Blue and White - Levi Fanfiction

Ch. 53 - Paying it Forward

"Captain," I heard a familiar voice call, and as I slowed to a stop, I remarked on just how much I was getting called by people today. Just a short while ago, there had been Historia, and now, as the night wore on, here was Jean. I let him catch up to me and smiled to him in greeting, which he gladly returned.

"Hello, Jean," I said when he slowed to a stop beside me. The boy, though half my age, easily towered over me in height, and so I tilted my head back to look up at him as he cleared his throat.

"Good evening," he said politely. "Are you busy?"

"Right now, no," I answered. "Did you need me for something?"

"Need is a strong word," he said. "I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh? Is it important?"

"To me it is," he replied easily.

"I'm sure a hallway isn't where you'd like to talk about it," I considered.

"No," he said in agreement. "It's not."

"Lead on, then," I said. 

Wordlessly, he nodded and I fell into step alongside him as he started to walk in the same direction I'd been going when he called to me. After a while of Levi and I talking, lying in bed together, hushed words passing between us easily, we'd dozed off for a bit, and when we awoke, he decided to get back to work on the crib and I did just as I told him I would do, or at least, that's where I was headed - to the library, to find something about carpentry or building cribs or anything of the sort.

"Where were you headed?" Jean asked.

"To the library," I answered. "Independent research, you know how it goes."

"That'll do just fine," he said, nodding surely, and on we went.

When we reached the library, I was happy to find that it was perfectly empty, and the curtains of all the windows were tied open, letting all the light of the night sky stream in, bathing everything in the pale blue glow I so loved and casting long, dark shadows across the room that gave the room an eerie sort of feel - yet comforting all the same.

"Beautiful in here, isn't it," I mused aloud, walking further into the room as Jean struck a match to light a lantern.

"It'll be a bit difficult to research everything if you can't see it," he said, holding the lantern aloft now, fighting off the ghostly blue with the warm tones of the fire's glow.

"I suppose not," I said, linking my fingers behind my back as I walked along a bookshelf, looking up at spine after spine of books I had never read, and maybe wouldn't ever have the time to.

Of course, further into the library, the further away from the windows I might peruse, the harder it would be to find anything, so sooner or later I would have to illuminate the room myself, but for now, I appreciated the peaceful ambiance while I had it.

"So," I said to the boy, "shall we sit?"

"Yeah," he said, following me towards a table set only feet away from one of the large windows. I sat down, and he sat across from me, and it was only then that I realized he had a notepad and a pencil with him.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"It's personal," he admitted, and I nodded, acknowledging that this might be difficult for him to-

"But it's not about me," he finished, and my train of thought screeched to a thought.

"What do you mean?"

"I know it might be a sensitive subject," he told me, "but I wanted to ask you about your father."

"Hm? Why?" I glanced down rather pointedly towards his notepad, noting his easy smile when I met his eyes once more. "What, are you going to be taking notes on him or something?"