The Angel on the Battle Field (AOT fanfic)

Is this really the End?

It had been three days since the 57th Expedition Outside the walls where countless lives were lost and Levi Ackerman's Special Operations Squad was decimated, leaving Levi and Mikasa to battle the female Titan to regain possession of Eren Jaeger. The pair were successful in their retrieval which resulted in Levi Ackerman being injured.

By the time the pair had arrived back to the rest of the formation, the bodies of those in Levi's Squad were placed into wooden carts and being pulled along. It was a painstakingly long and tedious task which proved ultimately useless, as they ended up dumping the bodies to ensure the survival of the living.

Levi didn't have the heart to watch the lifeless bodies of those he held dear, take their final tumble to the ground. He kept his stony gaze set forward, locked onto the back of the ever stoic Commander. Levi blamed himself for many wrong doings in his life time but this by far, was the one that affected him the most.

Those from the 104th Trainees and Levi were distraught and mourning the loss of their friend. The official port that was public record was vague in detail of what exactly killed Kaminari, but Eren was able to shed some light on the details. He vividly remembered rushing back to where he had left her, hoping he wasn't too late as her screams died out.

He remembered the way her body was limp and lifeless, only being held up by the branches pinning her wings to the tree. He remembered the way her body appeared broken and torn, and how everything pure and innocent about the girl was washed a deep scarlet colour. He even remembered the way her head hung low, the blood leaking from a gash on her forehead and the way he could've sworn she took a breath. But he couldn't tell.

She was dead and there was nothing he could do about it.

➰〰➰

Levi's mind was reliving the times where Kaminari had first arrived under his care. He acutely remembered when he'd wake up only to find the small eight year old, wrapped in his jacket and curled up on the end of his bed.

When he asked, in a seemingly disgruntled manner, why she insisted on coming to his room, the blonde responded the same way; "when I was trapped in those nightmares I remember shaking, trembling, terrified, afraid and silently begging that someone brave would scare away my demons. And each and every time I pictured faces from my squad — Erwin, Hanji, Mike... and then you. You were the brave hero that drove the monsters away and for that, I'll forever be in your debt."

At that time she was but a child, a child who was terrible afraid of those closest to her dying and being unable to protect them, like she couldn't protect her first squad. But as she grew older, the more Levi had grown accustomed to her routine — eat, sleep, have a nightmare from anywhere between 1am-3am and then come to his room — and he found himself waking in time for her midnight visits. He often helped her study, train or talk in the dark morning hours, anything to tire her out quickly so the both of them could sleep once again.

While Levi's mind was anywhere by the present, Eren was sat around the table with the rest of his friends from the trainees, and remained silent with terrifying thoughts swirling within the confines of his mind. The boy had yet to be told anything in regards to Kaminari's whereabouts and no one was yet to utter a word about the topic which made him feel nauseous.

He knew what he saw but he only prayed it was a nightmare, hoping that she was fine and well with Levi. But Eren was delusional, believing that his mind tricking him into believing she was as dead as he imagined. 'Where is Levi hiding Kaminari? Did she escape the female Titan? Did she die? If she didn't die, then why wasn't her body with the others? Where hell is Kaminari?' He hadn't remembered seeing her body roll off the carts that were emptied but she was no where to be seen, leaving a nauseating feeling to eat away at him. Inside, he knew the answer but he just didn't want to believe it.