A/N: This one was so sad to write. I cried a little writing it. I say little because I don't want to sound like a wuss 🤣
Song inspired for this chapter: Stay by Rihanna. This song is perfect for these two.
My voice fails me as I say the words that I long to say out loud through our shared path, hoping he may hear...
After all, we are connected now. We opened a gateway between our minds; we bonded our souls. So how could they want to break us apart?
Levi's face remains a mask of hardened stone, and I envy his strength. He stays so calm and devoid of emotion, but I know he's dying inside.
This is breaking his heart as much as it's breaking mine, and I just can't take it. The sight of someone leaving me yet again.
First, my mother left, then Ymir left.
And now Levi's leaving...
My eyes brim with tears as I know I'm going to expose our secret to the soldier, but I don't care anymore.
They can't tear us apart.
I expect Levi to be mad at me for crying in front of the soldier, but instead, he just keeps his frozen face on me, his gaze penetrating deep into my soul, and that's when I see it — a distant glimmer...
He is hurting, and that just makes my eyes leak all the more.
It's... just not fair. I thought we'd at least get a little more time together before we had to say goodbye. But it was inevitable in the end.
It was only a matter of time until the higher-ups noticed that something was amiss between us, coming around the orphanage to investigate.
The orphanage Levi and I built together...
Levi was the first person who believed in me after all, helping me bring my vision to life, so I owe him everything.
He's been my knight much longer than I realised, and now... he's leaving.
Finally, he opens his mouth, saying to the soldier as he never takes his eyes off me. "Can... can we have a few more moments please?"
The soldier watches us suspiciously, his eyes falling on the copious amount of tears running down my cheeks. I'm not so good at hiding my emotions; I never was, even though I've tried countless times.
In the end, they always win.
"All right. The premier never gave a specific time frame..."
The man turns his back on us, showing us the military insignia of his uniform as he blesses us with the time we need.
Levi marches up the porch steps, his spine military straight as he leads me into the farmhouse.
By now the children have all gathered as they watch the soldier outside, but Levi continues forth, climbing up the rickety stairs until we reach my room at the top of the house.
The moment he shuts the door, I completely fall apart, and now my cries bounce off the walls once reality sinks in.
He's... leaving...
Levi looks around at me startled as he rushes to my side, clasping my shoulders. "Hey, pull it together... we have company..."
I'm past the point of caring now as I throw my arms around him, crying into his solid chest, and Levi freezes. The crying doesn't stop. It only intensifies the longer I'm near him, and now I try so hard to absorb his clean, fresh scent — the one with the hint of peppermint and cedar.
"P-please... d-don't go..."
He's silent above me as I only reach his neck, and after all these years, I'm still so short. The others went through growth spurts, yet I barely grew an inch.
Life really isn't fair.
I nuzzle my nose into his cravat, wishing that I could stay this way forever. His warmth comforts me, and they will have to pry my cold dead arms off him if that's what it takes to make him stay.
Finally, he musters up the strength to speak, his heart hammering as I feel it beneath his chest. "H-Historia..."
I shake my head, refusing to let go.
He starts to spasm, torn between letting me go and holding on forever, but he's still a soldier at heart; if he receives a summons from the premier, then he has no choice but to follow up on that order.
"Historia, please... don't... don't make this harder than it has to—"
Levi doesn't get to finish his sentence as I crush my mouth against him, bruising his lips in my desperate bid to make him stay.
"His-Histor... s-stop..." he gasps between my fervent kissing, but I'm too relentless.
I will kiss him until the end of time; if that's what it takes to make him stay. Next, I search his mouth with my tongue, licking the seams of his lips as I slip inside, but then he pushes me off him, staring at me with a mixture of irritation and disbelief.
Yet there is no denying the desire—that wanton lust as he wishes he could throw me down onto the bed and have his wicked way with me like he always does.
But then his desire soon morphs into remorse, and it's utterly useless. No matter what I do, he will leave.
It's the only way forward now. It's not like he's not needed elsewhere. Commander Hange Zoe will surely need him by her side again, just as he fought by Commander Erwin's side.
But I need him too; I need him to fight by my side and keep me safe, even if it's terribly selfish of me to make him stay. Otherwise, I'm left to fend for myself against the wolves of this kingdom.
This cruel world is no place for a lone queen after all.
His lips are red and swollen from our kiss as he studies me thoroughly, his gaze misty and wet as a distant sheen forms inside his cold, grey eyes. But then that concrete mask starts to crack, betraying all of his schooled emotions, and now his true self is finally revealed.
Now I get to see the man beneath that fortified armour — armour that took years and years to build. It didn't crack when Erwin died. Nor did it crack when he lost Petra Ral and his first squad, or his Uncle Kenny.
But now it cracks for me, and it appears that I truly was the first to undo him. I guess I really am the worst girl who ever lived...
The last thing I want to do is break his heart. After all, he has the biggest heart of us all, because he understands. He knows what it is to suffer— a suffering that started back when he was just a small boy.
His steely eyes thaw, swimming with what looks like tears, and now one drips down his cheek. At once he covers his face, hiding his pain away from me as he mutters, "Shit."
I brave a step closer, reaching my hand out. "L-Levi...?"
He peers through his shaking fingers, watching me warily as he doesn't want me to get too close. Any closer and I may just break him.
After all, they are his tears now, not mine, but I'll be glad to be the one to pick up all his broken pieces and make him whole again.
I don't care what the premier says; this man is mine to cherish and love, and I will never let him go.
No one can break us apart. Not truly. We are destined. Fated soulmates, and we will get through this ugly war...
I move just a little bit closer, pulling his hand free from his face, and now I get a good look at his expression.
Our eyes meet, and now time ceases to a halt as if it's just me and him left in the whole wide world. And then without another word, we take each other by the arms, crying together at long last.
Though Levi doesn't weep. He just cries silent tears while I whimper against his chest, and his solid muscles muffle the sound.
He squeezes me tightly as I run my fingers through his black hair, brushing my palms over the velvet of his undercut.
"I'm... sorry... but I have to go. If word got out—"
"I-I know. It would tarnish the good name of the Survey Corps. A name that Erwin fought his whole life to accomplish. One that he even died for... I... wouldn't want that too. I was a Scout myself. As far as I'm concerned, you're all still my comrades..."
He chuckles. "Does that mean I'm still your superior? Your captain?"
I laugh too. "Yeah, you wish..."
We stay that way for some time, seeming to come to some mutual agreement. He has to go. For now, at least. And maybe when all is said and done, and we finally manage to convince Marley and the rest of the world that we mean no harm, then maybe... we can find peace.
A world where no one will keep us apart ever again; I have to believe it's possible.
We break apart, pressing our foreheads together. Levi inhales my scent, breathing me in as he slowly absorbs it to memory. I know I will be remembering his clean, peppermint smell, and the way his lips feel too.
Levi has surprisingly soft lips for one who talks so rough; I bet he moisturizes them.
"I love you, Historia, and I swear... I will return to you. As your sworn knight... just... give me the order..."
I breathe him in too, absorbing his masculine scent to memory. And now I say, "Sir Captain Levi... I order you to come back to me one day. When your mission with the Scouts is over, you will return to the farm and sweep me up in your arms like a good knight. Because I'll be waiting, always, never taking my eyes off the southern skies... Now go on. Off you go to protect the realm..."
He chuckles lightly again, his breath tickling my cheeks, and this is the part where we have to let go.
"Yes, Your Majesty. You have my word..."
Smiling to myself, I press a delicate kiss to his lips, and the moment our foreheads separate, a zap shoots through the both of us.
When I open my eyes again, I'm standing in a bright field of poppies. The beautiful red flowers stretch as far as the eyes can see, and I have no idea what is happening.
Yet I'm not the only one in this strange new land. My knight is here with me too, and I see the same question in his widened eyes.
Where are we? How did we get here?
The field of poppies vanishes, and when I come to again, we're standing back in my room at the farmhouse.
I reach a hand to my forehead, meeting Levi's eyes. "Did... you see that too?"
"An endless field of red flowers? Yeah... I saw it..."
"Poppies," I correct, much to his chagrin as I doubt he really cares what flowers they were.
A small smile tugs his lips, and I watch him strangely. "Well... it looks like we may still have a way to be together after all, Your Grace. It seems we have our very own little world now..."
It takes a moment for his words to register, and when they do, my heart soars. Of course. Our Path.
There is a way for me and Levi to be together, no matter how far apart we are, and now I cry tears of joy as I take his cheeks in my hands.
"Then promise. Promise me you will find me in our path. That way, we can be together. Always..."
A passionate heat flashes through his eyes as I make him promise, and now he drops to one knee and takes my hand, staring at me so intently, a shiver goes up my spine. "I promise, Your Grace."
A/N: I didn't really think there was anything romantic about a desert as seen in the Paths in the canonverse of SNK, so I went with a beautiful field of flowers instead. It is likely to change too.
This is their own Path and isn't really connected to the one we see in the manga/anime. That one has the coordinate or the Subjects of Ymir's tree that shows their lineage through the years.
These were the plans I had when I first created Levi and Hisu's unique Path back in HMKnight as I am obsessed with surreal landscapes. I love writing about ghostly planes and the supernatural as I let my mind wander.
I'm not sure why poppies though. They have many meanings throughout the world, but I just saw somewhere that they can mean passionate love between two lovers. How sweet. My subconscious mind getting to work...
Thank you for reading and please leave a review.