Levi stood at the edge of Wall Maria, overlooking the never-ending expanse of land. He wondered how long it will take to venture the whole place, wondered where the world would end. Is it like a road with a dead end? Or does it not have an end? They have lived within the walls for so many years none of them knew what to expect. So many years has been leading up to this very moment. They've waited for what seemed to be an eternity. But remembering now, it felt like it only happened for a few seconds. Everything was so jumbled up in his head, he wasn't even sure if they really had won.
He looked over his shoulder, flashes of green zooming in and out of his vision. Bodies were laid out just a couple of feet away from him. So many bodies. All these years, he had watched his comrades die. He has seen so much bloodshed that its crimson colors are imprinted on the back of his lids. He saw them every time he closed his eyes. Pale skin, twisted limbs, open yet unseeing eyes. He has seen so much death and it all weighed on his shoulder.
They all died for this, he thought. He looked up at the sky, painted with a bright warm orange as the sun was beginning to set. They all died for this moment and they couldn't even live in it. He watched as a flock of birds flew over his head. He counted four of them. He watched as they turned to dark silhouettes as they flew towards the sun.
"Heichou!" He heard a familiar voice call. Eren stood beside him, towering a couple of feet over him. "Heichou, you need to sit down and rest! You've lost too much blood, you look-"
"I'm okay, Eren," he said, his voice the same hollow monotone as always. Levi would've waved the boy's concerns away, but he couldn't seem to move his hand. In fact, his whole body was numb. He didn't even know how he could still be standing up. He remembered being grabbed by a titan, right around his waist. He felt himself being squished, his ribcage shattering. A pain like no other had overcome him then. He anticipated his death, yearned for it. And as stupid as it seems, he waited for his life to flash by. Because that's what they always said. But Mikasa saved him. She cut of the titan's arm and somehow dragged him to safety. And here he is now, standing by the edge of the 50-meter wall with his subordinate by his side. He was all patched up, with a bandage around his whole torso. He looked straight ahead at the ball of fire about to disappear in the darkness. He took a moment before he added, "You did great today."
"Thank you, Heichou!" he said with a nervous chuckle. Levi could tell the boy was still in shock. "I just... what do you think... what's out there?"
Levi would've shrugged if he could. "I don't know, more titans?"
"Heichou... what are we going to do now? Are we still going back inside these walls, or..." It was a question that filled the atmosphere. It was the first time Levi has actually heard it from someone's lips, but he knew that's what everyone is thinking. Are they really going to leave behind the only life they've ever known? All these years, they've been fighting for freedom from the titans. The objective has always been to exterminate them, but no one ever thought of actually winning against them. Therefore this question... no one has ever thought about it. And now, no one has an answer.
"There's a lot of time to discuss that. Right now, why don't you go and help those fuckers. Make yourself of some use, you little shit."
Eren nodded nervously. He gave Levi a salute- with his hand clenched into a fist so tight his hand shook as he placed it just above his heart, and another arm behind him- before he scampered off to help the others. "Oi, Eren!" Levi called, without looking at him. "Tell Ackerman I said thanks." Eren nodded again.
Levi took a deep breath, letting the air fill his lungs. His eyes suddenly grew heavy, his head light, his body empty. Before he understood what was happening, cold wind rushed against his body, applying pressure into all sides of him, and he was watching the world spin around him. His eyes stung. But the feeling, the sensation, was liberating. He felt like he was flying. He felt like he was soaring across the sky, the wings in the back of his cape animating into actual wings.
He closed his eyes and let himself drift away. His mind went blank, and nothing mattered anymore. Until he felt something warm all around him, as if someone had taken him into their arms. He opened his eyes, and he was looking right up at the clouds- warm, bright, and orange- soft, tickling his cheeks. "Heichou..." it was a whisper in his ear. Compared to the wind eagerly smashing against him, the whisper was a gentle caress.
"Petra," his voice came out choked, and his eyes widened at the sight of her. Suddenly everything stopped, like he was just suspended up in the air. With her arms wrapped around him. He looked at her, and felt everything just fade away. He had been so afraid he's forgotten how she looked like. Her light hair, the shape of her lips as they curled up into a smile, her soft amber eyes always full of happiness, the sound of her voice, the way her skin felt against his.
He reached up, resting his hand on her cheek. He couldn't believe it. He was touching her, he could feel her, they really are together now. But... how? If this meant he was dead, he couldn't care less. He wanted this. He has been wanting this ever since that day, when he returned home without her. He has wanted to touch her ever since, feel her, see her... and now here he is. He reached up with his other hand, so that he was cupping both her cheeks. "Petra," his smile sounded in his voice. He pulled her closer to him, touching his lips to hers. Her lips were just as soft as they had been before. He was then consumed by a hunger and yearning. There was an ache in his heart as he remembered the moment he thought he was never going to see her again. The moment he thought he will never be able to hold her again. The moment he stopped hearing her voice in his dreams.
Then they were moving again, the wind wrapping around them, bringing them even closer to each other until there's really no more space between them. He pulled away just as a tear rolled out of his eyes. She smiled. She reached up and wiped his tear away with her thumb. "You did great today, Levi," she said. Her voice sounded so beautiful in his ears and he wanted nothing more than to hear her talk. "You have acquired your Wings of Freedom."
"Heichou!" He heard several other voices, and they were all familiar. There was a boisterous laugh, a laugh that haunted the halls of their castle with their absence. He looked over his shoulder, and realized he was now surrounded. They all huddled with him in the middle, their arms tightly around him. Erd. Gunther. Auruo. They were all here, and they all looked at him as if nothing had changed.
And in that moment, he felt like it was okay. He felt a weight being lifted off his shoulders. And he felt like it was okay to let go. He let down his walls, the barriers that kept him from everyone, an invisible cage that kept him locked up inside. It's okay. He allowed himself to feel. He allowed himself to let the tears flow out- all the tears he's kept inside all those years, all the tears he didn't shed even when he wanted to, all those tears that just drowned him from within. He let it all go. And it didn't matter. He didn't care. He was in the arms of the people he had grown to know as family. He no longer have to hide.
"I missed you shitheads," he said, laughing through all his tears.
"I got him!" Eren shouted, as he landed on his feet. He laid Levi's body on the ground. He found his Squad Leader falling off from the Wall, and ran after him with his 3DMG. He heard the final beats of Levi's heart just as he took him in his arms. Everyone immediately crowded around the two of them. "Get back!" he shouted. "He needs air! Get back!"
They did as he said, taking a step back. Mikasa stepped forward, kneeling down next to Eren. She placed her hand on their Squad Leader's wrist, and felt her heart skip a beat. She'd known, but somehow it still shocked her. "Eren, he's..."
"No!" Tears poured out from the boy's eyes. "We've come so far, we've won! No, he's not!"
A path formed from the crowd, and standing over them now was Captain Erwin. He looked tired and ragged, with a couple of gashes along his face and bandages almost on every limb. His normally perfectly cut hair was disheveled, and his blue eyes were wide open in shock. Never in a million years did he expect this moment to come to him- along with their victory against the titans, he has lost his most trusted ally, his friend...
His knees gave, and he fell next to Levi's limp body. "Commander Erwin, Lance Corporal Levi is-" Mikasa started, but was interrupted.
Erwin's eyes were almost blank, but there was a spark of surprise. He looked like he just lost his mind. "Smiling. Lance Corporal Levi is smiling."
They all looked down and found a smile across a usually stoic face.