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1.
She cut her hair. It's the first thing he notices when he returns to the monastery under Edelgard's orders and finds her among the Empire's troops. The second thing he notices is how much more it makes her look like their mother.
When they were children, Mother kept her hair cut short while braiding Mercedes and Emile's long locks. No lamentations of her own locks, she'd always kept it that way while Mercedes proclaimed someday she'd have hers long enough to surpass the princess in the fairy tale.
"What changed your mind?" he asks. She smiles, still soft but somehow less radiant than in the past.
"I thought it was time for a change. I'm not a little girl anymore, no sense in chasing a fairy tale." But there's a gentle sadness in her voice; even though she's not so fragile as to break under the horrors of war, it's clearly wearing on her.
That night, he lets her braid his hair.
2.
She spends more time at the training grounds than she used to. During the school year, Mercedes didn't particularly care for combat training, preferring to spend her time baking sweets or shopping or telling ghost stories, but these days he finds her training just as often as he finds her in the kitchen.
She's taken up the bow. When they were young, she had a talent for wielding one, but she refused to pick up anything resembling a weapon and chose magic instead. But even though her physical strength is lacking, she practices with the training bow every day.
He hears the Sacred Weapon bearing their Crest is hidden somewhere in the Kingdom. But it was risky enough breaking into House Bartels to bring her the Rafail Gem. Going anywhere near the Kingdom just to treasure hunt would get him apprehended in no time and that would just make her worry.
He has a Magic Bow forged for her instead.
3.
She speaks her mind more easily. Her wretched adoptive father keeps sending letters and lining up suitors for her, and she tells him no. Not even a meek I'll think about it like he remembers hearing her talk about with the professor during their school days, but a clear no.
When he doesn't let up, Jeritza asks for more information on the man. He learns his name is Preston and he's a wealthy merchant not above using that wealth to get what he wants. He gave the church Mercedes was staying at a large sum to take her away, and since then he's been demanding she marry and produce a child with a Crest.
One day Preston shows up at the monastery to try to take Mercedes home. Jeritza dons full Death Knight armor to meet him.
After that, the letters stop coming.
4.
When they were young, she used to believe the Goddess would take care of everything. She still believes, but lately she's asking the Goddess less what should I do and more you understand, right. She fights her former classmates, her countrymen, the knights who protected her and the rest of the students during the school year. It wears on her.
"You're fighting to destroy the throne upon which the Goddess sits, but you still pray to her."
"Just because she won't have a throne anymore doesn't mean she'll disappear," she says. "Even if she can't grant wishes, she's still watching over us and keeping us safe."
That night, Jeritza prays. For the protection and safety of his sister, for his mother's continued good health, and for his inner darkness to stay at bay.
5.
Even now, she refuses to let a day go by where they don't have tea together. Even if they've just been through a heavy battle or are preparing for one or her day is otherwise packed, she will without fail make his favorite tea and their mother's sweets. The recipe is still just as he remembers, even with Mercedes' own personal touches added to the mix.
"Sometimes it feels almost like nothing's changed, doesn't it?" she asks as she stirs more honey into her tea. "We're older now, sure, and we can't just ignore that there's a war going on. But other than that, it feels as carefree as it did when we were younger."
She remembers the hard times at House Bartels as well as he does. The cruelty, the bullying from their siblings, the expectations of their stepfather. Tea and sweets with their mother, that was their escape. Somewhere far away from the darkness, a place for only the three of them and Snowfall the cat meowing and purring at their feet while Mercedes slipped him a saucer full of milk.
The fact that she could look past the hardships and keep such a good memory alive and bright is a testament to how strong she is. Much stronger than him.
"You're the same as you ever were," he murmurs, "my dear sister. Please, never change, for as long as we live."
Smiling, she wipes a crumb off of his cheek with her napkin. This time, he doesn't stop her.