All This Time

Could You Imagine?

"Claude, it's over. All of it. The war, the lies, everything."

"It's over?" Claude repeated, disbelieving his own ears. His Teach nodded, and Edelgard stepped beside them, adjusting her crown elegantly. Claude felt a wave of disgust rush through his body.

"This war was unnecessary. Foolish," Edelgard shook her head in dismay, running her hands down her scarlet armor. "I had hoped to accomplish my goals, but Fódlan cannot change like this. I was so naive. At the very least...Well.."

"At the very least, you kept me alive," Dimitri rumbled, an upset look on his face. He was still clothed in his Officer's Academy uniform, unlike Claude and Edelgard. Claude winced at his enraged tone. "Why, you demon? When you have killed so many, why must you leave me behind?"

"I have done you a favor," Edelgard said emotionlessly. She won't even apologize for her mistakes? Well, whatever. That would come later, if they somehow managed to save Edelgard from the Kingdom's wrath. "You would do well to thank me."

"Thank you!?" Dimitri snarled, immediately rushing up towards her. Edelgard remained blank faced as Dimitri approached her. "Thank you for all this bloodshed, for all this suffering!?"

"Claude," His Teach looked over, her eyes widening as she didn't know what to do with their bickering. Claude quickly cleared his throat, walking between them and separating them himself.

"Enough! The war is over," Claude interrupted the two, making the lords fall silent. Claude bit his lip and sighed. "For now, let's celebrate. We'll no longer live in fear, and we must restore the distrust between the three regions."

"Yeah, but Claude," His Teach repeated, an urgent look on her face. Claude raised his brow, confused as to what she was talking to him about. "Um...Claude...hello?"

"What?" Claude frowned, glancing over to Edelgard and Dimitri. To his surprise, they had suddenly disappeared, disintegrating into small black shards of glass. He looked back over to his Teach frantically. "Teach, what's going on? I'm here, right here...l

"Um...Hellooooooo, are you in there, Claude?" She approached him with a concerned expression, treating him as if he wasn't acknowledging her. The world around them twisted and turned, spinning in a rapid vortex. Claude could only stammer, confused.

"What do you mean am I in here...?"

"Claude, come on, wake up already!"

Claude blinked his emerald eyes multiple times, confused and disoriented as the world slowly came into view. His Teach was standing in front of him with a concerned look on her face as she waved her hand back and forth in front of his view.

"Phew! I was starting to think you were gone forever," She chuckled as he rubbed his eyes. Claude took a glance at his surroundings; he was at his desk, working on some paperwork. He must have spaced out or something, because he didn't remember his Teach being in the room with him. "Was it interesting, at least?"

"Well...Interesting is one way of putting it," Claude yawned. He tried to smooth out his hair, knowing he probably looked miserable from the lack of sleep. He hadn't slept last night in order to plan out multiple strategies for the battle tomorrow, and he didn't want her to worry. After all, her purposely waited until she fell asleep to sneak out of her room and grab his maps... "Damn. I wish that wasn't a dream..."

"Why? Was it about me?" His Teach winked jokingly. When he didn't smile, her expression softened, and she wrapped her arms around him worryingly. "Whoa, Claude, are you alright?"

"It's just..." Claude sighed as he bit into his bottom lip. "...Everything was happy. Edelgard ended the war, Dimitri was alive, we were okay...They were bickering like normal, but..."

"...Claude, I'm sorry," His Teach hugged him closer to her, a regretful look on her face. "But it can't
happen. Dimitri is dead. Edelgard won't submit. And us...well, we've got to fight. Whether we like it or not."

"Well, yeah," Claude shrugged. "But it was nice to think about. Even though they were arguing, it was just nice to have us all together."

"...Claude, you need to stop thinking like this," She frowned, crouching so that they were staring at each other face to face. He knew he had asked her to keep them on their path steadily when he couldn't, but her words still hurt. Claude just wished that they could reverse what had happened. "It's not healthy for you or anyone."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," She responded softly, pulling him into another hug. "But remember your goals. We have to fight if we want to unite Fódlan, and open up the borders. We can't forget that."

"I'm not. Like, really," Claude reassured her. "...We should get some real rest. We have a long, hard battle awaiting us."

"Yeah, you're right."

As they prepared for bed, Claude could only wonder. As he slipped into the covers with his Teach huddled next to him, all he could do was think;

What travails would plague them tomorrow?