Author's Note: Short chappie to test water. Pleased to find that people are still interested in the fic and the ship. Shoutout to the two people who reviewed Blissful Dream!

The End of Time

Chapter 15 - Pain

"Isabel?" Levi asked. There was no impatience in his voice but only concern.

The wind continued wailing, tugging and grabbing at both their uniforms but they remained motionless. Only the sounds of the heavy breath of the horses mingled in the weeping wind.

"Ani-!" The red head broke off mid-sentence. Her mouth was still opened as though as she was going to continue speaking. But she didn't. Eventually, she shut her mouth.

"What?" Levi frowned, remembering the cryptic sentence she had said a few minutes earlier on.

"Ah! I wanted to ask you about what we are eating for dinner!" Isabel's green eyes shone in the darkness, reminding Levi of a cat.

He knew she was lying the very moment her sentence finished but thought better of asking her for now. "You choose."

The urgent sounds of hoofs stomped the ground, mixed with the heavy sound of rain. Rivulets of rain water trickled down the sloping path, causing the horses to proceed with caution.

"Get the hurricane lamps. The fire will die out," Hanji, pulling on her green hood, commanded. Thick icy sheets of rain obscured her vision and she felt unexplainably edgy. Fear nibbled at her stomach and she had to close her eyes for a second to calm herself down. An ominous feeling engulfed her but she swallowed back the feeling.

She had an inkling that she may be too late.

A man from behind the men she was leading lighted up the hurricane lamp. The surrounding was immediately suffused with eerie golden light. Yet, it did little in helping her plan the road ahead. When she was here the day before, it wasn't pouring so heavily, so the road was easy to ride on. Now, it looked entirely different; it looked sinister.

Nevertheless, she pressed on, to the little cottage where the blacksmith Levi had suggested to them lived. The village was strangely quiet. Hanji swung her legs over the horse and dismounted with the grace of a rider who had a decade of experience in her. She strode toward the cottage, ignoring the splatters of mud on her riding boots. She knocked on the door, paying no attention to the loud voices of her squad cautioning her from behind.

With no reply from inside the cottage, she narrowed her gaze, feeling the fear inside her grew with every second of silence. Holding her breath, she kicked the door opened.

A man laid in the middle of the room. Crimson red liquid seeped into the carpets, dyeing them a rich rufous colour. The acrid smell of death hung in the air.

"Moblit!" Hanji shouted; the urgency in her voice causing the man who was called to scamper into the house. He wrinkled his nose at the pungent smell but did not say a word.

"Was this the blacksmith?" Hanji asked dully.

Moblit surveyed the corpse in the room. His eyes were still opened, frozen in vengeance and shock even in his death. Moblit grimaced at the gruesome death that was bestowed upon the man. His face was mangled with sharp blades but his clothes – the same as the one he wore when he greeted them yesterday – gave away his identity.

Hanji closed her eyes, feeling her temple throbbed. The room swayed a little and Moblit had to quickly stabilise her.

"Squad leader!" He exclaimed in worries.

Hanji opened her eyes again, glanced at the corpse with pity and sadness and guilt, before turning to face her loyal subordinate. "Our search for the blades had come to a dead end."

Words travelled fast, as it always did, when it was bad news. As the death of the blacksmith fell upon people's ears in gossips, they started avoiding the Survey Corps. Every single plea for a blacksmith or merchant was denied without hesitation, unless the Royal Government personally deliver the instruction.

Erwin was asked to go to the Royal Government; no doubt having to receive a harsh punishment. Hanji did not give up and she was assisted by Furlan, Eren and his friends but the lack of help means that there were no more blades to try out and no new experiments allowed. For Isabel, Levi noted that she disappeared on some days but on the days she was around, she helped with the ongoing research. Levi wanted to ask her about her strange behaviours that night, of her disappearance, and of her quietness around him these few days. But he knew a direct confrontation would just cause Isabel to scamper away and distance herself. Furthermore, he had something urgent to do first.

Something urgent and dreadful.

When the death of the blacksmith reached his ears, and his brain had registered the news, he had felt tremendous guilt. It was him who had directed the Survey Corps to the blacksmith. Knowing he had indirectly caused the blacksmith death, he was beyond disgusted with himself. Then, he realised that there would be another person who would feel guilty too.

Her.

She had introduced the blacksmith to him when he asked her that night he sought shelter in her café. She had smiled and said that she knew a blacksmith – her father's friend – who had moved to a rural village for his retirement and had absolutely no connection to the government. Moreover, with his retirement, he would have been removed from the list of official blacksmith the Royal Government held.

As he trudged his way through the muddy forest – since the Survey Corps was more of fugitives than a military fraction at this point of time – he wondered what he would say to her.

"I am sorry."

Levi scowled. Like that would cut it, he scoffed to himself. Tching at the mud and grass stain on his boots, he moved through the forest with the ease of a man who had spent decades in forests.

They said when you were continuously exposed to something, you became desensitised to it. For example, a doctor who had always seen corpses wouldn't be so shock compared to a civilian who just saw one; another example would be that of the difference in reaction between a soldier from Survey Corps and one from the Military Police Brigade when a titan appeared in their line of vision. No offense or mocking there. Levi just thought that it was hard to stomach deaths no matter how many times. Eyes wide open, intestines spilling out, features in frozen fear.

Levi was never really good dealing with deaths. Yet, from young, since his mother's death, he had never shed a tear over anyone's death – except for Furlan's and Isabel's. It was like he had difficulty expressing weakness. Either that, or he had no time to grief. Life kept going forward.

Too soon, he reached the cobble street that would carry him to her shop. He walked slowly toward it, warily scanning the streets in case someone hunting the Survey Corps would spring on him.

He stopped when he saw her from afar.

Her shop was opened and she was sending off a customer who seemed to have purchase heavy bulks of products, considering the trolley he was pushing. She bided the man a cheerful goodbye before taking a broom that was lying by the front window and began sweeping the entrance. He watched her for a little, noticing again how pretty she was. Her long locks suited her so fine. Before being disgruntled with himself. He was not here to ogle at her, for fuck sake.

He stepped forward.

A man came out of the shop and Petra turned, laughing, as the man swept her into a hug from behind. She turned her face so that she could press a small kiss on his nose.

He vaguely recalled her doing that when she thought he was asleep on his bed. On their bed.

He stopped.

It was amazing how emotional pain differed so much from the pain he experienced when he twisted his ankle to save Mikasa and Eren, from the pain he had in his years of near-death experiences. It was not like deep cuts, not like fresh wounds, and not like yellowish-purple bruises that had blossomed from some nasty cuts, and when even gently touched, hurt like fuck. It was just a heavy feeling.

Just a heavy feeling. Sounded so innocuous. It was anything but.

It felt like somebody shattered your heart and it ached but you know you were not experiencing any bout of conditions. Your head spun and there was sharp stinging feelings in the corner of your eyes. But nothing came. Just a deep heavy feeling that sank into your very core, making you wish to do anything – anything – to make it go away.

That was how Levi felt. He considered turning away but he was still rational enough. He came to apologise. Not to let his personal feelings trample over.

"Petra," he opened his mouth and watched as the couple a few feet away from him turned to face him. In those few seconds, he regretted opening his mouth.

"Levi?" She sounded so fucking surprised. Like seeing a stranger greeting you.

Well, technically, he was a stranger. Agony stabbed twice.

"Can I have a talk with you?" He asked. His voice came across as defensive as he stared at the man beside Petra. Fair skin and fair hair, he was a decent-looking man. Not that Levi cared about looks.

Petra blinked, looked taken aback, but nodded anyway. For a second there, Levi thought she would ask him to just speak in front of the man but she smiled, said something discreetly to the man and beckoned Levi to follow her into the kitchen.

"Tea?" Petra asked, reaching for a pot.

"About the blacksmith…sorry," he looked up into her eyes and watched a mixture of emotions flew passed her irises.

For what seemed like eternity, she did not reply. Then, she dropped her gaze. "Honestly, I was a little angry with you-"

Levi couldn't imagine Petra – kind and sweet Petra – to be ever angry. But he was reminded that she was human. The bolt of realisation came quickly with other thoughts. Thoughts that disturbed him. Did he make her angry when he did not reply her love for him? Was she angry when he did not allow her to participate in the 57th expedition?

"But I realised that I was to blame," Petra looked up and smiled sadly at him, bringing him back to reality. "I shouldn't have-"

"It is everyone's fault; not just one person's," Levi interrupted; somehow the way she said it was her to blame – like it was solely her fault – irked Levi.

"M-my dad and I attended the funeral and…" she trailed off as, Levi watched, with uncharacteristic alarm and subtle concern, tears started falling down her face. Levi reached out but before he had the courage to pat her shoulder, Petra's fiancé barged into the kitchen and swept her into a cradle.

She wept in his shoulder and the man shot Levi an annoyed look as though as he was responsible for the ginger head's tears. Which Levi supposed it was true. Levi slowly crumpled his hand into a fist and dropped it limply to his side. Knowing there wasn't anything more to say or add, he left quietly.

"Isabel, it is now."

"You said two more weeks!" The red hair looked so broken that Furlan bit the inside of his cheeks to say more.

"Do…we really have to? Now?" Isabel stared woefully at the silvery blonde hair man who shifted uncomfortably under her pleading gaze.

"I thought you like the girl," Furlan commented.

"I do," Isabel nodded furiously, bobbing her head up and down and causing her pigtails to bounce back and forth. "But…" she trailed off and her eyes met Furlan's. "You know…" she shrugged helplessly and stared at her boots.

"We fucked up," Furlan said, staring across to the window where a small patch of sky was visible. "It was really going to be two more weeks. But that was before we thought we were able to find the last material."

The door slammed opened suddenly and their heads snapped up to see Levi trampling in. His face was devoid of expressions but you don't just know somebody for years without reading him or her well. Furlan and Isabel could clearly see the chaos behind his irises.

"Aniki," Isabel started – always the one taking initiative. "We are going to Hanji's. Are you going too?"

The man paused in his step, glanced up at her as though as seeing her there for the first time. He nodded and said he had to go change into his uniform before leaving the room.

Isabel and Furlan watched quietly as he descended the steps and as his footsteps faded away.

"Now?" Isabel broke the silence, her voice faint.

"Now," Furlan said but he thought he heard his voice cracked.

Levi was changing into his uniform, his mind blocking out the memories of Petra in the other man's embrace, when he heard the sound of knocking on his door.

He straightened his Survey Corps' jacket. Petra was never his. In this life, he was strangers with her and that was alright. She was alive and happy. It should be good enough for him – for everyone.

The door opened and Isabel stepped in.

Levi flickered his irises to Isabel and all negativity washed away. It felt good being here – in this castle where with Isabel and Furlan, it felt like home.

"Furlan said we should have dinner before going to Hanji's. He is making it now," Isabel said and with a graceful bounce in her steps, she crossed her way to his bed and sat down. Levi would usually be annoyed by the fact that someone else – who he was not sure was cleaned or not – was sitting on his bed but Isabel, being Isabel, was always excused from all these. A bit like Petra, a small voice inside him reminded but he squashed it down.

He swung his attention back to the red hair swinging her legs absentmindedly over his bed.

"What?" He started, walking over to the cabinet to fold his clothes he was wearing earlier on.

Isabel startled and her legs stopped swinging. "Erm. Remember when I stopped you the other time?"

"Which time?" Levi asked, amused. "You stopped me plenty of times every day."

He thought that would earn a cheeky smile from the red head but instead, said girl looked up at him with a weird glint in her eyes. She gathered her legs onto the bed and embraced them with her hands, rocking herself back and forth. Alarm bells rang in Levi's head. He had the strangest feeling that he did not want to hear what she was going to say.

"Have you hear before the Schrödinger's cat?"

Levi took a second to register the familiar wordings in his mind. Then, it clicked. He had the painful conversation of it with the ginger head. "Yes," he nodded, watching as surprise flitted over the other girl's features.

"I can be the Schrödinger's cat," Isabel said suddenly and Levi took note of her voice raising a pitch higher.

"What the fuck are you saying?" Levi replied; a part of him felt puzzled but the rest of him felt dread trickling into him without a possible explanation.

"Language," Isabel admonished but her voice lacked her usual strength and it came out feeble. "It means," the girl suddenly stopped rocking herself and swallowed loudly. "It means-"

Levi was wary suddenly. Not only because of her nervous demeanour and her voice going two pitches higher, his inner voice screaming at him to get out of the room was more than enough to warrant a turmoil in him.

"It means youcangobacktoyourownworldandheckcareFurlanandIandgobacktoPetra!" Isabel exclaimed loudly, her words tangling and mashing together into a non-decipher sentence.

But Levi understood.

They said time stands still but he didn't believe it or wasn't bothered about it. Even when deaths of the comrades pierced through his system and thoughts, time did not stand still. It marched forward relentlessly and cruelly, like a soldier serving a mission.

Until now. Everything went against whatever notion he knew.

Time stood still.

"Isabel, repeat." His voice was very monotonous but stern.

The red head darted her wide green irises to the door behind him. Her eyes were frantically searching for an exit but in the midst of her chaos, her irises reflected an immense amount of pain.

The red head inhaled sharply. "Look, Aniki. Actually," she fidgeted with her fingers a little, "actually, we know about your…little phenomenon."

Levi stared at her with diluted pupils. His autonomic nervous system's sympathetic branch was shouting at him to "flight". But he was a soldier who faced man-eating creatures almost every weekly, like one would face his or her boss for meeting fortnightly. Terrifying. Annoying. But familiar. He was acclimated to danger and running was never an option. He chose to "fight". And so he stayed to glance at the girl who had seemed to be reduce to a fragile glass doll.

Isabel dropped her gaze to her knee. "On the day Aniki saved me from the two thugs, I was really grateful. I found people who cared about me. I was happy, and I think Furlan was happy, and I think Aniki was happy. Everyone was happy-"

Levi knew where she was going. "Isabel, stop-"

"But I guess time wasn't guaranteed to last, was it?" Isabel's lips quivered. She looked up and Levi caught the pain engraved in the small smile she wore. His eyes darted up from her pale shivering lips to her green irises that were glistening with unshed tears. His heart clenched.

"I thought I know what it is like to be lonely. All alone. But I guess I got greedy and forgot about it…"

"Stop!" Levi stepped forward, voice rising in volume.

But the petite girl sitting on his bed ignored him. "I didn't notice – or at least, I force myself not to notice – that the day you – you from the other world – came into our lives, I might have already lost something precious. I might have…" Her voice cracked and she trailed off, giving up on her voice. The tears that were unshed spilled forth, catching the evening sunlight and turning into golden glitter.

"You know, in this world, there is still another Aniki," she took a sharp breath and continued speaking, despite the wavering in her voice.

Levi felt a jolt of shock.

"He is from this world. I don't know where he is now that you are here. We are a bit confused too. But it is okay; it is still Aniki…" she paused as she wiped away the tears that had fallen onto her cheeks roughly. "That is how we noticed, you know? I mean we had all sort of weird dreams about the other world too. But we thought it was just plain weird creepy thing. But we noticed the pain in your eyes that wasn't there before in the other you. The haunted look. Like you lose someone."

Levi's breath hitched in his throat. He stepped forward again, so close to her he could reach out and touch her. He rarely ever showed negative emotions to the girl sitting in front of him, but today his desperation and his insanity exploded. He had just saw Petra and her fiancé, he had just heard her say she hated him, he had just saw her abandoning him, and now he heard Isabel wanting to throw him away too. These feelings changed into frustration and anger when they flood past his vocal cord and into open air.

"What do you understand about me? Let me be where I want and where I want is here!" He spat, seeing nothing in front of him other than red. Red that were bleeding into diluted pink. After today, he was determined to get rid of all her smiles and of the memories he had in the other world. This was where he belong. Surreptitiously, he gazed at the small chess piece on his nightstand and reminded himself to throw it away.

There was no reply from Isabel. He tore his eyes away from the chess and, not even meeting her eyes for fear of seeing her hurt, he gathered her into an embrace.

Isabel started at his sudden movement. One moment he was screaming at her, then falling quiet, and the next she was in his grip. It felt so very weird, holding him like this. It was the first time he ever did it to her. It showed. From his awkward hands still shuffling around to decide on where to land to his torso angling uncomfortably. She was going to be angry at him for hurting her with his words but something pulled the fire out of her. Perhaps it was because this was the first time he ever reveal his vulnerable side, perhaps it was because she could sense the despair the man radiated, but she swallowed her words back into her belly. Her eyes softened and she reached up to put her tiny hand on his muscular back, feeling his muscles coiled underneath her palm, tensing. She thought his frame shuddered but she wasn't so sure.

"Don't you dare think about it. Don't think about it. I will settle it on my own. So don't." His voice was fierce and Isabel was glad that he was not lost yet.

Isabel closed her eyes, feeling his weight pressed against her. For a fleeting moment, she let herself imagined the three of them together laughing happily, having delicious warm meals and spending the rest of eternity with each other. It was euphoria.

It was also a lie.

His haunted look flashed into her mind.

"You are such a bad liar," Isabel said quietly. "Who said you are a good liar, again?"

His head was against her shoulder and she couldn't see his face but she was sure his grip tightened.

"Aniki, I always have a wish," She said but without waiting for his reply, she continued. "I want you to be happy. I want you to be where you are. Where you are is not here. We parted ways in the other timeline, didn't we?" She cursed herself for letting her voice shakes. But she pressed on. "You are not happy now. If you love her, go back to her," she said softly.

"I am happy here." His voice was muffled into her clothes.

Isabel let out a small dry laugh despite herself. "You are such a bad liar, Aniki…Like I said just now, I can be the Schrödinger's cat. Put a lid back onto my box. Don't observe me. You won't know what I am doing – whether I am dead or alive."

"I already know you are alive." His quiet retort.

"Put me back into the box for a second time. Go back to her," Isabel replied.

"I will forget about her." Quieter this time around.

"You won't," Isabel said firmly. "I am sorry but this is woman's instinct. Aniki, you haven't even love anyone for the bloody half of your life. If you can love this woman, I am pretty damn sure you will love her forever."

There was silence. Both were still wrapped tightly around each other.

"Don't give me the bullshit that you don't love her. You do," Isabel whispered. "I saw the dreams. You were so happy with her."

"I am happy here." Voice stronger.

"It is a different type of happiness. It is a different type of love," Isabel said softly. "Go back. This timeline was never meant to happen to the you from the other timeline. It pains me to see you looking in such agony, in such emptiness every day."

There was no words from him for a very long moment and Isabel thought he had drifted off to sleep on her shoulder. But he spoke again. This time, with conviction.

"We are not having this conversation anymore."

Isabel sighed inwardly. She was about to open her mouth when she felt something cold and wet on her shoulder. She tensed. Then, she closed her eyes, sighed another time, and surrendered to the raw pain that both occupants in the room felt.

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