New Struggles
Chapter One
The year was 1940. Rivaille frowned as he stood in the line along with all the other French Jews with him. He sighed when he got up to the front of the line, taking the golden star that had the word 'Juif' printed clearly on the front.
"God save us all." He heard an old man say as the stars were sewn onto their coats, marking each and every one of them. The short man frowned and watched angrily as he saw passersby watching what was going on, muttering softly about it all. He sighed and moved to return to his small apartment, knowing his rights were being stripped away. He stripped off his jacket and moved to make himself a cup of tea, settling down on the chair at his small dinner table. He sighed and turned on the radio to fill the silence, listening to the broadcast of how Hitler had taken over France and was under control of the Third Reich.
"Ah, mon Dieu. This will all be the death of me." He groaned before moving to continue on going about his day, taking a long bath before going to bed. This time, though, he didn't sleep well. The screams of the Germans filled the streets, along with the sounds of their guns. He frowned when he looked out his window to see an innocent Jewish woman getting shot in the head. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach. After all, he'd always hated unnecessary deaths.
He sighed and sat down on his bed, holding the Torah close and muttering a prayer with his eyes closed. He wasn't exactly the most faithful people, but he would still try his best to pray when he felt it was really needed. The night went on for what seemed like forever, and the soldiers never left.
The young man had been trying desperately to keep out of the camps he'd heard about the German Jews going to. He sighed as he bade his time through the night, drinking tea and just staying awake all through the night, hiding out in his apartment from the Nazis below.
It was going well, until about noon the next day. Rivaille jumped, cursing as he spilled his tea when he heard the loud boots and shouting pounding throughout his apartment complex before his door was thrown open. He watched, dumbfounded and confused as the men pushed him off his chair and onto the ground, yelling at him in German. He frowned as he was tugged up from the ground forcefully, hugging his Torah close as he was forced into the back of a truck along with a bunch of other confused men, women, and children. He let a small toddler girl sit on his lap, trying to calm her down as they were driven off to who knew where.
They ended up getting unloaded when they got to a sort of halfway point camp. Levi was pushed into a tent with three other men, sighing as he sat down. They all sat around, trying to chase away the bad thoughts by telling personal stories and refusing to talk about the elephant in the room. They all jumped when the curtain was pulled back.
The man behind the curtain had messy brunet hair under the round helmet and wore the usual German military uniform. He seemed younger than Rivaille, though not really by much. The smaller Frenchman couldn't help but notice his brilliant blue-green eyes. He figured that, in an ideal world, he'd want to marry someone with those kinds of eyes just so he could wake up to them every morning.
The young man looked around at the men before making eye contact with him and smiling a bit.
Eren Jaeger had been dreaming about what gone down in history as the Titanic Age. He had all his memories, knowing full well that he'd once worn the same uniform as the man clutching the Torah next to him, the Wings of Freedom emblazoned on their backs. He smiled pleasantly as he'd finally found the man he'd been looking for after years of searching.
"Captain Levi, I've finally found you." He said to the other man with a friendly smile, speaking perfect English, knowing full well that the other would man would understand.
Rivaille's eyes widened at the words, scooting backwards from the German man worriedly. "You're spewing nonsense. And you're not pronouncing my name right. It's Rivaille, with the French R." he replied to the other man, getting the odd feeling that he could trust the man not to hurt him despite their current positions.
Eren just smiled happily to him and gave a soft laugh, clapping his shoulder. "You haven't changed, Corporal Levi Rivaille. Either way, I found you. This time, I'm going be the one to protect you."