ɴᴏ ᴍᴇʀᴄʏ {ʟᴇᴠɪ ᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴍᴀɴ}

Uncanny Underground

16 Years Later

{Levi's POV}

    I sat on the porch as the wind ruffled my greying hair. With one eye I stared out at the trees, listening to the wind as it rustled the fallen leaves. It was autumn, my favorite time of year.
Next to me was the most beautiful woman on this earth. Her hair was greying too, and the corners of her eyes were beginning to wrinkle, but they still twinkled when she spoke and glistened when she cried and, God, how beautiful.
Even after I was crippled by war, she never left my side. Together, we raised two beautiful children.
Everett, my blond headed boy with a sharp tongue and quick wit. His face was my spitting image, but that colorful vocabulary was all from his Mom.

Ember was more like me, not looks that is. She looked nearly identical to Mercy, beautiful and bright, but her demeanor was calm, and every word she spoke was calculated, just like me.

It had been 16 years since my squad fell apart and Hange passed. It had been 16 years since Mercy came across the sea and brought me back to reality, and everyday I am grateful that she did.
I looked over at Mercy, the mother of my children, my wife, my spark and smiled. She met my gaze and rolled her eyes playfully.
"What are you looking at, ya old geezer?" She jested and I couldn't help but chuckle. She had a knack for making fun of my age, even though she had more grey hair than I did.
"You," I said quietly, a soft smile creeping against my lips.

Just before she could respond, I heard the door open to the front door and watched Ember and Everett step into the orange hue of the sinking sun.
"Mom, can we have that one soup you use to make for dinner?" Everett asked as he stuck his head out the doorway; Ember's head was below his as if she just had to know the answer.
"Of course," Mercy said with a smile, but before they could retreat she added, "Do you know where that soup recipe came from?"
They both stared at her blankly before shaking their head.
"Levi's Mom, Kuschel, the woman you were named after, Ember."
Ember's eyes lit up when she said that.
"So, our grandma on Dad's side then?"
Mercy nodded her head.
"When I was just a little girl, Levi's mother would come over and make soup and other things with Grandma. They were really good friends."
At this point, Everett and Ember were slowly stepping out onto the porch to hear more.
"Dad's Mom knew Grandma? Then that means... You two were childhood best friends?!" Everett exclaimed as if we just blew his mind.
Mercy looked at me and smiled before returning her attention to our antsy teenagers. "Not quite."
"Well," Ember began quietly, "How did you two meet?"
I looked at Mercy and back at Ember.
"Long story," I said quickly and Mercy turned to me.

"I think they're old enough to know the long story."
I smirked and tightened my grip on her hand.
"We'll tell it together..."

And so the story began, and I watched as Everett and Ember sat with their legs crossed on the porch listening to our story.

      "I couldn't stop shaking.
       I wasn't sure if it was the chill in the air or from how afraid I was with the whole situation. The ground beneath me was hard and uneven. The dim candlelight seemed to flicker with the beat of my heart as if my anxiety reflected on the stone walls that confined me.    
      My knees were pulled to my chest in an effort to console myself as I waited for everything to be resolved. Metal bars separated me from two guards as if I were some sort of criminal. I feared what they were going to do to me, and why..." Mercy began.
 
    I listened as if I didn't live it, bending forward to watch her face as she told it. It was my favorite story, after all.

     

FIN