A/N: song is Angel by Theory of a Deadman. I recommend listening to it! Towards the end, there are references to the song that have to do with lyrics I didn't include in the story.
Levi closed the door to his shop. The small wooden structure was worn, but well cared for on the inside. Levi kept the interior up to his immaculate cleaning standards.
Mikasa and Carla had gone home early to start on dinner. Carla had inherited her father's love of tea and had taken to trying every single type of tea she could get her hands on. So she had developed the habit of making her mother and father tea every night and had almost changed Levi's favorite tea from black to something, a little fruitier. Made by adding the dark berries to traditional black tea leaves, Levi had devolped an attachment to black currant tea.
Looking forward to seeing his family, Levi stepped up onto the porch and swung the door open to be greeted by the smell of tea leaves soaking and peals of his wife and daughter's laughter.
Hanging his cloak up on a hook next to the door and peeling off his boots and setting them on the shoe rack, he made his way into the kitchen. "What's so funny?" he asked, kissing his wife on the cheek and pecking his daughter on the top of her soft black hair. "Hi daddy," she chirped, "Mommy was just telling me about that time when you made your squad clean the entire headquarters and then you slipped when you walked into the room because the floor was so slick."
Levi glared at Mikasa's mischievous smile, "Are you ever going to let me live that down?"
Mikasa grinned, "No, I'm still mad at you for making Eren go over the floor three times before you were satisfied."
Levi sighed, "That brat was being lazy, when are you going to stop defending him?" Mikasa shrugged, "Probably never, he is family, you know."
Levi rolled his eyes, he still didn't understand why she was so attached to him. Yes, he did save her, but she had saved him as well. This concept that she owed Eren some sort of debt irked him. Eren was a good kid, but she just couldn't see that Eren himself didn't think of her as owing him anything for saving her.
Rolling his eyes again, Levi busied himself with helping Mikasa make dinner. He watched as she hummed quietly to herself as she chopped up some vegetables for the stir fry she was making.
Mikasa actually had a lovely singing voice and when Levi had first heard it, he had bugged her nonstop about singing for him. She had refused, so Levi simply had to wait around, hoping to hear snippets of her sweet voice.
Deciding not to distract her, he set the table as Carla bounced around fixing the tea. She served the tea the traditional way that Mikasa had taught her.
Sipping on the black currant tea, Levi looked at his little family in satisfaction.
Deciding that his wife was in a good mood from teasing him, he resolved to push his luck and see if he could get her to sing for him tonight.
"Mikasa," he said. She peered at him over the rim of her tea cup, "You know what would make this night even better?" She eyed him suspiciously, well used to the dorky pranks he sometimes tried to pull on her. "No, what?" she asked. "You could sing me a song," he said, pulling out his puppy dog eyes. She narrowed her eyes at him, "No," she said, calmly sipping her tea.
Carla watched her parents, her eyes darting back and forth. She actually enjoyed their verbal sparring, it was fun to see who would win.
Levi let out a forlorn sigh and said, "Oh Carla, why don't you try to get your mother to sing for us?" Carla giggled and shook her head, "No, I don't take sides, Daddy." She had always preferred to stay neutral. Levi mock glared at his daughter before heaving another long sigh, "Fine, let's get you to bed Carla, we're getting up early tomorrow to go look for more herbs in the forest to make tea with." Carla nodded eagerly and traipsed off to her room to get ready for bed.
After a few minutes, Mikasa went into Carla's room to tuck her in and give her a kiss goodnight.
When Carla had first been born, she had always cried at bedtime, distressed at being separated from her mother. Mikasa had always sung her a lullaby until she was fell fast asleep.
Mikasa had dropped the habit when Carla had learned to fall asleep on her own and Levi secretly missed it. Often times he would stand outside the door and listen to Mikasa's lullaby.
Pouring himself another cup of black currant tea, Levi poured another for Mikasa and then went outside to sit on the porch steps. Mikasa came out a full moments later, gratefully accepting the hot beverage.
She sat down next him, silently sipping before he broke the silence, "You know, I really do miss hearing you sing, why don't you ever sing anymore?" Mikasa looked surprised and thought in silence for a moment, "I don't know, it's always made me sad, it reminds me of my mother. She used to sing me to sleep. She sang me the same lullaby I used to sing to Carla."
Levi digested this statement for a moment before saying, "I've never heard you sing anything else. Your voice is a part of you, a beautiful part of you. I think you should utilize it more often." Mikasa gave him a small smile, "Really? You think so? Do- do you want to hear a song that my father used to sing for my mother? He wasn't the best singer, but it was a beautiful song and it was filled with love."
Levi's eyes widened, "Yeah, of course, I would love to hear it."
Mikasa opened her mouth and began to sing
I'm in love with an angel, heaven forbid, made me a believer, with the touch of her skin
Levi's eyes were wet at the end of the song. She'd been right, it was beautiful. And heartbreaking and touching. He reached over to grasp her hand, "Thank you for sharing that with me."
A nostalgic expression was on Mikasa's face. She looked at him, her eyes brimming with emotion and laid her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and together they gazed up at the star filled sky. Crashing to the ground indeed. She was the one that held him here, that tethered him to his sanity.
His gaze fell upon the tea leaves sitting at the bottom of his teacup. Every time he drank black currant tea he knew he would hear her voice singing in his head. The fruity taste on his tongue was a reminder. She was wrong, he was the one who had fallen in love with an angel. An angel with a broken halo, but an angel who would fight on.
