Silent Love, Silent Pain [Levi x OC]

52. Solace 🔥

They escaped the Giant Trees forest and managed to get to an open field where the rest of the Scouts were. Judging by their amount gathered next to the carts there weren't many of them who survived the female titan's attack.

"Captain!" one of the soldiers yelled with clear relief as soon as he spotted them.

"Is this everyone?" Sophie asked when they landed. She looked directly at Erwin, searching his eyes for an answer, hoping that he would deny. Unfortunately he didn't.

"Yes, I believe so" he replied and Sophie sighed.

She put Petra on one of the nearest carts that was full of wounded soldiers and a few corpses. Her whole body tensed when she spotted dead bodies of the comrades they shared a laugh with earlier that day. "Are you okay?" Sophie asked her. It was a stupid question. No one was okay in these circumstances. But what else could she say?

"I-I'll be fine," she mumbled. Sophie threw a blanket on her. "Thank you," she said with surprise. She didn't expect Sophie to be this caring of her. Sophie didn't expect herself to be like this either. Maybe she just wanted to pay for her sins? To apologize for all those times when she wished her terrible things only because of how close she used to be with Levi?

"Oi," they heard Levi behind them and as soon as Sophie turned to face him he grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her roughly. "What's wrong with you?! Why did you wait there for us?!" he yelled at her.

"I...I couldn't leave you there," she mumbled shyly. She knew that what she did was stupid and irresponsible. Not only did she endangered herself but also Petra. But how could she run away when her beloved was facing such a strong enemy?

"And what if I died? You'd be dead too," she heard a desperate tone in his voice that crushed her soul. She could hear how in pain he was just imagining this scenario.

"There's no point in living without you," she said as she lowered her head, leaving him agape. He didn't expect to hear that. She was afraid that he was going to scream at her again and scold her for what she did. But all he did was pull her close and wrap his arms around her body, breathing in her scent. Scent, that reminded him that she survived. That none of this awful scenario was real. She was there with him and that was all that mattered.

She didn't expect that reaction from him at all, but she didn't hesitate even for a moment. She just hugged him back and felt how her knees got weak when he rubbed her back. They were both too exhausted to fight. They didn't want to. They just reconciled after weeks of being away from each other. All they truly wanted to do was to hold one another and hear the sound of a beating heart - reminder that they were still there, that they survived.

"Petra, how are you feeling?" Levi asked her when he loosened his hold of Sophie. He had to remember that they were still in the titan's territory, thus he needed to focus on being captain first rather than being boyfriend. He just hoped that he would get an opportunity for that after their return.

"I'll be fine," she said the same thing that she told Sophie before. "I just want to get out of here,"

"We will," he promised her. "Erwin, can we go already?" he asked him.

Erwin made the last check and nodded. "Yes, we're ready to go," he decided and they quickly mounted their horses, ready to depart. At first their ride wasn't bad. No titans were in their sight and the horses were moving fast, considering how tired they must have been after hours of canter. But then someone spotted a titan.

"It's a 13 meter one!" Farrah yelled and Levi clicked his tongue. He didn't wait and sprung up from his straddle to attack it. Sophie followed him with her eyes, her heart pounding fast. Something she should have got used to experiencing whenever she was close with Levi or he was in danger. She was ready to take out her blades and help him, but he didn't need her to. He managed to kill it with one slick movement. Always skillful. She was proud of him and so was Erwin. His greatest tool always made sure to protect their unit. Levi hooked his equipment on the cart, getting closer to it with each second, but something happened that made him lose his balance. "There are other ones!" Farrah yelled again and they saw titans coming their way.