Chapter One | Cherry Blossoms | Levi's P.O.V.
"Levi." She whispered. Reluctantly, Levi lifted his heavy eyes lids to be met with cherry red iris'.
Cold hands touched his icy ones, placing something warm in them. He looked down to see it was a small roll of bread.
Levi looked back up into her red eyes, blinking with exhaustion. She lent her forehead against his.
"Eat." She breathed, looking into his eyes.
Levi opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling. He took a breath and went over the memories in the silence. The ticking of his tock urged him to get up and normally he would comply, but he gave himself another minute. Another minute to think about her. He didn't allow himself to think about her all that often but time to time, he would give himself a minute. One minute before getting back to his reality.
5…
4…
3…
2…
1…
Time to get up.
Levi sighed, sitting up and swinging his legs around to touch the floor. He rubbed his face and sighed again before standing up and walking to his bathroom. Turning on the shower, he stripped himself of his sleeping clothes and placed them in the hamper before stepping into the scolding water. The streams ran down his skin and he let out a breath, closing his eyes and raking a hand through his hair. Despite his one-minute rule he was met with cherry red eyes again.
"Levi. Please, eat. For me." She whispered again, trying to keep her with him.
Levi opened his eyes and shook his head slightly. He found she was on his mind a lot more often lately. He wondered why that was. It had been so many years. Why couldn't he forget her? He had been wracking his brain over that question for almost 11 years. The only answer he could come up with was that he had never met anyone else like her. She was an anomaly in this fucked up world. She was…
Well… she was dead…
Levi turned off the shower and stood there for a moment, water droplets dripping down his skin. Gathering some energy, he stepped out of the shower, drying himself and dressing in his Survey Corps uniform. He tied his cravat and made the bed, opening his curtains before walking back into his bathroom, drying his hair with a towel and combing it through. He pulled on his brown jacket and walked to the door, glancing back to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything.
He had a simple room, but it was all he needed. And compared to the barracks it was indeed luxury. Oak floors, double bed, grey sheets, white walls, navy curtains, a window on either side of the room, a wardrobe, a red armchair and a bathroom with all the essentials. He wasn't sure he considered it home, despite how many years he had lived here. He wasn't sure he would ever be at home anywhere. This was just his current residence. He had a feeling with everything going on, it wouldn't be for much longer.
Levi stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him, locking it before walking down the hallway as other members of his squad started emerging from behind their rooms.
"Morning Captain!" Petra greeted with bright hazel eyes. Levi glanced at her and nodded briefly in recognition, greeting the other members of his squad similarly before heading downstairs and along the long hallways. He looked out the window as he travelled across the stone floors, a curious expression on his face as he thought he saw snow falling. A second take and he released it was cherry blossoms. It was spring after all. Levi paused, taking a minute to watch them fall. That idiot always used to talk about cherry blossoms.
Levi sighed, feeling like it was going to be one of those slow days.
"Levi!" Hanji's shrill voice came echoing down the corridor and he frowned. Somehow, he felt like his day was about to speed up.
"Yes, four-eyes?" Levi asked blankly as she ran up to him.
"Did you hear? Did you hear!?" She asked excitedly. Hanji was the section commander of the corps. Loud. Excited. Very annoying. And somehow, Levi didn't know how, one of his closest friends. Not that he would admit that to the crazy shit. She was tall, annoyingly taller than him, lean, lanky with tanned skin, brown hair, brown eyes and thick rectangular glasses that took up most of her face.
Levi frowned at her.
"WELL DID YOU!?" She practically screamed. Levi glared at her, hating the inhumane volumes she could reach without even trying.
"Hear what?!" Levi snapped, losing his patience. A slow grin worked its way onto her face.
"Oh, you'll see. Erwin wants to talk to you about it in his office." She chuckled before skipping away. Levi glared at her retreating back before letting out a huff of annoyance, raking a hand through his hair and walking towards the Erwin's office, wondering what eyebrows wanted with him. it was barely the start of the morning. What couldn't wait until after breakfast?
When Levi got to the large mahogany door, he stopped outside and knocked.
"Come in." Was heard a second later and he opened the door, walking inside.
"You wanted me?" Levi asked. He still had a lot of shit to get done before he could sit down and relax. Erwin looked up from his files and nodded, gesturing him to take a seat. Levi sighed but complied, sitting down in the armchair in front of Erwin's desk.
"You are aware of our delicate situation with Eren, correct?" Erwin asked. Levi supressed and urge to roll his eyes.
"Yes Erwin, I'm pretty damn sure we've talked about that brat for at least 40 hours straight." Levi sighed, rubbing his temples. The kid was starting to give him a headache just by mention.
It was currently 2 days after the trial that saved Eren's life. The scouts had secured the titan shit. They were to move him to the scout's old headquarters tomorrow morning and train him for the next expedition. If they could pull that off, they would be moving on to the next phase. Securing wall Maria.
"Well I have stumbled across a new opportunity." He explained thoughtfully. Levi raised an eyebrow.
"What opportunity?" He asked.
"A woman. She approached me last night, I honestly don't know how she got onto the campus without going through security but I was taking a walk along the grounds and she appeared. She told me she was aware of our situation and promised to help." Erwin informed and Levi frowned.
"It sounds like a scam, Erwin. What would she even help with?" Levi asked, baffled as to why Erwin was even considering letting some random stranger acess to Eren.
"She claims to be the best combat instructor within the walls. She claims to be our way of pulling this off." Erwin muttered. There was silence for a moment and Levi looked at his old friend curiously. He figured this woman, whoever she was, must have left a deep impression on the Commander. And she must have been one hell of a convincer.
"What do you need from me?" Levi asked. He could imput his opinion but the Commander clearly brought him here for a reason. Erwin pursed his lips and looked at him with piercing blue eyes.
"She's coming to breakfast. I want you to meet her, figure her out. We both know you have a good nose for sniffing out a con." Erwin smirked. Levi rolled his eyes but Erwin did have a point. He was good at reading people. Or more accurately, he was good at figuring out people that were full of shit.
"Not as good as Mike, but fine, I'll meet her." Levi agreed, standing. "Am I dismissed? I still need to get the titan brat out of his cage." Levi said, monotoned. Erwin smiled and nodded.
"Yes, thank you. She'll be arriving shortly so don't be gone too long." Erwin ingformed.
Levi nodded and left the room, heading towards the cellars. He sighed and raked a hand through his hair, wondering why this random woman would offer such a thing. Even if she wasn't full of shit it made no sense. What was her benefit? Was it money? Erwin hadnt mentioned any money, maybe she hadnt set her terms yet. Levi shook his head of the thoughts as he went down the steps, figuring he'd find out soon enough.
Grabbing the keys from the wall, he walked over to the dimly lit cage and kicked the bars, sending a loud clang of reverberation around the cell and waking Eren up with a jumpstart.
"Get the fuck up Yeager." Levi warned and Eren jumped, standing up quickly and pulling on his jacket.
"Sorry Captain." He replied as Levi opened the door. he rolled his eyes at the kid and turned on his heel, hanging the keys back up and walking away, hearing Eren scamper after him. "Captain Levi?" Eren asked. Levi supressed a sigh.
"Yes."
Hesitation.
"Well sir… I was wondering if I could go and sit with my friends at breakfast today?" He asked hopefully. Levi stopped walking to face him and Eren almost fell over, trying not to stumble into him at the abruptness of his stopping.
"Listen, Eren. However hard it is for you to believe, the truth is I can function without you. I do not need you by my side, constantly. If I am honest, I would prefer you to be anywhere else but the shitty world doesn't work like that. I am stuck with you, you are stuck with me. So let's be miserable in silence because talking about it makes it a whole lot worse, don't you think?" Levi retorted in a bored tone, raising an eyebrow. Eren blushed with embarrassment and looked away, sighing.
"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir." He mumbled. Levi rolled his eyes and turned away again, continuing on his journey to the mess hall. He was getting too old for this shit. Sometimes he felt like an 80-year-old man, instead of the 30-year-old he was supposed to be.
Getting into the mess hall, he was immediately displeased by the noise, but he let it slide for today, collecting himself a cup of tea and sliding into his usual seat, eagerly taking a sip and sighing in relief. Eren sliding, miserably into the seat next to him, glancing over to his friends with disappointment. Levi could get the kid wanting to sit with his friends but that wasn't his fucking problem. This wasn't kindergarten. They were both soldiers and they had orders to follow.
"Morning Levi." Erwin's voice sounded and Levi grunted in acknowledgement, focusing on his tea. "Levi, I'd like you to meet someone." Erwin continued and Levi sighed, knowing he had to get through this meeting sooner or later, reluctantly lifting his head up before he saw her, and he lost all words.
Porcelain pale skin, long white hair, the top scooped up, a few braids leading up into a messy bun at the top of her head. Pink lips. Long black lashes. Black nails. Dragon tattoo around her left wrist, starting at the tip of her index finger. Red eyes. Red as a cherry. Red as blood.
It was her.
Ali Hunter.
Levi's eyes went wide and he was sure his heart stopped for a good three seconds. Ali smirked at his reaction, biting her lip.
"Hm-hm-hm. I forgot how cute you were." She tilted her head, licking her lips. Erwin's brows furrowed as they continued to stare at each other. Levi in shock, Ali checking him out.
"I'm sorry. Do you two know each other?" He asked, confused. It was at that moment that the squad decided to sit down, Hanji too.
"Captain, are you okay?" Petra asked curiously. Ali glanced at the little redhead, her smirk growing wider. Her eyes flashed and Levi gulped. That was not a good sign. He knew that from experience.
"Captain, who is this?" Eld asked, the others obviously shocked by his lack of composure.
Erwin and Hanji looked confused too. Clearly, they weren't expecting this reaction from him.
Ali laughed and Levi felt a lump of emotion swell in his throat at the sound. He didn't think he would ever hear that sound again.
"He never told you about me, huh?" She smirked, walking around the table to stand behind him. Levi kept his eyes forward, trying not to have a heart attack. Was he hallucinating? Was this a dream? Or maybe a nightmare? She smoothed her hands over his shoulder blades and electricity ran up his spine at the small touch. He barely supressed a shudder. Levi swallowed hard as Ali lent down so she could whisper into his ear, her warm breath tickling his skin. "Meet me in your bed." She whispered to him, loud enough for everyone to hear, tugging on his ear lobe with her teeth and Levi couldn't help the small shudder that time as Ali stood up again, hips swaying as she walked away, out of the mess hall.
The entire table was silent in shock for 60 tense seconds. Levi wasn't sure he was breathing correctly.
"Levi… what the fuck?" Hanji whispered, completely stunned. Levi continued to stare at the centre of the table with wide eyes.
"Levi who is that woman to you?" Erwin demanded in a stern voice. Levi took a breath, managing to collect some composure, looking up at everyone's shocked faces.
"Ali Hunter." Levi replied. Erwin's brows furrowed.
"I know, she's the woman we talked about. That's not the question I asked you." He pressed. Levi took another second. Everyone stayed deadly silent as they waited for his answer.
"She's my wife. And she's been dead for 11 years." Levi answered and everyone's jaws dropped open.
What the actual fuck?
A/N: Yo! I am so excited to be writing this story. It's been in my head for a long ass time and I cant wait to share it with people. This was just a starter, an appetiser really. The chapters will be longer from this point on. Drop a like or a comment if you want me to continue! See you soon for the next chapter! XOXO