You know that feeling you get, when you feel like the moment you close your eyes, you'll open them up to reality? That the dream you've been living will make itself known and you'll be forced to get up, brush yourself off, and start over? If I could place that very feeling into a mathematical equation, I was probably experiencing ten times over the legal limit of surreality.

There was no doubt about it. Armin knew who I was. He remembered.

Our eyes were locked and our lips were loaded, years of unspoken conversations lingering on either of our tongues. A reunion through random encounter...there wasn't any time for this. Obviously, he had a class to teach. And me, I had to watch over Levi.

Wait. Where was Levi?

"Come on, Eren." I heard a whispered voice spoken close to my ear. It was with that whisper that a sense of security washed over me. However, it was still beyond my wildest of imaginations how Levi's stealth level was high enough for him to sneak into a classroom that was full of students and not get caught by the professor. Then again, I guess I kind of had a part in his successful mission. I served to be a pretty good distraction. "Eren, let's go."

"Eren..." It was Armin who had said it. "Is that...you?"

Yes, it was me. Armin, of course it was me. I looked the same, didn't I? Remember when you compared my expression to that of a criminal? Or worse, Jean? Honestly, he and I looked nothing alike. Especially not now.

I could sense Levi's frustration, just as much as I could sense his confusion. Both emotions were practically radiating off of him and against my arm. He had been tugging it, trying to get me to follow him, but the moment he had heard Armin's voice calling out to me, he was knowledgeable enough in the way that this whole angel thing worked to know what that meant.

And me, why couldn't I respond? Was I afraid? No, hardly. Armin was my best friend. Well, Armin was my best friend. Just in the same way that Mikasa was my sister, Erwin was my commander, and Levi...

"Everyone." My gaze was instantly snapped back into focus. "Turn to the second unit in your textbooks and review the material again. Pay special attention to page thirty-four and thirty-eight and take notes. I will reschedule your exam for the day after tomorrow. Group up and treat this class as a study period. I expect you all get passing grades this time around. Now, if you'd excuse me for a moment."

My heart dropped into my stomach, as I watched him approach me. He was so tall, much taller than I could have ever estimated him to grow. His shoulders were strong and broad, gently swaying with each step he took.

It must have seemed strange that my initial reaction was to back away from him. Then again, could you really blame me? This was something I hadn't been expecting. Suspecting? Yeah, maybe a little bit. With Erwin calling his professor "Mr. Arlert", how could I not? Still, was I expecting it? Not at all.

Closing the door behind him as he exited the classroom, it was made boldly apparent that Armin's eyes had never once left mine. Not even when he had addressed his class, and he had still been able to remain surprisingly direct. I swallowed. He spoke again.

"Eren, it is you, isn't it?"

It was amazing how much his voice had deepened with age. This wasn't the little, barely pre-pubescent voice that I remembered. No, this voice was strong, steady. It was composed of all of the credentials necessary for terming it as professional.

I nodded my head in a way that made it seem as if I was unsure of my answer. Wait, was it me? I wasn't so certain anymore.

"Um, can someone please tell me what's going on here?"

For the sake of Levi's sanity, I was able to find my voice. Clearing my throat and straightening my shoulders served to do me pretty good. With my new posture and my phlegm-free throat, I was finally ready to say, "It's been...a while."

He laughed softly, and it was through Armin that all of the negative, nervous energy dissipated. "A while is a bit of an understatement, Eren. Seriously, how long has it been?"

"A thousand years, and then some?" I chuckled, feeding off of his gentle laughter.

"Wow. Wow, you just, you really lose track of the time, huh? Or would it be more appropriate to say 'lifetimes'?"

This was awesome. Oh, it was such a breath of fresh air. Not having to explain the process of lifetimes, not having to be the messenger of all news from above, it was such a relief. Finally, to be able to talk to someone who just gets it. Yeah, it was pretty great.

"So, please," Armin said, gesturing his hand for both Levi and me to follow him, "allow me to take you somewhere more private."

By his lead, we were guided back up the hallway that Levi and I had all but raced down to get to Erwin's classroom in time. This pace, however, was much more controlled. It was comfortable, even. It felt as right as right could be, when you had a college professor, a hair and make-up stylist, and a guardian angel all walking together.

"You know, I'm surprised you're not asking about his wings." Coasting his elbow along the stairwell railing, Levi proceeded to say, "They're usually the first thing people notice; that is, if those people can see him."

Armin pressed a finger to the bridge of his glasses, pushing them up his nose and straightening out the frames. "Oh, well, I was mostly waiting until we found a better place to discuss these things," he smiled, "but I guess it wouldn't hurt to mention that they're mighty magnificent, Eren. Angel wings, I presume? You'll have to explain that one to me."

And that I didn't mind. I didn't mind it, because Armin actually seemed genuinely interested in what I would have to tell him, unlike Mikasa who just seemed...distant.

"Of course!" I responded. "It'll be just like old times, huh? Actually, it'll be kind of like the reverse of old times, though, because you usually did all of the explaining and we did all of the listening, but I think you get the point."

Again, another small laugh left Armin's lips. "Yeah," he agreed. "Just like old times."

Once we were seated in an uninhabited teacher lounge, I did my very best to get comfy like both Levi and Armin, but my wings refused to cooperate. Shifting and shimmying against the squishy sofa chair, the moment I'd found the perfect position for my wings to have enough room, every other part of my body felt strained. It was your average win-lose situation.

"How about I try and find a stool for you, Eren?" Armin suggested. "I think they still have some in the old art room. Let me go check real quick."

I thanked him, as he walked out of the lounge. Not surprisingly, when Levi and I were alone, he began asking me some questions.

"Who is that, Eren?" was his first question, one that I happily obliged.

"His name is Armin Arlert," I began, "and he was one of my best...okay, well, he was my only best friend."

"Which lifetime?"

This was where things would get a little awkward. After all, Armin obviously knew who Levi was, but the acquaintanceship was not shared. To explain that Armin had been a part of my first lifetime, wouldn't Levi be able to piece together the possibility of him having known Armin as well?

"My first," I answered, and luckily, I was safe for the time being. Armin had just walked back into the lounge with a paint-stained stool in hand.

"Here you go, Eren," he said, with a smile. "It's probably not as comfortable as these sofas, but it'll be more suitable for your, er, shape."

Armin set the stool down beside me. Graciously, I thanked him again and perched myself up onto the hard wood of the seat. It took some getting used to, but it wasn't so bad. It was definitely better than having my wings squashed against the back of a sofa.

When Armin had taken his seat across from Levi, directly diagonal from me, he folded his arms over his lap and crossed his legs. I couldn't deny it; he was such a teacher. "So, Eren," he spoke, catching my attention, "I'm not entirely sure what I should ask, or which question would be most appropriate to ask first, so how about you just give me a brief summary of this whole thing with your wings and stuff."

I snickered at his use of the word "appropriate". Yup. Definitely a teacher.

"I guess I should start from the very beginning, then," I said. It couldn't hurt to tell my entire story, could it? After all, even Levi still didn't know everything, either.

"Well, it all started on the morning of November 1st. That day was just a bad day all around. I woke up tired, couldn't get my stupid alarm clock to shut off, and I got stopped on the way to school by-oh." Armin would know who I was talking about. "I got stopped by Mina."

"Mina Carolina?" Armin questioned, completely enthralled by such an interesting part in my story.

I nodded. "Yup. The one and only. She...didn't recall our past lifetime together, though. If she did, she probably wouldn't have had such a big crush on me."

Again, I was interrupted by Armin's amiable laughter, followed by him saying, "You've got to be kidding, right? There's no way she had a crush on you."

"Hey! I take that with offense! I mean, I'm a pretty good guy. Right, Levi?" I hadn't meant to turn the conversation on him, but it didn't feel right just leaving him out of everything. Especially since he probably wouldn't understand most of what we were saying.

"Huh?" He sounded disinterested. "Oh, yeah. I guess." Correction. He sounded very disinterested.

Obviously, that didn't sit well with me. Did I do something wrong? Was it something I said?

"So, what happened next, Eren?" Armin prompted. He was probably trying to ease some of the awkward tension that was beginning to loom about the room.

"Oh, right. Okay." In order to prepare myself for the the continuation of my story, I inhaled deeply. This would be the difficult part to explain. Thinking, let alone talking about my death wasn't exactly something that I was excited about doing. However, it was an important piece of my puzzle and it needed to be shared.

"So, as Mina and I were walking to school, she asked me if I liked her. Like, romantically, you know? I didn't know what to say... I mean, I knew that I didn't like her in that way, but she was a year younger than me and I really didn't want to hurt her feelings. Still, she got really upset with me and stormed off.

What happened next, it's kind of a blur. I remember what happened, and I remember how it happened, but I'm still unsure of the length of time that it took me to actually...die."

Just saying that sent a shiver down my spine. The silence that followed wasn't the least bit welcome, either. It was uncomfortable and heavy. Suffocating. It was suffocating like the car exhaust that had taken over my lungs and made my brain go numb with lack of oxygen.

I didn't like this. Death was a part of the cycle of life, sure, I was well aware of that; and I'd died enough times for that to make itself blatantly apparent. But this memory, it was still too fresh. Unlike my other lifetimes, where I had to go through a period of infancy, the memories didn't come back gradually. Nope, they were all right there my head, which currently, was feeling a little light.

"Do you want to take a break?" Armin suggested, but I quickly declined.

"No, no, I'm alright. I just needed a moment to organize my thoughts, but I'm alright now."

I folded my arms against my lower chest, and with another sharp breath to settle myself, I was ready to continue. "It happened really fast. Like every other, normal school day, I proceeded to cross the street. I thought nothing of it, really, but looking back, I probably should have been more aware of my surroundings." I paused for literary effect. "It had been a cold morning, colder than average. Mixed with the rain we'd received in my area the prior evening, it practically wrote itself out as a recipe for disaster. If I would have listened to the weatherman, I probably would have known that. But I didn't listen, and I wasn't paying attention."

"...What happened, Eren?" Again, Armin was the one who had asked.

"A car skidded on a patch of black ice and spun out of control. It crashed right into me." There was no reaction. I carried on. "I remember hearing the driver's voice. He was frazzled and speaking so fast that it was hard to make out what he was trying to say, but I could tell that he was concerned for my well-being. It didn't matter, though. It was already too late."

Armin pushed up his glasses and sighed, while Levi remained absolutely still. They were relatively diverse reactions, not exactly what I had been expecting.

"So, uh," I mumbled sheepishly, "should I continue?"

"Yes, please do," Armin said, with a nod. "Sorry for not saying anything, but this is some pretty heavy stuff. How old were you?"

"Fifteen," I answered, "but it's not like it was something that was unforeseen. I pretty much only had one year left to live. One and a half, if I was lucky."

"Ah, don't remind me."

That was a peculiar thing to say. "Don't remind you? What do you mean, Armin?" I asked, craving a sense of clarification.

"The time watch," he said, running his fingers across the length of his brow bone. "That's what I call it, at least. How you can't live any longer than you survived in your first life?"

"Yeah, yeah! Wow, you gave that thing a name? That's actually pretty clever."

I could tell that Armin prided himself with my response. "Of course it's clever," he affirmed. "Would you ever expect anything less from me?"

"Never," I chuckled. He had a point. I couldn't recall a time when Armin had ever said anything that was less than genius. Still, he hadn't really answered my question to its full extent. "But what did you mean when you said, 'Ah, don't remind me'?"

Suddenly, Armin didn't seem so sure of what he had wanted to say anymore. He looked pensive, like he was calculating his response. Nothing within his head stopped him from saying, "I said that, because my lifetime could be coming to an end any time now."

...What? No, seriously, what? How could that be? Armin, he couldn't have been a day older than twenty-five. Well, actually, he could have been, considering that his birthday was on the 3rd of November, but that was beyond the point. Was he trying to tell me that he hadn't lived any longer than that, during the era of the Titans?

"Armin, you-?"

"Keeping details to a minimum," he interjected, "yes, I died around this time many, many years ago. Throughout my lifetimes, I've lived a multitude of different lengths, but never once have I lived any longer than my first. You already know that, though."

This couldn't really be happening. Armin was so young, so full of knowledge and wisdom. How had he died? And why? His mentality was invaluable to all. Without it, surely, humanity must have deeply regretted his loss.

As much as I wanted to learn, I knew that I had to hold my tongue. Albeit nearly silent the entire time, Levi was still present. These were the very sort of things that should not and could not be discussed around his untrained ears.

"I'm...sorry to hear that, Armin. Wow..."

With his constant smile, Armin murmured, "Don't sweat it, Eren. This is just how the life cycles work, you know? You live, you die, you get reincarnated."

"Or you can become an angel, like me," I added.

It was one of those "duh" moments, where Armin slapped his hand against his cheek, and said, "I'm so sorry, Eren! You've only finished half of your story. Please, continue."

Oh, yeah. This was the part that I would have no trouble telling. Plus, I had a feeling Armin would get a kick out of the other two persons that held starring roles in my road to becoming an angel.

"Well, after I had died, I expected to be reincarnated as a baby. Clearly, that wasn't the case this time. I was reborn into this new body, in a place that was neither Heaven nor Hell. Get a load of this, Armin. It was called 'Maria'." Armin definitely seemed intrigued by that, but he chose to stay speechless. "Anyways, after I hatched out of my egg - and yes, apparently angels hatch out of those - I got a lovely earful from the king of jerks himself."

"...I'm sorry?" Oh, come on, Armin. You were doing so well. Please don't tell me you've forgotten all about his royal majesty himself.

"Um, Jean?" I stated, glad to see that his eyes lit up with a new understanding almost instantly. "Oh, and Historia, too. She was really nice to me, though. Really helpful and informative about my new life."

"And Jean? What about him?"

"Ugh," I groaned. "Well, I mean, he did kind of teach me how to fly, but that's about it. Technically, he coaxed the act out of me from within, so it's not like he did anything that extraordinary."

Armin must have been truly amused by me, because it had to have been the umpteenth time that I'd made him laugh. "Oh, Eren," he breathed. "You really haven't changed, have you?"

I couldn't agree or disagree to that. "Well, for obvious reasons, I am different from how I used to be. I have a whole new sense of purpose now." I turned my gaze toward Levi, readily expressing the gratitude that I had for being able to be a part of his life once again. It was a bit disappointing to realize that he still remained an aloof part of the conversation.

"Oh? And what's that?"

Armin knew what I was hinting at, but he possessed a devious side, as well. He just wanted to hear me say it, probably because he was hoping to get a rouse out of me. But that wouldn't happen. I was proud of my title. I wasn't going to hide it behind a pair of stuttering lips and bashfully blushing cheeks.

"Protecting Levi," I spoke, the air surrounding us serving as a mode for carrying my sturdy voice. "His life is my most important priority, and I will guard and protect him no matter what."

Rising to his feet, Armin had attracted both Levi's and my attention. He flexed his fingers and flicked his wrist, taking a quick peek at his watch. "This is quite unfortunate," he sighed solemnly. "My students have been alone for nearly twenty minutes now. I can only imagine what kind of world war they're starting back up there."

"Are college students really that misbehaved?" I wondered. To me, it sounded as if he was describing middle school behavior.

"Oh, they can be," Armin chuckled. "Trust me."

And I did. Of course I trusted him. I trusted his judgement over my own all those handfuls of hundreds of years ago. Why would my trust be altered now?

"Does this mean you have to leave?" I asked, my wings unintentionally slumping against my shoulders. It was sad; I was sad. When would I get to see him again? Would I even get to see him again? So many questions were swarming in my brain like buzzing bees, yet the tick-tocking of his wrist watch placed a limit on how much there was left to say.

"Sadly, yes. My students are waiting for me, and they probably have a some questions regarding the material I left them with to study."

"But wait!" I said quickly. "I still haven't learned very much about you and what your life has been like up until now. At least tell me about this lifetime of yours. Are you married? Why did you choose to become a professor? What about children?"

Armin held up a hand to calm to frantic questioning. "Whoa, whoa. One at a time, man." He ran that very same hand carefully through his golden hair. He must have forgotten that he wore it in a half ponytail today, because his fingers nearly got tangled up in it, when they coasted past his fringe. "You asked if I'm married?" I nodded. "That I am not. No children, either. As for becoming a professor, I really couldn't picture myself in a different occupation than this. Could you? You have to admit, it's my perfect fit." To boast a professional effect, he poked at the frame of his glasses.

I couldn't have agreed more, actually. Not only was Armin a professor, but he was a Geography professor. For him to be able to teach about all of the lands that we'd won over from the Titans, it just made sense, and I was incredibly proud of him.

When we'd passed the twenty-five minute mark, we gathered in the hall outside of the teacher lounge and began to say our farewells. Rather, Armin and I started to say goodbye, and Levi continued to remain painfully silent.

It was bittersweet, of course, because I felt like there was still so much left that needed to be said. Armin didn't know very much about my angel body, and the fact of that only left me feeling like our conversation was incomplete.

"When I woke up today, I couldn't, in my wildest of dreams, have expected this," Armin said. The smile that he wore showed me that saying goodbye was just as hard on him as it was for me. The whens and the woulds were probably running through his mind, just as they had been racing through mine. "But it was a pleasant occurrence, Eren, one that I most certainly will treasure. And by all means, feel free to stop by whenever you'd like. And of course, you're welcome to come, too, Levi."

It must have felt strange for Armin to be inviting a man of former authority, but he seemed to be relatively unfazed by it.

Without verbal response, Levi nodded his head and crossed his arms over his chest. Okay, something was definitely up. I'd have to talk with him later.

My heart swelled with a range of emotions that found a source of outlet through my fluttering wings. Goodbye felt so final, so I wouldn't say it. Instead, I chose to say, "I'll be sure to take you up on that offer, Armin. Hopefully we'll run into each other again really soon."

"I agree." A single nod. "I definitely agree."

Just as we were parting ways, Levi taking the lead by about twenty feet, Armin told me to hold up, something that both confused and excited me all at the same time.

"What is it, Armin?"

"You haven't changed, Eren," he said, repeating his statement from earlier and catching me completely off guard. Imagine that. A guardian angel being caught off guard. It's angel humor.

"What do you mean?"

Shaking his head, he corrected me by saying, "What I mean is, just the same as you did in the past, you still care so desperately about him."

Him. Armin need not even mention a name, because we were both on the same page. Not just the same page, we were on the same paragraph, the same sentence. We were on the same word, the same letter, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

"I do," I smiled, speaking the truest of words from lips that couldn't have been prouder to say them. "From then, until now, and forever in between, I will always love him."

Levi's quietness didn't particularly bother me, as we walked back to the apartment in order for him to get dressed for work. I didn't really irk me, as I watched him perform at his job. When it did concern me, was when were walking back to the apartment from the hair salon and I couldn't properly hold his gaze for more than a millisecond.

"Levi," I said, lowering my flying altitude. I wanted him to be able to hear me, but more than that, I wanted him to be able to talk to me.

Levi fished around in his satchel bag for his cell phone. Retrieving it after some digging around, he brought the archaic thing up to his ear, and asked, "What is it?"

"You've barely said anything, since the moment we met Armin. Why are you-?"

"You mean when I met Armin," he interrupted.

"...Huh?" I'm pretty sure I had been present. Why was he excluding me from something like this?

"You already knew each other," Levi countered, "so it was hardly a meet and greet. I was the one who was left in the dark over everything."

My worries had been solidified with that very statement. The entire time Armin and I were conversing, Levi had felt out of place.

And it was entirely my fault.

"Levi, I didn't-" I tried, desperate to defend myself, but again, it was merely a lost cause.

"No, you didn't," Levi cut in, his tone a telltale sign that he was irritated. "You didn't mean anything. You and Armin, you were reconnecting, and that's just fine and dandy. Really, it is."

"Why do you sound so upset, then?" I was sure I had gone unheard, what with the way I hadn't spoken in a voice that was above a whisper, but all in all, Levi still responded.

"Because I'm frustrated!"

Whoa. That was unexpected. Levi had just...yelled.

So stunned by the situation, my wings went into shock. Just as I was about to collapse catastrophically to the ground below, I had finally been able to stick one of the most controlled landings of my entire flying career. Under different circumstances, I would have been proud of myself. Currently, I was in no mood to feel like celebrating.

Closing his eyes, Levi pressed a set of fingers to his creasing brow and sighed. "Eren, I'm sorry. That...that came out wrong. I mean, I am frustrated, but I shouldn't have yelled like that."

I had to be honest, I was a little scared. I was fearful of the fact that my next question may or may not have set Levi off again. Timing myself accordingly, I cautiously asked, "...Can you tell me why you're frustrated, Levi?"

It took him a minute to fully compose himself, but once he did, Levi awarded me with his answer. "All I could think about during your conversation with Armin was, 'Wow, I want to be able to talk with Eren like that.' I was legitimately envious of him."

I tried to make further sense of what he was saying, by asking, "What do you mean, Levi? Of course you and I can talk like that. We can talk for however long you'd like to and I wouldn't mind it!"

"But it's not the same, Eren. It won't ever be the same, and it's all because I can't remember a freaking thing." This was a new development that I hadn't been anticipating, but I allowed him to continue. "You and Armin, you can understand each other. Hange, too. If I wasn't present, you probably would have gone on and on about your past life together, but because of me, you were forced to filter yourselves. As much that annoyed me, I was still so envious, because that's what I want. I want to be able to talk freely with you about the memories we used to share, the ones that you have to carry all by yourself. Because of all of this, I want to be able to connect with you on a deeper level, Eren, and it's not fair that I can't."

That was the final straw. I couldn't let him speak like that anymore.

As cliche as it sounds, time stood still. My body possessed a mind of its own, and my arms were controlled by a different agenda. Blanketing Levi in my warmth, I wrapped my arms around the backs of his shoulders, shielding him from the outside world through the guarded protection of my tented wings.

"Eren-"

"But you can, Levi." It was my turn to interrupt him. "Everything you just said, all of those things can happen. We can connect deeper, and we can speak freely. The past is...the past is the past. You can't recreate it, nor can you change it."

Levi was unmoving, and that was just the way I liked it. I wanted to hold him, and from his slouching posture, I'm pretty sure he didn't mind it all that much.

Time began to run its course again, when he softly whispered, "What should we do, then?"

I was no expert, but I had been able to think of a clever enough idea. "What should we do?" I repeated calmly, wanting to make sure that I had heard him correctly. "Well, for right now, I think we should live in the present. Let's go back to the apartment, yeah? You can take a shower and relax, and then we can start "bonding". It's just like you wanted, right?" I knew I was stretching my luck by acting playfully with him, but he seemed to receive my humor well.

"Oh, stop it," he scoffed, and brushed me off of his shoulders. "You're such a romantic dork."

"I'm an angel!" I laughed. It seemed to be my only case of defense. "Doesn't romance kind of come along with the whole, celestial package?"

There was no doubt about it. Levi was rolling his eyes at me. "Whatever. Let's just get back already."

When we finally returned to the apartment, our dramatic detour long put behind us, Levi decided to turn on the television. He must have switched it onto a news station, because the words "BREAKING NEWS" came flashing onto the screen in obnoxiously bright red letters.

"...Whoa."

I had been shaking out my wings, trying to stretch them for the final time that evening, so I wasn't able to pay as much attention as Levi was to what was happening on the screen. "What is it?" I wondered, trying to take a peek over the mound of my fluffy feathers.

Without a word, Levi turned up the volume, allowing me to hear for myself what was going on in the world.

"At 6:47PM this evening, a college professor was struck and shot down by an armed thug, who was attempting to steal from a middle-aged woman on her commute home from work. When the professor intervened, the thug pulled the trigger, shooting him straight through the heart. He died before an ambulance was called to scene. He was only twenty-five-years old."

Hi there! Chappy here! :D

Well...I should probably start this note off with an apology. I'm sorry for your loss, everyone. :I

Other than this "unexpected occurrence" (haha, see what I did there?), I hope you enjoyed the chapter! It was my longest one yet!

Thank you for taking the time to read!

- Chappy