Searching for happiness (Attack on titan X Fairy Tail Crossover)

Chapter IX - Early-ripely brat!

What a crap. Why had I agreed to this project? I should have rethought and protest against such a team split.

After we had split, Eren had led us to the back door of the warehouse and then left after a short time back into the office. And now, for about two hours, we sat silently beside the inconspicuous gray door in the back of the hall, staring in the air. What a waste of time! And then with Wendy and her stupid cat. Every now and then the two of them whispered softly, but I tried to fade it out as well as possible that she was there at all.

From time to time noises came from the few workers to us, but otherwise it remained quite quiet. Also, no one met us from the staff in this corner of the hall. I sat cross-legged left of the door, Wendy on the right. She had pulled her knees to her body and wrapped her arms around it. The white cat sat in front of her, looking at her claws for some time. I snorted softly to myself. What senseless hours, I thought morosely, crossing my arms. I had not even looked at Wendy in those two hours, and luckily she had not even spoken to me. For a moment, I had to remember how I had pulled her briefly with me in front of the store, thinking for a moment that Isabel would stand next to me. I shuddered at the memory and closed my eyes. Never again would I allow such confusion!

"Why?", she asked next to me quietly and confused, I opened my eyes again, but avoided looking to the side. Although she spoke very quietly, I somehow instinctively knew that this question was for me. But I had absolutely no desire to talk to her now and just kept quiet. Maybe she would think I did not hear her if I did not answer.

"What did I do wrong?", Wendy asked a little louder and I sighed very softly. Probably my plan would not work and in the long run I would not be able to play the deaf.

"What do you mean?", I grunted without looking at her and just prayed that her stupid cat would not speak.

"Why are you always so ... strange to me?", her voice came back, now a bit timid and I heard that she was feeling rather insecure. Somehow I had already guessed that she would ask something like that and immediately subconsciously cramped me a little bit. In a way, I understood her need to ask about it, but at the same time it was also unutterably unpleasant to me. It felt so strange when she talked to me, because I heard and saw only Isabel again and again in front of me. But I still had so much discretion that I did not want to say directly to her face that the mere sight of her caused me pain. So I went back to my initial strategy: I kept silent and stared stubbornly at the ground in front of me.

"It's not all about me, is it?", she whispered weakly, but I still understood her pretty well and turned my head to her in amazement. She looked at me with big sad eyes and had her head resting on her knees. A very faint smile played around her lips as she registered that I was looking at her. What had she just said? I just could not understand this girl. For a few seconds I just stared at her stupidly, before I took hold of something again and scowled, contracting my eyebrows.

"What are you talking about?", I grumbled, but this time I kept an eye on her. She resisted my cold look without further and still looked at me directly.

"At least I can not explain it in another way.", she now said carefully, "Because we do not know each other at all, so theoretically you would have no reason not to like me. There was just the explanation that there is something about me that reminds you of something and that bothers you.".

I swallowed a little uneasily and looked away from her again. It was amazing how close she came to this presumption of truth, and at the same moment I wondered how she managed to get such a realization in the first place? It was almost as if she was watching what was going on inside me, and that scared the hell out of me.

"That's it, right Levi?", she added softly and I sighed very softly. I was an unjust, selfish and cowardly bastard. I could not stand being constantly reminded of Isabel and therefore blocked every little interaction with Wendy. But actually, this girl did not deserve such a tough relationship, because she could not help that they had left me forever.

"Yes.", I admitted quietly and grudgingly, without looking at her.

"Somehow that makes it a bit easier for me.", she said softly and she actually sounded a bit happy. Confused, my gaze wandered back to her and she smiled shyly at me.

"What?", I asked stropping, because I really could not figure out this statement from her. She laughed for a moment. A bright, happy and childlike laugh. And for the first time, that laugh did not sound like Isabel's to me. Though remotely reminiscent of Isabel's cheerful and extravagant laughter, I now realized for the first time how Wendy's laughter sounded. Free from worries and carefree, so had to be like a child's smile and a faint envy briefly flared in me, because at her age I never had the opportunity to laugh in such a carefree and joyful way.

"It sounds funny, but now I know with certainty that it's not my fault.", she answered my question and gave me a friendly smile.

"You're weird.", I replied immediately, unable to say anything else. This girl was confusing me right now and I did not know exactly where to go with my feelings and thoughts. Then she giggled again. Why was she laughing again?

"You too.", she said a little cheekily and I raised my eyebrows slightly. Now she was also defiant! Annoyed, I snorted and then she became a little calmer again. It was a strange situation, because for the first time it seemed almost bearable for me to be near her. For some reason, I kept thinking about her short laugh. This melodic sound floated through my mind all the time and I simply could not explain why it was so. Why did the laughter of this girl concern me so much?

"May I ask of what I remember you?", Wendy now broke the silence and suddenly sounded very serious and careful.

"Of ... a certain person.", I said quietly, not even knowing exactly why I answered her. I could just have kept silent like I always did, but for some reason I did not do this this time. It was even more as if my mouth was moving on its own and that I no longer had any real control over my voice.

"Oh.", she said in astonishment, "Who is this person?". It hurt me to hear that she was asking about her, assuming that she still walked the earth. But how could she know that she reminded me of a dead woman?

"She was... very close to me.", I growled sadly, feeling my heart tighten. After all this time, remembering Isabel, as well as Furlan, was still so painful. But that's why I wondered why I even answered her questions. Perhaps it was her resemblance to Isabel that made it impossible for me to not respond to her in any way.

"I see.", Wendy now said and nodded, "So she was something like ... like your lover?". Startled, I lifted my head and gave her a venomous look, which made her look embarrassed on the ground.

"Do not talk such a shit.", I mocked. Early-ripely brat! How did she come up with such a thought? Not even in a dream would I think of seeing a lover in Isabel. It was almost impossible for me, in a way, it even seemed rather repugnant to me. It was not that Isabel was an ugly, young woman, on the contrary! She had been a radiant beauty, but I had never been able to look at her in such a way. For me, she had always been just the little, clumsy Isabel I always wanted to protect, no matter what was needed. Except on that day. I had not been able to protect her that day, and by that time my cold and broken heart had burst into a thousand shards.

"Who was she for you?", Wendy asked, but I just gave her another scowl. Even though I had exchanged a few words with her, it was enough for me now. My amount of speech was covered, and I also could not bring myself to tell Wendy about her name. That would be a bit too much for me.

I was about to throw something unfriendly on her head again, and so keep her from asking me about Isabel, when I suddenly heard a soft rustling and stopped immediately. I listened briefly to the silence and turned my head to all sides. The noise came from outside!

"You can tell me, Levi. I will not tell anyone.", Wendy babbled on.

"Shut up!", I hissed at her and scrambled up quickly, but remained in a crouched position. Alarmed, she looked at me and did the same. She seemed to understand immediately that I had noticed something and now raised her nose a little bit. The subtle sense of smell of a Dragon Slayer would give us an enormous advantage here, I thought, as I watched her as she tried to smell something. She almost looked like a dog picking up a track She drew her eyebrows together and gave me a quick look.

"Someone is coming.", she whispered finally.

Published on 12-04-2018

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