Dedue was a man that was ever on edge, if not for his liege's sake, then it was for his comrades. And yet, in an ironic turn of fate, such feelings within the man had never subsided after the war's end. In fact, they had only grown larger since then; and Dedue was not a dense man. He was well aware as to why he had been waking up with a cold sweat over the past few days, despite the comfort of a peaceful Fodlan should give him.

Dedue sighed as gripped the bridge of his nose in frustration of the dream he had been experiencing over and over again, ever since he had begun to pray to the Duscur war god again. There was also another, but Dedue thought that was neither here nor there. His Highness- no, Dimitri had told him with a smile to simply "be himself". Without another thought, Dedue uncharacteristically shot back with "a lesson learnt with your proposal to professor Byleth, I assume?" much to surprise of Dimitri. Before Dedue could profusely apologise, Dimitri laughed and nodded his head. After being reassured everything would go well, Dedue excused himself and left for Garegg Mach Monastery's Cathedral, his heart rate slowly rising as he made his way towards the open area for prayer.

Sun shone down from the broken roof of the Cathedral, shining on the lone figure in the building,

'She's beautiful', Dedue thought to himself.

The woman in person broke out of her trance from praying and spun around on her heel to face him. "Hm? Oh, Dedue! You're here! I thought you were in Fhirdiad. Did you say something just now?" Mercedes asked him with that radiant smile of hers.

Dedue blinked. 'Did… I say that aloud?'

"Yes, I was in Fhirdiad, but… there were some matters that I had to attend to. And no, I didn't. But, I did come here to pray," Dedue simply said, half-hoping she didn't hear what he somehow managed to let slip. Dedue slowly walked up next to Mercedes and looked up to the large statue in the cathedral. "I've come to pray to the war god again."

Mercedes tilted her head in thought. "Hm? The war god? But the war has ended in our victory, yes?"

Dedue noded. "Yes. While it may have ended in a victory for us, there are still bandits and other groups who hope to rise up against Dimitri, now that he's taken the throne."

Mercedes smiled. "You called him Dimitri," she simply said, a small smile appearing on his lips. "Yes. Now that everything is over, I can finally, truly call Dimitri 'my friend', now."

A comfortable silence filled the room before Mercedes spoke up again.

"Dedue?"

"Yes, Mercedes?", he said, eyes locked with hers.

"You have a wonderful smile."

'Not as wonderful as yours,' Dedue thought, careful not to let his thoughts slip, and being just as careful with putting in effort to hide the blush on his face. Mercedes giggled before clasping her hands together. "Now, let us pray, shall we? To give thanks to out victory and for ever lasting peace, and to the god of travel for a safe journey to Duscur together?"

Dedue smile seemed to grow wider, the man himself not even realising it. He nodded, clasping his hands together as they began to pray.

…

An eternity seemed to pass before Dedue steeled himself. It was just the two of them, with no one to disturb them at this time of morning. Halting his prayer, he turned to Mercedes.

"Ah. Pardon me, Mercedes."

The woman stopped her prayers and turned to meet his gaze. "Yes, Dedue?"

Dedue's knees felt weak as the time approached. "I… I must apologise. Aside from interrupting your prayer, I have not been entirely honest with you."

"Honest? What ever is the matter Dedue?" Mercedes asked, her face turning to a small frown and voice wrought with concern.

"Do you recall when I told you all about the gods of Duscur? And when I said we first started to pray to both the goddess and the gods of Duscur? Specifically, the war and travel gods?"

Mercedes nodded. Signalling for him to continue. "Well… there were some things that were left unsaid that day," he admitted with a hint of shame. "And I wish to tell you about it."

Mercedes nodded. "I figured as much, but I didn't want to make you uncomfortable by asking. I'm glad you're willing to tell me now, Dedue."

The man nodded, turning his head down to her hands that were clasped together then back to her gaze. "Firstly, the god of travel… doesn't exist. It was something I used as a cover to hide who I was truly praying to," Dedue explained to Mercedes, the woman surprised by what she was hearing. Before should ask any questions, Dedue continued. "I know this may sound sudden and… unbecoming of me, but may I have your hand?"

Mercedes' mouth fell open, whatever she had to say being left unspoken as she left up her right hand, and placed it in Dedue's calloused left hand. Mercedes frowned upon coming into contact, feeling regret for the times she could not fully heal Dedue's battle scars in the midst of battle.

"I shall be honest. I have not being just praying to the war god for victory. I have been praying to him so that I may attain victory for not only I, but for another on this very day."

Mercedes blinked, her mind starting to connect the dots.

"I have also been…" Dedue trailed off, his right hand reaching into a pocket, pulling out a small object from it. "I have also been praying to another god of Duscur- or more specifically, a goddess."

Mercedes felt her heartbeat rise when she saw Dedue's face grow red with embarrassment. Bringing up his right hand, he moved it towards the ring finger on her right hand. "I have also been praying to the goddess of love, that I may find true happiness with you and you find true happiness with me. Not just today, but for the rest of our lives- as husband and wife."

Dedue slid the ring onto Mercedes' finger, her mind blanked staring at the beautiful ring, adorned with a shiny green emerald on it; her heartbeat soaring to levels she had never felt before.

"Mercedes. I… I love you, with everything I have. Will you do the honour of marrying me and becoming my wife?"

The woman stayed silent for a few moments before Dedue spoke up again. "I understand if you don't want to accept, but I cannot leave these feelings unchecked and ignored."

Mercedes brought a hand up to mouth as tears tell from her eyes.

"Ah, you're crying…! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"No, no you silly man," Mercedes said, her voice a mix of intense emotions. "I… I accept! May the goddess forgive me- I have been fantasizing for this day to happen for so long, but I never thought you'd feel the same way" Mercedes trailed off, clasping his hands within hers. "Dedue. I wholeheartedly accept."

The man blinked in surprise. "You… you do? You would marry me, even as uninteresting as I am?" Mercedes silently nodded with the most beautiful smile that he'd seen grace her face.

And that was all Dedue needed to know.

Emboldening himself, he stretched out his arms and wrapped them lightly around the woman, brining the duo into a warm embrace. "I don't think I've felt so much happiness before… it makes me wonder if I truly deserve it…"

"Don't think like that," Mercedes said immediately, wiping her tears away. "You deserve the world, Dedue."

"I already have my world, right here in my arms," Dedue said without thinking, a wave of embarrassment hitting him when he realised what he said.

Mercedes felt her cheeks burn red with embarrassment. "Who knew you were such a smooth talker, Dedue?" Mercedes giggled as their gazes met each other one more time. Mercedes stood on her toes. Dedue used his arms to pull Mercedes' body up, bringing the woman's face closer to his.

"I love you, Dedue."

"And I love you, Mercedes."

The two kissed under the warm sunlight, the duo never wanting the moment to end for a second. Unfortunately, the two broke off their kiss, remembering their need to breathe.

"That… that was…" Dedue mumbled, unsure of what to say.

"Amazing," Mercedes finished for him, Dedue nodding in agreement. The two slipped into comfortable silence, holding each other close.

"…Mercedes?"

"Yes… my beloved?"

Mercedes looked up at him and smiled at his face flushed with red. "I'm sorry, it's just that…"

"I like it," Dedue interrupted her. "It's a very… cute nickname," he said, clearing his throat, Mercedes giggling and booping him on the nose with loving affection. "But more importantly…" he trailed off, unsure of how to phrase her question.

"Yes?"

"Do you think… do you think I'd make a good father?"

Mercedes was stunned upon hearing the question. "Dedue… my apologies for answering a question with a question but… do you want to have a child one day?"

Dedue nodded. "Yes. One or many, I do not mind. It's just that, I'm not good with words, and my face scares away kids easily…"

Mercedes couldn't help but laugh. "You're so silly Dedue. Of course you'd make a good father. I wouldn't mind if we had kids one day too, you know," Mercedes spoke quite bluntly, surprising Dedue. "It'd be the ultimate proof of not only our love, but yours and Dimitri's dream, no? Proof that the people of Faerghus and Duscur CAN co-exist with one another in the Kingdom; and with that we can focus our efforts on restoring Duscur to its former glory. Perhaps after we are married and settled we can… Dedue?"

Dedue didn't speak, his arms and legs beginning to tremble. Mercedes looked into his eyes, and with a kind smile felt her eyes well up again.

"It would seem that I'm crying tears of joy as well," Dedue said, with more raw emotion mixed in his speech than he could ever remember. "Thank you, Merecdes… my beloved. I truly… truly don't know what I'd do without you…"

Mercedes wiped his tears away. "Well, you don't have to worry about that now. The war is over now, so let us stay here for a few more moments. All that matters in this moment is that… I just feel you."

And Dedue was perfectly contempt with just that.