Year: 851
Location: Scout Camp, Outside Wall Maria
The gentle twinkle of stars reflected in Leah's pupils as she gazed up at the sky, an absentminded smile on her features. The grass was still warm beneath her from the unrelenting heat of the sun throughout the day.
The cooler nights were welcomed with open arms as the summer days became unbearable. The Scouts had been working tirelessly to make their camp outside the walls sustainable, building a well and a makeshift farm to keep them going. When news of the new found safety outside the walls reached the Queen and Premier Zachary, they were quick to send reinforcements; more soldiers (an even mixture of MPs and Garrison), farmers and even engineers to help with the upkeep of their weapons and tents.
Their small beachside community was flourishing. The thing Leah looked forward to was her swim at the end of the day. Swimming wasn't something widely taught within the walls, due to the danger of drowning being all but zero, so Leah had to struggle to teach herself.
The skill came to her quickly, as the way she tread the water became second nature; as easy as she found killing titans. After her evening swim, where she scrubbed off all the dirt and sweat from a hard day's labour, Leah watched the stars - if the sky permitted.
Though the light pollution within the walls was minimal, the stars shone even brighter still in their newly discovered part of their island. This night was different though. While her stargazing was usually accompanied by the comforting chirp of crickets, tonight the low and distant hum of an engine grew closer from across the sea.
Unrest spread within the camp like a wildfire on a dry summer's day. From her vantage point on a grassy hill, Leah watched as green clad soldiers rushed around. It was clear something was going on. The Captain pushed herself into a standing position and scanned the campsite. Lanterns not marking important tents were being extinguished as the order for civilians to stay in their tents carried up to Leah in the refreshing breeze.
"Hey, Carrot-top. You're needed." Levi called from the base of the hill Leah observed from. She hadn't seen him approach, having been too focused on the chaos ensuing. She hastened to descend the hill at a half-run. "What's going on?"
"There's another Marleyean boat been spotted just off shore. Hange wants to do their stupid skit again."
The pair of them moved swiftly towards camp. "Hah, whatever you say, I think it's quite funny."
"You have a dumb sense of humour just like them, though."
Leah pouted exaggeratedly. "Rude." The raven-haired Captain scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Just go find Eren, will you? I need to get one of the hostages."
He placed a hand on Leah's back and nudged her in the direction of Eren's tent. "Alright, alright. Plan is a-go."
Leah and Eren bobbed off shore on a small row-boat, both disguised in all black clothing in an attempt to not stand out. The sizeable scouting boat sent by Marley cruised to a stop at a crag, and the pair could just about make out the movement of white uniformed soldiers on the deck.
"Ya ready, Eren?" Leah whispered, checking her ODM was secured around her frame. The brunette, who's hair had grown considerably in the past month or so due to neglect, stood and lifted a hand to his mouth. He nodded wordlessly, "On your word, Captain."
Leah stood wobbly and toyed with the handle of her gear, which emitted a reassuring click everytime. "Alright, let's do this."
Eren bit into his hand and at the same time, Leah shot into the air with her ODM Gear. The pair had practiced this to the point where they were a perfectly coordinated act, and as Eren's titan materialised as discretely as possible in the middle of the ocean, Leah swung down to land on his shoulder. Their row boat floated in splintered planks of wood around Eren's half-submerged torso.
Eren tilted his titan head to look to Leah for further instructions, his aquamarine irises glinting in the moonlight. Leah took up a handful of the titan's matted black hair and wrapped it around her hand a couple times. "All good for submerging, Eren."
The titan nodded his head, jerking Leah's attached arm with it, before slowly sinking into the water. Leah gasped in a final breath and squeezed her eyes shut in preparation for their submersion. All the force on her body lifted as the frigid water swelled around her. For the briefest second she was weightless, floating in the saline water.
The icy temperatures of the water lessened as her body acclimatised quickly, thanks to her regular evening swims. The hair which she tightly gripped went taught around her hand and dragged her along through the water. The resistant forces causes her to strain at first, but after reaching her second hand out to grip the makeshift rope, the effort lessened. Leah was dredged through the water blindly, unaware of time or space in that moment.
Her daily practice of holding her breath as long as possible - something which always left Armin a nervous wreck on the sidelines - paid off as her lungs had barely reached their usual burning, aching state by the time Eren resurfaced.
Sodden and panting, Leah dangled from the back of Eren's head. Above her, casting an all encompassing shadow, was the butt of the Marley boat. Leah craned her neck to gaze up at it, squinting her eyes as droplets of water dripped down on her.
Eren, straining to keep the boat above their heads, began striding to shore. When the water relented to a flat span of rock, Eren dumped the boat down, instantly landlocking it.
Hange, Levi, their chosen Marleyean hostage and a collection of other Scouts and soldiers gathered around the ship, preparing for Hange to engage the enemy.
The incoherent yabbering of Hange's speech didn't quite reach Leah's ears as she scrambled to perch on Eren's shoulder once more. The woman shook off like a dog, trying to rid some of the water that saturated her clothing.
Leah patted the titan's jaw. "Good job looking hella' ominous, Jeager." A grumbling growl came from the titan in response as he towered over the boat below them.
When the soldiers a-board the boat only continued to point their guns at Hange, Levi and their blonde Marleyean hostage, Leah let out an exasperated sigh. "Guess that's my cue."
The woman let go of Eren's hair and stepped off his shoulder, free falling towards the boat's deck. Her waterlogged cape flapped out behind her, sending droplets of water scattering everywhere. Just before she collided with the metal, she activated her gear and swung up.
Startled screams echoed from the boat and the barrels of the soldiers' guns turned to Leah as she landed elegantly on deck. The click of a gun broke through the heavy breathing of terrified soldiers and Leah's head swivelled to the young man who held the gun in his trembling hands.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Leah smirked and jabbed a thumb in the direction of Eren's titan, "Ya see, I mean a lot to that titan shifter, for whatever reason, and if you shoot me- well, let's just say he won't be so hesitant to show you how he feels. I'm sure none of you really fancy seeing the insides of a titan, right?"
The white uniformed soldiers shared scared looks and a few of them lowered their weapons. "Good choice." Leah spun on her heels, sauntering bravely past the soldiers and towards the bow of the ship where the boat's captain stood shaking with anger - or fear.
"Care to take us up on that offer for tea?" She smiled charmingly, offering a brief wave to her comrades on shore. The man gritted his teeth, a look of fury and indignation only growing on his features.
"I'd rather die at the hands of a titan than drink pig piss with devils!" He roared, aiming his gun at Leah. Her eyes widened significantly, staring death straight in the face. The deafening bang ricocheted through the night's air and Leah squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the pain or death itself to kick in. But it never came.
"Leah!" A panicked squeal from Armin drove home the fact that Leah was still standing and breathing.
When the ringing in her ears subsided she peeked one eye open. The Marleyean Captain no longer stood before her. Her gaze dropped to see him, along with his gun, now lay at her feet; a bloody circle pierced onto the side of his skull from a bullet. His helmet sat uselessly on the deck, being stained red as his warm blood oozed from the hole in his head.
When Leah breathed in, the air carried with it a metallic sting, mixed with the acrid stench of gunpowder smoke that she despised so much. Leah steeled her emotions and the sudden urge to vomit with a clench of her jaw. She lifted her gaze from the body, towards where the bullet must of come from. With the gun still poised, smoke billowing from the barrel, was another blonde Marleyean soldier.
"Uh- put your hands up, Yelena!" Growled one of the male soldiers, diverting his threat of death to his comrade. The named soldier, Yelena, pointed her gun right back at him. "Lay down your weapons." Her voice was authoritative and calm, carrying with it the introduction of another mutineer.
A second white clad soldier, with dark skin like Leah had never seen, approached the first soldier from behind, pushing his gun right in his face. "What are you-"
"Do as she says." He said coolly. Leah's eyes darted between the Marleyans, taken aback by the sudden rebellion. Yelena removed her helmet, and started striding towards the bow. The closer she got, the more Leah realised this woman stood nearly double her height.
"Leah, Hange. I'd like to accept your invitation." Yelena spread her arms, slinging one over the soaking and shivering Leah's shoulder and hugging her close. "Let's have some tea."
-
Leah peered curiously over Hange's soldier to get a better look at the smaller, more efficient guns of Marley, which held a supply of up to 8 bullets per pistol. "Oooh, I see now! So that's why your guns can shoot so many bullets." Hange jibbered excitedly, loading the pistol in her hands.
"Back in Marley those weapons are standard issue." Yelena replied nonchalantly, before taking a sip of her tea. Leah mimicked the action, lifting her teacup to her lips to drink in the warm liquid. She'd been pacing back and forth, trying to get a heat into her body. Swimming at night was not a good idea, she'd learnt.
"The Marleyean Army is compromised of 50 divisions, each made up of 20,000 troops. That comes out to a million soldiers in total." The shocking figures made Leah freeze her erratic marching, her jaw dropping open, only until a chill ran through her and she was forced to continue her pacing.
"Then there's the Marleyean Navy. It's divided into three fleets, with 21 battleships each. Marley's been developing new weapons, too. They're making strides in the field of aerial warfare." Yelena continued.
"Aerial?" Hange repeated slowly, drawing out the 'ay' sound. "What's that?" Leah piped curiously.
"Tch. Keep it together or they'll think we're weak." Levi hissed under his breath to Hange and his Co-Captain. "I know that!" Hange whisper-shouted back, as if the two Marleyean soldiers before them couldn't hear a thing. Onyankopon, the darker skinned soldier, looked to Leah with an amused smile and rolled his eyes slightly at Hange and Levi's antics. The red-head stifled a snort as Onyankopon elaborated on what Yelena left.
"In other words, they're making flying ships which can circumvent walls by attacking from the sky."
Hange abruptly stood, leaning forward on the table. "Huuuuuuh- they'll attack from the sky?!" They screeched in a mix of panic and curiosity. "Hange!" Levi warned. Leah stepped forward and placed a hand on Hange's shoulder from behind, urging them to sit back down.
Yelena went on to explain the reason why Marley hadn't used any of these advanced techniques yet - the fact that Pure titans roamed the Eldian island prevented Marley from landing any forces. Their plan for confining Eldians inside the walls backfired, but now that wasn't an issue, with Eldia being all but free from titans.
Yelena was quick to pick up on this fact, coming to the conclusion by the reasoning that it was soon becoming daytime, and nobody was showing any signs of panic about titans becoming active again, which had to mean the titans were wiped out.
The second reason as to why Eldia hadn't been attacked yet was because Marley had other priorities; being at war with several allied countries meant that invading Paradis Island had to be thrown to the back-burner for the time being.
Leah's attention piqued when Hange questioned the two soldiers as to whether they were spies from other countries, sent to take down Marley from the inside. Yelena denied this, but explained her motivations. "We were utterly powerless. That is... until we met him."
Leah halted her pacing and fixed her gaze on Yelena as she spoke, slowly edging towards the table until she stood directly between Hange and Levi, a hand on the backs of either of their chairs.
"People feared that titan the world over. They called him a devil. But to me, he looked like something else entirely. A God. One that gave hope to the powerless." Yelena paused, a distant and dreamy look on her face. As she tilted her head back down, the look was replaced with that of fierce loyalty and determination.
"Our mutiny was carried out at the express command of Zeke Jeager. We're the anti-Marleyean volunteers." Leah's lips parted as a gasp escaped her and her grip tightened on the backs of the wooden chairs. "And our goal, is to free the Eldian people."
Leah stormed out the tent, Levi in hasty pursuit. "Leah, wait." He pleaded firmly, jogging after her as she sped walked away.
"I'm not working with him. It's not happening." She snapped angrily. Levi's hand clasped hers and jerked her to a stop. Leah rounded on him, her eyes flicking between Levi's diplomatic gaze and his hand wrapped around hers, locking her in place.
She considered him for a second, letting her heavy, agitated breathing return to semi-normal. "You can't seriously be considering it. He killed Erwin." She jibed.
"I know that!" Levi snapped back, dropping her hand and stepping closer to her until his panting breaths mingled with hers. "But we don't get much of a say."
His words were reasonable, which stumped Leah. She stared back at him angrily for a few moments longer before dropping her gaze with a frustrated growl. "I won't hesitate to kill him."
Levi's slender fingers grasped her jaw gently, tilting her head back up until their gaze met again. "Neither will I." He said sincerely, his voice carrying a hint of malice in it.
When the plan proposed by Yelena was taken back within the walls to the Military court to be discussed, Leah realised this whole thing was bigger than her unrelenting grudge. Though her feelings were valid, they meant nothing in comparison to the opportunity to free the people of Eldia from their unknowing oppression. During Hange's proposition as to why they should work with Zeke and the anti-Marleyean volunteers, Leah kept quiet and bit her tongue.
When the motion was supported, Leah knew she'd just have to grin and bear it. Even if the idea of helping that back-stabbing, lying, murdering hairy monkey did make her stomach twist and face burn in fury.
Leah was in no way prejudice against the Marleyean volunteers, or even their hostages. Her aversion to working with Zeke was purely personal.
At first, progress with the plan was slow. The Eldian military, which at this point was just a merge of all the previous regiments, worked alongside the Marleyean volunteers to lure in more scout ships and take more Marleyean prisoners which had the choice of rotting in a cell or helping with the modernisation of Paradis. A surprising amount chose the former.
When they weren't undermining their enemy across the sea, the military were advancing the technology of the Island with the help of Onyankopon. He managed to sway the opinion of some captured Marleyean engineers, who begrudgingly helped with the advancement of the Paradis train-line and harbour.
Leah, too fascinated and preoccupied with the new technologies like radios, trains and the new cuisines brought by Marleayan captives, failed to notice the shift in Eren's character. No, failed to is the wrong wording. Leah refused to notice. She didn't want to see him as anything apart from the guileless young boy that she'd been tasked with protecting years ago.
She too kept her views on the rumbling secret from everyone apart from Levi. On more than one occasion Leah had woken during the night in a cold sweat after a nightmare of thousands of colossal titans flattening the globe, leaving it a flat and barren land. At the forefront of it was a monstrous version of Eren's titan, towering upwards of a hundred meters tall. In every version of the nightmare Leah was powerless to stop it and cursed to watched it all unfold; watch women, children and animals alike being crushed under the feet of the giants.
After the third time having this dream in one month, Leah returned to Levi's tent, knowing he too would be awake. The journey from her tent to his, short as it were, provided a momentary relief to her scorching skin as the cool night air fanned her. When she'd woken it had felt as if her face had actually been singed by steam of the Colossal titan.
She crouched outside his tent, hesitating to unzip it. "Levi? It's me. Are you awake?" There was a long silence where Leah wondered if Levi had finally managed to get some sleep. Alas, his voice whispered back. "Yes. Come in."
He lit a lantern, and the light cast onto his face revealed the ever growing dark circles under his eyes. "Another nightmare?" He asked, rubbing his eyes, before yawning and stretching. Leah settled down beside him, sitting cross legged amongst his nest of blankets and pillows.
She nodded, a soft hum of confirmation emitting from her throat. "Still not able to sleep?"
"I gave up a long time ago." He sighed, leaning back to rest on his elbows, his legs stretched out before him.
Leah sighed too. "I'm exhausted. Who knew modernising a whole island would take so much effort."
Levi grunted in amusement. Silence hung in the air for a moment, in which Leah picked at her nails which were the shortest they'd been in a while. "You need to stop worrying. The threat of the rumbling is purely strategical. It'll never actually come to it." Levi's hand reached out and landed on Leah's knee, his thumb gently rubbing a circle on her patella.
Leah shut her eyes and sighed yet again. "It terrifies me, Levi. I don't want to believe that Eren could be capable of such a thing, but every day more of the boy I used to know dies to be replaced by a monster with the heartlessness to do just that."
Levi shifts into a more comfortable position, lying on his side and propping up his head on his fist. "I'm sure when he meets the citizens of Marley- lives amongst them... it will be impossible for him to actually consider the rumbling. The kid's not that heartless."
Leah wasn't convinced. The change in Eren was startling, more than once Leah had overheard him chanting to himself about how 'It has to be done' and there was 'no alternative but the one set in stone'.
The red-head gulped. "I don't want to go to Marley." Levi sighed at her honesty and rolled onto his back. "Worry about it in the morning. For now lie down, Leah. You should try and get some sleep."
She obliged, stretching out beside her closest companion and staring up at the ceiling of his tent, watching as the green colour drained from it as Levi extinguished the lantern.
Before lying back down, Levi reached over a hand to brush the hair from Leah's face and pressed his lips to her forehead in a tender kiss. Leah let out a gentle breath and let her eyes flutter closed.
The feeling would never get old. Leah was addicted to the tingle that shot through her body whenever Levi's lips touched her, whether it be to kiss her forehead, cheek or hand. The action had grown more common over the past year as the pair spent more and more time together outside of their Captaining roles. How she lusted to feel his lips on hers.
However, Leah never addressed the feelings she felt towards Levi, naive enough to convince herself anything between them was impossible. Afterall, they were on the brink of war, not exactly the perfect time to start a relationship.
The word 'crush' was too childish to describe the way she felt about Levi. The truth was, she had a deeper connection with him than she'd had with any other human being in her life. An unspoken trust that no matter what, they'd always be there for each other. They'd lost their squad, their commander / mutual best friend. So much had changed since they'd met, so much death and betrayal, but they both found comfort in the fact that they were a constant in each other's lives.
Levi knew for a fact he'd be willing to lay down his life for Leah. He was aware of the Ackerman bond, and was sure he'd felt his alligience shift the second Erwin's soul left his body. He knew he'd still fulfil his promise to Erwin to kill the Beast titan, but he also accepted the fact that the most important person to him now was Leah. But there was something more than his instinctual loyalty. He genuinely cared- no. Loved.
Kenny had been right. Everyone was drunk on something and for Levi it was his Co-Captain. Everyday he wished he could find the words to explain how she consumed his every thought. How whenever he heard one of Connie's jokes, which so often left Leah crying from laughter, he wanted nothing more than to run and tell it to her immediately, just to see the precious way her eyes twinkled and her cheek dimpled when she beamed. How the only thing that kept him sane as he lay awake with insomnia, was the image of her mesmerising viridescent eyes that was scarred into his retina.
How whenever he saw a deer prance into the tree-line of the forest beside camp, he was reminded of the time Leah - exhausted and especially hormonal - had broken down crying as Sasha returned with a deer she'd shot to feed the camp.
Most importantly, Levi Ackerman longed to love Leah Anderson. The raven-haired male despised physical touch. The idea of anyone touching him made him squirm uncomfortably and want to rip his skin off. But when Leah's hands touched him he felt whole. It felt natural.
But at the same time, as the two Captains lay side by side in the darkness of Levi's tent, listening to the distant call of a hunting owl, they knew they didn't have to admit these feelings.
They were conveyed clearly everyday by the way their eyes lingered on each other just that second longer than they usually would; by the content smile that graced Levi's face only when he spoke to Leah; by the way they were constantly on the same wavelength about plans; by the way Leah fought to keep her eyes open when Levi would read to her in her tent, just so that she wouldn't have to say goodnight to him. These small things, insignificant details to a passerby, were the foundation of their unspoken love.
Already half-asleep, Leah rolled onto her side and sleepily groped for Levi, her arm snagging his torso to pull him closer. In the darkness of twilight, Levi's lips curled into a smile as he maneuvered an arm around Leah to hug her tightly.
"G'night, Levi." She slurred. Levi pecked the bridge of her nose. "Goodnight, Leah."
(4131 words)