Attack on Titan One-shots

If Only

"Levi!" Petra tapped her foot impatiently. "Come on, hurry up! There's still so much we haven't seen!"

Levi sighed, reluctantly picking up the pace. "Let me take my time. Isn't this what we've been fighting our whole lives for?"

"We'll run out of time if we don't get moving. Don't you want to see the ocean before it gets dark?"

The ocean. A body of water so vast, that the end of it could never be seen. Filled with precious salt whose supply could never be exhausted. Teeming with life forms never seen by man.

He'd never thought he'd see it. But in just a few short hours, it would be in front of him, sprawling out across the earth in all its glory. And Petra was here to see it with him.

They walked through the tall grass, safe and free of the danger of the titans. Levi still marveled over the fact that the fighting was over. That he would no longer wake up every day and worry about who he would lose next.

"It's hard to believe, isn't it?" Petra said softly, grasping his hand in her own. "This world is ours. We've taken it back."

"Yes," Levi murmured. His hand tightened around hers. "But we've lost so many." The names floated through his mind...Mike, Nanaba, Farlan, Isabel, hundreds of nameless cadets that lost their lives...

"Don't think about that," Petra said firmly. "At least they didn't lose their lives in vain. We achieved the goal that every one of them fought for."

"You're right," Levi decided. "We finally won."

The two weary-hearted soldiers made their way across the plain, never stopping, their hands intertwined. They would reach the ocean soon.

Levi gazed up at the cloudless sky. Two birds soared above them, their wings stretched out to their fullest extent. Before, they had hoped desperately to be one of them, free and uncaged.

Now, they traveled looking only ahead, their own wings emblazoned proudly on their backs. Their wings were real now.

"Levi, look," Petra gasped. "We've made it. We've reached the ocean."

He glanced down to see fine white sand beneath his boots, then turned his eyes upward. There it was, blue and sparkling in the sunlight, so bright he was nearly blinded.

Levi lifted a hand, shielding his eyes as Petra covered her mouth. Tears rolled down her face as she took in the awe inspiring sight.

"I-it's so beautiful," she gasped, sobbing. "We've made it Levi, we've made it."

He did not smile, but his chest was filled with an achy warmth, a mix of sadness and exuberance. He didn't trust himself to speak.

"I'm so happy," she whispered. "I'm so happy." She leaned against him, her knees too weak to bear her weight. "I want...to stay here forever."

"That's fine," Levi murmured, relieved to find his voice steady. "I'll stay with you." He stared out over the water, and swore he could hear the voices of the deceased in the wind.

They didn't move from their position until the sun began to set, the brilliance of the colors in the sky reflecting over the ocean. It was even more breathtaking than it had originally been.

"Levi," Petra whispered. "I'm going into the water."

He nodded. "I'll stay here. But I'll watch you."

She laughed excitedly and skipped like a child towards the surf, kicking off her boots. Levi watched as she splashed in, water spraying up all around her and falling in shining droplets onto her auburn hair. She turned back and waved, her whole being sparkling in the last rays of sun.

He waved back, and slowly, a small smile crept up upon his lips, though he knew she couldn't see.

Petra began to wade deeper and deeper in, the water rising to her calves, then hips, then chest. He opened his mouth to call out to her, to tell her to come back, but stopped. Because that was where she belonged.

And as she continued in further, the water covering her neck, then her head, he lowered his hand to his side.

He knew he had to let her go.

"Goodbye, Petra," he whispered. "Goodbye."

***********************************

"Levi, wake up!" Hange called excitedly from outside his door. "Today's another day of exploring beyond the walls! Come on, don't take so long, we don't need gear or horses anymore!"

Levi slowly sat up, and gazed out the window. The sunlight streamed through, illuminating the place where the walls had once stood, protecting them.

Caging them.

Now they were gone, because the threat was gone as well.

Sighing, he stood up. "I'm coming," he called. "I'll be there soon."

He pushed the last remnants of his dream from his mind. There was no point in dwelling on such wishful possibilities.

But although he now walked with Hange and Erwin and all the others, although they were all heading towards the same place, he couldn't help but wish that she was here with them.

Because he knew she would have loved to see it too.

The ocean.

The End.