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Waves crash against the shores, roll in a whisper that's as soft as the winds. Where is he?
He opens up his eyes. There's sand all around him, seeping through his clothes. It doesn't take long for him to recognize the widened coasts, golden and warm. The land where he had once been happy, free as the roaring of the seas.
But, how did he end up here? All he remembers was shutting his eyes close to sleep. Saying goodbye to Gabi and Falco, as he would on any other night.
Why aren't they here, then? They wouldn't let him wander off alone.
He stands, lets the breeze tug at his hair, hushed-down and tender. It seems, the sun shines with newfound sparkle. That the skies merge into one with the waters, and nothing can hurt him anymore.
Maybe, he thinks, it's that the ocean sings and there's only lullabies left to hear. That the air smells of sweet beginnings, and war is nothing but a distant memory, lit somewhere on his skin.
He walks, fast as his muscles allow him to. One. Two. Three. His legs move, swift and harmless as they've ever been. It feels, like he's learning how to do life again. That he's just a regular human who's been given a second chance at loving.
He guesses, it's why he doesn't appear surprised when he can take yet another step. There’re no more battles to be set. No more aching on his heart. And little there is of that once broken soldier.
Now, he can be a reckless spirit. Can paint himself all the colors of the sunset. He can choose a million different paths and hide in a million different planets.
He smiles. Something has bloomed from deep within, burns impatient at the idea of liberation. And, as he crouches down to touch the ground once more, he's certain: his time had come.
His soul has spread its wings, brighter than every sunrise.
"Levi!", a voice calls from the distance. And his heart stops, all of a sudden. Sinks at how his name sounds on their lips.
Hanji. Hanji Zoe. He would have known it was them, even at the ends of the world.
He runs. One. Two. Three. His breath falters, and his limbs are numb and the one thing that lingers is the trace of his footprints, fading on the shores. Perhaps, he promises, this time around he’ll leave everything behind. He'll seek the horizons and never look back. Here, where spring grows ever long, there's no room for tragedy. No place to mourn what once was.
"Hanji!"
He's going to see them again. After all these years. They are going to be together for good. Together at last.
They turn to him, and open up their arms, like he's been gone and this is a long-due call home. Like a lifetime's slipped between them and they wanna smash into him, ever so carefree.
"You came back for me...", they whisper, breathless. They're melded with the waters; their clothes melting into foam. A smile buzzes on their lips, broad as the seas below. And Levi thinks, sure enough, he'd trade until the last of his heartbeat to make this moment eternal. To stand the two of them, forever in their little scraps of heaven.
He nods, nuzzles in the comfort of their chest. Hanji's pulse is calm and warm and steady. A rhythmic melody that's turned to song. And he decides, maybe, he'll make a home out of its compass. Guard it a secret, forever safe within his fist.
Do they know, how many dreams he's ached just to hold them close? How many nights he's bled out their name?
"I had to...", he says, hushed against their skin. There's a tear that falls, followed by one and then another. He'd buried love more times than he'd seen it bloom. Had said goodbye with his tongue tied and his eyes wide-opened.
Still, this is his very first reunion. The sweetest of them all. The bare proof that there's a ray of illusion that parts through one's grief.
He steps back to look at Hanji. How their hair flows with the breeze, braided with golden and salt. The way their face glows with every certainty: wild, yet angelic all the same.
They have been the sunshine to his rain. His bindweed roots, in a universe that could only crumble into flames.
How could he not come back for them? It was the only wish his heart had flown for.
"I...", he cracks. His voice is shattered, a low rasp that blurs into the currents. Hanji wipes the sorrows away; their thumb catching off the drops that unravel, soft as the morning dew.
And he can see it clear. A realization that scars him deeper than the day they left:
They're crying, too.
"I've missed you, Levi.", they sob. They're so close, he can feel the pink of their blush. Count the pulse in every breath. "I've missed you so much."
He exhales, in and out. He had always been one to crave in silence. A lone spectator that yearned from the trenches. Truth was, fate had taken more than he could give. That he had to grow layers not to be left with just his soul to carry.
But none of it matters anymore.
Not when him and Hanji can have the skies all for themselves. That forever's a blank canvas, and they can go on adventures, like they're little kids again.
He leans in, tucks a strand of brown behind their ear. Words have never been his greatest virtue. And so, he guesses, he can finally start now, after all.
"I've missed you..."
Hanji smiles, cups his face before their lips meet. It’s a soft kiss. One that’s filled with a life-time of tenderness. Their mouths press, one over the other: warm and steady and fearless. And, it seems, years of pent-up emotion come afloat. Like the perfume of a sunny day. Like the perching of a butterfly.
Levi hums into the kiss, tugs Hanji by the waist. Their hands are on his hair; his explore their back. He wants to paint and hug and discover each scrap that there’s to them. To run across the beach and jump to the moon; for he’s got happiness between his fingers. After all this hurting. After all this time.
He pulls away. His nose nudges against theirs, seeks constellations inside their irises. He has the feeling, that fortune shines on him, at last. That, maybe, everything will be just like before, when their eyes were filled with possibility and stars were new for them to catch.
Do they know, how many sunsets he’s prayed to? How many pieces had he been torn to, just to guard their memory?
He kisses them again and again, and again once more. Kisses them long and hard and tender, as if life could freeze in the traces of their touch. He kisses them sweet and sour, and broader than the skies. For all those other nights he couldn't kiss them while on Earth.
Hanji holds him dear, puts their arms around every crevice in his body. They can taste the salt in his tears, how they mingle with the flutter of their mouths. And they want to rock him to the waves, sail away from every scar.
"Have I ever told you...?", they whisper, like sugar on his lips. It's a promise that bares them whole, a confession meant just for him to savor. "How beautiful you are...?'
Levi stays still. He had been called many honors in the breathing world, but never this. It means more than he can claim to, really. That he's drawn in such delicate lights. That he's turned to a precious landscape, as if his vulnerable is something worth to keep.
Was Hanji aware, how long he'd waited for the words to slip? How bad he'd burnt, trapped in every aching fantasy?
He pulls them in again, squeezes so tight they might as well collapse. He can't remember when it was the last time someone had made him feel seen, unshielded of all that he is. The sleepless nights he'd yearned for anybody to discover the pretty to his broken.
He sighs. Hanji handles him with care. Like he's a fallen comet and they're scared they'll make him melt. It’s the brightest of comforts, indeed: how they stroke his cheeks, oh so gentle. How he can show his imperfect to someone who simply understands.
“Will you go again…?”, he asks. His voice falters, and he’s a kid all over. That same child who’d been once left to grow so quick.
Hanji shakes their head. Levi could be silly sometimes. But they love him so, even at that. After all, he had always been like this beneath the surface. The fissures on fine porcelain. The craters on the moon. The colors of the wind.
How could they not come back for him? It was the only wish their heart had ever starved for.
“I’m not going anywhere…”, they reassure, kissing the tears off his skin. It’s an oath that’s easy to make, this time around. That they can hold each other safe, where infinity meets the shores. That they can show themselves bare, play hide and seek.
Levi smiles, even through the rainfall. And he nods, throws himself into Hanji once more. After all, it had always been like this with them, too. In the end, they had always been one to keep their promises.
“We’ll be together, for a life-time and beyond.”