All This Time

Into The Dawn

His Teach fell to her knees once they left Rhea.

"Teach!" Claude immediately knelt down next to her as she stared at the wall with a deadly look in her eyes. "Teach, are you...are you okay?"

Their encounter with Rhea had clearly shaken her, even as they stood on the balcony of the Adrestian Palace. It was time to announce that the war was over, time for Claude to give a huge speech...yet, neither of them were mentally ready to declare the war as over.

Well, not that it was truly over anyways. They had to go take out those people at Shambhala. But as far as everyone knew, the war would be ending...

"Y-Yeah," His Teach sighed loudly, her hands shaking incredibly as she just glared at the wall. She kept rubbing the same spot on her arms...where Rhea had grabbed her. Damn, I shouldn't have yielded, I shouldn't have let her go in...But I needed her in order to get Rhea to talk. Damn. "It's just...She wouldn't say anything. She's too broken, she needs time to recover from her confinement, but we just need answers...I just want to know what happened to me...!"

"...I know, Teach," Claude grasped her hands gently, stopping them from shaking. He gazed at her gently, trying to comfort her slowly. "But we can't question her in this state. Even though I want to know, there's no way we can force her to tell us everything while she's on the brink of death."

"It's just-are you kidding me!?" His Teach exclaimed, a frustrated look in her eyes as she slowly brought them to his own. Claude hadn't seen her so negatively emotive so many times in one day. The stress of Edelgard's death, his death, and Rhea's usual nature was finally breaking her calm exterior. "We've been waiting so long, and she's there, but we can't-we can't do anything..."

"Hey, hey," Claude quickly looked into her eyes intently, forcing her to meet him. She nervously stared at him, her lips apart in shock. "Calm down. Take a deep breath. We've got to do this speech. You don't have to say a word, just stand there, alright? But I need you to stay calm. If you don't, then these Empire soldiers won't believe us, and then we'll be starting another war all over again. I'm sorry to ask this of you. You can break down immediately after...but we have to look strong right now."

"Y-You're right," She sniffled, outstretching her arms so she could pull him into a hug. She held on tightly to him, and Claude ran his hands through her hair reassuringly. "How do you remain calm...?"

"Oh, I don't," Claude chuckled. "But I'm a master of keeping my emotions under control. How do you think no one realized my internal struggle while you were gone?"

"...You'll be a fantastic ruler for Fódlan," His Teach mumbled. His heart sunk deeper in his chest, plummeting to the ground at her words. Claude swallowed the lump in his throat nervously.

"...Teach, about that..."

"Trust me, Claude," She smiled softly, not understanding what he was trying to tell her. Bless her heart, she thought he was worried about leading... "You'll be great...Come on, let's get this over with."

"Teach..." Claude wasn't allowed to finish as she took his hand, leading him towards the balcony. She opened the door, stepping through, and Claude had no choice but to swallow his feelings and smile. The crowd cheered upon seeing both of them emerge.

What do I say?

All of these people...and they're finally listening to me!?

"...People of Fódlan..." Claude addressed with an authoritative tone, knowing that this moment would go down in history. He needed to persuade the Adrestian's and continue to reassure his followers, or else this would all crash and burn. "This war has taken so much from us. From all of us. Pointless blood was spilled, from all sorts of people. Why?" This is it. This is the moment... "It was because Fódlan was structured to be isolated and shrouded in darkness. Today, a new Fódlan awaits us! One that will open its borders for trade and relations. A Fódlan that will welcome all sorts of people!"