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At sunset of the day…
For the first time in a long time, the long-awaited sun finally peeks out from behind the gray clouds. His sun.
Her face is hidden by the dazzling light of the May rays, so the man involuntarily squints, unable to resist such brightness.
Despite the fact that it is not possible to see the face, for some reason he remains convinced that this is not necessary.
When she says his name, there is no doubt left.
- Levi - she calls softly, and her voice is shrouded in a ghostly haze. And she lures him like a siren, which gradually drives a sailor who has sailed too far crazy with her voice. - Come on, I'm here.
On the last day, sun, don't roar like a well…
- Hange. - the man says in a slow voice, wringing his hands until his knuckles turn white. Strange. He had kept his composure for so many years and now he was in an absurd state of confusion. - Hange. - He repeats.
And she is silent, standing like a doll without hinges, as if waiting for something.
Levi blinks. Are you sure this isn't a dream? Or was it just a figment of his sick imagination?
In an effort to check if everything is happening in reality, he stretches his hand forward. And so, somehow imperceptibly, he finds himself already one step away from her.
The strong light still makes it difficult to see the face, although the outline of a smile becomes visible - forced and insincere.
Not the soul of love, even if again…
The man abruptly leans forward and embraces the woman: Her static posture finally changes and the man feels her arms wrap around his back in response, and she hesitates a little before burying herself in a sturdy shoulder.
And at about this stage, the colorful picture in his head collapses. The smell of dampness and rot emanates from Zoë due to the unstoppable blood that has soaked through her uniform. It seemed that she was decomposing right in his hands.
We won't wake up together, let him come back at night…
- You know, there are no more Titans left. - broken clears the throat of Levi. - Victory is on the side of humanity.
- I'm glad. He's not watching, but he knows for sure that her lips are curling into a sincere smile. He imagines dimples appearing around her lips, which really suited her face. Ackerman would like to appreciate this infantile smile for a little longer. Although, of course, she was etched in his memory for the rest of his life.
All my love... all my love…
In the end, he breaks off the embrace, moves away some distance, while still holding the woman by the forearms. He also smiles tightly, meeting the brown shell of his eyes.
Finally, he was able to see her face in more detail, covered with a different spectrum of scars - ranging from ordinary scratches to deep scars - and this is only on the face; It's scary to imagine what happened to the body if the main damage was inflicted in the torso area; fortunately, dense layers of clothing most likely saved the unprepared Levi from this frankly an unpleasant sight. The soft tissues of the face were also spoiled by a large burn, which was located almost on the entire right half of the face. This was probably what Hange had been hiding from him all this time behind the rays of an imaginary glow.
But even such changes did not spoil her appearance at all.
I'm with you, my love, even when I'm imaginary…
- Please stay. - he firmly believed that it would help: that the woman in front of him now is not a dream, that her half-alive, half-dead body is again brainwashing; that her scars will heal and her wounds will heal; her hair singed by fire will restore its former healthy structure, but...
- Forgive and ... goodbye. The woman forced a last sad smile, and then... She let go of his hand.
It seems love… I will come back to do it again…
Ackerman wants to scream, tear off his ligaments in an effort to stop the woman, but he does not attempt to turn back time, only looks after her, and then throws his head up to the sky. Today it is especially bright, not the same as usual - as if the clouds that have been obscuring it all this time turned out to be adamant before one person's desire. But still, both he and she are just some kind of people who cannot resist the rain of bullets sent by heavy fire at them by fate.
But now, with Hange's gradual departure, clouds have appeared on the horizon again.
See how cute you are, sleeping my luminary…
- Goodbye. – he corrects her when it seems to be too late. Does it even make sense to say silence? – see you soon. I'll see you again.
Are you sleeping, my love…