When The Snow Melts

Mid Summer

Hanji spared one last glance at the peaceful sleeping face of Levi before she left the room. As she continued with the monotonous chores which Levi had taught her how to carry out, she couldn't help but to stew over what Levi had said.
"You should smile more often... My ass," Hanji muttered under her breath as she set the clothes outside in the yard to dry. The wind carried the smell of the sea, since this estate was close to the beach. Hanji shielded her eyes with her hands and stared at the eggshell blue sky. White wispy bit of cloud floated lazily overhead. An occasional seagull swooped in the air and disappeared. My university classes would be starting next week, Hanji thought. By then, Levi's ankle would have partially healed. She couldn't help but to think about what Levi had muttered drowsily just now as well. It echoed in her head. 'I love you Hanji, you're the best.'
"Tch, who says that? Especially a guy. He's too innocent for his good sometimes." Hanji spoke her thoughts outloud, thinking that no one could hear her. All she knew about Levi's background was that he had come from a simple family from the countryside and had never experienced city life, unlike her. He lived innocently and devoid of most urban luxuries. He had moved into the inn to be closer to his workplace and that was how they met. The city girl and the countryside boy.
By the time Levi woke up, he saw Hanji's figure standing in front outside the door looking at something.
He half-limped, half-walked.
But what he saw, he never expected.
Hanji was standing in front of a mirror.
"So you took my advice for you to smile often." Levi squeezed in so that he could see himself in the mirror with her.
"N-NO. I was just...tidying up my hair." Hanji cast a look of disorientation.
"And your hair's still the same way it was 30 minutes ago." Levi grinned.
"You know...sometimes...people look nicer when they smile," Levi looked at Hanji's reflection in the mirror,"And I bet you'll look stunning."
The twenty year old girl didn't reply but instead stared at the wooden dresser in her room. Her room was quite simple; a Turkish rug in the middle of the room and a kerosene lamp on her dresser beside her bed. The curtains of the window behind her desk and roller chair had been drawn back to allow sunlight to filter in. Beyond the glass panel were rolling hills of green grass with a lake of clear clean water snaking through the grassy valley. These views would be priceless back at home in the city.
||"Hanji-San," Levi finally said,"Why are you blushing?"
"Idiot, you should be back in bed." Hanji tried to be angry, but she couldn't.
"But I don't want to, didn't I say it's dull and lonely back there?"
"Levi...sometimes I swear I want to kick you in your shithole." Hanji rolled her eyes.
"Hanji...sometimes I swear I'm going to lend you some of my smiles." Levi looked out of the window. Probably at the same set of silent hills where Hanji was staring at this exact moment.
"Hanji, I need you there for me to be less lonely okay?" Levi looked to his right at Hanji, who was tempted to smile at him.
||"Y-yeah whatever fine," Hanji looked away quickly to feel her cheeks with the back of her hand. Dang, Levi's right, she is blushing. Her cheeks were warm. "Sorry for locking you up in your high tower then, Rapunzel."
Levi laughed. It was an innocent laugh. Carefree. Like a little child's. Hanji couldn't help but to pause abruptly. She had never heard him laugh before.
"What are you staring at, Hanji-san?"
"Nothing."
||"Fine. Levi. If you go back to your room, I'll make you some tea and cookies and...er...whatever shit you want." Hanji promised Levi.
"A bedtime story...and a hug?" Levi said wishfully.
"Levi, you're 19." Hanji said as she supported Levi on the way back.
"I don't care. Unless you want to give your shitty glasses a kiss then." The light reflected on his pupils seemed to dance about. Hanji looked at him, speechless.
"What. I'm joking you know?" Levi laughed again.
"Well then your jokes aren't funny." Hanji cast an annoyed look onto him.
"Okay, so which flavor of tea for you, shitty glasses?" Hanji said at Levi's door, ready to make her way out to the kitchen.
"I don't want tea, Hanji-San." Levi said, stopping her in her tracks,"I just want you to stay here with me."
Her eyes relaxed slightly. "Fine," Hanji murmured and sat at the side of Levi's bed.
|"You know, Hanji, you're a really nice person. I like you."
"Levi, you said that more than once today."
"That's because I mean it and I want you to know that too."
Levi looked up to smile at her. She reached out and squeezed his hand.
||"Thanks, Levi," she smiled.
"Thanks? Whatever for?" Levi looked at Hanji. Hanji released his hand but Levi did not let it slip away.
Never.
He held on to her hand tighter,"You're a great person, without you, I'll never be here today." Levi showed her, this time, a different kind of smile. Sometimes, there are grins, smiles of delight, and then there's the smile that's only reserved for Hanji Zoe, like she was the only thing that mattered in the world.
"Hanji-San, I like you. A Lottle. It's like a little, but a lot..."He looked at her in the eye,"Really."