With Memories Comes Loves
Day 1 – RivaMika Week 3
A mix of both true love and memories.
I am excited to see other fanfiction writers like me (and other contributors in other orms of content) contribute to RivaMika Week for the first time. And this is a lovely opportunity to follow other RivaMika fans that I (*apologizing profusely*) missed or never seen before.
Let's make it a fun week!
Corporal Levi sighed and shuffled his paperwork aside. Closing his eyes tiredly, he sips his already-cold tea, making a mental reminder to heat a new pot. As his eyes opened, they settled at the little clay pot by the corner of his desk, small blue flowers delicately springing out.
Forget-Me-Nots…
His best soldier (although, he would never admit it out loud), Mikasa Ackerman, gave him the little pot of flowers herself yesterday, claiming that his desk needed more colorful décor as it was stacked with the bland and plain colors of fountain pens, tea cups, and papers.
"Come in," Levi called out absently, not looking up from his papers as he heard two knocks.
The door opened and Mikasa entered, her arms around a paper bag on her chest. "Sir, I bought the things you needed." Closing in on his desk, she laid out a small bottle of ink (in which he was running low on), a new fountain pen, and a stack of parchment paper.
He eyed the items that she brought him as she placed them on his desk, then looked up at her. "Thank you, Ackerman. You may leave," he replied and returned to his paperwork.
He heard a "thud" from his wooden desk as another item was placed. He turned to see a little pot of blue flowers.
Mikasa stared at the flowers as she placed it in the corner of his desk, quietly and softly saying, "… Your desk needs more color, Sir."
Levi raised an eyebrow at her statement, "And you got me flowers?... Is this a joke?" He eyed the little pot of flowers. Maybe it was a trick? An ulterior motive…?
"Forget-Me-Nots…" she replied softly, a light blush along her cheeks.
She raised her head to look at him, her gray eyes holding a hint of nervousness from her usual apathetic nature. "… I was walking around town, looking for the supplies you needed. When I passed by a floral shop, this was sitting on the windowsill and for some reason it reminded me of you…"
He looked at her, almost incredulously at the fact that she thought of him. The room, and he himself, began to feel a little warmer. "And how do they remind you of me?"
"You may not show it, Sir. But I know you always think about our fallen comrades, and that you don't want their deaths to be meaningless. That is what drives you to become stronger. You do not forget about them…"
Levi chuckled. For someone so apathetic, she had read him like an open book. Taking the little potted flower, he exited his room to look for his interesting subordinate.
Entering the mess hall, a few soldiers were idly chatting or having a little snack and he spots her sitting in the corner alone, sipping a cup of tea and reading a book to pass the time. Closing on her, he notices that she was reading a peculiar book. There were no words, but they were characters and symbols instead and they were assembled in a vertical direction.
He places the pot in front of her book and she looks up. He takes the seat in front of her and asks out of curiosity, "Why did you give this to me?"
"I told you, Sir: they reminded me of you."
He raised an eyebrow, "You're not particularly one to give gifts, Ackerman. Especially to me… There are no other meanings to this?"
This time, she blushed, fidgeting with her scarf and burying it to her nose, "…no."
He rolled his eyes, amused, "You're a bad liar, Ackerman. I'm so very curious as to what this means." Levi eyed her, almost predator-like. Mikasa Ackerman was a mysterious woman, indeed. And he would pay just to unravel her layers and discover what lay beneath… mentally, that is.
Levi could literally feel the warmth of her blush radiating as he sat down on the bench beside her in an opposite way: his back towards the table, his elbows leaning casually on it, and his legs crossed.
"… is it a confession, perhaps?" he teased her, a small smirk on his face. The thought if it made his heart beat faster, what if it was? He would gladly accept her.
The tips of Mikasa's ears were red. It was adorable.
She cleared her throat and her fingers fidgeted to turn a page of her book. She responded quietly, "… It could mean one of two things. It could mean memories; remembering the people you care about and the ones you have lost, or remembering things about yourself…"
"And what's the latter?"
Mikasa closed her book shut and stood up, a small smile on her face, "… You'll just have to find out."
"Oi, Ackerman!" Corporal Levi called as his subordinate exited the mess hall, ignoring him and not looking back. He ran a palm down his face, the little brat…
Levi wakes up, jolting from his bed and his sheets soaked with sweat. He usually sleeps without thoughts due to being tired every day, but sometimes dreams and nightmares slip through. This night, it was the memories of his recent squad during the capture mission of the Female Titan within the Forest of Giant Trees. He remembered the scent of blood and forest vividly mixed together, and the colors of green and red, and the bodies of his fellow comrades…
Slipping on a fresh shirt, he goes to the kitchen to prepare himself some tea to make him drift to sleep once more. Entering the mess hall, he spots Mikasa Ackerman again. It was like a replay of yesterday; reading a book and a cup of tea. The only additions were the little wax candle to help her read and she was in her nightdress rather than her uniform. She looks up to see Corporal Levi, sitting across her.
"Cannot sleep, Sir?" Her eyes looking tired.
He simply nodded, "You?"
"Same… a nightmare, actually," her eyes gazed down, not at her book but into space.
"What was it about?"
"The murder of my parents," she replied with no hesitancy.
Ah, he heard it during Eren's trial. Human traffickers wanted to kidnap Mikasa and her mother for being the last Orientals – it resulted in the death of her parents and her killing a man out of self-defense.
"It was like I was there again… my mother was struggling, my father laid dead on the floor, and I could smell the blood and the rain… it was raining that day…" Mikasa absently murmured, continuing to stare down into space.
"Then I woke up, tasting blood on my lips," she laughed humorlessly. "For a moment, I thought it was happening again." Levi eyed the dried blood on her chapped lips.
"I guess this is a good thing, don't you think?" Mikasa continued, looking at him with pleading eyes. "It means that they're still with us, right? Constantly reminding us never to forget them?"
He considered her words, it almost sounded haunting. "You can think of it that way… or you can think of it as just simple memories. Something we cannot control as we subconsciously think of them."
She thought about his words for a moment, then she smiled, "Yes, you're right. It could very be that way as well."
This time, he smirked, "Well, now you owe me."
The smile disappeared and she looked at him in innocent confusion, "Huh?"
"You have to tell me the other meaning on the flowers you gave me." He was not going to let her escape this time. Tonight, he will have his answer.
However, she, once again, slips off from his grasp. "Next time, Corporal. I promise."
She kept her promise… but it was the last one she will ever make.
"Fuck, this wasn't supposed to happen," Corporal Levi muttered as he puts more pressure on her abdomen. It was bleeding nonstop. A Titan managed to bite her after she was saving Eren from being eaten from his nape. How fitting that her final act was her ultimate promise: protecting Eren.
"Corporal…"
"Shut up, you idiot!" He tried to remain calm, wrapping bandages around her waist, trying to stop the blood flow. Crimson stained his hands. "Just shut up and rest."
"…You're getting blurry…"
Levi's bloody hands went to her face, shaking her head, "It's too early... don't leave."
"You won't forget me right?" Mikasa asked, her gray eyes slightly glazed and watery.
He presses his lips on her forehead, reluctantly accepting that she would be gone soon. "No. Never." It wasn't fair. She was strong and too young to die.
Mikasa smiled as she felt his cold, chapped lips. It was enough for her to know she could die peacefully. With the last ounce of her strength, she lifts one of her hands to touch his cheek, gripping it. "The flowers… it could also mean true love. Perhaps we weren't meant to be now… but maybe somewhere else…" Her hand slithers down to her chest as her voice trailed off softly until it was a whisper in the wind. Her final words claimed that she loves him.
Levi could not stop the painful sobs coming from his chest.
He would see her again. He would make sure of it; even beyond death, he'll find her. He was Humanity's Strongest, after all.
Levi Ackerman stared at the little pot of blue flowers on the corner of his office desk. It was unknown whether he was reborn into a new world or into a new universe without gigantic monstrosities, but he was no Corporal. Instead he was a doctor (an Emergency Room doctor, specifically), saving humanity in a different way.
The red light within his office goes off, indicating a critical patient was about to arrive. Hastily getting up, he washes his hands, puts on gloves and his coat, and strides out his office.
"Status on our patient," he calmly demanded one of his interns holding an electronic pad.
"A college student, recently moved in the area. She was shot in her abdomen during crossfire in a bank robbery. The police report says she took a bullet protecting her brother. She's in critical condition and bleeding out… are you related to her, sir?"
"Excuse me?"
The ambulance had just arrived and people were scrambling to pull the stretcher down.
"She has the same last name as yours… the victim's name is Mikasa Ackerman."
It was happening all over again. An image of her, broken and bloody in his arms, flashed through his mind. Even during his youth, he would feel unease whenever this image reappears. However, the feeling dissipates when he remembers her final words, clinging to a thread of hope that in this universe, they would see each other again.
Years of waiting, searching, and the day has finally come. Back then, he couldn't do anything. He couldn't save her. But now, things were different. He had the power and the knowledge, and he was not going to let her go this time.
Right now, Dr. Levi Ackerman watches her sleep. The constant beeping of the heart monitor indicates her existence. She was still the same. Her black hair, only slightly longer, her pale skin and her face. Her red scarf was also present, hanging beside the bed. He has yet to see her eyes, whether they were the same gray ones he admired. Although, it did not matter what the color was, the important thing was that she was here.
The heart monitor beeped a little faster, indicating she was about to wake up. There was a flutter of her eyelids as she slowly opened her eyes.
Gray.
She softly whimpered, feeling a numbing pain against her stomach.
"Mikasa."
Her eyes widened sharply and she sat upright, ignoring the pain.
This voice. It was something that haunted her dreams, something that she always remembered. Ever since she was a child, from the moment her brain could register memories, it remained a mystery to her. The voice of a man she had never met was constantly on her mind. It was not disturbing or uncomfortable, but there was a growing need to find this man.
Silence engulfed the room and the only sound was the continuous beating of the heart monitor.
"You…" she whispered, then gasped as a hand covered her mouth and a name blurted out of her lips subconsciously, "Levi…"
He walks closer, sits on the side of her bed and gently wraps his arms around her. Warm and alive, he felt happiness burst through his core. It was real. She was here.
He felt her sobbing and whimpering against his neck and shoulders. "I can't believe it," she muffled, her arms around his waist. "You didn't forget about me… Corporal."
"Brat," he mumbled affectionately, his chin within the juncture between her right shoulder and neck.
"I'm sorry for leaving you. I won't ever again, Levi. I promise." She leaned out of his embrace to look at him, smiling that her Corporal was still the same.
Without another word, he presses his lips softly against hers, accepting her promise and pledging the same, and she gladly returns it.
I need to finish my piece for tomorrow ^.^ I'm so excited I can't even think! Already, I'm reading and seeing great pieces of work from other people and this just motivates me more knowing there are shippers like me~ Keep up the writing!
