Turning Page || Levi Ackerman

27: Forgotten Flowers

Heyyyy

Sorry for disappearing for 2 weeks without saying anything 🤡.

I had to look for a house, and work was also really busyy, so I didn't have the time to work on the fic. But my apologies for not updating again!

This chapter has a lot of time skips, so do keep the dates in mind to understand the timeline better. Also the last chapter ended with Levi going for the Mission to Reclaim Shinghansina, so this chapter will be more about post season 3 scenes, and season 4 timeskip stuff.

I hope you enjoyyy! Would love to know your feedback in the comments. (Also this chapter is really long- around 7k words)

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AUG 850

Maria has been reclaimed, and the people of Paradis rejoice. Throwing flower petals at the 8 remaining members of the Survey Corps.

This is the first time they have been welcomed this way. And this is the first time they have ever won. But Levi feels nothing close to victorious, as he tredges down the streets of Trost.

His feet ache, and the crowd cheers.

Silently he suffocates in the praises people sing of him.

For he has returned, not a valiant warrior, but a wimp who couldn't even complete the promise he made to his dying commander.

The sound of the creaking wagons behind him is loud amidst the cheer. Erwin rests there, and so do Moblit, Marlo and many others. They couldn't even get most of the bodies back, because of the shortage of carts.

And Levi has always been a part of their death, but this time, all responsibility falls on him. It was his decision to let his comrades march to death. It was his incompetence that let the beast titan slip away.

And now his shoulders can't help but quake. For he has returned with unfathomable grief, and the weight of the entire survey corps on his head.

The loudness of the crowd, and the silence of his sadness are all too overwhelming. And Levi sighs, wondering if the heaviness in his heart will ever recede.

Hange agrees to take his horse back to the base. And Levi pushes through the people on the street, struggling to maintain the impertinent scowl that always rests on his face.

Soon his tired eyes meet the beautiful brown of hers.

She's standing at the doorstep of their house. So grateful that he's come back alive.

His breath quivers. It feels like it took him hours to reach her, as if he was walking in an endless circle.

"Levi," her voice is one of love. She takes a step closer to him. Studying his body, smeared with victor's blood. And he's tried to hold it all in for so so long. But he's home now, he can't help but let his emotions crack through the mask.

"Levi...," she puts a hand on his cheek, trying to elicit a reaction from him.

A few seconds pass by, thick in silence and then he lunges forward towards her. His arms encircling around her waist as he buries his face into the crook of her neck.

And she gasps, as she feels the slight tremor in his frame.

He reeks. Of sweat, of blood. Of death, of failure. And she can't help but pull him closer, hoping that if she holds him tighter, it brings back all his pieces together.

She doesn't know what he's been through. And she doesn't know what hurt him so bad, that he dares to hug her when they're still standing at the doorsteps of their home.