"Are you sure?!" Petra screamed as our horses ran through the open field. The Levi Squad—myself included—was on an excursion outside the walls along with Section Commander Hanji. Our goal was to capture two titans.
"Positive!" I replied, grinning. I absolutely adored being outside the walls. The air felt fresher and the grass looked greener, but there was something else to it, too. I just couldn't pinpoint what it was.
I noticed Levi look back at me as I unsheathed my blades and sat up on my horse, "Sit down," he said, "That's an order. Don't go off fighting those titans yourself." He was referring to the mob of five titans following us, one of which was an abnormal.
"That's alright," I smiled and balanced, standing atop my horse now, "See ya!" I froze and fell backwards on my horse, pulling the trigger seconds before I hit the dirt and bouncing myself into the air. The Squad could escape now, I'd just catch up once I took care of the titans bothering us.
As I shot through the air, I extended my arm effortlessly and swung around to the front of an ugly blonde titan with too many teeth. I attached my hook to it's shoulder and zipped all the way past its neck to its backside, winking at it along the way.
When I felt my line tighten behind me, I flung myself backwards and squeezed my handles, making the wire retract and shoot me towards the titan's nape. Perfect. I grinned and stuck my arms out to the side before swinging them and using my momentum to spin like a top.
A huge chunk of flesh from the titan flew through the air as my swords dug deep into its nape. I wiped some of the blood from my face absentmindedly as the creature crashed to the ground. My maneuver gear clicked and I zipped toward the next titan, this one with white hair and eyes that were way too big.
Annoyingly, this one was more aware of my presence and was facing me already once I reached it. I decided to tease it a little. Without hesitation, I shot my hook into the back of its head, grimacing at the blood that squirted out.
I reached the back of its head and swung myself to the top of its head, stamping on it a few times. "Got anything in there?" I asked it, kicking the hairs on its head, "Damn, doesn't seem like you do." I shrugged and swung back down to the titan's nape as I felt the air around me shift.
In an instant, the titans hand was flying towards me, but I just barely dodged it, "Hey, watch out!" I told the titan, stabbing its nape with my sword before pulling it out and shooting backwards to get a better angle. Once I was in the perfect position, I squeezed the trigger and flew forward, taking the titan down in a single cut, "Sucks that you didn't help your friends," I told the rotting corpse below me as I zipped toward the remaining titans, who were now catching up to the Levi Squad, "I can't relate, though."
"Y/N." a threatening voice came out of nowhere beside me. I whipped around to see Levi flying next to me with his maneuver gear.
"Why hello, Captain!" I smiled, "What brings you to this part of town?"
"Tch," Levi said, though a hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips, "You need to stop chasing titans and come back down there with the rest of us."
"Ugh, Levi," I felt a few butterflies in my stomach when I remembered that he didn't care if I used his first name, "We talked about this, remember?"
"Yes," Levi deadpanned, "and we agreed that you would stay with the squad."
"I don't remember it like thaaat," I lied, "I'm pretty sure you said I could do what I want."
"I didn't."
"Okay, well—" I was cut off by a crash as a titan appeared beside us out of the blue, "Shit! LEVI!" I shouted, unhooking my line from a nearby tree and to the titan, "Watch out!"
He spun around, catching my attention. That was my downfall. I got distracted. I always knew it would be how I'd go out one day, but I hadn't exactly assumed it would be Levi. Hm.
The titan's fingers felt like they would crush me as they squeezed my body. My head was pounding and it felt like it was overflowing with pressure. I hear a crack and tried to scream, but no noise came out. How did I get here? Why was it so dark? Was I inside of a titan's hand?
I noticed the horrible smell and sweaty skin surrounding me, only confirming my fears. For some reason, though, the hand wasn't moving, and I wasn't being eaten alive. If I were inside a titan's grasp, why wasn't I dead yet? I tried to take a deep breath and recollect myself, but my ribs felt like they were stabbing my lungs when I tried to breathe.
"God damnit," I muttered, pushing my arms as hard as I could toward my swords, "You smell like cow piss, you know that?" I told the titan as I sighed in relief. My fingers touched the handle of my swords and wrapped around them. In a surge of fury, I whipped my shoulders around and sliced the titan's fingers clean off.
I chuckled slightly to myself as I took in a sharp breath of frigid night air. How long had I... how long had I been in that titan's hand? The only reason I survived was because it was night time and they couldn't move at night, but it had barely been sunset when we left, meaning I'd been trapped here for quite some time.
Everything felt like it was in slow motion as I fell through the dark void that filled the air at night. I lazily attached my ODM hook to a nearby tree and swiftly landed on a branch. I sat between two branches where there was space and I felt myself becoming more aware of my surroundings. I felt a stab in the side of my chest when I tried to take a deep breath. I didn't want to exaggerate my own injury, but I worried my rib might be broken.
After a moment, however, the pain disappeared when I remembered my squad. Were they okay? Had those titans killed them all?! I snapped my head up and scanned the almost empty field, a few trees dotting the plains here and there. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw three titans behind trees. They were probably the ones from earlier, and they were the same height. My squad was likely safe.
I, however, was not. I knew how to get home from here, but it would take a full day, but that's assuming my maneuver gear didn't run out if gas first. I checked my gas levels. I figured they would run out after most of one day, and I couldn't really use them until I passed a small forest. With this in mind, it would probably take me two days to arrive. That is, as long as I didn't get eaten first.
"Oh, cool," I thought, "I'll have a day to myself before the squad returns to the headquarters."
I thought for a moment as I dropped down the tree. Honestly, if I was really being truthful, I knew I'd miss the squad. Being a part of Squad Levi tended to mean we weren't really ever apart. I chuckled to myself under my breath. I wouldn't exactly miss Oluo or Gunther. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't particularly miss Eld or really Petra either. They were always the ones who held me back when I tried to just go have some fun. Our whole job was to kill titans, so why couldn't we?
And so, really, the only person I'd miss would be Levi. Though I was completely alone, I felt my cheeks heat up. Perhaps it wasn't that I longed for the Levi Squad, but that I longed for its Captain. I smiled and shook my head, tickled by the fact that I might be catching feelings for a superior. That certainly couldn't work, as he did not feel the same way, but I knew he favored me over the others.
I shot a hook into a nearby tree and zipped towards it, using the momentum to swing between the spread-out trees like some monkey. It could've been slightly embarrassing, but I didn't really care. Embarrassment wasn't something I messed with often, though my comrades begged to differ.
——
By the time the sun had started to rise, I could sense the danger in the air. Titans where waking up, posing a bigger threat than my lack of shelter, food, or water. With my current plan, I'd be able to survive without any of those things as long as I wasn't caught by titans. My laziness disappeared and I focused on avoiding titans as I zipped across the field. I was careful to use as little gas as possible, trying my best to conserve as much as I could to make the mission home faster.
My whole world froze as I felt a random gust of wind behind me. As though in slow motion, I whipped my head around to see a huge titan hand swinging behind me. Had I been a millisecond later to leave, I'd have been titan food. I shivered at the thought before zipping away. If the titan was an abnormal and chased me, I'd have no choice to kill it. They were usually faster, giving me no choice but to spend my gas and kill it. To my relief, the titan was far to slow to chase after me, so I continued on my way, being extra careful to avoid them in the future.
——
My breathing was heavy and raspy. The air felt thick and I felt like my shattered ribs were stabbing holes in my insides. My gas had run out that morning, but it certainly hadn't said that it would. It was still halfway full, according to the meter on its side. This mean I had to walk for a two full days and that I'd probably arrive just before the Levi Squad did. I sighed and brushed my hair away from my face, hiking through the shin-length grass. I coughed once, making my chest pang with pain.
——
I felt like I could only remember snippets from the previous days as I saw the Scouting Legion headquarters loom on the horizon. Mustering what remaining energy I had, I entered it through the back, which was the side I was coming from. I faintly remembered detouring to find water, so I would've ended up behind the building, which lay in a field not far from town.
I picked up my pace and trotted towards the back of the building, looking up at the wall. I knew all the windows would be locked, but I let out a sigh of relief to see that one was open. I figured it would take about the same amount of time for me to walk around to the front as it would to climb up to the window, and I was bored, so I chose the window. I shoved my foot in a crack in the wall and grabbed onto a windowsill below the open one I was aiming for, which was on the second floor.
As I scaled the wall, nearing the open window, I heard footsteps inside the old castle. They came to a halt after a moment, one pair just before the other. Muffled voiced sounded as though one person was trying to convince the other, but the person they were trying to convince was uninterested. I put my hand on the open windowsill and peered inside the room as the footsteps separated. One left, walking down the hall as the other approached the door. I knew I was behind schedule, but I didn't think I was that far behind that the Scouts would've already returned from their mission. They must've just arrived.
I looked around the room and smiled slightly upon realizing it was Captain Levi's office. I winced when I pulled myself into the window, cringing at the pain from my ribs and head. Sadly, this slight movement sent me tumbling onto the floor.
Before I had the chance to think, Levi bursted into the room, slamming the door behind him. He was cursing angrily under his breath, "Fuck them," his eyes were on the ground, "No, you left her. Fuck. Shit." I noticed his hands were at the sides of his head as though he were furious with himself.
"Uh..." I said, still laying on the floor. I wasn't sure I could stand with my injuries, "Levi?" I felt as though butterflies were exploding inside of me when he froze and stared directly at me from across the room. His mouth was open slightly and the room was silent.
"Y/N?" he breathed.
"Hey," I smiled, but it wasn't real. I had realized they left me there, and even if it was their job, I would've appreciated if they came back for me when I disappeared. On top of that, my ribs were stabbing me and I was honestly on the verge of tears at the point.
After a shocked moment, Levi sprinted towards me and squatted next to me, grabbing both of my hands to help me up. Or, I thought it was to help me up until he interlaced his fingers with mine and helped me sit up against the wall. "I can stand," I lied, slightly scared of being so close to him. I was scared I'd give away how nervous I was around him, and my cheeks would flush, leaving me no choice but to tell him how I felt.
"Don't," he replied. His face looked as though he was in a trance as he stared into my eyes. They flitted back and forth as though he was searching for something. I realized he still hadn't let go of my hands, and I certainly didn't want to let go of his.
"Just help me up, Levi," I said, rolling my eyes playfully.
"Tch," was his response. Despite his reaction, he stood up, separating our hands for just a moment. I felt my heart sink at the loss of contact, but I felt better when he held out his hand to pull me up. I grabbed it and gritted my teeth with the effort of standing up through the pain. Suddenly, I felt Levi yank my arm all the way up, pulling me to completely stand. Before I could do anything, I felt my legs get swept out from underneath me. Levi picked me up and set me down quickly on a sofa in his office.
A scraping sound came from behind my head as Levi dragged a chair to the front of the couch. He sat in it and leaned forward, not far from my face. "I thought you died."
I tensed up, but cringed when it made my ribs hurt. Why was he so blunt about it? And he didn't seem to care much that I had died—unless that was me he had been talking about earlier...
"Do I look dead to you?" I asked, smiling through the terrible pain in my chest as I tried hard not to blush.
"A little," Levi joked dryly.
"Hey," I almost laughed, "No need to be so mean to someone who's—Ah, yikes that hurt." I was cut off by a sharp pain in my side from laughing with my injuries.
"What did you do?" Levi asked, still seemingly lost in his trance.
"I escaped from that titan because it was dark," I responded, letting my hand fall to my side. My stomach flipped when it landed on Levi's, but neither of us moved, "And then I... uh... I climbed into your window." Levi chuckled slightly before looking down at my hand brushing against his. I froze again, scared for my life.
He intertwined our fingers once more and his face appeared millimeters from mine. I stared into his steely gray eyes, the butterflies now feeling as though they were attacking my insides. I could feel his breath on my lips, until I couldn't.
I don't know when exactly it happened, but my lips melted into his, making my heart flutter. I felt like my whole world was exploding with fireworks of happiness. He pulled away and brushed my hair from my face. My face heated up and I smiled when I saw that a tiny smile of his own was tugging at the corners of his lips.
His eyes were shiny and they were watering slightly. I didn't have the time to say anything before he picked me up by my shoulders and held me to him. Did Captain Levi Ackerman, Humanities Strongest, leader of the most elite squad in the regiment, just hug me? I didn't know what to think, but I hugged him back despite the pain in my chest. I rested my head on his shoulder and felt tears welling up in my own eyes.
Maybe he did care that I was alive.
We sat back, though I didn't take my arms from around his neck. Levi's eyes were slightly red and I felt a single tear fall from my own. Why was I crying? I was alive, right? And Levi had just kissed me! I was in no place to be upset, so why was my face wet with tears?
It didn't stay damp for long, though, because Levi held my head in his hands and wiped the tears from my face. "I just..." he started before his voice faded off and his lips meant mine once again. When we separated, he pulled me into a hug again. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I tried, I tried, but the titans were catching up to them," I felt him scrunch up his face, "I didn't know who to choose."
"I'm glad you chose them," I told Levi quietly, "and you chose to help save humanity instead of wasting it all on a single comrade."
"I was furious with you," he said, scaring me, "I went back to find you, but I couldn't. You just left me like that."
"I'm sorry," I leaned back to meet his silver gaze.
"But I was more mad at myself," Levi said, sounding miserable, "If I hadn't chosen the Squad over you, you wouldn't have been dead.
"Ah, but I didn't die, did I?" I replied, smiling, "I'm injured, but I'm right here, am I not?"
"Maybe I'm dreaming," he muttered.
"If you're dreaming," I leaned into his face, pausing just before my lips touched his, "then so am I."