knowlee- This is something I was doing for Cysithea Week and I had posted it originally on Ao3 and although I have yet to finish it (it's gonna be late unfortunately since life happened, but I am gonna finish it, darnit!) I decided to post what I've done so far on here and as I get through the next chapters I'm going to do the same.

I hope you enjoy this little story! It's something different than the Claude/Byleth stories I've been posting lately (although they more than likely will still appear in here, but as a background pairing), but I felt like doing something for this pairing of Cyril/Lysithea since they're my second favorite pairing in the game.

A Fire Emblem Three Houses Fanfiction

With the Time We Are Given

Chapter 1: Fairy Tales

By: Knowlee Raven

Lysithea never believed in fairy tales.

Sure, she had read some of them when she as a young child, but as she got older and dealt with the trauma of being experimented on and losing her siblings in the process along with the huge blow that her life span had been dramatically shortened, she fell out of wanting to read them.

Instead, the books she turned to were the complete opposite of fantasy and instead dealt with the realness of the world and gave knowledge on how to survive in it. And she would definitely need all of those skills to live as long as she could in this world before the effects of the experimentations done on her caught up.

That was why during every waking moment she had during her time in the Academy at Garreg Mach, she spent it studying, pouring over every line of writing she could find and remembering it with great intensity. There were even times that she did this so much, that her fellow classmates and professor worried over her health and had to practically bribe or force her to stop and rest for a while.

Sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't.

But now, with the war going on, she didn't have as much time to study like she wanted. It bothered her greatly, especially since she knew that whatever little time she had she needed to use to try and find a way to remove what had been done to her before it was too late.

But she did find a few moments to spare in between battles and for that she was grateful.

It was during one of those spare moments that Lysithea found herself headed towards the library, one of her favorite places in the monastery to find a book to study until the moment came where she was needed someplace else.

When she entered the room, she was surprised to see that it was already occupied by someone else. At first glance, she thought it was Claude since the person's hair was the same shade as his, but once she got further in, she realized who it was.

"Cyril?"

The man in question turned at the sound of his name being called. When he saw who it was that had spoken, a smile formed on his face. "Lysithea? What are ya doin here?"

Her mouth followed his example and smiled to match his. She walked over towards him. "I came here to find something to read. I can't neglect learning just because there's a war going on."

Cyril nodded, smile still on his face. "Of course not. It's always good to learn stuff, especially if it's useful."

Lysithea nodded in agreement. "I agree. So now, I turn the question back to you, why are you in the library? From what it looks like, it would appear that you're trying to find something to read. Am I right?"

During her days at the Academy, after she had discovered that Cyril couldn't read, she had taken it upon herself to teach him. It certainly took some time, but luckily Cyril was like her when it came to learning (well, not exactly like her) and picked up on the skill rather quickly.

Cyril brought his hand up to his head to sheepishly scratch at it. "Like always, ya hit the nail on the head, Lysithea." He lowered his hand back down to wave lazily at the books. "I wanted to find something to read to practice some more, but since I'm no good at this yet, I don't know what to look for…"

She smiled. Her original focus of finding something to read for herself disappeared from her mind. Helping Cyril was far more important. "Well, it's a good thing for you that I showed up when I did. I'll help you find something."

He shook his head. "Ya don't have to, Lysithea. I-"

She stopped him before he could continue. "Cyril, I insist. Let me help you."

It took a few seconds, but he eventually gave in. For some strange reason, lately she noticed that he was more then willing to let her get her way and that he wasnt denying her as much as he used to when they first met. At first she chalked it up to him just being friendly, but she had an inkling that there was something else going on to make him be that way. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was though.

After the two gave the shelves a good search, Lysithea eventually found a book on old Fodlan fairy tales hidden behind some other books in a section of the library that didn't match up to its genre.

Hmm… perhaps she should talk to the new librarian to remind them to properly organize the books instead of just throwing them around. At least with Tomas (although he was ultimately revealed to be one of those who experimented on her), it was well taken care of.

But, oh well, nothing could be done about it now. She would just make sure to put it back in the right spot when they were done.

Cyril followed Lysithea over to one of the nearby tables and the two each took a seat next to the other and laid out the book before them so that they could easily see the words.

Lysithea could feel a touch of nostalgia overwhelm her a bit as she helped him go over the words and ensure that he was pronouncing them properly. It reminded her of the happy days she had with her siblings and her parents before the horrible incident took place that destroyed it.

She wouldn't lie and say that those memories didn't hurt her, because they did, but it was a good hurt and only served to make her more determined to take down the Empire who had apparently made the choice to join forces with those monsters.

She would make sure they regretted that decision.

"Lysithea?"

Pulled out of her reverie, she looked over to the boy next to her to see concern etched on his face. Did he catch on to her melancholy? Or was there something on her face that caught his attention?

Apparently it was the latter, because shortly after she turned towards him, he hesitantly brought his hand up to her face to gently wiped away a tear that had fallen from her eye during her recollection. "Why are you crying?"

Lysithea breathed in slowly to calm her nerves and glanced down at the book they had been reading. "Its nothing…"

The incredulous expression on his face told her that he didn't believe her. She sighed. He was too perceptive for his own good sometimes. "It's just that… hearing these stories again reminds me of the times when I would read these as a child and would imagine myself as a character in these stories. Of course things aren't all as lovely and sweet as these stories make it out to be." She sighed again. "That's something I learned the hard way unfortunately."

Although she had never told him about her dark past and the reason behind why she was so determined to learn everything so fast, nor was he there when she revealed what happened to her to Claude and Byleth, but she had a feeling he had an idea. He definitely was good at reading between the lines.

It was because of that skill, that she was certain he knew something horrible had happened in her past. And, Goddess bless him, she was grateful he never pushed her on it.

"Well, the dark times are in the past, so there's no use in dwelling on it in my opinion. But… I get that sometimes its not that simple for everyone. But I do know that it helps remembering the good times every once in a while." He had a faraway look in his eyes as he spoke, like he was remembering something from his own childhood.

A smirk formed on her face. "That's true. But, I can say that there's something from these stories that I'm glad that I don't follow today."

Cyril brought himself back to attention. "Oh? What's that?"

His gaze followed her finger as she pointed to a picture that was shown on the page they had reading before they started their conversation. "Well, for one thing, I certainly am not going to let myself be a damsel in distress. I definitely don't need a knight in shining armor to protect me all the time. I can take care of things on my own."

After studying the drawing a few more moments, Cyril looked back up at her. "It's true ya don't need a knight to save ya, but…"

Lysithea was surprised to see a blush appear on his face after he trailed off. She was even more surprised when she started to blush at the words he spoke next. "I wouldn't mind helping ya out though if you needed it. Especially on the battlefield. Everyone's gotta have help sometimes, even you, Lysithea."

Her blush remained on her face. "Thanks, Cyril."

The two returned to the book continued to read through it for a few hours more until they had to stop and go to the dining hall to eat.

And although Lysithea knew she definitely didn't need a knight, she found that she certainly wanted Cyril to be hers.