Levi woke up in (Y/N)'s bed.
....In a new atmosphere.
One he hadn't seen in months.
He was back in her reality.
The delicious aroma of cooked bacon tempted his senses.
Memories came flooding back of the previous night.
Kenny...
He had watched the man who raised him die right in front of him. He hadn't seen his fiancé for at least a few weeks before that.
She didn't know anything about what had just happened to him.
He quickly got up and pushed the door open, meeting (Y/N)'s surprised face.
"Good morning, Levi." She offered him a smile that could rival the sun in its brilliance.
His hands found hers. "So much... there's so much I need to tell you." He stammered.
"Eat first. Then we can talk."
~
"So, he was your uncle." She said, a finger raised to her chin. "How do you feel about that?"
"Tch. It's not like that bit of information changed his personality or anything." Levi scoffed. "I suppose it makes sense, though, why he felt the need to look after me for a little while. Some shitty excuse he had for leaving, though."
She reached her hand out to him. "I'm sorry, Levi."
He placed his hand in hers. "It's not your fault."
He stood up from the table, stretching his arms out. "We still need to tell Hange about the returning memories."
"You're right, but about that...." (Y/N) said, getting up to stand in front of him. "Clearly there's something else missing. In this reality, you were a pilot, but you don't remember any of that. And I don't remember the news stories or anything. We both have things missing from our memories, just like we did over in your reality. So what I'm wondering is...."
"If we do the same thing we did over there, we'd remember?"
"Essentially, yeah."
"Let's go get a ring, then." He picked up his wallet and shoved it in his pocket.
(Y/N)'s cheeks flushed. She has no reason to be flustered- after all, technically they're already engaged. All this reality jumping gets confusing. For some reason it felt different to her in this context- she'd have to tell her parents, her friends, everyone. It might seem a bit forward to everyone else if they were to get engaged right now. Technically in this reality, they've only known each other a little while.
Her parents.
They were gone in the other reality. (Y/N) was so distracted by everything that she forgot to even call them.
"Wait." She said to Levi as he was putting on his shoes. She looked at her phone for the first time today and saw it- dozens of missed calls and texts from family members and friends. Her eyes widened, and her breath shortened. She feared the worst, but she wasn't as emotional about it as one would have expected. After all, she already grieved her parents in the other reality.
Levi stepped towards her and looked at her screen. "What is it...?"
(Y/N) spoke quietly. "My parents."
He placed a hand on her shoulder as she navigated to her most recent voicemail. It was from one of her closest friends, Ella.
"Hey, (Y/N), I'm so sorry to hear about your parents. I know you were close with them. Please let me know you if you need anything... I hope you're doing okay. Call me back if you want to talk. I just want you to know I'm here for you."
She played the next ones, some from aunts and uncles, some from long-time friends.
"(Y/N), I hope I am not the bringer of bad news, I'm sure you've been called already, but when I heard about the accident I just needed to call you right away. Don't ever hesitate to call your Auntie Carrie okay? I'm here with anything you need. Love you."
Most of the messages contained something to that effect. Finally she reached the first one, from an unknown number.
"(Y/N/L/N)? This is the Cook County Hospital. We're calling to notify you of the deaths of (M/N) and (D/N/L/N). Both of them were caught up in a car accident on the Dan Ryan Expressway. A semi-truck lost control and they were both killed on impact. Please call us back for further information."
(Y/N) let her arm drop, still clutching the phone. She closed her eyes. She felt Levi's hands take hold of her arms.
"(Y/N)." He spoke, his voice soft.
She let a few tears roll down her cheeks before letting out a shaky breath. "I'm okay."
He lifted a hand to her cheek, willing her to open her eyes and look at him. "Are you? It's okay to be upset."
She flung her arms around him, putting everything she had into the embrace. He held her there for a long time, letting her sobs dampen his shoulder. She was torn apart for the second time over the deaths of her parents. It wasn't as bad as the first time, but it still hurt. Levi rubbed circles into her back as she cried, reassuring her that she didn't need to hurt alone. He was here for her, and everyone who sent her messages was there for her too.
It'll all be okay.
~
The wake and funeral were... awkward, to say the least. Most people either ignored Levi's existence or whispered about who he was behind their backs, wondering about the story of this mysterious, dark stranger was that didn't leave (Y/N)'s side. She was reminded of the fact that his face and name was plastered all over the news not that long ago, and she wondered what kind of excuses she'd have to come up with if that topic were to surface.
Thankfully, it didn't- or it at least stayed inside people's heads.
Her boss heard the news and promptly gave them two weeks off from work, paid- so that was nice. However, it just meant she had more time to mope around and not think about her responsibilities. Levi took it upon himself to handle all of the cleaning and laundry, which left (Y/N) in a state of laziness. She filled her time with random hobbies, but mostly binge-watching anime on any streaming site she could find. Levi didn't seem all that interested in what she was watching, but he'd stay and look every once in a while to see what it was all about.
He plopped down next to her once after throwing a load of laundry in, barely paying attention to the moving pictures on the screen.
He scoffed at one of them, the character being depicted as an exaggerated version of themself for comedic effect.
She laughed and looked at him. "You know, this is how I got acquainted with you, Mr. Ackerman."
He gave her the side-eye. "Yeah? What was that like?"
She smiled. "I can remember the uproar your existence caused online... everyone either wanted to be you or be with you."
He raised a brow. "Really?" He sounded unimpressed.
"Can you blame them? You're the coolest guy out there, and you make all the ladies swoon with your dashing good looks. It's no wonder I fell for you, even if you were just lines on a page."
Color dusted his face as he shifted on the couch. "I'd say you're crazy, but I'm hardly different- I was enamored by you, a disembodied character from my dreams."
"It's funny how this all happened, huh?" She said.
"I still can't figure it out." Levi sighed.
Suddenly (Y/N) remembered something. "Oh! I totally forgot to tell you! A little while ago, Hange had found something out. She came in your office to tell us but you were sleeping... anyway, she told me that she and Armin had been researching and found that your bloodline, the Ackermans, have special abilities that aren't quite all-known. It's part of the reason why you're so strong- and we can see it in Mikasa, too."
Levi raised a finger to his chin. "And Kenny..."
"Hange said that when a person from the Ackerman clan has a strong bond with a specific person, they can unlock certain abilities."
Levi's eyes flicked up to meet (Y/N)'s.
"Is that so?"
She nodded. "By the way you're responding, it seems like you didn't know about this either."
He raised his arms and rested them behind his head. "I didn't. Not really, anyway. I knew something was up... but not exactly what."
"We can talk to Hange about it more when we get back." She said, then turned the TV off. "But now, we go back to the mundane work of everyday life." She stepped towards the door, grabbing the essentials before slipping on some shoes. "I need a few things from Target."
~
When they had arrived at the grocery store, Levi made his routine beeline for the cleaning section. There he would assess each sale and each product, making sure the ones he was buying were the best quality for the best price. His antics made her giggle, and allowed her to forget about the things that weighed heavily on her heart.
Levi was holding a Swiffer duster, one that has a long handle and claimed a 360 degree range. He carefully read each word on the package, deciding if this was a worthy buy. You had dusters, of course, but with his small stature, it wasn't easy to reach some of the high places in your apartment. This long handle would surely be useful for him.
(Y/N) had taken the liberty of grabbing a shopping cart, so when he finally decided that he wanted this thing, he placed it inside, but not before glancing up at her for her nod of approval. In all honesty, she let Levi buy whatever he wanted, within reason. She couldn't imagine what he must feel surrounded by all these new, exciting things. It was when he found himself holding up a bottle of Mr. Clean and Lysol that (Y/N) decided leaving him alone for a few minutes wouldn't hurt while she carried on gathering other groceries.
Levi was engrossed in the items in front of him, so the sudden tap on his shoulder almost startled him.
"Levi?" A light voice called behind him. He twisted around, meeting this woman he'd never seen before. She had short, dark brown hair and matching brown eyes. She looked concerned. "Is that you?"
Shit, He thought.
This must be someone he knew at one point- who didn't know his current situation. His talk of memory loss and engagement with (Y/N) had been swept under the rug because of everything that had happened, so they never got around to picking that topic back up.
Levi didn't know how to pretend to know somebody, and if he did pretend, he'd have to find some way to explain everything, which he didn't know how to do. So he acted honestly.
"Who are you?" He squinted his eyes at the woman.
"It's Callie... you... don't remember me?"
He crossed his arms. "No."
She shook her head. "W-well, are you okay? You went missing a while ago... and no one has heard from you. You can come back to O'Hare, you know, they're still looking for you. Levi, I don't know what you've been doing this whole time, but you should really come back."
He just stared back at her with his unrelenting gaze. "I'm fine. Just leave me alone."
But it appeared this 'Callie' was a bold one, because she reached her hand up to his face, almost making contact with his skin before she was interrupted by a firm hand grabbing her wrist.
"Who are you?" Seethed (Y/N) through gritted teeth. She had smelled Levi's outward discomfort with this situation from a mile away, and started making her way towards them, but when she saw the woman's arm reach out to him, she felt a rush of a need to be at his side.
Callie jumped back. "I-I'm a work friend! Who are you?"
"My girlfriend." Levi answered before (Y/N) could. "Good day, Callie."
"Wait!" She called as he turned on his heel. He couldn't deal with that- the only thing he knows how to do is deflect. That left (Y/N) with the pieces. The woman's eyes dragged to her.
(Y/N) sighed. "He's lost his memory. Simple as that. We're working on getting it all back."
"Does it really work like that?" Callie raised a brow. (Y/N) didn't much like this woman's attitude, but if she really was a work friend of Levi's, (Y/N) didn't want to leave her with such a bad taste in her mouth.
"Here's to hoping." She lifted a bottle of Mr. Clean in the air. Callie gave her a forced smile.
"Okay then...." She drawled out her words. "See you around."
(Y/N) forced out a smile as well. "Mmhm."
Then she was gone. (Y/N) turned to the next aisle to find Levi absentmindedly staring at a bottle of shampoo.
"Hey..." She said.
He shook his head and snapped his attention to her. "Huh?"
"Are you good?"
"Yeah. Just... that was strange."
She placed a hand on his. "You wanna get out of here?"
He nodded, and followed along after her as she paid for her groceries. They stayed in silence until the moment he sat down on her couch. She put away everything they had bought while he sat with his head in his hands, shaking his head every now and then.
When she was done, she joined him on the couch and rubbed his arm gently with her fingers. "Levi?"
"I'm fine, I've just got a lot on my mind."
"Tell me."
He sighed. "I want my memories back- I do, but... what if I... change?"
(Y/N) scooted closer to him. "What do you mean, change?"
He let his hands drop onto his lap. "You saw what happened. Clearly there's people that I used to know... I have a whole life that... that you aren't part of. I don't want some switch to flip... I'm happy with the way things are right now."
She traced her fingers around his. "That's okay. I don't need anything to change."
"But I want to get it all back. I want to put that ring on your finger. Now that we gained that back in my reality, I can't forgo it here. But... I don't want to ruin things between us..."
"Levi, look at me." He dragged his face to hers. "It's not like you'll lose the memories of all this time we've been together. I don't think you getting everything back is going to ruin things between us. The worst it'll do is give you a job."
He groaned. "I don't want a job. I have enough work to do as it is on the other side... this place is like my vacation." He turned his body to her and leaned his head into her shoulder. His voice was muffled as he spoke. "I love you, (Y/N). I love you so much it hurts. The things you do to me..." His voice became a whisper. "I don't want anything to happen to what we have."
She pet his hair on the back of his head. "I'm not going anywhere."
He gripped her shirt in his fists. "Okay."
~
The next day they went shopping- for a ring. It didn't take as long as (Y/N) had expected this kind of thing to take. They had several options for a ring, but in the end, Levi took it upon himself to turn her out of the store and keep it all a secret.
That evening, they sat down at a nice restaurant. Levi had the ring in safekeeping- he wanted to wait for a good time to propose. It's not often someone gets to propose twice to the same person.
"So." (Y/N) declared after they left the restaurant, hand in hand. "What's happening now?"
"Hm?" Levi played dumb.
(Y/N) just raised her eyebrows.
"Oh. Uh..." Levi had lost his confidence yet again. His exterior fell away as the words disappeared at his lips. He sighed, trying to compose himself in the process.
His free hand was fumbling around in his pocket, fingers brushing over the velvet box. He was so sick of being nervous. They wordlessly walked down to Millennium park, the very first place they met. They sat down on the very bench where they had their first conversation- the place where (Y/N) found out his true identity.
(Y/N) was completely aware of what was happening, so she bore the widest grin she could muster for the entire walk there. She composed herself and acted serious as Levi opened his mouth to speak.
"When I met your parents in this reality, your father told me something. I didn't realize until we got engaged that he actually told it to me before, back when I asked them for your hand." He sighed. "It was something a little too sentimental for me to admit, but I want you to know what he said to me."
She turned her head towards him. "What did he say?"
They locked eyes. "'She's yours to protect now, son. Don't let me down.'"
She smiled. "That's just like him to be so touchy-feely right away."
"I intend to uphold the duty he gave to me, (Y/N)." Levi said, shifting where he sat. He chuckled a bit. "It's not often one gets the change to propose to the same person twice. But here we are, and I still can't believe I get to ask someone as wonderful as you."
He moved in front of her, dropping to one knee.
"Will you marry me, (Y/N)?" He said, pausing for a second before taking the ring out of his pocket. "...Again?"
She smiled just as wide as she had the first time, and leaned down to kiss him, stabilizing his hands in the process so that he wouldn't drop the ring.
She pulled away. "You really didn't have to ask, Levi. I'd be honored to marry you a million times over."
He smiled warmly back at her. A few people around them had gathered and some of them muttered a small congratulations, but it didn't matter what people were around right now- all that mattered was (Y/N) and Levi.
He slipped the ring onto her finger, and...
~