Long Time, No See - Levi x Reader (Modern!AU)

00 - Prologue

There was something strange about the place in which I now found myself. No, not just something strange. Everything was strange. That I knew for certain. If I knew nothing else, then at least I knew that much.

 It seemed to go on forever, and yet it went nowhere at all. There was nothing happening, but at the same time, there was almost too much going on. I could feel the presence of a million others and yet I appeared to be alone.

If I had to imagine heaven, it'd probably look something like this. It was picturesque, the sky merging with the horizon seamlessly; so seamlessly, in fact, that I wasn't all too certain if I was even standing on the ground. Perhaps I was in the sky. But that couldn't be the truth because gravity felt a little heavier here, extra weight settling on my shoulders.

The blues of the sky were reflected prettily against the glassy surface I found myself on, and the clouds moved not in their natural way of drifting lazily across the sky, but rather twisted and arced through the air like dragons, as though a storm was approaching.

I couldn't explain it with words, but there was something calling to me in this great expanse, but for the life of me I could not tell you what it was or where it wanted to lead me.

I had no way to be sure if this was a dream or a nightmare or something else entirely, but it was as ambiguous and confusing as a dream and as terrifying as a nightmare. Oh, but it had to be a dream, because otherwise, why would he be standing there?

The extra weight that had come to sit atop my shoulders lifted away and it was like I'd never carried it in the first place. There was just something about him that made me feel weightless, powerful, and endless. Infinite. Like the landscape we were standing in.

Life seemed to have a knack for keeping us apart. It seemed to enjoy it, even. It quite liked watching how we reacted each time we were torn apart. But when we were together... Goodness. Most of my best memories seemed to revolve around him.

I smiled.

How couldn't I smile when he was looking at me like that? He looked at me like I was the prettiest thing in the world. Like I was the smartest, strongest, funniest, most wonderful thing he'd ever seen. Like I was incredible. Like I was perfect.

I fought the urge to laugh. As if I could compare to him.

But if someone like him could look at someone like me and make me feel perfect, I could only hope he felt the same when he looked into my own eyes.

There seemed to be no distance between us at all, and yet when I lifted my hand to reach to him, he seemed impossibly far away. Just out of reach. Always just out of reach. Just far enough away so that I couldn't reach him. That's how it always was for us, wasn't it?

When his eyes met mine, he looked sad. Terribly sad. Had I upset him? I didn't ever want to, but... I couldn't remember what it was I had done, if I had in fact done anything at all. Was it because we couldn't reach each other?

I took a step towards him, one that accounted for what seemed like leaps and bounds because suddenly, I was close enough to touch him. I did. My palm cradled his cheek, warm against my skin, and he leaned into my touch as he always had.

My smile grew.

He let one of his rare smiles curl his lips.

Goodness, he looked so happy. But there was lingering sadness in his eyes. As if he knew something I didn't. I opened my mouth to speak, to ask him what was wrong, to ask how I could help, or even just to call his name but all words I summoned the energy to say died in my throat when he shook his head.