Chapter 0 - just yesterday

The night before Byleth disappears is one of the happiest of her life, despite everything going on. It is a blissfully happy night for Edelgard as well, or so the other girl tells her as they hold each other in the aftermath. The future is uncertain and their relationship is taboo in so many ways, but tonight, none of that seems to matter. All that matters is that Byleth chose her, and will always choose her, and that is enough for her to be bold enough to kiss her teacher.

It is enough for the both of them to be bold enough to confess their feelings and to act on them, remaining together throughout the night, sleeping nude in each other’s arms. And then, the battle is upon them and they fight side by side, securing the victory they need until Byleth…

Until Byleth falls asleep for five years.

Her first thought when she awakens is finding Edelgard. She doesn’t know yet that it’s been five years or that the battle is over or that the war is still on; she only knows that she has to find her student, her emperor, her lover right away. Only after finding out that it has been five years and that everything has changed does she panic, practically running for the monastery.

The years have changed Edelgard, but she is still recognizable. She is regal, and she is still so beautiful; she is strong, but still so small, making Byleth want to hold and protect her from here on out, to make up for all the time that they have lost. The most striking thing about her is how sad she looks, until she her eyes land on Byleth, until the disbelief takes place.

~X~

It’s hard to explain herself when Byleth doesn’t fully understand, and Edelgard, despite the tears and the lectures, doesn’t really care as long as she has her back. The rest of the class is just as eager to see her, and Byleth is glad to see them all well in light of the war that she helped them all step into, but it is Edelgard that she wants to catch up with, and Edelgard that she wants to truly reunite with.

Five years is a very long time to remain faithful to someone that she has only loved once, especially someone believed to be dead, but when Byleth finally has her alone, Edelgard confesses that that is exactly what she did.

“I couldn’t shake the feeling that you were still out there somewhere,” she says. “I never could explain it but...as long as I felt that way, I would never give on you. I would never give on you either way, my teacher.”

For Edelgard, it has truly been five years since their first night together; for Byleth, it might as well have been yesterday, and she can remember Edelgard’s touch just as plainly as if it was. Her body is not exactly as she remembers it; there are new scars to memorize, and she is a bit thinner, something that her full and regal dress does not show so readily. Byleth will have to make sure that she is eating properly from now on.

Tonight, she just wants Edelgard to remember her touch again, and wants to recapture the joy they both felt on that night. The years have done nothing to decrease Edelgard’s feelings for her, and for that, she will always be grateful. Byleth kisses her for so long that it becomes painful to stop, until she is kissing down her body, lingering with her lips on one of Edelgard’s breasts, dragging her tongue across her hardening nipple until Edelgard is completely breathless.

“I’ve missed you,” she gasps. “I’ve missed you so much…”

Things are simple tonight, just as they were the night before- or rather, that night five years ago. Byleth suckles at Edelgard’s nipple, her tongue flicking out to make Edelgard moan for her, and her hand drifting lower, down her stomach and below her waist, until Byleth is pushing her hand between Edelgard’s legs. She can feel the warmth of her arousal, the damp heat of her need as she begins to finger her, and Byleth is suddenly overwhelmed by the image of Edelgard pleasuring herself throughout the long years alone.

She was lonely and hurting throughout that time, but was there a point when, beneath all of that, her more primal needs began to return to the surface? Were memories of that night too painful to bear, or was that what she needed to fuel her fantasies so that she could indulge herself for a few moments, before remembering that she was alone? Edelgard has already told her that she has always been her only lover, so did she tend to her needs on her own? Or has this been building for some time, a need that only Byleth can satisfy?

Byleth has every intention of satisfying her, and as she fingers her lover, her mouth never moving from her breast, she feels Edelgard’s hand snaking down, reaching so that she can return the favor. Byleth gasps, her moan muffled against Edelgard’s chest, and she takes this as all the encouragement she needs to work her finger inside of Byleth.

There is no way to fathom how it must feel for her, but for Byleth, who feels as though no time has passed, it is like the beginning of a routine, and still there is some feeling of nostalgia there, to suggest that time has passed, whether she noticed it or not. Edelgard has undeniably changed even as Byleth has remained frozen and sleeping, but there is no change in the way she whimpers, the way she clumsily fingers Byleth, the way she starts to lose her pace, the closer she gets to her own climax.

Byleth does not slow down until she has Edelgard crying out for her, looking up at her then so that she can see her face. In that moment, she looks so small and helpless that Byleth is again struck by the urge to hold her and to never let her go, protecting her for the rest of the time. Perhaps now that she has returned from a disappearance she was hardly aware of, she can actually offer that to Edelgard.

Until then, she is content to hold her until she catches her breath, and then lie back because Edelgard insists on making sure that her beloved teacher and advisor, the love of her life, is able to enjoy herself as well. It feels like no time at all has passed to Byleth, but this time, it’s not just because it feels like it all happened yesterday. This time, she thinks Edelgard must feel it too. 

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