The Red String of Fate

Marley

Two Weeks Later

Anya sighed as she looked up at the boat, taking in the sheer size of the thing she was about to spend the coming hours on until she made it to her new home in Marley. She had made all of her arrangements - the shop was now Rebekah's, along with the apartment she once lived in - plenty of space for her, her brother, and her boyfriend to live comfortably with plenty of income to sustain them for years to come. She said goodbye to her mother, and promised to visit again. Now, with the threat of the Yeagerists no longer looming over them, there was a new reason for them to go to Marley - the healthcare technology. Nathalie had spoken highly of everything they had there, and decided with Levi and Historia that Marley would be the best place for Anya to be given the circumstances of possible impending death. Nathalie would go with them, and reside at the Burgess Estate with her family. Mikasa was joining them, and would be staying wherever Anya would be at all times. Levi tried to convince Historia to come with them, however she was simply too high a priority target to leave Paradis.

Thus, they were still short of one of the people they needed to potentially save Anya. Nathalie held to the opinion that curses don't exist - yet, there she was, about to board the ship with them and head back to her homeland. She had things to take care of there. She couldn't deny that she had missed Marley. She had missed the busy streets and the large estate of her family that was filled with nothing but people who cared about her and were willing to talk about science with her for hours. Finally, she'd be able to get her job back at the hospital of Marley. She had sent a letter back to her family to let them know that she'd once again live with them.

Nathalie remembered clearly the last time she was in Marley. Her and Zeke had an apartment. They had built a life in it just the two of them. But when they told her he was gone, and her world came crashing to ruin, she sold it away and she left, hoping that she'd never come back, because now, it was all going to come back to her. She had walked down the streets of Marley way too many times with Zeke. At least, she didn't have that apartment anymore. It reminded her of everything about him.

But now she was a widow. She was back to being a doctor in the hospital of the Capital of Marley. A widow, dressed in white because of her profession. She was going to dive right into it. Right into her work. It always helped her forget. And now, with the extra drama of a stupid curse and a couple who were so fucking clingy to each other, it was enough to keep her mind occupied for the time being. Anya was thirty-seven years old. She wasn't too old to have children. Children that they weren't even sure she was pregnant with. Alas, all the others seemed to believe in what Mikasa had told them and Nathalie found herself staring at the couple. She admired how in love they were. How happy they were. She sighed. She had that too once upon a time. Not anymore. Never again. It was time for her to marry her sweet, sweet science. Science could never leave her. She was going to drown into it willingly.

And most of all, she wasn't going to let Anya die. Never. She had no idea where that feeling had come from. An immense willingness to keep that girl safe. Maybe her ancestors had indeed sworn an oath to protect the Roffs. She wasn't about to let them down. She had lost her everything, but she wasn't going to let Levi -the murderer of her husband- to go through the pain that she had gone through when Zeke died. When she knelt down on the white marble of his grave and she screamed at him how dare you leave me. Though it wasn't his fault. It was all this god-forsaken war's fault. It was all over now. She just wished he was there to see it.

Levi approached Anya slowly, in his wheelchair because the length of the trip - albeit short, would still cause him issues. She turned and smiled as soon as he returned, even though prior to that moment he was less than 10 feet behind her, admiring her there in her soft, white linen dress with a bright blue ribbon that flowed in the breeze. He reached out for her hand, which she quickly took in his before leaning down and planting a soft peck of a kiss on his lips. And oh, how he adored every kiss from her - He tried his best to ignore the thoughts that were plaguing him. He tried to ignore the voice in his head telling him that every kiss - no matter how chaste or passionate, could be his last from her and that every second together could be their final goodbye. And so, he rarely let her be out of sight, and if she was out of his sight she was either with Mikasa or within earshot of one of them. He felt the overwhelming urge to protect her, at all costs.