AOT Oneshots

Eruri ~ Past Life

It wont let me tag people, but jane2322 requested this one! enjoy!

Latte art. More specifically, hatred towards latte art. That's all that's on Levi Ackerman's mind right now.

Of course, the one day he decides to take the late shift at the coffee shop he works at, a group of teens come in from some party and every single one of them orders intricate latte art. Coffee! At 6pm!

So now he's sitting here, meticulously pouring cream and shaking cinnamon over steaming cups of coffee. He's getting too old for this. Sure, he's only 19, but still. Too old for this.

"Uh, sir, are you almost done over there? I'm waiting." Some girl shouts. Levi gives her a death glare, and she shuts up. But the guy next to her, probably get boyfriend, doesn't.

"Um, excuse me? Didn't you hear her? Hurry up or I'll beat your ass."

Now Levi rolls his eyes. These kids can't be more than his age. What are they doing, giving threats to him?

"Psh. Shorty." the boy says, turning back to his phone.

Levi smacks down the cup he was working on and stalks over to the table the teens are sitting at. He grabs the collar of the little punk and shoved his face close to him.

"Say that again. I dare you."

The boy's smug smile falters for a moment, but he recovers and opens his mouth again.

"Another word and I'll shove that phone so far up your asshole that you'll taste your desperate texts to you ex for the next month."

"Woah, calm down," a new voice starts. Levi glances in its direction just long enough to spot a guy with sandy blonde hair and a prosthetic right arm.

"Let's not start a fight here. Look, I'll get Oluo to shut up, I swear," The guy continues.

Levi gives Oluo one last glare before releasing his collar. Oluo scrambles back.

"Fine. You're lucky I'm in a good mood or all of you would be having a very bad day. Now shut up and let me work." He finally gets a good look at the guy with the blonde hair, and a sharp pain drives a hot poker through his head.

He winces as the pain grows sharper, then disappears as quickly as it arrived.

Returning to the cup he abandoned, he curses when he sees that the cream mixed with the coffee. Hell have to start again.

As he refills the cup and begins to pour the cream again, a voice startles him and causes his hand to slip..

"Can I help?"

"Dammit!" Levi slams down his pitcher and throws the cup in the sink. "You can help by staying out of my damn way!"

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I-" He looks up to find the same blonde kid. The pain in his head comes again, and he hissed as he scrunches his eyes shut against it.

"Are you, uh, ok? Need ice or something?"

"I'm fine," Levi growls as the pain subsides. He picks up the pitcher of cream again, but finds he doesn't have the energy to do anything else.

The blonde guy grabs the cup from the sink, and finding it still has some coffee in it, takes the pitcher from Levi's hands. He begins to sloppily attempt a heart, but fails miserably.

"On second thought, I won't help. I'd just mess stuff up. Um, anyway, my name is-"

"Erwin." Levi finishes without thinking. What the hell? Where did that come from?

"Um- yeah, actually. Do I know you?"

"Yes?"

"Was that a question, or..."

"I don't think I've ever met you, but at the same time, I think I have?" Nice, Levi. Could you be more vague?

"Really? Because I feel the same," Erwin replies.

"Really?"

"Really."

There's the pain again, worse than ever, almost overwhelming. Levi nearly crumples to the ground before Erwin grabs him. The brief contact causes Levi to suck in a breath as an image flashes through his mind. He's standing in front of Erwin, and they're wearing military attire. He's angry at him, but he doesn't know why. The head of a young girl with red pigtails lays beside him.

He snaps back to reality to find Erwin looking just as shocked as him.

"Am I going crazy, or did-"

"You're not crazy," Erwin replied. "I saw it too."

The draw Levi feels to this guy is nearly overwhelming, though he can't explain it. To touch him, talk with him, be with him. He shakes the thoughts from his head and turns back to him.

"Let's go to the back."

Erwin follows as he enters the swinging metal doors behind the counter into the empty kitchen area.

"Look. I want to know what that image was. We saw it when we touched, so maybe if-"

He's cut off by Erwin grabbing his hand. A searing pain in his head, then images flash through his mind one by one.

Fighting giants... with Erwin.

Attending a military meeting... with Erwin.

Standing atop a great stone wall... with Erwin.

Memory after memory of a life spent with Erwin, until the final two, which are full memories instead of just images.

First, he's kneeling before Erwin. His eyes look tired, sad, and defeated. He's angry, he's devastated, he's guilty, but he shows none of it. Instead, he steadily tells Erwin, "Give up on your dreams and die."

Then, he's kneeling before him again, but this time his body lies in front of Levi, bloody. He shows no emotion, rather, he whispers.

"In this life we are separated, but in another, we are laughing at the idea that we should ever be apart."

Levi's eyes open and he stares in disbelief at Erwin.

"Was that-"

"Were we-"

"..."

A minute of silence. Then:

"Commander Erwin."

"Captain Levi."

Tears fill Erwin's eyes as our mom worked come back in full. Levi's vision mists over.

"I-"

I'm cut off by Erwin's lips against mine. He doesn't hesitate to kiss back.

He pulls away and looks down at him. "I never got to do that back then. So I figured now was a good time."

Just as he leans back down, the door to the kitchen bursts open, and in comes a brunette with glasses and a crazy smile.

"Commander Erwin! Captain Levi! Remember me?"