I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin. I do not own the song Pompeii (where the lyrics are from). All rights go to Isayama Hajime and Bastille.

(Yes there are hints of Levi/Petra. I was devastated at Levi's squad's deaths.)

But if you close your eyes

Does it almost feel like nothing's changed at all?

Young and bold. Not afraid and not caring. Not innocent but more innocent than now. Eyes bright with the sight of the future. Nothing mattered.

"Another day comes and goes, doesn't it, aniki?" Isabel tilted her head back to look up, swinging her legs in hazardous circles from where she sat on the stone bench. Levi grunted from where he sat on the ground, his legs bent and his chin on his knees. The sun and stars seemed to move much more quickly from their perspective down under. It was like they didn't have to wait for the days to rush by. And they didn't. As they thought, they had too much to do during the day. Thugs, other people said.

It was better than living among the garbage, alone and frightened. Once you gain companions and a reputation as a "thug" in the underground city of the capital, the world just seems a lot less terrifying. Even less terrifying once 3D maneuver gear was obtained. And just for a bit, for the "delinquents" of the underground capital, for Farlan, Isabel, and Levi, life was okay, not good, but okay.

Until someone decided to drag the piece called Erwin Smith and the Scouting Legion onto the board. Erwin was tall. He was blonde. He had prominent eyebrows, and he was definitely not supposed to be in the underground district.

But, then again, they were not supposed to have been able to obtain 3D maneuver gear in the underground district, either. And from this "Erwin" is where the "humanity's strongest soldier" developed a hatred for mud and anything dirty.

Levi gritted his teeth as he was dragged away. Isabel and Farlan helplessly chose to follow him in his footsteps, even he was blackmailed to join the Survey Corps. They thought they would find information about Erwin Smith and then kill him. Things never turn out the way planned, however.

Death is never planned.

Losing best friends is never planned.

The pain that follows is never planned.

Titans eating your friends is never planned.

Embracing the Scouting Legion is never planned.

Losing your old world and getting confused in your new one.

Older now. Still bold and daring. Definitely not innocent. Blood has permanently stained the hands that were once clean and innocent. Eyes dulling but with a hint of the brightness that sees the future of humanity. Some things did matter.

Whispers followed him around the town. "Humanity's strongest soldier, I've heard…" and "He's so small, but I've heard he's killed more Titans than anyone can imagine…" and "Why does he still risk his life for something that humankind cannot win against?" and such.

Humankind can win, he told himself. They just need to know how to sacrifice. They need to know how to discard what they used to see as right in order to survive. They need to know how to deal with the knowledge that their lives could end any minute. Humankind as a whole is weak, he said to others. They can bear burdens of the body and the burdens of injury, but they cannot bear burdens of the heart or the soul.

Some could. And those some were audacious and reckless, but they were brave and they were strong. And those strong ones, young and full of potential, joined the military. They knew that they would win, and they knew what would be needed to be sacrificed for that victory.

Levi Ackerman moved higher up the ranks. People thought he blindly killed Titans and blindly scolded his fellow members and blindly treated the world as his enemy and blindly hated everything. He, however, did not kill with no reason or scold with no reason or treated the world as his enemy for no reason or hated everything for no reason.

He remembered and felt too much. He was weak, he told himself, in one aspect.

He himself couldn't bear the burden on the heart. Isabel and Farlan smiled at him once more. He gritted his teeth and swung away using the gear that all three of them so delighted at using so many years ago.

Older still, now. Bold yes, and still daring. Reckless, no. Blood can be washed off his hands, but they are permanently stained with the remnants of what used to be. Eyes dark and shielded from light and operating from the shadows. Scorned by many but still admired by others. Everything mattered.

He had comrades now, more than two. Hanji, Gunter, Eld, Auruo, Petra, Eren, Erwin, and others who had always regard as scum but now were more than that. The Scouting Legion was his family.

But, his Special Operations Squad was the closest to him of all. Gunter, Eld, Auruo, and Petra. Hand picked soldiers for their excellence in combat. Most kills, solo or team, out of anyone in the military. Gunter, blunt and sensible. Eld, a constant presence of a leader, self-willed and judgmental. Auruo, self-confident and cocky, but reliable. Petra, kind and compassionate, loyal but fierce in battle. They were like Farlan and Isabel to him. Not replacements, but just as good.

So close that they can battle Titans without any spoken communication. With this trust and teamwork, each of them has killed forty to fifty Titans, highest record in the military, except for him of course. Selfless and warriors in battle, but actual people in real life. They had emotions under their shells. They were only human.

And, as with his former best friends, Isabel and Farlan, he had one closer friend out of his squad (previously Isabel, like his younger sister). All of them he liked very much, but one always favored another, right?

Petra was the closest to him, he thought. He wasn't sure if that was the way with her, seeing how she was always at ends with Auruo and how Eld always teased her, but she was just… different. A comforting presence during hard times, like a mother figure reassuring her children. Kind and caring, considerate of others, trusting and honest, bright and open. He always wondered why someone like her would have joined the military, the woman with the perpetually shining eyes. She was like the sun.

And life was kind. It was hard with the Titans, it was hard and risky, but he had lights in his life, he had a sun shining down on him even when it was raining, and no matter how many grueling missions and horrifying Titans they encountered, they were together and life seemed beautiful.

But where there is beauty, there is cruelty.

Cruelty meant death.

Cruelty meant losing best friends.

Cruelty meant the pain that followed.

Cruelty meant Titans overpowering your friends.

Cruelty meant embracing the Scouting Legion in times of trouble.

Cruelty meant losing your previous world once again and being thrust into another.

Being a member of the Survey Corps. was the epitome of cruelty.

He is older, but he cannot help but feel like a child. He can feel their presences all around him. He can hear Gunter setting his glass on the table and calling it a night. He can hear Eld's banter, directed at Auruo, and the former's laughter as he talks about his fiancee. He can hear Auruo grumbling as it was time to sweep around, and his boasts and imitations of the corporal himself. He can hear Petra's tinkling laughter and her questions to him, if he wanted another cup of coffee.

Petra's father had approached him after the mission. He could barely hear him. His blood thundered in his ears, despair clouding his eyes. We were supposed to be something. We were supposed to stay alive together. We were supposed to get married.

Tears had pooled in his eyes and threatened to spill when he saw her body, thrown out of the cart.

Horror clutched at his heart when he saw their corpses, spread out and bloody, obviously pained before they had gone. He lingered at every single one, shadows shrouding his face. This was never supposed to happen.

Isabel and Farlan were never supposed to go. His squad was never supposed to go. Maybe he should go as well.

He is much older now. He doesn't have too much time left. It hurt for him to be the only one to survive through all of it. Humanity had not lost, but they had not won yet. They will continue to fight, even after he is gone.

Levi lifts his face toward the sun, the first smile to grace his features since years and years ago. The sun.

Petra, is that you?

Two birds seem to bicker outside under the warmth of the sun, chirps resounding even in the small house.

Auruo, Eld, I haven't seen you in a while.

A dog barks at the birds, seemingly as a reprimanding fashion.

Gunter, thank you for keeping them in order.

He can see them too. They are faint at first, but they grow brighter and clearer and nearer and stronger. He sees himself as well. He is young, and they are young, and they are happy, and he is happy. Farlan and Isabel wave at him from the corner of the table. They are young and happy too.

Levi smiles and closes his eyes. They are all drinking tonight. Their old friend is coming to join them. Eld pours for the glasses, a golden liquid that reflects the sparks of the sunlight dripping through the blinds. He seems to be dragged closer to them.

They all stand, and the younger him stands too. They grip their glasses, cheery smiles adorning their faces, faces bright and innocent and hands unstained. He has the urge to clink his glass against theirs, but they already reach to clink their glasses against his.

For humanity.

He smiles and feels himself drift away from reality. Petra smiles from her side of the table, and his squad grin up at him too. Isabel and Farlan beam.

We meet again. We wear the wings of freedom on our backs.

But if you close your eyes

Does it almost feel like you've been here before?