Chapter Text
10. I Do, Didn't You Know?
Was it in Tahiti?
Were we on the Nile?
Long, long ago—
Say an hour or so—
I recall that I saw your smile.
“Levi. Levi, wake up!”
“Hmm? What’s wrong, what is it?”
“Levi, wake up!”
“Y/n? Are you alright? What time is it?”
He grasped the hands that had been rudely shaking at his shoulders, pushing and shoving until he had abruptly awoken to find y/n sitting above him, staring at him with wide, teary eyes.
“Hey, hey,” he hushed her as she plunged her head into his chest and sobbed. “What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare? It’s alright, I’m here. We’ll be alright.”
“No, no, it wasn’t a nightmare. Levi, I—I remember you.”
He froze.
“What?”
“I remember. I remember all of it. I remember you.”
She seemed desperate to hold him as tightly as possible, but he gently pried her away until he could look her in the eyes. The both of them felt wild, just in different ways, tears building and smiles widening as the realization of y/n’s recovery fully dawned on them.
“You remember everything? All of it?”
“Yes, yes, I—Levi, I love you. I’m so sorry I forgot.”
Without another word, he pulled her close until her nose brushed against his, waiting silently for the permission she gave willingly. He felt like he hadn’t truly seen her in so long, like he hadn’t kissed her in years.
“It’s okay,” he pledged between passionate kisses that barely gave either of them time to properly catch their breath. “It’s okay. You’re here now. You remember now. I love you, god, I love you so much.”
I remember you.
You’re the one who made my dreams come true,
A few kisses ago.
I remember you.
You’re the one who said,
“I love you, too.”
I do, didn’t you know?
“Will you put it on for me?” she requested sheepishly, letting him take her hand delicately in his own.
“Of course,” he agreed easily. His own ring was now back in its proper place on his hand, where he swore he was never again going to take the damn thing off as long as he lived. Now, he near shook with pure and unadulterated happiness as he returned her own ring to her finger, kissing every knuckle on her hand as soon as it was done.
“Levi, you should have told me that we’re married. It makes more sense than telling me I’m your roommate,” she lightly scolded him. She shifted until she found a more comfortable position, her legs strewn across his lap as the two sat as close as possible. All of the hesitance, all of the carefully orchestrated distance he had managed to place between them for the last five days was gone in an instant, and now that he had her back, he was unsure that he would be willing to let her leave his sight again.
He hadn’t taken his eyes off of her ring, mesmerized by the sight of it, but he now turned to her with furrowed brow.
“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“You know what I thought? I thought that I had been in love with you before the accident, but that you didn’t feel the same way. I thought I was some tragic sap, and you were taking pity on me for losing my memory.”
“You really think I would pity you?”
“Spare me the jokes, Ackerman.”
“You’re also Ackerman, you know.”
“Yes, I do remember that now, thank you.”
I remember, too, a distant bell,
And stars that fell,
Like rain out of the blue.
He answered the phone, albeit reluctantly, when he saw Hange's contact on his screen. Y/n was still laid across his lap, and if she hadn't insisted he answer Hange's call, he would have thrown his phone across the room, never again to disturb his quiet time with his loved one.
"Levi, I've been reading some medical journals, and I--" Hange started babbling as soon as he had accepted the call, not waiting for him to properly greet her before plunging into some harebrained idea that he no longer had use for. "I can come by this evening and try it out, if you think it might--"
"No, Hange, stay away from my house," he warned, earning a light glare from y/n at his tone. "We don't need it, but thank you."
"You don't... what do you mean you don't need it?"
"I'm spending the evening with my wife, Hange, and I'll thank you not to disturb us."
"With your... holy shit! Is she back?"
"Yes. Goodbye."
He pulled the receiver away from his ear before Hange could start shrieking, loud enough that y/n could hear from where she sat. As soon as he had ended the call, he fulfilled his wish of tossing his phone clear across the room. If it rang again, if there was a knock at the door, if the world started burning all around him, he wouldn't be disturbed. He was spending the evening with his wife, and nothing was going to keep him from that incredibly important item of business.
When my life is through,
And the angels ask me to recall
The thrill of them all,
Then I shall tell them:
“I remember you.”
“Were you scared?”
“Was I scared? What kind of question is that? Of course I was scared. I thought you might be dead by the time I got to the hospital. I was so relieved to find out that you had made it out with manageable injuries, only to have you address me as doctor the second you woke up.”
She giggled, despite the serious tone of his voice. “You had such a weird look on your face when I called you that, I was afraid that you were a male nurse and I had just insulted you.”
“Of course that’s what you were worried about.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Don’t think too hard about it. You’re still recovering.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“Yes, y/n, I was scared. I was terrified. You’re my wife. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anything or anyone. I was absolutely terrified that I had just lost my entire world in a split second.”
“Hmm. You can’t get rid of me that easy.”
“I’m glad of it.”
When my life is through,
And the angels ask me to recall
The thrill of them all,
Then I shall tell them:
“I remember you.”
Her eyes traced the little bumps that ran along the music box’s cylinder, chiming pleasantly even as the key wound down until the melody was hardly intelligible. She wound it up again.
“Tell me what you remember about it,” Levi whispered to her, his chin finding a home in the crook of her neck as he came to stand behind her, arms wrapped tight around her waist.
“Are you testing my memory?”
“Maybe. Maybe I just want to hear your voice as you say it.”
“Hmm. We danced to this song at our wedding. Twice, actually. I always listened to George Michael sing it when I was in high school, and when we met, you only knew the Nat King Cole version, so we agreed to play both.”
“Good,” he replied, rewarding her good memory with a kiss to the temple. “And the music box?”
“You gave it to me on our first anniversary. We were going to go out to eat to celebrate, but it was storming so hard that the power went out, so we stayed in and ate cold leftovers in the kitchen, all dressed up to go nowhere.”
He hummed as he sunk his head deeper against her shoulder, his nose tickling the skin of her neck as he spoke, “I’m so glad you remember. I tried so hard to be patient, but I don’t know what I would have done with myself if you never remembered me.”
“You’ve been so good to me, Levi. Thank you for taking such good care of me.”
She turned around to fully face him, lighting up as she took in the expression on his face—lovesick, and fully unashamed of it. She pressed her forehead to his in a silent vow.
“I’ll always take care of you,” he swore. “I love you. I always will.”
“Does that mean I can move back into our bedroom tonight?”
“Did you really think I would make you sleep in the guest room again?”
“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” she said through a laugh, using his own words against him.
“I was uncomfortable when you weren’t sleeping beside me.”
When she untangled herself from his hold, a brief expression of insult passed over his features, but it lifted as soon as she tugged at his hand, leading him behind her into their bedroom. She wasn’t tired, not after the day she’d had and all the memories she had so recently recovered. If anything, she wanted to stay up all night and just stare at Levi until the image of him was so ingrained in her mind that she never forgot him again.
But he had hardly slept since her accident, and even if her mind was far too busy for sleep, she wanted to hold him, to help him relax after all that he had been through. His eyelids were heavy, and it took little convincing to get him to lay down before she crawled into the bed beside him, curling up into his chest as easily as though nothing at all had happened between them over the last five days.
It was natural to love him. Even when the accident had taken so much away from her, it couldn’t take away the innate feeling that she loved him, that she wanted to know him and be around him.
He sighed, and she relished the sound of his slowing heartbeat.
“Goodnight, Levi.”
“Goodnight, my love.”
“I love you. I’m glad I remembered you.”
“Mmhmm,” he hummed, sleepily. “Say it again.”
“Say what?”
“That you love me.”
“I do. I love you.”
“Again, please.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”