Deux

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan

This is the continuation of Tu et Moi and slight sequel to Vergissmeinnicht, from Levi's perspective. Yes, it somehow picks up from Auf Wiedsersehen. It works, because this entire series is made up of alternate universes, so the reincarnated Levi in this story is from Auf Wiedersehen, while the reincarnated version of Eren is from Espérer. Seriously just don't question it.

When he opened his eyes again, he could still feel the air rasping through his lungs, his ribs crushed beneath strong fingertips, his body caving in around him. The doctors said his lungs were underdeveloped when they set him apart from the others, covering his small newborn body in tubes. His parents wept, thinking he wouldn't survive the night. But he was strong.

Humanity's Strongest.

When he was older, the doctors called it asthma: that moment where his vision blurred and he couldn't drag enough air down his throat, felt his chest tightening, felt his ribs squeezing against his organs. They called it asthma, and he called it a memory.

Memories of a past life filled his dreams, turning them into nightmares. Titans running rampant, living in the Underground, the maneuver gear tight around his body, Farlan and Isabel's smiles, the way Erwin looked at him in understanding, Hanji rambling about titans, Eren Jaeger…

He knew he had to find them. He knew they were bound together in their experiences. Levi was determined to see his friends again. Maybe in this life they would all stay alive.

In school, they taught the history of the war with the titans. He was a hero to them. Eren was a disappointment, a could-have-been, should-have-been light at the end of the tunnel, a bright hope snuffed out too soon. Levi cried behind the gym after that lesson.

They praised Commander Erwin Smith, calling him the savior of humanity even though he too died young. Some scholars questioned his decisions and motives, wondering what he wasn't willing to sacrifice to win. But the text used worldwide for deciphering the past honored his memory so eloquently, no one could ever think of him as a monster.

After all, Armin Arlert was very good at recording the events of that time. He was, everyone assumed, the one who survived the longest. His words carried from page to page, over years of battles won and lost, until eventually the new Commander, Hanji, discovered the end to it all. A new weapon against the titans, a cure for shifters caught and interrogated, an end to the curse of living inside the walls.

Unfortunately, Commander Zoe was found hanging in the basement soon after the war was over. Armin made it clear that any praise the scientist received was met with a solemn expression, the excitement behind those glasses gone, a constant frown, and never-ending stream of tears. Armin included the suicide note left behind to explain why, but Levi already knew before having to read it.

He decided to go back to the museum to look at the letter again. He missed Hanji, wishing he could find his friend happy again in this life. So far he didn't have much luck. He couldn't even find Eren, whom he desperately needed to see for reasons he didn't care to admit.

There was another letter in the museum, one he usually ignored as he passed by. One he refused to acknowledge. His love letter, his confession, even though he didn't remember writing it. The thought unnerved him. He felt guilty for killing Eren, even though he could still hear the titan shifter's roar as his life was squeezed out of him.

He realized that, not only was reincarnation possible, but so were alternate realities. Hanji must have found that interesting.

After staring at the letter again, fighting back tears, he sighed and decided to at least look at the case dedicated to his memory. He usually avoided it like the plague, because he wasn't that egotistical and couldn't stomach the memories. But today he was feeling masochistic, or maybe he just was drawn to something inside the case. Or in front of it.

He spotted a teenage boy staring openly at the letter, longing in his eyes. Levi glanced at the wanted poster from his days as a thug before joining the Scouting Legion, fighting back an ironic smile. His eyes drifted toward the badge—his badge—next to the poster. It was eerie, looking at it now.

"C-Corporal?" he heard a familiar voice gasp out.

He smiled, turning to see Eren, who he looked so hard for, only to have the kid be right underneath his nose. "Eren, it looks like I found you." He murmured, smiling at him. The kid looked ecstatic, grinning like a fiend, so Levi knew he remembered everything. "So, you want to know what I left out in that letter?"

Eren's head bobbed eagerly. Levi gestured with his chin for Eren to follow, and the kid obeyed. He chuckled at the way Eren so blindly followed him, even now. They went outside, sitting at the small tourist café far away from everyone else.

"Have you found any of the others?" Levi asked first.

Eren shook his head. "No. You're the first person I met. I'm so glad…I…" he scratched the back of his neck.

"I know. I missed you too." Levi murmured, reaching out to take Eren's hand. "I think when I wrote that letter, I must have been feeling like shit for doing that to you. This may sound weird, but that was a different version of me."

Eren looked confused. "Different version? I know we're reincarnated…"

"No, an alternate reality version of myself. But I still know what I would've said, somehow…" Levi explained. "Probably 'until then, understand that killing you was the worst decision of my life, the one choice I regret the most. If I could go back, in another time, I would choose my own death before yours' or something like that."

Eren was staring at him, open-mouthed. "But…how..?"

"Because I did." Levi answered, looking into those deep green eyes. "I died at the hands of the Ape Titan. I knew he would be there, and I knew if you faced him alone you would probably die, along with many others. I was selfish, reckless, throwing myself forward and leaving everyone else behind. I went against the Ape Titan alone and faced the consequences. I knew your anger would be enough to defeat it after. I knew it would devastate you, but I chose your life over mine."

Eren was crying, squeezing Levi's hand tightly. "I didn't…th-thank you…I…" he didn't know what to say, it was obvious in the way his mouth opened and closed, his words stumbling out of him. "But we could have done it together…we could have…"

"We have now. We all have this life to make up for what we didn't or couldn't do in the last one. That's why I want to find the others, even your trainee friends. I want all of us to be together again, alive." Levi felt himself choking and automatically reached inside his pocket, clutching his inhaler. Eren looked concerned as he brought it to his lips and breathed deep.

"What…is that an inhaler?" Eren asked.

"I was crushed to death. Born with underdeveloped lungs, had asthma ever since." Levi explained, putting the inhaler away when he felt his airways opening again.

Eren watched him closely before nodding. "So how do we find everyone else?"

"We found each other. I just hope they remember like we do. Their memories will guide them." Levi glanced off into the distance. He wasn't sure how to get their attention, how to draw them to him.

"But it probably couldn't hurt to make a little noise, huh?" Eren suggested, a grin slowly forming on his lips.

"What do you mean?"

"I did a little research on reincarnation, but not much, because I didn't think it would lead me anywhere. But maybe that's what we need to do." Eren suggested.

Levi nodded. "It's a start."

They were quiet, sitting in the sun and looking at the people around them, people who may have been civilians or soldiers in a past life, or even titans. People who remembered, and people who didn't. Were they lucky for remembering, or doomed?

Levi glanced at Eren, staring at him without any remorse. He was glad he remembered, if only for the fact that it brought him back to Eren.

"Hanji…" Levi whispered, staring at his computer screen. His mouth fell open, and he was starting to breathe heavily. Without even glancing down, he took his inhaler out of his pocket and put it against his lips, sucking in a breath of air.

"What is it?" Eren came up behind him, leaning over him to look at the screen. He convinced the kid's parents he was a tutor, which explained why Eren went over to his house often, as well as their extra research.

Levi pointed at the screen and Eren's eyes scanned the information. "Huh…sounds like Hanji." Levi turned to him with a knowing expression. "It…it is Hanji, isn't it?"

"I think so."

"Let's go, the lecture is at the local college." Eren was already turning away, grabbing his things. Levi felt himself grinning, grabbing his wallet and keys.

They raced to the college, arriving just in time to see a familiar brown ponytail and large glasses. Hanji was on stage in front of a podium, hands already gesturing wildly about reincarnation and memories and dreams and occasionally the word titan escaped amidst the fray.

Levi and Eren stood near the back, leaning against the wall, watching with grins on their faces.

Hanji noticed Levi first, eyes glancing over his just to dart back. He smiled, resisting the urge to laugh, as Hanji's speech got even more excited and ecstatic than before. But the scientist was still professional, no matter how crazed the speech seemed.

At the end, Hanji was polite to the students who came up to ask questions, but when they trickled out the scientist leapt off the stage and ran toward them.

Levi was enveloped in a tight hug, almost bowled over. He gasped, wheezing, and Eren had to tug Hanji off and explain his condition while he took a pull from his inhaler. Hanji smiled in understanding and went in for a gentler hug.

"I can't believe you found me! Of course, you're not the first I've seen. Erwin was. Guess where I found him?" Hanji said quickly.

"Running for President?" Eren asked.

"Nah. Politics was never his thing." Levi stated, already smirking as Hanji grinned wider.

"He's an officer in the military!"

"Wow! I didn't think he would go back." Eren gasped.

"I knew he wouldn't be able to resist, but I never found him." Levi said.

"He's been looking for you too. He wants to get the gang back together." Hanji replied.

"Same with Levi. He found me. Well, I found him…" Eren began, glancing at him.

"We found each other at a museum." Levi finished, giving Hanji a knowing look. "You know, the one where Armin's book is on display, along with half the shit they managed to recover from the ruins inside the walls?"

"Oh, really?"

"Your suicide note is there, too." He added quietly. Eren glanced between them, at Hanji's guilty look and Levi's wondering expression.

"Yeah…I just…" Hanji looked close to tears, but grinned again. "Now isn't the time! I'm so happy to find you both, I have to take you to Erwin!"

Levi should have known that wherever they found Erwin, Armin wouldn't be far behind. Of course, he expected to find Mikasa with Eren as well and was somewhat disappointed, but seeing as Armin literally wrote the book on their past he assumed he would be the key to gathering the others.

Eren chuckled at his friend. They embraced when they saw each other, holding on for a long time. Levi and Erwin stared at each other, then shook hands. Levi mused that Erwin had both his arms back, to which the man laughed and pulled him into a tight hug. Again he had to explain his asthma, to which Erwin gave a knowing look.

"I don't think I remember you dying quite like that…if at all. Didn't I die before you?" Erwin said.

"I told you, there are alternate realities too! I think we all come from a different one, actually. Or at least, most of us. You and Armin came from the same one, but Eren and Levi are each from different realities." Hanji explained.

"It makes sense that if we're reincarnated, our alternate selves would be as well, and we wouldn't all end up in the same universe again. But still, we remember and that's what counts." Armin chimed in. Heads nodded in agreement.

After that they asked how Armin and Erwin met.

"He was in my history class." Armin laughed. "He was already in the military by then, because he remembered, and wanted to major in history. Like me." the blond blushed, grinning down at the former Commander.

Erwin smiled, brushing a strand of hair out of Armin's face. "Well, you preserved our memory so well, I assumed you would be a history professor in this life. I thought if I took enough classes I would finally find you. But I couldn't resist joining the military, even though we hardly need it."

"Oh, I found Mikasa too. She seemed really lost without you, Eren." Armin stated.

"Really?" he asked, feeling slightly guilty about his obsession with finding Levi when his sister was equally important to him.

"Well, not completely. She's still a total badass, an MMA fighter, actually. I think she's a champion…or has a championship match. She's one of the youngest competitors to achieve as much as she has." Armin replied.

"What? Wow!" Eren exclaimed.

"Yeah, we were gonna go to her next match in a few days. You guys wanna come?"

"Yes!" Eren exclaimed, then glanced to Levi. "Well, erm…I would like to."

"I want to as well. She was always a good fighter."

There was a strange glint to Armin's eyes. "I hear her opponent is Annie…" he said with a smirk.

"No way!" Eren cried. Armin nodded.

"I think he's been the best at tracking everyone down so far, at least his fellow squad mates." Erwin said, holding Armin close. "Although Hanji's research and lectures has turned up a few others as well."

"I found Mobilt after doing some experimental research and Erwin discovered Mike as a club bouncer." Hanji said. "I haven't been able to find anyone from your special operations squad, though, Levi."

"Well, it looks like we just need to get the rest of the 104th squad back together, then." Levi replied with a slight smile. Eren beamed next to him.

They were getting closer to finding each other, and so far everyone was alive. It was enough for him, knowing their deaths weren't in vain.

Author's Note: Aren't I clever? Anyway, this is the long-awaited continuation I promised you guys! I don't know how many chapters this will actually have, or if I'll update regularly, so treat this as a special gift!