Note: Sorry for the delay; last week was...not great for me. But let's get our comfort on for all this hurt, oop.

Watching for Comets

A Fire Emblem Three Houses Story

Chapter Four

Now that I see you, I'm frozen in time.

All of your colors burst into life.

I don't dare close my eyes,

'cause a love like this happens once in a lifetime.

It wasn't quite dawn when Claude awoke, groggy and disoriented in Byleth's bed, the blankets tangled around his body. Realization slowly slipped through his drowsy stupor, and stretching, he escaped the warmth of his blanket cocoon and put his feet on the floor. This was it. Years of waiting, and finally, the day had arrived. He dressed in silence, heart beating a fierce tempo in his ribs, stomach drawing tight with anticipation. Even the bitter cold weather didn't flag his spirits, and glancing up at the light creeping on the horizon, he decided to watch the sunrise in the Goddess Tower. Afterward, he'd head to the entry hall to wile away the day, waiting for someone—for Byleth—to walk through the door. Climbing the tower steps felt effortless, his mind a cacophony of thoughts, until at last, he stood at the vista that overlooked Fódlan, the sky painted a gorgeous swirl of pinks and purples as the sun crested the horizon. Claude had seen many a sunrise in his life, each one bringing hope for a new day, but something about the one this morning captured his focus, maybe because this particular dawn held so much of his hope. He truly did love Fódlan. It had its rough edges and its dark secrets, but moments like this, standing awash in dawn's light and looking out over the grassy hills and the forests beyond, reminded him why he stayed these long five years, instead of slipping back to Almyra without a word. He wanted to save this land, the land where his mother was born, the land...where Byleth was born. Those two women, held dearly in his heart, had struggled in this place, possibly fled because of its obstinence. Claude wanted to change that, to make Fódlan a land of understanding and goodwill—a land of hope. A land those two women could both return to without worry.

Preoccupied with the view and his own musings, he didn't hear the footsteps in the stairwell until the source stood at the precipice.

Movement in the corner of his eye drew his attention, and Claude turned his head, startled. Time slammed to a halt, his heart freezing along with it, and for a moment, he forgot how to breathe entirely. Byleth stared back at him, probably just as wide-eyed and slack-jawed as him. She took a few hesitant steps into the light, and his stomach swooped. There she was, the literal woman of his dreams, looking exactly as he remembered her, standing in the glow of the morning, the sun catching in her seafoam hair, a burst of color in his hitherto dulled world. If he blinked, would she vanish? Was this just a dream, and would he wake up in Byleth's bed in a few seconds, alone and lovesick again? The ridiculous prospect kept his eyes open until they burned, until he finally dared to close them. To his relief, she remained when he opened them again, tilting her head in that curious, studying way he adored.

Byleth's eyebrows flinched upward, recognition overtaking her features, and in a quiet voice, she said, "...Claude?"

A grin, broader and more joyful than he'd ever expressed in his entire life, curled his lips, a fire roaring in his chest. She was here. She was really here. He owed a certain goddess gratitude now, didn't he? The look on Hilda's face would be priceless later, and he couldn't wait to grin smugly at her from behind Byleth's shoulder. Not the time to think about that, though. He needed to say something, anything. His mind came up empty, though, and the knee-jerk reply he gave her was more sarcastic than he wanted. "You overslept, Teach. Pretty rude to keep a fella waiting like that. Wouldn't you say?" Blinking, she gaped at him in astonishment, and Claude chuckled as he paced toward her, adding, "What's with that surprised look, my friend?" He stood opposite her, grin vibrant, and he cocked a sly eyebrow. "You didn't really think I'd given up on you coming back. Did you?"

She looked a bit disoriented previously, but she beamed back at him now, that same playful glint he'd waited five years to see in her eyes. "Not at all," she said, cheek dimpling with her smirk. "After all, I'm stuck with you, aren't I?"

Claude broke into a laugh, running his fingers through his hair in nervous reflex, so overwhelmed by her presence that he reacted genuinely for once. He stared at her a moment in silent appreciation, until slowly, his eyes glossed, a sharp contrast to his smile. "Y...You're really here…" he said, reaching out to touch her cheek, just to assure himself she was real and whole and not a hallucination, and he immediately cursed his gloves in his brain, because they robbed him of the feel of her skin against his fingertips.

"Claude?" Byleth said, eyebrows knitting with concern.

She clearly discerned his rapid unraveling, he realized, so he surrendered to it, arms sweeping around her and pulling her to his chest. As he buried his face in her shoulder, he let out a shaky sob in her ear. "I never gave up...even when everyone told me I should...and here you are, Teach…" Voice quaking with each admission, Claude swallowed, tears burning in his eyes, discarded down his cheeks as he blinked. "Here you are…"

Hesitant arms curled underneath his, her hands clinging to the back of his shirt. "Here I am," Byleth said into the crook of his neck. "Right where I should be."

A half-laugh, half-sob escaped him, and he sniffed loudly. "Gods...Gods, I've missed you, Byleth."

She sat back at that, gazing up at him with a look of guilt, as if seeking forgiveness. She thumbed one of the tears that streaked his cheeks, palm remaining there afterward. "I'm so sorry," she said, a pained look in her eyes. "I don't...I…"

"No need, Teach," Claude said, his forehead finding hers and eyes shutting, finally relieved of a weight he'd carried for far too long. "I've got a million questions to ask you, but I just…" He blew out a quivering exhale, his thoughts abandoning him.

"Of course," Byleth said. Thumb caressing his cheekbone, she nudged her forehead against his. "As long as you need. I'm not going anywhere."

If Claude compared his overall mood from the previous night to tonight, he fully admitted he had propelled from a two to a twenty-two or more in a very scant amount of time. The day's events whirred in his brain: reuniting with Byleth at a picturesque dawn; the mystery of where she'd truly been the past five years; fighting alongside her again, the pair of them working in perfect sync across the battlefield like a dance; joining forces again as one by one, the Golden Deer arrived as promised; Hilda's annoyed apology, despite the overjoyed look in her eye; the impromptu decision to stay in Garreg Mach; and the slow trickle of more allies throughout the day's cleanup, until the bulk of their honorary Golden Deer from the Empire and Kingdom stood in their ranks as well, with word that the rest were en route. So much activity in so little time overwhelmed him, denying him sleep yet again, though this time for completely different reasons. He leaned against the stone sill outside the Academy dormitories, neck arched toward the sky as always. Grinning with contentment rather than bitterness for the first time in a very, very long time, he chuckled.

"I guess I owe you thanks now, huh?" he said, raising a sly eyebrow. "I admit it, you came through this time. Don't get used to me asking for favors, though. Can't change a man that easily."

"...Who are you talking to, Claude?"

Spooked, he whirled around, eyes bulging and cheeks flooding with heat. "T...Teach!" he yelped, because indeed, Byleth stood a short distance across from him, dressed in flannel pajamas, her usual jacket draped on her shoulders. "I...myself. I was talking to myself." He shrugged, arms out to make the gesture more dramatic, grinning wryly. "You caught me red-handed."

Humming a bit in amusement, Byleth joined him at the wall, crossing her arms atop it. "And what conversation are you having with yourself here in the dead of night, Mr. von Riegan?" she asked with a shrewd smile, stolen from him long ago.

Claude's cheek dimpled with his smirk as he settled his arms beside hers, their elbows practically touching. "Oh, you know me," he said casually. "Always planning five steps ahead, scheming about this or that. Takes a lot of self-conversations." She tilted her head and looked at him with that blank stare he knew judged his very soul, and he sighed, a faint grin of surrender on his lips. "All right, I get it," he said, shooting her an endeared, impish glance. His gaze lifted upward again, his profile to her as he faced the sky. "The truth is, I was talking to the stars, I guess."

"The stars?" she repeated, looking up as well.

"Yeah," he said with a fond grin. "When I was young and had a rough time, I'd go out at night and lose myself in the ocean of lights above me. They never wavered or judged me, just blinked back in silence, making all my worries seem small. For a kid like me, that meant a lot." He paused, weighing his words before continuing. "I'm sure you probably already figured this out, but I wasn't born in Fódlan, Teach."

"You're from Almyra," Byleth said succinctly, so definitive that he turned to her, visibly gobsmacked. Smirking, she locked eyes with him. "Whenever I gave you grunt work, you'd curse about me under your breath in Almyran, thinking I couldn't hear you," she said. "Also, the braid you used to wear," she said, indicating the spot on her own head, "that's an Almyran tradition. Boys wear them until they reach adulthood, so I knew from the moment we met you at least had a connection there. I remember asking my father about those when we lived in Almyra."

"Y...You lived in Almyra, Teach?" he said, even more flabbergasted.

Byleth arched an eyebrow, a disbelieving smile creasing her cheek. "I'm an ex-mercenary, Claude. You go where the money is. That includes across the border, even if we had to smuggle our way through the mountains to get there. I lived in Almyra for about eighteen moons when I was…eleven, maybe twelve? We moved all over the region during that time, taking work wherever we found it, until ultimately returning to Fódlan."

Swallowing, Claude processed this information, the gears in his mind clearly turning. "So if I were to...for example," he said, licking his bottom lip, "[say something crude in my native language, you'd pick up on it? Or do you only know basic phrases?]" The flowy nature of Almyran felt a bit foreign in his mouth after years of disuse (he and Nader felt it best to refrain in case of eavesdroppers), but he slipped into it with a grace only possible with a birth language. He looked at her expectantly, a flirty, capricious glint in his eyes and in his smile.

Undeterred, Byleth stared back at him, a challenging twitch to her eyebrows. Taking a ceremonious breath, she said, "[My father was fluent in many languages, Claude, and he taught me to speak at least three from birth: Fódlanese, Almyran, and Duscaran. Knowing them increased our chances for work, not to mention helped translate any enemy chatter or intercepted notes.]" She grinned smugly back at him, her eyes lidding in satisfaction. "[And I heard plenty of foul things along the way as a mercenary. I doubt you could unsettle me.]"

She had a non-distinct accent with the faintest Fódlan lilt, the same as his mother, but she clearly knew the language to a nuanced degree. Claude shivered for a reason wholly unrelated to the cold. Dissembling, he chuckled, "[Remind to to test that later.]"

"[By all means.]" They stood in amicable silence after that, grinning at each other in understanding, until Byleth looked up at the sky again. "So what were you telling the stars when I interrupted you?"

Claude flubbed air through his lips, attention returning above them. "Oh, I don't know," he said, shrugging. "Thinking out loud, mulling over the day's events. That sort of thing."

Nodding, she hummed in agreement. "It's been quite the day, I suppose."

"For you especially, I'd imagine," he teased, nudging her elbow with his own. "I'd be shocked if I woke up from a five year nap."

Byleth huffed through her nose, pouting. "It's not like I intended to vanish for so long," she said, eyebrows furrowed. "I don't really even know if I was asleep, or if I have some sort of...amnesia blocking out the last several years, or—"

"Byleth," Claude laughed, "I was kidding."

She studied him for a moment, expression unreadable. "...You know, before today, I'd never heard you use my name. I was a little startled when you said it this morning. I've always been, 'Teach.'"

Squirming a bit, he swallowed. "If it's weird, I'm fine with not—"

"No, I like it."

He blinked, taken aback by her earnestness. Byleth smiled at him, eyes matching that warmth, and combined with her chill-tinted cheeks and nose, she stole his breath with her beauty once again. Lips curling, Claude turned to face her, leaning against the wall as his elbow propped him. "Well, okay then. Though," he added, winking, "if it's all the same to you, I think I'll hang onto Teach just a bit longer."

"Good," said Byleth, mirroring his repositioning. Her smile fell a bit, a somber undertone to it. "Everything has changed so much, and all of you have grown in what for me feels like overnight." She looked up at him, her lips curving again, a soft, affectionate flicker in her eyes. "So it would be nice to have at least one thing stay the same." Claude stared at her, still smiling, but in that way that failed to reach his eyes and masked a deeper thought. Deciding to give him a moment to chew on it, Byleth continued. "It was so strange, waking up to discover five years had passed," she said, tilting her head a bit. "I admit, I almost didn't recognize you this morning."

Eyebrows frowning and lips flattening into an incredulous line, Claude hmphed a chuckle. "Have I really changed that much?"

"Nn, quite a bit," she said. Hand reaching across, she ran her fingers down his jawline, a gentle touch that rippled a shudder through him. "Your face is sharper, and you're not as scrawny as you used to be," she said, winking when he frowned disapprovingly at her. She scritched her nails against his beard, adding, "This is new, too."

Shutting his eyes, he grinned broadly. "Yeah, so it is," he sighed. "Hilda keeps telling me it looks horrible and I should shave it off, but I'm kind of attached to it—"

"Then don't," Byleth said, continuing to trace the line of hair with her fingers. Biting a corner of her lips, she beamed at him. "I like it. It makes you look handsome."

Clearly regretting this admission, her eyes darted bashfully away for a second before returning, a motion so excessively adorable that he wanted to melt on the spot. She attempted to withdraw her hand from his cheek, but he reflexively caught it, pressing it back in place. Leaning into her palm, he grinned at her. "I've missed you, Teach," he said quietly. Chuckling, he added, "A whole damn lot."

They stood in silence for a moment, Claude's eyes closed as he rested his cheek against her hand, his own gloved fingers holding her to him. Byleth traced absently against his cheek for a bit before she spoke again. "Actually, Claude, I'm glad I ran into you here. I was on my way to ask you something when I spotted you."

Eyes drifting open, he gave her an attentive smile. "Oh yeah? What's on your mind, Teach?"

"This afternoon, after we all broke into cleaning teams, I took a second to go to the cemetery," she said, staring sincerely at him. "I wanted to clean my parents' grave before anything else, but...not only was it already cleaned, but someone left flowers. Recently, at that; they're still fresh."

"A-Ah, is that so?" Claude said, swallowing. Everything in him begged the chill of the night to keep his warming cheeks frosty. "It was probably Leonie; she'd absolutely do something like that."

"I thought so too, but then I remembered that after Petra arrived, she and Leonie went out to hunt for dinner, and that was while we were in the middle of dividing chores around the monastery. And we stuck together after the battle, so she wouldn't have had time."

"She still could have snuck away for a second and done it," Claude suggested, gut coiling.

"I asked her at dinner about it, but she said it wasn't her," Byleth said, her gaze unnervingly even. "Everyone else said the same. But it's more than just that. When I went to my room to clean it, the door was unlocked, which made me worry it'd been pillaged in the interim, but everything was as I left it."

"Well that's a mercy," he said, sweat beading at his hairline. Keep cool, Claude, keep cool…

"Even more curious, the room and even my bedding smelled like soap, and there wasn't a trace of dust or cobwebs anywhere," she said, eyes boring a hole into him. "I went straightway to my room after the cemetery, so no one could've done all that so quickly."

"S-Sounds like we should be on the lookout for a bandit squatting in your room, Teach," Claude said, avoiding eye contact. "One with obsessive cleaning habits."

Byleth's eyes narrowed. Removing her hand from his grasp, she reached into the chest pocket of her pajamas. "Lastly, there was this."

Looking down into her open hand between them, Claude made a small grunt of panic in his throat. His very unique earring sat in the center of her palm, and his hand instinctively raised to its unnoticed absence in his ear, a clear indicator of his guilt.

"Looks like you forgot something on my desk when you left this morning," Byleth said with a smug grin. "Care to explain why you slept in my bed of all places, Claude?"

"Listen, it's not what you're thinking," he said, tensing more as Byleth folded her arms and arched an eyebrow, still smirking at him. "I decided to get your room in order because...because I always knew you were coming back, and I thought I'd do you a favor. After that, I was too lazy to clean my own room, so I decided to just use yours. I swear, it's not as weird as you think it is."

"I didn't say it was weird, Claude," she said, entertained by his flustering. Smile softening, she added, "Mostly, I just wanted to thank you."

"Y...Yeah?"

"I don't know why you did all those things, but it means a lot that you did," she said, resting her hand aside his collarbone. "So thank-you."

Claude studied her for a moment, something heavy in his gaze. Without a word or a glance away, he stripped his gloves, tossing them on the ground, his bare hand warm as it overlapped hers on his chest. "The reason why is actually pretty simple, Teach," he said gently, drawing her hand down between them and cradling it in his palms, turned upward. He ran his thumbs over the center, lidded eyes transfixed on the motions. "It's like I've said several times today: I've missed you, Byleth. The past five years, they...they haven't been great." His eyes flitted up to hers as he grinned weakly, adding, "Which, I know, massive understatement." Pausing, his eyes fell to their hands again, face slipping back into a contemplative frown. "Hilda scolded me just last week for doing, as she put it, 'the bare minimum,' to keep the Alliance out of this war and in one piece. She's not the first to say it, either. I've heard it whispered in corridors and yelled in my face during round tables over the years. And the thing is, they're all absolutely right." He traced the lines of her palm, shoulders flagging. "I've done nothing but dodge conflicts and hold the line since my grandfather died."

"That doesn't sound like you at all," Byleth said, wresting her hand from his grasp and returning it to his cheek. "The Claude von Riegan I know would've charged in with a scheme or four up his sleeve," she said, ducking her head to catch his lowered gaze and smiling coyly at him.

Chuckling mirthlessly, he closed his eyes. "Yeah, he probably would have," he sighed.

"What changed?" she asked, thumb caressing his cheek in comfort.

He looked up at her, eyes shining with intensity in the starlight. "I lost you."

The gravity of that statement hung in the air for an agonizing amount of time, both of them staring into each other's eyes in a wordless conversation all its own. Byleth, shocked and remorseful, gazing back with fully-open eyes, and Claude, ardent and resolute, considering her with a powerful gaze. Gradually, Byleth's eyebrows creased her forehead, eyelids hooding incrementally, her hand sliding down his face to a neutral position at her side. "...That shouldn't have matter—"

"It did to me," Claude said sharply, cutting her off with firmness rather than bite. "Teach...no. Byleth. You have to know how important you are. Everyone here, every one of your Golden Deer, came today because of you. Because we believed in you." He sighed, eyes downcast for a moment of thought. "This war took a toll on all of us," he said bleakly. "But losing you, not knowing if you were alive or dead...that hurt the most." Meeting her eyes again, he gave her a somber frown. "You had such an impact on all of us. Hells, on me, especially." His eyebrows tipped as she stared back at him with a mask of impassiveness. "You knew that, didn't you?"

"I...I suppose…" she faltered, rubbing her arm.

Claude frowned, genuinely troubled by her apparent uncertainty. How could he best explain it? A thought surfaced, and his lips twitched. "Tell me, Teach: have you ever heard of comets?"

Brow furrowing, she tilted her head. "Comets?"

"Yeah."

"Like...shooting stars you see in the sky?"

"That's the general idea, but comets are a bit more special than that," he explained, the corners of his mouth easing upward. "Comets, my dear Professor, are shooting stars that linger in the night sky for a while before ultimately vanishing. However, they usually return again after a period of time has passed. Astronomers have studied them throughout history, tracking their patterns as they appear and disappear in somewhat reliable cycles. Some cultures even observe their arrival as a shift in eras of history or as a religious period."

"Not that this isn't fascinating, Claude," Byleth said, that playful curl returning to her lips, "but what are you getting at?"

Smile tender, Claude reached across and cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing over her cheekbone before resting against the side of his palm. "You were my comet, Byleth," he said, tone gentle. "You emerged out the aether like an enigma, changed my life and my understanding of everything, and then...I lost you. And I've spent the past five years watching, waiting, hoping to catch a glimpse of that light again, because without it, I couldn't take another step forward." His other hand found hers and curled around it. "Back home in Derdriu, there's a table in my study, absolutely covered with maps of all sorts—topography, seasonal shifts, trade routes, you name it—but there's one in particular that's most important to me: a complete map of the world. Not just Fodlan, but every continent around the globe. Of all the maps on that table, that one received the bulk of my attention since I first spread it out five years ago. It's also the messiest, cross marks and notes scribbled from corner to corner. And every single one of those crosses…" He swallowed. "...eliminates a location I sent scouts on search, scouts who ultimately returned with nothing. Not even a whisper of you."

Byleth's lips parted soundlessly, her eyes reflecting moonlight, and Claude's smile broadened a fraction, his hand slipping from her cheek to gently grip her chin between his fingers. "I exhausted every connection I had, both here and abroad. I sent search parties deep into foreign heartlands, not even knowing if they'd return. But every time, their news was the same, and with every report, I fell deeper into...a depression, I guess," he said, sighing. "I knew that I needed you, not just to end this war, but…" He took a breath, jaw clenching. "...I needed you for my own selfish reasons. Having you by my side makes me feel invincible, and I'm at my best when you and I are together. Without you, Byleth, I'm just a foolish man with big dreams, bigger problems, and no clue how to parse any of it. It sounds easy enough to say now, but it took me an embarrassing amount of time to sort that out. But I've had plenty of time to realize that, and to realize what I felt five years ago but didn't say because I didn't recognize it for what it was." Expression softening, he smiled, affectionate and authentic. "I love you, Byleth. With everything I am. I loved you five years ago, and I love you now, even after all the time we've been apart."

A tense silence in which Byleth stared at him, breathless, followed, until Claude's knees buckled, and he turned to slump over the wall, crossing his arms over his head. "Oh my gods, I finally said it," he echoed from inside his arm barrier, voice a wobbly murmur. "Oh shit, I said it. I'm an idiot, we don't have time for this! You just came back, and to you, I'm probably still your smartass student, why did I think this was a good idea, fuck—"

"You were my favorite student, though."

Her words, spoken simply and quiet, pulled him out of his spiral, and he stood straight, turning to her. Byleth stared back at him, her face unnervingly unreadable. He swallowed. "I...Yeah, I guess I was."

"Whenever I needed something done, or was uncertain about a strategy, or needed…" She stopped, taking a steadying breath, her eyes lidding. "Or needed a shoulder to cry on, like after my father died...there was only one person I turned to, one person I knew I could rely on above anyone else." Her hands found his, curling her fingers around them. "I was your teacher, Claude, but you taught me more than I ever taught you. Before we met, I wandered through life, following every order given to me, migrating from country to country, sometimes begging for work or, worse, for food. My days blurred together, until I honestly had no idea how old I was or even where I was, not that it mattered to me. I was...numb. I rarely felt anything, and most of my thoughts revolved around completing tasks, eating when hungry, sleeping when tired. The only dreams I had were of Sothis, though I didn't know it at the time.

"Agreeing to teach at Garreg Mach wasn't something I thought about, either," she said. "I was asked, I accepted, not fully grasping what being a professor actually meant. When it came time to pick a House, I decided I'd choose whichever was listed first—that would be easiest, after all. I didn't like making choices. Choices required thinking for myself, and I didn't do a lot of that. Well, I guess it's more accurate to say that I couldn't do that. For whatever reason, I was completely incapable of independent thought or human emotion. So as I stood there, faced with a choice, something I'd never done before, I thought I'd pick what was easiest." She looked up at him, the faintest trace of a smile on her lips. "But then I had a thought. A small, seemingly insignificant thought, the first I'd ever truly had beyond basic human needs or battle tactics." Byleth tipped her head a fraction, a studying, perplexed wrinkle on her forehead. 'He always has a smile on his face,' I thought, 'but it never reaches his eyes. I wonder why?'" She smiled fondly. "That one curiosity made my decision clear.

"At first, I was overwhelmed by the lot of you," she said, arching a coy eyebrow. "I remember watching all of you in a group one day, observing your rowdy chatter and various displays of emotion, and I remember thinking what I always thought in those situations: 'All that energy looks exhausting. I'm glad I have the focus to stay on task.'" Byleth drew circles with her thumbs on the backs of his palms, contemplating. "But I wasn't focused," she said, shaking her head. "I was...muted. Stunted in every area that makes someone human. Growing up, I always knew I wasn't normal. Enough comments on how strange it is for a little girl to not emote, and you kind of catch the hint. But I never thought I was strange, just...different from everyone else. Looking back on it now, I can see that in truth, I was dead inside." Retracting her right hand, she placed it over her chest. "When you consider I lack a heartbeat, it's fitting, in its own way. I had nothing inside me." She paused. "In fact, Sothis told me as such. Whenever we met in dreams, we always stood in a black void. I think...I think that represented what I was. Empty."

Byleth sighed, hand slipping down and finding his again. "Even today, I…" Eyebrows puzzled, she frowned. "The first thing I remember after the battle five years ago is a voice, cutting through the darkness all around me. I didn't recognize it at first, but thinking about it now...I'm sure it was Sothis, calling into the void for me like before. She said...She said, 'You've slept so long that someone is pestering me about you, so wake up.'"

She startled when Claude erupted with laughter, his hand slapping his forehead. Wheezing, he attempted to compose himself, hand waving apologetically. "S-Sorry, that caught me off guard," he said, still giggling. "I'll e-explain later, I promise." Clearing his throat, he straightened and took both of her hands again, affecting a more serious expression, though hints of his outburst remained on his lips. "P-Please, continue, Teach."

Eyeing him skeptically, Byleth frowned. "In any case, I probably would have spent my entire life that way, never knowing anything different, never feeling anything at all." She paused, staring into his eyes, until a small smile broke her melancholy. "But then I met you, and slowly, I started to think about things other than the task ahead of me. Each of you shaped this change in me, but," her smile broadened, "you absolutely played the biggest role in that, Claude. You taught me how to smile, to laugh, to actually enjoy life instead of simply walk through it. It's because of you that I think and feel so many things now." Biting the inside of her lip, Byleth took a breath through her nose. "And...you taught me probably the most important lesson I've ever had, most likely without meaning to." Her hands squeezed his. "You taught me what love is, and how it feels to love someone with all your strength."

Stunned silence. Claude had of course always hoped for this outcome, even planned a list of quips for it, but faced with her confession, with Byleth's affectionate smile, words left him. The way her head tipped to the side and her grin broadened didn't help matters. Slowly, though, his face brightened as the thought finally sank in, and just like this morning, his arms swept around her for an embrace, the pair of them holding tightly to each other for a quiet moment.

Claude leaned his head into hers, a light huff through his nose indicating amusement. "You had a crush on a student? How scandalous, Teach."

"Says the man who had a crush on his teacher."

"Heh, true, true, you've got me there."

"I just knew that as your professor, I couldn't do anything about it," Byleth said against his neck. "Not until later, at least."

Grinning, Claude turned and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Looks like you took the short route to later," he said, lips remaining against her skin. "Awfully rude of you to make me take the long way."

Byleth pulled back to look into his eyes, smiling soft and coy. "I suppose I'll have to find a way to apologize," she said, repositioning her arms around his neck. Fingers slipping slightly into his hair, she arched her face and leaned in a bit. "Have any ideas?"

With a broad grin, Claude ducked into her, replying, "Just one, if you're interested."

"Absolutely," she said, smirking against his lips as they met.

For that beautiful, earnest, long-awaited moment, all the world melted away, nothing but the warmth of their lips and their tightly-held embrace remaining. One kiss was absolutely not enough, and Claude sighed an unnoticed held breath through his nose, trading one after another in a release of pent-up affection, an apparently mutual emotion, judging by the firm press of Byleth's fingers against the back of his head, pulling him closer with each caress. Her lips soft on his, her body like fire against his chest, the sweet taste of her as mouths opened and tongues passionately met, the chill of the night an ignored thought, the gentle scent of her filling his nose...not a single one of his dreams of this compared to the relief and the joy and the desire that washed over him. They surrendered so much to the moment that neither of them noticed the flash of light that streaked across the night sky, as if blessing them. Tomorrow, when the stars gave way to dawn, they'd have to face the road before them: a continent ravaged by war, an army to build, supplies to procure, schemes to plan. But just for now, for this brief blip in the flow of time, none of that mattered. Nothing but Byleth and the need to consume her with all of his being existed.

He'd never lose sight of his Fell Star again.

You burn so bright, you burn me up tonight

Thank-you so much for reading! Just a note, I have my fics more organized (and tagged!) over on AO3 if you care to find me there (same username). Pretty soon, I may be migrating to there exclusively, so I thought I'd make note!