Good Night

Shingeki no Kyojin © Isayama Hajime

Warning: Spoilers for volume 7 of the manga

A/N: Ugh finally finish!

Eren was sleeping soundly in his room. It was one tiring day; they cleaned that big castle again under the order from Corporal Levi. This time was even more tiring since only Corporal Levi and him to do the cleaning on the whole area.

It was so cosy when he snuggled at the hard bed and he fell asleep right away.

After hours had passed, he was woken up by noises coming from the upper floor. He blinked a few times and sat up on the bed. He could hear footsteps coming and lights getting brighter and nearer. Someone should have taken the lamp and came down here. He wondered who would visit him at this hour. The only person who came to his mind was Corporal Levi as he was the only other person sleeping in this castle. But on the other hand, what was the purpose?

Then the answer became clear when he saw the person. It was indeed Corporal Levi. Who else could it be?

"Corporal? What are you doing here?" Eren asked.

He opened the cell door, entered, and then closed it back. He put the oil lamp on the desk in the corner of the room and sat on a chair beside it. "I couldn't sleep, so I decided to check on you. Were you still awake? Or did I wake you up? Sorry."

"No, it was okay."

An awkward silence fell on them. Eren tried his best to come up with a topic of conversation, but couldn't think of any. He knew Corporal Levi was still having trouble sleeping every night ever since the 57 th expedition ended. It was saddening seeing him keeping it to himself, not being able to express his sadness while having to maintain that same expression on his face every day. Did he even have a proper sleep since then?

Eren should have been able to save them. It was Eren's entire fault. But Eren realised blaming himself over and over wouldn't help Corporal Levi at all. The one who was damaged the most was him; he should be the one getting comforted.

Eren cleared his throat, "Uhm, Corporal... aren't you going to sleep?"

"I told you before, didn't I? I couldn't sleep," there was a long pause before he continued, "I tried closing my eyes for hours, and I still couldn't sleep. You can sleep on, Eren. I'll be leaving n―"

"―No! Ah, I mean, what I was going to say was... I could probably help you gain some sleep, sir." Levi raised his eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

Eren fidgeted and swallowed, "My mom used to sing me this song whenever I couldn't sleep and it worked every time. So I think maybe ... I could do the same for you." Eren knew it was a stupid suggestion, but that was the only thing he could think of at the moment.

Levi stood up and put off the lamp. He approached Eren and pull up the cover, "Move."

Eh? Eren was slightly confused, so he's saying he's sleeping here side by side with Eren? Well, of course he couldn't just let Corporal Levi sleep through the night on a chair, but that was still something unthought-of.

"I said, move, shitty brat."

"Y-yes, sir!" he exclaimed while moving away. Levi lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. Eren leant on the wall and started to sing. He tried to remember the words his mom used to sing for him, and how her hand would pat his head gently. Then when he's half asleep, she would give him a peck on the forehead.

Dark surrounding the skies
Let all anxiety fade away

He remembered, on stormy nights, Mikasa and he would go to their parent's room and sleep there. They weren't scared of thunder; they just felt more comfortable to snuggle up together when it's cold. The bed would be too cramped for four people, but it was nice.

Just close your eyes
And sleep away

When he finished the last sentence of the song, he became aware that he was crying. He quickly wiped away those tears off his face. He checked on Corporal Levi and it seemed he had already fallen asleep. Eren felt better knowing he could at least help him with this little thing. He leant in and gave a peck on Corporal Levi's forehead, "Good night, Corporal."

Ever since then, Levi would get a good night sleep in Eren's room.

They were out on an expedition that day. Their group encountered a crowd of titans and unable to flee. So they left their horses and battled the titans. Eren changed into a titan and fought them in that form, but something unexpected happened; he lost control.

It was hard, having to fight the titans―not to mention there were several deviant types―while having to try returning Eren to his original state of mind. Since Eren was also harming them, Levi decided to cut off his limbs just as what they had agreed on. Levi made sure to keep Eren in a safe place while he's off to slaughter the titans.

When the ones surrounding the area had been all killed. He returned to Eren to check on him.

To his surprise, Eren was still there without his limbs.

"Oi Eren, why didn't your limbs grow back!?" He panicked. This was out of what they had planned. They decided it was okay to cut off his limbs because of his regenerating skill. His tooth grew back before, so why didn't he this time?

"Cor...poral... Levi... Where are ... the titans...?" Eren muttered between his breaths. It was hard just to keep breathing, and talking gave him more pain. He ended up coughing up blood.

Levi picked Eren up in his arms hastily but still considering Eren's condition and trying not to move him too much. "Rest assured; we've taken care all of them. I'll take you to Hanji, I'm sure that shitty glasses would know what to do―"

"I ... need to ... slaughter all the ... titans..."

Levi gritted his teeth, "Just stop talking, you shitty brat." Levi was still running and running in search for Hanji. Where the hell could that shitty glasses be? He was so sure Hanji was around here just now, he even told Hanji to wait here since they were going to rejoin the other group as soon as he found Eren.

"Hang in there, Eren. You'll be okay. You'll be okay."

His breaths were becoming more shallow, and abject terror rose up in Levi. He couldn't bear to lose another. He needed quite some time to be able to let go of his squad's death. And that time was because Eren helped him get over it. But what would he do this time if he were to lose Eren? Nobody would be there to comfort him anymore. How should he live on?

It was just a whisper, a soft whisper almost impossible to hear,

"I'm not going to die just yet."

That was what Levi heard. Eren kept whispering in soft weak tone. And that was when Levi knew it was over. No chance of Eren staying alive anymore. He stopped. He stopped running. He stopped searching for Hanji.

He just ... stopped and brought Eren's face close to his chest. Holding him tight, not letting him go. He closed his eyes and buried his face in Eren's brown hair. He smelled his hair; ah yes, that familiar scent, mixing together with the scent of blood.

His skin was still warm, but he knew it was going to be colder in a few more minutes.

"Say, Eren ... are you going to sleep?" he whispered softly, not for anyone to hear, just for himself to know. He began to sing out the lullaby Eren used to sing for him every night. Its calm tone, and lyrics, Levi had memorised it all.

Ah, how should he pass through the night from now on?

Dark surrounding the skies
Let all anxiety fade away
Just close your eyes
And sleep away

He slowly passed his hand over Eren's face, closing his eyes. Then he gave a gentle kiss on Eren's forehead, "Good night, Eren."

End.

A/N: Why does Eren die in my every story!? It's not that I like seeing Eren dying but this kind of plots just appear so yeah. I'll try to keep Eren alive in my next fiction orz