Even after everything went black, Eren still dreamed it, over and over.

Ceaselessly reliving the moment that he died.

Why can't I move my body...

All I can do is stare defeat in the face...

All I can do is wait for death.

Wait to lose...

Wait for my will to fight for humanity, my dream to kill every titan on earth..

To Disappear.

And yet...

I can't hear the screaming of my comrades anymore as they fight in vain to reach me in time.

Neither can I hear the horror, the death surrounding me...

All I can hear is the unutterable truth spinning around in my unresponsive head...

That I will never see Levi again.

I will never be able to describe the fire that he set In me.

But then again...

As if I ever could.

As If I could ever even begin to tell him how much I cherish him.

But still...

My eyes are open, staring vacantly forward, as the titan lowers me inch by agonizing inch into its monstrous mouth.

And all I can see before everything amounts to nothing...

Is Levi, my love, running with fury in his eyes that I've never seen... To reach me.

And my last thought that accumulates in my fading mind is a weakened whisper, one last plea for the sun on my face, for life, and for the chance to stay with the love of my life.

"Levi."

And then, Eren died.

At least, he thought that is what happened.

Until the astoundingly shocking moment that he felt arms around him, pulling him back.

And before Eren lost all ability to register his surroundings, he wondered vaguely,

If he may yet survive to see another day.

To see Levi again.

And somehow, even as the world around him never ceased to fade and fade away,

He knew that he would.

Coming back to reality proved to be nothing but bitterness. Levi never could have prepared himself for what happened when he opened his eyes.

The morning light of the sun filtering through the windows all but blinded the Captain as he groaned.

"Levi, you're finally awake!"

Levi cracked his eyes open to find that Hanji, her eyes red and swollen with tears, sat beside the bed in which he lay.

All at once, the events of the scouting mission came flooding back into Levi's mind, and his eyes popped open before he could stop them.

Levi also found that his ability to filter his words had finally snapped.

The Captain shot up in his bed, ignoring the pain that seared through his body and the panic protests from Hanji.

"Where's Eren?" Levi demanded, his heart pounding in his ears. "Hanji, where is he!? I need to see him now!"

Hanji pressed down on Levi's shoulders to force him down onto the bed.

"Eren is fine!" Hanji shouted. "He was released from the hospital two hours ago. Because of his titan powers he healed a lot faster than you did."

Levi took deep breaths as he tried to relax.

Looking into Hanji's eyes, a massively heavy weight crushed his heart as he realized that she knew.

She knew everything.

Tears pricked at Levi's eyes as he spoke with a trembling voice.

"How did you find out?"

Hanji was silent before answering very quietly.

"After we all witnessed what happened back at the scouting mission... The way that you actually jumped into a titan to save him, something you'd NEVER do... Erwin was the first to question the relationship between you and Eren."

Somehow, Levi and Hanji's fingers had become intertwined. Levi clung to her hand for life support as she continued.

"It was Armin who told us," she whispered sadly. "It wasn't a betrayal; Armin was given no choice but to tell us. He was in tears, I've never seen him so upset."

When Levi looked up with eyes blurred by tears, he saw that Hanji was crying too.

Levi tried to force down the terror building within him, but to no avail.

All of his worst nightmares were coming true.

After a long beat of tense silence, Levi whispered with inevitable apprehension.

"What will happen to us now?"

Hanji sobbed softly.

"Erwin didn't want to do this, but as commander of the scout regiment he had no choice but to inform the supreme commander of the situation."

Levi held his breath until Hanji finished.

"You have to go to court and accept the consequences of your actions."

Levi cried silently for a long time, sitting with Hanji, grieving for the past, grieving for now. Grieving his defiant heart that had been the end of him.

"We knew the risk," Levi whispered once more. "I understood that something like this was bound to happen."

Hanji looked up into Levi's eyes.

"It's so unfair," she whispered furiously. "Love should never have a consequence, or a price. In this world especially. There should not be rules for it, or limits set on it. It's so rare in this world, Levi. And I want you and Eren to stay together, the way it should be. You should never be separated, it makes me sick!"

Levi stared at Hanji with astonishment, and she did nothing but weep.

"It's what we all think," she said. "There isn't a single person here who hasn't cried since we heard the news."

Levi's heart lurched.

"How's Eren?" Levi asked, although he feared the answer.

Hanji cast her eyes down.

"We can't let you see him, and we can't let him see you. For a while as you slept, he was trying to beat down the door to get to you."

Levi felt his heart finally explode as his breath hitched in his throat, despair flooding his emotions.

"After a while, we had to drag Eren to the basement and lock him in there to keep him away," Hanji murmured. "Please, Levi. Don't make me do the same to you."

Levi felt more tears burn hot on his cheeks.

"I won't," he whispered. "But I need to know that he's alright. That's all that I want."

Hanji was silent for a long time.

"He will be. He has to be."

Levi nodded slowly, as a solemn silence swept over the two, and all they could do was hold each other's hands and weep soundlessly.

It was Armin who told Eren Levi's fate.

The blonde had been sitting on the roof of headquarters, waiting for Jean to show up, however wounded he may be from the battle.

But after waiting for all but a whole day, Armin began to understand.

He had lost sight of him in the midst of the battle, and now, Jean wasn't coming back.

Armin walked down from the roof, and soon after was summoned to Erwin's office.

Erwin then told Armin that Levi was going to court.

Armin wasn't surprised, or sad, or angry.

He felt nothing.

And the look conveyed in Eren's gaze upon hearing the news was that of nothingness.

Neither of them were able to feel any emotions anymore.

Eren was forced to stay in the basement of headquarters, chained, his thoughts empty, as Levi was escorted away. Armin stood with the rest of the dead silent scout regiment, watching Levi go.

No one could cry anymore.

Especially when darkness swept over them in a blanket of quiet night, and Levi's figure disappeared over the horizon.

OH MY GOD THE END IS NIGH. SERIOUSLY, JUST TWO CHAPTERS LEFT AFTER THIS ONE. OMGGGGGGG.

*cries*