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thecrazysugarlover · 4 years

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Bella Goth Disappearance FINALLY Solved!

Back in the day, I had originally subscribed to the theory that Bella was abducted by aliens that were set on her by the Caliente’s who then murdered her when she returned, and so I went in the game to do a walkthrough as to how I came to that theory. That’s when I found that I WAS WAYYYY OFF, there is a whole ass rabbit-hole here, and like a total Alice, I fell in it.

And, after 16 years of wondering and imagining different scenarios, I finally found out the truth. Turns out, we were ALL wrong, and the truth has been staring at us in the face the whole time.

Just as a warning, this is VERY dark and bleak and depressing. Bella wasn’t dealt a good hand, guys. What happened to her was all sorts of MESSED up.

Just for clarity, I do base this off of events that happen in the official sims storyline, because while the game is ultimately up to us to live life as we like, go ahead and do whatever with your game, there IS a story being told here, but in a way that doesn’t conflict with our own free will. It’s ingenious, really. This goes with the main Sims games released for PC and Mac. However, the console versions do provide a lot of insight to further details and situations. Specifically the Sims 2 for PSP, and the Sims 3 for the Nintendo DS.

So, first off, it has been verified what happened to her: In 2014, Twitter held an AMA for the SimGurus just before the release of the Sims 4. Someone asked the following question, and SimGuru Sarah responded.

It was later confirmed that Bella Goth of Lunar Lakes IS the Bella Goth of Pleasantview. She does look like the rest of the ghosts there with pale skin and yellow hair and eyes, and with that in mind, you can see for yourself…

That’s her, alright.

Okay, if she died on Lunar Lakes, there are still questions that need answers:

1. Did she ever go home?

2. Does her family know what happened to her?

3. How did she die on Lunar Lakes?

Well, she died of old age, that can be found out easily enough, but I found the answers to the other two: Kinda and no.

So, just to recap, I’m gonna review Bella’s life as we know it canonically.

Bella was born to Simis and Jocasta Bachelor of Sunset Valley. She grew up the road from her childhood best friend, and later, husband, Mortimer Goth, with her older brother Michael. She always had a sense of the macabre and dark and was known as “the best dressed girl in town.” Even then she wore a red dress. A more child appropriate red dress, but a red dress. She just came from an average suburban family who had a fascination for the not average. She’s still a child, and not a Goth yet. She still goes by the surname Bachelor.

Twenty-five years later, she shows up in the Sims 1 with her childhood best friend and now husband, Mortimer Goth, and they have moved into their own home, and have a daughter, Cassandra. Her in-laws moved out of their home in Sunset Valley and moved into what would later become the Goth House of the Sims 2 in the beginnings of what would be known as Pleasantview. Unless you got her a job, she was a housewife, and she was known to be athletic, elegant, and friendly towards her neighbors. I remember her often being the first to come and say hello to any new Sims I’d move into the neighborhood. Her brother, Michael, is also in town, however, there is no acknowledgement of them being siblings. A family tree system didn’t really exist in the Sims 1, and I’m sure they didn’t even think to make them siblings back then, but the fact remains that they have no relationship at this point in time. The only reason why it’s known that Cornelia and Gunther Goth are Mortimer’s parents is because it straight up says so in the bio. That and their names are the same, but anyway.

So far, things are simple.

That’s because in the 25 years between the Sims 1 and 2, a series of events occurs that really makes things interesting.

Michael joins the science career track. One can assume the reason why he settled into domestic living years after Bella had done so was because he was at grad school. Because he was graduated from grad school, he gets a jumpstart in the career and climbs the latter a lot faster than Mortimer does.

1. Scientist Sims contribute an invention into the Sims world. Michael’s invention was cloning technology. He cloned himself, and a test subject: Skip Broke.

a. Even though he died before it happened, arrangements were made so Brandi could be the next test subject and the first female subject, and when you start Pleasantview for the first time, she is pregnant with her own clone. The baby is always born a boy.

b. Michael’s clones have a 100% rate of being male, genetic identicals to those they were cloned from (Brandi’s just being a boy rather than a girl) and so far, a 100% rate of dying at the same time as the original. They are genetically identical, but wear different clothes.

2. Michael and Bella don’t really have a relationship in their adult lives because Michael leaves Pleasantview early on while Cassandra is still a child and moves to the city.

3. Mortimer follows after Michael, and invents the age reversal serum. Bella is the first test subject, and, the day of her abduction, she takes the serum until she reverts back to being a brand-new adult. Probably to allow herself to fit in her red dress as strikingly as she does, I don’t think an elderly woman could pull that off.

4. Cassandra enters private school.

5. Around this time, Gunther Goth dies. Bella, Mortimer, and Cassandra move out of their home and in with Cornelia to be with her in her last stages of life.

6. Michael marries Dina Caliente. It is speculated that, because of the age gap, they only marry for Michael’s money. But it is worth noting that Michael was Dina’s first serious relationship and she didn’t begin to cheat on Michael with Don until years later just before Michael died.

7. Alexander is born.

8. Shortly after Alexander’s birth, Cornelia dies at the same time Michael does.

9. Dina inherits Michael’s estate and moves in with Nina. They then move to Pleasantview.

10. Don follows them and moves the next day.

11. Bella goes to introduce herself to her new neighbor, Don. They get along, and Don gets the wrong idea and puts the move on Bella. Bella rejects him. He then runs off to go be with Kaylynn and is not there when Bella is abducted by aliens.

12. Bella is never seen again, but shortly after her abduction, a UFO crashlands in Strangetown, and reports that Bella is in Strangetown start rolling in. But, spoiler alert, that’s not the real Bella.

Then, after Bella’s abduction and before you start Pleasantview for the first time, the following happens:

1. Mortimer and Dina hit it off rather fast, and marriage is definitely in the picture when the game first starts.

2. Cassandra, Mortimer, and Alexander all age up on the same day 2 days after Bella disappears.

3. Cassandra goes to Don’s house to find out what he knows about what happened to Bella (jack squat since he wasn’t there) and that’s where they meet for the first time. Don tries to seduce her, probably not knowing who she is, and Cassandra, as much as you gotta love the girl, is naïve as all hell and thinks she won the jackpot and falls for Don quickly.

4. Alexander goes to private school

5. Mortimer retires

6. Cassandra gets engaged the VERY day the game starts.

That is an important thing to note because people like to speculate that Don had something to do with Bella’s disappearance because he made the moves on her mother and they were engaged and he didn’t want to jeopardize that by Bella opening her yap. This is NOT the case because Cassandra was still a teenager when Bella vanished. Don may be a hoe, but he isn’t a pedo. Chris Hansen doesn’t need to be called for this one.

Another important thing to point out is that it’s not known if Dina and Nina knew Bella. At least, not well, since it can’t be established if Michael and Bella had a relationship at all. Despite the fact that they were friends when they were younger, Mortimer has no memories of Michael, and neither do Cassandra or Alexander. They never met their uncle.

ALSO, yes Dina and Nina do have alien ancestry. Their father was a result of an alien abduction pregnancy. But he was born human, so they’re not part alien. Which means they didn’t order ANY aliens to go and kidnap anybody. Why would they? They don’t know her. Not even normal alien sims do that, y’all are just racist.

It’s also worth noting that Mortimer is COMPLETELY fine with Bella being gone. He’s not heartbroken and he isn’t desperately trying to find her like the game tries to suggest. He’s strangely cool about it.

Why is Mortimer fine with Bella being gone?

Because they are no longer married and haven’t been since around the time Alexander was born.

And THAT, guys, gals, and nonbinary pals, is the BIGGEST part that y’all need to just remember. If you can only take one thing away from this part, take away the fact that they’re divorced. It’s S U P E R important.

Now, it is possible to bring Bella back with the Tombstone of Life and Death. She’ll only stick around for a short while because she has a death token that activates when you save the lot, go into Pleasantview, and reload the Goth House. She’ll disappear. Interesting to note that if she’s in the middle of doing something, like talking with a sim or cooking food, she doesn’t disappear completely until she’s done. She does turn see-through and it kinda glitches out…it’s really creepy. Give it a try, you’ll see what I mean. But when she’s done, she’ll disappear, and you’ll get a notification saying she died somewhere else and her spirit has returned to where she was buried.

However, if she dies this way, you cannot resurrect her with the resurrect-o-nomitron. It doesn’t matter who tries it, where they are, or anything. Grim acts like he doesn’t know anything about Bella being dead and even if the Sim COULD resurrect a sim, Bella is not listed.

Since we know Bella is buried in Lunar Lakes, this means she died sometime between the week of her abduction and Cassandra’s wedding where the game starts.

However, while you have Bella in your household, you’ll find she’s brought back with no personality points. She has no memories besides what happened to her children after the first load of Pleasantview. So let’s say that between loading the game and bringing back Bella with the Tombstone, Cassandra gives birth to twin boys. Bella will come back with memories that Cassandra had twins, and she will even know who her grandchildren are. (I use this example because in my most recent Pleasantview playthrough, Cassandra had twin boys named Hendrick and Caspian with Don Lothario.)

Bella will have NO relationship at all whatsoever with Mortimer. You can see before you bring her back on the Goth family tree that they are not married at that point, and Mortimer and Bella start their relationship over as acquaintances. If you let them progress their relationship naturally with no cheats, they actually fight a lot and do not get along at all.

Now, any townie and NPC created before Nightlife will have their turn-on and turn-offs randomized. But it seems to constantly make it so that Bella is never attracted to Mortimer and Mortimer is RARELY attracted to Bella. This is a consistent thing. Interesting to take into consideration.

It’s clear to me, at least, that there were some problems boiling up for some time before Bella vanished.

–they get divorced at around the same time Alexander is born

–they do not get along at all

–Mortimer is completely fine after Bella’s disappearance and isn’t the frantic husband he’s marketed to be at this point in time.

–Mortimer gets into a relationship with Dina Caliente extremely soon after Bella vanishes.

–If Bella does come back and Mortimer is still alive, they naturally do not get along at all.

Which is weird, right? They were always shown to be this desperately in love couple who couldn’t live without eachother. I remember them having a good relationship in the Sims 1.

Also worth noting, Bella is a romance aspiration sim. In the Sims 2, they tend to hoe around a lot. There are a few other adult sims in Pleasantview who are also romance aspiration sims.

1. Don Lothario (the epitome of the romance aspiration)

2. Nina Caliente

3. Daniel Pleasant

4. Skip Broke was also a romance aspiration sim when he was alive.

What is interesting is that while for the most part, romance aspiration sims like to hoe around, there is one exception to this rule so far: Nina Caliente. Nina Caliente’s only romantically involved with Don Lothario. Unless you have another sim start putting the moves on her, then it’s a whole other story. If it were a thing back then, Nina would have been a soulmate romance aspiration while the others would have been serial romantic aspirations.

Bella COULD have been the same way, but that wouldn’t make any sense with the myriad of problems with her relationship with Mortimer.

So, in conclusion, Bella had an affair. Mortimer found out about it, which caused them to, at the least, separate for a while. Then, Bella became pregnant with Alexander, which would have brought up an important question—who is Alexander’s father? Once Alexander was born, and as he got a little older, it becomes clear that he resembles Cornelia, therefore verifying that Mortimer is indeed his father. This would have caused them to try their relationship again, and Bella would have turned down Don in good faith to Mortimer.

Who did Bella have an affair with?

Don wasn’t in town yet, and they hadn’t met. Neither did she meet the Caliente’s yet. Which leaves two possible contenders for Bella’s secret lover: Daniel Pleasant and Skip Broke.

On one hand, Daniel was Bella’s neighbor. She knew the Pleasants, and was friends with Mary-Sue. Daniel had an affair with Kaylynn going on, so he definitely could have some action on the side with Bella, too. My only reservation on that would be that I couldn’t imagine her doing that to her best friend. But then again, she did have an affair on her husband, so who’s to say what her morals are.

Then, there’s Skip Broke. This one makes the most sense to me, personally. While she wasn’t close with Michael, that doesn’t mean she completely avoided him altogether. She would have heard about Michael’s cloning experiments and could have met Skip that way, or she came to say hello and that was how they met. There is a theory going around that Brandi found out Skip was cheating on her, and that’s why she killed him and took his insurance money.

Maybe I’ll do another thing on that because the Skip Broke incident happens to be another rabbit hole altogether.

So, we know that Bella had an affair with Mortimer and things weren’t going so well between them at the time of her disappearance. We know that the Calientes and Don are completely innocent, at least as far as her disappearance goes. (And Nina is innocent altogether, she just loves Don and is completely oblivious to the fact that he’s doing her sister and two other women. She is ALSO a victim here, you guys. Give some love to Nina Caliente, she needs it.)

She dies sometime in the week between her abduction and the first time the Goth household is booted up from old age on Lunar Lakes despite the fact that she was a brand new adult again thanks to Mortimer’s reverse age serum.

Then a UFO crashlands in Strangetown and shortly thereafter reports of Bella Goth being in Strangetown start swarming around.

And yes, this Bella is a clone—there are subtle facial similarities, she is not in the family tree at all for the Goth house, but other than that, she’s structured exactly like the Real Bella goes as far as her outfit, her personality, and her aspiration.

(The Wiki says it’s her despite the fact that it’s been verified she’s not, and it also has MANY discrepencies, saying she’s related to the Curious Family and they appear on her family tree, which is incorrect because Strangetown Bella’s family tree is COMPLETELY EMPTY.)

So, clearly, when Bella was abducted, something went wrong. But what?

Well, why would the aliens even abduct her in the first place?

They tend to go after sims who are wealthy, high-skilled, good-looking, popular, anything like that. Bella was ALL of those things. She was the epitome of the perfect sim to the aliens. They practically worshipped her and their queen took her name and appearance. (This is referenced several times, specifically in the Sims 3.)

So, if something were to go wrong, why would the aliens worship her unless she had been being watched for some time before her abduction?

And what went wrong that caused her to lose her memories, her skills, her personality, her youth, everything?

Aliens also do not abduct children, the elderly, and pregnant sims because their experimentation could go drastically wrong.

She wasn’t a child, and reversed her age so she wouldn’t be an elder for quite some time—

So the only thing that’s left is that she was pregnant when she was abducted and that was why things went wrong.

She wouldn’t have known this, and neither would the aliens—it’s possible that the baby was conceived that day, which helped Bella in the case where Don was hitting on her—she wouldn’t go cheating on Mortimer if she were trying to rekindle their relationship and they had made it to woo-hoo that day.

Also worth noting is that there IS another Goth on Lunar Lakes who happens to look exactly like Bella.

Anyone recognize her?

This is Mathilde Goth.

She is the long-lost third child of Mortimer and Bella Goth.

No, they don’t appear on eachother’s family tree, but they wouldn’t if Bella died shortly after giving birth to her and Mathilde was put in the orphanage.

Mathilde looks almost identical to Bella with the exception of her blue eyes. She also has a preference for blue where Bella preferred red.

Mathilde has no idea where her mother came from and the fact that she has a family on Earth who is just as oblivious to her existence as she is to theirs.

What happens to Cassandra and Alexander after they find out about Bella’s death?

Remember how I said scientist sims end up inventing something?

Cassandra’s invention is time travel. She makes a time machine and the first use is to send Don to the future after her, Dina, Nina, and Kaylynn find out that he was playing all of them. She then goes on to live her life. We don’t know how that looks yet, but she never finds out what happened to her mother and that she has a younger sister.

Alexander is greatly affected by his mother’s death. He has no memories of her being abducted by aliens. Normally toddlers remember things like that so it’s odd that he doesn’t when the rest of his family does. What he does remember is her disappearing, Mortimer being okay with it and getting together with Dina really fast after she vanished, and then finding out that his mother was dead.

Alexander is a child prodigee. He’s a smart kid. So, he would go with any other conclusion someone would go with that limited information: he believed Mortimer killed her.

Well, Cassandra still has her time machine after she uses it to get rid of Don. And as we all know, Alexander’s name shows up in the Sims 3 a few times despite the fact that he doesn’t exist yet. And, according to the Goth family tree, it’s not a family name of an ancestor of his, he is the only Alexander Goth.

Once again, we’re going to reference a console game. This time is the Sims 3 for the Nintendo DS. Alexander actually makes an appearance, and this time, he’s not alone: he’s married to a woman named Cecelia. The family bio says that their gloominess is BECAUSE of Mortimer. Alexander dyed his hair orange. Probably he was trying to bleach it and didn’t know what toner was. He doesn’t have that great of a relationship with Cecelia, as a matter of fact, she has a better relationship with Don Alto than she does her own husband.

Back in the realm of the PC games, Alexander wrote two books when he went back in time to the continuity of the Sims 3:

Baron Graff Van Gold, which comes with Supernatural,

And then there’s the one that appears in the base game.

Murder in Pleasantview.

To string it altogether, Alexander remembers her being gone, then learning she died. He suspects Mortimer was the one to do it but he never actually talks to his father about it. He doesn’t know anything about the abduction, if anything thinking it a ridiculous rumor. He grows up, gets married, and decides at some point in time to go back in time to try and prevent his mother’s death. So he and his wife go into the time machine and try to go back to when it happened, but instead get sent back wayyyy too far to when his parents are still children. What happens to the time machine? It breaks. He’s stuck in a period of time where Time travel wasn’t a thing and no one really knows how to help him and he sure as hell doesn’t know himself. Effectively, he’s stuck there.

So, he writes A Murder in Pleasantview to tell the story of what he thinks happens to his mother. He doesn’t know it’s really all for nothing, but at the same time, it is because of what ends up happening as a result. A result he probably didn’t even know would happen.

See, A Murder in Pleasantview is a best-seller. It blows up the world of 50 years before his time. Every bookshelf has a copy of this book, standard-load. Sims would have read this, and would be influenced accordingly. They would have made better decisions, not wanting this tragic thing to happen to them.

And yes, it does literally take the world by storm. Better decisions in the past truly make for a better future.

This is where the Sims 4 comes in. It is a different continuity, but it is different because they are aware of what Alexander believes to have happened to Bella. This would be why their personalities are so completely different, why the age gap between Cassandra and Alexander aren’t so extreme, why the Goths are so much more reclusive.

Alexander did something that inadvertently changed the future, eliminating himself and his circumstances entirely. He vanished suddenly, probably in a series of events identical to Back to the Future, where he is then allowed to live his life as a child with his mother in the picture, having no idea what he believed happened to her, nor knowing the truth. He erases his little sister altogether, but he can’t be blamed for that since he didn’t know she even existed.

What happened to his wife? Did she get erased like Alexander did?

No, actually she died. She tried repairing the time machine, failed, and was electrocuted to death as a result. She died young and is buried in the Goth mansion’s graveyard, confusing future generations because no one knows where she comes from because she has the surname Goth but they can’t find her on their family tree.

Lolita Goth was the wife of Alexander Goth.

Yes, it says she’s single, which means one of two things happened:

Either she tried repairing the time machine one last time after Alexander vanished and died,

Like Alexander’s marriage to Cecelia, they didn’t have the best relationship and they ended up getting a divorce, then, possibly with Alexander still around, did the same and died.

She clearly wanted to go back home to her time and wasn’t happy with Alexander for being stuck there.

And it makes sense that she would have been electrocuted with the time machine because there are no other objects in the Goth Mansion that would result in her electrocution.

Which would ALSO explain why the Goths of the Sims 3 can’t figure out who she is. You can’t list a descendent and their wife on your family tree if they don’t exist yet, can you?

Tragedy is just par for the course in the Goth Family, it matches their dark and dreary macabre air. But Bella’s story is just really extra sad. Imagine trying to repair your failed marriage, going to meet a new neighbor only for him to put the moves on you without invitation, then get abducted by aliens where their experiments go wrong, causing you to lose your memories, your personality, your youth, and then you find out that it went wrong because you’re pregnant, which you didn’t know about that either, and your kidnappers take a tissue sample from you, and then drop you on a strange planet far from home where you have no way to communicate to them that you’re there, but you don’t remember anyone but your children anyway, leaving you to have a baby you didn’t even know existed when you were abducted and live just long enough to name her?

The truth has been staring at us in the face since 2014, but we all missed it. Me included for the longest time. It’s been 16 years since Bella went missing, and we all had theories and ideas, but THIS is the truth, and it’s really. Messed up. Yeah, I found out what happened to Bella, but do I like it? No, not at all. Bella deserved better, and so do her children. Mathilde especially. She grew up in an orphanage never knowing she had a family who would have loved her so very much, only to become a mailcarrier on her home planet. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a mailcarrier, don’t get me wrong.

Dina Caliente is innocent, but seriously? Bye.

Nina Caliente is innocent, and really deserves better.

Don Lothario is innocent, but yet he sucks.

Mortimer Goth used to be my favorite out of the Goth family, yes, even over Bella. But after learning everything about him I have mixed feelings about the guy. I don’t blame him for not trusting Bella, and I don’t blame him for wanting to move on, but jeez, at least show a little genuine emotion, Morty, she was your childhood best friend, and, if nothing else, the mother of your children.

There was no plot to get rid of her and swipe the Goth fortune.

It was just poor timing on the alien’s end, and bad luck altogether.

So, yeah.

That’s what happened to Bella Goth.

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thecrazysugarlover · 4 years

Note

Hi, I looooooove your writing! So, can I send a request? How about a fic of love triangle between levihan & eruhan? I love both ship but levihan still top my priority!

so it’s not exactly a love triangle, but i still hope you’ll enjoy it!

AU in which Erwin, Hange and Levi grew up together and were best friends. Takes place during their cadet days, just before their graduation.

It was a good day. Not to hot and not too cold, it was a perfect weather to be outside. Levi enjoyed the rays of sunshine on his face as he sat alongside two of his closest friends in the whole world. Erwin, just like him, was looking up at the sky, watching the clouds pass by. And Hange, who sat between Erwin and Levi, was quietly snoring, a book folded on her lap. Initially, she called both of them to meet by this tree so she could show them the book she found during her last trip to town. Unfortunately, neither of her friends managed to find out what the book was actually about as Hange had fallen asleep right in the middle of reading aloud the third paragraph. She probably didn’t go to sleep until morning again, Levi thought with some irritation.

Neither Erwin, nor Levi had the heart to wake up their sleeping friend, so they just continued to sit beside her, enjoying the fresh air and the calm, peaceful atmosphere. Levi turned his gaze to Hange, watching with some amusement as her glasses were slowly sliding off her nose. Before they fell, he carefully took them off her face, and hid them inside his pocket. When he looked up, Levi saw that Erwin was watching him with a warm, knowing smile. Levi defiantly stared at him back, refusing to be embarrassed.

Erwin quietly chuckled and then returned his gaze to the sky. “Our graduation is coming soon,” he whispered, not wanting to wake Hange up. “Have you decided which branch of military you want to join?”

Even if Levi wasn’t expecting this question, he didn’t show it. “You and Hange are going to join scouts, are you not?”

“We are,” Erwin confirmed. “But what about you? I’m sure you will be at the top of our class. You can join even Military Police, if you want.”

“I don’t,” Levi made a face of disgust. “I don’t want to be with that scum. Besides,” he glanced up at Erwin. “I’m sure you and four-eyes will be right alongside me in the top ten. You can also choose where you want to serve.”

“Yes, but we-“

Levi cut him off with a sign. “Yes, I know. You both want to change the world and free the humanity from the titans. I’ve heard that,” Levi looked at Hange, rolling his eyes at her sleeping form. “A hundred times or more.”

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Erwin noted, eyeing Levi with interest.

“Well, I can’t just abandon your stupid righteous asses, right? Without me, four-eyes would die on her first expedition.”

“You seem to worry a lot about Hange,” Erwin commented with a smile.

“Tch,” Levi looked away from Erwin’s satisfied smirk. “Don’t give me that shit, Erwin. I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

“Huh?” Erwin cocked his head to the side, looking at Levi with interest. “And how exactly do I look at her?”

“The same way as I do.”

Erwin shrugged uncharacteristically. “Well, Hange is an extraordinary person, I can’t deny that.”

“So what? That means you like her?”

Erwin turned to face Levi. His eyes bore into Levi’s with intensity that barely manifested in their conversation. Usually Erwin reserved all of his passion and fervor for their commanding officers. “I do.” He spoke in a deep voice.

“And do you like her… more than a friend?”

Even as he opened his mouth and uttered this question, Levi cursed himself. He really didn’t want to know the answer. What had even possessed him to do it? It was awful enough to talk about his feelings, but why had decided to start a conversation about his feelings to Hange? With Erwin, who most probably felt the same?

Of course, Erwin liked Hange, they were friends… or possibly more. Deep down, Levi felt that something was going on between his two closest friends. The way they spoke to each other till morning light, passionately discussing their plans for future and theorizing the origins of titans, the way Erwin looked at Hange when she was in a middle of one of her many rants, hair wild and eyes ablaze with excitement, as her hands moved around frantically. Levi saw the adoration, the love in Erwin’s eyes, and couldn’t blame him for falling in love with her. After all, that’s what Levi himself did, right? Because even if Hange was filthy and loud and crazy, her smile was the brightest thing Levi had ever seen in this cruel world and her hands, when she put them around him, were warming Levi better than any fire ever could.

However, Levi also saw how Hange looked at Erwin. When the three of them sat, pressed close to each other, Levi would sometimes glance over at Hange and see how her gaze was full of fondness and admiration. He would see how those beautiful eyes of hers followed Erwin’s every little move and how her lips curved into a sweet smile Levi secretly loved so much. And he felt terrible, hated himself for it – they were his two closest friends, the only people in the whole world who gave a damn about him, why couldn’t he be happy for them – but every time Hange looked at Erwin and not at him, Levi felt something ugly and unpleasant churn in his stomach. He wanted Hange to look at him, not on Erwin, he wanted her to pay attention to him and he wanted her to adore and admire him, not his friend.

Levi was ashamed of these thoughts. He tried to get rid of them, tried to remember who he truly was - just a street rat who got extremely lucky to be found by those two extraordinary people, who cared for him and loved him, and who did it just out of the kindness of their too big hearts. They weren’t friendly to him because he was strong or because he was scary, they just liked his company, they liked him for who he was – a rude and scary thug, an asshole with a foul mouth, a clean-freak with a hatred towards anything filthy. Hange and Erwin looked at him, saw him and still decided to befriend him. They saw all of his ugly parts and still managed to find something good in him, still decided to trust him and to care for him. And Levi would always be grateful for that, whenever Hange and Erwin would go, he would follow, whether it be Survey Corps or straight into a titan’s mouth. He would protect their lives with his own… and he would sacrifice his own happiness for their chance of finding it.

“Yeah, I do feel for Hange something more than friendship.” Erwin smirked at Levi. “Guess I’m not the only one, eh?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Levi crossed his hands on his chest. “The only thing I feel towards four-eyes is annoyance. When was the last time she washed her hair? It looks filthy as fuck.” However, as Levi briefly glanced at Hange, he saw how peaceful she slept, tucked safely between the two of them and unaware of their conversation. Her head lolled to the side, pressing into Erwin’s arm. Without her ever-present glasses and with her eyes closed, she looked so innocent, so vulnerable. Levi felt the urge to hide Hange in his arms and protect her from this world. This world was too cruel for people like Hange, this world didn’t deserve people like Hange.

Erwin watched the scene with a warm smile. Levi was so mesmerized by the sight of sleeping Hange, he seemed to forget about their topic of conversation. Gently and carefully, as to not wake her up, Erwin moved Hange closer to Levi. Her arms immediately wrapped around Levi’s hand, hugging it close to her chest as though he was a big teddy bear.

Levi looked up and saw Erwin smiling down at him with a knowing look in his eyes. He wanted to turn his gaze away, but that would only further admit his defeat, so he continued to stare at Erwin, daring him to say something.

“You’re an awful liar, Levi,” Erwin chuckled, getting up. “Enjoy the rest of your day, I still have some unattended business left.”

“Oi, Erwin!” Levi called softly before Erwin got his chance to go away. “What about… our talk?” Levi tried very hard not to cringe. He hated that, hated discussing his feelings. The only person he could tolerate talking about that stuff was currently asleep, snoring into his arm. Levi loved Erwin, but he couldn’t read him and understand him the way Hange did.

“I don’t think there is any point in us discussing it. What do we feel for her doesn’t really matter, in the end it would still be Hange’s decision.”

“So…” Levi stared at Erwin, feeling suddenly worried. “No hard feelings?”

“No hard feelings.” Erwin assured him with a smile. Then waving his hand in goodbye, he slowly walked away from under the tree.

Levi signed deeply. Whatever that was… it went better than he expected. Levi then looked at Hange, who was still asleep. She mumbled something in her sleep and then moved even closer to Levi. A small smile graced Levi’s lips as he watched her uncharacteristically calm and serene face.

The sun was already starting to set, when Hange woke up with a loud yawn. She sat up straighter, stretching her hands above her head. She looked around with confusion, written all over her face. Then she finally noticed Levi, who was sitting right next to her. She squinted at him, trying to take a better look without her glasses.

Levi watched her struggles with amusement, but after a moment he signed and took Hange’s glasses out of his pocket and then put them on her face.

Her newfound ability to see didn’t help to lessen Hange’s confusion.

“Wasn’t Erwin supposed to come as well?”

“He did come,” Levi replied, rolling his eyes. “But then your stupid ass fell asleep so he went back to barracks to finish something.”

Hange lowered her head in disappointment. “But I really wanted to show him this book…”

Levi felt the twinge of annoyance sparkle inside of him. He spent his whole day beside that miserable ass, when he could have done something much more productive, like training or cleaning, and what he got out of this is her complaining Erwin wasn’t there?

Before he could lash out at Hange and tell her exactly what he felt about her, she threw her hands around him, bringing him closer to him. “Ah, it can’t be helped then,” she signed. “At least, I still have you, right, Levi?”

And her voice was too loud and she was talking right into his ear, but… Levi didn’t have it in him to move away from her embrace.

It was quiet for a long moment, as Hange stared at the sky with a wistful expression. Then she turned to look at Levi. “Have you thought what are you going to do after our graduation?” she asked, and before Levi had the opportunity to answer, Hange continued. “Erwin and I are going to join Survey Corps, and what about you? Are you going to Military Police?”

“Fuck no,” Levi growled. “Why would you even think I will be willing to do anything with those assholes?”

Hange cocked her head to the side, unfazed by Levi’s sudden outburst. “Well, you always wanted to have a good life, did you not? And with Military Police, you have a good chance of having it.”

“I doubt I would feel comfortable around them,” Levi sneered. “Besides, the moment they find out about my background, I am sure I would not feel much at home there.”

“Huh?” Hange’ eyes stared at him with interest. “Does that mean you’ve already found your home?”

Levi looked at her warm brown eyes, at her relaxed friendly expression and remembered all the times Erwin, Hange and him got up to some dumb shenanigans, all the times one of them had been caught by Instructor for trying to sneak into each other’s dorms. With immense fondness, he recalled all the times the three of them fell asleep in the same bed, while reading one of Hange’s books under covers or talking about the stupidest shit, trying to laugh as quietly as possible, and failing miserably at it. Those two weren’t just his friends, Levi realized, they were his family, the only family he had ever known since his mother passed away.

He looked up at Hange, letting her see the softness of his smile and the fondness in his gaze. “Yeah,” he told her quietly. “I think I have.”

“Soo,” Hange lightly elbowed him in the side. “If you don’t want to join Military Police, that means you’re going to serve in Garrison?”

Levi rolled his eyes. “Don’t play dumb, four-eyes, it doesn’t suit you. You know already where I am going to serve.”

“Maybe, I do,” Hange said with a coy smile. “But I want to hear it from you.”

Levi signed deeply. “I will be joining Survey Corps alongside you and Erwin. Are you happy now?”

Hange launched herself at him, almost suffocating him in her tight embrace. “I’m happy!” she shrieked. “You don’t even know how happy I am right now, Levi!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve got,” Levi grumbled, patting Hange’s head with affection. “Now let me go before you squeeze me to death.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Hange sheepishly said, as she eased her embrace, but did not let go of Levi completely. “I just… I am really excited to join Survey Corps and finally help the humanity, but… it wouldn’t have been the same without you.”

Levi felt something warm blossom in his chest at Hange’s words. “Don’t tell you would have missed me, four-eyes.” He huffed, crossing hands on his chest.

“Of course, I would!” Hange loudly exclaimed. “You are my friend, Levi, and I love you. More than anyone else in the world!”

Levi knew, he knew Hange didn’t mean it in the way he hoped she did, but his heart still began to beat faster. “More than everyone else in the world?” Levi repeated, raising his eyebrow. “Even more than Erwin?”

“A-ah, that’s…” Hange put her hand into her hair, making it look even wilder than usual. “That’s a bit different with Erwin, but I do love both of you equally. You two are my best friends in the world!”

Levi tried not to show Hange the disappointment he felt. He kept saying himself that it didn’t matter. Whatever Hange meant by it, whatever she actually felt for him or for Erwin, it didn’t matter. Because Hange was right, the three of them were best friends and Levi hoped it would never change.

With a loud sign, he got to his feet, brushing all the dirt and grass from his pants. Then he extended his hand to Hange.

“Come on,” he urged. “We’ve already missed lunch and if we won’t hurry, we’ll miss dinner as well.”

“Right, I forgot about that!” Hange replied with a giggle. She took the offered hand and got up. She led the way and as they walked Hange started telling Levi about her last night’s dream. Her voice was cheerful and happy and Levi felt himself relax. Hange was holding his hand in hers the whole time.

When they finally reached the mass hall, Erwin was already waiting for them. He waved at them with a smile and then his eyes darted to their still joined hands. Something flashed in his eyes, so fast Levi barely noticed it, and then the warmth returned to Erwin’s eyes once more. He walked up to them and put his hands around both of them, pulling them close to him.

Hange laughed loudly as she was once again squished between her two friends. However, even as she wrapped her arm around Erwin’s torso, her other hand still remained intertwined with Levi’s. She briefly glanced at him, showing him her bright and happy smile. She signed in content, as she put her head on Erwin’s shoulder.

“I hope we will always be the same,” she breathed out.

And Levi couldn’t agree more. Whatever would happen next, whatever would happen to them, the one thing he hoped would remain the same is that they will always be best friends.

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