Author's Note: I am still looking for a Beta Reader and if you have someone to recommend, please feel free to PM me. Thanks. Reviews are well-appreciated.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin.
The old metal bell rang and echoed its horror on top of the historical cathedral throughout the east district of Wall Rose. It is a day of wedding on the 25th day of December. Merchants and the elites of the society has started gathering inside and patiently waiting for the bride.
"Petra," her father said, "Everyone is waiting."
She briefly observed the people and looked back at the old man.
"No matter what happens, always remember that we love you." he assured her.
She nodded and hugged her parents. "I love you too."
During the wedding ceremony, her heart was thumping wildly on her chest. She was nervous because of reasons. It was her fate and she accepted it.
"Woman, do you accept this man to be your lawful husband, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, 'til death do you apart?"
She turned her head and looked at her parents, took a swift glance to the impatient bloated man beside her in the altar, and then to the priest. Still comprehending about the choice she made, she moved her lips to answer.
"Iー"
Two weeks earlier
"Dear Heichou," Levi read with his eyes a handwritten letter that he found in his table.
His eyebrows slightly twitched beneath his intimidating grey eyes. He thought that Petra was just too shy to give him a love letter or a letter of confession so she decided to leave it in his room. Before jumping to further conclusions, he continued to read the body of the letter.
I really wanted to stay with you but I've decided to go back home in my district. My mother is very ill right now and it has been two days since my father sent me a letter. I am deeply worried that her life might be at risk so I've decided to leave the HQ today. I don't have the chance to tell you personally because you seemed so busy working with Eren's titan transformation and hardening.
I'm asking for apology and consideration. I hope you understand.
Forever yours,
Petra
Levi looked outside the window beside him and watched the birds flying over the trees. What else could he do? Would he able to stop her? She wasn't around anymore. He hasn't met her parents yet and doesn't really care about her personal problem. She could handle it alone. What he was trying to consider was the danger of traveling alone in the open field. He knew how strong she was but his mental image of several titans assaulting her was a creeping paranoia in his spine. He doesn't have the chance to give her some advice, or even remind her not to let her guard down before she left. Deep within his thoughts, the fact that he was held responsible of her life as his subordinate was still bugging him.
It has been a week and five days since Petra left the letter on Levi's table. She was walking down the district's streets with supplies on both hands for her family. She was currently in her hometown to visit her parents. She rushed home without Levi's legal consent.
That morning, it was her father who should go to the marketplace but she insisted to do the favor. She kept on humming the tune as she walked along with few people scattered in the streets. Out of the blue, the thought about her mother's request started to flicker in her mind. She took a deep breath and a faint smile painted on her lips. "I already miss Heichou." She mumbled.
"Petra." a masculine voice shook her whole being from behind.
She turned her head slowly upon hearing a very familiar voice that almost made her jumped off of her feet.
"Heichou?!" Petra exclaimed in surprise. Her eyes widen in disbelief. 'I'm dreaming. Please someone tell me that I'm just dreaming.'
She's not so sure if he heard what she just muttered, but her faith was so strong that he didn't hear the 'I miss Heichou' thing. She took a scan in the surrounding while assuming that the rest of their squad were with him but there's no sign of them. If they were, Auro must be the one to approach her while imitating Levi. She immediately stood with both feet and salute for respect. It was the first time that she saw him in the marketplace alone without any subordinate.
She was wearing a simple teal dress and black tights that complemented her brown boots. Levi looked at her from head to feet, then back to her head.
'Not bad.' He commented at the back of his mind. It was quite a long time since he last saw her dressed like that. She looked so feminine.
However, he was wearing a plain black suit and dress shoes which made him look more casual.
"It's been one damned week and five shitty days since you left the castle, hasn't it?" he started, "And the waiting is in vain." He said, as if he couldn't able to survive without Petra's presence.
She immediately defended herself. "I didn't mean to stay here for long. I just couldn't leave. I have to fulfill a request."
"Request, huh?" he asked, "I received a request from Erwin too." He added and raised a letter in his hand.
Petra's heartbeat started to thump wildly against her chest. She suddenly felt nervous. She doesn't want Levi or Erwin to get angry over her but she waited on his next words.
"He ordered me to get you back." He said and handed the letter to her.
She read it with her eyes and was merely surprised. "N-no. I can't."
His eyebrow rose beneath his narrow eyes. "Why not?"
"Things are getting tough. Can we talk about it? You need to know this."
"Know what? I only need to finish this damn mission." He said and carried her over his shoulder. The mission was to get Petra back.
"W-wait, Levi Heichou! I will explain!" she exclaimed and her face turned extremely red in the moment. His hand was holding her waist and she was carried like a sack of grain over his shoulder.
Levi didn't speak a word. His face was void. Civilians passing by were looking at them while whispering with each other.
"Hey, isn't that Levi?"
"Yeah. And that's one of her subordinates, Ral's daughter."
"What are they doing here?"
"Must be a mission. It will surely fail like their useless expeditions."
For almost a decade of being humanity's strongest soldier, Levi already learned to ignore the criticisms around him.
'Absurd tongues.' He mumbled to himself, "Tch."
"Heichou!" Petra yelled and elbowed him on the temple which greatly surprised him.
"Dammit. What are you doing?" he asked in an irritated manner but he didn't let her go.
"I said I will explain, put me down! Now!" she snarled fiercely while her hands were entangled on his undercut hair.
Upon hearing her angry voice, he put her down. "Explain, now." He ordered and crossed his arms over his chest.
With twitched eyebrows, she started telling the short horror story of her life.
"My mother is dying and she wants me to do her a favor before she dies." she frankly confessed.
Levi's mouth was shut and his eyes were nailed on her furious hazel gaze. He remembered how his mother stayed in the bed for days without talking to him or eating anything, until his uncle came and told him that she already passed away. It does hurt him but he has to live and move on from the pain of losing someone. He doesn't want Petra to experience that pain. She deserved to be happy.
"I really want to go back to the HQ but I can't. According to the doctor, her days are already numbered. I can't leave her just like that. My mother needs me right now. Who knows if I die during one of our expeditions. I wouldn't be able to give what she was asking for."
Levi shoot her an intimidating glance. "What favor is that?" he asked.
She was stopped. She couldn't tell him what it was.
"It's a personal thing." She just answered.
"Very well." He muttered upon seeing her sad expression and picked the supplies that fell on the road. "I'll talk to your parents."
They went to Ral's household together with the supplies that Petra bought earlier. It was a package of surprise and goods but questions started to formulate at the back of her mind. What was he planning to do?
"I'm home." she said with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
Her mother opened her dull eyes and looked at the door where they were standing with the goods that she bought in the market. Upon seeing Levi, the ill woman's face suddenly became delighted.
"Who is this young man, Petra?" she asked while staring at the corporal beside the door. She doesn't know that the Humanity's Strongest Soldier was her unexpected visitor. Before Petra opened her mouth to speak, Levi introduced himself shortly.
"It's Levi."
Petra's facial expression was unexplainable and butterflies on her stomach started to fly around the corners of her stomach. She didn't look at her mother, instead, she paid attention to the supplies that she placed on the table. However, Levi came in and placed the rest of the supplies that he was holding.
He sat on the couch and wandered his narrow eyes around the house. It was simple but quite big for a family of three members. Petra's mother forced herself to lean on her back against the bed and talked to him.
"I never expected that my daughter would come home with a young man today. It's my pleasure to meet you." She said with delight and fulfilment was dawning on her eyes.
He nodded.
A long silence covered the house for a couple of minutes.
"We have to discuss important matters later so if you don't mind, I'll spend the rest of the day here." he said while breaking the silence. He was starting to feel awkward because the ill woman kept on staring at her. He felt like reading what she was thinking and it was like 'He must be perfect for my daughter.'
"No problem. Do you live in this town too?" the mother asked. "You seemed quite familiar."
"No. I used to live in the underground."
"You don't seem to be one." she said as she tried to discern Levi with his conceited aura. "Maybe you should spend your night here as well, gentleman."
"That would be good." He replied.
"We rarely have guests since Petra has only few friends to visit sometimes." Her eyes were suddenly filled with sadness, "Most of them already died from going outside the walls."
Petra, who was listening from the kitchen, interrupted them and called her corporal to join her. Levi nodded and walked to where she was.
"What are you going to do?" she asked him.
"I'm thinking."
She nodded though she has no idea of what he was thinking. Her trust on him was as big as her love for him.
Levi placed his horse on a stable at the side of the house until Petra's father came to talk to him.
"Uhh... well, as you can see Corporal, Petra didn't able to leave the house for the past weeks."
Levi kept his mouth shut as he listened to the old man.
"She's getting a hard time to fulfill her mother's request. I know she'd been pressured about it and she's not on her usual self these days. But it's sad to say that an arrange marriage is waiting for her."
Levi was shocked upon hearing it. Did Petra know about it? Was that the favor that she just couldn't tell him? Why an arrange marriage? He was suddenly bothered.
"We can't pay anything for medicines and a merchant told us that he will help to cure my wife. But there is one condition..."
"You will let her marry in exchange of placebo medicines. That's brilliant." Levi sarcastically said with twitched eyebrows. "Who are we fooling here?"
The old man scratched his head and answered nervously. "Her mother and I thought about that for a long time but we ended up with an option. My wife's request is just a chance for her so she could bring here the man she loves. We can show him to the merchant. At least, someone can defend her."
'Man she loves, huh?' Levi told himself. 'I get it.'
"We can explain the matter to the merchant and his son if we can show them her loved one. But if not, we'll be forced to arrange the marriage the day after tomorrow. The merchant's son is just waiting for her. By the way... uhh... your presence in this house really surprised me earlier and I guess my wife doesn't know who you are."
Levi looked at the old man's eyes. "I want to make a deal with you."
The next day, Petra woke up and heard a sound of pan and ladle in the kitchen. She immediately rose from her bed and ran to the kitchen just to find her father.
"You're up. The corporal told me that he'll get some morning exercise outside." he told her with a smile.
"You should have woke me up earlier!" she replied in a childish manner.
"Well, he insisted not to. You've been drooling and talking when he checked you." He said while laughing.
Petra's eyes widen in shock. "E-eeehh?!"
That morning seemed to have good vibes, at least for Levi. He wore his usual plain white sleeves and jogger pants as he jogged along the paved streets of the district, few blocks away from Petra's house.
Several civilians noticed him while some directly asked him what he was doing there. However, there were narrow-minded civilians who were mocking the Survey Corps but he doesn't give a damn to listen to their absurd opinions.
He happened to pass by a wide gate and saw a manor from the distance.
'Swines.' He told himself while watching several bloated men riding a carriage.
After an hour, he went back to Ral's residence. Breakfast was just set on the table when he entered the house. She greeted him her usual cheerful good morning and he nodded. Nonetheless, she was a bit embarrassed about the drool thing that her father told her.
After drinking the tea that Petra prepared, Levi took a bath which took him for only three minutes in the bathroom (three-minute combat shower) and changed in his military uniform.
"Are you leaving?" Petra asked as she stood by the door of the room.
He looked at her. "Are you ready for something bloody?"
She was surprised. She couldn't get his point.
"Looking gorgeous." He left her standing by the doorway. She was trying to decipher him.
"I'm going. I appreciate your hospitality." Levi politely told her parents and went outside.
Petra followed him with twitched eyebrows.
"Heichou!" she confronted.
"What?"
"You're leaving!"
"It's obvious, Petra."
She shook her head. She was thinking about the plan that he was talking about but doesn't have the courage to open it up. "You're leaving me!"
Levi pulled the rein and got his horse out of the stable.
"Heichou!" she shouted.
"Will you go back with me now?" he asked with blunt expression.
She dodged glances.
"See? I can't afford to insist something that is against your will. But if you're damn in this place, I won't give a damn care about your damn sake." He sarcastically said.
She remained silent. She was hurting inside. "I'm sorry. I can't leave."
"Very well. Decide whichever decision might deem good for you and your family. You are holding your fate." Before he went ahead, he looked at her grievously.
"I can't understand you." She replied in despair.
He rode his horse. "Don't be stupid." He said and whispered, "I'll save you."
She didn't hear the last three words. She wanted to get angry at him for leaving her just like that. She gave her hope that he might be the answer to her mother's favor but she guessed it was all a mistake.
The next day, she was cleaning the stable when she heard a carriage stopped in front of their gate. Her father went outside their house to greet the men who got out of the vehicle. They seemed to be visitors. She doesn't really care but her father called her so she went inside to join them.
"So..." the merchant started, "Where's the man that you are talking about? Our deal."
Petra's father couldn't say a word and her mother stared blankly on the merchant's wrinkled oily face.
"What deal?" Petra asked her parents, quite perplexed.
"Petra." her father answered, "The reason why your mother kept on asking you about the man you love is to prove this merchant that you already have a fiancé. But since you didn't able to comply with the favor, we don't have any choice but to agree with an arrange marriage in exchange of medicines. We can't lose your mother, right?"
Upon hearing her father's answer, her whole body seemed to die for about three seconds.
"An arrange marriage?" The words rolled heavily on her tongue.
The merchant laughed out loud when he saw her horrified reaction. "Your parents agreed on my deal. Too bad, they didn't tell you ahead of time. The wedding will be tomorrow so prepare to be my son's lawful wife. Here's the bridal gown and everything that you need."
"NO!" Petra shouted in anger as she stood up and hit the table with her bare hands. Hard and strong. Full of agony and anger; the table almost split in half.
Everyone was shocked of what she did.
"Petra. We don't have a choice." her mother said pleading.
The door opened. Petra quickly looked over, hoping to see Levi. But a bloated man in an undercut entered and sat beside his father.
"This is my son. If you don't marry him, your mother will die. Her medicines are very expensive that even a year of your salary can't afford." the merchant threatened, but he's really afraid of her and his knees started to tremble in fear. "I-I will kill them if you don't!" he added desperately.
"I can use my own blades to kill you before you even lay your filthy fingers on my parents." Petra replied in rage as she grabbed the merchant's collar.
"Ughhh... I'm sorry, Sir. She's just too surprised upon hearing the wedding. See you at the chapel tomorrow." the father said and pulled Petra away.
When the merchant left, Petra seemed to feel depress.
"Why did you forsake me?" she asked them in distress. She was seated on the chair, face was buried in her palms.
They were both silent and no one could dare to move their lips to answer.
"And why do you have to exchange me over medicine? I can buy them for you!" she told her mother. "Even if I borrow money from my squad, I will."
"I'm sorry, my daughter." the woman answered as tears ran down her cheeks.
"What shall I do? Levi Heichou left me, you forsaken me, and I'm about to marry a man that I've never met before."
"Petra." Her father called, "It's not over yet. Just believe and wait." He said and tapped her back for sympathy.
That night, she couldn't sleep. There was a fire in her belly that she didn't put there. A fire that brought her grief and hatred against the world's biases. She kept on thinking about Levi who left her just like that. She doesn't know what he was thinking but his mission hasn't done yet. Was it possible that he went back to the headquarters without her? What would Erwin tell him?
She just couldn't let him stay with her even if she wanted to ask him. Tears continuously flow from her eyes until she fell asleep. Morning came so fast and her father woke her up from her slumber.
"It's time." He said.
End of flashback
Even if her tightly clenched hand is fated to let go of Levi so easily. She knew that they can always stay connected by the definite memories left in her heart.
Everybody was waiting for her answer. Her parents shed tears and lost their hope for a miracle. Petra was thinking really deep before answering the priest's question but she has to.
"Iー"
She was cut off when the glass ceiling of the chapel's altar crashed that shocked all the people. They were terrified. Petra used her arms to cover her face from the sudden crashed of the glass while the bloated groom was paralyzed from his position, mouth was opened in shock and horror. She lifted her head just to see the hope that she'd been waiting for. She smiled upon seeing the Wings of Freedom right in front of her bright amber colored eyes.
There stood in front of the altar was the most famous and strongest thug in the underground city, the legend they believed as the Humanity's Strongest Soldier, who landed with his powerful 3D Maneuver Gear in a very destructive way. Broken pieces of glass was scattered all over the altar. He stepped his military boots on it and walked forward to meet the groom. He stopped and stepped his right foot on the priest's head who just fell on the floor upon his grand entrance in the ceiling. He first looked at the civilians who were jaw dropped at his sudden appearance, then to the bloated groom who was about to draw a gun on him.
The corporal drew his blade on the bloated merchant's son's neck. It bled but it wasn't cut too deep. He's enjoying the moment seeing the groom in grim and horrified expression. Besides physical torture, he likes emotional torture too, especially inflicting it to his foes. Everyone knew that he wouldn't think twice to kill people as what he used to do with the titans.
"Levi Heichou!" Petra called him gratefully as tears started to fall from her eyes. He took a swift glance at her and a somewhat slight curve was on his lips.
He then faced the man who tried to steal his only female subordinate.
"Sorry to interrupt your stupid fucking wedding. You should have asked the Military Police to guard the place. You can pay them large amount of money, right?" Levi sarcastically slapped each words to the bloated groom.
"Levi, you devil!" the merchant shouted from its seat who was about several feet away from them. Even he himself couldn't protect his son from the corporal's blade.
Yesterday morning while Levi was jogging on the streets, he eyed a certain villa and saw several men who were about to go inside the carriage. Before one of the men stepped inside, someone pulled his coat at the back. When he looked to see the bastard, he was shocked. It was Levi who confronted them.
"What are you doing here, you son of aー" the man was interrupted when Levi grabbed his collar and stared at him in an intimidating way. "What do you want?"
"You're the dumbass merchant who has a deal with the Ral family, am I right?" the corporal asked.
"So what? Mr. Ral doesn't have work. Only their daughter who was in the military brings them money to survive." the merchant explained.
"That's the point, swine. So how about the fucking wedding?"
"It's a deal! And why do you care too much? Are you their daughter's fiancé?"
"I'm Levi, your worst nightmare."
He dropped the merchant's collar and he banged the back of his head on the paved road. His bodyguards couldn't do anything because they knew Levi and were afraid of him.
"Better prepare your precious son tomorrow. He's one lucky bastard." And then, he continued jogging.
Levi withdraw his blade from the groom's neck and shoot his 3DMG cable to prepare himself to escape, and gently wrapped his arm around Petra's waist.
"I'm just getting the pearl out of your corrupted, filthy pig pen, asshole." he sarcastically replied and looked at the merchant's son, "Even if it takes all of my strength to save her from your disgusting hands, I will. She's mine and I had her first."
After saying it, he looked at Petra's father who was already smiling at him. They nodded at each other before leaving the chapel. Her father thought that Levi broke their deal but realized that he was faithful when he came just in time. He knew that his daughter was in good hands. The powerful merchant rushed to the Military Police to inform the incident but Nile Dok abandoned the case. He has more important things to deal with.
Levi and Petra landed on a narrow street where his black horse was waiting patiently. There's her backpack and her 3DMG, well packed. He first went to her home and broke into the window to get her things. Then, he rushed to the chapel and planned an assault and a legal abduction.
"Heichou." she said and embraced him tight. "Iー" She couldn't continue when she started crying. Levi brushed her ginger hair to comfort her. He wasn't used to comforting people but for Petra's sake, he has to do it even for a thousand times.
"Petrー"
"I thought you'd left me." she interrupted. Tears were continuously flowing from her eyes, wetting his clothes. "I thought you don't care about me."
The edge of his lips curled a bit and wiped her tears with his fingers. "I told you not to be stupid."
She gave his chest a girly punch and a joyful smile. "I can wait even for a lifetime just to be saved by you. Because I know, the waiting will never be in vain."
"Good." He said and looked at her from head to feet, "But that fucking wedding gown is freaking me out."
There is a quiet laughter in Petra's voice when she said, "Don't worry, Sir. I won't wear another wedding gown unless I marry the man I love." She knew that she was getting cheesier but based on Levi's expression, he doesn't seem to feel bothered about it.
"Well then, you should wait until that time comes." He said while tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Yes, because I do believe that love is waiting…" she said, and continued in her mind, 'For us… even if takes forever.'
P.S. I removed the part where Eren and his friends along with Hanji went to an Amazing Race in the Forest of Giant Trees and Survivor Shiganshina. Maybe I'll write it in a separate story, it's all humor and I don't find it to be fitting in with the plot. I hope you enjoyed this one. I think I made Petra so cheesy in the later part. Sorry.