Hello there!
This is just a small story I decided to write about a few promises Byleth and Lysithea make to each other.
Sorry for my English in advance, it isn't my primary language so I may not always be as fluent in my writing as I want to be.
Hope you enjoy the story!
Chapter 1
Lysithea could hear a group of people head out through the entrance hall as she started boiling the water. The sounds of their chatter soon faded and were replaced with the running of yet another messenger, probably regarding the preparations for their attack on Enbarr.
They were currently in their last stages of preparation for their attack on Enbarr, it was time to end this war that had plagued the continent for over five and a half years.
Lysithea watched the pot of water on the oven, the water was as calm as it could be. Unlike the situation at the monastery. Soldiers had for the last weeks left the monastery in small groups, clad as merchants, civilians or even refugees. They had traveled along the roads and sometimes in the wilderness towards Enbarr. All in preparation for their attack on the city which Edelgard and most of her army had retreated to.
It was a gamble, a big one, and the plan for it had to be foolproof. The professor, Seteth and some of the senior knights had been holed up most of the time in the war council's room planning their attack. With help from Ferdinand and other people who had knowledge of the city and its strengths and weaknesses they had worked non stop to iron out the details.
Lysithea couldn't help but be worried. Not only of the gamble they were taking with scattering most of their army in hope of advancing towards Enbarr without the imperial army realizing it, but also for the professor and his health.
He had been working non stop throughout the days for a while now. If she didn't find him in the war council room, she had seen him in the training ground, working on his own training and assisting others when needed. She had seen him reading and writing messages in his room, planning the former students' training and ways to improve their fighting strengths.
She knew Lady Rhea had placed the responsibility of the church, along with everyone in it, on the professor's shoulder. Ever since he came back he had fully assumed that responsibility. He and Seteth had been dealing with problems relating to the church, coming up with ways to assist the local churches and their need for food and supplies as the war raged on and the people suffered. The needs were naturally bigger then what they had and hard decisions had to be made on where to send personnel and supplies.
And still among all of this he took the time to talk to them all, ranging from asking how everything was with them, to answering questions and addressing concerns, just like he used to do in the days of the academy.
While she was impressed how he was handling all of the tasks that needed to be handled, her worry was that he was working himself to exhaustion. When he came to the monastery as a mercenary he was impossible to read. He didn't seem to show any feelings or emotions at all. This got better as time went on and Lysithea believed herself to be quite good at reading him now. And recently she had seen some worrying signs on him. From the bags under his eyes, his tired and often distant gaze as if he wasn't really with them during conversations and not answering immediately as he was spoken to. She rarely saw him take a break to rest.
The responsibilities were taking its toll on him, and she wasn't alone in being worried.
Which is why she was in the kitchen, brewing some tea as she placed the cake she had prepared for him. If he didn't take his own break then it was up to them to make sure he took one. And she had decided that this task was hers to see through.
As the water was prepared and put into its pot, she carried it all on her plate as she went to the professor's room where she knew he was.
When she came in front of the door to the professor's room she became aware of the fact both her hands were busy so doing the only thing she could think of she used her foot to "knock" on the door.
"Come in" the slightly muffled sound of the professor's voice could be heard through the door.
On instinct Lysithea started to reach for the door but as she did this she had to remind herself that her hands were full and she couldn't open the door.
"Damnit!" Lysithea swore to herself as she stood looking at the professor's door. Realizing that she had to place the plate on the ground to open the door, she had just started to do this when she heard movement in the room and the professor opened the door.
"Lysithea?" Byleth watched her with a tired but curious glance. She was currently bent down to put the plate on the ground. As she looked up and met the professor's eyes she felt embarrassed at the position she was in so she quickly straightened up, cleared her throat and stuck out the plate she had taken with her towards him.
"I brought some cake and tea, you need a break professor." She hadn't meant for it to come out quite so forcefully but at the same time she felt a bit embarrassed and she wanted to change the subject. To get his mind away from the fact that she hadn't taken into account that she couldn't open a door with both her hands full… Such a stupid mistake, oh what must he think of her when she couldn't even plan for that!?
Byleth's eyes took in the tea and the cake before he stuck out his head through the door and cast a glance at the sun.
"That late already…" Byleth muttered to himself, seemingly not giving Lysithea's lack of a plan any thought at all. "Maybe he hadn't noticed it" Lysithea thought to herself, relieved.
Turning around he showed her inside his room and closed the door behind her.
Lysithea stepped into the room and looked around it. Byleth's room felt a bit spartan, outfitted only with his bed, bedside table, chair, chest and desk. There wasn't much of anything else. Several different stacks of parchments were currently on his desk and one blank laying next to his inkwell and pen.
During her time at the academy and even now during the war, Lysithea had never been in his room before and hadn't really thought about the fact that she was basically barging straight into it. Shaking her head she focused her mind Remember why you are here.
Believing that she was looking around for a place to put her plate, Byleth quickly gathered all the materials on his desk and put it away for now. After he was done, he gently took the plate from Lysithea's hands and placed it on his desk.
Since he didn't usually get any visitors to his room, Byleth quickly realized that he didn't have a chair to offer Lysithea as she stood in the middle of the room. When he had placed the plate he turned around towards her and addressed this problem.
"I can go get a chair for you so you can join me at the desk or if you'd like you can use the bed and bedside table." He gestured towards his bed as he said this.
"It's fine professor, I'll just sit on the bed. No need to fuss over me." Lysithea said and sat down on Byleth's bed. The man nodded as he turned around and got to work on pouring some tea for the both of them.
As Lysithea sat on his bed her mind couldn't help but wander as she was reminded that she was alone with the professor, in his room, and she was on his bed. Feeling a blush on her cheeks she mentally slapped herself to once again focus as this was neither the time nor the place for those frivolous thoughts.
Instead she watched as the professor with an experienced hand prepared them both some tea, his with nothing added to it and hers with sugar. Lysithea noted that he had remembered how she liked her tea from their previous tea time, including the amount of sugar. She couldn't help but smile at his thoughtfulness.
"Here you go." Byleth handed her the tea and placed the cake on the bedside table before he turned back and sat down at his desk and took a sip of the tea.
She mirrored his actions and tasted the tea, the Crescent-Moon tea she had chosen tasted delightful. It was one of her favorites so she had chosen it without thinking. But now that she thought about it, she had never asked him what his favorite tea was.
She imagined that as a person who was used to drinking tea on many occasions (and was good at handling it), he had a particular taste and a few clear favorites. So imagine the surprise when she realized that he was giving her a confused look after asking him about it.
He doesn't know!? Lysithea thought to herself as she watched him in shock.
"Don't you know which tea you prefer, professor?" she asked him as Byleth sat there in silence, obviously thinking about her question as he held the cup of tea in one hand.
"I've never really thought about it until you asked. I don't know to be honest" Byleth's other hand scratched the back of his head as he shrugged.
"That can't be professor! Everyone has preferences, you know mine for instance." Byleth had apparently done his research when he had invited her for tea time. He had served her one of her favorite teas without even having to ask.
The apologetic look Byleth sent her as he looked at her, being unable to give her an answer to her question, told her that it was pointless to press the issue further.
Sighing to herself she settled for the next best thing;
"Promise me you will think about it and let me know when you have an answer, okay professor?"
He quickly promised and after that they turned back to enjoying their tea and cake as she did her best to get him to take a break from work.
She blushed as Byleth complimented her cake and told her that it was delicious, his earnest smile as he said it made her heart skip a beat. She had secretly hoped he would like it; she had learnt from Anette that Byleth had once told her that he enjoyed spicy food. While she couldn't exactly do a "spicy cake" she had toned down the sweetness for him.
They had some enjoyable small talk for a while as they ate the cake and enjoyed their tea. It was always a delight for Lysithea to just sit and chat with him as she could just be herself and speak about anything she wished with him. Forgetting all about wars and diminished lifespans.
But all things must come to an end, at least according to Byleth. After they were done with the cakes and tea, Byleth had gathered the plates and cups (despite her protests) at which point she noted the fleeting look he had given his pile of work when he didn't think she saw him. He was clearly not as relaxed as she wanted so she quickly thought about how she could take his mind off it. Soon she got an idea.
"Professor, do you trust me?"
He looked at her with a hint of curiosity but mostly sincerity as he told her that he trusted her with his life.
Happy (and touched) to hear his answer she scooted backwards on his bed until she hit the wall it was placed against. Leaning against it, Lysithea patted her lap.
"Would you place your head on my lap professor?" She knew in her mind that her invitation was innocent and done to help him relax, yet she also couldn't help but think about those times she had seen couples at the officers academy do that outside the monastery. At the time she had scoffed at their frivolous nature and lack of focus on more important things in life but a small part of her heart had felt a twinge of pain. The pain that came with the knowledge that she didn't have time for those things, no future to look forward to together with someone else.
So when Byleth raised an eyebrow and looked at her curiously, clearly a bit surprised at her invitation, she should have been able to explain that it was all for an innocent purpose. But instead she felt her heart flutter at the thought of what she had asked and with the images in her mind, her face grew red and she looked away from his gaze. "Shut up and get over here already" was all she got out.
Lysithea couldn't help but let out her annoyance at his calm and collected demeanor when she offered her lap as a pillow. He didn't seem fazed by the offer at all!
Byleth soon joined her on his bed as he put himself into a relaxed position with his head on her lap. Having his teal eyes so close and looking up at her had heart beating faster than ever before. Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself she told him to close his eyes which he quickly did.
And with that, Lysithea thought back to her childhood, to all those times her mother had helped her relax by doing just this. Thinking back to how her mother's hands had massaged her temple, head and even combed her hair with her fingers, Lysithea did her best to try and imitate this on Byleth.
When she gently touched his forehead she felt a current run through her body, her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest as it kept beating faster. Ignoring these reactions Lysithea tried to focus on gently starting to massage the area around his forehead and temple. Letting her fingers touch his skin with a slight pressure, just as she remembered her mother doing.
Doing this for a while, keeping her mind on the task at hand, she watched as Byleth seemed to relax under the work of her fingers. His eyes were closed and his face and body seemed more relaxed than it had for quite a while.
Moving on from the temple and forehead she then ran her fingers through his hair, combing it as they caressed his head. As she worked through his soft hair, she felt herself relaxing. Her hands were soon doing it all on their own without a conscious thought.
It felt really wonderful to share this moment with him. Looking down at him, relaxed on her lap she couldn't deny her own feelings for him. She didn't really know when it had happened, they had been through a lot together, supporting each other in their own ways. So perhaps it was less about a moment and more of a journey that was still going on. Perhaps she should…
As she felt her feelings surfacing, her heart fantasizing about what could be if she just reached out… her mind quickly stepped in and set a stop to that. It quickly reminded her that her future was still set in stone, her end was coming faster with every battle they fought. The effect of having two crests in her body draining more energy than she can recover. One day soon it would kill her.
"But then…, I should just tell him…" she thought, conversing with her mind on the matter.
"Tell him that you love him? Ask him to spend more time with you and ignore everything else? He needs to keep his focus on the war, to save all of Fódlan. This is bigger than yourself, Lysithea. He doesn't need more distractions. That's why you are helping him now, so he can focus on what actually matters." Her mind was quick to let her know of all the reasons she shouldn't complicate things as they were.
She felt the conflict between her heart and her mind, her desires fighting against her mind when a sudden sound from Byleth brought her back. She looked at him and noticed that he had fallen asleep. His breathing had slowed down and he looked so peaceful and relaxed.
Smiling to herself she was happy that it had worked. She continued leisurely massaging his head and combing his hair with her fingers as she leaned her head back against the wall.
Just enjoy the moment she told herself.
A knock on the door woke Lysithea and almost made her jump. She looked down on her lap and saw Byleth had opened his eyes and was now awake as well. He looked a little bit better than before. He quickly lifted his head from her lap and stood up, checked his clothes before he went to the door to see who it was.
It was a soldier with a message for Byleth. After delivering the message the soldier left them and Byleth stood in the doorway. He looked at Lysithea before he turned his attention to the letter and opened it.
She saw his eyes move as he read the message, and as he did his mouth narrowed into a thin line and he closed his eyes. It was clearly not good news he had received.
Concerned at what it could be, she stood up from the bed and walked towards him.
"What did the message say?"
Byleth opened his eyes and turned to look at her, sadness in his eyes.
"It is a report from one of our scouts in the kingdom, they report that Cornelia's forces have burned down a village when they found out that the village had helped our forces with supplies."
Oh no, Lysithea almost didn't dare to ask but…
"And the villagers…?"
Byleth grimaced as he crumbled the message in his fist. Showing off some rare fury in his eyes and face.
"Locked inside the local church as it was burnt down."
Lysithea had assumed it was bad but was still shocked when she heard what he said. She had seen a lot of horrible things in this war, witnessed many lives that had been lost but this… It was horrible to even try and imagine the situation.
She could feel a tear forming in her eyes at the thought of all those lives lost to that woman's madness, the sheer evil at killing people like that. Shivering as she suddenly felt cold, her arms wrapped around herself and she looked down upon them. Her hands were shaking. The sadness she felt for the people who had lost their lives were equally met with the anger that just wanted to explode somewhere; she really wanted to blast something with her magic.
Byleth noticed this and stepped in front of her as he offered her his handkerchief. She took it with her shaking hand and wiped the tears away before handing it back to him.
"I'm okay." She could see the concern in his eyes so she answered his silent question.
Resting a warm hand on her shoulder, he told her exactly what she needed to hear at the time.
"We will end this war Lysithea, we will bring peace back so no more lives have to be lost." His determination was clear and his eyes told her that he meant every word. Feeling the strength from him and taking comfort from it, she nodded as she let it empower her.
There will be time to grieve for all the lives lost. Soon the war will be over, she reminded herself, thinking of their current objective to invade Enbarr. Focusing on that goal was what she could do at this time.
She watched him as she said what they were both thinking at the time.
"Yes, let us bring back peace once and for all."