like a supernova, you burn until the end
Siegbert & Caeldori.
SAID PHANTOMS CROWDING HER THOUGHTSăđٞăat that moment make siegbert's praise ring as hollow as flattery. it's unfair of her to hear them like that when he's just arrived though and, probably like everybody else, has only heard of how she'd taken the title for the black eagles to the very end ; the lines of her mouth ease into a faint smile if only for that much. her teacher back in hoshido had told her that victories were just as important as losses, and that it was imbalanced, just as she should not put them over losses in value, to undervalue them in turn. it's difficult, but she forces herself in this moment to acknowledge his accolades without seeking to correct them with a laundry list of her failures.
"i'm sure you will, siegbert. have you been keeping up with your own training since we last saw each other?"
' since the war ' didn't sound quite right, and nobody wanted to think of that, anyway.
"when we rode into battle together in valla, it was always heartening to fight alongside you. it gave me so much strength."
"oh." now she suddenly realizes why this feels familiar. "come to think of it. . . we first met when you saw me practicing like this too, didn't we."
For a moment, Siegbert's smile angles to look a little sheepish. "Indeed... though, I recall I wronged you quite terribly back then."
After all, he, of all people, should have known that her many talents were not simply handed to her. She'd worked hard to hone her every skill, ever and always her own harshest critic and cruelest enemy. But every time he'd heard glowing praise with her at its center, rightfully placed; every time he saw her sweep across the battlefield, brave Athena with Nike at her heel...
"You were one of the most capable and talented individuals I'd ever met. I envied you like none other," he admits. It hadn't been easy to say before, and it certainly isn't much better now, butâhe has thought to himself, time and time again, that should he ever have the opportunity to meet Caeldori again, he would tell her. If nothing elseâmore than anyone elseâshe would understand how even admiration, if left untended, could so quickly fester and rot.
"In truth, I thought of you when I was in Nohr for that very reason. When I felt inadequate or unkind, or when I felt my mind too slow in grasping certain concepts, I wondered how you might be doing, and I imagined you doing... well. This," he says, gesturing to her now. Training. Studying. Constantly applying herself, because she would never escape the shadow of her own expectations. "It encouraged me to keep trying, too."
There is a beat, and then a clear of his throat.
"...Which is... ahem. All to say, I wanted to clarify that my congratulations come from an acknowledgement of all your hard work and effort to date."















