Un-beta

…

Time seemed to stop as Eren took in the sight before him, his mind not accepting what he was seeing. He was humanities strongest solider, there was no way he was lying on the ground, gasping for his final breaths. The blood poured from his various injuries, mixing with the wet mud he lay atop of but Eren still refused to believe.

He didn't call for help, he didn't draw focus to himself, he lay perfectly still, staring at the sky as he accepted his fate.

"Levi!" Eren called out, running towards the injured solider.

He dropped harshly down on his knees when he finally reached his side, the sounds of battle rung all around him but his focus was solely on his fallen love.

"You're going to be okay Levi." He whispered, lifting up his face and rubbing the mud off of his cheeks. He knew Levi hated dirt and he was in no position to clean himself.

"Not this time brat." Levi said, wincing slightly at the movement.

"You will. You'll get better in no time I know it. And we're going to defeat all the titans together and then break down the walls that keep us trapped. Then we'll go to the sea and see the world. Always together, just like you promised." Eren rambled frantically, while his hands helplessly applied pressure to his various wounds.

"Some promises are made to be broken kid." He smiled slightly, completely unfitting to the situation.

"Not this one!" Eren cried, his tears dropping onto Levi's face underneath him. "Any but this one."

"Sorry Eren." He sighed, his eyes closing with the effort. "Not in this lifetime."

"We will, don't talk like that!" He begged, Eren couldn't handle his negativity. Levi was always his rock, pushing him forward in the worst of times. He couldn't be giving up.

"Get out of here, get yourself safe." He whispered with the last of his energy.

This was exactly how they'd got into this mess, Eren had been reckless and Levi had tried to save him without thinking himself, resulting in serious injuries and fatal casualties.

"Not without you Levi! I love you." He sobbed, leaning closer to the limp body that lay on the floor.

Eren pressed his lips against Levi's but felt his blood turn cold when there was no response from the other. The lips that usually set his body on fire, that caused his heart to skip, that moaned against his own night after night lay cold and lifeless.

"Levi." He screamed, pulling back to see his chest completely still, no movement with his breath. "Levi no!"

"Eren! We need to get out of here!" Mikasa shouted, dragging her brother into a standing position and pulling him away from the dead corpse on the floor.

As they ran he continued to look back, watching as the body of Levi became smaller and smaller, nobody bothering to help him, nobody bother to pay their respects. All far too concerned in their own safety rather than their fallen comrade.

"Levi! Levi!" Eren shouted repeatedly, as if the sound of his voice could save him, could somehow bring him back from the hell he'd found himself in.

He shouted until he could no longer see the other man, until he was breathless, until his sobs soon took over the words that escaped his mouth.

…

"Levi." Eren gasped, bolting up in his bed, his body sweating from another vivid flashback.

Every night his dreams were haunted by his past life, the person he'd once been, the world that had once been his reality, the man he'd once loved.

Levi.

His eyes always plagued his dreams, his touch and his kiss assaulting his mind every time Eren closed his eyes, his moans and gasps turning him on each night.

Not in this lifetime.

Levi's voice mocked him from the depths of his mind, a phrase he could never get out of his head. The night he'd held his true love as he'd died he'd made a promise to himself, when he was next with Levi he'd take him to the sea. He'd promised they'd stand in the salty water together, hold hands for once without any worries, only having each other to care about.

2000 years later he was going to keep his promise, he'd find Levi, he'd protect him this time, ensure he was never in any danger in this world. They'd be happy in this lifetime, they wouldn't be torn from each other as they had before, they'd live their lives to the full, together.

All Eren had to do was find him.

With a sigh he lay back down in his bed, hoping to get a few more hours of sleep before he was due to get up for school.

…

"Eren are you even listening to me?" Mikasa asked, taking a sip of her black coffee that managed to get her through the day.

"What?" Eren asked, mouth half full with the cereal he was currently eating.

Truth be told he hadn't been listening at all, he was struggling enough to keep his eyes open and stop his face from plummeting into his breakfast in exhaustion let alone pay attention to whatever his sister was prattling open. After watching Levi's death for what felt like the millionth time he'd had a very hard time getting back to sleep.

"You need to look into getting a job." She groaned, wishing he'd be serious for a moment.

"No I don't, I have to worry about school not a job." He said, dismissing her concerns. "I'm too young to work."

Mikasa rolled her eyes at him, although that line worked on their mother, combined with his wide, innocent eyes, but she was not falling for it.

"You're 18 Eren, you're not a child." She stated, shooting him a look.

"What's the point? I'll be going to university next year." He shrugged, fed up with his whole family nagging him to get a job.

"With what money?" Mikasa scoffed.

"I'll get a loan." Eren rolled his eyes. "Do you really think a year's worth of part time work is really going to cover the cost of university? That shit's expensive."

"Right, you'll have a loan for classes and rent. What about everything else? Bills, food, going out, alcohol!" Mikasa moaned, completely exasperated. She knew that Eren wasn't thinking about the future, far too concerned with living day to day.

"I'll get an overdraft." He shrugged, pushing himself up from the table to drop his now empty bowl in the sink.

"Well it wouldn't kill you to help out around here." Mikasa said, smugly bringing her drink up to her lips knowing she had got him.

Money had been quite tight in their home lately, with his father recently being made redundant and his mum's pay check not being nearly enough to support the family of four. As soon as Mikasa had left school she'd started an apprenticeship and the little money she was making with that she put towards helping her parents out.

Eren felt guilty that he was quickly becoming a burden to his parents in their current financial crises, he guessed earning some extra cash to help pay his own way would be beneficial.

"Alright, I'll have a look into some jobs." He promised, offering her a quick smile.

"I knew you'd see it my way." Mikasa smiled, wrapping her arm around her younger brother.

"Yeah, yeah." Eren rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious, Mum and Dad will appreciate it." She said quietly, pressing a kiss into his shaggy, brown locks.

"I know." He admitted, leaning back into her embrace for a moment before disentangling himself. "Right, I got to go before I'm late again."

"Yeah get out of here." Mikasa laughed, ruffling his hair and giving him a push on his way.

"Catch you later." He shouted, grabbing his bag and walking out the door.

…

Students bustled around Eren on their way to the canteen while he stared intently at the bullet-in board that advertised various jobs looking for part time work. Plenty of companies wanted teen workers, they were cheap, eager and always willing to please. He sighed slightly as he scanned the various jobs, most of them were offering weekend positions when ideally he was looking for after school work.

Weekends where his time to do with it what he pleased, not for working. He focused his weekends on making sense of his dreams, trying to put some chronological order to his previous life, mapping out what life was like inside the walls, scouring any social media website he could find for a Levi Ackerman.

Mikasa always told him it was an unhealthy obsession but he knew when they were reunited and they could keep both their promises it would be worth it.

"This is a sight I'd never thought I'd see." Armin laughed, coming to a standstill next to him. "Eren Jaeger looking for work."

"Shut up." He groaned, nudging his best friend with his shoulders.

"I'm serious, what brought all this one?" He questioned, tilting his head towards his friend.

"Thought it would be nice to have a bit of working experience before uni." He shrugged.

"Really?" He asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Nah, Mikasa thinks it's about time I learnt the value of money."

"Sounds more like it." Armin laughed again. "Pretty decent stuff here."

"Yeah, all weekends though." Eren moaned as the pair scanned the board.

"So? Money's money."

"I like to keep my weekends free." He informed him, getting close to giving up for the day.

"Oh yeah, Levi." Armin said, nodding his head slightly.

Eren tried to ignore the tone his voice held, he knew that Armin, much like Mikasa, thought his obsession with his dreams was unnecessary but just because they didn't remember didn't mean their past didn't exist.

"Right, well I'm hungry." Armin announced, trying to move the conversation forward. "I'm going to head down to the canteen."

"I'll be there in a minute." Eren said, briefly acknowledging that he'd spoken before going back to looking.

"Putting work before food? The word really has gone mad." He muttered, walking away.

Eren rolled his eyes slightly at the comment, doing one last scan before calling it a day.

Suddenly, like a beacon of hope he found the only after school job on the board. Babysitting. He could do that, easily. All he had to was play around with a kid for a few hours then put them to bed and watch TV until the mum came home.

Ripping the flyer off the board he typed the number into his phone as he walked out the school doors, hoping to find a quiet place to make the call outside.

Sitting down on a wall he double checked the number before pressing call.

"Hello?" A woman's voice answered.

"Hi, is this Raquel Bernard?" Eren asked, reading the name off the flyer.

"Yes, can I help you?" She asked, a hint of a smile in her voice. Least it sounded that way to him.

"Yeah, I'm Eren Jaeger and I'm calling about the babysitting position you advertised." He explained, hoping the fact he was a boy wouldn't hold too much prejudice against him.

"Oh right, and do you have an experience with children?"

"Well I was one myself once." He joked, relieved to hear her soft giggle come down the phone. "But, experience, yeah. I have babysat for my neighbours quite often, helped out at the crèche where my mum worked and look after younger family members all the time." He lied, hoping it sounded like a half decent resume.

"Wow, sounds impressive." She complimented. "Would you be able to come over tonight so we can meet face to face and you could also meet my son?"

"Yeah, of course." Eren agreed eagerly, hoping to land himself an easy job. "I can come by after school if that's okay?"

"That's perfect, my address is on the flyer. It's walking distance from the school so hopefully it's not too far from where you live."

"Nope, it's actually a couple of streets down from me." He reassured, another little white lie wouldn't hurt. It wasn't close but it was still walking distance.

"Great, I'll see you later then." She said.

"Yeah you will. Bye." He said, hanging up the phone.

He slipped his phone into his pocket with a smile, she sounded friendly and if he continued to sweet talk her he was definitely a shoo-in for the job. With a spring in his step he walked towards the canteen, joining all his friends for lunch.

…

Eren bounced nervously on the balls of his feet as he rang the bell to Raquel's house, he was definitely better over the phone than he was face to face, but for a some decent cash he'd just have to suck it up and try his best.

"Hi, Eren?" Raquel smiled, opening the door.

"Yeah, hi." He nodded, offering his best confident smile in return.

"Come in, come in." She exclaimed, ushering him inside.

He stepped inside and did a quick scan of the house, expecting a little child to be running around their ankles but there appeared to be none.

"Can I get you a drink?" She asked, heading towards the kitchen.

"Sure, water will be nice." He called after. "Where's the kid?"

"He's upstairs." She laughed from the other room. "I wanted to talk to you alone first."

"Oh sure." He replied, following after her.

"Have a seat." She gestured to the breakfast table, placing a glass of water on the wood.

"Sure." He smiled, taking a gulp of water to calm his nerves. No matter how relaxed the atmosphere was it just hit him that it was his first job interview.

Raquel made herself a cup of tea and Eren took the chance to do a quick once over of her. She had a friendly face and aura surrounding her, but a slight edge that suggested if you got on the wrong side of her she would make your life hell. She was quite a short woman with a very petite frame, but the towering heels by the front door suggested she carried herself confidently with a height boost. She had silky, black hair in a choppy style and wide, dark eyes. He couldn't help but feel the colour of her eyes was familiar to him, the soft grey comforting to him in a way he couldn't explain.

"Right, Eren." Raquel said, sitting down opposite him. "I work evenings, five until ten, so I wouldn't get home until about eleven and I'll need to be gone around four. Is that doable?"

"Yeah, that's fine. I can get here by four no problem." He nodded, walking home at eleven wasn't exactly ideal but he could use some of his money earned to put towards a cheap, second hand car.

"Great, and while you're here you're welcome to use whatever you want. Make yourself completely at home." She smiled warmly at him. "I was thinking £6 an hour, about £42 a day. Is that okay?"

"That's more than okay." He cried out, he'd be making around £200 a week for sitting on his ass all afternoon. He'd be able to afford a car before the end of the month.

"Wonderful. Let me tell you about Levi." Raquel smiled, the proud smile only a mother gets.

But Eren barely had time to register the smile, his blood had turned cold with the mention of that name. There was no way it was the same Levi, it had to be a coincidence. He wasn't about to see a child version of the man he was in love with, the man who had been haunting his dreams, the man who he's spent the better part of five years looking for.

"My prince is 10 years old, he can be a little bossy at times and does like to get his own way but he's an only child with parents who divorced when he was still in nappies so it's to be expected. Least that's what I tell myself." She laughed, completely oblivious to Eren's discomfort. "He does like things to be clean, it's getting worse as he's getting older."

"A little clean freak." Eren joked, his whole mouth turning dry the more she described him.

"Yeah, you could say that." She grinned at his comment. "He's very caring but he likes to keep it hidden, stubborn little bugger, he'll be a little cold at first with you but the longer you're around him the more he'll warm up to you and he'll be the sweetest little boy you've ever met."

Raquel finally stopped talking and noticed the slight hesitance on his face, she bit her lip slightly at his expression, worried she'd scared him off.

"He will love you, I promise." She smiled reassuringly.

"Great, I look forward to meeting him." He said, his eyes wide in shock.

"Shall we go meet the little man now then?" She asked, pushing herself up from the table, disregarding the tea cooling on the table.

"Sure." Eren agreed, standing up on wobbling legs.

"Don't look so nervous, Levi is a tough critique but at the end of the day I do get the final say." She winked, leading him out of the room.

Eren followed after Raquel, shaking, as if he was walking to his life sentence rather than to a child's bedroom.

"Oh, one more thing about Levi." She said, turning towards him at the bottom of the stairs. "He's a little obsessed with a world he's created in his mind, all about three cities and some giants that keep attacking them and eating the people."

Eren swallowed thickly at her statement, was it possible after all his searching he'd accidentally stumbled upon Levi, his Levi. Ten years too early a voice mocked in his mind, in their previous life Levi had been the older one, a swap wasn't what he'd expected.

"I know it's a little bit gory but I think it's just a phase, expressing himself. It's just a game to him and I shouldn't worry too much about it. That, or I've got a future author on my hands." She smiled, heading up the stairs.

Eren broke out into a cold sweat, but he tried to reassure that he was getting ahead of himself. Levi was a very common name, it could be any child up there with a fixation with giants.

He shook his head slightly as he drew closer to the room, he knew that there were too many similarities to all be a coincidence.

"Levi?" Raquel called out, walking over to her son and kneeling beside him. "Say hello to Eren."

"Hello Eren." He said completely uninterested in the other person in his room, never even glancing towards the door.

"Don't be so rude." She lightly scolded, ruffling the boy's black hair.

Eren found himself utterly speechless, without even seeing his face he could tell straight away that was his Levi. The same soft hair that he'd run his fingers through many nights, the same deadpan voice, granted it was higher but it still possessed his same tone, and the proud way he held himself despite being a small child. It all screamed his Levi.

If that wasn't a big enough clue the little world in front of him was a giveaway. He had built three walls out of Lego, smallest in the middle and slowly getting larger all protecting a kingdom in the middle. The walls weren't perfect circles but they were as close as he expected a child to get using square blocks. He had small action figures with strings wrapped around them as a crude attempt at 3-D maneuver gear and big action figures lying on the ground around his walls where the titans had clearly been defeated.

As if moving on their own accord Eren's feet carried him across the room, as if there was an unknown pull towards this boy that he couldn't fight. Mirroring Raquel he knelt down on the ground next to the walls, finally seeing the face he'd been denied for so long. At his approach Levi did look up, meeting the eye of the older boy for the first time.

Eren felt himself gasp as he looked into the small boys eyes, they were his Levi's eyes. The same steel eyes staring back at him that he'd seen so much in his dreams, but they seemed wider, more innocent than what he was used to. His whole face was softer in fact, the scowl he'd perfected was long gone, the weight of everything no longer wresting on his shoulders. There even appeared to be a hint of a smile on his face that was always a rarity with Levi unless there was crude humour involved.

There were changes to him but Eren could tell it was his Levi, it was definitely his Levi.

He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he wanted to laugh, he wanted to hold him close but he knew he couldn't, he knew he had to regain his composure.

"Hi Levi." He whispered, not realising how close to tears he was until he spoke.

"Hello." Levi replied, eyes never leaving his face.

Eren waited for a look of recognition, some sort of memory, a flicker that Levi understood how important they were to each other but there was nothing. Instead Levi's eyes flicked between the face of his mother and the stranger before glancing back to his toys, picking up his game as if the whole exchange had never happened.

Eren felt his heart sink rapidly at the dismissal, after all these years of waiting, planning for their grand reunion, thinking of how perfect everything would be when they were back in each other's arms he had never considered this possibility. Levi had no idea who he was.

…

Not sure how I feel about this one :/ any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks :)