One Last Time: One More Time

Ceremony

   It took a lot of courage for Levi to go back to the cottage. With the terror that he might find something he didn't want to see. But it was late and as much as he hated it, he needed to give Erwin the documents from yesterday.

    He wasn't sure of what he was capable of doing if he saw Maria and Lance laying together on the same bed. Embracing each other while they sleep, just like how they used to do back then.

    Levi's heart began to beat faster and faster as his hand began to rotate the doorknob. The last thing he wanted was a broken heart but he felt that it was something inevitable. Taking a big breath, Levi opened the door and slammed it shut.
He was fast to enter the dining room and to his surprise, he found something pleasant and even nostalgic.

    Fabrics and needles, measurement tape, threads, and an old sewing machine that could break at any moment. For a moment Levi thought of buying a new sewing machine for Maria for her next birthday. Even if they cost a lot, he wouldn't mind giving up on a few meals.

    The short man took a few steps closer to the brunette who was sleeping peacefully. Her arms on the table were used as support for her head. As Levi took a seat next to her on the dining table, he took a moment to appreciate her beauty.
    Before Maria always opted for bright and light colors to wear but that had changed since she came from the underground. Many could say that her clothing became more conservative. Now wearing a white long sleeve shirt and long skirts that reached her ankles. Maria tried to wear pants as little as possible, she hated them and that was something that apparently wasn't going to change.

    Besides her change in clothes, her appearance had become more defined. Levi remembers a time when Maria had many beautiful curves. He misses sleeping next to her and touching the folds of her stomach. She had a beautiful body, that of someone who danced for a living for ten years. And it wasn't that Maria didn't have a beautiful body now. Many would say that she got even prettier.

    To Levi, Maria had always been beautiful but if there was anything he would die to see again ... that would be her thighs.

Levi would be lying if he says he hasn't thought of Maria's thighs choking him while he relieves himself.

    But it wasn't only that. Her long lashes, her not-so-perfect skin. Her nose sometimes will get pink because of her allergies and the predominant dark circles under her eyes. If he could compare anything to Maria, that would be a painting. She was like commissioned art, every single detail adjusted to his liking and every single color of her was a reflection of his soul.

    He was brave enough to place a hand on her head. Softly petting and caressing the strings of her hair. It was long now and he couldn't help but take a string of her hair, close his eyes and take a small sniff.

Lavender.

Levi tried his hardest to remember those times in which her smell was the first thing he would smell in the morning. Sometimes it was a combination of her and his aroma. Of the corporal body fluids they would share from time to time but sadly enough, he had long forgotten how that used to smell like.

"What are you doing?"

    Levi opens his eyes as he notices brown eyes on him.

He felt heat going up to his cheeks and he thought of a quick excuse.

"Smelling you ... have you showered? You smell disgusting."

    Letting go of Maria's hair, he quickly turns his head to face another direction. He was indulging himself for too long and this was the consequence, he just didn't want Maria to think that he was some sort of creep.