Prologue

"And I told you to be fine . . ."

The moment Levi's grey eyes fell upon her figure, his heart wrenched in pain. There she was.

Of course she would be here. Erwin could be a real bastard sometimes. Even if this impromptu reunion had not been within his intentions whatsoever. Nevertheless, the girl—no, woman—who had haunted many months of dreams was here, in the flesh.

She was beautiful. Always would be. And what better place for her to be than dressed like royalty, socializing the evening away, after she had abandoned him?

His heart gave another raw tug, like someone was attempting to yank it out. Although, if all things were considered, she had done quite the number on him. She had ripped his heart out. Now he lived like before—only sustaining the barest of emotions. With her, that had been the façade. But with closed doors? He allowed himself to feel, to love . . . and for it to end in his misery was a little too much to think about now. He was supposed to be socializing the night away too, try to dig up information.

Suddenly, her eyes floated over to him, and recognition registered on her features. She grasped a man's arm too comfortably—she isn't yours anymore, he had to remind himself—and her lips moved. Unexpectedly, she began to move towards him, gracefully and almost delicately. With him, she had been delicate . . . but in a different manner. Not like this poised, almost mythical looking creature that he recognized physically. Emotionally, however? He would not let himself fall into that deep, dark hole that only led to wishful pining.

Levi Ackerman did not pine.

But for her? Maybe she was still the exception. His heart certainly seemed to think so.

Then she was right in front of him. From afar she had looked regal, bordering on intimidating. But now, standing in front of him? He remembered too many nights of entwined passions, sinew and flesh meeting in forbidden pleasures.

He coughed lightly and cleared his throat.

"Levi . . ." She started, warmly, like nothing had ever happened between them.

"It's Captain Levi," he interrupted, matter-of-factly. The small smile graced on her face fell. But it was practically imperceptible to the surrounding passerby.

". . . R-right. Captain." Had she just tripped over her words? That was definitely unlike her. But again, maybe he didn't know her as well as he had thought. Or as well as he had been fooled into knowing her. "It has been a while."

"I wasn't aware." The more insignificant this chatter could be, the better. Then he could dismiss her and continue to drink and listen for the information that he needed. Of course he was wholly aware of how long it had been. It had been 426 days since he had last seen her.

426 painful, seemingly never-ending days that had been filled to the brim with heartbreak.

But he was here. And so was she.

"May we talk?" She paused and seemed to process that whatever the current exchange was, it qualified as talking. "Later?" Her bright eyes looked into his. He would never tire of her eyes. They were spectacular. Her voice dropped lower, and if Levi hadn't been paying attention to every single miniscule detail of this exchange, he would have missed what she said next. Her lips didn't even seem to move. But he heard her. "In private?"

He didn't expect for the word to tumble out of his mouth so easily.

"Yes."

A/N: Why . . . hello there. It was been quite a long time since I have written beyond my own private thoughts. But for some reason, my muse woke up, full throttle, and in this fandom specifically. A tad bit unexpected, but I love AoT, so hopefully my imagination can do this world some justice.

A few things to note: I cannot guarantee when this will be updated next. It's just not possible with my hectic schedule. Rest assured, however, that I have an entire outline - I know where I want this story to go and how to get there (for the most part). Also, yes, this will likely be rated M. But for now, it's rated T. So keep that in mind. Finally, reviewers (granted you are not a guest reviewer) get confetti! (And, maybe a sneak peek of the next chapter? Possibly? Perhaps?)

So, kind readers, please welcome me back by reviewing and letting me know what you think so far. Intrigued? Think this has been overwritten? Just want to know what the heck is going on? You know what to do!

Best,
Audrey :)