By the end of his retelling, Eren was in tears, one dripping off of his chin right after another. His fingers, where they once held onto the cherry blossom petal, were now curled into loose fists. That was more than he'd ever told anyone about his past...

Next to him, Levi sat still and speechless, a tooth hooked loosely on the ring in his lip. All he seemed to be able to think about were the scars he'd seen that morning, forever marking up the skin now covered by Eren's shirt. He'd been...beaten...and from the sound of it, it hadn't happened too awfully long ago. Levi was stunned.

It took him a minute to drift back to reality, but when he did, all he could think to do was slide his arms around the crying boy's shaking shoulders. It felt awkward. Stiff. Nonetheless, Eren leaned into the contact. His head came to rest upon Levi's shoulder, tears never ceasing or slowing down. And Levi let him cry.

"The...the police showed up...later," Eren managed in a thick voice. After clearing his throat he began again. "I don't know how long I'd been down there before they dragged them out and found me. I think...I think one of them told me a neighbor had put in the call...something about not having seen me in months?" He shook himself. "I'm not really sure. But then I met Petra. She told me I could live with her, and that I could bring Zoë, so I went. And then a few months later you showed up..."

"Did they not go on trial?" Levi mused, staring blankly across the tops of the headstones, his mind somewhere else completely.

"Mm...yeah," Eren mumbled, lifting his head and dragging an arm beneath his nose. "Petra said they did...but it was short because there was plenty of evidence in the house. Said they didn't even need me there. And I'm glad 'cause I never want to see their shitty faces again."

Levi nearly snorted at the sound of Eren cursing. "So why couldn't you live with your grandparents?"

"My gramma had severe dementia," Eren explained as he was working on wiping his face. "And they were too old to take care of a little kid by then, anyway..."

"And what about your friend?"

"Who? Armin?" The brunet tried masking the crack in his voice by clearing his throat. When Levi nodded, he went on, "I don't know...I haven't seen him since I was in school. And that was months ago..."

Levi scoffed and playfully pushed Eren's head away. The younger looked genuinely offended and confused. "What was that for?"

"You're a damn idiot," muttered the raven, spinning his lip ring.

"Wh-why...?"

"Because you wasted your wish on something pathetic instead of coming here or going to see your friend instead."

Frowning, Eren attempted to return the gesture, shoving on Levi's shoulder but not getting very far. "I think you're the idiot," he shot back.

"For?" Levi prompted, cocking a brow.

"You keep saying I wasted my wish on you. And it's not true at all."

"I still don't understand why you did it," Levi sighed. "I don't think I ever will."

"Then...I guess that's something we have in common."

"...what?"

"Unless you just used your wish to bring me here because you felt obligated."

Levi was quiet for another moment, working through his thoughts to form his answer. "Maybe at first," he murmured, preoccupying himself with running his fingers through the patch of crabgrass near his right knee. "But when you told me about her, and when I realized how much you love her, it changed." He cleared his throat to punctuate the sentence, attempting to mask the sudden uneasiness he felt.

"So...you don't regret it?" Eren's eyes were practically shimmering.

"Do you regret the violin?"

Eren's gaze flickered to the black case still resting against Levi's back where it was strapped to him. "Will you play?"

Levi lifted his head. After only a second's consideration, he lifted the case from over his shoulder and laid it gently on the grass in front of him before unlatching it and lifting the lid. Inside, his violin, nestled in the soft maroon velvet, seemingly waited expectantly. Levi took the bow out first and twisted the little knob on the end to tighten the strings before picked up the rosin, unsheathed it to reveal a scratched up, odd-looking clump of something held in some wood, and with careful precision, ran it up and down the strings of the bow. What looked like dust floated away from it before settling, and he replaced the rosin in the case. With that, he lifted the instrument by its neck and positioned it between his left shoulder and jaw. Its sleek black surface shone in the midday sun, and that was all Eren was able to take in before the bow was against the strings.

There was but a breath of a pause, and then he was playing. It was a melody Eren didn't recognize, but somehow it soothed him. Among the notes Levi's fingers pressed into the strings, there was a darker feel to it, but somewhere within it was underlying hope. Eren was completely fascinated by the way his fingers danced across all four strings in time with the motion of the bow, the elegant way his hand moved up and down the neck and seemed to shake to create a perfect vibrato. He was sure the sound carried all across the gravestone littered fields.

But Eren's eyes were only entrapped by his hands for a few seconds before he sought out Levi's face. He was completely at ease, his eyes shut and his lips resting naturally together, his long dark lashes casting shadows down his strong cheekbones. His hair was a bit disheveled from the calm breeze from earlier, rendering his face more visible where it was usually covered by his bangs. If Eren looked closely, he noticed there might've even been the faintest flushes of pink in his cheeks.

Eren's heart stuttered within his ribs. Levi was breathtaking.

The song faded to a soft close. Eren was impeccably still as he watched Levi lower the instrument into his lap and open his dark eyes. They did not meet the other's, but lifted upward, across the field, toward the horizon above a line of trees bordering the other side of the cemetery. It took Eren a moment to break out of his shell and turn to see what he was looking at.

A mass of eerie dark storm clouds crept over the treetops, slowly but surely closing in. Swallowing in slight uneasiness, the younger turned back to find Levi packing his violin back into its case and latching it shut before digging into his pocket to check the time on the disposable cell.

"It's almost noon," he said. "We should probably get back."

"We've been sitting here that long...?" Eren mumbled.

Levi spared but a nod before pushing himself to his feet. Eren was quick to follow.

"Are you ready?" Levi asked, finally meeting Eren's eyes again.

Eren's own gaze fell upon the headstone, upon his mother's name, perfectly carved into its concrete surface. For a fleeting moment he wondered who'd decided what it should look like, who decided she should be placed there, and if anyone other than him had the mind to visit her in the past eight years...

"I think so," he said finally, suddenly finding himself blinking away tears once more.

In the next instant, he felt a familiar set of fingers aligning their way through his and wrapping tenderly around his hand. He managed a small smile over at Levi before nodding, and a second later they were off.

As they trampled back through the grass, Eren couldn't help but glance over his shoulder to where the peonies laid, the plastic around them fluttering in the picking up wind.

Goodbye, Mama. For now.

~

The train station was only about half an hour away from the cemetery, and the ride, as usual, was silent. As he watched the world pass by out the window, Eren felt strangely at peace. Memories of his mother were flitting by one by one in his mind, yet somehow they didn't bring pain or melancholy. Instead, he felt at ease, felt a bittersweet warmth cradled within his chest. She was at peace, and because he knew this, he'd made peace with her passing at last. And he realized he only had Levi to thank.

---

Sorry this is kinda late, and sorry it's so short. I'm working my ass of at NaNoWriMo and writing wise, I've been primarily focused on that. Once November is over, I'm hoping to have more frequent updates and to get my other fic, Lucid Dreamer, back in motion. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter despite it being so short, though. /.\