As the chilly spring slowly morphed into the blistering heat waves of July, Levi found himself wondering more and more about how much longer Petra would be staying with him. The thought of her leaving left a bitter taste in his mouth that Levi couldn't quite swallow down.

It was, after all, a horrible prospect.

Of course, if she did want to leave, he would let her go immediately: he wasn't the type to cling to people, and if it made her unhappy staying with him, it was her happiness that came first. Not his.

She was so full of life, so energetic, so optimistic and shining and bright that Levi had only just gotten used to the blinding feeling he received from her presence. It was like sunburn, he thought. A cliché analogy, but if Petra was a part of the solar system, it would be the Sun.

And Levi would be Pluto.

He could only watch from a distance as all the people in her life revolved around her, absorbing her warmth. Sometimes, when it was just the two of them, it felt like all the light in the world was beating down on his pale, vampiric face. Yes, sunburn.

He'd gotten this feeling particularly strongly a few weeks prior, not long after she'd become a rather constant part in his life.

"Levi!" She had burst through the door, looking flustered and agitated. A common sight, it was true, but this time her face was painted with confusion, a question she wanted to know the answer to.

Turns out, she wanted to know "the truth" behind his illness after a "revealing" conversation with Hanji. Levi was sorry to disappoint her, but he was essentially paralysed from his tailbone downwards. And he knew that was boring, but that was the whole story. Nothing more, nothing less.

Her curiosity seemed to lessen after that, but to his dismay, so did the time she spent with him. Hanji said she was working, but her eyes were turned down and her smile was lying. Levi assumed she'd found a boyfriend. Or possibly a girlfriend, or a new pet dog, whatever.

He hadn't seen her in almost a week, and he was getting anxious. He needed his daily dose of Petra-time, after all. But he wasn't clingy, and he wasn't needy, so he said nothing. He just waited reluctantly for her to call, or visit, or even just leave him some flowers. As long as he knew she was doing okay, he would do okay too.

Levi sighed into the empty room, and had a strong sense of familiarity. His room was boring, and the sun from outside didn't reach his eyes as he stared longingly at the door.

And then someone knocked on the door, and Levi got his hopes up, something he did every time he heard that mundane sound; but of course, it was Hanji.

He relaxed back into his pillows, taking note of the unusually sombre expression on Hanji's face.

"What's up with you?" His voice sounded surprisingly melancholy. He cleared his throat.

Hanji sat down on the edge of his bed, her expression still rigid and vacant.

"Hanji, wipe that look off your face and tell me what it is." He tried to sound soothing, but instead he sounded childish and demanding.

Then Hanji turned to face him, and her next expression shocked Levi to the point of silence, And I stress, this doesn't happen often. She wore a watered down smile, her eyebrows turned up like she was preparing him for the worst, every muscle in her body tense as she licked her cracked lips and steadied her hands in her lap.

"Levi, I have something to talk to you about." Her voice was cracked like her lips, and a bolt of panic shot through Levi. He knew what she was going to say. He'd pretended to ignore the signs, but this was the proof. He closed his eyes, and nodded, swallowing all the words he wanted to say.

"It's about Petra."

The pain shot through him again, but this time it didn't go away. It stayed inside him, reverberating his insides, every jolt repeating the words that had been uttered from Hanji's lips.

His expression must have told Hanji not to carry on, it told her to stop talking, or maybe just to hug him and tell him that he shouldn't worry, that Petra would definitely be fine. But she didn't

"She's...Had this problem for a while now. A problem with her heart. Erwin said it would be fine, but...she's gotten worse."

"Is that the reason she hasn't been visiting?" His voice was firm and calm, but tears threatened his calm demeanour, and his hands were clenched so tightly you could see the bone through his translucent skin.

"Yes. And she's going to be hospitalised, but before that, she wanted to see you." Levi closed his eyes.

"Is she here now?" His voice was a whisper.

Hanji smiled in response, and nodded softly towards the door.

How long she'd been standing there, Levi didn't know, all he could think was how thin she was. He'd seen her, what, a week ago? Her faint smile was too big for her thin face, and her clothes hung loosely around her bony form.

He didn't even realise Hanji had gone until he felt arms being wrapped around him, warm tears soaking into his pyjama top as Petra cried softly, not with sadness, but with frustration.

He reached up to hug her back, and he felt hot, salty tears well in his eyes. He pressed his face into her glossy hair and felt at home, the home she had created for him, the home that was going to be taken away, perhaps forever.

She puled back and smiled, and this time it wasn't too big for her face. She was beautiful, and she was warm, and that never lasted, Levi reminded himself.

"I'm sorry." She murmured, and Levi hated it. Hated that she felt like this was her fault, hated seeing what she had been reduced to.

Levi responded by pulling back, and staring at her, his eyes locked on hers in a severe fashion.

Petra straightened up, but didn't lose eye contact with him.

"Erwin told me about the operation overseas." She tried to sound cheerful, but the tear tracks on her cheeks contradicted it.

"Yeah."

"Are you going to go? It could work, y'know. Erwin told me about the odds of it working, and they're actually pretty high. Yo-"

"Well, looks like I have no choice now. We're both going to be sucking up to the painkillers pretty soon, huh?"

But Petra seemed confused. "Hanji told me you weren't going to do it?"

"She told you right. But I just decided. If you're going to try and get better, then I will too."

She smiled, and it was too big for her face, but Levi didn't care.

"I knew you would go for it!" She teased, and prodded him in the ribs.

"I can't be letting you suffer by yourself, obviously." His voiced matching her mischievous tone.

"Oh, Mr Ackerman, I advise you to think up some non-medical ways to flirt with women." She poked him square between the eyes and grinned.

"Hey, Petra." He reached out and grabbed her hand, causing her to jump and blush, and it seemed luminous on her pale face.

"Y-yes?" Her facade seemed to crack slightly as she saw the serious expression on his face, and her face crumpled back into one of a person trying to be happy for someone else's sake.

He leaned in and kissed her, and he felt her breath hitch in surprise before returning the favour. It was only when he tasted salty tears that he leant back slightly, and looked her fully in the eyes, brimming with tears.

"You know, that may be our first and last kiss." She smiled a happy and sad smiled, and slowly tucked a strand of his hair back behind his ear.

He stared at her eyes: they were mesmerising, and Levi knew he wouldn't forget them. They were filled with love and despair, but they were amber and honey and sunshine. Levi felt the full power of Petra's sunshine powers burning him, the loving sunburn. He pressed his face into her hair, and smelt the faint aroma of perfume and soil.

"Petra?"

"What is it?" He felt her words vibrate against his head.

"Don't die."

"Mm. Same goes to you."

A\N I know, I'm a horrible person.

I've had so many exams/tests over the past month or two, that I've barely had time for anything else. I know that's a rubbish reason, but it's the only one I've got ;-;

But it's all over now

Yes, I shall be keeping to an every 2 week schedule- one week for my other Rivetra fic, "A Slight Inconvenience", and one week for "The Healing Process"! I hope that sounds okay!

But thank you to anyone who reads this, and please leave reviews telling me what you think and how I could improve!( Also, a BIG sorry to sanitaryunicorns on my instagram who has waited about 2 months for this. You deserve a medal for patience friend XD)

Thank you all again, and I hope you have a great day/night/whatever ^_^