𝗔𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘| 𝙀. 𝙔𝙀𝘼𝙂𝙀𝙍

𝐬𝐢𝐱

The wind blew my hair away from my face, and my feet dangled off of the ledge I was perched on.

The sound of lively chatter sounded in the air, and I felt the fading sun's heat cascading on my skin. I looked forward and saw the beautiful sight in front of my eyes.

The oranges and pinks and yellows and reds of the sunset blended into a beautiful canvas of heavenly colors. I felt peace at that moment, and a warm body was settled beside mine.

I felt at peace, and I felt love through the hand that gripped mine. I didn't look at the person beside me, why would I if I had a lifetime to look at them.

So I kept my gaze forward and closed my eyes, tilting my head back and soaking up the serene state the world was in at this moment.

"Promise you'll never leave me," the voice said softly. The voice was warm and held love. I missed that voice, but I don't even know if I've ever heard it before.

I looked at the silhouette of a boy with a smile.

"I promise."

I sat up in bed with a gasp, the hand around my waist falling back limply on the bed. My hands went to my face as I rubbed my temples, trying to remember what I just dreamt about.

I don't remember visiting a place like that with Reiner, I thought to myself. I don't even think a place like the one in my dream existed in Marley.

"Darling?" I turned around in place and looked down to see Reiner, his eyes full of tired confusion. His pale skin was highlighted by the moonlight shining through the window to our dorm room, and his light blonde hair turned into a golden gray.

"Sorry, I woke you up," I said with a meek smile and went back to lay down, but Reiner sat up first, his fingers brushing against my face.

"Nova, why are you crying?" I stared up at him and touched my wet cheeks confusedly.

"I-I don't..." I trailed off. Why was I crying?

Reiner just looked at me, but with the shadow that grew over his face from his back facing the moonlight, I couldn't tell what his eyes were saying to me, but then his face lifted and he grinned at me.

"Let's just get back to bed, crazy," he said and brought me down to lay next to him again.

"Yeah, yeah," I say in reply to his nickname for me, slapping his bare chest softly once. He took the hand I hit him with and gripped it on his own, bringing it to lay on his heart, letting my palm feel his smooth skin and his steady beating heart.

Reiner craned his neck down and laid a kiss on my temple. "Now, go to sleep, we have a big day tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah," I said again and snuggled up into his warm body under the thin covers as Reiner wrapped his arm tighter around me.

But even as my eyes closed to sleep once again, I couldn't help but let those words from my dream echo in my mind until I fell unconscious.

"Promise you'll never leave me."

"I promise."

...............

The floor of the small aircraft we were in rumbled underneath my feet as I sat on the bench next to Reiner. My head laid itself on his shoulder, my eyes closed to gain extra minutes of sleep before our assignments, all while Reiner had his head by his interlocked hands in a praying position.

"Five minutes till release," a Marleyan soldier spoke from the head of the plane. I opened my eyes and let Zeke talk to the soldier as Reiner and I continued to sit down.