Wait

Levi was finishing getting ready in his room to go to Shiganshina. He heard someone knock on the door and said to come in. It was Lara.

"Dad?" she called, peeking her head through the doorway.

"Hey, baby. 'Morning."

Lara walked to her father and gave him her typical good morning hug.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked.

"More or less," Lara lowered her head, running her hand over her face. "I'm very anxious about this mission… What about you?"

Levi looked sideways, thoughtful.

"I didn't sleep very well either..."

Lara gave him a sad smile.

"Mommy's in our room and she wanna talk to you."

"Let's go, then."

They both began walking towards the women's wing, but instead of Lara continuing, she turned to a corridor that headed to the courtyard where the horses were being prepared to leave for the mission.

"You're not coming?" asked Levi, confused.

"No... Mommy said she wanted to talk to you in private," Lara winked and ran out of his sight, leaving Levi even more confused.

When he arrived at Hange's bedroom, he found her standing in the middle of it, looking through the window above the desk. She rubbed her hands together, squeezing them.

"Hange?" called Levi, closing the door. "Lara told me you wanted to talk to me…"

She suddenly turned to him.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, now clinging to her green cloak tightly. "I do wanna talk to you..." Hange shook her head. "I'm sorry, good morning..."

"Good morning…" replied Levi, raising his eyebrows, still with his hand on the doorknob. "Is everything alright?"

"No..." Hange shook her head negatively several times. "It's not... I... I need to tell you something..."

Levi watched her, getting more confused.

"I don't understand…" he said, now with his back against the door.

Hange was clinging to her green cloak so tightly, that marks on the fabric could already be seen and she avoided looking into his eyes.

"Levi… I… I was thinking about how this mission to Shiganshina… It's gonna be the most dangerous of all we've ever been…"

He slowly agreed with his head.

"Yes...? That's true," replied Levi, narrowing his eyes. "We have the risk to meet the three most harmful Titans we've ever known."

"Exactly," she confirmed, now looking deeply into Levi's eyes. "That's why I was thinking that... It might be," Hange made an expression of anguish, and you could see that she was holding back tears, "it might be that one of us... Do not come back... Alive."

Levi then felt his entire body tingle. Hange had just verbalized what he had been feeling and thinking all night, that's why he hadn't slept well.

"And because of that," she continued, now with tears in her eyes, "I wanted to tell you something... Before we leave... Because... I may never have the chance to say it again..."

He held his breath and Hange paused, as if getting up the courage.

"Levi… I lov–"

When Hange least noticed, Levi walked quickly towards her, grabbed her waist and behind her hair, pulling her into a completely passionate kiss.

At first, Hange's eyes widened in shock, but soon, she completely surrendered to the kiss, placing her hands behind Levi's neck. Their heads moved as they switched positions and he squeezed her tightly.

Then, Levi moved his lips away from Hange's, still able to smell her sweet scent. He placed both hands on her face and pressed their foreheads together.

"Hange..." he panted, eyes closed. Levi paused, as if getting up the courage to say. "I never loved a woman the way I love you."

She smiled and also held Levi's face.

"I..." she said, with a smile on her lips, "I think I loved you from the moment you introduced yourself to us when you joined the Survey Corps, with Isabel and Furlan."

They gave a sad smile at remembering Levi's two great friends. Then he slowly pulled her into another kiss, this time calmer and softer. Hange started chuckling softly as she kissed him, which made Levi pull himself away, curious.

"What's up?" he asked, with a little smile.

"Ah..." sighed Hange, with a dreamy look. "It's just that sometimes I wonder how we got here." She then stared at the ceiling, smiling. "I mean, look at us... We managed to survive hell outside the Walls until now, we found a lost little girl in a forest, we took care, loved, and adopted her." Hange looked at him and laughed. "We have a daughter, Levi! Have you ever stopped to think about it?!"

He also laughed, agreeing with his head.

"Sometimes..." said Levi, looking sideways, "I think I'm living in a dream and that, when I least expect it, I'll wake up and go back to the nightmare I used to live every day, before Lara came into my life and before… You came into it as well, Hange."

She gave him a sad smile and placed a hand on Levi's face, caressing him.

"Well, coming from me, I'll do my best to make you keep living this dream, but showing you that it's the purest reality." Hange then laughed. "You're screwed, my dear. You're stuck with Lara and me forever!"

She then turned very red and took her hands away from Levi's face, as if it gave her a shock.

"I-I mean..." stammered Hange, looking away, blushed. "You're not stuck with me... We're not... Y-You know..."

She pressed her lips together, as if she was too embarrassed to say "that" word.

"Married," thought Levi. He knew very well that that was the word and he could see in Hange's eyes how sad she was to say it.

Then, Levi held her face, gently.

"Hange…" he said, looking deeply into her eyes. "Please… Just wait a little bit longer…"

She then remembered that Levi had already told her something similar when he was recovering from his injured foot. She was glad to know that she hadn't dreamed it, after all. Hange didn't know what he had in mind when he said those words, but she knew that, for Levi to say something like that, it was because he was definitely doing something about this matter, or at least, that's what Hange thought, and that's what his words made it clear. So she decided to be understanding and let Levi work on his time, and just nodded.

"Okay…" she replied, giving him a little smile. "I'll wait…"

Unexpectedly, Levi hugged her tight and Hange reciprocated it. They remained like that, slowly rocking themselves as they hugged each other, for a long, long time.