Repentance
Levi x Petra

He didn't realize it until now. How much she clearly meant to him. The image of her... broken on the tree played with his heart strings and clouded his mind. His knuckles bled from making contact with a nearby tree various times. He recalled a time in the past. A time when he cold-heartedly rejected her. How he went against his own heart.

It was a fairly sunny day. The day before they took off to retrieve information from Jager's basement. Levi was on top of hill, overlooking the small village. He couldn't see past the walls though. The walls that protected them from what lay behind it. He was preparing his mind for the journey when someone interrupted his thoughts.

"Captain L-Levi!" Petra stuttered. Levi turned towards her, his eyes bearing the same blank look it always had.

"What is it?"

"I just... I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time," Petra muttered, "and I might not get to at later on."

Levi stays quiet. His face was blank but inside his heart threatened to break out of his chest. They were preparing to face the nightmare outside the walls again though this time, they might actually come back with evidence of Titans. It was all thanks to a headstrong kid named Eren Jager. Levi knew the consequences this mission could have. Petra did too. That was why she had to do this. So Petra continues.

"I... Uhm... LEVI I LOVE YOU!" She squeezes her eyes shut. Levi's heart swells but then breaks. This couldn't happen. He was a Captain. One of the best too. He didn't have time for love. He didn't need to waste his time. He had the fate of humanity in his shoulders.

"Petra."

With that one word, Petra's eyes snap open. She looks at the man she's been in love with for a long time and notices how his expression didn't change. Of course. He must have been getting love confessions from girls here and there. Petra was just another. She ignores the sound of her heart breaking and smiles widely.

"I understand."

She quietly walks away. Only when she turns around does she let her tears fall. Biting her lip, she clenches her hands into fists. How stupid of her. Of course he wouldn't reciprocate her feelings. This was Captain Levi we were talking about. What she didn't know was how Levi's heart yearned for her but his brain confused him. His brain told him, it was for the best.

The guilt he had felt when Petra's father had come up to him with that letter was compared to a thousand sharp knives digging into his own heart. His empty heart. The heart that should have belonged to Petra. The heart that died with Petra. Now, he was standing alone, on the very same hill where Petra had confessed to him. The very same hill where he should have accepted her love.

Now, it was too late. She was gone. Vanished from existence. Her body lost into the outside world where it rotted either inside a titan's stomach or on the ground. Levi's heart clenched painfully and he gives another blow to the tree. He drops on his knees and let's the tears fall silently. Levi lets the wind carry the last whispered words he has to say about Petra. Words that were so full of sorrow and regret. Words that just didn't matter anymore.

"I love you too."

A/N: small one-shot that I had so trouble publishing like omg, why is it so complicated to publish LOL anyways yeah, I haven't written in awhile, my previous stories, I deleted. So I guess this is considered my first again? Hope you enjoyed! NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO COPY/SAVE THIS STORY WITHOUT PERMISSION! Please please ask permission if you want to save this offline~ you should always ask the author because a lot of people save stories and then credit themselves, like really? Anyways, THANKS FOR READING AND I HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT~