(𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛) ❤︎𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝙴𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖 𝙾𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜❤︎

Dimitri X Reader- The balcony (Request)

Request: @byleth-fe
Warnings: None
Word count: 1143
Gender: Female
Additional Info: None

Don't question the fact that I'm literally going against what I just said about posting oneshots during exam season. I promise I'm gonna study yall. I'm literally writing this at midnight because I studied all day. I just needed to write for Dimitri cuz I need it 😩😩
There might be some autocorrect mistakes but ignore those. I'm too lazy to proofread this. I need to close my eyes and SLEEP
Anyways, enjoy!

The War had ended so long ago, and yet the memory of it still haunted most soldiers' dreams: the chaos, the deaths of comrades, friends, of cities and villages burning to the ground, of the enemies', whom were once your friends, horrifying and cruel.

All of it, in fragments, would come back as nightmares that would keep you awake and force you to suffer in silence in the dead of night.

The King and Queen of Faerghus suffered from those dreams greatly, and often times, found each other lying awake, covered in a cold sweat, unable to sleep, and forced to keep each other company for the night, to soothe each others' hearts in order to not go mad from the horrifying realism of the nightmares that would come back at them.

It was on one of those nights- a terribly dark and harshly cold night of January- That the same, cruel nightmare came back to (Y/N). She woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily, heart pounding out of her chest. It was another vivid and horrifying image of a close friend dying in a sea of blood and fire, too common, these days.

In the pitch black darkness of the room, (Y/N) shuffled around the bed, her arms reaching out next to her, searching for the spot where Dimitri slept, but he was nowhere to be found.

In tears, she searched but he was nowhere to be found, and under the weight of heavy sobs, she called out his name.

Dimitri came rushing to her, and out of worry, as if to stabilize her poor fragile self, he took her by the arms. Despite her not being able to clearly make out his expression, she could feel it was that of worry and of love.

"What is it? Another one of those filthy nightmares again?"

"I can't take it anymore! I'm going mad! It's been a year and I still have those- those horrible, disgusting—"

"I know, my love, I know," and so the prince took her in his arms, and let his wife rest her poor head against his own aching shoulder.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to shake off what happened— We won, but at what cost?" She muttered, gripping onto the sleeves of his chemise.

For a moment, they both remained quiet. (Y/N) let herself be soothed by her husband, whereas he was pondering a way to get over those nightmares once and for all. They really were haunting them both and weighing on them to the point of madness- She was right.

"I sometimes wonder... What would've happened, if we hadn't decided to partake in this war."

"Nothing good would've come out of backing down. Besides," he sighed, "It's too late to dwell on the past now. We can't change the past. All we can do is work on a brighter future, for us, for the Kingdom. Times up ahead can't be worse then how it was in the past- It can only get better from here."

Dimitri had learnt, from experiencing the war, that there was no use in drowning oneself in pessimism. One had to be realistic and to learn to hope, in order to better act- unfortunately, hope was a notion very strange to many, after many years of relentless war efforts which only lead to more deaths and to more destruction. (Y/N) was one of those people.

"Are there, really? I'm starting to lose all hope, Dimitri. When was the last time I slept a good night's sleep, uninterrupted of past events from the war? I don't know how much longer I can take it. I told you, Dimitri, I'm going mad- I mean it."

She sighed. She wanted to close her eyes, but she afraid that, if she were to do so, then the vivid image of her dead friend would come back again.

At least, her husband was here with her.

"Where were you, Dimitri? You weren't in bed with me," she noticed l, looking up at him.

And despite the darkness of the room, Dimitri could feel (Y/N)'s stare pierce through him like a dagger- He had promised her months ago that they would not leave each others' side during the night, in case nightmares like those would come back.

"I... I had a sort of nightmare myself. When I woke up, I... I felt dizzy, and my head was aching... The room was stifling and I... I suppose I needed to clear my head. I went out on the balcony," he strengthened his grip on (Y/N), "That's all. And I came back to you, as soon as I heard you needed me, didn't I?" He muttered with a tired smile, "I came as soon as I heard."

"Next time, take me with you on the balcony. I mean it when I say that I never want to leave your side."

"And what if you're sleeping- finally?"

She chuckled sadly, "It never happen, but if it does- I, too, try to be optimistic just like you- I don't care. Wake me up. I want to take care of you. You suffer from those nightmares just as much as I do."

(Y/N) remained quiet, before eyeing the slight open doors leading to the balcony.

"Does it work?"

"What?"

"Did it help you clear your head- the balcony?"

"Enough for the night," Dimitri furthered himself from (Y/N) for an instant, turning his head to the balcony.

His wife got out of bed, dragging the blanket with her, then motioned for Dimitri to come too.

"Wait- Where are you going?"

"To the balcony, of course. I want to see how it feels. Maybe it could help me too," she then smiled, looking back at her husband. She could guess his furrowed brows in the night, "Come on, my love. Let's head to the balcony, and see how it feels."

"Won't you get cold?" He asked, his voice drenched in worry.

"I am used to the cold just as much as you are," she sighed, before opening the door to the balcony, "Besides, I don't want to stay in that bed any longer. It's making me sick."

~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~

Dimitri and (Y/N) stayed on the balcony for what felt like hours. They let the freezing air of the night paralyze them. It felt better to stay in the cold then to remain in that stifling room of closed air and of horrifying fragments of the past.

"How long do you come here on the balcony, Dimitri?"

"Whenever I get nightmares, I come here alone," he looked back at her, "But I suppose that now, not anymore."

She sighed, resting her head on his shoulder, "Not anymore. Don't ever leave me, Dimitri and I promise that I'll never leave you- for old time's sake."