Levi still couldn't believe that he actually came to this one moment that he tried so hard to avoid with all cost. He just bought a boquet of flowers from the market and made his way to say his final goodbye to his last 2 rays of hope that lightened his dark path in life.
"I-Isabel... " He walked eagerly, feeling his eyes beginning to feel wet, a bitter taste on his tongue. He took a flower from the arragement and look at it. " Farlan... You cheeky bastards." He chuckled softly, but the painful sting in his chest ballanced the action. " You really thought you couldn't make the world a lonelier and shittier place as it already was, huh.." He raised his hand to wipe his damp lower lid, and continued his way, walking slower than usual, as the burden of all these years of having 2 loyal shadows beside you decided to bend the lenght of his spine and the strenght of his morale.
In the opposite direction, a fresh and free face made its way in the capital, the shackles of years leaving alone in the doomed square that represented that farm she grew up in . She was walking rather fast, a tinge of juvenile cheer in every step she took. She was as marveled and surprised as she was estranged from this land. Historia decided that the weather was way too welcoming to not take off her greige hood over her head, that covered the chiseled features. You could have told that she wasn't really from here. The only joy reminiscent of hers was the one of the children that played on the set of stairs of the tall buildings, some of them even pushing one another in the line in front of the bakery. " This is the moment i was born for.. I just can feel it. Mmmh.. Is that what i think it is.. Apple pie? " She smiled widely when her senses distinguished that familiar cozy breeze of baked goods. It really couldn't get any better than this, she thought.
She decided to turn around the corner so she can dive into a fresh piece of her childhood self, with cheeks beaming of the sweet kiss the sun welcomed her with. In that very moment, the clash was inevitable. She felt the tripping already happening and she was seconds away from falling on her face, but the difference was made when a strong and firm grip catched her and assured that she will stand straight on her feet again.
"What in the shit f-" ... he looked down at the bouqet of flowers that shattered partialy, two flowers breaking away from the colorful group and hitting the ground.
"I am so so sorry, i really wasn't paying attention where i was going, i didn't mean to make such a mess. Damn i can be such a klutz sometimes—"
She really was stuck deep into her guilt trip, the one thing stopping her was the sight of him, not giving a single damn about her speech, just squatting down to put the arragement together once again.
"Uhh.. Just don't worry about it, yeah? Watch where you go next time and you'll be perfectly fine" He kept his eyes down all this time, while being delicate and attentive with each placement he made, like every petal represented a part of his soul.
"Mhm.. " She sighed softly while placing a strand of her honeyed hair behind her ear. She squatted in front of him, looking with full atention at his features that were almost strategicaly hiding his eyes. She marched her hand towards one of the flowers, at that moment he raised his gaze at her. Blue clear and never-ending pools stared back at him with a shy, yet curious vibe, a smile in the corner of her rosy lips tying together the enigma of a feeling that traveled in Levi's brain.
' Maybe in another day, time, second, or place he would've shouted angrily at the very stranger in front of him, or he would've just throw one of his sharp and venomous -Tch- right in her pretty little face. But right now, his heart, head and body were all thrown in different directions and states.
"It's not like i was looking forward to give flowers in this kind of situation, nor face it" he said bluntly, after that letting a sigh escape his lips.
She gave him one of her sweet looks, even inocent if you may, and like some sort of intrigueing creature she could read between the lines when it came to his current nature. Almost like every other action that happened to him triggered something dark inside her.
" If you may eventually let me, i could help you make this current task easier and quicker for yourself and both of us". She smiled in a fashion that made him question which of the scenarios in his head could she give a very welcomed help with, because he could distinguish some of them.
" Only if we switched the present scenario with a rather numbly pleasant one of you helping with placing a musket on the roof of my mouth. But right the actual now it let's you only to stare back at a silly man making an even sillier mess on a public property. " The placement of his piercing steel-gray orbs was now on her dreamy blues, slowly analyzing her beautifully carved features that hugged her expresion. Even him could appreciate that. He liked beautiful things, at the end of the day.
" I sadly only could give you a pitiful look and a possibly even more patethic walk away in this situation, can I, sir?" She blinked slowly, resting her eyelids comfortably a bit more lower, a ray of sunlight touching gently her features with warmth.
"..." He took the bud of the flower, ripping apart the base of it, and with a swift and gentle move of his hand, he reached for her right temple, placing the red flower behind her ear.
" Just as you pretty and blindfolded with storybook tales people do. Your tiny little hearts could not bare the sight of it. " He gave her a last taste of his intimidating gaze, then he chooses to stand up slowly, dusting his pants and fixing his shoulders. Right when he moves past her a few meters, she stands up and looks in his direction.
" I came here because i have to see someone there too. " When he hears her phrase, he turned back to look at her, once again locking eyes with her oddly hopeful eyes. It scared him how quickly could one look from her give him a chill down his spine, like he really knew them from somewhere. Where is all that dejavu arriving from?
"... Fine, I happen to know the shortcut towards where you wanna go. Come after me" He moves his hand in his direction, announcing her to move from where she is standing. The road towards the cemetery near the entrance of the Underground City was beggining to be more and more quiet, the only sound that was advancing shamelessly was the beating of her heart stinging her ears. The both of them reflected on the fact that the air entering their lungs was starting to be more cramped, and harsh, almost like the pinching of a thousands needles. Is that what it feels to share some same sort of pain. Even loneliness. It couldn't be possible, not now that each of them opened a new chapter.
They finally arrived in the silent grey garden, with way too many flowers falling apart.
"Including some of your own someday. No mercy included." He spoke almost to himelf, but the slight breeze in that afternoon bore the phrase towards the blonde girl's ears. But they didn't exit her other one. She knew she couldn't play the role of the stranger little lady, her only bussiness being minding her little job that made her come here. She knew that this types of moment were what she had a heart beating in her chest for. For the first time, she felt like she stared at her own persona, only a different colour of hair, a different age and different views making the difference in their ability to mirror each other.
"Including your own. What would've have been the idea of 'moving on' without something or someone leaving you alone, on your own. " She approached 2 tombstones, that had the same branded blue symbol, which was her previous family name.
"Frieda... Uri... Hello there" She smiled widely when she met once again with the beautiful face of her uncle, Uri Reiss. Next to him, there she layed her eyes on the other pair of blues from the miniature picture engraved. "Frieda... How many stories i have to tell you still, including this recent one... It's really not fun anymore that you are not around . " Heat traveled towards her head, and her cheek was crossed by the slim strand of tears, silently.
Levi heard every single word of hers, and because of that he really couldn't bear to speak another sentence. No. It will spoil this moment he was living, the edge of some fantasy he had 11 years ago. It will be almost prophane to not let the girl he met just today speaking what he was feeling instead of himself. It was totally true, it's not really fun anymore without them around. Depression swap him off his feet once again, there's not really a reason to be waking yourself happily anymore, the more you stayed in this state, the more days up here are wasted. That is one of his biggest regrets.
She moved her head towards his direction, looking at his slouched figure that rose on it's feet, just had finished laying each flower with both gentleness and anger at this messed up world.
"It's always like that towards the evening, when many candles are blown off, and only one of them is still standing. It's regret not making the place dark anymore , choosing to disappear like the other ones, would it solve the problem? Or is it too clueless of what is behind all of this. Is—"
" Is the life that countinues without them here, you wanted to say?" He approached her with 2 flowers in his hands, almost predicting his need of them in the future. She looked down at them, and slowly took them from his hands, placing them carefully on each tomb, almost like a sweet and sour goodbye kiss.
" Nothing, and I mean nothing continues past them. It's just some shit wiped idea to make you feel better about yourself, when in reality you should suffer after them, because that is what makes us alive. What makes their existence known to the future years and gives them purpose. They left for a reason. "
She falls silently in her own thoughts, understanding where his mindset is coming from. She chooses not to debate right now, only wanting him to open more.
" .. Do you blame yoursef? " She comes back in her previous posture, now being close to him, almost to hear everything he says better.
" Half yes. Half no. Something could've had stopped what was happening. I could've been the one sliced in half by a giant shithead instead of them. Of course,something couldn't at all. Someting bigger than us wanted me to be a dirty lab rat that goes through character development. Fuck all of the if's and whats. It doesn't matter what i feel once it was done and you can't go back. " He looked back at her, almost wanting to crush that sky blue projecting eyes of hers, that made him see other points of view, beating his arguments. Again, maybe in another placement, time, hour, he would've yelled at her and show her what a smartass really is, but now.. Now? What is it about now that it's so special. That makes him stray away from his plans. And especially, what was even with that wisdom behind her years?
" What is the thing about you? You show up one day with a full assed grin, and decide to teach me about griefing? I thought the capital made sure that all the other creeps wouldn't be entering the city that easily anymore. Tch. " He stared at her, beginning to feel somehow irritated, this situation was not sitting right with him. He should've been alone while seeing his departed best friends. Not along some runaway chick with some screws loose.
"Well, i guess they skipped an important fellow. One that happens to love this kind of situation, because some thing wakes up inside of him, and that is making other points to be seen by you. " she spoke in a voice that towered brave at him, being very serious about her intention. Historia wasn't here and today to play games. She wanted to help him in any way she could. To stop some eventual actions that both of them would regret.
"Fine. Finee. Fine. So we are living now under the premise that you will remove now 3 years of trauma with one swipe of your finger? I really wanna be your watcher, to see how much you fail."
" Well, if you insist so much, i am very thrilled to be challenged like that, because i will so take you and show you the reasons to still be alive. So you should scrub that stinky frown off of your face, because i am about to make the change! " She was trying to look as determined as possible and to spat words back at him and his ego.
He looked almost angrily at her, because a sensible point was just touched for him, and being not always right was it.
"... Good. So we have a deal here I see. I give you a full day of today to actually make me feel something once again. See who this big girl in front of me really is. " He tensed his shoulder when suddenly he felt the touch of her hand hovering over it, making him kinda ruining the steel like facade.
"If this is all that is about, them i'm in. It is really just an easy game for me. I promise that you won't regret it" She winked and smirked at him bravely, now shifting her hand towards his palm.
"Now now, if you would step aside, i could show you how i really see this world. " She smiled at him with reassurence, and then dragged him out of the doomy scenery, both of them saying goodbye to their past, as beautiful as it was.
He just let himself be directed by her, almost projecting in her hands, realizing that he really neded actual help. His legs were literally melting under him, couldn't bear the option of standing straight.
" Oi, oi, oi, are you somhow trying to break my legs in the process, slow down your pace a little bit. " He frowned when she managed to make him dirty his she, jump walking like a cheerful version of a kid.
" First on the list of discovering reasons beyond reasons of this you'll miss out on is .... Obviously the bakery down town that made us clash eventually. You will get a huge rush of serotonine just by smelling everything" She already fell deep into her fantasies and forgot about how fast her pace is, making him sometimes bump into onther people on the streets. When they finally approached the famous bakery, she stepped to the window, with a cheerful and bright face. " Two apple and cinnamon pies, pleasee" She waited shortly for her order and thanked the nice lady that worked here, coming back to him with a wide smirk on her face. " Try this and we can discuss about thanking me later. You won't regret. Especially if you want to buff a little bit, young man. You look a little bit thin there. " She raised his arm orizontally in the air, almost studying the thinness of it, and then passed under it so she can continue their walk.
"Uhmm... Shaming too much? " He raised a brow and shuffled his sleeves, but he couldn't deny her telling. It was almost 4 days since he touched some actual food. Not that he would've noticed it. Plus adding the turbulent evening of smoking without a break one pack of cigarettes.
" Just taking care of you as part of this day only job" He could've sweared that her face started beaming with actual astral light, almost lifting the gloomy air that repeated around him. "Why did you come here. It has to be something really serious if you end up in a rotten city like this. " He takes a bite out of the sweet pastry, actually enjoying the feeling of cozyness it gives him. Almost like the ones he was eating on his birthday, the sweet and spicy smell covering the winter coldness.
" Well, it's not like i had any choice. I was on the verge of losing myself if i stayed one more day at that farm. Growing up alone has it's perks. But at the same time, it reminds you how lonelier can life actually get. " A vague smile was present on her dollish features, blinking slowly as she was reimagining her inside her room, looking thru her window outside, sometimes making scenarios that she was waiting for a special someone to come home.
"Hmm... Understandable.. I actually ran away from home. Not exactly how someone would call that hell hole of a place." He ran his long fingers through his hair, turning his gaze once again to her.
" Something tells me you had dealt with too many thing by yourself"
She is chewing her pie with full cheeks, brushing a crumb off her lip. " I am sure there is a reason for all that happen"
"Oh yeah?" He raised a brow.
"Yeah.. If my mom wasn't hating me so much with every inch or her being, maybe i wouldn't be here, enjoying this beautiful dessert, in a totally strange to me city. Sometimes i feel like we are just some muppets in a very sadistic show. " She puts half of her pastry in the brown bag, turning her gaze back at him. " You should let people back into your life. It's not going to do as much harm as it will give you a new purpose. "
He took a moment to process the words that she said to him, feeling the honeyed tone in her voice. Maybe she was right. Maybe she just tried to convert him into a mindlessly happy fantasy that he knew he couldn't be part of.
" You are so blind for so many reasons, little girl... " he looks down at the stairs underneath his boots, falling deep into thought. " But if you are going to stay in this shit covered hole dressed in a peaceful capital, you will need someone to show you around. And make sure you don't disappear mysteriously. In a vegetable sack" he looks up at her, standing up back on his feet again, and reaches his hand towards her.
" You should come with me." The sunlight was hitting his handsome and pale features, his piercing gaze stealing once again the show. His invitation ringed in her years, taking her and her rosy cheeks by surprise.
She pulled a curious look at him, a large smile carving into her freckled cheeks. " I knew we could make this fruity bussiness work. I actually couldn't take you around here and play the runaways without freaking out. So you made convincing you to do it for me easier. " She laughed and took his calloused and warm hand in hers, looking back at him with a playful spark.
He just rolls his eyes and huffs in response, still wondering how could someone be so straightforward a puppy personality, yet so intriguing.
" Just keep your face hole shut and let me think about the next place to go. Or you want me to leave you right here? Cause i really can just do that. " He raises a brow at her with a little bit of irritability in his tone, but he bluffed when she started to laugh again at him, earning a soft punch in the arm from him.
"Ohh.. Sorry, i couldn't take you seriously when you said that. " She mimics wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, and took the lead for their next small journey around town.
" By the way, i haven't got the chance to know your name. What is it? " She took her cape off her shoulders, cause it began to get warmer outside, revealing her loose white shirt, tied with some sort of brown corset at her waist.
" My name is 'yeah'" He looks at her while he thrashed the litter in the nearby garbage can, and placed his hands in his pockets.
"Oh come on, stop playing around.. Fine. My name is Historia. Your turn." she bumped her arm into him, walking ahead of him gingerly.
"Did i even ask, blondie? I could've just stuck by Blondie, since is a more memorable name... " seeing the puppy shine in her eyes that she chose to pull as her card, he sighed tiredly, running a hand through his hair. " Levi. "
"Levi... Nice to finally meet your non-nameless version. Now.. Show me your favourite place that's here, Levi. " She stopped in the middle of the road, smiling even more than she was showing before.
Almost like some thunderstruck, he felt that somehow he found a person that genuinely cares about his interests. And whose voice really succeded in spelling his name in such a unforgetable way. Almost demure, ripen. Even if that person is not the most collected and serious of all of them. It still met his need to share a part of his life and himself sometimes. But it was way too weird that he felt that so soon, especially with this particular girl.
"... You really don't have anywhere to go back to, huh? You realize this is not some sort of vacantion in a warm place."
" It can be if i want it to be. And... I already told you, i'm searching for a new place to call home. Unless you ban me somehow from Mitras. But you don't look like someone who has a sweet word put with the military police. " She chuckles and walked on the stone tiles under her feet, making some sort of pattern with her walk.
He looks at the joyous figure in front of him, shaking his head when he felt a blush creep his cheeks. " Fine, if that will make you not sting me in the arse with your happy go lucky personality. Jesus. Have you ever had a bad day in your life? " He asks with the same ironic brow raise, adjusting the collar of his shirt and catching her up as he walked faster towards the honeyed head in front of him.
" Well, now i am making up for all the bad days that blurred everything in front of me, call it a karmic payement or something like that. " She smiles and then abruptly stops in front of a bar that was striking with the loud sounds of instruments, and of course people having a good time in front of a pint of beer. " Ohh my god, we should go here definetly, and maybe i can get a job here. " Her eyes are shining with determination, and she wanted to enter the door right when a big hand was placed on her shoulder, stopping her from her tracks. " Oi, listen here, you chewy brat. Maybe you have some plans in your foolish brain, but you don't even have a place where you can stay."
"I can always book a room at a motel or something"
"Only if you're a big fanatic for abnormally large cockroaches and a special pet being a rat"
"Not every single one of them are going to be that bad"
" Oh, actually yes if you find yourself right in this part of town."
She bites the inside of her cheek a little bit harsh, and then turns her head towards him, speaking in a cocky tone.
" Then you should let me stay with you. Isn't that the most reasonable solution?"