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Red.
Everything around them was red. The walls of surrounding buildings were stained a dark crimson by the blood of their fallen comrades, the streets of Shiganshina littered with the dead bodies of soldiers and titans alike. Remnants of maneuver gear were scattered haphazardly among the bodies, symbols of the fight that both sides had put up. Debris from destroyed and shattered buildings fell, creating something akin to a film of dust, falling over the dead like a veil of ash. There was a sort of poetry to the scene, a sick sort of beauty to it all. Such a scene might have been noticed by the man walking through those streets, had he not been preoccupied with other, more pressing matters.
Corporal Levi made his way along the cobblestone roads, stepping over bits of metal and flesh every few feet, trying desperately not to look at the faces of his fellow soldiers. This had been it: the last battle between humanity and the titans. So many had been lost in the struggle, but their deaths had not been in vain. Levi had made damn sure of that. Now he scoured the streets, searching for the one person who was supposed to be here, the one person whom he needed to see alive and well-
"Corporal..."
The voice was barely a whisper, the words carried on the wisp of a breeze that brushed past his head. The man turned sharply, searching frantically for the owner of the voice.
"Corporal."
The voice, stronger now, called out to him once more. Levi's eyes flew to the source, and he felt ill with fear and relief upon seeing the boy in front of him.
"Eren."
Eren lay on his back in the street, his bright turquoise eyes half open and a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips. His face and clothes were smeared with blood; whether it was from a titan, a soldier, or his own, Levi could not tell. "Good, there you are," Levi commented, careful not to let his voice betray the anxiety he had felt moments ago. "Get up, brat. All surviving soldiers are to meet by the Gates into Maria. We don't have a lot of time to mess around."
He began to walk away, only to stop once again at the sound of Eren's voice.
"Corporal, I... I don't think I can move."
Slowly, he turned back to look at Eren, and felt his stomach drop as he really saw him.
Blood pooled under the young boy's body, seeping from the large gash in his abdomen. His chest rose and fell in short, shallow breaths, and his skin had paled to an alarming shade of white.
No…
He began to move, stopping once he reached the teen's body and kneeling beside him. "How long have you been here?"
"I-I don't know." Eren's voice shook, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. "I can't tell. I kept drifting in and out of consciousness. Corporal, I'm scared. It's so cold..."
No, that's exactly what he didn't want to hear. He took his cloak off, covering the boy's abdomen with it in an attempt to stem the blood flow. He didn't understand; why hadn't his titan healing abilities kicked in yet?
"Keep your eyes open, Eren. Take deep breaths, and just keep your eyes open." The kid responded by doing just that, his chest finally finding a steady rhythm as he took as deep a breath as he could muster. His breathing was getting weaker and weaker by the minute. The corporal began applying pressure to the deep wound, trying to get it to stop bleeding, and why the fuck wouldn't it stop bleeding?
Some part of him knew that his efforts were pointless, that there was no way to help the teen. But still, he refused to believe it, refused to admit-
"I'm going to die; aren't I?"
The soft inquiry jolted him out of his concentrated state and turned the blood in his veins ice cold. He knew it was more a statement than a question, but he answered it nonetheless.
"No." His voice was harsh, betraying the panic that had overtaken his mind. "No, you're not going to die. I won't let you. You're going to be fine; I'm going to bring you to the gate, and we'll take you back to Trost to get help. You're going to live. I just... If I could just stop this damn bleeding-"
"Levi."
Levi fell silent, raising his eyes from the blood-soaked fabric to meet the boy's own. Tears fell freely down Eren's face, turning a pale crimson as they slid down his cheeks. His lips formed a small, reassuring smile, as if trying to comfort the older man in front of him. Stupid kid. It's not me that needs reassurance right now.
"Levi, did we win?"
A shaky laugh escaped his lips. "Yes, Eren, we did. We won. The titans have been defeated."
The smile on Eren's face grew, making those bright eyes of his light up ever so slightly. "Good. That's really good. Then, if that's the case, then it's okay. I can die here, and it's okay, Corporal, because I don't have any regrets. I don't regret joining the survey corps, or fighting alongside you. My life was spent fighting for humanity, and, for that, I'm happy."
This brat is sixteen, the thought flitted through Levi's mind as he stared at the dying teen in front of him. He's fucking sixteen years old, still a child, and he's already more mature than most adults twice his age.
"Corporal..." Eren's voice was beginning to fade to a whisper. "Corporal, will you...will you please...stay with me?"
The man felt his chest tighten, and tried to swallow back the lump forming in his throat. "Yes, " he said softly, taking Eren's hand in his own. "Yes, of course I'll stay here. Just... just relax, Eren. Take deep breaths, remember? Everything's okay." He may have been trying to convince himself with his last statements, but he was beyond caring. He moved a little closer, reaching forward with his other hand and smoothing away the hair that clung to the boy's forehead.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine."
Levi began to sing, his deep, soothing tone releasing all the tension in Eren's body. And for the first time since their meeting a year ago, Levi smiled: a sad, broken smile, emphasized by the steady stream of tears that flowed without notice down his cheeks.
"You make me happy, when skies are grey."
"Thank you," Eren breathed, his eyes fluttering closed over his bright blue-green eyes. "Thank you, Levi. For everything."
"You'll never know, dear, how much I love you."
The cold hand between Levi's own, which had gripped tightly to him only a moment ago, steadily became more and more loose, until it fell, completely limp, slipping from his grasp with a soft thud of flesh hitting stone.
"Please don't take my sunshine away."
The streets of Shiganshina were silent; not a creature stirred from its place. The only sounds were those of Levi's shaky breathing as he attempted to gain control of himself. "Eren..." he whispered. To no one. Because he was gone. Eren was gone.
His eyes wandered downwards, back to his bloodstained cloak, which was still wrapped tightly around the teen's abdomen. He extended his hand toward it, pressing his hand to the cloak and pulling his hand back to examine it.
A choked sob escaped his lips as he leaned forward and rested his head on the boy's still chest. A blood-curdling scream ripped through the suffocating silence in the air, shattering the serenity around them. And it was a long time before Levi registered that the person who had screamed had been him.