Hiya!
Sorry this chapter is a day late, I wanted to add some stuff and I didn't have much time after traveling yesterday. Next week the chapter will be up on Wednesday again.
At first I wanted to keep my art and writing apart, but it makes more sense to combine it. You can find me on twitter under Erevendi229 for future updates about this story!
Please enjoy this chapter!

Most of the time he opened his eyes, Erwin was sitting beside him. One time, Hange was there, only to switch with Armin not much later. It had been dark in the room and he figured it was night.

His body hurt, still heavy and it took a few minutes before his eye would finally focus.

'Hey Captain,' Armin said softly, moving a little closer and Levi felt Armin's hand on his shoulder for a second. Levi wanted to speak, but felt too tired to say anything.

'You are looking a lot better,' Armin had suddenly smiled at him.

He wanted to ask for Erwin, but no words left his lips.

Waking up another time, the room in darkness, he felt a weight on his left hand and as his eye finally adjusted to the darkness, there was no mistake who the light blond hair right beside his body belonged to and who's hand was holding his hand. He wanted to move over his hand, caress Erwin's hair, but he didn't manage to pull his hand free from Erwin's, but did finally squeeze it.

It was the middle of the night when Erwin felt Levi squeeze his hand. Sitting up, he carefully reached for the small light on the nightstand.

Electricity, widely available here, was still something he had to get used to, even after four weeks.

Switching the light on, Levi winced for a second at the bright light.

'Hey you,' Erwin smiled at Levi, his stomach fluttering as he saw him finally awake again after a few more days of Levi being unconscious again after he had opened his eyes a few days ago.

'He – Hey,' Levi finally stammered, Erwin looking a little surprised as he was suddenly so aware, tears welling up in his eyes then. Levi had opened his eyes a few days ago, but since then had fallen back asleep. Erwin knew it was partly to blame on the painkillers, but was so glad to hear him speak, or at least attempt to after almost a month.

'How are you feeling?'

'Hmm,' Levi just groaned for a second. Erwin moved closer, caressing over his head.

'Where?' he finally mumbled, his voice hoarse and his mouth dry. Erwin gently laid his hand on the side of his face, kissing him on his forehead.

'Marley,' Erwin told him with a smile then.

'Peace?'

'Sort off,' Erwin told him, not wanting to get into it.

'Zeke?,'

Erwin stomach sunk for a second. He hadn't told anyone what had happened to Levi exactly as he wasn't sure how they would feel about him being the soldier that had attacked one of their own on multiple occasions.

'Levi, it's a long story – I will tell you sometime, don't worry,' Erwin promised him.

'Not – not going anywhere,' Levi mumbled softly, causing Erwin to chuckle.

'I know, but I don't really wanna talk about it now – we are in Marley after all,' Erwin admitted as he took his hand again, 'I am just so glad you finally woke up,'

Levi just smiled weakly for a second, looking at the small cup of water nearby.

'Want some water?' Erwin asked, Levi nodding just slowly. He tried to sit up, but his body wouldn't move. He had been tired before after long battles, but never as tired as he felt now. His whole body just didn't cooperate.

'Going to help you sit up a little, okay?' Erwin warned him, snaking his arm around his back and laying his body against his.

Levi resting against him, he pulled all the pillowed within reach closer, finally letting Levi sink back into the mountain of pillows.

Erwin grabbed the cup from the nightstand. It had been in his own, but he would gladly share it with Levi. As he turned to help him drink though, the man had fallen back into his slumber again. So instead, Erwin just tucked him in, kissing him on his forehead, taking his hand again as he sat down in the chair beside his bed he had sat for most of the last month.

'I love you,' he told Levi softly, just trying to stay positive now he had been awake and talked for a few minutes.

Erwin knew things might never be the same again. Not just because of the political situation changing rapidly now that there was a chance of peace between Marley and Paradis, but even moreso for Levi. He was awake, but Erwin knew that the road was going to be long, hard.

Especially since the doctor looking after him had already warned Erwin there may be lasting damage to his hip and because of the head injury.

It would never change how and if he would be around Levi though, he would never leave his side, no matter what was going to happen now.

Dragging his hand through the water in the bath, Levi made sure it was nice and warm before he would help Erwin up from the bed.

Erwin had looked at him from the bed, bemused as the man carried up the heated water with a massive bucket on his shoulder to the bathtub he seldom used, since it was a pain in the ass to get the water up here and the water that came from the tap was cold all the time.

'The staff could have helped you,' Erwin had told him.

'Tsk, why have more people around if I can just do it,' Levi had told him. After a few more bucketful's of hot water, he deemed the water acceptable for Erwin and helped him in the tub.

'Not too hot or cold?' He asked as he still held Erwin's arm he sat down, worried the man was going to slip. Levi looked concerned at the large scar on his stomach, but since it had closed, he had gotten the clear to bathe.

'Just perfect,' Erwin sighed as he laid back, his body finally getting some relieve from the stiffness of barely being able to move the past two weeks, besides, the small walk to his desk earlier today had tired him out.

Closing his eyes, he only opened his eyes as he felt Levi putting the shaving cream on his chin, closing his eyes then again. He felt so grateful he got to be here still, with Levi.

Ever since he had lost his arm, Levi had been the one shaving him most of the time, actually being insulted when Erwin did it himself. Most of the time he could easily spot it when he had done that from the little nicks he had made with his left hand.

Gently, careful as he sat on the edge of the bath, he started to shave the jawline he adored so much, tenderly sliding the blade over his face.

'Handsome again?' Erwin opened one eye as Levi finished up.

'Absolutely,' Levi smiled, 'always have been,'

'So have you,' Erwin tried to flirt, although he knew that with Levi, it would quickly go south again.

'Tsk, ugly runt from the Underground,' Levi shook his head.

'I think you underestimate how handsome you are greatly – you have beautiful eyes – your hair is so soft and thick,'

Levi clearly wanted to snark at him, but Erwin followed up.

'And I haven't even mentioned that ass. Oh, that ass.' Erwin said with a cheeky smile.

'Stop it, or I will leave you here in this tub and somebody else can hoist your naked ass out of this tub,' Levi warned him.

'Fine – fine, I mean it though,' Erwin smiled.

Levi didn't say anything as he put the shaving stuff away, but his face was a bright red, not being good at taking compliments, as much as Erwin told him to get better at it.

'Gonna get you something to eat, okay?' Levi kissed him on his forehead.

'Let me take a piss and brush my teeth on my own when you get back? Want to at least do something myself again,' Erwin asked.

'Fine, just don't fall and crack your head open taking a piss please, I am going to have no way to explain that,' Levi told him, leaving him to soak in the bath a little longer as he went to get something to eat for them.

Erwin had spent another night awake after another nightmare, just going to the hospital then. It was still dark outside, but sitting by Levi's bed still felt better than laying in a bed he couldn't sleep in, or when he did, he would wake up distraught.

Levi had opened his eyes a few times the last two days, only having the energy to ask a few questions before he passed out again. It was strange to Erwin, the man always being the strongest and fittest of all of them. Even now, after waking up, he had just looked at Erwin for a few minutes as Erwin caressed the side of his face.

'What happened – after the battle,' Levi finally asked, still trying to peace everything together.

'You were out for three weeks completely, opened your eyes last week. Seemed you needed some more time and that is okay,' Erwin said gently.

'With the titan powers gone, your powers disappeared too – you… you suddenly started convulsing,' Erwin tried to recount what had happened. It hurt to talk about. Onyokapon had rushed to the hospital with him, telling them to help Levi as he was with the group that had just saved Marley.

Those hours where Levi had been away from him, in surgery, in strangers' hands had been some of the worst in his life.

'Thunderspear must have done much more damage than seemed at first and when the power of the titans vanished, so did the last bit of your powers, you were in surgery for hours – you were bleeding from your stomach as well as for your hip, there were multiple fractures, probably landed on it,'

'No wonder I couldn't walk,' Levi just mumbled softly.

'Your whole body was a mess and-'

'Told you I was scrambled,' Levi mumble, finding it harder and harder to keep his attention to Erwin. As much as he wanted to listen, it was getting harder, the pain breaking his concentration.

'Way worse than you led on, too,' Erwin almost got a little angry as he saw him smile, knew that Levi thought lightly of it while it had been so scary for Erwin for weeks.

'You know my pain perception is nowhere near normal – is now though – I guess,' Levi mumbled.

'Are you in pain?'

'A little,' Levi admitted. It was a lie, the pain was horrible, but he didn't want to tell Erwin that.

'Hang on, I will go and ask if you can get some more painkillers,' Erwin smiled, getting up and kissing him on his forehead before he started walking towards the door.

Levi wanted to tell him to stop, beg him to stay but looked as he left the room. He wished to talk to Erwin a little longer, but knew he still could if he stayed awake. So he tried to stay awake, longing for Erwin to appear again. He knew that for him, this time had passed in a wink, he barely remembered anything since they left the boat. But Erwin had been on his own for almost a month.

As much as the world didn't make sense to him yet, it made a little more sense when Erwin was by his side.

Erwin came walking in with a syringe. Levi looked a little unsure as Erwin carefully took the tube still attacked to his hand, concentrating fully as he put the painkiller inside.

'So that is what it was for,' Levi said softly.

'Nearly ripped them out myself before I knew what they were for,' Erwin chuckled.

Levi smiled, tired. He felt bad, it had been so nice to finally talk to Erwin and there was so many things he wanted to say and ask, but he knew he would pass out soon again, especially with the painkillers in his system.

'Thank you for being here with me – I love you,' He told Erwin, squeezing his hand again. Erwin smiled, tears in his eyes now.

'Love you too,' he kissed Levi on his forehead, hoping that soon, he would be awake and aware more often. Just talking to him made Erwin feel so much better as well after Levi not being there for nearly a month.

'You go home, sleep and eat too,' Levi mumbled softly then, falling asleep with the painkillers in his system.

'Ofcourse,' Erwin said as he kissed Levi on his forehead. But it wasn't a promise, he knew he wouldn't sleep. He wasn't looking forward to another nightmare.

Levi laid on the bed he had shared so often with Erwin. The tall blonde stood by the sink in the bathroom, the door still open as Levi was worried he was going to fall. He had insisted on taking a piss and brushing his teeth on his own, upset by the two weeks of bedrest, wanting life to get a little normal again.

He looked as Erwin laid his hand over his stomach, the large scar on his abdomen hurting.

Looking at the large scar on his abdomen as well, Levi got up from the bed to meet Erwin halfway, as he saw his steps became a little less unsteady. Holding him, Erwin did not object as Levi guided him back to the bed to sit down again.

'Here, chicken and potato,' Levi smiled as he handed the plate to Erwin, helping him sit back on the bed.

'Happy after the bath and taking that piss?' Levi asked as he sat down beside Erwin to start eating himself as well.

'Very pleased and happy,' Erwin smiled, digging into the food.

It made Levi smile as well. As hard as it had been to see Erwin hurt for the second time, he had been grateful for how they had grown closer and how he could be here for him and take care of him. It felt like something he didn't deserve after not choosing Erwin.

Thousands of gravestones, lining the green fields around him. The sun was burning bright, the only place to get away from the burning sun was the large weeping willow behind him.

Walking by the gravestones, he couldn't even read what was on them, the letters blurry. They seemed to vanish as he walked, all blending into one as the sun disappeared, the sky around him turning a darker grey. Until finally, he reached the final one. The gravestone stood under the willow that had been in his back, disoriented, he kept on looking at the gravestone, finally being able to make out the name.

Levi Ackerman.

Stumbling back, he finally felt two small arms around his waist, hands grabbing together in front of him. Recognizing them immediately as the arms he loved so much, he felt as they tightened around his body.

'Why didn't you save me?' he heard the familiar voice without him.

He couldn't answer though, the two arms – slowly getting paler, bonier - crushing his body until everything went black.

Erwin shot up in the bed, pressing his hand over his mouth before he could cry out and wake up the whole house.

It was still dark outside, but he didn't have much time to think about it or look at the stars, tears streaming from his eyes as he his chest was sinking and rising quickly.

Worried about Armin and Falco on the other side of the wall, he grabbed the pillow on the bed.

Trying to muffle the sobs with his pillow, he tried to calm down.

Levi's squad. Mike. Moblit. Dirk. Marlene. Klaus. Sascha. Hundreds of soldiers he didn't even know the name off. With every breath he drew and tried to calm down, another face seemed to pop in front of his eyes. The fact he didn't even knew most of their names only made him feel worse.

He had thrown all of their lives away while he had fought so hard for a single one of them.

Only for Levi.

The next time Levi woke up, Erwin wasn't there, but Hange was next to his bed – or moreso, over him – studying all the tubes and needles still attached to his body.

'Hey Hange,' he mumbled softly, Hange looking up with surprise and joy.

'Levi!' They sighed excited then as they roughly wrapped their arms around him.

'Ouch – my ribs – careful,' Levi said, Hange immediately letting go of him.

'Sorry – I am just happy you are awake!' Hange smiled.

'Thank you for being here – where is Erwin?' Levi felt a little guilty for asking for Erwin while Hange was sitting here, sacrificing sleep.

'Not happy to see me?'

'Yes – I am, sorry-'

'I know, Erwin is okay, just sleeping at home for a few hours,' Hange smiled.

'Thank you for being here – it is really nice to have someone with me when I wake up, it's weird and disorientating,' Levi admitted. He was surprised that he even said this as he hated people looking over him and insisting on being by his side.

Trying to put the hair away behind his ears, he put his hand down again, Hange immediately entranced by the needle in his hand.

'Does it hurt?' Hange asked, their nose nearly on top of his hand, in awe at all the science they had in Marley.

'No,' Levi answered. Usually he would have snarked, made fun of Hange but Hange being their curious and happy self was a welcome distraction from everything.

'Can I thouch?' Hange enquired and Levi wanted to snark but couldn't help but smile a little as he even appreciated Hange being so weird about it. It was just the comfort he needed.

'Yeah,'

Hange carefully did so, grinning in delight as it was clearly another science project to get excited about now that the Titans were gone.

'I am really glad my pain is your delight,' Levi teased them.

'You said it didn't hurt!'

'It doesn't, I am just teasing Hange,' he finally chuckled.

'I am really happy you are still with us, ' Hange suddenly admitted.

'Me too – glasses,' he finally smiled, Hange smiling back at him.

'Shorty,' they laughed back at him.

'I was really scared about you,' Hange admitted after a few more seconds.

'Not just gonna kick the bucket like that,' Levi mumbled softly, smiling wry. He wanted to act though, but knew that he had been as good as dead as he had been brought in here.

'Erwin is coming,' Hange smiled and Levi noticed the footsteps on the hallway as well.

'Erwin got his little nap again, he won't take a whole night away from you still,' Hange smiled as indeed Erwin nearly busted down the door, rushing to the bed.

'My cue to leave, see you Levi,' Hange said as they got up, still a little emotional from their conversation, grateful to be talking to him. Erwin sat down in their place now again, pulling the chair a little closer and kissing Levi on the lips, gently.

'Hey, happy to see you awake again,' Erwin smiled. Their last conversation had been last night. Erwin knew he needed the rest, it was however nice to finally speak to him again after almost a month.

'How are you?', Levi asked softly.

'I am not the one in the hospital bed,'

'Need you to be okay too,'

'More importantly, how are you feeling?' Erwin smiled as he caressed over Levi's hand. Although he was awake more often now, it was still a welcome surprise to see him so aware, the haze of painkillers still often taking him out of it between naps.

'Good, little tired, but good,' Levi answered, trying not to be frustrated he seemed to be tired from simply waking up.

'Don't stay awake on my account,'

'Think I have slept enough for the next decade,' Levi complained, 'how are the others?'

'They are good, Falco and Gabi are even going back to school soon,' Erwin smiled, trying to say something positive. It was far from the truth everything was going well.

Gabi laid in her bed for days on end at her home, not being able to process the memories of the war. Falco broke down every few hours about his family. Hange was crumbling under the pressure as much as Erwin tried to help. Mikasa had disappeared. Even Jean and Connie struggled and Armin wouldn't talk to anybody about what had happened, even though he had lost his best friend.

'That's good,' Levi smiled.

Erwin hated not being honest to him, but he also knew as much as Levi wanted to pretend he was fine, he had a long way to go. They both kept up appearances about how they were doing.

'When you nearly died in Shiganshina – did you – did you see your dad?' Levi finally asked him after they sat in silence for a bit.

Erwin frowned for a second, shaking his head then.

'No – just nothing – until I woke up,' he told Levi, gently wiping the long bangs in his face behind his ears.

'Why?' Erwin finally asked after a few seconds, although Levi had initiated the question, he didn't follow up now.

'I saw my mom – in the paths,' Levi admitted.

'When,' Erwin frowned curious, concerned as Levi had never really talked about his connection to the paths and he seemed emotional about it.

'I don't know, think we were on Marleyan soil then, remember you were holding me – yelling my name,' Levi tried to remember, a frown on his face.

'The power of the Titans was gone at that point, so was your connection to the paths,' Erwin said as he held his hand.

'She – it was nice to see her, real or not,' Levi just mumbled then, knew that Erwin was right about this.

'Maybe it was real – just before the power of the Titans-,' Erwin said as he felt bad when he looked at Levi's face, as sure as he was that it had been a dream, it seemingly had brought him a lot of comfort.

'It doesn't matter,'

'It seems it does to you,' Erwin told him with a small smile, caressing the side of his face, moving to the edge of the bed to be closer to him.

'Sunshine-'

'What?'

'The birds bring sunshine – in her song,' Levi explained suddenly, 'the song that I told you about that night on the wall, the song I couldn't remember – she sang it in my dream – or whatever it was,'

Moved by it, although he was not sure what it was that had happened, Erwin just wrapped his arm around Levi, laying close to him.

Levi looked into the sunrise, the rays coming through the window. He was so glad to have laid here with Erwin all night. He wanted this night, this morning to last forever. He knew it was the last morning where everything was normal between them.

As promised yesterday, today they would finally tell Erwin what had happened in the basement, what they had found, about Marley.

Just for a bit, Levi could pretend that it was still far away though.

Just for a bit, Levi could pretend that things were still the same, as much as things had changed when Erwin had almost died and when they had gone into that basement.

For now, he could just enjoy being here with Erwin, their world like it had been before Shiganshina.

He wanted to be excited about the discovery of all that was out there. But he knew that it would take a toll on Erwin, knowing his dad was right all this time. He worried how he would take it, what it would mean for him, for them.

Erwin stirred for a second, his arm still wrapped around Levi, warming his body.

'Morning,' Erwin finally mumbled, voice heavy as he pressed his lips against the back of Levi's head. Levi turned around, his face close to Erwin now. Erwin waited for Levi's usual question how he was feeling, but the small man clearly had something on his mind.

'You seem nervous,' Erwin said worried after another minute.

'It – it is a big thing what we found in the basement,' Levi admitted.

'What are you nervous about?' Erwin asked curious, as much as he was curious about what had been in the basement, he was even more concerned by how nervous Levi seemed.

'Us,'

'Why,'

'Just nervous,'

Never had he heard Levi saw he was nervous, about anything. He wanted to worry about what was in the basement, but he just thought of the man in his arm, so nervous. Sitting up slightly, he moved Levi over, kissing him on the lips.

'Better?'

'I needed that,' Levi smiled.

'Not gonna complain about my morning breath?' Erwin teased him a little, hoping to make him feel better.

'No,' Levi didn't humor him, instead just staring off into the distance as he crawled against Erwin again. He knew that now Marley was going to be known to Erwin, nothing would ever be the same again.

Levi stared out of the window, he wanted to get up, walk around. He had never been one to sit still and rest. But his body felt heavy, painful and each movement seemed to cost all his energy. Erwin hadn't been here this morning, Armin had come by to make sure he wasn't alone, telling him Hange had needed Erwin's help.

Even looking out of the window wasn't easy. The sight in his right eye had not come back and he knew it wouldn't. With his head turned, he just about managed to look out of the window with his left.

Just like he knew he would have to live with half his hand gone, the scars on his face, permanent nerve damage to his hip and with uncertainty about if there were going to be any lasting effects from the head injury caused by the explosion.

It wasn't long before the door burst open though and he could no longer wallow in these feelings.

'I got us ice cream,' Erwin said as he hurried into the room, the two cones he was holding in his hand between the fingers leaking as he walked, having melted as he had ran here from the harbor.

'Erwin, the floor,' Levi groaned as he saw the ice cream leak down.

'You are not the one cleaning it anyway!' Erwin exclaimed, letting Levi take the two ice cones so he could help him sit up.

'Tsk, your hand is sticky, Erwin!' Levi complained.

'You sound like yourself again,' Erwin smiled, taking one of the cream back from him as Levi sat up.

'Sorry – I just-'

'Don't be sorry, I think it's good,' Erwin said as he sat down in the windowsill, licking his ice cream and tidying the leaking streams up quickly.

'Erwin-' Levi hadn't even started eating his ice cream.

'Yeah?'

'Can't see you, can you please sit down on my left side?' Levi said, clearly upset, Erwin fully in his blindside.

'Sorry – I hadn't thought of that -'

'It's fine, guess I will get used to it eventually,' Levi just said, staring off into the distance. As much as he wanted to act everything was fine, he knew his life would never be the same again.

'Need help tidying that ice cream up?' Erwin asked concerned, Levi still just holding it.

'No, worried the cold is going to hurt my stomach,'

'Sorry – just checked with the doctor if you could eat, you are getting skinny, I hadn't thought of the cold.'

'No, it's really nice, I just – I don't know why I feel like this,' Levi admitted, frustrated by the fact he couldn't even put into words what upset him so much. Seeing Erwin's concerned look, he finally started licking the ice cream.

'Still as good as I remember it,' he finally smiled.

Glad he was enjoying the ice cream after all, Erwin finished his, waiting for Levi to finish his as well and help him clean up then, sitting by the bed again as the golden rays of the sunset hit his face.

Sitting close to the window and finally being awake more during the day, Levi was happy to get a good look at Erwin as well, as much as it hurt to sit up, even with the pillows in his back.

He couldn't help but look at the dark circles under and around his eyes and he was sure that Erwin had lost some weight as well, the white shirt hanging around him a bit more than usually.

'You look tired,' Levi told him, concerned.

'You mean I look like shit?' Erwin asked him, surprised the man hadn't used his usual wording.

'I was being concerned Erwin – you do look like shit,' Levi told him.

'Haven't been sleeping so well,' Erwin admitted, not wanting to tell him that he was the subject of most of the nightmares that had kept him.

'Because of me?'

'You, the peace talks, just, everything is a lot,'

'You know you can talk to me, right?' Levi said worried. He reached for Erwin's hand, taking it in his, his fingers intertwining with Erwin's.

'I know I am not much of a comfort but I am here for you, okay – talk to me,'

'Thankfully I can again, yeah – you are comforting to me,' Erwin said, especially because of the nearly four weeks he had not been able to talk to Levi had taken a toll on him.

But he didn't want to tell Levi about the nightmares, how he spends hours awake, only after his nightmares endlessly showing him losing Levi, over and over and over again.

'Oh, I took you a clean shirt,' Erwin suddenly changed the topic as he took the bag that he had packed this morning. Taking out one of the t-shirts that he had bought for himself and Levi, Levi smiled as it was Erwin's size, which he much preferred. It made him feel so cozy and safe.

Moving the blanket off him, Erwin tried not to look to distraught as he looked at Levi's body. He tried not to show how hard it was to see him like this, his body scarred, thin – his legs barely any wider than sticks. He didn't look small like he usually did, instead he looked tiny.

Careful Erwins lifted the shirt over his head, guiding his arms through the sleeves.

'Your hand is looking better,' Erwin remarked, caressing his right hand as he had put the shirt on. The burns had healed, Erwin not wanting to think back about how he had burned the wounds closed. He hadn't even told Levi that, probably thinking it was something they had done here.

'Still useless,' Levi mumbled, trying to make a fist of his hand, but his hand barely moved, the blast that had ripped the blade out and fingers off his hand most likely having damaged the tendons too.

'Hey, ain't that bad being left handed only,' Erwin winked at him. Gently massing his right hand with his hand, pressing the thumb into the palm, Levi slowly enclosing his thumb with his hand and leftover fingers, sweat on his forehead as he struggled to do so.

'See, it will come back, give it some time,' Erwin told him.

'Not a patient man,' Levi said, trying to force a smile on his face since he had to be hopeful, but he didn't feel like it.

Hearing Levi groan as he sat back again, he looked at him concerned.

'Sitting up hurts,' he finally admitted, Erwin helping him lay down again, pulling the blanket over him.

'Your hip?'

'Yeah, lower back too,' Levi admitted.

It was frustrating to him, the simplest movement hurting his body. He knew that there was no reason to be this upset, knew that he was lucky to be alive, but it didn't make his frustration that he felt right now any less.

'Doctors said you will recover though,'

'I talked to the staff this morning – you know there may be lasting effects besides my fingers and my eye,'

'Yeah – but as soon as I can I am taking you home – to Onyankopons house, or maybe another apartment that Onyankopon might be able to arrange for us – I am taking you home and away from here,' Erwin promised.

'I am just so glad you pulled through – I will do everything to help you recover,' he promised as Levi still didn't say anything.

'Not that I am going to be of much use anyway anymore,' Levi lamented after a few seconds as he seemed to look past Erwin, even though the war was over and there was no need for him anymore, he knew his fighting days would be far behind him anyway with his injuries.

'Levi, how can you say that?' Erwin said, taken aback and hurt by what he had just said.

'If I am not going to be humanities strongest, who the fuck am I gonna be,' Levi bit at Erwin, immediately regretting it. It wasn't Erwin's fault he had ended up like this, Erwin was the only reason he was still alive. He knew he only had himself to blame.

'I don't care, as long as it's by my side,' Erwin said after a few seconds, wrapping his hand around Levi's left hand.

'Hope you didn't think of me like that after I lost my arm,' Erwin pointed out, hating how little Levi seemed to think of himself outside of being a soldier.

'You are smart, you have been the commander that has shaped the Survey Corps and you lead all the way to the final battle. I am just a dickhead that used to be good at swinging swords around.'

'You are so much more than that, Levi – I know you feel like crap now, but you are so much more than that,' Erwin told him, still holding his hand. He got up from his chair, slipping on the side of the bed, balancing on the edge of the bed as he sat beside Levi, wrapping his arm around him and carefully pulling him against him.

'Sorry unloading like that,' Levi said softly.

'That's okay, you have been through a lot,' Erwin said softly, holding him close, pressing his lips down in his hair as he looked at the sunset over Liberio.

'Just – scared for what is to come,'

'Makes the both of us I think,' Erwin admitted. He knew that with everything going on, both of their lives would never be the same from how it had been only weeks ago.

'Just know I am going to be here for you, no matter what the future is going to look like,' Erwin told Levi, seeing a smalls mile on his lips for just a second.

'I know you are tired and I know you don't mean everything you just said, just know I wish you didn't talk of yourself like that,' Erwin said stern, Levi listening to his sweet words, almost melting against his body, in his arm.

'You have many talents and even after all these years you surprise me and even if you were a dickhead, you are still my favourite dickhead,' Erwin's voice softened a bit.

Levi didn't answer, instead he just listened to Erwin's sweet words as the sun was setting, his eyes slowly falling close as well, his hand still in Erwin's. He knew Erwin was right, as long as they were together it had to work out.

Thank you so much for reading. I know this chapter had a lot of angst but I hope you enjoyed that. There is a lot more in store for this story! Thank you so much for reading, please let me know what you thought and hopefully till next chapter – which will be up on Wednesday!