AURORA
The water in the basin turned red as I soaked the cloth again before gently rubbing around the freshly stitched wound. Angling my head towards the mirror, I got a good look at my newest addition to the collection of scars I was quickly acquiring over the years and frowned at the small red puckered line cut into the tail of my left eyebrow, breaking the red hair slightly apart.
It had not been particularly deep and thanks to Hange's steady hand the stitches were neat and straight, so at least it would be a clean scar. Giving it one last look, I heaved a deep sigh before I returned to wiping the blood and dirt from the rest of my face wincing at the skin around my left eye that was beginning to turn into a nasty dark bruise, making my one grey eye stand out even more against the swollen flesh.
Brilliant.
Reclaiming Trost had been hell on earth. Riding with all haste as one scouting unit instead of using the long-range formation, we had arrived at the demolished gate of Trost being swarmed by Titans, our hearts in our throats. The commander had ordered us to abandon our horses and mount the Wall to assess the situation before deciding if we should engage in combat and climbing to the top of the walls, we had witnessed a sight straight from our worst nightmares as smoke polluted the air from the burning city of Trost with the screams of our people being devoured echoed through the early evening as Titans roamed unchecked, killing at will.
All hope had appeared to be lost for the district when suddenly, a primal roar had sounded through the air as a sizeable 15-meter titan emerged from the streets carrying an enormous boulder on his shoulders. The entire Scout regiment had watched in awe as soldiers below defended him with everything they had as he used the boulder to plug the breach in the Wall before collapsing to his knees with a scream. My heart had twisted in a fear when I had seen him fall, of course at the time I had no idea why I had felt that way for a Titan, but knowing what I know now it made perfect sense, somehow I must have instinctually knew who that Titan was.
The commander had snapped to action and ordered the Levi Squad to secure the Titan who had plugged the breach and Rian was given the order to join the command squad, no doubt to make use of his tactical mind. He had begun to refuse on the grounds of staying by my side, when I cut him off and told him to do as he was ordered. He had given me a strange look before leaving with the commander and his squad, almost like disbelief and I did not see him for the rest of the battle as the rest of the Scouts were ordered to fan out across the city and save who we could while killing any Titan in our way, and that's precisely what I had done while scanning the town for any sign of Eren, Mikasa and Armin. I had prayed to any god that was listening that they would be safe and seems that at least one had finally answered my prayers.
Carving my way through the southern section of Trost, I had come across numerous soldiers in desperate need of assistance and had tried to help where I could, but I hadn't been able to save everyone and because of that failure, the screams of those dying soldiers would be forever seared into my brain.
That didn't stop me from pushing and somewhere along the line, I had amassed a small number of cadets who followed my lead and helped deliver mankind's retribution to the Titans trapped within the city, unleashing our vengeance and mopping up the south with surprising speed, we moved through the streets towards the south-east quadrant of the city where we had come across a small group of soldiers, civilians and to my horror children that had been stranded on a church roof. Their numbers had attracted a herd of Titans that had surrounded the church reaching upwards for the terrified souls that were just out of their reach and my ragtag thrown together unit and I had descended upon the monsters slaughtering them mercilessly when one of the larger Titan's that the big blonde cadet, Reiner, had killed fell forwards and collapsed part of the church rooftop.
A high-pitched scream had alerted me to a woman on the roof who had desperately reached out to save her falling child from the path of the Titan's waiting jaws and Reiner had dove after the child regardless of the danger and had managed to grab him before he became an evening snack. However, in his rush to save the boy he hadn't accounted for the other Titan's still standing.
Propelling forward with speed, I had slammed Reiner and the boy out of the path of the Titan's groping hands and fell to the floor with them, smacking my head off the ground in the process and splitting my eyebrow. Jumping to my feet, I had grabbed the boy from the very startled Reiner and returned him to his mother before I continued on to kill the monsters invading our home, not stopping until every Titan in my path was slaughtered.
In the early hours of the morning as the sun was beginning to rise over the Wall, the sounds of the canons and screaming finally ceased, and an eerie silence fell upon the city. Exhausted I had collapsed in a heap and closed my eyes on some rooftop in the ass-end of Trost with Reiner and the other cadets Jean, Bertholt and Connie who had followed suit.
"You all did well today; a lot of people are alive because of you" I had said tiredly but with no less feeling "The scouts could use soldiers like you"
Someone had scoffed then, though I was unsure of who.
I had been quite content with the idea of sleeping on that rooftop for a week when I had heard more feet landing on the roof and too tired to move, I had laid there knowing that if danger had been near, I would have felt it.
What I had felt, however, was rough fingers brushing against the pulse point in my neck and cracking open one eye in curiosity, I had been greeted to the sight of Captain Levi leaning over me with a slight crease in his brow before he had sighed and turned to the others.
"All of you head for HQ" he had said in his usual monotonous tone "I'll take Sparhawke to medical"
Groaning in trepidation, I had pushed myself to my knees and watched as the others had taken their leave and left me alone with the Captain on that damn rooftop before Levi had reached his hand out for me, but in stubborn pride, I had refused and dragged myself to my feet unaided, a small smile pulling at my lips as he had shaken his head in exasperation.
The faces of my family had flitted into my mind then and I had unclipped my controls ready to go and search for them, knowing I wouldn't be able to rest until I had found every last one of them.
"Where do you think you're going in that state?" Levi had asked unimpressed and barely sparing him a glance I had shuffled to the edge of the rooftop intending to make a break for it when his hand had wrapped around my arm firmly holding me in place, my temper had risen then, and suddenly I wasn't tired anymore.
Pointedly looking at his hand on my arm and then back to his face, I had met his glare with one of own before gritting out "Let go". He had searched my face for a moment before something flashed in his eyes and he had suddenly pulled me forward and crashed his lips against my own.
I wish I could say that I had shoved him away and gave him hell, but the pathetic truth was that I found myself kissing him back. One of his hands had come to cup my face while the other had spanned my lower back to pull me closer as my hands had rested on his chest and though the kiss had started rough, it somehow had turned softer before he broke away and rested his forehead against mine as our breathing had come out in pants.
So many feelings had raced through my head from relief to finally have his lips on mine again, to confusion as to why he would kiss me when he had explicitly told me to not to get attached, to anger at his blatant disregard for my permission and finally to disgust at myself for momentarily forgetting about finding my family and for not punching him in the face as I had done with Eld the day he had taken liberties too. By not reacting in the same way as I had with Eld I all but confirmed to him that I wanted him and had not an ounce of self-respect for myself after everything that had happened between us.
Feeling thoroughly ashamed, I had stepped back from his arms and had looked anywhere but at him as I had tried to calm the storm inside me. Of course, he hadn't simply let me distance myself from him, reaching forward he pulled me back and tilted my head up so that my eyes had to meet his own before he had cupped my face again.
"Your family is safe for now" he had whispered gently, and I hadn't been able to stop the hopeful look that had taken root on my face "All of them"
I had released a sob of sheer relief as tears had fallen from my eyes and his thumb had wiped them away before he had moved another step closer, bringing his head inches from my own. I had feared he was going to kiss me again had begun to panic when I had realised what he had actually said.
"What do you mean by 'for now' ?" I had asked apprehensively. Sensing my change in my mood, he had taken a step back but had kept his hand on my face as he explained everything that he knew about Eren and his Titan transformation. He had tried his best to reassure me that he was in safe hands, but I hadn't been able to shake the feeling of dread at the knowledge of Eren being within the MPs clutches because if there was one thing that I knew about human nature, it was that we fear what we do not understand, and what we fear we seek to destroy. Eren now fell within that category, and I was afraid for him.
"Where is he?" I had asked, no doubt that fear was evident on my face because Levi had began to rub small circles with his thumb against my blood-stained cheek but at the time I had been too preoccupied with Eren's where about to think about the change in him.
"I don't know, but I have no doubt Erwin is working on that mystery as we speak. He thinks Eren could be useful. He also sent me to find you, he would like to see you as soon as your able, though I will tell him that you are going to medical first. That cut needs seeing to" he had drawled as he had brushed my loose hair aside to look at the cut "Can you make it to HQ with your gear or do I need to carry you"
Scoffing I had shoved his hands away from me and made my way to HQ with Levi on my heels, all the while the new rising fear of Erwin's plans for Eren had begun to creep in my mind.
Arriving at the makeshift HQ, I had found the place in bedlam with people shouting and running everywhere, the noise of which, had been so loud I had almost wanted to return to the creepy silence of Trost and rest in peace. My exhaustion had returned with a vengeance, and I had begun to sway on my feet forcing Levi to prop me up with his arms to stop me from collapsing then and there. I had been about to protest the contact when suddenly I had been swarmed by soldiers and civilians alike, all talking, shouting and crying at once.
"Thank you! You saved my son!" the woman from the church roof had cried as she grabbed my hands and kissed them and I had not been able to stop myself from tearing my hands back as if I had been burned, the praise being entirely alien to me.
"She saved us too!" a soldier had shouted, "I thought we were goners and then she turned up!"
"I saw her take down three Titans on her own!" another had added to the chorus and sweat had begun to roll down my face as I had grown more and more uncomfortable. Levi had pushed forward and tried to navigate a way through the crowd but was met with difficulty as everyone we had passed reached out to touch us and offer their gratitude as if we were their holy saviours.
"She led the group that saved the stranded people at the church, no one else was able to get to them, but her team managed!"
"She's in the scouts, I heard her brother is just as formidable too he worked with Commander Erwin to secure the western markets. I feel better knowing there is two of them fighting for us out there"
I had been proud for a moment as the news of Rian's battle prowess reached my ears, if he kept this up, Erwin would be moulding him for the command before long, something I knew he secretly wanted.
"Humanities strongest and the Battle Angel of Trost standing side by side on mankind's first victory, any quotes for the papers?!"
My head had snapped around to see a man with thick-framed glasses holding a small book and pen and horror had lined my face as what he had said rolled around in my head, Levi was humanities strongest, so that had mean that other title was meant for me. Sickness had suddenly hit my stomach, and I had thrown up what little lay on my stomach before my eyes began to droop and I had thought that I would fall to the ground when I suddenly was swept up off my feet, not by Levi, but by the young cadet Jean as his friends Reiner, Connie and Bertholt had set about crowd control to grant Jean safe passage through to the makeshift medical tent.
Rocking in the teenager's arms, I had looked back over his shoulders to watch Levi who was standing in the middle of the crowd watching me move further and further away with a deep scowl on his face, before I had succumbed to the darkness.