Chapter Text
Genre: Romance, Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Humor.
Rate: T (For now, will be changed to a higher ranking later on)
Main Pair: Rivaille/Levi x Mikasa [RivaMika/LeviMika].
Side Pairs: One-sided! Rivaille/Levi x Petra [Rivetra/Levitra], Armin x Annie [AruAni], Eren x Krista/Historia [EreKuri/Erestoria].
Part I: Revival
Sunday, June 3rd, 2012. At 9:30 am, a parked car was settled near a hotel, while a young woman with long black hair and narrowed, dark-gray eyes fixed up at a figure, was leaning against it. A ring slipped from her finger, falling soundlessly until it hit the ground, rolling in its place before lulling to a stop. Once the material was discarded, the woman shifted her wait to get inside the car, driving away in a rush.
The passe apartment she lived in was about half an hour away, and once her feet stepped in, the door slammed shut wrathfully and her back pressed against it for support. Her feet seemed helpless to carry her any further, her eyes were lost in an ambiguous world until the sound of her phone ringing dragged her out of her illusions. Her hand was almost lost in the small handbag before touching it and pulling it out. Tawdriness filled her eyes once they reflected the name on her phone's screen.
"Just go to hell!" Her lips heavily parted to let out those words in the most broken voice she could ever speak in. Her phone was in no time flying towards the mirror in front of her, falling apart into pieces, scattered around the floor, and the mirror was signed with a long scar.
Pushing through her godforsaken hopes, she managed to enter the bathroom. Her hands held onto the edges of the washbasin in refusal to submit to the weakness of her legs and fall, filling it with some papers she had in her handbag and ripping them with shaky fingers. A lighter was all she needed next to set the fire in the papers, and once they caught fire, her eyes drove up to the mirror. She could see nothing but a dead, soulless girl.
Around 10 pm, the same day, consciousness was tugging on her eyelids to open. Her senseless body clueless on the surroundings.
"…Huh?!" Her eyes revealed the unrecognizable ceiling, and the field of the unrecognizable things only expanded when she looked around.
"Mikasa!…Darling, are you okay?" A worried voice of a woman reached her ears. Turning to her right, the blurry sight vanished, and the figure of her mother sitting near her was clearly visible.
"What are you doing here?" Not so warm welcoming words to say to her mother, and neither the glares in her eyes were welcoming.
"How are you feeling?" Her mother hid her outraged features behind more concerned ones. Her eyes screaming with worry about her daughter's health.
"Who even told you I was in the hospital?" Anger and ire were all Mikasa's voice held towards her mother in return.
"…Your neighbor." The mother gave her an answer to shut her curiosity.
"…That babbling bitch," Gritting her teeth, Mikasa's eyes fixed on the window. She would prefer even looking at a wall for the rest of her life and not her mother.
"Sweetie, why haven't you told me? I could help—…" Her mother's words were still tender-hearted as she spoke.
"Thanks mom, I guess I'm old enough to help myself." The harshness of Mikasa's words slaughtered her mother's susceptibilities, and Mikasa's eyes still refused to see what broken expression her mother would make.
"Good thing your neighbor called me, your father has no idea about anything yet, and he shouldn't know or else he's going to throw me in the streets—…" Swallowing her hurt tone, her mother said, to only get cut off by her daughter once more.
"Are you talking about my father, or your husband?" Mockingly, Mikasa muttered, honesty absent in her question.
"Mikasa! Don't talk to me like that," Now her mother used a warning tone as she spoke, running out of patience with her daughter's behavior, "you should be thankful I came to see you."
"Why would I be thankful to you?" With a raised eyebrow and an abrupt voice, Mikasa eyed her mother while saying, "What have you ever done for me?"
Her mother would argue, but she took in a deep breath instead and calmed herself "I'm not arguing with you now, and don't push yourself, it's not good for your health."
"Heh! Right…" Mikasa still wore those glares even if her mother's intensions held nothing but concern.
"Honey, I know this is going to be hard for you, and you have to be strong, you're going to get over it sooner than you think…" Her mother smiled lovingly at her, even though her eyes were screaming with sorrow and pain.
"Obviously I'm not whining and screaming about it." Mikasa exclaimed.
"Mikasa…" Her mother then took her hand in her tenderly, "are you going to be okay?" and asked with a frown.
"As long as there's nothing between me and that bastard anymore I'll be fine, and as long as you're leaving I'll be even better." Mikasa pulled her hand away and grumbled, annoyed by her mother's presence.
Hurt, her mother stood up and stared down at her, "I'll go back home now…" She said, her eyes waiting patiently for a small glimpse from her daughter, but she never got it. "Your friends are here, they came to check on you…they're coming in shortly, I'll visit you tomorrow and if you wanted me to get you anything….fruits…clothes? Just tell me…"
"Don't play the good mom, just leave…" That was all Mikasa ever wanted from her mother; to leave and never come back.
If her mother had any last hopes to gain her daughters love, they died at that moment, and even looking at her hurt because all she could see in those eyes of Mikasa was hatred, so she simply turned away and walked out the room.
In about a week, Mikasa's state became even, and she was at last able to leave the hospital, enjoying the sight of the city from her apartment's balcony, while sitting with her two friends, Krista and Annie, around a table.
"How do you feel now that you're finally back home?" Krista asked with a wide smile on her face.
"Free!" Mikasa chuckled resting both her cheeks on her palms.
"…We…missed your presence between us." Annie wasn't one to talk much, but she couldn't deny that she had missed her friend.
"Now you're going to stay with us and never leave, honey, you're now a single, independent young woman who got a lot of time to spend with her friends." Krista was one to cheer everyone up with her words and welcome them, comfort them when needed, and Mikasa was a dear friend to her.
Mikasa wouldn't help but agree with Krista's statement and nod at it, "Yeah, I am, and since I have a sick leave, I can hang out with you guys a lot."
Suddenly, the girls' attention was stolen to fix on the door when the bell rang.
"Oh, it's probably them, I'll go get that." Annie got up of her chair and walked to the door to open it, they had been expecting some more company, but before she would open the door, she wanted to mess around a little bit, "Who's there?"
"Thieves." A man answered from behind the door.
"And what do you want?" Annie smirked and rested her hand on the doorknob.
"We heard there are some sexy girls in this apartment, and we're here to kidnap them." Another guy stated jokingly, not really because there was no doubt; the girls were pretty.
"So thieves apparently ring the bells of the apartments they're planning to steal?" Annie crossed her arms against her chest and taunted.
"Annie, come on, open the door." A soft voice beat her will to go further in the game.
She simply shrugged and opened the door for Armin and Eren to come in, holding few pizza boxes and a bag of drinks.
"Hey." Annie took the bag from Armin's hand to help.
"Hi." Armin smiled and walked with her to the balcony, and she wrapped her hand around his waist.
"How's it?" Eren followed them from behind, bothered by the sight of Annie's hand around Armin's waist, and he couldn't help but pull them apart. "You guys can do that when I'm not around."
"Tch." Annie always enjoyed to tease Eren and so she wrapped her arm around Armin's waist again.
All three finally walked out to the balcony, to join Mikasa and Krista.
"Hello ladies." Eren said. "So we have five boxes of pizza, ten bottles of soda, can the party start now?"
"Of course." The excitement blew Krista's voice as she stood up to take the pizza boxes from Eren's hands.
"Mikasa, how are you feeling?" Armin looked down at his friend and asked.
"I wouldn't be here if I weren't okay." She reassured him.
He smiled warmly at her and rubbed her shoulder. "Welcome back."
"Oh, by the way, I have something for you, you can say it's a 'welcome back' present." Eren sneered softly.
"Eren, don't flatter yourself, we all helped to buy it." Krista glared at the tall boy.
"Okay, fine." He shrugged then placed a box down on the table in front of Mikasa, it was a cell phone box and her eyes widened when she saw it. "There." He snickered.
"Oh! A cell phone!" Her eyes roamed around to stare at every one of them before landing back at the box.
"You need one after…crushing yours." Krista could still remember how she kept finding the broken pieces of Mikasa's phone everywhere while cleaning up the mess she had made.
"And with a new chip, you don't wanna receive some unwanted calls." Annie added, hinting at someone Mikasa knew perfectly whom it was.
"Thank you," Mikasa had no better words to say to thank her friends, only at times like these she could tell who the real friends were that actually cared about her and helped her "I could have bought one myself, you shouldn't have bothered…"
"Shhh, no complains." Eren messed up her hair while interrupting her, she was like a sister to him, and she held a dear place in his heart.
"It's just a cell phone." Annie would always show less than what she actually felt, but everyone, including Mikasa, knew how much of a kind person she was.
"Our friendship is way more precious." Krista gave the girl a quick hug from behind and a kiss on the cheek, her words meant so much…so much for Mikasa.
That was the beginning of my new life, I could say it was a turning point, because I've changed ever since then, and I became more confident of myself, especially that my friends were always there for me, helping me, and I could feel myself becoming a whole new person. My sick leave ended and I got back to my work, I kept myself busy as much as I could with work, doing the best I could, and my boss apparently noticed in a short while because he gave me a promotion, and I continued to work for six months until I finally had my vacation for a month, which I decided to spend away from the town…and my friends.
Night crawled into the sky and tented an endless dark cover patched with grey clouds hiding the shining stars behind them, the light of Mikasa's bedroom was on, she was sitting on her bed with Krista, helping her with packing her stuff, she had planned to leave the town temporarily so she could clear her thoughts and rest.
"Eren, this one is ready…Go take it down." Krista held a travelling-bag to Eren.
"Alright." He took it swiftly and left the apartment to take it down while the girls prepared another one.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Krista looked up and asked in an uncertain tone, she wouldn't want to be away from her friend, it felt as if she was leaving in a death trip, perhaps she was just exaggerating, but still.
"Yes." Confidence was confirmed in Mikasa tone, she had made a decision, and she wasn't going to change it.
"We'll miss you so much." Krista frowned, but soon killed that frown with a smile, at least Mikasa wasn't a broken soul anymore like she had been for the past months.
"It's just one month, I need to keep away for a while, but don't worry, I'll come back before Christmas night, and who knows? I might even bring someone with me." Mikasa chuckled while placing the clothes in the bag.
"Do you think you're ready to get in a new relationship?" Krista feared the possibility of her friend getting hurt again because of a guy, she had struggled all the past months to get through it, and Krista more than anyone else had hard times helping her with it.
"It's been six months, I got over it, Krista." Six months weren't that much of time, but Mikasa managed to get back her confidence and get over the pain, not that she forgot it, because she never would, but she learnt how to deal with it.
"I know but-…"
"I know what I'm doing very well, and this time I got everything under control, I will never be played around with again, ever." Her voice was firm, strong and so were her words, confident.
"I'm not going to stop you at all, but please, promise me that you won't go back to smoking and drinking when you're upset, while you're away." There was a pleading tone in Krista's voice, she couldn't count the nights she had found Mikasa drunk in the shower, neither could she count how many cigarettes she had smoked, it took her so long…so long to stop.
"Do I have to promise you?" She rubbed the back of her head hesitantly.
"Yes, unless you want me to pack my stuff and go with you." Krista vowed, she knew Mikasa way too well to trust her in such things.
"Heh! Fine." Mikasa was aware that arguing with Krista was useless, because she'd always end up submitting to what her friend says.
"No, I won't take 'Fine' I want you to say it, literally." She insisted, if Krista ever had a chance to make Mikasa sign some papers that guarantee her she would never go back to drinking and smoking, she'd have done that.
"I promise…." Mikasa mumbled almost quietly.
"What?"
"I promise that I won't go back to smoking or drinking when I'm upset. There, happy?" She faked anger.
"Good, now you can go without me." The two girls shared a laugh, an hour later they finally finished packing the bags, and moved them down to put them in Mikasa's car, where she was now sitting on the driver's seat, having Eren and Krista standing nearby, looking at the end of the street, sighing.
"Where the hell are they?" Mikasa asked, referring to Armin and Annie, she didn't want to leave before seeing them, but they were taking so long to arrive.
"They should be here shortly, well that's what they said…" Eren stared into the distance poker-faced, the two must be spending some lovey-dovey moments while they have bee, all waiting for them, but at last he could see them running towards the car.
"Ah! There they are." Krista saw them too.
"Sorry for being late…" Armin apologized once they stood with the friends, panting, they had been running for a while now in order to not arrive late.
"We were walking around and…" Annie explained.
"Oh! Really! You left me carrying all those bags by my own, you little bastards, my arms feel numb." Eren growled in anger.
"Anyway, this isn't the perfect timing to hear your complaints, we should say goodbye to Mikasa." Ignoring Eren, Annie turned to face Mikasa.
"Right…Mikasa." Eren then looked down at her and smiled. "Have a safe trip."
"As if I was leaving the country, what's wrong with you guys? I'm just leaving the town for a short while and then I'll come back." Mikasa shook her head at her friends, they were making it sound as if she was leaving and never coming back.
"Yes. But you're not going to be here and we'll miss you." Krista frowned lightly.
"I'll miss you too…" She couldn't help a sad smile from stealing her lips for a second.
"Don't you forget your promise." Krista glared warningly.
"I'll try not to…" Though Mikasa said it in a teasing tone, she was serious.
"Take care of yourself." Annie said calmly.
"Call us every day." Eren spoke in the overprotective brother tone.
"Tell us if there is anything new." Armin added.
"I will…" With a last nod, Mikasa waved goodbye at her friends, launching her drive to leave the town, no matter how much her friends had been helpful, a person would never realize how much they grew stronger until they're left alone in the battlefield, and that was the only intention she had, to figure out how strong she had gotten.
She had an early reservation at a five star hotel, reserving a suite for her own wouldn't hurt, would it? Sometimes, a person needs to indulge and love themselves, and she was going to have this vacation for herself and no one else.
The two hours drive finally came to an end when the car stopped at the hotel's grounds.
"Ah! Finally!…" With a tired exhale slipping from between her lips, her feet touched the rigid ground while her head peeked out the car's door, having now a pleasant sight of the huge building right before her eyes, and few seconds of musing wouldn't be a waste of time, it was a dreamlike scenery that caught her focus, she was never aware of the valet that had approached her until he spoke.
"Good evening, miss, would you like me to park your car?"The usual respectful tone was present in the valet's voice as he asked.
"Sure," She finally came to notice the man in front of her and said, "I just need to take out the bags I brought with me."
"Don't worry, miss, I'll make sure to send them with a bellboy, have a nice stay at our hotel." Bowing his head, Mikasa stepped aside for the valet to take her car and park it.
It was now time to explore the inside part of the hotel, and as if her feet had been nailed to the ground once she stepped into the lobby, the amazingly large lobby that stole her eyes for what felt like a never ending moment, until her gaze landed on the front desk, she then remembered that she had yet to check her reservation and her suite next, and she let her legs lead her to it.
"Good evening miss, and welcome to our hotel, how may I help you?" A wide smile showed on the receptionist's face as she welcomed Miksa.
"Hi, I have a reservation for today, under the name Ackerman…" Mikasa stepped closer and talked.
"Ackerman…" There was an obvious sign of confusion in her voice as the receptionist said, "Oh! Right," but she answered anyway, "yes miss Ackerman, we have reserved a suite for you for a month, am I correct?"
"Yes…" Relieved nothing went wrong with her reservation, she nodded.
"Alright, I see we already have your credit card information, so you only need to sign the receipt along the bottom, please." The receptionist said and Mikasa complied. "Thank you very much, miss. We've reserved suite 48 for you, here is the key…" She held the key out to her, "Take the elevator on the right, go to the fourth floor, turn right, walk straight, your suite will be on your left hand side, your bags should get there soon with the bellboy."
"Alright, thank you." Mikasa took the key and turned around, looking at the elevator she was going to take before walking towards it, following the receptionist's guides, Mikasa ended up in her suite within few minutes.
How Charming, the words she could not speak of when the mascot of her surroundings had her stunned in amazement.
"Miss, should I leave these here?" Before she would drown any further in her suite's fantasies, the bellboy called from behind, holding her travelling-bags and placing them on the ground.
She turned around and looked at him, giving him a nod, "Ah yes. Just leave them there, I'll arrange them later."
"If you needed anything just call the room service, have a nice stay." The bellboy said before leaving and closing the door behind him.
It was now only her and a whole big suite for her to explore, throwing her handbag to the couch, Mikasa began wandering around, mesmerized by the fanciness of the place, her dreams bedroom was behind one of the doors that was soon revealed when she opened it, a big bad caught her eyes, and next thing she knew, she jumped to it like a little child.
"It's not bad to enjoy myself at all!" Mikasa stretched her numb arms after the long tiring drive she had had, and relaxed for few more minutes.
The restaurant was no less charming, having her dinner dear was a stroke of luck because of the lack of the empty tables, even luckier because the table she reserved was the last, she found it amusing how the waiters kept apologizing for it and promising to buy more tables as soon as possible, but on the other hand, it only was proving how much this hotel was a big success. All she ever needed to get the fondness she deserved, relaxing and having fun weren't something she'd usually get, but now she was open to everything new, the smell of food kept tickling her nostrils, and so she ignored whatever kept her busy from eating, her eyes would land on her plate when her hands held the fork, but a man with a young woman wrapping her hand around his stole her sight as they walked into the restaurant, standing by her.
"Oh! Apparently all the tables are reserved…" The man frowned lightly, seeming unable to spot an empty table for them, he had a dark brown hair with an undercut, and he stood in a black suit next to the woman with him.
"No, honey, there should be at least one unoccupied table." The shorter woman with him said hopingly, her light ginger bangs covered one of her eyes and her hand reached to push them back stoically, she wore an eggshell coat to her thighs, with a black tight and boots.
"Good evening, sir. Um! If you wanted to reserve a table could you please for a bit until someone finishes their dinner, because all the tables are reserved for now." A waiter approached them and bowed his head apologizing to them.
"Oh! That's not a good thing to hear." The girl heaved a sigh and tugged on the man's cuffs.
"We just got here from a long drive and we didn't have dinner yet." The man explained.
"If you have reserved a room in our hotel earlier, then please, go to your room and we'll make sure to bring you the dinner shortly." The waiter had no better suggestions to grant.
"Yes we have a reservation but-…" The man was about to say when he was suddenly interrupted.
"My table is almost empty…" Mikasa barely recognized herself while saying so, for she was known of her nonchalance, she was being rather kind, "If you'd like, you can join me?"
The man exchanged gazes with the girl in his company for few seconds, "So, what do you say?" He asked her.
"I say that I cannot wait any longer." The girl couldn't help a giggle, and a light blush from reddening her cheeks.
"Alright, we're going to sit here with the miss." The man told the waiter as he helped the girl take her seat.
"What should I get you, sir?" The waiter asked, holding out the menu to the man.
"Same thing she ordered, it doesn't matter, we're hungry and we could even eat you up right now." The man said mockingly, anything edible would do to shut their hunger right now, and the waiter nodded then headed off. "Good evening, miss." His eyes finally met Mikasa's.
"Good evening." Mikasa replied and settled the fork down on the table, giving some attention to her guests.
"Thank you for letting us join you." The woman kept her poise as she said.
"Oh, there's no need to thank me," Shaking her head, Mikasa forced a smile on her lips, to only realize how hard it is to smile at strangers, and that the receptionist deserved an award for doing such a great job and making it sound easier than it actually was. "it would be a waste for places…there's enough space for more people to sit and well, at least I'll have some company." She still tried to sound nice.
"By the way, I'm Petra…" The woman proceeded to introduce herself, perhaps knowing their names would make it slightly comfortable? She held her hand out to her for a handshake, Mikasa responded to it, "and this is…"
"Levi." The man finished her words and shook hands with Mikasa.
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Mikasa." She smiled at the two of them, "So you guys are here to spend your honey moon?" She wasn't one to ask personal questions since the first meeting, but the rings on their fingers were way too eye-catching to ignore.
"No—" Levi answered, but the sudden interruption by Petra cut him off.
"Not yet, but our wedding is soon, I made him wear an engagement ring so people will know he's taken, we're just here for work." Overly attached fiancée? That was what Mikasa thought anyway after hearing Petra's words, whom left no space for Levi to talk.
"Oh! I see so you guys work with each other?" Mikasa doubted she was doing well at pretending to be interested while talking.
"Yeah!" Petra nodded with a wide smile, her fingers trailing her fiancé's hand.
"That's sweet, it's like you're never separated from one another…wouldn't that get you to feel bored of each other though, if you're together all the time?" Oh, crap, that was rude to say, wasn't it? Mikasa thought, she could almost see Petra's blood boiling.
"Excuse me?" Petra sent a warning to the girl she had just met for saying such a thing.
"No offense, the girl is always loyal to the person she loves, even if she'd ever get bored of them." Mikasa knew she was now in Petra's hate list, but at least she could still try fix things, no? "But the problem is always with the guys, once they're bored of a girl, they get a replacement." No, that statement probably made it even worse.
"It's not like this at all for me and Levi, and then our wedding is soon and I don't think he would dare to leave me now, right, honey?" Petra looked up at her fiancé and held his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers together. Typical, every girl does that when trying to prove how strong her relationship with her lover is.
"Why are we even discussing such things?" Levi seemed not to give the conversation the slightest heed.
"Well, don't ask me." She gazed away from him.
"I'm sorry," Mikasa would usually die instead of apologizing, but she thought it was quite a necessity now, since it was basically her 'fault'? "I'm the one who brought this up, it's okay, let's talk about something else?"
It was a matter of time till the air became easy on all three, having an enjoyable dinner together, though all the talk was for the girls, Levi had enough listening only, he'd say a word or two if necessary though. They had wished each other a good night when the dinner ended, only to meet later in the elevator, coincidence had them staying at the same floor apparently.
"Have you ever come here before?" Out of curiosity, and boredom, Mikasa asked.
"No…" Levi shook his head, this place was all new to him.
"I did, it's really fancy, honey, you'll lose it once you see our suite." Petra said, tugging on Levi's cravat.
"When did you come here?" The surprise on Levi's face was rather hard to hide, the fact that his fiancée came here before was as new as this hotel was to him.
"Like a year ago, I had some work to do." Petra's hands kept playing with his cravat while she spoke, not minding him being slightly annoyed to know about this quite late.
"On your own?" Jealousy wasn't a familiar feeling Levi would usually have, not even now could he consider this jealousy because it wasn't.
"No, my partner came with me." Petra noticed the slight change in Levi's tone, and she could see the irritation clearly when looking him straight in the eyes.
"And—" Questions began outflowing his mind, but he contained himself and let the silence take place for now.
"And what?" Petra wasn't amused by the way he was talking to her.
"Nothing, we'll continue later." Though he was the one to be avoiding discussing such subjects on the dinner's table, he was now the one doing it.
Mikasa found it funny, and no matter how many times she tried to contain her laughter, she still failed and let a smirk escape her.
"What's so funny?" Annoyed, Petra questioned.
"Nothing, I just remembered something." It was an obvious lie, there was nothing else to laugh about except for the lack of trust between two people who are about to get married, Mikasa was lucky enough not to be questioned anymore when the door opened shortly, and they simply walked out and headed to their suites.
"Where are you staying at?" At the moment Petra asked, Mikasa was already standing at her suite's door.
"Right here…what about you?" Mikasa asked the girl in return.
"Oh! Our suite is in the opposite corridor to yours. We're neighbors." Petra chuckled, successfully hiding the fact that she was annoyed by that.
"That sounds nice, alright now, have a good night." Sure, Mikasa felt the dark aura starting to expand, and she excused herself to leave.
"Good night." Petra said and turned around to join Levi who was already walking ahead, and he had to stop at the door waiting for Petra to open it since she had the key, then they both walked into it.
"You used one room?" Before the door was even shut, Levi asked.
"What?" The question wasn't clear enough for Petra, and she eyed him from the distance.
"You and your partner,…when you came here last year." Levi was still curious about the details of Petra's latest visit to the hotel without his knowledge.
"Oh! Levi." Petra was debating about either laughing or glaring at him.
"Answer me…." His voice was sharp and serious.
"Of course not, why would we even use one room? And even if we did, I don't think you would have minded because that was before we get together." Pinching his cheek and giggling, she added, "Now, now, tell me: what do you think? Amazing isn't it?"
"I can't say otherwise…." Getting rid of the unnecessary doubts he had, Levi was now amazed by the splendor of the suite. "It's warm here, as if it's not winter time…"
"True." Petra tossed her bag to the table on her right and removed her jacket, the delightful view behind the window reflecting in her eyes. "It's snowing…slowly…and that makes me feel sleepy."
"How about we unpack the bags first, and then go sleep?" Levi had a thing for cleanliness and keeping things arranged, not even exhaustion would stop him.
"But I'm so tired right now and impatient to lie in that comfy bed…with you, I promise to unpack the bags and arrange our stuff tomorrow morning once I wake up, okay?" Petra's hands tugged on Levi's collar, pulling him down for a light kiss.
"Fine, I'm tired too anyway…" His arms winded around her waist, lips joined hers for another kiss, he could make some waivers for his fiancée's sake in the end.
"Let us go sleep now and next morning, we'll take care of the bags." Her words came out in soft whispers against the other's lips, fingers tracing up his neck.
"Sure, so concerning the bed you're dying to use, I would like to test how sturdy it is." With a wide smirk across his face, and a stormy blush on hers, Levi caged her in his arms, leading the way to the bedroom.
The hour hand was hitting midnight by the time sleep swung their souls, and their bodies fell dead beneath the sheets, the bliss Petra would come down from when their bodies finally separate promised her with peaceful dreams and calm nights, when Levi was the one to be thrown in the ocean of nightmares, where his sight get all blurry, fuzzy, his sweaty hands slipping from the wheel of his car, and no matter how far he was picking the speed, he still was incapable of reaching his goal, receiving a drastic hit from a truck his eyes missed seeing, and the world would go round and round till his eyes finally crack open.
"Screw these fucking nightmares…" Panting, sweating, cursing, his dreams betrayed him every night, always driving him back to the exact same nightmare.
"Levi…" His heavy breaths awakened Petra by his side, "are you okay?"
"Yeah," When all he could feel was the wetness all over his face and hair, his fingers ran through his bangs, wiping the sweat off his forehead in the process.
"Had another nightmare?" when her hands failed to find his cheek in the darkness, she sat up, "Just relax, you're still under the influence of the accident." Her lips did a better job and found his cheek for a warm kiss, "Get back to sleep."
"I can't." Sleep wasn't the way for his rest anymore, and he pushed the sheets off, looking for his pants and shirt on the ground to put them on and leave.
"Where to? Should I come with you?" But before she could even leave the bed, he stopped her.
"No, it's okay honey, I'll just go sit in the lobby for a bit," Buttoning his shirt, he said, pausing at the door, "I might come back late, and you need to sleep, you got work tomorrow."
"Alright, but you have to promise me that you're not going to drink, we've already discussed that." Old habits die hard, though his addiction to cleaning bothered her less, drinking wasn't a laughing matter, because it would only reflect badly on him.
"I won't drink, I promise, I'll just have a walk around." Drinking never helped him anyway, and he realized that at last.
He was standing in the lobby within couple of minutes, it was large and his eyes got lost looking around it, but they seemed to find a safe land when they caught Mikasa, on one of the couches there, her eyes closed.
What is she doing here? What a funny coincidence to find her here as well at this hour, his legs lead him unconsciously to her, until he was standing before her.
"Are you asleep?" Levi found it strange to sleep in here when she had a whole suite up there, "Miss Mikasa?" He called her name when he didn't get an answer.
"Mhm…what?" Her eyes raised lazily to glance up at him, he was still recognizable to her. "You…what do you want?"
"Are you sleeping in the lobby? I thought you were in your suite…" Not that he cared anyway.
"I was…then I felt lonely so I came here…and…I fell asleep…I guess." Struggling to push herself up, she fell back on the couch, helpless "Fuck."
"Are you okay?" Levi leaned down to her, and when his nostrils caught the smell of wine, he could now understand how she had fallen asleep in the lobby.
"Yeah, I…maybe I drank a little bit…too much, fuck…why is everything going round and…?" Her head felt as heavy as her eyes, they hurt.
"Should I get you a cup of tea?" He offered, but she shook her head.
"No…I just…wanna go back to my suite…can you walk me to it?" She wouldn't want to fall asleep in the elevator.
"Alright, give me your hand…I'll take you back to your suite" Levi decided to act like a real gentleman for once and help her, Petra wasn't there anyway and he wouldn't have her jealous, though when they were taking the elevator, Levi felt Mikasa's hand wrapping around his, and her head resting on his shoulder, he wasn't to blame her, she was asleep. "What a girl…" He shook his head at her naivety.
"…I hate you…" Her voice was barely audible, "I lost it…because of you…I never wanted to lose it," Levi had to lean closer to listen, "asshole…"
He could swear she was calling him asshole, but once he saw the tears glistening in her eyes, he knew she wasn't, and despite the fact that all he knew about her was her name, he still felt concerned, what is she even saying?
The door soon opened, and with few more steps they arrived at her suite.
"Okay, miss Mikasa, we're here…" Levi hoped she could hear him and wake up.
"Why are you even calling me miss?…just call me by my name." Pushing away from him, her back pressed to the wall, handing him the key, "You open it." Her legs failed to carry her any longer, and she sat down on the ground.
"Are you alright?" Levi met her hand halfway and took the key.
"I'm just tired,…can you open the door now?" She blubbered, eyes closing.
Levi heaved a sigh and opened the door, "There, it's open…."
"Thanks…" She simply said but didn't move.
Levi gave her back the key and turned around, he walked to the elevator again since he hadn't had his walk yet, he pressed the button then looked her way, and she was still sitting on the ground, "Did she fall asleep again?" The door opened, and Levi found himself wondering whether he should simply leave her there or go back to her and walk her into her suite, "Well, shit." But there was no way he'd leave her there, what if someone would use her and it'd be his fault if that happened. With that thought in his mind, he walked back to her, and no matter how many times he had tried to wake her up she refused to, he had to carry her in his arms and walk in, at first he was simply going to put her on the sofa, but fuck, he had already entered the suite after all, so he took her to the bedroom and placed her down on the bed, covered her cold body with the sheets, then stood there, staring at her blankly, he couldn't tell for how long he had been staring, but he wouldn't stop if it wasn't for her phone to ring.
"Why the fuck am I still here?" And he left immediately, forgetting all about having a walk and just going back to his suite and joining his fiancée in the bed once again.
"You didn't take so long…" Petra was still awake, waiting for him to return.
"Yeah…" He tossed his shirt aside and got under the sheets.
"Had a quick walk?" She shifted closer, pulling him for a hug.
"Kinda…" He held her against him and caressed her cheek.
"Feel any better now?" She nuzzled her nose to his and asked.
"And sleepy too." That was something he hadn't felt for so long.
"You haven't slept properly since days, and you need to rest." Petra pressed her head to his chest, his heartbeats and the bouncing lulled her until she fell asleep again.
Morning light was leaking through the window, bothering Levi's sleepy eyes, while Petra was already dressed up for the meeting she had to attend, she had yet to kiss her fiancé goodbye though, she sat next to him, her fingers tracing his face and stroking his hair.
"Levi…I'm going now…" Her lips pressed to his cheek as she whispered and kissed him.
"What time is it?" he could barely part his lips to ask.
"Almost 10…" She answered and pulled back.
"Oh? And why didn't you wake me up?" His eyes then opened to gaze up at her, he had never slept for this long, he would always be the first to wake up.
"You're tired, and you need to rest." She hadn't seen him sleeping soundly in forever, and there was no way she would wake him up and ruin what little peaceful world he was diving in.
"So…I'm staying alone?" It would have been better if they were home, he could keep himself busy cleaning or cooking.
"Honey, don't get spoiled, you're not even supposed to be here with me, I asked you to come because I didn't want you to stay alone, and then you don't have work, you're enjoying your sick leave and once I'm free we'll have some time to go out." She smiled guiltily, wishing she could stay here with him instead.
"Alright, how long is the meeting?" Levi yawned and turned around to lie on his back, his elbow protecting his eyes from the daylight.
"Two hours maximum," She paused before adding, "but I might come back late, I will still have to check some documents with someone. But I promise to make it up for you."
"Oh, that's fine. I'll make sure to find another girl to amuse me until you're back." He said with a hint of tease in his tone.
"Oh! Is that so? Well, I don't mind…as long as things won't get dirty." She teased back and stood up. "Anyway, I have to go now, I unpacked the bags already and your clothes are in the closet, don't be late for having your breakfast and don't you even dare to drink while I'm not around, got it?"
"Anything else, mother?" Levi couldn't help a smile, for she was acting like his mothers.
"Take care, honey…I love you." She smiled widely then left.
"Take care you too." And once she left, Levi pulled the sheets over him again, back to sleep.
On the other hand, there was Mikasa, she was still unpacking her bags while speaking with Krista on phone.
"I called you like ten times and you didn't answer…" Ignorant to the details of last night's events, Krista was about to start investigating her friend for not answering her calls the entire night.
"I'm so sorry, I was having a walk around the hotel and forgot to take my phone with me, and when I got back to my suite it was late and I just jumped to the bed and fell asleep." Lying was the only way Mikasa found to provide activating Krista's rage mode.
"That's fine, as long as you haven't been drinking…" But she still suspected something anyway, "So, how's the hotel so far?"
"This place is awesome, you know what? I might change my mind and never come back." Mikasa smiled, already imagining Krista's reaction to what she had just told her.
"The fuck did you just say, darling?" Mikasa mimicked the movements of Krista's lips while saying so.
"I'm just kidding," She chuckled, "it's pretty warm inside here, it doesn't feel like winter at all…and if you could just see that bed I swear you'd never, ever, want to get up once you're lying on it."
There was a knock on the door, "Room service…" A woman spoke from the other side; she had brought the breakfast Mikasa ordered.
"Oh! That's the breakfast I ordered," Mikasa then walked to the door and opened it, and the servant walked in, dragging the table with her inside.
"Good morning, miss, here is the breakfast you ordered." The servant said.
"Thank you…" Mikasa was standing at the door, waiting for the servant to leave, till she heard some footsteps nearing and her eyes defined the sound to be Levi's, leaving his suite and walking her way, pausing in front of her.
"Good morning…" His words were calling for her to wake up from whatever daydream she was having.
"Oh! Hey!" Shuddering, she replied.
"Who's that?" Despite the unrecognizable voice, Krista still heard a man talking to Mikasa through the phone, shaking her curiosity.
"Uh! Krista, I'll call you back." Mikasa hung up while the servant walked out, there was only her and Levi then.
"How are you?" Silence was building a wall between them, and he had to break it.
"I'm…fine." Last night's events were flashing before her eyes as she spoke to him.
"So, feel better today?" Recalling how drunk she was, and the little journey back to her suite, he asked.
"Um…! Yeah…" she wanted to ask if he was okay too, but words would reach the edges of her lips successfully but end up failing to leave her mouth.
"That's good…" Clueless on what else to say, Levi was ready to leave.
"So, where's your fiancée? Not awake yet?" But Mikasa finally said something, even though she wasn't sure whether it was a good question to ask, and it sounded even worse once the words left her mouth.
"Actually she left, she has a meeting." He answered, his hands in his pockets.
"Oh? Don't you work with her?" Don't make it sound like an investigation. She told herself.
"Not currently, I have a sick leave…"
"You don't look sick though…" Unless his height had something to do with it, wait, what?
"I had a car accident few months ago…and it's sorta a long story." Levi wasn't certain whether she was interested in hearing a stranger's story, so he paused.
"You wouldn't mind telling me, would you?" Boredom and loneliness gathered to push her to a stranger, and perhaps he wasn't a stranger anymore?
"No, of course not…" For the same reasons Mikasa had, Levi didn't mind either.
"Okay, wait…" Her key was inside and she had to get it with her, it took her few minutes before she was back, closing the door behind her. "Let's go have our breakfast at the restaurant."
"Didn't you just order breakfast to your room?" Despite the door being closed, his eyes still memorized the exact place where the table of her breakfast was settled.
"It doesn't matter, I'm gonna pay for it anyway." She initiated the walk to the elevator, and he followed her. They were sitting in the restaurant moments later, having their breakfast ordered, they sat chatting.
"So, tell me the story…how did the accident happen?" She intertwined the fingers of her right hand with her left and rested her chin on them, her eyes on his.
"I can't remember what happened exactly," Levi seemed to take a deep moment of thinking before starting to tell, "I guess I was drunk…driving my car so fast, going somewhere…to get something I forgot…and then…there was this truck which showed up out of nowhere and suddenly hit my car and…that was all I could remember, I woke up in the hospital after four months…I was in a coma, then I stayed there for a couple of months and Petra has always been there for me…she'd visit me everyday…I'm so grateful to her."
"When did you propose to her?" Aware of the possibility that he still hadn't gotten over the accident, she decided to change the subject.
"Two weeks ago…" His answer surprised Mikasa.
"And when are you guys getting married?" According to what his fiancée said, their wedding was soon.
"Next summer…" That was even more surprising.
"Why did she keep saying your wedding was soon?" Mikasa huffed and crossed her arms.
"She just says that to every girl that tries to talk to me…so they wouldn't think about getting any closer." Levi smirked and shook his head.
"You mean that she'd get mad if she saw me with you?" It wasn't that she cared anyway, but he should care, and he shouldn't have accepted her invitation for breakfast if that was the case, even if his fiancée wasn't there to see him.
"No…you already know I'm engaged anyway." Of course he knew she'd get mad, but she had said 'As long as things won't get dirty.' Having breakfast wasn't an improper thing to do so far.
"Did you…get together because…you love each other?" It wasn't curiosity that had her asking such a question, because her tone was different.
"…I guess so." Levi's answer wasn't convincing.
"I'm sorry…I'm just asking because I know a couple who are deeply in love with each other, that you can see the love in their eyes…but I can't see that in you and Petra." In comparison to her friends, Armin and Annie, she couldn't relate to Levi and Petra at all.
"What?…" Confused, Levi asked.
"Last night…when we were taking the elevator…" Mikasa recalled last night's events.
"Have you ever come here before?" Out of curiosity, and boredom, Mikasa asked.
"No…" Levi shook his head, this place was all new to him.
"I did, it's really fancy, honey, you'll lose it once you see our suite." Petra said, tugging on Levi's cravat.
"When did you come here?" The surprise on Levi's face was rather hard to hide, the fact that his fiancée came here before to was as new as this hotel was to him.
"Like a year ago, I had some work to do." Petra's hands kept playing with his cravat while she spoke, not minding him being slightly annoyed to know about this quite late.
"On your own?" Jealousy wasn't a familiar feeling Levi would usually have, not even now could he consider this jealousy because it wasn't.
"No, my partner came with me." Petra noticed the slight change in Levi's tone, and she could see the irritation clearly when looking him straight in the eyes.
"And—" Questions began outflowing his mind, but he contained himself and let the silence take place for now.
"And what?" Petra wasn't amused by the way he was talking to her.
"Nothing, we'll continue later." Though he was the one to b e avoiding discussing such subjects on the dinner's table, he was now the one doing it.
Mikasa found it funny, and no matter how many times she tried to contain her laughter, she still failed and let a smirk escape her.
"What's so funny?" Annoyed, Petra questioned.
"Nothing, I just remembered something." It was an obvious lie, there was nothing else to laugh about except for the lack of trust between two people who are about to get married.
"You know what made me laugh? The fact that you were asking her if she came alone to the hotel…and I'm guessing the question you didn't want to ask her in front of me, was whether she stayed in one room with her partner…" Mikasa tilted her head to the side and stared into Levi's eyes. "Because if you really loved her, you'd trust her…and you wouldn't ask her that."
"Are you a psychiatrist?" Levi was speechless for few seconds before he could finally ask.
"No, I just learnt few lessons from my own experience." She answered truthfully.
"…Your experience?" He got curious.
"…My experience in love, which I don't wanna talk about." A paiful experience, she could never erase from her memories no matter how hard she tried.
"…Why not? I just told you my story." He had just answered her questions, but she refused to answer his.
"Okay, I'll tell you my story once you answer my question." Her personal life wasn't something she would share with a stranger that easily.
"What question?"
"Are you going to marry her because you love her?" There was a smirk on her face for a second.
"What's the point of knowing my answer?" It wasn't like it would affect her after all.
"Personal reasons…" She claimed and gazed away from him. "Okay, let's have our breakfast now."
"Do you remember what happened last night?" He wanted to make sure she still remembered, because it didn't seem like it.
"What happened last night?" She She could still remember seeing him in the lobby and asking him to take her back to her suite, but she was oblivious on the rest, and whether the wine had her leaking some personal information about her.
"Were you drinking? Because I found you asleep on the couch in the lobby, unable to stand, then you asked me to walk you to your suite and when I did, you sat on the ground and slept there." He summarized what happened; it didn't deserve much details anyway.
"But I woke up in my bed today…" And she realized how she was clueless on how she got there, it only made her concerned, almost choking on her food.
"Yeah, thank me…" Levi snickered softly.
"Okay, just so you know, I only drink when I'm stressed…like really, really! stressed." She exclaimed, he hadn't mentioned anything important, it calmed her doubts a tad bit.
"You were fine when we met in the restaurant, what made you stressed?" It was now his turn to ask questions.
"That's personal too." Even though Levi never minded answering her questions no matter how personal they were, Mikasa still refused to tell him anything.
"Did you lose someone lately?" Recalling what she had said in her sleep while taking the elevator, Levi asked, and Mikasa's eyes lifted to gaze up at him, "You were saying something about…losing something you didn't want to lose because of somebody…"
"No!" She gulped and glared, "Look, Levi, I was drunk and I said some nonsense things, just drop it and don't ask me about it again." She slammed the fork on the table and stood up. "Now if you'd excuse me, I need to finish unpacking my stuff." She said before turning around and leaving the restaurant, she had no idea how far had she went telling him about her past, but it scared her to the fullest, and she wasn't going to stay and hear more.
What a girl! Levi thought to himself and watched her as she left.
Don't fucking cry!
She had repeated those words nonstop in her head all the way to her suite, everything hurt, her feet, her eyes, her heart, she broke down once shutting herself inside the suite, falling to her knees, tears tracing down her cheeks, her hands felt stoned, but she struggled and lifted them up to wipe those tears off, silencing herself.
She was a time bomb, but it wasn't time yet to explode, not yet.
There was a ringing, it was a message she had just received on her phone, so she forced herself up and walked back to the bedroom, reaching her hand to the nightstand and taking her phone, it was a message from Annie that said: "Your mother got your number, call me once you get this." She had five missed calls from her too, and stupid Mikasa forgot her phone again, but she called her back anyway.
"Mikasa…" Annie answered, "Good morning, I called you so many times but you didn't answer."
"Yeah…I forgot the phone in the room," She sat down on the bed, "anyway, what is it? What about mom?"
"Apparently she had been calling your old number and when she found it was out of service she came to your apartment, Armin and I met her halfway then she started asking about you and asked me for your new number…and I gave it to her…" She said with a hint of guilt in her tone.
"So, she didn't ask about me all six months long and now she suddenly remembered me?" Mikasa said; it was rather suspicious.
"Not exactly—" Annie bit on her lower lip and said, "She's been actually asking about you constantly…sometimes she'd meet me or Krista and ask us about you, she told us not to let you know…and I just did, but now since she obviously wants to talk to you personally, I thought I should tell you…so you wouldn't be shocked if she ever called." Annie explained everything to Mikasa.
"I see…" There was nothing more she could say; she couldn't even know whether to feel happy that her mother was thinking about her or get mad at her for it, "Thanks for telling me."
"So, how are you? Did you like the place?" Annie tried to change the subject, knowing how sensitive Mikasa is when it had something to do with her mother.
"Yes, it's pretty nice." But Mikasa's voice said it all, she was upset.
"…Forget about your concerns, Mikasa, and live your life,…use the chance of being away from people to think things over, you can control everything if you wanted to," Annie said in a cheering tone, "And then the world's full of handsome guys whom actually deserve you, believe it…you have to."
"Thanks, Annie…I will." Annie's words brought a small smile to Mikasa's lips, but not for so long.
"Alright…I'll talk to you later." Knowing that she would probably need some time alone, Annie wanted to end the call.
"Tell the others I said hi…" Mikasa said before the call ended and sighed to herself, she sat there lost in thoughts for a couple of minutes before getting up to finish unpacking her stuff, and to amuse herself, she turned on the TV.
"Christmas is around the corner, ladies and gentlemen," A journalist spoke, "we can even see the happiness outflowing everywhere, everyone is getting prepared for it, there is nothing compared to gathering with our families, friends, and lovers around the fire, recalling the wonderful memories we lived throughout the year and telling stories, I personally am going to spend this Christmas with my parents, I haven't seen them since a long time but Christmas night will make it up for sure," Mikasa sighed softly at the mention of 'parents', "Let us ask some citizens about their plans for Christmas this year…" The journalist walked towards a girl that was walking by and stopped her, "Good morning miss."
"Good morning…" The girl smiled at the camera.
"Can you introduce yourself for us, please?" The journalist asked kindly.
"Sure, my name is Sasha, I'm 23…" The girl grinned.
"Sasha, can you tell us how do you love spending Christmas night, with friends, or family? What do you do?"
"I usually spend it with my family, but this time I'm going to spend it with Connie; my fiancé." There was a light blush on Sasha's cheeks as she said that.
And Mikasa then looked up at the screen with wide eyes.
"He promised to take me to a beautiful place so we can spend it together and I'm so excited, I guess any girl would be excited to spend that night with her lover, hehe!" Sasha giggled softly.
"Good luck with him, Sasha…and hope you won't go through the same as me." Mikasa mumbled then turned off the Tv, everything around her was only reminding her with how stupid and naive she had been, reminding her with things she hated to remember, now only focusing on getting her stuff arranged, instead. She finished within an hour and got changed, wearing a coat and holding her bag in her hand, she then left the hotel for a walk.
The valet met her halfway at the hotel's entrance. "Miss, would you like me to get your car for you?"
"No, thanks, I'll go on a walk" Mikasa nodded at the valet then began walking in slow steps, her eyes wandering around, few kids playing here, some elders talking there, a family having fun together, everyone had something special to do at this time of the year, but all that caught Mikasa's gaze, was a little boy crying, at first she was going to simply ignore him and keep walking, but she couldn't help but stop and kneel down to him.
"Hey there, little buddy. Why are you crying?" She placed a hand over his head and patted him gently, but the kid kept crying, "Did someone hurt you, shouldn't you be playing with your friends?" She insisted to know.
"I d-don't…h-have toys." He cried out.
"Someone stole them from you?" She frowned.
"No, m-mommy and daddy…say that…toys are a waste of time a-and that they're too expensive and they can't buy them for me." He sobbed, "All my friends' parents bought them toys except for mine!"
"Aw! There's no need to cry darling, would you like me to buy you some?" Perhaps she had made a sin before, which had her going through all that pain for so long, and bringing a kid to smile was something she had always wanted to do, it would make her happy, so happy. The boy's eyes widened at her, "Would you like to come with me? We'll go to a close toys store and I'll buy you anything you like."
"For real?" The boy gasped in happiness, Mikasa nodded, "Yay! I'm in."
"I'm in too." Mikasa could swear she heard Levi.
"Levi!" It was him, indeed. "What are you doing here?"
"Well," He put his hands in his pockets, "I felt lonely after you left me and decided to go out for a walk…then I found you here with this kid and wanted to join you, you guys don't mind, right?"
"What about your fiancée?" Mikasa asked teasingly, "What would she say if she didn't find you in the hotel?"
"Let her wait, like I waited for her." Levi then leaned down and carried the kid on his shoulders, "Come on, let's go."
Mikasa smiled then nodded her head in agreement and walked ahead with the two.
"So, what's your name?" Levi asked, looking up at the kid.
"Alex!" He answered, tugging on Levi's shoulders.
"So, Alex, would you like to play a game?" Levi wasn't the kind to usually communicate with children, but he sure had his own way to do it.
"What is it?" The kid asked excitedly.
"How about we play the role of a family…This miss right here with us, and I are going to be your parents, and you're our little child, and we're all going to buy you some toys." Mikasa almost choked at Levi's words.
"Yes! I love this game!" Alex giggled innocently.
"And you?" Levi then looked at Mikasa, asking about her opinion.
"Um…" She stared into his eyes for a brief second before nodding, "That's a good idea, darling."
"Great, we're a family now." Levi held his hand out to her and said.
"…A family of strangers." She added before wrapping her arm around his and let the game begin.
And so they walked together all the way until they finally ended up in a toys' store, they walked in and Levi headed to one of the shelves to see some toys Alex might like, while Mikasa froze in her place, her eyes glistened with tenderness seeing Levi and Alex, she was unaware that she had been smiling at their sight, but the smile soon faded away, the tenderness that once filled her eyes was now nothing but pain and tears.
"Honey, come help us choose some toys." Levi called for her and she instantly wiped away her tears before he would notice and walked to him, but he still noticed. "Were you crying?"
"No…it's just cause of the cold, my eyes get teary." She lied.
"…You sure?" It was quite an obvious lie for him to believe.
"Yes."
"Mommy, which toy do you think I should buy?" Alex soon broke the awkward silence and asked.
Once they chose the toys to buy together, it was time for them to pay, and Mikasa was about to take out her wallet, but Levi stopped her.
"Hey, wait a minute, we're family, remember? I'm the father, paying is my responsibility." Levi's words got her and she stood there looking at him blankly. "Here sir…" And so Mikasa decided to put her wallet back and let Levi pay, they were family after all, and even though it was a fake family, she still loved it.
"Thank you for visiting my store." The store's owner said.
"No problem." Levi nodded and took the bag in his hand to hand it to Alex, but when they turned around to leave, the old man stopped them.
"Oh, wait a second…" He called out for them.
"Yes?" Levi paused and looked back at the man.
"I'm giving free Christmas necklaces for the families who visit my stores, give me a moment I'll get them." The man walked to one of the shelves where he was placing those necklaces.
"Oh, sir, actually we're n—" She was going to tell him, they weren't actually a family, but Levi had to interrupt her.
"Thank you so much, sir, we're always going to remember your store." There was no way he'd let her ruin the game when it just started to get better.
Even though Mikasa wanted to punch him so much because it felt more like a crime, but she still was having fun, the man gave them the necklaces and they wore them.
"I call them the wings of freedom," The necklaces represented wings, and they looked simply perfect on them. "Merry early Christmas, and happy new year." Returning his wishes, they left.
"Now, shall we take you back to your home?" Mikasa asked Alex.
"What's so rush? Is this all the families do? Just buy toys? Don't they have lunch together too?" Levi seemed to be enjoying the game so far to end it now.
"…Lunch? You're taking it way too far." Not that she didn't like it, but then again, the kid had parents whom must be so worried about him now.
"Why not? This is how it'll get even more exciting." Levi had no problem with taking things even further.
"Who said I'm not in, alright then my babies, let's go to a deluxe restaurant and have our lunch." Perhaps it'll be fun after all, Mikasa thought.
"What should we do after having lunch?" Levi asked, starting to walk.
"Let's build a snowman!" Alex suggested.
"That's actually a good idea." Mikasa couldn't help but adore the smile on Alex's face, she would never say no to him.
It was a matter of minutes before they found a good restaurant and reserved a table.
"So, darling, what should we order?" Checking the menu in his hands, Levi asked Mikasa.
"Let us ask our son, Alex, what do you wanna eat?" She then gazed down at the kid.
"Grilled fish!" He answered excitedly.
"Alright, grilled fish and a salad…" Levi nodded, ready to order.
Once their order was ready, they began eating, but Alex was having a problem with removing the fish bones, and Levi kept staring at him, he was about to offer his help but Mikasa beat him to it.
"Wait, dear, let me help you with this." She brought his plate close to her and began removing the spines for him.
"Thanks mom." Alex watched her carefully, and so did Levi.
"You love children, don't you?" He has noticed, and decided to ask at last.
"A lot," She gazed up at him, "…I love their innocence,…the kid's come to this world in hope for having a life just like they dream to, they don't carry a grudge in their hearts, and they don't know about what's surrounding them of cruel realities…I wish I could go back to that…when I still had that innocence…and before I find out about the painful truths that changed my life…." Mikasa failed to hide the pain in her eyes, and Levi could see through them.
"It tastes great, thanks mom." Alex's voice soon brought Mikasa back to the present time, she smiled and ruffled the boy's hair.
"It is probably too late to wish such a thing, but as long as we're alive, we still have a chance to see that innocence through the kids' eyes," Levi suddenly said, drawing a surprised expression on Mikasa's features. "We can have kids and watch their faces all the time to see it, and whenever they grow up, we can always have more kids if we miss seeing that innocence…"
"I have an idea!" Alex shouted, "Dad, why don't you marry mom and have kids with her?" He spoke in an even louder tone.
"Oi, brat, lower your tone…" Levi warned the kid, but it was too late, everyone was staring at them.
"People around us will get it wrong if they hear you saying that…" Mikasa smiled nervously down at the boy.
"Dad should marry mom, dad should marry mom, dad should marry mom!…" But Alex wanted to be a naughty kid and began shouting.
"Alright, fine I'll marry her, now shut up." Levi said in a hope for the kid to stop yelling.
"Yay! Mom and dad are getting married." Alex grinned happily.
"Oi! I said shut up—"
"Eh, in ancient times, the kids would come after the marriage, but nowadays they come earlier by years, what a foolish generation." An old woman mumbled to her husband as they passed by the table.
"Oh. Dear god." Mikasa's cheeks burned red, she couldn't find a place to hide or else she would have already done that. "Everyone is staring at us, I think I'm going to faint."
"No, no, honey, or else they're gonna think our second child is on the way." Levi said mockingly.
"I'm going to have a brother, yay!" There he goes, Alex shouting again.
"I'm sorry, sir, could you please make your son keep silent, it's going to cause problems for our restaurant, and rumors…" The waiter spoke as politely as he could.
"Uh! It's not what it looks like…you see we're not married." Levi tried to explain.
"Yes, I guess everyone knows that already." The waiter replied sarcastically.
"Also this isn't our child, we don't even know each other…" Mikasa tried to clarify things as well.
"Oh, yes, sure I do believe you, you're just a bunch of strangers who wanted to have lunch together." The waiter looked at the three of them poker-faced.
"…Even though it sounds weird…but yes." Levi then realized that didn't make things sound any better, but at least the waiter walked off. "Hurry up and finish your plate, we have to leave." Levi glared down at the kid.
"I never felt embarrassed as much as I did today." Mikasa let out a sigh once they finally left the restaurant.
"Why should we care about what people think? We know what's going on for real, we just wanted to help a kid to spend some good time before Christmas." Levi assured her, and he was right, there was no need to worry about other people. "Now, let's go to our last destination." Levi walked a bit faster with Alex, until he realized Mikasa was only following them from behind, so he paused and looked at her. "Mikasa, where's your hand? I want you to hold my hand like you did earlier."
"Oh…" She hesitated for a moment, but remembered that these moments wouldn't last forever, she needed to have some fun too, right? So she walked towards them and held his hand, "There."
"Perfect…" Their eyes met for a couple of silent seconds, "Let's go."
After few minutes, they arrived at a park that was all covered in snow, and it was the perfect place for them to build a snow man, a big one.
"Alright, we should get to work." Levi leaned down and put Alex on the ground.
"I feel like a child…" Mikasa chuckled while looking around the place.
"Well, you did say you wanted to be a child again, didn't you?" He invited her to be a child now.
"I know, and this is amazing."
All three enjoyed their time in each other's company, like a real family, for once, Levi and Mikasa were kids again, and their concerns were all forgotten with every snow ball they made, and when they thought they didn't know what having fun was, they realized how much they enjoyed and cherished every second, their efforts had them building a big snowman which they sat in front of to watch proudly.
"What do you think?" Mikasa asked Alex.
"Amazing!" Impressed, Alex said.
" it looks like your dad, doesn't he?" She glimpsed at Levi's face while saying so.
"Oh?" Levi then tossed some snow at Mikasa's face, "Nah, I think it looks more like you." He said mockingly.
"No," She avenged her face and tossed some snow at his, only declaring a war between the two of them, throwing snow balls at each other.
"Stop!" She demanded, and yet she was still making a snow ball to throw at him.
"Ladies first…"
"Fine…" She paused, and so did he. "I stopped."
"So did I."
"Good."
"Good." Levi could swear he saw her smirking, but he soon understood why when she tossed more snow at his face, wiping it all over it with her palm. "Fuck, this is cold…." His hands gripped her wrist and pulled it away from his face.
"You deserve it." She was ready to throw another snow ball at him she was holding in her other hand, but Levi reacted quickly and griped her other hand too, Mikasa struggled to free her hands from his hold, but all she got was being pushed down to the ground with her hands pinned forcefully on each side of her head…and him, over her.
There was silence then…and my eyes seemed too weak to avoid his gaze. He looked down at me with those sharp, blue eyes, and my heart skipped a beat. The heat in my body was burning…burning…For a second, I wished my clothes would burn with it, too, so I could feel the cold snow beneath me and cool down. I parted my lips to ask him to get off, but next thing I knew was his lips pressed forcefully to mine, and my eyes shut instantly…Why wouldn't my body move? Why wouldn't I push him away? Why am I letting an engaged man kiss me…It should stop…This was wrong, so wrong…but so unbelievably pleasing.
To Be Continued.