Let this be our prayer
Chapter 13
There's always that one family member that you're very close to.
Any sign of them being in trouble and you're there, no questions asked.
Shoving things into his bag and cursing all the while under his breath was not the way that Levi wanted to be woken up.
Of course the adrenaline and fear coursing through his body could entirely be blamed.
"Lee, I've got my bag ready! I'll meet you by the front door!" Came Farlan's voice as he made his way down the stairs.
"Alright! I'll be down in a minute!" He grabbed his phone, charger, wallet and made sure his laptop was secure in his bag before running to join Farlan.
The moment their parents car pulled up, Farlan was the first one out and Levi making sure the door was locked before joining him.
Having been in the car since four in the morning, everyone had finally seemed to calm down.
Levi can thank breakfast and coffee for that one.
His mother and brother were currently in the back seat fast asleep, while he and his father were up front.
"I've gotta call Rico and let her know what's going on."
Kenny groaned his response, his eyes were kept on the road.
Dialing his secretary's number, Levi leaned against the window and waited.
"Just where the hell are you? Usually you're here before me and no one has heard anything."
"Well, good morning to you too, Rico." He reached over with his left hand and lowered the volume on the radio, only hearing his mother and brother's breathing and the quiet rumble from the engine of their car.
"Yeah, yeah, good morning and all that shit people say when they're in a good mood. Where are you?"
The raven reached up and rubbed his temples, his right hand cradling his phone to his ear, "Look, Rico, I'm on my way to Shinganshina with my family. My old man got a call last night from one of Mikasa's friends. Kid was saying he and my sister's roommate took her to the hospital last night. Since the hospital won't give them any information on how she is, we needed to go over there and check on her."
Rico let out a small gasp, which would have otherwise not been audible had they not been on the phone with such a quiet background, "God, is she okay?"
"All we know is that she was admitted with a high fever and chest pain. We have to get there before they tell us anything more."
"Levi, I'm sorry to hear that. And I'm sorry for my poor attitude when I answered. That's more than likely the last thing you want right now."
Crossing his legs to get comfortable, he shook his head, "No, it's alright. You had no way of knowing. Just be sure to inform Erwin on the situation and let him handle the meetings that were scheduled."
"Absolutely. Is there anything else you need from me?"
"Don't let Hanji anywhere near my office."
"Of course not. The last time she was in there while you were away she hosted her dog's birthday party in there. Inappropriate, but fun."
Levi felt his eye twitch, "What?"
"Completely her idea."
Letting out a large sigh that gained a snort from his father, he shook his head, "Well then, just make sure everything runs smoothly, Rico."
"Without a problem."
"Alright then, I'll leave you to your work."
"Take care and I do hope that Mikasa recovers fast."
"Thank you Rico."
After saying goodbye, Levi placed his phone in the center console's cup holders.
"Everything gonna be alright while we're gone for a few days."
Levi nodded, idly biting at his bottom lip, "Should be. Rico knows to contact me if anything happens."
Kenny hummed, reaching up to scratch the back of his left ear.
Some time later after pulling over for gas, a bathroom break and snacks, Farlan managed to convince their father to let Levi drive for a while and rest up.
Kuchel may or may not have threatened to cut off his family jewels, but that's another thing entirely that neither young men want to discuss.
Having lent their parents their headphones so they could listen to their own music and sleep in peace, the two brothers found themselves sitting in a comfortable silence.
"You're making sure not to freak out so mom and dad won't get worried."
Levi hummed absentmindedly when the blonde spoke.
"Still gonna keep everything together if Mikasa is worse than we thought?"
"Would you?"
"I wouldn't have a problem showing what I feel. It's you I'm worried about."
Putting on the signal to switch lanes, he eventually responded, "There's no need to be. Once I hear that Mika is okay, everything else will smooth out as well."
His nails made a small thud on the center console as he tapped on it, his left hand lightly on the steering wheel.
Levi glanced out of the corner of his eye when he felt another hand hold his own, fingers locking firmly with his.
"Farlan."
"It's fine. It looks more like a comforting gesture than anything."
Unfortunately it did.
But to them it had a completely different meaning.
Eventually the blonde fell asleep still holding his hand.
Finally left alone with his own thoughts, he paid enough attention to the road and began to think.
Since Erwin had informed him that Eren was within Shinganshina and friends with Mikasa, Levi could use this to his advantage and meet him.
The thought had been gnawing at him since he found out.
If Eren did possess knowledge from their past life and had a fair idea on who he was, then maybe there was a chance of something there.
And if for whatever reason that the brunet didn't know and wondered why he went out of his way to talk to him personally, he could simply use the I'm grateful you took care of my sister card and decided I wanted to get to know you better card.
Levi really hoped that he could form something with Eren.
While his intentions lied somewhere within the romantic aspect, he would also settle for a close friendship with him.
It's just what a man will do for the person he cares about.
They arrived sometime within the afternoon, much later than planned because of traffic, and notified the secretaries immediately that they were family.
A doctor came thirty minutes later.
"Hello, I believe you are Miss Ackerman's family, yes?"
They all stood up and Kenny shook hands with the doctor, "I'm Kenny Ackerman, my wife Kuchel, and our two sons Levi and Farlan." He gestured to each one by their name.
"Pleasure. I'm Doctor Tachibana, I've been looking after Mikasa since yesterday."
Seeing the looks on their faces, he continued, "Mikasa is fortunately going to be alright. Her fever was caused by a mixture of exhaustion and stress. The pain in her chest was caused by her experiencing her first mild anxiety attack. While she is going to recover, she will need to take some form of anxiety medication."
Relieved to hear the news and now adjust to the fact Mikasa will need medication, they were all glad it was nothing serious.
Since only two people were allowed to see her at the moment, their parents went first, while Farlan went to find a vending machine.
Levi sat alone in the waiting room when someone cleared their throat in front of him.
To a normal person, the blonde girl in front of him would have been a complete stranger, unfortunately that wasn't the case with him.
It was Annie Leonhardt. The female titan from the previous life.
"You're Mikasa's roommate, Annie was it?"
"Cut the crap, captain. You know who I am."
Well. That certainly made things a lot easier. "I knew out of all the brats, you would remember."
"While finding out you and Mikasa are siblings and not cousins this time is nice and all, I need to talk to you."
"Lead the way then."
Annie eventually leads him to a bench outside by the hospital, a quieter part for those who need to slip away for a while.
They sat down beside each other, Levi looking over at her, "What did you want to talk about?"
"Mikasa is starting to remember that past life."
His shoulders tensed, a chill running down his spine.
Annie took his silence as a sign to continue, "I first noticed it when one night she was talking in her sleep. She was saying something about the titans, the old special operations squad she was apart of, where her old red scarf was, and whether or not she helped save humanity. That's what I've managed to gather in the past few days."
"Has she been acting any differently?"
The blonde shook her head, "Not that I can tell. If anything, she seems to completely forget everything come morning."
Certainly a weird scenario compared to his. Levi usually ended up remembering everything once he woke up.
"She does tend to ask some weird questions."
"Like what?"
"Where her red scarf is, what year is it, and where the commanding officer is."
Levi slowly nodded. Mikasa's strange questions would definitely peek anyone's interest. "What do you tell her?"
The blonde idly kicked her feet back and forth, the bottom of her shoes making a light scraping noise on the cement, "I tell her she must have had a weird dream, watched too many movies, or just watched Eren play a weird game again. I never give her a straightforward answer."
"Is there anyone else that has their memories?"
Annie was quiet for several minutes, her icy blue eyes never leaving the building in front of them. "Reiner, Bertolt, and Armin."
Levi raised a brow, "Just them?"
"As far as I know."
"Potato girl, baldie, and horseface don't know?" Translation, Sasha, Connie, and Jean.
"Not that I know of. Krista and Ymir don't seem to know either."
Silence once again took over.
"How did you get your memories back, Leonhardt?"
Annie sighed, a small mist forming in the cold air in front of her, slowly drifting away, "I had Armin help me."
"Coconut head?"
She nodded, "Back when I first met them, Armin had this look in his eye like he knew us. It was really weird and we all thought he mistook us for someone else. As we got more comfortable with them, Armin would ask us weird questions that we somehow knew the answers to. The more time went on, he eventually helped us remember our previous lives."
"He ever do something like that with Mikasa?"
Annie shrugged, "Not that I know of. I only know who remembers because those who do usually come to me and ask me if I know anything about a female titan and if I can still shift into her."
If there was one thing these brats lacked, it was subtly.
Levi snorted, "Smooth."
The blonde huffed out a laugh, "Yeah. You'd think after all this time they'd get better at it."
A couple of minutes later, the raven stood up, "Well, we should get back. We've been out here a-" He was cut off.
"Be careful of Armin."
Levi glanced down at her, "Why do you say that?"
Annie stood up, looking at him in the eye, "Armin is a smart guy. He helped us all get our memories back and can also prevent some from being remembered. I know he might look weak in physical strength, but let him get a good hold on you mentally and you're done for."
"But wasn't coconut head one of the good ones?"
"He is. But his methods of keeping us safe has become questionable to me since Reiner told me for the first few months, Armin wouldn't let him remember his older years from back then."
"Didn't he come to regret everything later?"
Annie nodded, putting her cold hands into her pockets for warmth, "He did. But the fact that Armin tried to prevent him from remembering was a little...troubling to me. He even tried to hide the memories of how I escaped the crystal from me. It's the hold on Eren that has me worried."
"Eren?"
"Yeah. I caught them talking once at Eren's apartment. I waited outside his door and from what I could hear, he's trying to prevent memories of you from surfacing."
Levi shook his head in disbelief, "Why the hell would he do that?"
"Beats me. I never tell Armin I remember you; none of us do because we're not sure what'll happen."
In their previous life, Annie was a dangerous woman and for her to openly say to be careful of someone who looked harmless, he would need to take these words into caution.
"Just make sure you find him soon, captain. Eren's been waiting for you too."
Jean kept his promise. Now it's time to keep yours.
Levi nodded, "Noted. When do you think he'll stop by."
Annie pulled out her phone as she felt it vibrate from her pants pocket, glancing down at a text message with a hint of a smile, "He should be here later tonight. Make sure you're still around by then."
"I'll be here."
Walking back into the waiting room, Levi saw his parents nursing their own warms drinks, Annie still beside him.
Kuchel looked up as she heard footsteps coming their way, "Levi, where have you been? Farlan wanted you to go with him to see Mika."
"Sorry mother. I was just talking with Mikasa's roommate, Annie." He gestured towards the young woman, "And wanted to know more details about how she got sick."
The blonde bowed her head slightly, "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman, I'm Annie Leonhardt, Mikasa's roommate. I'm sorry that we weren't able to meet under better circumstances."
"Nonsense, dear. It's a pleasure all the same, and thank you for taking care of my daughter in this short time."
Kenny nodded his agreement beside his wife.
Levi chose to keep standing as Annie took a seat beside his mother and inform them on everything they wanted to know.
"Say, Annie." Kenny's finally spoke after letting his wife ask questions, "Where's that young man that called us last night? Uh, Eren, was it?"
"Eren had classes he needed to attend to. He also needed to let Mikasa's professor's know she was sick and in the hospital. The doctors gave him papers to take to verify what he was saying."
Kuchel placed her hand on Annie's shoulder, "I hope this isn't keeping you from your classes."
"Not at all. This is originally an off day for me from both work and school. I chose to be here."
"Well, I'm glad you chose to spend your free time here."
"Of course. Mikasa's a good friend after all."
While Kuchel gushed over how good a friend her daughter found in a roommate, Farlan arrived.
"They said Mikasa needed some rest since she kinda looked out of it when I was with her. The doc said we should probably find a place to stay and rest up."
"I can take you back to our apartment if you want. There's plenty of space there." Annie offered.
"Are you sure you won't mind dear?" Kuchel looked at her not wanting to be a bother and invade in their space.
"Nonsense. It's fine."
Levi nodded, "That sounds like a good idea. While you guys head over there and rest up, I'll stay here and wait here in case there's any updates with Mikasa."
Kenny glanced over at his oldest son, "You sure?"
"Yeah. I brought my laptop so I can work on things just in case. Go on, you guys need to rest. I'll call if anything happens."
After a little more persuading, they left and Levi pulled out his laptop and began working.
It was right around eight o'clock in the afternoon when a nurse finally came to let him know that Mikasa was able to see some visitors.
Having already had a meal his mother made and delivered by Annie, he packed up his bag and went to his sister's room.
Quietly pushing the door open, He walked into the room and slowly sat down in the chair beside her bed.
Placing his bag down, he put his hands in his lap, simply looking at his sister in the silent room for a few moments.
"You gave us quite the scare, Mika." He made sure to keep his voice low as to not wake her.
"It was sure something to get a call from the old man saying we needed to get over here fast. It was nerve wracking for a while in the car, luckily we calmed down."
He reached over and brushed her bangs out of her face, "You should kind of consider getting a haircut soon, kiddo. I'll give you one once you get outta here."
"Anyway, while the scare is now gone, I'm really glad you're okay."
He heard the door open behind him and without looking back, "I'm going to assume that visiting hours are over soon and you want me to wrap this up?"
When no one answered his question, Levi glanced back and felt like he was punched in the gut, leaving him with no breath in his body.
Standing in the doorway was a eerily familiar brunet he had spent a large amount of time wanting to meet.
Sometimes life throws obstacles in your way so that you can get over them.
"C-Captain Levi?"
"E-Eren?"
He supposes this was his reward for getting through those obstacles.
End of chapter 13.