Daisy | Levi Ackerman

Chapter 16 - Unharmed

[Celine]

I was shocked, and surprised, and hurt and excited when my uncle had revealed to me who Celestine was. I kept asking and asking for confirmation again and again for the next few minutes, but when it sunk into me, that my stiff, emotionless uncle had once fallen in love, had once married and had once had his heart immensely broken beyond power of speech- I stayed silent, willing to listen to his stories for the whole duration of the night.

I lay there next to him, as we always did when I was younger and he would tell me all those stories about his adventures and knowledge, while he talked to me about his past life. The one he had before he became a second father to me.

We had never done anything like that as soon as the wall of Shiganshina fell. I missed my uncle so much that nothing else mattered to me but knowing everything I missed about him.

"What was she like?" I asked dreamily, my head on his arm. "Was she beautiful? Smart? Feisty? Ambitious?"

Erwin chuckled softly, and shook his head. "She looked as simple as any other girl. She was not exceptionally intelligent. She was very gentle and kind. Her only dream in life seemed only to revolve around prolonging it."

I was rather disappointed at this dull description, but I was redeemed before I had skidded down that treacherous path.

"But Celine- she was extraordinary, when you get to meet her. She becomes more beautiful by the minute, when you get to talk to her; she's charming, and compassionate, humble to a fault." He continued. "She was charitable, altruistic, wanted to give everything she could give to her patients, and was a really great cook."

"Wow." I replied, imagining her in the brightest of fashions. "Was she the one who wrote that recipe book? Was that why you cried, why Levi walked out, why Commander Hanji and the other seniors felt upset when I cooked?"

"Yes." He answered, looking up at the ceiling. "She used to cook a lot for us in the Legion when she was still alive and well. No matter how many patients were under her care, she made time to prepare our food. She didn't want us to go to battle without our stomachs warmed up."

I saw him smile faintly at the memory of her, and at that single moment alone I realized how much she really meant to him, even if he never talked about her. I realized why my name was always so vastly distant from me, like it was never mine. Because it belonged to another important lady in my uncle's life.

"I named you after her because you were born on the same day, only fourteen years apart." He continued. "When I was forced to change your name, I could think of nothing else but Celestine. Everyone who knew my wife did not know her real name was Celestine, they thought she was just Celine, and so they never really made a fuss about my niece being named a little like my wife."

"I never called her Celestine, only a few times, when I was angry. Which was why I called you Celestine all the time." He said, looking down at me. "I wanted to preserve the name Celine for the one and only woman I have ever held dear to me that much in my life."

He took a deep breath, and released it slowly, his eyes closing for a moment before facing the dark ceiling again. "I loved her. I love her. I am still in love with her, and I will love her until every piece of me is gone."

"She would've been so proud of you right now." I said, almost a whisper.

"I hope so. We never shared the same dreams, but we understood and supported each other's motivations." He answered. "I miss her, sweetheart. I miss her every single day. When she died of that illness, I felt like she took a part of myself with her. Every day since that day I wanted to end my life to be with her; but I always remembered how she worked so hard lengthening others' lives. I realized terminating my own would insult her. So I stayed here and kept fighting. The idea of her keeps me going. I'll love her continuously, so I won't think of death. It's ironic, right? But I want to tell her everything when we meet again."