Soft chirps from crickets echoed through the now-opened door, accompanied by a gentle, cool gust of fresh air. Lysithea closed her eyes and sighed in satisfaction before opening them again. A clear, cloudless night sky was above, dotted with brightly burning stars and highlighted by a phosphorescent crescent moon.

Byleth stood up as she approached, the evening moonlight glimmering off his soft, green hair.

"Everything okay?" He held out his hand, which she held while skipping down the stone steps.

"Mhm. She's just a bit jealous that you're taking up all my time, that's all." Lysithea grinned at Edelgard, who shook her head before waving farewell to them. "Now, what shall we do? We still have some time before turning in for the night." Lysithea clapped her hands. "How about a walk? There's something special about the Monastery at night."

Byleth snickered.

"Do you mean ghosts?"

Lysithea plugged her hands on her hips.

"Please. I'm past that phase; if you think I'm still scared of such silly things, you're severely underestimating me." She glared at him for a second before bursting out in laughter, which he soon joined her in. A couple onlookers glanced in their direction, surely questioning if their heads were on straight. Composing themselves, they interlaced hands and began sauntering along at a comfortable pace away from the Cathedral where the meeting had been held. The giant, arched entrance to the Cathedral opened onto a small patio, which narrowed into a stone bridge leading to the rest of Garreg Mach. They followed it across and into the main Monastery area, to a thin, faintly lit corridor between buildings that led onwards. While they walked, Lysithea explained her progress in magic to an impressed Byleth.

"It sounds like all you have left to learn is Ragnarok."

Lysithea nodded.

"I just haven't been able to find a good text that explains how to cast it...I tried one, and I had to get a new tent after that." She grimaced. "So did Edelgard...and Dorothea...and...well, all the girls, actually. I think I still owe Edelgard some gold for that; Dorothea picked just about the fanciest tent available." Lysithea laughed nervously. "But now that you're back, you can teach me, can't you?"

"Of course. Now, where are we?" They had stepped foot into the marketplace, which was now populated with quite a few stalls; news had spread quickly about the Monastery being reoccupied, and in the last couple days, many a traveling merchant had set up shop, hoping to boost lagging sales during wartime. Lysithea tugged Byleth's hand as they explored the dizzying array of wares, ranging from various housewares to books to gardening tools.

"Ooh, what's this?" Lysithea picked up something from one of the stalls. "It looks like...some sort of puppet?" She looked at the merchant quizzically.

"Yes, yes, it's a hand puppet." He grabbed it from her and put his hand under it, adopting a sing-song voice as he talked and moved the puppet with his hand. Lysithea and Byleth watched and giggled at his antics; he soon picked up another hand puppet and reenacted a mini-play. They watched in delight as the left hand puppet feigned weakness, baiting the right hand puppet into an attack that turned on it spectacularly, ending with a victorious left puppet.

When he finished, he held the puppets eagerly towards them.

"Aww...I don't really know what we'll do with hand puppets, though," Lysithea said. "Do you have anything else?" He nodded and pointed towards the rest of his cart. Half of the cart was dedicated to various doodads and items such as the hand puppets; the other half was stocked full of small, potted flowers and floral-themed items. Her attention turned towards the rainbow of flowers: red roses, orange lilies, purple violets and lavenders, yellow sunflowers and daffodils, and blue forget-me-nots waved gently with the evening breeze.

"Byleth, look!" Lysithea pointed at the flowers, and Byleth turned his attention away from the other side of the cart to peruse them with her.

"How about a bouquet for the pretty lady? I'll give you a discount," the merchant said. Byleth nodded, rubbing his chin in thought.

"I'll take a bouquet of those," he said, pointing towards a brilliant batch of orange lilies. "Oh, and I have this, too." He palmed something and handed it to the seller, whose eyes lit up at the transaction. He turned to pack the items, leaving Lysithea looking at Byleth curiously.

"What was the extra thing you bought?"

"Oh, I'll show you later," he said, waving it off. "I hope I picked a flower you like, though. I just picked one that looked pretty."

Lysithea blushed.

"Lilies...are my favorite, actually. How did you know?"

"Heh. Got lucky, I guess. Ah," he said, noticing the merchant had returned with his items: the lilies had been wrapped into a bouquet with a matching orange ribbon, which Byleth handed to Lysithea.

"Thanks," she said happily, clutching the flowers gently to her chest. Byleth thanked the merchant, and they turned to resume their tour of the Monastery.

"So why are lilies your favorite flower?"

Lysithea looked at the lilies, a faraway look in her eyes.

"They always remind me of home," she said. "We used to always mix some lilies in when we washed our clothes, so that when they were done, they would have some of the scent. So it's always been something comforting; smelling lilies makes me feel like I'm going to be changing back into a fresh set of clothes before eating dinner, or going to bed."

"I see. I know how that feels," Byleth said. "The smell of alcohol...will always remind me of my father, as well."

"Alcohol?"

"Yes; my father loved his beverages," Byleth said, smiling sadly. "Often, he would take payment in the form of an unlimited night at the tavern of whatever town we had just served. Don't worry," he said hurriedly, noting Lysithea's look of concern. "He knew his limits; well, to be honest, I don't know if he had any limits. He never seemed drunk, or even tipsy. I think he just honestly really liked the taste of alcohol."

Lysithea squeezed his hand.

"Hey, why don't we go visit him? And we can give him the flowers, too," she said. "Come on, let's go." She pulled on his hand, leading him through the Monastery towards the cemetery. She slowed down as they reached the stairs leading down to the gravesite.

"You okay?" She squeezed his hand tightly, and he nodded, allowing her to lead him. Jeralt had been laid next to his wife, allowing the two to rest together for eternity. Their graves were separate from the main cemetery, located near a ledge with a sprawling view of the surrounding forest. A large, white marble tombstone marked the location, reading simply: "Jeralt, the Blade Breaker". Next to it was another stone, hewed from the same material, and marked with one name, "Sitri". Lysithea placed the flowers gently between the two stones, before sitting on the grass that surrounded the markers. Byleth followed suit, taking a seat next to her. She could see him holding back tears.

"Byleth, it's okay. I'm here with you."

He suddenly dropped his head into her chest, his body shaking. She held him tightly; she knew all too well the feeling of losing family.

"I'm sorry, Lysithea," he said, his voice choked with sobs. "It just feels like yesterday-" She cut him off, hugging him tightly.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. If you really love someone, you never really get over it. You just...learn how to live without them," she said sadly. Byleth nodded before a fresh wave of tears struck again, and she kept her arm around him, rocking him gently. She wasn't sure how much time had passed before he stood up abruptly and they left to return to her room, without a word spoken.

"Fire," she whispered, lighting the torch on the opposite wall and lighting up the quarters. Not much had changed from her days as a student; her desk and bookshelf were all kept in the same location, and even her four-poster bed was unmoved and adorned with the same bedsheets and blankets. It was all quite comforting, if she was honest. She dropped onto the bed with a satisfied sigh, and Byleth sat next to her.

"Lysithea..." He held out a small box, wrapped in brown paper. She recognized it from the merchant they had visited earlier. "I bought this for you earlier, as well. Since we're leaving for battle in a couple days, I figured something more permanent than the flowers would be more fitting. I was going to give it to you later, but I also wanted to thank you for visiting my parents with me."

Lysithea shook her head.

"You don't need to thank me for that, you know." She took the box anyways and opened it gently, unfolding the wrapping and opening the box.

Inside were two hair ties, similar to the ones that she used every day to tie her hair down into the two tails that dropped down over each shoulder. The ties were decorated with a large, stained glass orange lily, glinting gently in the soft red light of the room.

"Byleth...these are beautiful." She took them out and carefully tied her hair into the tails. "How does it look?"

"Amazing," he said, looking straight into her eyes. She blushed and quickly took them off, gingerly putting them back into their box.

"Well, you have to say that. I'll get a better idea when I wear them tomorrow. Now, shall we get ready for bed? I'm going to change, so you better turn around." She glared at him, and he held up his hands in surrender, turning to face the wall. She reached down to remove her shoes, pulling them off and placing them to the side before shrugging off her purple dress, the wide, billowy arms flowing gently to the floor as she stepped out of it. She tossed it aside before reaching to pull off her white leggings. Standing in her smallclothes, she checked on Byleth, who was still staring resolutely at the wall.

"No peeking," she huffed.

"I'm not," he said, and she could hear him rolling his eyes.

She quickly threw her nightgown over her smallclothes.

"Okay, I'm all done." Byleth turned around and now it was Lysithea's turn to face the wall while he changed. She tapped her foot impatiently as she heard his clothes falling to the floor.

Hm...maybe I can sneak a peek; it's not like guys have anything to hide on the top half, anyways.

She turned her head ever so slowly, finally stopping when she could see a glimpse of him in the corner of her eye. Luckily for her, he had his back turned to her. She glazed over his back, admiring the contours of his muscles as they contracted and relaxed. Dark scars were drawn all over, from long slash wounds to small puncture wounds, undoubtedly from years spent serving as a mercenary. He bent down to change his pants, and with an eep, Lysithea turned back around quickly. Soon, he was finished, and they climbed into bed to retire for the night. Lysithea lay her head on him, her breathing syncing with the rise and fall of his chest. He ran a hand through her hair, stroking it in a slow, soothing cadence. His other hand snaked around her side, falling on her stomach and resting there comfortably.

"Good night, Lysithea."

"Good night, Byleth." She turned her head and kissed his chest, and he replied into her hair, bringing a warm feeling through Lysithea's body. "It's hard to believe we'll be marching to battle in just two days' time, huh?"

"All the more reason to enjoy this now."

She nodded in agreement, closing her eyes with a satisfied smile.

If there's anything I've learned, it's to cherish these moments, for we never know when they can be taken away.

Sorry for the long delay; many things have happened. But most importantly, a couple weeks ago, I lost someone very dear to me. They hd been sick for a while, but I was able to come home in time to see them one last time. Since then, I haven't had much motivation to write; I'm fortunate in that I've gone through my life without losing anyone super close until now, so I've been struggling to cope. That's also why there's no opening recipe in this chapter; I just couldn't do it this time.

As a result, this chapter changed directions from what I originally planned, as I decided to be selfish and explore how Byleth was handling Jeralt's death, and that led into Lysithea's views on it as well, as a way of trying to reason through it myself.

MathAtMidnight: Edelgard is definitely so complex as a character, and I wish she wasn't shoehorned into the role that the game puts her in. Not just for her own character, but also for the development of other characters; there's just so many avenues to explore, and hopefully I'll be able to do some of them justice.

In light of everything happening, with the virus and protests now going on, I just want to stress to everyone to cherish your happy, wonderful moments in life; those memories are what keep us going in hard times like these.

As always, please RR and stay safe.

-elementaryprincess