Before we get started, I just want to say that Erwin and Levi are human too. Don't automatically assume that they won't cry no matter what. Enjoy!

We were so happy. But they had only been given a week away, a short reprieve from the hassle of the Legion. A time of bliss to celebrate their new life together. Levi's smile was light, but it existed nonetheless. They came easier after the last week, especially when he glanced to his left - to the man he had married.

Erwin rode with ease, his shoulders loose, eyes bright, a sweet smile curling up his lips. Rarely was he ever so relaxed. It was a good thing to see. The week away had done wonders for them. "Such a nice day," Erwin sighed, that smile broadening a little as his bright blue orbs flicked over to Levi, sparkling in a way that knocked Levi's breath away.

"It is. A good day for riding." Bane, Levi's horse, tossed his head back, almost like he was agreeing.

"Next time we have a long break, we should head back up there."

Levi nodded, warmth bubbling in his chest, the small smile growing a little wider. "I'd like that…"

"Me too. Come on. I'm sure they're waiting on us."

Their heels dug into Braveheart and Bane's sides, urging them into a gallop. They moved with easy strides, eating up the ground until it began to blur beneath them. No words passed - there was no needs. They were wasted breaths more often than not, especially when they could read each other so well, something that had come from years of battles and love.

Levi's fingers touched the slim band of silver on his finger, burying an embarrassingly wide and open smile into the folds of his green cloak. I'm glad you convinced me. It was a good choice. One I won't regret.

The road changed beneath the horses' hooves, from a heavy thunder against hard-packed dirt to a clatter against cobblestones. The trees, laden with leaves and branches bending with near-ripe fruit, began to thin out as they drew closer. Hands tugged at the reins, pulling their horses up to a slower pace as they rounded a bend, the base abruptly looming into view as always. They glanced over at each other. Those sky eyes were bright, that smile sad. "Home, sweet home."

Gunmetal grays rolled in mock exasperation at the blonde. "Idiot."

"Ah, but I'm your idiot."

"Sap."

"Can't deny that."

Had they not been on their horses, Levi might have smacked the blonde commander. Instead, his silver eyes rolled and he let the clop of hooves against stone fill their comfortable silence as he glanced around. Normally, there were at least a few people milling around on the base walls, or even walking around outside the gate. Both areas were vacant.

There was no damage to the small castle, so it ruled out Titans… But he couldn't see or even hear any signs of activity. The hairs on his arms and the back of his neck rose as a familiar sensation started to burn through his body. The feeling of being watched. Of being eyed up as prey. Of being stalked. Levi jerked around, eyes narrowed with suspicion. He couldn't see a thing. The forest was empty of anything that could be considered a danger.

"Erwin…"

"I know… something is wrong. But there are no signs of damage…."

Narrowed gray eyes swept across the grounds outside the castle, endlessly searching, never finding. It was unnerving as fuck. Every inch of his body screamed to move, to get away from the place where he had suddenly become prey.

A low groan of wood brought his head snapping back forward, body taut as a bowstring. One of the heavy oak doors swung open, a lithe body slipping out a second later. Zoe stared at them with wide, amber eyes and an open mouth, her brown hair positively chaotic. Blood was splattered across her uniform. "Get outta here! Go!" Someone hidden by the door leapt out and tackled Zoe to the ground.

Levi jerked on the reins, no time for apologies or being careful, no time to rescue Zoe as he wheeled Bane around, even as the whir of maneuvering gear filled the air. Boot-clad feet slapped the ground all around them, too many to count. A ring of soldiers formed around them, blocking paths of escape - on foot.

Levi tensed, ready to send Bane into a gallop past and over the soldiers when one whipped a rifle off his back, another soldier following in suit, then another. Fuck. Surrounded on all sides by soldiers with guns pointed at them. No chance of escape.

Gray eyes narrowed, raking over the pristine uniforms, over the unknown faces, over the green-and-white unicorns emblazoned on their shoulders and breast pockets. You sons of bitches. The corporal glanced at the blonde beside him.

Erwin's jaw was tight, eyes hard. He was definitely attempting to frantically form a plan, an escape route, something. Trying to figure out what the fuck was going on, even as his arm rose in a reluctant surrender. Sky blue orbs flicked over to Levi, silently urging. Levi bit his lip harshly, choking back protests and curses as he dropped the reins to raise his arms as well. The moment he did, several soldiers leapt toward them.

Rough hands jerked at them, dragging them from their saddles to the ground. A flare of indignation built up as Levi bared his teeth like a feral animal, allowing his careful facade to break for a split second. One soldier twisted his arms behind his back until pain shot through his shoulders.

A MP stepped forward from the ranks, boots clicking against the stones, eyes bright with satisfaction as he stopped before Erwin. The small clicks of dozens of safeties were deafening in the silence. Levi's breath caught, icy dread coursing through his veins. What the fuck are they doing?

"Commander Erwin Smith, you are under arrest for high treason against the crown."

No…

"You will come peacefully or we will use any force necessary to bring you into custody."

No.

The world was frozen in place. All his air had fled, sucker punched out by those words. By that death sentence.

Levi jerked forward, fighting the hands that held him back, fingers itching to do so damn much. To rip their throats out. To take a knife and drive it through their hearts. To slaughter every single one of them until he was surrounded by corpses and drenched in blood. But he couldn't break that damn hold, now held back by three MPs. He couldn't escape, couldn't budge, couldn't bludgeon those pompous assholes.

"What the fuck are you idiots talkin' about?!" he snarled, eyes bright with cold fury. The hands holding him jerked him back, tightened around his wrists and shoulders, tugged his arms even further. The muscles in his arms screamed as they threatened to tear beneath the strain and force. But fuck it, he didn't give a damn.

His struggles doubled as two MPs stalked forward and grabbed Erwin's shoulders. An inconspicuous carriage rolled up. It looked just like any other, indistinguishable right down to the damn wood they had used and the clothes the driver wore. They shoved Erwin toward it.

"Erwin!"

The blonde's head whipped back as the scream ripped out of Levi, tearing his throat raw. He didn't care how weak he was, how every damn MP could see every fucking emotion that flashed across his face. His control was gone, completely and utterly destroyed. And he didn't care. An impatient MP MP shoved at Erwin's shoulder, pushing him forward. Levi's struggles intensified. The corporal heaved against those arms, every inch of his body straining, even as more hands caught his body, threatening to tear his muscles from the force they used. "No! No! Dammit Erwin, fight!"

It didn't matter that fighting was a death sentence. That every emotion was visible, that his shell had dropped and everything was plain to see. Fuck concealing. Fuck being controlled, contained, emotionless. Because damn it, that was his husband.

"Erwin!" Helpless, unable to break the grip of five men, Levi could only watch as Erwin slid into the carriage, never losing his dignity or grace. Only when the door slammed shut behind Erwin did they release Levi. He couldn't have moved, even if guns hadn't been pointed at his back, ready to fire the second he moved.

Numb despair rooted him in place, turned his blood to icy sludge in his veins. His knees threatened to buckle beneath him as the driver snapped the reins and the carriage began to rumble forward. Familiar footsteps caught his attention as their owner rushed up to his side, but Levi couldn't tear his eyes away. They were for that carriage, for Erwin only.

The commander twisted around, face almost pressed to the window as blues and grays met for a moment. There was so much fear, sorrow, anger in that split second. So much love. And then a MP jerked the curtain shut, severing that final thread that had been keeping them connected.

Levi crashed to the ground. Pain flared in his knees, dull compared to the agonizing ripping in his chest as a void formed there, abrupt and all too fucking real. All his strength was gone. He was an empty husk that couldn't even be bothered to attempt to be strong.

A tentative hand touched his shoulder - too small, too thin, too soft. Levi couldn't tear his eyes away from the carriage, even though he could no longer see his blonde. Even when it disappeared round that bend they had just travelled mere minutes before. Unsuspecting. Still high on love.

The sound disappeared. It wasn't abrupt - no, that would have been too easy. Instead, it faded until he barely noticed its departure. Levi's next breath was a gasp, a useless and pointless one. His chin slowly rose, face black as he stared into Zoe's deep brown eyes. Thors normally exuberant, excited orbs were empty, dull. "He's… they'll execute him in four days. T-They said we could visit in three."

A low moan rolled through Levi's chest as he doubled over until his forehead met the warm, filthy stones beneath him. But despite the heat, he was frozen on the inside. "Erwin…" We were so happy. Should've run away. So happy…

The cells were as shit as he remembered from when Eren Yeager had been held - dark, dank, and filled with the sound of rattling chains, low mutters, and screams of anger, desperation, or fear. Two guards - Military Police of course - stalked with him, one staling ahead with keys jangling against his hip as the others followed behind, fingers never far from the gun on his thigh. Cold grays burned a harsh glare into the MP's back as he ranked over that form again and again.

A uniform that would never darken with blood or filth. Gear that was barely used, gleaming in the torchlight. Hands pristine, unstained by filth. A heart unburdened by the guilt and horrors and deaths a Scout carried.

Bastards. Lower than the scum of the Underground. Those fuckers. Had he been able to sneak a knife, levi would have driven it through that bastard's neck in a heartbeat, maybe he could have even gotten the other moron before he managed to pull the trigger. But he was under watch around the clock to prevent any insane escape attempts - so no knife. Damn.

The MP in front abruptly stopped outside a cell, identical to all the others if one ignored the armed guards who stood nearby. Baldie jammed the key into the lock. Tumblers twisted and turned and a click filled the air.

With a careful eye on Levi, the MP pulled the door open, just a few inches before Levi shoved forward and slipped into the pathetically illuminated cell. His chest tightened with every step, body trembling with anticipation.

Cloth scraped against stone as a head rose, blonde hair chaotic, greasy, filthy. Dull blues flicked up, tired and wary. But not broken. No, they still held that beautiful spark of life. Those glorious blue orbs flared wide in disbelief, joy. "L-Levi…"

The corporal lurched forward as the cell door slammed shut. Chains rattled as they flung their arms around each other, bodies trembling with silent sobs and an impossible amount of emotions. The last three days had fried Levi's nerves, drowned him in confusion and panic at the news that still had yet to fully sink in. But that didn't matter.

That arm, that warmth he'd longed for were finally there, familiar and comforting and protective. Levi couldn't hold back, couldn't stay emotionally constipated. Tears, foreign after so damn long, seared at his eyes as they demanded release. Because Erwin, his comrade, friend, husband, soulmate, was going to die. We were so happy…

Erwin shuddered against him as damp spots appeared on his shirt He pulled back a second later, pressed their foreheads together. All strength between them was gone, hands shaking violently as Levi cupped Erwin's face.

Their mouths crashed together, soft lips and frantic movements as they fought to memorize every inch of each other. The texture of that golden hair. The exact shade of those sweet baby blues. Where callouses lay on Erwin's hand and where they faded into soft but warm skin. The scent beneath the filth, of summer days, gentle winds, and a fresh rain.

Levi couldn't help the shaking that rocked his body as they pulled apart, his heart in the process of being crushed by his ever-constricting chest. Tears painted his cheeks, few in number but heavy with their proverbial weight. Only for Erwin, just like so many other things. Those tears dried too quick as Levi drank Erwin in. As he forced the block out of his throat.

"I won't live without you… I can't." He was dependent on Erwin. On the chest he pressed to his ear after each and every expedition to feel that steady, calm beat. On the voice that could be so rough and authoritative, yet it softened when Erwin read to him until he slipped into sleep. On the warmth that came when his strong arm encircled Levi. And that dependence was going to kill him.

The fingers against his back tightened, the tremors doubling in strength. "No… Levi, you have to. We promised. Don't… Don't lose hope, remember?"

Gray eyes crewed closed, harsh teeth dug into his lip. "Erwin. Please, don't make me live without you… please." Already he wanted to put the muzzle of a pistol in his mouth and pain the walls with brain and bone and blood.

"Levi…" A hard, dry sob rocked Erwin. Their fingers tightened in each other's shirts as they pressed closer, never wanting to let go. "Live, Levi. Live for me, for Zoe. This world still needs you. Please. That's… that's my final wish."

Levi's hand smashed into the stone brick wall, the pain meaningless compared to the torment that would come from what Erwin was asking of him. "You son of a bitch," he managed to whisper, "I'll never forgive myself for this."

"Thank you." Tender, chapped lips skimmed across his forehead. Blood trickled through his mouth as his lip split beneath his teeth.

How can I live without you? "I love you so fucking much. I haven't said it enough, not even close, but… damn it Erwin, you're my fucking world."

"I love you too Levi. With all my heart."

"More than life." More than the freedom he had longed for ever since he had realized there was more to the world than the filth of the Underground.

The hand on his back disappeared with a rattle of chains. The corporal sank back until he could see Erwin's face in the dim light, see the timeless devotion in his eyes. Erwin held his hand out, palm up. The skin was dirty but the light still caught on the silver surface of the ring.

"Take it."

Levi froze, eyes wide as they snapped from those determined blues to the pristine metal and back. "No…"

"Levi, please, for me. Take it. I want you to have it." When the corporal failed to move, Erwin pressed his thumb to the ring and awkwardly pushed it up, straining until it passed over his knuckle and came free from the place where it should have remained forever. The commander pressed the warm band into Levi's hand. "And this."

Levi stared, speechless as the bolo tie slipped over Erwin's head and settled on his palm. Only then did Erwin curl his fingers over the objects as he smiled down at Levi through his tears. How can you look so happy?

"I love you so much, Levi."

He almost couldn't speak, couldn't find words. There was so little time, no hope at all. "I'll always love you, Erwin Smith." His voice cracked and wavered in ways he never would have allowed under normal circumstances. But he plowed onward anyways, emotions be dammed. "That next life you wanted… I hope we get it. I hope we meet and fall in love all over again."

His hand clenched around the ring and the bolo tie. Keys rattled behind them. "Finish up quick," a MP growled from the safety of torchlight.

No time life.

We were so happy.

Erwin's lips were soft, his cheeks finally dry. "Stay strong."

"I always do… Erwin, I'm coming tomorrow. You can't make me stay away."

That mouth he had long since memorized twitched up into a sad smile. "I know."

"I love you."

"In this life and the next."

Their fingers dragged at each other's palms as Levi rose. For a split second, all the agony, despair, and terror he'd been fighting down for days finally shot to the surface. Levi choked it back down, squeezed Erwin's ring and tie, and slipped out of the cell. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think. His movements were little more than reflex. A blank, stony expression took over, an attempt to hide the fact that his heart was being torn in two. He didn't care if he succeeded or failed. It didn't really matter anymore. The two MPs were waiting, impatience in their cold, uncaring eyes. Baldie stepped forward and relocked the cell door.

Dying silver eyes flicked back to the darkness of the cell, to the blonde commander who crouched on the floor. Tears streaked his cheeks, those beautiful sky blue orbs clenched shut. Any air that might have remained in Levi's lungs instantaneously vanished. Lips parted, throat bobbed. No words. "Stay strong." Easier said than done.

Features reschooled themselves into the image of disinterest and boredom. Muscles tightened, nails bit into his palms. His eyes still betrayed him, but no one would bother to look too closely. Not until he returned to the Legion anyway. It took everything he had, every tattered scrap of strength to keep walking and keep his face cool as his heart steadily shattered and crumbled into a fine, numb powder.

We were so happy.

Despite the massive crowd, silence hung heavy over the courtyard. Thick gray clouds hung overhead, laden with rain as they brought erratic winds with them. A line of Military Police stood before the wooden platform, guns ready in the event of unrest. More stood atop the surrounding rooftops, bright against the flat gray backdrop.

Levi stood at the front, Zoe by his side. His uniform weighed him down, a burden that he nearly couldn't bear. He never wanted to wear it again, but he wanted, needed to give a farewell of respect, of love. Erwin deserved that much at the very least.

Whispers erupted through the crowd as all their eyes found the man of the hour. They had allowed him to clean up, to wash the filth from his body and change into a clean white shirt and pair of pants. Erwin had once joked that he would go to his death well-dressed. Looks like you're kinda getting that.

A white blindfold concealed his eyes, left him in the dark. The MPs pressed Erwin down onto his knees, face turned to the crowd. And those bastards removed the blindfold. Cerulean orbs fluttered, startled at the sunlight. Dark circles hun beneath them, foreign and out of place, but those deep blues were unbroken. Alive.

Grays and blues met. All noise died away - the thunder, the wind, the whispers, the voice that carried over the crowd to tell all of the crimes that Erwin had committed. None of it mattered. Only Erwin. His numb lips moved, forming worlds that Erwin would never hear again:

"I love you."

Erwin's mouth twitched up in a smile, one only for Levi. A gun's safety clicked. Too fast. Everything was happening too damn fast. His lungs weren't expanding quite right. Heart was failing to beat properly. Every inch of his body was burning with cold. Those smiling lips shifted to form familiar words:

"I love you too."

His stump arm twitched forward, rising in a way that was all too familiar. The other parts were long gone, but Levi could still see it happening. The elbow bending, fingers curling, fist pressing to his chest. Levi's breath caught as his own limbs moved. One hand clenched behind his back, the other tight over his heart. One ring on each ring finger - his on the left, Erwin's on the right. The bolo tie was warm around his neck. It didn't belong there.

We were so happy.

That handsome smile broadened, those peaceful eyes closed. The crack was deafening, splitting straight through Levi's numb daze and through his skull. Erwin lurched to the side, dark crimson drops flying through the air, splattering onto places unseen as the heavens opened up. The rain was heavy, cold, fast. It plastered his clothes to his body, hair to his head. Concealed the tears that poured down his face as Zoe's hand clasped his.

"... We were so happy."

I blame Lara and myself for ending our roleplay like this. So. Much. Heartbreak. I nearly cried in class.