The Red String of Fate

Lust

"Like what you see?" Levi asked with a cocky grin as he made his way towards her. She looked back at him, letting out a small hum of approval, and examined his face – the perfect face she loved so much, the slight upturn to his nose, his cheekbones, his jawline. Her gaze faltered down to his neck, his collarbones, his shoulders – oh, what she wouldn't give to fall asleep laying there, between his shoulders and chest, and fall asleep listening to his heart beat. As her eyes wandered, she noticed the scars – so many, scattered across his body like the remnants of shattered glass. The hell and the horrors he must have seen, to have those scars – so many, some small and some large. Oh, how she wished she could have been there to kiss his pain away. To hold him through it all, to help him heal his wounds.

A tear escaped her eyes as she thought about it. She would have waited forever for him to come home for her, and she'd wait at home with open arms. She would take care of him, and make him feel her love for him every moment of every day. Anya got on her knees, climbing under her soft white sheets and plush gray blanket, gesturing for Levi to join her in making a cozy place of rest for them to lay together and just exist for a while, maybe even get some rest now that they finally had each to hold through the night.

Levi crawled into bed with Anya, something he had been waiting to do again for such a long time. The thing he had hoped for and dreamt of in what he thought were his most unattainable wildest dreams. Laying his head on the pillow, he breathed in her scent that lingered with shampoo and perfume. He felt her as she laid her head on his chest, wrapping an arm around him. He brought his fingers up to her hair, and after a few moment's of stroking her hair, their breaths started to match as they both drifted off to sleep.

Anya was on the floor of the bar, shocked at the sight in front of her.

Was it really him? Was it really her Levi? The man she had thought was dead?

A rush of emotions flooded through her as she looked around the empty, cold, dusty room. She looked into the perfect eyes she loved so much, one now scarred and white. The hell he must have been through she thought to herself. "My Levi, what have they done to you?" She whispered, reaching out a hand for his face.

She wouldn't know if he was real until she traced her fingers along the scars. And as she did, he faded into dust.

No, of course it was all just a dream. There was no way her Levi was alive. There was no way she had found him. There was no way he had found her. Of course.

Anya collapsed down on her knees. The tears ran down her cheeks like a never-ending salty waterfall. She buried her face in her hands and she cried and wept. Of course he wasn't real. She was going to wake up now any moment and realize that it was all just a terrible yet blissful dream that ended too fast. She begged, she prayed, that he could just come back to her.

They had only been asleep for a short time when Levi woke up to the muffled whimpers coming from his chest. He looked down at Anya asleep on his chest, wrapped up in his arms. He couldn't quite tell what was going on. "Oi, Anya" he whispered softly at first, trying to rouse her from her slumber. Is she okay? He wondered. What's wrong with her? Is she in pain? What do I do? He asked as he did the only thing he usually could - leaned their faces back closer together as he planted a string of kisses along her neck, her face, her collarbone.

Finally, he reached her forehead. He planted kisses on her nose, her temples, her cheeks. She was still mumbling incoherently. Her body tossed and turned. She must have been having a terrible nightmare. One that he desperately felt like he had to snap her out from.

"Baby, I'm here," he spoke so softly to her, planting kiss after kiss on her forehead as his arms grew tighter around her. "Baby... baby, please wake up..." He couldn't even begin to describe how much he hated watching her like this. An expression of utter struggle spread across her face. Levi sniffled, holding back the tears that had started to overflow his eyelids. He looked at her trashing in his arms, tears soaked her face. Her hands were shaking. Her whole body was shaking in terror. He pressed his lips to her forehead as hard as he could. His kiss, begging her to wake up.