Levi knew he was going to die, but he did not feel pain for himself. Rather, he felt it for young woman who would die as well.
Her screams had echoed in his brain as a reminder of his failure to protect her.
"Isn't it ironic," she said bitterly, "that I, the strongest female, the most fearless and ruthless, when faced with death is reduced to nothing but a weak girl? I suppose dying is the one fear that even the strongest face."
She turned her head toward his and if Levi was thankful for one thing in that moment, it was the chance to see her eyes one last time.
"Levi, promise me, please, that we will meet again, in another life or in heaven or hell. It may be foolish thing to ask of you, but death is upon us so it doesn't matter anymore anyway. Lie to me if you must, but it is all I want to hear."
Levi wasn't sure if he believed in God or not, but if He did exist, He had abandoned him long ago. Yet, in this moment he desperately wanted to comfort this young woman, he wanted to give her one last hope to hold onto before she died.
So he murmured, "I promise," and felt relief in her content sigh.
What he said was neither a promise nor a lie. Levi wasn't sure what it was, but, in his final act of foolishness and hope, he knew that he wished to see her again as well.
And with that, they died, leaving behind a world that, with all its cruelty, Levi had found beauty in because of her.
Levi had thought that if there were a God and heaven and hell, he would go to hell. However, upon first look at his surroundings he knew he was heaven and he was surprised but happy.
The landscape extended as far as he could see, Levi thought it probably went on forever, with rolling hills covered in bright grass and sprinkled with small, pastel colored flowers. It looked like it came right out of a fantasy novel, though it was heaven, what did he expect?
There was no breeze but the grass moved like the ocean and the air smelled of tangerines and vanilla. The sky was not blue, nor was it white or any color he could truly define. It was a shimmering, swirling expanse of rainbow and even more colors that Levi could not name, sort of like what one would see in a bubble. The sky was iridescent, but it was also so much more than that.
It was beautiful, extremely so. But it was also terrifying, because Levi was utterly alone. He thought it strange that even in such a beautiful place, he would still be afraid because of its emptiness. He thought of calling out for someone, but immediately wrote it off as foolish, for there was clearly no one there and whom would he call for anyway?
And than he thought of Mikasa, and for a moment he felt hope because if even he could make it to heaven, without a doubt she would have as well.
"Mikasa! Mikasa!"
He called for her over and over, blindly stumbling through the grass until he couldn't run anymore and his voice was hoarse. He realized suddenly he was crying because he was scared, lonely, and desperately wanted to keep his promise to Mikasa and see her again.
Sitting on the ground, it was then he realized he was naked. He thought he should feel embarrassed, but strangely he didn't. Instead, he felt a little vulnerable. It was natural, the nakedness, and it wasn't too bad. And then he noticed another thing about his state. His body was much like the sky; it was like the same iridescent, indefinable swirling had been painted over his body. It was much more opaque, he could still make out the lines and ridges on his skin, but the swirling captivated him. Levi wondered if this was what all angles looked like.
And than another angle appeared before him, but this one was far more beautiful than Levi could have ever imagined, with dark hair and stormy eyes and skin that seemed to glow from the inside out.
"Mikasa?" His voice was barely a whisper. He wasn't sure if the woman in front of him was real or merely a projection, but when she caressed his face and made his skin burn from the contact he knew it was her.
"Levi."
That one word was all he needed. In a flash they were hugging, holding each other as if they would be pulled apart again, which Levi thought was entirely possible. In this strange heaven Mikasa's warmth was the familiar comfort that he had longed for.
He held both sides of her face, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, admiring how the iridescent swirls moved under his touch.
"How did you find me? How?"
She shrugged like it was the simplest question in the world. "I heard you calling for me, so I came."
He ran his hands along her body over and over, reassuring himself that this really was Mikasa, not a ghost. They kissed, savoring the warmth and feeling the joy that grew from reuniting.
"I can't believe it's you. I can't believe it," she rested her forehead against his, "I never thought that even after death I could be this happy."
"I told you we would meet again. I promised you Mikasa, my love, I promised. And I will never leave you again."
Levi noticed that Mikasa did not look like the broken girl he had lay next to before they died. He was glad to see her in this way, so beautiful and ethereal and content. He thought he would burst from the emotions, and so in their happiness and love they cried tears of gold, and where the droplets fell flowers grew.
