Race Against Time

Fin!!

Byleth watched in total fear as the fin grew even closer. She wasn't close enough anymore to do anything, not even as she reached her hand out to Claude...

They were running, but they wouldn't make it...

The fin drew nearer, and Claude slipped under the waves. Byleth couldn't resist screaming. She had never thought she'd ever be able to scream before, but...but Claude...!

"Claude!!"

The fin disappeared underwater, and Byleth knew she should retreat out of the water. Claude had made a sacrifice for her...But she wouldn't leave him to fight the shark by himself! She gathered all her courage, running over when Claude suddenly surfaced.

Wait...He's okay?

The fin suddenly disappeared, and Byleth sharply inhaled from fear. Not for herself, but for Claude. Where did it go...? The creature attached to the fin suddenly leapt into the air gracefully...

Gracefully...?

Wait a moment. That...wasn't a shark. It was a dolphin! A dolphin, flipping into the air! It dove back in, circling her with a happy clicking noise. Byleth was stunned.

Claude let out a little hysterical laugh. Byleth leapt toward him to embrace him in a hug. He wrapped his arms around her as their hearts were given a chance to slow down and relax.

"It's...Its just a dolphin..." Claude was clearly still pretty panicked about what had happened, and for good reason. Byleth just clutched onto him tighter. That was terrifying...Claude suddenly chuckled, his pitch a little higher than usual. "It's just a dolphin! Oh, Teach..."

"I t-thought I lost you!" Byleth shut her eyes, knowing that she'd get teary if she kept them open. The adrenaline had run off from the situation, and now all she felt the full force of fear. "I thought..."

"Yeah, me too..." Claude took a shaky breath. "I'm so glad it wasn't...real..."

The two of them just stood in the same gentle embrace, enjoying the comfort they brought to each other in such a terrifying moment. Claude reached out to grasp her hand. Byleth squeezed his. She thought she had lost him... The dolphin made more clicking noises. After a moment, Claude hesitantly reached his hand out, and the dolphin rubbed it's beak against him.

"I think i-it likes you," Byleth said shakily, still not
feeling the best about the situation. The coast guard wasn't exactly sure whether or not he was supposed to take them out or let them stay in with the dolphin.

"No...it likes us," Claude noted simply as the dolphin nudged where their hands were connected. "Well, buddy, you didn't need to scare us like that..."

The dolphin just made more clicking noises, squeaking before swimming in circles around them. It dove underwater, breaching the surface in another majestic jump.

"It's so...beautiful," Byleth breathed, and the dolphin resurfaced with a happy looking smile on it's face. More clicking noises were heard, and Byleth looked out to see more dolphins swimming around. Their little buddy swam back, rubbing it's fin against it's mother's before the dolphins disappeared back into the water. "Wow..."

Just like you.

Their cute moment was interrupted by the sound of the whistle blowing a couple more times. Neither of them had noticed, but it hadn't stopped whistling the entire time the dolphin had been there. Claude squeezed her hand.

"C'mon. Let's get out of the water," Claude said, and Byleth nodded. They began to wade out of the water, and some kids walked up to them.

"I'm so jealous! I wanna be by a dolphin!" The one child almost swooned, while the other jumped up and down excitedly.

"Forget the dolphin!" They screeched. "This is Claude von Riegan! My sister says he's going to change the world!"

"...Come on, Claude," Byleth led him away. "Let's go."

"...They're right," Claude muttered under his breath, thinking mostly about his music. Mostly. "I am going to change the world."

Byleth couldn't help but think about what Rhea had said. Unite the companies...Byleth assumed that in order to do that, she had to put Claude back in charge, but she was never going to do that. She was far too selfish, to be quite honest. So Byleth just kept her mouth shut as she nodded.

"Claude von Riegan! Is that really you?"

"Oh, great, not another kid," Byleth sighed, and Claude chuckled. As they turned to the person, however, his smile quickly dropped off of his face upon seeing the person.

It was a guy with purple hair cut in quite a strange fashion. His nose was rather long and strange shaped, and he had an arrogant look on his face. Claude tensed up, and Byleth knew there was going to be trouble.

"What are you doing here, Lorenz?"