Steve yawned and looked out of the window. Little Cloudy was nowhere to be seen. Was he asleep somewhere? After all, the morning was just beginning. There was a knock. If Little Cloudy flew back to our old home? There was another knock. No, Little Cloudy knew that they had moved. "If he's hungry, he'll show up," Steve thought.
The knocking turned into a continuous pounding.
"Yes, yes, yes," Steve replied to the aggressive banging on the door to the research lab he now had to share with Hanji. "Why don't you come in, Ayumi? Since when so poli-," Steve stopped when he saw who was standing in front of his door. The little hope of humanity in person.
Without showing any emotion, Levi held out an uniform including a cape to him. "Can Chagara wear this?"
"What?" Steve looked confused at the uniform and back at Levi's expressionless face.
"Can she move around in it easily or can my uniform hinder her?"
"Your uniform?," repeated Steve in disbelief.
"Do you have bad ears? I don't have all day."
Steve quickly grabbed the uniform and cape, wanting to avoid a physical confrontation with Levi. He had seen the Heichous' workouts too many times already. "That should be fine. But I won't know for sure until she tries it on."
"Okay." Levi turned to leave.
"Uh, Levi?" Steve had gathered all his courage.
The man addressed looked at Steve with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh, Levi Heichou, I mean. Um... Why? Why don't you give Ayumi your uniform yourself?" Steve shut his eyes quickly. Would Levi hit him now?
"Tell her you had asked the guys from the clothing distribution this morning again. They had it."
"What?," Surprised, Steve snapped his eyes open again.
"Got it?"
"Uh... yeah... thanks... Levi Heichou," he called after Levi before walking back into the research lab and shaking his head as he hung the uniform and cape over an empty chair. "What was that?," he wondered as he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Was he dreaming? Had that just been hallucinations? Because of the lack of sleep? Yawning, he reached for his water cup and took a sip.
"Steve," he suddenly heard someone behind him saying.
In shock, the person addressed spat out his water.
"Yes?" he asked, coughing, and recognising Levi. He had come back.
"The mission... Is it dangerous?"
"Well, they're an experienced team," Steve began. "A very good team. But there's always a risk factor." "Are those worry lines?", wondered Steve. "But I will personally check Chagara's equipment very carefully again. Twice. Of course," he added energetically, raising his hand in an oath.
"You do that," Levi nodded and left Steve alone. Relieved, he settled down on a chair.
***
"Miiiike!" Chagara called cheerfully and ran towards her old friend.
The addressed man stopped at the entrance, leaned against the wall and waited.
"Notice anything?", Chagara wanted to know as she stood in front of him, spinning in a circle. Her movements swirled more scent to Mike's nose.
"Have you ever seen such a beautiful uniform before?," she daffed.
"So you finally got one?," he asked with a smile.
Chagara nodded. "It's not quite my size, but Steve said it would work." The girl looked down at herself and shook her head the next moment. "What am I excited about? I have to get outside the walls," she thought. "Well, if I get caught, at least I was well dressed."
"So he apologised?" He earned a questioning look for his question.
"Who?"
"Levi," Mike replied. When Chagara didn't answer, Mike continued. "That's Levi's scent," he explained, pointing to Chagara's clothes. "So Levi's uniform."
It took a moment, but finally a grin spread across Chagara's face, framed by red cheeks.
"What?", Mike wanted to know.
"Nothing!" replied Chagara quickly. "I have to go."
Mike nodded. "Come back," he called after her.
Chagara raised her hand and waved, but her thoughts only circled around her uniform. Was it really Levi's? Had he given it to Steve? Was Steve supposed to lie to her? Apparently.
"Whoops!" she heard a familiar voice say. A firm grip around her upper arm saved her from a collision. "You shouldn't be dreaming out there?" said Erwin as she looked up at him.
"That's why I'm still doing it now," she winked at him.
Erwin laughed. "Peter's in the stable."
Chagara nodded and allowed Erwin to tousle through her hair. "Take care!" he said as a farewell.
He had been standing at the window since dawn, waiting for her. "But now?", thought Levi. It felt like he was lying on broken glass. Erwin laughed, Erwin tousled through her hair. He had never done that to a girl before. Erwin had to like Chagara. Trembling, he reached for his uniform jacket and pulled it on. "Get ready for training," he ordered himself in his mind.
On the way to the stable, Chagara glanced back at the main building. Her eyes were looking for a very certain window. But no one was to be seen.
"Would have been nice if you had told me to take care, Levi," she thought sadly, stroking the sleeve of his uniform jacket.
Mike looked up at the sky. It was clear and cold. But would the weather stay like this?
"How long will they be gone?" he asked Erwin as he stood beside him.
Slowly more and more soldiers came out of the stable with their horses.
"Longer. Maybe until our next expedition," the commander replied.
Mike watched as Chagara came out of the stable with her horse. She took up position at the end of the troop.
"Do you think it's a good idea?," asked Mike. "Expedition in the winter time? Snow, frozen ice, sub-zero temperatures. Our chances of survival will be even worse."
"Our expedition isn't for another couple of weeks," replied Erwin.
"Mm." Mike noticed Peter riding his horse past the soldiers. "Doesn't that bother you?"
"What?"
"That your family is leaving. Possibly not coming back."
Erwin thought for a moment. Sadness broke through his usually cool gaze. "You have to make sacrifices for a goal. We can't hide forever. We are becoming more and more human. But our food is getting less. And who knows how long the walls will last. The solution to all this lies somewhere out there. That's why we have to get out. And I am grateful to everyone who dares to go outside." Erwin stood behind these words with full conviction.
"Mmh." Mike counted the soldiers. There were indeed only twenty-five.
"Chagara!," they suddenly heard Peter shout.
"Ready!," the latter shouted.
At Peter's gesture with his hand, the troop started to move.
"Don't forget the trainings," Erwin reminded Mike before entering the building.
Mike looked after the soldiers. "Who would have thought you would end up in this troop, Ayumi," he thought. Shaking his head, he recalled their first encounter. Matted hair, emaciated, torn clothes - but a strong will to survive.