Hello there!

This is just a short story that has been in my mind for a while so I decided to put it into words.

English isn't my primary language so it might not be as fluent as I'd like.

Hope you enjoy!

"Professor, professor! It is so good to see you again!"

With the bandits defeated and the loot they had stolen recovered, the Blue Lions who had all come back to Garreg Mach Monastery had finally been able to make good on the promise they had made many years ago. The happiness Lysithea could see on their faces as they gathered around Byleth and greeted him for the first time since he went missing, was as evident as a clear day. While the setting for their reunion was not as they had intended, that hardly seemed to matter to them.

Annette's happiness was the most obvious one which was not surprising since that woman's energy was something Lysithea had always been impressed with. She was so excited at the fact that Byleth was in front of her that she couldn't stand still. The pure joy in her face as she greeted him had Lysithea smiling.

Not to say that the other Blue lions were dishonest in their actions, far from it. She could see the different personalities shape how they greeted their former professor.

Sylvain had smiled at Byleth and put his hand on his shoulder as he greeted him, shaking Byleth's hand energetically with the other. Felix had settled for a silent affirmative nod that probably said more to Byleth than it did to Lysithea. He seemed happy as he accepted it and gave his own nod in return.

Ingrid on the other hand had greeted him with happiness in her voice as she smiled at him, her weary face was probably an indication that this happiness was a rare occurrence in her life nowadays. Ashe had a similar reaction to seeing his former professor. The bags under his eyes were familiar and told her of many sleepless nights in his life.

Mercedes, ever the best friend of Anette, was keeping half an eye on her as she as well greeted her former professor with the happiness and smile Mercedes was known for during her academy days.

Meanwhile Dimitri, or what was left of the prince she had met during the academy, was nowhere to be seen. Probably off making sure no bandit was still alive.

She felt a chill down her spine at the mere thought of him. He was hardly a man, more a husk of pure madness, or maybe a beast. In her mind that seemed a fitting description of him. A beast that could very well turn around and stab you in the gut at any time. She feared what he might do, either to herself or anyone else she knew and had to fight her first instinct of putting as much distance between him and herself as possible when she first saw him.

The Blue Lions had Byleth surrounded as he seemed to be having trouble keeping track of all of them at the same time, yet Lysithea could see the happiness on his face as well. He hadn't smiled all that much during their academy days but she could see it clearly now. Both his face and his smile told her all that she needed to know, he was where he wanted to be, surrounded by his friends.

"It's nice isn't it, to see this happiness even during these dark times?" Lysithea heard Marianne's voice next to her. Just like Lysithea she was standing at a respectable distance away from the group, letting them have their moment of reunion in peace.

She turned towards her blue haired friend as Marianne watched the group, her hands clasped in front of her body. Lysithea could see a rare smile on her face, one which caught her by surprise at just how beautiful she looked with it.

Marianne had changed much over the years and it wasn't that she hadn't been good looking before. It was more the fact that her personality and demeanor had changed much from how it had first been when she met her all those years ago. Seeing that smile today really made it clear just how big a difference her state of mind was in compared to before and it was good to see.

While they had regularly been exchanging letters, keeping as much in contact as they could during these five years of war and uncertainty, they hadn't been able to meet each other. Lysithea hadn't wanted to leave her family alone and Marianne had more or less been forbidden to leave for her own safety by her adoptive father.

As Lysithea thought back on all their time together during the academy, she had never seen such a pure smile on Marianne's face which thinking about it was just sad because it fit her so well.

"Yes it is." Lysithea answered as she too watched the scene unfold in front of her.

To see such honest and pure joy in people was something rare these days and she had to go back to her academy days to remember the last time she saw those pure feelings. It was good to see it again.

As she watched the group, her eyes couldn't help but wander back towards Byleth as she saw him standing in the middle. He looked to be the same man as he was five years ago, he didn't look any worse for the wear like one would have expected for someone missing for so many years. It was like he had simply disappeared and now… reappeared out of nowhere. She was dying to know what had happened but kept her cool as she knew the time for questions would come, but not now.

She was still half expecting this to be just another dream where she would reach out towards him and then suddenly wake up, finding herself back at home with the knowledge that he had fallen into a deep ravine, his body never to be found.

She didn't want it to be a dream, she didn't want this to end. So she kept herself locked in place, letting the good feelings she felt wash over her as she let her eyes stay on his happy face. Giving herself the chance to be happy in this rare moment.

"What are you two doing over there, come on! Join us!"

Suddenly Lysithea was brought out of her thoughts as the voice of Annette brought her back as the young woman had run over to them, grasping one of Marianne's and Lysithea's hands with her own as she dragged the two of them over to the rest of the Blue lions who made space for them to join.

Suddenly thrust into the spirit of things both Lysithea and Marianne felt a bit off from the rest of them but as they were both greeted with the sight of Byleth standing in front of them, very much alive and real, they both couldn't be happier.

"Marianne, Lysithea, it is so good to see the both of you." He greeted them both with a smile as Lysithea felt her head spin a bit. She couldn't believe it. His voice was so clear, slightly different from how she remembered it but very much familiar.

Lysithea had to fight the urge of leaping into his arms to make sure he was real and let him know how much she had missed him, instead she controlled herself and answered him.

"Likewise professor, I'm so glad you're alive! I can hardly believe you are alive after seeing what happened to you." Lysithea said with a happy voice and before she could continue Sylvain quickly cut in as he asked him "Yes, what happened to you professor? We all saw you fall, where have you been these five years?"

He was quiet for a moment, as he seemed to be thinking about his answer until he settled for answering "I've been asleep."

Lysithea could see confusion on all of their faces as they tried to process what he had said, he had been asleep for five years? But as she was going to ask a follow up question she heard voices coming towards them, it was Seteth, Flayn, Gilbert and Alois flanked by a group of knights of Seiros and Kingdom soldiers.

Lysithea cursed the timing and knew that the moment was over (for now), it was time to get back to their cold reality. She snuck a glance at Byleth once more as he watched the people coming towards them.

He must have felt her eyes on him because his own caught hers fleetingly before she quickly averted them, feeling a faint blush on her cheeks at the embarrassment of being caught looking at him like that. Fortunately Byleth soon had other things on his mind.

Later that same day

"Lysithea?"

She jumped at the sound of his voice and turned around to see Byleth standing in the doorway to the library. His eyes were focused on her, as he noticed that he scared her he quickly apologized as he walked towards her.

"It's alright professor, I just didn't expect anyone here."

He nodded in understanding as he settled in next to her and looked around at the chaotic mess that was the library. While bandits weren't interested in stealing books they were more interested in wreaking havoc. Much of the books were still strewn about as Lysithea had focused on slowly making order of the shelves that she could handle on her own. Some shelves had been toppled and/or broken and would need to be repaired or replaced before they could add any books to them.

"I can't understand that they would feel the need to mess up the library if they weren't going to steal anything. Damn bandits…" Lysithea couldn't help but mutter to herself in frustration as she followed his eyes and looked around the room. There was a lot of work left before this mess had been cleaned up.

She could feel his eyes settle on her. Before she could say anything else he surprised her by saying:

"I didn't know it was this bad, I'll help you tomorrow."

Lysithea shook her head and said that she could handle it herself. Besides, he had more important matters to handle than cleaning up the library.

He gave her a small smile as he told her that he lived here too. He was going to help with cleaning up just like the rest of them.

Lysithea couldn't help but smile back at him in gratitude as she felt her body starting to react to the fact that she was closer to him then she had realized. She could swear that the heat generated from his body carried over to her as it caressed her skin through her clothes.

As he looked out the window at the rising moon in the sky it seemed he remembered something so he turned towards her and said:

"I know it's getting late but do you have some time to talk? We haven't really been able to do that since this morning."

It was true that besides meeting him and exchanging a few words after their battle with the bandits that morning they hadn't really been able to talk since they had both been busy with various tasks all day. She had really wanted to go and find him several times during the day but something (or someone) had always come between as she was going to talk to him.

Lysithea nodded as he led her out of the library.

They found a secluded part of the monastery, near the goddess tower where they could stand and talk as they watched the surrounding grounds.

"I'm happy you came back, Lysithea."

Her surprise at hearing his words soon changed to happiness at hearing him say it. She watched him in profile as he looked out over the mountains surrounding the monastery.

Her mind couldn't help but focus on silly details such as the fact that she could swear that he had the exact hairstyle as she remembered from her memories and dreams. The hair looked so soft that she wanted to reach out and touch it.

It was so uncanny to think about how unchanged he was and yet the sense of familiarity gave her a rare sense of calm. After he had disappeared she had been surprised at how hard the event had hit her personally.

Not that she meant that she shouldn't have cared about what happened to him. It was just such a big change for her not to have him in her daily life anymore. Having to continue living and surviving in the times that followed, knowing that he was gone, had been tough for her and even her parents had been worried about how it had affected her. She had cried so much, spent so many sleepless nights cursing even the goddess for taking him away to wherever he had been. On occasion she had found herself praying to her for his safe return. And now he was here with her again.

It was clear that he had become an important person in her life in just a year, she just hadn't realized how much until he was gone. But now…

Her trail of thoughts were interrupted as Byleth turned his body and faced towards her as he continued.

"I know it was difficult for you to switch class to the Blue Lions and that the group's already established friendship and camaraderie could be a bit of a barrier to work through. They are good kids…" he caught himself mid-sentence and corrected himself. "... people and they like you. Just as they like Marianne."

Lysithea let go of his gaze as it was time for her to look out towards the unchanged mountains around the monastery. It was true what Byleth said about their tightly knit group being a bit of an obstacle for her (and Marianne) as they had joined later in the year but they had all welcomed both of them.

Lysithea had felt welcome and had developed friendly terms with all of them. But there still had been something of a barrier, preventing her from deepening her friendship with them beyond the superficial one. Lysithea of course knew what it was, the fact that she hadn't really joined for the members of the Blue Lions. She had joined for Byleth's sake.

Lysithea took a deep breath as she turned her head up towards the sky and watched the moon, staring at its silvery glow in the night sky.

"I appreciate what you are saying professor but you don't need to worry about that. I'm not here for their sake. I'm here for you."

Lysithe turned back towards him and could see surprise on his face.

"I don't care about the Kingdom or Dimitri. To be honest I'm scared about him suddenly snapping and killing us all." Lysithea thought about that first moment when she saw the prince. She could hardly believe her eyes and the look she saw in his eyes… it had made her take an involuntary step back and want to flee. He was dangerous, not only for those he deemed enemies but also for everyone else.

"Frankly I think he is a lost cause and rallying around him is in my mind foolhardy but…" She met Byleth's eyes as she finished what she wanted to say.

"During all of those years you were gone, the only reason for hope in my life was the promise we made back at the academy. A promise that we would both return here, to meet again. That is why I'm here professor, for you and no one else."

As she studied Byleth's face, he seemed to be taking in her words and contemplating them; she suddenly realized what she had said and how it could be interpreted. An immediate blush came to her face as she averted her eyes and face from him.

She had been so happy to see him earlier today, that he had returned as promised. She had been riding the emotional rollercoaster between the happiness of seeing him alive and the fear of it being a dream all day. It was starting to take its toll on her, her rational mind getting increasingly tired at dealing with the different emotions in her body. She hadn't intended to say it quite as she did but at the same time she was glad to have been honest with him.

Suddenly she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder, she turned her head slightly to see Byleth's gloved hand there.

"Thank you Lysithea, for telling me. I know it can be hard to see at this time but I believe that deep down Dimitri is still a good man and while he might be caught in darkness at this time, I believe we can lead him back to us and end this war together."

Lysithea couldn't see Byleth but could hear the gratitude and resolve in his voice as she focused on his hand, adding her own on top of his for a brief moment. While she might not share his strong belief in the prince, she knew she trusted him fully. So if that is what he wanted to do then she would do all she could to help.

She turned her body towards him, his hand leaving her shoulder as she looked up at him and answered. "And I will help in whatever way I can, professor. I can promise you that."

The smile he sent her in response melted down the last parts of her control that had kept her from hugging him the moment she saw him that morning. She took a step forward and enveloped her arms around him as she put her face against his chest. The warmth that met her was soothing to her mind and body as she relaxed and let herself focus on nothing else but him. Years of grief and worry over his fate washed away as she finally felt him in his arms. He was real. This time she hadn't been woken up just as she would feel his body beneath her fingers. Byleth actually was in her arms.

She could feel him tense in surprise at first but soon he relaxed and put his arms around her as well. They stood there for a while, both seemingly enjoying the comfort it brought.

But in the end she felt Byleth let go of her as he suggested that it was time to get some rest. They had a long day tomorrow. Disgruntled at him breaking off the hug, she knew he was right and that they couldn't stand there all night. It had just felt so good to be in his safe arms.

He led her back to her room and wished her a good night before he left for his own quarters.

As Lysithea sat down on her bed, she couldn't help but feel a smile grow on her lips as she thought back to the feeling of having his arms around her. It had been so warm, so comforting. In a way she had never felt before.

Byleth was back. She repeated that many times to herself, over and over.

And with that thought in her mind Lysithea had no trouble falling asleep for the first time in a long while.