{LEVIHAN} Always

Chapter 20: Story Time

Levi's POV

6 years later...

Raven wanted me to tuck her to bed. Hanji agreed, not wanting to lose another hour of sleep. She's already 4 months into her pregnancy, and she didn't want to risk something bad happening... like last time. I tucked the little girl into bed, kissing her forehead.

"Sleep well, okay?"

"Does it hurt...?"

"What does?"

She gently puts her hand on the scars that were on my face. "That."

I shook my head, smiling softly. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

"Why are your eyes different?"

"They're the same color. It's just that this eye," I point to my right eye, chuckling a bit, "I can't see out of it."

"Like Mommy."

"Just like Mommy. Now, it's time for bed-."

"But you need to tell me a story! Mommy always tells me a story!"

"Why didn't you ask her to tuck you in?"

She was silent for a little bit before snuggling herself into the warm bed. "I want to hear your stories. Mommy has nice stories, but I wanna hear yours. Please, Daddy, tell me a story." 

Her silver eyes pleaded like a puppy, and I had to give in. She always asked so many questions every single day. I tried to answer them, but Hanji was much better than I was to answer the questions. Some of them were why the sky is blue, but the grass is green. Another was how babies were made. Raven also asked how birds can fly if they're so small. Hanji had an answer for everything. If I was left alone with Raven to answer these questions, I fear I might slip up and tell her the real truth that would leave her crying.

When Raven asked the baby's question, I almost told her the truth. Thankfully, Hanji walked in and told her the lie about the storks. Raven then asked about how the birds can carry the babies and how they end up in the mommy's stomach. She may look like me, but her mind... it was Hanji's. I don't remember if I asked my mom that many questions...

"What story would you like to hear?"

Raven then points to my metal fingers and my eye. "That story."

"Really?"She nods her head. "Why?"

"Mommy told her story about her eye."

"What did she say?" I don't recall Hanji telling a story about her missing eye to Raven... I wonder what she said.

Raven jumped up in her bed with her eyes sparkling. Again, she has my eyes, but the way her eyes sparkle reminds me of Hanji's eyes sparkling whenever she encounters something she truly loves.

"Mommy said that she was fighting a turtle! She was fighting with pirates with eyepatches to defeat the turtle! She said the turtle was turning the pirates into snakes! One of the snakes jumped and bit her eye, but it was okay! She had one of her best friends turn into a snake, and that snake protected Mommy as the rest of the pirates defeated the turtle! She says her best friend was the snake we have at home! That's why we always have to tell the snake, 'we love you!'"

I chuckled, seeing how much Hanji had changed the original story of her missing eye into a story that our daughter would enjoy. Reiner was the turtle, the pirates were the Survey Corps, and snakes meant corpses. The best friend... was it Moblit? It had to be...

"Now, tell me your story!"

"I'll be honest, Raven, my story isn't like Mommy's."

"I wanna hear it, Daddy!"

I chuckled, trying to think of a story. Something that she would like. If she liked the story about Hanji fighting a turtle with pirates and snakes... I guess my story would have to be something like that.

"Well... uh... I was fighting... a really bad monkey."

"What's a monkey?"

"It's a type of animal."

"Can we see a monkey?"

"I'm not sure where we can find a monkey, Raven. Can I finish my story?" She nods her head as she quickly pulls the blanket over herself. She looks eagerly at me for me to finish. "I was fighting a monkey. He was a bad monkey because... he was throwing his poop everywhere."

"Eww..." She giggles.

Okay, I'm getting somewhere. 

"Because he was throwing poop everywhere, your mommy told me I had to put him to jail, a place where all bad people go."

"If I do bad things, will I have to go there?"

I kissed her cheek, reassuring her. "I will do everything I can to make sure you never go there. Jail is a place where the really, really bad people go. You're a troublemaker, not a bad girl."

"Okay, Daddy..."

Clearing my throat, I continued. "This bad monkey decided to use an explosive bag of poop to escape. It was very gross." I watched her reaction, chuckling at how her eyes widened with fear. "I didn't have pirates with me to protect me because the monkey bit off my fingers."

"What about your eye?"

"The monkey poop was so disgusting that my eye didn't want to see it anymore." Raven giggles before I continued. "Then... Mommy found me. She cleaned off all of the poop and help me get better."

"Is that why you love Mommy? Because she saves you from the bad monkey?"

I shook my head. "That's not why I love her. I love her because she's very smart. I love her eyes because it reminds me of chocolate and they twinkle like the stars at night. I love her because we care for each other. I love her because we are very similar."

"One eye only?"

I chuckled a bit, nodding my head. A 6-year-old child wouldn't know what being in love means, so I simply said, "Yes... because we only have one eye."

"Am I going to have one eye like Mommy and you?"

"No, I don't think so."

"But then I'm not like you guys... I have two eyes..."

I leaned in close, kissing her forehead. "Maybe we gave both of our eyes to you so you can see the beautiful world. Sleep tight, Raven. I'll see you in the morning."

I tucked her again in bed, ready to blow out the candle. "Daddy, I want the light."

"You do?"

"I'm scared..."

"There's no reason to be scared," I smiled, remembering Hanji's words when I used to be scared to sleep. "Mommy and Daddy are here for you. And I'm not letting you slip away."

"What if the monsters get me?"

"All the monsters are scared of me. Just shout at them, 'Daddy's going to hurt you if you come any closer!' Then, the monsters won't come after you."

"Really?!"

"Really. Don't worry, I'm not letting any monster take you away from me. Never."