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[imperializes]

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[blaiddydblood]

[ While he can sense the nervous energy buzzing between them, he doesn't comment on it. Dimitri is anxious by default these days but Edelgard... She'd always seemed so composed, so clearheaded. What could have her wound up like this? ]

Thank you, El. I promise I'll do my best to see that your things remain intact. [ Look, it's

a disclaimer he feels is warranted. Things in this society don't feel like they're made to last as it is and Dimitri could shatter lances even back during the Academy days. ]

You didn't have to go to the trouble of all this although I appreciate it. [ Formalities. Some noble habits die hard. ]

[imperializes]

[she smiles at that - just a little thing, her mind is preoccupied with what she's about to do. she hasn't rehearsed it word for word, but she at least has a good idea of what she wants to say. she takes his hands and leads him to a space where the coffee table or couch isn't in the way, where there's plenty of space.

she's always known that he's tall - but lord, standing up next to him just hits it home. there's a moment where she reminisces about the childhood they could have had, but only for a moment. nostalgia will not help either of them, and despite all the various timelines, she always starts a war in every. single. one.

now that he's where she wants, she drops to her knees-

(UM, EDELGARD?! TODAY, ON DIMITRI'S WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT DAY?!)

-and then folds over so that her hands are flat on the ground before her, her forehead meeting the tops of his shoes.]

Dimitri, I apologize. For driving you to lose your sense of self, for allowing those who plotted the fall of Duscur to walk unpunished for their crimes, for both killing those you love and causing you to raise your blade against them.

Nothing I say or do will change the consequences of my actions. Nor will they bring back those we've lost. But I apologize for it all. I do not expect your forgiveness, but I can only hope you take this apology to heart.

[she doesn't want to say too much in case she muddles her words or sticks her foot in her mouth. short and succinct, but from the heart all the same. she reaches out mentally in synchrony, desperate for him to understand.]

[ooc | for any lurkers, check this thread for context.]

[blaiddydblood]

[ There's a slight spike of uncertainty once more as she takes his hands and leads him. They're so small in his, he can't help but think briefly. For all the confidence she carried herself with, he had never thought of her as 'small.' Yet, here without the context of being opposing sides in a war he realizes that she is, in fact, kind of tiny.

But he's getting sidetracked. Edelgard dropping to her knees is enough to draw him out of his thoughts briefly just to blink owlishly. Just what is she-? ]

I- [ Okay. Wow. That's a fucking lot to unpack. ] El, this is... I'm not sure what to say. [ "Why now?" is his immediate thought, honestly, considering everything. He can feel the tug on his consciousness that is synchrony and allows her in easily. Even despite what happened between them before, he trusts that she wasn't herself then but now is.

He wants to understand. He does. ]

[imperializes]

You don't have to say anything. That burden is mine and mine alone.

[she doesn't get up - she has so much to atone for, so many people to apologize to. what once she thought of as a difficult necessity... turned out to not be as necessary as she once believed. she had so many facts just plain wrong. so many needless deaths, all because of her.]

I needed to apologize before your wedding. I didn't want this to hang on your heart, whatever doubts you went through during the wall, I will gladly take responsibility for it all.

cw: war children

[blaiddydblood]

It's not your burden alone, [ he snaps, almost immediate. Something in him unravels and she can no doubt feel it behind the link of Synchrony. He's angry. Furious, even, and not because of her. ] I made my own mistakes as we all did during the war. I made my own choices and lost myself not solely because of you. I even... I wrongly accused you, for so many years, of being the one responsible for what happened in Duscur. But you were just a child. I was just a child.

[ Both of them had their lives and agency taken away from them far too young; they were killed and re-forged in steel and blood only to try and strike down the very hands that molded their most monstrous selves. ]

You had your convictions and made your decision. Glad I am to hear you say that you've taken the time to evaluate some of it, but I... [ The reality of it twists him up inside as he speaks it. ] All I wanted was the same thing you do just in a different way. Our end goals are the same and I know that you may not agree still with my method, but I... Byleth and I weren't going to idly stand by and let the church continue to influence society the way it had. Even if it took lifetimes, we were dedicated to eradicating Crests and the nobility entirely.

So, please, El- [ He crouches down in front of her, taking one of her hands in his and using the other to lift her face up so he can look at her. ] Know that you aren't alone. Not anymore.

[imperializes]

[she looks up, alarmed, having been completely convinced that the suffering she'd caused through the war was wholly her own fault and those who slither in the dark. she didn't expect this response, this reaction. she instinctively wants to take back the blame, take it from dimitri's shoulders that have always held too much weight. but she bites it back, knowing it would be an insult to him.]

But it was my choice to side with the very people who caused the Tragedy of Duscur. I should have slain them when I had the chance, rather than use them to bolster my own forces.

[she feels at peace knowing that even if she did not succeed, her end goals would be achieved through byleth and her dear childhood friend. that's the most important part: the people of fodlan. her life has always been a tool to further their future.

when he crouches down, gently guides her gaze upward, and tells her she's not alone-

-she feels her heart seize, feels something break. she's never felt alone with hubert, but it's always been the two of them against the world. and now she finds herself without him and somewhat self-isolated from the others, feeling too at fault for all their grievances. to hear that dimitri is at her side even now is too much to bear.

a tear falls before she knows it, and she has to wrench away to hide her face which is quickly reddening from crying.]

I'm- I'm sorry, this is unbecoming of me-

[blaiddydblood]

[ It wasn't. It isn't. While Dimitri can't deny the part that she did play in things, he's not about to blame her entirely for it all. How could he, knowing what he does now about Edelgard and her pained past? The suffering she endured much like his own shaped her in ways unfathomable. ]

You did what you thought you had to, [ he says. Having taken the time himself to reflect on it all after war's end, he still wishes she would have taken his hand. He's grateful for the opportunity they have here, for the things he can say that he didn't then- ] as did I.

[ He may have gone too far, he worries, when she pulls away from him. He doesn't force the matter - how could he? - but he stands by what he's spoken. ] It isn't unbecoming, El, to be vulnerable. I thought the same for a long time, but being here... Byleth and the others, they've done their best to teach me otherwise.

[imperializes]

[noooo dimitri don't feel bad you did nothing wrong, edelgard just doesn't want you to see her cry. she's a little emotionally stunted in a way in that she does her best to present herself a certain way, and breaking down to her feelings is not part of it.

she still hides her face in her hands, a bit mortified that she'd started crying of all things. just because dimitri said she's not alone!]

You shouldn't be the one comforting me, this is ridiculous.

[a sniffle.]

[blaiddydblood]

And yet, here I stand. [ ... Kneel, technically, but look- Whatever. He's not being literal here, obviously. ]

I don't find it ridiculous in the slightest. I hope someday that you won't either since I mean what I said. I will be here for you should you need me.