Chapter 3: Nightmares (24 June 2015)

The next morning...

As always, in the morning, the dining hall was alive with the rumbling noises of its occupants. One didn't need to hear what they were saying to know what they were talking about. By now, everyone had heard about Captain Levi's safe return and was feeling silly for ever being concerned in the first place. However, the question of the day now was- Why did he suddenly abandon the mission?

At the moment, Oluo was busy teasing Petra for being so soft-centered. "Petra, dear, you shouldn't have gone into such drama!" He mocked, batting his eyelashes.

"Watch it, Bozado. I can still cut you into ribbons!" She laughed, taking a sip of her drink."I still can't believe we had so little trust in the Captain, though. I mean, he's the Captain- of course he's fine!"

It was nice to know that they were just paranoid. They hadn't seen the Captain themselves yet, but then again, no one but Commander Erwin has.

"Yeah, I know. It's terrible." Gunter thought for a moment. "Do you guys think... something happened?"

"What? Like the appearance of the Colossal? Or the Armored? I think that's a bit too far-fetched, my friend." Oulo replied, bringing the cup back to his mouth. "Besides, no one can take out Levi..." He murmured to himself.

"Yeah, can't help but agree with that first one. But then, even Captain Levi can't take those two on- It must have been something else."

Suddenly, the entire room fell deathly silent. In fact, the atmosphere was so thick that you could've cut it with a knife. Levi's squad looked around frantically to find the source of the disruption. Sure enough they found it. There at the door stood Captain Levi, looking like he did everyday...

Pissed off at the world.

Gunter nearly spit out his drink, Oluo almost choked and Petra dropped her knife. Calmly, he walked over to their table holding what appeared to be a new cloak and a teacup. He sat down and murmured a greeting like usual, as if nothing had happened the day before. The team, shocked, couldn't even mumble their replies. It was Petra who found her words first, stuttering. "C-captain... You're okay..."

"I am." He replied calmly, causing great surprise, as if he did not even register it.

"Sir. We heard that you were... wounded when you first got back." Gunter could have sworn he was told that the Captain was severely injured, not just a simple cut. In fact, the amount of blood the soldiers at the Garrison described was enough to leave Captain Levi in a near death state and yet, here he was, with barely a scratch.

The man in question took one big long sip from his green tea, taking his time and teasing the anxious people surrounding him, waiting for an answer. Finally, he spoke. "That is true, but who said it was I who was injured?"

Murmurs broke out at this, mimicking a beehive.

"Was it a Titan?!" Someone asked out of the blue.

Levi sighed and put down his tea in annoyance- he knew he wasn't going to get to enjoy his tea in peace and quiet, not after what happened yesterday. Yes, they deserved an explanation, but that didn't mean he had to give it to them straight away.

"What happened yesterday had nothing to do with the titans- my disappearance was for personal reasons, and that is all I wish to say about it."

With that, he took one last sip of his tea and stalked out of the room, probably to go clean something to ease his annoyance, leaving the Scouts to their confusion once more.

-xXx-

Later that day, just before sundown...

He didn't know when he had fallen asleep- maybe at some point between cleaning his bookshelf and checking on the boy. Well, whenever he did, next thing he knew, he found himself fast asleep with his arms on the bed. Eren had been asleep for most of the day- the doctor had said that he would be out longer due to the severity of his injuries, but with the knowledge of the boy's incredible healing abilities, there really was no telling of how long he would be out. Commander Erwin had stopped by once or twice since their last talk. Both had come to the conclusion that the boy was Levi's responsibility- not only was he Eren's last living relative but he was also the one who found him in the first place.

So, in simple words: Eren was his problem.

Eventually though, after a good sum of convincing, Levi had managed to get the Commander to let Eren stay with him at the Castle. Then it wasn't really as if he had much of a choice. Levi stayed wherever they deemed as their headquarters, partly to keep an eye on the cadets who also stayed there and mostly because he didn't have a house.

He was woken from his sleep by the stirring of the blankets beneath him. He looked over to see Eren twisting and turning in his sleep, whimpering as he did so.

He was having a nightmare.

Eren suddenly shot up screaming. Within seconds, he was on the bed holding the boy tightly in his arms, whispering words of reassurance. Eren was clutching tightly to his chest, staining his shirt with fresh tears.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm here, I'm here." Levi repeated over and over. He was still a bit rusty on the whole brother thing, so he started doing the one thing that always seemed to calm Eren down- drawing circles on Eren's back, as he had done years ago, before Shiganshina. He continued with this action for a long time. Eventually, the weeping boy started to calm down, having realised that he was indeed in safe hands. His crying slowly turned from frantic sobbing to a sob every now and then and eventually to a soft whimper. Levi decided it was safe to speak.

"Nightmare?"

The boy looked up; his big green eyes were still red from crying. Levi could have sworn he saw a slight glimmer of recognition in his eyes. Eren stayed silent for a moment before nodding. Levi ran a hand through Eren's chocolate coloured hair- the boy made no protest.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

A single sob escaped Eren's mouth as memories of his terrible slumber-induced ordeal rushed back to him. He buried his face in Levi's shirt and shook his head.

"Maybe later, then..."

After Eren had calmed down completely, Levi had shifted himself into a more comfortable position and Eren was gradually starting to fall asleep again. Levi was thinking about the recent events of the last two days when a sound coming from his chest interrupted his thoughts.

"Thank you, Levi."

He couldn't hide his surprise. "You remember me?"

Eren shifted his head so he could smile at his older brother. "Levi..."

Eren hugged him tight, the smile on his face never leaving him, and made himself comfortable again under Levi's arm. Levi couldn't help but return the gesture. Eren remembered him- the thought warmed his heart. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that he would get his little brother back and now he had.

It wasn't long before both Ackerman brothers were lost in peaceful sleep, both wearing identical smiles. That's how Erwin found them- Eren on top of Levi, holding on tightly to his shirt, creating a drool pool (which we all just know Levi's gonna appreciate when he wakes up! XD I'm evil...), and Levi's arm on Eren's back. The strangest thing was the genuine smile on the usually stoic man's face.

He did look strange when he smiled. Well, it looked like Hange won this bet. The older man grinned, shook his head at the otherwise adorable scene and closed the door. He could talk to Levi later.

So finally I started updating the updated Chapters again! Some of you may know that I had gotten a new laptop recently, unfortunately though it didn't have word on it and I had to go looking for it on the internet. Eventually I found it. Not the version I'm used to, but good enough to be able to write again. Learning for my Drivers licence and passing grade 10 has got me very busy. We don't have summer vacation in my country by the way so I'll update when I get the chance. Please review!

Until next time!

-Ziixx

(Updated: 13 December 2015)