"Levi. Levi." A muffled voice danced around his ears. It simultaneously felt both close and incredibly far away from him.

"I need your help." A laugh followed, ringing gold and amber. He couldn't see anything except a blurry silhouette on the horizon. The sky was too pale and dim for him to make out who it was.

He was afraid to reply, for he knew he was dreaming. He'd had many dreams occupied by his demised comrades and he'd always refused to speak with them. It would only make it worse.

"Hurry! By the time the sun comes up it will be too hot!"

It's technically winter but this is a dream so whatever.

He wanted to wake up. Being near dead people that talked to him made him uncomfortable.

"Are you that afraid to talk? It's just me."

He didn't want it to be who he thought it was. Even the idea of talking to her sent knives twisting through his chest. Every time he had dreamed of his fallen men he saw them how he had last seen them. Distorted, bloody, broken, terrified, not breathing, still. Dead.

I don't want to see her dead again.

Taking a breath and holding it until it made him dizzy, Levi eyed the dawn grey grass. "What?" he finally called out, releasing his breath so fast it made his eyes see sparks.

He waited for the reply, hands twisting nervously in a way he was totally unused to.

Please don't let it be her. Please.

The figure didn't reply and instead motioned towards him again. It was still too dark too tell, but if he had to guess, he was almost certain the person was smiling.

He trudged over, each step a little slower than the last. "What?" he said again, his tone more inquiring than the statement he had made before. He was close enough to touch the figure now, who was bent over and digging in the damp earth.

Getting a little exasperated at the person's silence he uncrossed his arms which he had been holding tightly to his chest and tapped the figure on the shoulder. "Hey. Do you need my help or something?"

"No, silly, you need mine."

Her words hit him like a thousand fiery arrows, bursting in his chest and sending lightening bolts down his fingers. It hurt just as much as he thought it would and more but the unfathomable relief it brought him overpowered the pain. He would get to say goodbye.

"Petra, I—"

"Come on, here's the shovel," she smiled handing him the banged up tool, handle rough and trowel caked in dirt.

What am I supposed to do with this?

Knees bent in laughter, Petra tried to stifle a giggle. "You look like you don't know what a shovel is for!"

Levi sighed in confusion and raised an eyebrow. "Of course I know what it's for. I'm not used to be ordered around, though." He laughed, almost nervously, as it sunk in further that he was talking to his dead comrade, Petra nonetheless.

She smiled at him again and stepped away from the hole. "Here, it's almost finished but I'm tired. Plus, it's important that you do it anyway. Just keep digging until you hit wood," she added just before he was about to ask when to stop.

Two silhouettes wavered against the sky, one slouching with a shovel and the other sitting on the ground, arms propped on knees, head lifted in laughter. The one with the shovel turned every so often, probably to listen to the other's jokes.

The metal made a muted thunk as it hit something hard. "Is this what I'm looking for?" Levi asked while beckoning for Petra to take a look.

"Yup, take a gander at that," she smiled, the kind of smile that expected you to know what was funny. He didn't know why she looked at him like that though because he had no idea what was funny.

"Well brush it off, silly. It's bigger than that measly little bit you uncovered there."

I don't remember her being this forward.

"I know that I wasn't like I am now in the squad, but you know, sometimes it's good to play a little," she winked.

Levi wordlessly dug around the rest of the wood in the ground and finally uncovering it, he let out an unimpressed sigh.

"Really? A coffin?"

"I'm not making this dream, heicho! You're the one who's asleep."

Her words hit him harshly for the second time. He didn't want to be reminded that it was a dream.

"I didn't mean asleep like that, though," she said, "well, I mean, you are asleep but I meant it more…metaphorically."

Levi grunted. "Stop reading my thoughts, dammit."

Petra hesitated to reply, her face relaxing into a sad smile. "You know, I'm not saying these things."

"Then who is?" he scoffed.

"It's you. This is all in your brain, this is what you really think. This is how you wanted to say goodbye to me. Honestly, I think it's perfect," she said, her eyes glazing with tears, "I always wanted you to know that I loved you. I laid down my life for the good of mankind, but you were always the first person I would die for. I just didn't have the chance." She coughed, trying to hide the wavering in her voice. "Levi."

She's never called me only by my first name before.

"I would die for you, but I could never save you. I think that, maybe, you wanted me to be the answer to your problems, the key to your emotions. But I'm not," she said, then whispered, "I'm not. I never was."

Levi could feel his eyes stinging. This is why he didn't talk to his dead squad members.

Choking back more tears, she continued. "I'll just tell you, cause you'll never tell yourself, that you didn't love me the way you think you did. You loved me as a soldier, as a friend, but you weren't in love with me. You wanted an easy answer to uncovering who you were…"

"Woah, I don't use people that I care about," he said, "and—"

"Let me finish."

"Ok."

"You wanted an easy answer to who you were. Letting another person be the key to that isn't wrong, but it will never work. You'rethe only one who can find the answer. Erwin showed you the way. Now you have to follow it. "

"I didn't love you?" he said weakly.

"No. Not how you think you did."

"Then…how to I get my emotions back? How do I…become…a person again?" his words hitched by the sobs he had tried so long to hold back.

"Well, for starters, Erwin told you the story, right?"

"Yeah."

"That's the most important part."

"I know, that's what he said too." Levi hated being this vulnerable. The sun was beginning to dip above the horizon and he had to squint which made it even harder to hold back the tears that he didn't want to shed.

"And secondly, you helped me dig up this box."

"Coffin."

"You could say that."

"What, is it a box of grenades?"

"No, it's definitely a coffin."

Petra paused and looked at him straight-faced before a slow smile crept across her face. "Why don't you open it up?"

Levi sighed. He knew what was going to be inside. Nothing.

And then I'll give a nice little laugh and pat her on the head and say, come on Petra, it's time to go home, and lead her into this stupid box and it'll be all heartwarming. Except that it won't, and it will be stupid and I want to wake up now.

Figuring there was no use denying her request at this point, he decided to comply. He ran his fingers along side the edge of the box to find the opening and upon finding it he slowly and rather difficultly began to lift it.

"Hey Levi." Petra said, almost in a whisper but not quite as she leaned towards him, nearly falling in the hole and reaching to his shoulder for balance.

He didn't get a chance to reply though, her lips on his, light and airy and almost invisible, and he closed his eyes and saw stars that he'd wished upon for a thousand years, wanting to be loved. It was a second, just a second, but it felt like a billion years to an immortal being, long, but not long enough, and when he opened his eyes, she was gone. And when he opened his eyes, he was looking straight up at the dawn sky, pink and blue with cirrus clouds slinking across it.

He sat up, dirt trickling around him and wood slats creaking.

He grasped at the solid earth a few feet above him, dewy grass slick to his touch.

It was me? He looked down at his feet, dirty like the rest of him and sighed as he climbed out of the hole.

And as the sun fully broke the horizon, Levi woke up in his bed, her final words still echoing in his ears,

"Become the man you buried."

A/N: I wish I could say stick around for the next chapter, but sadly, this is the end. I can't tell you how much I loved writing this story and how sad I am to let it go. It was really shocking how cathartic and eye opening it was to me while working on it. I want to thank all of you, followers, favourites, and reviewers, for your support. This has been an experience that…I've never had before and you guys are awesome for sticking through me with it.

Long live Levi, Long live the Wings of Freedom.