Prologue : More Than Anything in the World.
I just started writing, and now I have this story idea. Please don't kill me. This is an SnK fanfic…it's pretty…SnK…if you get what I mean…Anys…tell me what you think!
Warning: It's SnK…is a warning needed? AU
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters…just wish I did…
"Men love because they are afraid of themselves, afraid of the loneliness that lives in them, and need someone in whom they can lose themselves as smoke loses itself in the sky." ~V.F. Calverton
It had been sixty years since the titans had dotted the landscape in carnivorous masses with a taste for human flesh. Titan shifters were encased in blue crystals, forever sleeping in peaceful quiet. They encased themselves, fearing what would happen to them once they were captured, and they were right to do so. Only one titan shifter was still alive, still walking around on the Earth.
Eren Jaeger.
Quickly after the titans had all been slaughtered, the hot-blooded youth had willingly given himself up after the last titan shifter was encased in crystal. He could never harden his skin. Crystallization was impossible. The boy willingly went to his fate: execution by firing squad. He was 17, and the last thing he saw was his captain, Levi, shedding silent tears beside his commander before a black cotton bag was slipped over his head. The last thing he heard was the sound of guns, about ten, shooting at him. The last thing he felt was a bullet embed itself into his forehead.
And then, all was still. He saw black, and there was no pain. He didn't think about anything other than his captain. The captain he had loved so much.
In the sudden calm, Eren took a deep breath of the afterlife, a place he was willing to go to as long as it meant that titans would never walk the Earth again. He breathed again, then his eyes shot open. He saw the black, but little speck of light all around him. It didn't take long to feel the rough cotton against his face and breathe hot, stuffy air that it held. He could feel the bullets being pushed from his skin, and it was painful, but the pain eased after a moment, and then he could feel the warm metal bullet resting on his forehead. He heard the bullets that had been shot in him dropping to the cobblestone ground, and then people gasping. Eren lifted his head and sighed. He had a feeling this wouldn't have worked. Suddenly, the bag was pulled from his head, and he winced from the sudden light.
He first looked at his captain, who still had tears rolling down his face, but he seemed happier than he was shocked. Eren had never seen the man smile so brightly, but his smile quickly faded. Eren looked behind him and saw a tall man who was looking at the king. He nodded, and then removed a knife from his belt.
"By order of the king, Eren Jaeger is to be put to death. Any method shall do as long as he does not see tomorrow. Firing squad: failed. I will know try to sever his jugular."
Eren felt a cool metal blade press into his neck, and then rip across his skin. He could feel the pull the blade had on his veins and trachea. His blood spilled out over his shirt, and he could feel the warm liquid drip off his fingertips. For a moment, all was black, but in no time, he was breathing again and looking around. He found his captain, but he was looking away, tears streaming down his face. Eren understood. It was hard enough for the man to watch Eren's death the first time, but he had to watch it over and over again. He had to watch the green-eyed love of his be tortured and killed over and over, each time not knowing if it would be the last. The fear, the relief, and then the fear again. The pain and anguish that Eren was causing the captain made him just want to die, but even Eren didn't know if he could die. None of the titan shifters had died. They were still alive, just encased in permanent unbreakable crystals.
For hours, people watched as Eren was torn to shreds, but still healed and lived again. For hours, Eren stared at his captains tear stained face. For hours on end, Eren died and came back and died and came back, again and again, over and over, until the executioners had given up and the king had become bored.
The king stood, coughing a bit, and all the citizens looked at him.
"Eren shall be permitted to live. It seems only old age may kill him. Nobody is to speak of this matter ever again. Anybody who does shall be put to death." He said, turning away. A law-keeper shouted off to the side 'And so the king decrees, and so it must be done.'
Everybody began to file out of the square, and the first person to Eren was Levi, running as fast as he could. He hurriedly embraced him, slamming their lips together. Eren was struck with a sense of happiness.
Levi pulled away and rested his forehead on the brunette's, closing his blood-shot eyes. "Don't you ever do that again, Eren. You hear, that's an order." Levi said.
Eren smiled a bit. He knew the military was about to be disbanded, and a new military would be in place. Levi would no longer have the command he used to. The survey corps original mission would never return. But that didn't matter.
"Yes, Captain."
Levi would always be captain to Eren, and captain to Eren did he stay, sixty years after the end of the Titan Era. Levi was eighty-five, and he was nearly crippled. The sudden lack of fighting had made his bones weak, and he hadn't been able to properly walk for thirty years. He lay in a bed, holding Eren's hand.
"Eren."
Eren shushed his captain, a tear running down his face. He held onto the wrinkled hand tightly, but not tight enough to hurt his love. "Don't speak. Conserve your strength Captain."
"I'm eighty-five, Eren."
"You don't look so good for an eighty-five year old Captain." Eren said, smiling softly. It hurt him. Smiling hurt him.
"Well, you look great for being seventy-five." Levi smiled, reaching his free hand up to caress Eren's cheek. He paused, wiping away a tear from the soft skin. "Why are you crying Eren?" Levi asked. He began to rub small circles on Eren's arm, feeling the smoothness.
Eren shook a bit. "Because all I wanted to do was to grow old with you Captain, and I didn't!" Eren stammered as he cried.
Levi looked up at his love. He smiled. Eren had stopped aging at twenty. Levi smiled. He knew Eren loved him. He had stayed with Levi despite his aging form. Levi had grown old, gotten wrinkles, and been pushed around in a wheel-chair for the last half of his life. It was fine at first. It had only been a ten year age gap, and nobody had a problem. But Eren stopped aging. Others soon mistook Levi for Eren's father, then grandfather, then great-grandfather, and he knew that it killed Eren on the inside. With every passing day, Levi gained a wrinkle, and Eren's face stayed the same.
But Eren always stayed. He loved his captain, and his captain loved him.
Levi smiled, shakily bringing Eren's hand up to kiss it. The skin was soft against his chapped lips.
Eren sobbed even harder. "I haven't been able to make love with you for twenty years because all I can think about is you growing old and me just staying the same. I feel inept and nothing can fix that because I can't age with you!" Eren shook, putting his forehead onto Levi's bed.
Levi smiled. "You aren't inept. You're perfect Eren. So what if you can't age. So what if we can't make love. You are you and I love you no matter what, old or young, aging or not. You are you, and you are beautiful to me no matter what." Eren only sobbed harder. Levi sighed a bit. "Eren." He said, using his commanding voice for the first time in a while.
Eren looked up at Levi, tears streaming down his face. "Yes, captain?" Eren didn't blink as he looked at the wrinkled, small love of his life right into his dark eyes. He could see the years sparkle in the man's eyes. All of the pain and anguish. All of the fighting. All the happiness. All the wisdom. All the love. All the moments that they spent with each other. The struggle, the heartache, the love, the perfection in the imperfections.
Levi smiled. "I love you." He said. He could feel his vision fading a bit. "I love you with all of my heart, more than anything in this world, and more than anybody would ever be able to comprehend." With the last of his strength, he pulled Eren into his arms. "I love you."
Eren stifled his sobs into Levi's shoulder. "I love you too Captain" he paused. "Levi. I love you Levi. So much. I love you." He was sobbing. "I love you. I love you. I love you." He kept repeating it over and over and over, tears streaming down his face.
Slowly, he could feel Levi's chest still, and his arms lost their strength. Levi breathed out a last, "I love you, Eren." And then he was still.
"I love you too, Captain." Eren sobbed. He knew that Levi heard him. He could feel it in his soul, that Levi heard him. Hearing was always the last to go.
He pulled back and looked at the still form of his captain. He looked so peaceful, so honest. He had died with a smile on his face.
Levi had definitely heard Eren.
So, hope you liked it! Reminder that I don't really know where this story is leading us, I just have a general idea. Please rate and review because it really helps me with where I want the story to go or things I should add or change. Thank you so much for reading! This chapter has 1,815 words. Not long, but good for a prologue. Anys! Please rate and review! See you for Chapter 1: What My Life Has Become!
