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This is based off of the Chinese romance legend "The Legend of the White Snake," specifically the version in which the boy saves the snake in a previous lifetime, which prompts her search for him after his rebirth. The story is reworked a bit to fit Dimitri and to add a little more angst.

A couple small details and fun(?) facts:

- This is Chinese high fantasy so some artistic liberties were taken with outfits, but Dimitri and Dedue's clothing were designed with references to outfits from the Eastern Zhou dynasty, while Byleth's in the last panel was based off those of the Later Tang. This puts Byleth's wait at a minimum of 800 years, but who's really counting? Certainly not Byleth.

- In ancient China, hair was not something that was just cut on a whim. There was a belief that body, hair, and skin were all gifts from your parents and thus damage to any shouldn't be considered lightly. It was actually considered a harsh punishment for an adult to have their hair cut, and having their hair cut instantly branded someone as a criminal and ruined their social standing. Dimitri's hair in his death panel is messy and choppy on purpose. I will leave the implications of that and what he may have gone through to you.

Thank you so much for reading, everyone! This AU is near and dear to my heart so it makes me so happy that its reception has been good ;-; For anyone unfamiliar with The Legend of the White Snake, it's actually a very tragic tale... hahaha... but I obviously cut it off at a point where they're still happy and we can just pretend everything that happens after doesn't happen (they do get married though! And have a kid!). I've changed the story again for a little more drama and to fit Dimitri and Byleth better, so some more fun facts and ramblings:

- The ML that Dimitri is based off is the biggest sweetheart of a doctor. He's a bit of a shy boy, but an extremely kind one with upstanding morals. After marrying the White Snake, they set up a successful clinic <3

- Felix's character is XiaoQing, or Little Green/Greenie, a cheeky young green snake with a huge temper. Greenie picks a fight with the White Snake and then proceeds to get her ass handed to her. She follows the White Snake afterwards as a good friend and sect (not sure what else to call it) sister. Very Felix coded. When looking for the ML, Greenie is the one who sets the leads up by making it rain and the ML, bless his sweet little heart, offers them his umbrella.

- Sylvain's character doesn't exist in the original. There was so much about Dimitri's character that I wanted to show - he did live a happy life despite everything, he does have friends, he's a good boy - and the easiest way to show that was by giving him a friend, and in came Sylvain. I debated making Sylvain a demon/spirit as well, but decided to leave it ambiguous in the end. Although if he was one he'd be a fox spirit, which are known tricksters in a lot of East Asian lore, but at least in Chinese folklore are also believed to be great healers. Thus why he'd be a menace in the pharmacy.

- Cyril's character was almost Ingrid, because Dedue got to feature in Part 1 and wouldn't it be nice to have an F4 reunion, but the role just fit Cyril better. Also, implications that either Rhea or Manuela is the doctor that Dimitri's studying under.

- Mimi and A-Fei are obviously both nicknames, and are used in a way similar to how terms of endearments are used by close friends and family. "Mimi" is a doubling of a syllable of Dimitri's given name. "Didi" can mean little brother (which, if used by Sylvain would also make sense I guess) so not a great nickname, and "tri" isn't a sound in the Chinese language so "Mimi" it was. Felix almost got the same treatment ("Lili" hahahahaha it's feminine AF), but I went with A-Fei. Adding "Ah-/A-" to a syllable of the given name is just another way to call a close friend and/or family member.

- The ingredients Dimitri asks for his medicine, jujube seed and mimosa tree bark, are traditional Chinese medicines believed to help with insomnia and depression, respectively.

Once again, thank you for reading! And happy birthday Dimitri my boy <3