(eventually) yours

Chapter 14

"I still can't believe that this is really happening," Hilda says, not for the first time on their journey. "I mean, I knew you two were close, and I knew there was something going on, but it almost felt like it would never actually happen. But now, the two of you are actually meeting! For the very first time! Are you nervous?"

"Maybe a little bit," Byleth admits, and Hilda shakes her head.

"Really, professor, you have nothing to worry about. My big brother is crazy about you, for one thing, and for another, he really isn't as intimidating as some people might have you believe. Everything is going to be just fine."

She can only hope that that is the case.

~X~

Byleth recognizes him right away, despite having never seen him before. There is a slight family resemblance with Hilda, of course, but she thinks what tips him off is the way he immediately brightens when he catches sight of her, recognizing her even if she should not be able to recognize him. There is no turning back now, but when she sees him, she does not even think about turning back.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," he says, as soon as he has run up to them. "I've been waiting for this day for so long!"

"You're not even going to say hello to your own sister?" Hilda teases him. "You really do have it bad."

"I was getting to that," Holst argues, but he seems flustered now. "I just wanted to greet our guest. You know that it's only polite..."

"Of course, of course, I'm sure it has nothing to do with who that guest is. Look, I'll leave the two of you to talk, so have fun!" she replies, and with that, she is off, leaving the two of them alone as she has the soldiers and servants that accompanied her here and her brother outside follow her back to the estate.

"Byleth," Holst starts, but he does not actually seem to know what to say. "I...it's still you. You were right about the hair being different, but I think it looks fine, it really suits you."

"Does it? Well, I appreciate that," she replies. "It's great to finally see you, Holst."

"Am I every bit as handsome as you dreamed? What about my voice? You know, this is the first time I've heard your voice, I didn't really think about that until just now," he says, before looking sheepish. "Sorry, I'm kind of...it's hard to...as you can see, I'm very excited about all of this."

"You don't need to apologize. I'm excited too, just, not as good at showing it."

"Well, you certainly don't appear as emotionally dead as you've described yourself in your letters," he replies. "Are you tired from traveling? You can rest if you want to, and we can do this later."

"I doubt I would be able to rest if I tried," she confesses.

"Then do you think you're up for a walk? I could show you around a bit, and we could finally have a chance to talk in person. Since my little sister was kind enough to leave us to it," he suggests, and Byleth is quick to agree with him.

She is surprised by just how natural things feel in person. Maybe she should have seen this coming, because they connected so well through their letters, but she had spent so much time preparing herself for a possible negative outcome, that now the positives surprise her. She had worried that they would have nothing to talk about, that she would clam up and that he would not like her as much, because of how quiet she was. Instead, she speaks to him as freely as anyone, and he assures her that she seems a lot more expressive than she had made him think that she was. Things are going very well for them so far, so well that it feels as though she is reading or composing a letter, rather then taking part in a real conversation.

One of the things that she had worried about was that, in face to face conversation, she does not have the time to think that letters allow her, but she does not feel that she needs that right now, her sentences and responses coming to her easily. In fact, she is coming to discover that she much prefers talking face to face, because she does not have to wait so long to find out what Holst thinks. He can tell her right away, and she enjoys hearing his voice much more than she enjoys seeing words on a page.

By the time their walk has come to an end, she already feels as though she could stay here forever, even though she knows that that is not an option. The war may be over, but that does not mean that her work is, and she knows that she will have to return to Claude soon, because he says that he has a lot of things that he needs to discuss with her, and plans that they need to figure out. She will have to leave to do her own work, and Holst will certainly have a lot to deal with as well, but at least she knows that they can go back to writing to each other, and even if it is not as nice as talking like this, it has been one of her only sources of comfort for a long time, so she can definitely get used to it again.

"After dinner, if you're not too tired," he starts, pausing for a moment, nervous. "Well, I'm sure you haven't forgotten how much I want to spar with you. I know I haven't forgotten, and we do have a training hall on the estate, so I was hoping we might be able to...if you rest up now, I mean, you could show me that strength I've heard so much about?"

Smiling slightly, Byleth says, "It would be my pleasure."