My Light, My everything

Chapter 1 - Slumber

Warmth. Byleth felt a comforting warmth touching her cheek, gradually spreading over her face. She felt fresh air flowing through her nostrils again, cleansing and soothing the sore feeling in her lungs. The suffocating smoke was gone, and the screams of her students were now replaced by gentle birdsong. She felt the soft linen of her own bedsheets on her skin. A soothing breeze playfully tickled her skin, leaving a gentle smile on her face. Her head felt fuzzy, but she didn't mind, she just wanted to sleep. The pain she had felt previously was now reduced to a quiet, barely noticeable throbbing in the back of her head. She didn't want to open her eyes just yet. Just lie here a little longer to enjoy this perfect moment of serenity.

A faint knocking on the door disturbed her peace. She opened her eyes, looking around the room. She was back in her own quarters, laying on her bed. Had it all been a dream? She sat up, flinching as the terrible pain in the back of her head hit her once again. So it did happen. The stinging pain made it hard for her to think about what happened, and more importantly: how she got here. As she sat there, lost in thought, the knocking returned, a bit louder now. "Professor?" a faint, familiar voice sounded from the other side of the door, "Are you feeling alright?". Byleth tried to get up, still feeling a bit hazy. Her armor lay neatly on her desk, seemingly having been removed from her by somebody, though she was still dressed in the bloodied garments she wore before she... She still couldn't quite figure out what had occurred for her to be in a state like this. Right, the door. She quickly grabbed a nearby blanket to wrap around her torn garments. Though nothing inappropriate was exposed, she still felt more comfortable wrapped up in her blanket, should the archbishop come by to check up on her.

She attempted to walk towards the door, but quickly stumbled over her swollen ankle. A pained hiss escaped her lips as she gripped the painful foot. "Professor! Are you okay?" The door burst open, a bewildered Dimitri stood in the door opening. "What are you doing out of bed? You should lie down, please. Manuela said you should get lots of sleep to recover from your concussion. Don't worry, professor Hanneman will take over your classes for a while, so that you may rest." Byleth stared blankly into space, trying to process what in the goddess' name was going on. Dimitri helped her sit back on her bed. Dimitri... She seemed to recall him at least... The future king of Fearghus, a kind, sincere young man, though she sometimes felt like he was hiding something behind his cheerfulness. She glanced at her armor, wondering if he was the man who saved her. "Your armor? I removed it for you when you... you know, so you could sleep more comfortably." he stuttered "I hope you don't mind... Of course I didn't remove your... uhm... garments under your armor... you know... I'm sorry, I should probably go" A bright red flush spread over his face as he was fumbling with his words. "It's okay Dimitri." Byleth chuckled. "R- Right." Flustered, the blonde-haired man stood up to leave. "Wait!" Byleth stood up and grabbed his hand. When he turned around to look at her, she was greeted by an overwhelming deepness in his eyes that made her forget why she even grabbed his hand in the first place. Now that they stood face to face, she realized how much taller than her he actually was. They were about the same age, but still, he was often confused to be her senior. "I... I wanted to thank you for helping me. Back there I mean." she said, surprised at her own stammering. "Of course, the situation was looking dire and I didn't-... I... did what anyone would do." the prince said. The deepness in his eyes suddenly disappeared and was now replaced with his usual cheerful demeanor, and with a quick polite bow, he turned around to leave the room, hastily closing the door behind him.

The next couple of days went by slowly. Byleth was not used to sitting still, but every single time she would sneak out to go training or fishing she was dragged back to her room by Manuela, scolding her for getting out of bed with an injury this severe. She missed teaching her students. She'd been teaching them for only half a year now, but her life as a mercenary already felt so far away. She had gotten quite attached to her students and wished to see them flourish more than anything else.

Though Manuela had instructed the blue lions not to visit her while she was recovering, her students still sometimes sneaked by to bring her little notes and tasty treats baked by Mercedes and Ashe. Even Felix came by, at first a bit disgruntled but soon enthusiastically showing her new fighting techniques he learned from Jeritza. Though emotions frankly felt like a foreign concept before her time at the monastery, her students managed to make her feel in this short period of time. They cheered her up, made her laugh and most of all they made her feel proud. Maybe it was because of the monastery ambience, maybe it had something to do with Rhea, or maybe it was because her students were around the same age as her... Growing up as a travelling mercenary she had never really known anyone her own age. She was so used to just being 'Geralt's kid' that she had even forgotten her own exact age when she came to work here. But in here she somehow felt at home.

Every time she was alone again, she just couldn't stop thinking about the deep look she saw in Dimitri's eyes the last time they spoke. There was something so... real about it... She still felt his gaze. He had come by a couple of times during her recovery, but that deepness was gone from his eyes, only his usual polite demeanor remained. He had visited her to come drink tea with her, while updating her on all the things the class had done under Hanneman's guidance that day. Every day she looked forward to listening to him enthusiastically talk about the new things they had learned. And every day she wanted to ask him about that deep stare, but she just couldn't find the words for it.