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

49 - The Little Things

"Really, all things considered, I think I made out kinda well," Amaya said, gesturing to herself. "It could've been a whole hell of a lot worse."

"I'm glad you're ok," I said honestly, looking across the table at her. "I can't imagine being in that kind of situation. It's awful, I'm so sorry.

"It was rough," she continued, waving my apology off, "but Erwin was a hero. He's the only reason any of us had a chance of making it out alive. We owe our lives to him." Her eyes softened as she got lost in thought, before she shook her head to rid herself of whatever it was that occupied her mind. She then looked at me. "You were close with him, weren't you? I know he used to be sweet on you, he told me as much."

"For a while he was, yeah," I said, laughing a bit at the memory. "But as we got older, he felt more like a big brother to me, the one I never had."

"I like to think of him as everyone's big brother," Amaya said with a smile. "That's the dynamic we settled into as well. He's just got that natural charisma and it's easy to feel..." She trailed off as though to think about it.

"Like you can trust him," I finished for her, getting a nod in response. "It's just strange to be without him," I said. The conversation stalled for a bit from there, as each of us began to think of what – of who – had been lost, and the impact he'd had on our lives. And not just Erwin. Mike, too.

We were out to dinner, a triple date of sorts; Hange and Moblit, Amaya and Mason, myself and Levi. Well, actually, for right now there were four of us were out to dinner, for Hange and Moblit were running late... due to Hange, no doubt.

By making out "kinda well", Amaya meant that in the battle that had taken Erwin's life, and the "incident" that had taken Mike's, she'd gotten her left leg injured, an assortment of new scars dashed across her body, and she lost her left ear.

By the miracles of modern medicine and science and the wonders of physical therapy, she'd be just fine, thankfully, with time and love and patience. But seeing the way Mason looked at her, I figured she had more than enough of all three.

The restaurant we were in was dimly lit, decorated plainly, yet it was intimate with a romantic kind of atmosphere. Which made it all the better, I supposed, if we were to reveal the date of our wedding to them tonight. If I remember to, that is.

Among all the other preparations for what would assuredly be the happiest day of my life, we at least had a date set now. We had no venue yet, no flowers or cutlery or decorations decided upon, but we had a day.

We had been considering November 20th. While the date of the "incident" as the military so eloquently put it, it was also our anniversary; not the engagement, but when we started dating officially. However, we felt it disrespectful to celebrate our wedding on the same day that Erwin and Mike had lost their lives, nor on the day that would forever remain stained in his memory as the day that nearly killed him.

While we couldn't change our anniversary, that would remain the sole spot of light on an otherwise bleak day.

What we settled on was a wintry sort of wedding, set in February - a very lovey-dicey month, of course, but that wasn't the only reason. It wasn't like we were having it on Valentine's Day. No, we settled on the 21st, actually.

So if nothing else, at least the date was set, and it was no longer subject to change nor was it debatable. Of course, it'd taken a lot of back and forth between myself and my mom, because she wanted to have a hand in planning it. Obviously, I wanted her involved, but not too involved. She'd already had her wedding. If she wanted to plan another ceremony for herself, she and dad could renew their vows.