takes her breath away.
“Dimitri.” She blurts out before she could think, and she sees his eye widen. “You’re Dimitri, my…” She trails off uncertainly, losing her train of thought.
Despite her hesitance, he still lights up with hope, though she can tell that he's trying to hide it. “I’m your what, Byleth?”
Images flood her brain, taking her to a world of a different space and time. Byleth sees a monastery, vast and beautiful with its marble statues and stained glass. She sees a young man with eyes and hair like Dimitri blushing as he tells her that he wants to be by her side forever. “You’re my lover.” She finally says, not feeling as embarrassed as she should, considering her lack of experience when it comes to matters of the heart. But for reasons she cannot wholly fathom just yet, she feels more comfortable with Dimitri than she's felt with anyone else.
He looks elated as he approaches her again, smiling for the first time. “Y-You remember!" He exclaims, unable to keep the joy from his voice. "What else do you recall?” He asks expectantly.
“That day in the Tower of the Goddes,” She strains to piece the images and words together. “You told me you…" She trails off when realisation dawns on her. "Don’t tell me, you wished for that after all?”
A pained look crosses his face, and she knows it’s true even without verbal confirmation.
“How long have you been here, Dimitri?” She asks quietly, almost scared of the answer.
Dimitri doesn’t meet her eyes when he walks away from her. “Far too long.” He swallows audibly, looking troubled. “I should let you go, Byleth. My time is over, but yours isn’t – not yet anyway.” He smiles at her, and there’s a finality to it that she refuses to acknowledge. “I’m just a ghost from the past who loved you a little too much.”
Before she could speak, a dazzling light falls over them.
He doesn’t mirror her disconcertion. Instead, he looks calm; melancholic even. “That is my cue to leave.” He says, not moving away from the steadily glowing light. He seems to have accepted his fate, but she knows she hasn’t.
“Don’t go.” She hears herself say, but he already seems lifetimes away – from his metal armour to the faraway look in his eyes, and she feels that unfamiliar sense of panic yet again. “Not yet – I need to know more; I can almost remember everything!” Her memories of him are close - so close that she can almost taste it, and with a little time, she knows she’ll remember. “So please, Dimitri. Don’t go.”
Dimitri shakes his head, looking remorseful. “No, I think it’s about time I finally did.” He closes his eyes as the light envelops his face. “Goodbye, my love.” But before the light could reach his fingertips, she makes a leap towards him and manages to clasp her hand with his, so tightly that she can feel the grooves of the bones in his hand.
His eyes snap open in surprise, and suddenly, she sees a story, no their story unfold. She sees everything – she sees the love that chained him to her, sees the love that transcended lifetimes, and she screams his name, but it is too late. It is far too late as he is already dissolving like seafoam and she knows there is nothing she can do to stop it.
“I have loved you forever, and always will, dear Byleth.” He says, with the last of his breath, and then he is gone.
She wakes up then, breathing hard. Her cheeks feel wet, and for the life of her, she can’t shake off the feeling that something’s… missing.
As she walks to class, she tries to shake off the unexplainable feeling of emptiness that’s been clinging to her since the morning. Did she have a bad dream? If so, how could she not remember even a single detail about it?
Byleth is so lost in her troubling thoughts that she doesn’t even realise she’s bumped into someone until she feels a pair of strong hands steadying her shoulders.
“Hey! Are you okay?” A strangely familiar voice asks her.
Byleth looks up to see a pair of even more familiar blue eyes. Two eyes, not one.
At her silence, the blonde man sighs as he removes his hands from her shoulders. “You should watch where you’re going, miss.” He admonishes her lightly. “You could really hurt yourself.”
At his expectant look, she regains her bearings. “I’m sorry.” She apologises as she studies his features, trying to place him. How exactly does she know this guy?
He smiles, pleased. “That’s okay. Now,” He begins as he gestures to her ID tag. “I see you’re a student here at Seiros University. If it’s not too much trouble, could you please show me how to get to class?” He looks a little sheepish. “I, um, seem to have gotten lost.”
It is at this moment Byleth realises the empty feeling that’s been plaguing her the entire morning has mysteriously disappeared.
She smiles at him brightly as she nods her head. “Of course, follow me.”