December 2:

I woke up to a sharp kick in the ribs. Upon opening my eyes, I saw the room was completely dark; there was no more moonlight entering from the windows. Just as I started to look towards the alarm clock on the end table, a heavy object landed on my stomach, almost knocking the wind out of me. After flicking on the bedside lamp, I looked down and saw that the 'heavy object' was a pair of pale feet. Connected to those feet were a pair of legs, the dark hair on them making the milky coloring of the skin stand out more. My eyes traveled up the white legs to see the rest of Levi.

He was laying completely sideways in the bed, the sheets scattered, and his pillow missing. His pajama bottoms had ridden up to mid-thigh, and I could see the edge of what looked like a massive scar on his left leg, with the rest disappearing under the black flannel pants.

Letting out a groan, he shifted, twisting onto one side, and one of his feet moved to rest on one of my breasts, with the toes on the other foot digging uncomfortably into my ribs.

I shoved both feet off of me, and sat up, now understanding why he had such a large bed; if he didn't, he surely would fall off on nightly basis with the way he moved around in his sleep. After crawling over to him, I reached out to try to pull him back to where he should be laying. I wrapped my hands around his upper arm and tugged. He barely budged; Levi was heavier than I had expected. Pressing my hands into the mattress, I tried to shove them underneath his torso, thinking that would be an easier way to move him.

As I attempted that though, Levi started thrashing quickly. One of his arms jerked up and hit me in the mouth. I fell back against the headboard, and he sat up breathing heavily, looking around in a panic. His hands were still clenched into fists, and once he turned and looked at me, I could see that his eyes were wide with fear. The edges of sleep were still clinging to him; they must have been, because if he was in his right mind, he never would have reached out and pulled me into a tight hug. If he was in his right mind, he never would have let me wrap my arms around him in return either.

He ducked his head into the area where my neck joined my shoulder, and I could feel trembles racking his small frame. His hands clenched into the back of my tank top, causing me to suddenly remember that I was braless with my boobs pressed up against his bare chest and that my pants were off, exposing my Death Note themed underwear to the world.

I moved one hand off of him to reach for my pillow to attempt to hide my panties. When Levi felt me let go, he gasped out a "No" and pulled me in even tighter. My searching hand finally grasped my pillow, and I pulled it into my lap effectively covering myself, before returning the squeeze.

After a few minutes of just sitting together, Levi finally let go, and before I could say anything, he got up and left the room. After slipping on my pajama bottoms, I followed.

I found him in the living room, sitting on the sofa reading a well-worn copy of Dante's Inferno. Dropping down into a crouch in front of him, I reached out and lowered his book so he would look at me. Levi did, with a pitiful glare. That didn't sit right with me; never had I ever seen Levi unable to give somebody a decent glare.

"What's wrong, Levi? What happened? Was it a nightmare?" I asked quietly, aware of his grandparents sleeping nearby.

"I'm fine, Hanji. Go back to bed." He murmured, trying to pull the poetry from my grasp.

"No, you're not fine. You had a panic attack, and you willingly hugged me. Something is wrong. Come back to bed, and we can talk about it in the morning. Let me help you, Levi. Please." I whispered back.

"I can't sleep any more. I'm honestly surprised that I was able to sleep for as long as I did."

"How… How long do you typically sleep for?" I asked warily.

"Two or three hours." He said, with a resigned sigh.

"Levi! Why didn't you tell me? I could have prescribed you sleeping pills. Everyone needs a minimum of eight hours a night!" My voice got a little bit louder with my shock.

Levi held up a finger and shushed me. "My grandparents are still sleeping, Four-Eyes. I didn't want sleeping pills; you've already got me on meds for my other issues."

"You needed those, and you know it. Are they still working? No side effects?"

He scoffed. "Nothing I didn't want to have happen anyway. They completely destroyed the small sex drive I had; I should thank you, if anything."

After a few moments of thinking, I finally decided to say what had been on my mind since the previous evening. "Listen to me, Levi. I am getting concerned here. There is more going on with you than you let on." He rolled his eyes. "From now on, I will ask you one question a day, and you will give me a satisfactory answer, or I'll stop seeing you as a patient, and tell Erwin exactly how uncooperative you've been."

"What? But I'll lose my pension, Hanji. What would I do then?" He looked highly offended.

"It's just one question, Levi. They won't all be deep personal stuff. I might ask your favorite color, or the name of your first pet. You don't know. But I am tired of not knowing what is going on. Either you talk to me, or I start talking to Erwin." I hated giving people ultimatums, but this madness had gone on long enough.

After a few seconds of thinking, Levi sighed and agreed. He stopped his tugging on the book, and set it down in his lap.

"I'm just going to ask my question for today now, since we're alone." I paused, trying to think. I had many things I wanted answers for, but I shouldn't pick something too personal as my first question, or I might scare him off. It had to be something relatively private though, just to show him I was serious about this.

"Since we are currently awake because of this, I think I'll start off with asking what your nightmares are about." I finally said.

"They're not… nightmares, per se. They're memories." His fingers picked restlessly with the damaged corner of the books cover. "From my childhood." He added, eyes not looking up to meet mine.

Levi stood abruptly. "I answered your question. Goodnight, Hanji." He turned and walked back towards our room.

Yet again, I quickly followed; this time finding him curled up on his side in bed, bed sheets tugged up to his chin.

"Levi." I called, quietly padding over to the bed. "Levi…"

After deciding that he must be ignoring me, I laid down on my side, and thought about what Levi had told me. What childhood events could cause Levi— "Humanities Strongest Soldier", as Erwin once told me—to have nightmares decades later?

Pondering my new revelations, I soon fell asleep.


A/N: Thank you to everyone who has left reviews so far! I greatly appreciate it.