Broken Hearts, Severed Limbs (Levi x OC x Erwin)

|119| Farewell - The Mission

She hated that feeling. Watching Levi and her kids and Hange and Moblit and Erwin boarding on the train that was going to take them out of Trost and towards the Western side of Paradis. It almost felt like she was one of those wives who would watch their husbands leave for the war back in Marley, and they’d hang themselves with their hands around their necks, as they’d kiss their husbands who would peek their bodies through the windows.

Dammit. It was terrible. She had talked to them all. She had made her kids promise to her that they’d stay safe and come back. She had made sure to squeeze Sasha and Connie in her arms, and then Jean, and Eren and Mikasa, and Armin. And then Hange joked about how much it was going to take to take her down, and Moblit just shook his head with a smile and an arm thrown around her shoulders, promising Nathalie that he’d make sure Hange wouldn’t try anything too stupid. Erwin promised her that she’d be safe in the Royal Palace with Historia, with Marlowe and Hitch around her at all times.

And the last to greet farewell was her beloved. It was only just a few minutes before the train would depart and everybody was ready and into it. The warm orange of the afternoon graced those perfect, sharp features of his face. Warm, strong arms slipped tightly around her waist and urged her body to come close. He looked down at her beautiful face. The bright blue shirt that she was wearing, she had stuffed it beneath her light grey skirt. Her blue eyes stared up at him in worry but love and affection. Her pink lips, twisted in an expression of worry as she mercilessly chewed on them, and her brown hair, danced in the gentle afternoon breeze.

His Nathalie was beautiful, right there in his arms, and her fingers were so gentle as she brushed her thumbs across his face and smoothed his raven stubborn hair away from his forehead, only for them to fall back in place and she giggled. He smiled down at her. He was going to miss her. She was going to miss him. It was just a week. Just a week, Nathalie reminded herself, they both did.

They didn’t have much time. He wanted to stare at her like that forever, but the train was about to depart. His arms tightened around her and he caught her lips in his own. Their eyes closed, wishing for this moment to last forever. Her fingers found his hair and she tugged him just a little closer. They pulled back and their eyes met, and she stared up at those silver irises that she so much adored. Her hands slipped back down to his cheeks, catching his attention.

“Bring them back all safe,” She said. “Come back to me. Safe and sound,”

“I will,” Levi caught her hand and placed her palm on his chest, on top of his heart that was beating for her. “I promise, my love, I will,” He laced their fingers together. “And you have to promise me you’ll recover. At least, promise me you’ll try,”

Nathalie gave him a smile. The smile she knew he loved seeing on her lips. “I will, I promise,” She couldn’t tell how convenient she sounded, but Levi cupped her cheek and pressed another peck on her lips before he let go of her.

And just like that, the warmth of his arms around her waist was replaced with the cool afternoon breeze. The soft silver of his eyes was replaced with the sight of him heading towards the train and stepping in. He turned and looked at her. He gave one last look at his beloved wife. A smile spread on his lips and she returned it, but when he was out of sight and the train started moving, her smile faded and her body felt numb.

Will she be seeing him again? There was no way to know. She just had that lump forming in her throat as she thought of how the hell she was going to sleep tonight. Or how the hell she was supposed to keep her breakdowns and her panic attacks controlled without him. There was no way she could do that alone, not without him, not without her brats or Hange, or Moblit, or Erwin.

Nathalie sighed heavily. Just a week. That was exactly why she had despised the idea of being left behind. She had despised the idea of getting a house and waiting into it for him to come back to her, because every time, she’d watch him leave and she wouldn’t know whether he was coming back to her or not. And that was exactly why she had learned fighting, and she had tried so hard to make him proud of her fighting skills and she had memorised so hard his techniques, so that he would let her to come with him, and make sure that he would always come back.