Chapter Text
When Byleth had fallen off that cliff five years ago during the Battle of Garreg Mach, Felix had a startling realization, one that probably (no, definitely) came around too late. He loved her.
During the battle, things were going about as well as one could expect, when under siege by the entire Adrestrian Empire. They’d fended off the initial wave, but as soon as he thought they were about to successfully force a retreat, Edelgard had snapped her fingers, and a rush of soldiers swarmed through the gates. He should have known then, that even the Professor couldn’t have turned the tides.
And then there was a massive dragon, and in direct contradiction of everything she’d ever taught them, she ran out, all alone, with no cover, to defend it from the Demonic Beasts that came out of nowhere. She took down the Demonic Beasts, yes, but she and the dragon went down with them. Down over the edge of a cliff and into a who-the-fuck-even-knows-where-it-ends ravine. No one could have survived that fall, not even her.
So she’s gone. He still has nightmares about it. It’s burned into his mind, where he sees her running after the dragon, and instead of staying frozen, immobile, afraid, he tears after her. He catches her with sweaty hands right as she falls over the edge. “I love you, please don’t go,” he’ll say. “I love you too.” she says, before she slips from his grasp, into the abyss. At least in his dreams, she loves him back.
The would-have-been Millenium Festival was tomorrow. To be honest, he wasn’t sure why he’d let Sylvain and Ingrid talk him into going along. There was a literal war going on, and things weren’t going so well. Was it really a good use of time to be prancing off to Garreg Mach to fulfill a promise to classmates and a professor he hadn’t seen in half a decade, to two of whom were dead? Actually, not dead. Presumed dead.
He knew that there was no way she’d survived the fall, but some small part of himself, deep down, couldn’t let go of the miniscule possibility she’d survived. She cut the sky apart to return to them once, couldn’t she do it again? No body had ever been recovered, that he knew of, so technically it was possible, even if improbable. He’d never say it aloud, but he clung to that improbability, because to let it go would hurt more than he wanted to admit.
There were rumors about massacres of Empire soldiers, with witnesses that spoke of a blonde beast cutting down everything in his path, which led him to believe there was more likelihood the presumption of Dimitri’s death was inaccurate. Even still, the Boar wasn’t going to show up just to fulfill a whimsical promise made before the war. If the rumors were true, he was busy brutally enacting his revenge on random soldiers, collateral damage in Edelgard’s war.
“Do you think everyone is going to show up?” Ingrid’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. They were close to the monastery.
“Two presumed dead, haven’t heard from the other three in five years, what do you think?” He said, scowling.
She didn’t reply, just dropped her gaze and gave a slight frown.
“I’ll take that as you’re hopeful?” Sylvain called. “You didn’t say no.” He flashed a smile, unfazed by Felix’s negativity.
The sound of steel clashing caused all three of them to whip their heads in the direction it came from. Even Sylvain’s usually casual expression dropped. “Sounds like someone’s here, let’s go check it out.”
When he first saw her, he thought he was still dreaming. He must have fallen asleep on the journey there, and was just having another one of his nightmares, just with a twist. Surely the ground would fall out from under her feet any minute now, and he’d watch her fall.
Sylvain rushed past him, clapping him on the back and grinning. “See, your pessimism isn’t always warranted!” In a daze, Felix stood still for a half second, processing what was going on, before realizing he was not asleep, and that he should probably start helping fend off the bandits.
He drew his sword and scanned the horizon. All the Blue Lions were there, even the Boar, shockingly enough. A slight smile formed on Felix’s face as he caught Byleth’s eye. Her usually blank expression turned bright as she smiled back, and he felt his heart skip a beat. Seeing that much emotion from the professor was a rare occurrence. But lots of typically rare occurrences were happening today. For example, five years of improbable hope, and here she was. The town on the outskirts of Garreg Mach was in ruins, destroyed by the initial battle, and left to languish by the ensuing abandonment of the monastery. Everyone and everything had changed, but she looked the same as the day he last saw her.
He slipped to her side, and they fell right back into the familiar rhythm of fighting alongside each other. A flash of silver, and suddenly, the battle was over. His breath caught in his throat when he turned to face her. “Fancy meeting you here.” He said, trying to keep his voice even. “A welcome surprise.” She looked at him with that same smile she had earlier, and he willed his expression to stay neutral. But then, he felt his arms around his waist, and hands gripping the back of his coat. He felt his face flush and hoped that the dim light of the evening was enough to hide the color in his cheeks.
“A welcome surprise for me too.” She murmured.
At first, he stood immobile, too surprised to immediately react. (This was happening a lot today, wasn’t it?) When he realized he should probably return the hug, or seem distant, (when had he ever cared about people thinking he was standoffish?) he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, before letting go, so she could greet everyone else. She turned to greet Sylvain, who immediately drew her off the ground into a hug. "Professor! Has it really been five years? You're as pretty as ever, and that's the only thing that matters."
He rolled his eyes. Maybe not everything had changed. Sylvain certainly hadn’t.