Levi later found out that he had been left in the Hole for a month. An entire month. Because every time someone went down there to check on him, he had still been screaming, so they had left him in there. They were waiting for him to be completely silent for more than one day, and it was only after that, did they finally deem him stable enough to take him out and place him back into his old cell.

He was never the same after that.

Of course, no one could blame him. He couldn't even blame himself. Deep down, he knew that the Hole would change him irreparably, even though he tried to prevent that. He tried to immerse himself in his happy memories, even in the darkness. But that was when he found out that he needed just the tiniest sliver of light in order to access those happy memories. So, he was out of luck, and the darkness invaded every pore of his body. Even when he left the Hole, it stayed with him, a heavy cloud constantly crushing him. He could practically see it escaping him as vapor, practically infecting everyone around him.

Sleep was a permanently unobtainable thing to him now, as well as happiness. He never slept anymore, always on guard to fight the spirits that constantly tormented him every moment. It was as if they waited for the moments he was about to fall asleep, before screaming in his ear and jolting him violently awake. His nerves were frayed and he was always on edge, shaking, like a drug addict that had been deprived of the drug that allowed him to function. Except for him, that drug was just simple things like sleep and happiness.

Good memories no longer came to him, replaced now by terror and blackness. He forgot anything that wasn't terror and blackness, forgot the meaning of sunshine and the significance of the blue sky. He didn't know how to smile anymore, or relax. He was constantly in a fetal ball, staring straight ahead, hearing voices argue and whisper constantly, since there was no noise in this lit cell either to fill the void. He no longer cared if they were real or if they were a product of his mind. To him, they were his reality.

He had no idea how long he remained like that. Was it months? Years? He seemed to recall, when he could find the energy to pay attention to the world around him, that it had been a year since he had arrived there, but he could have been completely wrong. He was now a model inmate, completely quiet and compliant, doing whatever anyone asked. Though, he never read the Bible left for him anymore, and if someone tried to give him something to do, such as attempting to teach him to make shoes, he would ignore him and just stare at the wall. If he tried to explain that he was watching for spirits, they left his cell in a rush, afraid.

It was a far cry from how he used to be, wanting everyone to like him and be scared that someone wouldn't like him. But now he didn't care what anyone thought of him anymore, because he knew what he saw. And he knew better than to ask to be moved to a new cell, because the spirits told him that they would follow him no matter where he went. They were determined to swallow everything about him: his light, his goodness, and his individuality. Now he was just another insane person in prison. His dreams, his love, and his beauty were lost to the wind.

This was Levi's day to day life, though for him, day or night had no meaning anymore. It was all one continuous stream of screaming, silence, and horror with no breaks. He found himself praying daily for a reprieve, even though he knew he wouldn't get one. He didn't even know how he would get a reprieve in a place like this, except to be set free.

There was no way he was going to be able to last another year here.

And worse, in a tiny corner in the back of his mind, where that last sliver of light that still held on in spite of the dark, he couldn't but think of how Eren would react to this new Levi when he was released. He remembered how they discussed a bit before he was arrested that Levi would still love Eren even if, later in life, his mental illness overtook him. He wondered if the reverse would be true. His kneejerk response was to say yes, of course Eren would love him no matter what. But how would he deal with Levi's sick self for the rest of their lives? If they really were going to move away where no one would be able to find them again, it was going to be a careful, delicate process that required a lot of stealth. If Levi was in a permanent state of panic and couldn't see what was right in front of him, it was going to be a lot more difficult to do so. He might not want to deal with Levi day to day, or even feel safe being in the same house with, especially if that house was cut off from the rest of society.

Oh God, what if he tried to hurt Eren because his mind perceived him as a threat?

No, more likely, Levi realized, Eren and his family would more than likely ship him off to an asylum because they wouldn't want to deal with his new mental process and outbursts. He knew he certainly wouldn't want to deal with them. And if he went to an asylum, he had no doubt he would die there like Eren's mother did.

Levi shivered. He had heard even more horror stories about what asylums were like than prisons, and he had researched quite a bit on them. If he went there, there was even less of a chance of him getting out than there was of him getting out of prison. If he went to an asylum, especially if it got out that he preferred men, they would no doubt try to "cure" him, and he had heard one of the ways they tried curing people like him was to castrate them. And well, that was a good way to ensure that no one would want him ever again, even if he did get out. He had also heard that asylums, much like prisons, were dark, dirty places full of screaming patients and disease, thanks to the fact that they were overpopulated. The patients would be left alone for days, left to wander naked, getting their excrement all over the floor. Sometimes the staff would murder the patients just to stop them from screaming, or give them lobotomies. Sometimes the staff were driven made themselves and became one of the patients.

Levi was almost surprised he hadn't been sent there instead of here, but he supposed he was lucky. At least here he was alone. But that was the problem, wasn't it? He had forgotten what human warmth felt like, or a gentle voice sounded like. Ever since he had gotten here, he hadn't been touched once, except to be transported. He hadn't been spoken to gently, except by the priest, who always looked at him with pity, especially when he began to grow crazier. He could tell he was getting tired of dealing with him, that he was just wasting his time because all he would do was babble nonsense about spirits and how he couldn't get them to leave him alone. Well, there was nothing anyone could do about that, and no one believed him even anyway. He was utterly alone in his suffering with no help of comfort. And at this point, it was between remaining here and being shipped off to an asylum.

There really was no hope, was there?

Perhaps when he realized that, when he figured that there was no hope of escape with Eren when he got out, that Levi began to give up. The start of his downfall had been to give into the spirits that his mind perceived, but then he began to neglect his body, not caring what happened to it anymore. He didn't pay any attention to the food that was left for him, or the water. And when the staff noticed this, they began to take more drastic measures, pulling him out of his cell and force feeding him by pushing a tube down his throat. He didn't even fight them. Often he would go back to his cell and throw his food back up, not always on purpose. Sometimes this happened on the way back to his cell, and he would nearly breathe it back in again because of the hood.

Speaking of the hood, whenever he put it on, he often smelled the person that had worn it before him, and since none of them were allowed to shower, it of course did not smell good. Sometimes the smell was enough to make him retch. And because he usually smelled the person that had worn it before him, that was enough of an indication to him that it wasn't regularly washed.

Perhaps that was how he had gotten sick.

Maybe, it was just the combination of stress, weakness, and lack of energy in his body. Maybe his mind was just too weak to register what was going on, but it took him a while to realize that he was in fact, ill. At first he had thought it had just been a cold. He had the aching head, the runny nose, and the sore throat. But it soon grew a lot worse than that. His headache became more severe, like his head was trying to split apart. He couldn't abide any light at all, often whimpering to himself because it was so painful to his sensitive eyes. Most of the day he would put his thin blankets over his head to try and get away from it, a far cry to how he used to be, always seeking the light. The cough he developed did not help his headache, and his fever made him feel so hot that he often found himself removing his clothes, uncaring of who saw him.

He tried to lay very still, sleep coming to him in fits and spurts. He didn't have a choice in the matter now; his body was becoming so exhausted from being sick that he often fell asleep without realizing it. But one thing that didn't change was the nightmares, now more vivid because of his fever. But he was weak enough that he had no strength to fight the monsters in his dreams, and often they killed him in his sleep. When he woke up, it took him a moment to realize that he was in fact still alive and breathing.

This turned into a vicious cycle for days, where the little bit of sleep he got meant nothing and did nothing for him. It was around over a week later, where he didn't feel any better but worse, that he got the rash, and knew that this wasn't just a cold. The rash was so severe that some of it was purple instead of red, starting on his torso and then eventually spreading to his extremities. It itched and was sore, but no matter how much he scratched it, it didn't help.

No one wanted to help him either. In fact, once the guards realized he was sick, they kept their distance, muttering something about, "jail fever, he's a goner," and, "spend our resources on those that need it, not him." It was awful. He wanted to ask for their help, something to relieve the fever, to cool him down. He was so hot he couldn't stand it.

And of course, things didn't get better, no matter how much sleep he got or how much water he managed to force down his throat. Eventually, even that became difficult to do as it became harder to swallow. All he could do was spend his days in bed, panting as he fought to get enough air into his lungs, fluid filling them up. He was so hot that it was as if he could feel his brain cooking, and at around two or so weeks of feeling this sick, the delirium started.

It wasn't as if Levi was a stranger to delirium at this point. In fact, he and hallucinations were old friends. But in this case, they were just as vivid in the daylight as they were in the dark, waking dreams that would carry him away for a bit only to drop him back in that cell. They were disorientating, frightening, and sickening. He was left to lay there in his own excrement and vomit, talking and muttering to himself, reaching for the air like he was grasping for something but couldn't quite reach it.

That was around the time that Eren began to appear to him.

Seeing his boy should have struck him as odd, and at first it did. His first response to seeing him standing in his cell was, "I thought you weren't allowed to visit?"

Eren just shrugged. "I snuck in."

"Well, just make sure no one sees you. They think you raped me. It'll look strange if you're here visiting with me."

Eren walked over to his bed and sat down with him, placing his hand on his head. It was nice and cool, and he leaned into it with a whine of relief. "Poor thing. You've certainly looked better, haven't you?"

Levi tried to reply, but it came out more slurred. His tongue felt swollen in his mouth, and he felt too confused. What had he wanted to say anyway? Eren kept pushing his bangs out of his face, saying, "That's alright. You don't have to say anything. I'll just keep talking."

How did he know that that was exactly what he needed? So Eren kept talking, speaking about happy things, memories Levi hadn't thought of in a long time. He thought of their happy place on the hill, going to Eren's jobs with his dogs him, going for walks in the park. The joy of finishing his book, Eren drawing illustrations for it on his bed behind him. The two of them sharing secret kisses behind the curtains, or tea in the parlor. Helping Eren cook, seeing the other man's face light up as tried something Levi made for him, or watching a new litter of puppies being born. He told him all of these wonderful stories in that lovely, hypnotic voice that Levi had come to love. It was the voice that soothed him through his darkest times, one that he had come to treasure. His hand ran through his hair, down his face and neck, pulling him into a sweet sleep.

For a few days, though he couldn't discern between one and the next, so it could have been just a few hours, Eren appeared to him, being there when he fell asleep and when he woke up. Maybe he was just another spirit, but at the same time, he supposed he didn't care. Whatever helped him sleep, or relax, or not feel the pain of his lungs filling up with fluid, or the horrible headache that crushed his temples.

One day, during the night, Levi woke up, wheezing softly, the only sound he could hear. His own breaths sounded sick and rattled horribly in the stillness. They were getting harder and harder to draw in, but his body commanded him to try. They were all he could hear in the blackness.

In. And out. In…and out. In and…out.

His eyes were cracked open, or were they? His body was now too heavy to move, and he didn't know if that was due to his sickness, or something deeper. Maybe his body had turned to stone and he just didn't realize it. He wasn't sure of anything anymore, other than he had never felt worse in his life, and at this point he was willing to do anything to make it stop.

And like a miracle, Eren appeared, standing just a foot away from his bed, hands behind his back, and a blinding grin on his face. How he had missed that smile. He looked like a happy child, rocking on his heels. He was holding out his hand for Levi.

"Hey Doll," he said cheerily. "Come with me. I have something I want you to see. It's a place where you won't be hurting anymore. I know you've been feeling awful lately, and I feel so bad that I haven't been able to make you feel better. But I found this place for us, and it should make you feel better. You'll recognize it too!"

A place where the pain would go away? That sounded wonderful. His precious Eren, always coming through in the end for him. However…

"Can't move," he rasped, his barely more than a breath with some inflection. He was sure that Eren couldn't understand what he said, but he was wrong.

"Sure you can," Eren assured him. "I'll help you, yeah? Just take my hand."

He pushed his hand a little further in front of the other man's face. Would it really be that easy? Well, Eren had made the impossible happen for them before. So, he decided to trust him. It didn't even occur to him that there was no escaping the prison, so how was Eren going to take him to this special place?

Only one way to find out.

Levi struggled a bit, steeling himself. His lungs shuddered a bit, and then exhaled one, deep sigh. His hand touched Eren's, though he had no idea how he had managed to lift it. But the minute it did, it was as if new strength had flooded his body. The heaviness vanished as if it had been blown away by a strong breeze, and a light appeared in his cell. It was like the sun had dropped from the sky and was pressed against the wall, but he was still able to look at it without it hurting his eyes. When the light appeared, Eren offered him another smile, gripping his hand even tighter, and began to lead him into it, saying, "This way."

The light was so warm, and he swore he could smell fresh air coming from it. And were those birds chirping? Indeed, it smelled very familiar, so, with an excited wiggle, Levi bounded after him, both of them walking into the light.

Warmth and tenderness embraced him the minute he stepped into it, and he it was so beautiful, so sweet, like being held. And after a year of going without touch, it made Levi's eyes fill with tears. But when he saw where they were when the light cleared away from his eyes, the tears rolled down his cheeks in earnest. Because all around him, there was gold. Golden sky, golden grass, and golden leaves. This place was on the cusp of fall, at the tail end of summer, that bridge between warm weather and beautiful scenery. The air was crisp and sweet, warm and clear. A breeze blew by, ruffling his bangs, and he lifted his head, closing his eyes as he took it in.

When he opened them, he looked all around, and knew instantly where he was. This was his favorite place, the hill with the tree on top of it. He had made it! The place where he and Eren said they would meet when he got out! He couldn't believe it. Eren had made the impossible happen again, and now that he was free, it was time for them to start their new life together.

But…where was Eren?

He looked beside him, and the boy was no longer holding his hand. In fact, when he looked down at his hands, he saw that the rash was gone, and that his skin was clear, beautiful alabaster once more. He heard his name being called by Eren, but it was as if the voice was right beside him. He looked up at the hill, and saw that he had somehow already gotten there. He was waving to Levi, and the older man didn't hesitate, racing forward, unable to keep the smile off his face. And unlike many other occasions of running up the hill, he wasn't tired this time, or out of breath. He felt like he could run like this forever.

When he reached the top of the hill, Eren held out his arms for him, and Levi dove into them, knocking him over with an "oof!" of surprise. But Eren held onto him fast, and pulled him down with him. Even that, for some reason, made Levi laugh like an idiot, and when they landed in the grass, some blades flying up around them, he propped himself up on his hands. Eren was dressed in one of Levi's favorite outfits on him, a loose white shirt and dark trousers, the neck unbuttoned so he could see his chest. His long hair was unbound and wild, laying around his shoulders. He looked so warm and windblown, a drink of water after almost two years of thirst. He leaned down and kissed him deeply and desperately, wanting him to know just how much he missed him, and he tasted just the way he remembered. Eren caressed his shoulders, kissing him back just as eagerly, having missed him just as much. His fingers tangled in Levi's hair, and he arched into him, wanting to be as close as possible.

That kiss seemed to last for an eternity, and yet not long enough. Levi didn't feel the need to pull apart for air, and the sun shone down on them, warming them both. When they finally did pull apart, a ray of sunlight peeked from between their bodies, bathing them both in a lovely glow.

"My Aurora," Levi said with reverence. "You have no idea how much I've longed for this moment. I've missed you so."

Eren laughed. "I have some idea, for I've missed you just as much. My life hasn't been whole since you left, and every day has felt like a small eternity. But now that you're back, I feel like I can breathe again."

"Yes." One of Levi's tears dripped off the end of his nose and glistened in the sunlight, before it landed in Eren's hair. "You saved me. Again. How did you know the very moment I needed you?"

"I always seem to know when you need me. I knew you needed me when we first met in our dreams, you know. I saw you then, and you seemed so sad that I couldn't help but take you into my arms and hold you. I didn't know your name, but I knew I wanted you to smile."

Oh, Levi remembered those dreams. He would be alone in the darkness, and then it would lift away as a beautiful man took him into his arms, asking him if he wanted to dance. The man never had a face he could see, always blurred, but he still felt familiar. So Levi had filled in the face he wanted. But he would have never dreamed that an actual man would come into his life that would fulfill his every fantasy; to dance with him, love him in spite of his insecurities, and would pledge to spend his life with him.

Eren really was his dream come true.

"And you're mine," the boy told him, as if he could read his mind. Maybe he could here. He brushed some of Levi's black hair out of his face. "Now we never have to be apart again."

Levi found himself crying even more just from sheer happiness. He would never have to spend one more day apart from the most important person in life, never have to face the dark alone again. His fairytale would have a happy ending. "You have our house waiting for us then?"

"Of course. It's beautiful Levi, you'll love it. There's a huge window with a window seat that looks out over the ocean. I had it built for you because I knew you'd love to sit there and read. I have my own seat right next to yours so I can look at the ocean while I paint it. I have some stained glass windows too of scenes from our favorite fairytales, and some hearts place in the windows."

"So that no matter where I go, I'll know you love me," Levi repeated, remembering what his boy had told him years ago when he had first mentioned the house.

"And there's a cute little kitchen," Eren continued. "All for you. You choose what you want in there, because I feel like if I try and help anyway you'll just shoo me out."

"Damn straight I will. You stay out of my kitchen. Only the dogs can come in there and help me clean up anything I drop."

"They're going to get fat, Levi."

The older man snickered at that. "And what about my library? Did you give yourself an art studio too?"

"Of course I did," Eren replied indignantly. "And a huge bed, so we can fit ourselves and all those dogs. And so we can mangle ourselves into any weird sex positions we want to try out."

Levi lightly tapped him on the top of the head. "You horny bastard."

Eren just laughed, and pulled him down so that Levi was laying flush against him, face buried in his shoulder. Levi held him back, nuzzling him against the side of his face. For the first time in a long time, everything was right in the world.

At least, it was until Eren began to fade away.

It started off as barely noticeable. His boy just felt a little colder than normal, and then when he started feeling really cold, Levi sat up, and noticed that Eren's body was becoming see-through. He gasped, and when he did, Eren sat up as well, seeing what he saw. He looked at Levi in a panic, eyes wide with terror.

"No," he said, shaking his head, "no, no no, I can't be leaving. Not yet! We have to- we have to go together! No I don't want to leave you here! I said we'd both leave here together and start our new lives!" He looked up at the sky. "Why does he have to stay? Let me take him with me, please, he doesn't deserve this! He's mine, and I'm his. We can't be separated, not like this…"

"Eren?" Levi asked with growing concern, his panic affecting him as well. "What are you talking about? What do you mean we're going to separated? You can't go! I just got you back!"

"I…" For once, Eren seemed to be at a loss for words. His body grew fainter and fainter, disappearing no matter how tightly Levi tried to hold onto him. Soon he was nothing more than a faintly warm outline under his palms. And when that happened, the boy bowed his head in resignation. When he raised it again, there was a sad smile on his face, and he looked like he was trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry Levi, but it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer to start our new life. Just wait here for me until then, yeah?"

Levi sobbed, saying just before Eren disappeared into a fine mist of light, "I'll wait as long as I have to. I promised to be loyal, and loyal I'll stay. Our dream isn't over yet, my love."

000

Those words echoed in Eren's head as he sat up in bed with a gasp. He looked in every direction, wondering where Levi was. He had just been here. He could still feel the warmth of his body on his hands, the sweetness of his kiss tingling on his lips. But Levi was nowhere to be found. Of course he wasn't. It was just a dream; Levi was still in jail. Still, Eren thought as he rubbed at his eyes, it had been a strange, very vivid dream, almost as if it had really happened.

He shook his head, trying to get his bearings. Emma was still asleep beside him, at least for now. She would probably wake up soon, after he got out of bed and she noticed she wasn't there. Prince was curled up against him. He felt a strange sort of pride that for whatever reason, Prince never wanted to sleep next to Emma. Just him. Maybe it was because he had known him longer, or just associated him with Levi. Either way, he always chose to sleep next to Eren, and he often fell asleep petting him.

Wanting to shake the dream, he got out of bed, Prince immediately waking up with him and following him as he put on his slippers and headed out into the kitchen. He yawned and pushed his hair behind his ears so he could see, Prince clicking at his heels. Mikasa was already sitting at the table, waiting for breakfast to be served. She was visiting for the weekend, and he had no idea how much he missed her presence in the house until she didn't live there anymore.

"Morning lazy ass," she quipped as she flipped through the paper.

Eren scoffed. "Well, I'm sorry. I had a really weird dream and I literally just woke up from it, otherwise I'd have been up sooner."

"What kind of weird dream?" she asked idly, and he could tell she really didn't care. Still, he was going to tell her anyway.

But before he could, there was a knock on the door. The two of them looked at each other, wondering who would be here at such an hour. Someone for their father maybe? They watched as the butler answered the door, and then shortly after that, led their guest into the kitchen. He was dressed in a dark, smart suit, making Eren feel very self-conscious about the fact that he was still in his pajamas.

Mikasa got up first, and the man said to her, "Miss Ackerman?"

Ackerman had been her name before she got married, but still she answered, "Yes, that's me."

His demeanor changed a bit, and he said somberly, "I'm coming to you as a representative of Lafayette Central prison. I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"Bad news?" She looked between him and Eren, who was getting more nervous by the minute.

"Yes," the man told her. "I'm afraid I have to inform you that guards checked on Levi Ackerman this morning and found him dead in his cell. They believe he passed away during the night."