Day 6: Valentine's Day
Title: Our Fight
Author: Vianna Orchidia / Annasthacy Chashyme
Rating: T
Warning: future fic where titans are wiped out, possible misstypo and grammar error and OOC, a bit on melancholic side.
Levi looked up when he felt someone
closing in. He found a pair of deep dark eyes, framed with
shoulder-length black hair and pointed chin. Its owner nonchalantly
sat in the chair across the table, and only gave him a look when he
glared at her.
“It's empty, right?” she pointed
out flatly. “Stop glaring daggers at me.”
“What do you want, Mikasa?”
The girl slowly took her eyes away from
him, instead choosing to fiddle with the almost frayed end of her red
scarf. She looked hesitant. “I... haven't heard from you... since
the last battle...”
Snapping his book shut, Levi scoffed.
“I thought we're over,” he mocked, bitter.
Memories flashed, old wounds scratched
anew in her. She remembered what little intimacy they used to share
in that cruel, unforgiving world. The consolations said and embraces
offered when one of them got too tired to stand up. The sweet
nothings they promised to each other before departing to battles
against titans.
But their little affair was forced to
stop when Erwin declared humanity's official victory and Mikasa
followed Eren and Armin to find the sea they had always dreamt of,
while Levi stayed behind the walls for treatment after his grave
wounds.
The one year of time gap was not kind
to him, though. Even after the long and painful efforts of
rehabilitation, his legs had not been curable, and he was now forever
crippled. Humanity's Strongest Soldier was reduced to a mere old man,
stripped bare of his wings and freedom.
Mikasa almost cried when she found him
in this place—the inner garden of Sina's best hospital, drown in
his book, his crutches leaning onto his chair dutifully. She almost
cried when he looked up to her with those hollow gazes, previously
filled with pride and intent. She must admit that Levi looked much,
much older. Unhealthy.
Just what had she done?
Her lips trembled when she spoke
softly. “Eren is... gone.” It was heart-shattering when she and
Armin woke up one day, and found out that their brunette friend did
not. They hadn't seen the sea. But they decided to go back to the
walls, and buried Eren near the old, run-down Jaeger resident.
Levi sucked a breath. “I see. And
Arlert?”
“He is fine. Just... sad, I guess. He
went to Commander Erwin. He wants to rejoin the military.”
“Why would he? Only Jean stayed
there, the others have had enough,” he frowned. Erwin and Hange
were the only exception to this. Even Hanji's old squad didn't stay
together. Technically, the Scouting Legion was no more.
The half-oriental shook her head. “I
don't know. It's his choice.” Her voice was solemn, almost grim,
but Levi understood the faint feeling of loss. There were no more
titans, but military would always be more or less the gate of
hell—your only choice was to fight, or to die. They silently agreed
that Armin would fight.
“...what about you?” Levi asked
her. “Why don't you follow him?”
“I—” Mikasa halted, suddenly
aware that she didn't know what to say. Her eyes blearily searched
for comfort in his, but she realized a little too late that he was
right—they were well past that. They're over. He was no more
obliged to comfort her, neither was she.
His eyes remained hollow.
Was it too late? No turning back? No
revisiting the past? Mikasa bit her lower lip in guilt.
Did she choose wrong?
Her fingers clenched the fabric of her
skirt, and the bump there reminded her of what she came here for.
Only then she remembered what he had said to her, a long time ago, in
a haze of summer heat and dreamlike closeness. “The only thing
we're allowed to do, is to believe that we won't regret the choice we
made.”
Holding this true to her heart, Mikasa
pulled a small box from her pocket. It was wrapped neatly in plain
red paper, a gold ribbon as its only accessory. She put it on top of
his closed book, eyes still refusing to meet his questioning look.
“Do you know what day is today?” she whispered.
“No.” It's pointless to keep track
of days and dates, after all. Every day was any day for him here,
isolated and caged.
“It's February 14, Levi.”
Levi kept quiet, trying to solve the
equation. A present, plus a spesific date, plus her suddenly shy
gestures. When he could come up with nothing, he shook his head.
The raven-haired girl smiled. She stood
up, bent her body forward with her hands on the table as support, and
when her face was close enough with his, she whispered again, “Happy
Valentine's Day, Levi.” And then she pressed a sweet kiss on his
cheek.
Withdrawing, she sat back down to her
seat, quite enjoying the little redness on the tip of his ears. With
a somewhat smug smile she said, “to answer your question, Levi...
Well, when Armin asked if I wanted to go with him, I knew by heart
that I wouldn't fight anymore.” She closed her eyes for a moment,
“at least, not there.”
“Then where is your fight, Mikasa?”
he spoke with eyes softening, his tone endearing as her name rolled
out his tongue.
Mikasa opened her eyes again, and this
time she stared right into his steely orbs, holding his gaze
steadily. “Here.”
“You're struggling in your own fight,
Levi, and just like that time...” Her voice trailed off, a string
of reminiscence flowed into her heart warmly.
“...I will fight with you.”
When Levi opened his arms moments
later, inviting her to run into his embrace, she knew this was a
choice with no regret.
-fin-
A/N: part of this, about a crippled Levi, is inspired by another fanfic, but do forgive me because I can't remember where I read it. Don't sue me for copyright ;;;;
Where is the Valentine element aside from that "Happy Valentine's Day, Levi."? Uhh please don't ask. Things do get out of my hands often.
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