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Levi laid in the bed with a groan, his bones and muscles aching as he did so. He was so tired, his body exhausted. Gabi helped to tuck him in, Falco standing behind her and taking the empty tea cup off Levi’s bedside table.
He’d been living with the two since the rumbling, and many years had passed since then. Falco and Gabi were married now, with two little girls: Colette (10) and Sophie (8). The girls would play card games with Levi every evening before they had to go to bed, and enjoyed their ‘Uncle’ Levi’s company.
“Goodnight, Levi,” Gabi smiled, pressing a kiss to his forehead, “You get some rest. We’ll take you to your doctor’s appointment tomorrow, yeah?”
Levi nodded, grumbling, “It’s stupid. I don’t need to go to the doctor’s.”
“You’ve been feeling ill lately,” Falco noted, “And you’ve been getting weaker. We’ve all noticed. It’s better to go to the doctor and get it taken care of rather than putting it off.”
Levi huffed and muttered, “Fine.”
“Goodnight,” Falco chuckled as he turned off the light, the two of them leaving the bedroom.
“Goodnight,” Levi called, turning over and sighing heavily.
When had he gotten so old? The time had passed so quickly, he thought to himself. So many friends and loved one's lost. Levi turned back on his other side, staring at the painting of Erwin on his bedside table. Gabi had recreated it for him from a larger portrait of Erwin that hung in a military building in Paradis. It was the best birthday gift he’d ever received. He examined Erwin’s strong face, his gentle smile, his chiseled features.
He wondered if Erwin was out there somewhere, waiting for him. He wondered the same of his friends and his family. Maybe they’d been looking down at him all these years. Levi knew that they must have been. That day he’d seen them in the smoke after killing Zeke; he sensed they’d been watching over him that entire time.
If it wasn’t for Gabi’s picture, Levi wouldn’t even remember Erwin’s face. He couldn’t remember what most of his friends looked like anymore; their memories fading from his mind. Isabel and Farlan: he knew that Isabel had red ponytails, and Farlan had... blonde hair, right? He couldn’t remember, their faces were gone now. He barely remembered what his mother looked like at all, and even Kenny’s face was difficult to bring up. The only thing he could recall about Hange was their glasses, and the fact that they’d been obsessed with Titans.
But Erwin, thanks to Gabi’s painting, was still ingrained in his mind. He could still hear the man’s laughter in his head, still feel his warm, loving touch, still remember the intimate moments they’d shared together over the few years they knew each other. Erwin, out of everyone, had made the biggest impression on Levi’s life, and he missed him every day.
Levi drifted off to sleep with thoughts of Erwin, his entire body going numb. He didn’t dream right away, which was unusual for him, until he opened his eyes to see that he was surrounded by a forest of blue trees. Blue? He thought in confusion, Must be a dream...
Levi got up slowly, looking down at his hands. He had all his fingers, and there were no wrinkles. What’s this? Levi wondered, I’m young again? He felt his face, realizing he could see out of both eyes, and his scar was gone. What a dream this was.
He started walking through the blue forest, curious as to where he was. He’d never been in such a vast, dense forest before. Levi paused in his tracks when he heard a rustling behind the trees. He looked around, suddenly a little fearful.
“Who’s there?!” he asked threateningly, as he looked around for something to use as a weapon.
“Chill, kid,” a familiar voice spoke, “It’s just us.”
Levi turned to see a man with a hat and chinstrap beard, and a woman with long black hair, a soft smile on her face. Levi rubbed his eyes in some confusion. At first, he didn’t recognize them. Who were these two? And who was that man calling him ‘kid’?!
“Who are you?” Levi growled, “Back off, I know how to fight.”
“How could you?!” the man scoffed, sounding offended, “How could you forget your own uncle and mother?!”
Levi’s eyes widened, “M... Mother?”
The woman smiled at him sweetly, “Hi baby.”
Levi could feel tears welling up in his eyes. His mother had never visited him in his dreams before. He walked up to her cautiously, examining her face. He was realizing how similar he looked to her. She was beautiful, her round face framed by long, gorgeous locks of black hair.
“M-Mama?” Levi managed as tears rolled down his face.
“Come here, baby,” Kuchel held out her hands, and Levi instantly rushed into her arms, hugging her tightly, “I’m so proud of you, my sweet Levi.”
She felt so real. Like she really was right in front of him. Levi could feel himself breaking down, fat tears rolling down his cheeks faster by the second. He’d missed her so much, and that smell of lavender on her hair was so familiar and homey to him.
“What about me?!” Kenny snapped, “Don’t I get a hug?”
Levi pulled away from his mother slowly, ignoring Kenny as Kuchel wiped the tears from his eyes, “Don’t cry, my love. You’re finally with us. You’re finally here.”
“Here?” Levi asked in confusion, “Where is... ‘here’?”
“The afterlife, dumbass,” Kenny muttered, seemingly irritated, “You’re dead.”
The information hit Levi like a ton of bricks. Was Kenny telling the truth? Was he really dead? He looked around in some shock. So this wasn’t a dream? This was the afterlife? And he... he was dead?
“I know it’s quite a shock,” Kuchel explained, “But you’re safe here.”
“But... But Falco, Gabi, the girls...” Levi thought of the family he’d left behind, and how they’d be affected by his death.
“They’ll be fine,” Kenny placed a hand on his shoulder, “They’ll join us too, one day.”
Levi nodded solemnly, wiping away the last of his tears as he gave Kenny a grateful smile, “Are... Are there others here too?”
“Yes,” Kuchel replied, “You can go on and explore without us. We’ll be here when you need us, just call out and we’ll come.”
Levi nodded hesitantly, at first not wanting to leave his mother and uncle. He felt so comfortable here with them. But also, he wanted to see others, if this really was the afterlife like Kenny had said. And he knew the one person he wanted to see the most. Levi waved to his mother and uncle, and kept along on his journey. He’d only been walking for a little while when he heard a shout:
“BRO!”
Two figures emerged from the trees: a blonde man and a red-haired woman. Farlan and Isabel. Levi thought almost instantly, their features becoming familiar to him. He ran to them, throwing his arms around them and hugging them close.
“You miss us?” Farlan chuckled as he patted Levi’s back.
“Yes,” Levi breathed, pulling away and ruffling Isabel’s hair, “So much.”
She giggled and shoved Levi playfully, “We missed you too bro!”
Levi smiled, “You two haven’t changed a bit.”
It was like he was picking up with them right where they’d left off. The two were still the same as he remembered them: so young and carefree. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed his two friends.
“So what’s with you and that Erwin guy?” Farlan asked suddenly.
“Yeah,” Isabel pouted, “You were going to kill him, but then we had to watch you get bent over-”
“Okay, okay,” Levi interrupted with some embarrassment, “That’s enough. Erwin’s not as bad as you two think.”
“We know,” Farlan smiled, “We’ve met him here. We’re just teasing you.”
“Erwin’s here too?” Levi replied with a hopeful tint to his voice.
He’d figured Erwin would be here, but getting confirmation of such a thing was incredibly exciting. It made him want to move on, to find others and keep looking for Erwin. Farlan and Isabel sensed this, moving aside.
“Go ahead, go find him,” Farlan chuckled.
“Yeah, go find your boyfriend,” Isabel grinned, making kissy faces at him.
Levi was still blushing as he walked away from his friends in search of Erwin. He finally exited the forest, coming across a field of tall sunflowers. He heard a familiar voice call out his name as he entered the sunflowers. It came from deeper in the field, and he started walking towards the voice. Was that Erwin? He wondered.
“Levi!” he heard again.
“Erwin?!” he called back, almost certain that was Erwin’s voice.
Levi could feel his heart beating frantically in his chest as he rushed through the sunflowers towards the voice, emerging from the field. He looked around, desperately wanting to find the blonde.
“Levi!” Erwin called; the sound was much closer now. Levi turned slowly to see Erwin at the other end of the lawn, a sunflower in his hand and a huge grin on his face as he held out his arms to the smaller man.
“Erwin!” Levi cried out, running as fast as he could towards Erwin.
Erwin had tears in his eyes, rushing towards Levi. When they finally met, Levi threw his arms around Erwin’s shoulders, immediately bursting into tears. Erwin hugged him tight, spinning him around before he lost his footing and the two of them fell to the ground, simply holding each other.
“Levi,” Erwin sighed contently, “Oh Levi, you don’t know how much I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” Levi got out with a sob, “Oh god, Erwin. I missed you so much.”
“You... lived so long,” Erwin smiled sadly.
“I’m sorry for making you wait,” Levi sniffed, looking up at Erwin, who also had tears running down his cheeks.
Levi had never felt so happy in his entire life. This must truly be the afterlife. There was no way it was a dream. It felt so real: being here in Erwin’s arms. The emotions tugging at him were so real. It was so bittersweet, seeing Erwin here.
“It’s okay, my darling,” Erwin pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, “The important thing is that you’re here now.”
Levi kissed back, tears still rolling down his face. He heard a loud, “Levi-iii!” and immediately pulled away with wide eyes, not even able to look to see who it was before he was tackled out of Erwin’s arms by Hange.
“WE MISSED YOU!” Hange shrieked in his ear, and Levi could hear Erwin chuckling at their actions.
“Holy fuck, four eyes,” Levi grumbled, hugging them back anyways, “Calm down.”
“How can I?!” Hange grinned, pulling away, “You’re here! You’re finally here!”
“I know,” Levi tutted, “And I was kind of in the middle of something.”
Hange looked between Erwin and Levi, “Oh. Oh! Sorry, my bad. You two get back to fucking then-”
“We weren’t fucking!” Levi argued in annoyance, “We were just kissing.”
“Well get back to it!” Hange laughed, “You and I will have plenty of time to catch up, don’t worry. I bet all your comrades are excited to see you too.”
“Comrades?” Levi tilted his head.
“Yeah!” Hange explained, “You know, Mike, Nanaba, Moblit, Petra, Sasha, Ere-”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Levi interrupted, “Erwin and I will join you guys soon.”
Hange nodded, getting up and skipping away happily. Levi rolled his eyes and went back to Erwin, who had gotten up and was brushing himself off by now. The blonde was beaming at him, looking the happiest Levi had ever seen him.
“Do you want to join them now?” Erwin asked, brushing a stray piece of hair out of Levi’s face.
Levi smiled up at him, finally feeling truly happy. He had Erwin here, in front of him, after all these years. Finally. Levi wrapped his arms around Erwin’s neck and pressed a deep kiss to his lips, feeling the taller man kissing him back.
“No,” Levi replied as he pulled away, resting their foreheads together, “I want to spend time with you first.”
“I love you so much, Levi,” Erwin murmured against his lips.
“I love you too, Erwin.”
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