"Oh my god! She's so adorable!" Evelina exclaimed when she first saw Luna who had fallen asleep in Levi's arms. "When did you give birth?"
"Six days ago," Pandora answered.
"Wow, she has rosy cheeks as well," Evelina noted.
"Are you okay?" Levi asked Pandora.
"I'm fine. I'm still tired from labor, but I'll be okay soon," she said with a smile. Her hair looked like it hadn't been washed or brushed for days. It was all fizzy, tangle, and oily and in some places on her head, strands stuck out. "How was the expedition?" She asked
"It went better than what I expected," Levi said, lowering his voice since he didn't want his daughter to wake up.
"It was a bit hard to gather everyone and head up to Syzygy, but we did it," Evelina answered. "I'm going to leave you guy alone to enjoy your new daughter. I'm off to get cleaned!"
"Why? You're our daughter as well," Pandora said to her.
"I know. That's why I referred Luna as the new one," Evelina smiled. "But I really need to shower. I fell on a puddle of mud when I got off my horse." With that, she left the new parents alone.
"I feel horrible that I missed her birth," Levi said, looking down and Luna who was silently sleeping, her tiny mouth open slightly.
"Don't feel bad, it couldn't be helped. You were out there saving the world and I stayed back to make sure she'd arrive into our lives," Pandora said.
"Honestly, I think I wouldn't have handle the situation very well," Levi confessed, giving a quiet chuckle, careful not to wake up his daughter
"I bet you would have freaked out more than I," Pandora said, but laughed a bit. "I was calm about it."
"I just never would have thought I would become a father one day..." Levi said. "Do you think I'll be a good one?"
"I'm sure you will and don't worry either, because Luna will be the first baby I'll have to raise as well," Pandora said. "And you won't be alone. She'll be surrounded by many people who will cherish her as well." Even though Pandora knew this, she felt worried about raising Luna, but at the same time, she wasn't. So far, she's been a good parent to Evelina... But she also feels like she's let her and Valentino down since she couldn't protect him from her mother's wrath or protect Alec from Annie.
Evelina is twenty now and Valentino is dead... Maybe I will be a horrible parent to Luna... Pandora thought to herself. Levi will defiantly be a better parent than I will ever be. After all, I gave my children to strangers and then claimed them after they had been raised by those strangers and after Erwin told me who they were. Oh god, they saw the worst in me. I'm such a shitty person. How can Levi even love me? How can avoid being another Victoria, Silvia, and maybe a Gisselle, who left all responsibility to me without instructions. How can I raise my baby girl and not damage her?
Levi noticed how quiet Pandora had gotten and how she suddenly looked like she wasn't even there. "Oi, are you sure you're okay?" Levi asked.
"Huh, uh, yeah..." Pandora answered, trying to play it off. "I just... I-" but she couldn't come up with anything and their was no point because when she looked over to Levi, he had that "I'm waiting for you false explanation" look. Their was no point in finishing the sentence when he could read her like an open book.
"Didn't you just told me not to fret about raising Luna?" Levi asked. "You're giving yourself less credit already, and Luna is only days old. Take your own advice," Levi said.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Pandora said, giving a shy smile at him. Levi gave a slight smile in return but then looked down at his daughter in his arms. Pandora liked this peace. A peace quite rare that she wished she could store it in a jar for a later time when things were ugly and seemed like there's no hope left.
The way Levi held Luna in his arms and the way he looked down at her reminded Pandora of something she's seen before. She wasn't sure when she saw it or why it felt like deja vu, but it did. Pandora noticed her head began to hurt slightly, but not too much. Then the objects around Levi and Luna began to change and soon, it wasn't Levi sitting on the chair holding Luna, but her father with no trace of wrinkles, gray hair, or scars. In his arms was newborn, a girl, swaddled in a purple silk blanket and sleeping soundly.
"She is my daughter, not yours, mother!" A voice exclaimed loudly.
Pandora turned to see who was the one that yelled, only to find her mother looking younger than ever as well, only she looked to be tired, her hair greasy, stuck to her skin, and fuzzy. She looked to be angry and was staring towards Pandora.
This must be a flash back, Pandora thought to herself when she saw the walls were a different color and the fact her mother is alive and young.
"But I'm still the one in charge here, Silvia, not you," another voice said, her grandmother, Giselle. "And I say to name her Pandora. Victoria is overrated."
"I'm naming her after my grandmother," Silvia stated.
"No you are not! It will bring bad luck to the child!" Gisselle exclaimed.
"Oh yes! Like Pandora is any better! You want to name her after a mythological being who brought evil into this world?" Silvia said in disbelief.
"Like her actions were any better than my mother's," she responded sarcastically. "Listen. That name means 'all gifts,' and I think it has a beautiful sound to it."
"If you two are going to be arguing over her name, then I'll leave," Fernando said. "I don't want her to listen to you two fighting or any rude words."
"Take her somewhere else, Fernando," Gisselle said. "This will escalate quickly."
Fernando got up with his baby and left the room filled with tension. Silvia looked like she was going to yell out every curse word towards her mother. She held on tightly on the blankets, making her knuckles white.
"You're a bitch," Silvia said to her mother. "The only power I have is naming my daughter and you are going to take that away?"
"You took it away from you husband anyways," Giselle said. "You don't make wise decisions. I'm doing you a favor, sweetie-"
"Oh, I know you don't want to name her after that lady with the jar in that old mythological religion from back when the Titans didn't existed," Silvia said. "You're one of them, aren't you? You're an Illuminist. Mother that religion is banned here, are you fucking crazy!"
"I want my granddaughter to be the one who will bring this nightmare into an end-"
"Nightmare!? Mother, this is paradise!" Silvia exclaimed.
"This is hell," Gisselle stated. "My granddaughter will not be named after someone who has murdered thousands. She's already cursed just by being born into this family, I don't want her to suffer any more."
"Like Pandora is any better? Dear god, mother, you're naming her after the damn woman who was the first to go against the king's ideology and actually start a revolution," Silvia said with muse.
"She was my aunt and she was an amazing person," Gisselle stated. "I want my granddaughter to be better than you and me and my mother. I want her to succeed in life and free humanity from the our wrath!"
Silvia laughed enough not to hurt her. She shook her head with a wicked smile on her face. "You're so stupid, mother," she said. "Naive. Crazy. Delusional. I can name more but I don't want to waste my breath on you."
"Her name is Pandora and that is final," Giselle said as she took the blank birth certificate and pen and began to fill out the blank spaces.
"You can't do that!" Silvia shouted. She would get up and she didn't have the strength. "Stop it you stupid woman!"
"I am still alive and I haven't passed down any thing to you, so yes, by the Castañera Right, I can and I will," Gisselle said. She signed everything quickly and then put it down on the table. "It's done," she said, staring down at her daughter. "I know what you are capable of, Silvia. If you mistreat your own daughter because of her name, god help you. As long as I'm alive, you will never lay a hand on her. Understand?"
Silvia just rolled her eyes and looked away, not responding anything to her. She was angry at her actions.
"Do you understand!?" She shouted at her.
"Yes, mother," Silvia responded.
"Good. I will defiantly be the one to raise her, by the way, and Pandora will be the one to receive everything I have," Gisselle said to her. "You don't deserve to be a mother."
"Leave!" Silvia shouted at her, pointing towards the door.
Gisselle just rolled her eyes and then left Silvia all alone in the room, probably to go see her grandchild. There was a strong fury inside of Silvia. She hated her mother with a passion and just wished she'd died quickly. As long as her mother was alive, Silvia wasn't going to live in peace and teach her daughter what Victoria taught her before she died when Silvia was sixteen.
Silvia looked over where her mother left the birth certificate of her daughter, now named Pandora thanks to her. She reached over, careful not to hurt herself in the process, and grabbed the pen and paper. Giselle has filled every thing in expect for the middle name. Silvia laughed at how naive her mother was and quickly wrote down 'Victoria' on the line and set it back on the table.
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Pandora winced at the sudden pound that went through her head after she had seen the memory. She didn't want to alert Levi, so she kept it down on the radar, but Levi noticed anyways.
"Headache?" Levi asked.
"Yeah, sorry. They've been a bit frequent," Pandora said, hoping the lie worked.
"Are you having any flashbacks?" Levi asked, raising an eyebrow in response to her statement.
"No. My head just hurts..." Pandora lied. Again. Levi sighed, which either meant he believe it or he just wasn't going to pry anymore.
"You should go to sleep, you know," he said. "Make sure you get some rest."
"Don't worry, I will," Pandora murmured. "But you should get some rest as well. You've been away for ten days-"
"It's nothing compared to being in labor," Levi stated.
Pandora smiled and shook her head. "Okay then. You just get some rest as well. You can put Luna in her crib. Oh, and expect her to wake you up in the middle of the night," she said with a quiet laugh.
Just then, there was a light knock on their door. It sounded like the person was tentative to enter, so Levi stood up, his baby girl in his arms, and opened the door to reveal Pandora's father waiting outside. "Hello, Levi," he greeted quietly, seeing Luna was asleep. "I see you met your daughter. Isn't she lovely? Is Pandora awake?" He asked.
"Yeah, you wanna come in?" Levi asked, stepping aside to make room for him.
Fernando stepped inside with a smile on his face. Levi closed the door behind him quietly. Fernando grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and brought it next to the bed and sat down. "How are you holding up?" Fernando asked Pandora.
"I'm fine. Just a little headache. Nothing some rest can't fix," Pandora said with a smile.
"Oh, then I'll make this quick," he said, suddenly conscious about his actions. "Alicia is coming here with Thalia to talk about relations between humanity and Syzygy with the commanders. I just wanted to tell you personally incase of questions."
"Who?" Levi asked.
"Ah, I forgot to tell you," Pandora murmured quite sheepishly. "Alicia is my step-mother and Thalia is my half-sister."
"My wife is the leader of Syzygy," Fernando added with a proud grin. "You will like her. My daughter... eh, maybe. She's energetic."
"Pandora can used to be energetic when we were teens," Levi said. "Anyways, they're going to talk about what exactly?"
"Just about being alliances I'm sure," Fernando mentioned. "Oh, and probably to meet you and the rest of my family for sure. They are coming on Friday. All the commanders and Queen Historia know about their arrival. I should leave. I wish you guys goodnight." He stood up, woke his legs up and began to walk out of the room. Just as he left, Pandora called for him, making him stop his tracks.
"S-sorry," she said at first. "Dad, I have a question. What happened when I was born?" Pandora asked. She noticed from that memory that was no doubt her grandmother's that it was only one sided and she couldn't get the full picture of it.
"When you were born?" Fernando asked. "Oh... a lot of arguing between the venomous ex-wife and my mother-in-law. They argued mostly about what to name you. I had no power to do so, though, if I did, you would have been named Ophelia. It wasn't a pretty sight. Getting to name you was like determining who was alpha. Of course, my mother-in-law won, not that I had a problem with that. I always sided with her. But Silvia? I hoped for her to calm down. Looks like it never did since she murdered Giselle..." Fernando said, his eyes hinting a melancholy emotion.
"Giselle named you after her aunt named Pandora del Castillo. She was a brave woman who started the Latin Race Revolt and the Great Revolt. She was tired of how the first king and Victoria terrorized people and killed those who would oppose their ideologies. In response, Pandora del Castillo challenged them. She preached about their wrong doings to her people, who couldn't have their memories wiped like the rest of the races with the exception of the Asians and a family clan called the Ackermans."
Levi and Pandora looked at each other and wondered if Fernando knew what their surname was. However, considering he talked so lightheartedly about the clan, it was certain he didn't.
"Anyways, it first started with the Latinos, the race you and I are, Pandora," Fernando said. "Then the Asians followed a year later. As you know now, the Great Revolt wasn't a success and it lead to thousands of people, men, women, and children, to their execution," he said with a sigh. "A dark history for the offsprings of Victoria. Giselle always told me it was a curse to be a Castañea and that I was lucky that I'm not related to Victoria. Honestly, my family weren't any better either. The only thing they did was siding with Victoria and watched everyone get murdered," he said. "But the past is in the past! Can't do anything about it! But if I could, I would give my life for those thousands of people who just wanted to live freely and not brainwashed."
"Dad, do you know our surname?" Pandora asked.
"... No... are you allowed to keep the title?" He asked.
"No," she answered. "Dad, Levi is an Ackerman."
Fernando looked at Levi and then back at Pandora and smiled. "No way! Boy I am dumb! Wait, so that means Luna has the blood of the two badass groups that stood up against the mean old government," he stated. "Wow. Levi, who's son are you? I knew quite a few Ackermans in my life."
Levi didn't know if he should respond to such question, but at the same time, there was no harm. It was hard to think about his mother now, especially since he had time to reflect on the things that she had to do and how it got to the point of her death and lead him to be with Kenny and up to the point of abandonment. Although, those couple of years of loneliness was all worth it since he got to meet his wife. "My mother's name was Kuchel," Levi stated.
"Oh... Kenny was your uncle?" Fernando asked.
"Ah, yes..."
"You knew Kenny?" Pandora asked.
"Yes. I just knew him from the bar. We were drinking buddies but that was just about it. I never told him much about me, but I remember he once told me he had a younger sister and that her name was Kuchel," Fernando explained. "That Mikasa girl, I knew her father. He used to work for the Rivera family before he met his wife and left. But that was just about it. I should really go now. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
He left quickly, almost like he didn't want to talk any more about the past. Maybe that was another reason he left, Pandora thought to herself as she stared at the closed door. The Walls are just a reminder of how awful things were before and when I was born.
"You're father is strange... I hope I'm not strange like him when Luna grows up," Levi said in order to lighten the mood as a dark aura took place. "Okay, we should sleep. I don't think people will disturb us."
"Nah, everyone has met Luna and I'm sure Hanji told the 104th to come visit tomorrow," Pandora said with a yawn at the end.
"What did Hanji say about her?" Levi asked, walking over to the crib next to the bed and laying Luna down.
"She found it odd how she slept through her shenanigans," Pandora said. "I'm sure Luna knows how Hanji is now considering the amount of times Hanji has hung out with me while I was pregnant," she said with a laugh.
"Why did you ask your father about what happened when you were born?" Levi asked. He now took a seat on the bed and looked at her.
"Uh, just curious..." She responded. "Actually... You know how Eren can see the memories of his father? Well I can see the memories of my grandmother... just not as frequent as Eren. Anyway, I saw a bit of what happened after I was born and how my mother and my grandmother fought over the name they wanted to give me."
"They really fought about everything?" Levi asked raising an eyebrow in question.
"Seems like it. My father was there too, though he left with me in his arms when things got ugly," Pandora stated, recalling the memory. Then she remembered she forgot to ask her father something. What are the Illuminist? "I forgot to ask him something," she said. "I'll just ask him tomorrow when I see him."
"I find it strange how he knew some Ackermans," Levi said, crossing his arms in thought.
"You can ask him more about it, I'm sure," Pandora said. "I don't know how things were between the Riveras and the Ackermans, but I do know the Castañeras didn't like them at all. Sorry for what my family did to your family," she added in the end, looking away quite shamefully.
"You don't need to apologize, especially to me," Levi said, trying to bring her gaze to him by lifting her head up as if she should be standing up proudly. "It was an ancestor of yours that should be the one at fault. Not you. You did nothing wrong. And I know that. Remember what you told me once? That our ancestors don't define us."
"Yeah," Pandora answered quietly.
"Well you're right. They don't. What we do today is what define us," Levi said. "Do you think that you don't deserve to be my wife?" Levi asked quietly, almost afraid that the universe will hear such a question.
Pandora quickly avoided looking at him. She didn't want him to think that, even though it was true. She just didn't want to hurt him or hurt herself by confirming the question.
"Pandora, don't think like that," Levi pleaded. "Hey... please look at me." He scooted closer to Pandora and held her hand, hoping she would find comfort and would look at him. Pandora slowly and tentatively looked at him, but there was no point in looking away now, he knows. "I love you very much. I love everything about you and you being a descendent of Victoria isn't stopping my from loving you this much as I do now. I love you so much, Pandora. I want to be your husband."
Pandora gave a melancholy smile. She didn't know why she felt sadness even though she was happy. Maybe she needed to talk to that therapist from Syzygy again. Now that she thought of it, she will liked to live there. It seemed like a lovely town to live in.
"Please don't think like that," Levi said to her.
"Okay," she responded. "I'm sorry I did. I love you, too."
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Okay, so literally a day after I uploaded the previous chapter, my aunt called me to tell me she was having a girl.
Sorry I couldn't update quickly! School got in the way again and I got a dog! He's a shitzu and he's small and he's one years old. I'm going to go enjoy my dog.
Sincerely,
the mad author