Hello, Goodbye

The Night Before

Once we were done with the war council we all went our separate ways. However, I went to seek out Claude. It was in his room that I found him. He was standing on the balcony looking out over the ocean. "You are so full of shit you know that?" He turned to me at first feigning surprise but then he realized. "You see straight through me don't you Thal. You always have." I walked up to him and leaned on the balcony. "I just don't get it. Nearly every word you said in that letter was a lie. Your trying to push me away on the count of Lillie. You want her to have a healthy relationship with her father. Yet instead of telling me that. You pull this whole "I only love you as a friend." nonsense when you should have just been honest with me!" Claude cringed slightly as I practically yelled at him. I sighed before continuing. "I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated is all. When I think of Dimitri my heart flutters. But not because of the thought of seeing him again. My heart flutters because of five years ago. I'm still in love with who he was then. I don't know anything about who he is now. Claude... do you still love me?" Just as Claude was about to reply a knock on the door interrupted us.

"Come in!" The door opened and an Almyran soldier walked in with a cargo bag in his hand. "Lady Thalia thank goodness. We seem to have a problem." I looked at the man suspiciously. "And what might that be." The man started to act scared at my tone of voice. "Well you see. It appears that one of our cargo bags carrying Vulneraries was emptied before our departure." Anger flooded my body. "What?!?! Who would do such a stupid thing?!" Just as he said that a small pair of legs emerged from behind him. Panic flooded my body as my child stood there with a guilty look on her face. "She emptied the bag and stowed herself inside ma'am." Claude looked at me then looked at the child. "Thalia... is she?" I nodded. Claude's eyes got wide as he tried to process the child. "You weren't joking when you said she looked like Dimitri." Lillie ran up to me and grabbed my hand. "Mommy, who is this Dimitri person? I seen where you were writing about him in your letters." I sighed before getting down on my knees in front of her. "Sweetie, Dimitri is your father. We only just recently found out that he was alive after being told otherwise for several years. And this is my best friend Claude. He was the one I was writing all those letters too." She walked over to him and held her arms out. Claude picked her up and held her on his hip.

"Your dismissed. We will handle things from here." The guard left the room and I gazed lovingly at my daughter. "She's beautiful Thal?" A yawn fell from her lips. "Yes. Beautiful and tired. I would be too if I snuck into a convoy bag." I pulled her from Claude's arms and laid her on the sofa in his room. I pulled a cover from his dresser and laid it over her. She yawned one last time and within a matter of minutes she was out like a light. I walked back out to the balcony. No sooner than I stepped out Claude pulled me into his arms. "You want me to be honest with you Thal?" He moved my hair to the side and began to kiss my neck."Of course I still love you. The second I saw you it was all I could do not to carry you away and ravage every inch of you." He turned me around in his arms and placed one hand on my stomach and the other on my left breast. "Especially with what your wearing. Exposing your silky skin like this." He massaged my breast firmly while kissing on my neck. "I swear Thalia I'll let you go tomorrow. But right now. I need you."

I turned and  kissed him fiercely. He grabbed my bottom and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist as our tongues collided. He reached for the strings at my back and neck and pulled. They came undone and he threw the garment to the side. He sat down on the patio chair and began to assault my breasts. I bit my hand to prevent a moan from coming out. He bent down and took a bud in his mouth.  He then switched to the other one and showed it attention. Once he was done he reached between us and unbuttoned my shorts. He forced me to stand up as he pulled them and my panties down my legs. He then unfastened his pants and pulled them and his underwear down to his ankles. I observed him slowly. He had grown over the past four years in more ways than one. He was definitely bigger and more defined.

He grabbed at my hips and slowly sat me down on his length. I screwed my eyes shut as he filled me up, trying my best not to moan. He lifted my hips up and down on him and kissed me once more. I could feel a high welling up inside my body. Suddenly he laid me down on the table and began to thrust into my heat without restraint. I bit on the fleshy part of my hand as I tried my best not to make a sound. His hand found my sensitive spot and he began to rub. I felt myself getting higher and higher under his touch until...I came undone. My muscles contracted around his length and he pulled out of my quickly, finishing on the ground. He picked up my clothes and handed them to me. Once we were both dressed we walked inside his room. Lillie was still asleep on the couch. Claude grabbed my hand and kissed me softly. He pulled back and when he did I noticed a tear fall from his face. "Now I can let you go without any regrets. You can sleep in here tonight. I'll take your old room." He kissed me on the forehead and walked away.

Outside of Derdriu

Just a few hours ride from Derdriu a man clad in black armor sat around a fire talking with a group of people. "Your Highness we've just received word! Almyran troops have rallied in Derdriu. And what's more, Thalia Nansen is among them." The man nodded in understanding and dismissed the soldier. A blonde girl sighed and spoke up. "Could it be true Dimitri. What the Empire says about Thalia?" Dimitri sighed himself. "I believe the Empire would do anything to justify harming innocent people. Edelgard never was a big fan of Thalia anyway." A man with raven colored hair stood up and turned his back from the group. "It's true. The night Edelgard declared war on the church Claude revealed to me that she was pregnant. She had only just found out from professor Manuela that day. She had planned to tell you but you snapped before she could. I was there the day Thalia gave birth to her. Your daughter. Claude and myself were the only ones that knew of her existence and it would have been kept that way had that letter not gotten out. Either way I suppose you'll get to talk to Thalia soon enough." As the man walked away an emotion swelled inside of Dimitri's heart that he hadn't felt in a long time. Happiness.