#hudetta

Bernadetta thread her arm out from the quilt and lay a hand on his wrist. "Morning," she murmured, voice muted with sleep. "What are you doing?"

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

Hubert could find no reason to lie. "That I would married you again in a heartbeat."

Those waves of lavender hair were a cooling contrast against the red that overtook her face. Grasping the quilt with both hands, Bernadetta jerked it over her head. Hubert bit back the urge to laugh outright. Instead he pat the embarrassed lump and got out of bed, resisting the urge to tease his wife (wife wife wife) further.

"I'll get us some tea and coffee. Take as much time waking up as you need."

"Wait!"

Bernadetta sat up in a flurry of blankets and had swung her legs out of bed before Hubert could move towards the door.

"I'm coming too!" she declared.

"You don't have to, I'll only be gone--"

"We just started our new lives together," Bernadetta interrupted, taking Hubert's hand in both of hers. "I want to spend as much time with you as I can!"

Bernadetta's cheeks were still red, and Hubert felt his own face heat to match. He kissed the top of her head-- more to give his voice time to recover than out of affection, but of course affection was still there (wife).

Bernadetta swallowed down a shriek as she dodged another arrow fired her way, firing back with the ballista. She couldn’t falter, not for a second. She wasn’t supposed to show any weakness. She wasn’t that scared little girl that could barely leave her room anymore; she was a general now, an important part of Edelgard’s army.

(It didn’t feel like it though. Sometimes, all Bernadetta felt like was being that scared little girl - sometimes, Bernadetta wished that she could just lock herself in, and hide. Hide until everything was over. But she couldn’t do that.)

She fired off another arrow with the ballista, stifling a cry when she realized she missed. She began aiming another arrow, when suddenly she noticed that the soldiers that had been heading towards her position were suddenly running away. Not only that, but she could hear a crackling noise from beneath her feet. 

She gulped and looked around, shrieking in fear when she realized what was happening. 

The wooden hill she had been firing away from was now on fire. With her still on it.

She began frantically looking for a way to escape, some way to get out of the flames. 

Nothing.

She had nothing. 

She was stuck here, she was going to die here, surrounded by fire and choking on smoke as she burned.

Bernadetta whimpered, feeling tears appear in her eyes as she backed towards the center of the hill, watching as the flames slowly crawled their way towards her. Her body wouldn’t stop shaking, her arms slowly coming to wrap around herself. 

Please, someone, anyone, save me...! She prayed, she hoped, she wished, despite knowing no one was coming for her. 

After all, this wasn’t one of her stories. Her soon-to-be-forever-unfinished stories, though she tried to not think about that. There wouldn’t be a knight in shining armor coming to save her, no surprise hero - this was war, heroes like that didn’t exist. If they did, they definitely weren’t here.

All Bernadetta could do was squeeze her eyes shut, and brace herself for the fire as it got closer and closer and closer. Close her eyes and pray she’d die before she felt the flames burning her skin.

As she awaited her death, her mind wandered to Hubert. Hubert. The only reason she found herself following Edelgard - she and Hubert had been the only ones. Everyone else had defected. 

The only good thing to come out of this war, Bernadetta couldn’t help but think, was that she was able to get closer with Hubert. Enough that...maybe if circumstances had been better, they could’ve been in a relationship. Maybe they could’ve had something.

But no, this was war. And they weren’t able to have anything more than quiet moments together, and now Bernie was going to die and she was going to die a horrible painful death without even being able to say goodbye to Hubert-

Suddenly, arms wrapped around her, and she felt something shift. 

She couldn’t stop the yelp that escaped her mouth, and her eyes shot open. She found herself staring at the burning hill - a burning hill that was missing one Bernie. 

The arms that had grabbed her let go, and she turned around to find Hubert staring at her - a little more singed than she last saw him, but alive - and the one that saved her. 

“Bernadetta,” Hubert began, “are you-?”

Bernadetta wasn’t even able to let Hubert finish his question. She felt the tears that had been building her eyes start to overflow as she hugged him tightly. 

“Th-Thank you-! You - You saved me-!” Bernadetta managed to say through her tears, and she cried into Hubert’s chest.

After a moment, she felt Hubert’s arms wrap around her, hugging her back.

“...You need to go. Stay low.” Hubert’s voice was quiet as he spoke, practically talking into Bernadetta’s hair. “The enemy believes you to be dead - hopefully you will be able to live the peaceful life you truly deserve once this war is over.”

Before Bernadetta could say another word, Hubert warped away, leaving her with just the lingering warmth of his hug. 

(As Hubert lay dying on the streets of Enbarr, a young woman with purple hair snuck around, checking to make sure no one else was around before darting out from her hiding spot to go grab him and bring him to a safe area. 

When Hubert awoke, it was to Bernadetta asleep at his bedside, bandages wrapped tightly around him and several empty concoctions nearby. Despite everything, he couldn’t help the soft smile on his face at seeing that she did manage to stay safe. 

And when Bernadetta awoke herself, relieved to the point of tears at seeing him awake, Hubert can’t help but think.