Mirage

A/N: I didn't want to lose this idea so I immediately wrote it. Hope you wouldn't mind me updating so fast. Hahaha. But actually, I intended to update yesterday but my internet connection fucked up so Chapter 8 was left stuck on my document manager. So I'm updating two today.

Summary: Humanity's strongest soldier had secrets of his own. So when the woman he loved died, he turns on another for pure companionship and comfort. But a night of mistake has its consequences. Levihan.

CHAPTER NINE: IMPRESSION

If there was one thing that Commander Erwin was terribly good at, it's shutting off everyone and keeping his thoughts to himself, taking matters on his own hands. He always have plans, his mind is always consumed but he never mentions it to anyone until he deemed it necessary.

Levi loathed him for that because even if he himself is a man of few words, he knew when to speak and when to just shut the hell up. But he believed Erwin's principles and he trusted his decisions – even if sometimes at the cost of many things.

As he trailed the hallways lighted only by torches, Levi had this fire building up in his chest. He knew it wasn't his place to ask Erwin about what he and Hange saw earlier, but still he wanted to know what troubled him. Erwin is a man of full composure and calmness even in the midst of a serious event so anything that makes the man crumble without even himself knowing it, is news to Levi.

The dark-haired man had his fists clenched into balls as he dragged his feet to where the Commander's office was located. Without even bothering to knock, Levi pushed the door gently and saw Erwin standing by the window and gazing upon the darkened sky.

He trotted inside the room, not even caring if the blond man was already aware of his presence or not. Levi's footsteps were as silent as a cat's as he loomed in the darkness of the room; his eyes only set on Erwin's back.

The Lance Corporal stopped a few strides before the Commander's table which was piled up with far too many paperworks and unread letters. It was certainly a mess and even if they were neatly organized, Levi had noted in his mind that the Erwin he knew wouldn't have accumulated so much unfinished paperworks on his table.

He took his time before speaking and just continued to look at Erwin's back. A few moments later, Levi's eyes trailed into the direction that Erwin was staring at, and he found himself marvelling at the neatly aligned stars the shimmered in the dim sky.

"Erwin," he uttered softly. The blond man still hadn't turned, nor responded. "I didn't see you all afternoon."

"I am deeply humoured that you have noticed my sudden absence, Levi." His voice was broadened when he spoke, but Levi could still note the uncertain tone in his expression.

"You have an agenda you're not telling us about?" Levi queried. He wanted to get into the matter already but if he knew better, this is Erwin. If there is something he's decided to hide, he will twist the conversation into his favour.

The Commander's shoulders stiffened at his question, but he remained on his ground. "I always have an agenda that only I know about," Erwin pressed on his words.

The dark-haired man's forehead crossed, now slightly aggravated at Erwin's behaviour. "So why were you at Stohess District earlier?" It was straight to the point and he knew that his question was too personal considering their positions, but Levi was growing impatient.

"I had something urgent that came up. Something I needed to fix," The blond man said, not even slipping and Levi gave him credit for that. "So that's where you and your wife gone off too this morning."

Levi gritted his teeth. "We apologize for leaving without your knowledge. But Hange wanted strawberries and the stubborn woman that she is just dragged me to Stohess to buy the fucking fruit for her. Pregnancy issues, I think," He bit his lip, knowing that he was treading on thin ice just by suddenly breaking into his office and asking him these too personal questions. "Something urgent, huh? Must be really important." When Erwin still didn't move an inch from his position, Levi decided that maybe this wasn't the time to ask him, and so he turned his back and headed straight for the door. "I'll head off, Erwin."

"Levi,"

The Commander's voice stopped from his tracks. When Levi turned to look at him, he found Erwin now facing his direction, his rather thick eyebrows furrowed and his eyes a little gloomy.

"You came here with a purpose," Erwin said.

"That is to ask you why you were at Stohess earlier," Levi declared. "And you have already answered it."

A moment of silence passed before Erwin let out a breath and looked him straight in the eye. More than anything, he also trusted Levi. He seemed a little hesitant but he spoke either way. "You saw me with her, didn't you?"

Levi's expression softened a bit at the look that Erwin was showing him. He blinked twice before telling him. "Yeah, we did," A rather curious look settled on his face. "Hange told me about her."

Erwin smiled, but it contained no humour at all. "Her name's Marie. Nile's wife," he pulled the chair from his table and sat, then motioned Levi to sit in front of him.

The Lance Corporal moved from his position, then walked straight before Erwin's table. He sat on the chair laid for guests and crossed his legs. Their eyes met, cool blue and a darkened grey one.

"So Hange must've told you that I was inlove with Marie, too." When Levi nodded, he continued. "It's true. I was inlove with her, but she loved Nile so deeply all I can do was to let her be happy with him. I was young, I had this illusion that if you loved someone, you must set her free," He smiled bitterly. "An old adage, one as old as the world."

Levi remained quiet as he crossed his arms before his chest.

Erwin continued. "I let her go and lived my life as a soldier, I became the Commander some people loathed and despised," he breathed. "But it turns out, after all those years, I still love her." He had a sad look on his face as he uttered the words.

Levi listened to the man he looked up to and realized that even though Erwin acted cold and distant all the time like Levi was, he was still capable of emotions.

They are both the same.

"Nile is having an affair with another woman. And Marie wants divorce. She sent me a letter a month ago and seeks my help to dissolve their marriage. I know I shouldn't let my emotions rule me, and that I need to help her as a friend, but every time I see her crying, I forget who I am. The demeanour that took years for me to master, and the façade I have set up for myself cracked."

Levi contemplated his words, letting them sink in his mind. "Remember who you are, Erwin." He uttered. "But you need to fight. I know you'll always do what is right. Hell, I don't know a thing about love, but all I know is that if you have your heart set upon someone, you must fight for her."

The Commander's eyebrows furrowed. "You know everything about love, Levi. Isabel, Farlan…. Your squad." He sighed. "Petra,"

"This isn't about me," He hissed. "And you know very well it wasn't love that drove me to Petra, Erwin."

"I know it wasn't. But you kept acting like it. I knew she just reminded you of Isabel." The Commander gritted his teeth. "Petite and had a sweet smile that could melt anyone's heart. The urge to protect her so she wouldn't end up like Isabel just deceived you that what you were feeling for her is love."

Erwin's words clicked in place, and those same words mirrored his thoughts earlier. He was starting to realize it. Did he really love Petra? Or was he just disillusioned?

"You were deceived because you have never really fallen inlove with a woman, Levi." Erwin continued. "But now you're starting to realize your initial mistake."

He raised a brow. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"I'll leave it to you to wonder what," Erwin smiled with sincerity for the first time as he extended his hand to the dark-haired man before him. "Thank you for getting my mind off my problem with Marie. I really appreciate it."

Levi just stared at the extended hand and when he didn't take it, Erwin pulled his hand back. "You got your mind off your problem with Marie but now you started mine." He stood up and went straight for the door without even looking back, missing the chance to see the smirking face of the Commander.

The Lance Corporal walked his way to his quarters, dismissing any thought about the talk he had with Erwin. He despised the bastard for knowing exactly what has been bugging his mind when he couldn't even understand it himself.

Right now, he thought about his wife. When they separated earlier in the afternoon she had noted that she'll just rest and sleep in their room, blaming her pregnancy for the sudden lethargic feeling.

Levi slowly turned the doorknob to their room and found Hange laying on their bed, her back leaning against the headboard. Wearing a lose blouse and shorts, she had her nose busy again with a book while she continuously stuffed strawberries into her mouth. The juices of the fruit were all over her face.

Hange immediately looked up from the book she was reading and smiled at her husband. "Good evening," she greeted with enthusiasm in her voice.

Levi nodded as he took off his Survey Corps jacket and hung it on a chair. He noticed the disarranged paperworks and books on the table and he decided to fix the mess by neatly arranging them. When he finished, he turned to Hange, who began reading again, her glasses dangling on the tip of her nose. Her brown hair was in its usual dishevelled phase.

He moved towards the bed, and pulled his cravat from his neck. When he reached Hange, he sat beside her on the space she provided. He held the cloth on his hand and gently wiped the juices from the woman's face. If his focus wasn't entirely set on cleaning her up, he would've seen the blush that flamed her cheeks.

"Have you eaten dinner?" he asked.

"I just got back from the cafeteria, the cook heated up something for me to eat." She put her book down on her lap. "Where have you been?"

Levi let out a sigh. "From Erwin's office," A confused expression settled on his face.

"Did he tell you what he was doing at Stohess, or why he was with Marie in the first place?" Hange's attention was poked through and her curiosity got the better of her when she saw the uncertain look on her husband's face.

"He told me all about it, that he was inlove with Marie," He wanted to tell her more about their talk but he thought that their conversation earlier was just a 'man-to-man' that he just decided to skip some details and get to the point. "Nile's having an affair with another woman, Hange. Marie wants out of the marriage and she was seeking Erwin's support."

Hange's eyes glowed and her lips parted. "Knowing Erwin, he wouldn't just let that slip. He loved Marie so much," She breathed. "I can definitely see why he had been acting that way these days."

"What, woman's intuition?" he teased.

"Perhaps," her face got all serious, and her lips formed into a thin line. When she looked up to meet his eyes, Levi saw some spark in her beautiful brown irises. "Tell me, Levi,"

"What is it?"

"We're married, and if you have an affair with another woman, with my permission of course, would you do it?" her eyes were fixed on his'. "Would you cheat on me? Would you leave me?"

His eyes bore into her being. He had this urge to hold and squeeze her hand but he restrained himself from doing it. "No," his answer was quick. "No, Hange. I wouldn't do that. And don't you ever think about it again."

"But you don't love me," she retaliated, but her voice was plain of emotion.

Levi gritted his teeth. Here they go again. "I never said I don't," he muttered.

Hange was speechless for a minute, and she felt her chest burning. If she could see herself in the mirror, she'll bet her cheeks were flushed too. But his previous words found their way into her yearning heart and she didn't know why part of her was a little happy hearing those words from him. They continued staring at each other and Hange could see the flush on his face, too.

"Stop staring, you look stupid," he grumbled. Hange didn't respond and still displayed a silly look on her face.

When she still didn't respond, Levi reached his hand out to pinch the woman's nose when suddenly, Hange's eyes widened with shock and she let out a loud gasp. Her hands flew to her already tight belly.

Her sudden movement alarmed Levi. "Hange? What's wrong?"

The woman still had a shocked expression on her face as she started breathing heavily. She tugged her blouse up and exposed her slightly rounded belly.

He had no idea what was going on as he stared at Hange's face. But when he trailed his eyes to her stomach, he saw it.

Time seemed to stop.

The skin on her belly was gently moving.

Hange's lips twitched into a smile as she rested her shaking palms against the small mound. She started stroking it, and she received another movement, much stronger this time. "It's moving," she whispered. "My child's moving," her smile grew wider.

Levi had a disbelieving expression on his face as his gaze lingered upon her belly. He didn't know if it was at all possible, but he suddenly felt joy bubbling in his chest. Hange turned to face him with the smile still plastered on her face. She reached her hand to grab his', then gently laid it over her belly.

He felt it. It was moving delicately against his palm. And he couldn't help but crack a small smile.

At the sight, Hange melted. She felt her heart hammering wild on her chest, delighted to share the moment with her husband as their child made his first hello.

"I visited Dr. Cameron's clinic on my way here to our room, and he checked on me," she declared. Levi still had his eyes on her belly where his hand was resting. "He said the baby and I are doing just fine. He also noted that for a four months pregnant woman, my belly seemed to be rounder and larger."

Levi looked up without removing his hand from her belly, enjoying the movement on his palm. "That's good, right? It means the baby is healthy,"

"I thought so too, but for some reason, when I asked Dr. Cameron the same thing, he just smiled at me, shrugged, and told me that I'll be fine." She pouted. "It was weird, but I immediately dismissed the thought. I also asked him when the baby will start to move. He said that anytime now the child will start making me feel its presence, but I never expected it to happen so soon." Hange smiled.

Levi's eyes softened a bit as he once again turned his gaze upon her belly. "Our child looks energetic,"

She wouldn't admit it, but hearing Levi say 'our child' kicked in some feeling in her that she couldn't explain. "I think maybe our child's just being grateful for the strawberries," She gently placed her hand on top of Levi's. "Thank you, Levi. And I'm sorry for all the fuss."

Once the skin on top of her belly stopped moving, Hange expected that Levi will immediately pull back his hand but much to her surprise, he turned his hand up and interlaced it with her fingers. He never spoke a word but she felt the heat that came off his skin.

"It's getting late," he uttered softy. "We better get some sleep." He untangled his fingers from hers, then tugged her blouse down to cover her belly. Levi got up the bed and went straight to the bathroom to wash himself.

When he got out, Hange saw that the man had taken off his white shirt and his upper body was bluntly exposed to her sight. His washboard abs traced the contour of his stomach and his muscled biceps showed off as he stretched.

He walked over to their bed, and Hange scooted over to create some space. He blew the flame on the lamp that was placed on the bedside table. As the fire died out, the room became enveloped in darkness; the only light was coming from the window where the moon shone so bright.

Levi laid on the bed and pulled the sheet over his body. She was actually surprised that he hadn't worn a shirt to bed since this is the first time that he'll be sleeping naked beside her. His hands brushed against her back.

But what surprised Hange was the fact that she could certainly feel Levi's hands moving. His hands slowly snaked around her waist and he pulled her to his body; she felt the heat that came off his naked skin.

Their height was a disadvantage but Levi moved up so he could rest his chin against the top of her head. He pulled her closer, then he rested both his hands against the mound on her belly.

"Good night," he whispered before dozing off.

Just some fluff I thought off. Hope you liked it, though. Reviews are welcome.