Work Text:
Eren rolled his shoulders and stifled a yawn as he hiked up the three flights of stairs to his apartment. He'd had a long shift at work. He felt sweaty and gross, and all he could think about was food and a hot shower that would unfurl the knots in his back.
Well, that wasn't all he was thinking about. As always, in the back of his mind was a constant nagging reminder of his sole mission in life.
When he finally pushed open his door, a sigh of relief escaped his lips. He left his shoes at the door and shuffled into the kitchen, unloading his keys, wallet, and phone on the counter. Taking a peak into his refrigerator, Eren was dismayed at the lack of options for dinner.
“Should've ate at work...” Eren murmured, pulling out a frozen dinner and popping it into the microwave.
He ran a tan hand through his unruly brown hair before grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling the black tee over his head. He intertwined his fingers and lifted his arms above his head, stretching and pulling loose the tightness of his muscles.
Eren worked as a cook at a seafood shack on the beach. He loved it because he could usually squeeze in some surfing and steal a few shrimp, but during the tourist season, the work was grueling and the hours were long. When he wasn't surfing or working, Eren spent his time locked away in his home office or on his tiny balcony, tapping away at his laptop and scouring records while soaking up sun and listening to the sound of the waves from a few miles away bounce off of buildings.
The green-eyed young man was already twenty-three, and he was beginning to become discouraged in his search for Levi.
Every time he was reincarnated, by the age of fifteen he remembered Levi and Levi remembered him as well. Usually, though, their paths were much more tangled. Throughout their lifetimes, they'd been in the same tribe, the same village, the same neighborhood. They'd been in the same squad, the same troop, the same committee over time. Never before had Eren went so far in his life and not found Levi.
It hadn't been for lack of effort, though. As always, the year before Eren turned fifteen, the dreams began. Every memory he'd ever had of his and Levi's travels, of their lives together, came back to him. When the universe came together and the stardust exploded into the beautiful, imperfect world they shared, Eren and Levi had to have been made from the same constellation.
Through time, they'd taken different forms. Man or woman, race or religion, they always knew the other. They always had an undeniable pull between them, and the last few lifetimes, they'd had the same name, the same look, and they'd always had the same eyes. The eyes were always a dead give-away.
Eren's hope was dwindling, though, undoubtedly.
He pushed his dismal thoughts aside to finish stripping his clothes and step into the shower, letting loose a low groan as the hot water ran down his back and steam rose up to engulf him.
When the heat became suffocating instead of soothing, he stepped back out and pulled on a pair of boxers and gym shorts. Throwing his towel around his neck, he made his way into the kitchen to grab his dinner-for-one and settle in front of the television to wind down and not let his despair eat away at him.
–
Eren had the next day off, so he rose from bed slowly. Within an hour of waking, Eren was sitting on his balcony with his laptop and a cup of coffee keeping him company before the day got too hot. The sun was still rising, and the wind rolling off the ocean was calming.
Eren dragged a hand over his face. He'd been through every census in every country, cross-referenced every name his soulmate had ever claimed. He was frustrated to no ends that he kept coming up short.
Interrupting his muddled thoughts came his cell phone, ringing shrilly from the small table in front of which he was perched.
He tapped the answer button and leaned back in his chair, bringing the phone to his ear.
“Hey, Jean.”
“Hi there, sunshine. How are you this mornin'?” Jean drawled out.
Eren rolled his eyes, both at Jean's nickname and the blaring music in the background.
“I'm fine. You heading in to work?” the brunette asked, looking out to see the clear blue sky and watch birds flit through the clouds.
“You guessed it. Coverin' another one of Armin's shifts. That little knucklehead is lucky I love him.”
“Love him, do you?” Eren snickered as Jean sputtered on the other end of the line.
“You know what I mean, jackass! "
“Calm down, horseface. But you know you do!”
“Whatever, Yeager!”
Grinning, the brunette drained the last dregs of his coffee and stood up.
“Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure of a wake-up call from you?” Eren asked conversationally.
“Oh, I'm actually just passing on a message from Armin from Mikasa. Basically. If you followed that.”
“I'm not an idiot. What did Mikasa say?”
“She said she was working a short shift at the office and she'd see you around noon. She wanted to eat lunch with you.”
“And why didn't she just tell me herself, Seabiscuit?”
“Hardy har har. She left her phone at the house this morning, but her and Armin met for coffee so she passed the message along.”
“Okay. Well, thanks. I'll see you tomorrow at Annie's birthday thing, then?”
“Yeah, I'll see you there, bro. Later, Yeager.”
“Bye.”
Lowering the phone to the table and sighing at the computer screen in front of him that said nothing he didn't already know, Eren decided to get dressed and go get some groceries he desperately needed.
–
“So,” Mikasa stated.
“So,” Eren returned with a small smirk.
They were having a stare down from across the table while waiting for their food to come up.
“I wanted to talk to you,” the young woman stated.
“Well, I figured,” Eren responded, but fell silent to allow his dearest friend (and sister, for all intents and purposes) to speak her mind.
Mikasa looked down at her glass of water, swirling the ice around with her straw with a contemplative look on her face.
“Eren...about Levi. I'm worried.”
“Well, me too. I don't understand why I haven't found him yet,” the brunette replied.
“No, that's not what I mean. Eren...I think you need to start thinking about...giving up on finding him.”
A dark, heavy silence fell over the two. Mikasa shifted nervously in her seat, swirling the ice faster now and avoiding Eren's eyes.
“...why...why do you think that?” Eren asked in a forced-calm voice, the strain in his tone evident.
“Eren, hear me out. You haven't been able to find him anywhere...Maybe it's because he isn't out there. Maybe he doesn't want to be fou-”
“No. He would never do that. He would never avoid me like that. Mikasa, you know what this bond is like...it's similar to the bond that always pulls you and I together. It's the same with you and Annie. Just like with Armin, Jean, Marco, Bert...We've always been together. Do you really think he could just deny that? It aches for me to be away from him. He's out there, Mikasa, I'm sorry. I'm going to find him.” Eren's words came with a sense of finality.
Mikasa studied him with worried eyes, but in the end, she sighed and nodded.
“I'm just scared for you, Eren. If you don't ever find him...I just don't want you to be wrecked.”
“I appreciate your concern, Mikasa. But I'll never stop looking.”
“Okay. Well, now that we have that covered, can we be normal again?” she asked with a small smile.
“Absolutely,” Eren agreed, matching her smile with a toothy one of his own.
–
Weeks later brought Eren to another off day, another day of studying names and surveys and records that made his eyes cross. After his conversation with Mikasa, some of his frustration weened and the fire in his heart was that much stronger. It was with renewed vigor that he searched, backtracked, and searched again for Levi.
A rapid, frantic knock on his door had Eren off his couch and crossing the room in seconds, suddenly alarmed.
When he pulled the door open, there stood an angry, out of breath Armin.
“Why haven't you been answering your phone!?” Armin shouted, huffing and puffing.
“My....oh! My phone is in the car!” Eren exclaimed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
Rolling his eyes, Armin shoved Eren out of the way and barged into the small apartment.
“Whatever. You've gotta see this,” he explained, marching straight over to the couch and opening a new tab on Eren's browser.
“What the hell is going on, man?” Eren questioned, plopping down next to his best friend in confusion.
“Shh. Just watch.”
The link he'd pulled up was a foreign page, everything written in what Eren knew to be French. Armin scrolled down to a video and maximized it before pressing play, shoving the computer at his brown-haired friend, and sitting back with bated breath to watch the man's face.
Eren shot him a bewildered glance before turning his attention to the screen, brows knitted. He was watching some sort of variety show, and an announcer was presenting a new artist. Though Eren hadn't studied French in forever, he knew enough to follow along.
“Next up is a fresh new artist that has a cult following here in Paris. Singing for us today his debut single 'Past Lives' is Rivaille!”
Eren's breath escaped him in a quick gasp, as if he'd been punched in the gut. At that moment, his Levi filled the screen. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes and, if Armin hadn't been seated right next to him, he would've reached out to touch it.
“Thank you very much. As he said, my name is Rivaille and this is a song for a special person in my heart. Wherever they may be, I hope they know I am searching for them. And I hope that brat is looking for me as well. This is 'Past Lives'.”
With that, he took his place on a stool, adjusted the microphone in front of him, and began strumming on an acoustic guitar. The second he opened his mouth, Eren was in a trance.
We were lovers in a past life.
I can see it in your green eyes.
Maybe you were one of my wives,
in a long lost tribe.
There's just somethin' 'bout you I know,
Started centuries ago though,
You see, your kiss is a like a lost ghost
only I would know.
But I, I keep on falling for you
Time after time, Time after time.
I'll make you mine, time after...
Time after time.
Seems milleniums ago, love,
We were nothing more than stardust.
Just the galaxy beneath us...
We found weight.
Then we made it through the ice age,
but I lost you in the crusades.
I built the pyramids for you, babe,
Just to see your face.
But I, I keep on falling for you
Time after time, Time after time.
I'll make you mine, time after...
Time after time.
Time after time.
Levi's smooth, deep voice trailed off softly. Eren's heart was beating erratically in his chest. His eyes moved wildly from the screen to Armin as the screen in front of him went black.
He opened his mouth, but he couldn't form any coherent words.
“I know, I know. I've already contacted his agent. I'm just waiting to hear back.”
“Armin...it's him,” Eren whispered, still overwhelmed by the emotion flooding through his body.
Eren fell apart, sobs wracking his body, as Armin wrapped his arms around the taller man and rubbing smooth circles on his back.
“It's gonna be okay. It's all okay now. Soon, Eren. You'll be together soon.”
–
It was another two weeks that brought Eren to an airport, pacing through a waiting area in the designated terminal.
He'd had no contact with Levi but through Armin and the agent, and Eren was explosively nervous to face to face with the love of his lives.
Levi was a few years older than Eren this time. Eren didn't know much about his current life, but he was dying to ask him questions. Most of all, he wanted to figure out why they hadn't found each other until now.
The green-eyed man was biting his nails and staring at his feet when he heard an audible intake of breath from Mikasa and Armin, who'd insisted on tagging along. Eren's head shot up and the tears he hadn't been able to fight off the last couple weeks formed once more.
Standing six feet away, in black jeans and a plaid button-up, was the man he'd dedicated his existence to.
“Levi...” Eren breathed.
“Eren. Finally,” Levi sighed.
Eren was comforted by his familiar voice. Before he could cry out or move a muscle, he was being embraced.
Levi was almost as tall as him this time, but not quite. Eren wrapped his arms around the lithe man in front of him, gripping the folds of his shirts like lifelines.
There were no words for them to exchange. All the questions that had been prodding at the back of Eren's mind disappeared. He'd forgotten how things were with Levi. He'd somehow lost the memory of their connection, the understanding they had of each other without uttering a syllable.
“I love you,” was all Eren could manage to vocalize.
“I love you, too, brat.”
Hearing the well-known words whispered in his ear, Eren decided to work out the details later. For the time being, he was satisfied to hold the person he loved in his arms.
–
“You would live near the beach,” Levi snorted.
“You know me. I never want to be too far from the waves.”
Eren still had a stupid smile plastered on his face. Levi wanted to make fun of him for it, but it was so damn endearing he couldn't bring himself to poke fun.
The two were sitting on a blanket on the sand, watching the seagulls swoop down over the water and the sun set over the endless span of deep blue.
“Who have you found?” Eren asked, playing with Levi's fingers absently.
“Petra, Erwin, Gunther, Eld. The same old crew. You?”
“Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Annie, Marco, Bert...Same old, same old,” Eren responded with a laugh.
“Hm.”
“I wonder what happened this time. Why we weren't all together...” Eren trailed off.
“I'm not sure. But I have a theory.”
“Oh? Enlighten me.”
“Well, you shitty brat, I think maybe this time we were meant to focus more on ourselves. You know, every life we live together hasn't been the most pleasant. We've fought wars together. We've faced famine, disease, heartache. This time, I think we were supposed to make peace with ourselves and what we needed in life first so we could refocus and spend our time together happy instead of sacrificing everything for the other,” Levi explained.
“Well, I hate to admit it, but that makes sense.”
“Of course it does, kid. I'm very wise beyond my years.”
Eren rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but break a smile at Levi's joke.
“Yes, you are. Either way, I'm glad you're with me now.”
Levi looked over, studying Eren's deep eyes so much like the ocean he loved.
“Me, too,” the shorter man whispered, leaning in to press his lips to Eren's.
Though Levi complained (a lot) about how annoying Eren could be, he was unable to hide the peaceful smile that came just from being with the brat. Eren was unable to stop smiling now that he had everything he needed.
They still needed to figure out where they wanted to call their permanent home, but Eren trusted that they'd work something out as they always did. Eren had found his niche in the world, just as Levi had. They were both very good in their roles, as well. They found satisfaction in their purposes.
Neither knew how long their existences would last. Neither knew if this would be their last lifetime together or if they'd continue on for thousands of years, dying and rebirthing just to experience new things with the other by their side. They didn't know how things would turn out, but just as they did in past lives, they faced forward together with no doubts that they'd always find happiness together.