✘ —; He'd walk by her every day in the complex they lived in; admiring how her sun kissed hair would fall perfectly around her heart shaped face. They'd cross paths often, passing one another as she returned from college and he was off to another crime scene. Sometimes, she'd glance at him and smile but he would never return the sentiment. But he swears his heart knew of her grace. The way she'd sing to the birds on her balcony, her solemn lullaby forcing a feeling of nostalgia, trembling within.
Levi would close his eyes, eavesdropping on her melody and sometimes images of towering walls and tightly knit homes would paint itself in his mind. The more he listened to her sing, the more his thoughts wandered into what he thought was just his crazy imagination running wild. It was like a blurred dream; she would wear a crown and a red mantle and he would bow his head as her soldier. But whenever he snapped out of those cogitations, something would stir as if those ideas were something his soul was trying to cling to with reason. He would curse himself often, feeling stupid for creating scenarios with a young woman when he didn't even know her name.
That was until he got a call to a crime scene... to her apartment. Her mother had been murdered outside of the complex in the laundry room on the 4th floor. It made him feel like a piece of shit that the first time he was able to actually have a conversation with her was to get information out of her about her dead mother. Her face was full of tears and she was trembling. Her name was Historia Reiss – he made a quiet note of that.
She was made to wait outside in the hall and it was then Levi offered his coat as well as his company. The two sat alone in the hallway, against the wall. But she didn't speak anymore that night. He was okay sharing her moment of silence because gods know he had no idea what to say. Despite him feeling useless, his actions seemed to have impacted her greatly because then Historia would venture in front of his apartment and sit by the front door until he got home. She'd lift her head up from her curled up knees and Levi could see the relief in her bright blue eyes. There was no way in hell he was heartless enough to turn her away. He didn't blame her for feeling too scared to live alone after all that has happened. So, sometimes he'd invite her in and share tea. Eventually, he'd start leaving his spare key under his matt without telling her directly and he'd return home to her cooking and safe inside of his home instead of outside until late at night.
Their conversations started with her simply doing all the talking and him listening. But then the pair would share things and they learned how much they had in common. Levi decided to train her in the basics of self-defense in his free time – and something about that felt oddly familiar. The mere brush of their fingers sent waves of shock throughout his body and then the strong burning desire to embrace her bubbled and burned in his chest; he couldn't understand why.
He was silent about it all until one night; Historia said something that threw him into a state of shock;
"' I feel like I've always known you.' He nearly choked on his tea and he could feel the hairs on his neck sticking up. He glanced up from his cup, trying to find a playful smile on her face.
But, her expression was sincere.
'Ah shit. '
"...What are you talkin' about?" He tried to dismiss it airily, putting his cup down. But she hummed happily before continuing,
"The first day I saw you, something inside of me told me I've met you before - that you weren't a stranger."
"Yeah – we've probably seen each other in other places like the damn market or something." He dismissed quickly.
"...So you've felt the same way too?" She cornered him and he froze, not knowing what to say. He didn't want to admit he believed in something as ridiculous as the red line of fate. But, he couldn't deny that whenever he was around her, something in his being weaved feelings of yearning and the desire to protect.
