"Levi! (Y/N)! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Hange said, welcoming the pair into her office first thing in the morning.
Levi felt awkward, so he was glad when (Y/N) jumped to speak for him. "Hange, we need to tell you something."
She pulled them into her office, slamming the door behind them.
"Don't tell me... you guys are pregnant?!"
They both jumped. Levi raised a hand to his face. "No. What the hell..."
(Y/N) waved her hands down, trying to ignore what was just said. "Listen, Hange. Something weird is going on and we gotta tell you. You're the only one who might be able to help us."
Suddenly her expression turned serious, and she nodded, taking a seat at her desk and motioning for her visitors to do the same.
Bit by bit, (Y/N) told the story that had started just a week ago, about how they met on that busy street, how she believed he was born out of a fictional story, how they lived life for a few days, and then were transported to here. She made sure to emphasize the fact that neither one of them had any memories of being with each other before this week, though her track record here seemed to prove otherwise.
At some point during her spiel, Hange had removed her glasses and placed them on the desk in front of her. She only did something like that when she was overwhelmed.
(Y/N) took a long, deep breath after she was done.
"Wow.." Hange said, breathlessly. "That's... a lot."
"Do you believe me?"
Hange locked eyes with (Y/N). "Of course I do. I have been noticing the two of you acting strange recently. I thought something was going on between you, like you were having issues."
"Hange, do you know anything that could help us?"
She sighed. "I'm not really sure you can do anything about it, I'm afraid. It sounds like all of this just happened to you through no fault of your own. Though, this stuff is really interesting, I'm going to have to read up on it."
(Y/N) raised her eyebrows. "You aren't, say, put off at all by the possibility of multiple realities?"
Hange placed her glasses back on her face. "A great scientist never shies away in the face of new knowledge, my darling (Y/N)!"
"Hange." Levi mumbled, finally decided to contribute. "Can you tell me... what things were like before this week?"
"Oh, right, since you can't remember?"
Levi nodded his head begrudgingly. He hated having to rely on someone else like this, but he was also dying to know how the rest of the regiment saw him and (Y/N).
"Well, Let's see. Almost right after (Y/N) here joined your squad, the two of you started getting romantically involved. I knew right away because I'm your best friend." She added with a smirk. "But everyone else found out after a little while, because you guys weren't exactly discreet."
Both of their eyes widened, wondering what kinds of things they subjected everyone to.
Hange waved her hands in the air. "Nothing bad! It's just that you spent all of your time with each other. No one felt uncomfortable around you, I promise. But what was interesting is that this week, (Y/N), you started sleeping in your old dorm in the barracks. Or at least, that's where people saw you go at night. You used to always go to Levi's room, so that little detail, among others, was putting some people off, me included. I thought you must have had a fight."
(Y/N)'s face formed a slight blush. She had regularly gone to Levi's room each night shamelessly? She looked over to Levi, who seemed to be in a similar state.
"Before you two got together, Erwin and I placed bets on who would make the first move. I thought for sure it would be you, (Y/N), but Erwin was convinced Captain Shorty over here had enough balls to do it."
Levi glared at Hange. "And?"
A wide grin spread across her face. "Let's just say my drinks were free for a whole two months."
(Y/N) glanced over at Levi with a smile on her face. "Aww!"
Hange adjusted her glasses. "However, it's not like you did it entirely of your own volition. Erwin and I slaved away day after day trying to get the two of you alone together." She leaned forward. "Do you want to hear something real juicy?"
The pair shot quick glances at each other, then nodded.
"Levi came into my office last week, asking if I could help him figure out how to buy an engagement ring." She said, almost exclusively talking to (Y/N).
(Y/N)'s lips parted, and her mouth threatened to curl into a smile. Levi's attention snapped to her immediately, but she was nervous to look at back at him. She wondered what her other self would have been feeling right now, with the memories of two years of courtship with this man. Even after one week, she felt warm inside, like she wasn't even opposed to the idea at all. Was she going crazy?
Finally, she turned toward him, letting out an exhale. Her smile came out as well. She stared at him for a few seconds before tearing her eyes away, locking them again on Hange, who was smiling up a storm.
"Really?" (Y/N) gasped.
Hange nodded emphatically. "Oh, (Y/N), it was precious."
Levi groaned. "Shut up."
"Awww, shorty, come on!" Hange tried to defend herself, but made the mistake of using her nickname for the captain one too many times.
He raised his fist in the air. "I will use this."
She propelled backwards in her chair, almost knocking herself to the ground. "Okay! Okay! Sorry."
(Y/N) was overtaken by giggles at this point. Hange joined her after a little while.
"So, (Y/N). If you said our reality was depicted to you through an animated series, who was your favorite character?"
(Y/N) looked at her, dumbfounded. "Uh, Hange? I think you might be able to answer your own question." She tilted her head towards the man next to her, who had pressed his lips together, fighting back a smirk.
"Duh!" She smacked herself in the forehead. "I'm an idiot!" She laughed.
"Yes, you are." Levi stood up from the chair, deciding he was done with this conversation. He turned his back toward the laughing woman. "Thanks for your help."
"Anytime, you two!" She called out. "I'll keep you updated if I find out anything interesting."
She saw them out of her office, and the pair walked back down the hallway. They still had a few more hours until the trial was to begin.
As soon as they had re-entered Levi's room, he slumped to the ground, head in his hands. (Y/N) spun around and immediately crouched down next to him.
"Levi? What's wrong?"
"This is all too much." He mumbled, his voice muffled. "I-I just... I just want our memories back, (Y/N)."
(Y/N) kneeled next to him, placing her hand on his arm.
He continued. "I am happy to be with you now, (Y/N), don't get me wrong, but knowing there was so much more to our relationship... two whole years... and we just lost it. We don't even know why. It isn't fair."
She threw herself onto him, wrapping him in her arms. She didn't know what to say, so he kept talking.
"I... I was going t-to propose to you." He said. When he said it out loud, it didn't even seem real. "I was going to propose to you, and I can't even remember any of the details leading up to that. Hange knows more about our relationship than we do. Hell, probably any random soldier would know more than we do. That's... that's..."
He tripped over himself. He couldn't even find the words before a lump was in his throat, making him completely choke up.
(Y/N) started to gently pet his hair. "I know, Levi. But at least we have each other now. We'll find a way to get it all back."
He lifted his head to look at her. "And if we don't?"
She took a deep breath. "Then, we'll just make new memories."
~
To the officers' delights, the trial went off without a hitch, and Levi squad had gained a new member.
Eren remained wary of the captain, as he should, but any time (Y/N) caught the kid alone, she flashed him a reassuring smile. Surely an encouraging notion from his superior's lover would put him more at ease, right?
Each member of Levi squad happened to be having a lot of alone time, because upon assessing the state of the castle, Levi had appointed cleaning jobs to everyone- and they lasted all day long.
Though, they were all able to relax in the evenings, sitting with each other and enjoying a few drinks- Levi choosing tea of course.
At some point, he got up from the table to use the restroom. Petra scooted up closer to (Y/N) and smiled giddily. (Y/N) wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or just her regular personality.
"So, (Y/N), has he popped the question yet?"
(Y/N) nearly spit out the water she had been drinking. Recovering with a few coughs, she lifted a hand to her mouth. "W-what do you mean, Petra?" She played dumb, Of course she knew what that phrase meant. She just didn't know how to answer. Technically, no, he hasn't. But she knew that he did want to, at some point, at least.
"Hah," Oluo sneered, "She means, has Captain Levi asked you to- MMMPH!" Oluo cut himself off by biting his tongue. Eld slapped the table and doubled over in laughter, tears starting to stream down his cheeks.
Gunter decided it was his turn to pick up the mantle. "Has Captain Levi asked you to marry him yet?"
(Y/N) felt her whole face getting warm, her squadmates looking at her expectantly for an answer. Poor Eren looked almost as lost as she did.
"U-uh.. N-no, he hasn't asked me that yet."
She saw her comrades faces fall for a second. But Petra soon perked up. "Yet! So, it'll probably happen soon, right?"
"I don't know..." (Y/N) spoke quietly. She really didn't know how to answer this. She didn't want to make it seem like they were having relationship problems, like Hange had said. But also, he hadn't proposed to her, so it's not like she could just lie and say that he did to make everyone happy.
It seems they had the same intel Hange did, because they were all so invested in this.
(Y/N) didn't know what to think. She had just met this man seemingly recently, and even though it felt like she had known him for longer, and it was proven that she has, she still didn't know how she should feel. If he dropped to one knee right now and asked for her hand in marriage, she would have no idea what to do.
And then he waltzed back into the room, ceasing the uncomfortable conversation that just occurred. He stood behind (Y/N)'s chair and announced: "Hange is coming."
Each of the squad members except Eren wordlessly started to rise from their seat, as a loud bang sounded at the door. Petra scrambled to open it up.
In came Hange, already talking about titans, and her words fell on all deaf ears but one pair- the poor young Jeager.
As (Y/N) and Levi silently walked down the halls, she debated whether or not she should tell him about the conversation she just had. Would it make things awkward?
She recalled the last time she had kept something from him. It was about her knowledge of the story. She had kept something a secret, but now she couldn't even remember what it was.
As soon as he shut the door of their shared room, she decided to tell him the truth. It wasn't good to keep things from him, even if it made things awkward.
"Levi?"
"Yes?" He said, removing his jacket and belt straps, moving to help her with her own.
She spoke as he delicately worked his hands around her. She spoke softly, trying not to overwhelm him with her tone of voice.
"Everyone just asked me if you had proposed to me yet."
He stopped his movements. Even his breathing stopped for a second.
"A-a-and w-what did you say?"
"I said you hadn't."
He waited a few seconds before responding again, trying to compose himself. "How did they respond to that?"
"I'm going to be honest with you- they seemed disappointed."
Levi removed his hands from hovering over (Y/N). "I-I'm so sorry, (Y/N), I didn't mean to m-make you feel so uncomfortable..."
"It's not your fault, Levi." She said, reaching out to take one of his trembling hands. "We're in a tricky situation. I'm sure if we had all our past memories and everything, I wouldn't have felt uncomfortable at all."
He did nothing but stare back at her, getting lost in her eyes.
"If you were to propose to me now, there's a good chance I'd just say yes. Clearly, we were meant to be together, cause all this crazy stuff is happening, and we managed to have a two-year old relationship that was about to climax with an engagement, so we were doing something right. It's hard to vouch for all that stuff I don't remember, but from what I can tell right now, I know that I love you, Levi, and... I wouldn't want to spend my life with anyone else but you."
He finally let out the breath he was essentially holding in. In seconds, he was holding on to her, wrapping her in his strong arms.
"(Y/N)... I don't deserve you..."
She placed her arms around his waist, pulling him closer to her. "Sure you do. There's a reason why the universe screwed us over and stuck us together, right?"
It was just like (Y/N) to distract from serious topics with humor. He needed that sometimes- no wonder she was perfect for him.
He stayed nuzzled into her shoulder as he spoke, too embarrassed to face her. "So, about the whole... m-marriage... thing..."
"You don't have to feel pressured to do anything, Levi. It's our own business what we do. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Do things at your own pace; I'll be here no matter what."
He sighed. "Thank you, (Y/N)."
He was really just as conflicted as before, but at least now he knew that (Y/N) understood him. They could move forward, putting their trust in each other.
~
After the 57th expedition outside the walls.
~
"You lied to me, (Y/N)!" Shouted Levi, overcome with grief. He would have stood up if he wasn't stuck to his chair, with that damned injury keeping him down.
She had just come in with a fresh set of bandages, to clean him up and soothe him. She wasn't expecting this outburst. What had she lied about? Was he talking about something she told him back when she remembered his story?
Suddenly she realized.
It must have been when she spared him from the truth by telling him the squad would be okay. The squad was, in fact, not okay. Each one of their comrades, Oluo, Petra, Eld, and Gunter- had died at the hands of the female titan. (Y/N) had managed to escape with a sprained wrist and ankle- nothing near as bad as Levi's injury.
It came flooding back. She had mistakenly told Levi that he would have a squad full of the best soldiers, but when she was questioned further, she had told him that his existing squad would survive as well. That was the lie.
She had forgotten about it like everything else, but he hadn't.
He had been operating this whole time believing that his squadmates wouldn't die.
"I'm sorry.."
"I don't want to hear your damn apology. Just get out of my sight."
She stared at him for a few seconds, assessing the situation with as cool of a head as she could muster. She was going to break soon, but she couldn't do it in front of him.
Though she knew she needed to give him space, she needed to tend to his injury first.
"Levi, at least let me clean and dress your ankle-"
"Let the nurses do it."
"... You told Hange you didn't like the way the nurses do it."
"Tch. Fine. Get it over with."
She slowly unwrapped the dirty gauze from his swollen ankle. He let out a quiet hiss as she cleaned it up carefully, trying her hardest not to hurt him. She had already hurt him enough today.
After finishing up, She lowered his leg to the ground and stood up, taking a longing look at him. He wouldn't look her in the eyes. Instead, his gaze was transfixed on the stack of undone paperwork.
Without a word, she snatched it off of his desk and walked towards the door. "If you need me, tell Hange."
And then she was gone.
Truthfully, Levi didn't want her to leave. He wanted to hash it out then and there, but he realized that he wasn't the only one who was grieving. They were her friends too, even if just for a little while.
But she knew they were going to die. At least, she knew at one point. Maybe... maybe that was part of the information she had forgotten. Still, that didn't excuse the original lie. He leaned his head back in his chair. He was planning to distract himself with paperwork, but she had taken that away from him. This was probably just one of the ways she tried to make amends. He couldn't say that he wasn't grateful, though. It's not like he was dying to dig into his paperwork.
He wished she hadn't left. She and Eren were the only survivors of his squad, and all he had done was push her away.
He let out a loud groan, pushing pens and papers to the floor. He didn't care if it made a mess. There was nothing good about this entire situation. He decided that maybe, the best thing for him to do was to just sleep. That way, he wouldn't have to spend so much time thinking about it all. He could attempt to get some rest.
The captain fell asleep in his office chair.
~