Mirage

A/N: I apologize for the loooooooong wait. Initially, I really had no plans of continuing the story further as I got busy with businesses of the real life, and I really found it hard to think of ideas on how to continue and eventually end Mirage. But due to popular and insistent demand, I'm happy to say I'm back! Here to continue, here to end.

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 THIRTY: PINNACLE

The moment Nifa closed the door and left them to prepare for the attack, Hange's heart hammered wild in her chest, and she found it hard to breathe. At any other moment in her life as a Survey Corps soldier, she would've been ecstatic to see Titans again, but this time around, there was actual fear in her whole being.

Not because of the fact that Wall Rose has been breached, nor was it the reality that she has to face and fight Titans once again, see blood smeared against her skin or hear comrades crying out as sharp incisors tore them out bit by bit.

It wasn't any of those things that scared her.

But it was the way that her husband, humanity's strongest soldier, was planted frozen on his feet, the fear she had on her own eyes somehow mirrored on his'. There was this look on his face, like he wasn't physically present at the moment as he simply stared at something by the bed that Hange didn't know what. Shaking, she trailed her eyes to where Levi was looking, and she was greeted with the sight of two tiny toys placed on their bedside table.

One silver, the other gold.

There was a glint on the silver one, and Hange distinctly remembered Ciel tinkering with that rattle three nights ago, the night before they took their sons to her parents' home so they could look after them while she and Levi were off to a mission beyond the walls. She gulped. One more tilt of her head and she caught sight of the golden rattle, the one that Theo clutched to him as he slept peacefully on his cot, refusing to let it go.

A wave of guilt washed within her, thinking of her sons whom she had selfishly carried inside her and fought for amidst the world they lived in – chaos, war, and monsters; humans or titans alike, threatened them everyday. For the first time in a very long time, Hange realized the burden she had inadvertently given to both her innocent sons.

"I fear for them, Hange," There was stillness in the air when Levi spoke, and his tone reeked of the very same guilt that Hange was feeling. He was now looking at her with those impossibly beautiful smoky gray eyes, the fear he was feeling evident in the way his jaws clenched and his fists turned into balls on the either side of his body.

At the sight, she scrambled out of the bed, the sheets dropping in the process. Ignoring her nudity bare to the morning light, Hange slowly walked her way to where Levi was standing by the door. When she reached him, Levi looked up to her, and she felt – rather than saw – humanity's strongest soldier crumbling for the first time.

Hange pulled him to her in that instant and cupped her husband's face between her palms. "I know," She looked straight into his eyes. "I fear for them too. But Levi, I have to believe that they're safe with my parents in Wall Sina. I have to believe it. Otherwise…" Hange sighed. "I wouldn't be able to focus on protecting those I should at the moment."

Levi stared back at her, face still filled with worry. "We could die today. I couldn't think of anything that is certain at this point but the fact that I could be seeing you and your batshit crazy glasses for the last time." He touched the rim of her glasses unconsciously, as Hange thought. It was something that he'd grown accustomed to as the months of them being husband and wife wore on. His fingers then traced circles on her own cheek, then moved to tuck a loose strand of her brown hair back behind her ear.

Where Levi got the audacity to joke about her glasses at a time like this, she didn't know, but she had to chuckle at what he said. He was right, though, and she cannot deny that. They could die today or tomorrow, in the hands of the Titans or by something else only God knows what. But her life mattered no longer, it hadn't for a good one year now. There was only Levi, and the children they miraculously had.

Hange let go of his face and pursed her lips. "I had given my mother full instructions on what to do with the twins if we don't make it, and if Wall Rose falls, I've drawn up everything," she sighed. "Although there's a high possibility that you would continue on and I won't, so I want you to promise me that you'd care for them and protect them as long as you're able, Levi."

She saw it, the anger that flashed in his eyes when she uttered those words. Levi clicked his tongue and scowled at her. "You don't get to say things like that, Four Eyes. You will live. We will live." There was something in his tone beyond the anger, a hint of softness and even something more that she couldn't fathom.

"We… should think of more realistic things here. I thought you knew that?" She smiled, even though it was painful to accept that death for her is inevitable. She had long known that. "If ever I die today, please tell them that I loved them both with all of my heart. That my life had meaning because of them."

Hange searched through him, vying to see through the cracks of his soul. She tried to reach for his hand, but she hesitated only for the reason that she didn't want to make this harder for him than it already was for her. "Promise me, Levi."

"You can tell them those things yourself. When this is over." Levi avoided her gaze, his jaws clenching tightly when he tilted his head to his left. Outside, loud footsteps and rumblings started echoing from the hallway, and they suddenly realized that it probably is time to get moving.

There were more things left unspoken between them, but they knew they had to move.

Levi grunted and turned his back on her. "We have to send someone to your village to protect our sons. Maybe one from your squad, someone strong enough." In just a blink of an eye, gone was the frailty that Levi initially had, as he composed himself and started gathering his gear, his stance now on full soldier mode. "We could send Nifa, or even Moblit, just to be sure."

Hange rolled her eyes, but soon started suiting up and preparing her own gear. "We can't afford to lose any soldier at this point. The Survey Corps needs all the strength it could have. This is a breached wall, Levi, and Titans would be coming from all directions. We need to have soldiers who would fight, send word, and evacuate villages. And besides, as far as I know it's only Wall Rose that's been breached."

"There would be chaos once people from Wall Rose started evacuating to Sina's interior. I thought you knew that?" he mimicked her tone. "I'm asking for just one soldier, Hange. We can't have any from the 104th, as one of them could be like Eren, too." There was a hint of growing frustration in his voice when he spoke.

Hange recalled, based on recent secret meetings, that Erwin has been gathering intel from Armin Arlert regarding the possible accomplices of Annie Leonhart lurking within them in the Corps, and Hange agreed with Levi at this point. They couldn't send a potential titan-shifter inside Wall Sina, let alone to their children.

"Alright, I'd have Keiji head to my parents' village. I'd instruct him to scout nearby villages and be on the lookout for any possible wall breach there." Hange muttered as she zipped her right boot into place. She then put on her goggles – the first time in a long while, and she felt the familiar strength gush through her whole being. When she finished, she stood up to her full height, and eyed her husband one more time. "We have to go,"

Levi nodded. "Right."

Hange was the first one to head for the door, while Levi lingered for a moment. He looked around their room for a full minute, taking in all its nooks and crannies, as if it would be the last time he would be doing so.

He followed her soon after, and they left their quarters without saying a word.

Levi gazed around the briefing room, surprised to see new faces assuming the roles of squad leaders. They've lost a lot of veterans over the last few years, and remarking that the Survey Corps' strength is still in its full glory would be a huge lie. A mistake, even.

He looked down and eyed the map of Wall Rose laid flat on the table with the commander's hand hovering in every direction, and he ultimately decided that this briefing has been taking a while. People could be dying out there, if they hadn't already.

The commander suddenly cleared his throat, then turned to Mike. "Squad Five as led by Squad Leader Mike Zacharias here would be in charge of patrolling around the expanse of Wall Rose to locate the breached part. Once they've located it, their secondary goal is to use all means necessary to make some sort of a temporary barrier to keep more Titans from getting in." Erwin then glanced at all the other members of Mike's team. "You would be assisted by some Garrison soldiers to temporarily seal the hole."

"Roger, commander," they all said in unison, each performing a salute in a manner that only a soldier of the Survey Corps owned. One by one, they started hurrying out, gears clinking, boots thumping loudly on the floors.

Mike, on the other hand, was the last one to go, and as he passed by his wife on his way out, Levi saw Nanaba reach out for his hand, and Mike just nodded in return. No words were needed. He knew.

"Squad Four, as led by Squad Leader Hange Zoe," Erwin started. The commander once again looked down at the map, and pointed at multiple directions.

At the mention of Hange's name, though, Levi's senses came alive. His eyes automatically scanned the room to look for her brunette hair, and it wasn't at all difficult to do so. Hers is the greasiest, most unkempt hair in all of Survey Corps, and even her huge ass goggles would already be a dead giveaway. When he spotted her, though, Levi fixed his wife on his gray, heated gaze. She was wearing her complete uniform, the green cape covering most of her body. Eyebrows furrowed, Hange had her full attention piqued by whatever Erwin was talking about.

She looked absolutely like the woman he had known for all his time in the Survey Corps, but she also is his wife and the mother of his children. The urge to protect her, to just send her away to a place where she is safe with both Ciel and Theo nagged at him with an intensity that not even him could seem to put down.

If there was one thing he wouldn't be able to deny at this point, it's that he didn't want to lose her.

He wouldn't be able to live in a world without Hange Zoe.

"Squad Four, as led by Squad Leader Hange Zoe," Erwin muttered again. "would be in charge of relaying word. Avoid fighting at all costs, as your job would be to evacuate nearby villages to the east and west. Based on recent reports, Titans have reached some villages to the south – Ragako, Dauper, and Jinae, to say the least. We have no confirmation on whether or not the villagers managed to evacuate in time, as there had been no word from the advance squad of the Garrison yet."

Once they were done with all formalities, Hange's squad left the briefing room one by one. Hange, like all squad leaders that went before her, was the last to go out, and before she was out the doorway, she looked over her shoulder and eyed him. There was a look of longing in her eyes, like she wanted to say something, anything.

But she shook her head, blinked twice, smiled at him bitterly. And then she left.

Without any more ado, Levi hastily got up his chair, ignoring the looks the other soldiers sent his way and Erwin's pleas for him to return as they were not yet finished with the briefing. He hurriedly went out of the room in search of his wife, heart thundering on his chest. It was the first time he had walked out on Erwin's briefing but he did not care, not even close.

He ran along the empty hallways, panting as he did, checking all corners to see whether a single strand of brunette hair was there. He descended the stairs, once again hastened his pace, and he was relieved when he caught sight of her about to round the exit towards the stables.

"Shitty Glasses," he muttered, his voice almost coming out like a whisper. "Wait."

Hange turned on her heels and faced him, shock and curiosity marred on her irises. "Levi… what are you – "

He cut her off before she even finished her words. Levi walked straight towards her, never losing his gaze on her eyes. "I want you to promise me something too,"

Hange had to smile at that. "I'm listening,"

Levi halted before her, leaving only a mere distance between them. He clicked his tongue, even staggered at the absurdity of his actions. "Promise me that you'd stay alive," Slowly, Levi closed the distance between them, stopping only a mere inches before her face. He looked up at her, their height a disadvantage but still giving him the sight of her impossibly beautiful hazel eyes. "Promise me, Hange."

Her heart screamed at the entirety of it all. Of him running after her just to tell her these things, of him showing her that he loved her even without the words. "Oh, Levi," she whispered, not truly knowing what to say, as the things he's asking are promises she knows she won't easily be able to keep. "I'd be careful out there, I told you that last night, didn't I? You and the twins give me reason to live, a purpose to fight. I'm stronger than I've been before, and that's all because of you. So please don't worry about me. You have to believe that I'll be fine,"

Levi gritted his teeth. "I meant everything that I said last night. I'd rather die than live in a world without you, Hange." He clenched his fists. "So please," he pleaded.

"I know that," she spoke, softness tainted at the way she uttered his name. "I love you, Levi,"

Without one more thought, Levi decidedly captured her lips in a swift motion, backing her against the door. He pressed his body against hers, and Hange instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck as he continued his gentle kisses on her lips. She ran her fingers on the little hairs trailing his nape, returning each stroke that he gave her, revelling in the way his kisses set fire on her body, on her soul.

But soon enough, Levi had to pull back, no matter how much he wanted her lips on his' still, their job has to come first at the moment.

It was what they signed up for, after all.

Hange looked up the skies, and for the first time in a long while, she felt a sense of freedom that she hasn't had since the first day she'd went on a mission beyond the walls. It was exhilarating, if not a little bit frightening. The wind fanned her brown hair, sending wisps of it into the air as her horse continuously galloped along the lush, green expanse of the area of Wall Rose.

She was riding alone, on her way to Ragako Village where Titans were mostly coming from based on the latest report. She'd send the rest of her squad to other nearby villages to send word and assist in the evacuation and had strictly instructed Moblit to follow her as soon as he's done with his task.

A full year of being off duty but Hange's desire to know more about the Titans and the world beyond the walls never faltered. With her marriage to Levi and the coming of her twins, it increased even more. The urge to make this world a better place by searching out for more information and never losing interest and curiosity – it was and will always be, in her greatest nature.

Hange snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a loud thunder roaring in the skies above her. It started to go darker and darker by the minute, and soon enough, heavy droplets of rain started to fall from the sky. Hange clicked her tongue. She pulled up her hood to cover her head in attempt to prevent her from being wet but it wasn't as if her cape was water-proof. It only took a matter of seconds before her entire body was soaking, her goggles already starting to go cloudy. She found it hard to see the way before her, but her horse kept going.

And then she heard it.

They weren't footsteps, but rather it was like the sound of a huge animal walking on all fours.

Only that it wasn't an animal, as these were eerily loud sounds.

Hange rubbed her goggles, wanting to see a clear view of the way.

What she didn't expect to see, however, was an Abnormal Titan grinning at her, its red eyes locked entirely in her direction.

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