The Art of Love & War

Worth Everything

Levi couldn't ever look at Captain Tatum the same way ever again.

Hell. Who would've thought?

He gritted his teeth as he pondered. It was mid-day and they were halfway through training with the 3DMG. Sitting in a tree on his little break, the thought of using Tatum's little secret to his advantage crossed his mind many, many times.

Imagine if the superiors of the military found out about one of their captains taking part in illegal underground fights. She could get kicked out, or at the worst scenario, get executed. He could use that bit of information as blackmail to get the Captain to get the documents for him. But whether it will work on the Captain was the question.

Because he didn't know if he was willing to tell on her activities to the superiors or not.

Sure, he'd taken quite a few lives before. Sure, he's wrecked a lot of havoc. But was he willing to be the reason a person like her would lose her job or life? A person one would rarely find in a world as cruel as theirs?

Because of people like her, people in the slums could get by a little bit easier. Because of people like her, thugs that were worse than his trio would rarely prey on the weak she was protecting. And because of people like her, Levi didn't think that the human race was doomed after all.

But problem is, there were rarely people like her.

There wasn't anyone like her he's ever come across.

Shit, he silently cursed.

He couldn't remember a time when he's ever pondered over something for so long. Mainly because he's never had this much to think about. Most of the time it was making decisions to keep Isabel and Farlan safe. Or whether to accept jobs to make enough for them to live on.

He knew how stubborn the captain was from what he'd observed. He knew just how intimidating she was and how exceptional her poker face was. He felt like she was the type of person to turn the tables so fast that even the sharpest minds wouldn't even know what hit them.

After he got back, Isabel had been asking him non-stop about his recent night out. He chose to keep silent, giving the impression that it had been yet, another silent night. Instead, he watched the captain whenever he had the chance. He just couldn't help it.

And he had absolutely no idea why he never figured it out in the first place.

The way she sat in the Mess Hall during meal times, how she balanced a leg over the other and wiggled her foot occasionally. Or the way she pressed her thumb and forefinger to the ridge between both her eyes when she was thinking. Or even the way she walked, one foot directly in front of the other with a little bounce in her step. Or the rolling of her shoulders to go with her stride. All very specific traits he didn't usually find in anyone else.

He glanced from his perch on his tree and out to the nearby field that stretched for miles. And right there, in the middle of the lush greens, was a golden, almost white mare roaming with its exceptionally tiny trainer on its back.

Tatum had her gear on and seemed to be heading towards the tree a few miles away from where she currently was. Wanting to get a closer look, he followed her by going a little deeper into the forest, careful to keep her in his sights.

For a moment, he really didn't want anything to do with her. For a moment, he just wanted to focus on his most current task at hand. Erwin Smith.

But the woman just really hoarded up a lot of space in his head.