#tgbtr

Then her tongue was hot and slick and perfect on his tip, sucking his cockhead like a damned popsicle.

A deep guttural groan left him, his eyes blinking open blearily. His fingers immediately found her curls under the covers, his dull nails scraping against her scalp. Lingering sleepiness holding his limbs down, heavy and languid.

"Dahlia... fuck..."

She hummed soft and needy, muffled as she slid his length deeper into her mouth. His head fell back into the pillow, his eyes falling shut again, his lips dropping open at the sheer, delicious pleasure of her taking him so wholly.

Dahlia pulled off him with a lewd suck, the pop wet and muted. 

"Making up for lost time." Her voice drifting to him from beneath the sheet, warm, decadent, and absolute fucking sin incarnate. "Love your cock, handsome... So fucking perfect..."

Levi's heart stuttered, feral need striking through him like a bolt at her filthy words and adoration. Waking him completely.

Holy fucking shit. Unless- Was he dreaming?

His internal question was immediately answered as she took him in deep, the thick head of him slipping down her throat into pulsing, hot tightness, and Levi's breath left immediately in a whoosh.

She moaned around him. He felt her cheeks hollow as she sucked and swallowed him down as if her life depended on it.

His stomach jolted, his hips bucked. His fingers in her hair messily piled her curls, his other hand threw the sheets back so fast he shocked himself. He needed to see everything.

And he was met by the deliciously devilish view of Dahlia Bodea between his legs, her hands squeezing the tops of his muscled thighs as she deep-throated him to the point of gagging.

Oh. Fuck.

Aaaaaaand, he was done for. 

He orgasmed hard with a rough grunt, his back bowing off the mattress, eyes screwing shut, brow furrowed, mouth dropping open in the picture of pure ecstasy override.

What. The. Fuck. 

He lay there. Panting. In shock. Staring down at her in lustful bewilderment. 

He'd never come that fast in his damn LIFE.

"...witch."

She just grinned up at him, daintily wiping at the corners of her lips.

Levi blinked. "Absolutely. Fucking. Not."

Her smile was wicked, unrepentant. "Mm?"

"Come here."

"Whhhy?"

"Don't make me repeat myself."

"Ohhhh, is that an order, Sir~"

He pounced.

Dahlia cackled as Levi grabbed her and yoinked her atop him. Immediately pulling her into him and locking their lips in a heated, searing kiss. His tongue greedily slid against hers, stealing his taste back. Groaning filthily into her mouth as her hands pawed at his hair, his throat. 

Levi broke away from her just enough to growl wantonly, "You're a menace."

"You love it."

"I really fuckin' do."

And he swallowed her answering laugh, muffling it between their lips. 

He rolled them so damn quick, pinning her beneath him and slinging her left leg over his shoulder. 

She gasped at the sudden movement, and before she even had the time to think of something smart to say, he plunged into her. Drawing the most perfect fucking moan and cry from her he'd ever heard.

"Lev- AH! FUCK!"

His grin was a dark cut of straight white teeth as he nipped at her jaw, "What was that?"

His hips moved, slamming down, pulling a breathless scream from her as her eyes rolled back.

"Love this cock, Dahlia?" He pinned her wrists above her head one-handed and fell into a punishing, feral rhythm. Fucking her into the mattress hard, the four-poster bed frame rattling and smacking against the wall. "Fuckin' take it then, beautiful. It's all yours."

Her sounds of pleasure shot out of her in cacophony and symphony. Levi swallowed the sounds like a starving man, moaning low and desperate and completely unashamed into her mouth. The sounds of skin slapping echoed throughout the room and out into the open through the window, still cracked to let in the salt air. 

Part of his deeply possessive and dark mind hoped someone was awake so they could hear just how thoroughly he was claiming this vixen. Fuck. 

The other half wanted to steal her away and have her scream and scream for him in complete privacy, no one else worthy or deserving of hearing her beautiful music.

His palm came up to grasp her jaw in a firm hold, guiding her face back to him, looking him in the eye.

"Scream for me, Dahlia." He growled, "C'mon, sweetheart. Sound so fuckin' pretty for me."

Dahlia reacted to his dirty words instantly, moaning and crying out. 

He huffed as he rode her like it was his damn job. His grip on her wrists switched to grasp her thigh tightly, spreading her more, making her back arch. 

Her arms immediately latched around his shoulders, her nails scratching down his back. His eyes rolled back with a groan and a hiss.

He refocused on her, his grip on her jaw tightening, "Who does this pussy belong to, Dahlia?"

She gasped hard, her eyes dark and wide and completely lust-drunk. Shocked and absolutely devastated with wanton need at seeing his full, true possessive heart. Exposed and not going back in its box any time soon. If ever.

"To you," Dahlia cried out. "It belongs to you-"

"It belongs to me, what?"

He slammed into her hard, the head of him knocking deep into her, making her lose her breath.

She sobbed out in absolute ecstasy, "It belongs to you, Sir."

Levi half groaned, half growled, his hips picking up to a bruising, needy tempo. His teeth came down on her throat, marking her yet again. 

"That's right, beautiful." His fingers squeezed into the muscle of her inner thigh, driving into her with reckless abandon. "All mine."

His fingers left her jaw and snaked in between them, finding her clit, wet with her slick and their combined sweat. He worked it fast, his teeth coming down hard on her shoulder. 

"Gonna make this pussy weep, beautiful. C'mon. Spill for me."

"Fuc- Levi- I-"

His grip on her thigh left, and he swatted her ass in a sharp sting before grasping it firmly, kneading hard. Adding his own strength and pressure to her answering bucks and thrusts against him.

"Give it to me, Dahlia." His fingertips circled quickly. The walls of her core fluttered and bore down around his thickness as he continued his assault on her senses. Hitting right against the heart of her that made her sob and scream out in desperate pleasure. It made him choke out a stuttered moan. 

"Fuck-" His fingers pinched her clit, rolling and squeezing. His cock pounded and dragged against her g-spot over and over and over. He needed it. He craved it. He was practically fucking chomping at the bit-

"LEVI!"

His name left her lips in a gorgeous scream of wanton abandon, her body bowstring tight and arching and trembling. And he felt her heat pulse and quiver around him, sucking his cock down.

She. Shattered.

Her gorgeous essence and pleasure spilled and pumped from her, soaking his pelvis.

Levi Ackerman was on cloud nine. Riding her through every fucking wave, lewd groans rumbling and whimpering out of him. His forehead bowed down, pressing against hers in sweat and heat and lust and utter complete surrender.

"Such a good girl for me... shit... ha- Just like that, beautiful- fuck yes-"

He stared down at his cock disappearing into her over and over again, glistening with her cum, he felt the telltale pull in his spine, white-hot pleasure gathering and zinging.

Levi shivered and found her mouth again, plunging his tongue and savoring and devouring her taste.

He groaned against her lips, "Want me to fill you, Dahlia?"

"Fuck yes." She whimpered out a sob, "Please. Pleaseplease, Leviiii-"

And he was done for.

His hips slammed into hers, his cock twitching hard as he let go. A breathless moan into her mouth as their lips locked in ecstasy. His seed painted her entirely. He swallowed and craved every single whimper from her, every muffled cry, every way her body shivered and bucked and writhed for him.

His voice a rasping growl, muffled and sloppy through their kiss, and his quiet groans of pleasure:

"Mine. Fuckin' mine."

She whimpered and mewed as they rode through their aftershocks. Levi pressed himself tight and close, his cock deeply nestled into the heart of her, his breath puffing out of him in gasps.

And then slowly, softly, he finally released her leg, laying it back down on the mattress. Massaging the muscles at her hip and waist. She sighed at the relief. And he pulled out of her slowly, reluctantly. Not wanting to leave her. But gravity won out, his body already rolling sideways and onto his back beside her.

Completely fucking spent.

For a long while, neither of them moved. The room thick with heat and ragged breathing. One of his forearms draped over his eyes as he struggled to catch his breath and slow his heart rate.

Dahlia looked equally ruined as she starfished next to him, sweaty, boneless, and entirely obliterated. Staring somewhere into the middle distance as their brains and bodies slowly rebooted.

After several long, breathless moments, Dahlia managed a weak little sound.

"...oh."

Levi made a vague grunt that might've been an acknowledgment.

"...ohhhhh."

He slowly dragged his arm down just enough to peer at her through narrowed eyes. Immediately suspicious. Dahlia turned her head toward him with the sluggish grace of someone operating on approximately one functioning brain cell.

Hair stuck to her flushed face. Her sage eyes heavy-lidded. Entirely too pleased with herself. And stupidly gorgeous.

"I like you like this..." A weak little accusatory finger lifted in his direction. "Why I no get this before?"

He let out a long breath through his nose, before rasping a: "...Shut up."

"Never."

Dry as ever, despite sounding halfway dead. "Good."

Dahlia blinked at him. "...Eh?"

Levi shifted enough to look at her properly this time. His expression wrecked... His hair completely fucked. The marks she'd left red and raised across his skin.

"...I like when you talk back."

Dahlia stared at him. Then groaned in dramatics, her palms clapping over her face, "You can't saaaaaaaay that-"

"Hn. Tough shit."

"Gimme a chance to recover before egging me on to climb you, fucking hell."

Levi huffed a soft, smug laugh. "Not a chance."

Dahlia grinned... then it softened. Something quieter settled over her expression as she looked at him. 

"...Ya know," she murmured softly, shifting closer, lazily dragging fingertips over his ribs. "I think there were lots of times..." she said carefully, "where you wanted to be like that and stopped yourself."

Levi went still. Dahlia watched him with patient warmth, constantly free of judgment... 

His sweet woman.

"...Maybe."

Her fingertips kept moving in gentle passes, "I always wondered."

He snorted softly, before exhaling slowly. "...Didn't know what you'd think." It came out rougher than he'd intended, honest and raw. "I know how I can be."

Dahlia shifted onto her side, fully facing him. "No."

Levi frowned. "No?"

"No." Her fingers found his jaw, turning his face back toward hers. "What you are is fiercely devoted, protective, intense, and entirely too competent for your own good. And with this particular flavor of honesty..." her mouth curled wickedly, "...I am very much not complaining."

Levi stared at her. Dahlia grinned with full menace. "...Quite the opposite, actually."

He barked a warm laugh, and something in his chest loosened. All this time, he'd feared she'd recoil from this part of him. That she'd see something ugly. Too much and too intense... And instead? She looked at him like he'd handed her a gift.

Dahlia leaned closer until their noses brushed. "Levi."

"...Mm?"

"I love all of you."

The words landed straight in the center of him. She whispered soft and true, "My polished, straight-nosed captain... Broken-survivor child of the deep... The man who holds so much softness in him, it breaks me..."

Dahlia swallowed hard, cupping his cheek in whole love and devotion. Levi... could not breathe. 

"My absolute sarcastic bastard. Driest humor I've ever heard... and makes me damn near piss myself with laughter... The man who has owned my heart and soul for years and never claimed it because he believed himself unworthy..." She whispered gently and reverently, "Until tonight..."

Her fingers threaded through his, her lips at his temple, pressing soft, gentle kisses.

"...You are worthy... You're wanted and loved. Give me your fire, Levi... I crave it... always."

Levi swallowed hard. "Dahlia..."

She shook her head softly, staring into his silver gaze, her fingertips tracing the scar across his brow and down over his eyelid, his cheek, his jaw, his chin...

"My love... understand me. When I say that you are mine." Dahlia sat up slightly, her fingers gripped his chin, "I mean it. You. Are. Mine. And I want all of you, gorgeous man..."

Her words reverberated through every hollow place inside him like a bell struck clean through bone. No one had ever spoken to him like this. Seen him like this. Wanted every fractured, jagged, difficult piece and looked at it with reverence instead of caution. 

He stared at her, his silver and milky eyes wide. Breathing shallow. Completely, utterly stunned.

"Dahlia..." It came out thin and a little wrecked.

What the hell was he supposed to say to that? Thank you? I love you? 

Those words suddenly felt laughably inadequate for the way his chest felt like it had split clean open.

Dahlia's expression softened in sweetness and understanding. Her thumb brushed over his cheek- 

He moved. One second, she was straddled over him with all that impossible tenderness in her eyes. The next, she yelped as he surged, hooked an arm around her waist, and bodily hauled her, pushing her back into the mattress.

"LEVI!" She hit the pillows with a startled laugh. 

He came over her immediately, bracketing her in, looking a little wild, overwhelmed, and deeply stunned. Breathing hard.

She blinked up at him and giggled, "Have I finally managed to break ye?" 

Levi stared down at her, still visibly processing absolutely none of this in a coherent fashion.

"...I don't know what the fuck to say."

Dahlia's grin turned wicked instantly. "Heh heh. I'll take that as a yes."

"Tch." He kissed her hard and deeply, catastrophically emotional. Dahlia melted beneath it immediately, soft laughter disappearing into his mouth. When he finally parted enough to breathe, his forehead pressed to hers. "...So that's what you're getting."

Dahlia blinked again, a little owlishly and breathless. And barked out a laugh.

"Your response to emotional vulnerability is attack?"

Levi looked completely unrepentant. "Yes."

"Remarkably on brand."

"Hn."

Dahlia's hands slid into his hair again. "Mm... well." Those tiny, smug little words snapped the last thread of his self-control.

Levi narrowed his eyes. "...You knew exactly what you were doing."

"Whaaaat?" Her grin became positively devilish. "You give me new buttons to push and expect me not to?"

"Brat."

"And you adore me."

"...That's beside the point."

Dahlia cackled. And Levi, still entirely emotionally demolished and with absolutely no better coping skills available, kissed the absolute shit out of her. 

* * *

The room had long since fallen quiet again. Only the soft hush of waves beyond the open window and the uneven rhythm of their breathing filled the dark. Moonlight spilled in silver bars across tangled sheets and sweat-sheened skin, painting the room in something dreamlike and impossibly soft.

Levi lay half-draped over Dahlia, one arm beneath her shoulders, the other spread broad and warm across her stomach where his fingers moved in absent strokes against her flushed, freckled skin. Every inch of him felt heavy, warm and boneless in the most satisfying way. And yet his mind couldn't stop turning.

Dahlia shifted slightly beneath him, her fingertips tracing lazily through the damp strands of his hair...

"You're in your head..." she murmured softly, her voice roughened by exhaustion and affection and all the ways he'd loved her tonight... She knew him entirely too well. 

Levi lifted his gaze to hers. "...hn?"

"What is it?"

He stared at her for a long moment as he thought... Trying to find the right words for the ache sitting quietly beneath all this fullness. 

He spoke low and rough in the intimate quiet between them:

"...Give me something before you go."

Dahlia's expression softened immediately. "Like what?"

Levi swallowed. "Something." The word came quieter this time. He wasn't even sure how to explain it.

Dahlia hummed softly in thought, her fingers absentmindedly tracing his shoulder as she considered.

"Well..." she murmured. "You already have the watch." Her hand drifted toward the leather strap and glass pendant resting at her throat. "...I could give you this?"

The moment her fingers touched Johannes's necklace, Levi immediately shook his head.

"No." Dahlia paused. His silver eyes locked onto hers. "...Give me a truth... Please..."

Something in her expression shifted into softness. Dahlia was quiet for several beats, thoughtful beneath him. Then a slow smile touched her lips in fond memory:

"...Did I ever tell ye how my pappy proposed to my ma?"

Levi's brow twitched faintly. "No."

Her smile warmed. "Heh." Her fingers drifted through his hair again. "Well..." she murmured softly. 

Levi settled more fully against her, chin resting lightly against her chest as he watched her face in the moonlight.

And Dahlia began.

"My pappy..." she said, her voice turning soft with memory, "Dietrich Bodea. Though most everyone who knew him called him The Duke." A faint sleepy grin touched her mouth. "He came down from the mountains as a young man and took Marley by absolute storm."

"He played the strings and sang like he'd swallowed sunlight and whiskey." Her lips curved fondly. "And gods, did he know he was handsome. Women absolutely threw themselves at him. Wasn't lonely ever..."

Levi huffed softly. "Sounds insufferable."

She laughed quietly, "Aye. Probably was." Her expression softened, "And then one night, while he was performing in a venue in Marley proper... she walked in. My ma." Her voice gentled. "Short little thing. Slight as a reed. Deep yellow-blonde hair that hung straight and fell to about her waist. Dancing to his music like he'd lassoed her soul..."

"And my pappy..." She laughed under her breath. "He stopped the whole damned performance... Tried to charm her same as he had every other woman before. And my mother looked him dead in the face and told him she wouldn't be another strike on his tally."

He outright smirked. "...I like her."

Dahlia beamed. "But my pappy was done for..." Her fingers slowed in Levi's hair. "He kept visiting the town after that," she said quietly. "Found and invented reasons. Scraping for any excuse to see her. Even went as far as speaking to my grandfather."

Levi's brow lifted. Dahlia laughed sleepily against the pillow. "My granda apparently told him..." she dropped into a rougher imitation of his old voice, "She's hard-headed. That's your own battle."

He rumbled a chuckle against her skin. Dahlia continued, her fingers still lazily combing through Levi's hair as the sea breeze drifted softly through the open windows.

"So," she murmured, her voice warm with sleepy amusement, "as my ma always told it... my pappy kept right on pursuing. And my ma? Oh, she was absolutely smitten."

"But," Dahlia added, holding up a finger against his shoulder as if this were a grave and critical detail, "stubborn as an absolute ox. She refused to be lured in by some charming cad just because he had..." Dahlia's voice took on an imitation, clearly parroting her mother's old tone, rolling her r's and dragging her vowels hard, "a pretty face and a croon."

She met Levi's gaze directly, dry as dust. "See?" she said solemnly. "I come by it naturally."

Levi snorted so sharply he nearly laughed himself fully awake. "Glad to know my suffering is your genetic heritage."

Dahlia grinned wickedly. "Thank the Duke."

He dramatically tipped his head back to stare toward the ceiling as if appealing to a higher power:

"Thanks, Duke."

She barked a sleepy laugh, the sound bright and fond and so deeply her that Levi felt warmth spread through his chest all over again.

"Time passed..." she murmured, her expression softening. "And one day, my pappy showed up with a bouquet he'd picked himself. Of bright edelweiss and lavender sprigs." Dahlia's expression shifted into delighted exasperation. "And that dramatic bastard confessed his love."

Levi huffed, "Bold."

"I think you mean deranged, mo ghràidh," Dahlia corrected immediately.

That got a real laugh from him. She continued, visibly trying not to crack up.

"And after all of that..." She pressed her lips together, shoulders already starting to shake. "After all his pursuing and grand declarations and moon-eyed nonsense..." She lost the fight and laughed. "Finally-" she wheezed, "finally the damned lass agreed to one date." Dahlia could barely get the words out around her laughter.

Levi stared at her for a beat... in quiet disbelief. "One?"

"ONE."

He shook his head against her shoulder. "Your entire bloodline sounds exhausting."

Dahlia gasped in theatrical offense. "We are romantics."

"You're terrorists."

She cackled outright, half burying her face into his hair as the sound spilled warmly through the quiet room. Dahlia finally settled enough to continue, though the smile on her lips hadn't gone anywhere.

"Needless to say," she murmured, "one date was apparently all it took for little Giselle O'Malley to stop faffing about and denying what everybody else with functioning eyes could already see."

Levi huffed softly against her skin.

"But after that? Attached at the hip. It took my pappy a grand whopping three months before he asked her to marry him."

Levi blinked. "...Fuckin' hell."

Dahlia immediately grinned. "Right?"

"Guy was serious."

"Aye. And according to him?" She added with entirely too much delight, "That was him being patient."

The words were teasing and light, her reminiscing about her long-gone parents... And yet, something in Levi went utterly still. All at once, entirely against his will, his mind supplied one savage, very unhelpful thought:

The old geezer had proposed in three months? He'd known Dahlia for years.

Dahlia's fingers continued their slow, absent strokes through Levi's hair, scratching lightly at his scalp in a way that made him practically liquefy against her. Reducing him to the equivalent of an overindulged cat. 

It should have been humiliating. And yet... he couldn't find it within himself to give one singular fuck. And if he had the ability to purr, he would have.

Her voice softened as she continued, her gaze drifting somewhere far beyond the inn room now, deep in memory.

"It was mid-spring," she murmured gently. "And my pappy took her up the mountain path. There's an overlook in the Korradai...Rolling hills for miles. Everything green and white that time of year with fresh blooming edelweiss."

As she spoke, Levi could practically see it. 

"He took his guitar. Led her all the way up there under some excuse..." Her smile twitched. "Then he knelt in front of her while she sat atop some little boulder like she was a bloomin' queen."

Levi huffed softly.

"And he sang to her... Gave her a simple gold band afterward," she whispered. "One that had belonged to my nonna."

Levi's eyes fluttered open fully then. He'd half drifted beneath her touch without realizing it. He took in the softness in her face. The whimsical warmth in her eyes as she stared off as she revisited something genuinely sacred to her...

This story... was something she'd clearly heard a hundred times growing up. Whether for bedtime stories or warm conversation around the dinner table... And for a moment, Levi could almost see the little girl she'd once been. Maybe curled up somewhere warm with Johannes, listening to their parents and dreaming of their own futures...

His chest tightened. Barely more than a whisper, he asked:

"...Can I hear it?"

Dahlia's gaze shifted back to him. Her lips broke open in a soft, small... unbelievably sweet smile. 

"...aye."

The room fell utterly still around them. Only the sea beyond the windows. The soft rustle of sheets and their quiet breathing.

Gentle and low into the quiet warmth between them... she sang.

"Edelweiss... Edelweiss..." Her voice wrapped around him instantly, soft and consuming as silk... "Every morning you greet me..."

Levi didn't move. Didn't think he even breathed.

"Small and white... clean and bright... You look happy to meet me..."

Something inside his chest physically ached.

"Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow... bloom and grow... forever..."

His silver gaze stayed locked on her face, memorizing every flicker of expression as she serenaded him in the small, intimate space...

"Edelweiss... Edelweiss..." Her voice grew even softer to an almost whisper. "Bless my homeland forever..."

Silence followed that felt... damn near sacred. Goose flesh rose on his skin as he gazed at her. 

Levi's voice was quiet and a little raspy, "...He wrote that for her?"

Dahlia's expression softened immediately into something heartachingly gentle. Slowly, she shook her head.

"No, mo ghràidh..." The endearment landed warm and soft against the raw places inside him. Her fingers drifted once through his hair before she continued in that same quiet voice. "That's the song of old Eldia."

Levi went utterly still. The words settled between them with staggering weight.

Old Eldia. 

A time... before walls, and bloodlines turned into weapons. And generation upon generation inheriting grief and rage and hatred like heirlooms...

His gaze searched her face helplessly. And Dahlia only looked back at him with quiet certainty, her thumb brushing once against his temple.

Levi swallowed hard. His chest hurt. The enormity of it wrapped around him all at once... That Dahlia had just sung him something ancient and sacred... something that belonged to her people. Their people... Eldians...

And something deep inside him... something hardened and starved and ancient in its own right... cracked open at the power of his golden woman's soul...

Levi was quiet for another long moment, still lying half-draped across her. His voice soft and unmoored, "...What does edelweiss look like?"

Dahlia blinked down at him, slowly quirking her head, one brow arching with unmistakable teasing. "Weren't payin' attention, eh?"

"Oh, sure. Lemme think." Levi deadpanned up at her immediately. His voice took on the driest imitation of enthusiasm imaginable. "Small and white." He rolled his eyes dramatically. "Real fuckin' descriptive."

Dahlia snorted so hard it startled a laugh out of both of them. Her grin softened into something fond. 

"It's a wee alpine flower with white petals. They're almost as soft as velvet." Her fingers traced an absent shape against his shoulder as she spoke. "Usually star-shaped with a tiny yellow center. They grow high in the mountains where the air gets thinner." 

Her voice gentled, gaze drifting somewhere far away again. "Tucked between stone and grass where ye'd think nothin' that delicate ought survive... But they do..." Dahlia smiled softly. "Stubborn little things."

Levi stared up at her, one corner of his mouth twitched. "Reminds me of someone..."

Dahlia blinked. "Eh?"

"Hn. You." Levi settled more comfortably against her like a smug bastard.

Dahlia gasped in mock offense. "Are ye callin' me delicate?"

"Survives in impossible conditions. Pretty. Stubborn as hell."

Her expression shifted, eyeing him with bright, sharp green eyes:

"You think I'm pretty?"

Levi went completely still, realizing the trap he'd marched straight into. 

Dahlia's grin turned absolutely wicked. Levi clicked his tongue.

"Tch."

She wheezed, "Mans flipped me, folded me, named me goddess, and he's flustered at callin' a lass pretty, I cannaeee-" She laughed outright, wrapping herself around him tighter while his ears betrayed him with bright pink.

But fuckin' hell... It felt unbearably good to laugh with her like this.

"...Go to sleep, brat..."

"Make me."

He pounced again.

Some smut and fluff for you, my lovelies. Ya know. Before the big ouchies 🥰 And we get a little more insight on Dahlia's family and the ideals she grew up with 💖

Previous | You Are Here | Next Chapter

Dahlia remained fast asleep beside him, utterly comfortable where she'd tucked herself close against him sometime in the night. One arm draped loosely across his middle beneath the sheets. Her hair spilled wildly across the pillow in golden-copper tangles, soft in the morning light.

Levi's gaze traced over every familiar detail... The faint spray of freckles dusted across her nose and cheeks, counting them without realizing he was doing it. The soft sweep of pale lashes resting against her sleep-flushed cheeks. 

The elegant line of her brow. The scar interrupting the natural arch of one of them... A small imperfection of hers he'd always found himself irrationally attached to. The story attached to it playing in his mind, of the time she'd fallen, slamming her face into the gravel as she was chasing her brother...

His fingertips twitched with the urge to trace it.

She looked peaceful and safe... The sight hollowed something inside his chest in the most unbearable way... Not wanting to wake her. Not wanting for this day to become reality... 

But he also didn't want her to feel rushed, for her morning and farewells to her loved ones to become frantic and cut short... 

He swallowed hard and made himself stay still. He could give her a little longer of comfortable rest... He could give himself that... Just a little longer to exist here beside her, feeling her silken skin against his own. The steady rise and fall of her chest... the slow thump, thump, thump of her heart...

To selfishly pretend the world outside this room didn't exist yet.

So he lay there in the growing dawn, one hand resting lightly over hers where it draped across him, and quietly loved her with every shattered, devoted piece of himself. His woman... The love of his life. His anamchara. And soon... he would have to let her go to walk her own path.

Eventually, Dahlia stirred on her own with a slow, sleepy shift and roll beneath the sheets. She stretched languidly beside him like a contented cat, one bare leg tangling briefly with his before she made the softest little sound and instinctively nuzzled her face into the center of his chest.

Levi's hand slid automatically into her tangled hair, fingers combing gently through the copper-gold mess as he pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.

"Mornin'..." he murmured, his voice rough and raspy.

Dahlia made a soft little hum against him.

"...Good morning." Her voice was all gravel and warmth and sleep, and Levi felt something in his chest go painfully soft.

After another moment, she tipped her face up, and their eyes met. Her lips curled into a gentle, sleepy smile, her eyes full of heartbreaking fond brightness.

"... Isn't it funny that there was a time when you didn't trust yourself to sleep next to me again?"

The words landed quietly between them.

Levi swallowed, and he slowly nodded. 

The memory came back ugly and immediate of that night when he'd had his nightmare... his fucking birthday night. The night that he was convinced he was going to gather the guts to actually confess and tell her how much he loved her when they woke up...

But instead... he'd woken in blind terror with his hand pushing a blade to Dahlia's throat... He still felt the horror of realizing what he'd done. What he could've done.

That moment had become the catalyst for so much of what came after. His retreat... His fear and self-loathing.

For a moment neither of them spoke, just gazing at each other in the soft morning light. 

Dahlia whispered gently, "I'm glad that's changed."

Levi leaned in and brushed his lips against hers in a lingering, gentle kiss. When he pulled back, his voice came low and certain. "...I would never hurt you knowingly."

Dahlia's expression didn't even waver. "I know. I told you as much."

Levi's jaw tightened faintly. "...I know you did." He swallowed. "...I'm sorry-"

"Hush." She pinched his ribs near his waist, making him twitch. "No more apologies."

Levi stared at her. Dahlia narrowed her eyes. "If you give me one more sorry, I'm ticklin' you."

He deadpanned immediately. "Not ticklish."

Her expression became deeply offended. "Pig shite. Are so."

"No."

"Yes."

"Woman," Levi said flatly, "I think I would know if I-"

Dahlia's hand darted downward, quick as a light. Her fingers dug mischievously into the low V of his pelvis, just beneath his hip-

Levi froze hard. A short, undeniable squeaked yelp left his lips, and he jolted back. The sound was so immediate and undignified that both of them froze. For exactly one heartbeat. Dahlia's eyes went wide. Then absolutely lit the fuck up.

His face went murderous instantly. "Don't you fuckin' dare-"

"C'mere-"

"Dahlia-"

She lunged again. Levi twisted violently away, grabbing for her wrist while she dissolved into cackling laughter against his back as she strained to dig at his sensitive spot.

"I'm stronger than you, brat-!"

"Nuh uh! Gimme that hip-"

"Fuck off-!"

Dahlia wheezed and grinned at him, absolutely unaffected by his death glare over his shoulder.

He clicked his tongue. "I'm leaving."

"This is your room."

"...Shut up."

She absolutely lost it. And despite himself and everything looming over them? Levi laughed too, immediately twisting and launching at her to exact revenge. Grinning like an unrepentant demon as she immediately squealed for mercy. 

* * *

Dahlia lay absolutely obliterated across the bed, spread out like a dried-up starfish. Her hair everywhere, her limbs splayed without an ounce of dignity left in her body. She wheezed dramatically, "...You kill me."

Levi, still catching his breath beside her, barely cracked an eye open. "Loud corpse you are."

She made an affronted noise and weakly whapped him. He snorted as she huffed and turned her head away in theatrical offense, lower lip jutting into a ridiculous pout as she stared toward the open window.

The sunlight had climbed noticeably higher now. The silver-blue softness of dawn steadily giving way to brighter gold spilling across the sea.

Reality crept back in with cruel inevitability...

Dahlia's expression shifted, the humor in her eyes softening. 

"...Spose..." she murmured quietly... smaller. "...Spose it's about that time, eh?"

Levi's chest tightened immediately. The easy warmth of the morning seemed to drain straight out of the room. He let out a slow breath through his nose. He swallowed hard, nodded. "...Yea, beautiful." His low voice carried a soft heaviness. 

Their eyes met... And there was that looming heartbreak they'd both been outrunning all night and into the morning.

Dahlia's eyes welled almost instantly. She sniffed hard and scrubbed a rough hand down her face before the tears could properly fall. He watched her with something aching and helpless in his chest.

She visibly forced herself into a playful pout instead. "...Can you go fetch my clothes for me?" she asked, her voice trying very hard for casual. "They're on my dresser in my room."

He understood exactly what she was doing... He let her have it.

Slowly, he nodded. "Yeah." Leaning over, he pressed a tender lingering kiss to her lips. "...Be right back."

Then he forced himself upright, his muscles protesting. Dahlia made a tiny smug sound at his slight struggle. Levi shot her a flat look. She grinned despite the tears threatening her eyes.

Damn... He loved her.

Quickly, he pulled on yesterday's clothes, tugging his shirt and trousers back into place before snagging her inn room key from the bedside table. After one final glance back at her sprawled in his bed, he slipped out the door.

Levi returned only a few minutes later with the small stack of clothes Dahlia had set aside for herself folded over one arm. He'd grabbed her toiletries so they could bathe together. 

When he stepped back into the room, he immediately saw the redness lining her eyes, telling the tale of how she'd cried the moment he'd left...

His chest squeezed so sharply it almost stole his breath. She looked up at him from where she now sat upright in the bed, the sheets pooled loosely around her hips. Her golden curls were an absolute riot around her shoulders, wild and tangled from his hands, and tumbling against the sheets all night long...

And despite the ache in his chest, a small, fiercely possessive part of him took entirely unreasonable pride in the sheer state of it. Her smile when she looked at him was small and brave. And it absolutely wrecked him.

Levi set her things down and stepped to her side of the bed. 

His hand rose to cup her cheek, thumb brushing lightly across warm skin and bent to kiss her in slow love. His mouth moving against hers with quiet devotion while his thumb gently brushed away the last stubborn traces of tears she'd tried so hard to hide from him.

When he finally pulled back, his forehead rested briefly against hers.

"...C'mon," he murmured softly, his voice rough around the ache in his chest. "Let's get cleaned up."

She sniffed softly and nodded. "...Okie."

He pressed one last kiss to her forehead before straightening and offering her his hand.

The shower was quiet save for the sound of water streaming down their bodies and hitting the tiled floor. Steam curled thickly through the small washroom, fogging the mirror and softening the edges of the world until it felt like they existed in some private little pocket outside of time.

Their hands brushed and kneaded at each other in tender intimate touch. A strange, heartachingly slow ritual in the narrowing hours before goodbye...

He stood behind her, carefully working shampoo suds through her riotous curls. His touch gentled as he massaged the back of her scalp, the nape of her neck. His thumbs pressed careful circles that gradually coaxed the tension from her shoulders.

She melted beneath his hands, a soft hum leaving her. His throat tightened at the simple familiarity and domestic act of it. Something they could have had together every day if he hadn't-

He halted his thoughts. There was no point cycling through the regret now. He just needed to be present with her. Bury these moments into his memory so deeply that he would never ever forget.

After rinsing, she turned toward him. The heat of her curling and radiating into his own beneath the streaming water. Her hands moved slowly over his chest, smoothing soap suds across hard muscle with intentional focus and devotion. Over his shoulders... Down his arms. Across scars she'd memorized long ago.

Levi watched her with a softness he couldn't hope to explain. She looked at him like she was trying to commit every inch of him to her soul. Their lips found each other in warmth and shared breaths.

"Love you," he murmured against her lips.

"And I you," she whispered back.

Their kiss deepened, their arms circling around each other. Their golden bond humming in iridescence. A mutual, wordless understanding.

One more time.

Complete trust and aching wholeness in their embrace, her thighs hoisted up and tight around his waist. His hold secure as he pressed her against the tile. Neither of them cared that their muscles strained in decadent soreness. That their skin still held the lingering sensitivity of a night spent loving each other so completely.

Dahlia's breathy sighs disappeared into Levi's mouth as he kissed her slowly, swallowing each soft sound while the water cascaded down their body. His lips wandered over damp skin in lingering affection, pressing warmth wherever they landed.

Her vanilla-lavender and his bright citrus mixed in the steam, wrapping around them so thoroughly he hoped it would soak straight into his bones. Letting him carry her with him always.

His lips pressed along the tender bruises and marks he'd left scattered across her skin as he filled her once more. Burying his length deep into her heat. Her involuntary shiver and whimper made his dark heart twist fiercely.

Her fingers traced across the answering marks she'd left on him. Down the scratches across his back, the bruises and bites at his shoulders and collar. Levi exhaled roughly at the shiver and zing crawling up his spine.

His low rasp brushed the shell of her ear. "Feel what you do to me?"

"Mmm yes..." Dahlia's answering sigh of pleasure and intimacy made his hips grind deeper, closer. Never wanting to forget what it felt like to complete her like this. 

"I'll never fuckin' forget you..." Levi whispered, rocking with her in heated inevitability. His heart in his throat, his teeth at her clavicle. "You live in my bones... always."

"You're mine, Levi," She whimpered, soft and sweet for him. Her fingers digging into the muscles at the small of his back as they moved. "Love you so much..."

Their climaxes cresting within them in a gorgeous ache of soft ecstasy and belonging. Their chests heaving, their breaths shared. Their words of adoration and complete reverence existing only between them in the small space. Their eyes tracing every part of the other... vowing to carry every piece of these moments with them forever. 

Eventually... it was time. They could not delay any longer...

The water shut off, and the steam slowly began to dissipate in the bathroom. And with it came the unavoidable reality that they needed to get moving.

Dahlia hummed softly under her breath as she pulled on a comfortable pair of pants that cinched high at her waist. Lacing up her tall trusty leather boots over them.

Levi had just tugged on fresh dark grey trousers from his duffle when he glanced over and watched as she pulled on a grey pullover. A very familiar grey pullover. She dragged it over her head without hesitation, the soft worn fabric swallowing her as the hem sat low over her hips, and the wide neckline slipped down on one of her shoulders, making his brain short-fire.

His eyes narrowed, clicking his tongue in a low tch. She quirked a brow at him in question.

"I'm never gettin' that back, am I?" Levi groused as he shouldered into a clean black button-up, adjusting his collar with a practiced flick.

"Nope." The p popped sharply off her lips.

Levi stared at her, slowly buttoning up his shirt. Dahlia, completely unbothered, returned to drying her hair and humming under her breath. 

He rolled his eyes, fighting to keep the smirk from his lips. "Absolute brat..." His admonishment held zero heat. If anything, he was annoyed at how his blood seemed to always burn for her.

"Mm." She smoothed the front of the shirt in proud fondness. "It smells like you..."

Levi froze mid-motion as he pulled on his boots. His one silver and one blind, milky eye flicked back up to her, like he needed confirmation she'd just said that.

She gave him a gentle smile and returned to getting ready, not expanding further. And Levi... his chest felt so full, and aching, and... fuck, he didn't even know what to say back to that. So he settled on: "...fine." 

To which she just chuckled, her fingers scrunching softly around her damp curls, working oils into the hair.

He left her to finish drying and taming her curls properly. Leaning in, he pressed a quick kiss to her temple. "I'll bring your bag downstairs."

Dahlia smiled at him through the mirror, fingers already halfway through the chaotic golden mass on her head. "...Thank you, handsome."

The soft endearment landed warm beneath his ribs. Levi clicked his tongue softly to hide the way his expression had softened, and his eyes had welled slightly against his will. His hand reached out and ruffled the damp hair at the top of her head. 

"ACK- You little shite-" She reached back, aiming to whap him in the stomach. 

But he'd already stepped back smoothly, dodging. He gave her a rare boyish smirk, chuckling roughly at her affronted expression in the mirror, and promptly stepped out of the room with her inn key in hand.

The quiet of the hallway felt a bit like whiplash after leaving the warm humor of the moment. He crossed to Dahlia's room and let himself inside with a soft huff. It was obviously untouched. The bed sat perfectly made, her bag sat beside the dresser still open from when he'd rummaged through it previously. 

He packed her clothes from yesterday neatly into the duffle, added her toiletries, checked once to make sure nothing had been forgotten, then slung the bag over his shoulder.

The inn had begun its slow, sleepy awakening as he made his way downstairs. Low voices from the back kitchen and the faint clatter of dishes signaled the staff had begun breakfast prep.

He set Dahlia's duffle beside a corner table near the wall; his gaze dropped to his watch.

7:30.

...Alright. Still some time. He moved toward the innkeeper, exchanging a few brief words and arranging breakfast for everyone before the others inevitably began filtering downstairs. He ordered himself a black tea with extra lemon, and ordered a dark roast coffee with added cream.

When the drinks arrived, he carried them to the table and sat, watching the steam curling lazily from the mugs as the small dining area slowly brightened with the rising morning sun across the ocean water.

It didn't take much longer before Levi heard the soft rhythmic click of her boots descending the stairs. Dahlia stepped into view, her hair dry, luminous, and pulled back into a half-pony. Her curled bangs framed her face as her green eyes met his, a fond smile on her lips.

She made her way over, slipping into the chair across from him. She gestured to the mug of coffee:

"For little ole me?"

Levi took a slow sip of his tea, giving her a flat look over the rim before he set the cup down. "You're the only one here that drinks that shit. Take a guess."

"Oh," Dahlia gasped softly in theatrical offense. "What a charmer. However could I resist such swooning advances?"

Levi narrowed his eyes. "I'll take it back."

Dahlia immediately yanked the cup protectively closer. "NU."

The indignant little sound that left her pulled a little smirk from him as he took another sip of his tea. She grinned into her coffee in response.

Armin came downstairs next, looking composed in the way only the commander could manage when he was very clearly running on far too little sleep. Shadows lingered beneath his eyes, though his small smile toward Dahlia remained genuine.

"Good morning."

"Morning, my lovely," Dahlia murmured softly.

Levi gave a small nod in greeting from behind his tea.

Not long after, Mikasa and Jean appeared together. His shirt was only halfway cooperating with whatever rushed attempt he'd made to appear presentable. Mikasa was quieter, more contained, but her gaze immediately sought the small golden woman with a soft grief she didn't bother to hide.

Then Connie trudged down slowly after them. The moment Levi saw him, his heart clenched. The young man's eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. He stepped into the dining room, gaze wandering until it landed on Dahlia. And immediately, his expression crumpled.

Her own face furrowed with quiet heartbreak. "Oh..." she murmured, opening one arm toward him. "C'mere, my sweet bairn."

He shuffled forward and collapsed into the seat beside her, wrapping her into a crushing hug and burying his face into her curls. She hummed softly, one hand rubbing slow circles across his back between his shoulder blades.

Connie eventually sat back with a hard sniff, scrubbing roughly at his face with the heel of his palm.

Then his expression shifted. His brow furrowed... eyes narrowing as his gaze was fixed at Dahlia's neck and collar.

He blinked. "...The hell?" He leaned in closer, his nose scrunching with examination. "Did you get mauled by a bobcat?"

Dahlia blinked, stilled. Looking at her pseudo-brother with confusion, mid-sip of her drink. Then she snorted hard, coffee nearly coming out of her nose. "Connie-!"

Jean followed Connie's line of sight and paused to examine the obvious love bites and bruising littering the woman's décolletage. Then barked a laugh. Armin choked on his tea. Mikasa's gaze flicked briefly over Dahlia's neck before she very deliberately looked elsewhere, the faintest twitch at the corner of her mouth betraying her sharp amusement.

Levi took one slow sip of tea, looking out the far window, completely expressionless. The picture of disinterested innocence.

A complete falsehood.

Connie's light hazel eyes snapped to him. "...Captain..."

"What?" Levi set his cup down with immaculate calm.

"What do you mean, what?!"

Dahlia had both hands over her face now, shoulders shaking with helpless laughter, her cheeks burning red.

Connie stared between them in personal betrayal.

"I spent all night crying. The whole time you two were feral boinking?!"

Dahlia shrieked mid-laughter. "OI-"

"NO."

Jean folded over the table, silently cry-laughing. Armin hid his face entirely behind both hands, mortified. Mikasa stared resolutely at her breakfast.

Connie's gaze whipped to Levi. "Did you even let her sleep?!"

The captain didn't so much as blink. "She can sleep on the ship."

Dahlia groaned into her palms with a mortified noise.

Connie turned to her in genuine alarm. "ARE YOU OKAY?"

Her voice came muffled through her fingers. "No."

"SEE-?!"

"Because you won't let me die quietly."

The table erupted with snorts and laughter at Dahlia's expense. Levi just sipped his tea, looking at his woman, completely unrepentant, a tiny smirk on his lips. 

Eventually, after enough scandalized sputtering and aggressive breakfast stabbing, Connie finally slumped back in his chair with the grumpiest expression anyone there had ever witnessed.

"...Hmph." He shoveled food into his mouth. "Well. Happy for you both." He chewed like he was angry at the eggs. "...Little stupid you finally pulled your head outta your ass the day before she leaves. But whatever, I guess."

Absolute silence followed. Jean froze, Armin stopped chewing. Dahlia whispered a tiny oh no under her breath, staring at the tabletop wide-eyed.

Levi turned his attention slowly. His silver good eye and scarred milky one fixed squarely on the younger man with the flattest look imaginable. His ring and pinky finger of his scarred hand drummed against the tabletop. A clear reminder to all the veteran Scouts sitting there of what exactly came next.

The younger man stared right back. Expression blank. Then, with a dramatic little inhale, he straightened in his chair.

"Oh, excuse me." He gestured politely with his fork. "Let me be proper." Connie nodded once, mock formal. "Glad you pulled your head outta your ass, Sir."

Levi snorted hard and sharp, his palm coming up to cover his face and his grin. His thumb and pointer finger pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Shut the fuck up, Springer." 

And for one fleeting moment, despite the ache clinging to them all, the table erupted into laughter again as the rising sun climbed up higher in the morning blue sky.

* * *

Breakfast passed far too quickly for Levi's liking. One moment there had been laughter and the next they were walking up the slanted dock. His heart sat lodged somewhere high in his throat as the ship came fully into view. It was large, imposing, and beautiful against the backdrop of the clear blue sky and shimmering salt water.

Seagulls circled lazily overhead, their soft cries carried on the breeze. Sunlight gleamed across the metal of the vessel, and the ocean lapped rhythmically in a steady, peaceful hush.

It was objectively lovely. And Levi fucking hated every inch of it.

Dahlia's duffle sat heavy against his shoulder. Armin and Jean carried the rest of her smaller belongings from the carriage behind them while Connie and Mikasa walked alongside Dahlia in quiet, subdued companionship.

Whatever levity breakfast had bought them had burned off beneath the reality of the line of travelers ahead. The closer they got, the heavier the air became.

When they reached the boarding area, Armin and Jean stepped forward first, handing off the smaller luggage to one of the ship's workers.

Levi stood still for one stubborn second longer. His grip tightened on the duffle strap... an absurd, almost childish part of his heart thought refusing to hand it over might stop any of this from happening...

His jaw tightened. Then, slowly, forcing movement into limbs, he stepped forward and handed over the bag. 

The worker took it with an easy smile and a courteous nod. "Thank you, sir." The man glanced toward Dahlia. "We'll have this placed in your suite."

Then the worker added, pleasantly. "Boarding begins in fifteen minutes."

Levi went utterly still. The words rang hollow in his skull like the banging of a gong. His throat worked painfully as he stepped slightly away before anyone could look too closely at his face. He moved toward the dock railing, bracing both hands heavily.

He stared blankly out at the water for half a heartbeat before his gaze found Dahlia again. She was only a few feet away, angled toward the others. He had to swallow down the involuntary sound that scratched and crawled at his throat at the mere sight of his loved ones all staring with heavy grief.

It was... actually happening.

Dahlia stood before them, small against the vastness of the dock. Golden and shining in the morning sun. His grey shirt hanging from her frame.

Her shoulders started to tremble with overwhelming emotion. Her lips quivered. Her gaze moved over each of them, lingering as she traced all of the young Scouts' features and expressions.

And then, in a whisper so soft Levi almost missed it beneath the gulls and surf:

"...Mo theaghlach."

My family.

Levi swallowed so hard the sound was audible even to himself.

Connie broke first. A soft sob tore out of him, raw and helpless, and then he was stepping forward and wrapping Dahlia into a crushing embrace that nearly lifted her off her feet. He buried his face into her shoulder immediately.

"Come on back to us, ma-mo," he whispered thickly. "Please."

She held him tighter, eyes shining with tears she no longer bothered trying to contain. "Love you, my brother," she whispered. Her hand moved slowly up and down his back. "Take care of yourself."

He made another broken sound against her shoulder before stepping back.

Jean moved next, trying so hard to hold himself together. He scrubbed hard at his face once, sniffed sharply, and when he looked at her, his eyes gleamed bright with unshed silver. "Please be safe," he managed roughly, voice cracking under the weight. "And write often."

Dahlia smiled at him through her tears. "I will, my love."

Jean's face tightened immediately. He pulled her into his arms without hesitation, eyes screwing shut hard, his brow bunching with tension as he willed himself not to break. As he held the woman that he'd come to see as an elder sister and confidante...

When they parted, Mikasa stepped forward next without hesitation, pulling Dahlia into a fierce embrace. Hard enough that the older woman rocked backward half a step. She buried her face in her wild golden curls, holding her there with all her quiet intensity and conviction. 

When she finally spoke, her voice was so small. "I'll miss you so much..."

"I'll miss you more, my bright eyes..." Dahlia's expression crumpled, and a soft sob left her lips.

Mikasa squeezed her once more before stepping back, finding Jean's embrace to hold her steady.

Commander Armin Arlert stood frozen where he was, his bright blue eyes absolutely devastated. Tears tracked openly down his cheeks. His voice came out rough and wrecked. "...Not very 'commanderly' of me, huh..."

Dahlia let out the softest little laugh. A watery grin trembled onto her lips. "Don't need my commander right now, my darling." She opened her arms. "C'mere."

Armin collapsed into her embrace with a broken sob. And Dahlia held him exactly the same way she'd held all of them... Like family.

Levi stood rooted in place, hands gripping the dock railing hard enough his knuckles had gone white.

Dahlia looked at him after Armin had stepped away from her. Her sage-green eyes shone bright in the sun, her cheek wet and splotchy. 

Behind her, the others stood in their own quiet devastation. Jean's arms wrapped around Connie and Mikasa, holding them close. Armin stood a little apart, his bright blue eyes moving between Dahlia and Levi with that same raw heartbreak still written plainly across his face.

She stepped toward him, and... he couldn't breathe. His chest had locked down as his pulse hammered painfully high in his throat. His own vision blurred traitorously as tears threatened, but he forced them back with everything he had... Because if he started, if he broke now... he wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to stop.

His jaw tightened so hard it hurt. His brows pinched together as he stared at her. His eyes flicked between her own, his good eye memorizing as much as he could in desperation.

Her lilting voice breathed his name in a broken rasp:

"Levi..."

His hand found hers, threading their fingers together. He lifted their joined hands and pressed a soft kiss against her knuckles, his eyes fluttering shut at the feeling of her soft skin against his lips... the indent of old scars...

When he finally spoke, his voice came rough and shaking despite everything he was doing to steady it.

"...Write as soon as you make shore." His lip brushed her knuckles again, before he let their hands drop slowly. "Keep us updated on your location best you can."

He swallowed hard, his jaw clicking with the strain as something fierce and sincere stirred beneath the grief. 

"Communicate the timeline of when we should hear from you." Levi's eyes opened again, meeting hers fully. "...And I swear on everything..." His voice dropped in a low, rough promise. His fingers tightened around hers. "If I don't hear from you past when I should... I'll tear Marley apart lookin' for you."

He leaned in, his brow brushing hers. His eyes blazing and intense.

"Don't test me, woman..."

That only made the tears in Dahlia's eyes spill harder.

A voice rang out across the dock in clear, professional cheerfulness:

"Boarding is now beginning! Please have your tickets ready!"

The words hit him like a kick to the gut. Around them, movement began immediately. Passengers stirred into motion, gathering luggage and stepping into orderly lines toward the boarding ramp.

His stomach dropped so hard it nearly made him feel sick.

No. No no no- Not yet.

His vision blurred harder. His throat closed. 

"Fuck... c'mere." His words came rough and wrecked as he yanked her into him into a firm, whole embrace. One arm wrapped tightly around her waist, anchoring her against him. His other hand cradled the back of her head protectively, fingers tangling deep into her curls.

Dahlia clung to him just as tightly in desperate strength. He buried his face briefly against her hair, breathing her in one last time. Her constant lavender, sage, and bergamot that he knew would be his only call-signal of home for the rest of his life.

His voice came out thick when he finally managed words. Ragged with emotion and shaking with iron-clad conviction:

"...Find them." His grip tightened, swallowing so hard his throat clicked. "Find your family."

He pulled back just enough to look at her. Tears now blurred his vision, and he no longer cared. The selfishness he'd spent all morning strangling down finally broke loose.

Fuck restraint. Fuck dignity. Fuck pretending he was noble enough to let her go without asking for what he wanted most.

"Then... come back to me, Dahlia." The words landed raw and aching between them. Gods, he'd tried so hard not to say it. Tried not to burden her. Tried not to be selfish. But now? 

No. Absolutely not. He needed her to come back. Needed it in the most devastating, soul-deep way imaginable.

His hands framed her face. His voice dropped into a low, rough, urgent register, practically begging, rasping:

"Come back home." The word shattered something inside both of them. Levi's jaw trembled. "You come home. To me. You understand?"

Dahlia sobbed, her whole body hitching with it. She nodded jerkily, tears spilling hot and fierce down her cheeks.

"Aye."

Not enough. Not enough.

Levi swallowed hard, his voice cracking outright now. "Promise me."

Their eyes locked. Her face pink and blotchy. His vision swimming. The golden anamchara bond between them pulsing so hard it hurt his lungs.

She nodded again, another sob slipped free. "I promise, Levi."

Levi's expression crumpled completely. 

And then he kissed her.

One last time.

In desperate, painful, grief-filled devotion. His mouth memorizing hers as if he could somehow carve the sensation into his soul forever. Her taste. Her warmth. The silken plush of her lips. The breath she gave him between sobs.

Everything.

His fingers trembled in her curls. Her hands clutched his shirt. The dock disappeared. The ship disappeared. Their family disappeared. The world narrowed to this one heartbreaking moment.

By the time their lips finally parted, both of their breaths panted out in shallow, almost panicked bursts.

His chest heaved painfully as he stared at her, his gaze darting frantically between her eyes like he was trying to memorize every flicker of expression before time stole her away.

Dahlia looked wrecked and beautiful and perfect... Her lips swollen from the intensity of his goodbye. Her fingers still clutched the front of his shirt like letting go might physically break her.

Her voice came out thick with tears, so small... so raw... "I love you."

"I love you." Levi hushed back in immediate, certain fierceness.

The words barely left him before the dock worker's voice rang out again across the pier.

"Last call for boarding!"

Levi looked past her. The line was gone...

His stomach twisted violently.

Dahlia was the last passenger left...

He looked back at her. Lifting shaking hands to cup her cheeks, his thumbs brushing desperately over her skin, wiping her tears away even though the effort was completely useless. Fresh tears replacing the old instantly.

His low baritone scratched out in thick grief. "...Go on, beautiful." The words nearly killed him. Forced the next ones out anyway. "...Don't miss your ride."

Even saying it felt like self-inflicted violence. Because every animal instinct inside him screamed the opposite.

Stay. Don't go. I'll come with you. Fuck the war. Fuck Paradis. Fuck everything.

But he stood there instead. Hands trembling against her face. Trying to love her enough to let her leave.

Dahlia parted from him like it was the hardest thing she'd ever done. A choked sob tore from her as his hands slipped from her face.

And then she stepped away. One step. Then another. Each one felt as if Levi were being physically peeled apart.

She moved toward the boarding ramp slowly, like her body was fighting her every inch of the way.

Levi couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think past the violent pounding in his chest.

The dock worker took her ticket with a small, sympathetic smile. "Thank you, ma'am." A quick glance at the stub. "Suite 103."

Dahlia couldn't seem to speak. She only nodded jerkily, sniffling hard as she took it back. Walking up the ramp.

And Levi watched her go, completely helpless. His heart felt absolutely fucking shattered inside his chest. Somewhere behind him, he heard Mikasa begin to softly weep.

Dahlia turned halfway up the ramp, looking back at him over her shoulder. And it hurt so badly that Levi almost physically doubled over. Every primal instinct in him screamed to: Go. Move. Run.

He had to hold himself in place with what felt like herculean effort not to absolutely bumrush that fucking dock ramp, throw every shred of discipline to the wind, grab her, and drag her right back into his arms where she belonged.

His hands curled into fists so tight his nails bit into his palms.

He stayed rooted in his spot.

Because... Because he loved her. And loving her meant letting her choose this...

Even when it felt like dying.

Dahlia held his gaze for one final heartbeat. And then she turned... disappearing inside the port side entrance of the ship.

Gone... Just like that.

He stood there, watching as the boarding ramp was pulled back in with brutal efficiency. The workers moved with quick, practiced routine. The ship's main door shut with a heavy, final sound that he felt clanging against his sternum.

Then ropes unwound. The anchor began to lift.

All of it happened... so fucking fast.

Normally he might've respected and admired the seamless precision of a crew that knew exactly what they were doing. 

Right now... He wanted to start screaming at every last one of them to slow the fuck down.

A warm hand settled gently on his shoulder. Levi startled slightly.

"...Captain..." Armin's voice was painfully soft and compassionate. His fingers squeezing in warm comfort. "...Shall I get the carriage ready?"

Levi couldn't speak for a few moments. Then, he managed after a rough intake of breath. "...Just... a little longer."

"Of course..." Armin's hand remained where it was for one steadying second more.

When the dock workers politely ushered them all back from the loading area, Levi moved mechanically. His boots walked him off the wooden planks and onto the gravel.

He pivoted, heading toward the sandy beach, gaze on the ship before them. His hands shoved deep into his coat pockets, fists clenched tight enough to ache. The others followed without question.

The leather strap of the wristwatch Dahlia had gifted him pressed warm against his skin. Its quiet ticking felt thunderous.

The ship began to pull away. A slow-moving goliath gliding out from the dock.

Levi swallowed hard against the sharp, ugly mixture of grief and panic trying to choke him.

And beneath it... The golden anamchara bond pulsed in its bright, constant inevitability. Echoing her heartbreak back at him across the widening distance.

Would she come out? Would he see her again? One last time?

They settled into quiet heartbreak along the beach. Mikasa sank down into the sand beside Jean, leaning into his warmth while he kept an arm anchored around her shoulders. Connie perched on a flat rock slab nearby, hunched over as he absentmindedly dragged shapes into the damp sand with one finger, sniffling quietly every so often.

Armin stood beside Levi as they watched the vessel drift farther and farther along the open sea...

Levi's chest tightened painfully.

Then, movement across the expanse of the ship. A flash of gold highlighted by the bright sun. A blur of bouncing curls.

His entire body went rigid.

Dahlia came tearing across the deck like a madwoman, her wild blonde hair absolutely everywhere as she sprinted toward the railing.

Levi's eyes welled instantly. Even from here, he could make out her face beneath the summer sun. Her pink-rimmed eyes. Wind-flushed cheeks. And that stubborn, ridiculous woman... hauled in a massive breath.

And bellowed across the open water with every ounce of loud, theatrical gusto gifted to her by her father, Dietrich The Duke Bodea:

"LET THE MOTHER SMILE ON YOU AND ME!"

Dahlia sucked in another enormous breath, and crowed:

"I'M GOING ON AN ADVENTUUUUUUURRRREEEEEE!"

And despite all his grief, panic, heartbreak, and cacophony of aching emotion in his heart... A stupid grin curled his lips...

Beside him, Armin let out a thick little chuckle.

Connie fully snorted, lept halfway to his feet, and screamed back at the top of his lungs:

"HAVE FUN, YOU IDIOT!!"

Mikasa stood, brushing sand from her trousers as she stepped forward beside Jean, who rose with her without a word.

All five of them stood there together on the shoreline. Watching this absolute golden firestorm of a woman they'd somehow all come to love in wildly different, deeply personal ways...

A sister. A friend. A confidante. A safe place to lay their woes. A heart full of music. A beacon of fierce and ridiculous hope against any and all adversity...

They watched her sail away toward her homeland and the family she'd lost...

And Gods willing... she would be back again.

The ship picked up steady speed. The distance between them widening further and further as the surf rolled gently against the shore.

Dahlia remained at the railing, wind whipping her wild curls back, waving at them in big sweeps. She drew in another enormous breath. "I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

The words tore across the open water, carried by the salt-steeped wind.

Connie drew in another heaving breath like his life depended on it before bellowing back with his whole chest:

"WE LOVE YOU MORE!!"

She threw her head back, laughing and grinning. Shining in the sun... 

Armin was openly crying again and smiling through it. Mikasa lifted one hand high and waved hard. And Levi... he stood there with tears drying salt-tight on his face and that stupid tiny grin still haunting his mouth.

The ship became smaller and smaller in the distance. Until Dahlia was no longer a distinguishable flash of gold at the railing. All that remained was the open ocean... and a dark speck at it's horizon the only evidence of the vessel making it's fast journey over it's expanse.

The five of them stood there for a while longer anyway. No one saying much. As if leaving first would somehow make it more real.

Eventually... reality won out. Jean let out a slow breath and gently nudged Mikasa closer beneath his arm. Armin scrubbed at his face with both hands, trying valiantly to regain some scrap of composure. Connie sniffed hard and kicked at the sand.

And slowly, they all turned to walk back toward the inn and the carriage...

Levi hung back, his face pointed downward, his hands deep in his pockets... his grief hanging heavy on his bones like a physical weight. Not knowing what to do, how to feel, how to-

A heavy arm landed over his shoulders, making him bodily jolt. His head snapped up, staring at Connie with furrowed brows and narrowed eyes. "Wha-"

Levi was cut off sharply as the younger man yoinked him into his tall side, dragging him forward to join the rest of the group, right in the middle. 

The captain stumbled half a step, "The hell-"

Before he could properly protest, Mikasa's arm joined Connie's. Cradling Levi between them as the five of them walked forward in a connected line. He stared ahead in offended disbelief. 

Connie deadpanned with suspicious thickness still lingering in his voice:

"Respectfully, captain... Shut up, and let us love you..."

Oh, motherfucker-

Levi's throat worked, his jaw clenching hard as he willed his eyes not to well up all over again.

"...Tch... Fine."

Connie gave him a soft smile, Mikasa squeezed Levi's shoulder in warm comfort...

And... quietly grieving... 

The five veteran Scouts walked up the small hill toward the carriage... 

Without their golden bard. 

But... together.

...🥹 She's going on an adventure, guys...

Previous | You Are Here | Next Chapter

The days passed. A winter vortex blustered and pounded against her bedroom window. Her dissociating gaze imagined curled, icy hands reaching to snare her.

Or was that banging sound the front door? Was that her name being called?

She ignored it. She ate when her stomach demanded it. Slept when her body forced it.

On the fourth day, Connie had had enough. He opened the front door with the spare key she hadn't known existed. The implication of who the young man had to have spoken to made her collapse into herself once again. His strong arms caught her. And with gentle brotherly care, she was encouraged to eat, bathe, and dress.

On the fifth day, the rage hit her lungs first as she roared herself hoarse into her pillow.

On the sixth, she halted herself from marching to headquarters, fire and venom on her tongue. Crescent indents from her nails on the wall edge of the foyer were the only evidence of her restraint.

And on the seventh day...

Dahlia knew she would not be able to look him in the eye without her heart breaking.

All over again.

· · ─ ·❁· ─ · · ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ · · ─ ·❁· ─ · ·

It felt like betrayal when she walked straight into Commander Arlert's office. Her feet screamed at the break of habit as she stepped through and closed the heavy door softly behind her.

Dahlia willed her expression into a blank, almost serene mask as she handed Armin the written request. His mouth pursed in confused concern as he took it.

Read it. Then read it again, his grip tightening slightly around the paper.

When he looked up, his striking blue eyes shone with such untempered sadness.

She wanted to vomit.

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, Commander."

"Maybe... maybe we could talk-"

"No, Commander."

Armin swallowed hard, eyes dropping back to the letter.

"Does he know?"

"I'm sure he'll find out."

He tried once more, any pretense of command slipping away, his face so unbearably young.

"But surely, if you both came to an understanding-"

"Armin."

Dahlia's interruption was gentle as a warm hand. Her small, close-lipped smile trembled subtly. Her eyes too bright and raw in the early morning light.

"He cannot be swayed once his mind is made up. And I refuse to bash my head and heart into a brick wall any longer... so..." Her voice cracking at the end despite her best efforts. "Besides... I won't be far."

His eyes glazed over. And with words barely over a whisper, he conceded:

"I'll speak with Captain Mumfred."

· · ─ ·❁· ─ · · ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ · · ─ ·❁· ─ · ·

Word spread quickly.

Mikasa came as soon as the grapevine had reached her.

"I told you." Her face was hard as slate. "I would kill him."

"If he hurt me."

"Or broke your heart."

"He didn't want to do that, Bright Eyes," Dahlia said softly. "Leave it be."

"But-"

"Please."

Mikasa had stared at her for several moments, eyes wide and fists trembling. Then, slowly, reluctantly, the young woman's shoulders slumped in helpless defeat.

"Fine," she muttered. "If that's what you want."

Her acquiescence, however, did not stop her from requesting to spar with humanity’s strongest. Every single day.

Dahlia supposed that was Mikasa’s version of compromise.

She didn’t stick around to hear the rest of the gossip to know who won and who lost.

It hurt too much to keep hearing his name.

· · ─ ·❁· ─ · · ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ · · ─ ·❁· ─ · ·

Captain Mumfred welcomed her with open arms and wasted no time before running her through combat and ODM flight drills.

The physical exertion was a soothing balm to the cacophony behind her ribs. Her body buzzed with excitement as she pivoted and swung. The week's pent-up energy and angst had finally found an outlet.

She'd forgotten the older man's steady eye tracking her until his loud, joyful guffaw startled her with a jolt.

"What in the world were you benched for?" he boomed. “I knew ol' Levi had high standards, but hellfire, small fry! You can move. Did he see you do this? There ain’t no way he'd keep you off the field.”

The sound of his name brought the pounding back so fast she felt it in her tonsils.

Mumfred shook his head, still laughing.

"I haven’t seen anyone fly like that since..." He paused, then barked a laugh. "Well, shit- Since Levi. When he first enlisted about a decade ago. I know he's learned a hell of a lot since then, but still."

Dahlia swallowed hard.

The captain suddenly pivoted, marching off with purpose behind his heels.

"I'm gonna have a talk with him, because if you transferred 'cause you were left behind, we can get him to change his mind and-"

She moved without thinking. Her fingers closed around his wrist, stopping him cold. She kept her face angled down, hiding the emotion threatening to claw free.

"Please don't."

She hadn’t missed the way his expression softened with quiet, fatherly concern at her soft tone.

By the end of the following week, Captain Mumfred had given her a position in his squad formation with a full training schedule to test team chemistry and communication.

And then, before she could even process what had steamrolled ahead of her, the captain had submitted the papers and... Dahlia Bodea was an official enlisted military member of the Survey Corps regiment.

It felt strange standing in Commander Arlert’s office as he handed her the newly signed transfer paperwork. Seeing the adjusted pay grade. The designation of a commissioned officer of the Scouts.

She retained her title as logistics officer, even though both the Commander and Captain Mumfred had reiterated over and over that she was Mumfred's lieutenant now.

But it all felt like too much, too quickly. Too-

She saluted and swore in before her Commander. Captain Mumfred stood at her side, smiling with open, unmistakable pride.

And all she could think about... was how badly she wanted to scream.

After the ceremony, she quietly followed Captain Mumfred toward his office as he spoke excitedly about how she'd be getting her own space now.

The words filtered through her as she walked, and thought, and walked, and thought-

Until she softly bonked into a warm, solid surface.

She gasped, flushing with embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry, Captain-"

"Hey."

His warm, drawling voice dropped and softened. His brows pinched together as he looked down at her, easily towering at five-ten over her five-one frame.

"You don't gotta talk about it if you don’t want to," he said quietly. "But... you can talk about it to me. If you like." She swallowed.

"Not sure what there would be to talk about, sir."

"Hm." He hummed thoughtfully. "Well, you can sit in your silence if you want. That's fine. Ain’t any of my business." Then he softened further, voice steady and sure.

"But one thing you'll learn about me real quick, small fry, is I take care of my people." He gave her a small, encouraging nod. "So... just think on it, alright?"

Dahlia nodded, and he carried on ahead of her. His words circled lazily in the back of her mind.

· · ─ ·❁· ─ · · ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ · · ─ ·❁· ─ · ·

She was set up with an empty office. Connie and Jean did her the kindness of retrieving all of her previous ledgers on Yeagerist activity. She requested only her copies, so her old squad still had everything they’d need.

Mikasa gathered her odds and ends into a box and gently placed it on Dahlia’s new desk, offering a small, sad smile.

The three of them stood there together, looking at her with kind eyes and small, proud smiles. Though... it was tinged with grief.

Jean broke the silence first, clearly trying to smile through it.

"Look at the hotshot," he said. "Own office and everything."

Connie chimed in, his usual energy muted but present.

"Lieutenant Ma-mo," he added. "Got a nice ring to it."

Dahlia rolled her eyes softly, looking at them all with unmistakable fondness, "Stop looking at me like you'll never see me again. I’m down the corridor."

Jean swallowed hard, eyes darting away to hide the telltale gleam of tears.

Mikasa spoke quietly, "We know. It's just…" She trailed off. "It won’t be the same."

"I know, my loves," Dahlia murmured.

They stood there in shared silence, simply looking at one another.

Then Dahlia let out a soft chuckle.

"You all know exactly where I live," she said gently. "And we still have our Fridays. Aye?"

Connie's smile widened, matching hers. "Damn right," he said. "Can’t escape us."

They'd stayed to help her unpack and settle in, chatting softly amongst themselves as they worked. Her fingers pulled out her belongings bit by bit.

Pens.

A half-full, dog-eared notebook.

A cardigan she'd forgotten she'd left behind.

Her heart started to race.

Her fingers brushed against wool, and she froze.

The others noticed her sharp pause and went still as they watched her for a single, fragile beat.

Slowly, Dahlia pulled the navy scarf free, and the broken sob ripped from her throat and passed her lips as soon as Levi's scent hit her.

She slapped a hand over her mouth immediately, eyes screwing shut to hold back the inevitable.

"I'm-"

Her apology didn't get the chance to be heard as arms wrapped around her in a cocoon of steady, unyielding warmth.

On the next breath, she let go, sobbing into them as they anchored her and held her upright.

· · ─ ·❁· ─ · · ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ · · ─ ·❁· ─ · ·

Dahlia had avoided seeing Levi for almost a month. She knew his daily schedule as well as her own ingrained routine. She timed everything around his rounds so as not to risk either of them being blindsided.

The one time she had been careless and hadn't checked the wall clock before heading toward the stables had been the moment the fragile little bubble around her reality popped.

Levi hadn't seen her yet. His attention was fully on Jericho, one hand stroking the horse's muzzle as his forehead pressed close to the beast's own.

Her eyes were wide as they tracked the movement of his lips as he murmured softly to his companion.

Dahlia couldn't breathe. Grief and hot panic crawled up her throat.

She pivoted sharply, sucking in a breath, her chest locking, her eyes stinging-

Jericho's soft, high-pitched whinny cut through the air.

The one he only ever made for her.

She took a quicker step.

She heard his running bootsteps.

No. No, no, she wasn't ready-

"Dahlia."

She froze.

His boots stopped just behind her.

She focused on her breathing, grounding herself the best she could, before she turned.

Her eyes met his after so long.

The first thing that hit her mind was the memory of the bucking, horrid cacophony of their hearts breaking in tandem on her apartment floor.

Dahlia's tongue felt like lead in her mouth.

Levi's light silver eye gleamed in the sunlight of the cool afternoon. His black hair was wind-blown, from running, from the breeze whipping between the stable buildings and the stone walls of headquarters. His cheeks and the tip of his nose blushed with the chill.

His lips were parted. His eyes just a touch too wide. His expression almost terrified the moment would break. That she would disappear.

She swallowed hard around the knot in her throat.

Her voice came out small. Almost fragile.

"Hello."

He just stared at her.

She wondered if he’d even thought about what he would say to her after... everything. Or if he’d acted without thought, just pure instinct dragging him forward before his mind could catch up.

Maybe that was why he looked so scared.

The anamchara bond fluttered wildly between them, disorienting in its intensity. It was so much stronger than it had ever been. Now fully realized between them and impossible to ignore.

Finally, he wet his lips and spoke. His breath hitched, his voice a low rasp.

"How are you?"

Dahlia had no idea how to answer that. It must have shown on her face, because Levi exhaled sharply, rolling his eyes at himself as he dragged a hand down his face.

"Stupid question," he muttered before drawing in a short breath and saying instead, "You transferred."

Dahlia gave a small nod. "Yes."

He nodded in return, jaw working as he bit the inside of his cheek. His gaze lifted briefly to the sky before dropping back to her.

"How are you liking Captain Mumfred’s leadership?"

"Fine. He’s a kind man."

Levi nodded again. "Good."

He cleared his throat softly, then tipped his chin toward the new insignia on her uniform.

"Lieutenant Bodea," he said, his voice still low, almost careful. "Congratulations."

Dahlia swallowed tightly. "...I kept my original title."

Something in Levi's chest visibly hitched. He looked away, as if holding her gaze was suddenly too much. When he spoke again, his voice cracked just enough to betray him.

"You’ve been avoiding me."

She worried her bottom lip, gaze drifting down to their boots. An angry heat started to grasp around her heart.

"...I'm not sure what you expected me to do," she murmured flatly. "Didn't know how to look at you without-"

The rest of the sentence crashed behind her teeth. Too much. She swallowed the knot down hard.

He met her gaze again, his expression tightly restrained. To anyone else, he might have looked pissed off. But she saw the gleam in his eyes. The way he was holding on by a thread.

His words came out in a low rasp.

"Me neither."

Taut beats of silence passed between them. Her eyes stung, emotion threatening to rear up again, but she sniffed it back.

Levi spoke first, "You'll be joining Mumfred’s squad in the field?"

She exhaled, almost relieved at the shift.

"Yes. First mission's next week."

His jaw clenched. Then unclenched. "Where does he have you in formation?"

"Flank," she answered. "To start."

Levi exhaled through his nose and nodded.

"With the expectation," she continued carefully, "that once I understand how they operate, I'll shift to take point with him and Corporal Mateo."

His mouth pulled into a thin line. He clicked his tongue softly against his teeth, correcting himself before he said anything else.

"I see." His boot tapped once against the stone. "Will you still be doing council work?"

"The captain wants me to gain field experience for a few months before returning to the political side," she replied. "The Commander agreed."

Levi nodded woodenly. His gaze lifted back to the sky. "Mumfred’s squad is solid. Should all go smoothly."

Her chest clenched again. The bond bucked sharply between them. They both swallowed at the sensation.

Levi's eyelids shuttered closed as he let out a soft puff of breath. His head bowed slightly, his hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

His words were barely above a whisper.

"I'm so fucking sorry, Dahlia-"

"Don't."

He stopped. Didn’t open his mouth again. Didn’t drop his hand. Just stood there, braced, and frozen. Clearly not knowing what the fuck to do next.

Dahlia drew in a deep, steadying breath.

"Look at me," she said quietly.

Slowly, his hand fell away. His expression was guarded to the world, but his eyes were raw and exposed to her.

Dahlia took him in. The dark circles beneath his eyes. The faint lines at their corners were more pronounced with exhaustion. The question slipped out before she could stop herself.

"Are you sleeping?"

"Not gettin' fuck all."

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I can tell."

He just looked at her.

Then she deadpanned, "You look like shite."

Levi blinked, then snorted softly.

"Gee," he muttered. "Thanks."

"No problem."

A beat passed.

"I meant what I said, " he whispered, "...I'm still your friend."

She clenched her jaw around the immediate urge to snap at him.

He continued, a wary breath, "...if you want me to be."

"I need time, Levi." The words sharper, harsher than she wanted them to be. She caught the way he flinched unintentionally. She continued in a flat rasp, "I'll stop avoiding you. Frankly, it's starting to impede on what I need to do for work."

He nodded stiffly. Expression pinched and sharp. His eyes and the nauseating tug behind her ribs told the truth of how her words raked at him.

She pulled in a deep, slow inhale through her nose, lids fluttering closed. Trying to quell the stinging venom on her tongue, fighting to be spit out.

Dahlia forced her voice to gentle. "...I am still your friend, Levi." She swallowed. "And as your friend, I am asking for time... to re-build myself. Without you."

She met his gaze again. The pain reflected in his eyes made her stomach twist. Her fingers twitched to draw him into her. To take it back. To comfort. To make the hurt go away.

Dahlia ignored it with a mental right hook to her heart.

Levi swallowed audibly.

"I understand."

She nodded stiffly and let out a shaky breath before stepping around him. But almost like her soul refused to leave it clean, her lips moved before she even registered what she was going to say.

"My office is down the corridor, third door on the left... If you need anything."

And with that, she forced herself to step, one foot after another, toward the stables.

Leaving Levi standing, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides, eyes staring holes into the cracked stone wall. Time passing around him, the world still spinning.

He didn't notice.

You Are Here | Next Chapter

Levi huffed once, unimpressed, then allowed himself to settle back into the quiet pleasure of order restored. He tugged off his head scarf and ran his fingers through his hair, tension easing slightly from his shoulders.

A soft chuckle echoed behind him.

He turned to see Dahlia leaning against the far wall, arms crossed, watching him with open amusement.

"Pleased with yourself?"

He grunted and stepped toward her. "A deep clean in here was overdue."

Her lips twitched. "Cleaning staff don't meet your standards?"

He quirked a brow, eyes flat. "Is that even a question?"

She shook her head, soft exasperation dancing in her expression. And his brain stalled in that moment as he took her in.

Her uniform was crisp, her posture strong, even as she leaned relaxed. Defined muscles running beneath the fabric. Every inch she'd earned with bruises and sweat and stubborn will. It was strange sometimes, remembering when she first arrived on the island. How worn thin she'd been, waifish and guarded...

Now she stood solid and strong-

He asked quietly, "Did you need something?"

She nodded and tilted her chin down the corridor. "Armin's calling a joint briefing. Mumfred squad and yours. We're going over Yeagerist intel and confirming details for tomorrow.”

Levi stilled, then nodded once. They stepped into the corridor together.

"Mumfred's going to want you to take point on the bunker search... isn't he?"

Her stride faltered slightly as she looked at him. "Yes," she said after a beat. "I imagine so."

Levi chewed the inside of his cheek, eyes fixed forward.

"You disagree?" she asked.

"I do."

"Well." She shrugged lightly. "You'll have to take that up with him. I don't imagine it'll go well." Dry as ever. "It's not my decision, imagine it's above my pay grade. And if it were my decision, I'd still go. So..."

His mouth thinned.

"I'm predicting this isn't gonna be a routine trip," he said, voice low and serious. "There may be action."

Dahlia nodded. "I understand."

"Do you?"

Her brows drew together, opening her mouth. No doubt preparing something sharp and sassy, but he continued before she could.

"People could get hurt... could die." His gaze was hard on her.

She swallowed, nodded again. "I understand, Captain."

He held her eyes. "And you understand," he pressed quietly, "that you might be the one doing the hurting? The killing?"

Her face paled just slightly. "I've killed before..." she whispered.

"I know." His tone didn't waver. "This will be different, Dahlia."

Silence stretched between them. And beneath it, that eternal hum. Warm and steady as a second heartbeat threading through both their chests. The bond thrummed low and constant, emotion bleeding across it whether they wanted it to or not.

"I need to know you're ready for that," he said.

She studied him, she asked quietly, "Is anyone truly ready for that?"

He blinked, then shrugged faintly. "Fair enough. But the point still stands."

"I'll do what I must, Levi." Conviction hardened her jaw.

He searched her face for cracks. And when he found none, he finally nodded.

The briefing was short and sweet; most of the planning had already been done. Levi's squad would sweep the eastern and northern corridors of the ruined village. Mumfred's squad would prioritize Hange's old lab bunker in that sector. Their mission was specifically to check for infiltration, tunneling, or any sign that the Yeagerists had been using the underground passages.

Levi listened intently as Armin and Mumfred adjusted minor details. His eyes found Dahlia more often than not. She'd spent almost five months in the field, though she hadn't faced any real combat yet.

He didn't doubt her skill. He remained confident in what he and Mikasa had drilled into her relentlessly during her training last year. She had a quick mind and even quicker reflexes. She was a better shot with a rifle than Jean, and that was saying something.

No... that wasn't what was making his stomach churn with unease.

The idea of her in a true firefight- 

His throat tightened immediately. It scared the living shit out of him.

If he truly objected, he could challenge Mumfred's decision and face the old man's ire. But that would undermine her and make it look like she needed shielding. And Dahlia would absolutely hate that. Too damn stubborn and proud...

Not to mention, one of the reasons he had chosen the distance in the first place was to not draw unnecessary attention to her being connected to him. For her safety. If he spoke, it would simply scream of his own hypocrisy...

So he stayed silent. Even as the quiet fear threaded through him, and in tandem through her. It was difficult not to let the quiet voice in his mind whisper its anxieties in a spiraling loop.

* * *

The courtyard buzzed with quiet movement as soldiers packed and mounted up. Horses snorting clouds of steam into the cool morning air as hooves shifted against cobblestone restlessly.

Levi mounted Jericho in one smooth motion, settling into the saddle. The beast gave a soft snort, his right hoof pawing at the stone with impatience. Levi gave a low whoa to calm him, patting the gelding's neck before his gloved hands adjusted the reins. Meanwhile, his eyes, as they had a dozen times already, sought her out.

Dahlia stood near Misty, tightening the final strap on her saddlebag. The early light caught in her hair, backlighting her in a halo. Her movements were confident and sure now, zero hesitation in the way she checked her gear. He remembered seeing her a few months back, subtly second-guessing herself. Glancing toward others to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything.

He silently marveled at how far she'd come. And, at the quiet changes they both had made within themselves.

Time had softened certain sharp, spiny edges. The grief still lingered, but he imagined it always would in some capacity. Though it would sand down... with time.

He'd already known he felt her absence in his day-to-day like a physical thing. Though he hadn't realized the specifics of it until he'd been allowed back into her orbit.

He'd missed her perspective, the way she dissected problems from angles he would never consider. He'd missed her clever, ridiculous humor. Missed hearing how her lilting accent would carry vowels or trill over 'r's. And though he'd be hard-pressed to admit it to her, he even missed the way she never hesitated to call him out.

Levi was used to others stepping around him carefully. Always deferring and avoiding his temper when at all possible. She had never been that way. 

A younger version of himself would have called that a weakness. And now... he found it comforting, like steady ground that he could walk to get an accurate read of a moment. A place of trust so deep he hadn't quite realized the depth of it until it had been pulled away from him.

His gaze shifted at the sound of approaching boots. A new figure crossed the courtyard gate.

Levi's brow furrowed as he took in the decorated Military Police uniform on the tall man, striding confidently over the flagstones toward their gathered horses.

Captain Reginald Greer.

The hell was he doing here?

Levi straightened slightly in the saddle. He watched as Greer moved through the bustle with intent and a mission, beelining directly toward... Dahlia.

Then she looked up.

And smiled.

Levi's lungs went hot and cold all at once.

Hold the fuck on.

Greer leaned in close, speaking softly. Whatever he said drew a quiet laugh from her. She nodded, answering him with something Levi couldn't hear.

Then he watched as Greer pulled her into a brief, yet close, hug.

Levi's fingers tightened around the reins, leather-on-leather creaking.

Greer stepped back and offered her his hand as she mounted Misty. Dahlia accepted it without hesitation, settling into the saddle with easy familiarity.

Then the MP captain retreated to the stone wall and leaned there. With his arms folded. Watching her with warm, easy eyes. 

Levi's heart began to tick up in pace. His grip white-knuckled on the reins. 

The MP captain had come all the way down here at seven in the morning... to see Dahlia off on a mission.

His jaw locked. Across the courtyard, Dahlia's eyes found his.

The bond between them flared loudly with tangled and unfiltered confusion and possessive jealousy that Levi couldn't even begin to form the wherewithal to attempt to mask. 

Her expression tightened with a soft flicker of sheepishness across her face. Then she looked away.

Levi's stomach plummeted hard.

The call rang out across the formation.

"Move out!"

Hooves clattered against stone as the line surged forward, funneling toward the main road. Dust kicked up in their wake. Levi rode at the front. But his thoughts stayed behind.

On that damned stone wall. At the MP captain watching her with softness.

On the way Dahlia hadn't met Levi's eyes a second time.

One thought looped, heavy and unwelcome, as they trotted down the road and the headquarters faded behind them.

She didn't tell me.

* * *

Camp was established just before dusk. Both squads worked quickly to water and tie the horses. Orderly tents were pitched in rows in a small clearing. The air cooled quickly as the sun dipped low, streaking the sky in amber and bruised violet.

Levi drove the final stake into the earth with a sharp strike of his boot and stepped back from his tent. His lips pressed into a thin line, and his brow furrowed deep enough for most to keep their distance.

The image wouldn't leave him. Dahlia in Captain Greer's arms. How familiar they had both been with each other. 

"Sir." Jean approached. "We're all set. Want me to claim first watch?"

Levi shook his head without looking at him. "No. I'll take it. Need you sharp tomorrow, Kirstein. Get some rest."

Jean blinked. "Sir?"

"You're taking shadow lead," Levi said evenly.

Jean straightened immediately.

"You still want your own squad one day, right?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Jean's face before he nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Then tomorrow we follow your judgment," Levi continued. "Based on the intel we brought, our current plan, and whatever new variables show up."

Jean faltered slightly before snapping into a crisp salute. "Yes, sir."

Levi gave a short nod and waved him off.

He exhaled slowly once Jean retreated. And without intending to... His gaze drifted across the camp.

Dahlia sat perched on a fallen tree trunk near the fire pit, legs braced wide, elbows resting on her knees as she peeled potatoes into a tin bowl. Officer Decker crouched nearby, talking animatedly about something. She grinned at her, responding with a dry quip that made Decker bark a laugh.

Levi's jaw tightened. Evening folded into night. Rabbit roasted over flame. Mushroom gravy simmered thick in a pot. The squads gathered, bowls in hand, low conversation filling the clearing.

He ate mechanically. He tried not to look at her.

But she was right there.

Firelight caught in her curls, turning them molten gold. Shadows danced across her cheekbones, across the curve of her jaw. From the corner of his eye, she almost looked like some sort of forest sprite conjured by flame and dark.

Her laughter carried softly in the night air. It settled under his skin. 

When the camp quieted and bedrolls rustled, Levi took first watch from a high sycamore at the edge of the clearing. His wire secured tightly as he balanced himself and leaned against the wide trunk. His eye scanned the perimeter with ingrained intent. Regardless of how his brain wandered and chittered in the low recesses of his mind.

When his shift ended, he slipped down the wire without sound and nudged Mikasa awake. She rose with a sleepy nod and took position without question.

Then, Levi returned to his tent and lay down. Closed his eyes. Opened them again.

The dark pressed in tightly on him. He checked his watch.

2:03 a.m.

He huffed softly through his nose. Then he saw a faint glow of lantern light through the canvas of his tent to his right.

He rolled slightly, reaching to undo a portion of the tent flap. Through the narrow gap, he caught a glimpse of a blonde head disappearing into the tree line. Alone.

Probably just relieving herself.

He lay back. Stared at the canvas ceiling.

Five minutes passed.

Then ten.

Then fifteen.

His brow furrowed deeper with every tick of his watch.

The direction she'd gone-

Mikasa wouldn't have clear sight lines there.

Fine for a quick piss.

But beyond that-

"Gods fuckin' damn it," he muttered under his breath.

He swung his legs over the side of the bedroll. Pulled his boots on over his uniform pants. The long-sleeved grey shirt he wore hung low at his collarbones and hips.

Levi stepped carefully through the underbrush, boots quiet against damp earth.

"I swear," he muttered under his breath, "if I walk up on her shittin', I'm never lettin' her live it down."

The forest thinned slightly ahead. He lifted his head at the sound of soft water. He drew closer and began to see how the moonlight caught on the surface of the little stream.

He rounded the bend and caught sight of the shape of her.

"The hell are you doing over here?" he called low into the hush of trees.

The figure ahead startled, shoulders jumping slightly.

"You shouldn't go where the watch... can't...."

Dahlia turned her head over her freckled shoulder, eyes wide with mild surprise.

His words dissolved in his throat. Levi forgot how to breathe. His lips parted without permission. His chest locked.

The moment, framed in silver light and running water, seared itself into him as a single frame. Something he knew intrinsically, he would carry to his grave after decades of life.

She looked... 

Beautiful didn’t even come close.

Her shirt and wrap bra rested folded beside her on a flat stone. Her back faced him, bare, freckled skin kissed by moonlight. Droplets of water slid lazily down the curve of her spine, catching the light as they fell. The full moon shone through gaps in the canopy. As if she'd hidden starlight throughout her hair.

Her eyes shone through the shadow of her lashes in an enchanting green. Her lips full and parted slightly. 

He could hear his own pulse in his ears.

Dahlia blinked, then said softly into the forest quiet, "I'm almost finished. Just wanted to wash up a bit."

Levi's mouth closed as he realized he was gawking. Then swallowed hard and audibly. He cleared his throat roughly and forced his gaze down to his boot. 

Because if he kept staring-

"...Well. Hurry up," he muttered. "Shouldn't be out here by yourself."

Her soft chuckle drifted to him then, melodic and gorgeous and- 

"I'm a big girl, Levi. I can scare off a deer if I need to."

He rolled his eyes at her sass. "Not talkin' about deer or bunnies, smartass..."

His gaze lifted again-

And he immediately regretted it.

And at the exact same time, he had never been more grateful for his insomnia in his entire damn life.

She ran her late mother's amber wide-toothed comb through her curls. Her toned torso turned toward him as she worked through the knots, moonlight tracing the lean strength she'd built. The only thing shielding her from his full view was her forearms crossed loosely as she untangled her hair.

He could smell her subtle floral scent that carried him and damned him and comforted him and- 

She was watching him now with a spark in her eyes that spoke of her natural mischief.

Then she noticed his stillness. His stare.

Her eyes flicked down at herself. A quiet breath of humor left her nose.

"Oh. Whoops."

She turned fully away from him, reaching for her shirt and pulling it over her head.

Levi could have dropped to his knees in the wet moss. His fists clenched at his sides, jaw tight with a Herculean effort to stay rooted where he stood. To not drift to her like a tide.

Because every desperate and starved instinct in him needed to step forward. To beg her to look at him like that again. To let him live in this tiny sliver of time.

She brushed the fabric down along her sides, the cotton clinging briefly to her damp skin before settling. Then she turned fully toward him and resumed working through her curls, voice quiet and easy.

"Well. I'm not all by me lonesome now. Am I?"

Levi felt heat crawl up the back of his neck, and to the tips of his ear. Trapped again. He exhaled roughly through his nose.

"Gotta head back to camp and rest."

Her mouth curved. "Oh, aye? And how's that going for ya?"

His eyes narrowed. "I'll have you know, I got five hours of sleep the other night, thank you very much."

The dry edge in his tone surprised even him. It had been months since that kind of teasing slipped out naturally.

She didn't miss a beat. "Wow. Someone, quick, give the man his medal." Her eyes gleamed in the moonlight.

He clicked his tongue sharply and stepped forward, lowering himself onto the flat stone opposite her. Their knees knocked lightly. She was unbothered, continuing to comb.

Her scent was stronger up close and deeply calming. The way the fabric of her shirt clung to her damp skin, her breasts-

Decidedly not so.

She spoke softer now that he was near.

"I can tell you've been resting more." She tapped beneath her own eye. "Those bloody dark suitcases of yours have gotten lighter."

He gave her the most unimpressed look he could manage.

"I will push you into the creek."

She tutted softly at that. "No, you won't." A beat. "And it's a brook. Not a creek."

"Try me." His brow quirked. "And it is a creek."

Her brows lifted in challenge, leaning slightly toward him.

"Listen." She made a show of falling silent, tilting her head. They both listened to the soft rush of water over stone.

She whispered dramatically, "That's called a babbling brook. Not some crackling creek, laddy."

He huffed and flicked her lightly between the eyes. She squawked, smacking at his hand.

"I'm gonna crack your creek if you don't shut up," he muttered flatly.

Dahlia barked out a laugh and immediately muffled it into her elbow, shoulders shaking.

He smirked quietly at her as she shoved his shoulder.

"Nasty arse."

He snorted softly, shaking his head, the tension in his chest loosening.

The forest quiet wrapped around them. The water kept babbling, or crackling, depending on who you asked. They lingered there in that soft pocket of quiet.

Dahlia finished with her hair, fingers nimble as she twisted the thick tresses into a practiced French braid. The plait fell heavy over her shoulder. 

She raked her nails gently through her fluffy bangs. One stubborn curl escaped, and Levi leaned forward and flicked it down into place with ease and familiarity. 

Her eyes lifted to his, and she gave him a small, warm smile.

Levi held her gaze for a few moments, then sighed under his breath.

"So... you and Greer, huh?"

She blinked hard. Her hands moved immediately toward her comb, her bag, gathering things.

"We're friends," she said quietly.

Levi couldn't stop the drawl that slipped into his tone.

"Yeah... reeeal friendly of him, coming to see you off like that." 

Dahlia stilled and slowly looked at him. Her eyes studied him with a quiet assessment, her lips slightly pinched.  

Then she asked softly, "What do you want me to say, Levi?" 

He didn't know... All he really knew was that this all felt wrong. Like some sort of fucked up, dragged-out nightmare of his own making. And most of all... he was sad. So fucking sad.

The night around them was still so quietly magical. And yet backdropped by a depth of grief between them that haunted and ebbed. The silver-blue wash of moonlight over water and stone, the light in her hair...

"...Things with Reggie are easy," she said quietly. "Simple."

Levi tried not to let it show on his face how deeply that cut. Didn't matter though... The bond showed her as easily as looking through an open window.  

"He tells me he likes me. Gives me gifts. Takes me out with no expectations... I get to be spoiled."

Levi nodded woodenly, eyes staring at the glinting glass pendant of her leather necklace. Then, down further, to his leather bracelet that she still wore every day. He swallowed hard.  

"...You didn't tell me."

Silence stretched.

"We've talked a lot..." He continued, voice rougher now. "You never mentioned it."

Their eyes met.

"Because he and I are just friends, Levi."

"Clear he wants more than that, beautiful."

The old ingrained endearment slipped out before he could cage it. Her breath hitched sharply. Levi's gaze dropped immediately to their knees.

"...Yes," she whispered. "He wants more." 

Levi looked up, his lips parted slightly. "Why didn't you tell me, Dahlia?"

"What would I have said?" She asked, her voice soft in the quiet around him, but her tone slightly desperate. 

"I would have told you-"

"Yes, I'm sure you would have." She scoffed, shoving her bra in her pack. "With your high and mighty morals-"

"Don't twist this into something it's not."

"Then what is it, Levi?" Her eyes pinned him in a way that he couldn't look away from.

"You know why I did it." His voice came out as a rough, desperate hiss, "You know why we can't-"

Dahlia spoke over him, her eyes welling slightly in frustration and barely restrained grief.

"Did you want me to say, 'Oh, by the way, a man asked me-'"

"Yes, Dahlia. Literally anything would have worked over being blindsided-"

"Blindsided? Ha!" She cut him off swiftly, shaking her head slightly. "Well, now you know how I felt."

The quiet that followed was thick and intrusive, broken only by the water rolling by. Their eyes downcast, their arms crossed tight over their chests. Breathing... and hurting.

Levi broke the silence first, "I don't want to fight with you, Dahlia."

She swallowed hard and shot her gaze up to his again. "Then stop picking them with me."

"I'm not. I-" He dragged a rough palm over his face, his thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to ease the pressure building. 

He let out a shaky exhale. "I just thought... we were back to a point where-" He swallowed, "That you'd tell me if something... like that happened. And you didn't."

His hand dropped to his lap, and he looked at her again. Their bond bucking and writhing with their mix of feelings. 

He pulled in a deep breath, trying to quiet it. Quiet everything. He just... he just needed-

Her.

"I thought I had more time."

"What? Time of me wallowing?"

"No." Levi's voice was so low it almost got swallowed by the water. "Time for me to get my shit together... for you."

Grief twisted across his face before he could hide it. He wanted to reach out, tuck her in close against his heartbeat... Breathe her in. Let her sink into his bones the way she used to. The way he had never allowed them to fully let go.

She whispered, her eyes growing silver rimmed, "I told you I'd wait for you... And you said you didn't want that."

"I don't," he replied softly. "I don't want you waiting on something I might never measure up to. I could never ask that of you."

She leaned forward slightly, desperation sharpening her whisper. "But when I try to live normally, like there isn't a-" she gestured helplessly toward him, "a you-shaped hole in my life... then this happens."

She continued before he could cut in, her voice hushed and thick with unshed tears.

"And for the record, I know Reggie wants more," Dahlia swallowed hard. "But I don't know if I'd ever want to give that part of myself when I know exactly who it belongs to already.”

Levi's eyes fell shut, her words cutting to the heart of him. "Dahlia-"

Her voice cracked. "I feel like I can't do anything right by you right now."

His eyes opened to look at her again, 

"What the hell am I supposed to do with that, Levi? I am trying," Her voice cracked again softly. "So hard."

"I know you are-"

"Every time I feel your hurt or anger or guilt-" She pressed her palm flat against her sternum. "I feel it here. Always. You live here in me. And I feel you every damned second of every day. And gods..." 

Her breath hitched on a silent sob. Levi tensed hard.

She continued, words running away from her in grief and cacophony, "I cannot stand the feeling of your pain. I want to wash it all away. I hate that it's caused by me, and I don't know what to do-"

He shifted forward immediately, his hands coming up to cup her shoulders.

"I miss when you were happy, Levi. I miss feeling that from you... I miss you. So... much..." Her shoulders started to shake and tremble. Then her eyes screwed shut, and she buried her face tight into her palms, hiding from him. Silent sobs wracked through her.

Levi didn't need to think.

"C'mere."

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into him. She folded immediately, pressing her face into his chest. Her arms locked around his middle like iron bands. Her crying shook them both. Her tears soaking into the thin fabric of his shirt.

Levi tucked her under his chin. His gaze drifted to the brook as it ran over smooth stone, silver and endless.

His lips brushed the top of her head as he murmured low, genuinely... for only her to ever know. 

"I miss you too, Dahlia. Every day... All the time."

They stayed like that for several moments. Arms locked tight around each other. Holding on like they were the only things keeping the other upright.

Gradually, their heartbeats slowed. Their breaths synced.

Dahlia sniffled softly against his chest, the sound small and wet in the quiet of the forest.

"...Where does this leave us?"

Levi inhaled slowly, deeply. His nose brushed into the crown of her curls before he could stop himself, selfishly breathing her in.

Vanilla lavender comfort... Sage and bergamot brightness.

"I don't know," He murmured honestly, "I've never done this before."

She sniffed again, voice fragile, "...do you hate me?"

Levi stiffened immediately. He pulled back just enough to see her face. "What-” His fingers came up, gentle but firm as they tilted her chin upward so she had no choice but to meet his eyes.

"Of course not," he said, stern and baffled all at once. "Why would you even ask that?"

Her eyes were rimmed red. Nose pink from crying.

"...You're just so... angry," she said quietly. "All the time. And I blame myself."

Levi's face fell slowly, his brow softening as he looked at her. His thumb brushed away a damp curl that had stuck to her cheek, then pushed the long strands of her bangs back from her eyes.

"I'm constantly angry at myself," he admitted. A rough breath left his nose. "And... today, well..." He clicked his tongue softly, lips pressing together before he finished. "I may or may not have wanted to wring a certain MP's neck."

His gaze drifted briefly past her shoulder, voice growing quieter and drier.

"Maybe slice him down the spine into little kebab pieces. Who knows."

Dahlia rolled her eyes. A tiny smirk twitched at her lips despite the tears still wet on her cheeks, her face puffy.

Levi looked back at her, brow soft, his arm still wrapped around her shoulders.

"But none of that's toward you, Dahlia," he said quietly. "I could never hate you."

She nodded faintly, breathing slowly as her eyes dropped to the dark patch of damp fabric at his collar where her tears had soaked through.

Levi watched her for a moment before asking softly, "Do you hate me?"

Her head snapped up immediately. The green of her eyes looked almost luminous in the moonlight, ringed pink with grief.

Her lower lip trembled when she answered.

"Never." She swallowed. "It'd be easier if I did."

Levi snorted lightly.

"I can remedy that."

Her hand smacked his chest before he could blink.

"Don't you dare."

He exaggerated the impact instantly, coughing out a dramatic wheeze and slumping forward.

“I'm too young,” she clipped out with exaggerated primness, "for the amount of grays you've given me, mensch."

He wheezed harder. "Assaulting a superior officer..." He couldn't help it. "Young in whose book?"

Her palm thumped him again.

Levi immediately dropped the act. A deep, warm laugh broke free from his chest. It rumbled through both of them, still leaning into each other, easing something tight and aching behind their ribs.

* * *

After a while, they rose. The tears still drying on his shirt. Her fingers had sought out his sleeve as they walked, curling into the corner of the fabric hem. They stepped back onto the narrow forest path, the brook’s soft rush fading behind them.

The campfire glow flickered faintly through the trees ahead.

Levi cleared his throat softly.

"Next time," he said, voice low and steady, "pick a spot the watch can see. Or at least tell them where you'll be... please."

The last word came quieter than the rest. She gave him a soft, tired look, her grip on his sleeve still firm.

"...Okay," she said gently. "I will."

He nodded. "Thank you."

They stepped back into the edge of camp together. The low crackle of embers and steady rhythm of night greeting them as they entered. 

At the fork between their tents, they paused. Staring into the other. 

Her fingers left his shirt as if in slow motion. Then she turned left. And he turned right.

He laid on his back staring at the tent ceiling long after the camp had gone fully still, the echo of her voice replaying in the quiet. His chest aching in a way that made his muscles tense.

His mind reeling from how badly they missed each other. How close they stood. How far apart they still were. 

Outside, the brook, creek... whatever the hell it was. It kept running throughout the night, endless in its own routine and purpose.

And Levi lay awake, heart heavy and full all at once.

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