au where alhaitham is the only one in sumeru who can speak ancient merfolk language so he has to take in kaveh, the last merman whom the akademiya just rescued 🥹
you can read my tiny short fanfic here! (wow it’s been ages since i had the urge to write something!)
i like to think the creation of the flame emperor is at least in a small part edelgard’s particularly dramatic take on faking your own death, changing your name and joining le cirque du soleil after going through a moderately embarrassing situation