Chapter Text
Leonie had been planning on staying quiet and simply observing her classmates as they entered and exited the Goddess Tower. But then Lorenz appeared, alone, and it was too easy.
“Boo!” she shouted, jumping out from behind the pillar she’d taken up camp by. Lorenz let out a distinctly unnoble yelp and practically leaped backward. Collecting himself, he glared at her, and she offered a smug smile in response.
“What in the Goddess’s name are you doing?” he hissed.
“Watching for Goddess Tower drama,” she responded.
“Why aren’t you at the ball?” he asked, brow furrowed.
She shrugged. “I’m not one for dances. What are you doing here by yourself? I thought you brought a date.”
Lorenz averted his eyes. “I asked her to join me, and…she refused. But I refused to let that dampen my resolve to make a wish here.”
“That sucks. Sorry about that,” Leonie replied. It genuinely was unfortunate, and she felt bad for her friend. But at the same time, it was kind of nice to be alone here with Lorenz. Through lance seminars, stable duty and adjutanting each other on increasingly dangerous battles, they had become surprisingly close for an uppity noble and nobility-hating commoner. Leonie now looked forward to interacting with Lorenz to a shocking extent. Things felt different, brighter, spending time with him as opposed to other people.
They lapsed into silence for a few seconds.
“You look uncomfortable in that dress,” Lorenz said, before his face contorted into a hilarious mixture of self-hatred and embarrassment. He tried to backpedal, “I–I didn’t mean it, I didn’t–”
“No offense taken,” Leonie reassured him before he tripped over himself trying to apologize. “You’re right. This is one of Hilda’s dresses, and it’s insanely uncomfortable.” She laughed.
Lorenz smiled. “Yes, it seems like something Hilda would force you into.”
“That’s exactly what happened,” Leonie confirmed, laughing again, and Lorenz chuckled along with her.
The conversation lapsed briefly, then Leonie, feeling brave, said, “what the fuck, let’s make a wish together.”
“Really?” Lorenz looked hopeful, his eyes shining, and Leonie had the fleeting thought that it was adorable.
“Sure, why not,” she replied. “Let’s wish…hm. How about we wish that our friendship will stay strong for as long as we live?”
Lorenz considered her suggestion for a split second, then nodded. “That is a fine wish.”
Leonie held out her pinky, and after hesitating briefly Lorenz linked his pinky with hers.
“That our friendship will be strong for the rest of our lives,” she said.
“That our friendship will be strong for the rest of our lives,” Lorenz echoed.
Leonie grinned as she took her pinky back, and Lorenz smiled back at her.
“Now it’s official. You’re stuck with me,” she said, because she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“I suppose so. But I’m hardly disappointed,” Lorenz responded, still smiling.
“Neither am I,” she responded.
Later that night, lying in bed, Leonie thought about the night over and over again. She hadn’t expected to make a wish, but she was glad she had. A small voice in the back of her head whispered that she was especially glad Lorenz had been the one she wished with.
Everyone at Garreg Mach was shaken by the reveal of Edelgard as the Flame Emperor. Leonie was pretty sure she would never be able to wrap her head around the fact that the small, strong-willed girl she’d done training exercises with was now waging war on the entirety of Fodlan. And she was lying if she said she wasn’t scared shitless about the Imperial Army’s approach toward Garreg Mach.
Lorenz was just as stressed, if not more so. Over tea, he confessed how he was worried his father would defect to the Empire, forcing him to either abandon his family and home or fight for a cause he fiercely opposed. Leonie didn’t know much about politics, but she knew enough to know that Count Gloucester would side with whomever he thought would win, regardless of morals or ideals. It was highly possible Lorenz’s nightmare would become real. Leonie was worried for him.
Professor Byleth’s relentlessly calm demeanor, often annoying, was the only thing keeping her students from freaking out. In the days leading up to the Imperial invasion, she continued to hold seminars and training exercises as if nothing was amiss. To be honest, Leonie was glad for the consistency. It kept her grounded when she felt like the world had been pulled out from underneath her feet.
As the days passed, tensions rose. They didn’t know when the Imperial army would arrive; they only know that they were rapidly approaching the moment. Leonie, who had never had problems sleeping before, was tossing and turning all night, mind stubbornly refusing to stop reviewing battle strategies and combat arts. She was exhausted.
One night, as she lay still, praying to the gods for sleep to overtake her, a soft knock sounded on her door. It was so quiet and quick that she questioned whether she had heard anything, and decided it had been a trick of her mind. Then the knock sounded again, slightly louder. Okay, it was real, then. Groaning, she got out of bed, plodded to the door, and opened it.
To her surprise, Lorenz was standing on the other side, in plaid pajamas (of course he owned something as ridiculous as plaid pajamas) and holding a blanket.
“Hello Leonie,” he began. His eyes flitted downward and widened before jerking back up to fixate on her face, and she was suddenly extremely aware of the fact that her pajamas included a white nightshirt without a bra underneath. She almost crossed her arms to cover herself, but she decided, what the Flames, it doesn’t really matter . Besides, she realized she really didn’t mind if Lorenz saw her nipples.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“I, um…as silly as it sounds, I have been having trouble sleeping on my own, and I was wondering if I might stay with you tonight?”
Leonie felt a little flutter in her chest at the fact that Lorenz came to her of all people for comfort.
“Sure,” she replied immediately. Honestly, spending the night with someone familiar and close might help her insomnia, too. She returned to her bed, hearing the door click shut, and got in.
“Hop in,” she said, scooting to the side.
Lorenz’s eyes widened. “That’s—I couldn’t—I was anticipating sleeping on the floor!”
“That would be so uncomfortable. Isn’t the point for you to get good sleep?” Leonie pointed out. “Come on over.”
After hesitating for several seconds, Lorenz gingerly set his blanket down on Leonie’s desk and climbed into her bed.
“There, isn’t that so bad?” she asked.
“I guess not,” he mumbled.
It suddenly occurred to Leonie that Lorenz probably had his own bed at home. Where Leonie was used to sharing the bed with her siblings, he probably never had in his life. That’s why he was acting so strange about it.
She turned onto her side to face him—partly because she wanted to, and partly because there wasn’t enough room for them otherwise. Lorenz looked back at her, appearing slightly more relaxed than she had seen him in a while.
“We’re gonna get through this,” she said, as confidently as she could.
“I certainly hope so,” he murmured.
Lorenz came back the next night, and the night afterward. Leonie had to admit, she was finally getting good sleep again; she was feeling a million times less stressed. And if they woke up tangled in each other’s arms every morning, well…that was nobody’s business.
Then one morning, before dawn, Leonie woke abruptly to the sound of her door slamming open. She pulled her hand back from around Lorenz’s middle to rub her eyes open, only to find Byleth standing in the doorway, a look of consternation on her usually placid face. She raised an eyebrow at the sight of Lorenz and Leonie sleeping together, but said nothing about it. All that came from her mouth was, “they’re here.” Then she vanished, and the muffled sound of another door being slammed open filtered through the walls.
“Shit,” said Lorenz, his normally flowery language gone in his worry. It was the first time Leonie had heard him curse, but she was filled with too much anxiety about what was to come. She clambered over him and rushed to her closet, pulling out a sort-of comfortable shirt and riding pants. She threw the shirt over her head and dropped her sleep shorts.
“ Leonie! ” Lorenz gasped. She turned to him, confused.
“The door is open! You are changing in front of me and the entire world!” he hissed.
She was unfazed. “I still have my underwear on,” she pointed out. “And we might all be dead tomorrow, I don’t give a crap what people see or don’t see.”
To her surprise Lorenz blushed deeply, a red flush blossoming across his face and creeping down his neck. It was extremely satisfying to see. Over the year, Leonie had learned she could fluster Lorenz oh-so-easily, and his fiery blush was like a mini reward every time.
“I, um–should get dressed as well,” he mumbled, before quickly leaving the room. He was acting weird; then again, Leonie considered, they had an army at their doorstep–of course he wasn’t acting himself. Shrugging, she finished getting dressed and donning her armor, then raced out to the front gates.
As soon as Byleth saw her appear, the Professor directed her down the hill, where her battalion was waiting, and only minutes later the first Imperial soldiers reached them. They were moderately experienced, troublesome but not too difficult to best, but they were overwhelming . Leonie plunged her lance through soldier after soldier, but she was gradually tiring with no end in sight, and when Byleth yelled “ retreat and evacuate! ,” she was overwhelmingly grateful for the permission to do so. She knew her limits, as any good fighter should, and she knew that only a few adversaries later she would have been too fatigued to stop the onslaught from taking her down.
Yanking on her horse, Barley’s, reins, Leonie urged him at as fast a pace as she knew he could keep up. They blazed through the countryside, stopping only for short breaks, and Leonie knew she was driving Barley too hard, but there was no telling how far the Imperial army had invaded, and she wanted to get to safety as fast as possible.
Finally, she arrived in Sauin Village, exhausted, hungry and bloodstained–but alive. Her mother looked past the gore and dirt and embraced her tightly, for a long time. They hadn’t received notice of Garreg Mach’s invasion yet, so Leonie was the first to break the terrible news to them.
“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry,” her mother said, sympathy swimming in her eyes. “Did your friends get out?”
And that was when Leonie realized, with shock like a bucket of ice water hitting her, that she’d never said goodbye to Lorenz.