In Time. (Levi Ackerman/Attack on Titan Fan Fiction)

Chapter 2: ODM Gear.

Today the cadets were training on the ODM gear, Diana was slightly nervous about this, but she tried her best to keep calm about it. When it came to her turn on the ODM simulator, she clipped herself in, staring up at the machine around her. Not as intimidating as I thought.  She looked around at her comrades, seeing that Mikasa, Eren and a couple of others were also getting ready to practise. Letting out a breath, she allowed herself to relax into the belts as the machine began to move slowly, her feet lift off the ground. She floated there for a moment, feeling utterly weightless. The success she felt brought a smile to her face, her eyes shifted over to Mikasa, who floated there too, her face, however, was neutral. Diana turned back to the crowd of onlookers again, she enjoyed how they looked on at  Mikasa and herself in awe. The crowd soon began to laugh, however, and their gazes began to look away. With a frown, Diana's eyes followed their gaze, landing on Eren who was upside down. Poor Eren. 

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After ODM training was over, Diana, along with Mikasa and Armin stayed back with Eren, hoping to help him get the hang of the ODM gear. He was determined, as they all were, to get the hang of the gear. Diana watched on as Armin helped Eren set up the simulator, her mind filled with doubts on whether Eren would be safe if he joined the scouts. Her face muscles strained as she tried to keep her face neutral, though she had doubts, she wanted to stay strong for Eren. 

"Just remember the basics and you should be fine." She spoke, smiling slightly at Eren, hoping the look would give him some sort of confidence. 

"No need to try any fancy manoeuvres." Mikasa continued. "Just focus on your balance, then distribute your weight evenly between the belts on your waist and your legs." She explained as simply as she could. 

"Loosen up your stance a little bit, if I can do it I know that you can!" Armin also advised Eren with a smile. 

"Okay, a loose stance but balanced, let's give it a shot Armin!" Eren called, his voice determined. Armin nodded before beginning to wind up the mechanism. Eren slowly rose off the ground, it almost seemed like he'd gotten the gist, but as quickly as he seemed to succeed, he lost balance and let out a yelp as he flipped, bashing his head on the ground.  Diana winced at the sight of him as Mikasa rushed to his side to help him. Diana quickly followed, helping her lift Eren off the ground. 

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Diana entered the mess hall for dinner, she made her way over to the table, grabbing herself some bread and soup, and as she began to walk over to Eren's table she was cut off by a tall figure, Marco. He smiled down at her, his freckled face made Diana smile back. 

"Hey!" He exclaimed.

"Hi."

"Would you like to come and sit with me, I've been wanting to ask you to hang out all day but I kept getting nervous, you're really beautiful." He stuttered through his words, Diana smiled wider, feeling a small blush on her face.

"Marco, you're really sweet but I think I'm a bit too old for you." She laughed lightly following her words. 

"What do you mean? I'm 16." He spoke, his smile dropping into a frown. 

"Oh well that's older than most of the guys here, but I'm 19." She tried to explain, without putting him down further but he looked down, a slight disappointment in his eyes. "But I guess I could still come and sit with you." Diana smiled again, his eyes lit up a little and he gestured for Diana to follow him.  The two sat down at a table with Jean and a couple of other people. 

"Wow, Marco, who is this?" Jean asked, his eyes wide as they stared at Diana, she flashed an awkward smile his way. 

"I'm Diana." She spoke. 

"Well Diana, you have - um - such beautiful eyes." He told me, causing Diana to laugh and look down. "I mean uh they're so different, where did you get them?" He then asked. 

"Um, I was born with them." Diana joked, smirking over at Marco, who chuckled along with himself. Jean looked down, embarrassed, causing a twang of guilt to shoot through Diana.  

"No I mean, do all your family have purple eyes?" Jean corrected himself 

"Well my mother doesn't and I've never met my father." Diana explained with a shrug, Jean nodded at the response.  

"You're hair too, it's so white." 

"Yes, well same answer, it's not from my mother's side." Diana explained again, getting tired of the conversation. 

"Well, it's still unique, I like it." Jean spoke, nervously. 

"Yes, well thank you, but as I said to Marco, you're a little too young for me." Diana, again, tried to let him down easily, but like with Marco, there was a slight glint of disappointment in his eyes. 

"Why did you join the cadet corps so late?" Marco then asked Diana, sending a twang of sadness through her body. 

"Oh, well it just wasn't my plan, but then I lost my family in the fall of Shinganshina and I just wanted to fight for them, avenge them in a way I guess." She explained quickly, not wanting to stay on this subject any longer.  "Also I wanted to be there for Mikasa, Armin and Eren, they're like younger siblings and when they decided to join I just thought, I have to, for them." Diana finished, hoping this explanation would steer the topic away, she glanced up at Marco and Jean, both of who were staring at Diana in shock. 

"I'm sorry that you lost people." Marco spoke, placing his hand on her, she sent him a small smile, but pulled her hand away and continued to eat her dinner. 

"It's not your fault, not anyone's, just the titans."