It had been more than a year since she moved away to Italy. She had originally planned this to be jus ta trip, but when she discovered that her son's lover had been his kidnapper in his traumatizing experience, she had no choice. Her daughter Mikasa was back from university for the summer, but her son Eren never returned home ever since. Her husband arranged someone back home to send off the rest of their important belongings, as well as paperwork. It was an unplanned and very last minute ordeal, but she didn't know what else to do. She had to watch her some be a very bright and joyful boy to a depressed and tired man and didn't want history to repeat itself if she allowed him to be with that man. Levi Ackerman was the reason why she had her son back, but he couldn't be trusted especially since he had a bad past and reputation. Did she hate him? No, but that didn't mean she would let her son near him ever again.
She and her son's relationship have been very strained ever since. To her, he was no longer a son but a dying plant. Being a mother, she loved him dearly but now all she had to do was feed him and make sure he wouldn't hurt himself. She couldn't hug him or talk to him without him lashing out on her and screaming. At first, she thought he would bounce back up in a few months, but she was terribly wrong. He kept himself locked in his room and refused most company. He was sleep, read, eat and repeat and never spoke more than a sentence unless necessary. For the first few months she had no endured his screams and cries, but nowadays he was silent. It was concerning because she feared her son was the same as an unliving thing. She wanted what was best for him but now she had no idea what to do. The only help he would agree with getting was skyping his counselor back from home, but he threw any form of medication away if given to him. It hurt her how he wouldn't talk to her.
For safety reasons, she didn't allow him to use any technology unless she or her husband were watching. Was she being too protective of her adult son? Yes, but she was afraid. And people who are afraid tend to do things that may cross over the line at times. She didn't want to be this way, but the stinging urge of needing to protect her son was too strong. Eren was an adult that could make his own choices, but at this point, he was too drained and miserable, and so that is why Carla still had him with her and her husband. His counselors agreed that it would be best this way, for a while, until he recovered. But he was showing no signs of recovering. He seemed a lot worse than after the accident.
Eren was a very popular student at his university and Carla was aware of the mountain of friends he must have had. Because of this, she monitored his Instagram and his email just in case any of his friends wanted to tell him something like wishing him well or simply greeting him. His friends missed him, and it hurt her heart that Eren couldn't be with them at that moment.
A week after they were supposed to come back home from Italy, Carla received a strange email labeled "Day 21 without you" and discovered that it was sent from Levi Ackerman himself. At first, Carla's initial plan was to delete it and block the user from ever sending anything again, but she was so intrigued by how he wrote the heartfelt letter that she never went through with said plan. Eventually, Levi sent more and more emails, each one explaining how he missed Eren and how numb he was feeling without him and before Carla knew it, she started to pity him. He wrote about regular everyday things, which was nothing she expected from someone who was a criminal. Soon she found herself looking forward to reading his emails to read what he had to say about her son, but one day he left an email stating it would be his last.
The guilt weighed heavy on her. She learned a lot about Levi and she didn't even meet him yet. From his letters, she could tell that although he was a highly emotional individual, he was kind and appreciated the small details in life. He continued to live even though everything on Earth was against him and his circumstances, and most of all he treasured and loved Eren with a love that was more than love itself, something heavenly and unique. Carla didn't want to be the reason why it would break. Even when Eren had closed himself in with anything that had to do with love, she knew that what they had was beautiful. It hurt her so bad because she had been so blind and inconsiderate. She thought that what she was doing was right.
