All This Time

Almost Perfect

Everything in Fódlan was perfect.

Well, maybe not perfect, but pretty damn close. Byleth had been working extremely hard to keep everything running. One morning, she woke up feeling extremely tired.

Which was strange, considering that she'd actually gotten a full night of sleep. Her body felt tired, not to mention how her eyes would barely open. Yet, here she was, having to get up mostly because the day had to keep going on.

She didn't bother trying to put on all of the Archbishop getup, though. She decided today would be an exclusive meeting for the Golden Deer, and the Deer only. Well, and the Church of Seiro's Knights, of course.

Byleth hobbled over to the Golden Deer classroom, where her students sat awaiting for her. Byleth smiled weakly at all of them, placing a hand on her head gently.

"Professor, are you alright?" Marianne questioned worriedly, her brown eyes wide in concern. Byleth was so proud of the girl for growing out of her shell.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Byleth reassured everyone. Wow. Everyone looks worried. I didn't think I looked that bad! "Just tired, that's all."

"We can take over if you need us to," Lorenz offered kindly, looking quite ragged himself, even though he did his best to hide it. His father had not taken particularly well to the decision to end the nobility.

"No. I'm a queen, I need to be handle myself even when I'm weak," Byleth declined politely. "But thank you. I really do appreciate it."

"Of course, Professor," Ignatz smiled, cleaning his glasses with a handkerchief. "Glad to help you in any way possible."

"Oh! Ignatz has something to show you," Raphael nudged the boy, who pressed his lips together in disagreement.

"Raphael, I really don't think-"

"Oh, come on!" Hilda whined playfully, brushing her hands through her silky pink hair in anticipation. "You can't just say that and then not show us anything! You know you can trust us!"

"Well, I know I can trust you guys," Ignatz reassured everyone, adjusting his glasses back onto his face. "It's just...oh, fine. Here it is."

Ignatz pulled out something from his desk, revealing a book with a golden cover and auburn binding. He held it towards Byleth, and she took it gingerly.

She opened the book, scanning over a intricate drawing of the monastery. The next page had Byleth drawn beside Claude and the rest of the Golden Deer. Byleth felt her jaw drop.

"Ignatz...Did you do this?" Byleth questioned, dumbfounded. He nodded his head shyly as everyone huddled over Byleth to see his drawings. The next page was her instructing, with Claude infamously hanging upside down as everyone else was pointing and laughing. "It's...amazing. Wow. I can't believe you did this!"

"Thank you, Professor," Ignatz blushed profusely, only continuing to grow redder as the others began to praise him.

"I didn't know you were a painter," Sylvain commented, grinning as the next picture was one of that fateful ball. The one where Byleth had danced with Claude to her hearts content... "Ah, remember, Ingrid?"

"Yeah. The food was great," Ingrid commented, a gleeful look on her face. Sylvain sighed.

"Not that part! I meant...well, never mind."

"You drew Edie," Dorothea pointed out, her smile waning slightly. "Oh, wait...and there's Dimitri, and Ferdie..."

"Well, I tried to include everyone," Ignatz clarified solemnly. "They should be immortalized forever."

"That is a very good idea to be having," Petra agreed, glancing at Dorothea's little figure. "That night was fun indeed!"

"Hey, how come you drew me looking so young!" Lysithea narrowed her eyes at the painter, who sheepishly chuckled.

"It wasn't on purpose!" Ignatz protested quickly, which somehow served to make the young prodigy angrier. "It's just because we were both so much shorter than everyone else! Look, I look young too-"

"Yes...Ugh. I suppose that's true."

Byleth couldn't help but smile as she flipped through the book. It showed Byleth's return to the monastery, and their celebratory feasts. From Byleth's birthday to winning the war, every happy memory was immortalized.

Yet...despite all this...someone was missing.

Even though she saw his smiling face in the book, he was not beside her at that very moment. It would almost be the two week mark, and Byleth still thought of him in practically every moment. Still, she smiled for her students sake, so that no one saw her thinking of him.

"This is wondrous, Ignatz. How long did this take you?"

"Oh, you know..."

Byleth listened to the festivities, keeping a happy expression on her face. For her Deer, for her people, but most importantly for him, she would remain strong.

Claude would be so proud when he came back.