Flapping Of Wings

Summary: Random bonus scenes from It Takes Two Wings To Fly, mostly from the moment Eren and Levi reunited onward. Fluff, fun, slight non graphic smut, occasional angst, short. Not in chronological order.

18. Memories

The talk about what happened in the Paths when 'Eren' pulled the Survey Corps - or what was left of it, really - in was awkward at best. As Eren had said, he definitely didn't remember ever doing something like that. In fact, he admitted that most of the Rumbling was a blur for him from the moment he'd started it. He'd been lost in exploring the Paths and since the Colossal Titans moved on their own, just going forward without any real direction from the holder of the Coordinate, or Ymir - as far as Eren knew, anyways - he hadn't needed to fight to keep conscious and aware of the world outside. In fact, Eren admitted that he hadn't even wanted to, that he had dived deep into his memories and relived moments with his mother, his friends, his comrades ... Squad Levi ... Levi himself.

Levi had been shocked to hear that, even if Eren had already told him once that he hadn't been the one to pull them into the Paths to try and explain himself. Eren had made it clear that he was trying to make them all hate him so they wouldn't mourn him when he was inevitably killed for the sake of the world and, first and foremost, Paradis. But to hear in detail how Eren had wanted to spend his last moments, reliving precious memories the likes of which he could never make again, even if he hadn't started the Rumbling, had him so shocked that all he could do was hold on bruisingly tight to Eren's hands that had intertwined with his as he was retelling the events from his end of things.

Then Eren broke the tension with laughter as Levi told him, in turn, about Armin's encounter with 'him', to which Levi shot him a scolding look. "I'm sorry, but, Levi ... Really? You guys didn't grow the least bit suspicious when I said I don't want to die? I mean, I'm not really suicidal, but I've still more than earned my nickname of 'suicidal bastard' or 'suicidal idiot' well before I knew I could outright regrow limbs and that it would take a lot for me to actually be killed. Yes, I would have preferred a chance to live out my life with all those I loved, but the second I knew I had a time limit or even just about the war, I threw those ideas away. I wouldn't say I outright gave up, because I'm not entirely sure if there is a part of me biologically that could just do that, but I knew what I had to sacrifice. I've already sworn my beating heart to our people, the humanity within the Walls ... To kill all the Titans ... That's not exactly something to dedicate yourself to if you expect to live a long life. You know that better than anyone."

"Yes, I also, unfortunately, know about your tendency to get into life-endangering and/or altering situations and about what we swear to sacrifice when we make that oath. But I guess we all thought that this was different ... I mean, no one really wants to die ..."

"Except Reiner," supplied Eren and Levi shot him a deadpan look that the taller man ignored. "And usually just about anyone who pisses you off or misses a spot while cleaning. Or anyone who tried to get in between Hange and her experiments. Or anyone-"

"I get it, the world is full of idiots," interrupted Levi, not sure whether he should smile or roll his eyes. "But seriously, though, Eren. What's the absolute last thing you remember?"

"Convincing Ymir to lend me her power and speaking to the Subjects of Ymir through the Paths. Everything after that felt like a hazy dream. I already told you that I spent the rest of that time in my own memories. I wanted to be in a happy place when you guys kill me. I wanted to, for the last time, just be Eren again."

And Levi could understand that. The last time he'd been 'just Levi' was, honestly, back when he'd lived with Kenny. After that he was 'Levi the Invincible', the strongest thug in the Underground and then he had the even more ridiculous yet glorious title as Humanity's Strongest Soldier. He couldn't be 'just Levi' even with Farlan and Isabel, as for them he had to provide protection and food. And for the Survey Corps Commanders he'd considered as his closest friends, he had to be, first and foremost, their confidant and right hand man, then the Humanity's Strongest and only after that did he get to be Levi.

Funny how it had taken running away from everything for him to be just Levi for a while before he had to take on the mantle of Humanity's Strongest once again. And funny how now, it felt right, especially with Eren at his side.

"Maybe you can extract the memories of what's been done from your head when we eventually visit Paradis," he suggested.

Eren just shrugged his shoulders, done with the conversation. "Hey, remember that one time Connie dared Jean to steal Sasha's potato and you had to help him climb down from that tree she tangled his 3DMG in? Because that was fucking awesome and I wish I had thought of doing that myself."

And Levi couldn't help but chuckle, because that really was a funny memory.

For the rest of the night, they indulged themselves in dear memories of their friends and adventures.

After all, Levi had a lot of embarrassing stories to tell about Erwin that no one had ever known about.