A/N: Thanks for the feedback so far! I'd love to hear more! I'm a sucker for reviews.

Dimitri sits at his dinner table in his home, waiting as his stepmother cooked him a meal. Although they were not related, she had always been his true mother to him since she raised him. Usually, since they lived in the castle and were of royal lineage, the servants would do the cooking for them. Occasionally, the queen would decide to cook a meal for her son, just to show her love for him. Dimitri loved the meals cooked by his stepmother much more than when the maids made it, so it was always an exciting time when his mother found the time to cook for him. Although he was reaching his 10th birthday soon, his mother said he was still always her "little boy." Although he hated when she called him little, it made him smile anyways.

"Here is your soup, my dearest." His stepmother sets the bowl of soup on the wooden dining table. Dimitri looks up to his stepmother, only to see her face was contorted, deathly pale, bruised, bloody, and colored with death. Her lips were a pale purple, bloodless, and her eyes lacked any life. It was the same sight he saw at her funeral, the last time he ever saw her face.

Dimitri screams in anguish, and his stepmother slaps him across the face. "You are no son of mine. You need to avenge me. I have been taken from this world, and I won't be satisfied until that woman dies like I did. Until then, you are nothing to me!"

Dimitri bolts up in his bed, a cry slipping from his lips at the nightmare of his mother. He could still picture how she looked in death, after the tragedy of Duscur. His mother was taken unfairly from him, murdered, and Dimitri knew it was the current queen Cornelia who had caused her death, as well as the death of his father. Cornelia also had accused himself of crimes of he did not commit and labelled him as a traitor before he was of age and could ascend his rightful throne. It was Cornelia's fault that he was now on the run from the countless assassins sent after him. He knew that horrible woman cared only about the throne, and she was willing to do anything to keep it. She had murdered his parents, and now she wanted to murder him. He cared much less about ascending his throne at this point, he wanted revenge for his parents so that they could rest in the afterlife in peace and without regret.

However, Dimitri found himself wanting death much more than the throne, after all he had been through. Sometimes he found himself thinking that it would be better to join his loved ones who had passed on, since he had no one left. But first, he knew he had to bring his parents' killer to justice.

Originally planning to start an assassination plot against queen Cornelia, he was now terribly injured and could not do so. He clenches his uninjured arm in frustration. He hated how powerless he was. When he comes out of his reverie, he finally notices that Byleth is laying beside him in the bed, sleeping soundly, her deep blue hair obscuring part of her face messily, and her pink lips pouting for some reason.

This woman... Why does she sleep beside me? I should leave. I don't want to be a burden to her after she so kindly saved me. I can recover on my own, and then I can carry on with my assassination plot against that wench...

Although his body ached terribly, he slowly starts to pull the fur blankets off himself, not wanting to wake her. Suddenly, as if Byleth knew he was trying to escape, she grasps at his hand, locking him in a death grip.

Dimitri gasps in shock at the sudden motion, but chuckles as he sees that Byleth has clung onto him in her sleep, as if she knew even while asleep that he was making his escape. He thinks that perhaps the reason why she chose to sleep beside him was to make sure he didn't want to leave in the middle of the night. It seemed her plan had been successful.

"Alright, I suppose fate has decided that for now, I am recovering with this woman. She is certainly stubborn... Why does she care for someone like me whom she just met? Such a waste." His lips curl up slightly in a small smile, nonetheless.

As it was still dark outside, Dimitri decides that more rest would do him some good. He slowly dips back under the fur blankets, still not wanting to rouse her from her sleep.

Later...

Byleth wakes with a feeling of something heavy upon her, like she was being smothered. She opens her cerulean eyes, feeling confusion at first as to what that sensation was. She looks to her side, seeing that the man she had saved the night prior, Dimitri, had his arm draped over her body, across her chest, like a sort of embrace. Her cheeks flush at his proximity and warmth. However, she can't help herself from staring at him. He was handsome and beautiful, with his long blond lashes, his sculpted face, and his broad muscular shoulders. It was very apparent to Byleth now that she was sleeping with a man, and she felt a bit ashamed of herself for some reason, although she knew nothing happened between them.

However, Byleth knew she would have to get breakfast ready for this man secretly, because although they had just met, it was already apparent he was quite independent and stubborn, and she knew he would insist on helping with food and supplies if he were awake, no matter how injured he was. Byleth also knew she should get new clean bandages ready for his wounds to make sure they healed properly.

Thus, started her mission to sneak out of Dimitri's strong sleeping embrace. It was a difficult one, but Byleth was able to slither out and away from his grip without waking him, surprisingly. With a nearby river, Byleth had decided that fish would do nicely for their breakfast. Although it was a time-consuming task, she was able to catch enough fish for them both. She was originally not planning on catching many fish, but she knew Dimitri was a big man, and thus needed more food.

She brings home the countless fish and sets out on the task of lighting her small fire pit and opening the front of the tent to let out the fire smoke. She feels great satisfaction at the first spark and the fire that follows, it was quite a pain to get started. Soon, the smell of smoked fish rouses Dimitri from his deep sleep. He was unbearably hungry, and the simple scent motivates his eyes to open. His mouth waters, and he sits upright in his bed, still sleepy eyed, checking out where the food scent was coming from.

He sees the small woman crouched by her fire pit, roasting fish over the flame. The fish were small but numerous, and he was immediately impressed by her fishing talent. Had this woman a million talents? Swordsmanship, fishing, medical knowledge, and the list was probably going to expand more as he spent more time with her.

Byleth notices Dimitri has awakened, and she smiles up at him. "Good morning. I caught some fish for our breakfast. It was quite a pain, but the flavor will surely be worth it."

Dimitri feels guilty immediately, thinking of her spending her morning digging through the river for food. "You did not have to go to such lengths... You do not have to feed me. I am enough of a burden to you already..." He looks down at the fur blankets, again frustrated at his powerless situation.

Byleth shakes her head. "I'd like to be your friend, Dimitri. Thus, if I'm your friend, I want to help you when you are in need."

His eyes widen in shock, those words sending a tremor through him. A friend? It had been so long since he had someone to call a friend. He had been fighting off assassins for three years so far and when he needed money to survive, he made his money through thievery and murder. He felt that he certainly did not deserve anyone in his life, much less a friend.

Dimitri shakes his head back at her. "No, Byleth. Why do you desire such a thing? I am a terrible man. You should steer clear of me. As soon as I am recovered enough to leave, I will never see you again. You should not associate yourself with someone like me."

With a sigh, Byleth takes the fish off the flame with her utensils, plopping them onto a plate. She walks towards the bed, sitting beside Dimitri with the plate still in hand. "If you are terrible, then what am I? I murder for a living, but I still desire to have someone to be close to. I feel you and I are very similar. I wish to be closer to you. I want to help you." As she says the final words, she looks at him, their eyes locking.

At her words, Dimitri feels his face blush. He felt a million emotions from this woman. It had been so long since he felt such warm emotions stirring within. He already felt a connection to her. They were both indeed similar in many ways. Becoming her friend, becoming closer to her... It all sounded too good to be true to Dimitri.

Feeling embarrassed and awkward mostly, Dimitri clears his throat in an attempt to gain composure of himself and his wavering emotions. "Well, perhaps we can be friends then. I'd... I'd like that." He murmurs, barely loud enough for her to hear.

Byleth smiles cheerily. "Okay, then. If we are friends now, let's eat breakfast together." She takes the fork, stabs it into the fish, cuts it into a bite size, and brings it towards Dimitri's mouth.

Dimitri stutters in embarrassment. "I can feed myself! What do you take me for?"

Smirking, Byleth brings the fish on the fork closer to his mouth, as she leans closer towards him, their arms touching Dimitri backs up slightly, trying to create distance between them as he blushes again. "You're injured, it's best for me to help you." Byleth states calmly as she closes the distance between them again.

"Alright, fine!" Dimitri leans forward, eating the fish off the fork, his arms crossed stubbornly, his face flushed from embarrassment.

Knowing this was hard for an independent man like Dimitri, she decides to offer him an incentive. "Maybe if you let me give you the rest of the fish for breakfast, I'll let you accompany me into town to assist me in buying more supplies."

And thus, Byleth was successfully able to bribe this stubborn man into letting her feed him fish. They agreed that if he took it easy and was careful of his injuries, he could go to town with her and help her with shopping. It was like taking candy from a baby, or so Byleth thought.

A/N: Feed me more reviews! Please! Lol.