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Claude can’t sleep at all, which considering everything that has been happening, isn’t the hardest thing to believe. He decided to take a late night walk to clear his head. He still can’t believe everything that Byleth and him heard from Lady Rhea. He doesn’t even know what’s crazier, that the Heroes’ Relics were made of the bones of dragons, or that the legendary ‘Hero’ Nemesis, was nothing more than a bandit who was given stolen power by Those Who Slither in the Dark. Though, he supposes the craziest thing is that Byleth had the heart of a goddess in her. Claude hasn’t even had a chance to talk to Byleth about all this because they’ve been so busy preparing for the fight tomorrow with Nemesis and his army.
Claude is taken from his thoughts when he hears subtle giggles all around the courtyard. It seems everyone is trying to enjoy themselves before their big climatic battle tomorrow. He sees Mercedes and Sylvian walking along the bridge, Catherine and Shamir heading for the wine cellar, Cyril and Lysithea fell asleep reading together, Annette singing to Felix as he trains, and he even sees Hilda and Caspar trying to sneak away to her dorm.
At least, he thought that what they were doing, until Hilda glances at him and makes a b-line for him with an upset look on her face.
“What exactly are you doing out here by yourself?” Hilda said with an angry look on her face.
“I don’t know what you mean Hilda?” Claude said genuinely confused at her question.
“What I mean is, what are you doing here, when the Professor is all alone in her room?” Hilda said with a look that somehow got even angrier.
“And what does that have to do with me?” Claude asked. Admittedly though, he is a little relieved to hear she hasn’t been following the pattern everyone else seems to be following tonight. He knows a few people had little crushes on her, even back at the academy, but he’s glad they have moved on from them, well everyone except him. He briefly pictures what it would be like if he were the one who could spend the night with her.
“You do realize everyone knows you two have feeling for each other, right?” Hilda says as she snaps Claude out of his thoughts.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Claude said doing his best to deny it. He doesn’t want to give Hilda the satisfaction of being right.
Hilda sighs. “Look, the way I see it you have two options; Either go back to your own room and leave things left unsaid before a battle where anything can happen or have lovely night with the woman you so obviously love and go into the fight with no regrets.”
Maybe she was right. Claude knows he’s in love with her. Who knows what can happen in the battle tomorrow? His parents played a big risk for their love, so he’s hoping they passed enough of those genes to do the same himself.
Claude then runs to get some things ready. He just hopes he has the time. He doesn’t even stay to see Hilda’s satisfied smirk on her face.
----
Byleth is feeling overwhelmed by, well, everything. Aside from the big battle tomorrow, she has a crest stone for a heart for starters. It explains how a human such as herself had all these strange powers. Assuming she is even a human anymore. Was she ever a human to begin with?
She notices the ring her father left her on her nightstand. He wished for her to give it to someone she loved as much as he loved her mother. Claude’s face then pops into her mind. She always feels like she can be herself around him. She feels like they can just be Byleth and Claude and not worry about their titles. Is this what being in love is? Even just the thoughts of him now seem to bring a smile to her face.
However, after this fight with Nemesis, Claude will be uniting Fódlan as King. He’ll probably have to take some noble woman for a wife. Byleth is just a Mercenary, what does she know about being at a noble’s, no not just that, a King’s side?
She also has to wonder if Claude even feels the same as her. Claude often calls her either “Teach” or “My Friend” and maybe that’s all Claude ever considered her to be. She often thought she would be fine as simply a coleader of his army, but thinking of someone else at his side makes her feel upset in a way she never felt before. Love is so confusing for her. She wishes either her father or Sothis were here to talk it out and guide her. She didn’t even know she was capable of feeling love until recently, so is she even supposed to process all of this she is feeling right now.
Maybe Byleth should clear her head. It’s an oddly quiet night all things considered, maybe a nice evening walk before bed will help. She goes to open the door but is startled to see Claude there, about to knock.
“Oh, hey my friend! I didn’t mean to startle you.” Claude said, looking a little surprised himself.
“It’s all right Claude. What do you need? Do you need me to do any last minute strategizing before tomorrow?”
“No, nothing like that. I thought we could clear our heads. It won’t do us any good if we can’t unwind, and I um…how do I ask this without sounding weird?” Claude said looking oddly nervous. Byleth has to admit it was kind of cute. She’s never seen him like this. He usually tries so hard to keep his mask on. Makes her feel happy he can let it slip around her.
Claude takes a deep breath. “I know we have a lot on our minds about tomorrow, so I was thinking that maybe we could go for a late night flight and give ourselves a change of scenery to clear our heads.”
An evening with Claude? Alone? Byleth feels heat in her cheeks at the thought. She mentally shakes her head. This could be dangerous for her heart, or crest stone she supposes.
“I appreciate the thought Claude, but won’t the army worry if their two leaders go missing?” Byleth says she is trying to save herself from embarrassing herself in case she lets her feelings slip.
Claude smiles. “Already ahead of you My Friend, I already talked with everyone. Officially, we’re just settling early for the army camp for tomorrow. However, there’s no reason we can’t enjoy the evening.”
This could be good. Framing it as a simple recon mission to find a suitable place to make camp for the army can work. It might help Byleth’s mind stay on track. It’s not like they are sharing a tent or a room at the inn or anything. It is simple commander things. Plus, Claude already went through the effort to tell everyone they were going anyway.
Byleth sighs. “Well, when you put it like that, I suppose it could be a nice evening.”
Claude’s face relaxes. “Great! Get what you need and meet me in the wyvern den in 10 minutes.”
Byleth waves Claude goodbye, which seems odd since she’ll be seeing him in a short time. Maybe she just wanted an excuse to see him until the last possible second. She sighs to herself. This might be harder than she thought.
----
This might be harder than Claude thought. He thought he could be cool and collected until they settled into camp. Then he could build up to the moment he shares his feelings and then go from there. However, he didn’t think about her being close to him on the flight over.
Byleth is currently behind him holding on as they fly Peri towards the campsite. He figured this position would be better than her being in between his legs as he holds her. However, still feeling her arms holding on to him makes him feel a strange mix of happiness and embarrassment.
Claude noticed her blushing face as they flew. Though he doesn’t want to assume it is because she is feeling what he’s feeling, as much as he may want that to be the case. He has a plan, and he’s going to try to stick to it. He doesn’t want her to assume he’s just looking for a night a fun and simply pounce on her because she is the only woman here and it is a convenient way to destress before a big fight. Sure, he thinks she’s beautiful, even openly comparing her to a goddess with Ignatz and of course he’s thought about having her in his bed more times than he can count. However, what he feels goes far beyond simple lust.
He saw firsthand the power of love with what his parents did, risking it all for the chance to be together. He knows being with Byleth is well worth the risk. Though knowing he’s willing to take a chance, doesn’t make it any easier. After they defeat Nemesis, not only is he planning to make Byleth Queen but also leaving to hopefully become King of Almyra. He just hopes she knows he doesn’t simply want to marry her because they will both be rulers. That is assuming, she is willing to even take the throne and rule a united Fódlan, alongside becoming his fiancé.
Byleth snaps him out of his thoughts as she points out the spot for the camp site. “Try to land right over there Claude. It should be a good spot to place the commanding tents. Its right at the edge of the field.”
Once they landed, they began setting up their tents. The commanding tents were large. Technically it’s one tent, but it has separate spaces for Claude and Byleth beside their ware table in the middle with their own entrances and walls. They’ve used this same tent set up all the time in the war, but somehow, the fact that Byleth is here alone with him makes it feel like it is totally something different, at least he hopes it is.
Their famous teamwork came in handy, as the large tent was quickly put up. Peri settled beside them in an impromptu nest she made, so now it is officially just the two of them. Claude lights some tea on the stove. He hopes it will help calm his nerves. He’s faced countless monsters and horrors of war, yet the things he wants to tell Byleth tonight makes him feel a sense of nervousness he hasn’t felt in a while.
It's going to be a long night. Claude removes his pauldron, coat, and cape, hoping that will help him relax a little. As he goes to tend to the tea, he sees Byleth taking off her own coat and armor. For a brief second, he thinks he sees her staring at him, though he quickly looks down at the kettle out of embarrassment.
Claude isn’t quite ready to bare his heart out yet, so best to distract himself by setting things up to be comfortable. “You relax my friend; I’ll get things ready for us to have a proper prebattle evening.”
Claude then works to set up a bunch of blankets and pillows on the floor. It reminds him of the sitting rooms back home. He hopes this isn’t the last time Byleth can experience something like this, but he’s getting ahead of himself. First things first, he has to focus on fixing up their tea.
----
Byleth isn’t sure what she’s feeling or thinking right now. Tomorrow is likely their biggest fight ever, but all she can think about is the man she is currently sharing tea with. She already embarrassed herself by staring when he was taking off his armor. She has to get it together. The army needs her to be at the top of her game. She can’t worry about how she can now see his broad shoulders, how nice they would feel holding her, and his arms…She shakes her head to snap out of it. Those thoughts definitely can’t come out right now.
“Is everything all right my friend? Is the tea bad? Did I not make it right?” Claude asked concerned, which just warmed her heart even more.
“No, the tea is perfect Claude. I guess I’m just thinking about tomorrow.” Byleth said while looking down at her tea.
“Yeah, we’re going to be up against a legendary hero, or I guess not much of a hero from what Rhea told us.” Claude said with a nervous laugh.
What Rhea told them. Byleth could feel herself frown at the very thought, which Claude seemed to notice. “What’s wrong my friend?” Claud said as he moved closer to her.
Byleth tried to turn away as she said, “It’s nothing.” She doesn’t want to put all this baggage onto Claude. Especially since part of her mixed emotions right now is her feelings towards him.
“Please don’t try to hide things my friend. I want to make sure you can go into battle with a clear head, just like you would want me to. No person should have fight with a heavy heart.”
“But I’m not a person am I.” Byleth said without thinking. She didn’t want to get into all this, but Claude has a way of opening the floodgates for her.
“Don’t say things like that! Where did that even come from?” Claude said looking genuinely surprised by her comment.
Byleth tries her best to hold back tears. “You heard what Rhea said, I have a crest stone for a heart, I only recently learned how to show my emotions, and I fused with a goddess whose bones are made up of the sword I use! For years people called me the Ashen Demon like I was some monster. Maybe they were r-” Claude interrupts her by grabbing her into a hug. He feels so warm. He even starts rubbing circles into her back. Byleth’s tears begin to fall, but it feels oddly comforting to do so.
“Never ever call yourself a monster. Your crest stone heart doesn’t make you any less of a human. You’re not that emotionless mercenary you were when we first met. I’ve seen you laugh, cry, get embarrassed, and show a smile that lights up a room. You have a talent for bringing people together and helping people find their potential, including myself. I don’t even want to think about a world where I never got to know you. You’re too important to me to have you think you’re anything less.” Claude said in a calm voice.
Byleth still feels herself crying. “You say that Claude, but we don’t even know what having a crest stone heart means for me. What if I outlive everyone or what if I turn into some horrible monster one day? You deserve to have someone normal at your side.”
“What do you mean by that?” Claude asked curiously.
Byleth feels embarrassed for what she’s about to say, but she already played most of her hand, might as well double down. She takes a breath. “What I mean is, that you’re going to be a ruler. People are going to look at you and the people you have beside you. You commanders, your advisors, your…queen.” Claude moves his face to look more at Byleth after she says that.
Byleth continues. “I don’t want to stand in your way and especially your dreams, no matter how much I may want otherwise. So, after this battle tomorrow, maybe I’ll-”
Claude interrupts her with a kiss. Byleth didn’t know she could feel such warmth. She tries to resist at first, but quickly loses to the parts of herself that were overjoyed the man she loves was kissing her. After a moment, Claude moves his face away to speak, though he still keeps it close.
“1told you once that our hearts are connected, and that is still more true than it has ever been.” Claude then genteelly moves one of Byleth’s hands to the center of his chest. The movement makes her feel all warm and the feel of his heartbeat is comforting.
Claude continues. “You feel that Byleth, it is my heartbeat, and with our connected heartbeat, it’s yours too. It will gladly beat for both of us.” Claude said as he started to rub the hand he was holding with his thumb.
“Claude…” was all Byleth felt she could say, given she was feeling so overwhelmed, but unlike other times, this overwhelming feeling felt good.
“My Friend, no, Byleth; if what you want is to figure out the mysteries of your heart, then that is a mystery I will gladly travel to the ends of the Earth for, but until that day, I hope my love for you will be enough for you to see that you are not some freak.”
“Your love?” Byleth asked sheepishly.
Claude smirked. “Yes. I love you Byle-” Byleth then interrupted him with her own kiss that Claude returned. After it. Byleth felt herself giggle.
“What’s so funny My Love?” Claude said and Byleth smiled even more when she heard that. “It’s just that I spent so long overthinking my feelings for you, yet you crumbled all those arguments with those simple words.” Byleth takes a deep breath to prepare herself to say, “I love you too Claude.”
Claude smile grew. Reaching his eye more than she’s ever seen before. Claude takes a deep breath of his own.
“Look My Love, tomorrow we will have to have the biggest fight we have had to face, and after that, we will have to lead a broken world on the journey to healing, but tonight, all I want is to be with the woman I love and to show her how much I love her. Of course, if you’re not ready for that, we can just enjoy the evening.” Claude started to blush. Byleth blushed in turn realizing what he was referring to.
Claude continued. “I must admit, I’ve never been with anyone myself. I mean who you I trust to be that vulnerable with; but I trust and love you more than I ever thought I was capable of.”
Byleth felt herself give a small smile. “I didn’t think I was capable either, but you make me feel safe Claude.” Byleth then gently holds his face. “Let us see where the evening takes us, not as two leaders, but as two people in love.”
The two closed the distance between themselves. They continued to stay close for the rest of the night, so much so that their tea was starting to grow cold. But the couple didn’t care as the evening went on, choosing to focus on being together.
----
Claude wakes up feeling startled by the weight on his chest. However, after a moment, he realized that it was just Byleth. It looked like she was still asleep. She looked so peaceful, like listening to his own heartbeat is helping her sleep. He can’t believe he waited so long for this. He would gladly face Nemesis ten times over, if it meant he could wake up like this every morning for the rest of his life. If anything, though, knowing this is waiting for him is going to help motivate him to work even harder in Almyra and to ensure this isn’t the last time he can wake up with Byleth in his arms. Plus, he still has an engagement ring to give her.
As much as he may want to just let the two of them sleep in, they have a battle to fight, and the rest of their friends and forces will be here soon. He’d rather avoid them discovering just how close their leaders have become.
He begins to gently rub circles on Byleth’s sides in order to wake her up. She slowly opened her eyes. Claude admits to himself it was rather cute. “Sorry to wake you up, but we should probably get things sorted before the others arrive.
Byleth sighed. “I suppose this isn’t exactly what the Enlightened One should be seen like by her comrades.” Claude chuckled. “I mean from what you’ve told me, Sothis probably would have found that scenario pretty funny.” Byleth smiled at that.
Byleth sighed again as she slowly raised herself up. However, she moved her face towards Claude, and he followed suit, wanting to give each other one last kiss before they had to be commanders and leaders again. After they are done, Claude continues to hold her close, and whispers a promise to her.
“I swear my love, this will not be the last time we get to share mornings like this. Sure, we will have to work hard to reach that future, but I have faith we will make it through this day and whatever hardships we might have to face.”
Byleth starts her own promise in return. “And I swear to be patient for that day. I mean you waited five whole years for me, so I can do the same for you. No matter how long it may take.”
The two seal their promise with a kiss. Afterwards, they reluctantly get out of bed and get dressed. Both do their best to cover up any marks or anything else to cover up any evidence for last night’s activities. Claude even gives Byleth a tonic he made as part of his preparations that should prevent any pregnancy. It’s not like they don’t want a family, but they both know now isn’t the time for it. Just as they finish, they hear marching soldiers, flying wyverns and pegasi, and stomping horses.
The two leaders give each other one last loving look before heading out of the tent to address their allies and friends.
Before long, Claude and Byleth get separated to do their respective duties.
“I see you took my advice.” Hilda says almost startling Claude.
“I don’t know what you mean Hilda. All Byleth and I did was set up our tent for the war camp.” Claude said, doing his best to deny what else happened.
Hilda smirked. “Then what are those marks on your neck?”
Claude quickly tries to feel the scarf around his neck to see what it’s covering, only after realizing that Hilda was messing with him.
Claude sighs. “How much would it take for you to not spread this around the camp?”
“How about naming your first daughter after me? I’ll even settle for a middle name” Hilda said with a giggle.
“Little too soon for that Hilda, but fine. Now, go get ready for the fight of out lives.” Claude said with a smile.
“Yes sir Mr. Leaderman.” Hilda said with a mock salute before running off.
Claude smiles to himself. He might not know exactly what the future holds, but one thing he is sure of, Byleth will be at his side in that future. He then goes over to Peri and prepares to fight for that future.