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She sees him the moment he appears through the doors, his shoulders are tensed, hands curled into fists—years of living with him has enabled her to read him like a book—and she recognises the wariness and confusion etched into every fibre of his being even though his face remains as impassive as ever. She almost wants to laugh as she watches him stop right at the threshold of the doors and take in his surroundings with wide eyes, mumbling to himself. Not bad she lip reads and this time she giggles aloud when she guesses (accurately) that he is impressed by the pristine cleanliness of the place.
They are in a hall made of smooth marble with ceiling to floor windows on both sides and heavy polished wood doors on the other end of the hall. Beautiful, wide expanses of fields and a river can be seen through the windows. The doors on the other end of the halls are thrown wide open to reveal a river bisecting the lands some distance away. There is only one bridge connecting their side to the other, which is obscured by a blend of iridescent colours that swirl and coalesce into each other. It is a peaceful, joyful place and she rather enjoys her halcyon days here. There are also other people here either hanging around in the hall or gambolling around in the field and she was never lonely. Many of them left at some point or another, replaced by other people intermittently. She has—no, had—always been waiting though.
Enthusiastic exclamations rings through the hall as people start catching sight of him and they converge on him excitedly. She catches the exact moment he realises that there’s a huge crowd heading for him and grins when he steps back in unbridled horror before he starts recognising the familiar faces in the crowd.
Why-What are you guys doing here? She reads.She cannot hear him over the racket the crowd is making but she knows the exact tone of voice he used and it is as if he is saying it to her. She missed his voice, missed him and she longs to greet him but it’s not her turn yet. She (still) has to wait. Just a little bit more.
The first people to get to him are people that she knows joined the Survey Corps with him. Isabel reaches him first and jumps on him, yelling in overt excitement. Farlan follows close behind her, and he slings an arm over him, greeting him with a careless grin. He reaches for them immediately and grips both the girl and boy tightly, murmuring something to them. The look on his face near breaks her heart but the both of them shakes their head in reply and hugs him again.
Then his name is called again and he looks up from his group hug to see his old squad members saluting him as one. He salutes back instinctively, looking taken aback before he greets them all by name. They surround him and she giggles again as he allows them to pat his shoulder and thump his back playfully, all of them effused with a youth and lightness they never had in the past.
The group soon opens up and the veterans stride up to him, with Hange pouncing on him and knocking him straight on to the floor. All of them laugh as he curses and makes a half-hearted attempt to push them away. They end up hugging him awkwardly around the neck while Mike sniffs him and smirks. Erwin grins freely at him and wraps him in strong arms, almost lifting him off the ground. This time she hears him swear indignantly and sees him try to kick Erwin in retaliation. They bomb him with questions and he answers them with uncharacteristic patience. She notices him studying the veterans, sweeping his gaze from head to toe, as if to remind himself that they are alright and here now. Soon, he starts looking around though and she knows that he is searching for her.
The others notice him looking around restlessly and knows—they have seen this countless of times—and parts, gesturing to her corner. His eyes meet hers and he turns fully towards her but does not take a step.
“Petra.” He states carefully, as if to confirm her existence.
She smiles in response and steps towards him, wrapping her arms around him. He slowly unfreezes and slides his arms around her. Then he pulls away slightly, touching her arm, her hair, her cheek before smoothing his thumb over her cheekbone and nuzzling into the side of her neck. She hears him sigh and relax against her as she hugs him back tightly.
“Hello.” She whispers. He leans back to look into her face, “I-“.
“Shh, none of that.” She interrupts him, knowing what he was going to say. She does not want his apology. Her life has always been his when she decided to devote herself to him although back then she had not been sure what she meant exactly when she said so to her father. She had only known that she will always follow him.
He opens his mouth and closes it again, then pulls her tighter against him. She snickers softly at having rendered him speechless and sighs, “I missed you.”
“Missed you too.” He mumbles against her neck. She pulls away eventually and grabs his hand.
“We have to go.” She says, glad that her wait is finally over.
“Where to?” Confusion paints his features and she points out the other doors at the bridge. She knows that he will see the bridge and understand—that he must cross, that they all have to eventually, that she had always been waiting for him to do so together.
They walk and the crowd follows behind until they reach the bridge. She turns back and waves—knows that she will meet them on the other side when it is their turn to cross—and steps on the bridge.
“Let’s go, Levi.”