Levi hadn’t entertained the thought of being a father since he joined the Survey Corps. It wasn’t logical. It wasn’t rational. Therefore, it served no purpose to even think about, other than to be a fleeting thought that came with a breeze and left all the same. He’d never thought he’d be foolish enough to find himself in a situation where fatherhood would ever be a reality, and yet… it was here all the same.

His steel grey-blue eyes stared into the soft, barley open eyes of the swaddled child in his arms, taking in its first breaths of air as it cried aloud, filling the room with its high-pitched voice that all but broke his damn heart in half. Despite his best efforts to keep his composure in the moment, his own eyes watered just enough to be seen as the newborn’s hand reached for his finger, its iron-grip keeping it hostage for the time being. This was his child, his own flesh and blood.

He gently held the baby to his chest, letting the child’s cries echo in his mind. He’d remember this moment for the rest of his life, the moment a battle-hardened captain became something he never dreamed he would be, a father. “I’ve got you. I’m here.”