One Thousand Years (Levi x Eren)

Final

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack On Titan or any of its characters.

Had state testing and finished in 15 minutes so I figured I would write with the 75 minutes to spare xD It's just something random with little to no thought. This is written from Eren's point of view. I hope you enjoy!

Special thanks to In_Hind_Sight for helping me with the cover! Her intuition in art is so much better than mine xD

Years have passed since I last held you in my arms. I wish I had done more with you before your passing. I still remember the day I realized something was wrong.

We missed something odd that summer five years after the titans disappeared. As if they evaporated out of thin air, they simply ceased to exist. With the flesh eating creatures gone, the Survey Corps was repurposed with new duties. Our job was to map the new territories beyond Wall Maria in full danger free scopes and colonize new cities. You aged well in those five years with the way your raven locks soon bleached to a silvery grey almost glistening like your eyes. You shrank a little too, but that never hindered your skills which remained as sharp as ever. I even remember that cute stubble you procured along your sharp jawline when we would go away for months at a time. The way you allowed me to shave it almost makes me wish I'd drawn out those sessions more. I loved the light peach fuzz as I could rub against it and almost feel like I was being tickled with a feather. And after you were clean shaven, I'd leave butterfly kisses along your chin, neck, and would trace your body memorizing every nook and cranny.

I may have been taller than you, but I looked up to you more than anyone else in the world. With your wings laid against your back, you flew higher than any of us. I only wish you could have seen yourself. Those wings on your back extended beyond the cape and almost encased you in an untouchable curtain, navy blue and pristine white wings enamored by your dedication would soar like an eagle. I wish you could have seen yourself. And yet, fate plays a cruel game with our lives. This world is nothing but fate's casual game of chess. I only wish it had mercy on the two of us.

There was a forest even larger than the forest of giant trees. We were resting among the branches waiting for the other groups to reconvene. In that moment, a group of large catlike creatures, perhaps cousins of our own domestic counterparts, descended upon us. Their claws dragged along the branches in a fluid motion, and we were like deer surrounded by a starving pack of wolves.

We were lucky when Sasha arrived swiftly with reinforcements and was able to scare them off as she shot down three with her bow and arrow in the blink of an eye. But as the third fell down from above us, its
limp paw dangled across and raked your eyes. I remember screaming and rushing to your crumpling body as it plummeted after the large feline.

We set up an emergency camp as Hanji and her associates nursed you back to health. But, where your body healed, your eyes did not.

I cannot imagine not being able to see. A materialistic thing such as a blindfold does not even begin to compare to not being able to see. Is it darkness? A grey mist? Pulsing lights and dim shapes? Or simply, is it nothing? But nothing can not compare either. I would have gone blind for you, but my eyes heal. Everything heals for me.

I took you back. Only you and I returned to the old Survey Corps headquarters where more days passed. It was peaceful, but where you grew to be an old man, I never aged.

You would not have been able to see, but I remained the same. Aside from facial hair, my body was still frozen in adolescence. Maybe, it was karma or something completely different. But, my power as a Titan was as much a curse as it was a blessing.

The last time I used my power to become a Titan was one thousand years ago. There was a cool sprinkle in the air. Fog and rain bounced about the world in the light morning. The sub would peek through the clouds and disappear with the reflecting water droplets plunging into the earth. They rolled and waxed across blades of grass and pines on the spruce firs or the leaves off the great oaks. The air smelled refreshing and the cool air dappling our skin made it serene. You could barely move anymore now, but I loved the way you accepted thing moving with your feather studded cane, a sturdy piece of white speckled birch with a dove carved at the top. It reminded me of you with the way your own burly hair was grained with flocks of black against the light grey and white. I remember running my fingertips through those strands working out kinks as we sat and listened to the rain.

You sat for hours with a smile on your face content with the world. I sat and simply held you. Your teaching lulled to shallow huffs and you did not move anymore. You leaned against me and said those words.

"Thank you, Eren. For everything. I will always love. I ask that you live on. Live without regrets for me."

I engraved those words into my memory. And I could only keep them when your eyes closed and you took your final breath.

Of those who remained with many who only knew your legacy, we burned your body. We went to the Foam Sea, the place at the edge of our world that was discovered, the place Armin's book spoke of; it was the ocean.

Your ashes were scattered, sent to the earth from hence we came. But, I swear I saw your ashes rise. I stood as a Titan and roared hoping you could still hear me. I wish I could hear your voice, and if I could only ask one question, I would ask, "Did you fly?"

Did you fly high above the world? The air is the one true freedom. Air holds no captives and is not bound by walls. Even so, fate binds me.

I can bare it no longer. One thousand years is a long time. None of our comrades are alive anymore. No one is left on the island. They left on ships 300 years prior and have not returned. Only ruins remain here. I have no need to sleep, drink, or eat. I no longer hold the necessities of a human. I've been sitting here in the same place we scattered your ashes for 1000 years. It had been too long, Levi. I know that I have no regrets for this one final time.

You'll have to forgive this shitty brat for wanting to see you.

I sigh as the sky clouds over, and rain begins to fall once more. Raising the sharp stainless steel dagger to the back of my head, I close my eyes and slice my own nape, letting myself fall into a slumber with rain singing its pitter patters.

There's a light and hands reaching out. They're waiting for me. And in the center of all of them, I find your arms waiting. I run towards the light crashing into your arms.

"Welcome home."