Life's Unfair

Chapter 48: Years and Tears

January 1st, 6 years later, 7:38 AM.

A soft knock echoed on the hard wood, rattling the handle in a familiar way. Glancing up from his desk, the man's tired eyes gazed in the direction of the sound.

"Name and business." He grumbled, listening for a response.

"Commander Erwin, I've found something I think you'll want to see." The voice replied through the wood, muffled slightly.

Releasing a sigh through his nose quietly, "Come in."

Entering the room, the blond quietly shut the door behind himself. Walking further into the space, seating himself at one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk.

"Firstly, happy new year, Levi." He smiled softly at the seemingly emotionless man.

"Tch," Levi clicked his tongue, annoyed with the pointless comment from his superior.

"Now, per your request I had some men search her room again." Erwin started, catching Levi's attention, "and they found something."

The dark haired man's eyes followed his commanders movements as he pulled an envelope from his pocket.

"This was tied on the inside of her desk. It couldn't have been seen from the outside, it wasn't until we physically took apart her whole desk, that we found this tied to a screw behind the draws." He opened the envelope, pulling out a thin ribbon, "Does this have any significance to you?"

The man carefully handed it to Levi, watching as he studied it. The ribbon held a color that he recognized, though he was unsure from where. Flipping it over, he looked at the way it was threaded.

"How long has she been gone now?" Erwin asked softly, his eyes staying on Levi.

"A year and ten months." He sighed, tossing the fabric onto the desk as his hand ran over his face.

The blond released a breath, nodding, "Do you think she's still, alive?"

Levi's eyes quickly darted up to meet Erwin strongly, "Yes." He seethed.

"Alright," Erwin quickly raised his hands slightly, "Look. It's just, usually your the one who puts a swift end to every story. On missions if a scout dies, your response is always along the lines of 'that's life' or 'life's unfair' and how there's no point in whining over a corpse, 'their already dead'. How we should just move on. I'm just curious, why are you still fighting for this when you know, she's most likely dead?"

"Because this, this is different." Levi quickly retorted, "This wasn't her getting killed on a mission. This is about how she disappeared without saying a word to anyone. About how she's just gone, no explanation, no body. At least there's an answer to all those other scouts, but this has absolutely no answer whatsoever. And that, that's what's driving me fucking insane. I care about her, I always have and I always will. And if the answer to this whole thing is a gutted body in the woods, then so be it. But I'm not resting until I find the answer. I will do whatever the hell it takes to find her."

"Okay, fair enough." The commander quietly backed off.

Glancing down at the ribbon once more, Levi's brows furrowed slightly. His eyes met with Erwin's, but quickly dashing away as he opened a drawer of his own on the right.

Pulling out a piece of paper carefully, Levi's
eyes softened at what was on it. Even from his continuos hard gaze, his commander could see it held meaning to him.

Placing it on the desk, he showered it to the man across from him. A watercolor painting of Levi and (Y/n) was detailed in every way, showing off the couple formally. The girl stood on his left, her hand on his chest as she smiled warmly. Levi's arm draped around her waist comfortably, his hard gaze still present. They were looking at whoever was the painter.