Silent Love, Silent Pain [Levi x OC]

110. Blood ties part I

A few months had passed and Levi and Sophie were trying to go on their little dates as often as possible. They agreed that it should be their time where they could be free. Their time to just love each other and not think about the war that apparently has begun.

However, the war issue became more urgent. Mike called and told them that the small-scale operations began in Marley as the fights were striking in the largest cities. "So? We were fighting with their military groups at any occasion given," Levi said in response to this news.

"Not like this," Mike sighed on the phone and continued as they had to make their phone call quickly. Nathalie said herself that the coded phone link was going to work only under a certain amount of time, otherwise they were in danger of being detected. "There are regular fights. People were asked to leave certain districts and clear it for military operations."

"Do you need my help?" He asked immediately. He knew both him and Sophie could help, but he wasn't going to endanger his wife. Not now. He gulped and snapped back to reality, again paying attention to what his friend was saying.

"No. We're doing alright for now. But I would sharpen your blade if I were you. Just in case, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," he said as he took a glimpse of Sophie trying to teach Hope how to walk. She was good at crawling, doing it fast at this point, but she still had trouble standing on her feet without grabbing anyone's hand. Their baby's hair was growing long already which made them style it in a ponytail. She looked adorable like this and so similar to her mother, despite the raven hair that was indicating her Ackerman side.

"If things...started to be tense...can we count on you and Soph?" It was a question that Mike would have rather not asked, but he couldn't help it. It was a great sign of how terrible things might be if he was asking that already.

"You can count on me, Mike. Sophie...," he looked at her again as he stopped for a moment and decided to lower his voice. She wasn't listening anyway, too caught up in her time spent with Hope, but he would rather not have her listen to it. He didn't wish to have any argument about it. "She needs to focus on Hope. I mean...if something bad happens I-"

"I get it, Levi. You don't need to explain yourself," Mike cut in and Levi was relieved to not detect any bitter tone in his voice. He really was above it all, whereas in the case of Erwin it was doubtful that he would react this calmly, rather trying to convince Levi otherwise. Maybe even visit them to speak with Sophie himself. That's just how he was and thus Levi was glad they didn't contact at all in the last couple of months. "How is she anyway?" He sighed. It wasn't a sigh of annoyance. He was probably just tired and worn-out due to the war that barely started and already felt like it was going on for ages.

"Alright," he quickly said. He didn't want to engage Mike in a conversation about the hardships of parenthood as it was obvious it didn't come close to what active soldiers felt. The truth was, Sophie was feeling pretty bad lately. She was getting tired easily, not eating a lot and had experienced dizziness for the last couple of weeks. Even though Nathalie examined her, the conclusion wasn't leading them anywhere as Nat stated that she's fine. Bullshit, he thought, but didn't know how to convince any of them to dwell on what was going on. It was a source of great anxiety for him. Partially because it felt easier to worry about daily issues rather than that one thing that haunted him ever since Sophie confessed about it. Ackerman farms. It was constantly coming back to him. "How are the...," he stopped as he was looking for the right word that wouldn't give in who he was referring to.

"Ackermans we freed?" Mike suggested. "Oldin transferred them to one of the districts that we control."

"And Erwin...is he-"