#bernilix

[indigowallbreaker]

Hi! Rare-pair incoming but for the "100 to break a reader's heart" prompt list, will you do numbers 6 and 25 for Felix and Bernadetta? I love the idea of those two specific lines being said to each other and I really would love to see your take on it!!

(this is a request from WAY long ago when I took proper one-shot prompts. I still like the idea though, so I finished it and present it to you now. Hey, I don’t control the motivation any more than you do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

6. “Am I going to die?”

25. “If I leave now, I won’t come back.”

Gronder Field is littered with discarded weapons, blood stains the grass in most places, smoke still curls up from the main hill, and Bernadetta stands in the middle of it all with an empty quiver. The battle is over. The Alliance Army has won, her friends are safe. Most of her friends are safe. She’s hoping for one more.

She knows he’s around here somewhere. Her eyes have only grown sharper in this war-- trained to run towards danger now, instead of ducking into the nearest doorway. Bernadetta knows she shot him somewhere around here.

A grunt betrays his location. Swallowing her fear, Bernadetta races forward through the mist. There-- a blue cape splattered with red, an empty scabbard. Felix is struggling towards the treeline with two arrows through his right shoulder. Various other injuries-- how many are from the Empire, how many are from Bernadetta’s side?-- are scattered across his beaten form.

A dozen phrases run through Bernadetta’s head as she draws near. She settles on, “I-I’m sorry!”

Felix freezes, one elbow bent as if to push himself up. He aims a glare over his shoulder, teeth grit, left eye already darkening in a bruise. “You--” He doesn’t get any farther. Simply slumps into the grass, fists clenched.

“I’m sorry, we needed to stop-- Dimitri was--” Bernadetta shakes her head and kneels next to him. “Oh Bernie, what are you doing?”

An impossibly sound reaches Bernadetta’s ears. Felix is chuckling. He’s laughing at Bernadetta, his eyes shut, a few strands of hair sticking to his bloodied lips. “You always were an odd one.” His voice is muffled. Bernadetta cracks a smile. 

She uncorks her last vulnerary. It’s not nearly enough, not with those arrows in him and who knows how many spells in his system. But it’s what she has left after this mess and she’ll give it to Felix gladly. 

“Is the Boar dead?”

The question she’s been dreading. Bernadetta purses her lips. “Y-Yes. Hilda saw it happen.”

A pause. “Am I going to die?” Felix asks quietly.

“No. I’m going to make sure of it.”

All levity is gone from Felix’s expression, and his eyes close. Bernadetta feels like she just gave the wrong answer.

--

Thanks to Bernadetta’s efforts, Manuela’s healing, and Claude and Byleth’s words, Felix recovers and joins the Alliance Army. He seems miserable to Bernadetta. No one else sees it-- or no one cares to mention it. As long as Felix keeps helping them win, everyone is content to leave him be.

Bernadetta feels responsible. She didn’t kill Dimitri-- in fact she avoided him the entire fight-- but it’s her fault Felix is at Garreg Mach. 

She tries to spend more time out of her room, tries to spend time with him instead, tries to hear that laughter again. They sit with cats. She recommends books. They go to the market together. She offers him candy. 

But the smile is gone. Felix seems hardened now, like he’s put himself back in his shell and only comes out to fight. Bernadetta is an expert at hiding away, but hiding makes her happy. Felix isn’t happy.

--

When Claude and Byleth defeat Nemesis, Garreg Mach becomes a strange place. People are leaving, there’s talk of the future, couples tug each other to the Goddess Tower with rings and nervous faces. 

For Bernadetta, there’s nowhere left to go but home. Every other place in Fodlan reminds her of death right now. It feels like there isn’t a spot on the map without some blood she spilt. After packing up, she makes the rounds to say goodbye-- leaving one, dreaded goodbye for last.

“I’m leaving,” she announces to Felix’s dorm room. 

Felix is sitting on his bed, sharpening a sword, face blank. “Okay,” he says.

Bernadetta gulps. “I-I’m going home. And, if I leave now... I won’t come back.”

The whetstone stills. “Okay,” he says, quieter this time.

“I’m going to take over Varley territory. Home doesn’t have the best memories, but at least there won’t be any fighting. I’m so sick of fighting.”

“Okay.”

“So. I’m leaving.” 

Felix resumes sharpening the sword. “Okay.”

Tears spring to Bernadetta’s eyes. She wants to yell at him, wants him to say anything else, do anything else besides scowl at ghosts. In the end, she only nods. “Okay,” she sniffs. 

It’s not until Bernadetta reaches the front gates that hurried footsteps sound behind her. “You should have warned me!” Felix snaps as he draws level, pack thrown over his shoulder and swords strapped to his waist.

“W-W-Warned you?”

“You’ve been following me around for months but you couldn’t be bothered to tell me all that earlier?” Felix’s glare used to scare the socks of Bernadetta. Now she’s just puzzled. “I’m going with you,” Felix declares.

Bernadetta blinks. “You’re... coming home with me?”

Felix crosses his arms. “You said that home doesn’t have great memories for you. You really expect me to let you leave alone after that?”

Bernadetta fixes him with a glare of her own, confusion temporarily outweighed by pride. “I can take care of myself just fine!”

Felix huffs a laugh. A laugh. There’s a smirk across his face and he says, “Sure, but you’ll do better with me around,” but Bernadetta barely hears him. All these months trying to get him to smile, and all she had to do was yell at him after all? 

Brushing past her, Felix calls out, “It’s south east, right? Let’s go before we lose more daylight.”

Fussing with her own bags, gigginess in her step, Bernadetta jogs to catch up with Felix. A happiness washes over her the likes of which she rarely feels outside the comfort of her room. Now that Bernadetta knows the secret to making Felix happy, she plans to exploit it as long as he is by her side. 

#fire emblem three houses #felix hugo fraldarius #bernadetta von varley #bernilix #felidetta #WHY DON'T I KNOW???? #idk if you're still out there anon but uh here? #writing is so hard these days y'all im just blowing where the wind tells me #breaking prompts #fe3h