Author's Note: Thank you all for 5K likes!
It started when you were just a child. You could make people see things, hear things, feel things that weren't there. Including yourself.
Given how young you were, you didn't realize why people might be afraid of you. You only thought that the flower in your hand was soft, or that the butterfly on your nose was pretty. But when your parents noticed that the flower and the butterfly were too vibrant to be real, when they discovered that you were the one who made them appear, expressions of terror crossed their faces.
"You must never, ever, do that again!" your mother insisted while your father held her. "Do you understand? People will say you're a witch! They'll kill you! They'll burn you at the stake!"
Although you were only a few years old, you understood what death meant. You saw your parents' fear, and so you, too, were afraid. After that day, you never created any more illusions.
In your later teenage years, Wall Maria fell, and both of your parents were killed. You enlisted in the Cadet Corps in order to get revenge on the titans, and to take back the land that was stolen from you. You performed quite well – well enough that by the time you joined the Scout Regiment, the newly minted Commander Erwin already had plans for you.
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"Captain!" you screamed desperately. "Captain!"
Then you saw him, a few dozen meters away, surrounded by titans.
You growled in frustration, slaying yet another titan in your attempt to reach his side. But they just kept coming. There were too many.
The rest of your regiment was gone – either dead or too far away to help you. The titans weren't giving you a chance to fire off distress signals. And your gas and blades were almost gone.
"(F/n)!" Levi shouted as he landed on the roof next to you. Somehow, he had managed to get through the wall of titans separating you two.
There wasn't time for talk, though. Immediately after Levi arrived, a titan slammed into the house you stood on, causing the building to crumble. Both you and Levi fell in a heap of rubble.
You must have hit your head, because the next thing you knew, you were lying on your back, with something solid and uncomfortable beneath you. You blinked a few times, trying to fix your blurry vision. On instinct, you looked around for your blades.
When you saw one, you sat up to grab it, and that was when your eyes locked with Levi's.
His lips formed your name, though you couldn't hear it. But it didn't matter. Levi was alive. Levi was with you. Surely, everything would be alright.
Then his head snapped to the side, and you saw his eyes widen.
You hazily followed his gaze, only to find a horde of titans staring back at you. One of them was even smiling.
Suddenly, Levi's arms were around you. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."
You blinked. Oh, you thought with a strange sense of detachment as you slowly pieced his words and actions together. We're going to die.
Well, that wasn't so bad. You had done your best. And Levi was here. Levi was holding you. The two of you could die together.
No!
A sudden urgency broke through your haze. You couldn't let Levi die. You couldn't.
So you did the only thing you could do.
The two of you sat there, clutching each other tightly, squeezing your eyes shut as you waited for the end to come. And you waited. And waited.
But nothing happened.
Slowly, you looked up. Levi followed suit not a second later, completely stunned by what he saw.
"They're...moving away," he breathed in utter disbelief.
You nodded. "They can't see us."
Levi's eyes snapped to you. "What...?"
"I'll explain later," you murmured. "We should go."
Levi was still in shock, but he forced it away for the time being. Explanations could come later. The most important thing right now was getting away before the titans realized you two were still there.
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Of course, you had to tell Levi about your ability to create illusions. He was surprised, as anyone would have been, but to your immense relief, he didn't hate you or call you a witch. In fact, he was more curious than anything, and he actually asked you to show him more of what you could do.
You and Levi began experimenting with your powers, and you were shocked to learn their true extent. With the exception of when you fooled the titans, you had never made anything larger than the size of your palm. You hadn't even been sure that you could make something big enough to force the titans away.
However, you discovered that you could cast illusions over anything within a ten-meter radius. Anyone inside that circle could see what you were doing, while anyone outside of it would see things as they really were. You could make people see and hear things easily, and if you were really trying, you could make them feel, smell, and taste things as well.
You weren't actually creating objects – just tricking people's senses. You couldn't make illusions real or make real things disappear. For example, even if your illusion made it look like a chair was just air, someone could still trip over the chair.
Thus, your secret became shared. And while exploring your powers made you happy, your greatest joy was using them to help Levi.
This world had been so cruel to him that hardly a moment went by without him feeling saddened or guilty. But your illusions offered an escape. When Levi was lost in them, appreciating their beauty, he forgot about the harshness of reality for a little while. And when he needed rest, you could create a calming atmosphere to soothe him.
However, Levi's greatest comfort was you.
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You sat under an old oak tree, reading by the sun's dimming light. Except, to you, the oak tree was actually a cherry blossom tree. The sunlight was actually moonlight, accompanied by the twinkling of a thousand stars. Whenever the wind ruffled your hair, flower petals swirled around gracefully before floating back to the soft earth.
The instant Levi stepped inside your circle, he forgot how to breathe. "You've really outdone yourself, brat," he muttered, staring at the sky in wonder.
You smiled and added a few more stars for him, knowing how much he loved the sight.
Once Levi was able to tear his gaze away from the little world you had created, he began walking toward you. You closed your book and patted the spot next to you, scooting over a bit so he could also rest against the tree.
"So, what's on your mind?" you asked as he slid down next to you.
At first, you thought that the pink tint on his cheeks must have been a trick of the light, caused by the pink petals floating around you. But upon closer inspection, you discovered that wasn't the case.
"Levi?" you questioned, your brow furrowing.
He quickly looked away from you, and something like worry crossed his typically stoic features. "W-well, I...I was j-just..."
Your eyes widened. Levi always sounded so sure of himself. He never stuttered. Something was wrong.
"Hey, it's alright," you murmured soothingly, placing your hand on his arm in a comforting gesture. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."
Levi took a deep breath, forcing himself to regain his composure. However, he still didn't meet your eyes as he reached into his pocket, muttering, "I wanted to ask you something."
You waited until his eyes hesitantly met yours. His shaking hands held a small box, which he opened to reveal...
You gasped.
"(F/n), will you m-marry me?" he mumbled, his wide eyes filled with a mix of hope, fear, and sincerity.
You wasted no time in pulling him into a passionate kiss. "Of course I will," you murmured, grinning from ear to ear.
Your grin only grew as Levi slipped the ring onto your finger. Out of the corner of your eye, you could have sworn that you saw the flower petals turn into little pink hearts. But you didn't think too much of it. Your focus was reserved for the man who would soon become your husband.
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Levi bolted upright, and he was met with a scene straight out of his nightmares.
All around him, titans were devouring his comrades. Their blood coated the ground. Their screams filled the air.
But...this wasn't right. He couldn't remember how he had gotten here. In fact, the last thing he could remember was falling asleep beside (f/n)...
No sooner had the thought entered his mind than he heard a broken, whimpering sound next to him. Levi glanced down, only to see (f/n) curled into a fetal position, her eyes squeezed shut. Tears were streaming down her smooth cheeks.
Quickly, Levi reached out behind himself. And where there should have been only air, he felt a pillow, then a headboard, then a wall. They were still in their bedroom.
(F/n) was having a nightmare.
"(F/n)?" he murmured, gently shaking her awake, trying to ignore the painful screams that brought back too many memories. "(F/n)?"
She awoke with a gasp, bolting into a sitting position just in time to see the terror she had unconsciously created before it faded away.
"Shh," Levi cooed as he wrapped her in his arms, trying to soothe her. Although truthfully, he needed the contact just as much. The illusions (f/n) formed had left him sweating and shaken. He swallowed down the terror, forcing himself to focus on her.
In the three months that they had been married, (f/n) had never had a nightmare. Levi himself had experienced plenty, but each time, she had created one of her illusions to soothe him. That, combined with her comforting embrace, had helped him quickly return to sleep. But it seemed her ability could also have negative consequences.
As much as Levi tried to hide it, (f/n) could feel him shaking. She pulled back just enough to see his face, to see the cold sweat that had formed on his skin, as well as the lingering trauma in his eyes.
Then she pulled away completely.
"I-I'm so s-sorry," she quavered, her body trembling a lot more intensely than his own. "I d-didn't know...I..."
She took a shaky breath. Then, to Levi's surprise and dismay, she started to get out of bed. "I should s-sleep somewhere e-else," she mumbled, her eyes averted in shame.
Levi quickly slid his arms around her, his embrace gentle but firm. "You're not going anywhere," he murmured, brushing his lips against her cheek as he hugged her from behind. "You're my wife, and I'm going to share a bed with you."
"B-but..." she sputtered. "W-what if this h-happens again? I d-don't want to h-hurt you..."
"They're just illusions, (f/n)," he assured her. "They can't hurt me."
"But they c-can." She sniffled. "I know...how it m-makes you f-feel."
"It's okay," he murmured. "(F/n), you've helped me more times than I can count. You made sure that I never had to face anything alone. And I'm going to do the same for you." He pressed a kiss to her skin. "We'll work through this together. Okay, brat?"
A single, quiet sob escaped her lips. And then she broke down into tears.
Levi pulled her into his lap, cradling her, rocking her back and forth. Truthfully, he had no idea how they would fix this. He knew from personal experience that it was impossible to stop the nightmares completely. But none of that mattered. He loved (f/n), and he was going to stay by her side.
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You sobbed in Levi's arms for what felt like an hour. You were so consumed by fear and sadness and guilt that your tears never stopped flowing. However, Levi didn't give up. He kept holding you, kept soothing you, kept whispering soft words into your hair. He let you cry a river into his shirt, until finally, his efforts managed to calm you.
You sniffled quietly while Levi wiped the tear stains from your cheeks. "All done, brat?" he asked, not unkindly.
You nodded, feeling like you had cried enough for an entire lifetime.
"Good," he murmured. "Are you ready to go back to sleep?"
At the question, the fear and guilt that you had been feeling suddenly returned in full force. "B-but..." you croaked, your throat so scratchy from crying that you could barely speak. "What if..."
Levi hushed you while rubbing your back soothingly. "Don't worry. If it happens again, we'll deal with it together, just like we did this time."
"I don't want to upset you..." you tried to insist.
Levi sighed in frustration, though it wasn't directed at you. "You know what upsets me, brat? Everything. The entire world. My whole life. I've watched more friends and comrades die than I can count. I've been fighting day after day, when most of the time it just seems hopeless. The one, single thing that actually makes me feel some sense of safety and happiness is you. You've helped me a lot – probably more than you know. Yes, your nightmare bothered me, but only for a minute. It would bother me a whole hell of a lot more if you weren't here at all."
You sniffled again, looking up at him with wide eyes. Levi rarely talked this much, and it was a little surprising to hear him go off on a rant. Yet, the more he spoke, the more his words healed you.
Levi gazed back at you lovingly, his grey-blue orbs full of sincerity. Carefully, almost reverently, he brushed a lock of hair away from your face. "Stay by my side," he murmured. "Let me help you, just like you help me."
You weren't able to reply, not because you were in pain, but because of the lump that had formed in your throat. So instead, you nodded.
Levi pressed a kiss to your cheek before lying down, bringing you with him. You shifted so that you weren't completely on top of him, but he kept your head on his chest, and you had no desire to move it. After all, you were able to hear Levi's heartbeat, and that steady, precious sound only served to calm you further.
You wanted to think about good things as you fell asleep, hoping that doing so would prevent you from having more nightmares. So you filled your head with thoughts of Levi, since he was the greatest source of happiness in your life. It helped that he was here with you, holding you in his arms, making you feel protected and loved. You didn't take long to return to the land of dreams.
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Levi felt (f/n) go limp in his arms. He smiled softly, then took one last look around the room, enjoying the illusion she had unintentionally created.
Their bedroom was filled with scenes from their life together – all happy memories that they had shared. Levi saw their first kiss, their engagement, their wedding, as well as many of the typical, day-to-day moments that they spent together. He even saw the two of them as they were now, from (f/n)'s point of view – the image accompanied by a sense of safety and love.
He continued to smile as he closed his eyes. His heart was filled with warmth at the knowledge that she thought of him so fondly, and that she chose to think of him while she was falling asleep.
Soon, Levi joined her in a peaceful slumber, where the loving couple had dreams of only each other.