All This Time

Nightmares

Byleth awoke from her slumber to a loud cry.

Drowsily, Byleth slowly sat up to investigate. She heard the cry again, and she didn't realize until the third time that it was coming from Claude.

He had an uncomfortable and agonizing expression on his face, and he was whimpering quietly.

Byleth had never had a nightmare before, but she was smart enough to realize he was suffering from one. Quietly, she wrapped in him her arms. He pushed her away, crying out as she tried to hold him. Ignoring his attempts to push her away, Byleth winced. He was strong even in his sleep, and Byleth had to fight him just to hug him. Once she managed to embrace him, though, he calmed down.

"I'm sorry," Claude whimpered, and Byleth raised her brow. She had never expected Claude to talk in his sleep, but she supposed nightmares made people behave in strange ways. "Don't..Please... Don't leave..."

Byleth was confused. He kept muttering random phrases, and it didn't sink in until he muttered one word;

"Teach...No...! NO!"

Oh, Sothis, no.

Her heart sunk in her chest as he clung to her now. She didn't know what his nightmare was exactly, but she had a pretty good feeling that it was about her leaving. Byleth knew he'd been struggling, but she thought her being there was helping. Clearly, he was still struggling.

"No..."

"Shh, Claude. It's okay, I'm here," Byleth reassured him, running one of her hands through his dark hair. "Claude, my love, I'm never leaving. I promise..."

Gradually, he began to quiet down at the sound of her voice. Byleth wasn't sure on what to do; even though he looked mostly peaceful, he would occasionally furrow his brow and cry out quietly.

I knew I should have acted upon my instincts...

I knew he was struggling, why didn't I do anything?

This is my fault...

I could have been helping him all this time!

All Byleth could do at the moment was wonder about how selfish she had been. She had been so caught up in the moment of her return and the war that she hadn't even thought about his pain.

What an awful girlfriend I make.

She cradled him in her arms as he stirred slightly, a disgruntled look on his face. Byleth knew he'd been having a hard couple of days; dealing with constant meetings and schemes with little payoff. This was the first real sleep they'd had together in awhile, and he was still suffering.

I'm so sorry...

What could she do now? She'd have to confront him about it. Byleth knew he hated seeming weak (most people did, after all) but she didn't think he was weak whatsoever. If anything, he was strong; he had gone five years without someone he loved. Any other person would have given up, would have moved on.

But not him.

Unfortunately, Byleth knew he wouldn't want to view it like that. He had purposefully hid his stress from her, after all. While she needed to talk to him, they were unfortunately traveling to the Valley of Torment tomorrow. It would have to wait until after...

"I'm sorry Claude," Byleth murmured as he went slack again, finally released from his nightmare and he slept with a peaceful expression again. It amazed her how he could switch from different, fake emotions so quickly, even while he was sleeping. "I promise I'll make it up to you."

Byleth only hoped she would be able to approach the subject without hesitating.

"I'll help you, Claude...I promise..."