"Eren, wake up Eren."
"Nn…good morning, Corporal Levi."
"Can you sit up?"
"Yes. Thank you very much."
Levi wrings the towel for him, before handing it to Eren who does the rest himself. After washing up, Levi helps Eren to take his sleep wear off, and then to put his uniform and gear on. Eren is actually able to do all this himself, at least after sufficient rest. However, there were too many occasions over the past three years where, after using his power, Eren remained weak for days on end, and Levi had to take care of him. At some point, it just became a routine. Having said that, it was important for Eren to save energy wherever possible, so that he could still fight when he needed to.
They hardly ever talked during this daily routine, but today, an oppressive silence was clearly haunting them both. After all, this was very possibly the last chance for them to spend time together. During today's mission, anything can happen. And even if they both survive, who knows how much longer Eren still has.
"…I'm sorry…"
Levi looks up from fitting Eren's gear. "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry…"
"What for?"
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"
"Why are you apologising, Eren? If you want to say something then say it. But don't apologise anymore."
"Sorry…I'm sorry I'm s…I'm…s…sorry…"
"Eren! Please! What's wrong?"
After staying silent for a while, Eren finally starts speaking again.
"Levi…"
.
.
For the past ten years, Eren has always, always, called me Corporal Levi. Even after we finally acknowledged our mutual feelings for each other, he continued to call me by my title. Of course, it's definitely not surprising to think that he would want to call me by my name now, when we're about to go to what may be our final battle. But…something…doesn't feel right.
"Did you just call me Levi?"
No answer…
"Are you….no…Eren? Did you…"
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…Levi…"
Something doesn't feel right…
"Eren…which "Eren" are you?"
I can see tears welling up in his eyes. He opens his mouth to apologise again, but I grab his arms and shake him so that he's looking me in the eyes.
"How….how many…years of memories do you have?"
"…All of them. All...81 "lives"."
I stare blankly at him, as tears start streaming down his cheeks.
.
.
"I'm sorry Levi…I'm so so sorry. When you took me to my house's basement one week ago, I already regained all my memories from our past "lives"."
"…Why didn't you tell me?"
"I'm sorry…"
"WHY?"
"I didn't want to take "Eren" away from you! His memories are inside of me, but "Eren" isn't here anymore. I could tell that you loved him so much…so I wanted to at least act as if "Eren" was still by your side till the end…but…I'm-"
"Don't apologise anymore. Just tell me." Levi moves from the floor to sit next to Eren on the bed. He reaches out to hold Eren's hand, which appears to calm him down a little.
"My father's drug erased all my memories. Even the memories of our previous "lives". So when I finally regained all my memories…I was so confused…but I immediately realised that you deeply loved "Eren" for who he was, and I was just so afraid of taking that away from you…but right now, I'm even more afraid. It feels like I just woke up from a long dream, and found myself in this crazy situation…I…"
"Are "you" afraid of fighting?"
"…I…I'm scared of fighting alone. I just want to be by your side, Levi, please. As long as you know that "I" am here, I will fight. Because you are fighting, "I" will fight too, Levi. For "Eren's" sake as well."