THE PROMISE YOU MADE|| {Levi x Furlan x OC Fem}

31. Forgiven

Ella found Levi sitting on the stairs by the entrance to the house. His elbows were resting on his legs, and he was holding his head between his hands. After hesitating, she finally approached him quietly and tried sitting next to him. Levi looked at her struggling to sit and help her out, her belly was bigger day after day however, she was not hiding it anymore. The two of them remained silent in the middle of the stair.

"I believed in you once, and I will do it again. I will go with you to the surface." She announced, breaking the silence of the night. Levi looked at her, confused. It had been a long wait but she had finally said the words he had been waiting to hear months ago. He cleared his throat before talking.

"In that case, we will leave at dawn." He replied, hiding his inner satisfaction.

"Why so early?"

"In case you change your mind. Besides, there is nothing left for us here." He replied coldly.

"There is one more thing I would like to do before leaving this place." She added. Levi rose his eyebrow curious and, Ella explained what she was talking about.

That night, the two of them left the house with two lanterns which according to Ella, represented Furlan's and Isabel's lives. They managed to reach the cave where Furlan kissed her for the first time and where the four of them freed the bird right before the mission. It was a special place, and as they could not have a proper burial for their friends, Ella decided that in order to finally let go and welcome a new step in their lives, an intimate tribute was necessary.

 Ella gave one of the lanterns to Levi, who held it carefully as if it was something precious after all, it represented the spirit of his lovely Isabel. Ella however held Furlan's tenderly, as if she did not want to let go, as that would mean that she would have finally accepted their deaths. They lighted them up and looked at each other in order to set them free from the bottom of the cave through the cavity towards the sky. Once again, Ella kissed the lantern and rose her arms to the sky, letting the lantern go. The two of them watched in silence how both lanterns were flying away together, getting lost in the night sky, forever. The cave got dark again, and the place felt emptier after they released the lanterns.

"You still have not told me how they died." She insisted quietly.

"Ella, you don't need to know." Levi tried to persuade her. She didn't like that answer, she looked at him with watery eyes and grabbed him by the sleeve, almost like begging.

"But I do, Levi. I do deserve to know how the man I loved and the girl who I considered my sister died. At least let me have that."

Levi snorted loudly and took a deep breath before proceeding to tell her about the most painful memories he had. It was like a horror story made a reality.

"He died avenging Isabel." He finished. "You were right, I am a monster. It was all my fault. I was just too late, if only I would..." Levi groaned furiously with himself.

"So they did suffer after all..." She interrupted him, still digesting the story. It was all she managed to say unable to contain her tears. Suddenly she looked at him compassionately, still with tears in her eyes. At that moment, she cupped his face between her hands softly and locked her green eyes on his, making Levi's eyes widen in surprise.

"I forgive you, Levi. It was never your fault. I was just blinded by grief and fear and, yet you did not leave my side. You are not the monster I said you were. I owe you an apology for all the things I said to you. Please, forgive me."

"Ella..." He mumbled. His eyes were wide open. He did not expect this reaction after all the difficult months they had been through together. There she was, the woman she once was, came back. Kind and compassionate yet understanding. She had let go of her pain by freeing the lanterns and she was ready to live again. Of course, she will miss them, but now she had the certainty that wherever they were, they were happy and they would want the same for the other two.

That night, Ella took the courage to go to Furlan's old room. When she opened the door, a wave of nostalgia shacked her whole body. A sad smile was drawn on her face. She remembered the first time she was brought there when she was badly hurt. All the times he tucked her in under the covers. Every time they kissed and made love on that bed which hadn't been used for months. Every time they were together. That night she would sleep on the bed that once they shared as a way of farewell. That would be the last night she would be in that house and, she wanted to feel closer to his late fiancé. 

Word count: 870

I forgot how emotional this chapter was :'( 

I hope I didn't make you cry with this one.

Anyways, how is your day going?

Thanks for your support,

Ai