Yo, hey, how are you? Damn...two updates in two weeks? On a role here, but we all know that'll stop eventually once I catch up with the manga...again!
The sun was beating on my face as I walked through the street. The court decided to release all the information we had gathered in Eren's basement. There were mixed feelings amongst most of the people present on whether or not that was a good idea, but it was passed and it was done. All the information about our ancestry, Ymir, the Edlians and the Titans was now made public. Everyone had their noses inside a newspaper or were looking over someone's shoulder. I understood the curiosity and the shock that began to spread like wild fire across the land. I was still trying to process the information.
"Woah there!" I felt something hit the side of my leg. I looked down and saw a small child with red hair and green eyes. His skin was so pale that it almost looked like a pearl. I knelt down in front of the child, so I could look him in the eye. "Be careful. You don't want to get hurt." He never replied. "Where are your parents?" The kid just shrugged. I almost laughed at how nonchalant this child seemed. He almost reminded me of someone.
"Julius!" I looked up and saw an older version of the child run up to us. He also had red hair with green eyes, but he was much taller than most men. "I'm so sorry!" The man apologized once he reached up.
"It's okay. No one was hurt." I explained to the man. He was now kneeling behind Julius and placed his hands on his shoulders.
"You can't run off like that. If I lose you then your mother will kill me." The man said as he placed his forehead on the back of the child's head. I stood up and the man noticed, so he stood up as well.
"Well, I'm just happy you've now found him." The man stuck out his hand to me to shake. I awkwardly took it and shook his hand.
"Thank you. My son runs off sometimes. My name is Marcus."
"It's okay. Many kids run off at this age. My name is Ryder." The man let go of my hand as a look of shock began to cover his face.
"Ryder? Like…Ryder in the Survey Corps?" I was surprised that the man knew who I was. I was also hoping no one would recognize me.
"Yes…"I was very hesitant to answer his question.
"My son loves the Survey Corps. He never seems interested in anything except when you guys are mentioned or when you're walking around. Maybe that's why he ran here…maybe he recognized you." I looked down at Julius and saw him looking up at me. He didn't look like a kid that would've been interested in the Survey Corps. He just continued to look at me with a bored expression, but there was something different about it. Maybe it was the way his lips stayed in a completely straight line, but I knelt back down and looked him in the eyes.
"So you like the Survey Corps, huh?" He slowly nodded his head. "Do you want to join one day?" He nodded his head again. "Then you need to grow-up big and strong, okay? Work hard and always do the right thing. Also, look after your parents. I think your father is a little lost without you." As I smirked, Julius smirked back. "Do me proud, okay? And maybe we'll meet again one day." With a final wink, I stood back up and waved goodbye to the two before turning around and walking back home. I didn't want to be recognized again.
I sat in one of the conference rooms by myself. It was the one I had spoken to Erwin in. I was sitting at the same small round table that was pushed up against the window. My eyes scanned the citizens as they continued to read their papers. A sigh escaped my lips as I began to think about Julius. My head turned towards the door when I heard it open. Hange and Levi walked in and shut the door behind them.
"Where were you?" Hange asked as her and Levi walked towards me. Levi sat down in the chair across from me as Hange stood beside him.
"I went out for a walk." I answered.
"You've been doing that a lot recently." Levi commented.
"You could always come with me." I suggested.
"That's too much work." Levi said. I sighed and rolled my eyes at his response.
"Have you two been looking for me?" I asked the pair in front of me.
"Yes. We had another meeting today." Hange said.
"Another meeting, huh? That's all our lives have become." I sighed as I cradled my chin in my hand and looked out the window again. At the mention of a meeting, I felt myself wanting to jump out the window and go back outside. I had realized that I don't enjoy meetings. Especially with government officials.
"We talked about Wall Maria." Hange continued. My eyes never left the streets though.
"And what else?" I asked.
"We're going to set out and kill the remaining Titans, so people can start heading back to their homes." Hange explained.
"That seems understandable. I'd like to get out of here anyways." I said.
"That's the thing we wanted to talk to you about…" Hange's sentence trailed off.
"You're not coming, Ryder." My head snapped to look at Levi. Obviously he would be the one to break the news to me and it was apparent that he was the one who suggested this.
"Excuse me?"
"You're staying here." Levi calmly said.
"No I'm not. I'm going." Frustration began to boil inside of me again at the current suggestion. Levi never wanted to let me go anywhere and if he could leave me here than he would.
"Your injuries are too severe-"
"Too severe? Hange lost a God damn eye and my injuries are 'too severe'?" My voice began to raise at Levi's words. My palms slammed down on the table in front of me, but Levi didn't seem affected by it at all. Hange with slightly taken a back by my sudden temper – she had never seen me get so upset so quickly. However, this conversation would always happen in private between Levi and I.
"You never stopped, so your ribs-"
"This is you again, huh, Levi? Did you suggest to keep me here? You can't keep doing this! We have this conversation almost every excursion!" I stared straight into Levi's eyes and waited for a response, but he never replied.
"I suggested it." My gaze snapped towards Hange after she spoke. My temper began to dissipate as I looked at her with a shocked expression.
"Hange…"
"I've noticed that you've been running on adrenaline for too long. Your ribs never got the proper chance to heal and your burns to your hands and arms were pretty bad. I just wanted to give you a chance to breathe." Hange explained herself.
"But I'm perfectly fine." I said.
"This is an order, Ryder." Hange pulled rank on me and that shut me up pretty quickly. I leaned back into my chair and looked at Hange with a defeated look.
"You're pulling rank?" I asked her.
"I am." She sighed and smiled at me. "Levi suggested being the one to tell you because he knew how you'd react. I'm glad he was here to take the brunt of your anger." Hange joked.
"Hange, I know this is an order, but I think I should still go with you." I tried to reason with her.
"Ryder-"
"Just hear me out. You don't have to put me in the front lines, I can be more of a supportive role. We'll have so many new recruits and most of them probably have never seen a Titan before, so we need all the experience we can get. If you don't want me at the front killing then I'll be in the rear as a support. I'll only help out when someone is in trouble, but I can also help with medical just in case. We all know I'm great with a bandage." I explained to Hange. With a thoughtful look, Hange nodded her head and sighed.
"You've always been pretty persuasive, Ryder. Fine, I'll let you come."
"Yes! Thank you!" Hange shook her head and waved her hand before making her way to the door.
"We'll have another meeting soon about our plan on killing the remaining Titans. I expect you to be there and not wandering the streets."
"Yes!" I nodded my head and watched Hange walk out of the room. Once the door was closed I looked back at the man who was sitting across from me. He looked at me with a disapproving look while his arms were crossed over his chest. "What?"
"I didn't say anything." Levi answered.
"You don't want me to go, do you?" I asked.
"That's not a secret." Levi said.
"Well, I'm going, so too bad." I stuck my tongue out at him, but Levi just sighed. He unfolded his arms and leaned onto the table.
"Don't go adding to your ever growing list of injuries." Levi told me.
"Again, I don't go out there looking to get hurt. I'm just always in the wrong place at the wrong time." I defended myself.
"If one of the new recruits can't protect themselves then call for me instead, okay?" I rolled my eyes at Levi's suggestion. I folded my arms on the table and rested my face against them while I groaned.
"You can't keep doing that." I told him once I looked at him again. "You'll be busy with everyone else and because I'm at the back for support I can't call for you and you won't be able to get to me in time."
"Then you can be support, but up front with me." Levi said. I leaned back into my chair and put my hands in a praying position as my index fingers touched my lips. I knew why Levi was saying this. It wasn't just because he's always been protective, but it also had to do with what we witness regaining the wall. The nightmares still filled my nights and my body still lurched forward as I woke up and felt the sweat cover my body.
"Levi…"I couldn't seem to find the words in that moment. My eyes began to dart around the room as tears began to glaze over my vision. I wasn't going to cry again. Once I took another breath, I looked back at Levi. "We will be fine. What happened before won't happen again. You don't have to worry about that."
"We don't know that." Levi said. I took in a shaky breath as I brought my hands down and placed them on the table. My nerves were shaking inside my body as I was reminded about what had happened.
"We made it back. We'll make it back again. There's no way they'll strike in the same place twice. You know that and I know that." I began to reason with the black haired man in front of me. He leaned back in his seat and turned his head, so he was looking out of the window.
"You could've died." Levi said. The two of us had been through many instances where the other would have died, but this time was different. The scale of mass destruction that happened was a part of a whole new level that neither of us had ever experienced before.
"You're the one who could've died. I had support. I still had gas. You were the one who could've died, Levi." My voice began to shake at the end of my sentence. The thought of losing Levi was still the scariest thought to ever cross my mind. I wouldn't be able to function without his judging eyes always watching me and his snarky comments. I never wanted to live in a world where Levi wasn't present and the idea of us having a future together was no longer possible. My heart began to pound in my chest as the nightmarish ideas began to run through my mind again. Without a second thought, I got out of my seat and leaned across the tabled. My fingers grabbed onto Levi's shirt and I pulled him in my direction. Levi's eyes widened with surprise by my sudden movement. "I will be damned if you die first, Levi. You're not allowed to fucking die on me." My words came out in an aggressive tone as I bit down on my lip.
"Ryder…"
"We're always been in this together and we will continue to be. Next time, I'm never letting you do something so reckless by yourself again." He continued to stare at me as I spoke. Levi hadn't seen me filled with so much distress and emotion in a while. Especially when it came to him. "I won't leave you. Ever." My grip on his shirt loosened. Both my hands reached up for his face. I cupped his cheeks in my hands and leaned forward. It had been so long since I felt his lips on mine, but even after all this time, his lips were as soft as ever. My heart pounded even harder in my chest as I pressed my lips to his. Once I broke away, I placed my forehead on his and closed my eyes. "I'll keep my promise." My words came out as a whisper.
Then, the familiar touch of Levi's hands was found on the back of my neck. My eyes opened and I looked into his gray orbs before I felt him pull me towards him again. Our lips met a second time, but this time Levi initiated it and that made everything in my body begin to short circuit. As I pressed harder into the kiss, I heard Levi's chair squeak against the wood and felt the table in-between us being pushed out of our way, so Levi was now standing in front of me with his hands in my hair and around my heart.
DID YOU FEEL THAT LOVE? THAT PASSION?
THIS HAS BEEN COMING FOR A LONG TIME MAN!
Maybe this'll be a turning point in their relationship? What do you think?