Levi never knew what terror was until he saw men pointing their guns at his pregnant wife and one-year-old daughter.

After working at the teashop he came back home exhausted, with the thought that today was going to go peacefully just like any other. But his heart begged to come out of his body as it began pumping against his chest at the horrible sight.

He wanted to kill them, to make them suffer for even daring to touch what was precious to him. But it was five of them, all of them with a gun and as fast as Levi could be, he knew that he couldn't surpass the speed of a bullet.

"You know what to do right? It shouldn't be too hard for a man like you to do this," Mr. Dietrich had hate towards the Flaherty family. Since Mr. William Flaherty married the woman he loved and because of him she died, he always had hate towards him and his family. Not only that but it didn't help that Mr. Flaherty had led a revolution against the royal families and put him and his family in danger.

"I'll finally get my revenge, that damn family has always been cursed," Mr. Dietrich smiled as he pressed his gun further into the skin of Maria. "I won't kill the damn bastard but someone raping his girl should pain him enough."

And Levi didn't want to do it, but what he could he do? He was being followed by two men to make sure he did the job and even if he got to kill one or the two, it was futile. Because he had to come back with the two bastards as proof that he finished the job.

He had no time to think, he was desperate. He just wanted Maria and his daughter, Kutchel, to be safe. Levi wanted to die as he thought of Maria's words.

"You should quit your job, working as an assassin for a royal family will only harm us in the long run."

But he needed the money, especially back then when Maria was pregnant with Kutchel. Just once, he will do it just one more time so he could open up his teashop and buy Maria a house.

His peaceful life was about to start.

But it ended two years later.

He did it.

And when he came back home, he found three living men.

And two dead bodies.

"Ackermans disgust me," Mr. Dietrich said as he walked past Levi. "If she wasn't born with such last name ... She wouldn't have been forced into living underground."

But he saw that the young man was too far gone to even listen. Probably watching the two bloody and dead bodies of his wife and daughter traumatized him. But he didn't care, his job was done. Nicholas Flaherty, the last of his family must have found out by now that someone had raped his woman.

This what they deserved, that entire family has always been cursed. Since he was a child he had always hated his cousin and now even more. William took the woman he loved and had a bastard child with her.

And the Ackermans, that the only thing they were good for was to fight and kill. But if only they fought sooner, if they didn't hide like cowards. If only ... if only ...

If only they had never been born into this world.

She wouldn't have suffered so much. She wouldn't be dead and he wouldn't have suffered.

"All you Ackermans are better off dead ... You are only a threat to the royal families and king," Mr. Dietrich only saw one tear roll down Levi's eyes. He didn't move, he didn't even look like he was alive.

"But looking at you now ... You don't look so much like a threat," he said.

Mr. Dietrich took one last look at the bodies on the wooden floor. Blood and broken bones, white dresses turned into red and messy brown hair that contrasted that of the child's black hair.

Placing a hand on the young man's shoulder, he gives Levi one last sympathetic look. This was for the best, now those two wouldn't suffer.

No more Ackermans to threaten the royal families and as far as he knows Levi was the last one. But looking at the old man, he knew that there wasn't much he could do. Maybe he will even commit suicide.

But Mr. Dietrich didn't care.

"Isn't that right? ... Mr. Alon Ackerman?

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Levi wanted to scream but he couldn't.

As he opened his eyes and looked around his office, he realized that everything was a nightmare and that the terror he lived wasn't true. However, he was crying and felt a knot on his throat as he tried to contain the tears.

This wasn't the first time.

Some days his nightmares would become extremely explicit, feeling the disgust on his body and himself. He would feel the pain inflicted on her and every punch and kick, every scream and plead. Her begging him to stop hurting her, to stop all actions because it hurts her. The night that he did it, how he picked up her dress and entered her.

The whiplash impacting her bare back, the knives that craved her skin, and the cigarettes that burned her.

The feeling of wanting to die.

In his nightmares, Levi was all the pain Maria felt in her life.

In every dream, Levi was Alon Ackerman, the man who hurt the person he loves the most.

"I'm not an Ackerman ... I am not an Ackerman,"

He tried to convince himself of lies and tried to create his own imitation of the truth. Because at the moment that was the only thing pulling him through.

Life has been hard for the two of them and although they have been dating for a year now, things weren't easy. Maria still had traumas and wasn't able to sleep at night without a candlelight on.

Levi also had his problems but wasn't vocal about them since he didn't want to make Maria worried so he kept quiet most of the time.

They took care of each other and although they were happy to an extent ... things weren't the same.

And they never will.

Hearing two knocks on his office door, Levi quickly cleaned the tears off his eyes and cleared his throat. "Come in."

"Hey Levi, do you have those reports ready?"

It was Erwin who was waiting for Levi to finish his report. Supposedly, he was going to finish it in an hour but it was taking too long and he came to see him. After all, he was tired as well and wanted to go home.

"I am sorry, let me just sign some papers. I'll be done soon," the short man said, not looking at his blond friend.

However, Erwin was very picky about things. He had an eye for situations like this and it was easy for him to tell that Levi wasn't at his best.

Humanity's strongest soldier looked weak, pale as a rosy color decorated the corner of his eyes and nose. More visible dark circle under his eyes and if Erwin didn't know better, he could bet Levi had lost some weight.

"Are you alright?" It was something stupid for Erwin to ask because he already knew that he wasn't but it was just a matter of whether Levi was going to lie or not.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Lies. Again.

Erwin watched the man sitting on his desk, writing perfectly as he signed each document. Always on the same spot, just like a machine.

It wasn't to Erwin surprise that Levi had indulged himself in his work after what happened. At first, Levi had stayed a couple of months with Maria because the thought of leaving her alone was unbearable to him.

But now, he works long shifts. From 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Erwin knew that by his next comment he was going to step into dangerous territory but he didn't see any other way.

"It hurts doesn't it?" the blond man says. "Looking at her hurts you?"

He saw his friend slowly turning around and looking at him in the eyes. Erwin has never been scared of him but there were moments in which he knew it was better to stay away from Levi. He wrinkled his eyes just a little, his thin eyebrows were placed in directions that showed concern and even amusement.

"What are you talking about?"

"Maria is not who used to be," Erwin takes a few steps forward as he crosses his arms in front of his chest. "And now every time you look at her, you can only think of the past you had with her ... When you both were happy."

It took a moment of silence for Levi to registered what had Erwin said and although he wanted to say the contrary, his eyes betrayed.

"I am happy with her too now."

"No, you are not," the commander's voice was firm. Unlike Levi, he didn't have any doubts about the situation while Levi began to question his principles every time Erwin speaks. "Because this Maria ... it's not the Maria you fell in love with."

Levi's eyes adverted to the documents he was signing and a sudden want to burn off all of them came across his mind. He took a long time creating these reports but all he wanted now was to destroy them.

He wanted to do many things but to continue listening to the truth that came out of Erwin's lips.

"The Maria you knew died before you could rescue her Levi, don't blame it on yourself," Erwin knew his words were harsh. But it was terrible to see Levi pretending to feel something he wasn't. "She had to change ... because that was what was necessary to survive."

For a few seconds, Erwin saw how Levi's right hand began to tremble. The pen he held in his hand was about to break, but it didn't. Instead, it just fell on the paper, the ink plastered on the document.

"You don't know anything," Levi says as he stands up from his chair. Taking small but firm steps, he goes to the window of his office and stares off into the distance. "Maria was my home ... she was like a safe place for me ... she was my whole life in a person."

The Commander watched him from afar, Levi's back facing him and for a moment he thought that this might be Levi's breaking point. He didn't want anyone to see his face but in his voice, Erwin could already tell so much.

"After being tortured for over a month, the first night she came back here, I saw her wounds," Levi gazed at the training fields underneath him, how the snow slowly began to fill the ground and how soldiers began to disperse as they try to find a warmer place to go.

"The deep cuts in her body ... the burned skin ..."

He hated talking about it because every time he remembers it, the hate inside of him would grow bigger and bigger. Completely blinding him.

"Hate won't take you anywhere, I am sure Maria wouldn't want you to stay in the past forever either."

At Erwin's words, Levi turns around to look at him, his dark blue eyes look straight into the tall man's eyes and at that moment Erwin knew that only a miracle could save Levi.

"How can I not?" Levi whispers. "How can't I hate them?"

Humanity's strongest soldier began to take steps closer to Erwin but the blond man wasn't intimidated, not one bit. The truth was that if Erwin could feel anything at the moment, it was pity and sorrow for his friend.

"You don't know what it feels like! Seeing her like that! Seeing how they craved their last name on her back!"

For a moment Erwin thought that Levi was going mad and that he was at his breaking point. He heard his friend's voice cracking and getting louder and he could only hope that this was what Levi needed.

"Seeing every day how the person you love hates herself and her body because of how those bastards hurt her!"

Levi was in front of Erwin and the thought of wanting to punch him to release his anger crossed his mind but it immediately disappeared and instead he just kept screaming.

"You don't hear her at night screaming in terror!"

With the idea that he was screaming at himself.

"They took everything from me! She was my everything! And they took her away from me!"

Humanity's strongest soldier found himself breathless. His respiration was agitated, his hands trembled and he didn't know how he was still standing because he felt all power in his legs gone. He wanted to drop to the ground at the thought that he was going to have another panic attack.

"And you regret it, don't you?" Erwin's voice stopped that from happening as Levi only focused on his words. "Not being able to tell her you love her."

And this time it was Levi the one backing away, taking small slow steps as Erwin moved forward, and with each word the Commander said, the more Levi would walk backward.

"And the reason why you can't say it now ... is because this Maria is not your Maria anymore."

Erwin saw him move his head from side to side, trying to deny what was the actual truth and not what Levi had made up in his mind.

"She is another person now ...she's not who she used to be," Erwin said. "Therefore ... you don't love this Maria."

"Maybe you haven't realized it but, but the Maria you loved died a year ago," it was hard for Erwin to say these things because he also hated this scene. He hated to see Levi, humanity's strongest soldier, someone he thought was incapable of breaking ...

He hated to see Levi completely devastated.

"And you are grieving many things ... Her, the past, the love that you had for ... ...And the reason why you are miserable is that you are with a person you don't want to be."

But what Erwin didn't know is that he wasn't only giving the truth to Levi, but he was also breaking his dreams. The dream of one day living peacefully with her, opening a teashop, and having a few kids. That was gone because he couldn't picture himself doing that if it wasn't with her.

The idealistic dream he was fighting for was now impossible and beyond reach.

"You are forcing yourself to feel things you can't and you are loving a person who doesn't exist anymore."

His stomach felt scrambled and even felt nauseous but he knew he was unable to throw up because he hasn't been eating at all.

He couldn't breathe and he was pretty sure that he could pass out at any moment.

Levi refused to believe the words of Erwin. He denied himself of the truth because as far as he knew no truth was absolute.

If there was anything he was sure in this world was the love Maria had for him. That was what held him in one piece and the thought the Maria he loved was dead was ridicule to him.

Because if that was true, he wouldn't be living right now. He wouldn't be here and he definitely wouldn't feel the air going back to his lungs.

"You are wrong," Levi whispered as he finally got a sense of reality back. "I have no doubts that she loves me ... and that I love her."

There was a few seconds of silence in which Levi's eyes met Erwins. And with the most encouraging look, Erwin told Levi something he needed to hear.

"Then tell her that you love her."

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He galloped his black horse as fast as he could, not caring how the snow was scraping his skin and it was hard for him to breathe.

When he reached his home, he opened the door and closed it behind him. Rushing to see the brunette, he took long steps to reach her room. And in the excitement of the moment, Levi forgot to knock on her door and he came inside uninvited.

And he was reminded of the truth.

Maria was in her underwear, in the process of changing into her nightgown. Her skin was no longer the same as Levi remembered it and he knew it very well because before he had filled it with kisses and now it was covered in scars.

Even the moles in her legs and back had disappeared as if her torturers had the mission to take away every single aspect of her body that Levi loved.

In the nights he couldn't sleep, Levi remembers looking at her bareback and counting every single one of her moles and like a child, playing connect the dots.

But now he could only see one thing.

Ackerman

He could only wonder how many times did they go over her skin with a knife for it to be craved into her body in form of a scar. How many times did they hurt her until the point that all of her body except her face was covered in ugly scars?

And every single one of them was a reminder to Levi of all the times he should have been there to protect her.

Did she cry for help? Did she scream in pain? Did she wish that he was with her?

The story repeats itself, doesn't it?

Because this is what Nicholas must have felt the moment he found Maria bleeding in her home after being raped.

"I am asking you ... Please, never say a word to her about this and serve her as her protector ... Don't be involved with her romantically ... Just stay away and watch her be happy."

Was this really the only way to break the cycle of suffering?

Levi didn't want to believe it, he denied himself of the truth and wished to keep living for the sake of an unrealistic dream.

But then he saw Maria's eyes.

Her caramel eyes that he used to love so much, the glow in her eyes that was no longer there. Completely gone, dead.

But it was more than that, she was ashamed. Embarrassed by her body and he could tell because there was pink in her cheeks and had a red nose. Before all of this happened, they had become comfortable with seeing each other's naked bodies. In their intimacy and even just in regular basis, they were comfortable with one and the other.

And he hated how much she was embarrassed by it now. Levi knew that it was futile and that no matter how many things he says, it won't be easy to make her believe that she is still as beautiful as when he first met her.

Yes, to Levi he didn't care about the permanent scars nor how ugly Maria may think she looks. She was broken but still beautiful even when her long brown hair was gone. Even when her short hair reached just below her chin.

But even he knew ... that no amount of beauty could compare to how beautiful her soul was.

Before all of this.

His Maria was gone.

"I am sorry," he watched Maria quickly cover herself with one of the bed's blankets, and to avoid eye contact he turned around and gave her his back. He unconsciously closed his eyes to prevent himself from seeing anything Maria didn't want him to see.

But it also served as a way to prevent himself from shedding a tear.

And all he could do was to stay with her and hope that things would go back just the way they used to be.

And before his voice cracked, Levi whispered one last sentence.

" ... We need to talk."

But sometimes staying in the past just brings demise.

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A/n: I can't believe AOT's manga is officially ending this April 9th. It's sad to let it go and but to be honest with you all, it has inspired me to write the sequel of OLT. Now, I am just waiting to see how the manga ends so I can give a proper conclusion to this story so it can fit the canon story at its best.

After the manga ends, I would just have to make a few changes to the ending of this story.

Now I want to say, that this sequel won't be the ending of the OLT book series. I was thinking about it but I thought that it was just going to be one big book and I didn't like that idea. So it goes like this:

One Last Time: Covers past events from AOT's canon timeline.

One Last Time (Once again) the sequel: covers AOT's season 1-3

One Last Time: (The Last time) the final book of the trilogy: Covers time skip + Season 4

I took this decision to keep the books manga spoiler-free. Since by the time the final season pt.2 of AOT airs (2022), the last book of the trilogy will be released around the same time.

In other news since this is the sequel I thought it will be nice to draw small light-hearted comics about OLT. Since this story is gonna have its sad moments (well a lot), I wanted to add some fluff by adding my fanart and few comic ideas. You all can drop drawing requests too related to OLT or AOT in general. But if u find the drawings cringy let me know and I'll stop lol.

So, let's start by showing you Maria's concept design at the beginning of OLT and after she came back from the underground.

Maria Turret Design 1

With her design, I wanted to show her confidence, youth, and beauty. She is definitely confident and happy with the way she is. I am not very good at drawing anime style (or drawing overall lol) but I tried my best. I don't know why but in a lot of fanfiction when the protagonist has brown eyes and brown hair they automatically make them act clumsy or make them feel like they are not attractive enough. With Maria, I wanted to do the opposite and actually show her beauty and make her feel confident about it even when she doesn't have the most distinguishable looks. Also that from to time she doesn't brush her hair because Levi always likes to do that for her.

Levi felt attracted to her at the beginning because she is clean, smells good, and takes care of her appearance, something he also does.

Maria Ackerman design 2

Second design and with this one I wanted to show how much Maria changed. She definitely looks sad and the glow in her eyes disappeared. I also wanted for her to look uncomfortable because she hates wearing pants and very much prefers to wear dresses but since she hates the way her body looks she prefers to cover the entirety of her body. You would only see her wear dresses (grandma or nun dresses) or garments that cover all of her body.

This is why the ending of OLT has more impact. Imagine how Levi felt the moment he saw Maria walking up to the hill wearing the dress she used to wear when she first met him? After 5 years of watching Maria being uncomfortable with her body, he finally sees her embracing herself again. It was like there was a small light of hope at the end of the tunnel.

On the last note, I wanted to talk to you all about Maria's character development at the end of OLT.

Maria since the beginning was a flawed character. She wanted to please everyone and pretty much followed the flow and did whatever other people told her to do. She always did things for the sake of others instead of living for herself and many other things.

She was weak.

Does it mean that weak people deserved pain? Absolutely not.

But that's how the world in AOT works.

When Maria freed the girls from the Ackermans, she knew what was at stake. She could have gone with them and have the opportunity to see Levi and her friends again.

But she stayed back.

She gave up on that possibility. She knew that Levi wanted to be with her, that he loved her. She knew Nicholas, Leah, and Lisa and the rest of her friends would have wanted for her to come back alive.

And instead of following or doing what other people wanted her to do, Maria decided to do something for herself.

And she did it for two things:

1.Because she learned to live for herself, not caring about what people wanted from her.

2.Because it was the right thing to do.

By distracting the Ackermans and giving time for the girls to escape, Maria acted selflessly. She took the burden nobody wanted to take, willing to give up her life for the sake of others knowing she was going to get nothing in exchange.

Maria did not only have a character development but she became a heroine by acting in service of the greater good.

Anyways, I just kind of wanted to remind you all of this because, in the sequel I don't want her character development to be overlooked. She is going to do and act differently because she DID change, whether it's for the worse or better.

I am never going to explicitly say things in my story. I like for my readers to think about these concepts and a lot of things in OLT it's up to the reader's interpretation. This is my interpretation of Maria's character development but you may have yours and that's completely fine as well!

I honestly can talk about hours about Maria, Levi, Nicholas, and Elise's development in the story but I prefer for you all to make your own conclusions.

As always if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments. As well that I accept constructive criticism.

If you think the story is bad, just don't say it's bad, please explain why so I can improve in my writing lol.

For the sequel, I am looking for beta-readers so if anyone is interested in proofreading the sequel of OLT please let me know in the comments or send me a message!

Thank you so much for the support, this may not be the most popular nor the perfect story but I do have a lot of love and passion for it and I hope I can reflect that with my writing.

Thank you for reading One Last Time and I'll see you very soon!

Also for One Last Time trilogy updates, fanart, small comics and fanfiction reviews follow One Last Time twitter account! @OneLastTime_1

Thank you!