Bernadetta sat up with all the urgency she could muster, trying to preserve her modesty somewhat by covering her chest with the blanket, but by the time she could parse what was happening, she saw the door to the room close. She turned to Annette, who looked like she had just been shot in the chest by a particularly large arrow.

"Um... what-"

"Mercedes," She said, unblinking, "that was... that was Mercedes,"

Bernadetta made a small 'o' with her mouth, wondering if Mercedes had even seen that she was there, or rather, if she did, if she cared in the slightest. She turned over to the shell-shocked Annette, putting her free hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly.

Annette closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to correct her many scattered thoughts.

"Oh wow I don't even know how to begin to answer that question," she said slightly dazed.

Bernadetta didn't really know how to handle this, she could far more easily play guru when it came to matters of self-evaluation, but this was something else. She rotated a bit and slid off the bed, bending over to pick up the strewn about clothing from the night before. She stood up, tossing Annette her dress, which landed directly on her head and draped over her body. She didn't even flinch. The potential seriousness of their predicament was the only thing keeping her from laughing. She strained keeping in a chuckle as Annette gave way, falling back onto her bed and using her wadded up dress to muffle an exhaustive scream of pent-up anxiety. Bernadetta was officially treading water that ran far deeper than her comfort zone.

Annette took the dress down and stared at the ceiling.

"What the fuck am I gonna do? She... I... we... Ugh I have absolutely no idea what's happening,"

Bernadetta smiled.

"Well, uh, if it's any consolation, in the past 12 hours I've found out I was bisexual, had sex with my friend who ushered in said bisexual awakening, and then her ex girlfriend, who is also my friend, saw us topless in bed together so you're not exactly alone,"

Bernadetta was attempting to bring a sort of awkward levity to the situation, but it made Annette feel a pang of guilt. Even for as much progress as she had made, this must've been a lot to process for her, Annette still hadn't even recovered from the initial shock... even though her weight of emotional baggage was a bit heavier.

"Dammit I am so sorry I got you dragged into this. Bernie, I'll talk to Mercedes as soon as I get ready and-"

Bernadetta put her finger over her lips after leaning forward next to the bed.

There was something about her face that looked different. She had an expression of softness, but it was almost as if something busy was happening behind those beautiful eyes.

"Shush. You don't have to do anything, I'm fine," she said with a smile, "I am an adult who will figure her shit out after I take a shower and put on clothes that don't smell like Manuela's desk cabinet,"

Annette felt like she was in some kind of bizarre mirror universe.

Everyone who was at Garreg Mach planned on being there for several days, as it was a long trip and a lot of people, so the professor suggested they make the most of it. There was no set date, but she couldn't just LEAVE now, especially since she saw that Mercie was here. She was going to have to talk to her. To confront her.

It was exactly what she wanted last night and now she wanted to do literally anything BUT that. But it wasn't just her anymore.

"You... gods Bernie you really are perfect, you know?" She asked rhetorically.

Bernadetta slipped on the last bit of her clothing and triumphantly stood up straight, stretching.

"Perfect enough to have dinner with later tonight?"

Annette gave a cheeky smile and chuckle.

"Are... look Bernadetta if you're joking this isn't really the best time," she said a bit genuinely worried

The other girl playfully scoffed.

"Okay just because I can talk to you doesn't mean I'm capable of being that callous,"

She finished her sentence hanging on the final word, as if she was waiting for a response. Annette almost couldn't believe it.

"Dinner? Tonight?"

Bernadetta let out an uneasy smile.

"You don't have to say yes and if you want this to be a one time thing I get it, but you know, you're really amazing, Annie. I figured it was worth a shot, you know?"

Annette furiously shook her head.

"No no of course! I-I would love to. That sounds really nice,"

Bernadetta gave out a cute little sigh of relief and a look of unabashed joy, something that warmed Annette's heart. She straightened herself out, and leaned over, kissing the still unclothed girl on the cheek.

"I gotta go clean myself up and let everyone know I'm actually here, not sure half of them even know I showed," she said with a shrug.

She took a few steps forward, opening the door, and looking back at Annette before exiting the room, giving her a wink that nearly melted her.

The new Bernadetta was so *hot*

Her brief attempt at fantasizing about Bernadetta for the smallest of moments was halted when she remembered what all had happened. She had to do this. She had to talk to Mercedes... even if she didn't know exactly why, or what to talk about. But there was closure to be had. She could think about her date and newfound crush later... she had to get dressed and compose herself. She had to confront this. THEN she could enjoy herself. It would be like pulling off a bandage. Just ripping it off... even though the bandage was covering something more like an infection than a cut. It was too early for similes.

Time to get to work.

~~~~~~~~

She had spent nearly two hours getting ready, which was a rarity for her. She was never one to put an egregious amount of thought into how she looked, she saw the nightmare that Dorothea put herself through when she went out to impress and it sounded like such a hassle. Annette loved getting to the point, the bottom line, so there was no real wasted effort. But today was different, she didn't want to give the impression she was overdoing it... but she also wanted to look like she was doing well. A shower did a lot to help her clear her head. She was still a bit rough around the edges from last night, being drunk and sleeping half naked was enough to frizzle her hair and make her look a bit wild, but in tandem with the sex, that made her look and feel like she had run a marathon. She had to stay focused and concentrate on the task at hand, as her thoughts drifted towards Bernadetta whilst in the shower, and she had almost begun touching herself reflexively.

A part of her still couldn't believe it, she's actually slept with Bernadetta. She was tremendously excited for their date later, using that as incentive any time the Mercedes situation gave her pause. She knew that she liked Bernadetta, in fact 'like' almost undersold it, but she hoped that the previous night hadn't been enjoyable largely due to her feeling a sense of catharsis. Maybe sex with her had been an unconscious effort to stick it to Mercedes, or at least the parts of Mercedes that she still resented for leaving her. But Bernadetta was so nice, so friendly, and so much fun to be around... it was like all that time hadn't even passed, and they were still schoolgirls with all of their future ahead of them. She was so warm, so intimate, so confident, and so earth-shatteringly hot because of it. She already had a quiet elegance about her, her soft features and expressive face were omnipresent in her mind, her soft lips and beautiful silky hair...

Focus, Annette. Focus.

She threw on some casual clothes that were comfortable enough not to bother her but nice enough to look presentable. A cute blouse with light embroidery around the hem, one she had been told she looked quite good in once, and she was thankful she thought to bring it with her.

She had tracked down a deeply hungover Byleth, ever the enthusiastic partygoer, and figured out where she could find Mercedes. However, she needed this to be a 'one and done' situation, and also managed to track down Felix, who happily relayed a message for her to meet her outside a cafe in town at around 3:00. She didn't object to seeing her former girlfriend more than once over the course of her stay, but this context was simply something that needed to be done swiftly. Perhaps it would even allow herself to be around her in the future without being plagued by her anxieties, which may have been wishful thinking, but would've been nice.

It took a considerable amount of psyching herself up for her to actually leave. She knew this wouldn't even take all that long, in an hours time, it would all be over. She could get all of what she wanted to say... even if she didn't exactly know what that WAS, and then her worries could be dealt with and put aside. She knew planning would be a bad idea, she'd try and stick to an outline of things too closely and forget something or get tripped up and have a panic attack. It had to be off the cuff, from the heart.

She showed up to the place about ten minutes early. She had no desire to prolong the affair, but after her morning, showing up late would've been a bad look. She tried to compose herself and have the visage of someone who was somewhat confident upon sitting down. She had been lead there by a waitress, onto the outside porch of the rather rustic looking place. There was a pergola overhead with vines and flowers woven in, and it was relatively quiet and sunny outside. She was seated at one of the tables in the shade, thanking the woman and opening the menu as she sat down, sitting straight up, leaning to one side as she cracked her back slightly. Bernadetta really had done a number on the girl. She needed to be a bit more limber.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few minutes had passed, and only a bit of the coffee she had ordered had been sipped when someone finally appeared in her peripheral vision. Her heart jumped, seeing that it was the waitress, with another woman following in tow. It had been the same woman she saw just a few hours ago, but now a far clearer version of her had manifested. One that didn't come in the midst of panic and recently awoken confusion.

Mercedes looked radiant, as she always did. Short blonde hair, sky blue eyes, wearing her usual religious attire. Annette remembered that she used to joke about how it looked like she dressed in pillowcases, warranting teasing from both women about their wardrobe choices. It was a bit more stripped back than her earlier, busier outfits, but the cream colored dress and top were roughly the same. Like Annette, she hadn't aged a day.

Her heart stopped as she appeared, for a brief second the sound drowned out entirely, and she only saw Mercedes mouth what she wanted to the waitress before she stepped away, and the focused her vision on Annette, her soft, kind expression not at all faltering. Time seemed to be suspended until their eyes met, when the sound of everything around them popped back in.

"Hi," Mercedes said, "How are you?"

"Yeah I'm... I'm good. How're you?"

Mercedes nodded.

"I'm well. It's very good to see you Annie,"

Being called 'Annie' last night had felt so wonderful, now it felt like a dagger being plunged into her heart.

"Good to see you too Mercedes," she said sounding as natural as possible.

Their mutual greeting revealed how truly awkward this all was proving to be. Both women were already struggling with what to say or ask because they had no clue how this was going to go.

"How have you been? At the church I mean," Annette hurriedly asked.

Mercedes seemed to relax her shoulders a bit on that inquiry.

"Oh it's wonderful. I took up a teaching position once we made repairs, they set up a school, so all the children without homes have a place to stay and learn. It's very nice,"

She couldn't have chosen a more obnoxiously saint-like profession. Annette couldn't help but feel irked by the fact that the woman still radiated this aura of unapproachable piety. She was being bitter, she knew that, so she did her best to file that away. It was good that she liked her job, and it was good that she was doing good things.

"How about you?" Mercedes asked, finally receiving a cup of tea from the waitress.

Annette cleared her throat.

"Oh, you know. Just working like I always have. One of Dimitri's knights so I just kinda go wherever I'm needed, though these days it's nothing major, you know the drill,"

She was probably downplaying her role a bit, as in recent years Dimitri had gone out of his way to say he considered Annette an invaluable colleague and scholar, but she didn't want to develop a big head about things. She enjoyed her duty and happily worked wherever she was needed, learning at every opportunity.

Mercedes smiled. That wide, all encompassing grin that radiated warmth.

"That's good! I'm glad you're doing well,"

She took a sip of her tea, which Annette replicated, discovering she had taken a few nervous sips already as the cup was almost empty.

"So uh..." she began, "I guess you wanna know why I invited you here, huh?"

Here it was. She was closing in. The endgame.

Mercedes looked a trifle confused.

"Well, I suppose so, but I see no reason why two old friends can't catch up and have a bit of tea just for the sake of it," she said sounding almost childishly naive.

She hated how she could only refer to her as a 'friend'. Yes, they weren't together anymore, and she didn't have an alternative, but after what they had, weren't they more than that? Maybe Mercedes considered Annette to be more than a friend but less than a partner though... Annette was hurt and angry but she knew she couldn't use that as an excuse to take everything so harshly. She knew this couldn't be easy for Mercedes either.

"Well... firstly..." she began nervously, "About this morning-"

"Oh Annette it's fine," she said with a nervously-tinged giggle, "I'm sorry you were looking for me, I was delayed a bit. I probably should've knocked, that was rude of me..."

"No no, it's okay, I probably would've forgot to knock on your door too. I just wanted to say, i know that was probably awkward, and I'm sorry if it was weird. We were both drunk and lonely last night, we had talked a while, and well, yeah. I just didn't want you to think I did that all on purpose or anything,"

Mercedes looked perplexed.

"Well, I don't exactly have an objection, I'm glad you had someone there for you. But why would I think you did that on purpose?"

Annette actually didn't even think about that.

"Oh... w-well you know, I said I was looking for you, and I went back to my room, which is probably where you'd look for me... and Bernie was there..."

Both women had to take a moment to absorb that. Annette immediately regretted using Benradetta's nickname.

"Well no, I didn't think that was the intent... was it?"

Annette looked a trifle dazed.

"No! Gods no. I just... Ugh," she began, immediately regretting her approach to this, "No. I was looking for you last night because I wanted to speak with you. I have a lot of reservations about how we left things between the two of us, and it's been that way for years, and I just wanted to tell you and get it all out there so I could finally get some closure for myself. But you didn't turn up, I was a wreck, and then, well, I found Bernadetta and we started drinking... and you know the rest,"

She didn't mean to just ramble it all out there like that, but Mercedes seemed to understand where she was coming from. In her head she was slightly more concise, but Annette knew she was at least getting somewhere.

"Of course, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like I was assuming," Mercedes said, a forlorn sadness hidden by the faintest smile overcoming her face.

The two sat there in silence, mainly because they knew where the inevitable conversation would steer. The both of them simply wanted to rummage through the other's head to see their true intentions and feelings because they're words weren't doing them well.

"I'm sorry this was so... sudden," Annette said, staring into her cup.

Mercedes gently smiled.

"It's okay. I didn't exactly leave you in a comfortable position..."

There it was. Acknowledgment.

"Yeah... I-" she took a deep breath, "I know it's in the past. And I never tried to get into contact with you... but it was because I was hurt. I know you had to do what was best, but I was left here with almost nothing. I practically ripped Dimitri a new one so he could keep me working. The more time passed the more alone I felt... and every day that passed not hearing from you, I felt less and less inclined to. We're both at fault for that.. but I knew you were going to be here, and I knew I needed to speak with you. I just wanted some form of closure... I know it's petty to have held onto this for so long, but I just haven't healed yet. And I want to. I want to move on. And I don't want to sound like I'm blaming you, I know it's not your fault, but I just couldn't keep it all inside,"

Mercedes had the makings of a tear in her eye, but it never went beyond welling up. She somehow kept it together. Annette was in the verge of doing the same.

"I understand," she said, anxiously fussing with her hands in her lap, "Truth be told, I wanted to speak with you as well. We may have not kept in contact, but my emotional distance perhaps proved more of an obstacle more than physical distance did. I wished I had handled things differently, but I didn't. And I regret that. I'm sorry. After Emile..."

She clenched her fist, fighting with all her might to contain control.

"I became overwhelmed. I was in a deep melancholy, and being away from you made it worse, but I couldn't hold you back while I tried to recover. I was so worried that everything would fall apart that... I made it all fall apart so I could stop the worrying,"

That... was not the answer Annette expected. Mercedes wasn't entirely certain she actually said what she did. This was far from the uncomplicated 'sorry now we can both move on' than Annette thought she'd get.

"Mercie..." Annette began but couldn't finish.

Mercedes smiled.

"No, Annette, it's okay. That's all in the past, no need for me to be upset over old memories. It's just hard sometimes, I'm sure you agree with that,"

Annette nodded.

"So, I guess... I don't know what I wanted to say either beyond that I was sorry for how everything happened. In hindsight, I probably made the worst decision I could have, but hindsight was the only way I could know that. We both suffered, as a result. I prayed to the Goddess every day for you, to maybe allow you to deal with things better than I did, but she can't solve all of my problems for me. I could've acted, and I didn't. I'm very sorry, Annette,"

Mercedes had reached across the table, putting her hand on Annette's, eyes teary and full of regret.

"I'm sorry too, Mercedes," she said, "I think we both lost too much after the war ended. We were both put under emotional strain we didn't deserve but that we couldn't avoid. I love you, Mercie, a part of me always will, especially because I still think we're both largely the same people we were before everything happened. And for what it's worth, I'll always be around and happy to help from now on. It's only because I loved you as much as I did that all of this was so... painful,"

Mercedes nodded, wistfully staring to the streets as she looked like she was remembering something.

"It was... And I appreciate you saying that. I did very much enjoy our time together. I'm glad so much of my youth involves memories of the two of us. I hope that maybe you have a few more good memories than bad ones of the two of us,"

Thankfully, Annette knew without hesitation that she did. She remembered the days they had before the end of the war, when they got together as reunited lost loves, who spent every spare moment together. It may have been during conflict, but that didn't matter. The bonds that they had, that everyone they knew had, were all that kept them going. She remembered finding Mercedes in the monastery and then getting breakfast with her, sitting down with their former classmates and friends as if nothing had changed since their school days. She remembered Mercedes brushing her hair some mornings when things became rather unkempt. She remembered their first kiss that happened at the fishing dock during sunset. She remembered how safe and warm she felt in her arms, that as long as she was next to her, there wasn't a conflict great enough to overcome them.

"I do," Annette said, finally letting one tear run down her face, as she wiped it away, she laughed reveling in her overblown sentimentality, "most of my good memories involve you,"

Mercedes beamed at the mention of that. The burden that she may have been partially responsible for Annette's troubles over the years was lifted slightly. She wanted to be a net good in her life, if nothing else, and somehow, it seemed like she was.

"You know, speaking of all this, I have something for you," Mercedes said.

Annette perked up a bit, wondering what possibly could've segued into this.

Mercedes dug through her pockets, eventually finding the small object she was looking for, taking it out by holding it in her fist. As she held it in front of her, she looked like she didn't want to let it go for a moment, but reached out anyway, dropping into Annette's free hand.

It was a small silver band, with a small, rare gemstone on it. A ring. HER ring.

"One of the many reasons I wanted to get to see you was to return that to you. I felt bad, holding onto it, you know, considering our circumstances,"

Annette couldn't believe she forgot about it. The turmoil of the aftermath of Edelgard's downfall was so involving that she never gave it any thought.

She wasn't sure what the ring was when she bought it, as she was never good with labels, but it was important. It meant something. Before they finally marched into enemy territory to end the war, Annette bought that ring from Anna, and gave it to Mercedes the day they were supposed to leave. She gave it to her as a token of her adoration for the girl, and as a promise, that if they survived all of what they were about to encounter, and were to make it back home, they would get married. She didn't know if this meant it was more of a promise ring or an engagement ring, but didn't really care because it was the sentiment that counted. She remembered the tears involved with her giving Mercie the ring, and the impassioned, wild sex that they had following the gift, not just out of gratitude, but because they didn't know if they had the chance to do it again. Once Mercedes had left once the war was over, it didn't matter what it was, because they were apart. She hadn't even thought about it once.

She held it tight in her fist, smiling slightly as she recalled how excited she was when she bought it.

"Thank you, Mercie,"

She nodded.

"You're welcome, Annie. Please, take that and give it to someone. That ring deserves to be worn," she said with the utmost sincerity.

She placed the ring carefully in her pocket, knowing she would do just that.

"Annie?" Mercedes asked.

Annette has briefly stared off into the distance as she put the ring in her pocket, as she contemplated the chance of one day maybe giving that ring to a certain girl with purple hair.

"Yes?" She said snapping out of it.

Mercedes looked a bit different now, wearing a more contemplative expression. She opened her mouth to say something, but let that intention die.

"Never mind. But, if you would allow it, perhaps we could catch up on a friendlier note now that all of that is out of the way. We deserve to have more amicable conservations that are far less likely to make us so weepy and melancholic,"

Annette laughed. That much was true, and finally, she could completely agree with that sentiment. The past would still hurt, and likely would continue to do so, but the future? That didn't have to. And in that spirit, the two girls did have a lovely afternoon together.

While she did love spending time with Mercedes now that they made amends, she couldn't lie to herself, she was very overjoyed that she could finally look forward to tonight, because once the anxiety faded, Bernadetta found her way into a great many of Annette's thoughts.