Chapter Text
Levi stood by the door, softly smiling. He'd come here for a reason, but before he could address his current problem he just had to stare. At you, at the way you carried yourself through the room, giving his men hope that they would see another day in full health; giving his most wounded the chance to walk, to talk, to see, to hear, to even take a shit, that's how skilled your hands were. Smooth to the touch, and yet bearing a heavy weight the world would never properly thank you for. He always made sure to do so because there was no one else on that god forsaken place that could work magic on a human body with such talent, and sometimes at such short notice. You deserved everything he had to give, deserved the stars at your feet.
Which brought to mind his purpose for walking in on your rounds around the Headquarter's makeshift hospital.
Trying to remain silent he crossed the room, grip hard around the small box he held. Most of his men were asleep, but a few here and there groaned, assisted by the nurses that you'd hired from the town's hospital. They saw him walk by, nodded in respect. And he nodded back, his heart full of pride for the people doing miracles in that room. They deserved more than what the Survey Corps. could pay them, but with the ongoing problem of their funding, payment came a bit short for all. They didn't mind, they did what they did because they either loved their profession or genuinely loved humanity, but Levi did mind. It wasn't every day a person could get a wounded man and stitch back their body to working order.
He reached the last cot where you'd been whispering nonsensical things to a low-ranked soldier who'd suffered severe trauma to her eyes. It had been Hange's guess she would never be able to see again, but you'd somehow managed to fix one of them with a colleague's help, surprising them all yet again. You were the best in your field, everyone knew that. But it was still surprising, the things you could achieve when you put your mind to it.
You noticed his approach when you backed off from the now sleeping soldier, eyes widening a bit in surprise. Placing a finger on your lips you moved back quietly, signalling for him to follow you back to the adjacent room you called an office. How on earth did you call it an office was his guess, it looked more like a storage room to him, with all the clutter you kept around. "Tch, when the hell are you going to clean this up?"
You chuckled. "Hello to you too, Captain. Back so soon?"
"Didn't even make it to the wall. Those fucking priests stopped us."
"Ah, still rioting, I see."
"Yes, worse part is they managed to ally themselves with those noble assholes cutting up our funding."
At that, you held your breath. "Fuckers," you released it in one go, anger filling your eyes while you let your body fall back on your chair. His sentiments exactly. "I thought this took a nice turn for the Corps after you were recruited."
He snorted. "More like Erwin tried his damn best to keep them under control for a while." And while it was a frustrating subject he was sure they would discuss later on, this wasn't what he'd come here for. "A meeting will be called soon enough to discuss this bullshit. For now, I have something else I want to talk to you about. Here."
You frowned at it, intrigued. "What's this?"
"Why don't you open it?"
Biting your lip you did, fingers suddenly trembling, albeit slightly. He knew when you'd opened it without even having to look back at you -he was staring intently at the lone window, at the moon and the stars that reflected the stillness of the world below. Your gasp had been quite loud. "Le- where did you-?"
"At the market." He crossed his legs at the ankles, crossed his fingers after he settled his hands on his stomach. He wasn't much for sleeping but a bed sounded heavenly right about then.
"I- but how? How did it get there?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me."
You stared at the object for what felt like forever to him, but he did not intrude on what was surely a special moment for you. The small sniffles you let out were proof enough that he'd done the right thing. "I don't know how to thank you, Levi," you whispered while trying to calm down.
Again, he shrugged. "You don't have to."
"But I want to," you stubbornly persisted. "I just don't know how."
"Will it get you to shut up about it?"
"Yes?"
"Then that will be enough for me."
You let out a huff. "Honestly, you stubborn man. What can I do to thank you properly for it?"
"Clean this place up. That'll work."
"Oh my God, you're exasperating," you grunted, standing up while clutching the locket close to your heart. You made way to where he was seated, plopping your figure down on his lap, causing a grunt to fly from his lips at your added weight.
"Warn a guy, will you?" But instead of pushing you off he brought you closer to his warmth, enjoying your strange yet alluring scent even if it was tinged with questionable things he'd better not think about.
Your fingers carded through his hair, eyes softly caressing his face. "You brought back to me my deceased mother's necklace and all you ask from me is to clean this room?"
"It'll do the trick, I'm sure," he snorted again.
And at that you shook your head. "Oh Levi," you sighed, but smiled nonetheless. "Fine. If that's what you wish, then I'll get around to it as soon as I can."
He smirked. "Does that mean I killed two birds with one stone? Should've tried to find the damn thing a long time ago."
Gaping slightly, you smacked his chest in reprimand. "Levi!"
Unbelievably he chuckled, causing you to reluctantly join him despite it being such a touchy subject for you. And oh, he knew just how touchy it was. Could respect it, even. You weren't the only person to have lost a mother to life's circumstances. "Hey," he said after sobering up, catching your cheek in a light grip, stroking it softly, "I'm glad I could find it. Now you can properly pay your respects when you have the time."
Smiling, you returned the gesture, and Levi was all for it, searching for more of your touch. "Will you join me?"
"Of course."
Your smile widened. "What did I do to deserve you?"
Levi thought he should've been the one to ask that, but he didn't. Instead, he merely showed how much he valued your existence in his life by doing this for you, by gently taking your lips in a sweet kiss that lingered for quite a while. It was another stolen moment out of your busy schedules he wished could be more frequent than this. He wanted to give you more of himself, wanted to show you the world out there -if only he had the time, if only you had the lives to live through the moments he wanted to share with you. The world you lived in had already taken too much. Why did it have to take away his chance at happiness too, after everything he'd been through? He was tired of questioning it, beyond exhausted really.
But one could dream, he supposed.
He wondered, as he often did, if there was a possibility of living another life, in another time, where he could be by your side and enjoy the things a good life had to give. And he wondered, as he always did, if you would choose his miserable ass over and over. He didn't know, he couldn't tell, but what he did know was that here, right then, and in any other life, he would always choose to stay by your side, no matter what.