The Humanity's Strongest & The Graceful

Reunited

Tessa's POV:

After the altercation with Flagon, Tessa puts her knife back in its hiding place before looking up to find Isabel and Hange in the mess hall, waiting for their scolding of her arriving extraordinarily late to dinner. However, she doesn't see the two in question. Instead, she sees a beautiful pair of storm-colored eyes at her, which makes her freeze in place. They were the same colored eyes that never left Tessa's thoughts. The ones that brought back memories of her childhood. How long had Tessa seen those unique colored eyes or the person they belonged to? Tessa started to believe this moment was a dream and was afraid she would wake up. She slowly brings a hand to her chest while steading her breathing, "It can't be..." She whispers with a smile, "Levi." She finishes, only to see Levi smile at her. They share the smile just like when they first met until Tessa's cheeks reddened with embarrassment, causing her to rush toward the kitchen to clean her hands from the fight with Flagon, but most importantly, to splash cold water on her face.

The kitchen door slams open as Tessa rushes inside and immediately shuts it with the same amount of force she had when she walked in before going to the sink. As the cool water hits Tessa's face, she replays what happened earlier in her head. Levi had looked different since the last time Tessa had seen him. He looked good but different. 'Why did he look so damn attractive?' Tessa thought as she continued to wash her hands. Suddenly she hears the door open, causing her eyes to widen and making her stop, 'Please don't be who I think it is.' Tessa pleads with herself before she turns around to see Hange and Isabel. Tessa grabs a towel and sighs, "Hey, what are you two doing here?" She asks while she dries her hands, and Isabel tilts her head, "Well, we wanted to check on you, Cat," Isabel answered, "Are you okay?" She asks, but Tessa gives a weak smile and nods, "Yeah, I'm okay, I think," She answers, and she feels her chest tighten, "Honestly, I don't know." Tessa replies as she throws the towel on the counter because her mind can't stop racing, resulting in her leaning against the bar.

The tightening of Tessa's chest pressurized to make her knees buckle so she would have to grab onto the wooden frame before her vision became blurry, resulting in the pounding of Tessa's head. All the pressure from different points of her body makes Tessa crumble because she begins gasping for air, leading Hange and Isabel to rush to her side before she gets hurt. While Tessa clutches Hange's hand, the duo tightens their grip around her waist, "W-What t-the hell is wrong with m-me?" Tessa chokes out between her gasps, but Hange shakes her head, "There's nothing's wrong with you, Cat," She whispers, "Your adrenaline has run out, so your body is going into overtime mode." She explained as she rubbed Tessa's back. Isabel notices the color in Tessa's face slowly vanishing and becomes concerned, "Do you want us to take you to your office?" Isabel asks, and Tessa nods, "Alright, Zoe will take you, Tessa, while I'll explain to Levi and Furlan what happened." She reassures her, and Hange nods, "Don't forget to get Kip too." She adds before guiding Tessa to the side doors of the kitchen, which connects to the medical wing near Tessa's office. After Hange and Tessa leave, Isabel leaves the kitchen to find Levi and Furlan.

When Tessa and Hange reached Tessa's office, Tessa took off her jacket before throwing it on her desk and sitting on the couch nearby. Tessa folds her hands around her neck to finish slowing down her breathing while Hange pours her a glass of water, only for her to look up when she feels the glass in her hand, "Thanks... Zoe...," Tessa huffs while rubbing the pain away on her chest as she takes a big swig of the water and then returns the cup to Hange, "I'll be okay. You can go back to the mess hall." Tessa weakly smiles, but Hange sits beside her, "I'm not leaving until I know that Kip is with you," She responds, and Tessa sighs, "We have trained him for things like this, Tessa," She says, only for Tessa to nod, "Would you like to tell me what happened? Was it because of Levi?" Hange asks while rubbing Tessa's back again, and Tessa sighs as she runs her fingers through her hair, "It's complicated, Zoe," She answers, "Levi and I used to know each other when we were younger, but that was a long time ago." She confesses before looking out the window.