Rivetra

Levi "Rivaille"

- 6 years old

- He's pretty much OOC here

Petra Ral

- 5 years old

- I guess you could say she's "the same" as the one in the anime, your choice, really

“Mom! Mom! Who’s he?” Petra tugged at her mom’s blouse and pointed at a boy with black, cropped hair.

Her mom smiled. “Hm? Why don’t you approach him and ask his name?” Petra blushed. She didn’t ask for another boy’s name often.

“But..I’m shy…” She looked at the boy who was now sitting on a blue swing alone. All the other kids in the playground didn’t seem to notice him.

“Come on honey, maybe the both of you will become friends.” She knew her mom had a point, so she gathered her courage and walked up to him.

“Um..hi! My name’s Petra! What’s yours?” Petra asked, smiling.

The boy looked up at her. “Levi.” He answered. ‘Levi..’ Petra thought.

“It’s my first time hearing that name. It sounds nice.” She complimented. Levi’s eyes grew a little wider.

“Really?” He raised an eyebrow.

Petra nodded excitedly.

“Oh..thanks. I like your name too.” Petra blushed a little more and thanked him. They talked and talked, until Petra had to go.

“Sweetheart! We have to go now! It’s getting late..!” Petra’s mom called out to her.

“Yes mommy! I’ll be there in a minute!” She turned to Levi. “I have to go, can I see you tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

“Yay! I’ll see you soon then. Bye Levi!” She waved goodbye and caught up with her mom. Levi waved back.

Next Day

Petra ran to the park where she had met Levi. As she predicted, he was there, on the blue swing again.

“Hi Levi!” Petra greeted. Levi quickly looked at her. “Hey Petra.” He greeted back.

“What’s up?” She sat on the other swing beside him. “The sky?” He said, a bit confused. Petra laughed. “Silly!”

Her laugh..made him smile. At least, just for a second. But Petra saw it.

“You smiled!” She exclaimed. “Yeah..I guess I did.” Levi ran his hands through his hair. “Wow..it’s the first time I saw you smile!”

“Heh..” He looked up. “That cloud looks like an eagle…”

“Huh? Where? Where?” Petra questioned, looking for the said cloud.

“The one beside that big…fluffy..cloud.” He pointed out. Petra searched some more and found it. “Oh! Yeah it really does!” She grinned.

Their bond became a lot stronger after each day. They’d even teach other different languages such as French. They’d play and pretend they were in the military (both of them admire soldiers), Levi was a captain and Petra was his best soldier.

Before Levi would go to sleep, he’d think about her.

But four years later…

Petra’s phone rang, and picked it up. “Levi?” ‘Go to the park where we first met.’ “Why-“ Levi hung up. ‘What’s going on..?’

She ran as fast as she could to the park. When she arrived, she didn’t find the person she wanted to see, instead, she found a letter on the blue swing he used to sit on all the time.

She stared at the letter for a while and hesitated to open it. Did he put that there? He probably needed to run an errand so maybe he wrote a letter instead? She picked it up, sat on the swing beside Levi’s and started reading it.

Petra, I know this is sudden but…I have to leave. I’m going to France. I have to study there, I don’t know how long but let’s not forget each other, okay? Please don’t cry. I’m sure we’ll see each other again someday. Maybe not soon, but someday, alright? No matter how hard things get, please don’t remove the smile on your face. I want you to laugh even if I’m not going to be there…can you do that? Petra I never got to tell you this but..you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met in my entire life. You made me smile, even if I don’t do that often. You made me do new things, and things I thought I could never do. You make me feel like I’m special. You make me feel like…I’m loved. I thank you for that. Don’t cry, okay? Remember that I won’t ever forget you. Je T’aime, Petra.

Your Captain,

Levi

The tears she tried to hold back rolled down her cheek. ‘Levi, I’m sorry. I can’t help it. I miss you already.’

She whispered, “Je T’aime trop, Levi.”

6 Years Later

“You know what? A guy from our school is coming back!” Petra heard her batch mates talking to each other.

Who could that be? Although, she didn’t have time to think about it. She had to go to her last class, P.E.

She ran to the gym and met with her classmates.

“Petra! C’mon! Let’s play soccer already!” Hanji shouted.

“Be right there! Just going to put my stuff in my locker!” Petra shouted back.

“Okay!” Hanji and her other classmates began warming up.

After fixing her stuff, she ran to the field. “Hey guys, let’s make Petra the captain for today!” Hanji suggested.

The others nodded in agreement. Well, except for Petra.

“Why me?” Petra asked, alarmed. “I’ve never been a captain before…I don’t think I’ll be a good one.”

“You not being a captain before is the exact reason why you have to be one today. You’re good at playing soccer, don’t worry.” Hanji patted her back in encouragement.

“Let’s get started, shall we?” Everyone started forming teams and began to play.

Petra would tell orders and her teammates would follow.

‘Captain…Captain…’

“Pass it to me!” As soon as she got the ball, she kicked it and it went right at the net. Gunther, the referee, blew the whistle, signalling the game was over.

Petra’s teammates cheered and raised her up in the air. Petra kept laughing until she heard someone clapping slowly. She told her teammates to put her down, which they did, and turned to see who the person was.

“Who’s that?” Her classmates murmured. “Is he even from here?” They’d whisper. “Is he mocking us or is he for real?”

The boy seemed to be about their age. He was wearing a jacket and pants. His hands were inside his jacket’s pockets and he also had a black backpack. Petra examined him.

Poker face.

Grey orbs.

Black, cropped hair.

It can’t be.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” The boy walked towards Petra and stopped right in front of her. Her classmates only watched.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Are you alright, Petra?” He cocked an eyebrow.

“How come he knows her name?”

“Are they rivals?”

“No way, are they dating?!”

The last question made his brows furrow even more. But a light shade of pink evident on his cheeks.

After a few seconds, Petra finally managed to speak. “L-Levi…”

Levi turned his attention to her. “Um..surprise?”

“Idiot! Don’t ‘surprise’ me! You..you…” Tears ran down her cheek.

“Don’t talk to me anymore.” She said, walking away. “Petra! Where you going?!” Hanji called out.

“Home!” Petra shouted, frustrated. Levi started running after her.

“Hey! Why are you so mad?..!” He was beginning to get frustrated, too.

“I said don’t talk to me!” She went to her locker and packed her things.

He grabbed her hand. “Let go!” It only made him grab her other hand and push her –not too hard- against her locker. His arms were on both sides. She was cornered.

“Le-“

“Just hear me out alright?..!” She went silent.

“Petra, I’m sorry, okay? For leaving you. Look, you’re not the only one that got hurt when I left.”

“But you didn’t even-“

“Say goodbye?”

She nodded slowly in response.

“It’s only because it hurts a lot more for me if I said that. Goodbyes hurt so much.” He took a deep breath.

“I’m so sorry. I never stopped thinking about you while I was away. I said that we’d see each other again remember? It was really..painful.”

When was the last time she saw him smile?

“I couldn’t sleep peacefully. I couldn’t think straight. You know what hurt most?”

She didn’t even know if she wanted to know or not.

“I’d always see couples around. They were holding hands, doing silly things. Even if they were in public. Then I saw two kids, one boy and one girl. They’d always play at the park I usually go to. They only reminded me of you and I back then. I realized how much I missed you.” Petra let more of her tears escape.

“Please don’t ever tell me to stop talking to you because I’d fall in love with you even more. Who’s going to make me smile the way you did?” He looked her in the eye. “Who’s going to..be my soldier?” His eyes watered and a tear fell.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I got mad. I was just..”

“I know, you’re just as depressed as I was. Can I ask you something?” He clenched his fists.

“What..?”

“Do you still love me?”

“I do. I always did. I always will. But I think I’ll only hurt you because you’re like this just because of me. Stop..caring about me. Forget me.” But she knew she didn’t want him to stop.

“Too late.”

“What?”

“I can never forget the only person that holds me down.”