"If only I could have been here to observe the differences a little better, maybe we would have been able to figure this out!"
Claude's voice was desperate. Tired. Frustrated. They had both wanted this to work so badly, and when it had failed, neither of them knew how to feel. Chaos. She was going to die.
She was going to die.
"Yeah, well..." Byleth wasn't quite sure where she was going with that sentence. She began to spout some random excuse when his words suddenly clicked. Her words stopped in their tracks as she stared wide eyed at him. "Wait. Claude...?"
"What?" He had no idea what she was thinking about. Byleth's eyes only continued to widen as she stared into his emerald eyes. If only I could have been here to observe the differences a little better, maybe we would have been able to figure this out!" Yeah, if only...that was it, wasn't it...? This sounded absurd. Only an idiot would actually believe what Byleth was thinking, but...that was the truth, wasn't it?
"Maybe that's it," Byleth hadn't even noticed that she'd said anything out loud until Claude's gaze on her grew more intense.
"What's it? What are you-what are you saying-?"
"Maybe that's it," Byleth repeated. "You said there's no pattern, but there is. I think. It sounds absurd, I know, but-"
"I-I'm not following this conversation, what are you saying-?"
"I'm saying that the only time that the sickness has ever gone away is when you're not here!"
Silence fell over both of them like a fresh coat of snow; fragile and untouched. Neither of them wanted to address that absurd possibility. After a moment, Claude was the first to snap.
"No. That's ridiculous. What kind of illness is caused by another person? None! That-That's crazy! There's no way. It has to be something else!"
"But-my sickness is one of a kind. I don't think previous rules apply here. The sickness started sometime after you came to the bar. It waned when you left...and came back when you did. It's just a theory, but-"
"No, no, no. I'm not going to lose you!" Claude shook his head vehemently, his green eyes full of hurt. "You've got to be wrong. There's no other way!"
"Then what's your explanation?"
Silence.
The only audible sound was the soft flurrying of snowflakes hitting the window.
Then-there was something.
It wasn't an explanation, it wasn't anger.
It was soft and maniacal laughter.
"Claude-?"
"This-this can't be it," He muttered to himself, a small laugh rumbling through his entire body. "There's always gotta be something. There's always gotta be something! No. No. No."
"I don't want this to be true either, Claude. But think about it. How is it that I was feeling fine but then after we kissed, everything came back?"
"I don't-I don't-" His voice broke as realization began to dawn on his face. "No. No. You've got to be lying. No..."
Some innocuous events of her illness suddenly made Byleth sick to her stomach.
YOU ARE READING
Race Against Time
Fanfiction"BYLETH, YOU'RE DYING." Those were the words Byleth Eisner had heard her entire life...but it had never rang true. She had always known that the doctors were wrong, that she was going to keep living, but the fear of death was constant. Born with a h...
