Mornings

When he opens his eyes, Karoline is nestled snugly in his arms, her head tucked under his chin and one of her long legs entwined with his under the sheet. Sunlight shines across their bed, casting soft shadows where the patched quilt creases and illuminating the dust particles floating by the curtains. They'd left the window open the night before to let in a cool breeze, and through it, he can see the laundry strung between their house and the next swaying lightly. His wife is awake, tenderly running her hand over the bicep of his arm.

"Hey." He kisses the top of her head. Her hair smells nice, like rosemary and fresh-baked bread.

There's a breath of air on his collarbone. "Is it morning?"

"It is."

Karoline's willowy shoulders rise and fall in a long, heavy sigh as she raises her head, a brown curtain of hair falling around her porcelain face, and brushes the soft palm of her hand against his cheek. God, she was so lovely. "I don't want you to go." She says.

Eld takes her hand and kisses the delicate tips of her fingers. "You know I have to." She tightens her lips and nods, squeezing her glass blue eyes closed. "Hey, now."

A small whimper manages to escape her and two identical tears slid down her cheeks, then she clenches her jaw and composes herself, her breathing almost steady, but her shoulder still quivers under his careful touch. She brushes the stray tears away herself and bows her head, biting her lip to stifle anymore and only somewhat succeeding.

"Karoline…." He brings his hands to her face and gently pulls her down so their foreheads are touching.

"Where do you leave from?" She asks, forcing her brave face. A stiff smile. Watery eyes.

This time he says the Utopia District in the north, the next he'll say Klorva to the west, and he promises he'll write when he gets to each city, even if it's a small note on a tiny scrap of paper. This makes her smile and she lightly kisses him before laying her head on his shoulder again. Before long, he feels her trembling and bury her face in his neck. "I don't want you to go." She repeats in a voice between whisper and a sob.

"I know." He tightens his arms around her. "I know, love."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Karoline clings to him. Eld closes his eyes and swallows. He doesn't want to leave her. She'll see him off when he leaves all the same, and she'll try her damndest to smile, but it'll crack like it always does. She never begs him to stay, never has, not even when he announced his intention to join the Survey Corps. She's a good woman.

He knows how lucky he is to have her.

And that's what makes his guilt sharper, thinking of her crying alone in their bed when he leaves, waiting anxiously on the porch with his mother when he returns.

"Think of when I'll be back." He says. "Just remember that. I'll be back before you know it."

"And I'll be waiting."

-0-0-0-

Author's Notes: Not much to say with this one.

Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin is owned by Hajime Isayama.