#e3h fe3h spoilers fe3h byleth fe3h claude claude von riegan claude x byleth byleth eisner byleth x claude trio of lords claude byleth fire e

[light-of-valentia]

The Time I Saw Teach Cry

Claude x Byleth, h/C

A/n: I had an idea for my first lengthy-ish writing on here, so please enjoy!! This will come in two parts; I will be publishing the second as soon as possible, and possibly merging them into one post.

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT FOR GOLDEN DEER ROUTE MOON OF THE BLOOD WOLVES, POST-REMIRE CALAMITY!!!

More A/N: I haven’t played a whole lot past this scene, but there was something about it that I feel could be expanded on. Sooo...here I am to expand it! Some of the dialogue towards the beginning has been slightly reworded from the in-game dialogue so as to keep the spirit of the game- I of course do not take credit for these concepts! Please enjoy!!! -Admin Belle

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After a long and gruesome day of battle, Byleth found herself sitting on a lonesome bench underneath the towering upper limits of the reception hall. Releasing an unsteady breath from the depths of her lungs, her eyes traced along the geometric faces in the walls that surrounded her, their patterns eliciting themselves in callous repetition, as her mind wandered through a darkness she had become well-acquainted with. Looking death in its eye was nothing new to her, but being the onlooker as an ally tore down their guise to unveil their own take on death was completely new. Who was she to bask in the blissful ignorance formed by the walls of the church as the innocent souls of the people she once knew met an untimely end?

‘I could have done something about this had Rhea investigated sooner,’ she told herself, ‘but really, I should have taken on the initiative to investigate such a clear issue in such an otherwise peaceful place. If only I had just taken the time to check things out for myself sooner, they wouldn’t be dead, and my students would have never had to witness such a gruesome experiment of life and death. They’re so young and inexperienced, and being forced to witness the fear and desperation of innocent lives being sucked away from those people as a result of their own inability to respond fast enough has surely taken its toll upon the students...”

As Byleth continued to tread the overgrown shadows of her memory, she heard a pair of footsteps approach, her mind snapping back to reality as the easy clacking of footsteps against the chilled stone floor echoed through the hall.

“Hey, Teach, what’s up? You looked like you had your head in the clouds there for a minute.”

Byleth looked up and met a forest green gaze that matched her own air of worry. “Ah, good evening Claude. Do you need to speak with me?”

Claude moved his hand to scratch at his nape and shifted his weight to a more nonchalant posture as Byleth raised herself from where she sat to meet his stature. “Well,” he began, “I suppose you could say that. I’ve gotta admit, today’s assignment really wasn’t my favorite of the ones we’ve done.” Byleth offered a slow nod in mutuality as Claude continued, “I guess standing here and pretending to be unaffected won’t do anyone much good though, will it? It’s plain to see- that was absolutely terrible to behold. It’s always hard to see innocents die.”

As she softened her expression with a sympathetic half-smile, Byleth shifted her visual focus from the man’s face to something beyond his left shoulder. “I’m sorry, Claude. If I had been strong enough, no one would have had to die.”

“Hey,” the brunet began as he reached for Byleth’s palm, enveloping it in his own with a calm yet firm grip, “all you can do is keep smiling. Keep marching. That’s part of a leader’s job. You can’t give in to despair. Not just for me or you,” he continued as Byleth readjusted her focus to look him between the eyes once more, “but for all of us in the Golden Deer house. We have to keep smiling so the others can move forward too. As long as we don’t show that we’re disheartened, they’ll know they can make it too. Isn’t that what matters?”

Issuing another nod at the man’s words, she retained her halfhearted smile as Claude released her calloused hand from his grasp. Before tilting her head once more to conceal her eyes, the schemer managed to catch a glance into her eyes, detecting an air of wistfulness that made itself an anomaly within the normally placid atmosphere he found within them. “You’re such a wonderful leader, Claude,” Byleth said, breaking the silence that had begun to settle in. “It pleases me that you wish well for your comrades, but if you need to, please make sure to take some time for yourself.”

Claude looked back at her quizzically, folding his arms over his chest as his inquisitive nature started to get the better of him. “I could say the same to you, Teach. You’re always working so hard for all of us; even on your days off, you just never seem to be at rest.”

“Well, it’s my job to look after all of you. I don’t mind it at all.”

Claude furrowed his brow in seeming irritation at his professor’s deflection. “Are you sure you’re alright, teach? I can tell that something about you is off right now, and I’d much rather you just tell me than have to pry for it myself.”

“Claude, you need not worry about me,” Byleth responded. She could tell that Claude’s pervasive intuition had seen right through her guise, though she was still determined to put up a strong front for the younger male. “I am fully capable of handling myself, though I do appreciate your concern. Please, allow yourself to take a break if you must; you may be our house leader, but you are still a student just like any other with the needs of such.”

“You’re a part of this class too, you know. Just like I’m a house leader and a student, our class wouldn’t be a class without a teacher to teach it.”

“And, as your teacher, it’s my job to ensure that all of my students are well in both their academics, their performance, and emotionally. I struggle to believe that there is nothing going on beneath all of your antics, Claude.”

“Teach, I-” The brunet opened his mouth to retort once more, but Byleth ignored his gesture and kept talking, her eyes filling with more hurt as each word meandered across her lips.

“Again, your concern for others really is admirable. You always leap at the opportunity to assist the class in lessons and on the battlefield, yet you never seem to let anyone into your own mind. I worry that someday when you need help like you never have before, that you will refuse the aid of anyone that offers and let yourself drown in your own sorrow whilst putting on a front for others.”

Suddenly, a mist of emotions clouded the forest hues that had been previously studying Byleth’s lips, as if he was watching her words form a taut string that reached out and tied itself around his heart. “Teach…” Claude began, his tone beginning to drip with dejection, “I told you that everything will be ok if we just keep smiling. Why can’t you just trust me?”

Byleth, taken aback by such a question, put on a face of seriousness and looked at the male in front of her straight between his eyes. “Claude, you know I trust you. Why else would I put you at the front of the battlefield to lead on the other students? You’re so quick-witted and you’re a master tactician, I-”

“You know I’m not talking about the battlefield right now,” Claude softly spoke, disappointedly interrupting his beloved professor. “Look, I’m gonna cut the garbage and be blunt. I hate forcing my personal issues upon other people. You also hate putting your problems on other people. You may try to fool me, but like it or not, I can tell that you’re hurting. I know that you trust me with a bow in my hand, and I know I’ve told you not to trust me outside the realm of academia, but I need you to disregard that right now.” He used his spare hand to tilt his professor’s head so that her eyes could meet his own.

Attempting to guide her gaze through the translucent fog that settled itself within Claude’s irises, Byleth felt a surge of emotions surface themselves, as for in that distinct moment in time, a bolt of intuition struck between the two. It felt as if they each were able to peer straight into the soul of the other, obtaining an unfiltered glimpse of everything that they hid behind the walls that they built. If only for that moment alone, Byleth felt as though she could understand Claude better than she understood her own still-beatless heart, and he could understand her the same. However, just as suddenly as the insight arrived, it disappeared, leaving each of them staring once again at walls that had been fortified over years of self-reliance, having only the echoic memory to found a decision off of.

“You must listen to your own words,” Byleth softly spoke, tossing aside the blanket of unsteady silence that otherwise threatened to strip them of their impressions. “‘Pretending to be unaffected won’t do anyone much good’ is exactly correct. However, you must remember that ‘anyone’ includes you just as it includes Hilda, Lorenz, Marianne, Ignatz, Raphael, Lysithea, Leonie, myself, or anyone else.” The salty tang of tears threatened to show themselves as Byleth put forth her best effort into maintaining her composure.

Unpredictably releasing a bitter frustration that he had been harboring, Claude slipped his hand away from the warm touch of Byleth’s. “Look, I’ve told you a million times in a million ways but I guess I still need to be more straightforward,” he dejectedly began to spit his words, “Unless you are willing to stop talking in your imprecise circles and just talk to me, I just can’t tell you what’s wrong. Quite honestly, I don’t think you’re going to right now. I want you to understand that if you’re so adamant about wanting to help me, then you need to take the first step.”

Byleth fell silent, whatever tears her still heart could produce starting to surface themselves before she blinked them back.

“I swear on whatever goddess is out there, Teach, I have my reasons. I just need you to trust me. Right now I’m not the leader of the Golden Deer House, or any other student. I’m just Claude.”

Byleth moved her lips so as to speak, but almost as if Sothis herself silenced her herself, she found herself speechless. The rest of her visage was as placid as always, but her eyes glimmered with   discrepancy as wistfulness and isolation fought gracefully across the flecks of teal and blue iris that normally flickered with the flame of a hardened mercenary.

Claude contemplated offering her his hand once more to decryptify the inner workings of the enigmatic teal-haired woman before him, but weighing the possible consequences he saw within her pleading eyes against what he knew was normally true of her, he decided against it. Before Byleth could usher another word from her lips, which trembled ever so slightly, Claude took a short curtsy and looked distantly but caringly into the glazed eyes of his professor. “As much as I would really love to stay here and talk, a judgement call says that perhaps now would not be the best time to continue this. The hour grows late, and you have a class to teach tomorrow.”

With a bit of hesitation, Claude somewhat withdrew the promise he had made to himself, and he took Byleth’s hand again in his own and held it up ever so slightly. “You’re like me, Teach. An outsider. I know better than anyone how hard it is to really trust other people.” Like a dejected puppy, he angled his head so slightly away from her and cast a longing, lonely gaze straight into her soul. “Remire was awful, but I can tell that isn’t the only thing eating you up right now. Pleading you any more right now would be like asking a lost child to describe happy memories of their parents.”

Claude took a single step away from Byleth before stopping at hearing a tiny sniffle. “Wait, Claude, don’t leave yet, I’ll talk-”

Turning his body back around and drawing her hand upwards so as to lay a kiss upon it, he instead placed his lips at a tender distance where Byleth felt the gentle breath of the charming male. “Teach, you’re hurting me. I gotta go, I can’t take any more of this right now.”

Now withdrawing himself and walking slowly away, Byleth released a tiny sob as Claude stopped once more in his tracks, ten meters away and facing away from her. “Goodnight, teach. See you tomorrow.” And with that, he walked away and out of the reception hall, leaving Byleth alone once more with nothing but her spiraling thoughts and the sounds of her sniffles, as even Sothis knew to leave the tealette alone for the time being as the tealette walked her own way out, footsteps rippling across the icy stone floor like the first raindrops of a storm upon a pond.

A/N: thanks for reading this!! i swear i will come out with the part two to this soon :o this took me a reallly long time to complete so sorry for the lack of content for a few days >n< if you enjoyed this and want to see more writing sooner, please like/reblog this bc seeing people enjoy my work motivates me to make more of it :3 -admin belle

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