Sayounara

A/N: I know I placed a SWKNU/YLiA AMV at the top, but I prefer this version of the song than the original one. Anyway, the song used fits that particular section in that particular scene in this book. Besides, you only need to listen to the song, so yeah. Anyway, start playing the AMV now!

As the Survey Corps returned from their 80th expedition, Levi's blue-grey eyes darted around the sea of soldiers from the Survey Corps, expecting to see a mop of brown hair and the glint of a pair of shitty glasses caused by the sunlight.

But the brunette he was looking for was nowhere to be seen.

He blinked several times, hoping his eyes were playing tricks on him, or he was having a bad late afternoon nightmare.

As the horses were being returned to the stables, Levi made his way up to Erwin and asked simply, "Eyebrows, have you seen Hanji?"

"No. She should be here somewhere," Erwin responded.

"Never mind. I'll look for that shithead myself," Levi said, walking off to find a certian brown-eyed squad leader.

After an hour of searching, she was still nowhere to be found.

"If I find that little shit, I'll - " he stopped in mid-curse as a raven-haired cadet came up to him.

"Sir," he said, "You might want to see this particular body."

Since Levi almost gave up on searching for the girl, he followed the ravenette to a certain body being covered by a blood-stained cloth. The cadet handed him a pair of gloves and a mask, for he knew how obsessed the corporal was about cleanliness.

Levi accepted the items given and placed them on as he uncovered the body from the filthy rag. Upon seeing the body, his eyes widened. He waved a dismissive hand to the cadet as a sign for him to take his leave, which he fully complied.

The body was half eaten, leaving the upper body untouched. The person's face and clothes were stained by blood and her hair was in a mess. Her glasses were bent at an awkward angle with blood smeared on them and one of the lenses were shattered.

It was none other than Hanji.

Tears were threatening to roll down the normally stoic man's face. He now knew what that weird feeling which was harbouring in his heart was towards the Titan-obsessed brunette. Love.

He caressed her face with his covered hands and wiped the blood on her cheeks away with his thumb and cleaned off the remaining blood on her face and glasses with his cravat.

"Tch... now you've made my cravat dirty," he muttered, placing the now blood-stained cravat into his breast pocket carefully after folding it.

He adjusted the shitty-looking glasses into the angle they always were when she pestered him and whispered, "It's the best I can do..."

Tears fell down his cheeks as he continued glancing at the peaceful-looking brunette.

"Why did you have to leave so soon?" he asked, "All the other people I loved died... I wanted to tell you so many things and now I can't..."

Just then, someone coughed behind him. He quickly wiped his tears away before whirling around to see Miike standing there, an envelope in his hand.

"Hanji instructed me to pass this to you if she didn't make it back from the expedition," the blonde said as he handed the ravenette the envelope before walking off.

With a trembling hand, Levi opened the envelope to find a letter inside. He retrieved the letter before opening it to start reading.

The letter said the following:

Hi Shorty!

Well, now that you've seen this letter, it means I'm... well, dead. But don't worry, here in the afterlife, I'm as happy as always. (Or you could say "Titan-crazy"!)

So, to save time, let's get straight to the point. I've liked you ever since that particular incident I called you "shorty" and you started chasing me around the HQ.

When you kind of told me your feelings towards Petra, I got crushed. Like as if someone dug my heart out of my chest and trampled all over it in the dirt.

I decided, since that's what makes you happy, I should be happy too. I pretty much forced myself to feel happy for you two, when I was hurting deep down.

When Petra died, I tried to be there for you, but you kept pushing me away, making me feel even more hurt. Oh well, you like her anyway, so I won't blame you. Plus, I'm pretty sure you hate me. Anyway, in the end, you went back to normal.

Now that the expedition's over and I'm dead, I want you to know that you're not responisible for anything bad that happened. Please don't feel bad at yourself. Also, could you smile more? That frown you're giving to everyone is scary and you might scare of the new cadets!

Don't worry, I'll be watching you from above, along with the entire Levi Squad.

Xx

Hanji

P.S. If you want to toss this letter, feel free to do it. I don't expect you to keep it.

Levi's eyes watered once again and he clutched the letter towards his chest. His involuntary tears dripped down on the grass and some on Hanji's bloodstained jacket.

"No. You're wrong," he said, "I don't hate you."

He drew in a sharp intake of breath before continuing, "You should have continued living to hear me say 'je t'aime' to you personally."

When he glanced up at the blue sky, he could imagine Hanji smiling down at him with that smile which made him want to smile along with Petra, Oluo, Gunther and Eld.

"Thank you, Hanji," he said as he continued facing the never-ending blue skies, "Thank you for making my life brighten up after all those shit that screwed my life up. Thank you for being a blessing to me. I love you, even though you're dead and in the afterlife now."

There was only one thing for Levi to say then.

"Sayonara."