A Heart's Dedication

Chapter Seventeen

Y/N heard a loud, booming horn echo in the distance. From outside her window, she could see everything in the Harbor below, the town positively buzzing with people. The simplicity of humans never ceased to surprise her. She looked to the origin of the boom now, an origin consisting of large metal ships, smoke billowing out of the engines and into the wind. From her room, she thought that the dark brick "prison" she had been stuck in seemed dull and lifeless compared to the outside world. There was no doubt about it. She took a breath in, air filling her lungs, and diminished the thought. She wouldn't have to be here any longer after today.

It had been several months since Levi and herself had been recovered from the wilderness. While Hange had been completely infuriated with the both of them at the beginning, she seemed to have let it go pretty easily and had instead fixated on the development of their new relationship. Y/N had chuckled at what Hange had said when she first found out:

"Well, damn, Levi, this was not what I was expecting when I pointed her out at the Maison de Couronnes for you."

Hange was the only one who knew the real reason for Y/N's escapade, and the three of them came to an unspoken agreement that it would stay that way.

Upon their return, both Y/N and Levi had had to meet with a representative court for desertion charges, an event neither one of them wanted to attend. Luckily, Hange had come up with a quick cover story about sending the two of them on a spur-of-the-moment, private mission, and considering Y/N's crippled condition, the court didn't push for any penalties. It was an enormous relief, and both had sworn to somehow repay Hange for her involvement.

True to his word, Levi had departed for the same woods with a group of well-seasoned fighters two months after their return. The group had arrived back within a week, all of his men still healthy and very much alive. Levi had predicted that most of the Titans who were resident inhabitants of the forest had been wiped out during the three weeks of his and Y/N's stay. "Cleaning duty" had been a piece of cake, apparently, especially for a clean freak like himself.

Excluding that week, Levi had been to see Y/N every day in the hospital at least once. He almost always brought something with him, whether it was a bouquet of fresh flowers to brighten up the room or even just a story from his day. He made sure the nurses taking care of Y/N were at their best and were the most experienced caretakers the institution had to offer, he had the most professional fits when something was just a tiny bit off. While most of the affection he showed her was only in private, she looked forward to the kisses, the way he played with her hair, and the way he cuddled her on the twin bed. Y/N understood her lover had a military status to uphold, so she never took the lack of PDA personally; he made sure to show her as much love as possible when it was just the two of them.

Y/N figured his presence had had an enormous effect on her recovery. The doctors were astounded by how fast Y/N had recovered, most of her bones had been semi-healed within the first two months. She had never regressed, had never done anything reckless, and had hardly ever felt any pain. It was a medical phenomenon no one could explain, but regardless of the cause, both Y/N and Levi had both been grateful for it.

Learning how to walk and grab things again had been a trifle all on its own. Y/N had lost count of the number of times she fell down while trying to stand, or how many times she had dropped a pen while learning how to write. It frustrated her to not be able to do simple physical tasks, but over time, she had turned that frustration into motivation and relearned the movements pretty easily. She remembered when she had taken her first steps again, how Levi had stood at the end of the hallway, the light at the end of the tunnel, and how she had tumbled into his arms out of exhaustion after making the whole distance. He had been so proud, proud enough to peck the top of her forehead in front of all the blushing nurses.