ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴍᴇʀᴄʏ {ʟᴇᴠɪ ᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴍᴀɴ}

There's No Dancing

{Mercy's POV}

     The carriage ride was nearly an hour long as we made our way to the Inner City. I was nervous about the whole ordeal, and looked out the window for most of the ride.
    The sun was nearing the walls, and there was a noticeable chill in the air as autumn drew closer. I could see that some of the leaves had began their change already.
    Levi had brought my Scout cloak, and gave it to me as soon as my skin raised with goosebumps as if he knew I would get cold.
    I watched as children played on the sidewalks everywhere. They'd chase each other in circles until they caught one another, only to repeat the cycle over and over again. There was a group of girls huddled by one of the alleyways playing with dolls and figures alike. They'd giggle at each other until their faces turned red.

    I watched them with a heavy heart.
    I wondered if I ever played with other children. If I did I couldn't remember.
    "Levi?" I asked in a distracted tone as I watched the children play.
     "Yeah?" he asked as he sat across from me. He was looking out the window too, but I could feel his eyes look me over occasionally as if he couldn't help himself.
    "Did you ever play like that when you were little?"
     He continued to stare out the window of the carriage as he thought for a moment.
    "There wasn't many children on my side of the Underground," he said sadly. "Before my mom got sick, and before she started working a lot of hours she would play with me, but I can barely remember."
     I looked over to him.
     He wore his dark green Scout overcoat and his white cravat. His piercing eyes stared out at the streets, and the reflections off the buildings and traffic made his features gleam.

     "Would you ever have children?" I asked as I looked him over.
      I had never considered myself to be a mother before that moment. There was always too much going on, whether it was enduring the Underground and the wrath of my father or making it as a Scout. I had never given motherhood much thought, but I suddenly wondered if he ever thought about it.
     His eyes slowly moved over to me, expressionless.
     "I'm not sure," he said. "Any kid born from me would be cursed with the Ackerman bloodline just like I was."
     I nodded my head and looked back out to the street.
    "I also never thought it was a possibility," he said quietly and I could feel his eyes on me.
     "Why?" I asked as I watched the streets.
      Two young girls were talking to a blond haired boy, whispering and giggling back and forth as their faces blushed.
      "I never thought I'd find love," he said sincerely. "I didn't figure someone would want to have kids with me."
      I looked over to him without moving my face from the window.
      "Well," I said as I returned my focus to the street. "I don't think you have a cursed bloodline... but I think your bloodline has been cursed by the war."
      "Maybe."
      "Maybe when the war is over, there won't be anything to curse it."
      "Yeah," he said hollowly. "What about you?"
      "I never thought about it until now," I giggled as I straightened my posture against the seat behind me. "I never considered having kids until I saw all of these little bastards roaming the streets."
      "Would you?"
      "Maybe," I laughed and pulled my cloak around me. "I worry about my bloodline too, and if the device will even let me have children."
     "I see."
     "But I think I'd like to," I said through a deep breath. "I want to be the mother that mine never got to be, and if I did have kids I would want to give them the best childhood possible... Since I never got one."
     "I agree with you there," Levi said.
     I looked over to him, and was met with a saddened blue sky.