The Girl With The Yellow Ribbon - Attack on Titan

Chapter Nine

Petra ignored the steady throb in her shoulders when she reached up to secure the yellow ribbon in her hair.

That morning, Levi helped Petra secure her brace and sit her upright on the bed.

However, unlike the other times Levi strapped her into the brace, she did not joke about the corsets of noble women--she spoke only four words with a smile.

I'm going home today.

She said it as if she didn't really believe it, like it was a dream--a part of her feared that tomorrow morning she would wake up in the hospital bed, and her hopes of going home were dashed.

But as she had done hundreds of times before, she pushed her fears away and carried on.

After she got her brace, she made the choice to wear the yellow ribbon Marie gave her as a surprise.

Levi offered to help despite not knowing a single thing about hair ribbons, but Petra declined. He'd already helped her so much these last few weeks, she wanted to do something on her own--even if it was as simple as putting a ribbon in her hair.

And that's what she did.

She ignored the throb in her shoulders and ache in her chest, and tied the ribbon in a bow that held her bangs out of her face.

For the first time since her injury, she felt pretty and strong.

"Do you like it?" Petra asked, tilting her head so the morning sun glimmered on the satin material.

"I do," Levi said, crossing the room in three swift strides, a bag slung over his left shoulder. "You look beautiful."

Petra's face flushed with the faintest shade of pink and she smiled, muttering softly: "Thank you."

Levi paused a moment before asking, "Are you ready to go home? See your folks and Marie?"

"Yes, I can't wait." Petra said, the widest smile crossing her face as she bounced slightly on the mattress. "I haven't been home in so long." A thought crossed her mind and her smile fell. "Levi?"

"Hm?"

"Where will you go?" She asked. Erwin ordered him to stay home, but she often wondered if he had a home. Whenever they were off, she found him tucked away in his office, a candle burned halfway and a hot cup of tea on his desk.

"I'll go..." He trailed off, the same thoughts crossing his mind.

"You can come home with me," Petra offered quickly. When Levi's face turned to confusion, she added: "I meant you could stay with us, my parents and Marie. I'm sure they'd be okay with it, especially Marie--she already loves you--and we have a spare room you could stay in, and I'd feel more comfortable if you were close by after everything we've been through--"

"Slow down, Petra," Levi said, touching her shoulder gently before sitting beside her on the bed. "Don't get yourself all worked up, you're going red. We'll figure everything out when the time comes."

"Right, sorry." She mumbled.

"Don't apologize. You've been through a lot, it's understandable that you're nervous, but just know that you won't be alone." He shifted, and wrapped his arms around Petra's frail body securely.

Petra never feels safer than when Levi wraps his arms around her; he is strong and secure and warm and for a moment in this hellish world, Petra feels safe.

"I promise," Levi mutters, pressing his lips against her shoulder and again on her neck. "I promise you won't ever be alone. I'll be there, I'll take care of you."

Petra was unable to speak or even think, all she could do was focus on Levi's arms wrapped around her and the kisses he left along both her covered and exposed skin.

Levi felt Petra's tears soak through his shirt, but he didn't care--she could cry on all his shirts if it meant she would never be alone again.

He held her in his arms for as long as humanly possible--if he had his choice, he'd never let go. They'd stay here, in each other's arms, forever.

Levi had seen Petra so many times--he saw her when she was laughing and crying, he saw her on the battlefield with the eyes and intensity of a soldier.

He saw her in the torch light in the castle halls, clinging to him in the shadows.

He saw her perched on his desk, begging him to get rest, saying he'd work himself to death if he kept going like this.

He saw her asleep in his bed the night she dared sneak out of her quarters and into his. She curled into him, and he put aside his loathing of beds and held her as she slept, inhaling the sweet smell of vanilla and strawberries.

But all those memories were tainted with the scene of her chest arched against the tree as she clung to a spider's thread of life, his cravat pressed against her belly in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding, her sweet smell of vanilla and strawberries horrifically combined with the metal stench of blood.

There was so much blood.

Levi felt tears prickle in his eyes, and in response he only held Petra tighter.

"I'll never let you be alone," Levi swore against her skin. "I swear on my life, you'll never be alone."

Petra feels Levi's breath against her neck and the hot tears rolling down her face, but despite the tears she never felt more at ease than she did in that moment--she felt safe, and she never wanted that feeling to end.

Her first words were soft and unsure, and her voice shook. Petra didn't even know if Levi heard her in the first place--so she said it again, and again, and again.

"I love you," She wept against Levi's shoulder, clutching fistfulls of his shirt until her knuckles drained of colour. "I love you, I love you."

Tears dripped down Levi's face, his words caught in his throat and he felt a sense of vulnerability he'd never felt before.

His hands tangled in Petra's hair, curling around and settling at the nape of her neck as he willed himself to believe the sobbing woman in his arms and he dared himself to say it back.

"I love you," Levi whispered, his mouth pressing against Petra's neck again--not in a kiss, but in a desperate attempt to be as close as he could, and to convince himself that she wasn't some figment of his imagination, or a delusion he yearned to hold.

Petra felt Levi's hands in her hair, she felt his breath on her skin, she felt his arms wrapped tightly around her--she felt everything and more.

Levi felt Petra's hands clutching his shirt, he felt her soft skin beneath his lips, he felt how small she was in his arms--he felt everything and more.

They both felt everything and more.