Paper Airplanes (Ereri - SNK)

A Feather in the Wind.

"Wait, seriously?" I plop down onto the chair beside him. "But you've already got plans..."

"They can wait," he says. "I'm still young. I've got plenty of time to explore. Plus, I still need a while to get ready for that, and Hanji and I have found we've got enough research to last us for years, if not decades. As long as you're okay with my doing research on the side, I'll gladly work with you."

My smile is small, but it's more natural than it's been in a long, long time.

* * *

"I don't deserve him..." I mumble into Levi's neck later that night as we lie across his bed. "I don't deserve anyone."

"You're full of shit, Eren," he mutters, running the very tips of his fingers up and down my bare spine. "He's your best friend."

"But I've fucked it all up in the past couple years. I don't understand how he can just accept me back into his life almost like nothing ever happened." I shiver as he brushes over that one sensitive spot; my skin is a mess of goosebumps.

"He's happy you're coming back. He's missed you."

"Hmph. How do you know?"

"You mean you couldn't tell?"

"What? No..."

"You've still got a long way to go, kid..." His lips press against my hair and his palm presses to the middle of my back. "But you're gonna be okay."

My heart clenches. I can feel the goodbye in his words, and it's the most bittersweet thing I've ever tasted.

"So what're you gonna name the tea shop?" he asks after a while.

"I don't know...I thought I'd just keep the title we talked about earlier."

"Humani-tea, huh?" He snorts.

"Unless you want it to be something different."

"No. Keep it. I like it."

"Okay."

"You've got a lot to learn, though. There's more to tea than just making it, and you're not even that good at that. I'm glad you recruited Armin." I smack his shoulder. "He's not the best, either, but at least his has flavor," he continues. I pinch his bicep, but he's unaffected. "Yours is so weak it's practically water, and--"

I stretch my neck up and plant my lips right into his, ending his sentence right there. His lips mold to mine so easily and I dive right in for more until my lungs are screaming for air.

* * *

I sleep very little in the next few days, stretching out my time with Levi as long as I possibly can. We visit the top of the wall every night for the better part of a week, and unless it's absolutely necessary, I never let go of him. Still, I can feel him starting to slip away; the more I plan things with Armin and have something to look forward to, the less he's there. Physically, he stands next to or behind me, but more often he seems to zone out, staring off into space with a blank look on his face, and I can't help but wonder if that's how I look when I blank out. I keep pulling him back, but it happens more often, and he'll fade out of speaking in the middle of his sentence and forget what he was talking about. His wings will twitch and shake at random moments, his feathers quivering almost like he's cold despite his extra body heat.

It hurts. It physically hurts in my chest to watch him like this. And the more it happens, the more I realize this isn't where he's supposed to be, and the more I seem to resent myself for holding him here so long.

"Don't," he says as we're sitting in his window sill instead of atop the wall, my head on his shoulder and his arm protectively around my waist, his head leaning down against mine.

"Don't what?" I mumble sleepily; it's been a day and a half since I last slept, and I only dozed off for a couple of hours. Needless to say, I'm exhausted, but I will keep myself awake as long as I can.

"Hate yourself because of me."

"Why?"

"Not worth it." His sentences continue to shorten...

"Do you hate me?"

"No. 'M glad I could spend this time with you." His words slur more, like he's tired as well...

"Me too."

I feel lips in my hair, and something wet suddenly soaks into the cloth of my shorts on my thigh. Confused, I look up; none of the wispy clouds floating by could possibly be carrying rain, and that's when I spot the wet trail down Levi's cheek. I immediately sit up straighter and reach for him.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie."

His hand comes up to wipe across his eyes, but more tears seep from his ducts. I can't fathom any reason he'd be crying; he's Levi. He doesn't cry often at all.

He's really slipping away from me again...

So I cry with him, wrapping my arms around his waist and holding on for what feels like the last time, as much as I don't want to believe it. I inhale slowly and deeply in an attempt to memorize his scent and hold it within me forever.

"You...should get some sleep," he tells me once the tears have slowed and our breathing has mostly evened.

"Come with me," I mumble into his neck.

"Always," he says. And it sounds so un-Levi-like, but it warms something within me.

We somehow make it to the bed without letting go of one another and curl up around each other. We don't bother with the covers, so he simply covers me with a wing while I reach up to peck his lips, not expecting it to turn into something long and tender and absolutely bittersweet but appreciating the fact that it does anyway.

He starts humming, too, and I let the sound lull me to sleep, but not before hearing it - the final, beautiful declaration in my favorite voice.

"I love you, Eren."

* * *

It's cold. I don't search the sheets for the warm skin or feathers. The bed feels entirely too empty. Loneliness washes over, but so does peace. Outside, I can hear the breeze pulling through, and I think I hear wind chimes - ones I'd never noticed before.

I don't have to open my eyes to know it, but I do anyway. The sheets stretch out in front of me, empty. The only trace of someone having been there are long since cooled off wrinkles. The bed ends, there's a gap, and the wall stretches up to the open window. It's early afternoon.

I sit up, staring out. Part of me wants to cry, another wants to laugh. I do neither, but move to the edge of the bed and stand. Take two steps to be between the fluttering curtains. The air smells nice - sweet, crisp, fresh. It's a cool day for mid-summer.

I look out past the tree, to the fields. Let my eyes wander up to the sky for a moment before looking back down.

In the window sill lays a single black feather. I pluck it up and twist it between the pads of my thumb and forefinger, watching it glint in the light.

"I love you, too, Levi," I whisper to the wind.