Pluviophile | Levi Ackermann × Reader |

|Chapter 33| Goodbyes

|Levi's Pov|

The birds stopped chirping.

The clouds stopped moving.

The leaves stopped rustling in the winds...

And my heart started beating.

"I love you... Levi."

...

That was the last thing I had heard before her neck was pierced by the teeth of a titan. It's wretched eye twitched in my direction as I wasted not a second in killing it where it stood.

Her body fell with it.

My ears rang.

My breathing was all messed up.

I couldn't bring myself to reality.

Was this really real? No, it couldn't be. It couldn't be. It couldn't be.

I landed and stepped through the watered grass, hair sweeping past my brows as I fell to my knees.

"... Y/n..."

I placed my hands on her face, looking into her eyes. I saw her smile, her beautiful features, and her loving presence. I felt my heart sink when I picked her head up, realizing now even more brutally that there was no body attached.

Her blood ran through my fingers, soaking my clothing. My life was stained red, and it forever would be.

I brushed my thumb over her cheek, whiping away a speck of blood. I looked at her head in my hands, still trying to register her fate...

And then the world drove it's merciless dagger through my chest. It twisted it around so I could feel the full extent of her death, tugging it out and slipping it in again and again and again. I choked on my words.

"... Wh-" I couldn't speak.

I lost a piece of my soul, looking into her empty eyes that carried nothing but a dull color that had once been so stunning to look at. Her lips were pale and lost their pink tint. Her hair was chopped at the part of her neck that had been parted from the rest of her body.

"Levi!" It was Hange.

I went stiff.

"Levi what-" She stopped when she landed by my side, instantly becoming distant. She saw Y/n's head in my arms. She shakily sat with me.
"No..."

I furrowed my brows as I closed my eyes, holding in a pained scream. I had to keep myself composed, or more people would die.

But... I just couldn't.

I picked up the sword by my side and stabbed it through the dirt and mud as I cried out in anger. Hange's eyes widened. "Levi... You-"

"Don't." I warned her. "Don't say anything."

My hands trembled as I looked down at the head that rested in my lap lifelessly. So many times she had thought I was dead, so many times she had gone through this pain... And now it was my turn to feel it. It was my time to pay my debt.
My voice was lost to time, my love was lost in her eyes, and my forgiveness faded. I had a newly fermented hatred in my bones.

I was sick with revenge

I was-

"Levi!" Hange snapped me out of my thoughts. "Get ahold of yourself!' She ordered, gesturing down at my hand. I had grabbed my blade with a single hand, squeezing it so hard I sliced my palm open. The blood oozed down my sleeve and dripped into the ground, mixing with Y/n's.

Hange ripped a piece of cloth off of her cloaked, tying it around my hand. Her eyes were puffy with her attempt to not cry over the loss we both suffered.

My limbs went weak. "... She's dead."

Hange winced at my words.
"Yes... She is."

We both sat in silence.

The agonizing emotions welled up within me so powerfully that I didn't move an inch the rest of the expedition. Hange had to drag me back to the Walls.

I took the body with me to bury.
-

|Chapter 33|
Goodbyes
-
Rain tumbled down from the skies, cascading into the graveyard. The calm winds brushed through the land. Moonlight poured down with the storm.

My eyes fell down to a headstone.

I winced at the thunder.

It reminded me too much of the day I lost her.

My legs wobbled slightly as I bent down in the wet grass, placing a bundle of roses from my garden down on the stone.

It had her initials carved into it.

I was all alone in this place.

I had refused to attend the funeral, unable to bring myself to face everyone else along with the dreadful feelings I was handed whenever I was here.

I placed a hand on the headstone, my eyes squinting sadly.
A single tear fell from my left eye and washed away in the rain.

I looked at it plainly.

"Forgive me," I whispered in the thunder. "I'm late..."

There was no response.

Just the rain.

I took my hand off. "I couldn't protect you."

I pushed the roses closer. "You showed me what it means to love someone, and for that I am eternally grateful..." I closed my eyes. "I'm sorry I let you go so soon."

I leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on the stone of the grave. "I love you, too..."

I rose to my feet, drenched from the rain. I gave the gravestone one final pained glance. I could almost see her standing there. I could almost see her teasing smile, her beautiful face, and I could almost feel her embrace.

But the feeling was torn away in the cold rain.

I suppressed a shiver...

"This is goodbye, Y/n."

... And I left.