Mirage
A/N: This update is long overdue. Sorry for the wait!
Summary: Humanity's strongest soldier had secrets of his own. So when the woman he thought he loved died, he turns on another for pure companionship and comfort. But a night of mistake has its consequences. Levihan.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: ATOP
It was a long, irritable ride from the Survey Corps Headquarters to Wall Sina, but as Levi silently watched from afar and saw Hange's wide smile as her family members crooned to their twins, he instantly realized that going back to his wife's hometown wasn't such a bad thing, after all.
Hange's mother Elizabeth had Ciel in her arms, swaying the cranky baby slightly back and forth. They hadn't been there for five minutes and already he was bawling and furious, completely new to the surroundings and most likely longing for a familiar face.
His wife, on the other hand, had her eyes only for her father Nathaniel and Theo curled like a ball against the old man's arms. He was sitting on his wheelchair like usual, his torso covered with a white cloth. The smile on his face never faded as he admiringly looked down to his grandson. Hange was contentedly leaning over his shoulder, hands draped around his arms, as her father hummed to the brown-haired baby.
"He has your nose," Levi heard the old man mutter. "They both do." Nathaniel smiled, his brown eyes twinkling behind his thick-rimmed glasses. His beautiful daughter, whose brown eyes mirrored his own, just smiled back.
It was rare beautiful sight, considering where he came from. As an orphan who grew up underground, he never saw people actually getting affectionate with each other. There was only violence, no love. The people in the underground were ruthless and cared for nothing but to use others for their own personal gain. Being exposed to that, Levi had no real sense of what it's like to see so much love in people, let alone to experience what it's like to have a family; to have people love you unconditionally.
That was before Hange and the twins came to his life.
Everyday, he wakes up to the sound of either one of his sons crying, or Hange being loud and fussy around him, but he doesn't care. A year of living with Hange taught him a lot. She continues on with her eccentricities but he loved her more for them. Ciel and Theo were growing up to be so much like the woman he loves, much to his liking. The feeling of being alone no longer creeps inside him. He couldn't imagine waking up without them for the next days of his once pathetic life.
"What I wouldn't give to hear your thoughts," He was too busy contemplating that he didn't notice when Hange sat crawled in beside him on the couch. She laid her head on his shoulder, her brown hair in disarray, glasses in place. She inhaled sharply.
"You okay?" He asked. The twins were a handful over the course of their trip and Hange must have been so relieved when they finally reached her hometown.
"Yeah, I'm just a little tired… They were both so cranky earlier, I was really about to throw them out the window," Hange sighed, then chuckled. "But I know you would have killed me, have I done just that."
"You got that shit right, Shitty Glasses," He replied, a bit of humour in his tone. He glanced around and from where the two of them were sitting, he could clearly see Ciel already falling asleep on Elizabeth's arms and Theo on Nathaniel's, with Hange's nieces Samantha and Veronica hovering around, wanting to peek at the twins.
Samantha, with her bouncing strawberry blonde locks framing her delicate face, suddenly halted to the couch and jumped on Levi's lap, much to his chagrin. The little girl smiled at both of them, her crooked tooth showing.
"Auntie Hange, are Theo and, and, Ciel really twins? How do you make twins? Can Mommy and Daddy make twins too so we'll have another two babies at the same time?" Samantha said, flashing her innocent eyes.
Hange and Levi looked at each other, a goofy smile now plastered on his face. He dimly remembered the same scenario about a few months ago when they first visited. Levi pinched her side, motioning for her to answer the girl's question. Hange just stuck her tongue out.
"It's your turn. Think of it as a revenge." He grinned.
Hange raised her eyebrows before turning back to the little girl. "Well…" she started. "That's really hard to explain without scientific basis, sweetie. You see, babies grow inside the mother's womb and they undergo different stages of developmental processes as they grow. But something occurs to the zygote, causing it to divide and form two babies. They may be identical, a set of boys or girls; or fraternal, one boy or a girl. We will never know,"
A perplexed look surfaced on Samantha's face, forming a little crease between her eyebrows. "I don't get it, Auntie,"
"You'll understand when you're all grown up, kid," Levi cut in the conversation. "You'll learn all that when you go to school and study all your science and be a complete nerd like your aunt here," He patted the girl's head, ignoring the glare his wife sent his way. "Now get up and go over to your sister."
The little girl obliged, running off to her sister's side to take a peek on the twins.
Levi looked over to his wife, who was now lazily slumping on the couch with her feet above his lap. He had something on his mind, something he had been planning. Three months of dealing with the twins took toll on them both and they hadn't really had that much time with each other. And since someone can look after the boys while they're gone then he can instigate his plan.
"Hey," he laid his hand above her leg. Hange's attention was immediately piqued. "Wanna go out and hang around?" He asked out of the blue.
Like the flash of the lightning, Hange instantaneously bolted up, eyes twinkling behind her glasses and excitement evident all over her face. "Oh God, I thought you'll never ask!" She cried. "But where to?"
"Tell me something, Levi," Hange fixed her husband on her heated brown glare, watching him intently as he buckled and zipped his 3D Maneuver Gear against his body. "What the hell were you thinking bringing our gears to this trip and having me wear it now?"
When she didn't get any reply, she sighed and looked down to her own body, running her fingers against the leather straps she once so fondly wore almost everyday. The familiar feeling of empowerment rushed through her, her longing to fight igniting her will. She gazed around, noting no presence at all. She looked back at Levi and saw the man already finished with his gear and now staring at her.
"Now what?" she crossed her arms.
"We climb up this wall." Levi bluntly replied, now preparing his gear to launch and climb.
Hange's eyes turned into black orbs. "Are you fucking serious?!" She stepped forward. "We are not allowed to go up the wall when were not actually deployed to work, Levi! We'll be sanctioned for this!"
"Since when were you so obedient of the rules? No one will see. Come on," With that, Levi lurched forward, gripped his gear tight, and ascended the fifty-meter wall in a quick, flawless stance, leaving Hange wide-eyed.
"You will always be a fucking asshole, Short-Ass," she sighed. "Having left with no other option, she held on to her gear, her heart pounding, and rocketed up in a swift motion.
It had been too long since she last used her gear, probably a year now, and she had forgotten what it was like to have the wind fan her face, sending wisps of her brown hair into the air. The whole process was fast, lasted for merely seconds long, but she felt everything click into place as she manuevered her gear expertly. The flight all the way up left her gasping for air and when she reached the top, Levi was waiting for her, a smile on his face evident.
"How was it?" He mocked, a sheepish grin now replacing the previous smile.
"I'm still trying to catch my breath, actually." She flung her arms into the air. "That was so fucking amazing though,"
"Did you miss it?" Levi continued to stand there like the stoic man that he is. When she nodded, he continued. "Now turn around,"
She did as he said, slowly.
And then she saw it. The sight of Wall Sina in all its glory, some structures towering in Mitras with myriad houses on its exterior and some random houses scattered across the grassy the fields. Trees, wild flowers of different colours line the whole expanse, dispersed ponds so clear and blue. Clouds so white and fluffy dotted the orange and crimson sky, the enormous sun going lower and lower by the minute. A sudden breeze flew her way, blowing strands of her hair.
It was so beautiful. How she terribly missed this sight. Her first time using a gear, her first goal was to climb up Wall Rose in secret and admire the beauty of the world high atop, like a bird, somewhat. She thought nothing would beat that moment for her, the first time she climbed up a wall.
This one did.
Hange felt her knees weaken and she collapsed to a sitting position, still in deep awe of the sight before her. Levi immediately moved to her side.
"It's so beautiful, Levi," she whispered. "This is my first time climbing up Wall Sina and oh God, it is so beautiful… Thank you,"
They sat side by side, watching the sun as it set. There were birds flying above, most probably to seek a shelter or to go home to one. Hange had her eyes all over the sight before her and well, Levi only had eyes for her. He held her hand, squeezed it gently. She looked down to their intertwined hands, then up to meet his gaze.
"Levi…"
"Hange? I know I'm not a good person, I never will be. I was a complete asshole to you, and I still am. But you know that I love you, right? You and the twins. I know you have your own doubts and reservations about my feelings for you but please, please, I just… I just want you to know that there isn't someone who can make me feel happy as much as you do."
Her heart melted at his words and again, she saw the sincerity in his eyes, felt it in what he said. If it is only possible to love a human being so deeply she could hardly breathe, this would be it. Slowly, she closed the gap between them, and met his lips for a passionate kiss. It wasn't hard, it wasn't soft either, but she was sure of one thing, it was filled with love.
When he pulled back, Levi had the faintest of smiles on his face. "Happy anniversary, Hange," he whispered.
