She took a deep breath as walked out of her doorway, on her way to work.

Today would be the day. She constantly told herself. Today would be the day she happens to cross his path, either on her way to work, or just passing through her store.

It had been several weeks and her patience was growing ever so thin. Even seeing Jean during the weekends and showing him around didn't help her forget even for a second that Levi has yet to be found. Everyday seemed so dull, even though everything around her moved in its normal atmosphere. She felt like a literal dark cloud hovered over her head everywhere.

She shook her leg in the bus, looking around earning very disconcerted looks from the people sitting beside her. There was no moment she was going to let pass without looking for him.

She calls it dedication, and others might call it a little bit crazy. Even Marco was becoming concerned with her.

"(y/n), how are you today?" he greeted with a smile as she entered the store to take on Linda's shift.

"Not too bad. You?" she smiled back at him. Marco's kind smile was very contagious, even on her worst days she would seem to catch on to his calming personality.

"I'm doing great." he replied.

"What are you planning to do with Jean this weekend?" she leaned over the counter from which he was across, manning the cashier.

Marco looked off the the side, almost as if he was almost reluctant to say it. His lips opened for a moment but there was pure silence.

"Uh, I told him not to come this weekend." he finally answered.

"Why not? Did you have a fight with him?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

"No, nothing like that." he rubbed the nape of his neck, still avoiding her eyes, "I just thought that we should give you a break, since you always take care of us."

"What are you saying? It's fine with me. I have a lot of fun with you two." A chuckle escaped her lips, following the half empty words she said. She moved away to let someone fall in line for the cash.

"We just thought that it would be best if you take a rest. You seem so stressed, especially these past few weeks." he looked away and greeted the man infront of him and started cashing out his books.

It was a thought she considered for a while before responding, "It's fine-"

"No, (y/n), seriously. You always do everything for us and you forget to take care of yourself." Marco handed the bag to the man who was looking back and forth at her and Marco, trying to understand their conversation.

"Thank you sir, come again." she said, the man nodded and left.

"I'll visit you, but we wont be leaving the house, we'll just catch up on that TV show we wanted to catch up on all day, okay?" he suggested. The tone on his voice, although had good intention, made him seem like he was her parent.

"Alright, fine... Thanks" she smiled and walked away to do her work.

---

Making her way home, she decided to take a walk, wanting to stay away from her house as much as possible, since if she hurried home, she would just spend the rest of the night sulking. 

The streets were busy, mostly because everyone was already making their way home from work.

People were rushing to get home to rest and to eat, or to meet their children, and she could hardly even make out the sidewalk due to the many bodies surrounding her.

A large pain in her shoulder erupted, making her collapse onto the floor. Not realizing it, she had hit someone infront of her. 

"Sorry, just watch where you're going next time." the man laid out his hand towards her and she took it, helping her get up. 

"No need to apologize, it was my fault for not paying attention." 

"Maybe it's just because people are so tall that I can hardly get seen." Her eyes widened as she saw his hair. A black, undercut hair, parted. Same height, and same hair. 

It's him. She told herself. Her heart was beating faster by the moment, anticipating when he would show his face.

"No worries," he said as he looked at her and smiled.

It's not him. "We're all rushing to get home. I have kids to feed, so I have to push through everyone. Sorry about that." the man smiled. It's definitely not him. He was far too easygoing. If it was Levi, he would have eaten her alive. 

Her mood dropped once again. She waved the man goodbye and apologized one more time, as she returned to live on another few days or weeks or months on the search for Levi. 

---

She sat down on the couch, tightly hugging her pillow, as she blankly stared at the TV. She'd been watching for over 2 hours, yet she didn't quite know what show she was watching.

As much as she tried to move on, she couldn't let go of the thought that he might be existing in her world right now and she just needed to find him.

But besides that, other thoughts reoccured in her head.

The fact that when people die and ressurect in her world could have been useful information, if she found out earlier.

There was no way she was going to keep Hange in the dark about this information.
Quickly rising from her chair, she rushed to her room, putting on the cape that had become almost hurtful for her to wear and took the key that Marco had trusted her to keep.

Wasting no time, she opened the door and rushed in as soon as the setting had changed, running out of her room, hoping to slip into Hange's room without catching anyone's attention. Her brain kept telling her that she had no self control, but she just had to ignore it.

She knocked on the door with slight urgency, hoping that Hange would be there, working.
Waiting for mere seconds, the familiar face that hadn't met her eyes for weeks opened the door.
Utter shock filled Hange's face as she looked at her.

"(y/n).... H-how did you...." Hange couldn't quite find the words to say.

"Please let me in, I have to tell you something." she tried to catch her breath, making every word that came out of her mouth airy.

Hange opened the door wider, staring blankly at space, completely phased by her sudden appearance.
"How did you get here...?" she closed the door behind her and sat down on her desk.

"Do you remember Levi's squad members who passed away?" she brushed off Hange's question, knowing that answering it would just lead her to going back. 

"Yes... why?" she intently looked at (y/n), completely stopping her work. 

"I saw them... in my world, but they don't remember anything about their past life. They get fragments of their old memories but its not fully recovered. But what I think you want to know is that people can cross, but unfortunately, to get there, they have to... die first."

Hange tried to comprehend all this information. All the research she had done on this had become fruitful.

"W-wait, (y/n), don't take this the wrong way, but how did you get here? I thought I took your keys away." Hange scratched her head.

"That... actually ties into this whole thing." she tapped her lips, "See, there's a soldier here that died a few years ago, and I saw him, still using the same name, and looked exactly as he was in your books, and he told me everything about how he woke up in a hospital-not... remembering anything." she stopped for a moment, feeling a heavy feeling in her chest.

"Okay, keep going." Hange nodded at her.

"...But then when he sleeps, he gets fragments of his memory, like the name of his friend, Jean. You know? The kid who's friends with Eren but always fights with him. He still remembers him." she was almost about to reveal that she let Jean through the door. "But, when he told me about everything, he showed me a key, and he said it didn't work anywhere in his house, and I thought it resembled the key that you and Le...he made. And I told him I might know where it went and surely, it worked."

Hange laughed quietly, "Even after kicking you out, you still never fail to find your way back here."

She smiled at Hange. There was no way she could live without seeing her again- she became part of her best memories.

"Aww, come here, you." Hange held out her arms, reaching for a hug.
Hange's hug was tight, she felt suffocated, but less stressed about her life.
"So, this means that Levi is in your world now, right?" she held (y/n) by the shoulder at arms length, and patted them.
"I don't know." her eyes darkened. "I wish I knew. I miss him."
"Oh, you'll see him. Trust me, that man would find you somehow." Hange optimistically reassured her.
"Thanks, Hange."
"Look, I'm sorry for kicking you out especially when you were dealing with something difficult. I thought it would be better for you, but over time, I contemplated and realized that I should have been there for you. I wanted to give you your keys back, but I didn't know if it was a safe time or not." Hange pursed her lips.

"It's okay, Hange. I know you meant well." she replied, smiling halfway.

"He'll come for you. I know it. Maybe as a pizza delivery boy or something." she laughed.

"Yeah." was all she could reply. It seemed like eveyone was telling her that and it seemed like just a bunch of empty words. Although they were meant to keep her hoping, she just kept hearing it, but her hope was never fulfilled. "Uh, anyways, I'll see you again sometime. Sorry for startling you with my unexpected visit."

"Hey, if you need me, you can come anytime. Just make sure no one sees you, okay?" Hange patted her shoulder once again.

"Thanks Hange. Well, I'm off now." she waved and started walking towards the door.

"You take care, (y/n)." Hange waited for her outside her door, until she was completely gone.

---

Deep heavy breaths escaped her mouth as she leaned over on her knees. Not having to do physical exercises for weeks made her stamina deteriorate over time.

She fell down on her knees, and suddenly, she started crying.

She couldn't take it anymore. His absence made her house feel... silent. Even when he is just sitting there quietly, it was not as much of an empty feeling as it was now. She thought seeing Hange made her feel better. Although it did for a moment, remembering the feeling of being alone once again just left another heavy burden in her heart. 

Puddles of tears fell on her floor and have gotten bigger, as more tears came out. She clenched her teeth, hoping not to make any sound. The last thing she wanted herself to accept was that she was suffering.

She went to her room and plopped down on the bed, not even bothering to change out of her clothes. More tears came out involuntarily, hitting against the pillow as they trailed down her face. She hugged another pillow, hoping that it was a temporary substitute for the emptiness.

Not even noticing it, she fell asleep after exhausting the energy she had.

---

A loud thud made her jolt awake and hurry out.

The lights in her kitchen were on, and she could hear more shuffling sounds in her kitchen.

She carefully snuck out near the kitchen and looked in to see what it was.

Her eyes widened upon the sight of what it was.

"It's... you." she muttered under her breath, catching the attention of the male who was now looking straight at her. The familiar black hair, swaying along with his movements, and his short stature, standing in her kitchen. 

"Where did you come from? You better not be stealing anything, the moment I find out you did, your ass is dead." he glared at her.

"I-I'm not stealing anything." she walked slowly towards him with tears rolling out her eyes. She smiled, holding out her hands to him to show him that she hadn't been stealing anything. 

"Stay, back I said, don't you know how to follow orders?" he kept his distance. "Why are you crying? I'm not going to call the police, just get out."

She chuckled. "Levi, this is my house." 

He processed what she said for long moments and stared right at her. "Wait, (y/n)?"

---

(A/N) Hey! So, this is where it ends. Probably. I might be writing a small extra chapter after this one. But there you have it. Dark Shines. My apologies if the ending was not done well. I was trying to bridge it into the next book as well as I could. And I'm sorry if the writing sucks. :( Uhm, to be honest, i'm quite sad to end this book as I have been working on it for a year and it just feels like giving your child away to study in college. :(

Anyways, I know you may (or not) have questions, and they may (or may not) be addressed in the next book. People have been asking for a second book, so yes I am going to do one. But if you're completely done with this story and you want to just forget about it forever, it is completely understandable! 

Thank you so much for reading and for commenting and voting, it really means soooo much to me! And thank you for all your kind words and as well as your hilarious comments. 

Have a nice day/night! :)