Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
WHERE is he?
It felt like he had been sleeping forever. His bed sheets were soaked in sweat. It was a nightmare, he was floating in a black hole. There was no exit, no entrance. He was trapped without escape.
They were searching for him.
Light seeped in through the curtains as the first rays of sun reached his room. It was 6.30 AM. Putting on the bandage over his eye and taking the crutch in his other hand, he made his way to the bathroom.
"Good morning, Mr. Kruger."
She was one of the few young nurses remaining in this facility. Most of them resigned just after a few weeks of work, it didn't really matter, they weren't paid anyway.
"Good morning Mia."
She was almost eighteen with a mop of shiny black hair, blue eyes and a smile that resembled too much to another 'her'. It had become routine. He would wake up at 6.30 AM everyday, go to the bathroom where he would meet with Mia and let her change his bandages. She liked to talk about anything and everything. It was good, he could keep his mind off his thoughts for some time.
"I really want to become a real nurse. Obviously, I'm not saying that this isn't a real job but I wanted to be something along the lines of a medic. Just thinking about it makes me excited!"
She talked a lot about her aspirations, she wanted to help her country directly instead of taking care of the aftermath: the fallen soldiers from the Marley-Mid East War. Her father was a doctor and her mother was a nurse, and she didn't want to disappoint them now that they were resting in heaven. He once asked her if she ever held in contempt the soldiers who killed them during the war and she replied, "I can't relieve them of their responsibilities because they were the ones who killed my parents. But at the same time, I can't exactly blame them either, it's not like they had any other choice." He thought that this was an excuse, she was just too scared to confront them. She didn't have the strength nor the resolve he had.
"Hey Mr. Kruger, can you talk to me about the girl you mentioned the other day? You said she looked like me."
He was in the lion's den.
"What do you want to know?"
He could talk about her for ages and never get tired. The thought of her consumed his mind.
"Well, let's start with the basics! What's her name?"
She was the drug that kept him fighting when he wanted to just fuck it all. He needed to make it back home to her, he needed to feel her.
"Emilia." Her name still rolled off his tongue so familiarly.
"That's a nice name. I think I have some cousin named Emilia, my mom mentioned it once."
"Yeah, it's a nice name."
⇊
WHERE was he?
It was the third time she woke up this night, it was the same nightmare: she was floating in a black hole. It felt so real that she was now drenched in night sweats.
"Fuck."
She made her way to the showers.
"Klaus, what are you doing." Levi was standing in the entrance of the mess hall with a cup of tea.
"I needed a shower."
Her bangs were sticking to her forehead disgustingly.
"Tch. Be quick. Get in some hours before tomorrow."
He was last sighted with the rest of the Survey Corps in Marley.
"I will try sir." She noticed how his eyes never left her face. He had been acting weird lately, making small talk and worrying about her. She was never close to him or his squad and she wasn't exactly sociable, she really only did confide in Eren. What did he want from her?
It felt unnatural for Levi to care about anything or anyone at all. He hasn't been able to since Erwin's death. There was something about Emilia that made him uneasy, she looked so tired and vacant, as if her body was there but her mind wasn't. He knew her and Eren were close but now that he wasn't here, it was taking a toll on her. She reminded him so much of his younger self, similarly, the only thing that kept them going was survival.
It was survival of the fittest after all.
⇊
HE kept wondering if he was never born, would she have to go through all this pain?
"Levi, don't you think Emilia's a bit strange?"
Hanji had a hunch that wasn't going away. She did not seem to be perturbed by the unknown future.
"I don't know, she was in your squad." Even Levi could see it. After Eren disappeared she looked liked she had lost the reason to live, but she really was not worried about what was going to happen.
"No I mean, I feel like she's hiding something from us."
It wasn't normal. Everyone at this point was worried about him, about themselves, about the future. Yet here she was, with her nonchalant attitude towards everything.
"What do you want to do about it?"
"I really don't know, what we can do? Do we make her spill? What if she isn't hiding anything?"
"You're the commander. Make a choice for fuck's sake."
"C'mon! Help me out here Levi!"
"Fuck off shitty glasses."
Did he have to restore Eldia?
Emilia was right outside Levi's office as she heard their conversation. She almost puked. After the relentless nightmares and constant thoughts about Eren, her loyalty was now being questioned by the Survey Corps' Commander. In the end it was true. She was hiding her knowledge about Eren's real plans, she was sure that not even Zeke or Yelena knew about them. She couldn't betray him, just the fact that he was willing to trust her with his plan meant that maybe he did feel something.
Eren was the only person that mattered in this world to her. There was no family, no friends, only him.
Maybe in their next life they could have freedom, just maybe.
