#— (tag tba) erwin smith (luxaeterna).

[a-darknessbaund]

@luxaeterna | a ‘ levi chooses to revive erwin’ au we had discussed a LONG time ago. forgive me for tagging you in this shit.

The beast had escaped. The Survey Corps had been nearly annihilated. Armin, a valuable soldier had died. Eren's and Mikasa's cries could be heard from a mile away and there was nothing he could say to ease their pain. Levi wouldn't regret his choice. The decision entrusted to him by this man wouldn't have changed. He couldn't have done otherwise, he couldn't have sacrificed Erwin. In a future they couldn't predict, with too many unknowns to await them, they needed a man with a vision and the determination to break through all barriers. Humanity couldn't march forward without a devil to guide them. Without Erwin at the wheel of this war. Their hope, HIS hope, laid on the shoulders of this man, and not he, nor Hange could have been prepared for what was going to come.

He didn't act on sentiment, like Eren believed. He couldn't have let emotion cloud his judgement. If Levi had given up on being a soldier, if even for a moment he allowed his heart to be shaken by grief, and lead him to a different decision, he would have lost all reason to live. If he did use the syringe selfishly, he would have let him go. He would have let him rest with his dreams, freed from the cruelty of their world. Instead, he chose to bring him back, drag him down to the shitty hole they'd fight for their survival. “ Welcome back, Erwin. ” He watched him as he'd open his eyes, having knelt by his side. Empty eyes searched for the familiar blue, the one he thought he wouldn't see again, not in this life. Exhaustion had taken over. The battle had worn him out. Those kids, screaming right in front of his face to save their childhood friend, the soldiers lost, the decision lying on him. His failure, to give meaning to their sacrifice. Everything had been weighing on him.

Erwin would awake in a different world, and Levi was the cause. “ You were sleeping for far too long. I thought you were dead. ” He was being more sarcastic than any other time, even though the last he felt was making humor. “ You look like a damn lizard, you know that? It's disgusting. ” he said, staring at the arm to have grown back, extending his own for him to take.