𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙞 𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙭 𝙤𝙘
mae vogel is a strong, independent, and persistently stubborn girl, trying to free herself from an unforgiving past. after she joins the survey corps, she meets levi ackerman, a man who is also trying to forget his...
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chapter 34: beach
I had never seen anything like it.
It's so blue. So deeply blue.
Glossier than the tear-stricken eyes of a mother who never had the chance to see her child grow old. Clearer than any pool of puddled rain that I had splashed around in with my bare feet.
The air smelled like the most expensive, exquisite salt, and the breeze was sticky and hot like freshly baked sweets.
Peering out at the massive, never-ending body of cerulean water, was like breathing for the first time since I entered this god-forsaken world. I felt nostalgic for something I had never seen before. The child in me, someone who I never got to be, was screaming, babbling in awe because, finally, I was given hope.
Finally, I was free.
I turned to Levi, and his eyes were sparkling so longingly. He had never looked so beautiful.
"We did it" I whispered.
"We did" Levi uttered softly back to me.
"Guys, let's head down to the sand!" Hange yelled.
We hopped off of our horses and headed down to the serene shore of this unfamiliar place.
"Hold my hand?" I gently asked Levi, a smile adorned on my face.
He curtly nodded, and soon my shaky hand was captured by my lover's rough fingers.
We walked for a few moments in silence, while everyone ran ahead. Levi's hand was comforting, almost as if he were grasping every one of my fears and worries and sorrows all in his palm. He held everything for me like I was his world.
"I love you, you know that?" I said.
He suddenly stopped walking, taking me by surprise. A soft silence, along with the wind, enveloped us.
"I wasn't kidding...about getting married" he spoke, "Of course, I know you love me, and I'm terrible at expressing my emotions toward you, but I love you more than I've ever loved anything. My comrades, my friends...and even my own fucking mother."
"Levi-"
"Let me finish. Please."
I nodded, but I couldn't ignore the straining feeling building up in my chest.
"I...I would die for you, a million times over...protect you with every bone in my body. Sure, it sounds cliché, or like some bullshit out of a romance novel, but, god...I am utterly, irrevocably, stubbornly in love with you."
The air was stagnant.
I can't breathe.
Everything he just said was what I had been waiting to hear my whole life, but why did it hurt so much? My heart aches for him...because I feel the same way. He'd never forgive me, but I'd die for him too. This man is everything to me, and it's fucking terrifying. Caring this deeply about someone is so extremely dangerous because now, more than ever, we both have something to lose: each other.
"I do" I spoke up, my voice cracking.
"What?"
"I do. I'll marry you."
He smiled. A genuine grin adorned his face.
"I do" he chuckled.
We both continued walking down to the coastline, fingers intertwined.
"We're getting married!" I yelled to my friends splashing in the water.
"WHAT?" Mikasa yelled, a deadpan look scorching her face, "ARE YOU FUCKING PREGNANT? OH MY GOD, MAE!"
"Mikasa, they could just, I don't know, be in love, maybe?" Armin retorted.
"I'm not pregnant you dumbass! If I were I'd be asking you to kick that damned thing out of me" I huffed back.
She sighed, a look of relief fell upon her face.
"Congrats!" Hange screamed, "I was waiting for you two to finally say something about your relationship."
"Married...?" Jean said, tears welling up in his eyes, "I'm so happy for you, Mae."
I pouted, "Jean..."
"Hug?"
I ran over to him, my bare feet slippery on the sand.
"Come here, you big fool" I laughed.
As I reached him, instead of going in for a hug, he grabbed my legs and threw me into the water.
I coughed, water droplets clouding my vision, "What the fuck, you dick??!?"
"Sorry" he chuckled, along with Connie and Mikasa, "I'm afraid I can't pick on you much longer, or Mr. Lover Boy over there will probably end up killing me, and blame it on a Titan."
I glanced over at Levi, and he looked a tad bit pissed off.
I burst out laughing.
"Yeah, good luck with that."
We all giggled as the sun gleamed perfectly over the blue water.
Everything is going to be okay.
Even though I knew something had changed in Eren, after seeing his hometown, in my heart, I vowed I'd do anything to protect the people I called my family. Life happens, death happens, and I was aware I couldn't stop some things from occurring. I understood mourning and change were all a part of my future as a Scout, even merely as a human. Although I knew all of that, there was one thing I ultimately realized:
