Yesterday's Enemy [AoT]

SIXTY-FIVE

'Escape is both the prince of idealism and the pauper of durability.'

-An extract from scholar and journalist Aksel Briggs' autobiography.

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SIXTY-FIVE

Wall Sina, Interior, Underground City

The energy of the night hung heavy in the air. Hand in hand, Lorelai pulled him through street after street; faces blurred together as the bass of the music grew ever louder.

Levi had never seen the Underground like this.

These dark streets were alive. Truly. It was transformed. The city still had its share of lingering lowlifes, but the Underground had an energy to it Levi had never seen before. It was as if the burden of poverty, of hunger, had lifted from the people's faces.

"I've never seen the Underground like this," he said over the chatter of the crowd.

"Well, that's a good sign!"

"What do you mean?"

She turned, facing him with a smile as they wove through merrymakers. "This is what I've been doing, Levi," Lorelai exclaimed. "All those times I sneak away from the palace. This is a charity event we're attending."

His eyes widened as Lorelai turned back around, that thoughtless smile now easy on her lips. He looked left and right. Levi watched, stunned, as plates of food passed freely through the crowd, children danced, and beggers were lifted from the street with smiles and a waiting meal.

Levi had to struggle back a sudden wave of emotion. With her grand fortune and even grander heart, Lorelai had delivered these people. She'd done what he wanted to ever since he was a boy.

Hair tousled and lips rouge, she was just another face in the crowd. Lorelai passed, unseen and unnoticed, each person blind to the service this stranger in red had done them all.

Levi came at once to a realisation.

Perhaps he wasn't of her world of marble mansions and golden goblets, but this wild, ugly, fast-paced world of his was hers as well.

Ignorant of the way his heart was beating for her, Lorelai seemed to have reached the centre of this beautiful chaos. The music was nothing like the lilting melody of the ballroom; gritty and raw, the Underground roared with celebration.

Lights danced in his periphery, of all colours and shades. Everywhere Levi looked, there was another smiling face, another spinning body, another pair of arms raised in glee. And yet, lost in the crowd, they might have been alone.

An announcer, far off, his voice a bare whisper above the music, was talking about the 'Bervik Reparation Benefit'; Lorelai's eyes stayed twinkling. Tonight, as she took a great gulp of punch, she was lost to all thoughts of heroics.

She turned and noticed his expression. "Hey," Lorelai draped her arms over Levi's shoulders, pulling him closer as he watched on, rapt. "How are you feeling?"

Levi chuckled, gazing around the illuminated street with wonder. Stringed lights, the smell of fruity drinks, and the joy of strangers. "This is incredible." She smiled, watching as lights danced in his eyes. "Lorelai, you're incredible," he confessed suddenly. "You never told me about any of this."

"I didn't tell anyone. I... felt a bit silly at first," she admitted. They were close in order to hear each other; Levi could see each smile line, each freckle and dimple as she laughed at herself. "Philanthropy. Kind of shallow, isn't it? But... these people, they deserve every gold piece I have."