Chapter 5
Erd woke up earlier than usual and got ready to begin with his duties. Before heading for the Captain's room, he stopped by the kitchen to get a jar with water some bread cheese.
The first rays of light barely came through the room's window, when the door slowly opened and Erd had to contain his laughter when he saw the scene in front of him: Petra was sitting in a chair, but apparently, she moved a little as the night went by. So much that, when Erd entered the room, she was almost lying, while the Captain's arm surrounded her waist, as if he was trying to keep her close.
Careful, not to make any noises, Erd approached the desk in the room to put down the jar and the food he brought, but when Petra felt movement, she woke up alarmed, concerned for the Captain, but when she saw he was still sleeping next to her, she relaxed, but almost immediately she became aware of her surroundings and the predicament she was in, so with the smoothest movements she managed to do, she tried to lose the grip of Levi's arm. With some luck, she would manage to move away before Erd could start teasing her about it.
"It looks like it won't be so easy." the soldier whispered, while he approached the girl, wearing a mocking smile on his face "but, do you know something? I'm so glad you were the one who stayed with him. I couldn't see my girlfriend in the eye, knowing I woke up cuddling with another man…"
"Shut up and help me! Besides, nothing I would be ashamed of happened." The girl explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"And I'm so relieved it didn't. I would be so ashamed of finding you two naked and…" this time, Petra fulminated him with her glare "alright, alright, I'm sorry. I'll help you."
With his help, the girl could get rid of the Captain's grip, lucky for them, without waking him up. Then, she headed to the bathroom to fix her hair and wash her face. Her neck was soring for sleeping in an uncomfortable position and small eye bags were starting to appear.
"Tired?" this time, her partner asked with sincerity.
"Not so much." She rubbed her neck and stretched "Just a little sored. I don't know how did I end up in such a weird posture."
"I'm not trying to bother you but… If you had just l laid on the bed, or at least sit on it, it would have been less uncomfortable."
"Perhaps, but… It wouldn't be right. Besides, if you had found me like that, you would tease me for the rest of my life."
"Well, of course I would!" he smiled and looked at her with a tender glance. Sometimes, his squadmate was so easy to read "why don't you to and have some rest? I'll be here keeping an eye on him until Gunther arrives. Remember that only you and me know that you stayed here for the night. If you hurry, you could avoid indescreet eyes. Don't worry, I'll make sure the Captain doesn't mention anything about it."
"Thanks, I appreciate it." She walked towards the door and looked at the Captain on last time, wishing his amnesia was cured soon "if you need something, I'll be in my room."
"Sure, don't worry. I'll ser you later. Hurry!" he was actually worried about her. If someone saw her leaving Levi's room, she could get in trouble. "and Petra…"he said before she could leave "your secret form this morning is safe with me."
"I already told you, nothing happened!"
Laughing for himself, Erd closed the door and realized the Captain was about to wake up. He was still quite sleepy. He rubbed his eyes and then looked around, familiarizing with the place and then he looked at the soldier with a confused look.
"Where is Petra?"
"She just left. She looked a little tired and she went back to her room." Erd immediately realized the disappointment on his eyes "she didn't say goodbye because she didn't want to wake you up, but she will be back in the afternoon.
"Alright." Levi answered with resignation.
A moment later, the Captain stood up from the bed and Erd made his best effort to convince him of taking a shower. He agreed without much enthusiasm. Once Levi went out the shower and dressed up, they both had breakfast and the soldier took the opportunity to make up an excuse to the Captain didn't mention that Petra was the one who spend the night with him, letting him know that if he said something, there could be consequences for the girl. A couple minutes later, Gunther knocked on the door and, before entering, he took a quick glance in the room, a little suspicious and after seeing Erd and his Superior, he sighds with relief. Truth to be told, he didn't know what to expect from the Captain's behavior.
"Morning, Erd… Captain." He solemnly said "I'm glad we didn't have unexpected situations today." Suddenly, he saw the tray with breakfast leftovers "Oh, I see you've already eaten breakfast." There was silence for an instant, and the second in command remembered that he wasn't supposed to leave Levi alone. Not even for a moment, so he would have to think of an excuse to explain the tray with food.
"Oh… yes… well, you see…" he felt his hands getting sweaty. There were time when he and Gunther teased Petra about some of her attitudes to get the Captain's attention, but if said soldier found out that the girl actually spent the night taking care of their superior, her reputation could be harmed.
"I saw Petra on my way here," he glared at Erd, who was fearing for the worst "she was in a hurry and she told me she brought you breakfast but… I didn't think you'd eat so fast!" his face showed disappointment and sighed "I was kind of hoping I could eat something."
"Oh, of course!" the blond said with relief "It just that… we were very hungry when we woke up. But I'll tell you something, I'll take the Captain to his office while you go and get some breakfast. How about it?"
"Would you really do that for me?" the Second in command nodded "thanks a lot! I own you one." And then, the black haired soldier headed towards the door and before leaving, he said "It won't be long."
"Sure, don't wory." Erd deeply sighed with relief as son as he saw his squad mate leaving and when he looked for the Captain, he met his inquisitive gaze. He had seen the whole interaction "believe me, you'll thank me for this when your memory is back."
"I guess it's related to that thing that I'm not supposed to mention." They both looked at each other. There was a lot of tension, and then Levi stood up and looked for his jacket as if nothing had happened "can we go no? I'm bored."
And without saying anything else, they both headed towards the office, which wasn't so far from the room, but I felt like an eternity for the Second in command, since there were many soldiers in the halls. Mornings were usually the most crowded times of the day, because they were busy with their daily chores, such as cleaning the castle, preparing meals for the Legion, training preparations, laundry, medical check-ups, strategy meetings and so on.
Once they were in the office, Levi sat in the chair next to the desk, looking at the sky from the big window.
"Captain, why don't you draw a little? You might have fun with it, or you can practice your writing." Erd took a few papers from the desk and some books, putting them next to his superior, along with a pencil.
Levi looked at him with distrust, but then he thought about it and willingly accepted, trying to copy letters from the books.
"Petra wanted to teach me how to write, but it's complicated."
"It is at first. But once you get used to it, it's quite simple."
"She made it look very easy."
"Let's say that…" he laughed a little "among the whole squad, she is the one with the best handwriting. She is also the most patient among us. I can't imagine Gunther as a teacher or Oluo, he is a disaster or teaching. As for Eren… well, he's still a kid."
Levi smiles and continued writing, leaving the soldier thoughtful while he took a look around the office, which seemed untidier than usual. If the Captain was his usual self, he wouldn't tolerate it and would immediately start to clean the place. Truth to be told, the office wasn't actually that dirty, but it wasn't as pristine as always.
Erd felt nostalgic, wondering how much longer would the situation continue and when he saw the frustration expression on his Superior, he knew that something extraordinary was needed to bring him back. For the time being, the hardest part would be keeping is condition a secret, and he wasn't sure how much longer the squad would be able to do it. Perhaps Commander Erwin would have some ideas when he came back from his trip, which would be that same night. Actually, it hadn't been that long since all this mess started, but the squad members seemed to share the concerned and uncertainty feeling that slowly became wearing. Despite it all, the image if the Captain in his desk, doing his best to write the letter correctly was rather amusing, and suddenly a mischievous smile appeared on the soldier's lips. It might be a perfect opportunity to get some information from his Superior.
"Captain, can I ask you something?"
"What?" Levi wasn't paying much attention to Erd's words. He was very entertained writing.
"Tell me…" he approached whim with caution "are you interested in Petra?" there was no answer; apparently, little Levi didn't understand what he meant and just looked at him with a confused expression "I mean… do you think she's pretty?
"Oh! Yes, a lot." Levi smiled "besides, she is very kind to me"
"Of course. She's a good girl." Suddenly, the soldier has a very peculiar idea "but, what would you say if I told you that she's seeing someone else? Or that she prefers to be with some other man that isn't you"
"What? She prefers to be with someone that isn't me?" suddenly, Levi's expression became sad, but almost immediately it became grumpy.
"To be honest, I'm not so sure. She and Eren seem close and…"
"I'm gonna kill him…"
"No!" suddenly de soldier became alarmed. He didn't know for sure if the Captain's threats were true or not "I don't think that would be necessary. Perhaps you only need to get closer to Petra."
"Get closer to her? I don't understand." Levi looked at him with attention.
"If I told you, you must promise you won't retaliate in the future." The Captain didn't seem to understand what the soldier meant, so he nodded without giving it much of a thought "well, you see… you could approach and get close to her when there's no one else around, and in that moment, you could take the opportunity and bring your face closer to hers. Very close, do you understand?" he widely smiled. He would really enjoy the scene in case Levi decided to do it "and then, perhaps you could kiss her."
The Captain's expression was serious. He was actually considering what his subordinate just said, but that changes quickly when the door opened again.
"Erd? Oh, here you are." Gunther entred "alright, I had breakfast and now I can take care of the Captain… why are you laughing?" he asked when he saw his squad mate's expression.
"Nothing… just something the Captain said. I'll see you later." And then he walked away, wearing a triumphant smile.
Lucky for Gunther, Levi was calm during the whole morning. He was quite entertained trying to write properly and the rest of the time he asked his subordinate about the rest of the squad. Apparently, he was very interested on knowing more about them, their personalities and even the embarrassing anecdotes, which Gunther was more than willing to tell, forgetting for a moment that it was hiss Superior; as if he was just another colleague.
When his watch was almost over, the Captain began to feel restless and he wanted to take a walk around the barracks, making Gunther feel concerned, because he remembered what happened the day before. After giving it some thought, the soldier decided to go to one of the upper floors, where there were empty rooms that were used as storage or as studying rooms for the soldiers interested in knowing more about titans or learning war strategies.
Before the left the office, the soldier took some books, papers and pens to write, leaving a message for his partners so they could know where they were when the shift changed. Then, they were very careful when heading to the upper floors. The Captain's attitude didn't raise suspicion. By then, he was used to the game of pretending to be a soldier and his attitude was almost natural.
When they arrived to their destination, they entered a room where there was a table in the center, surrounded by chairs and some bookshelves. The place was clean and it was apparently used quite frequently, so Gunther warned the Captain that, if someone entered the place, he should adopt a serious attitude, but before agreeing, Levi looked at him with malice.
"Alright, but only if you can defeat me in arm wrestling." He took off is jacket and sat in one of the chairs, rolling up his shirt sleeves and putting his right arm on the table, challenging the soldier, who sighed and put what he was carrying on the other side of the table and agreed.
"I'll try." Then he sat in front of him and stared with the arm wrestling.
At first, Gunther was sure he would be defeated by the Captain, and was very surprised when the opposite thing happened. Despite Levi's great strength, he didn't have a good arm wrestling technique, so the soldier felt relieved after winning the beet.
"Two of three!" said Levi immediately.
"Alright. But first you need to learn some techniques. I'll show you how to do it, but you have to promise you'll be serious if someone who's not part of our squad enters, alright?"
"Alright." He nodded and Gunther began with the lessons.
They both lost track of time and then, there was knock on the door. It was Oluo with Eren, the ones in charge of the next watch. Luck for them, they saw the message Gunther left in the office and they found them quick enough. Nevertheless, they didn't expect to see both soldiers playing arm wrestling.
"It was the Captan's idea!" Gunther explained before being scolded.
"I won!" Levi said triumphantly "are you next?"
"But Captain…" Oluo seemed uncertain of what to do. He had the chance of competing agains his superior.
"Come on, don't be a coward. Or are you afraid?"
"It would be stupid to not be at least a little afraid." Whispered Eren while he entered with a tray with food for the Captain.
"Alright." Finally said Oluo "I've always wanted to do this." He smiled and sat in front of the Captain, hoping to have a clear advantage over him, and yet, Gunther's tips were effective and humanity's strongest didn't' have much trouble for winning.
Oluo's expresión was priceless, even Eren laugh when he saw how easy he was defeated. And so, a small tournament began, although the green-eyed boy was hesitant of participating. Apparently, Gunther had a lot of experience in arm wrestling and he was the only one who represented a challenge for the Capatin.
A few minutes later, when everyone seemed to be tired, Levi's gaze was set on Eren. His blue eyes showed a very particular shine as they saw him with arrogance.
"You're next." His voice was dry and full of authority.
"Me? But Captain, I don't…." the boy felt nervous after the harsh look on his superior's expression. Something in his attitude told him to be careful.
"It's an order, soldier." He said it in such a way that they all thought the Captain was back, but it couldn't be possible, since he had just put his arm on the table, ready to begin with the wrestling match and wearing a malicious smile.
"Alright." Eren approached with caution and put his arm in position, remembering the days back in the academy and al those matches he won. But this time, it was all different.
When Oluo gave the signal to start, Levi hurried to use all his strength to defeat the boy, who screamed in pain when he felt his hand hitting the table.
"Captain, there's no need to be so harsh!" Gunther exclaimed as they approached Eren, who has holding his hand, making sure it wasn't broken.
"Harsh? That was nothing," he stood from his seat "this is being harsh!" and with a fast movement, he pushed Eren to the floor, leaving the boy very shocked. He was pretty sure he didn't do anything to upset him. Not this time.
Before anything else happened, Gunther held the Captain by the arms to stop him from harming Eren, while Oluo helped the boy getting up from the floor and get away from Levi.
"This wasn't a good idea." After many efforts, Gunther managed to make Levi sit in a chair.
"He was about to attack me yesterday as well." Oluo spoke, his expression very serious "It might no be a good idea to leave him with us."
"Apparently, the only people whom he doesn't want to attack are Erd, Petra an your" as son as Levi heard Eren saying Petra's name, he glared at him very angry "this time, I'm not even sure of what I did to deserve his anger."
"It may a good idea to ask Petra to take care of him for the rest of the afternoon. Erd can stay with him again tonight." Oluo made a pause and noticed Levi still seemed grumpy "Eren, could you go get Petra?"
The boy nodded and left the room, followed by the Captain's angry eyes. As soon as he was out, he felt a heavy weight lifted from his shoulders. Then, he hurried to look for his squad mate, who surely was in her room.
On his way there, Eren wondered how much longer hey would have to bear with the situation. He was still feeling rather guilty for that happened. After all, if he had made sure the floor was dry, nothing of this would have happened. He was lost in his thoughts when a female voice spoke to him.
"Eren, is something wrong?"
"Petra! No… well, I was actually looking for you. I supposed you would be in your room and…"
"I was on my way to the kitchen to get something to eat. Did something happened?"
"Well…" he tried to pick up his words and don't alarm her "we need you to change your shift to take care of the Captain. You see, we were in the seventh floor, in one of those empty rooms and when Oluo and I got there, he was playing arm wrestling with Gunther. At first, we thought it wasn't such a bad idea, but… he suddenly got so aggressive with me…"
"What the hell is Gunther thinking?" the girl complained and began to walk towards the seventh floor. She looked exasperated "it is as if he was doing everything possible to make the Captain get aggressive."
"It was actually everyone's fault. We all agreed to play with him." Eren followed and suddenly he made a pause, speaking very softly "although today, it seems like he is very angry at me. I don't know why." His voice showed how disappointed and sad he felt.
"The Captain doesn't have anything against you. You are our best chance to take back wall Maria and he knows it. His aggressiveness is consequence of the injury on his head. Deep down, he is understanding, it's just that he is not good for showing it."
"Even if you were right, nothing guarantees us that he will be back to normal any time soon."
The only thing Petra could do, was to look at him with concern and keep walking towards their destination. It didn't take them a lot of time to get there and as soon as they entered the room, they found Gunther standing behind Levi, who was finishing eating, while Oluo seemed to be keeping his distance. She immediately remembered what happened the day before and knew they were starting to run out of options to keep an eye on their Superior."
"What's te situation?" She asked, anticipating the answer.
"We need you to take care of him." Oluo spoke dryly "apparently, Eren and I cannot help you with it anymore."
"I could stay for a while longer and…" Gunther was interrupted.
"I want to stay with Petra." Levi's voice was suddenly heard, firm and determined, as if it was a natural thing for him "It's an order."
They all became tense immediately, because of the implication of his words, especially Gunther, who heard it for the second time in the day. The Captain had found a way to have his own way without being questioned, leaving his subordinates with much choice and concerned for the possibility of things getting out of control.
"Alright, but as soon as he's finished with his meal, we're going to the library. We can't risk him getting aggressive with other soldiers." Petra spoke firmly, convinced that the best thing would be to keep him as much isolated as they could.
"Are you sure you don't need help?" Gunther looked at her with a serious expression.
"Don't worry, I think I can manage."
"If you need something, we'll be nearby." Oluo whispered, making a gesture so Eren would follow him as he left the room.
Once Levi and Petra were left alone, the Captain's attitude apparently changed radically, as if his humor was better than ever. He even smiled at the girl, but she was ignoring him on purpose.
"Petra?"
"Hmm?" she barely answered while she looked through the window and avoided his gaze. She was angry at him for attacking Eren. She was also concerned for the possibility oh him staying with that weird amnesia forever.
"Will we continue reading?" he waited for her answer and she took her time to do it. She needed a patient but firm attitude.
"If you want to, but… " she looked at him with her eyes full of determination "if you attack someone again, won't help you again with your reading. You shouldn't attack other people and Eren didn't do anything to make you so angry, he is just seeking your approval.
"Alright." Levi answered almost immediately, without thinking "do you prefer to spend more time with Eren than with me?
"What?" the question took her by surprise, she didn't know what the Captain meant "Eren?"
"Erd told me." His gaze became shady and sad.
"Erd?" a moment later, Petra connected the dots and became enraged with her colleague "I'm going to kill him!" she sighed and got closer to Levi "listen, I don't know what Erd told you, but…" she thought for a moment "no, I don't rather spend time with Eren. I know you don't remember now, but you and I spend time together doing paperwork or talking after dinner. And for me, that's the best moment of the day. I would prefer a thousand times to spend time with you than with someone else. But even if it wasn't like that, it isn't enough reason to attack someone, understood?"
"Alright, I understand." He smiled and stood up. Petra's words would have caused a completely different effect on the Captain if he was on his right mind, but in that moment, Levi just smiled and walked towards the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Aren't we going to the library?" she looked at him, somehow disappointed. It was definitely not the reaction she was expecting from him. Truth to be told, she always thought the circumstances would be different when she told him something as sincere as what she just said.
"Let's go." Finally, Petra stood up and walked towards the door.
Once they were in the hall, Levi adopted his soldier attitude, to avoid being discovered, but there was no one around. The tones of the sunlight coming through the windows indicated that it was almost twilight and in a couple hours, the sky would be dark. The light made the stones in the floor seem almost orange, as well as the walls.
Both soldiers walked towards the library, approaching the stairs and suddenly, Levi reminded Erd's words and decided to take the opportunity to get closer to Petra, who was apparently distracted. She suddenly felt the Captain getting closer, not like in the past days when despite of being so close, she didn't feel her personal space invaded. This time, there was something different in his attitude. He seemed very serious and something was out of place, making her feel uncomfortable. She took a step back, but there wasn't enough space because they were so close to the stairs, so Levi kept going and took her by the arm, getting his face closer and closer, and in a matter of seconds, Petra felt his lips on hers.
She was astonished for a moment, not knowing what to do. She had dreamed and longed for that moment in so many occasions, but she didn't want it to be like that, with Levi in that state and with such an erratic behavior, so she tried to get him away from her, pushing him a little, but he was stronger than her and he didn't seem to be willing to let her go. It was then, when she used her combat skills to push him, but when she realized what would happen, it was already too late: the Captain was falling down the stairs.
"Captain!"
Levi couldn't answer because he was desperately looking for something to get a hold of, but there was noting he could grab and suddenly, the sound of his head hitting the floor was heard and he was unconscious.
Right away, Petra yelled asking for help. This time she was the cause of the accident, although she was her reasons. She hurried to make sure he was alright. Lucky for her, there were some soldiers in the sixth floor and they rushed to helped her.
A little after they managed to take the Captain to the infirmary and lay him in one of the stretchers, the whole squad was there. Then, Petra made a gesture telling them to get out and as soon as the door was closed, she scolded Erd for putting weird ideas on the Captain's head. She didn't know the idea of kissing her was also his, but she deduced his actions were consequence of Erd's comments about her and Eren
As for Erd, he took the scolding in a stoic way. Apparently, the joke went out of his hands and he ended up accepting his responsibility and apologizing to Petra. The rest of the squad didn't understand what was going on, but after seeing the interaction between the girl and the Second in command, they knew that it would be better to not intervene.
"I don't know wat Erd did, but… it must be something really bad to make Petra like that." Oluo whispered from the corner of the hall. As soon as the discussion became more heated, they all decided to take a step back.
"Perhaps the challenged the Captain to jump from the top of the stairs." Eren seemed confused.
"No. An injury like that doesn't happen because you didn't fall well. It looks like someone pushed him." Gunther continued thoughtful, leaving everyone wondering what had actually happened.
Few hours passed and the Captain was still unconscious. This time, the injury seemed more serious and he had bandages in the arms and the head. He even got some stitches on the head. The official version was that, Levi tried to jump down the stairs but he slipped as soon as his feet touched the ground. Honestly, Hanji wasn't very convinced of such story. The squad was evidently hiding something, but when she saw their angsty expressions and the mayhem after Petra and Erd's discussion, she decided to not inquiry a lot.
Erwin came back a little after the accident took place and since then, he was patiently waiting for Levi to wake up. Everyone was more apprehensive than ever, specially the squad, who were also uncomfortable. There was silence in the infirmary and the atmosphere was filled with expectation. Th first accident left Levi with amnesia, a second one could cause even worse consequences.
Suddenly, Levi made an expression of pain and began to move his fingers.
"He's waking up!" Hanji got closer to him "Levi, can you hear me? Are you alright? Do you know who I am?" there was a small silence that felt like an eternity for everyone. The captain opened his eyes and looked around.
"What… what the hell am I doing here? And… shit! why does my head hurt so much?" he seemed quite angry.
"Captain!" Petra was very surprised.
"Levi, is it really you?" Hanji asked.
"Of course it's me, four eyes. Who else would I be? Auch!" he touched his head just where the stitches were.
"Looks like… he's back" Erwin spoke, his voice showing relief. He had just came back to the barracks and Levi's weir amnesia had him very worried, but he became even more worried when he heard about the second accident.
"Captain, I'm so glad you're alright." Oluo seemed to be finally relaxed. Evidently, Levi was in much pain and dizzy, so Hanji hurried to say.
"It would be better if you'd let him rest a little." And she told them to leave the infirmary. Everyone except for her and Erwin did it. They wanted to question him about what happened. They had to knew what exactly happened.
Levi seemed to be very confused and without the slightest idea of what happened, which made him being in a bad mood, specially when Hanji told him about some of the things he did on the past days. Despite everything, he felt grateful of not remembering at all, although it all seemed like a dream, or more exactly, a nightmare.
The special operations squad waited for Hanji and Erwin to come out to listen what the Captain said, but they were disappointed when the realized Levi didn't remember anything. Finally, they decided to keep a watch outside the infirmary for the rest of the night, just in case. Although it wasn't really necessary, Levi was just tired and in al of of pain, but nothing he couldn't handle. Still, he would spend the night in the infirmary.
Around 10 PM, the Captain was looking wat the ceiling, trying to remember what happened, perhaps a flash of what he had said and done on the past days, but without much luck. As the minutes passed, a few things came to his mind, but all of them were unpleasant or embarrassing. Suddenly, someone opened the door. It was Petra, who brought him some dinner.
"Captain? I've brought you something to eat." She shily smiled, because she still had the sensation of his lips on hers. Very deep down, she was grateful that he didn't remember anything.
"Thanks, Petra." He said with a serious tone and sat on the bed.
"How are you feeling" she asked after a moment, but what she wanted to know was if he remembered something.
"I have a freaking headache that doesn't leave me alone and I can barely remember what I did in the past days. As far as I know, I could have been drunk all this time and I'm just hungover."
"I'm happy it wasn't so serious." She laughed a little.
"I'm not so sure of that." His expression made it evident that he was in pain while he began to eat. There was a pause and Petra felt her hands sweating, expectantly and then he continued "Hanji told me what happened and how it al started."
"Oh… " she was about to say something, but the Captain continued.
"Eren's carelessness went too far."
"It was an accident… you know he can be absent minded sometimes. Besides, he's been worried sick about you."
"Tsch, don't defend him so much." He continued eating and suddenly the image of himself pushing and punching Eren came to his mind, as well as Erd's saying something to him. It was like a dream suddenly he understood that they were memories of what happened.
"Is something wrong, Captain? Do you want me to go get the doctor?"
"No, no. It's alright." He kept silent and thoughtful, still confused as he ate.
"Alright, I better go now. Oluo Will be right outside for the rest of the night and someone else from the squad will be here in the morning. Do you need anything before I leave?"
"Not for now, thanks." He avoided her gaze, getting distracted with the food place in front of him. He was starting to remember why he attacked Eren, and it was very embarrassing.
"Have a Good night." She smiled but he was still avoiding eye contact, so she just closed the door behind her and headed towards her room.
On her way there, the met Oluo, who was heading to the infirmary and he told her that Gunther would be the one in charge of the morning watch, and her turn would be in the afternoon.
E girl was tires. The lwas few days were exhausting and the tension had worn her out. On the other side, she remembered the time she spent with Lev, wondering if she had done something to be ashamed of or something she could regret, but she couldn't think about anything else. Nevertheless, the Captain's attitude made her feel uneasy.
The next day, everything was back to normal for the special operations squad. Levi was discharged from the infirmary, but he would have to spend three days resting, confined to his office during the day and perhaps supervising training from afar. He would take the opportunity to finish the accumulated paperwork.
Around 6 PM, Petra walked towards the Captain's office. She carried a tray with hot tea , ready to spend the rest of the day helping him with the bureaucratic activities, but in her way there, she met Eren, who had a confused expression.
"Is something wrong, Eren?"
"Oh, hi Petra. No… it's just that… " he scratched his cheek as he glanced at the office door "the Captain wanted to talk with me and Erd." Petra's eyes opened in surprise. Perhaps the captain remembered something "apparently, Hanji told him about the accident and…"
"Did hi punished you?"
"Yes…" he said with discouragement, but suddenly his attitude changed and hurried to add "I thought it would be more severe. I mean… I caused the first accident, but he only told me to clean the stalls for the rest of the week."
"See? I told you he is understading."
"You're right." He smiled "I wonder if Erd will have the same luck… I'll see you later." Eren continued walking and Petra looked at the office, as if she was expecting her colleague to come out any time.
Once she was outside the office, she could barely hear Levi's voice. Apparently, he was severely speaking with someone, but she couldn't distinguish the words. Judging by the tone, he was furious and she decided not to interrupt so she wouldn't make it worse.
A few minutes later, Erd came out of the office. He looked cresfalln and even a little pale, but as soon as he saw Petra, a mischievous smile appeared on his face.
"Considering what happened, two weeks of cleaning the bathrooms isn't that bad, don't you think?"
"You're right. If it were up to me, I would have given you the whole month."
"Come on, Petra. Don't be so harsh. Besides, the Captain is his usual self again. Those are good news, right? Specially for you"
"Erd!" the soldier laughed and he was about to say something else, but Levi went out the office.
"Those bathrooms aren't getting any more clean, Erd. Or are you waiting for dinner so there's more shit to clean?"
"No! I'm leaving, Captain" and without saying anything else, the soldier hurried to begin with his punishment.
As for Levi, he made a gesture so Petra entered his office. He still had some bandages on the head, in case the stitches began to bleed, but aside of that, he looked very normal.
"Tsch… it's unbelievable how paperwork accumulates in a few days." He complained under his breath as he sat on the desk's chair.
"How was you day, Captain?" she approached him and put a cup with hot tea in front of him, observing how the place seemed to be as neat and pristine as always.
"The pain is slowly going away, but my office and my room were a mess, what the hell happened?"
"Well…." Petra considered what she should say and continued "we had to keep you away from the other soldiers, so we decided to entertain you and keep you in those places."
"Entertain me s the key word." He softly said, as if he wanted to hide the embarrassment he felt after behaving like he did. Suddenly, he stood up from his chair, carrying the cup of tea an approached the window, looking at the stars in the sky.
"Do you remember what happened?" she finally gathered the courage to ask, but she wasn't ready to hear an affirmative answer.
"Just a few things. There are some hazy parts and I'm not sure if I want to remember them" he leaned back in the wall, crossing his arms, unconsciously putting a wall to hide his vulnerability.
"It's understandable, you had amnesia and… you didn't know what you were doing." She sat in the chair next to the desk, ready to begin with the paperwork.
Levi's expression was of resignation while he drank his tea, holding the cup with his usual peculiar way, making the girl smile while she remembered something. Suddenly, the Captain's voice was Heard, using a kind and warm tone, but there was some doubt in there as well.
"Thanks for being so good to me o the past days." He looked at her for an instant and then he kept drinking his tea.
"Do you remember?" she managed to say, surprised but a little ashamed.
"Of course… although I don't remember everything, it's impossible to not remember how patient you were and what you did for me. I appreciate it." He smiled with his eyes and then looked through the window "My childhood wasn't easy and I guess, in the state I was, receiving that kind of attention and care from everyone, made me act like a spoiled brat. I was never used to that and I was alone most of the time…" he made a pause and looked at the floor, remembering something "but you don't want to listen to such a shitty story, you have better tings to…"
"I want to hear it." Petra stood up from the char and got closer to him "after all, the story of that lonely boy is part of you, and I want to know it."
Levi looked at her, startled. He wasn't expecting that reaction from her and suddenly his gaze softened and looked at her in the eyes. Without a doubt, Petra was a special girl and most of all, very patient. After all, she kept composure at all times, putting up with his childish behavior. And not only that; even on daily basis, she seemed to see through the Captain's shield, seeing him for who he really was: an imperfect man with a past that left him with many scars, and despite it…
"You would rather spend time with me, than with someone else." He murmured, but Petra perfectly listened.
"So, you remember." She smiled with melancholy. Her words weren't for naught.
"And also, what happened later." Without a doubt, he meant when he stole a kiss from her and she pushed him down the stairs "so… I would rather avoid any more accidents…" he looked through the window, avoiding the girl's gaze.
"There won't be any accidents this time." She couldn't resist it anymore and took him by the shirt collar, with a fast ad precise movement, perfectly calculating the angle so she could kiss him with tenderness. He was surprised, but kissed her back, feeling goosebumps around his body and he made his best efforts to not let the cup slip from his hand, although in that moment, he wouldn't mind making a mess in his office. The most important thing for him was feeling Petra close to him and taste her lips. Once they were separated, he managed to say, almost whispering.
"For me, spending time with you is also the best moment of the day." And then, Levi left the cup next to the window and tenderly embraced the girl. He was about to kiss her, when a thunder was heard in the distance and he looked through the window, while Petra tried so hard no to laugh when she remembered little Levi was scared of lightning.
"Don't tell me you're still scared of thunder." She said with misbelief, still laughing a little.
"Tsch… who do you think I am?"
And without losing another instant, Levi kissed Petra again, enjoying her closeness, just like he'd been wanting to for a long time.
Author's notes.
This is the final part of the story. Thank you so much for keep reading it until the end. I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thank you so much for your sweet comments, I really appreciate it and it great to have feedback!