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I pulled on my clothes quickly, and we headed back down the slope toward the camp, silently walking side by side through the darkening trees. The absence of his hand in mine, compared to the trek up to the lake, made me feel cold all over again, even if I was practically dry at this point.

When we arrived back outside of the cadet's barracks, the special forces were already gathered around a roaring bonfire, laughing and talking amongst themselves, drinks in hand. They all looked up as we approached, and Jaeger stood from where he had been talking to Ackerman, holding out two bottles of beer for us, a sheepish smile on his face. "I know you said I wasn't to get out of bed today, Corporal, but I figured sitting around a fire with the rest of the squad wouldn't upset you too much."

I took the offered beer from him and Levi followed suit, as I shot him a small smile. "Thank you, Jaeger. I guess I won't need to feed you to the titans this time."

I took a seat beside Jaeger on the large log, and Levi crossed around the fire to sit down on a rock beside where Arlert and Miller sat talking earnestly about something on the ground. I avoided looking over at him as I cracked open my beer and took a long, deep swig from the bottle. Why were things suddenly so cold between us now? Things had seemed so well off that morning.

The cadets continued to talk amongst themselves, and I sat, staring into the flickering flames of the fire as I slowly drained the bottle of beer in my hand. Sitting there, I realized how completely exhausted I was, and all I wanted was to crawl into my bed, pull my blanket over my head, and go to sleep.

"Corporal (L/N)!"

I was pulled from my dismal thoughts by Braus calling out my name from where she sat beside Springer across the fire from me. She gave me a grin, her teeth orange in the firelight, and then said, "We all know each other pretty well at this point. We were talking about origins before you and Corporal Ackerman showed up."

Springer put his arm around her as she talked, and I couldn't help but think how natural they looked together. I flicked my gaze over to Levi, who was staring darkly into the fire. Maybe he was having doubts about telling me how he once felt. Maybe we weren't natural together.

I brought my gaze back to Braus, who was still talking, her eyes lit with excitement as she addressed me. "We were thinking, if you and Corporal Ackerman are okay with it, we could hear about your origins. Because you both came from the Underground right? And we don't really know anything about that, only what we've been told."

I glanced at the other cadets around the fire, who were all silent now and looking between Levi and I expectantly, and let out a long sigh. I didn't want to do this, not tonight. But I liked these kids, I did, and I wanted them to trust me. And if that meant telling them my background, then so be it. I'd make it as short as possible and go the hell to bed.

"Okay, Braus." I avoided looking over at Levi as I set down my empty beer bottle and folded my hands in my lap. "I'm not going to speak for Levi, but I'll tell you my origin." I ran a hand tiredly over my eyes as I tried to think of where to begin and how much I wanted to share. Finally, I continued. "I grew up in the Underground. We never had enough to eat, we only had one pair of worn clothes and when you grew out of them you were out of luck, and we fought to survive every single day, even as children."

I bit my lip, telling them this bringing back a flood of dark memories. I glanced over at Braus and Springer, who were watching me with apt expressions of interest. "I grew up with just my dad. He died when I was eighteen, and it's a damn shame to say out loud, but I wasn't sad to see him go."

I forced myself not to look over at Levi as I said this, knowing how he felt about my father. Stop, keep it short, sweet, and then you can leave. "I left the Underground and joined the survey corps shortly after my father's death. And I've been here ever since. Not much else to tell."

There was silence for a few moments after I finished talking, and then Arlert spoke up from across the fire, his eyes flickering with admiration as he said, "How did you make it out of there?" He met my gaze as I lifted my eyes to his. "I mean, I know you left, but how did you manage to hold on and make it through all of that before you finally got out?"

I let out a humorless chuckle and ran a hand through my hair, which was still damp from the swim in the lake. "You know, Arlert, that's a good question." I shook my head, a sardonic smile dancing across my lips. "Someone once told me that I had a light of some sort inside of me. But you know what?" I finally forced myself to look across the flames and meet Levi's gaze, his dark eyes focused intensely on me. "I'm not so sure that was it."

I needed him to listen. Listen to me, Levi. Actually hear what I'm saying to you right now. Hear my words in your soul. I held his gaze, and spoke again, my voice quiet, fervent with the words I was trying to get across to him. "I think, when you're thrown into a horrible situation that you never asked for, like I was in the Underground, or all of you, being forced to save humanity at the sake of your own lives, you have to cling to something. You have to find the one thing that, when you look at it, it makes you never want to stop fighting. You have to find something that inspires you so much that you want to save the world, just so that that something can continue on. Or that someone."

The cadets were silent around us, but in that moment, I didn't even care that they were there. It was just Levi and I, staring intently at each other over the flickering flames separating us, trying to overcome the cold that had inched between us after the unspoken moment earlier.

Finally, someone cleared their throat and I dropped my gaze from Levi's, getting ready to stand and make my excuses so that I could retire early and finally just go the hell to sleep.

That was, until Levi spoke up from across the fire into the silence that surrounded us all.

"You all heard it from Corporal (L/N). My Underground experience wasn't much different from hers. Filthy, cold, not enough to eat, and fighting to survive each and every day."

I glanced up at him in surprise, shocked that he was actually volunteering any information about his past. He was usually so tight lipped about our time in the Underground.

He continued, and as he talked, his eyes never wavered from mine. "I had good parents, who tried their best, but still could never get me everything I needed. And when I was eighteen, I left to come Aboveground to join the survey corps, in hopes that I'd be able to provide a better life for those I loved than they could for me." His dark eyes were black in the dim light of the fire, his voice low with intensity. "And I only ever went back once, a few years later, to keep a promise I'd made to someone important to me."

I felt my breath catch in my throat at the look in his eyes when he mentioned me. It was anger, and pain, and longing, and something soft permeating underneath it all.

He finally dropped his gaze from mine, staring into the dying flames before us, his hands clenched together in front of him as he leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees. When he spoke again, his voice shook slightly. "You don't survive a place like that, or a place like this world, on a whim, brats. The only thing that gets you through it, is the will to fight, the burning desire to show everyone who ever doubted you that they were damn wrong about you." He clenched his hands tightly, his fingers going white slightly with the pressure. "And the only way you find your strongest will to fight, is if you fight for something, someone, that you care about more than your own life." He finally looked up at me again, and the intensity in his eyes made my heart jump into my throat. "Someone who you love enough to fight any obstacle that comes your way."

Holy hell. Had he just said love? Was I imagining things in my exhausted delirium?

Levi stood up from where he had been sitting, throwing his empty beer bottle into the dying flames before us. He stood for a moment in silence, his arms crossed over his chest, his black eyes focused on the fire, and then finally raised his gaze to glance around at the quiet cadets. "You do that, brats, you can overcome any origin that holds you back."

With that statement, he turned, and without another glance back at us all, walked off in the direction of the officer's quarters, disappearing into the darkness of the night.

I sat in stunned silence, not able to wrap my head around what had just happened.

Levi. Levi Ackerman. Levi Rivaille Ackerman, the man with no emotions, except maybe anger, irritation, and scorn, had just indirectly said he had loved me. In front of the entire special forces squad.

Suddenly, it hit me.

That's what he had been going to tell me at the lake. He had been about to tell me how he felt, more clearly than he had ever told me before, and then he had decided against it. And I knew why. It was so out of character for him, and he was scared. Levi Ackerman was scared about how I would react to him telling me how he felt.

I stood up abruptly from the log, startling Jaeger, who sat next to me. I patted him quickly on the shoulder as I hurriedly threw my beer bottle into the fire. "Sorry, Jaeger." I glanced around at the cadets, who were watching my outburst with wide eyes. "Sorry to cut this short. I have to go." I hurried around the fire, trying to come up with an excuse for them. "I'm just really tired. I'll see you all tomorrow."

As soon as I had left the ring of light shed by the fire, I broke into a sprint, heading in the direction of the officer's quarters. I wasn't worried about stumbling in the dark as I ran, I knew this path by heart at this point.

I threw open the doors to the building and pounded down the hallway, making a few turns before I slid to a stop in front of Levi's door. Bursting through the door without a second thought, panting as I tried to catch my breath from running, I caught sight of him standing on the other side of the room beside the closet, neatly folding the shirt he had just taken off into a small, compact square.

I was distracted for just a brief moment by the action. Of course he would fold his uniform neatly every night. It was just too Levi. I threw mine on the floor in a crumpled heap until I pulled it on the next morning, but his OCD would never let him do that.

He turned to look at me, the shirt still held in his hands, and raised his eyebrow at me before he said, "Heard of knocking, (F/N)?"

I ignored his sarcastic question. I was still too overcome with emotion over what he had said earlier around the fire to let him put me off from what I had come to do.

Without answering him, I crossed the room and threw my arms around him, knocking him slightly off balance with the force of the action. I buried my head in the warm, bare skin of his chest and took a brief second to breathe in his familiar, comforting smell, before I pulled back slightly and met his questioning gaze. "You made me a promise."

A look of confusion flashed across his normally emotionless features. "Yes?"

"You promised you'd never leave me behind again." I reached up and pushed his dark hair off of his forehead, letting my fingers trail down the side of his face before I rested my palm against his cheek. His eyes flicked over my face, studying me, trying to see where I was going with this. The corner of my mouth lifted into the hint of a smile before I said seriously, "You kept your promise to me, all those years ago. And now I need to keep mine."

He furrowed his brow and when he spoke, there was hesitation lacing his words. "You never promised me anything."

I gave him a soft smile, cupping his cheek in my hand, his skin smooth and cool under my palm. "I know. I promised myself." I dropped the hand on his cheek down to his mouth, running my finger gently back and forth across his lips as my thumb traced across his jaw. After a brief second, I stopped my movements, my hand holding his chin, keeping his gaze locked with mine. I needed him to hear what I was saying. Hear me, Levi.

"I promised myself, the very first time you came back for me, when I had hurt myself running that day, and you promised never to leave me behind again. I promised that someday, when you were ready to hear it, I would tell you I loved you." Surprise flickered across his dark gaze, but I pushed forward. I needed to finish. Let me finish. "And I do, Levi. I've loved you from the moment we first met. I loved you all growing up. I loved you when you protected me from my father. I loved you when you pretended to like my horrible cooking." I laughed slightly, tears starting to gather in my eyes. "I loved you when you showed me that stupid way to hold a teacup. I loved you every time we went for a swim." I took in a breath, trying to control the emotions bubbling into my throat. "And I've loved you every day since, even when I hated you."

I finished and dropped my gaze from his, suddenly realizing how vulnerable I had left myself. What if he hadn't been saying what I thought he was saying earlier?

Suddenly, I felt his fingers go underneath my chin and he lifted my face upward, forcing me to meet his gaze. He reached up and wiped the tears gathering in my eyes with his thumb, his eyes uncharacteristically soft and full of emotion. When he finally spoke, his voice was husky, as if he was holding back a lump in his throat. "Oi, (F/N)." He gave me a crooked smile, his fingers gentle on my skin as he stroked along my jawline. "Ready to admit this was a stupid idea yet?"

A smile broke out across my lips. Hell, how did he make me so incredibly happy in this damaged world? I shook my head slightly. "Never."

And then his lips were on mine, and I hadn't thought it was possible, but that kiss, that kiss that said everything we hadn't been able to say to each other our entire lives, was the best one yet.

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