Summary : You and Fred shares a peaceful night at the burrow
🔥 Goodbye
Summary : It's time to say good bye to your relationship with Fred Weasley.
❤️🔥 Us
Fred weasley x Fem!reader
Summary : When (Y/n) save Fred from his death, (Y/n) was grateful that everything turns out well as she remember everything that had happened for the past few years.
❤️ SUPRISE!?
Soon-to-be Dad! Fred Weasley x Fem!reader
Summary : Fred have always love suprises and this time It's time to add another member in your little family.
❤️🔥 Your Height doesn't matter
Fred Weasley x Tall! Reader
Summary : Reader is taller than Fred. They feel insecure and scare about the possibility of Fred leaving them for someone shorter.
Coming soon!!!
❤️ Meeting the family
Fred Weasley x Slytherin! Reader
Summary : You are a Slytherin and this time you're meeting your boyfriend's family as his girlfriend what would their reaction be?
Summary: Fred Weasley x fe!ravenclaw!Reader -> You and Fred have been friends since First Year. But when Fred smells something familiar in his Amortentia potion, he has a small freak out.
Disclaimer: I haven't written for the HP fandom before so this might be bad. Slow burn and pining, ravenclaw!reader, angst. Kind of divergent from HP story line. This is a happy one -- apart from the nightmare/one bed trope. Lots of domestic fluff, best friends to lovers, reader is smart but oblivious. More yearning/pining, fluff and friendship.
For as long as Fred had known you, you’d been a mystery to him. Always quiet, but present. To him, at least. Not so much to others.
That was the reason you’d first met.
Just outside Transfiguration class, people didn’t seem to notice you. Too quiet for your own good, people simply tried to walk through you, instead of around you. Which, more often than not, resulted in the same thing; your shoulder being bumped harshly, your arms opening to try and balance yourself, your books falling from your arms and crashing and sliding across the cold stone of the castle floor.
“For the love of-” You sighed heavily before crouching down once the hallway was clear. The last thing you wanted was to crouch down and to be stomped on instead.
“Here, let me help.”
Those were the first words Fred Weasley ever spoke to you. He’d been walking down the hall when he saw your books fall to the ground. And despite being eleven years old, and one half of the known prankster team in your year, he was helpful.
“Sorry,” you apologised, for reasons unknown to Fred. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
After he introduced himself to you and asked your name, those kinds of interactions became common between you and Fred. When you were knocked over by a bunch of ignorant eleven year olds, Fred would help you.
He watched you for a while, too. Not in a creepy way or anything. He just…noticed you.
He noticed the way you stayed quiet, but always had the right answers written down. He noticed how your eyes would scan the whole of the Great Hall before taking a seat far away from others. He noticed how you pretended not to notice the funny looks people gave you.
He also noticed how you seemed to talk more with the older students than with students your own age.
As the years went on, he saw your confidence grow. You grew closer to him and his brother – which was mostly due to the fact that they came running over to you at least four times a term asking for help before they were kicked off the Quidditch team for terrible exam results.
But, despite the growing changes Fred saw in you, you somehow remained a mystery to him.
“Oi!” Fred heard his brother just before he felt a ball of parchment hit his head. “Where the hell were you?”
“I’m here. What?”
George looked towards Ron and Harry, before looking towards Hermione with a nod. “Told you. He’s off in dream land.”
“I am not.”
“Yes, you bloody well are!” Ron exclaimed. “You’ve been ignoring me for the last five minutes.”
“Hate to be the bearer of bad news, dear brother. But that was intentional.”
As Ron’s face dropped, George stood with a laugh. “Don’t take it to heart, Ron. Freddie here just doesn’t want to admit he’s dreaming of Y/n. He does have a massive crush on her, afterall.”
“No, I don’t!”
“Yes, you do!” The Golden trio announced along with George.
In a rare occasion, Fred couldn’t think of a comeback so fell back into the wooden chair he was lounging in.
“Come on, Fred. You can admit it.”
“There’s nothing to admit, Harry. I do not have a crush on Y/n.”
“Then why are you blushing?” Hermione asked.
Fred just went redder. “I-I’m not. You’re just seeing things. It’s warm in here. The fire is too hot.”
“The fire’s not even lit.” Ron pointed out, causing Fred to look over his shoulder.
“Oh,” he said, a little dejected before turning back with full confidence. “The sentiment still stands.”
“Just admit it, you were thinking about Y/n. It’s okay, Fred. It’s just us.”
“I don’t have to admit anything,” Fred said. “Because I wasn’t thinking about Y/n.”
“Me thinks you doth pretest too much, brother.”
George just got the screwed up parchment launched back at his own head.
Hermione chuckled. “Come on, Fred. Please. Please just tell us. You’ve been sitting here and barely said two words all day.”
Fred sighed, laying his head back. “She’s still a mystery.”
“Ooh.”
This time Hermione threw a withering look to all three boys who shut up the minute they saw it. George even sat down.
“Go on, Fred.”
Fred sighed once more. “It’s been nearly six years, and she’s still a mystery.”
George shrugged. “So? That’s just..her.”
“But she shouldn’t be! Not to me!” Fred exclaimed.
“Even married couples still learn things about each other when they’ve been married for fifty years,” Ron pointed out. “Look at mum and dad.”
“Mum and dad haven’t been married for fifty years.”
Ron shrugged. “Still.”
Fred looked as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. “There’s something else.”
“What is it?” Hermione asked, looking just as worried as the others.
“In potions class today…I could smell her.”
Harry’s brows furrowed. “Bit weird but…okay?”
“This isn’t some kind of werewolf trait, is it?”
George sighed, as did Hermione. “Ron.”
“No, you silly git. Don’t you think we’d know if Fred was a werewolf?” George shook his head.
“Then what’s the big deal? Maybe she was wearing more perfume than usual?”
“You were making Amortentia, weren’t you?” Hermione asked.
Harry leaned closer. “What- What is that?”
She turned to him. “Love potion. It’s meant to smell different to each person based on what they find most attractive. We won't learn it for another few years.”
Harry looked to Fred. “And you smelled…Y/n?”
Fred groaned and smacked his hands over his face.
“So what did she smell like?” Ron asked, only to be hit by Hermione.
“Ron. Fred doesn’t have to keep talking about it, if he doesn’t want to.”
“Freddie?”
Eventually, Fred answered. “Midnight. She smells of midnight. And stardust.”
“So what’s the big deal?”
“I don’t know why.”
Hermione’s brows furrowed. “Well, she’s a Ravenclaw, right? They’re up in the Astronomy tower. It’s probably just that. But I wouldn’t worry too much about what she smells like, or why. If I were you, I’d be more focused on the fact that it’s Y/n you associate Amortentia with.”
“Hermione’s right, Fred.” George added. “You won’t be able to ignore her forever.”
“Who says I’m ignoring her?”
George’s face dropped as if to say, “Seriously?”.
“You practically flew out of Snape’s classroom. You usually sit together at dinner. Instead, you’ve been hiding out here all afternoon.”
Fred knew his brother was right. And he knew Hermione was right, too.
So, between the tossing and turning in his bed later that night, Fred decided to do what he usually did when he couldn’t sleep. Take a walk around the castle.
And, for whatever reason. Call it a calling, call it fate, call it an accident; Fred found himself inside the Astronomy tower just as the bells of the clock tower started tolling twelve.
“What are you doing here?”
Walking around the circle, Fred found the owner of the voice sitting on the edge of the stone window, encapsulated in the glow of the moonlight.
It was you.
“Decided to take a walk,” Fred told you. “Couldn’t sleep. What about you?”
“I’m never asleep before midnight. Sometimes I think it’s a curse,” you chuckled. “But then I get to witness things like this and…” You took in a breath as you looked out to the night sky. “I realise just how lucky I am.”
“How poetic.”
You laughed softly as Fred took a seat directly in front of you, one leg bent up on the stone ledge.
“I didn’t see you today,” you said, looking back towards him. “At dinner. I got worried.”
“Oh, y-yeah. I just…fell asleep in my common room.”
You chuckled once more. “Should have guessed. You did run out of Snape’s classroom pretty quickly, too.”
“Oh, you were there?” Fred faked. Of course he knew you were in that classroom. You would have been partners if Snape hadn’t decided to set the pairs himself. “I-I guess I didn’t see you.”
“I guess so,” you hummed.
You might be a mystery to Fred, but even he knew when you knew something was up.
“Is everything okay?” You asked him. “With you? With us? With…anything?”
“Just a feeling…” you said, mostly to yourself but he heard you.
You might not ask him that night, but you would eventually. And, whenever that day would come, Fred would have to be more prepared and much more convincing before you’d stop worrying over him.
Only, the more he tried to ignore it, the worse things seemed to get.
“You know, for being a Gryffindor, you really are a coward,” George told his brother as Fred jumped to hide behind the small stone wall. Fred had spotted you turning the corner, deep in conversation with a Third Year Slytherin student. “Just tell her how you feel.”
“No!” Fred exclaimed in a hushed whisper. “Why-” Fred ducked again until you were clear out of sight. Thankfully, George came through, acting like he was reading back through the Charms essay he’d received back barely an hour ago.
“Why would I tell her when it could ruin everything?” Fred finally asked his brother. “She’s my friend.”
George nodded. “It still makes you a coward.”
Fred just groaned. “Look at her. She’s gorgeous.”
George followed Fred’s line of sight which landed on you just before you turned into your next classroom, the Slytherin student rushing down the hall to their own lecture before they were late.
George nodded and clapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “And all you have to do is tell her.”
“Why?”
“Because if you don’t, we’re gonna graduate and you’re gonna regret it for the rest of your life. Especially since she is the reason why we’re able to graduate in the first place.”
Fred groaned. He knew George was right. He just wished he wasn’t.
“Hey,” you smiled as you took a seat across from Fred.
He felt flustered, trying his best to hide the heat he could feel spreading across his cheeks. “Hi.”
“Not running away today, I see.”
“R-running?”
“Or hopping over stone walls.”
Fred felt guilty. Extremely guilty. “I-I wasn’t-”
“Relax,” you smiled. “You don’t have to explain it to me. But, as much as you’re still trying to avoid me, I would like to make one thing clear.”
Fred swallowed, hard.
“I still care about your education. And, so does George. So.” From your bag, you pulled a notebook of revision notes. Colour coded, sectioned and detailed.
Sliding it across the desk to Fred, he took it carefully. “Everything you need to know for the mocks is in there. And, don’t worry. It’s prank proof. Copying spells did the trick. If you get lost, just come and find me. Or George. I gave him a copy, too.”
As quick as you’d appeared in front of him, you left. And he was barely able to get the words, “Thank you,” and “I’m not ignoring you. I am actually madly in love with you and don’t know how to tell you,” out.
“Hey!” Hermione called over to him. “Follow her!”
Whatever courage and determination was in Hermione’s voice as she whisper-yelled at him, seemed to transfer over to him. Only, as he managed to catch up to you in the hallway, he wasn’t aware that his heart was just about to be ripped out…because of his own choices.
“Y/n, wait. I-I should have said something back there-”
Turning around, you looked at him with a knowing smile. “Look, you don’t have to worry about it Fred. I promise.”
“Wo…worry about what?”
With a hardened breath, you sighed. “I know what I’m like. I live with myself 24/7,” you chuckled to yourself. “Course’ I know what I’m like. My point is, it’s okay if you don’t want to be friends with me. I can be…a lot. I know I can be a lot. So, if you’ve been ignoring me because you don’t want to be friends anymore, then…that’s okay.”
“W-what?”
“To be honest, it’s not the first time it’s happened. And I’m sure it won’t be the last. But, again, that’s okay. I’m used to it. So…I’m here if you need help. Same goes for George and the others. But, if you feel any obligation to be my friend because of that, it’s okay. There’s no need.”
“Y/n…”
Again, you smiled. But Fred could see the pain masked behind it. “I hope the best for you, Fred. Truly. I’ll see you around.”
And just like that…
You were gone.
“And that was it?” Arthur asked from the fire.
Fred nodded. “What do I do, dad? She won’t talk to me. She thinks I find her…annoying. So she’s taken to ignoring me…for me. But I don’t! I don’t find her annoying.”
“Then tell her, son.” Arthur said. “Look, women can be…tricky. Wonderful, but tricky. Even after more than a thousand years, we still haven’t figured out what the right thing to do is. My advice is…be yourself. You say she knows you?”
Fred nodded. “Before I even do, sometimes. Most of the time.”
“Then she’ll see the real you. All you have to do is show her.”
“Alright.”
Arthur smiled. “It’ll work out in the end, son.”
It took some time, but eventually Fred figured out what to do.
“Figured I might find you here.”
Looking over from where you were sitting, you were a little shocked. “Fred.”
“I wondered if we could talk?”
Moving your legs from the stone edge, you nodded as he sat down. “Is everything okay?”
“Actually…no. It’s not.”
Fred had always been honest with you. Mostly because you could see right through his lies. So, instead of hiding the truth, why not give you a break from trying to read him? Why not just…come out with it?
“Oh?”
It had been killing Fred ignoring you. But, knowing you were letting him go, free of guilt, because you thought he didn’t want to be your friend? At the same time, telling him you’d be there for him when he needed help despite it all?
That hurt him more than anything else.
“You were wrong.”
“Excuse me?”
“About you and me. Well, I guess just…me. I wasn’t ignoring you because I didn’t want to be friends with you anymore. Or because I find you annoying. Or whatever reason you managed to cook up in that head of yours. I was ignoring you because…Merlin, this sounds so stupid,” Fred said to himself before taking a breath.
“Something happened…and it reminded me of you. And that…that scared me. A lot more than anything else ever has. Because we’re friends. Because I consider you to be…well, my best friend.” He quickly added, “Please don’t tell George.”
The light smile that passed by your lips helped relieve some of the weight off Fred’s shoulders. “I swear.”
“And that’s not just because you help me. Or because you help George.” Fred explained. “You’re my friend because I can trust you. You’re not my friend because of what you can do for me, Y/n. You’re my friend because of who you are. And…I want you to know that.”
Relaxing a little, Fred caught a small glimpse of the weight you had been carrying since the beginning. “Thank you, Fred. That…that means more than you could know.”
“I should hex anyone who made you feel like you could only be their friend because you did something for them,” Fred grumbled.
You chuckled, reaching out for him. “I appreciate that, but I’m better off without them. After all, if I’d stuck by them, I never would have dropped by books outside of class. And you never would have helped.”
Fred’s gaze softened. “You remember when we met?”
You nodded. “Of course, I do.”
Fred gave a smile as you smiled at him, so certain in your memory, it was almost like it was settled inside your bones, too.
“Mind me asking what it was that scared you?”
Fred’s smile faltered. “I think I’d like to keep that to myself. For now, at least.” Gently, he lay a reassuring hand on your arm. “But, I promise, when I’m ready, I’ll tell you.”
You gave him a gracious but understanding smile. “I can live with that.”
“Thank you.”
For the rest of the night, you and Fred sat on the edge of the Astronomy tower, watching the stars, moon and planets align. And, watching an unknown smile spread across your face, Fred smiled, too.
He finally knew why you always smelled of Midnights and Stardust.
Watching the moonbeams cast their familiar glow over your body, Fred watched as small freckles of what could only be considered stardust danced around you. It lifted a glow from you that made him thankful he got to see you like this.
Peaceful, quiet, but steady. There. As a constant. Not just because you were in his life. But because you were practically written in the stars; made out of the very things themselves.
“I guess I’ll see you next year?” You asked as everyone stood on the platform, getting ready to board the train back home.
Fred’s brows twitched. “What’s this about next year? Didn’t think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?”
Since the night in the Astronomy tower a few months ago, things had been smoother. Much smoother. Fred hadn’t told you what it was that had scared him, but you were just thankful to have your friend back.
“What?”
“You’re coming with us,” George said as he stepped behind his brother and boarded the train.
Watching him confused, you looked back at Fred who just smiled before following his brother.
“Wait!”
Finally catching up to them and taking your usual seat in their compartment, you looked between both of them.
“What do you say George? Should we tell her?”
“Tell me what?”
George looked at you with a coy smile. “I don’t know, Fred. Is she ready?”
“Tell me what?”
“Maybe we should-”
You groaned. “Oh, for the love of- tell me before I hex your hair green!”
George shrugged. “I dunno. Think I might suit green.”
“Guys!”
They broke out into laughter. “Okay, okay. Wand away. You’re coming home with us.”
“What? But-”
Fred shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. It’s all sorted. I had Ginny write to your folks, and I wrote to mum. You’re gonna stay with us for a few weeks. Get the true Weasley experience.”
You pulled back a little, worry clear on your face. “Fourth year wasn’t the true experience?”
Both boys smiled at the memory of their epic pranks that landed them in multiple hours of detention in which you tutored them and found out more than you’d have liked to have known about, well…everything.
“You have no idea,” they both told you.
One week staying at the Weasley’s told you everything you needed to know about Fred and George as brothers. And, overall, it was a ten star experience.
Mrs and Mr Weasley loved all their children something fierce, even if each of them did get into trouble every now and again.
You got to witness the Quidditch strengths of Ginny when the boys weren’t around. Though you’d never tell anyone other than Mrs Weasley and Ginny herself, you wouldn’t be surprised if one day Ginny became a star player.
Each night, Mr Weasley called you into the sitting room to ask you all about the functions and abilities of muggle items. From a rubber duck and a rotary phone, to an electric stand mixer and a magic erase board.
“How fascinating!”, seemed to be his favourite saying of all.
“Bet you don’t get to see this many stars in the city,” Fred said as he approached you.
You’d been laying outside for hours. In the summer, Mrs and Mrs Weasley left the kids to their own devices, however still maintained the rules of being quiet and safe once they themselves went to bed.
You shook your head. “Nope.”
Where you lived, there was far too much light pollution to let you look up and see the moon and the stars. But at Hogwarts in the Astronomy tower, or outside The Burrow, you could see for miles.
Fred joined you on the grass which was somehow still warm from the day’s burning sun.
For a while, you pointed out the constellations to him, oblivious to the fact he could barely tear his eyes from you.
All the pictures in the sky didn’t beat the kind of stardust you were made out of.
Out of the blue, you reached for Fred’s hand and held it tight before you turned to look at him. Merlin…if you weren’t the most beautiful person he’d ever met…
“Thank you for inviting me to stay here…with you.”
Fred just smiled. “Any time. The Burrow suits you.”
“It suits you, too.”
Fred chuckled. “It is my home.”
Shoving him a little, you looked back to the sky. “You know what I mean.”
Fred smiled, lightly, still unable to tear his eyes from you. “Yeah. I do.”
You didn’t realise until Fred was lifting you in his arms that you’d even fallen asleep beside him. “Come on, sleepy head. Let’s get you to bed.”
“I can walk,” you said, quietly, still half asleep.
“And I have two arms,” Fred pointed out. “Go back to sleep. I’ve got you.”
And that he did.
Waking up in the morning, you walked down the stairs behind Ginny. If you hadn’t woken up enough to register that Fred was carrying you back inside, you’d have had no recollection of ever coming inside at all.
You trusted Fred.
You trusted Fred enough to listen to him, and fall straight back to sleep.
“Morning sleepy heads,” Fred smiled behind his cup of tea.
“Ooh, somebody was fighting in their sleep.” George teased Ginny.
“Shut up.”
“Uh-oh, somebody put on some coffee.”
Ginny just grunted as she passed her brothers to get to the tea pot.
“How’d you sleep?” Fred asked you quietly as you took a seat beside him.
“Better than ever,” you answered truthfully back to him.
You watched as he looked over his shoulder, grabbing the newspaper from the kitchen counter. Your eyes couldn’t leave him. For a guy that looked like he’d just woken up himself, he did look handsome.
Swiftly looking away before George and Ginny caught you checking out their brother, you looked at the cup of tea Ginny placed in front of you.
“Thanks.”
“So,” George smiled. “What are the plans for today?”
Ginny groaned again. “You’re far too awake for this time in the morning.” Quickly, she fell onto your shoulder and closed her eyes again.
With a small chuckle, you patted her cheek twice. “You can go back to bed, Gin.”
You felt her shake her head. “I don’t want to miss out on the bacon.”
Barely five minutes passed before the rest of the Weasley children who still lived at home came tumbling down the stairs, along with Molly and Arthur who started breakfast.
“Have a good day, dear,” Mrs Weasley kissed her husband goodbye for the day just as you heard all her children groan.
“You’ll be lucky one day to find someone you can kiss good day to.” Mrs Weasley told them all.
“I think I’d rather be sick.”
“Just because you don’t have someone you’re madly in love with,” Fred said.
“What? And you do?”
Most of the kitchen fell silent, everyone looking at each other. Was there something you’d missed?
Fred just cleared his throat awkwardly and shook his newspaper open. “N-No.”
“What?” Ron seemed confused. “What about-”
“Hey!” George called out. “Who wants some tea?”
Everyone held up their cups, but you couldn’t help but let your eyes fall onto Fred who suddenly couldn’t make eye-contact.
Did he like someone?
And he didn’t tell you?
He’d told you about the other crushes, so why not this particular someone he was ‘madly in love with’?
“Who is it?” You asked, finally getting George on his own.
“What?”
“Who is it that Fred is in love with?”
“Fred’s in love with someone?”
You rolled your eyes. “Oh, don’t give me that. I can see right through you, Weasley.”
“Wasn’t aware I was a ghost.”
Hitting him lightly on the back of his head, you placed your hands on your hips and waited.
“Okay. Maybe I know something. But…it’s not my place to tell you. You’re gonna have to ask Fred.”
You gave a short sigh.
“Besides, I didn’t think you were one to snoop. Maybe we’re finally being a bad influence on you.”
“How come he’s not told me about this one?” You asked George. “He’s told me about the others.”
Standing from the small patch of dirt where he’d been digging up some veg for his mother, George leaned down to you. “I’ll let you figure that one out for yourself.”
As you watched George walk away, smug as fuck, you felt more confused than ever. “What the hell does that mean?”
It took you until the end of week two of your stay at the Burrow before you gave up, knocking on Fred’s bedroom door and asking him outright.
Of course, he denied it.
But you pursued.
“Were you always this annoyingly persistent?” Fred asked you as you followed him up into the attic to grab some fresh sheets. A task you’d volunteered to help him with when his mother asked him to do so.
“Yes.” You answered abruptly. “But you love me for it.”
“Don’t I know it,” Fred mumbled under his breath, too quiet for you to hear.
“Come on. Just tell me. Please?”
“No! Because there is nothing to tell. If I were madly in love with someone – as you say – you would be the first to know.”
You just hummed.
“Why won’t you believe me?” Fred laughed.
“Because I know you, Fredrick Weasley.”
Fred sighed. “Please. Not the full name.”
“I can add a middle one to it.”
Fred stopped in his tracks and tried to glare at you. “You don’t even know it.”
“I asked you mum the first day I came.”
Fred glared again, trying to call your bluff. “No, you didn’t.”
“Wanna bet, Frederick Gid-”
“Alright! You’ve made your point.”
“Ah-ha! So there is someone! I knew it!”
Fred couldn’t help but smile at your sense of achievement.
“So? Who is it?”
Fred paused for a moment. He could tell you the truth. Or…
“I’ll let you figure that one out yourself.” He smiled before brushing past you and heading up the stairs, past Ron’s room.
“Oh, come on! No fair!”
You heard him laugh again. “Come on. We better get these sheets before mum has our heads.”
“You mean yours.”
“Why just mine?”
“Because she asked you.”
Fred turned around on the step to look at you. Despite the height difference already, Fred leaned down a little more since you were on the step below him. “And you volunteered.”
“Please. She knows the attic freaks me out. She knows I just came up here to interrogate you.”
Fred gasped before turning around. “Fraud!”
“At least I own it.”
“Maybe George was right. We are a bad influence on you.”
By the time you both got back downstairs, Fred was still swiping the cobwebs away from your hair and back, you’d both come to find out that sleeping arrangements had changed for the evening.
With Bill and Flur in town for the weekend, it meant Ginny’s room was being taken over. And, although Percy’s room remained open, it was only big enough for one person.
But, along with both yours and Ginny’s fear of the attic, it meant a switch-around was taking place.
And somehow or other, it landed with you and Fred being situated together.
“Seriously, Mrs Weasley, I can just go home and save you all of this trouble.”
“Nonsense, dear. We’d be switching around whether you were here or not. It’s all worked out. Ginny will bunk with Ron – Harry won’t be here for another couple of days. He’s visiting his godfather. But his bed is still set up. Ginny can take that. George can take Percy’s room. And, you and Fred can share the Twins room. Well, what’s left of it.
The suitcase was too big and heavy to fit into Ginny’s room with both Bill and Flur. So that was taking up most of George’s side of the room.
But Molly did manage to push the beds together.
“Don’t worry, Y/n.” George smiled as he passed you, far too happy to have his own room for the night. “He doesn’t snore. Too badly.”
“Oi!” Fred shouted before running after his brother.
“It’s only for a few nights,” Molly assured you. “No need to run home, dear.”
“Are you asleep?”
You’d been staring at the ceiling for the last three hours, tracing the firework burns on the ceiling. “Nope.”
“This is kinda awkward.”
“Yep.”
“Sorry,” Fred apologised.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not you.”
Fred heard something in your tone. “Then what is it?”
You swallowed hard, trusting your gut to tell him, despite what your head was yelling. “I, uh…I’ve never slept in the same bed as someone before so…this hasn’t really been a problem before.”
“What is it?” Fred asked, his voice in a hushed whisper. “Do you snore?”
You chuckled quietly, but it soon disappeared. “No. No, I…Sometimes I have nightmares. They’re…they’re nothing too bad. It’s just…look, when I was ten, I was at a sleepover and I had one and…well, I got kicked out. It was three in the morning and my friend’s mum called my mum to come and pick me up. I said I was okay, but she wasn’t happy I’d woken her or her daughter up so I had to get out.” You felt just brave enough to look at Fred. “And I’ve never had one since.”
“A nightmare?”
“A sleepover.”
Fred furrowed his brows. “What about Ginny?”
You shook your head. “She doesn’t know. But…they haven’t happened yet. I just…I’m worried it’ll happen tonight,”
“And you think I’ll kick you out?”
You shrugged. “It’s just…I dunno.”
Fred, taking your hand gently in his, made you look at him. “Hey,” he said softly. “If you have a nightmare, I’ll stay with you. I won’t kick you out.”
“You don’t have to-”
“I promise.”
You couldn’t find the words, but you swallowed nervously then nodded. “Okay.”
“Alright. Try and get some sleep. No doubt mum will be up at, like, four anyway to clean.”
You chuckled, turning over before saying goodnight to Fred.
For the first two nights, nothing happened.
But, after a day of Quidditch before teaching the entire Weasley family some ‘Muggle’ school yard games, a full meal and even an introductory round to ‘Muggle Pictionary’, you were exhausted.
Which meant that you got the deepest sleep of your life.
And also a nightmare that wasn’t the kindest to your imagination.
Shooting up in bed, you felt a cold sweat running over your entire body. Your heartbeat was going so fast, you didn’t know if it was actually beating. And then you felt a hand on your shoulder.
A gasp left your lungs as you turned in the moonlit shadows to see Fred sat up in bed, too.
“Fred?”
“Yeah, it’s me.” His voice was soft, if a little worried. “I’m here. What’s-”
Suddenly, you wrapped your arms around him. “You’re alive.”
Fred didn’t question what you said, out loud. Instead, he just held onto you tighter, feeling your heartbeat and breathing eventually calm down to match his.
Once it finally did, he leaned you back with him, keeping his arms around you.
“I’m here. Nothing bad is going to happen. I’m here. I’m right here.”
Hearing his voice as a mantra in your head, you eventually managed to fall back asleep, only waking up when you heard Fred’s bedroom door quietly shut with a click and a set of footsteps disappearing down the hall.
But when you eventually opened your eyes, you found Fred in front of you. His arms still wrapped around you, your legs intertwined with his own.
That was when everything from the night before flashed across your head, giving you the worst headache in ages.
“How are you feeling?” Fred asked you.
You closed your eyes, “Like I was hit by a train.”
Lifting his hand, he laid it on the side of your head. It blocked out some of the light flooding in from his window which helped.
“Thanks.”
“Wanna talk about it? According to dad’s muggle book, it’s better to talk about it than bottle it up.”
You nodded. “I don’t think you wanna know about this one.”
“Try me.”
“I don’t wanna even know about this one.”
“Hey,” Fred said, softly. “I’m right here. It was just a nightmare. Tell me about it. Please?”
“You were in it,” you told him. “And it wasn’t good.”
“Anymore?”
Taking a steadier breath than last night, you told him everything. From waking up on the floor of the Forbidden Forest, to finding your wand broken by your side. You told him about how you knew someone was after you so you started running. Someone hit you on the back of your head and you woke up in a dungeon.
From there, you were physically dragged by your hair back through the forest, watching people scream for their lives before an executioner came along. By the time you were thrown to the edge of the forest, you saw everyone lined up on an executioner platform.
From a masked man, you were given the option; give yourself up, or watch them die one by one.
You screamed for the first option but the masks just smiled and started killing people anyway. The others went by quickly, but they took their time when it came to Fred. You were screaming until there was no voice left in your lungs.
“I woke up just as they killed me.”
Fred took a breath and hugged you. “Told you, you didn’t wanna know.”
Fred shook his head as he held you. “I’m sorry the nightmare gods put you through that. Are they always that bad?”
You swallowed again before pulling back to look at him. “That’s been the worst one.”
Brushing the hair from your face, Fred leaned his forehead against your own and closed his eyes along with you. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay. And that we’re both alive.”
“So am I.”
For the first time as you looked at Fred, you felt the room fall static. The noise from downstairs disappeared, the birds that were singing outside became white noise. All you were aware of was the feeling of Fred’s hands against your face and lower back. And the fact your legs were still completely tangled with his own.
Your heartbeat started picking up, and for once, it wasn’t due to a nightmare.
But, just as you felt yourself shift a little closer as Fred’s eyes flicked between your own and your lips, a large crash came to the window.
Errol.
And then the door to Fred’s room burst open.
Both you and Fred shot up in bed, separating yourselves from each other swiftly.
“What the-”
“Good morning, love birds. And Errol.”
“George,” Both you and Fred groaned as he waltzed over to the window.
“Don’t mind me, just collecting today’s post.” George smiled, clearly knowing he’d interrupted something. “Y/n, there’s one for you.”
“Thanks.”
George threw the letter over to you before taking the rest of the post out of the room with him.
“At least close-” George turned back as he heard Fred’s voice.
“Sorry. As you were, love birds.”
As the door closed behind him, Fred groaned.
“He’s got great timing,” you said, sarcasm laced in your voice as you carefully tore open your letter.
“What is it?”
Reading over the letter twice, you quickly pulled yourself from bed and started getting changed.
“What is it?”
“My folks need me back home.”
“Why? What happened?”
Throwing a jumper on in order to hide the fact you were putting a t-shirt on underneath, you were soon pulling your shoes on.
“Do you think your mum would let me travel from your fireplace?”
“Of course, but, Y/n- hey.” Fred reached out to slow you down before you raced out of the room. “What happened?”
“There’s been a flood on my street. The basement and…everything is damp or leaking or damaged. I need to go home.”
Tearing the covers from himself, Fred got up, too. “I’ll come with you.”
“No-”
“You’re gonna need some help. I’m coming.”
“Okay.” You didn’t have time to argue. “Be quick.”
Five minutes later, you were hugging Mrs Weasley goodbye before jumping into the fireplace with Fred and appearing back inside your home, completely unaware the jumper you were still wearing was, in fact, Fred’s.
“Mum? Dad?” You called out from the fireplace as you and Fred stepped out.
“Darling? Is that you?”
“Yeah! I-I brought some help. I know there isn’t much we can do but I thought-”
“No, that’s great, darling! We’re down here!”
Squelching through the kitchen towards the back stairs, you and Fred were quickly ankle deep in water.
“Bloody hell.”
Both your mum and dad looked up to figure out who the male voice belonged to.
“Mum, Dad, this is Fred. Fred, these are my parents.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“You too, son. Just wish it was under different circumstances.”
What followed was enough muggle talk to make Arthur Weasley faint with excitement, as well as wading through murky basement water in order to try and salvage some different things.
But an even bigger surprise came a few hours later when Molly, Bill, Arthur and Flur Weasley all stepped through your fireplace in order to help with the leaks with a little magic.
Your mum cried, hugging them all tightly with huge thankyou’s. You dad made the promise to cook them all a meal for their help which he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.
And, somewhere between the salvaging and fixing and cleaning and preparing, you and Fred had collapsed onto your bed in pure exhaustion.
“Thank you for helping me today. It-it means a lot. More than you know.”
Fred nodded. “I’ll always help you.”
Reaching for his hand once more, you smiled. “But I am sorry.”
“What on earth for?”
“For this morning.”
Fred swallowed hard. “Oh.”
You nodded. “I’m sorry we got interrupted.”
Fred didn’t mean to not hide his hopefulness. “Oh.”
You smiled. “I…I might be completely wrong. And if I am, please just tell me-”
“It’s you.”
You looked at Fred, trying to hold back your smile. “What?”
“It’s you,” he confirmed. “The one that…that I’m madly in love with.”
You fell silent, but not because it was bad.
Turning onto his side, Fred reached out for you. Not that he had to reach very far.
“That’s why I’ve been so weird this year. After Snape’s class…it scared me. Because we’re friends. You’re my best friend. And…I didn’t want to ruin that. But then I did.”
“But then you got me back.”
Fred smiled. “Then I got you back.”
Letting your hand gently rest against his cheek, you swiped your thumb against his cheek before lightly pulling him into you.
And so you had your first kiss with Fred Weasley.
“It’s you for me, too.” You told him when you found enough strength to stop kissing him.
“What?”
“In Snape’s class. The Amortentia. Firework dust, parchment and something else I couldn’t place until I walked into The Burrow.”
“And that was?”
“Home.”
Smiling brighter than ever, Fred leaned in and kissed you again.
“Thank Merlin!” Was the cry from George when he stepped into your home the next day and found you kissing his brother in the once empty kitchen.
It might have taken what felt like forever, but eventually you and Fred got your happy ending.
It just took a lot of patience and trust.
All which had been gained under Midnight and Stardust.
Summary: Fred Weasley x muggle!Reader -> Running through town, you accidentally run into someone, not knowing your entire life was about to change for the better.
Disclaimer: Complete fluff, domestic fluff, Fred flirts with reader, teacher!reader who gets a job at Hogwarts, mentions of professor!neville, the whole Weasley family, fated meeting?, reader has a niece and nephew. Just Fred and Reader falling in love.
You hadn’t meant for it to happen. You were in such a rush, you hadn’t been watching where you were going and accidentally fell into someone after slipping on a sheet of ice on the pavement.
“Whoa there.”
One crash, wallop and bang later, you and the stranger were more acquainted than you should have been without knowing each other's names.
“Oh, my god! I am so sorry.” Scurrying to your feet, completely mortified, you tried to help him up. “Are you alright?”
You were waiting to get yelled at. “Watch where you’re going, you stupid woman!”
Instead, you were greeted with nothing more than…laughter?
The man couldn’t stop laughing. “What? Oh, yes. Yes, I’m alright. Are you?”
“Y-Yeah?” You nodded, helping him stand. “I am so sorry. I should have been watching where you were going.”
He chuckled, wiping the snow from the back of his legs. “That makes two of us.”
Despite the man’s kind smile and light laughter, you still felt incredibly guilty. “I really am sorry.”
“No need,” he shook his head. “Call it a happy accident. It’s not everyday I get knocked down by a beautiful woman.”
You chuckled, not fully hearing him. “No, I guess…what?” Was…was he…was he flirting? Was that flirting?
Sticking out his hand, he smiled. “I’m Fred. Fred Weasley.”
Eyeing him a little cautiously, you shook his hand. “Y/n. Are-are you sure you’re alright?”
Again, he chuckled. “I’ve got brothers. I’ve survived through worse, believe me.”
“Oh,” you nodded, finally understanding something about the stranger in front of you. Only, as you finally did, the clock tower rang through the square. Shit. “I’m gonna be late. I-I really have to run. Again, I’m…terribly sorry.”
Rushing off before he could say another word, you tried your best to focus on not crashing into any more handsome strangers in the street before finally sliding across a small bridge and (not so) gracefully gliding yourself into the local post office.
“Morning Sam!” you called out.
From around the desk, a woman came rushing over. “It’s about bloody time. The van will be here any minute.”
From your bag, you pulled out the two care packages. “First class to Hogwarts, please.”
Sam gave a short sigh, but smiled anyway. “How are the kids enjoying it?”
You smiled. “They’re loving it. I wanted to get these to them before Christmas. Since it’s their first, they decided they want to stay up there.”
“Cutting it a little close to the wire, don’t you think?”
“I would have been here sooner if only I maybe, kinda, accidentally ran into someone. Knocked them flat on their arse.”
Sam sighed. “Of course you did.”
“It wasn’t intentional. Really. I wasn’t watching where I was going then there was a sheet of ice and wham! Just…straight into him.”
“Him?”
You rolled your eyes. “Oh, wipe that look off your face. He’s probably married, or with someone.”
“Might not be.”
“Sam.”
“Y/n.”
“No.”
Sam scoffed. “Urgh, fine. Anything else you want to send?”
You shook your head. “Not today. And I, uh, I might not be back for a while.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ve,” you cleared your throat. “I’ve got a new job.”
“I thought you had a job.” Sam said. “Teaching.”
You nodded. “I’m still teaching but I had a letter the other day. From Hogwarts, actually.”
“What on earth can you teach at a magical school?”
“That was my first thought, too.” You told Sam. “But apparently they’re in dire need of an actual Muggle Studies teacher. And the kids volunteered, well, me.”
Sam nodded. “Well, it should be an adventure.”
You nodded. “Teaching magical students, without magic. It should be fun.”
Sam scoffed again. “You’ll do great. Oh-” Spotting the delivery van outside, Sam quickly turned around and threw the two boxes on top of the ‘rush’ pile before the driver noticed.
“Thanks again, Sam.”
“No problem. And good luck with the new job.”
“When do you start?”
“After Christmas.”
Sam smiled. “They kids will love it.”
“One can only hope.”
Despite starting after Christmas, you were moved into the school just before. Which, although completely terrifying, was…an adventure.
“Y/n!”
You were hanging a couple of posters on the door to your classroom when you heard the voices of your nephew and niece. Twins who couldn’t have been more polar opposites if they tried.
Your nephew, Zak, placed in Hufflepuff. He was usually a quiet and shy lad, before people got to know him.
Then there was your niece, Rosie, placed in Gryffindor. When she had to be quiet, she was. But most of the time she was a dare-devil filled with energy.
Both of them running to you at full speed, you just managed to keep your balance as they collided against you, wrapping you in an air-tight hug.
“You’re here! I can’t believe you’re actually here. At Hogwarts!”
“Neither can I,” you smiled. “Though it would have been nice to know you’d offered me up for a job before I got the acceptance letter.”
Rosie just stood back. “Yeah, sorry about that. But I knew you were the right fit! Didn’t I, Zak?”
Zak nodded. “She did.”
“I hope you two have been keeping out of trouble.”
“We have. I swear.” Rosie dramatically laid her hand over her chest.
You chuckled. “Good.”
In the two hours that followed, Rosie told you all about her first term at school, all the friends she’d made and the lessons she loved the most. Zak told you about his Herbology and Charms lessons and the few friends he’d made with the help of Rosie.
But the consensus from them both was that they loved the school completely.
“Oh, you must go to Diagon Alley!” Rosie smiled. “There’s a bookstore there that sells all kinds of magical books. They might be able to catch you up on our world.”
So, after being pestered for a further three hours about going to Diagon Alley, you finally agreed to go.
“Have fun!” Rosie smiled.
“Aren’t you coming with me?”
She shook her head. “We’ve got our lessons today. But I want to know all about it when you get back. So does Zak.”
Zak smiled. “Yes.”
Little did any of you know, you’d have a much longer story to be telling them by the time you got back.
Rosie had been right. The bookstore, Flourish and Blotts, sold a book on practically everything. So, after explaining your predicament about what you needed to learn, you were finally situated in the correct section of the store.
“Hogwarts: A History,” a mysterious but oddly familiar voice said from beside you. “I hear it’s a good read.”
Looking at the tall man leaning against a rather precarious bookshelf, your jaw dropped. “You?”
“And you,” he beamed. “I thought I recognised you. Madam V told me you’re one of the new teachers up at the school. How come I’ve never seen you here before?”
You raised your brow a little confused. “Should you have seen me before?”
Fred smiled. “There is only one magical school in all of the UK. I’ve got a lot of siblings and you don’t seem that much younger than me. So, yes. I should have. But I haven’t.”
You nodded. “I’m not…magical. My niece and nephew, they’re attending the school which is apparently in dire need of a Muggle teacher who knows what they’re doing.”
“And that is you,” Fred finished.
You nodded, again. “That is me.”
“Well,” Fred motioned to the book. “That is actually a decent read from what I hear. But, you might want to also look at…” Fred slipped past you before scouring the randomly set out shelves. Eventually he pulled out a set of four books he was looking for. “They explain a little more about the history of magic and how the school started.”
“Great, thanks.”
He smiled. “Anytime. Oh, and, uh, if you need any more help. You know, maybe from a dashing red head. Just, uhh, pop across the square. I’m usually at the store.”
“Which one?”
Fred smiled once more. “The one with the top hat. Have a nice day, Professor.”
You smiled back, thankful he was too far to spot the flush in your cheeks.
“Top hat?” Zak asked before gasping. “Weasley? As in Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes?”
You were utterly confused. “I-I guess so?”
“Oh, my god!”
“What?”
Running over to the bookshelves, Rosie pulled out one of the newer books compared to the rest that accompanied it on the shelves. With a heavy thud, it landed on the table and you watched as her and Zak flipped through the pages.
“They helped stop The Dark Lord.”
“What? Who?”
Rosie scoffed loudly. “I thought you read!”
“Not about wizards!” Turning the book around, you let your eyes skim the pages. “How the hell is this school still open?”
“It’s alright,” Zak told you. “He’s really gone now. Harry Potter stopped him.”
“With the help of a few friends. Including,” Rosie pointed out. “The Weasley Twins.”
“There’s two of them?”
Zak beamed. “Like me and Rosie.”
“Two peas in a pod,” Rosie smiled and she pulled her brother into her side.
You smiled at your niece and nephew. You were glad, after everything that had happened, they still had each other.
“I can’t believe you’ve met him. Twice.”
That night you read up on everything you could. From the history of Magic, to the first Great Wizarding War and beyond. By the time morning came around, the only thing left to study was the Castle itself.
Which, surprisingly, there was a solution to.
“There used to be a map,” Neville, the Herbology Professor, told you. “I think that’s still with Harry. But I know a couple of people who might be able to make another one.”
“Really?” You asked. “Aren’t there…blueprints?”
Neville shook his head. “The magical world is pretty advanced but-”
“But you still use quills and parchment.”
Neville nodded with a polite smile. “Exactly.”
“Who is the cartographer then?”
Neville was already heading towards the door. “Give me a couple hours, I’ll find someone.”
“Okay, well…thank you!” You shouted after him as he left.
There was one week left before lessons started again, and you were still getting your classroom ready. You were kneeling on a rather high table, trying to ensure the posters you were hanging up were all level, when you heard a voice.
“You know, I’m sure if you were to ask, someone with a wand might be able to help.” You turned around to see Fred standing by your classroom door. “Magic does make a lot of things quicker.”
You smiled, turning back to the movie poster. “Yes, but I think there’s something fun about still being able to do the normal things. What are you doing here?”
“I heard you were in need of a map.”
Trying to make your way safely down to the ground, you looked at Fred, tucking your hair behind your ears. “You’re a cartographer?"
He chuckled a little. “No. Not exactly. But my brother and I had an enchanted map in our possession for a while. Showed us every place we needed to go.”
Fred held out his hand to help you down the unbalanced wooden steps. You took it gently, thanking him quietly once your feet hit the ground. “This one isn’t enchanted, is it?”
Fred laughed. “No. You don’t have to worry about that.”
You smiled. “Okay, good.”
Opening up the map, you were greeted with every different level to Hogwarts and the surrounding grounds.
“Wow.” It almost took your breath away. You knew Hogwarts was big. It took nearly twenty minutes to walk from your cottage on the grounds of the school, to your classroom itself. You just didn’t realise how big. “This is amazing, Fred. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
That was when you both heard giggling outside of your classroom. “That’ll be Rosie and Zak.”
“Niece and nephew, right?”
You nodded with a quietly proud smile. “You’re somewhat of a celebrity to them. They’ve told me…practically everything about you.”
Fred smiled. “Glad to see I have fans.”
With a smile, you called out to the two behind the door. “I thought you two were busy all day?”
Pushing open the door a little, Rosie and Zak stepped inside. “We were- are. Are too busy. Far too busy to help.”
“But not too busy to spy on your aunt?”
The two nodded at Fred. “I just think you’re, like, one of the coolest wizards ever!”
“Rosie.”
Fred just smiled. “It’s alright. Well, that’s lovely to hear. Thank you, Rosie. And you must be Zak?”
The young boy nodded.
Fred sat and talked with them directly for ten minutes, giving them his undivided attention. He answered all their random questions about his joke shop and his creations and even his other, slightly more, famous siblings.
“I want to be just like her one day,” Rosie explained as Fred agreed that she was the best Quidditch player ever.
“Okay,” you chuckled. “I think that’s enough interrogation for one day. Go play before I make you help me set up here.”
Both kids gasped before making a direct exit for the door, but not before turning around and thanking Fred and waving goodbye.
“They’re cute kids.”
You smiled. “Sorry about all the questions.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s nice to see that kids know only joy while they’re here.”
You nodded. “I read the books you told me about…did all of that really happen? You- sorry. You don’t have to answer-”
“No, it’s okay.” Fred said. “It was…tough to say the least. We lost a lot of people. Good people. We also had our fair share of just terrible, terrible teachers.” Fred went on to explain to you one of his final teachers he ever witnessed at Hogwarts.
You shook your head. “I still don’t know how the school didn’t get shut down because of that.”
“George and I might have had a couple of things to do with that.” Fred shrugged. “It might also have been when we started our business.”
“You didn’t.”
Fred couldn’t hold back his laughter or his smile. “During exams no less.”
“Oh, my god.” You chuckled before turning back to look at the photo collage you were creating on the wall. The room was starting to look less like old castle walls, and more or less the inside of the average muggle school.
“So, how did you get into teaching?” Fred asked you as he helped.
“I, uhh, well, I was pushed a lot. Academically. As a kid. Mostly by my family. They wanted nothing less than excellence. And, it was okay, for a while.” You said. “Until the stress started mounting up. Disappointed looks for getting anything less than an A. My parents used to host weekly parties. They pretended I didn’t exist for an entire month because I got a D.”
“What?”
You nodded. “But,” you smiled. “I had this really amazing teacher at school. Mrs Bane. She was there for me when I struggled, and when I succeeded. And, when I told my family that I wanted to be a teacher just like her…she was the one who was at my graduation.”
“Not your parents?”
You shook your head. “No. And, if we’re divulging secrets, I hadn’t spoken to them since the day I left school for University.”
“What changed?”
Despite the sadness behind it, you still smiled and Fred could see the happiness in your eyes. “Rosie and Zak got accepted here. I got a call from my parents that I needed to come and pick them up right away. My sister and her husband were too freaked out at the fact their children weren’t ‘normal’ to make the ‘sane’ decision. So, they dropped them off at my parents. But letters kept coming.”
“So…they called you?”
“When you’re about to cast out two young kids, but it’s not legal to do so, where do they go?”
“So what did you do?”
“Got there as quick as I could, picked up their letters, told them to pack everything they could and brought them home with me. They both cried for a week straight thinking that something was wrong with them.”
“But there isn’t! There isn’t!” Fred exclaimed. “There’s nothing wrong with being a witch or a wizard.”
You nodded. “I know that. And, eventually, that message got through to them. Especially when McGonnagall turned up one evening. I’ve never seen them look happier than when she told them about Hogwarts. Because of my job, I couldn’t take them to get their things but McGonnagall said she had everything sorted out for them.”
Fred smiled. “I’m glad they have you. I think they’ll really excel here.”
You smiled. “So do I.”
Fred helped you set everything else up around your classroom, which was how you came to find out his dad continuously worked with enchanted muggle artifacts, some of which he was yet to identify the true meaning of.
“If he ever wants some help, I’m always here.” You told Fred. “I might not have any magical capabilities, but I am a muggle.”
Fred looked around the room. “I don’t know about that. I’d say this place looks pretty magical.”
Looking around, you took in everything. From the photo collage wall filled with pictures of different muggle items and what they all do, to the large movie posters that remained still, along with the matching DVDs underneath the cabinets below them. There were muggle fairylights strung across the ceiling (placed up with a little help from Fred and his magical capabilities).
There was even an old stereo which surprisingly got decent signal for being in the Scottish Highlands.
Even more surprisingly, you started to see more and more of Fred Weasley at Hogwarts, despite his shop being in London.
In the week before lessons started, he offered to show you around Hogwarts as well as the surrounding smaller villages. Then, during the first match of term, you met him and his brother inside the teacher’s box during Quidditch.
“Bloody hell,” George exclaimed. “That niece of yours could give Ginny a run for her money.”
You chuckled, but beamed proudly as you watched your niece – the youngest girl to ever join a Quidditch team – zip around on her broom. You had to admit, it did make you nervous, seeing her and knowing she could have fallen off at any given moment.
But thankfully she didn’t.
And when she got out of the changing rooms, she came running over to you waving a letter in the air like she’s just won the lottery.
“It’s a letter! I got a letter!”
“I can see that,” you smiled.
“Not just any letter. It’s from Ginny Potter!” Rosie showed you. “Look. She wrote to me.”
“Did you know about this?” You asked, quietly to Fred. But he just shook his head and looked at his brother.
“This is amazing, Rosie.”
Rosie held the letter like the last golden ticket. “This is so cool!”
It wasn’t until during the feast in the Great Hall that you found out McGonnagall had written to Ginny to tell her husband that his record for being the youngest on the team had finally been beaten.
Rosie was buzzing with excitement for at least a month after it. And, every once in a while, she would bring it back up during Sunday dinner. And each time you would smile, happy that her and Zak were finally happy, too.
Eventually, those Sunday dinners began to include a certain red-headed Weasley. At first, it was by accident. He was in Hogsmeade on business – potentially expanding to be closer to the school – when he thought he’d drop by and see if you were in.
It didn’t feel awkward, inviting him to stay. And, after seeing both yourself and Fred interact some more, both your niece and nephew didn’t feel it was awkward in the slightest to invite him the following week.
It wasn’t long before whispers started filling the halls. Whispers that very quickly turned into rumours when a small bouquet of very normal flowers found their way onto your desk one afternoon without you having any idea of how or why.
You’d asked Neville, but with a shy, very knowing smile, he asked you if you’d checked the note before bidding you a good day.
Nearing the end of term, your not so secret admirer turned up just as your final lesson of the day was wrapping up.
You smiled, seeing his face again despite having seen him barely three days ago for Sunday dinner.
“Ooh,” some of your students sang. “Your boyfriend is here, Professor.”
You smiled, trying not to show your excitement or slightly proud embarrassment too much. “Yes, thank you, Lena. I’m sure you’ve all got better things to be doing with your time.”
Ushering the rest of your students out of the classroom before closing the door behind them, you turned back to Fred.
“For dinner,” he smiled.
“You brought some on Sunday.”
Fred nodded. “Yes. They’re not for that dinner. These are for a dinner I haven’t asked you about yet.”
“Fred?”
“Look, I don’t know if you’re going to say yes, but I wanted to ask anyway. I’d like to take you on a proper date. This Saturday. Neville mentioned they’re holding an end of year feast, so all the kids will be busy so you don’t have to worry. Would you like to go…with me? On a real date?”
You felt your heart swell with excitement as you nodded. “I’d love to.”
A sigh of relief fell from Fred’s chest. “Great. That’s really…really great. You have no idea how many times I rehearsed that coming up here.”
You chuckled before leaning up and pressing a light kiss to his cheek before watching him blush heavily.
“Well, um,” he spluttered, nervous as a school boy asking his crush out. “I-I’ll pick you up. One o’clock.”
“Okay,” you smiled, chuckling a little as he awkwardly made his way out of the classroom.
Unbeknownst to the pair of you, both Rosie and Zak had been waiting around the corner of the hallway, watching as Fred left your classroom with a huge smile on his face.
“Yes,” they quietly yelled before high fiving.
Your first official date with Fred Weasley was unlike any other you’d been on before. And not because it was some huge adventure, or at some fancy restaurant. But because he quietly showed you the parts of himself you had a feeling not a lot of people got to see.
Newspaper articles, old school log books – any piece of writing about Fred Weasley portrayed him to be exactly who he showed them. A sometimes boisterous but always kind man that, at heart, loved his family and his friends fiercely.
But during your date, you got to see the quiet sides of him. The ones that took in the world around him, the ones that soaked up every moment he talked to someone, the ones that – when sitting on the edge of a hill, overlooking the Castle – didn’t have to forcibly fill the silence between you both.
Fred Weasley, despite having seen all of the bad the world had to offer, lived long enough to see the beauty of it again.
“Thank you for showing me this.”
“Thank you for agreeing to come with me.”
It was on that quiet hill’s edge that you and Fred shared your first kiss. It was also on that hill’s edge that you sealed your fate to forever being intertwined with Fred Weasley.
And you wouldn’t have changed it for the world.
It was a few months later, during the summer, that you met the rest of Fred’s family.
It started off with George and his wife, Angelina. They came for Sunday dinner at the cottage. Rosie asked Angelina every question under the sun about Quidditch.
During the week, you’d received a very urgent note from the Ministry of Magic asking for your presence at a meeting. Taking Rosie and Zak along with you, you eventually found the office you were looking for.
“Can I help you?” A receptionist asked.
“Yes. I- we’re,” you corrected, holding both children in front of you. “We’re looking for Arthur Weasley’s office.”
Finally given the correct directions, you stood outside the office door. You raised your hand to knock, only for it to be torn open and for you to meet Fred’s father in a rather unconventional manner.
“I am sorry about sending it so urgently, but it seems the Muggle world has been updated and– hello, children-” Rosie and Zak waved and smiled a little shyly. “But Fred mentioned you taught at Hogwarts and-”
“Mr Weasley, it’s alright. What do you need my help with?”
It was during that same day you met one of Mr Weasley’s daughters-in-law: Hermione Granger.
Zak was in complete awe of her.
“Brightest witch of her age, that one,” Arthur smiled. “Hermione, this is Fred’s girlfriend and her delightful niece and nephew.”
Hermione smiled politely and introduced herself, to which Rosie boldly introduced both herself and her brother, before mentioning Zak was also a massive book nerd.
Hermione chuckled before asking Zak about his schooling. Zak was typically quiet, but if someone got him talking about school, it was like he was a whole other kid.
By the end of the day, both Rosie and Zak were exhausted and falling asleep on Arthur’s sofa. More than likely, they were in the deepest sleep of their lives just as Fred came through the door, kissing you on the cheek.
“Sorry, love. Ron just told me Hermione saw you here. Is everything alright?”
You nodded with a smile as you folded the final box shut. “Everything is perfect. Your dad needed some Muggle help.”
“Hopefully it’s not been too traumatic. My family…I love them dearly but they can be, well, a lot.”
You just shook your head, holding your boyfriend steady before quickly kissing him. “Everything went smoothly. How was work?”
“Packed. Apparently everyone decided today was the best day to get their school supplies before September.”
You chuckled softly.
Bidding Arthur good evening, you and Fred lightly woke up your niece and nephew. Within seconds, all four of you were transported back into your cottage through the floo network.
You shook your head as you stepped out. “I have no idea how you get used to that.”
“Do it a couple hundred times and your head stops spinning.”
“Whoa,” you muttered, the room finally slowing down.
As Rosie and Zak headed towards their bedroom, collapsing onto their beds for a well deserved nap, you collapsed onto the sofa.
“How do you feel about some tea?”
“Later,” you told him as he sat down beside you, pulling you inside his side. “Right now, I just wanna nap.”
Fred chuckled, “I won’t argue with that.”
Around two hours later, you woke up to spot Fred moving around in your kitchen, humming a light tune as he cooked. When he eventually stood still at the stove, you quietly walked up behind him, wrapping your arms around his middle before ducking under his arm.
“Whatcha making?”
“Pancakes?”
“For tea?”
Fred chuckled. “It’s the best thing I can make, besides a cup of tea.”
“You’re an inventor, surely you know how to cook?”
“Explotions, yes. Edible food, no. Although, Professor Sprout did once tell me that I might have a career in baking.”
You smiled, leaning into Fred. “The kid’ll love them.”
Fred smiled back, pressing a kiss to your head just before he flipped the pancake over.
Two weeks later, you met the rest of his family.
Fred had been pacing up and down the top of the path, leading to your cottage for twenty minutes. Rosie and Zak had gone to visit Hagrid for the day, learning about all the magical creatures that lay on the ground.
And, instead of prepping slides for your classes next term, you were watching your boyfriend psyche himself up.
“What is he-” From behind you, you heard a quiet screech before something slammed into the window.
An owl.
“Oh, good lord.” Rushing to the window, you helped the owl stand before taking the letter it handed you. Usually, owls tend to wait for a reply, but this bird just looked to your front door before flying off.
You had just enough time to read your letter before Fred knocked on your door.
“Okay, we- we need to talk. And not the muggle ‘we need to talk’,” Fred was trying to hold his nerve, but he was about to ask you to come to dinner to meet all of his family. Every sibling, every niece and nephew, every in-law.
“Your mother’s inviting me to dinner.”
Fred didn’t hear you. “My mother wants to invite you to dinner.” Then it clicked. “Wait.”
You smiled, holding up the letter. “She sent an owl. I do hope he’s okay, though. He kinda just…crashed into the glass.”
Fred nodded. “He’ll be fine. He’s odd, but he’s always been like that. So…so you know?”
You nodded. “She sent a list of everyone’s names. You’ve got a big family.”
“If you don’t want to go, I can make up an excuse and we can hang out here just the four of us. I can make sure you meet them individually-”
You shrugged. “I’ve already met three members of your family, I think I’d like to meet the rest.”
Fred tried to contain his smile before you took another look at the long list of names and changed your mind. “R-really?”
You nodded, certain of your decision. “Really. It’ll be fun.”
“Fun,” Fred chuckled. “Is an understatement.”
He couldn’t have been more right.
Molly had insisted that you brought Rosie and Zak, so making sure they were dressed tidily but practically, Fred apparated outside your home, pulling both yourself, Rose and Zak through the tunnel with him.
Within seconds, you were standing outside of Fred’s family home. And, just as you stopped spinning, you were suddenly engulfed in a warm, motherly bear hug by Molly Weasley.
“And you must be-”
“I’m Rosie,” she smiled, sticking out her hand to shake Molly’s. “And this is my younger brother, Zak.”
“Only by three minutes,” Zak mumbled.
But Molly couldn’t help but chuckle. “Fred and George were just the same.”
Fred barely had time to introduce you to the family members that filed out of the Burrow to come and greet you before Molly was ushering you and the kids inside to show you around.
Hermione asked about Zak’s studies and if Neville had given him the new Herbology addition she had sent him. Zak nodded politely and thanked her for doing so. But, as Zak started coming out of her shell, you watched Rosie go into hers.
She was in complete awe of meeting Ginny. And, it took a little time, but she eventually started opening up, talking more about school and Quidditch.
Before you knew it, you were watching Rosie zip through the air with the rest of Molly’s grandkids. As she took a dip in the air, but still completely in control, you had to turn away for a moment.
“God, Molly, how do you do it?” You asked her.
She just chuckled and patted your arm. “Have enough kids fall off their brooms when they’re little, you get used to it.”
“You’ve got one hell of a flyer, Y/n.” Ginny smiled as she came to your side. You smiled, proudly.
“Is Zak not interested? Hufflepuff has a great team.”
You shook your head, watching him across the field as he sat with Hermione in the allotment, identifying different plants. “Rosie’s tried, I’ve tried, even Fred has. Just to see if he’d enjoy a game or two but…” You smiled, watching him happier than ever. “He prefers his feet on the ground.”
As the day went on, you answered more questions than even Rosie and Zak had asked you when they noticed you had feelings for Fred.
How did you first meet?
“She crashed into me.”
“What?!”
You panicked. “Not on purpose! It was a pure accident-”
“Happy accident,” Fred smiled.
You chuckled, softly. “Happy accident. I was running to the post office to send Rosie and Zak their Christmas presents when I…well, I slipped on a sheet of ice and-”
“Crashed into me.”
“Crashed into Fred.”
More questions followed.
When did you meet again? What was the school like on your first day? Neville told me Fred sent you flowers?
But, the more people talked, the more stories you got to hear. About Fred’s childhood, and days in school.
After dinner, when everyone was sitting out in the backgarden, you leaned against Fred as you watched your niece and nephew teach a few muggle school yard games to the rest of the kids. Mostly, it consisted of ‘stuck-in-the-mud’ and ‘tag’.
“If you don’t mind me saying, Y/n,” Arthur said to you long after he, and some of the others, joined you on the grass. “I don’t know what happened for those children to-”
“Dad,” Fred warned. But, holding onto Fred’s leg, you looked at him with a soft smile.
“It’s okay. Go on, Mr Weasley.”
Arthur smiled. “They’re lucky to have you, Y/n. Harry was in a similar predicament when he was young. Terrible family he had. Ron once stole a car with the twins to go and break him out of his aunt and uncle’s house.”
You gasped. “You stole a car?!”
Fred just shrugged. “He needed a getaway driver.”
Arthur chuckled. “Harry came here, and thankfully, he’s still here now. What I’m trying to say is, there’s someone out there, grateful that those kids are with you. They love you dearly.”
You smiled, tearing up a little. “I love them dearly, too.”
“They really are wonderful kids,” Hermione smiled.
“I’d say ‘thank you’, but…it’s all them,” you admitted. “Rosie’s always been a firecracker, and Zak’s always been bright.”
Leaning down from behind you, Fred whispered quietly. “I can see you in them.”
Leaning into him a little more, you smiled constantly. You’d had a ‘normal’ family when you were young. But it had never been warm; physically or emotionally.
Not in the way the Burrow was. Inviting and nurturing, no matter your age. And certainly not in the way Molly, Arthur or even Fred was. And not just with you, but with everyone else, too.
When Molly had hugged you, it had been a shock to your system. But a nice one.
When you found yourself being dragged away by the girls, you felt yourself laugh like you’d found people you could hopefully one day call sisters.
And, later that night, as you felt Fred wrap his arms around you for the nth time, you felt yourself feeling like you were finally home.
A/n: Bless those who worked hard on the movie, FUCK PARAMOUNT FOR BEING GREEDY ASSHOLES. Sidenote: If you are going to watch the leaks then please find away to support only the people that worked hard. They don't deserve any hate....but fuck paramount.
Your daughter’s first memory of the Fire Lord Festival is not the crowds.
It’s not the banners or the drums or the way the palace glows like a living ember once the sun begins to set.
It’s your hand.
Small fingers wrapped around yours, sticky with candied plum syrup, her other hand clutched tightly in her father’s sleeve like she’s afraid he might disappear into the noise if she lets go.
Zuko keeps glancing down at her.
Not in the stiff, ceremonial way he used to glance at crowds, no...this is softer. Quieter. Like he’s counting breaths, grounding himself through the warmth of her grip.
“She’s staring,” he murmurs to you, leaning down just enough that only you can hear. “Is she overwhelmed?”
Your daughter looks up at him at the sound of his voice, eyes wide and bright, cheeks flushed from excitement and heat. She doesn’t say anything—she’s still at the age where words come slowly but she squeezes his sleeve tighter and grins.
You smile. “She’s amazed.”
Zuko exhales. “Okay. Good.”
He says it like he’s passing some invisible test, shoulders less tense.
The Fire Lord Festival has been rebuilt from the ground up, no displays of dominance, no roaring infernos meant to intimidate. Instead, there’s warmth. Lanterns shaped like dancing flames. Street performers bending fire into floating koi and drifting petals. Musicians laughing as they play as others danced.
The people bow when they see Zuko.
Not sharply. Not fearfully like they used too, they all now with gratitude.
Your daughter notices.
She pauses, right in the middle of the walkway, and tilts her head as yet another group lowers themselves respectfully before her father.
She looks up at him, confused.
“Daddy?” she asks, soft and uncertain.
Zuko stops instantly. “Yes?” he answers, kneeling so they’re eye level, completely unconcerned with the fact that he’s halting the Fire Lord procession.
“Why… people do that?”
Your heart tightens.
Zuko doesn’t hesitate. “Because I help take care of them,” he says simply. “And because they’re being polite. But you don’t have to do it back unless you want to.”
She considers this very seriously, cheeks puffed and then she waves.Just a small, enthusiastic wave, fingers wiggling like she’s greeting duck-turtle hatchlings.
The crowd laughs.
Zuko blinks for a moment then laughs too, a quiet, breathless sound that looks like it surprises him every time it happens.
“That works,” he says.
She beams like she’s solved something important.
Aang arrives later, a grin already plastered on his face as he comes gliding down into the festival on a current of air that sends streamers fluttering and children squealing. He lands lightly, already smiling, already barefoot, already radiating a joy that feels impossible to contain.
“Aang,” you greet warmly.
Zuko straightens instinctively but not stiffly. Not like he used to.“Aang,” he says, nodding.
Your daughter stares, wide eyes, head tilted back as she kept her gaze only on him.
Aang crouches immediately, eyes lighting up. “Whoa. You must be the famous one.”
She let's out gasp then presses herself closer to Zuko’s leg, peeking out with curiosity.
“This is my daughter,” Zuko says, pride threading through every word. “And...” He clears his throat. “—this is Aang. The Avatar....My friend
Her eyes widen.“Va-tar,” she repeats carefully.
“That’s me!” Aang grins. “Do you wanna see something cool?”
Zuko glances at you, hesitant. Protective.
You nod. “She’ll be okay.”
Aang lifts his hands slowly, gently, and forms a tiny swirl of air that lifts a single lantern ribbon into a floating loop. It spins lazily, harmless and beautiful.
Your daughter gasps. She reaches out instinctively, fingers brushing the ribbon as it drifts. She then explodes in giggles.
“Again!” she demands, voice full and delighted now.
Zuko watches the whole thing like he’s seeing the world rewritten in front of him.
Aang catches his eye and smiles soft, knowing.
“You’re doing good,” Aang says quietly.
Zuko swallows. Nods once.
As night falls, the lanterns are released.
Your daughter sits on Zuko’s shoulders now, tiny hands tangled in his hair as she points at the sky.
“Fire stars!” she shouts.
“They’re lanterns,” Zuko corrects gently. Then pauses. “But… yeah. Fire stars.”
You stand beside him, your arm around his waist, feeling the steady heat of him beneath your palm—not the wildfire it once was, but a home.
The people cheer as the sky fills with drifting light.
Your daughter claps.
She leans forward and presses a kiss to the top of Zuko’s head, entirely unprompted.
Zuko freezes.
You feel him go still beneath your touch.
Then his shoulders shake.
He doesn’t cry. Not exactly.
But his voice is thick when he says, “I’m glad she remembers this.”
You rest your head against his arm. “She will cherish this.”
He looks at you then looks at you. “When I was her age,” he says softly, “my memories were… different.”
You squeeze his hand. "These are hers,” you reply. “Because of you.”
He nods, unable to speak for a moment.
Your daughter yawns, finally, eyelids drooping as the last lanterns fade into the dark.
She curls against his head, half-asleep.“Daddy?” she murmurs.
“Yes,” he answers instantly.
“Fire… pretty.”
He smiles. “Yes,” he says. “It is.”
And for the first time, standing in the heart of the Fire Nation with his family wrapped around him, Zuko believes it, not as a ruler, not as a symbol, but as a father watching his child grow up in a world he helped make kinder.
This is the festival she remembers.Warm hands. Soft light. Laughter.
Summary: Paradis has opened its doors to the world, and the Rumbling has not yet occurred. The military board insists, "We need more Ackermans!" to avoid ruining Mikasa's life. Levi agrees. Arranged marriage, explicit consent, Omegaverse. Alpha! Levi x Omega! Y/N. Mentions of underage marriage but it doesn't happen, the reader is over 21. Age gap but they are both adults.
(I would say enemys to lover but they don't even know eachother to be enemys lol.)
Warnings: Omegaverse, age gap, arrangemarriage.
Ao3 link to the whole work.
“Did you hear the screaming?” A cadet whispered to Floch, voice barely above a breath, yet just enough to make Armin and Jean glance over.
Floch scoffed, arms crossed. “Who didn’t? Sounded pathetic.” Then, with a sneer, he added, “Did you catch the smell on her? Disgusting.”
“Are they talking about Y/N?” Sasha asked under her breath. Armin only shrugged, uncertain as a beta, but Jean gave a slight nod—so small it was almost imperceptible, careful not to draw attention.
“She needs to learn her place,” someone muttered through clenched teeth, the words laced with quiet resentment, as if the situation irked them more than it did Captain Levi himself. “If she were my omega, she wouldn’t even think of stepping out of line like that.”
The men murmured their agreement, though none dared to raise their voices. No matter how much they sneered at the Captain’s supposed weakness, none of them were stupid enough to let him hear.
Armin sighed, his exhaustion laced with quiet sympathy, while Sasha murmured uneasily, “So… they’re still fighting?” The tension had lingered in the air since their return from the capital.
Nearby, Levi stood, papers in hand, issuing orders as he scanned the lists before pointing ahead. Yet his focus wavered. His mind was elsewhere—everywhere except here.
“Sir.” A cadet approached briskly but without urgency, saluting politely. Levi gave a curt nod, granting permission to speak.
“We retrieved the supplies from your chambers as ordered, sir.”
Another nod.
“Uh…” The cadet hesitated, hands clasped behind his back, legs stiff in a formal stance. His voice wavered as he searched for the right words. “Your… wife.”
The last word came out uncertain, as if the young man sought confirmation.
“Yes,” Levi replied, clipped and impatient, unwilling to waste time on semantics.
“She insists that the pet be taken with her.”
“Yes.”
Silence settled over the group like a thick fog. Several scouts exchanged glances, some rolling their eyes. Even among those who had transferred into the Survey Corps from other divisions—many seasoned soldiers—doubt simmered beneath their obedience.
“Sir…” One of the older soldiers stepped forward, his voice calm but edged with unspoken challenge. “If I may speak freely?”
Levi didn’t grant permission. He simply stared, dead-eyed, daring the man to continue.
The soldier swallowed but pressed on. “The horses may not take well to the animal’s presence.”
More silence.
“And… she doesn’t know how to ride. This could slow us down.”
Levi remained silent, letting the words hang, waiting—because he knew the real reason behind this sudden concern. And sure enough, the soldier cracked under the weight of his stare.
“I’m only suggesting, sir, that if you need us to step in and handle the matter—”
“Are you implying I’m incapable of handling it myself?”
Levi’s tone was flat, unimpressed, yet laced with quiet danger. One hand rested on his hip while the other held up the clipboard, flipping through pages as if this was any other mundane conversation.
A flicker of unease spread among the men. They weren’t stupid. Levi knew better than anyone how quickly rumors spread about high-ranking officers. The moment he raised his voice, the moment he let this conversation turn into an argument, it would become fuel for the fire already burning around him.
He could already hear it. Every alpha who had come across her since their return had caught on to the scent. And Levi… Levi was in no mood for this nonsense. He hadn’t been for months.
His ego had taken a hit—whether he admitted it or not. And no matter how much restraint he practiced, he wasn’t about to let vultures circle, thinking they could pick at his pride like scraps.
“We’re only making a suggestion, sir,” the soldier tried again, this time more cautious.
Levi’s gaze sharpened.
“Limit yourself to doing what you’re told,” he bit out, each word precise and edged with resentment. His patience was already paper-thin, and after recent events, it had only frayed further.
He had explained it to her once—the night they first met. Being Humanity’s Strongest had its perks. One of them was that he couldn’t care less what people whispered behind his back. But another was that very few had the guts to say anything to his face.
That had been true—until now.
For the past two months, the whispers hadn’t stopped. His name, her name, their relationship—it had all become the military’s favorite new topic.
She’s still unclaimed.
She comes and goes as she pleases.
Her scent isn’t his.
It smells like someone else.
The rumors even reached the higher-ups. The military board had questioned whether he was being “demanding enough.” His own soldiers whispered that he was too weak to keep his own mate in line.
For a long time, he had considered himself her only ally in all this. Perhaps she didn’t see it that way.
And maybe—just maybe—he wouldn’t have minded enduring the scrutiny, the judgment, if he felt they were working toward something together. If he believed they were striving for mutual understanding.
But now?
Now, his instincts were livid.
‘Walking up to me, stinking of that brat.’
His inner alpha snarled. The same part of him that had allowed her freedom, that let her choose what she wanted from the kitchen, that had tolerated her sitting beside him during training—because she had willingly smelled like him once.
That same part of him was now furious.
Brat. That was all the younger, lesser alpha was to him. Barely past adulthood, and yet still bold enough to challenge him for her.
And she let him.
She had asked for freedom. He had given it. And in return, she had betrayed it. And now, openly, she was challenging him.
His rational mind should have focused on his duties. But instincts didn’t listen to logic. His alpha was restless, pacing like a caged lion, ready to lash out.
Somewhere, the distant part of him—the one that still functioned as a human rather than a territorial beast—whispered that he needed to sit her down and talk. Rationally. Like adults.
But that voice was distant. Faint. Like an echo in a dream that held no weight, no power.
Maybe this was why. Maybe it was the years without a mate. The ruts that came and went without relief. The absence of an Omega in his life.
And now?
For his body, a potential mate in the peak of her youth had waltzed into his territory, an he had provided for her. He had made space for her. He had given her security.
She had shown signs of choosing him.
And then, another alpha—younger, weaker, insignificant—had walked in, pissed on his territory, and acted like he had a rightful claim.
‘You’re one lucky bastard I don’t have you within arm’s reach.’
Alpha monogamy was a curse to some, a blessing to others.
To Levi, at this moment, it was nothing but a slow-burning rage.
Inside Levi’s chambers, the air was thick—not with tension, but something heavier. Something that sank into the skin, clung to the bones.
Y/N sat on the window frame, perched like a defendant waiting for sentencing. Absentmindedly, she broke off a few crumbs of her bread, leaving them near the sparrow’s nest she had once drawn. The first bit of art she had created here. Now, it held three newborn pigeons, fragile and unaware of the world beyond their small sanctuary.
She watched the courtyard with a slow, detached melancholy. The sheer number of soldiers outside was surprising—only a few years ago, the Scouts had never been this many. Her gaze trailed to the office, where Levi’s door swung open and shut like a revolving door. Soldiers came and went, carrying boxes, blueprints, stacks of reports.
They moved freely.
She hated it.
Perhaps it was the way they carried themselves—so sure, so certain of what to take. Of what belonged to them. Perhaps it was the simple fact that they had a freedom she couldn’t even dream of.
A scoff escaped her lips, bitter and quiet. Her forehead pressed against the glass, its cool surface slightly uncomfortable, probably leaving an oily smudge that Levi would notice. That would probably irritate him.
But by the time he returned, this window—this entire room—would be nothing but a memory.
She let the thoughts settle, accepted them even as they cut deep. She had ignored every warning sign, every uneasy shift in the air. Maybe a wiser woman would have noticed it sooner.
A wiser woman—or a better wife?
Wives always knew, didn’t they? The old stories said so. They knew from a stain on a shirt, a change in scent, a hidden bank account.
Would a better woman—a better mate—have realized that Levi had been planning this all along?
What was I supposed to compare him to?
The Levi of the past two months was the only Levi she had ever known. There had been no “before” for her to measure against. No habits to track, no patterns to decipher.
If he changed his scent, how could she be sure it wasn’t just preference?
If he came home late, wasn’t that just his duty?
If he hid something, how would she even know where to look?
If Levi had a secret account somewhere, she wouldn’t even know the name of the bank.
But just then, she remembered her last fiancé. A smile tugged at her lips — not one of joy, but of bitter amusement, as if laughing at herself.
‘Maybe I really am as foolish and naive as everyone says.’
Even all of Levi’s wisdom, she thought, might never have led her to any different conclusion.
‘I never thought I’d miss this place.’
Not this place exactly. She had packed quickly, but most of her belongings had remained untouched since the day she arrived. Nothing here had ever truly belonged to her. It all felt borrowed, like slipping into her mother’s heels as a child—too big, too foreign, an illusion of something she was supposed to grow into. Usually kids forget that dream by the time they grow old enough to fill them.
Except this time her mother had long since sold those shoes, and the dream had been lost with them. The dream had vanished before she could outgrow it.
She wouldn’t miss these chambers. What she would miss was the fragile hope that one day, she might have fit into them.
And now, it was happening all over again.
The same suitcases. The same hairstyle. The same clothes. The same long journey to yet another unknown destination.
It was like reliving a nightmare she couldn’t outrun.
A small bag of essentials sat at the base of the window, packed and ready for the trip. She hadn’t moved in what felt like hours, curled in on herself, knees to her chest, fingers gripping the letters from her siblings.
‘I’m doing this for you.’
The words echoed in her mind, but the strength they were supposed to bring never came.
Then, the door swung open.
The shift in sound was subtle, but enough to pull her out of her thoughts. Slowly, she turned.
Levi stepped inside, appearing distracted as he moved toward his belongings, intent on putting away the last of them before their departure. When their eyes met, he opened his mouth—only to close it again. He exhaled sharply through his nose, his expression unreadable.
He hated this. Hated being met with teary eyes and resignation. Anger, he could handle. Defiance, frustration, even hatred—those were easier. But this? This quiet, lifeless acceptance?
Clearing his throat, he finally spoke.
“You done packing?”
His voice was steady—too steady. The forced calm surprised even him. Avoiding the conflict was either intentional or instinctive. Addressing it would require emotions he didn’t have the time—or the willingness—to offer.
Too angry to talk.
Too tired to pretend.
“Yes, sir.”
The words made him freeze.
For the first time in a long time, his body went completely still. A sharp, unbearable frustration clawed its way up his throat. For a moment, an absurd, childish urge consumed him—to throw himself on the floor, kick, scream, cry like a sleep-deprived toddler.
‘I wish I could just sit there, with watery eyes and expect the world to fix itself. But since I can’t—since I don’t—I'm the bad guy.
Fine. Whatever.’
“Alright,” he said finally. “Let’s go.”
Y/N slid off the windowsill, her feet meeting the ground. Levi moved around the room, checking everything—closing doors, locking windows, securing whatever was left behind.
She stood in the middle of the office, watching him move, just as she had on the very first night.
Curious eyes, like a kitten watching something it didn’t understand.
Back then, she had stood in this same spot, watching as he rushed around, setting things up. Now, she watched as he dismantled it all.
Hidden drawers she had never noticed before appeared as he pulled them open, retrieving money, keys, and even a gun. Small things, tucked away in places only he knew existed.
The only sound breaking the quiet was the restless scratching of her cat in its carrier, desperate to be freed.
Levi slung his pack over his shoulder, shutting the last of the windows. As the room fell into darkness, the finality of it settled deep in her chest.
This was it.
She bent down to grab her bag—but before her fingers could close around the strap, Levi’s hand shot out, gripping it first.
“Give me that,” he said, hoisting up both her luggage and the pet carrier without waiting for an answer.
She hesitated before moving toward the door, glancing back to see if he was following. He was—only pausing briefly to shut off the master valve in the bathroom.
With a final patting at his pocket for the keys, he stepped out into the corridor and locked the door behind them.
She stood there, waiting.
It was an odd, familiar feeling. The uncertainty of standing in a hallway, waiting for someone to tell her where they were going.
‘Like a pet.’
One that would develop an inexplicable fear of luggage.
‘Or more like a dog,’ she corrected bitterly. ‘One whose only trick is to wait and follow.’
As they moved through the halls, soldiers instinctively moved aside, pressing themselves flat against the walls as Levi passed. Some carried heavy crates, others stacks of paperwork, but the entire facility buzzed with urgency.
Outside, the courtyard—once a training ground—had transformed into something else entirely. Carts. Horses. Boxes upon boxes of supplies waiting to be loaded. It was chaos. A military carnival.
“Wait here,” Levi instructed before disappearing into the crowd.
‘See? I just need a leash.’
The thought was sharp and cruel, cutting through her remaining pride like a dull blade.
She watched the organized disorder unfold around her. Soldiers had direction, purpose. Even the ones running back and forth with last-minute additions knew where they were going.
She did not.
She was just standing there. Again. Watching life happen around her, but never to her.
The comparison shifted from a cruel coincidence to an outright insult to her sanity. Levi had left—probably to retrieve the horses—and she was still here.
Just there.
It felt eerily familiar. Like standing on the chapel porch that day—only there was no chapel this time. No empty streets of a forgotten town. No rain.
Instead, the world had been replaced with this—a bustling military facility, an endless sea of strangers, the scorching heat of early summer or late spring (whichever name you preferred).
And this time, there was no blissful ignorance to shield her.
This time, she knew.
She knew that Levi would not—could not—suddenly pull a pretty house out of nowhere. That there was no hidden well of romance waiting to spill from him. That any unconfessed devotion was likely never there to begin with.
At least… that’s what she told herself.
A sharp voice cut through her thoughts.
“Wait—I’ll do it, just—UGH.”
A soldier dropped a box near a cart before rushing off to help someone else.
For a brief moment, Y/N’s eyes flickered with purpose. She glanced at the small package, then at her own luggage. Levi’s luggage.
“I can do that.”
The thought came easily, naturally. It wasn’t as if their belongings were unbearably heavy.
So she moved, loading what she could onto the wagon.
The small box was the last thing left. She reached for it—
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
The scream tore through the air. The shock snapped her out of her daze, and she looked around frantically for the source, nearly dropping the box in her hands. But the moment she realized the scream had been directed at her, she caught herself—tightening her grip just in time to keep it from falling. The soldier, startled, had instinctively reached out in fear, but now ran his hands through his hair, as if trying to comb away the surge of adrenaline.
“Don’t touch that!” he barked, nearly stumbling over himself as he rushed forward. “Those are—”
He snatched the box from her hands with practiced urgency, holding it as if it might bite.
“Thunder Spear munitions,” he hissed, setting it down with exaggerated care. “They’re primed and unstable—one drop and we’re all just a stain on the dirt, you get that?”
Y/N froze, hands mid-air, as if still holding the weight that was already gone. Her breath caught in her throat, and heat rushed to her cheeks—not from shame, but from something sharper, smaller, meaner. Like being scolded in front of a classroom full of strangers.
“I… I was just trying to help,” she said softly, but the words felt like paper in a storm. Insufficient. Drowned out.
The soldier scoffed, checking the box for damage with exaggerated flair.
“Yeah? Try helping by not getting us killed next time.”
“I didn’t know—”
“Clearly,” the soldier snapped. He glanced around with a sneer. “Where the hell is the Captain, anyway? Or is Levi just letting you wander around today?”
That one hit lower than the rest. Her lips parted, but nothing came out. The need to defend herself tangled with the guilt crawling up her spine. Searching for Levi around, as if she was a toddler painting someone’s wall.
Footsteps behind her. Heavy. Sharp.
The soldier noticed before she did. His spine straightened. His mouth snapped shut.
Levi’s voice cut through the silence like a blade. “Who the fuck are you talking to like that?”
He closed the distance between them in a heartbeat. Despite the height difference, the other soldier averted his gaze and bowed his head in submission.
“I asked you a question.”
“I’m sorry—sir, she—”
“She?” Levi snapped. “Who the hell leaves artillery unguarded in this fucking mess? That’s your job.”
His voice sliced through the tension, putting the soldier in check. The few onlookers who’d dared to glance over quickly looked away, pretending not to notice. No one wanted to be next.
“It won’t happen again, sir. I reacted badly, sir. It got the best of me—”
‘Sir,’ she added silently, noticing how the word clung to the man’s mouth like a nervous tic. She stayed quiet behind her husband, watching him take control. Even though the soldier was the one being scolded, the guilt still pressed heavy on her chest.
“I’ll get the best of me if I ever catch you talking to her like that again — you hear me?”
“Yes, sir.”
As if multitasking was a reflex, Levi’s eyes caught something near the cart to their left. In one swift motion, he moved over and snatched up the item she had mistakenly loaded. The way he grabbed it — firm, frustrated, controlled — made it clear: he didn’t want the other soldier to have the satisfaction of seeing her get reprimanded.
“When I tell you to do something, I expect you to follow it,” he muttered as she hurried to keep pace with him across the field.
“That wasn’t our cart. It’s this one.”
He tossed the belonging into the correct wagon.
“Get in. You’re riding here too.”
“I’m not riding?” she blinked, confused. From what she understood, the carts were meant to travel behind the formation — slower, delayed. For a second, panic surged through her. Was he really leaving her behind to ride with strangers and supplies?
“You don’t know how to drive it, and I’m not testing your endurance under the summer sun for hours,” Levi said flatly, doing something far too ordinary for his rank as he adjusted the loaded goods.
“You’re going with the groceries,” he added with a faint huff of air as he secured the final piece.
“I’m… not going with you?”
The fear in her voice made him freeze mid-motion. He looked back and frowned.
“Don’t be stupid,” he said bluntly, as if the answer should’ve been obvious.
She tensed, ready to protest — Alone? With them? Her heart began to race. She knew he was still angry, but—
“Of course you’re coming with me,” he added, as though any other possibility was absurd.
‘Maybe if your face gave anything away, I’d have known that,’ she thought, letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
She climbed into the cart, still unsettled. The wood creaked under her as she sat, eyes narrowed toward Levi as he adjusted a strap near the front.
"You said the carts were leaving later," she said, testing the water.
“They are,” he replied without looking up.
“But we’re taking some now?”
“Obviously.”
"Then why are we leaving now?"
He didn’t look at her. "Some go early."
"Some?"
"Necessities."
She blinked, trying to put the pieces together. "So... the rest catch up?"
He gave a nod. Not a word — just that small, stiff movement.
She glanced around at the bundled supplies, the sacks, the wrapped crates. “How far are we going?”
“Far.”
She paused, unsatisfied. "Far like... how far?"
Levi's jaw tensed. "Far enough."
“That’s not an answer,” she muttered. “If we need groceries, this isn’t just a patrol, is it?”
He stood and turned to her. “No.”
Her brow furrowed. “Then what is it?”
Silence.
“Levi.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe what?” She folded her arms, lips pressing together. "You’re really committing to this one-word thing, huh?"
He exhaled through his nose, clearly deciding whether or not to humor her. “Maybe not a patrol.”
“You’re exhausting,” she grumbled. “So… how long?”
He looked at her. Really looked at her, dead eyes whispering ‘Drop it now,’. As he was far too busy for this almost toddler interrogatory.
“Three weeks.”
Her mouth parted. “Three—”
Her breath caught in her throat. Three weeks. On the road. She’d packed like they were going to camp out for a weekend, not half a month in motion.
Before she could respond, he tugged the last strap tight and stepped back from the cart.
“Wait at the cart.”
“What?”
He was already walking away, back straight, steps purposeful. She blinked. "Wait, like—wait until when?"
“I mean it. Stay here,” he called over his shoulder. “Don’t move.”
She opened her mouth to argue but stopped herself. He was already gone.
Reluctantly, she sank back into the cart. The curved arch of the roof offered more than just shelter for the food; it gave her a break from the blistering sun too.
“Shh, Clauwy. Behave,” she whispered, nudging the crate where the cat was kept. Sensing the sudden lull in motion, the feline let out a loud, annoyed meow and began rustling around in protest.
‘Three weeks?’ she thought, resting her head against the side of the cart. ‘We’re really going to the end of the world, aren’t we?’
"Knock knock."
The fake door knock made her peek out from behind a stack of crates.
Hange leaned casually over the edge of the cart, grinning. “Enjoying your suite? First class, huh?”
It coaxed a laugh from her, soft but genuine. “Commander.”
“Oh, please. It’s Hange,” they waved off with a dramatic roll of their eyes. “Here, scoot over. I brought you stuff.”
She half-crawled toward them — the roof too low to stand — and held out her cupped hands. Hange, still dressed in their full formal trench coat despite the sweltering heat, began unloading their pockets like a magician at a festival: chocolates, candies, gummies, tea bags — a strange but generous collection of comfort.
She blinked, surprised. “You brought all this… for me?”
“Of course. It’s going to be a long trip, and you’re going to need the calories,” Hange said matter-of-factly, still digging in their coat like a bottomless satchel.
A blush crept to her cheeks as she looked down at the pile of sweets in her hands. “Oh, um… I’m not expecting. Yet.”
Saying it aloud felt like pressing a finger to a bruise.
To her surprise, Hange burst into laughter — warm and unfiltered. “Please! Haha — of course you’re not! I do know how babies are made, you know.” They grinned. “And believe me, you'd be surprised how much Levi actually tells me.”
She flushed deeper. “But—why—?”
“Why am I bringing you snacks and tea like you’re already nesting?” Hange shrugged, smile softening. “Your body’s still adjusting — with the season change, the sudden travel, the stress. Hormones don’t wait for invitations. Eat a lot.”
They gave her a few affectionate pats on the arm and reached into the cart again. “Also brought you a pillow and some blankets. Once we’re past the walls, it might get cold at night.”
She moved aside to receive the bundle — the pillow softer than any military issue she’d touched, the blanket too gentle to be standard gear. “Thank you,” she murmured, touched. “You really didn’t have to—rearranging all this and—”
“Oh no,” Hange interrupted, waving their hand. “That wasn’t me! Levi’s the one who sorted the cart so you’d have space. The pillow and all that? Also from him. Most of those chocolates?” — they nodded to the pile in her lap — “He swiped them from the banquet at the Capital. I just saved them in my coat.”
They tapped the side of their nose playfully. “Don’t tell him I told you. He’s shyer than he looks.”
“Ah...” she didn’t blush this time — didn’t even smile at first. Just let her fingers brush the soft fabric of the blanket, her eyes drifting to the little wrapped chocolates. Most likely free offerings at one of the hangouts.
‘He really did all that?’
She exhaled a tiny, amused breath. “Alright,” she said softly, a smile blooming at the corner of her mouth. “I won’t.”
Hange leaned in closer, resting their arms on the cart’s edge so they were at eye level. Their grin faded slightly into something more sincere.
“Could you do me a favor?”
“Of course,” she said quickly — too quickly — eager to help, or maybe just glad to be asked.
“Don’t disappear like that again, okay?”
And suddenly, it wasn’t a friendly favor anymore — it was a reckoning.
Her gaze dropped, fingers tightening around the edge of the pillow in her lap. Her spine straightened instinctively, posture stiffening the way it had back when authority meant punishment.
“Yes, Commander,” she said quietly, the words shaped by shame more than obedience.
Hange sighed. Not impatient — but as someone tired of watching two people tiptoe around their own hearts.
“That’s not what I meant,” they said, softer now but still steady. “I’m not giving you a demerit.”
Still, she couldn’t look at them. Not yet. She straightened a little, spine going stiff — as if she were standing at attention rather than sitting in a hay-lined cart. “It won’t happen again,” she said quickly, automatically. Her tone clipped, formal — the way a soldier would answer a reprimand.
But Hange didn’t smile. Not this time.
“You know…” they started, still casual in posture, but there was something in their voice — a line tightening. “Levi was very worried.”
Her gaze dropped. She didn’t say anything.
“I know why you left,” Hange continued. “And honestly? I don’t even blame you. It’s a lot. Everything’s a lot right now.” Their tone remained quiet, “But next time, let him know where you’re going, alright?”
She swallowed, her fingers fidgeting with a corner of the blanket.
“And I would appreciate,” Hange continued, with a pointed raise of their brows, “if you didn’t make my best soldier that stressed again.”
There was a pause. Just enough for her to feel the weight of it.
Then Hange softened — just a little. The teasing spark in their eye faded, replaced with something quieter. “He’s not just my subordinate, you know. He’s my friend.”
The words landed with surprising gentleness. “I don’t like seeing him like that.”
She looked up, startled by how sincere the words were.
Hange gave her a small shrug, as if trying to lighten the mood but not quite managing to push the emotion aside. “Levi’s not a bad man. He may be... emotionally constipated, sure. Grumpy as hell. But if you want something — and if it’s even remotely within his power — he’ll do it.”
They tilted their head, smirking faintly. “He’ll complain the whole time, because that’s who he is. But he’ll still do it.”
She couldn’t help the small smile that slipped through.
“He’s not that type of man,” Hange said firmly. “He’s not out to control you. Or trap you. Or make you smaller than you are.”
Her breath hitched at that last part. Something in her chest loosened — and hurt — all at once.
"Shorty would rather skip the two hours of sleep he gets to take you wherever you want to go and make sure you’re safe, than forbid you from doing something," Hange said. "So… next time, just ask him. Alright?"
Silence lingered for a moment between them, warm and heavy like the air before a summer storm.
“...Okay?” Hange added, as if not sure whether to break the weight of it or not.
She nodded slowly. “Okay.”
”ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!” The brunette gave a few loud strong pats on the omega’s upper arms making her open her eyes open up in shock. “I’m glad we could set this straight! I leave you to settle in!”
Shaken slightly by the motion of the gesture, she chuckled to herself. Just for a second, it all felt a little less heavy — a tiny reprieve from the unresolved tension still pressing on her chest.
She waited. Longer than she expected. But eventually, the telltale sounds of horses shifting and soldiers mounting echoed through the camp. The Scouts were moving. Through the crowds, she began to pick out the figures of the Special Ops squad preparing to lead.
“Y/N!” Sasha’s voice startled her as the girl ran up to the cart, bright-eyed and already energetic. “Since you’ll be in the cart... share your snacks with me?” she asked with a hopeful grin.
“Don’t give her food,” Eren interrupted flatly, walking past with his hands in his pockets. “It’s a trap.”
The titan shifter barely looked interested but somehow still managed to side with the omega.
“No! Don’t listen to them, Y/N!” Sasha cried in protest.
“Did you bring the baby?” Mikasa leaned into the cart, scanning for signs of movement. Her face fell slightly when she saw no sign of the cat.
“Clauws? He’s in his carrier for now,” Y/N replied. “At least until we’re on the road. Maybe you can give him a walk if we stop somewhere.”
That thought made Mikasa light up immediately.
“What are you all doing here?” she asked, genuinely confused.
Jean puffed out his chest, dramatically smoothing his hair with one hand. “I’ll be your driver on this fine journey,” he said, adopting a terrible imitation of a Mitras nobleman. “At your service, m’lady.”
She laughed. “Thank you, Jean. You’re a sunshine.”
“Heh—thank you, thank you,” he said, bowing slightly as if awaiting applause.
Connie and Armin watched him with secondhand embarrassment, as the two male betas of the team. ‘We can see his tail wagging’, they both thought silently.
“Are you excited, Y/N?” Armin asked, shifting the focus with his usual calmness.
Her smile faltered. The tension returned, creeping in under her skin. She turned toward him slowly. “Huh?”
“You’ll be the first civilian to see the ocean!” Armin explained, visibly thrilled. It seemed like he was more excited about it than she was. Maybe because he’d been dreaming of it for years. “It’s the largest body of water in the world. And it’s salty!”
She blinked. “Salty?”
“Yes! And the fish are incredible!” Sasha added, clearly impressed with her own contribution.
“The sea snails are pretty too,” Mikasa chimed in softly.
“They’re called seashells,” Armin corrected kindly, unable to help himself. “You’ll love it, Y/N. It’s breathtaking.”
She nodded slowly, trying to absorb all the information. It still didn’t feel real.
“The animals outside the walls are huge,” Sasha added. “The deer, the bears—they’re way bigger than what we’re used to.”
“Big?” Her stomach dropped slightly. “Like... how big?”
“Oh, nothing compared to titans,” Connie jumped in quickly. “You might find a few old footprints, buried deep in the ground—but no worries. The wild makes everything feel tiny by comparison.”
The excitement turned into unease. Her expression shifted.
“Wait... how far are we going from the walls?” she asked, anxiety creeping into her voice. “I thought we were only going a few meters out.”
Jean laughed. “No, silly! We’re going all the way to the coast. End of the island. We’ll be there for the rest of the year!”
Mikasa’s eyes widened as she realized the others might be saying too much. She started signaling them from behind Y/N’s back—but it was too late.
“We’re building a port and a railway line,” Armin added eagerly. “It’s part of the coastal expansion. Once the ships start arriving from overseas, we’ll have a chance to negotiate with them, explain our intentions—”
“What?” she asked, stunned. “And... What about titans?”
“We eliminated them all,” Mikasa cut in quickly.
But Armin and Jean chuckled, clearly confused by the panic in her voice.
“I mean, yeah,” Jean said. “But some might come from Marley, so you never really—OW!”
Mikasa pinched his side sharply, twisting the skin through his jacket.
“No titans,” she said flatly.
“None. Whatever you say, Mika,” Jean gasped, rubbing his ribs. “Message received.”
The rest nodded awkwardly, pasting bright smiles on their faces.
“Yep! Not even one!” Connie agreed quickly.
“What do we do?” he whispered to Jean as Y/N’s face twisted into a mixture of fear and shock.
“Wait... so we’re not coming back? For a year? GUYS?!”
Before anyone could say more, Levi’s voice cut through the tension like a knife.
“Everyone to your places. We’re leaving.”
The cadets scattered immediately, disappearing like guilty roaches. Levi, unaware of what had just unfolded, approached the cart with calm exhaustion in his posture.
“Come on,” he said, voice quieter now. “Get in.”
But she didn’t move. Instead, she stepped down and approached him.
“Levi, please,” she whispered. “I don’t want to go. Not for that long.”
He sighed loudly. “We talked about this. It’s final.”
“Please, Lev—” She gripped his arm, trying to meet his eyes. “Please.”
He froze. His whole body went stiff. He hated this — public attention, the eyes shifting toward them, watching. Her watery eyes, the pleading voice, the touch — all of it made him feel exposed, vulnerable, off balance. “Don’t do this in public,” he muttered. “I already told you — it’s decided. Don’t beg me.”
He placed his hands on her upper arms and gently pushed her back, forcing her to release him. “Don’t make this harder.”
“Levi—” she tried again.
But the pressure was too much. His already-fraying nerves, the constant watchful eyes — it tipped him over the edge.
“Enough, Y/N. Get in the cart.”
There was no softness in the words. Just steel.
The cadets, now a few meters off, watched in silence.
“We fucked up,” Armin whispered.
“Great,” Sasha muttered, “They’re divorcing. We’ll be motherless again.”
“You have a mom,” Jean replied dryly.
“Yeah, but she’s sick of my ass.”
“I wonder why,” Connie added.
“She can’t divorce,” Eren said flatly. “It’s not even legal.”
Legal or not — wanted or not — the formation began to move. Levi and Hange led at the front, just like always.
“What’s the matter now? You two are fighting… AGAIN?” Hange emphasized the word as if the couple’s inability to make it work was taking a toll not just on them but on the general public. Like two parents who refused to let it go, their constant bickering only produced more harm than they believed splitting up would.
The brunette was nearly exasperated—they thought they’d taken a step forward on the Captain’s behalf by giving the girl the items Levi had gathered during the weekend meeting. They’d seen him stuffing everything that was offered for free into his pockets, and when they asked why, Levi’s response had been a mix of muttered excuses—tinged with irritation, pettiness, resignation, and just a bit of shame. The look on his face as he picked things up, claiming he’d give them to her once he got back to the hotel, said it all: “Yeah, I said something bitchy—true, but bitchy—and I don’t know how to fix it.”
Of course, her sudden disappearance—and everything that followed—left the improvised apology gift completely forgotten. Hange had thought they could smooth things over in his favor with the gesture, only to realize their attempt at a single step forward had somehow become three steps back.
”Fuck me,” they muttered exhausted.
Levi, exasperated but in a rush, kept walking, pushing soldiers aside as he slipped through the crowd. “She thinks this is a matter of begging me!”
Hange did their best to keep up with the short man—who, despite his lack of height, was mighty even for brisk walks. “She thinks I’m enjoying this bullshit, that if she keeps begging, I’ll eventually give in!”
“Well—Oops, sorry,” the commander interrupted whatever half-hearted, empty advice they had been trying to come up with, their social obligation as the Captain’s friend momentarily overtaken by nearly colliding with a cadet carrying Thunder Spears.
“I’m not doing this on purpose! It’s not like I’m holding back what she wants just for the sake of it, as if it’s some sick power play. She keeps begging me, like that’s all it takes, like I’m refusing just to be an ass. I don’t enjoy hearing her beg—”
Levi stopped abruptly—not just walking but talking, frowning deeply.
“I’m listening,” Hange affirmed, as if the short man had stopped for lack of feedback.
“Yeah, I know. I just never thought I’d say that about a woman.”
The commander closed their eye and scoffed a chuckle. “You for real? That’s what’s throwing you off in all this?”
“Give me a break,” the Captain said before cursing under his breath. “It’s like hearing Erwin say he doesn’t like being seen as a paternal figure or some shit. Goes against every single fucking kink I’ve ever mentioned before.”
As they walked out to take their place in the formation at the front, Levi somehow picked up the conversation without needing a cue.
“I told you to tell her beforehand,” Hange said, adjusting the strap on their horse.
“I was planning on it,” Levi snapped, yanking his own strap tight. Their faces barely visible over the saddle as they moved, but their tone carried. “I was planning to tell her everything in detail—until she decided to lie to me and disappear for hours with another man!”
“That’s exactly why I told you to tell her sooner!” Hange repeated, echoing words they’d said nights ago. “She’s confused.”
“She’s confused?” Levi scoffed. “Imagine how confused I was, finding out she lied about where she was.”
“You lied too.”
“I didn’t lie. I… avoided certain parts of the truth.”
Hange rolled their eyes so loudly, it was almost audible. “You’re sounding so much like Erwin right now.”
“Don’t bring Eyebrows into this,” Levi muttered, as if the comparison alone—especially in anything remotely romantic—was a mortal insult.
He said something under his breath, but it was completely unintelligible.
“What?” Hange asked, leaning over their horse’s neck with a squint. “I can’t hear you when you grumble like a sewer rat.”
Levi repeated it. The exact same way.
“Stop grumbling and just say it, dammit.”
Finally, after one last gritted attempt, the sentence came out clearly. Hange’s eyes (if they’d had two) would’ve gone wide.
“You didn’t hug her back?!”
“What was I supposed to do?” Levi shot back, climbing onto his horse in one swift motion.
“HUG HER?!” Hange nearly screamed, following suit and swinging onto their own. “WHY the hell did you push her away?!”
“Because it’s hard for me, alright?!” His voice cracked under the weight. “For fuck’s sake—it’s hard. I felt everyone looking at me and I couldn’t — I just fucking couldn’t, okay?”
Hange threw their hands to their face in mock-sobbed despair. “How did a man like you manage to get married with these social skills?!” They asked, sarcasm layered thick. It was meant to tease—one of their usual back-and-forths, laced with roasting affection.
But Levi didn’t fire back. This time he didn’t give a smartass reply, rolled his eyes or doubled the bet.
Instead, he gripped the reins so tightly that the leather creaked under the pressure.
“Because they forced me into this,” he muttered, and for once his voice wasn’t sharp. It was bitter. Broken. “You think I don’t know I suck at this? That maybe I’m aware I don’t have the time or the emotional availability to give?”
Hange went still. That pulled the humor out of the air.
But inside the moment, everything quieted.
“I know I’m fucking it up,” Levi continued, voice low but trembling with restrained fury. “Everyone and their damn mothers keep reminding me. But I’m trying. I’ve been trying since I stepped into that chapel and waited there for hours.” His jaw clenched. “I know it’s shit. But this—” he looked away, swallowing hard— “this is me trying.”
He let out a low, guttural curse. “Fuck.”
The field fell into a quiet so stark it was almost unnatural — the kind of silence that is deafening. The grass rustled. Hooves thudded softly against earth. Somewhere, cicadas droned in the heat.
But all she could hear was Levi’s ragged breathing, uneven and fast, slowly evening out as the fire inside him cooled to ash.
Ashamed, he looked away — not from Hange, but from himself. As if just saying it out loud made it all worse.
But maybe… maybe it didn’t.
Maybe it was the first right thing he’d done.
Hange, who knew all too well what it felt like to be forced into shoes they never asked to wear, finally said, quietly:
“I know.” Just that.
They reached out and clapped a hand on his shoulder—firm, grounding, comforting.
“I know,” they repeated.
One deep breath. Then the formation began to move.
At first, the journey was rough. Every part of the cart rattled and shook with intensity as they made their way through the forest, crawling slowly along narrow, uneven paths. The terrain forced the convoy to a near crawl.
Eventually, the structure of the Scouts’ facility disappeared behind them — the same way it had once emerged from the fog during a spring rain. Now, it vanished into the trees with no fanfare.
She remained inside the cart, tucked away in its protective shell. There wasn’t much to hear aside from the rhythmic rustling of wheels grinding over dirt. Then, finally, they broke through the forest and onto a wide, open road.
With most of the road ahead now paved or packed smooth, she opened Clauw’s carrier and let the cat out. Still, she clipped on his harness and leash — just in case. Tight as it was around his furry frame, it didn’t alter his appearance much. Clauw was long-haired and thick underneath — he had never skipped a meal in his life, and it showed.
Despite his newfound freedom, he curled into her arms and stayed there. Maybe because he was old now. Maybe because, for all his size, Clauw had always been a timid cat. He seemed used to traveling — a product of having been dragged with her everywhere since childhood. Their bond had only deepened with time, and his presence calmed her more than she’d realized.
She bent down and kissed the side of his face. He purred in her lap, and she clung to him like an anchor — something steady in all this unfamiliar motion.
Peeking out from the cart occasionally, she began to recognize the route. They were taking the Trost road — the same path described in old newspaper clippings about the retaking of Wall Maria. First Trost, then the elevators leading up to the restored gates.
“Y/N!”
Jean’s voice called out from the front seat, where he’d been driving. “Come on out! We’re about to pass through the only Wall of the trip. It’ll be fun!”
At first, she ignored him. But then, with a sigh, she changed her mind and crawled out to take the seat beside him.
Jean greeted her with an exaggerated grin. She couldn’t help but chuckle.
As a child, passing through the walls had always thrilled her. They broke the monotony of endless countryside views and the mindless rounds of I Spy — back when the entire world outside the window was just varying shades of wheat-gold ochre.
Now, the strong wind funneled by the tunnel blasted against her face. She instinctively held her head and her dress down as they passed beneath the towering gate. She squinted up, just catching a glimpse of the battlements — and then they were through.
The town of Trost greeted them with crowds. People clapped and cheered, shouting wishes for safety and luck. The formation slowed at the checkpoint, where the sealed gates loomed tall and final, the sun already sinking.
To her surprise — or perhaps not — children ran through the streets chasing after the wagons, hoping to catch a glimpse of the infamous figures in the lead.
“Captain Levi!” they called. His name echoed with Hange’s and Eren’s, cheers overlapping into one noise.
She noted, unimpressed, the way young women in the crowd blushed and swooned. Her brow arched. ‘From far away, he’s a masterpiece. Up close? Monet.’
As they approached the front gate, the formation halted.
“Are we stopping for the night?” she asked, climbing down to stretch her legs. Jean hopped down too.
“Nope,” he replied. “We’re pushing through. Gonna ride straight through the night and reach Shiganshina by tomorrow afternoon.”
She frowned. “All day? Isn’t that exhausting?”
Jean shrugged like it was obvious. “We’re soldiers. If we can’t pull one all-nighter, we’re in the wrong profession.”
The rest of the squad gathered nearby. Mikasa approached with hopeful eyes.
“Want to let him walk a bit?” she asked gently, already reaching for the cat.
“Please. Thank you,” Y/N murmured, handing Clauw over. The relief on her face was subtle but present.
“Y/N,” Levi’s voice cut through from ahead.
He was a few paces forward, hand extended, arm out — waiting for her.
She took a steadying breath and followed.
“Riko will show you the garrison’s girl restroom so you can freshen up,” he said, barely glancing back. “I’ll bring something for dinner.”
“But...” she glanced around the formation. “What about the rest of you?”
“We’re working.”
“And food?”
“We’ll eat crackers on the move. Just go with Riko.”
His words left no room for negotiation. The grey-haired soldier appeared beside her, already ready to escort.
She nodded and followed.
After washing up with cold water and wiping herself down with a damp cloth, she emerged to find Levi waiting, arms crossed. Without a word, he handed her a wrapped pair of jam-and-cheese sandwiches and a water flask.
She blinked in surprise but accepted them.
The rest of the journey blurred. The sight of Wall Maria — long since restored — was haunting. She’d been old enough to remember its fall and now, seeing it again, there was something almost sacred about it. The ruins that remained felt ancient. Ivy clung to shattered buildings. Window frames sat empty. Still, people worked in the fields nearby, greeting the formation with quiet gratitude.
Compared to Trost, there was a peacefulness here. A kind of countryside calm that felt stolen from a dream.
She stayed awake into the night. Not tired, not hungry — not really anything. Just empty. The summer air was lukewarm, not cool enough to need a sweater, not warm enough to bring comfort.
She shared one sandwich with Sasha and nibbled on the other. It was tasteless, but she forced herself to eat. Eventually, she curled back into the cart — but sleep never really came. Everything woke her: the scratchy blanket, the movement of the wheels, the constant voices outside, the birds, the owls, the night insects.
By the time they reached the next sealed gate, dawn bleeding into the sky, something shifted inside her.
She looked back, trying to see the walls they’d left behind.
But Wall Maria was gone.
Just like that.
Swallowed by distance.
And then the thought came — plain, quiet, terrifying in its honesty:
‘That’s how far I am from home.’
As soon as the realization hit her, it became undeniable—unstoppable. Her chest tightened, her hands trembled. The broken gate had been sealed by Eren’s titan form, and the formation was now being lifted to the top of the walls, preparing to descend on the other side. The very same elevators that had brought them up would now take them down into the unknown.
For the first time in her life, she was seeing beyond the walls.
Fear struck hard.
‘Don’t look down,’ she told herself.
But, of course, she did.
Her breath hitched as she took in the staggering drop from the top of the wall to the endless stretch of grass below. The sheer height made her stomach twist.
And speaking of colossal things—her mind, in a cruel act of betrayal, reminded her of all the horrifying stories she’d grown up with. The monsters beyond the walls. The titans. Every worst-case scenario she’d ever been taught came rushing to the forefront of her thoughts.
Instinct took over. In a blind scramble for safety, she backed into the elevator shaft, clutching her cat against her chest like a lifeline and gripping the column beside her as if it were the only thing keeping her from plummeting into the abyss.
Armin, always perceptive, noticed immediately and approached with concern.
“Y/N… are you okay? You look a little pale.”
“I just need some fresh air,” she said quickly. But her wide eyes, clenched teeth, and bone-white knuckles gripping the metal told a different story.
Like ducklings following their leader, the rest of the squad trailed after Armin, equally curious and confused.
“Fresh air?” Jean muttered, frowning. “On top of the walls?”
You could practically hear the collective thought process: ‘There’s no place with more air than fifty meters above the ground, standing on the last wall of Paradis.’
Mikasa knelt beside her, eyes scanning her carefully. “Are you dizzy? Is your blood pressure dropping?” she asked, noting how Y/N was slowly sinking to the ground.
Between ragged breaths, Y/N choked out, “I can’t go out there… I’m not going out there.”
Sasha’s eyes widened in sudden understanding. “Oh! You’re scared! But there’s nothing to worry about! We’ve been in Levi’s squad for a while now!”
Connie nodded enthusiastically. “The Special Operations Squad! Nobody better than us!”
Y/N looked up at them, still unconvinced. Armin added, “We’ve been serving under Captain Levi for nearly two years. You’re safe with us.”
She hesitated, frowning. Something about that number didn’t sit right. “Two years?” she repeated, voice barely above a whisper. “What happened to the last squad?”
The air shifted.
The six teenagers exchanged glances.
“Uh…”
“Ehm…”
Mikasa, deciding it was time to intervene, stepped forward, smoothly pushing Armin aside as if shielding Y/N from whatever dumb thing he might accidentally say next.
“Don’t worry, Y/N,” she assured her with quiet confidence. “Captain Levi and I are the strongest. If anything happens, I’ll protect you.”
It was meant to be reassuring. But it had the exact opposite effect.
Y/N’s eyes widened in alarm. “So… there’s a chance something will happen?!”
—
“Captain…”
Levi turned, still mid-discussion over last-minute battle plans when Mikasa’s voice interrupted.
“What?” He frowned, hands on his hips. Whatever it was, it had better be important.
Mikasa hesitated, glancing toward the elevator. “We think you should check on Y/N.”
—
“I’M NOT GOING.”
Y/N clung to the elevator’s frame like her life depended on it, legs locked, refusing to step foot outside.
Levi stood beside her, “I told you, you need to come with us,” he repeated, voice low and firm.
“NO.” She shook her head wildly, gripping the metal tighter. “I don’t want to die!”
Levi exhaled sharply, trying to keep his patience. “I already told you, there are no more titans. I wouldn’t take you out if there were.”
“How do you know?! Have you even looked outside?! IT’S HUGE OUT THERE!”
Levi stared at her, deadpan.
He had spent more time outside the walls than inside them. And yet here she was, explaining it to him.
His pride crumbled. His instincts as an alpha did, too. Only adding to the recent events.
His inner alpha bristled slightly at the scent of her fear. It stung his pride—not just as a soldier, but as a mate. Alphas were supposed to be a source of security, a symbol of strength. Omegas chose alphas based on their ability to protect them and their offspring. Normally, his reputation alone was enough to reassure anyone, let alone his own wife.
Yet here she was, outright terrified, and his presence wasn’t helping at all. But right now, standing beside his mate, all he could smell was her fear.
It was a blow to his pride.
“Y/N,” he said, this time searching for any grain of patience, love and support inside him. His voice sounded almost soft and calm. “I wouldn’t take you if it wasn’t safe.” His tone was measured, steady. If she was his, then she needed to trust him. “Don’t you trust me?”
Without hesitation—without even thinking—she blurted out:
“NO.”
Silence.
Dead. Absolute silence.
Hange, who had wandered over to investigate, let out a wheezing laugh so intense they had to clutch their stomach.
Levi, meanwhile, just stared.
A sharp "Tch—" escaped him as he scratched the back of his head, trying to mask the sting. Ouch.
Hange, still gasping for breath, spread their arms dramatically. “Ah, no worries, my dear! Your fear is simply due to the unknown! That’s perfectly natural! But have no fear—I’ll teach you everything about titans, and I will keep you safe!”
As if spring had just arrived and they were a pair of rutting bucks trying to prove themselves, both alphas now stood in front of her. There was an unspoken challenge in the air. Two alphas—Hange and Levi—instinctively competing to reassure the terrified omega. A display of dominance in its most ridiculous form.
Y/N blinked. Then, in the flattest, most unimpressed tone imaginable, she deadpanned: “How are you gonna keep me safe? You can’t even spot titans—you’re missing an eye.”
Hange’s proud smile froze. Their face fell into an expression of sheer offense and heartbreak.
Levi choked on a laugh. He tried to hide it—tried so damn hard—but his shoulders shook, and a muffled snort escaped before he could stop it.
“Don’t laugh, you asshole,” Hange hissed at him, glaring.
The three alphas—Levi, Hange, and Mikasa—stood together, momentarily humbled. If this were the animal kingdom, they had just been denied their mating rights.
“She’s in shock…” Hange sighed, observing the omega’s state. Her breathing was rapid and shallow, her face drained of color despite the summer heat, and her translucent eyes darted around in panic.
“Tch. Let’s just get this over with.” Levi’s voice was monotone, unreadable, his plans undisclosed.
The girl’s grip tightened where she sat, her head shaking in frantic denial. Just as Levi shifted slightly, Armin stepped forward, planting himself between them with his arms stretched wide.
“Give her some air!” he urged, casting a firm glance at Levi before turning to the trembling omega. “I’ll handle it. Let me talk to her.”
To everyone’s surprise, Levi didn’t argue. He simply muttered, “Alright,” and walked away.
That threw Armin off. He had expected resistance—some insistence that Levi knew best how to deal with the situation. But the Captain left without a fight, leaving Armin no time to dwell on it. Instead, he turned back to the girl and knelt beside her.
“I’m NOT going!” she cried, her voice raw with fear.
Armin placed a gentle hand on her back, his tone soothing. “It’s okay. No one’s going to force you. I just want to keep you company.” He paused, studying her trembling form. “Would it help if I talked? Maybe something to help you breathe through this?”
She gave a hesitant nod.
While Armin searched for the right words to comfort her, Levi continued on, ignoring Mikasa as she trailed after him.
“You’re seriously not going to do anything?!” she snapped, as if Y/N were her own mate in distress.
Levi, accustomed to the cadet’s insubordination, didn’t even spare her a glance. He crouched by his belongings, retrieved a thermos, and poured steaming tea into the lid, which doubled as a cup. Then, from a small travel pouch, he scooped in sugar. More than a few spoonfuls.
Mikasa grimaced at the excessive amount. “Ugh.”
Meanwhile, Armin kept speaking. “You know… I froze in shock too. Back in Trost, during my first real battle.” His voice was calm, almost nostalgic.
She blinked, still breathing unevenly. “Really?”
Armin chuckled softly. “Yeah. Some soldier I was, huh?” He shook his head, offering her a small smile. “It’s okay to be scared.”
“I’m not going,” she repeated, though her voice wavered. “I want—”
Her lips parted slightly, the hint of a response forming before Levi interrupted, pressing the makeshift teacup into her trembling hands.
She blinked at it, then at him. "What—what is this?" she asked, her voice shaking almost as much as her hands. She looked utterly confused, and Armin, just as baffled, shot Levi a questioning glance.
"Drink," Levi instructed flatly.
Hesitantly, she brought it to her lips and took a small sip—only to immediately grimace, pulling away in disgust. "Ugh! It's sweet. Even for me."
"Good. It'll keep you from fainting," Levi said, crossing his arms as if that settled it.
Armin caught on first. It wasn’t just tea—it was a calculated act of reassurance, a way to ground her and replenish her sugar levels after the shock. Levi was helping in his own way. Armin nodded, subtly encouraging her to drink. Levi, satisfied that his job was done, turned away and resumed his duties.
Minutes passed. The soldiers began to hurry as the descent was imminent. Armin continued talking, filling the space with calm words. “The sea is beautiful, and—” He trailed off, noticing the familiar tension creeping back into her frame. Her breathing swallowed again.
“It’s alright,” he assured. “I’m not going anywhere. Even if you’re not ready, I’m sure everyone will underst— Wait, are you okay?”
She hunched forward suddenly, making Armin’s stomach drop.
“I just… feel really tired…” she mumbled.
Armin exhaled in relief. “That’s from the hyperventilation. You’re finally calming down—”
She had started to slump forward.
Alarmed, Armin reached for her, only to watch as Levi reappeared out of nowhere, catching her effortlessly before she could hit the ground. Her head lolled against his stomach, motionless.
Panic surged through Armin. "Levi—?! Should we—"
Levi, calm as ever, merely shifted her weight with practiced ease. Placing his hands under her arms, he hoisted her up, adjusting her against his chest. One hand supported her back while the other slid beneath her legs, holding her as if she weighed nothing at all.
"Problem solved," Levi declared smoothly, his tone entirely too casual for the situation.
Still carrying her effortlessly in one arm, he reached down, grabbed a small cat that had been loitering nearby, and plopped it over her back.. The cat barely protested, curling into her limp form.
"You too, little shit," Levi muttered at the feline, then turned on his heel, striding toward the designated departure zone.
Armin could only gape. "What—what did you do?!”
Levi didn’t even look back. “Gave her what we give soldiers when they’re severely wounded.” He shrugged. “By the time she wakes up, we’ll be too far for her to freak out.”
It was quite the sight, though the rest found it obvious. Levi, walking around with her perched against his chest as if she weighed nothing—settled along one of his forearms—grabbing his own equipment and barking orders, all while balancing her and the cat on his left arm. He took his place to descend on the elevators, each gust of air that hit them making him scoff and grimace in pure disdain.
Every single time the strong wind swept across their faces—which, considering they were fifty meters above ground, was rather frequent—he caught the stench. The lingering scent clinging to her like a brand, a reminder of his failure. She being asleep, unable to find peace because he hadn’t been able to give it to her. His incapacity to speak the truth. Her scent muddled with someone else’s. Having her so close—her neck right beside his face—was torture.
‘This is stupid,’ he thought sharply. ‘Wasting brain space on this.’
But when he finally stepped into the cart to let her rest, he paused. He glanced behind him, as if someone might’ve followed, then let the intrusive thought win.
Before he could talk himself out of it, he bent down and pressed his neck against the curve of hers, rubbing it quickly —first one side, then the other.
Then her wrists a bit too on both of his neck sides. Brushed them against his skin, just lightly. The places where pheromones lived most strongly.
One last sniff to her hair. A deep inhale.
His scent, now faintly tangled with hers, made something primal inside him settle.
His alpha—restless and bitter just moments ago—nearly purred with satisfaction.
The sensation made Levi want to crawl out of his own skin.
One part of him screamed victory, as though he had just reclaimed something sacred. The other part wanted to grab a mirror, look himself dead in the eye with a judgmental glare, and growl, “Why are you like this?”
Still, he did what he could to make her comfortable. He laid her down gently, adjusting the pillow beneath her head, and pulled a blanket over her sleeping form.
Then, without a word, he turned away and disappeared back into the chaos of duty.
—
‘The patent leather shoes as I jumped the rope, my muddy, stained knees, bruised as I ran through the park. Most of my friends and I would sprint down the streets after being picked up from the girls-only school, racing to see the displays in the fancy wedding dress store, to admire the new designs.
We were wealthy enough for my mother to take offense at the idea of my sisters and me learning how to cook, but not enough to afford private tutors. There was a time I was truly free, saving all my dreams inside the rooms of my dollhouse.
Little by little, I started to grow up, and my freedom disappeared—like the soap bubbles I used to pop in the backyard.
All children born of a traditional Alpha-Omega couple were born with three possibilities. There was always a chance the daughter would present as an Alpha too. A Beta child would be considered a disappointment—destined for the working class.
There was a time I stood a chance.
But little by little, without even realizing it at first, I was told not to run like a savage. That girls like me didn’t do that. That we didn’t ride horses, or climb monkey bars. But what never changed was the thrill of rushing with my friends to see the dresses. One day, it would be our turn. Each of us would have our own design, ones we used to draw in crayon on scrap paper. Mine were always the most praised.
Little by little, I forgot I was allowed to have bruised knees. Forgot I used to outrun my cousins. I began to shrink into the mold, just as the ruffles on my dream dress were ironed stiff into place.
The dress I tried on—the one that made my mother cry tears of joy—made me feel so pretty that I forgot I had ever wanted anything else.’
“Do what he tells you, alright? No sass-mouthing, Y/N,” her mother said, fingers weaving through her hair in the dim morning light.
The cart was already waiting at the front.
“Alright,” she replied, lifeless.
“And try to smile. A happy wife makes a happy husband.”
“Alright.”
“Show interest in what he does... but not too much. When they come home from work, they sometimes want peace and quiet.”
Her mother secured the final braid, her voice soft and far away. Her hands, though warm, moved over Y/N’s arms with a kind of absent care. “...How will I know?” Y/N turned slightly, glancing at her over her shoulder.
“You’ll learn, with time,” her mother whispered. “Learn what he likes, what he doesn’t. He’ll show you when you make a mistake. And you’ll learn.”
“Mom… I don’t want this.” Her voice cracked into a sob. “I’m scared.”
Her mother hugged her then—still her child, no matter how old. Kissed her face gently. “As your mother, it’s my duty to tell you: we don’t get to choose where we live. We live where they let us.”
‘I always thought it would be easy for me. That this was my place, and I’d learned it well. That this was my role by nature.
But if this is my place by nature... why did I have to be forced into it?’
The memories twisted, blended, folded in on themselves. She ran—ran in her little patent leather shoes down the street. Her friends ran ahead, laughing. But she couldn’t catch them. They had already grown out of her reach.
When she woke, she was sobbing.
Disoriented, she scanned her surroundings, panic swelling in her chest. She crawled out from the blankets, her body sluggish with sleep, and found herself in what looked like a campsite. A few tents around her. The sky glowed faintly—dawn was near. Trees towered all around, thick and tall, enclosing the clearing like ancient sentinels.
She turned in circles, barefoot, heart racing. Until she collided into something solid.
“Calm down. It’s all safe,” Levi muttered, standing in front of her. His hands hovered just over her arms, not touching—but close.
Her panic curdled into something hotter. Her eyes widened, her breath coming fast and sharp—and then the fear became anger.
“What did you do?!” she screamed, fists pounding weakly against his chest. “I told you I didn’t want to come! I told you!”
He didn’t stop her. The impacts were small. Harmless.
“There’s nothing out here. See?” he said quietly, like he was trying to reason with her. “You just needed to rest.”
“I’m not a kid! Don’t put me to sleep like one!” she shouted, her translucent eyes turning toward what she guessed must be north.
And there—where walls had once loomed—was nothing.
Kilometers and kilometers of nothing.
He thought the outburst was just anger — fear of being there, maybe. But for her, it was the collapse of everything she had ever known.
Her mind resisted the truth for even a second, but the cruel thought of having to stand this — this nothingness — for an entire year, tore her apart.
“No, no, no,” she repeated in raw denial, sobbing messily as the weight of it all crushed her.
The cries confused him. Finally, Levi gripped her arms — gently, with no real strength — as if trying to shake her out of the shock.
“It’s not the end of the world, brat. Come on,” he muttered, exhausted.
To him, it felt like watching a toddler refuse to go to kindergarten.
But as her emotional state didn’t seem to improve — not with anything he said, or did, or tried — Levi grew helpless.
No one likes watching someone cry like that. There’s no comfort to offer. No quick fix for despair. Just one salty stream after another.
“Don’t cry like that, damn it. No one died. It’s all fine,” he said. “You’ll like it. They’re building houses and all that shit. There’s nothing out here to be scared of anymore.”
But titans were the last of her worries.
And Levi had just said the word that nailed the issue — fear.
She imagined her life like this. Like the past few days — isolated, empty, in the middle of nowhere. With no one to talk to, unless she could tolerate the scrutiny.
“I’m scared,” she sobbed, “I want to go home.”
She was scared of returning home too late, of having missed everything with her mother. Of coming back without a child. Of never fitting anywhere again.
“Y/N, listen to me.” His voice rose, trying to snap her out of it. “There’s nothing out here. What are you so scared of?”
He shook her slightly — not hard, just enough to try and make her focus. But they were speaking two different languages. Living in two different worlds that could’ve been so easily connected, if only one of them had the right words.
His hands gripped her arms again — not roughly — but her skin was already bruised.
She was scared of what he’d do once they were alone, after the scene she was making. Scared of opening the wrong drawer in their shared quarters. Scared of living in a place she was merely allowed to exist in. Scared of stepping fully into her mother’s shoes, of hearing herself one day say the same resigned words.
It felt stupid — ridiculous even — that the very role she had trained her whole life for now terrified her.
“Of you,” she whispered.
Those two words echoed louder between them than any scream.
Levi’s hands, which had been trying to steady her, fell away. Slowly. Like he’d just been burned. Almost ashamed.
It hit him in the heart — a clean, precise shot — and silenced any argument he might have had.
A knot rose in his throat, nearly choking him. His lips pressed into a hard line.
A stupid thought crossed his mind: ‘This would be ten times easier if I were the asshole everyone thinks I am.’ Maybe if he cared less, her words wouldn’t have cut so deep.
The silence of the wilderness was all-encompassing.
“I didn’t want to yell at you,” he said finally, voice barely above a whisper. “Not the other day. Not in the bedroom.”
Her sobs quieted. She didn’t raise her eyes, but the words confused her—startled her enough to pause.
“The night with the ink mess,” he continued, “that was me bitching. I stand by what I said, but it was a shitty way to say it.” He exhaled, frustrated. “And my stubborn ass thought I’d find a less shitty time to explain all this crap. But then you lied. You disappeared. And I got so fucking angry—” He stopped himself. “I’m still fucking angry.”
Levi cut off, as if even trying to speak was pushing his limits.
“I know it sounds hypocritical, after I slammed a drawer and shout, but…” he hesitated, eyes narrowing slightly. “I’m not like that.”
The implication hung thick in the air. He ran a hand through his hair, then let it fall to the back of his neck, scratching absently—like he might find relief in tugging out a particularly stubborn hair. A bitter scoff escaped his lips.
“I guess I’ve gotta prove that,” he muttered. “Until death do us part.”
That line — half-joke, half-confession — snapped her out of the spiral she’d been in. It didn’t feel like a demand to trust him. Or a challenge. Or some dramatic vow. It felt like what it was: a quiet promise. One he’d have to prove every single day, not just once, but over and over — to her, to himself, maybe even to the kind of man he wanted to be.
For the first time in a while, she looked up. Met his eyes. And then, softly — her voice scratchy, like it hadn’t been used in years — she said, “I promise you… nothing happened between us.”
Levi let out a humorless breath. Almost a laugh. “I know,” he whispered. “I’m not naive.”
He didn’t smell anything on her. Nothing out of place. If something deeper had happened — more than a kiss, more than talk — her scent would’ve told him. But still… something in his voice hinted at how close betrayal had felt. How easily imagined.
The tone stung. She heard the hurt behind it.
“I… I’ve even been burning his letters,” she added quickly, like it might patch something.
“Letters?” Levi cut in sharply. “Die—? Some bullshit? Diederik? I thought he was a cousin or something with how often he sent them.”
She tensed, shrinking slightly. She hadn’t expected him to remember. Or connect it so quickly.
“You knew he was sending letters to my place and didn’t say a word?” he asked, tone sharper now but not fully furious — more baffled. “The fucking audacity of that asshole to send letters to my house.” He swore under his breath. “Is that how you arranged to meet him?”
“There wasn’t any arranging…” she mumbled. “He left me a note under the hotel room door. I told you — I’ve been burning the rest.”
Levi didn’t explode like she feared. Instead, he just frowned deeply, dragging a hand over his eyes and pressing into the sockets like the pressure might keep his temper down.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“You went to meet with a guy who sent you letters you didn’t answer, tracked you to a hotel, left notes under your door…” He trailed off, grimacing. “Holy fuck, you’re alive by a miracle.”
“Well… now that you put it like that,” she said, trying and failing to smile. Her voice cracked. “I—I just wanted to talk to someone. Like a friend. I didn’t know him like that.”
Talk to him… like a friend? Is she stupid? He was completely lost in her train of thought—because he couldn’t recall a single lifetime, or universe, where you could go talk to your ex-fiancé as a friend.
“Didn’t you spend the whole previous day at your friend’s house? Didn’t that help?”
But the moment the word friends left his mouth, she broke eye contact. Her face twisted in pain, sharp and unfiltered. Like he’d just stepped on something raw. As he tried to piece together the last few days, Levi realized he was unraveling a pattern of missing information.
“I don’t want to talk about that.”
‘Oh no. We are not doing that.’
He put both hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently backwards until she almost fell onto a loose log. The Scouts had sat there earlier that day. The bonfire was out, the pot left to dry with the serving spoon still in it—cleaned after they’d eaten the stew. Legs spread, Levi sat down beside her with a demanding presence.
“Why did you lie to me? Why’d you say you were meeting your folks when you weren’t?”
Facing each other, Levi studied her tight-lipped, apologetic expression, searching for something real beneath it. “I’m not throwing some shitty punishment at you or anything. I just want to know why you looked me in the eye and lied.”
She hesitated—doubt in her eyes, but no real reason to keep it in anymore, except maybe fear of what might come next. “I thought… if I told you my parents weren’t going, you wouldn’t take me to Mitras.”
“So your parents were never gonna be fucking there?”
She shook her head slowly. Then, as if something clicked, her mind reached for a memory—his words on their first night.
“No…” she murmured, “My family’s at the countryside house. It was too short notice for them to come to the capital.” Her words were sluggish, either from the exhaustion of a recent forced sleep or the weight of everything pressing down on her. “And… my mother’s pregnant.”
Levi frowned slightly, his eyes narrowing as the pieces didn’t quite fit. ‘I saw her, what—a month ago? She didn’t even look pregnant.’ Logic kicked in. A woman that far along shouldn’t travel, sure. But something still felt off.
“Ah,” he hummed, a vague noise of forced acknowledgment. “Congrats.” Then, seeing the sadness on her face, he quickly added, “I guess.”
“I need to go back,” she said, fiddling with her fingers in distress, picking at the skin beside her nails. “My mom needs me. She’s having a difficult pregnancy.”
Her voice was steady, but her reasoning made no sense to him.
“And what are you gonna do there?”
“Look after my siblings, of course.”
A hum of mild surprise echoed in his throat. “Ah… You got more than your little sister?”
“We’re seven in total.”
“Seven?!” He reeled back in shock. “Damn. How old is your mother?”
The question confused her. Most of her friends came from big families. “Thirty-nine… almost forty, I think.”
Levi did the math in his head, blinking. “Your mom’s six years older than me and has seven kids?” He looked genuinely thrown, while she just blinked at his reaction, like it wasn’t that strange at all. That only confirmed it. “Holy shit. Your folks really didn’t waste any time, huh?”
That earned a quiet chuckle from her. “The doctor said my mom shouldn’t be having more children… she’s lost too many pregnancies already. Mae was even born premature.” Her voice cracked. “I’m scared she won’t make it…”
Levi softened slightly, trying—awkwardly—to offer comfort. “I’m sure a good doctor’ll find a way to end the pregnancy and make sure your mom pulls through. Don’t worry.”
But the way she looked at him—confused, regretful—made something click.
“‘Cause that’s the smart thing to do,” he added. “Especially when she’s got a bunch of young kids who need her more than a newborn does.”
“My… family believes the more, the merrier,” she whispered. “A child is always a blessing.”
Levi let out a long, heavy sigh and rolled his eyes. The whole situation was simple and infuriating at the same time. “Right. Your dad’s allergic to wrapping it up and doesn’t give a fuck. That’s the real problem.”
Her face turned scarlet. She stammered, “Why would you say it like that? Gosh—” she dropped her voice, “They’re married, after all… it’s normal. Plus, they’re mates. What do you expect them to do?”
“Well, for starters,” Levi said dryly, “I know your family owns two houses. He could spend a week or two a year in the other one and not get her pregnant. Problem solved.”
But even he knew that wasn’t the real issue. That was just surface-level.
“Then again, that’s clearly not a solution for a man who doesn’t give a fuck about his family.”
The blow landed.
“He does care about us,” she insisted, defensive now—though he hadn’t said them, just her father.
“If he cared,” Levi said coldly, “he’d know that his other six brats need their mother a hell of a lot more than he needs to go raw for a week.”
For the first time in her life, someone had said it — had placed the blame on the other party in the relationship.
His words still hurt. Maybe because defending her family’s dynamics had been written into her since childhood, stitched into her with years of quiet teachings and expectations.
But somehow, his bluntness opened a door — just wide enough for her to voice something that had long lived in the back of her mind as nothing more than an intrusive thought.
“To be honest… I don’t think they should be having any more kids either,” she admitted.
The words felt light — like letting go of something she didn’t know she was carrying.
“But it’s done,” she added, quieter now. “And my siblings need me.”
“You know,” Levi said, resting an elbow on one knee, his voice low and rough, “I don’t usually say this to anyone but myself, but… that’s not your responsibility.”
Her head turned, brows creased. “How can you say that? They’re my little brothers and sisters.”
A soft, resigned scoff escaped his nose. Because in her, he saw it — for the first time. That same thing that lived in him. Blind loyalty. Crushing duty. That instinct to carry burdens that were never yours to begin with.
“Y/N,” he said, voice firm but not unkind. “You’re their sister. Not their mother.” He leaned forward, gaze steady. “I know it sounds fucking selfish. I’m sure it does. But if you let yourself become a slave to your parents’ bad decisions… then the day your mother dies, you’ll be the next one in line to be your father’s wife 2.0.”
She played with her ring, turning it around her finger without taking it off. It had become a habit since it used to be loose. Now it fit snugly—tightened by Levi’s makeshift fix. Her breathing was soft, quiet, as his words slowly sank in and took root in her mind. It would take a lot of care and time for that seed of self-identity to grow into something real, but it was a start. Like a frozen pond in midwinter—beneath all the thick, harsh layers of ice, there was still life.
She frowned deeply. “You’re right… it’s just—it’d be easier to feel less useless if I could help, at least like that.” But her voice cracked at the edges. Levi’s mind went straight to how he’d told her she needed to start helping around. He was about to tell her it wasn’t that serious—but then, like the final drop that overflows a full glass, she broke.
“I should’ve used my time in the capital—wasted on meeting Die—to go see the doctor my friend told me about.”
“A doctor? You feel bad?” Levi asked quickly, alert. “Oi—oi, what’s the matter?”
He bent down, trying to get a look at her face. She was sobbing again, wet and broken. She shook her head, unable to speak.
“Why would you go see a doctor if you’re not sick?”
“Because I lost my heat,” she whispered, “and maybe I can’t get pregnant… like my mom.”
“What?” he said. “Why are you saying that bullshit? Your friends told you that?”
She nodded slightly. “Well, fuck your friends,” Levi said immediately. “You’re young. You’re stressed. You don’t need a damn doctor.”
But his words barely scratched the surface of the storm inside her. Her hands clenched into fists in her lap.
“It’s just—” she sobbed, “I can’t even do the one thing I’m supposed to do right.”
“Oi—”
“No, but—” her words stumbled over themselves as her breathing quickened again. “It’s the only thing I’m meant to do and I can’t even do it! Why is my body betraying me like this? If I’m not a mother, then what am I supposed to be?!”
Her hands flew up to cover her face as her cries broke open again, muffled by her palms. She curled forward, shoulders trembling.
Levi sat there, speechless. His gut twisted. “Fuck,” he muttered under his breath. “I’m so bad at this.”
But then—he reached a hand to her back, steady, warm. “This is gonna sound cringe as hell,” he muttered, “but... you can be whatever you fucking want, Y/N.”
She flinched slightly, moving away—not to reject his comfort, but as if she didn’t think she deserved it. Like this heartbreak was punishment.
He kept going, even as she turned.
“Listen to me. You’re young. We’ve got plenty of damn time to figure out if your heat comes back, or if you can get knocked up. And if not? We’ll deal with that. And if nothing works? There’s still a whole lot more in life than pushing out kids. A hundred other kids out there who’d be lucky to have someone like you.”
“Don’t act like this isn’t an inconvenience,” she said bitterly. “An alpha with an omega who can’t even go into heat...”
That short-circuited something in him.
“You think I care about that?” he asked sharply. As she wouldn’t look at him, she wouldn’t answer either. He reached out and gripped her face, gently but firmly, forcing her to meet his eyes.
“You think I care that you lost a heat?” he repeated. Their faces were inches apart. The raw pain in hers answered for her.
“For fuck’s sake, Y/N. I haven’t even thought about that.” His voice was low and rough. “I don’t give a shit. I care that you’re a crying mess because of some bitch you call a friend.”
“Me?” He scoffed. “Do I look like someone who goes around saying shit to make people feel better?”
She blinked, caught off guard.
“C’mon, Y/N. Half the time I can’t even say the shit I should say. You think I suddenly got the social skills to lie?”
Between sniffles, she laughed.
Their eyes met. Her cheeks flushed—whether from crying or their closeness, neither could say.
“Don’t you think this all would’ve been easier if I’d had my heat in spring?” she asked, teasing softly now.
“No,” he said immediately. “Have you seen how damn controlling I am? The country’s a mess, and the thought of leaving you behind, knocked up with my kid, while I ride off to the end of the shitty world—” he quoted her, “—is already making me want to rip my hair out.”
She laughed again, and wiped at her face.
“I’m sorry about all this.”
“I’m sorry I wasted money on a cart for you to visit those bitches,” he said dryly. “Next time, spit in their faces.”
“Levi!” she scolded, laughing through the last of her tears.
After a rare moment of closeness, they both leaned forward, gently bumping their foreheads together in silent support. Her breathing was still uneven, but it was calming, slowly syncing with his. Breathing the same air, their scents mingled. His hand, still cupping her cheek, moved to stroke her face gently. He still couldn’t find the right words. But this was something.
They sat there a little longer.
Eventually, she leaned her head against his shoulder. Her fingers played with her ring again, but this time, there was peace in it.
The gold thread shimmered softly in the first light of dawn.
“I should’ve taken the ring to get resized when we were in Mitras,” Levi muttered, annoyed at himself for missing the chance.
But she just smiled, more tenderly this time. “It’s alright. I like it like this.”
Levi frowned, unsure if she really meant it.She held her hand up and spread her fingers, admiring it.
“They say rings match the marriage. That’s why people want the biggest, the fanciest. But I think ours matches us pretty well.”
Silence lingered for a few seconds as Levi squinted at her, trying to process the statement.
“Shitty?” he offered.
She laughed brightly.“No, you idiot,” she grinned. “It’s not meant to fit. But we try to make it work. And that’s more than a lot of people can say about their arrangements.”
He hummed softly, nodding. “Yeah… that sounds way more poetic.”
—
From a safe distance, just beyond the tree line, the remnants of Levi’s squad were half-huddled, half-loitering, trying to stay out of sight.
Or at least, most of them were trying.
Sasha groaned, arms crossed over her stomach. “Can I go have breakfast already? I’m literally dying.”
Behind the cover of a tall tree, Hange peeked around the bark like a spy in a bad disguise. “Give them some time,” they whispered, voice full of mischievous reverence.
Armin yawned as they were supposed to start their duties and squinted toward the couple at the camp’s edge. “Weren’t they, like, screaming at each other last night?” He tilted his head. “And now they’re cuddling? That kind of emotional whiplash causes unpredictable attachment models in kids. Has anyone considered that? I could develop toxic anxious attachment,”
“Dude,” Connie muttered, elbowing him, “don’t blame your anxiety on them. You already had that before the marital drama.”
The group snickered.
As the omega and alpha pair sat quietly under the early morning sky — heads bowed together, peaceful — as they waited for them to be over so they could carry on with their duties.
“So… how’d they make up?” Jean asked, raising an eyebrow.
Hange turned around from peeking, smirking as they casually raised both hands—left hand forming a ring with their thumb and index finger, while the right index and middle fingers thrust through the circle.
A chorus of gasps followed.
“No way,” Sasha whispered, nearly choking on nothing.
Mikasa frowned, blinking slowly. “But… we don’t have a bed here.”
“As if a bed’s ever stopped anyone, sweetie,” Hange said, not even glancing back.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Armin muttered, mostly to himself.
That made Hange turn fully around, eyes glinting behind their glasses. “Look at that,” they said with a satisfied sigh. “Levi was right. The shy ones are the worst.”
They smirked. “And why, dear Armin, were you listening in the first place? Hm? You little voyeur.”
Armin froze, color rushing to his ears. “Wait—what?! No, I— That’s not what I—! I was trying to sleep!”
“What’s a voyeur?” Sasha asked, squinting curiously.
“Eh…” Hange shrugged. “A type of bread.”
Author’s Note 💔:
Hey friends 💌
I’m not gonna lie, writing this chapter was bittersweet because… Tumblr nuked my blog. Five whole years of headcanons, over 200 posts, and I was this close to hitting 10k followers. And yeah, I’ve never been one to obsess over numbers—some fics did well, some didn’t—but what I truly treasured was the community we built together 🥺💕
I’ve gotten the sweetest asks over the years. One person told me they used to read my fics while pregnant and now they read them to their kid. Like, hello?? That kind of thing stays with you forever. Losing all of that without warning? It broke me. And apparently, I’m not alone—Reddit is full of people saying their years-old accounts were randomly deleted too. Support won’t answer, and (get this) I even got banned from the support page for just asking why my blog got taken down 🙃
But despite everything, I’m still here. People always asked me, “Will you keep writing after the manga ends? After the anime ends?” And my answer has always been:
“I’ll keep doing this as long as it’s fun for me.”
And guess what? It’s still fun. So here’s a 15k word chapter because apparently I cannot shut up 📝💀
If you’re looking for me, I’ve made a new (very improvised) tumblr: lucysarah1875
And I also have a lil discord server in case you want to hang out/chat/cry about Levi with me 😭 Just shoot me a message at lucysarahc on Discord and I’ll send you a fresh invite link since they expire faster than Tumblr’s mercy.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the love, comments, and support you’ve given me. It means more than I can ever express T-T
Okay okay, enough rambling. Enjoy the chapter 💕
— Lucy <3
Tag list! (Please, if you got this notification. I'll be using this blog until further notice):
@nube55 @justkon @notgoodforlife @nmlkys @humanitys-strongest-bamf @quillinhand @thoreeo @darkstarlight82 @aomi04 @levisbrat25 @fxnnyackerman @secretmoneybearvoid @trashblackrainbow @l3visthighs @hum4n-wr3ckag3 @hannieslovebot @flxrartsstuff @feelingsandemotionsnotexplored @starrylevi @rithty @mariaace @ackrmntea @emilyyyy-08 @levisfavoriteteashop @katestrophes @katharinasdiaryy @ackermanswifee @levistealeaf @an-ever-angry-bi @youre-ackermine @searriously @blackdxggr
Levi startles, looking up. The little girl stood before him, all wide eyes and beaming at him.
“Yes? Shouldn’t you be at school?”
She shrugs, then thrusts out a hair brush and a set of scrunchies. “Do my hair today!” She grins.
Levi is taken aback slightly, not at all expecting such a request. It’s not that he had a bad relationship with his daughter really, if anything Levi spends every second that he can spare with her. But even so, it was so sudden and specific, not to mention she has never asked him to do it before. It was you who helped her get ready.
“Doesn’t mommy usually do that?” He asks slowly. “Is she busy?”
She shakes her head quickly. “I just want you to do it today.” She smiles, holding the brush out to him, waiting for him to take it.
Levi glances at it then looks back up. How could he say no to that?
So, without a word, he motions her to turn around which she follows happily, pulling a stool nearby to sit between Levi’s legs. Levi takes the brush, though slightly hard to hold without his missing fingers, he manages, combing through the black silky strands.
Like his.
Though, his own hair was stranded with gray now, a sign of the long years he had lived. Even Ackermans don’t stay young forever.
But it’s still so strange to him, having her here, right in front of him. He still freezes a little when she smiles at him, watching her with awe. She looked almost exactly identical to him, starting from the shape of her face to the color of her eyes, just the exact shade of the silvery blue that his own eyes hold. But there was a brightness in those eyes that Levi doesn't think he ever had. She was like this little ball of sunshine, always so bright.
And her smile, that came from you.
She was his. Yours. Theirs.
A part of him and a part of you. A whole other human being. A child. A blessing.
It was the hardest at thr beginning. For him to get used to it. Despite the 9 months of pregnancy, it was when he first held her that the realization finally hit him. That she was his daughter. His.
And the moment his eyes locked with the newborn, he knew he was doomed.
That there was nothing he wouldn’t do for this small, small, absolutely tiny person that came to earth no more than half an hour ago. That he had just met.
It was crazy how it only took him only a moment for him to swear his life for her, to become so protective. It was actually ridiculous, how he felt anxious even when it was the nurses holding her, he’d been so rigid, so poised. Even when handing her over to someone else’s arms, he had his hand outstretched because just in case. It took a shit load of convincing from you for him to let Jean and Connie hold her.
It was crazier watching her grow up. Never had he felt this ridiculous amount of pure joy and excitement ever. Only to hear her first words, to watch her take her first steps, holding his hand. He swears it was only yesterday.
His chain of thought was cut off as she started to happily chatter about things. Unlike Levi, she talks. A lot. Levi doesn’t mind, he listens quietly. Every once in a while, inserting a comment.
“I’ve read about you. In the history books. Our teacher taught us.”
“Yeah?” He mumbles, brushing softly. “What’d you learn?”
“They called you humanity’s strongest.” She stumbles on the word a little, which was a bit heavy for her usual vocabulary. She turns around to look at him with awe and wonder, wide eyes asking for confirmation. “That’s so cool!”
He only lets out a small hum in response.
"Will I be as strong as you one day?"
"Sure. You already are." He hopes she never needs to be.
“I saw your picture too. And mommy’s. Also, Uncle Connie used to be bald back then.” She finishes with a giggle, the idea of Connie’s lack of hair amusing her. “You were like a superhero, weren’t you daddy?”
“I wouldn’t shoot that far.” He answers with a small smile.
Back then, Levi had never imagined the idea of having a family. There, caged between the walls, surrounded by those tremendous monsters. When there was no guarantee that you’d come back alive once you’re out there. How could he even think of bringing a child to the world, if he couldn’t even do the least that is to promise their safety?
But now, here she runs and plays outside, without a worry in the world, tirelessly. She doesn’t have to starve like Levi had to, she grows up with only all the good the world has to offer. She doesn’t know the worst of how things could be and Levi hopes she never does. She doesn’t yet understand the role Levi and you had played in creating this world, but she does understand the value of it. She asks questions sometimes, about the wheelchair and the eye and the hand. About your scars and why somedays you can't get yourself from bed. He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t know how to answer. And Levi knows, one day, he’ll have to tell her all of it, life back then and the life he had. But for now, he prays, let her grow up with only love and pureness. Let her see the world in her rose colored glasses. Something he never got to do.
She taps Levi’s leg as he bunches the hair to tie a ponytail. “Do braids.” She says.
“Braids? Don’t you always wear a ponytail?” Levi asks.
“Yes, but,” She tries to explain, stumbling for words. “Tash always pulls by it.”
Tash was one of her classmates, Levi knew from her frustrated rants about him. From what he could gather, neither liked each other much. “Next time he bothers you, you do the thing that I taught you.” He tells her.
“The thing with my hands?” She asked brightly, balling her hands to show him.
“Hey, no beating up kids at school. Levi!” You appear in the doorway, only catching the last bit of the conversation. “Don’t give her ideas. And you,” You look at your daughter who was smiling smugly. “I’ve been looking for you–wait, is Levi doing your hair?” You say, finally noticing and very surprised.
‘Yes!” She replies excitedly, “He’s doing braids! He’s very slow though.”
Levi playfully pats her head. “It’s because you keep moving.” He sighs. “Must you need braids? I’m not sure if I can–”
“Yes.”
Levi was about to say something else until she turned around, giving him the most adorable pout ever, eyes all round and needy, her brows pinched together. “Please?” She asks sweetly.
Well damn.
Levi tries, he really tries. But the word no somehow managed to disappear from his vocabulary, along with all of its synonyms. So he sighs, nodding.
“Levi, I can–” You start.
“It’s okay.” He puts up a hand, stopping you. He doesn’t know much about the process, but he’s spent enough time watching you do her hair. So he thinks he can manage it. “I can do it. Probably.” He says uncertainty.
It was slightly difficult to manage multiple sections of hair when you’re missing two fingers, but even surprising himself, he does manage it, after a few attempts. A little uneven, but works.
"Happy?" He asks her, patting her head.
It was good enough for the girl, who jumped up right after it was finished and cheered happily as an answer to Levi. She jumps to his arms, pulling him by the neck to plant a big smooch in his cheek.
“You're the best.” She beams at him, then running off to grab her bag which was by the door.
“Wow, mommy’s nonexistent now?” You fold your arms in mock offense.
She doesn’t answer, only picks up her bag and runs to hug you full speed, wrapping herself around your knees. “I love you.” She calls out, then turns to Levi. “And I love you too! I'm leaving now!”
Then she was out the door before you could say I love you back.
“Don’t run, you’ll fall.” Levi calls out to her, who was already far out of hearing range.
You closed the door. Then leaned against it, staring at Levi.
Levi looked away, cheeks heating up slightly, noticing the strange way you were staring at him, already knowing what comes after.
“So.” You said.
“So, what?” He said, glancing at you.
“Where'd you learn how to do braids?"
He huffs. "From you. I watched you do it.''
"Really?' It was so cute you could melt.
“Stop looking at me like that.” He grunts. “She’s my girl. I can do her hair sometimes, it’s not that big of a deal.”
“So, I’m not your girl?” You pout, exactly the same expression your daughter made just moments ago. “How come I don't I get braids?”
“I–” Levi starts, then huffing frustratedly. He can’t even say no to his daughter, who was he to say no to the mother? He tries nevertheless.
“I’m not doing it. Stop looking at me like that.”
You did not look away, pouting out your lips more.
“Would you be very mad if I told you that part of the reason I married you was this?”
You placed a praline in your mouth and melted into the pillow just like the chocolate did on your tongue.
Satori threw you a sidelong glance and grinned, “Oh yeah? Then I think you should know that I partly married you for your body.”
He made a great show of biting his lip and looking your squishy tummy and thick thighs up and down.
“This old thing?” You snuggled closer to him and he pulled you to kiss your temple and accepted a praline you held out to him.
A long finger was placed under your chin to lift your face to his for a proper kiss. “Hm, that and your mouth.”
“Awww, because I give such great kisses?”, you teased in a cutesy voice.
“Sure. Let’s go with that.”, he shrugged.
Another peck and you booped the tip of your nose against his. “I’m glad that I know how to keep my man happy.”
“That you do.”
Definitely not leaving the box of chocolates behind you gently pushed your husband backward on the couch so you could use his chest as a pillow. The blanket was warm and cozy and this was the best you’d felt in hours.
“Do I know how to keep my baby happy?”, Satori asked when you didn’t say any more.
In response you hummed at the taste of his chocolates, rattling the box a bit for emphasis.
“… outside of that, too?”
a/n: Tendou went 🥺
I love him. Is it very obvious yet that he is my favorite? He would provide the best period snacks. Hands down.
Snow has fallen and instead of running the gang and ensuring his casinos, bars, clubs and shops are good, he decides to make memories with his precious wife and daughter.
It was a cold morning and the snow was thick on the ground. Levi happily watched it fall with a cup of tea in his hand. An idea struck him, he wanted to spend today having fun with his baby girl and stunning wife. The park was the perfect place to go.
He turned from the window and gazed lovingly at you tangled in the bedsheets from him ravaging you in the early hours of the morning. Fresh lovebites were dotted on your skin and the delicate smile on your face was enticing.
Drawn in by your beauty, he moved over to you and sat on the bed. He brushed your hair from your face carefully. "Love?"
You hummed and shifted a little. You opened your tired eyes allowing you to see your handsome husband. "Morning." A bright smile spread on your lips. "You look so good in the morning."
"So do you."
You dragged your body to sit up causing your shirt of Levi's you wore to drop and cover you. "What's the plan for today? You've already started it with a lot of energy."
He chuckled as he remembered how passionate he'd been with you. "It's because you're so irresistible." He kissed you and hummed. "I'm thinking we take Lilly for a walk in the park."
"Oh, we can put her in her bunny snowsuit."
He smiled softly. "That'd be cute."
You stretched your joints and moaned. "I'll get her ready for the day."
He kissed you again. "I'll do it."
"Okay, handsome. I'll make breakfast."
"I'll do it."
You huffed a bit. "Levi, we've talked about this." When you got out of bed Levi eyed your legs and bum. "You've got to let me do things too."
"I know, but I like spoiling you."
You walked over to him. "Let me do the breakfast."
He looked up at you. "Convince me."
You lifted your top and put it over his head so he got a faceful of your boobs. "Convinced?"
"Mm, I was not expecting this." He gasped when you freed him. "No fair, I wanted more time."
You pinched his cheek and wiggled his face. "Later."
Levi got up and pulled on a turtleneck jumper. "I can't wait." He yanked on some trousers and ruffled his hair. "I'll get the princess."
You eyed Levi. "Mm! You look good."
He chuckled. "Thank you, you look so sexy." He winked at you before leaving the room and going to his daughter's. He grinned at seeing her standing up in bed jumping up and down. "My goodness, you are full of beans this morning like me."
She giggled. "Dada."
He picked her up and cuddled her close. "Good morning." He cuddled his daughter who was just a few months past one. "Let's get you changed and ready for the day." He cleaned her up and changed her into warm clothes. He sat her in her chair as you made breakfast. "She's ready for the day."
You put the food out and smiled. "Hey, my baby girl."
Lilly bounced in her seat. "Mama!"
You nuzzled your nose against hers. "Good morning." You kissed her puffy cheek. "I love you so much. Are you excited to play in the snow today?"
She clapped her little hands. "Mama!"
Levi leaned over and kissed you. "I'll feed her, you enjoy breakfast."
After a fun-filled breakfast, you all went out into the snow and walked across to the local park. Levi held Lilly tightly against him because she kept wiggling and wanted to run around. It was the first time she was seeing snow and instead of being afraid, she wanted to play.
He came to a stop in the little kid's park. He put Lilly down on her little boots and watched her waddle through the snow. It made him smile at how cute she was in her bunny snowsuit. "Careful, Lilly."
She waddled through the snow and came to a stop. "Eh!" She leaned down and picked up some snow in her mitten. She held it to you. "Aboo."
You crouched down and giggled. "It's snow. It's cold too."
She looked at it. "Co."
You hummed a laugh. "Cold. Do you want to play on the swing?"
She dropped the snow and waddled to the swings. "Bah!"
Levi scooped her up making her squeal with laughter. "Come here, you little terror." He cleaned off the seat and slipped her into the seat. "Hold here."
You ran to the front. "I'll take pictures!"
Levi carefully pushed Lilly in the swing making her giggle. "Up we go!"
Lilly kicked her legs as she laugh. "Da!"
Her squeals of delight warmed Levi's heart as he kept pushing her. Before you walked into his life, he knew only death, pain and anger due to his work. When you walked into his life, he found happiness, joy and love. He didn't work every waking moment and found time to relax and love life more. He even spent more time with his parents.
Levi helped Lilly out of the seat and wached her stomp about. He looked over at you and sighed. "I love you."
You felt your heart race. "I love you too."
He walked over to you, wrapped his arms around you and kissed you. "You are the best thing to happen to me. You brought love and happiness into my life, along with the most cute baby girl in the world."
You hummed a laugh. "I love you too, Levi. You're everything to me." You kissed him and sighed. "Speaking of, where is our little princess." A smile spread on your lips as you watched Lilly waddle through the snow. "She's loving the snow."
Levi gasped when Lilly fell flat on her face in a mound of snow. "Lilly bug!"
You giggled as Levi ran for her. "She's okay, she's getting up. Relax a little."
Levi ran to Lilly and watched her get up. "Are you okay?"
Lilly sat up and laugh. "Dada."
He smiled at her. "Yeah, dada." He sat and released a long sigh. "Sorry for worrying so much about her and you."
You knelt in the snow and watched Lilly pat the snow. "I find it romantic."
Levi grabbed you and sat you on his lap. "I love you so much. I really do."
"I love you too. I'll always love you." You pulled Lilly close and smiled. "Come here my sweet."
Lilly gazed at you and smiled. "Mama."
You hugged her against you. "That's right." You hummed a laugh. "How about the slide next?" You stood up with her. "Ready?" You put her at the top of the slide. "Go!"
Levi caught her at the bottom. "Wee! I got you."
Lilly giggled. "Wee!"
He handed her over to you. "Let's go again."
You sat her at the top. "Ready? Go!"
Lilly squealed in delight. "Eee!"
Levi caught her. "Good girl." He lifted her up in the air and wiggled her. "So cute." He brought her down and kissed her cheek. "You are so adorable."
Lilly yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Mm."
You rubbed Levi's back. "I think she's tired."
Levi looked at his daughter as she pulled a face and cried a little. "Oh dear, poor little bunny." He kissed her cheek. "Come on, my sweet I think it's naptime."
You put your arms around Levi. "Thank you for this, it's been a dream."
"It's not over yet. We'll keep having more fun." He leaned over and kissed you.
You hugged his arm. "I'm always having fun when I'm with you and Lilly."
"I'm glad. You're both my world, you really are. I'm the luckiest man in the whole world."
synopsis: bonten dads and soft moments with their families
characters: dad!bonten mikey, sanzu, kakucho
warnings: nothing this is disgustingly fluffy
genre: fluff fluff fluff
part two (ran, rindou, kokonoi)
masterlist
mikey:
your heart dropped as you saw your baby girl not in her crib. numerous alarm bells ring into your mind as you immediately thought of the worst. you could’ve sworn that you just laid her down not even 20 minutes ago and took a shower, taking advantage of the time where you didn’t have to tend to your daughter.
“(d/n)? where are you?” you call out to the quiet apartment. when you heard no answer, you immediately thought of the worst.
what if she was kidnapped? what if she climbed over the balcony and fell? what if she decided to run away. okay. nevermind, that was dumb. your daughter was a toddler, only the first two options were the most believable. but your tired mind was on haywire. you didn’t have the luxury to think rationally.
you immediately slammed the door open to your room, thinking of all the things you can bring to track down your toddler, only to let out a quiet gasp at your sleeping husband, with the blanket raised up to his nose.
when did he get here? you thought before your eyes widened.
you slowly creeped up to mikey, softly shaking him awake. he replies in a soft grunt, a bit annoyed that he was awoken.
“mikey…” you whisper quietly. “have you seen (d/n)?” you ask, a bit nervous.
mikey opened his eyes, his big black eyes staring at you with a glare. “you lost our daughter?”
you glared right back at the harsh tone he gave you. “look. she’s just somewhere here in the house, i’m sure of it.” mikey rolls his eyes at you.
“go find her then.” “you’re not even going to help?” mikey shook his head in response before curling closer to the blanket, there was small movement inside the blanket. you were sure that he was cuddling a pillow but when you pinched the covers and peeled them off your husband, you wanted to slap him right then and there.
“you’re an asshole!” you exclaimed, voice louder than your previous whispering. mikey bit his lip to suppress a laugh as he cuddled his daughter’s head to his chest.
mikey’s chest was vibrating, you can see it through his black shirt. “you were so panicked, i thought i would play along.” “mikey!” your daughter whimpered as mikey glared at you. “you’re going to wake my baby,” he says. you rolled your eyes at him. “that’s my baby too!”
“no, you lost her. finders keepers.” “mikey, that’s not how it wo–” you were cut off as his hand pulled you down gently to lay down on either side of your daughter, his other hand still gently holding her head protectively. “sleep.”
“mikey–” “no. sleep.”
you sighed but relented, closing your eyes as you tried to lull yourself to sleep, a few seconds later. you feel the small body in the middle move towards you, small chubby hands grasping the fabric on your chest. you opened your eyes to find mikey glaring at you, feeling a bit petty. you stuck out your tongue before cuddling closer to your sleeping toddler. you hear mikey grunt before he scoots closer, arm crossing over from your daughter and settling down on your waist pulling you close, your daughter tucked safe in the middle of the two of you.
“i love you. thank you for giving me this.” is all he says before drifting off to sleep, knowing that the most important people in his life are in his arms, safe.
sanzu:
you should’ve known better than to leave sanzu unattended. yes, sanzu. your children were often behaved and disciplined, but whenever they’re left with sanzu, all the things they were taught fly out of their minds and they become as unhinged as their father.
you knew you shouldn’t interfere with their father-son bonding activities but once you heard another unquestionable sound of furniture breaking and laughter, you stood up and marched towards the living room.
“haru!” you exclaimed as you saw the living room in a mess, your boys and husband not in sight, but you can hear them giggling from the back of the couch.
“haruchiyo… you better get out of there. you boys too! stop hiding and clean up your messes.” you see three heads peek out of the sofa, your husband’s light hair mirrored your eldest son’s and your (h/c) locks were copied by your youngest.
“seriously… you think i’m raising three children instead of two.” you sighed before shaking your head at your husband. “so baby three is a possibility? wanna bet we’d have a princess this time?” sanzu asks with a smirk on his face. you glared at him as he came closer to you, walking behind you and wrapping his arms around your waist.
“haru, that is not the point–” you were so caught up in lecturing your husband that you didn’t feel his grip tightening on you, only noticing once you see the smirk on his face.
“now, boys!” sanzu says as he tightens his grip more, you turn to look at your children who were wearing mischievous smiles as they held their nerf guns towards you. your eyes widened as you hear sanzu laugh in your ear.
“attack!” you feel styrofoam bullets hit your thighs and stomach, your sons laughing as they see you struggle against their dad. you were outnumbered, it was as if they knew this would happen so they schemed with their father.
they did. they concocted this plan when they were hiding behind the couch, planning an ambush but later on agreed on having their father take the lead.
“stop it!” you say as sanzu tickled your sides, with the way you were wriggling your body out of sanzu’s movements, the styrofoam bullets hit you more below your waist. but never on your face, sanzu absolutely forbids it.
“(s/n1), (s/n2). how about we make a deal?” you propose, your sons look at each other in hesitance, their nerf guns still pointed readily. they can see their father from past your shoulder shaking his head no.
“if you take down your father, i’ll exclude you from having to clean up and we’ll make pancakes for dinner.” sanzu gulped, knowing that your offer has a zero to none chance of being rejected and with the way his sons look at each other and nod, he knew he should’ve started running the moment you talked about your proposal.
“get him!” you say, laughing at the way your eldest pounced on his father, sanzu automatically gripping his growing body protectively against him as his youngest waddles towards him and punches his thigh repeatedly.
“traitors. every single one of you!” sanzu dramatically gasped before he pretends to fall down, ensuring that his eldest was cushioned against his chest as he fell and his youngest not getting any weight on him as he does so.
you laughed at your husband’s dramatics before kicking nudging him slightly with your foot.
“you better clean your mess up if you want pancakes for dinner.” “i’d rather have yo–” “haruchiyo!”
kakucho:
kakucho was tired when he returned home. exhaustion was written on his face as he greeted you and trudged towards the bathroom. he let himself get relaxed as the warm water hits his skin, the traces of today’s work now being washed away with the showerhead.
when he was done, he dressed himself and went out, preparing to give you a kiss as a greeting and play with his daughter. but he what he didn’t realize is how late it was and that his daughter was probably already asleep.
“where’s my little princess?” kakucho asked as he sees you on the couch with a small smile on your face, as if you were waiting for him to finish.
“come on, kaku!” you say as you hold his hand and drag him around the apartment. kakucho squeezes your hand back as you pull him in front of your daughter’s room and kakucho didn’t like where this was going.
“open the door.” you gently urge your husband who swallowed a bit before pushing the door gently.
his eyes widened at the sight of his daughter sleeping peacefully, a stuffed animal that rindou bought her was cuddled against her short arms, her mouth was opened as your daughter let out tiny snores, drool seeping out from her mouth and onto the pillow she lay her head on.
“she’s sleeping on her big girl bed!” you gushed, but kakucho stayed quiet before slowly walking towards his daughter’s bed. “kaku?” you quietly asked your husband, not wanting to disturb the slumber of your toddler.
“kaku, come on, no.” you say, going after him as he sat down on the bed, peeling the blanket off before situating himself beside your child.
“baby, come on. we talked about this.” you try to make sense with your husband but he only shook his head as he cuddled closer to his daughter. “kakucho, she’s comfy in her big girl bed, come on.”
“and i want to be comfy too!” your husband argued back. your mouth was agape at how unreasonable your husband was being, but he paid you no mind as he kissed the back of his daughter’s head softly, nuzzling his face on it.
“okay, kaku, come on. let’s go.” “no.” he gives you a glare and closes his eyes. “we agreed that she’s old enough for her big girl bed.” “she’s growing old too fast.” kakucho says softly, not wanting to let you know how emotional he was that he was seeing his baby girl grow up.
“some boy is going to take her away from me one day–” “or girl.” “not the point.” kakucho glares at you before looking at his daughter with such fondness. “i just want more time with her.” he confesses quietly. your heart warms at the sight of your husband looking at your daughter as if she was the most precious thing in the world, to him, she is.
you smiled softly before shaking your head slightly and moving to the other side of the bed. kakucho gives you a sleepy smile as you situated yourself on the other side of your daughter. kakucho’s hand immediately intertwined with yours on top of your daughter’s waist.
“thank you for letting me have this.” he says, heterochromic eyes looking at you with fondness. you smile before snuggling closer to your daughter, your husband doing the same.
“i love you.” “i love you more.”
notes: i blame rei for this but this was so much to write! i've based a few scenarios off a bunch of tiktoks that appeared on my fyp so if it seemed similar, it's probably because of that! koko, ran, and rin will be up as soon as i get them done! thank you for reading <;33
note/s: i do not feel like writing a new piece rn so here's a lil repost from my old account (2)
(suna, atsumu, bokuto)
ushijima:
ushijima tried his hardest not to look as if he wasn't bored in the ongoing interview. well, he wasn't. but he has been told by their manager that his resting face looks very unapproachable.
he was fiddling with his fingers as the rest of his team members were answering fan questions. letting out a small smile whenever he finds some questions funny and the way that kourai reacts overdramatically.
"ah, here's a question for big boy, wakatoshi!" kourai announced as he squinted his eyes on the influx of questions.
"yes?" ushijima responded, sitting up a bit more upright.
"is your girlfriend single?" kourai bit his lip as he tried not to laugh at the question.
the spiker furrowed his eyebrows in thought.
"i do not have a girlfriend." was all he said.
the atmosphere was silent as the rest of his team looked at him in shock and mostly worry.
ushijima noticed and looked around the room to see the camera staff and team looking at him.
"what?"
"you just said..." kageyama trailed off, hesitant to continue.
"you broke it off with (y/n)?!" kourai interrupted.
ushijima frowned, as if that was the most absurd thing he heard.
"(y/n) and i are happily engaged. she is my fiancé." ushijima said plainly, as if he didn't just cause the live chat box to spam with shocked and congratulatory messages.
"and you didn't tell us?!" if anyone was the most offended, it would be kourai.
"i thought the ring was obvious. kageyama has told me it looked nice." the team's heads whipped to kageyama who spluttered on how he didn't know it was an engagement ring.
ushijima hummed. "it seems like i have not announced this."
"you think?" he hears kourai's retort but pretended not to.
"me and (y/n) are engaged, therefore, she is now my fiance and not my girlfriend." ushijima said to the camera. "i hope this clarifies my answer." a few more questions were answered, mostly questions in regards to you and ushijima’s engagement before the staff announced that the livestream was over.
“that was a terrible way of announcing that you are engaged.” he hears his captain mutter. ushijima nodded in acknowledgement before heading home to you who was waiting to scold him after watching the livestream.
iwaizumi:
the trainer didn’t know how he was roped into answering WIRED questions when he wasn’t the one in court. he was already halfway when the staff gave him a new board but he was shocked to see that it was filled with questions not about him, but about you.
“your fans wanted to know about your relationship with (y/n).” hoots from outside the camera’s view were heard, iwaizumi internally sighed, knowing that this would be fuel for the team to tease their trainer.
“let’s get this over with.” the trainer says before ripping the first tape from the board. “is iwaizumi’s girlfriend… staged?” he gave a deadpan expression to the camera.
“(y/n) has been with me since we were third years, waited for me to return to japan after leaving for california and is currently living with me in our apartment. yes, our relationship is staged.” iwaizumi said sarcastically as he held the second tape by his fingertips.
“is iwaizumi’s girlfriend… oikawa’s ex. what?” he didn’t know whether the staff is being serious as he gave another unimpressed look.
“no, i’m her first boyfriend and the last.” he smirked at his promise, the staff already knew that that alone will become a trending snippet.
he answered a few more questions in haste, don’t get him wrong. he loves you but he would rather keep details about your relationship private.
“aight, last one.” iwaizumi ripped the last piece of tape off the board.
“is iwaizumi’s girlfriend… single?” he raised a brow at that question.
“where the hell are you getting these questions?” iwaizumi asked rhetorically. “these are the most searched questions about your girlfriend.” one of the staff answered him.
iwaizumi shook his head in disbelief. “wow… you’d think people actually unironically search for this.” he cleared his throat before looking straight at the camera.
“i’m going to say this for the last time. my girlfriend isn’t single and won’t be for the longest time before i make her my wife.” iwaizumi stated, voice clear as if he was determined.
the staff were clearly having a field day, knowing how much this episode will trend because of how whipped and dedicated the sought out trainer was for you.
the interview ended shortly. iwaizumi thanked the staff for having him only to be bombarded with a lot of comments filled with adoration towards your relationship. the trainer smiled before finishing up and heading home.
“you look happy.” you greet him by the door, iwaizumi scoffed playfully before pulling you by your waist and placing a soft kiss on your lips.
“of course i am, i come home to you.” iwaizumi thought of the comments from the staff, ‘marry her.’ was the comment that stuck to his mind.
he already had the ring in the bottom drawer, tucked away by his socks.
sakusa:
sakusa supposes that being an athlete involved having to deal with interviews. well, interviews that came with the sport, not whatever their team was currently doing.
sakusa, atsumu, hinata, and bokuto were sat down on chairs, a small metal bucket in the middle of them filled with numerous pieces of papers, printed tweets, to be exact.
“ooh, this is a good one! were bokuto and hinata close before msby?” bokuto read aloud before beaming at the camera and recollecting the memories from when they were in highschool.
“fun fact! we all knew each other in some way, waaaay back in high school.” bokuto said before atsumu and sakusa nodded in confirmation.
sakusa looked at the bucket as his teammates plucked random pieces of papers and answering them with ease. “why are sakusa’s wrists so flexible? please he could like… slap me and i would feel it twice in one motion. great, now all i’m thinking about it sakusa slapping me.” atsumu read aloud, voice turning a mocking pitch at the last sentence.
“it’s called hypermobility-” he paused as he saw bokuto and hinata look at him curiously. “otherwise known as being double-jointed. and no, i will not slap you. next tweet, please.”
“how boring, omi.” atsumu teased, sakusa rolled his eyes at the setter. “next. tweet.”
“okay, okay. calm down.” atsumu surrendered, bokuto plucked another piece of paper before reading it out loud.
“is sakusa’s girlfriend single? because i saw her in msby’s game against raijins and damn. if sakusa doesn’t wife her up immediately then i would gladly do the honors.” the whole room went silent after bokuto read the paper. the spiker’s eyes widened as he looked towards sakusa.
“i was only reading the tweet!”
“no. she isn’t, next question.” was only sakusa’s answer. his voice left no room for argument as atsumu hastily grabbed another piece of paper, moving on from the previous tweet.
the team believed that due to sakusa’s reaction, that segment would be removed. but to the surprise of everyone, it was part of the final cut and managed to blow up. the fans swooned on how territorial sakusa had been and there were a few feedbacks that sakusa’s eyes softened at the mention of your name in the video.
sakusa knew that, but he would never admit to it.
“so.” you start as you lie down next to your boyfriend as the both of you watch the interview. “territorial, huh.”
“you’re mine and you know it.” sakusa grumbled as he cuddled closer to your chest, watching the remaining few minutes.
“of course i am, ‘yoomi.” you reply, kissing the crown of his head and watching the interview once more.
dad!levi who's about to be a father of three. you both already had one little bundle of joy but agreed on only one more to complete your family. he's dumbstruck when he attends your ultrasound exam and realizes that you both are gonna have more than you bargained for.
dad!levi who knows the stress of it all will be overwhelming. you both didn't plan for or expect this in the slightest, but his love for his children won't and will never waver.
dad!levi who's the most hands on dad & husband of all time. he was already so attentive before but now it seems to have kicked into overdrive. from doing all the cooking to his favorite part; cleaning. from top to bottom.
dad!levi who saves you the trouble of swollen feet by giving you foot massages or either carrying you everywhere. what if you trip and fall one day? or what if your feet get so swollen they explode? he's not taking any chances.
dad!levi who won't admit it but gets nervous the closer your due date approaches.
dad!levi who doesn't cry when he's handed two babies, yet he can't stop himself from smiling. it feels a bit surreal.
dad!levi who deserves happiness in every sense of the word.
a/n: this was a bit lazy since i'm not feeling the best (physically) right now, nonetheless dad!levi has my heart.
synopsis: you are on vacation and go visit a praline-making demonstration
Part of the Parisian tourist experience for a chocolate connoisseur such as yourself you simply had to go to a praline-making demonstration. Prim and proper you sat in the first row of the small room with the high ceiling windows, waiting (im)patiently for the chocolatier to step behind the detached metal counter on which a large basin sat that smelled heavenly of chocolate.
Utensils, molds, and a large flat thing you recognized as a scraper lay neatly on the clean surface.
People to your left and right were chatting in different languages and taking pictures of the setup. A few minutes passed until the door behind the counter opened and a young man stepped out. Your first thought was that he looked excited, the second, he was really quite handsome in a chaotic sort of way. He wore a white uniform, the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows.
“Bonjour à tous! English or Français?”
General mumblings of “English” simmered up from the crowd and he nodded.
“Bear with me, please. My English is only so-so.”, he said heavily accented. It sounded a bit French and a bit of something else.
“My name is Satori, I’m from Japan but came to study … chocolate in Paris.”
The audience chuckled and the young chocolatier straightened his previously slouched shoulders a little, apparently relieved to have broken the ice so easily.
Tendou had done these demonstrations dozens of times before. The chocolate academy sent out their protégés regularly to these tourist demonstrations and usually, he had up to six a day.
He scanned the crowd, proud of such a good turnout, and silently wondered if he had prepared enough tasty treats for everyone to have a bite afterward and then spotted you. Oh no, you were way too cute. This could be a problem. He’d be too preoccupied trying to show off, what if he dropped the filled molds or accidentally used too much force scraping off excess chocolate and sent some flying in your direction? As he stirred the molten chocolate in the basin he stole a second glance in your direction. You sat and watched expectantly, clearly genuinely curious about his upcoming explanations. He decided to ignore you for now, to not spare you another look. For his own mental state. But when his little workshop began and he held up his different instruments asking for participation in naming them and your hand shot up he knew he was in trouble.
Of course, you knew all the utensils, and of freaking course, you knew how to define what a praline was in its essence. Gorgeous and as excited about his work as he was - if it were up to him he would have sent everyone packing and given you a private show, ending with lifting you onto the counter and feeding you one delicious creation of his after another. He tried not to imagine his fingers dipping into your generous sides or standing between your plush thighs, pushing praline after praline past your lips. He held up one of the older molds they used to pour chocolate into in the 1850s and said, “As you can see, these were made of iron. I, of course, could bend them easily because I’m very strong but the new polycarbonate ones are bendable for everyone else as well.”
His heart tumbled down at least two long sets of stairs when he watched you laugh at his joke.
Bravely, he soldiered through his demonstration, disappointed when someone snatched up a reply to a question you obviously knew the answer to. Somewhere towards the end you had stopped raising your hand, undoubtedly uncomfortable about some whispers and looks from people next to you. He adored your eagerness, tried not to coo at how you chewed your lips when suppressing an answer and by the time he hit the mold with finished, set pralines on the counter to get them out he was already thinking of a way to ask for your number.
He did an over-the-top bow at the end, thanking people for their attention, and began cleaning the counter while the audience filed out of the room. You stayed back a bit much to his delight, sorting through your bag. Finally, you carefully picked up one of the pralines as if it was the most precious thing ever and not something he literally threw together in half an hour.
“This was great, thank you.”, you said and Tendou melted like the chocolate in the bain-marie.
“You’re very welcome.”, he replied, watching with bated breath as you lifted the treat to your lips.
“Oh wow… incredible.”
Tendou beamed.
“You know, this particular one goes great with coffee. Fancy a cup? The next group won’t be here for another 30 minutes.”
You looked surprised, which dialed his cute aggression up to 100.
“I’d love that.”
a/n: I’m currently on vacation in Brussels and went to the Chocolate Museum yesterday which was so incredibly interesting 😱 After watching a demonstration by a young cocky chocolatier I knew I had to write something like it for Tendou! Originally, it was supposed to be a drabble. Oh well.
# contains: some cursing but that's it
# ellie.txt: expected this one to be more dramatic, but as I was writting it, it just felt so right like this. so yeah. obligatory: i love omi and respectful relationships.
The Baby Fever AU is set some time after the attack on New York. Infinity War, End Game and Thanos never happened. Loki's punishment had been to join the Avengers - where he met you. One thing came to the other and a few years later, you two are married - and now parents of a sweet girl, called Ella and a little boy called Narfi. This AU features the adventures you are expieriencing as a family - and a lot of dad!Loki moments, 'cause we all love Loki being a dad...
General Warnings: fluff, fluff and even more fluff! Pregnancy things, birth, etc.
Last Updated: August 17th, 2024
《 Baby Fever - the Beginning 》
(How Loki's baby fever started...)
🍼 Part One
🍼 Part Two
🍼 Part Three
《 Before Ella... 》
(The oneshots here are from the time before Ella is born. Y/N's and Loki's story...)
🍼 The Beginning
🍼 You & Me Forever
🍼 Paper Rings
🍼 On one of Tony's team bonding parties...
🍼 About Time
🍼 When a God Loves a Woman
🍼 Hunter & Prey
💍 A Covenant for Eternity 💍
《 The Dad Loki Diary - Chapter One 》
(What's the 'Dad Loki Diary'? The 'Dad Loki Diary' consists of drabbles and one shots of, well… Loki being Ella's dad and doing dad things. Things that come to my mind - or things that you want to read. If you have a wish what the little family should experience together, look if the requests for this AU are open and let me know! :D)
Headcanons
🍼 Disney Edition
Oneshots
🍼 Of Fathers and Sons
🍼 Daddy Takeover
🍼 Protecting Her
🍼 Father Feelings
🍼 A Precious Moment
🍼 How to Magic
🍼 A Painful Experience
🍼 First Steps
🍼 Insecurities
🍼 First Word
🍼 Not Your Little Girl Anymore
🍼 All I Need Is You
🍼 Asgardian Sightseeing Tours
🍼 Winter Wonders
🍼 A little Girl`s Wish
🍼 Merry Christmas!
🍼 A Fresh Page
🍼 Of the Birds and the Bees
🍼 Female Nature
🍼 Tempting Touch (18+)
🍼 Autumn Blues
🍼 Little Mood Changer
🍼 Capturing the Moment
🍼 Cravings & Food Rubs
Drabbles
🍼 Ella
🍼 Lullaby
🍼 He's Back - Part Two (Part One is written by @lokisgoodgirl )
🍼 Close to You
🍼 Sugar Sweet
🍼 About Scrunchies and Hair Clips
Blurbs
🍼 Ella, sitting on Loki's chest, raven locks in her tiny hands...
🍼 Loki and Y/N, sitting opposite their dining table, looking each other deadly in the eyes...
🍼 Five-year-old Ella is sitting with Loki at the small table in her room, colouring in her princesses colouring book..
🍼 Loki, laying in the bathtub with a glass of wine in hands, living his best life...
🍼 Loki, standing in the kitchen in order to prepare a little something for you to eat...
🍼 Loki, changing the nappy of a happily gurgling Ella...
🍼 The Promo Tour
🍼 Intimidating God & Cinnamon roll
《 The Dad Loki Diary - Chapter Two 》
(Well... Welcome to Chapter Two of the 'Dad Loki Diary'. :D Our favourite God is now a dad of two. <3 A new chapter in life has started for him, so I thought it's time to start a new chapter here as well! :D)
Oneshots
🧸 Narfi
🧸 Princess Meets Prince
🧸 Tummy Talkin'
🧸 The Price of Love
🧸 Royal Visitors
🧸 Bad Dream
🧸 Football Fever
🧸 The Equation of Love
🧸 Gym Sessions & Babies
🧸 Biggest Fear
🧸 Boys Do Cry
🧸 Infinite Love
🧸 A Stroke Of Fate
🧸 Little Prince
Blurbs
🧸 Y/N, tiptoeing towards the bedroom after a long and tiring day of meetings...
🧸 In the royal gardens of Asgard...
🧸 At Thor's and Jane's house; quite a few miles away from the Avengers compound...
you never expected to find yourself tangled in a relationship—especially not with him. but i guess with spring comes new beginnings, and amidst the chaos, love blossoms
kazutora x reader smau
cw: ; social-media au, modern au, no gangs au, enemies-to-friends-to lovers (one sided beef) swearing, corny, kys, nsfw jokes :3, the pet shop gang is here 🔥🔥, SPELLING MISTAKES, lowkey not proofread
imagine doing that “calling my boyfriend my husband” trend on kazutora. you guys had been dating for a while so you weren’t too worried about it backfiring on you and were curious to see what his reaction would be.
so one day you’re ordering take out for the two of you and decide to try it out and the minute you say the word husband, bro starts absolutely vibrating with excitement. im talking like a golden retriever who just got told it’s time for a walk, grinning from ear to ear, begging for you to repeat what you just said because he wants to make sure he heard you right. and when you refer to him again as your husband, he literally starts thrashing around like an excited little kid. the minute you get off the phone, he’s spinning you around the kitchen, asking if you really meant it and if you can say it again
Struggle Writer @penguinlovestowrite - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
