Angel With A Shotgun [Levi Ackerman x OC] / Attack on Titan / Shingeki no Kyojin

Chapter XXVII: First Plead

You really don't remember? I hope you do... I hope you can hear me, too.

Your grandmother was admitted to my family's hospital after she had a fall; that was when we first met each other. Don't you remember? I remember that flower you gave me... It was the second thing I ever considered beautiful in this world.

We were the best of friends; where else could've you gone when your grandmother was in the hospital so constantly? My mother thought it was great I'd finally found someone I got along with. She was afraid I would end up lonely because of my horrible attitude. She was right.

It went perfectly. It went about so perfectly, don't you remember? Our lives. They were peaceful and moved forth without waiting for us—without allowing us to recover when we stumbled. We nearly got left behind on more than one occasion, but I believe we caught up as best as we could.

That is... until the accident.

You remember, don't you?

Or... I guess... you don't.

Time has frozen.

---

Fire.

Everything was set ablaze in an angry forest of flames, only the hues of orange and a bloody crimson painting all that she could see. Her aquamarine hues stared blankly at the embers, mesmerized by how such beauty could ever exist in the world—how a beauty so spell-binding could take a life away.

"Xora!" screamed a voice, brimming with panic. "Xora, run!"

A sudden jolt by the pulling of her arm made her stumble forward. Unable to move a muscle, she fell to her knees and stared the ravaging flames consuming everything around her.

"We have to go! Or you'll die!"

But she was still frozen. She'd seen how the flames burst to life; she saw the way the match, lit, fell to the ground and incinerated the wooden floors. The scene in which it consumed the last person precious to her played out right in front of her  eyes. Her body seemed to remember how powerless she was as nothing but a mere child.

In a situation like this, she could do nothing... and yet, she could not give in to the strength that yanked her arm. Though she could feel the scathing, white-hot heat that scorched her skin, she could not bring herself to run.

"Please," the voice begged, cut off a by small sob. "Please, my darling, let's go! The—the smoke is getting thicker! I—I cant breathe!"

"Then leave," Xora whispered, the flames reflected in her glassy eyes. "Don't stay for me. I can't leave my Granny..."

Granny...

---

Xora awoke with a sharp gasp, jolting up in bed. Her chest seized, spasming, and pain exploded from within her body; she could not breathe, could not let air in, and clutched her chest, her mouth open in a silent scream as she struggled for breath.

"Oxygen, give me the oxygen!" a panicked voice screamed. Xora fell over and collapsed into a pair of strong arms. Though her vision was hazy, she locked gazes with a gunmetal pair of eyes, something cool pressing against the lower half of her face. Cool air rushed into her lungs the next time she took a breath and what felt like a thick wave of clarification shrunk the cloud in her head. The arms that held tight gently laid her on her back. Her erratic breathing slowed, her eyes shut tight, and her racing heart calmed. A throbbing pain echoed from every place in her body, but it felt strangely muffled. The arms slowly slipped away, but Xora's hand darted out and latched on, her grip vice.