Hell broke loose in Shinganshina. Titans emerged from those who have taken the wine that had Zeke's Spinal Fluid, soldiers turned into monsters. The very monsters they fought against four years ago. If one stood from the very top, the sight of it would bring back the horrific memories that happened nine years ago at year 845, when the Colossal Titan breached the Walls and brought humanity to the brink of extinction – or so they thought.
Leon cursed repeatedly in his mind when he saw the Titans, the sight of them just fueled his anger and goal in taking down Zeke – no, he wanted to kill him. He looked down at Iris' Titan and saw the injury that was caused by the bullet, he was sure that it had broken through her flesh and hit her body inside. He can't take her out or he could stall her regenerating process, all he could do now was to protect her from any coming Titan. While he fought every Titan that came, slicing it by its nape, guilt surged through his body as he knew that these Titans were their superiors – their comrades. Good soldiers who had no clue about what they were doing, all just following Zeke's orders, but he needed to protect Iris.
~*~
Far from the Titan Forest, and hidden from the Jaegerist who were still in pursuit, Hange pulled herself and Levi from the river. She carried her wounded comrade into the forest and hid behind the huge trunks of the trees, she placed Levi down carefully and started to open his shirt to see the damage that the Thunderspear has caused him. It was just as she expected, he was bruised badly, and probably had internal bleeding.
"This isn't good..." Hange muttered.
You can't die... not yet, Levi...
Unknowing to Hange, Levi have gone into a comatose state, his mind far from where they were. Levi found himself standing on the sands of the beach, and before him was the peaceful sight of the ocean, but he could only see through one eye, which confused him.
A boy came running towards him, when he came to a stop, Levi knelt down to be the same height as him. He didn't know the boy, but he felt that he does. The boy had dark hair – black – and bright blue eyes, his features looks so much like his mother. The boy grabbed Levi's hand and started to pull him, and with his free one was pointing at someone. Following the boy's direction, Levi saw three figures far in the beach. A woman with her arms wide open to catch her running daughter, and a man who stood beside her, laughing when the girl jumped into her mother's arms.
Levi didn't have any memories of the scene before him, yet he felt at peace... and wanted to stay there for just a little while more...
~*~
Hange heard a wagon moving in the forest. She immediately grabbed Levi and brought him to cover, she had them both behind the huge tree, out of sight of the possible enemy. She reached to her belt to get a weapon, but when she felt nothing, she cursed.
Floch took my gun earlier! Hange thought.
"Who goes there?" A raspy voice called out, and it was followed by the sound of a musket being cocked.
Hange got out of her hiding place with her arms up, but to her surprise it wasn't the Jaegerist that had found them, but rather an old friend.
"Joseph Kirsch?" Hange gasped. Her eyes then went to the caravan wagon. A woman with red hair peered out from the back to see the commotion. "Sarah! What are you all doing here?"
"We should be asking you the same thing." Joseph said. "Things have been chaotic in Regalado – people supporting those damn Jaegerists have been roaming the streets – some even started banging in our door demanding Iris' location, so we fled our home and kept on moving..."
"We need your help!" Hange said.
"We?" Sarah asked.
Hange nodded, she went back to the tree and picked up Levi. The sight of him had the husband and wife gasp in horror.
"Please, he's not going to survive if we continue on foot. He needs a doctor immediately." Hange said.
"Get him in. Get someone to help the man into the wagon." Joseph said.
Coming from the carriage, two young men came, they went to Hange and took Levi from her arms, she told them to be gentle since he has fractured bones. Complying to the Commander's orders, the two young men had Levi on the wagon, and soon, Hange followed to get in. To her surprise, she saw five more people in the wagon – Sarah, Dr. Weaver, a little girl, and two young men, the ones who helped Levi.
"Who are these..." Hange said in a whisper.
"Please, place him on the floor, carefully." Said Dr. Weaver.
Dr. Weaver – Sofia – took off her cape, revealing a baby in her arms, she carefully handed the child to Sarah's arms before she went to Levi's side to see his injuries. Hange's eyes trailed on the sleeping baby in Sarah's arms, she noticed the head full of red hair on the child, and some similarities to a little boy she knew.
That's Leon's baby? Hange thought as she remembered when Iris tried to insist Leon on going home to Sofia to see his child. She already gave birth to his child and he wasn't there...
"Commander Hange, do you know the cause of this?" Sofia asked.
"A Thunderspear." Hange said.
Eyes widening, Sofia opened Levi's shirt and saw the damage. She was surprised that it wasn't as bad as the ones she saw years ago, but still the injury that the man had was still critical and could lead him to death.
"I was surprised as well." Hange spoke. "But, there was another soldier that got caught in the explosion, and he didn't survive..."
Masrur must've gotten Levi away from the explosion...
"Sofia, can you fix him?" Joseph asked.
"I'm not sure... we need to take him to a hospital." Sofia said. "Shinganshina is the nearest one –"
"We can't. Shinganshina is a battlefield now." Hange said. "Sofia, you're Levi's last hope, do what you can to save him... please..."
~*~
"Papa, do you love Mama?"
Levi was taken aback by the question that his daughter asked. He didn't know what to say, things were still complicated between him and Maria. He turned to Maria to see her reaction to their daughter's question, and saw that she too was surprised.
Levi sighed. He took Iris from the ground, surprising the girl since he rarely carries her in his arms. Iris grinned and was about to wrap her arms around her father's neck, but she was then handed to someone else, confusing her, when she turned to the person currently carrying her, she slightly frowned to see that it was her mother, knowing that it meant that they were leaving.
"But Mama, I want Papa." Iris pouted.
"Levi..." Maria begged. "Please."
"I'll walk you home." Levi said.
Iris grinned at what her father said, and immediately she started to wiggle out of her mother's arms and try to get into her father's, pulling on his shirt.
"Hey, stop that." Levi told her.
Iris was shaken by her father's harsh tone, she hid her face at the crook of her mother's neck, afraid to look at him. Maria felt her daughter slightly shaking, she turned to Levi with narrowed eyes.
"She just wants you to carry her, Levi." Maria said. "Is that too much to ask?"
Iris fisted her mother's clothes, afraid to be taken from her. Sighing, Levi reached for his daughter, Maria pried Iris' hands off of her shirt and whispered sweet things to her so she wouldn't be scared of her father. Once she was finally off of Maria, Levi placed her in his arms. The whole time they walked neither Levi nor Maria spoke, and Iris just hung her head on Levi's shoulder, afraid to look at him in the eye.
The memory shifted and came to a much more recent one...
"Ackerman." Levi spoke.
Iris looked up, confused to what he was saying. He met his eyes and for the first time, they were not glaring at her, but rather they were... the same as her mother's gaze.
"Your name is Iris Ackerman." Levi continued. "The only reason why you took on your mother's name was... well, I never knew mine..." Levi placed his hand on her shoulder. "You said that I never cared, that I never once saw you but a burden, that I was never a father to you... and I'm sorry that you felt that way."
Unknowing to Iris a tear fell and Levi wiped it away with his thumb.
"And I want you to know that I never once thought of you as a burden, and that I always cared... you are my daughter, Iris..." Levi smiled softly. "I love you..."
Iris's eyes widened in shock. But she wasn't the only one, behind her, Eren and Historia were appalled at the revelation, as they were the only ones who didn't know, while the rest of the Levi Squad were shocked to see their Captain finally approach Iris.
He said it... he finally said it...
"I realized that I never told you that... or your mother... but I love you, both of you." Levi bent down and met his daughter' gaze. "And I promise you that we will look for your mother and we will be a family... I'll do everything in my power to do make this right. I promise."
Iris was speechless. She looked up to her father with teary eyes.
He said it... he finally said it...
Levi chuckled lightly at his daughter's shocked state. He wiped away a tear that fell down her cheek.
"I understand if you still want to keep your mother's name..." Levi said. "I just wanted you to know... if you want to talk, I'll be waiting."
Levi then let's go of Iris and walked away. She watched as her father left, her eyes followed his back just like before, but this was different. Everything inside her, her anger, her pain, was gone, just because of what he said. She felt like a complete idiot. She felt guilt come to her as she remembered the harsh words she would yell at him. For never giving him the respect, he deserved.
Without a second to waste, Iris ran after her father.
"Capta – Papa wait!"
Levi stopped at the sudden call. With wide eyes, he turned to Iris and saw her standing a few feet from him, her head bowing as tried to hide her tears. Levi walked up to Iris and brought her to an embrace. He brought his hand to her head and brushed her short black hair.
"You said it, you finally said it..." Iris cried on his coat, and it didn't bother Levi that she was staining his clothes with her tears. He was glad to finally hold his daughter in such a way. "That was all I wanted to hear from you..."
"I'm sorry if I never told you." Levi kissed her head.
Iris shook her head.
"I'm so sorry, Papa." She cried.
Levi then brought his daughter to a side hug and the two of them walked away from the group, taking her somewhere they could talk as father and daughter.
Levi reached for his daughter and brought her into his arms, he lets her bury her face on his jacket and cry. He brushed her hair to calm her.
Maria forced herself to get up and crawled towards her daughter and lover. She placed her hand on Iris' shoulder, comforting the girl –
A sudden tug surprised Maria, and she found herself under Levi's arms with their daughter. She looked up to him and for the first time saw tears falling down his face, she gave him a sad smile and wiped away his tears. She then brought Iris in her arms and rested her head on Levi's shoulder.
"Why..." Levi sobbed. "Why can't I save you?"
With her free hand, Maria held on to Levi's hand that held their daughter.
"Maybe you weren't supposed to..." Maria said in a whisper. "Or maybe you already did..."
"I'm so sorry, Maria... I'm sorry for everything... for leaving you... for abandoning you... for never being the father that Iris needed... for not being a good husband..." Levi placed a kiss on Maria's head. "I should've fought to be at your side... I should've loved you..."
"I forgive you, Levi." Maria said, smiling. "And I'm sorry as well... for everything..."
Iris have stopped her cries and looked up to her parents, tears still flowing and eyes all red and puffy.
"I'm sorry..." Iris said. "For being such a brat..."
"We love you, Iris..."
The voice of her parents echoed in her mind finally waking her from her long slumber. Iris woke in a sea of stars. More stars than she has ever seen, in the heavens she noticed something – a mist line that traces to the horizon.
Is this the...
From the distance, a young girl came and approached Iris. She knelt down before her and started to sculpt the sand below them. Confused, Iris watched as the girl continued to sculpt the sand to her body, recreating the blow off parts.
"Who are you?" Iris asked.
The girl didn't speak. She continued to sculpt in a slow pace, creating every detail there was of Iris' body. She continued on with her work, not bothered if it have taken her years to finally reach the last detail of Iris' body...