A Matter of Stature

Chapter 16: Ride Like the Wind

The ball was a blur of stiff dances and hypocritical congratulations, though at least the food was good and there was cake. After it was all finally over, a carriage took you and Levi back to your house. A very tired Artie, who had cooked the majority of the banquet, was driving. Levi looked very uncomfortable and you knew he couldn't wait to take off his shoes. 

As you had been getting into the carriage, you tripped, though you were fortunately caught by Levi. Before you began a new battle with your long dress to climb on the carriage, Melinda ran to your aid, completely ignoring Levi's murderous glare, the shoes of doom were her creation after all. You weren't sure what Melinda did, but she somehow detached the outer layer of the skirt and you suddenly found yourself in the knee length, much more manageable skirt that was under the longer one the whole time.

Upon arriving at your house, you hopped off the carriage, ready to call it a night, though you recalled you had a lot of explanations to give Levi and a couple to transport. Levi had said 'we' when explaining the plan, which meant you were expected to tag along, instead of catching up the next day. Levi took a moment to exit the carriage as if every step hurt. "Want a piggy back ride?" You offered as a joke.

"No, I do not want a piggyback ride," Levi replied grumpily. 

Artie stepped in protectively, "the little lady offered you a kindness," he scolded Levi. "Don't complain and show some gratitude." Without warning, the tall muscular chef lifted Levi and placed him on your back. You stumbled a little at the sudden weight, but managed to regain your balance while Levi responded with a few impolite adjectives. Artie ignored the insults and offered, "would you prefer if I carried you both?" He inquired as he held the door to the mansion's main entrance open.

"No, no," you assured, "I got him," you moved forward, feeling quite silly, yet at the same time amused, and realized that in an odd playful way, Artie was trying to cheer you up. Though it wasn't the most comfortable position in the world, you still found it inexplicably enjoyable.

You made it past the once elegant, now empty, large living room and to the base of the stairs, looking at them as if they were a hungry titan. "I can go up on my own," Levi hopped off your back and painfully made it up the stairs.

"What? Can't accept a little help from me?" You teased.

"Is this supposed to be an advance payment for the cleaning lessons I offered to give you?" He shot back. "With your pitiful level of skill, you'll have to do a lot more to pay me back, slob."

"At least I'm better at walking." You proceeded to very easily lead the way to your room, where you assumed the both of you were expected to stay. Even if Levi went to a different room later, at least you could talk there without interruptions. Upon entering your room, you found some luggage that you recognized as Levi's. "I never got around to ask what you packed, that's a lot of stuff to bring on such a short trip."

Levi made a beeline for the bed and sat down to relieve his aching feet before replying. "Those are Hange's titan experimentation tools that she wanted me to try to get your father to make more of and donate them to her research. She wouldn't leave me alone until I agreed to bring them. Clearly, she overestimated our connections. Your father is broke after all."

"It's that obvious..." It had to be known eventually and the fact that you were taken back to your house, or what once was your father's mansion, hinted that he knew there was no point in hiding it. "I guess that explains why I wasn't hidden away behind a wall of bribes," you laughed humorlessly.

"Your titan symptoms are manageable, is there another danger I'm supposed to protect you from?" Levi went right to the point, while he worked on removing his shoes. Yet before you could reply he stopped and stood up, then walked past you towards the closet. you were about to question his sudden odd curiosity for seeing what was in there, but the way he walked with such purpose and alertness, the pain of the shoes ignored, made you remain silent. The door to the walk-in closet was only open an inch, he threw it open and immediately jumped back, dodging the knife wielded by the masked man in black. You screamed, but just as quickly as the attack occurred, the danger had passed, as the mystery assassin was knocked out by a single punch to the face from a very irate Levi. "Such as that?"

"I don't know..." You admitted. You knew your father would be out late with his business partners who still didn't know how broke he was, and Melinda was staying late cleaning up after the party. You weren't sure where Tony was, but you hoped he was safe with a babysitter somewhere. You, Levi and Artie were the only people in the mansion. "I need to warn Artie."

"Little lady!" The aforementioned chef called loudly as he rushed up the stairs. His suit jacket was off, his shirt pressed against his bulging muscles as he breathed heavily in alarm. "Are you alright?" You looked you over for any sign of injury. "I found an intruder."

"So did I," Levi pointed at the unconscious man on the floor. He removed the coverings from his face to reveal unfamiliar features. "Anyone you know?"

"Yes," Artie replied. "This one, and the one that's on the kitchen floor are part of lord Gardenia's private security team."

"The ," you gasped.

"Mr. Ackerman!" A man called from the front door. "Mr. Ackerman, we must go now!" You rushed to the window and saw Gustav pounding on the front door. A carriage with two horses was parked in front of the mansion, you guessed Mona Lisa was inside.

"What ?" Artie questioned.

"There's no time," Levi began to put on his ODM gear, which he had in his luggage in case of an emergency. 

"I demand an explanation!" Artie shouted in alarm.

"Levi's escorting Mona Lisa to Rose where she's going to take over her father's fortune so she can be with her lover," you summarized.

"The tyrant has a lover?" Artie sounded surprised.

"Mona's not that bad!" You defended. 

"She's manipulative," Artie argued. "We only allowed her to talk to you because she was nicer than the others and we thought her nature didn't matter because we wouldn't let her use you in any way. Besides, you were always so happy when someone other than your father, Melinda, Tony and I was actually civil to you. It's like you were reassured in thinking that the world outside of your family didn't automatically hate you."

"Why does everyone keep saying that about Mona?" You pouted as you interrupted the chef, then you were subsequently interrupted from defending Mona any further.

"We're leaving," Levi was wearing his ODM gear and a backpack full of Hange's experimental tools. He didn't have time to change out of his suit, having only removed the jacket for convenience's sake. You didn't even have time to protest before Levi picked you up and jumped out the window, using his ODM gear to land safely.

"You better get her to Rose without a scratch!" Artie yelled from the window above. He wasn't planning to stop Levi, you realized. But why? 

The situation with Mona was dangerous and Artie wouldn't let you rush into danger like that. Levi wanted to get to the bottom of everything and your presence might still be useful in dealing with Mona, so he had reasons to bring you along, but why would Artie allow that? Then you realized it, whatever danger you were heading into on your way to Rose wasn't as bad as what lurked in Sina. You hated being in the dark and guessing at what was really going on.

You and Levi rushed into the carriage, you went inside with Mona, Levi jumped on the roof after handing off the backpack to you, watching out for any attackers, and Gustav was at the driver's seat. The carriage took off at breakneck speed and you watched as your childhood home became a small dot in the distance beyond the dark road you  left behind. You knew it in your heart that you would not be returning to the residence you grew up in ever again, but most of all, you knew your father, and possibly Artie, Melinda and even Tony were in danger, even if you didn't know the details of it.

Mona smiled at your arrival, despite how the carriage bounced around as it moved forward. "I'm so glad you're here, (Name). I'm sure you'll inspire your h-Mr. Ackerman to do his very best as an ." Perhaps Mona had insisted that you tagged along for that purpose.

"I'm sure everything will be fi-" The carriage shook and you dared to look outside. Men dressed all in black like ninja were swinging around from the buildings on ODM gear. A few people screamed from their windows, but the ninja moved forward too quickly for anyone to interfere with the chase. Levi didn't let them get too close to the carriage though, fighting them off with his twin swords. His speed and precision were amazing. You couldn't stop looking up to see the blades of Levi's swords appear from the edge of the carriage's roof to counter one enemy attack after another.

"Get your head back inside, idiot!" Levi scolded. You squeaked and quickly pulled yourself inside the carriage. 

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 17: Levi vs. Ninja

The carriage continued rocketing forward as fast as the well bred pair of horses could pull it. You smiled nervously at Mona, who sat across from you, gripping the armrest to maintain her balance. You could hear the crash of weapons on the roof and Gustav's voice urging the horses to run faster. You wanted to see what was going on, but you didn't want to get your head chopped off as a consequence of your curiosity. 

You looked over Mona's shoulder at the window in the front of the carriage where you could see Gustav sitting, driving the horses through twists and turns on the road and little known alleys that were a tight fit for the carriage despite it being light and small. Then you saw it, from every direction, ninja were gathering in front of the carriage's path. They could see it from the tall rooftops, you realized, and the ODM gear made them able to fly faster than the horses could run, it was inevitable, the ninja couldn't be outrun.

"Gustav!" Levi shouted over the noise of hooves on the road and blades colliding against blades. "Take us to an open area!" If the carriage was boxed in, it would be over, Levi could only parry so many attacks at once and didn't have much room to move around in. 

Gustav urged the horses out of the narrow passage and into the larger main road. The ninja followed quickly. "There's too many of them!" Gustav shouted in alarm.

"(Name)!" You were surprised when Levi called out to you. You had not been hazardously leaning out to see the fight this time. "See if you can find something useful in the backpack, there are some guns of some kind in there."

"Right!" You answered back and quickly began to dig through the backpack. You ended up spilling a good portion of its contents on the floor of the carriage, but found something that looked gun-shaped. The item had a water bottle attached to the top. You peeked out the window carefully and sprayed the water on an attacking ninja. The speed at which the liquid was shot out was far greater than any water gun, and judging by the steam produced and the ninja's scream, the water was boiling. Unfortunately you didn't have a refill, so you were back to digging around the odd assortment of tools, just what kind of experiments did Hange do anyway? You weren't sure you even wanted to know.

You grabbed another similarly shaped gun, but instead of a water bottle on top, it had a metal can that must have been rather thick because the contraption felt heavy. You held it with both hands and cautiously aimed out the window again. Levi was blocking the attacks coming from the front, so you kept an eye on the back and spotted the glint of twin swords as a ninja swung towards Levi from the back, while two others attacked from the front. You aimed as best you could and fired. A strange green liquid was blasted out from the gun and caught the ninja on the arm. The ninja screamed in agony, weapons abandoned and ripped off the black sleeve as the scent of burning flesh invaded your senses. You really didn't want to know what kind of experiments Hange was involved in.

You continued using the acid gun, trying not to empty it too quickly. Eventually it ran out and you went to search for something else to use. A hook hit the carriage's side and one of the seemingly endless numerous ninja, daringly tried to board the carriage. Levi cut the rope, disabling half of the ODM gear and causing the ninja to be unable to recover in time and suffer a nasty fall. The impact however, was enough to push the carriage to the side as it turned a corner. One of the horses lost its footing and the carriage looked like it was about to topple. 

Gustav tried to stop the other panicked horse from continuing the run, pulling hard on the reins, which caused the animal to kick at the carriage behind it and finish sending it sideways. Mona screamed and shielded herself with her arms, though she was far enough from the pile of items on the floor of the carriage not to get any serious injuries. You felt something stab you in the stomach, but it wasn't too deep so you pulled it out. Then a device shaped like big metal jaws triggered and trapped your leg. You screamed and tried to get it off. You managed to open it, but the damage to your leg was considerable. Mist began to form around you, but you forced yourself to calm down. You couldn't transform now, what if you couldn't control it? You weren't even meant to be a titan shifter, the mist was very thin now, probably signifying the expected progression of your condition. What if you only did another partial transformation and ended up with an oversize useless malformed limb that slowed you down far more than it helped? It was too risky, you had to calm down.

"(Name) cover me, we have to move!" Levi called from outside. You snapped to attention. Levi was terribly outnumbered, you had to watch his back as best you could. You scrambled to grab anything that may serve as a weapon, the darkness of the night not at all helpful in your task. You managed to find another gun shaped item and pulled yourself to the window. Levi hooked one side of his ODM gear to the carriage and the other to a building on the side of the street. He used the gear to pull the carriage upright and once again took his place on the roof. At the same time you shot the random gun shaped weapon, the first one you managed to grab. A thick gray smoke spread around the area. "Go!" Levi shouted as the carriage was pulled upright.

Gustav urged the horses to move forward once again, speeding up as much as they could, though not as much as before, since one of them appeared to be injured. Most of the contents of the backpack had fallen out the carriage windows. You searched for another cartridge to put into the gun. It was similar to a flare, but produced an effect like a smoke bomb, so maybe you could use it to throw the ninja off your trail if you shot it at the right moment. 

"(Name), do you have more smoke bombs?" Levi asked.

"I found a few in different colors!" You replied, one was black, another white and another red, though the red and white would draw attention more than anything else. You couldn't find any more blacks, aside from the one and there were no other grays either. "Only one is black!"

"Save it!" Levi replied. You did and began to scan the carriage floor for anything else that you could use to help. You could hear Levi turning in every direction, stopping the ninja and spinning around like a deadly tornado. You had no doubts that he really was humanity's strongest soldier. After the spin attack that knocked a few ninja into each other, leaving them with injuries that would make handling ODM gear very difficult, Levi gave Gustav some directions.

"But that leads to a dead end," you heard Gustav protest.

"Do it!" Levi commanded with finality and you knew no one would dare to defy him. 

"(Name) get ready!" Levi called out.

"Ready!" You answered, prepared to shoot out the black smoke bomb. 

The carriage turned down a narrow alley then broke down, losing one of its wheels on the side that one of the horses had kicked it earlier. "We're close, keep moving on foot!" Levi ordered.

Everyone abandoned the carriage and horses to follow after Levi. "Don't lose track of each other," Levi hurried towards a tunnel. A terrified Mona grabbed Levi's and Gustav's hands, you were inevitably stuck in the rear, since you had to cover the escape. You grabbed Gustav's hand, to make sure you didn't become separated from the group in the darkness, with Levi leading the escape. "Now!"

You shot the black smoke behind you as Levi turned left, right, and turned corners running through dark unfamiliar tunnels that he felt oddly confident about traversing. "This place is like a maze!" Mona complained in alarm.

"I know the way, now shut up if you don't want to give him any clues," Levi snapped.

Mona let out an undignified "hmph," but didn't speak further. 

It felt like you were going deeper and deeper underground and it was pitch black. The light from outside you left behind could not reach this far into the tunnels. "We're going up, hold on to me," Levi announced. You tried to do so, at the same time as Mona and Gustav, hoping that Levi's ODM gear could lift the four of you. The hooks were shot up and the ropes pulled you along until your feet could no longer feel the ground, higher and higher.

"Stop choking me," Levi complained in the darkness.

"I'm trying not to fall!" Mona Lisa countered.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, you reached the surface. "Follow me and stick to the shadows." You, Mona and Gustav obediently followed Levi through narrow streets and dark alleys until the realization sunk in that you were no longer in Sina. Somehow you had passed below the wall and were now in the innermost area of Rose. That wouldn't stop the ninja from pursuing you if they found you though, so it was vital not to be spotted. 

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 18: Honeymoon

Levi led you, Mona and Gustav through the city. In a dark alley, a hooded figure waited with three horses. As you followed Levi closer to the mysterious person, you recognized him as Erwin. "Erwin? You're in on this?"

"Sometimes you have to bend the rules," Erwin replied. "Good thing I decided to come early." Looking back on it, you realized you didn't see him at the party, though you were fairly certain he was invited. He must have spoken to Levi before you arrived at the ball and arranged to meet him here. You ended up ditching the carriage early and taking a detour, but in the end, Levi managed to lead the group to the meeting spot. "I see you wore the red cloak like I asked, and you were seen in it?"

"Yes," Mona Lisa replied. You had assumed she was wearing it to protect herself from the cold of the night, despite its color screaming 'target.' 

"Let's switch quickly," Erwin urged.

Mona Lisa took off her red cloak and put on a green cloak with a rose emblem. It would be odd for the Military Police to patrol Rose, as their territory was Sina, though peculiarly, none of them showed up during the chase, probably due to bribery from Monocle. Rose was the Garrison's jurisdiction and Erwin intended to make Mona and Gustav look like ordinary soldiers on patrol. With both of them wearing hooded rose adorned cloaks that left their faces hidden in shadows, they mounted two of the horses. Erwin put on a Garrison cloak as well and rode the third horse. 

Levi refueled his ODM gear but made no effort to hide his identity, though he looked like he wished he had asked Erwin to bring him a pair of boots, as he wasn't expecting to still be wearing the uncomfortable shoes from the ball. Erwin's comment about being early confirmed that Levi expected to be at your house for a while longer with enough time to talk and prepare. "(Name), keep your face covered and don't fall off." Levi handed you Mona's red cloak.

It sunk in that you were to become Mona's decoy. You put on the cloak, trusting in whatever plan Levi had, though you did have one question. "Don't fall off what?" All the horses were occupied and it would slow them down and make them suspicious if any of them was seen carrying two passengers. 

"It's my turn to give you a piggyback ride," Levi explained. "I'll need my hands to fight, so I won't be able to hold on to you. Just make sure you don't fall," he glared over at Mona as he added, "and don't choke me." Mona frowned but refused to acknowledge the complaint any further.

"Ok," you covered yourself with the cloak as much as possible and climbed onto Levi's back. 

The horses galloped off with Erwin leading the way, slowly at first, then gradually faster. After giving them a moment to get away, Levi activated his ODM gear and moved through a different route, vaguely in the direction of the scouts base. Mona would be staying with Dr. Facio, so they would be fairly close to the base, but the ninja were made to think that Mona was being taken to the scouts base. After they realized they were tricked, it was logical to think they would guess that Mona was hidden somewhere far away and wouldn't think to look for her in any of the houses nearby. 

Levi took off into the air and it didn't take long for the ninja to spot him and give chase, though at least by now their numbers had been reduced and they were hurt and tired. Three ninja attacked from different directions, "hold on." Levi spun in the air, reaching out with his two swords, stopping the enemy swords and injuring them. He managed to hit one of the ninja ODM gear ropes as he spun, but the ninja recovered and moved on the attack again with just one usable hook. Levi cut the remaining rope and kicked the ninja hard, sending the black clad fighter flying into the window of a two story shop. It was closed at that hour of the night, but the owner would arrive the next morning to the nasty surprise of a broken window. Perhaps it would be assumed it was a rock rather than a ninja that broke it.

The chase went on through the city until the ninja continued to lessen their attacks. Finally, everything was quiet as the chase stopped, though Levi warned, "there's at least one that's still following us." He purposely took a long route to get to the scouts base giving Erwin as much time as he could, allowing the ninja to believe that you were Mona Lisa. 

The whole time you held onto Levi, careful not to fall off or have your face become uncovered. After the attacks ceased, the tension lessened for you. The red cloak kept you warm, so the cold air of the night wasn't really much of a bother. Levi moved with precision and you wondered how he knew when to shoot the next hook and at what. He minimized the damage to the structures as much as possible and didn't hit any windows, effortlessly moving as if guided by instinct. It really felt like flying.

Levi finally landed in front of the Survey Corps base. You thought you would be relieved when you got there, but it felt too soon. The sun had began to emerge from the horizon, though it wasn't yet visible beyond the walls. None the less, the dark sky had began to lighten and you could see the world coming to life with color instead of being shrouded completely with the shades of gray of the night. 

You gasped, taking a moment to examine Levi. "You're hurt!"

Levi sheathed is swords and looked down at his stained clothes. "It's not mine." He tried to brush off some of the blood stains, though he knew full well that wouldn't really help. "They were fairly shallow cuts, it would be troublesome if dead ninja were found. It was just enough to make them retreat. It's still disgusting though, I don't know how you managed to hold on."

"I thought you were just sweaty from all the exercise," you replied, though you hadn't been exactly clean yourself.

"You can take off the cloak now," Levi reminded. "Let the ninja that followed us know it was for nothing. I'm sure Erwin's part of the plan is done."

You removed the red cloak and let your face be seen. You looked around for any signs of a ninja, but couldn't precise where the spy could be. "The ninja?"

"Just left," Levi assured.

"Oh," you had completely missed that. 

"Looks like I got blood all over you, is there that much on my back?" Levi looked at the front of your once white dress. 

"Actually, most of this is mine, but my healing ability must have kicked in because I somehow went from trying to ignore the pain to not feeling it at some point." You poked your finger through the hole in the dress at your stomach where you had been stabbed. "Everything in the backpack spilled out when the carriage was overturned and something stabbed me. Then my leg got bitten by a bear trap. It seems to be fine now, it hurt like crazy when it happened though."

"At least this confirms that you do indeed have almost instant healing," Levi pointed out. "If the injury isn't mortal at least," he assumed.

The door was suddenly open as Mary Anne took out a trash bag, filled with egg shells, empty milk cartons and other byproducts of the preparation of breakfast. She was clearly displeased to have gotten stuck with the chore, but the scouts knew that Levi could return at any moment and they were not going to leave any trash bags laying around for him to find. Mary's jaw dropped as she stared at the sight in front of her. Before she could rationalize that though the image was shocking, it presented no danger, she screamed and dropped the trash bag, spilling its contents all over the base's entrance.

"Look at this mess!" Levi scolded angrily. "Why are you taking out the trash through the front door anyway? You should take it out through the back door! Clean it up, I want everything spotless!"

While Mary was still too shocked to move, Hange appeared at the door. "What's all the yelling about?" She spotted you and Levi, taking in your appearances. "Woah! That was some honeymoon!" She rushed out past the petrified Mary and examined you and Levi in more detail, her eyes taking in every inch. "Interesting," she muttered. Your arms were visible due to the strapless dress bodice that could no longer be called white. Your legs were also easy to see below the knee. 

"Very interesting," Hange turned her curious gaze at Levi who gave her a warning look to keep her distance. In spite of that, she grabbed his arm and pulled up his sleeve. He pulled his arm away, but she grabbed his other arm and repeated the process. "Aha!" She exclaimed as if making a huge discovery, then tried to roll up Levi's pant leg, only to end up face first in the dirt, courtesy of Levi. Not at all discouraged, Hange sprang to her feet and announce at the top of her lungs. "(Name) is a sadist!"

"What?" You exclaimed in surprise at the sudden conclusion.

"It's true!" Hange declared at the top of her lungs. "You're both bloody and your clothes are dirty and torn, but only Levi has scratches and bruises on him. That means that he's the maso in this ship and (Name) is the sado!"

"That's not... I'm not... I didn't!" You babbled incoherently, trying to find an explanation. You would be hurt far worse than Levi if you healed at the same pace as a normal person, but you couldn't reveal that, you didn't want to drag more people into this.

"I don't have time for this, out of my way, four eyes," Levi shoved Hange out of the doorway. "And someone better pick up the trash!"

Hange was knocked into the still petrified Mary Anne, who remained motionless and offered no response as Hange hurriedly voiced a quick, "excuse me," before chasing after Levi, calling out at the top of her lungs. "Levi, tell me all about your y pain, describe it to me! And when did you get taller?"

You waved a hand in front of Mary Anne's face, she was still too shocked to move. You sighed hopelessly and started to clean up. You were already bloody and dirty from the ordeal, so you wouldn't get much worse by picking up garbage. At least you were home now and in a few minutes you would be in a nice warm tub. Then you caught yourself, home, though you still held your old home in your heart, this was your new home and despite it all, you were glad to be back.

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 19: White Knight

Levi got cleaned up and changed into a uniform. You went to get cleaned up next, wondering if he really was planning to continue with his day without rest. At least he wasn't wearing the uncomfortable shoes anymore, but he hadn't really gotten any rest. After you were all clean, you curiously went to see what Levi was up to, but couldn't resist making a small detour to the kitchen. Sasha was on cooking duty that morning along with Mary Anne and Hange, and Sasha was an amazing cook, when she didn't eat the ingredients. 

More cadets had began waking up and roaming the hallways on their way to the mess hall by then. You resumed your search for Levi, but he found you before you could spot him. "We can talk about what you learned now," he made it clear that he wasn't going to wait any longer. 

You followed him to his room without protest and sat down. "You already know father's broke," you stated. "That's part of the reason why he sent me to you, bribes won't work to protect me from... whoever they are." Levi gave you a dissatisfied look, he expected you to be more specific than that. "Father doesn't know, someone else negotiated with some strange people and conducted titan research, but those people, no one really knows who they are."

"Could they be related to whoever gave Annie, the female titan, the ability to transform? Levi asked.

"I don't know, maybe." Giving it some thought, you supposed it was a rather likely option. My father wants to make up for it all, he wants to fix everything but he doesn't want me to be at risk so he won't tell me what he's doing. Another thing I learned is that I'm not really a titan shifter. My ability is only regeneration and the shifting is a side effect that will ware off. I think it's already starting to go away. Also, I don't think I'm the only one with this ability because it was supposed to have been tested before, but I don't know on who, or if that person is even still alive."

"Regeneration without the danger of becoming an out of control titan..." Levi mused. "Since it was tested, assuming that everything you learned is true, that would mean the other person with the same abilities is unable to go titan by now. That would imply that the danger isn't really from that person, or at least not that person alone. Do you have any suspicions on who that person is?"

"Yes," you admitted, because you knew Levi would see right through you if you denied it. You suspected that person was Melinda, she was definitely hiding something that pained her, she had to be deeply involved in this. "But I don't want you to go around chopping off limbs to see if they'll grow back. Besides, I do believe my father and all those who are with him really are trying to fix things."

"If that's the case then why all this?" Levi asked. "Why not just work together with the scouts?"

You thought about the question instead of replying with your first instinct which was that you didn't know. Then the answer came to you. "They're not hiding this from you, they're hiding it from me. They know I'll try to protect them and put myself at risk, they're trying to protect me by leaving me out of it."

"Then if I ensure you'll be kept in the dark, they might cooperate?" Levi inquired.

"I don't want to be kept in the dark," you protested.

"(Name)," Levi spoke seriously, "this isn't only about you," he reminded.

You sighed hopelessly. You wanted to protect your family, but you also wanted to know. It seemed that rather than putting yourself in danger, the sacrifice you would have to make right now was not knowing. "Possibly."

"Then I'll go talk to your father," Levi decided. He got up and headed for the door.

"What? Now? You're going back to Sina?" You blinked in surprise, wasn't he exhausted? And besides, you just came from Sina last night.

"Your father isn't at Sina," Levi revealed. "I got caught up on the report on his movement while you were getting cleaned up. your father is at Rose. I must speak to him privately, but some of his past staff is with him, so you may come along if you wish to see them."

"Of course!" You hurried after Levi, still quite surprised, not at the fact that your father was being watched, but at the fact that instead of staying out late with his business partners for the sake of appearances, he had spent the night traveling to Rose.

xoxox xox xoxox

Levi and you exited the Survey Corps building and went to the stables. It occurred to you that you had never ridden a horse and pointed that out, to which Levi replied with a simple piece of advice, "learn." That was, of course, easier said than done. 

He took his usual brown horse from the stables and led you to the horse you would be using. You recognized the animal immediately. "Knight!" Your voice woke the horse from his nap and he seemed to remember you. He was friendly when you petted him, unlike your own pet, Fluffy, had been before. This was your father's pet stallion, you didn't expect him to be here at the scouts stables. You petted his smooth fully white coat and mane, which gave you a sense of nostalgia, looking out the window of your childhood home to see your father in the yard brushing him. "Why is Knight here?"

"Sasha said a woman called Melinda dropped him off very early in the morning and said this was your horse," Levi explained. Melinda must have not stayed to clean up after the ball after all. She was delivering the horse instead. You were glad to see Knight again, but you had a bad feeling about this. What if your father gave you Knight because he knew that soon he wouldn't be able to take care of him? "Hurry up and get on," Levi impatiently woke you from your thoughts. 

Knight was already saddled from when Melinda brought him. If she left on foot, then her destination couldn't be too far. Since this was Knight you were riding, your father's well behaved refined stallion, it would be a lot easier than you expected. "Down, Knight," you gently tugged on the reins and Knight obediently lay down, making climbing on his back very easy. "Up, Knight," you gently tugged the reins up and Knight stood. You smiled and scratched him behind the ears. "Good boy!"

"Your horse is a wimp," Levi commented as he began to move out of the scouts terrain and towards the road, though thankfully not too fast. 

"Don't pick on Knight, he's a good horse." You tried to remember what your father did when he rode on Knight around the yard and followed Levi.

The horse ride was rather short and you quickly arrived at a little shop consisting of two floors. A familiar pink poodle was sitting outside in front of it. She stood, wagging her tail, but the warm welcome wasn't for you, but for her fellow household pet, Knight. You had Knight let you down and waited for Fluffy to go on a barking fit. She sniffed the air and growled at you suspiciously, but she didn't freak out like she had before. This didn't necessarily mean she recognized you though, maybe she had seen so many unknown people at Rose, that she didn't care to bark at every new stranger anymore. You wondered if Tony was around, but didn't see him as you and Levi left the horses out front and entered the shop.

Artie was behind the counter tending to the bakery that occupied the first floor. He was wearing his chef uniform and smiled over at you when he saw you. The customers took their bread and cakes, heading out of the shop and Artie went around the counter to greet you. "It's wonderful to see you unharmed, little lady!"

"Thanks," you smiled back, though you were surely about to burst with questions.

"Is Mr. (Lastname) here?" Levi inquired.

"Yes," Artie replied with a protective warning look. "He is upstairs, helping Melinda unpack her materials. She'll be running an atelier soon."

Your father soon emerged from the stairs without having to be called, seeing Knight out front through the window. "My little princess!" He hugged you in greeting, happy to see you were unharmed. "What brings you here today?"

"Um... well... Levi wanted to talk to you and... What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were still at Sina." It didn't make sense. If he wanted to keep whoever was after you away, then why was he so close to your location?

"I live here, thanks to the kindness of Artie and Melinda, I help out around here with whatever needs to be done. I guess you could say I'm like a majordomo." Your father explained calmly.

"What about the danger and... and... and the I don't know what?" You asked.

"You need not worry, that has been taken care of. If they come, they'll aim where they cannot reach." It was another puzzle that you couldn't solve.

"I'd like to speak to you, privately," Levi requested, or more like demanded.

"Very well," as your father agreed, you saw Melinda heading down the stairs. Levi rudely walked away without as much as a glance of acknowledgement, maybe he was still a little bitter because of the shoes. His feet must still hurt, since despite wearing more comfortable boots now, he hadn't really rested. 

While your father and Levi went upstairs, a cloud of silence fell over the first floor. "So... is Tony here?" You finally asked.

"Not right now," Melinda replied with a hint of sadness that she couldn't fully hide. "He's staying with some relatives for a while." You didn't know Artie or Melinda had any relatives, but you were too curious about the conversation upstairs to ask about it at the moment, though it was obvious Tony must have been sent away for his protection.

You looked at the stairs and Artie shook his head hopelessly. "Oh, what's the point. Go on, eavesdrop."

"Artie!" Melinda protested, but you didn't have to be told twice before you headed upstairs as quietly and quickly as you could. "(Name)!"

"I'm sorry, Mel, I just can't take it anymore..." You heard Artie say, his mask of cheer gone, before the sound of his quiet voice was lost to the distance and your attempt to listen to the voices on the other side of a door.

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 20: Truths and Negotiations

You tensed as you listened to the conversation going on beyond the closed door, between Levi and your father.  "I want the truth, all of it," you heard Levi demand. 

"That is knowledge I do not possess," your father calmly replied.

"Then what do you know?" Levi insisted in a no nonsense tone.

"Not much," your father admitted, though that was a matter of opinion. "My brother-in-law may know more, but I would sooner die than show him ingratitude or provoke his wrath. Don't bother asking (Name) I made sure she never knew who her uncle was."

"The records shows that your late wife didn't have any siblings," Levi pointed out.

"He likes his privacy," your father replied with a tone of forced serenity.

"I'm not here to waste time," Levi reminded. This was getting really tense and you feared it would become violent. You didn't want them to fight, but how could you stop them?

"(Name) stop listening at the door and come inside," your father's words took you by surprise. The door was closed and you were very quiet. How did he know? "(Name), don't pretend you didn't hear me."

You opened the door and stepped inside. "Sorry," you apologized and joined them at the small table. Fabrics, sewing supplies and boxes were all over the room that was to become Melinda's atelier.

"It's alright, princess, I do wish you would grow out of this bad habit though, I fear that eavesdropping will get you into trouble one day," your father worried.

"Father..." You could feel Levi giving you a look of some kind, but you didn't look at him to see the details. "Am I invited to this conversation?" You pressed on.

"Yes, I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark, but a contingency plan presented itself and secrecy is no longer a necessity," your father explained. You and Levi waited for him to continue with the explanation, listening with attention. "There are people in this city who don't belong, people linked to the female titan incident. I have never met them myself, but as I'm sure you already suspected, they are within the walls. There is another group, they have no formal name, but they were basically double agents. Eventually they realized that the spies would not take them into their side, so they concluded that they had no choice but to side with humanity, or so I've heard. None of this is confirmed, but very likely."

"Those people somehow obtained a substance that could turn humans into titans, though only a limited amount. Most or all of them were supposedly killed by the spies, but the substance went from one hand to another, until it reached the black market. A gang got a hold of it and began to consider a super soldier project. The idea of having a titan fight for humanity was too radical at the time, this was well before Eren's abilities became known, perhaps before he was aware of them himself. So they tried to make a substance that granted regeneration and super fast healing that would be combined with rigorous training to create humanity's champions." 

"My brother-in-law was a part of that project and, without my knowledge at the time, sacrificed many people to the failed experimentations. He only pretended to work for that goal though, a secret private army controlled by the darker side of Sina, the mafia if such a thing exists within these walls. His true goal was to cure his sister of the genetic disease that eventually killed her. Though I didn't know of his activities, I helped fund his research along with the mafia, so I feel responsible for it." 

"The elixir failed to save my wife, and I learned of the atrocities. Yet I didn't tell anyone, I simply decided to convince my brother-in-law to focus on normal medical research and I thought he listened. He didn't, and the experimentation took many lives. Then finally, years later, he told me that there was a successful elixir, one that could make a person regenerate and immunize them against any illness without a permanent titan side effect. The titan shifting part was weakened, I'm not a medical expert, but from what I could understand, the formula included something to make the body clean out that part of the process, keeping the regeneration."

"Because (Name)'s immune system was weakened, it would take longer for her and she was at a greater risk of becoming a wild titan." Your father looked at you apologetically. "The problem is that because your body sees the titan shifting as a virus, it would attack the titan skin around you and it in turn would drain energy from your body to maintain itself. You would die within a few hours, after rampaging through the city. I had obtained information that Levi could retrieve a human that had gone titan. Surely he would want to interrogate you rather than kill you. I had to keep him close to you so he could save you, since we had no idea what triggered the transformation, and for all we knew it could be entirely random. I had expected this to happen, but miraculously, it seems that you managed to stay in human form."

He didn't know fear was the trigger, maybe it wasn't always the trigger, maybe it was random and this was something that happened only in your case. "What about Melinda?" You asked before you could hold yourself back. "The formula was tested on her first, wasn't it?"

"No," your father replied, a bit surprised by your theory. "Did she say that?"

"No, I just guessed," you admitted.

"Melinda was not the test subject, if she was, she could have told us how the elixir felt and what she thought caused each reaction," your father explain. "The test subject couldn't give anyone any information because he couldn't speak, and by the time he was able to, it was all forgotten." You stared in confusion as your father continued. "I didn't know Artie or Melinda back then. When she was close to giving birth, she and Artie were attacked by robbers in Rose. You wouldn't recognize Artie if you saw him then, such a scrawny boy. That experience changed him though, not just physically. He trained to be strong so he could protect his family in the future and became determined to always be cheerful and not let anything get to him so that Melinda wouldn't be sad."

"Melinda did give birth and recovered, but the child was born in a very fragile state due to the hits she received from the robbers. Young Anthony wouldn't have been able to walk, he could hardly breathe. In desperation, they took the miracle cure that my brother-in-law offered and saved their little boy. I found out and resolved to protect the boy to atone for not having stopped my brother-in-law. Tony went through a seemingly random transformation stage, but because he was only a baby, his titan form was small and a little clumsy in moving, so we managed to keep him hidden in the basement of our old house. He eventually grew out of it and became a normal healthy boy. We knew then that the elixir had indeed been perfected and that's when we decided to give it to you."

"Obtaining the proper materials was difficult, even if my brother-in-law knew the formula. Apparently, there was only one sample of the original substance and it was a key component of the new formula. I don't know what the size of the sample was, but there was little of it left at that point and it had not been possible to figure out what was in it. That's when my brother-in-law took things into his own hands again, he offered the mafia Tony, a perfect candidate for the super soldier project, as he was young enough to be easily trained, in exchange for the last portion of the substance. He made the formula and it was delivered."

"The original sample of the titan shifting substance is completely gone as far as I know, the clue that could lead us to identify the spies linked to the female titan incident and very likely also Shiganshina leads to nothing, and the mafia is after Tony. The only thing left to do is to protect him from the life of a mercenary slave slaying titans for a reward, rather than for freedom. My brother-in-law wants to give him up, to calm the mafia and wash his hands of all this. With the money I gave them plus Tony, they'll leave us alone, but I can't let them have that boy. For all the people that I didn't help and for all the suspicions I willfully ignored, because all I could see was the hope of keeping my own wife and daughter alive, I must save this boy."

"Why not tell me the identity of your brother-in-law?" Levi spoke for the first time in a long while.

"He has no one identity, he can change his appearance as he pleases, he's a shape shifter, a secret that he discovered and refused to share with anyone but me. He said it would be too dangerous for the mafia to know that it was possible, that the formula for shape shifting would exist only in his mind and die with him. It's like a human sized titan, a human with an extra outer layer that has a different face. I don't believe you'd be able to capture him. You'll only get yourself killed if you pursue him."

"Are you saying that he could impersonate anyone?" Levi inquired with alarm.

"Yes, but not if you know that person. His copies are not precise, if you're familiar with a certain face and especially a certain voice, you should be able to tell there's something wrong." Your father explained, which at least gave you some small degree of reassurance.

"Is Tony hidden somewhere safe?" You asked.

"He's with Mona Lisa," your father revealed to your surprise. "Mona wants the glory of a hero for a son, so she's adopting him. He'll be trained, though in much more humane ways than the mafia would train him, he'll join the scouts when he's old enough and become humanity's new strongest soldier. Mona will treat him well, I'm sure she won't risk upsetting him, Tony is smart and determined well beyond his years. Once Mona is in power, she can keep him safe after taking command of the ninja clan that once served her father, until he's old enough to keep himself safe. Though I'm sure the mafia would have given up by then, if Mona doesn't wipe them out to claim their territories and riches first. She's quite daring."

So that was the change in plans that came up, a negotiation with Mona Lisa. You wouldn't run off to protect Tony if he was already safe behind an army of ninja, so telling you about him would no longer cause you to put yourself in danger. 

"I insist that you tell me the identity of your brother-in-law," Levi repeated.

"Fine, but first, I want to see (Name) fight," your father's reply took you by surprise. What in the world was he talking about?

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 21: Strength

"Fight?" You questioned. Your father had offered to tell Levi the identity of your uncle, or his original identity at least, if he saw you fight, which was a very confusing request.

"The fact that you spent the majority of your most important years of development sleeping has affected your depth perception, sense of distance, time and direction," your father stated. "Even if you're healthy now and are no longer trapped in the haze of medicines meant to extend your life, you simply never developed any of that. That is why you bumped your head on the door when you were trying to eavesdrop, but you're so used to those little bouts of clumsiness that you didn't even notice." 

Your jaw dropped, thinking back on it, he was right. When you were helping Levi against the ninja, you always misjudged the distance of your shot. You aimed to hit them square in the chest and instead hit limbs and heads, as they were too close to miss entirely, but you would have missed if you tried to hit them from a distance. How Levi managed to use his ODM gear was a mystery to you, you couldn't predict where the hooks would go. But using ODM gear was something that all the scouts did, and even those who weren't scouts, it was something all soldiers were trained to do, yet you couldn't wrap your head around the concept of how they got the hooks to reach the target they wanted.

"That's also the reason why the mafia would rather chase Tony than you, you're older and more difficult to mold, but also far too clumsy to be an effective super soldier," your father added. "If they come for you, it'll more likely be to use you as a hostage to try to get to Tony, which is why Levi is still needed as a bodyguard, even if the titan transformation threat is probably no longer an issue by now. I'm sorry princess, you're still my most beloved treasure, but I can't deny that you're a particularly clumsy girl."

You were speechless. One scene after another came to mind. It had been going on for so long, the shard of glass that cut your hand when you were helping Armin and the others on dish duty, you had misjudged the distance and your hand smashed right into it, rather than gently picking it up. The juice you spilled and accidentally cleaned with one of Levi's ties, you were indeed quite clumsy, as if you were so used to seeing the world in a blurry medical haze, that your brain wasn't fully accustomed to seeing it in precise dimensions. The image in front of your eyes turning wavy was something that you got used to blinking away, you didn't need to do that since you were cured, but you were still getting used to things in fact being where they appeared to be. your brain was confused, wondering if it should compensate by making items seem closer, or further, a little to the left or to the right.

"Don't worry, princess, I'm sure you can overcome this. Your perception is just confused, but it'll get better with time." Your father patted your shoulder in reassurance, then addressed Levi with a business proposition. "I'm not saying you should make her an ODM expert, that's a bit much, but at least teach her to land a punch. She won't transform anymore, so I don't need you specifically as a bodyguard, but I lack the economical means to hire another bodyguard, so I'll pay you with information. After (Name) is strong enough to protect herself, I'll tell you what you want to know and then you can pursue my brother in law and get yourself killed if that is your wish."

"I will not get killed," Levi assured confidently. "But I can see that there's no other way to reason with you. Alright, I'll train (Name) in combat and have her demonstrate her abilities, if you give me your word that you will delivered the promised information once her training is complete."

"If her combat abilities are sufficient, then you have my word," your father assured.

Levi scuffed, "I don't train my troops to have merely sufficient skill."

"Wait a minute..." You began to protest, but you weren't even sure what to say. You didn't want Levi to risk his life if your uncle was better left alone. You were cured, so he had no reason to experiment on anyone anymore. But you couldn't exactly protest about being trained to defend yourself, since that might become a necessity, and besides, you didn't want to be helpless. 

You just felt the need to say something to relieve the feeling of foreboding you couldn't shake off, yet neither Levi nor your father glanced in your direction, instead too occupied with glaring at each other. 'Wow,' you thought, 'father's brave to withstand Levi's glare of doom like that and even glare back.'

Footsteps that made no effort to hide the approach of their owner stopped in front of the door and there was a knock. "Come in," you called, since it looked like things were settled anyway and the conversation was probably over. Besides, it was probably Artie or Melinda and they must know about all of this anyway.

Artie entered the room, his chef jacket and hat were gone, instead he wore a tight fitting tanktop that put his large muscles on display and a nasty glare that felt alien on his usually soft expression. He seemed to be holding something behind his back, but you couldn't see what it was. "Is everything alright, lord (Lastname)?" He addressed your father with his old title.

"Quite alright," your father replied. "Mr. Ackerman is much more reasonable than we expected."

"That's good to hear, but if he needs any persuasion, just say the word," Artie assured, though Levi did not look intimidated in the least.

"I do hope it doesn't come to this, Mr. Ackerman, but as a warning, if anything happens to my daughter or you refuse to cooperate in any way, you can be certain every last one of the Survey Corps' uniforms will be stained with red."

You gasped at the serious threat, as Artie placed the item he had been holding on the table. It was... sauce? Not just any sauce, but Artie's special sauce. You've tried the sauce before and it was delicious. 

Suddenly, the usually cool, calm and collected Levi, who refused to be intimidated by Artie's huge biceps, was eyeing the bottle wearily. "You wouldn't dare," Levi stood, glaring.

"I guarantee that nothing can remove this kind of stain," your father threatened. "And there's more, ketchup, mustard..."

While your father listed things that produced stains, Levi retorted with things that could be used to remove stains, many of which you never would have thought would be good for that. "Bleach, vinegar, baking soda..." 

You watched the exchange in awe, while Artie fought to maintain his intimidating look despite how hilarious the argument sounded. "Okay, I think it's time to go, the scouts will be wondering where you are, Levi. Thanks for having us over, father." Neither Levi nor your father stopped the war of stain and stain removal examples, though your father gave you a brief nod of acknowledgement and Levi opposed no resistance when you started pulling on his arm to make him walk.

You pulled your husband down the stairs, with the arguments still going strong, Artie followed, ensuring that he was making an intimidating pose with every step, flexing his muscles as if it was a bodybuilder contest. 

"Take some pastries with you (Name), Artie baked them this morning." Melinda handed you a box and paid little mind to the insanity around her, as if part of her knew that it would eventually come to this.

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 22: Scheme Interrupted

You returned to the scouts base, tired from the lack of sleep the previous night. "Can we start the training tomorrow?" You whined, nearly falling off Knight, though you thankfully managed to hold on. "I'm tired."

Levi got off his horse and put it back in the stables. "You're not going to get any stronger if you act like such a wimp."

"You're being unreasonable." You got off Knight and put him into the stables as well. "I don't think I can learn anything right now anyway."

"Fine, take the rest of the day off, we'll start training tomorrow morning," Levi decided, maybe more so because of his own aching feet than as a mercy to you.

You thought about going to bed and sleeping until the next morning, then just as you approached the front door of the main building, you saw Eren, Mikasa and Armin heading out. "No detours this time, and hurry up." Levi warned as he passed them. 

"Yes, sir!" The three replied with a hasty salute, not wanting to get stuck with dish duty like that time in the past that felt so far away.

"Do you want to come with us, (Name)?" Eren invited. "We're going to buy new mops this time."

You were tired, but you didn't really want to say no. It might help you relax if you hung out with your friends for a while, then you could go straight to bed after returning from the shopping trip. "Sure, I'll tag along."

Thus you, Eren, Mikasa and Armin went off to the market on foot, talking about the random occurrences in the lives of the scouts as you went along. Sasha had burned her tongue with bacon, because it was such a rare treat that she couldn't wait for it to cool before eating it. Hange had began to hypothesize if titans could prefer bacon to human flesh if they were exposed to the taste, and got into a debate with Sasha about if any of the bacon should be set aside for such experiments if another small titan was ever captured. Eren had jokingly volunteered to be the bacon taster, since he could titan shift and all, which prompted Hange to start stuffing bacon into his mouth, stealing it from other people's plates. It was chaotic, but then again, the peak hours at the mess hall were always chaotic in some way.

The four of you were calmly walking down the street, when Mikasa stopped at a shop to admire the display of wintery clothes, perhaps wondering if Eren would notice her more if she could wear a pretty coat like that. 

"Do the scouts have Christmas parties?" You asked as you stopped to look at the display along with Mikasa.

"Christmas?" Mikasa questioned in confusion, you were shocked to see she didn't know about it. 

The weather was cold now and Christmas was only a few days away. It had only been the beginning of fall when you joined the scouts. "Yeah, you know, December 25th, presents, jingle any bells?"

Mikasa shook her head while Armin shushed you in warning. "We're not supposed to talk about stuff from before, in the outside world, like oceans and holidays."

"No pirates or Christmas? Well I can't allow that. Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday. I had lots of children's picture books about it growing up. I wonder what ever happened to them. There were lots of great stories about the north star, three kings and a baby boy. About a reindeer with a red glowing nose, a snowman that came to life and a chubby old man in red that brought presents. I say we have a secret celebration," you lowered your voice in plotting. "Though it might be a bit chaotic if we include mistletoe with so many people moving around." So what if Rose didn't have enough resources to spare on trees and decorations like when you lived at Sina, you didn't need any of that, with just a little holiday cheer, everything would be ready to go.

"Let's do it!" Eren was immediately on board, "I won't let the titans steal humanity's holidays!" He boldly declared, with Armin shushing him in caution. The blond boy liked the idea too, but this was not the proper place to discuss it so loudly. "By the way, what's mistletoe?"

"Oh, I think I know what it is," Armin mused. "I might have seen it in a book once." He seemed a bit embarrassed as he explained. "You have to hang it somewhere, like a doorframe," he whispered. "Then if someone stands under it at the same time, you have to kiss."

Mikasa blushed, "that's part of the holiday?"

"Yup," you confirmed. "You need to be careful around mistletoe, or everyone will expect you to kiss whoever you're caught with under it."

"Reminds me of that time we started chanting, kiss, kiss, kiss," Eren recalled. "Sorry about that (Name), you were new and we kind of put you on the spot with all the teasing."

You blushed, the memory still quite vivid for you, Levi's kiss on the cheek, your near transformation accident, and how you clung to Levi while trying to stop the mist from forming into a titan's limbs. "It's ok, I know you guys meant well, it was harmless teasing. I was just really shy back then."

"I bet they'll try to get you and Levi under the mistletoe once they learn what it's for," Armin theorized. He was right, everyone would surely be plotting to obtain the show they didn't get to witness that day.

"Maybe we shouldn't include mistletoe in our celebration," you whispered, mindful of the people walking up and down the street. It wasn't too busy though, as the atmosphere outside was getting colder.

"We should have a complete celebration," Mikasa suggested. "So that we may preserve humanity's traditions, I mean," she excused.

Anything that sounded like rebellion against the titans sounded good to Eren, "yeah!" He immediately agreed.

"If you really want to include it..." Oh man, how in the world were you going to explain this to Levi? What if you did get caught under the mistletoe with him? If the scouts banded together to make it happen, it would be almost certainly unavoidable. 

You were lost in thought when out of nowhere, a strange man that looked like a stereotypical ruffian, with disheveled clothes and an uneven beard picked you up and threw you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "I got her, the rich girl from Sina!" He dashed away like a madman while you screamed to be put down. 

Apparently the news that a scout was married to a lady of Sina had finally spread around Rose, but the news of your father's bankruptcy had not had time to spread yet. Caught completely off guard, Eren, Mikasa and Armin let out a chorus of gasps of surprise and began to run on the kidnapper's pursuit, with Mikasa quickly taking the lead. 

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 23: The Chase

One minute you were merrily walking down the street, planning a Christmas party with Eren, Mikasa and Armin, then the next you were being kidnapped by a big smelly man. Since this was only a short errand to buy mops, the three aforementioned scouts didn't bring their ODM gear and had to give chase on foot. Mikasa took the lead, jumped and delivered a devastating kick to the man's head. He fell, dropping you in the process and you rolled away just in time to avoid getting squished under him. You stood, accepting Mikasa's help and dusted yourself off. "Thank you so much."

"You're wel-" Mikasa was interrupted by a scream, this one more boyish than yours.

Eren stumbled as he scrambled to stop his mad dash to catch up with Mikasa and turned towards the direction of the sound. The now unconscious ruffian wasn't alone. Two other similar looking suspicious men appeared on the scene as the few people that transited the streets cleared away in alarm. One of the men held Armin hostage, with a dagger at his throat. "Armin! Let him go!" Eren shouted angrily.

Mikasa glared, but it was too dangerous to move on the attack now. "I'll trade this little boy for that girl," the man gestured towards you. 

You couldn't allow this to happen, besides, as long as the injury wasn't lethal, you could heal. Maybe you could find an opportunity to escape. They would attack and you might be injured, but they wouldn't try to kill you if they wanted a ransom and you could deal with minor injuries thanks to your healing abilities. "Alright, let him go," you stepped forward.

"Don't do it (Name)! Run away!" Armin protested and squirmed against his captors' iron grip.

You walked over to the two men and the one who wasn't holding Armin tied your hands behind your back with a piece of old rope, it was uncomfortably tight and you didn't think you could free your hands without help. You were once again tossed over another man's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, despite your protests of, "I can walk by myself!"

"I guess we don't need this one," the accomplice moved the dagger against Armin's throat and there was blood. Eren saw red and reached to bite his hand in an uncontrollable vengeful fury, but Mikasa stopped him. Armin fell limply to the ground, then in a swift movement he was kicking the man's feet from under him and the towering criminal was on the ground.

You squirmed to get lose from your captor's grip as Mikasa swooped in and planted her boot on the fallen man's face so hard she finished knocking him out. Armin was holding the bleeding cut on his neck, but he had twisted away in just the right way at the last moment and it wasn't deep enough to put his life in any danger. 

The man that held you went on the run, with Mikasa giving chase. "Eren, help Armin take care of his wound, I'll get (Name)." The moment's distraction to call back to her friends caused Mikasa to lose sight of the kidnapper as he turned a corner. "(Name!)" She called out to you.

"Mikasa!" You shouted as loud as you could, hoping that she could follow the sound of your voice.

"(Name!)" Mikasa's voice echoed through the alleys as the chase continued towards the least nice sectors of Rose.

"Mikasa!" you screamed again.

"Shut up!" The man purposely knocked your head against a corner as he turned. It hurt, but you didn't stop  screaming.

"(Name!)" Eren's voice joined in from a different direction and you realized the man was going in circles through a maze of narrow dim alleys in an effort to lose his pursuers.

"Eren!" You shouted in return.

"I said shut up, you stupid !" Your kidnapper snapped.

"(Name!)" Armin too had joined the chase, the three of them running around like hamsters in a giant maze, trying to pin point your location based on the echo of your voice.

"Armin!" You shouted.

"Damn , how many times do I have to tell you to shut up?" He bashed your head again and quite frankly you were getting sick of it.

"(Name!)" Mikasa's voice sounded like it came from higher up. She must have climbed to the rooftops, even without ODM gear, to have a better chance of spotting you.

"(Name!)" Armin's voice echoed, though he sounded a bit further away than Mikasa, or maybe there was just a wall between you, you didn't know.

"Mikasa! Armin! Eren!" You screamed as loud as you could.

Eren however didn't call out your name, instead his voice echoed with a surprised sounding, "Captain?!"

Levi? Levi was here? You squirmed like crazy and kicked nonstop, you didn't want him to see you so helplessly being kidnapped. You had to show him you weren't a wimp. You pushed yourself up, trying to crawl over your kidnapper's shoulder. The man that held you, pulled you down to stop you from trying to push yourself over your shoulder and at that moment you moved your legs to push yourself down instead, resulting in him momentarily losing his grip. You landed right in front of him and swiftly kicked him between the legs before he could pick you up again. His hands moved to shield himself and as he bent over in pain, his head and back exposed, you kicked him over and over.

Titan mist began to float around your whole body but no titan limbs were forming. At some point your hands were suddenly free, but you were too focused on defending yourself, you kicked over and over, harder each time until you heard a cracking sound. Then suddenly, the ground beneath your feet was gone and you were flying through the air. 

"Idiot, that's enough." You heard Levi's familiar voice, which snapped you from your panicked fury. "It'll be troublesome if you end up with a dead body to hide."

You gasped and tried to refocus your mind in the current happenings. Levi was using his ODM gear, though only one hook, since his other hand was occupied in holding you around the waist. He landed on a rooftop and set you on your feet. Your adrenaline was still on high, your breathing rapid and erratic. You had seen the mist, but there was no transformation, that must mean the adaptation process was complete and you really wouldn't be in danger of transforming any more. "Sorry..." you gasped, barely able to catch your breath. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I got kidnapped, I'm sorry I'm troublesome, I didn't mean to have to rely on anyone, I don't want to be a burden."

"Shut up," Levi suddenly interrupted, his tone harsh. You fell silent and listened as he continued in a softer tone. "No one can go through life without relying on their comrades," he stated as if from experience. "I still expect a full explanation about what happened here."

"Alright," you nodded.

Levi looked at the street below. Armin was nervously talking to Commander Dot Pixis, who apparently happened to be passing by when he heard a suspicious commotion. Eren emerged onto the main street from an alley and Mikasa climbed down the side of a building, receiving shocked looks from said building's inhabitants. "Let's go," Levi helped you to the ground with the use of his ODM gear. "I knew it was bad news when those three were taking too long to bring the mops." Levi went over to talk to Dot, "I apologize for my cadets disturbing the peace, (Name) got kidnapped and they were trying to save her."

"Oh, it's quite alright as long as it was all resolved without anyone getting hurt," Dot looked at you curiously. "So this is your wife? I have heard about her, but never had the pleasure to meet her. Greetings, milady, I'm Commander Dot Pixis from the Garrison, it's an honor to meet you!" He cheerfully kissed your hand.

You gave a little bow, playing along with the formalities. "The honor is mine, commander, I'm (Name) (L-) Ackerman," you corrected yourself before you accidentally used your old surname.

The conversation took a turn from there, becoming filled with small pleasantries and cheerful comments. Dot complimented Levi on having married, "such a charming young lady" and about making sure no one tried to steal you away again. The Garrison commander seemed nice and very cheerful. 

However, after Dot Pixis left, Levi's look turned serious as he glared at you, Eren, Mikasa and Armin. "Where are the mops?"

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 24: It's not Mine!

Thankfully, Eren, Mikasa and Armin didn't end up stuck with some ridiculous punishment for not having the new mops readily at hand. This time Levi was lenient, probably because he was too exhausted to think of a fitting punishment, and let the three go on their way to purchase the mops and complete their mission. In the evening, you dragged yourself to bed, after having gotten a little distracted by something Sasha was telling you at dinner. You weren't sure what the conversation was even about, you just nodded at everything. 

Levi had slipped away and you found him resting in his room, seemingly ready to sleep as he had already showered and changed. You got ready for bed too and were about to exit the room so as to not disturb the sleeping Levi, when he revealed he was still awake, "where are you going?"

"Sleep," you muttered drowsily.

"They're watching us," he reminded and it took your poor exhausted brain a few seconds to figure out what he meant. "I'll move in a second."

You nodded and returned to the bed. Everyone was expecting you to sleep in the same room and they would certainly notice if you didn't. You glanced at his feet, curious about their state, lifting the blanket to see. "those are some bruised little piggies," you giggled, hazy with sleep. "Are you ticklish?" You poked at his feet.

"Ever been kicked in the face?" Levi growled in warning.

"Aw, you're no fun." You retreated before he fulfilled his offer, at least his feet were exceptionally clean. "Why do your feet smell like vanilla mint?"

"Because smelly feet are for dirty people, slob," he began to get up.

"Where are you going? You don't have to move, the bed's big enough, besides, you must be," you yawned, "exhausted..." Your head touched the pillow and your senses were further blurred.

"Fine," You felt Levi lay down next to you, then he soon got up again a mere few seconds later. "Stupid sleep deprivation and aching feet," he grumbled, of course he was in pain after running around and fighting a bunch of ninja in the shoes of doom, then spending practically the whole day on his feet without rest. He was in pain and he was irritable. "I'm going to the infirmary," he announced, getting up and walking out the door.

You were curious and got out of bed with quite the big effort, as the pillow seemed to be constantly calling your name and dreamland kept trying to pull you in. "Does it hurt that much?" You stupidly asked as you followed Levi.

"What do you think?" Levi snapped, you couldn't blame him for that one. "You don't have to follow me," he growled.

"What kind of wife would I be if I didn't offer moral support?" You countered.

"The kind that's not nosy," he retorted.

The two of you made it to the infirmary where Hange was looking over the supplies and taking notes on a clipboard for inventory. "Hey," she greeted cheerfully, "need anything?" She assumed there was a reason for the visit, since no one really went to the infirmary for no reason.

Levi began to look through the supply drawers, searching for a general pain killer of some sort. His aching feet and sleep deprivation had put him in a sour mood punctuated by a headache. "I'm looking for a-"

"Say no more!" Hange interjected. You supposed that it was pretty obvious that Levi needed a painkiller, even if his feet were covered by slippers, because there was no way Levi the neat freak would walk around barefoot. He did have the irritated, pained expression that people often got when they had a headache, only much more deadly looking. Hange tugged the clipboard under her arm and dug around the drawers, pulled something out and handed it to Levi.

Levi examined the item, his murderous aura flaring in annoyance as he glared daggers at Hange. "This is not what I'm looking for!" He threw the on the floor in anger, allowing you a clear view of the item, which made your face turn red. You already knew that everyone assumed stuff happened between you and your husband, but it was still a bit embarrassing when you were directly reminded of their assumptions.

Hange lifted the clipboard as if to shield herself with it. "You don't have to act so offended, it's not like I have any way to know!" She dug around the drawers some more and handed Levi another item. 

Levi angrily sent the newly acquired item crashing harshly against the floor as well, it was another , albeit of a larger size than the first. You weren't sure if this was mortifying, hilarious or both... probably both. "I want a painkiller, give it to me before I kill you, four eyes," Levi seriously warned.

"Oh," Hange gulped and inched away. "You have a headache, just a second, I'm sure we have some good painkillers left. Hange dropped her clipboard in her rush and dug through the drawers again until she produced a bottle of pills. 

Levi ripped the bottle from her hand, took two pills and swallowed them without water. Then he grumpily left the clinical area. You picked up the clipboard from the floor and handed it back to Hange. "Sorry he's so grumpy."

"It's ok, it could be worse," Hange sighed. "Levi doesn't get headaches often, but when he does everyone better run for cover. We need to give him a headache in the middle of the battle field one of these days and let him lose. He'll probably kill off all the titans all on his own," she joked.

You laughed sleepily and a yawn escaped you. "Well, I should get going now, good night." 

You were about to leave, but Hange stopped you. "Wait," she picked up the larger and handed it to you, "go ahead and take this, just in case he gets over his headache," she winked. Your face turned scarlet as you stammered a "thanks" and scurried out into the hallway. 

On your way back to Levi's room, you ran into Eren, Mikasa and Armin, who took note of your pajamas. "You're going to bed already?" Eren asked. "We were going to do some more planning for the party, but I guess we can do that tomorrow."

"We still haven't thought about how to ask the commander to let us have the party, but it would be great if you talked to captain Levi about it," Armin suggested.

You were in such a hurry to get back to Levi's room and get some sleep and still a bit embarrassed over the scene with Hange that you dropped the item she had given you. "You dropped something," Eren automatically bent over to pick it up.

"That's ok, I'll get it," you hurried to pick it up before he saw what it was and ended up bumping your head against Eren's. 

The two of you exchanged a chorus of "ow!" and "sorry!" while Armin resolved to pick up the item on the floor himself.

The blond boy handed it over, "here's your," then he noticed what it was and his face turned as scarlet as yours. He was rendered unable to finish the sentence and the troublesome item slipped from his suddenly numb grasp.

"Good night!" You hastily retreated in embarrassment, dashing to Levi's room and closing the door behind you.

"What's your problem?" Levi glared, the pain killer had not had its full effect yet and he didn't appreciate the noise of the door.

"I ran into Eren, Mikasa and Armin in the hall," you babbled, your cheeks ablaze.

"What's so strange about that?" Levi questioned impatiently, he really wasn't in the mood for any more shenanigans. A knock on the door sounded off and all the color drained away from your face. Giving you an odd look, as if you'd gone insane, Levi walked past you to see who was at the door.

Levi opened the door to find Mikasa, who seemed to be hoping you would have been the one to come to the door instead. Nonetheless, she bravely soldiered on and held up her hand, the item you had dropped resting between her thumb and index fingers. "(Name) dropped this," she announced with as much composed indifference as she could muster.

Levi glared, snatched away the and rudely shut the door on her face. He then proceeded to throw it at you in annoyance, "you dropped this."

You failed to catch it, instead it bounced off your forehead and fell on the floor by your feet, prompting some criticism from Levi. "Don't throw your things on the floor, slob," he went back to bed.

"It's not mine!" You snapped before picking up the ever troublesome item, shoving it in a drawer and closing it. The color had returned to your face and it had become red again. Trying to ignore it, you climbed onto the bed.

"You sure make a fuss about stupid details for someone with such a large collection of explicit novels," Levi commented.

"Those weren't really mine either," you defended.

"Just shut up and go to sleep," he finally ordered.

Though you were facing away from each other in an attempt to maintain some semblance of personal space, the truth was that the bed was simply too small for that and if you did as much as breathe you could feel his back against yours. It would have been a distraction if you weren't so tired, tonight you would have no trouble sleeping because of your extreme exhaustion, but you had no idea how you would manage to fall asleep like this tomorrow night.

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 25: Merry Christmas

The next morning, Melinda came by with Fluffy. They had considered taking her to Mona Lisa's mansion at Sina, as the takeover was now complete, the ninja under her command, and returning was safe, but she wasn't fond of pets. A bakery was no place for a dog and they were very busy every day, so Fluffy had no one to play with. She seemed to be getting along with you much better than before, so you figured it would be ok to keep her at the scouts' base. She got along with everyone, except Eren, whom she kept barking at much like she did to you before. 

Aside from that, the other big event lately was the Christmas party. You had managed to talk to Levi about it and, reasoning that it would help keep up the scouts morale, he actually agreed to it, though you had not mentioned the mistletoe. He said he would talk to Erwin about it and you had high hopes that the party would be possible. Erwin later made the official announcement, the party was to be kept low key, so that people didn't start pointing fingers, claiming that the scouts were misusing their tax money, but there would be a small celebration on the evening of December 25th.

xoxox xox xoxox

On the night of the party, you looked over your supplies, the cute little handmade ornaments away at your sleeping hours but you were happy you finished them and would be able to hand them out on time. 

"I could use this to clean the tea cup handles... Thank you, maybe I should give you a gift later," Levi dangled the tiny mop on his finger on the looped string attached to one end of the stick. The other end had abundant strands of red and green yarn. Levi's idea made you think of the time he got his finger stuck on a teacup handle while trying to push a cleaning cloth through it, both the thick cloth and his finger didn't comfortably fit at the same time. 

The little mop was only supposed to be a decoration, but if Levi found a use for it, that was fine with you. "You're welcome, and you don't have to, I mean, this is just a small detail, and besides, it's not my birthday." You picked up the box you had brought a little earlier.  When you first brought it you were cradling it as if trying to hide it, but then noticed that it would be inevitably seen and stopped trying. You handed it to Levi, who curiously opened it and looked inside. "Artie helped me make it," you admitted, "but I picked what to make and decorated it."

There was a little cake in the box, with cookies all around it Charlotte Cake style, and a 'Happy Birthday Levi' written in frosting on top. The cookies were shaped like various cleaning supplies, colored with frosting, mops, brooms, feather dusters and bottles of soap. On top there was a cookie box of soap, overturned with white sugar next to it to represent the detergent, and foamy white and pale blue frosting forming bubbles of soap all over the top of the cake. "Best cake design I've ever seen."

You giggled at that, finished putting away all the little ornaments for your friends in a bag and prepared to go downstairs. "Should we go to the party now?"

"I'm not taking my cake down there," Levi decided, there would hardly be any crumbs left if he did. Though the scouts had their own food, including cake, they would surely zero in on his cake because it looked so much better than any other cake. "We can eat it later, keep it a secret and you can have some." 

"My lips are sealed," you agreed.

xoxox xox xoxox

The base became filled with activity as the mess hall was declared the party room and people put up whatever decorations they could find that serve to make the place more festive. Levi had come by to scold you and Krista about the bits of paper that had fallen on the floor when you were making paper snowflakes, but he hadn't been too grumpy about it. Artie promised to bring over a lot of treats from the bakery, which would be most welcomed.

The day of the festivities was kept, as promised, very low key, but it was also a very happy atmosphere, perhaps more cheerful than any other evening at the scouts' base. People gave each other little gifts and knick knacks, though there wasn't much time to do much. The highlight of the party had become the mistletoe, which Levi learned about when the party permission had already been given. He made it a point to be aware of all the spots where it hung from the ceiling all over the mess hall and to stay away from them. No one had tried to get you and Levi under the mistletoe yet, but the night was young and you assumed the attempts would begin as soon as people noticed that it wasn't going to happen if they didn't make it happen.

Jean kept trying to get Mikasa under the mistletoe, luring her over with pastries and conversation, but Mikasa never left Eren's side, waiting to see if he would actually step under the mistletoe, though she wasn't really doing anything to make it happen. The eggnog went around and at some point it was spiked, a fact of which Hange was considerate enough to warn you. This party was possible in part because of you, so it would feel traitorous not to share that information. Improvised Christmas carols were sang, with one of them evolving into a happy birthday song for Levi after the news of it got out.

You made sure not to drink anymore eggnog after Hange's quiet warning. Jean, on the other hand, had no idea and his off key singing had become quite entertaining. Erwin was going around trying to find out who had spiked the eggnog without permission, though he had quite a bit himself and couldn't immediately see past Hange's act of innocence. Meanwhile, in the background, a tipsy Sasha was chasing Connie around with Fluffy in her arms, claiming that they had been caught under the mistletoe so he was obligated to kiss the dog.

A few kisses occurred under the mistletoe, mostly half drunk, yet shy and innocent, Mary Anne was the female half of several of them. No one specified what kind of kiss it had to be, so sometimes they were on the cheek, despite the protests of the audience that wanted to see a 'real' kiss. Erwin interrogated everyone trying to find the spiked eggnog culprit and despite his blurred senses, he eventually began to suspect Hange, who was dead drunk by then and with a loud proclamation of, "you'll never take me alive, copper!" she ran away.

Erwin gave chase in an attempt to prevent her from making a bigger drunken mess of things. Unfortunately, Hange ran right into the singing Jean, and Erwin, who was more drunk than he appeared, ran straight into Hange, leaving the three in a pile on the floor underneath the mistletoe. Hange noticed the plant above their heads and laughed loudly. "I get these two to myself!" She slurred before kissing both Jean and Erwin right on the lips. "Your turn, boys," she pushed their heads together before they could recover from the shock, forcing them into an awkward kiss, then promptly passed out among the cheers and hoots of her comrades. 

Jean screamed bloody murder and made a big dramatic scene about his stolen kiss, while Erwin, picked up the drunken Hange from the floor, muttering that there would be consequences. Jean continued on his dramatic rampage, running all over the mess hall until he bumped into Armin underneath another mistletoe. Much to Armin's misfortune, the drunk Jean loudly declared. "My heart belongs to Mikasa, but if tradition demands it I shall kiss you, fair Krista!" 

Armin tried to explain that he was not Krista, but Jean refused to back down and started chasing him all over the mess hall. Scared of suffering a terrible, and most mortifying, fate, Armin called out to his best friends for help. Mikasa was too distracted being territorial of Eren, but Eren noticed Armin's cries of agony and ran off to defend him. He placed himself between Jean and Armin protectively, but the drunk Jean couldn't keep up with Eren's sudden appearance and kissed him, believing he was kissing Krista. An enraged Mikasa kicked Jean away and sent him flying across the room, he crashed against a wall and was knocked out. Yet unfortunately for Mikasa, Eren had swiftly moved out of the mistletoe area in a fit of exaggerated coughs and gagging noises before she could step in. 

Armin backed away from the chaos and the murderous Mikasa, she was his friend, but she was scary sometimes. He bumped into an unsuspecting Sasha, who was set on placing Fluffy and Connie under the mistletoe again, so that there would be no doubts that they would have to kiss. Fluffy Armin on the cheek and, realizing that they were under the mistletoe, Sasha kissed his other cheek, then resumed her quest. Connie had taken the distraction as an opportunity to hide under one of the tables and came out only after Sasha had ran off to the other side of the mess hall looking for him.

Concluding that the chaos had gone on long enough, Levi declared that the party was over and ordered everyone to march to their rooms. People started to file out of the mess hall among groans of complaint and tired drunken slurs. There were so many people going through the main door at the same time that no one care to reinforce the mistletoe rule in regards to the one hanging from the door frame. 

Levi yelled at everyone to hurry up and they filed out into the hallway faster. Eren, who had been a tad nauseous and lagging behind, hurried to catch up with the main group, just as Levi was about to exit the mess hall himself. Someone, you weren't sure who, pointed out their position, causing both Levi and Eren to look up apprehensively. "The party is already over," Levi argued with finality, which made Mikasa let out a breath of relief.

However, the crowd did not relent and with a burst of alcohol fueled foolish bravery, they chanted, "kiss, kiss, kiss!"

"But this doesn't count," Eren argued nervously, appealing to the fact that they both liked girls and there were no girls in the current equation.

Mikasa took the situation into her own hands and dragged you towards the doorframe. She positioned herself in front of Eren and shoved you towards Levi, as the crowd cheered with teasing interest. "For freedom..." Mikasa whispered in a barely audible shy voice.

Eren nodded, suddenly blushing as if seeing Mikasa for the first time and wondering how he didn't notice her like this before. They kissed among the cheers of their peers, while you nervously watched on, wondering if this would be enough to satisfy the audience. It wasn't, and they kept staring at you and Levi expectantly, while blocking the only escape route. The next thing you knew, Levi had pulled you into a kiss. You wrapped your arms around him, part of you was saying that you were obligated to play along, while the rest of you was incapable of forming any coherent thoughts at the moment.

That night you had cake with Levi, and the next morning, the majority of the scouts had a hangover. Erwin was sure he meant to punish Hange over something, but he couldn't remember what it was, so he disregarded it. Besides, he had a nasty headache and it didn't look like she was faring any better, so perhaps karma had already done the job. Jean probably had the biggest headache of all, but secretly, though he was frustrated about not being able to kiss Mikasa, the thing that disturbed him the most was that weird dream where he kissed Eren. Levi seemed to be the same as ever, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. You did your best to play along, yet you couldn't help it but to think that something in you had changed and there was no going back.

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 26: Cleaning Lessons

You fought to maintain your balance, using the mop as a walking stick. You finally made it to the mess hall, where Levi was going to give you cleaning lessons, while the rest of the inhabitants of the scouts base recovered from their hangovers. You stumbled towards Levi, who did not look amused. "Why are you wearing those ridiculous shoes?" 

"It was Mary Anne's idea," you tried to explain. You reached the side of the room and used the wall for support. "After you left this morning, she stumbled into the room, all hung over, babbling about y shoes and insisted that I wore these."

"And why did you humor her?" Levi questioned.

You shrugged, "well, why not? I mean, they're just shoes..." Ok, they weren't just shoes, they were platform heels, as if one or the other wasn't a challenge to your balance by itself, handling the two together was nearly impossible. "Inconvenient shoes," you admitted.

"Idiot," Levi stated as if it was a matter of fact.

"Hey, I've just about had it with you calling me idiot, slob, brat and what not, you little neat freak," you argued back.

"Then don't earn it," he countered.

You pouted, "you were nicer to me when I first got here." Erwin had been nice too, not that he was mean now, but after you made some friends among the scouts he had pretty much left you to your own devices. 

"There were some significant threats hanging over the scouts back then," Levi reminded.

Then it hit you, you weren't in danger of transforming anymore and your father's influence at Sina was lost. His bankruptcy had become public along with Mona Lisa's raise to power and the business partnership he was once a part of was no more. The rumor was that Monocle was a prisoner in all but in name and the great tycoons, Mustache and Nose had been reduced to common merchants. They were still rich, but not nearly as rich and influential as Mona Lisa had become. With all that had happened, what was stopping a divorce from taking place? Your marriage could only be held together by your social stature for so long.

You supposed maybe Levi didn't want to complicate things with your father holding a vital piece of information, the identity of your uncle. Yet he was trading the combat lessons for that, which he could provide regardless of if he was your husband or not. A divorce would surely take place at the end of the combat lessons at the latest. You expected to be relieved when this whole mess was left behind and you divorced Levi to return to your normal life. Except your old life was forever lost and living with the scouts had become your normal life. Yet even if you could join the scouts after going through Levi's training and continue living with your friends, doing so as Levi's ex-wife didn't seem very appealing.

"Wake up, airhead, this is no time to be daydreaming, pay attention!" Levi demanded and snapped you back into reality. "Come over here, I'll teach you how to clean corners, they can be tricky." 

You tried to stumble over, 'try' being the key word, and you ended up twisting your ankle painfully and falling to the floor. Unknown to you until then, Sasha had stumbled into the mess hall like a zombie, muttering "breakfast" instead of 'brains' and witnessed the event. She good naturedly went over to see if you were alright. "Are you ok, (Name?)"

"Yeah," you decided it was best to stay on the floor until you took off the deadly shoes. "I just tripped." Wanting to clear your head of your thoughts of divorce as well as get back at Levi a little, you pouted. "It was Levi's fault, he distracted me."

Levi glared, he hated when the cadets observed him, waiting for him to be sweet to you, pressuring him with their eyes. However, instead of giving Levi a look of disapproval, Sasha laughed. "That's a good thing, it would be bad if your husband couldn't distract you."

Your jaw dropped, you had metaphorically inserted your foot in your mouth. "Yeah, I guess," you felt compelled to agree.

"Change your shoes, you don't want to get distracted and fall again, do you?" Levi reminded in the most fake tone of forced sweetness you had ever heard.

You considered insisting on going barefoot, just to unnerve him, but decided not to push his buttons that much or he might make the cleaning lessons worse for you. Without another word, you picked up your heels and started walking back to Levi's, that is Levi and your, room, barefoot, to get a pair of more comfortable shoes. You could at least unnerve him a little bit with the excuse of not wanting to fall.

"And wash your feet!" Levi called out as you headed out of the mess hall.

"Excuse me, Captain Levi, sir," Sasha inquired hopefully. "Who's on breakfast duty today?"

"No one," Levi cruelly replied.

Sasha looked like she was about to cry. "(Name)..." she whimpered, like a child plotting to whine to her mother about her father's harsh punishment.

"Just go make breakfast yourself!" Levi finally snapped.

Sasha immediately brightened and saluted cheerfully, "yes, sir!" Then she happily ran off to the kitchen, miraculously fully awake by now.

A few minutes later, you returned to the mess hall after having changed your shoes and yes, washed your feet. "Took you long enough," Levi critiqued, then walked over to the corner of the room.

You picked up your mop, which you had left leaning against the wall and joined him at the corner. He then began to explain several techniques to get rid of all the dust, which you found to be quite boring. Your eyes idly glanced around the mess hall and you realized that all the trash from the party had already been picked up and all that needed to be done was clean. You could totally picture Levi getting up super early just to clean last night's mess. 

By the time you looked back at the corner, Levi had wrapped a cloth around the handle end of the mop and had it upside-down, demonstrating a trick to get to those hard to reach areas without having to crawl all over the floor. "Did you get all that?"

"Yes, sensei!" You saluted.

"Then why haven't you done it?" Levi asked suspiciously.

"Oh, right, I just take a cloth and tie it around the other end of the mop..." You glanced around for a cloth and spotted one in a bucket of cleaning supplies, another bucket filled with water was next to it. You picked it up and tried to tie it around the mop's handle like Levi did, but you failed miserably. 

"Pay attention this time," Levi took your cleaning supplies and demonstrated the right way to do it, then handed them back to you. You stepped towards the corner, holding the mop upside-down like a spear, ready to stab the area were the two walls and the floor met. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

You looked at the mop, the cloth and the corner, "oh, right, water, so the dust sticks to the cloth." You dipped the mop in water and once again got into position, but stopped when Levi groaned in exasperation. "What's wrong this time?"

He removed the bandana from around his neck and tossed it at you. "You're going to get dust all over your hair if you don't cover it. I don't require the cadets to do it, but since I am personally giving you a cleaning lesson, I expect you to go the extra mile."

You attempted to tie the piece of fabric around your head and once again failed miserably. You were still fumbling with it when Levi lost his patience and took it out of your hands. He folded it properly and tied it around your head himself. It only took a second, but that second was enough for you to notice how close he was standing and be sent on a flashback of last night under the mistletoe. You immediately turned your attention to the corner, in hopes that your blush was less obvious if you were looking away, or that in light of your effort to be a good student Levi would choose to ignore it.

After getting the corners cleaned there was still the rest of the floor to mop. Levi demonstrated the proper way to do so and you followed his example as best you could. Levi was not satisfied and felt the need to point out you were supposed to clean the floor, not stab it to death with the mop. Then he criticized that you were forming an arch with the mop motions rather than moving in a straight line. You continued trying to modify your movements, but he called them too much like a zig-zag. 

You weren't sure why mopping patterns were so important, he wasn't this picky with the cadets, though he did often criticize the results of their cleaning efforts. Perhaps he was somehow teaching you to properly judge distance with this simple exercise in an effort to hammer into your head the basic skills your childhood deprived you of?

"(Name), concentrate, you're all over the place. What's wrong with you today? You're more distracted than usual." Oh no, he noticed. You offered no reply, steeled your resolve and tried to move the mop in a straight and even pattern. "Better, but not quite right," Levi acknowledged. He stood behind you, reaching around you left and right to grasp the handle of the mop, his hands over yours. He moved the cleaning implement from side to side in demonstration. 

Your arms went limp and you allowed him to guide the mop in what he claimed was the proper pattern. You could see the rhythm of it now, as if moving to the tune of imaginary music, left and right, stepping back as you went until the motions stopped. "Looks like you're finally getting the hang of it, it's about time." Levi concluded. You could feel him standing right behind you, his breath tickling the back of your neck as he spoke.

Then he stepped aside nonchalantly and inquired, "is there something you wanted to say, cadet Sasha?"

Sasha, who had been standing at the doorway to the mess hall unnoticed by you, squeaked as she was discovered and stepped forward. "I was just wondering if you wanted some breakfast." She was holding a tray with two portions of breakfast food, which she set down on the table nearest to her. "Well, I'm going to go um... wash the dishes I used." Then she escaped from the mess hall, as if she thought she was interrupting something. The talk later reached your ears about how cute you and Levi looked cleaning together.

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 27: Fluffy

It was a new day and winter was clearly showing. The white snow reminded you of a painting your father kept when you lived at Sina. It was a beautiful painting of a woman with long white hair, tinted in various colors, like the aurora was depicted in forbidden books about the outside world. She wore a dress with the colors of the sunset and was looking longingly into the distance. Your father had come up with the description of the painting and commissioned a well known artist for it. When you had asked if the woman was based on anyone, he had told you it was a painting of your mother. 

Today, the majority of the scouts were out training, despite the cold weather. Erwin had taken them out to do some exercises to make sure the lack of missions lately didn't make them get out of practice. As soon as the cold let out and spring began to show its first signs of arrival, the scouts had another mission planned outside of the safety of Rose.

The base was left with only you and Levi, who was busy with his winter cleaning, because spring cleaning was too far away to wait for it. Besides, he didn't like it when people neglected their cleaning during the winter with the excuse that they would clean everything when spring came.

You were, as expected, recruited into the cleaning efforts and taught some more techniques, which Levi insisted that you recite back to him to make sure you were paying attention. In short, it was exhausting, but you were still thankful for the company, the base would have a very gloomy atmosphere if you had been left completely alone.

"(Name) make sure you bathe your dog," Levi reminded as he, in true neat freak nature, cleaned the cleaning supplies.

"Ok," you didn't protest and went off to find Fluffy. You weren't sure where in the world the pink poodle had ran off to, you haven't seen her all day. You checked her food and water dishes and found that the meal you left for her had been consumed, but the canine was nowhere to be seen.

"Fluffy! Here, girl! Fluffy!" You called as you searched for your missing pet. It took you a good while, but you searched all over the base and you still couldn't find her. Frowning in concern, you looked outside, finding that you had accidentally left the backdoor open after you took out the trash. "Fluffy! C'mon, it's cold out here!" 

You heard whimpering and, cold weather aside, ran outside towards the source of the sound. Fluffy was scratching at a rock that was visible beyond the thin layer of snow. Her paws were muddy and the refined pooch was whining because of it, she seemed to be unharmed though. You rolled your eyes, at least this was better than having her roll around in the mud, such behavior had long since been trained out of her during her younger years. 

"It's ok, girl, I'll get you cleaned up." You picked her up, carrying her with her back to you, so her dirty paws would be facing forward instead of towards you, and went back inside. You returned to Levi's room, intending to use the adjacent bathroom, too tired from the day's cleaning spree to consider that Levi might not want you to bathe Fluffy in the bathroom he usually used. "It's a good thing you've been taught to be so clean, or else Levi might not have let me keep you." You conversed with the dog as you walked. It was silly, but strangely entertaining.

You reached your destination, opened the bathroom door and froze. Levi's eyes locked on yours, then you dropped the dog and screamed as you dashed out, the image of the Levi burned into your brain. Fluffy was startled and started running like mad, barking for no reason and chasing you as if to defend you from whatever invisible terror assaulted you, as the dog could not understand the real cause of your distress.

"(Name!)" Levi screamed in a fit of both wrath and panic as you realized how dirty Fluffy's paws were. "Your stupid mutt is getting mud all over the place!" He had just finished cleaning the base top to bottom, this was a catastrophe. He didn't have time to concern himself with what you might have seen, minimizing the damage done by the rampaging muddy pawed dog was more important, so he grabbed the first towel he could get his hands on and dashed out in Fluffy's pursuit.

You had stopped screaming, but you were still running aimlessly as your mind raced to come up with some kind of apology for Levi. What if he was furious? What if he was convinced you were a ert? What if... 'No, no, don't think about abs, think about apologies!' You mentally berated yourself.

You had made it downstairs and were running around in panicked circles in front of the main door. Fluffy had gone off in a different direction, vaguely following Eren's scent, blaming him for your fright, even if he wasn't around at the time. Then she picked up the scent of the real Eren and dashed down the stairs. The main door opened and you tripped, falling down for the returning cadets to see. Fluffy darted down the stairs with Levi in close pursuit. She jumped towards Eren, but Levi caught her in mid air before she could reach him.

After the chase had ended, the world stood still as if time itself had frozen. Then finally, you hurried to get up while Levi calmly explained, "we cleaned up the place, so try not to get it dirty." He offered no other explanation to the wide eyed cadets before he glanced  in your direction and ordered. "(Name) clean up your dog's muddy paw prints." Then he walked off to give Fluffy a bath himself, as he had determined you were too incompetent to do so. He disappeared up the stairs nonchalantly, as if he wasn't clad in only a small towel.

As soon as Levi was out of sight, everyone's gazes shifted to you and you could have sworn you perceived some mischievous snickers in the crowd. Unable to find your voice, you silently retreated, tripped at the base of the stairs, got up in a rush, and hurried away from the curious looks and silent assumptions.

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 28: Battle

You squirmed uncomfortably and stared at the wall as if you could drill a hole through it and use it to escape your life. You had been meaning to apologize to Levi, but couldn't get yourself to look at him in the face and didn't want to sound insincere. Besides, you had discovered that things such as abs and other body parts provided very distracting imagery when trying to compose coherent sentences in your head. You've also learned that a picture was worth way more than a thousand words.

"Stay still," Levi complained. It was the end of the day and the two of you were ready to get some sleep. Well, he was ready to sleep, you were certainly not. 

You were once again back to back on the bed that was too small for two people to sleep in it without invading each others personal space. You had moved as close to the edge as you could get without falling off the bed, but it wasn't helping make you any more coherent than you were immediately after the incident. You supposed the shock would pass, you couldn't be driven insane by your experience forever, but right now it was hard not to think about it. You had already been confused enough as it was after the kiss and now this. 

You tried your best to stay still, but you knew you wouldn't be able to sleep until you said something. "I'm sorry," you rambled. "It was an accident, I swear, I didn't know you were in there, honest!"

"I know, your scream of terror made that much clear, now go to sleep," Levi's reply wasn't quite as angry as you expected. You didn't sense any murderous intent in his words or even as much as a hint of vengeful intentions.

You went over his words again, scream of terror? Had you offended him? Did he assumed you thought he was ugly? No, that couldn't be true, no one could look like that and not be aware of how hot he is. No, wait, bad train of thought, shut up, shut up, shut up! You took a deep breath and tried to concentrate in measuring your words. "It wasn't exactly terror, more like shock," you clarified. "I was surprised and was worried that you would hate me for being too stupid to knock on the door first." You paused, considering the situation from a new angle. "Why didn't you lock it?"

Levi shrugged, "never had the need." That made sense. No one would dare to enter his room without permission and they had to get across the room to get to the bathroom. 

"Well, anyway, I'm sorry..." You repeated, then made yourself shut up before you started rambling again.

"I forgive you, now shut up and go to sleep," Levi replied, clearly hoping that this was the end of the conversation. 

You noticed you were making a much bigger fuss about it than him and told yourself that it was ok. Levi didn't hate you, he wasn't acting any different, so neither should you. You realized that you were about to fall off the bed and considered scooting closer to the middle, to reclaim the rest of your half. You did so, resolving that it would be worse if you fell off in the middle of the night, yelled before you could stop yourself and woke Levi then. 

You moved to claim your full share of the bed, accidentally touching Levi's back with yours. You froze, but he didn't move or make any notion of the little accident. You took note of how still he was and his even breaths and realized he had already fallen asleep. All that cleaning must have really taken it out of him, and he had gotten up really early too. You focused on the quiet rhythm of his breaths, it was somehow relaxing. Though you didn't think it to be possible, very soon you had fallen asleep.

xoxox xox xoxox

You went to visit your father every now and then. One day, you asked him a question that made him pause. "Father, how did you and mother fall in love?" You didn't know the reason for his sudden surprise, but he waited in silence for a moment as if you would offer further explanations. The question was simple enough, so you didn't elaborate, instead giving him a puzzled look.

Finally, your father smiled and began his reply. "Your mother was very sweet and kind. She had a beautiful voice and an air of elegance. She was different from any other lady of Sina I had ever met, and at the time I didn't really know many people outside of Sina. Of course, I wasn't the only man who was captivated by her, but I wasn't about to give up. I brought her roses often and talked to her as much as I could. I listen to what she had to say, and the more I understood her, the more I fell in love. It took time, but I finally managed to win her heart. I remember when I asked her to marry me, I thought I would die that day."

"Because it was so exciting?" You asked with interest.

"Because my most stubborn rival, stabbed me in the back, literally." That was not the answer you were expecting. Your father laughed lightly, "I survived and I'm here now. It was quite a rude interruption, but it worked out in the end. Your mother  was unsure about accepting my proposal because she knew her life would not be a long one, even if I tried to tell her that even a short time would be precious. When she thought I was deadly injured, she realized what I meant and decided that she wanted to spend as much time as she could with me, just as much as I with her. She taught me to live in the moment, rather than in the past or future, though I sometimes wonder how well I learned..."

"Wow, that's like something right out of a novel! So, what happened to your rival? did he ever bother you again? Did you get revenge?" You asked curiously.

"Oh no, your mother would always say that keeping anger and bitterness in the heart only steals away happiness. I don't know what happened to Julius, last I heard he was arrested, but I never bothered keeping up with any news about him," your father reminisced. "There were other difficulties after that. Your uncle didn't want your mother to marry at all, claiming that the possibility of childbirth would shorten her life. But after we married, she kept insisting that she wanted a child, that her life would be short anyway and she wanted to leave a part of her behind. I didn't see my brother-in-law often back then, he refused to talk to me and I've only ever caught glimpses of him from afar. He came around later though, your mother was very ill by then and hardly recognized anyone. Occasionally, she would say my name or yours, though she never recognized her brother, I guess it was because they had spent the last few years apart." The story had been both tragic and fascinating. It was a story you would not forget.

xoxox xox xoxox

The cleaning lessons came and went along with the end of the year, though the scouts new year festivities were very tame after the incident of the Christmas party. Your combat lessons started along with the new year. It was still cold outside, so you and Levi went to a vacant room to practice.

"Let's start with something easy," Levi announced, though you were inclined not to believe him. "Land one hit."

"One hit..." you repeated in confusion, surely he didn't think you'd be incapable of just that. "Ok..." You dashed across the room and tried to punch him, but Levi swiftly evaded your fist and kicked your legs from under you. "Ow..." Clearly, this was going to be harder than it looked.

"Your stance is pitiful, you're knocked out of balance too easily, get up," Levi urged with impatience.

You scrambled to your feet and tried to pay attention as he corrected your posture. The training session when on like that until you were at least staying on your feet for a good while. You still haven't been able to land a single punch or kick though. You tried to be unpredictable, throwing hits as fast as you could and dodging Levi's attempts to throw you off balance, but you could only dodge for so long before you were on the floor again.

You were starting to get frustrated and tried hard to stay firmly planted on your feet. You got an odd sensation on your legs, but it wasn't pain. You realized that though the first few times the titan mist had appeared it hurt, but the last time it appeared, there was no pain. Now the mist was gone entirely, but your legs felt as if they were more firmly planted on the floor. 

The next time Levi tried to kick your legs from under you, he stopped for some reason, the hit came into contact, but there was seemingly little effort behind it. You took that opportunity and threw a punch, he moved his head aside, but your fist still managed to brush against the side of his face. Exhausted, seeing that he had stopped moving, you asked, "does that count?" You didn't think it did and didn't wait for him to point it out. "No? How come you stopped?"

"Interesting..." Levi regarded you curiously, then without warning he picked you up bridal style and bounced you a little in his arms, as if testing your weight. "So that's what it is." He set you back on your feet. 

"What was that for?" At least you could attribute your blush to the exercise you had been doing.

"Titans are not dense at all, they're actually very light for their size." Levi stated and you nodded, recalling that Hange had mentioned that before. "It might be the opposite for you, rather than gaining a light giant armor, your body becomes more dense and thus stronger. I didn't see any mist, but the mist was very thin when you were kicking that guy in the alley and your kicks seemed to be getting progressively stronger. Even if you don't look any different on the outside, something must have changed on the inside."

You thought about his theory and it made sense, plus your legs did feel heavier, though the extra weight seemed to be dissipating. You had heard that humans were about as dense as water and when you thought of water, you didn't think of something particularly solid. 

"Maybe you should talk to the boy," Levi suggested.

"Tony?" You considered it. 

"Children are very adaptable and the modifications were done when he was still a baby," Levi reminded. "He never really needed to get used to something new, this is how things were for him from the start."

"Good point, Tony's a smart kid, even if he's young, he might have already figured this out. Either way, I think it'll be a good idea to talk to him. If this hasn't already happened to him, it might in the future." So it was decided, you would go see Tony.

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 29: Hope

You felt odd returning to Sina, having left Rose very early in the morning. It was as if it wasn't your place anymore. The ninja guards let you into Mona Lisa's mansion, the main Gardenia estate. You wondered if any of them were present during the chase, serving their past master. Mona greeted you with cheer, you noticed that she didn't look any different, maybe the baby was just taking its time. She swiftly took you to Tony without protest, you were informed that Gustav was away on business. Levi wanted to talk to Mona about something or other, you weren't paying attention. They went off to some tea room or something and you were left in Tony's room. The boy was all too happy to see a familiar face and hugged you, drowning you in a million questions about his parents, your father and even Fluffy.

You felt numb, this wasn't the joyful reunion you were expecting to have with the boy who was like a little brother to you. None the less, you managed to reassure him. You told him about the bakery and atelier, and about Rose, the good things about Rose anyway. He seemed convinced he was being raised to fight for humanity, that this was right for him and his parents would be proud. You knew Artie and Melinda just wanted him to be safe, regardless of if he grew up to be regarded as a hero or not.

After the small talk went on for a while, you eventually got to the point and told Tony you were like him. He seemed excited that he wasn't the only 'super warrior' as he called it. "Are you already fighting for humanity? Do you protect everyone from the titans? What's it like outside the walls?"

"I'm still in training," you pointed out. "This is all very new to me, you actually have more experience than me, since you've had these abilities all your life and I've only had them for a few months. I actually wanted to ask you something..." You tried to explain things in ways that didn't sound too complicated. 

Tony understood what you meant when you asked if he could make himself stronger. "You just concentrate on where you want to be stronger, like your arms, or legs, and when you start feeling heavier it means it works, it doesn't really look any different though, you have to feel it." You continued the discussion of abilities and how to control them. It seemed Tony knew by instinct, it was true that it was easier for him to control his abilities because this is all he ever knew.

In the end, you were relieved. You had obtained some good insight and confirmed that Tony was alright. He was living in luxury and had all the toys and food he could ever want. He was guarded by the ninja, until he was old enough and strong enough so that he no longer needed it, until he was ready to join the scouts. Yet there was still a sadness to him that he tried to hide, as if hoping that if he ignored it, it would go away. "Are mama, papa, and lord (Lastname) coming to visit soon too?"

You didn't know how to answer that in any other way but to say "they'll be here as soon as they can, I'm sure they miss you and want to see you very soon." You believed every word, you knew it to be true. What you didn't understand was why the visit hadn't happened, though with some more thought you realized it had to be because of the danger. Mona wouldn't stop them from visiting, but she didn't exactly encourage it, since she wanted Tony to give all the credit of raising a hero to her when the time came. If Melinda and Artie got themselves killed trying to see their son now, it would only make things worse in the long run, so no matter how much they wanted to see him, they had to be smart about it. 

You didn't stay over, instead leaving a mere hour after your arrival. Whatever Levi and Mona Lisa talked about while you were with Tony, she didn't seemed pleased. Your mind was too filled with other thoughts to ask about it though, so you didn't. You left along with Levi, and arrived at the Survey Corps base late that night. You went straight to bed, feeling a sense of security at Levi's quiet presence next to you. 

xoxox xox xoxox

Several things occurred in the next few weeks. You and Levi went over to see your father, Artie and Melinda, with the conversations being fairly civilized for the most part. Of course, in the end Levi and your father ended up arguing about stains and stain removal in an odd exchange of threats and defenses. 

You had accompanied Eren, Mikasa and Armin on a few errands. Eren was in control of his abilities and Levi knew that, so he let him walk around with as many legitimate excuses as he could come up with, though only after he had become certain it wasn't dangerous. The titan shifter was never to go out alone though, and his two best friends were always all too happy to accompany him. 

The rumor had gotten around that your father was broke and people whispered that's the only reason why you married a scout, because you could no longer call yourself a lady of Sina. Hypocrites, they lived in Rose too and there was nothing wrong with that. At least no one had any interest in trying to kidnap you anymore.

The more surprising news was that Mona Lisa claimed a large portion of land. Gustav had a lot of family among the farmers, who weren't too happy with the merchants that previously owned the land. They sabotaged the products to force a sale to go through and Mona Lisa was all too happy to make the purchase. She claimed that the stress of worrying about all the farmers of Rose had left her in a delicate state of health that cause her to lose the baby. You didn't think there was a baby after all. 

The connection came to light, it was true that Mona was not who you thought she was. Just as you were warned, it turned out that she was using Gustav. You wondered how he was faring, as Mona demanded more produce from the farmers and made their lives much more difficult than before. You feared that poor Gustav had been tossed in a dungeon somewhere. You also feared that Tony would defy Mona and suffer the consequences.

One day, when you and Levi were visiting, he and your father had gotten into a discussion, not an argument, but an actual discussion about stains and stain removal. You let them be, since they were being polite about it. It was the late evening, as you had gone over for dinner, so the shops were closed. Artie was downstairs finishing the cleanup and setting things up for tomorrow's early morning baking, while you were upstairs talking to Melinda. She was right in the middle of a sentence, saying something about a peculiar dress design a client had requested, when she started crying uncontrollably. You didn't know what to do, she knew you had seen Tony, though that was some time ago, and he was alright, but that served as less of a consolation as more time went by. 

You were trying to comfort Melinda when Artie went upstairs to find the scene. He attempted to reassure her but ended up in just as much of a desperate state. This was so difficult to see and you wished you could help them. "Tony is going to be a scout, it's only a matter of time before he moved into the base. Once he lives there, you'll be able to visit him every day and when he's out on the field, Levi can make sure he's safe... And so will I," you offered, yet that time seemed too far away. "Maybe we can convince Mona that it would be best to start his training when he's young. If it's to make him into a legendary hero, she'll have to agree. We can use that as an excuse to have him move in with the scouts!" The prospect brought hope to Artie and Melinda and that hope was the only thing that pushed them to hold on to their sanity.

After they were as calm as you could get them to be, you let them have a moment to themselves and headed downstairs to find Levi and your father looking over some sketches at the bakery counter. The sketches looked like soap bottles of some sort. Your father wasn't an expert on the subject, since he had someone to take care of the cleaning for him his whole life until recently. Albeit your father was as clean as it was proper for a normal person to be, you didn't think he would share Levi's fascination with cleaning supplies, you considered yourself to be a clean person yourself and you weren't particularly impressed by cleaning supplies after all. You smiled, thinking that your father was making an effort to be polite and maybe even trying to make friends with Levi. You held on to that little bit of hope, because hope was what kept you sane too.

xoxox xox xoxox

That night, you told Levi about Tony. You felt silly talking to him in bed while facing away from each other, so you turned over. Feeling the movement, he turned over to face you as well. 

"I couldn't convince her." Levi revealed. So that's what he had been talking about that day. "I was counting more so on Gustav to be our connection than Mona, but who knows what happened to him. If he doesn't turn up soon, I'll be inclined to suspect he's dead."

You gasped at the theory. "Dead? Would Mona really...?" You couldn't even finish the question.

"It's only a suspicion at this point, but it's possible," Levi truthfully replied, his face serious. "She's worse than anyone ever guessed, it was a bad idea to her that night. We might have been better off letting her father capture her back then, but it's too late now." His frustration was evident. "We messed up, we were trying to make things easier for the scouts and we messed up. We're threading on thin ice now, Mona is pushing for a budget reduction and the merchants are all too happy to have less taxes to pay. They don't think the scouts are profitable enough. They just want to hide behind these walls forever, without freedom," you caught a glimpse of a side of Levi he rarely let out. A side that you knew had to be there, it had to be in every scout, the thirst for freedom that Eren declared at the top of his lungs. It was mixed with the frustration of knowing that it was very difficult to obtain and an unbreakable determination to claim it anyway.

"We won't let it happen, the scouts will go on and will succeed," you were in no position to be saying those things and you knew it, but you wanted to change that. "I know I shouldn't be one to talk, I'm not doing anything, but I want to. I want to join, I want to fight alongside my friends, I want freedom too!" 

"Then you better be ready to go through my training, you have potential, but I won't let you join until you bring it out," Levi challenged.

"I'll do it," you assured, accepting the challenge. Something had changed, something had awakened, and once again, there was no going back.

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 30: Preparations

The combat training had become more difficult and more ODM training was added to the program. You had fallen so many times, you were wondering if you would ever get the necessary balance to use ODM gear. At least you could regularly land a few hits when sparring with Levi now, which meant you were making some progress, even if you still thought he was inhumanly fast. 

You tried to make yourself stronger to land a really good hit and focused your energy on your entire body. There was no mist, that time had long since ended, but you could feel the very fibers of your being becoming more dense, your hits more solid. It was also a lot harder to knock you down like this, allowing you to mount a relentless attack. 

You finally had Levi nearly out of breath, you had never managed to push him this much before. Just a little more and you would win. You put everything you had into one last punch but Levi evaded it by a hair, your fist instead colliding with the wall behind him, at least you had managed to back him up quite a bit, but you were tired, so tired. Your breaths were ragged and you felt yourself get light again, your legs barely able to support you.

"Your abilities won't do you any good if you don't pace yourself," Levi pointed out.

"I'll be fine..." you gasped to feed your starving lungs. "Just let me... catch my breath."

You weren't sure what happened, but in a split second, you had switched places and you were trapped against the wall. "The enemy won't give you that chance. You can't assume that your next battle will be the last you need to fight before you can rest. You need to be prepared to continue fighting, you can't let your energy become this low because you're impatient to land one good hit."

"I... understand," you gasped, wishing that the world would stop spinning.

"At least you're learning to control your abilities, now the problem is that you're using them too much," Levi gestured towards the spot on the wall you had punched.

You stared at it and placed your closed hand into the indentation, matching it's shape. "I did that?" You were sure you had landed a few good hits, how did Levi even continue fighting after that? He'd probably be bruised later, though he seemed more interested in your progress than in that detail. Perhaps he really was inhumanly strong, but so were you.

The training session was interrupted when Eren, Mikasa and Armin rushed into the room with declarations of denial and disbelief being tossed back and forth between them. Mikasa said something along the lines of 'only a lowlife would break a woman's heart' while Eren reaffirmed his disbelief and Armin desperately tried to calm the tensions and push forward the idea of dialogue.

"Quiet!" Levi ordered. He looked over the faces staring at him, the three cadets were not alone, identical twin lawyers you recognized as the Itadaki brothers were with them. Levi decided that Armin was the most coherent of the three cadets at the moment, so he address him first, "Armin, what is this about?"

"Well... Captain Levi... sir..." Armin shifted nervously while Mikasa and Eren observed, the Itadaki brothers watched as well, their identical expressions becoming increasingly impatient. "These gentlemen say that they're here to process the divorce documents for you and (Name). We tried to tell them it was a mistake, but they insisted in speaking to the two of you in person."

"I didn't call them," you quietly voiced. Of course this had to be coming, it was only logical, yet you still felt shocked by it. 

Mikasa looked serious, her eyes threatening murder, while Eren gave Levi a sad hopeful look, as if begging him to restore his faith in him. "I didn't call them either," Levi truthfully replied.

You let out a breath of relief that you didn't even know you were holding, and the atmosphere around the cadets relaxed noticeably. "I knew it," Eren declared with certainty, "it was all one big misunderstanding."

"We never claimed either Mr. Ackerman or Mrs. Ack- Miss (Lastname), called us," one of the twins pointed out. 

"We're here by the request of lor- Mr. (Lastname)," the other brother explained.

You knew you shouldn't be surprised. It was still disappointing though, since Levi and your father finally seemed to be getting along, bonding over stains, stain removal techniques and cleaning product bottle designs.

"He arranged for this months ago," one of the lawyers explained.

"Even before the marriage was signed," the other lawyer added.

"Have you spoken to him recently?" Levi calmly questioned.

The two lawyers looked at each other in realization. "No," they admitted in unison.

"Looks like he set up the divorce and forgot about it, I suggest you confirm this kind of thing with your client before taking action," Levi summarized.

The Itadaki brothers stared and you couldn't help it but to stare also. "Then there will be no divorce?" One of them inquired.

"Your services are not needed here," Levi stated coolly.

The Itadaki brothers huffed in perfect sync. "No refunds!" They unanimously declared, before exiting the room and heading out of the scouts base.

"I get it now," Eren nodded in understanding. "(Name)'s father must have been initially opposed to the marriage when it was being planned and was sure that it would end in a divorce. But that was months ago, he must have forgotten to cancel the divorce procedures and the lawyers didn't even bother talking to him about it again."

You nodded, playing along, though you weren't exactly sure why Levi was playing along too. "Yes, that's right. There's nothing to worry about now, father and Levi are getting along just fine."

The three cadets nodded in satisfaction and went about their daily routine. Once again you were left alone with Levi, a million questions floating through your mind. "Um... Levi... How come...?" You left the question hanging and you studied his face, he had a very good poker face as you could gather no clues from his usual neutral expression. 

"It would lower their morale if we divorce now. We have a scouting mission coming up as soon as winter lets up," Levi explained. Morale, of course, wait, did that mean that you would get divorced after that mission was done? You weren't even sure you wanted to ask, so you remained silent. "I'm actually fairly certain that Eren's theory is right and that your father set up the divorce and forgot about it with all that happened afterwards. I doubt he would have any complaints about things staying as they are for a while longer if we explain the reasoning behind it."

You nodded, "yeah, I think you're right."

"Well, you've rested enough, it's time to stop being lazy. I won't go easy on you this time," Levi warned. You found it hard to believe he was going easy on you before. Thus the training continued.

xoxox xox xoxox

Time passed and your training went on, fighting on the ground was a lot easier than in the air. At least you were making some pretty good progress on hand to hand combat, though your ODM skills still needed a lot of work. You could more or less balance yourself, but getting the hooks to do what you wanted was another story. 

The scouts' budget was being reduced and the price of food was going up due to the low level of produce that could be obtained in the winter. A contingency plan was put into motion though, in the most unexpected way. You soon found out that the stain discussions that had become more frequent between Levi and your father were not just their peculiar version of small talk. They were getting ready to form a business venture and Levi had been perfecting his formula this whole time. 

Your father struck a deal with the scouts, he would work for Levi, marketing his new all purpose liquid soap with a secret recipe and in return he would not be arrested for his past actions. It could be seen as illegal blackmail, but Erwin had called the deal, "more beneficial than an arrest." You wondered if Erwin had made other similar deals like this in the past. 

Your father was a business expert and the only reason he went broke was because of the impossibly large sums of money that he spent due to his brother in law. Materials, hush money, bribery for the mafia, it was too much. It was a miracle that he lasted for as many years in the business as he did, anyone else wouldn't have lasted half as long.

You realized no one had been pushing your father to reveal the information he promised and you wondered if it had already been done, his relative freedom instead warranted by his marketing services. You suspected that the man who had delivered your cure was your uncle, but you didn't know who he was or where he could be at the moment. You asked about it and were told that all would be known after the soap contract was signed, that was when your father promised to reveal everything. The soap formula had to be just right for it to be the success the scouts needed to get out of the red numbers winter had put them in. They wouldn't have a second chance, so Levi the neat freak perfectionist had to make sure it was perfect.

You had settled into a new routine, living with the scouts, talking to your friends and training with Levi, training a lot. When February rolled around it felt only natural that chocolates would be exchanged among the scouts and as everyone expected, among a certain couple of which you were one half of. You had fun making chocolates with Mikasa, who claimed she was preparing friendship chocolates for Eren and Armin, though Eren's looked much more like love chocolates. Those two liked each other and everyone knew it, it was only a matter of time before they openly admitted it to each other, but there was no need to rush, let them enjoy their silly game of cat and mouse, in the end the result seemed inevitable. 

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 31: Risk

The day came for the scouts to go on a mission outside of wall Rose. A few people had gathered around to watch them leave, you included of course. You were still in training, so you couldn't go with them, but you could at least see them off. Among a blur of good wishes and hopes for a safe return, the gates opened and the scouts went out. 

Just as the last horse crossed the threshold and the guards prepared to close the gates, Fluffy ran off from your side. She had always been obedient and never needed a leash, so you were taken by surprise and were unable to grab her in time. "Fluffy, get back here!"

It was too late, someone stopped you and the gates closed. "I'm sorry (Name), I can't let you go out there." You recognized the man who had stopped you as Dot Pixis.

"She's going to die out there," you realized. You had been convincing yourself that all your friends would return safely, that they were strong and they could handle the titan battles, then your stupid dog had to go and run off. "I don't understand, she never runs off like this when I walk her."

"It's a sad turn of events," Dot tried to be understanding. "Dogs are rare in Rose and a pink one would surely seem odd. I'm sure that if any of the escorts meant to assist the scouts as they get into formation see her and there are no larger threats around, they'll pick her up. I'll make sure she's returned to you if that's the case."

"Ok... Thanks... I should go back home now," you ran away. Stupid Fluffy, one of the few reminders of your old home you had and she had to get all suicidal. 

You returned to the scouts base, you considered going to see your father while the scouts were away, but you didn't want him to see you so distraught, he already worried about you enough as it was. The building looked depressingly empty with everyone gone. You supposed you could occupy yourself with some training, but you just didn't feel like it. 

Time dragged on as you lamented the morning's happenings and walked around the base aimlessly. You were startled when you heard the front door opening and went to see who it was. The scouts had returned earlier than you had expected. Hange was muttering something about partial hibernation and the signs of an early spring, though something about her was off. She wasn't excited or energetic, just numb. 

The other scouts weren't any different. Erwin received a few displeased looks, though whatever the scouts wanted to say to him had apparently already been said. Sasha was frowning as she dragged her feet absentmindedly, you'd think potatoes had gone extinct. Jean and Connie exchanged a few curses and words of frustration, agreeing on how much the general situation . The mission had not gone well. 

They were only supposed to investigate, it wasn't supposed to be complicated. Armin had a very solemn expression, Mikasa looked conflicted and Eren was very upset. "We should have stayed, we should have searched!" Eren gritted his teeth in anger.

"Eren, that's enough, I will not warn you again," Erwin voiced with finality. You had never seen him take on such a tone with anyone. 

You kept looking at all their faces, wondering who would fail to be there. You noticed Mary Anne was missing and approached Mikasa with the question. "Mikasa, where's Mary?"

Mikasa frowned in anger, "dead," she replied simply.

You gasped, unable to let that information sink in. "The idiot broke formation and let the ambush right into the middle of the group," Jean accused.

"Ambush?!" Could titans even make ambushes?

"It wasn't an ambush," Hange pointed out. "A bunch of titans had huddled together during the winter cold and were partially dormant. She got too close and disturbed them, so they reacted."

"Then she led them to us!" Jean insisted.

"I don't think that was on purpose," Krista quietly pointed out, though no one seemed to acknowledge it, or rather, they all knew it and it wasn't enough.

"Stop it!" You shouted and the whole group fell silent, staring at you, some with perplexity and others with anger. "Mary was my friend, I should have talked to her, I should have made sure she wasn't overconfident. I failed her, but I will at least do this for her. Blaming someone who's dead won't change anything, so just stop, stop saying bad things about her!" Everyone was still staring at you, and the looks of anger spread among the crowd. "It's true," you defended, "nothing good can come of holding a grudge against the dead." You felt uncomfortable with everyone staring, as if not even your friends could understand your logic. 

"Levi, you understand what I'm saying, don't you?" You looked left and right, figuring that he was somewhere in the crowd. He wasn't exactly the tallest guy around, so you figured that you simply couldn't see him, but he was there. The looks of anger turned to pity and the realization spread among the scouts that the thought of him not being there had not occurred to you at all. You had a very bad feeling about this, "where's Levi?" Heads were lowered and no one dared to reply. "Where is he?" You demanded.

"I'm sorry, (Name)," Eren finally voiced, his anger, frustration and sadness was evident. "I'm so sorry."

"No way... He has to be here..." You stared at the scouts in disbelief.

A seemingly eternal moment passed until Erwin once again confirmed it with serious solemnity, "he did not come back with us."

"We didn't see him die," Eren pointed out. "His ODM gear was damaged in battle when he was trying to cover our retreat. I shouldn't have listened to him, I should have stayed. I couldn't see exactly what happened, but one of the hooks got stuck or something, he was swung into the air and the rope snapped. We don't know where he landed."

"Then he's out there?" You asked hopefully.

"Yes and we should be looking for him!" Eren insisted. Several other voices joined his plea, expressing their desire to retrieve their missing comrade.

"That is enough," Erwin scolded. "I will not allow you to go to your graves. There is a large number of titans rampaging a few miles from the wall, we won't get far until they disperse. Levi would agree if he was here."

"He should be here," Eren growled. "I'm going-"

"Eren Yaeger," Erwin harshly reprimanded. "You are not to do anything unless you are ordered to do so. I warned you to control yourself-"

"Enough!" You interrupted before he could continue. "Stop yelling at him, you can't expect us to not be upset. I know we have to carry on, I know that's what Levi wants, but that doesn't mean we should abandon hope. We should-"

"(Name)," Erwin warned, "you should know your place, you are only a guest here." He knew you had come to have an influence on the scouts and right now that could be dangerous. "This conversation is over, everyone is to go to their room and rest, that's an order."

You were angry, so angry and frustrated you couldn't control yourself, but you had to. You wanted to hit someone, Erwin, the titans, anyone, so instead you punched the wall. A chorus of gasps erupted from the crowd and you realized you'd left a mark on the wall that an ordinary person shouldn't be able to leave. Without offering any explanation you pushed past everyone and headed outside, you had to get away, you needed to clear your head. Levi had to be out there, he had to be alive, you had to get him back.

You nearly ran into a surprise visitor, your past physician, Dr. Fredrick Facio was just arriving. The doctor was back at Rose after completing his rounds at Sina and had dropped by to volunteer his medical abilities to the scouts as he sometimes did from time to time.  "(Name)?" He exclaimed in joyous surprise, though he soon saw the tears in your eyes and frowned in concern. "What's wrong?" 

"Doctor..." You blinked in surprise, not expecting to run into him of all people. "Fred," you corrected yourself, as he wasn't your doctor anymore. "I'm sorry, I just got some bad news, Mary Anne is dead, and Levi is missing, and Fluffy's probably dead too and..." You took a deep breath, trying not to ramble incoherently. "Levi has to be alive, but he's outside of the wall and the gates are closed." 

Before Fred could even reply, another surprise guest arrived. "(Name), I regret to inform you, no one spotted... What had you called her? Oh yes, Fluffy." Dot Pixis had come all the way here to tell you he couldn't find your dog, apparently he was unaware that it wasn't the only loss you had suffered. He had initially assumed that was the cause of your distress when he saw you.  

Then an idea occurred to you. "Commander Pixis, is it okay if I go to the top of the wall, I want to look out from there."

"That's alright, but I doubt you'll find Fluffy," Dot admitted.

"I'm actually looking for Levi," you revealed, much to his surprise.

Erwin had finally managed to sent the upset cadets to their rooms and had joined you and Dot outside. Dot glanced at Erwin, the silent communication between them requesting and subsequently agreeing to give an explanation. Seeing your impatience written all over your face, Dot took a seal from his pocket, like those used on official documents and correspondence. "Here, go to the station at the wall and show them this. Tell them I said it was ok for you to go to my office on the top of the wall. You'll have a good view from there."

You received the seal, "thank you, commander Pixis! I'm sorry Fred, but I need to go now, I'll talk to you later." Without another moment to lose, you ran to the stables to get Knight and headed for the wall.

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 32: I'll Grant Your Wish (I Wish You Could Grant Mine)

A watch tower served as Dot Pixis' office which you were granted access to after presenting the seal. You placed the seal on the desk and looked out the window, using the telescope that was already set up next to it. There was also another telescope on the ceiling, but it only offered a slightly better view and a lot less privacy. You groaned in frustration, you weren't even sure where to look. You could only see so much before everything was lost to abandoned houses and ruins, you might spot a titan further ahead if there was any to be spotted, but a human might be too hard to distinguish from that distance. If Levi was out there, you wouldn't be able to spot him from here. Dot knew that for sure, but he humored you anyway. 

You sighed and stepped away from the telescope, Levi might never come back. They had not seen him die, but how could he make it back alone, on foot? If only you could bring him back yourself. Eren wanted to, but Erwin insisted it was too risky and if there really had been a large group of titans, then they might have been too much even for Eren. Besides, Eren might end up sentenced to death if the word reached Sina that he had disobeyed direct orders, things would already be difficult for him with Levi gone and he had to be on his best behavior. Eren wouldn't be too hard to convince though, but thinking about it made you feel like that would be using him, putting him at risk in ways that Levi himself would disapprove of.

If only you were a titan shifter, then you could go out there, sneak out, transform, keep it a secret. You observed the walls of the office. Certificates of various kinds lined the walls along with a few decorations, among which was a dagger. It wasn't a real weapon, it's ornamental handle was probably uncomfortable to grip, but it still looked sharp. You removed it from the wall and looked at it for a moment. Blood was the key for Eren's transformation, but it had never been your trigger. Though it was useless, you still tested the dagger's sharpness on your arm. The cut hurt and blood poured out from it, but the pain was soon gone, as your skin healed as if the cut had never been there. You tried again, hoping the result was different with no regard to how dangerous it would be if you did transform in your current location, you knew it wouldn't happen anyway.

The door opened and Mikasa rushed towards you in alarm, "no!" In a split second she had disarmed you, moving so quickly that you didn't even see her take the dagger away, but it was now in her hand instead of yours. She dropped it to the floor and insisted with worry, "don't do it, don't kill yourself."

Your eyes widened in realization. The scene really did look suspiciously like an attempted suicide, though that had never been your intention. "I wasn't..." you couldn't explain your logic without revealing secrets that would lead to suspicions and more secrets. You felt bad about hiding this from your friends, but you didn't want to drag them into your problems, so they were better off not knowing. "I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry."

"I considered it too," Mikasa admitted, much to your surprise. "It was when I thought Eren was dead, but he was alive and even before I knew that, part of me was still trying to survive, even against my own choice to die. Eren's memory wouldn't let me die." You stared in surprise, you never knew something like that had happened to Mikasa, perhaps not even Eren knew. "Don't give up, you must never consider it, never give up!" She insisted.

You nodded, touched by her sincerity and the personal experience she shared. "I'm sorry, I won't give up, I promise." You assured. You looked at the dagger on the floor. "Please don't tell anyone." Mikasa picked up the dagger and began to clean the evidence off it. "They'll just worry." You glanced at the empty holder embedded on the wall as Mikasa put the dagger back on it. "Please..."

"I won't," Mikasa assured, "and..."

"I won't tell anyone either," you understood her silent request. You were concerned about her cleaning the blood off your arm. She would see that the cut was gone, but you didn't have the heart to push her away when she had been so concerned and shared something personal that probably no one else knew about. "It's ok, you don't need to do this, your handkerchief is getting dirty."

"Better make sure your cut is clean." It was too late, Mikasa wiped the blood off your arm and didn't see the cut that should still be there. 

"I'm sorry," you whispered. "I'm very sorry, but I can't explain this now. I will be able to one day." One day this nightmare had to be over and there would be no more secrets. 

Still, Mikasa couldn't help it but to ask, "are you...?"

"Not like Eren, I can't do what he does, I just heal, if it's not fatal... I'm really sorry, I've said too much, please don't tell. It'll only get everyone into trouble," you pleaded.

Mikasa nodded in understanding. "I'll keep it a secret," she promised. As if suddenly remembering something, she glanced at the door and went to pick up what she dropped when she rushed towards you. "It's cold, so I brought you this. I took it from your room in a hurry. Sorry, I should have brought something else, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but..."

You took the scouts jacket, the wings emblem was displayed on it, it was Levi's. "no, this is fine, thank you." You put it on, you hadn't really been paying attention to it, but you were very cold and the extra layer of fabric brought some much needed warmth. "Did you sneak out?"

"No, I went to Erwin and asked him to let me come talk to you. Eren and Armin wanted to come too, but there was no way Eren would be allowed to go out. He asked me to come in his place, he's convince he could have done something differently. Levi trusted him when the rest of the squad wouldn't, then they eventually learned to trust him too, but they might have killed him if Levi hadn't trusted him first. He feels like he couldn't return the favor of saving his life too," Mikasa explained.

"Then I should go talk to him," you decided. You knew Levi wouldn't want Eren to keep blaming himself and make a scene that would get him into trouble. 

xoxox xox xoxox

You returned to the base with Mikasa and did your best to reassure Eren. He was in his room with Armin when the two of you arrived. You reminded him Levi wouldn't want him to blame himself or cause any trouble. "You have a mission, remember? You're going to defeat all the titans and bring freedom to humanity. You'll get back at them all, but not if you lose yourself now. Just remember how calm Levi is, even in tough situations. You didn't see him die, maybe he really is out there, and even if he's not," you knew you couldn't sugar coat it too much, or it would be worse in the long run. "You can at least, grant his wish, it's the same as yours, freedom." You wiped the tears from your face, you didn't want to cry, you were supposed to be reassuring. 

"Thank you," Eren finally spoke after a long moment of silence. 

Eren had taken your word as Levi's you realized, after all, you were supposed to know him very well, you were supposed to be the one who loved him the most and was suffering the most right now. If you could be reasonable at a time like this, anyone could. Then you realized you had to be, because if you fell apart, others would too, morale could be a fragile thing at times, but it was the key to endless strength. Morale shouldn't be based on a lie, but it didn't really matter anymore if Levi was your husband or not, you were almost certainly his widow by now, but you still had friends to fight for, people that he cared for too. Even if he wasn't always clear about it, you knew all the scouts were precious to Levi and you couldn't disregard what you believed would be his wishes.

There was a knock on the door. The group looked up curiously and Eren finally voiced a quiet, "come in." None of you expected to see Erwin there. You guessed that he was there to reprimand Eren for his earlier behavior, but Eren spoke first. "Commander, I'm sorry for the way I acted before. We scouts should be united, we need to see the bigger picture and stay calm. Acting rashly is not a risk we can afford to take, Levi told me that, I should have listened better. I apologize for implying you didn't care, I know Levi would have made the same call to retreat if he was there, it was the only reasonable thing to do, given the situation." You understood Eren a little better now, he was so full of life and determination, even if his family was gone, he fought so that their tragedy wouldn't be repeated and to protect the friends that still lived.

Erwin seemed surprised that Eren's fury had been subdued. "We're all upset about this," the commander admitted, "but what you just said is true and you must remember it in the future." Eren nodded and surprisingly, Erwin didn't dictate any punishments, instead he requested, "(Name) can I talk to you in my office?"

"Ok..." You followed him out, leaving Eren with Mikasa and Armin. You decided not to bring up the earlier argument, the tension was still high and the wounds fresh.

xoxox xox xoxox

At Erwin's office, you sat across the desk from him, the door closed to prevent interruptions. Erwin let out a tired breath, as if the day had drained ten years of life right out of him. "I don't know if you're aware of it, but somehow you've come to have to an influence over a good number of the scouts. They were curious about you when they heard the news you were Levi's wife and that made them watch you, they still do."

"I know," you replied quietly, "morale. That's why you let me run off, it was better that I calmed down somewhere else than start an uproar here. I won't lie to them though, what I told Eren was true, the conclusions he reached were right, I really do believe in freedom and I want the scouts to go on." You bit your lip, trying not to cry again. "If it'll help protect them, I'd take all their pain and keep it to myself, I won't do anything to endanger any of them."

Erwin seemed a bit relieved, though still exhausted, stressed and saddened by the day's events. Yet the carried he heavy knowledge that he had to be strong so that all those who stood with him could be strong too. "I'm glad you understand..."

You sighed, "I think I'll go see my father, I'll calm down a little more if I do," you decided. "I'll be back tomorrow." You stood, walking a few steps towards the office door. You felt that what needed to be said was said and that there was enough of an understanding to leave the conversation at that.

As you reached for the door, you heard Erwin say a few more words. "Levi told me you could be trusted. I wasn't sure at first, but I trust him." 

Your hand hovered over the door handle, motionless. You were glad to hear that Levi trusted you and at the same time, the thought of never seeing him again hurt more. You realized that Erwin was sincere, he wasn't just humoring you so you would behave, like when he patted your head like a child when you first came. He was actually counting on you, because  Levi believed it was possible. You nodded in quiet understanding, "I'll be back before dark," you decided, and left the office. 

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 33: Reunion

You didn't leave the scouts' base right away after talking to Erwin. You stopped by to visit several people, just to see how they were doing, to reassure them, to tell them words Levi might have thought should be said, words you believed. A hug, a pat on the back, a look of comfort, you couldn't fight by their side yet, but you had to offer them something.

You would be strong for the sake of your friends, for the scouts, for freedom, for Levi, though it hurt to think he was gone. You left the scouts' base on Knight, but didn't go to your father right away. Instead you went back to the wall, back to the top, back to staring out into the distance.

You watched the sun begin to set in the horizon as a voice echoed in your mind calling your name. 'Now I'm hearing him...' you thought, fearing that your sanity was leaving you. 

Then you heard your name again in Levi's voice, it was far, but it was clear, too vivid to be your imagination. "Stop spacing out and look down here!"

You looked down, though the sun was shining it's last rays of light, there was just enough light left so you could see him. "Levi?!" You stared in disbelief, there he was, looking beat up, but alive. Much to your surprise he held Fluffy in his arms. 

As soon as your body got over enough of the shock to move, you notified Pixis, who was back at his office by now, filling up some paperwork before he could call it a day. He seemed disbelieving at first, wondering if your sorrow was causing your imagination to run wild, but he accompanied you outside anyway and looked, his mouth hanging open in awe. A few minutes later, Levi was on the top of the wall, via ODM gear provided by Dot, as Levi's equipment had stopped working. 

You glomped Levi the second he made it up the wall, causing Fluffy to squirm out of his arms in an effort not to get squished between you. The words got caught in your throat and you just held on to him like your life depended on it. He hugged you back, if it was for show or not, you didn't have the energy to question it. You eventually reasoned that he probably needed to breathe, so you loosened your grip. "I'm so glad you're back," you finally said.

A blur of questions followed, as the curious Dot inquired about the rest of the story beyond the point that Erwin had witnessed. Levi had been thrown through the air, though he managed to hook onto a tree on the way down and swing to a mostly safe landing, he was scratched, bruised, sore, tired, thirsty and hungry, but it was nothing grave. His biggest problem then was how to rejoin the retreat without running into more titans than he could fight alone with only half his ODM gear, as one side's rope had snapped when he was thrown. His remaining gear only had a little fuel left, so he would have to use it wisely. 

Much to his surprise, Levi found Fluffy, who was miraculously safe, or rather, Fluffy found him, she ran right up to him, wagging her tail, as if there was no danger at all. Then she sniffed the air, barked and dashed off in the opposite direction. Levi figured there had to be a good reason she was alive and soon realized that his theory was right, Fluffy could smell titans. "After I knew that, it made coming back a lot easier. It took a while, since I had to take a few detours and make it back on foot, but I didn't run into any titans."

"That's amazing, I didn't even know dogs could smell titans. I did hear about an attempt to train them for that years ago, but I thought all the projects had ended in failure until they just gave up. This is quite the discovery," Dot exclaimed.

After talking to Dot, you returned home with Levi and Fluffy. On the way back, Levi asked if you knew anything about her, which you didn't. "I wasn't in the scouts when the projects Pixis mentioned took place, but I have heard about them. They were pretty detailed in their attempts to train dogs to detect titans, but apparently their scent is too similar to humans, so they ended up confused and couldn't tell the difference between the scouts and the titans. They tried this with several different breeds and had the same basic results. I find it hard to believe this is a coincidence, your dog could smell the titans from a good distance and became more aggressive the larger they were. The way she barked in the direction of the titan before running away was like a signal, I don't think this is something she does on instinct alone."

"I'll ask father about it tomorrow," you offered, curious and confused by the event, and above all thankful for Levi's return regardless of how it happened.

When you arrived at the base with Levi, the whole place came alive with joy and everyone wanted to hear what happened. Seeing Levi come back, seemingly from the dead gave the scouts new hope. Levi gave them a quick summary of the events and redirected their curiosity towards Fluffy, so he could escape to get cleaned up. Fluffy was tired and not willing to play with anyone, so she mostly ignored the silly humans and focused on resting. She didn't bark at Eren anymore. It was as if the scents of the outside world had cleared her confusion and she realized he wasn't who she was supposed to find.

That night, after the scouts finally settled down, you assumed Levi would go to sleep without another word, tired from the day's events. Though he closed his eyes, he was still awake. "(Name)," he tiredly half opened his eyes.

You let out a little "eep" as you were caught staring at him. Well, what were you supposed to look at if he was facing in your direction? "Yes?"

"Don't stare," he voiced quietly.

You pouted and turned over with your back to him, "fine."

"(Name)," Levi repeated.

"What? I'm not staring," you insisted, flustered.

"Turn around," he requested.

"Now what? Make up your mind," you turned over to face him.

The second your eyes met his, he spoke two most perplexing words, "thank you." You stared. "You're staring again."

"With good reason," you defended.

"Oh?" Was that a slight hint of amusement?

You blushed, realizing what that sounded like. "I mean, my reason is because I'm confused!" Although, he was also pleasant to look at in general. "What are you thanking me for?"

"For remembering my wishes," Levi replied, which didn't really serve as much of an explanation.

"What do you mean?" You prompted.

"I went to talk to Eren and he told me what you said," Levi revealed. You knew he had gone to talk to him and figured Eren might have mentioned your visit. The suicide misunderstanding didn't come up, so Mikasa was keeping her silence, not that you had any doubts about it. "You didn't give him any false hope, but calmed him down, and I heard you did the same for the others."

"That was hard," you admitted. "But I had to do something for them, without lying, I thought you might have wanted that. Sorry, I really did think you weren't coming back. They didn't actually see you die so there was a little hope, but I was getting ready to let it go, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, you did what I wanted you to do. You were being reasonable, as you should be, this isn't exactly the safest job after all. I'm not saying you should be entirely unfeeling, but you can't fall apart when something goes wrong, no matter how much you may regret it..." Levi fell silent and you wondered what he was remembering, who he was thinking of.

You felt like outright asking him would be prying, even if you were dying to know. "I'll listen," you offered, "when and if..." you added and he gave a barely perceptible nod.

"Are you sure you want to be a scout?" He finally asked after a moment of heavy silence.

"Yes," you replied with absolute determination. "I'll train hard, I won't be a burden, I won't put anyone in danger and I'll bring them all back alive... or at least as many as I can," you added a little more realistically.

"You won't do anything rash and you'll keep up with your training so you don't fall out of practice," Levi added.

"Yes," you agreed. The conversation was somewhat morbid and you were reminded of the fact that tomorrow you wouldn't have Mary Anne teasing you about when your pretend husband was going to become your real husband, or showing concern in her own way. All you could do now was hold on to the friends who still lived and try to keep them alive, not just breathing, but alive. 

"Get some rest then, I'll train you harder from now on," Levi closed his eyes, this time actually going to sleep. 

You somehow felt like he was concerned for you, determined to make sure you had the best chance possible out in the battle field. There was also something else, as if the last remnants of the thick barrier that was around him when you first met him were finally falling away completely, or maybe that was just your wishful thinking. You drifted off to sleep, your mind filled with an overload of racing emotions, sadness, frustration, relief, confusion... and a growing affection that you couldn't, or wouldn't, put a name to just yet.

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 34: Revelations

"She's so cute!" You squealed as you petted Levi's new horse at the scouts' stables, his previous one had not made it through the mission. 

"She's fast, that's what matters," Levi reminded.

You nodded absentmindedly and petted the adorable mare. "She's like a cat," you giggled. The horse was white, with brown and black spots. "You're so cute, Cali."

"Cali?" Levi questioned, you wondered if he had even bothered to give his horse a name before.

"As in calico," you explained.

Levi shrugged, "fine, Cali, it is."

Knight curiously approached the newcomer and nuzzled her, she responded in the same manner. "Aw, they like each other."

Levi glared at Knight, "stay away from my horse," he intoned slowly and threateningly.

Knight let out the closest thing a horse could produce similar to a squeak and  hid behind you. "Protective, much?" You teased, then reassured your pet. "It's ok Knight, I'm sure Levi will let you play with Cali later." Levi let out a threatening huff and put Cali in the stables, you put Knight in the space next to her and hurried after Levi. "What's on the plan for today? More training?"

"Business meeting, then training," Levi replied, reading back into the base. "Your father should be here soon to sign the contract."

"The soap," you nodded, hoping that everything progressed smoothly.

"I told him to keep the contract short and simple," Levi commented.

You shook your head, you had eavesdropped through enough business meetings, both real and off topic, to know one thing. "Contracts are never simple."

"This one will be," Levi decided.

"We'll see..." you voiced in a tone that foretold an 'I told you so' awaited in Levi's future.

xoxox xox xoxox

Your father arrived with the Itadaki brothers and Levi spent a long time examining the contract in his office. You and Erwin were present at the office, stretching your patience as Levi read and reread the document. The contract was indeed short and simple, which elicited an 'I told you so' look from Levi. You had replied with a discrete shake of the head as if reminding him that the final 'I told you so' would be the victor.

"I'm not going to sabotage the deal," your father mentioned dismissively. 

"I'm not worried about that," Levi replied, his eyes glued to the contract. "Even if you make this as profitable as you can for the scouts, even if you have no malicious intent and continue moving this business as we agreed, you might steal it from me, just to prove you can."

"Fair point," your father laughed. "However, all I ask for is a modest 20% ownership of our little cleaning product corporation. With 80% under your name, the business will be under your command and you can veto anything I say."

"It seems too easy," Levi stared at the contract some more, but couldn't find anything suspicious on the piece of paper. "Fine, I'll sign it." Finally, at long last the signature was recorded into the paper and the deal was finalized. The Itadaki brothers, who were feeling quite impatient by now, left to finish processing the signed document and the meeting was concluded with another half discussion, half argument between your father and Levi about stains and stain removal.

xoxox xox xoxox

A few days later, you were back at Levi's office when it was made known that Levi was no longer the main owner of his enterprise, a fact which your father shared with an amused grin. "What? How?" Levi questioned.

"You're married to my daughter under a standard agreement of shared earnings, so you actually only own 40%, while she owns the other 40%. I transferred my 20% directly to (Name) with a contract stating that it is her private property marriage aside. In conclusion, (Name) is the owner of this business venture," your father informed with amusement.

Levi was not amused, "I knew it, I knew you would do something like this for no real reason. But you didn't actually take the business for yourself, (Name) owns it."

"I'm afraid that's a small victory you will not be claiming today," your father informed, the spark of amusement in his eyes was unmistakable. "Because (Name) was ill in the past and thus unable to regularly represent herself in business meetings, I have control over any and all assets she owns, regardless of the conditions of ownership. That is complete legal control, which means that I could transfer her assets to myself if I wanted and gain ownership of that 60%, give you a vote of no confidence and boot you from the board, declare that all profits are to be reinvested and assign myself a juicy salary as the company manager, thus using that loophole to keep all the profits to myself."

"That's-" before Levi could put a name to it, as sneaky, underhanded, dishonest, unfair and deceitful didn't seem strong enough, he was interrupted.

"Legal," your father stated with finality.

"And that," you announced in your best 'I told you so' voice, "is why contracts are never simple. You have to cover all the loops and holes and lay the groundwork for vague clauses that you'll use to cover any new issues that may come up later. The contract must be interpreted consistently without contradictions, but it must be interpreted only by you, not the other person signing it."

"That's-" Levi began again, but was once again interrupted.

"Why I'm letting (Name) keep the company. Since she is of sound health now, I'm releasing her assets to her control and training her to be able to take care of the business, she's also the owner of the copyright for the formula now, which you should have specified as individual property, as it was otherwise assumed it was corporate property. Do you see now why I had to do this? The only way to keep this investment safe was to steal it from you and put it in the hands of someone who can protect it. I've already taken care of the new paperwork and covered up the holes. (Name), you just need to sign these documents to finalize everything and become the CEO." 

You nodded, as several documents were placed on the desk for you to sign while Levi watched in stunned silence. That didn't last too long, as he soon frowned and asked, "what about my signature?" 

"Not worth anything," your father smiled.

"Aw, c'mon Levi, don't look so sour, it's not like I'm going to fire you... for now," you teased. Levi continued to look adorably grumpy, was he even aware of how cute he was? How could he not be? You giggled and booped him, then giggled some more.

"Why did you do that?" Levi asked in surprise.

"Because I can," you smiled, entertained by his reaction. 

"So it's a bad habit that runs in your family, being annoying just because you can be." Levi glared at the paperwork as if wanting to set it on fire with his eyes.

Your father removed the papers from the desk before they could combust. "I'll take these papers to be processed. It was nice visiting," he smiled in amusement and got up to leave.

Recalling something, Levi snapped to attention and stopped your father from leaving. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Happy anniversary," your father declared. "It's been seven months and you're getting along far better than I expected, I didn't think your marriage would last this long. Now that I think about it, I might have set up a divorce procedure that should have already taken place. I doubt the Itadaki brothers would have forgotten, I did pay them in advance for the services, but you're still married, so I guess you decided not to get a divorce. Out of curiosity, why was that?"

"Morale," you blurted out before Levi could say anything, though in his current mood your guess was that his answer would be something along the lines of 'none of your damn business.' "Because the scouts see us as an OTP and all."

"Well, isn't that sweet?" Your father nodded with a look that spoke far more than his simple vague reply ever could, albeit you couldn't, or wouldn't, decipher what the hidden communication was.

"Enough," Levi interrupted with impatience. "Reveal the identity of (Name)'s uncle as promised," he demanded.

The name your father spoke was unrecognizable to you, though you did recognize your mother's maiden name as his surname, but you already knew that, since they were siblings. "That man doesn't exist in the official records, or in any way anymore. He left his old identity fade into nothingness and, because he can't mimic other people to perfection, he instead created an entirely new identity for himself instead of trying to steal one," your father explained. "You may know him as Dr. Fredrick Facio."

The office was drowned in silence and Levi looked legitimately surprised. "What about the man who gave me the cure?" Before your father could reply, you answered your own question. "Wait a minute, that was him too, wasn't it?"

"Yes, the same man with a different face," your father confirmed.

"He didn't want his identity as Fred to become linked to this, so he used another face that day," you realized.

"Facio," Levi voiced dangerously. "Are you saying it was Facio all along? When he came here to treat the scouts after missions, he was just fishing for information for his research, wasn't he?"

"I'm afraid so, though he still helped the scouts by treating the injured, he didn't do it for their sake," your father confirmed. "If you decide to make any moves, you must be careful, I don't know the extent of his abilities," he warned in all seriousness. "I would prefer to leave things as they are, but I know that's not happening." 

You weren't sure what to say. Fred had committed many crimes for the sake of his research, but he wasn't evil. He didn't have the right to decide who was sacrificed, but he was trying to save you and he had helped your friends in the past. What was more important? Loyalty or justice? How could you walk the fine line between such contradicting terms, one denoting a preference, while the other demanded the lack of it. You realized that you couldn't walk between them, you had to pick one or the other in a case by case basis. 

"I'll take my leave now," your father quietly announced, deciding it was best to give Levi some time to organize his thoughts and inform Erwin of the discovery. "(Name), the weather is warmer now, spring is really showing its presence, would you walk your dear old father home?"

"Sure," you thought it might be best to give Levi some space right now anyway. He might not want anyone interrupting his discussion with Erwin about how to go about catching Dr. Facio to further their titan research and obtain any other useful information he might have. Levi didn't try to stop you or your father from leaving, he understood that there was nothing more to say, because there was nothing more that could be said that wasn't already known. 

xoxox xox xoxox

Your father and you approached the bakery atelier and after greeting Artie and Melinda, you went upstairs to talk. You asked about Fluffy, but your father couldn't tell you much about her other than she had been a gift from your uncle. Than the conversation took an interesting turn when your father stated, more so than asked. "I suppose it's useless to ask you to get a divorce before things get more complicated."

"Do you really think Levi is in so much danger that you want me to stay away from him?" You asked, with no intentions of doing so, a fact which your father was clearly aware of. "You said my uncle wouldn't hurt me, if I'm with him, wouldn't that be enough to protect him?"

"If Fred decides to kill Levi, he will do it, I just didn't want it to be in front of your eyes.  I know I can't stop Levi or Erwin from investigating and you won't stay out of it either, regardless of what I do. There's just no way to keep you hidden from this pain, so I'll have to trust you to be strong enough to handle it," your father concluded in resignation.

"I will be," you assured. 

"My little princess is all grown up." Your father sighed, feeling melancholy. "I was the one who started all this in my desperate attempt to protect you, so even if I wasn't expecting it, I suppose I have no right to complain. If I really think about it, if the circumstances were different, I would have approved."

"What do you mean?" You asked curiously. The topic had shifted and you wondered what this was about.

"You love him," your father stated plain and simple.

Your face turned scarlet, "what? Levi? We're friends! I mean... I might kind of like him, but it's just a silly crush, I'm not in love with him," you laughed nervously.

"Don't you think I know my daughter better than that?" Your father shook his head at your flustered state. "Princess, I can tell the difference between when you blush because the thought of something is embarrassing and when you blush because the thought of something is pleasurable, but you don't want to admit it. I was young and in love once too and your tells are exactly the same as your mother's. After a while, I learned to read her like a book." Your blush deepened, was your father trying to hint that Levi knew you liked him? 

You left the bakery with a new handmade shirt from Melinda, several boxes of pastries from Artie and a letter from your father that he said was filled with, "business tips, for your eyes only," but most of all, you left with a heavy load of a strangely giddy confusion. You tugged the letter in your pants pocket and went home, to the base of the Survey Corps, to the home that you were determined to keep safe, and to the man you had fallen in love with, even if you could only admit it in the privacy of your mind.

xoxox xox xoxox

Chapter 35: Boiling Point

"What are you reading?" You looked over Levi's shoulder at the book he held. 

"It's the book that people get to read when they're not behind on their training," Levi shut the thick text and pointed you towards a forested area. 

You could see the structure of the scouts' base some distance away, and moved in the opposite direction towards the collection of trees. "I'm not behind," you defended. You caught a glance at the book, something about business and law. "Are you still mad at father for stealing your precious secret formula? Do you want it back? I own the copyright you know, even if you steal all my stock I'll have to transfer it to you separately if you want it back." You fired your ODM gear into a tree branch and swung playfully. "Or you could bribe the Itadaki brothers to do the job for you."

"Hold on to it," Levi decided before putting the book down on the base of a tree and hooked his ODM gear into a tree branch. "It's fake anyway."

"Ooh, so the super soap formula only exists in the mind of the creator," you watched as Levi began to move forward via ODM and followed him. "Wait, I got it, the secret ingredients are your blood and tears!" You called after him, in a futile attempt to make the conversation distract him enough to slow him down.

"Maybe I'll teach it to you some day," Levi replied, speeding up. "If you can keep up with me. You're too slow, too afraid of where the hook of your ODM will land. You need to make these calculations in a split second."

He noticed... Of course he noticed, he noticed every last detail when it came to your training and was quick to critically point it out. You felt that he wasn't mean or picky though, despite appearing to be that way at times, he was just trying to prepare you for battle. 'Ok, just focus on Levi and let instinct guide the ODM.' He wasn't moving in a straight line, you had to get closer or you'd lose him in the thick flora. 'Focus on Levi,' you repeated your mental mantra, 'just stay focus on him... No, not on his tail, just the whole of him.' A branch hit you in the face, but you recovered before you hit the ground, though you had lost sight of Levi. You looked in every direction, where did he go? Then a harsh force knocked you off balance and sent you crashing into a tree trunk. "Ugh..."

"You went too low, if you were passing over titans, they would have been able to grab you." Well at least you found Levi. His ODM was hooked onto the same tree, he stood against the trunk, trapping you between his body and the tree.

"Yeah, especially if one of my so called comrades decides to kick me in the back," you pouted, turning your head to look at him over your shoulder.

"I doubt it's worse than a tree branch to the face," Levi retorted. Great, he saw it.

"That only happened once this time," you countered. 

"One too many times, if you didn't heal yourself, you'd be all scratched up, and healing requires energy that you shouldn't waste. You know what'll happen if you exhaust your energy too much too constantly and you'll be useless if you fall unconscious in the middle of the battle field," Levi reminded.

"My energy isn't that low, it takes a lot more than this to get me in that state." You countered, though Levi would accept no argument.

"You need to be more aware of your surroundings," Levi insisted, "but you can't slow down to take it all in. A titan could have snuck behind you and you wouldn't have seen it, since you were so focused on following me. You can't just be aware of one element of your surroundings. You need to keep track of the landscape, enemies and allies. Taking down titans is a team effort and... What the heck are you blushing for?"

"Nothing!" You blurted out, though he must have known it wasn't nothing. He had you pinned against a tree for crying out loud. Well, not really, his legs were on either side of you on the tree, giving you at least a few inches of space, so you weren't pressed against the trunk, but that was still close. You recalled what your father said about how obvious you were about your crush, though it was more than a mere crush at this point. You resolved not to be so obvious, but what could you do? "Levi, let's spar."

"You're decent with hand to hand combat, you need to practice more with ODM," Levi pointed out. 

"So we'll fight on ODM. Maybe that'll help me get used to reacting faster," you suggested. You wouldn't go easy on him, that'll show him you weren't some love sick girl with a terribly obvious attraction for him. "Just you wait, I'll fly like a bird."

Levi gave you an odd look and for a split second seemed lost in thought before he swiftly returned to his normal self. "Fine, maybe it will cure at least some of your clumsiness," Levi moved to a different tree, jumping on a branch.

You climbed up to another branch, on the tree that you were already on and looked at him across the distance that now separated you. Then the realization hit you, if you were indeed so obvious, why hadn't he said anything about it? Maybe he didn't like you and was waiting quietly for your feelings to pass. He had been kind of harsh in his training recently, harsher than normal that is. You got the impression that he was concerned about how prepared you were to join the scouts, but maybe that was all your wishful thinking. It hurt to think that way, but you had to focus on the battle, so you poured everything into it. 

You hooked your ODM onto a branch overhead, on a tree between the two you and Levi were on, and moved forward. He met you half way, two pairs of swords colliding in mid air. The blades were dull training blades, so they wouldn't cut either of you, though they still had the weight of real blades. When Levi pushed you back, you focused on strengthening your legs and pushed yourself forward, launching from a tree, you caught up to him and slashed with your swords. He blocked, slightly turned in the air and released his ODM. You were expecting him to move up to dodge, so it took you a moment to react to the fact that he was a few feet below. By the time you adjusted to go on the attack again, he fired his ODM at an odd angle and was moving up and sideways.

You gave chase, but Levi was too fast. It was only a matter of time before you lost track of him. You perched on a branch, looking in every direction and trying to listen to even the quietest sound. You heard some rustling of leaves and perceived a shadow moving, blending in with the shadows of the trees. You shot your ODM forward as Levi came down on the branch you were on a second ago. He leapt after you, you turned and once again your blades crashed against his in mid air. The action was repeated several times, before he disappeared again, no doubt preparing another surprise attack.

You were starting to feel the effect of exhaustion. You couldn't parry his blades effectively without using your ability to strengthen your arms, which consumed energy. Recalling something Hange had said about titans and sunlight, you broke off your search for Levi and headed in the direction of a spacious clearing in the forest. Curious as to what you were doing, Levi turned back and you could vaguely perceive him chasing after you, though he kept his distance so as to not make his position too obvious. He soon realized you were seeking the sunlight and sped up to intercept you. 

You released the hook of your ODM gear and fell. Levi hovered overhead waiting to see where your other hook would travel to next, but it didn't. He realized too late your intention was to reach the ground and you managed to slip away. You focused on making your legs strong enough to withstand the impact. The landing hurt, but your healing kicked in, aided by the sunlight, and running was only painful for a short time. You stood in the center of the clearing, basking in the light, but it didn't take long for you to have second thoughts about your strategy. 

Levi swooped down, using the metal of the blades to reflect the sunlight at your face and block your vision just long enough to catch you off guard. He crashed into you and knocked you to the grassy ground. "Looks like I win," he declared smugly, placing his blades back in their sheaths.

"It's not over!" Your own blades had slipped out of your grasp when you were knocked down, but they were attached to the ODM gear, so they were still close, not that Levi had any intention of allowing you to reach for them. You squirmed, turning over to try to get back on your feet and pick up your blades at the same time.

"You're just making it worse," Levi grabbed your wrists, holding your hands behind your back. "Just admit I won this time."

"No way!" You stubbornly declared. You tried to get loose, though it was very difficult.

Levi moved, positioning himself on top of your torso, holding your arms in place with his legs. His hands brushed your hair aside and wrapped gently around your neck. "I would've had plenty of time to snap your neck by now, you lost this round."

You focused your energy on your neck, making every fiber of it stronger. "I'd like to see you try," you challenged, though you still couldn't free your arms. All's fair in love and war, right? Besides, it was his own fault for holding you down like this, you pinched him on the thigh.

"Hey, watch the hands!" He exclaimed in surprise, which lowered his guard enough for you to free your arms. He recovered very quickly and though you managed to grasp your blades, he pinned down your wrists before you could point one at his throat and declare yourself the winner. 

You weren't about to become trapped again and since fighting dirty worked last time, you threatened, "I'll spit on you!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Levi warned darkly, though he still scrambled to hold both your hands down with one of his and cover your mouth with his other hand, just in case. 

You bit him, causing him to let you go entirely, then bashed your forehead against his, which dazed him and bought you enough time to slip away from under him, gather your blades and get on your feet. 

"So you refuse to give up?" Levi voiced in a challenging tone. What in the world had you gotten yourself into? 

To be Continued

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