LEVI'S POV

We traveled westward along the wall in silence, headed for the furthest most reaches of the land that was protected by Wall Maria.

Erwin had made it clear that our mission was to check out the far reaches of the wall where the abnormal beast titan had been seen last and try to find out how the titans were breaching our defenses.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw (F/N) glance over at me, her mouth open slightly as if she wanted to say something, but then thought better of it. Instead, she started to rhythmically slap her reins against the palm of her hand in an agitated, bored movement.

I let out an exasperated sigh. She was doing it just to get a rise out of me. She knew I hated things like that. I should just ignore here and not give her what she wanted. But I wanted to talk to her, hear her voice, even if it was under the guise of telling her how annoying I found her.

"Oi, (L/N)."

She looked over at me, a smirk flickering across her full lips as she asked innocently, "Yes, Ackerman? Is something bothering you?"

I scowled at her. "Tch. Nothing new. Just you." I felt a slight twinge as I said the words. She always bothered me when I was around her, she bothered me to no end, but not in the way that she thought.

She gasped sarcastically. "Wow. I'm offended. That really cuts me deeply." She pouted for a moment and then smirked at me. "Oh wait, no it doesn't. Because I don't give a titan's ass what you think about me."

I opened my mouth to retort something back at her, when I heard Jaeger call up from behind us, "Corporals! Titans coming at us from the north."

I jerked the head of my black stallion around to face the cadets, causing all of us to stop, and jumped down from the large animal, tossing my reins to Jaeger as I did so. I scanned my gaze over the cadets and then said flatly, "Corporal (L/N) and I will take care of them. There won't be many this far out and it'll be fairly quick." I glared at the cadets, making sure they knew they were to stay put, before I pulled my blades from their sheaths. "You brats will just get in our way. We'll make quicker time if you wait here and we head onward after the titans are taken care of."

(F/N) slid off her dappled mare and landed lightly next to me on the ground, pulling her own blades out as she did so. I glanced over at her as she motioned to the two cadets she had brought with her and said sternly, ""You two. Stay with the squad. He's right. We can take care of this more quickly if all you idiots aren't underneath our feet."

I flicked my eyes over to the boy, Johnson, and noticed that he looked at (F/N) as if she put the stars in the sky, not just as a Corporal, but as a person as well. He was right, but I didn't like that someone else had noticed it about her beside myself.

Irritated, I snapped at (F/N), "Let's go, (L/N)."

I shot off into the forest on my lines, the cool breeze whipping my hair in and out of my eyes as I dodged quickly through and around the trees. I heard (F/N) whip up beside me so we were even with each other, and then call out, "Ackerman." I glanced over at her and she pointed to a fifteen meter barreling through the trees below us. "I'll take care of this bastard. Go on ahead. I'll catch up."

I nodded at her as she started to drop altitude, headed down toward the shambling titan.

As I flew away through the closely knit trees, I glanced back over my shoulder just in time to see her drop down out of the trees onto the titan. She was more than capable of taking care of herself, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't focus on doing my job well if I was worried she was in any sort of harm's way.

Satisfied that she had everything under control, I caught sight of two more titans in the trees ahead, following along in the path of destruction left by the larger titan in front of them. Dropping down through the trees, I quickly swung out behind the smaller one and slashed my blade across its neck. Without so much as a second of hesitation, as the first titan crashed to the ground, I whipped up and around the other titan, bringing the sword down across its nape as I whipped past. A spray of blood splattered my face and chest as I ripped my sword out of the titan as it fell downward, and I let out a sound of disgust as the warm liquid hit my skin.
"Damn bastards. Disgustingly filthy." I swore under my breath as I adjusted my course, headed back toward (F/N).

I saw (F/N) ahead, standing on a large branch, looking down at the titan she had taken down on the forest floor below. I landed neatly beside her on the tree branch, sheathing my bloodied blades as I glanced down at the fifteen meter below us. "Tch. That was almost too easy."

She flashed me a grin as she sheathed her blades as well. "It's like they wanted us to find and kill them. I was hoping for more of a fight to be honest."

I almost returned her smile, my lips flicked upward imperceptibly, before I caught myself and returned to my normal serious expression. Stop, idiot. Keep her pushed away.

I glanced up at the darkening sky above us and said in monotone, "We'd better get back to check on the brats. We've ridden all day and it's almost dusk. And it looks like there's a storm headed this way. We need to find somewhere to bunk down for the night."

She looked up to the clouds that were gathering and nodded as she said, "Agreed. Let's get back. Who knows what trouble those idiots are capable of getting themselves into."

I took off through the trees, hearing her 3DM close behind me, and within a few minutes, we were back to the wall where we had left the squad of brats.

I touched down next to them and (F/N) landed beside me, straightening the harnesses of her 3DM gear as he did so.

Johnson spoke up at the sight of us. "Corporals! That didn't take long." His voice was full of relief, as if he had been worried we wouldn't come back. Or more specifically, (F/N) wouldn't come back.

I felt my irritation rise again. What an idiot. He was weak. I don't know why she chose to bring him over with her.

(F/N) mounted her animal again and shot me a knowing look. My irritation melted away at the look, as if we were somehow now comrades that knew something the cadets didn't after having taken care of the titans on our own, just the two of us. I raised an eyebrow at her, as if to let her know I understood her unspoken words, and then said briskly to Johnson, ""I told you, you brats are just in our way. We're much more efficient when we don't have to save your asses every second."

(F/N) pulled her mare around to face west again as she said matter of factly, "He's right. You idiots aren't good for much else beside a distraction." She glanced back at the squad over her shoulder. "Now let's get moving. It's almost dusk and there's a storm heading in. We need to find somewhere to bunk for the night."

We rode hard for a good hour or more, the light beginning to fade and twilight beginning to move in closer and closer to the wall.

Finally, (F/N) pointed out an abandoned silent village to our right and we pulled toward it, just as the start of the rain fell onto our heads.

After stabling the horses for the night, we approached the nearest house, the slight rain from before starting to become a heavy downpour. I tried the doorknob, but it wouldn't budge, so instead of messing with it anymore and letting everyone stay out in the rain any longer, I pulled back and kicked in the door easily with one of my heavy boots.

(F/N) walked past me, the cadets filing into the dark, cold room after her.

I made sure they were all inside before shutting the door. I wanted to scout out the rest of the village and make sure we were secure for the night.

Pulling my hood up and over my head, I stepped back out into the pouring rain, the mud instantly squelching up and over the toes of my boots. I swore under my breath. I hated the rain. What a waste of cleanliness. It made everything a mess.

I stomped through the thick, glue-like mud, pushing open the doors of the empty houses one by one as I passed them in the shadows. Nothing suspicious so far. Everything was silent and dark and empty, just like we had suspected.

I reached the end of the village and tried the last house's door. Locked, just like the first. I kicked in the door, the thin, rotting wood splintering under my boot easily.

I peered inside the darkened room, the rain dripping off of my hood and into my eyes, making my vision blurry.

I caught sight of a blur of slow movement in the corner of the room and instantly whipped out my blades, crouching defensively in the doorway.

It was a titan, small, thin, sickly. It struggled in the corner where it was crumpled, it's dirty fingernails scratching the walls of the house as it caught sight of me and tried to rise, its gaping mouth drooling long strands of saliva.

I sheathed one of my swords, eyeing it with disgust as it struggled to rise on stick-like legs. "Tch. How pathetic."

I walked toward it, sword raised, and with one smooth motion, sliced its head from its body. The head rolled off into the darkness of the room, as the thin, spindly body fell down in a steaming heap at my feet, the dark blood running across the floor and over my muddy boots.

I left the house, the blood marks on my boots already starting to steam into nothing in the cool, wet air, and headed back toward the house where (F/N) was holed up with the cadets.

I pushed in through the door and shut it quickly behind me as a torrent of rain followed me inside. I removed the hood from my head, wondering why I had even bothered to wear it, when the rain had soaked my hair anyway and was now rolling in cold droplets down my jawbone. I glanced down at my mud covered boots and, throwing my heavy, wet cloak on the floor, said under my breath, "Tch. I hate the damn rain. It makes things so unnecessarily dirty."
(F/N) was sitting against the wall of the far side of the room, on the other side of a small, crackling fire. She glanced up at me as I spoke, but returned to staring into the flames again after a moment.

I hesitated for a brief moment. I wanted to cross the room and sit beside her, so that maybe we could talk while everyone else was asleep, but I didn't know if she'd want me to. I swore quietly under my breath. What the hell, it couldn't hurt to try.

I crossed the room toward her, careful not to step on any of the sleeping cadets, although, it did cross my mind to kick Johnson as I passed his inert form, but I held back, exercising self control.

I sat down beside (F/N), who looked at me in surprise, and leaned back against the wall, cocking my leg in front of me and resting my hand on it as I said quietly, flicking my fingers at her, "Oi, (L/N). It's probably a longshot to think you brought any tea with you."

She scoffed and leaned her head back tiredly against the wall. "What, you didn't bring any? Isn't that kind of your thing?"

I scoffed in return, scorn in my voice as I snapped back, "My thing? I don't have a thing."

She rolled her head toward me, her gaze meeting mine, disbelief flicking across her eyes as she exclaimed, "You don't have a thing?" She snapped her fingers in realization, the sound loud in the quiet of the room. "Oh, you mean you don't just have one thing. Right? Because you definitely have a thing. Or things, I should say."

I held her gaze, furrowing my brow at her, trying to act annoyed, although I was curious what she was talking about. "What the hell are you babbling on about, (L/N)?"

She held up a hand, ticking off on her fingers as she spoke, her voice holding a tone of amusement. "Things Ackerman has: number one, tea. Number two, cleaning. Number three, an obsession with calling the cadets 'brats.' Number four, an intense desire to hate everyone. Number five...."
I slapped her hand down, her skin warm against mine as our hands connected for the briefest of moments. I shot her a glare. "Shut it, (L/N). I get the point."

She grinned at me triumphantly and something jumped inside of me at her smile. Damn. I hadn't seen her smile like that in such a long time. I hadn't realized how much I had missed it. "But wait! You didn't give me a chance to get to the best one!" She held up her hand again, all five fingers splayed for me to see. "Number five, determined he's still going to have a growth spurt that we all know is never going to happen at this point."

"Tch." I reached out and grabbed her wrist between my fingers and forced her hand down, giving her a dangerous look as I growled under my breath, "Don't push me, (L/N)."

I left my fingers around her wrist, even though it was now resting in her lap, and I couldn't help but notice that her skin was warm and slightly rough beneath my touch. The contact felt good against my cool, damp skin, as if her warmth were transferring to my fingers through the simple act of touch.

She sat still, frozen, and I wondered why she hadn't pulled away from me yet. Why hadn't I pulled away from her yet? That was the real question. I was the one who was holding onto the contact as long as possible. Her skin underneath my fingers gave me a feeling of comfort I hadn't felt in a long time.

"Okay, I'm sorry." She finally said, and I could sense the lightness that she forced into her tone as she raised an eyebrow at me, playing the seriousness of the moment off. "Go ahead. Tell me what my thing is. I deserve it."

Focus, idiot. Stop thinking about what it would be like to touch other parts of her skin if just touching her wrist is making you feel this way.

I shot her a smirk, pulling myself out of my head. "Tch. You don't have a thing. You have an entire book of things, (L/N)." I slipped my fingers down her wrist, then pulled her arm toward me and flipped it over, so that I was studying the inside of my forearm. I looked at her skin for a moment. It was still there. Just how I remembered it. Her skin was smooth and glowing in the light from the fire other than the scar that ran up the inside of her forearm, the scar I remembered so well. I couldn't help myself, I ran a gentle finger up the rippled, shiny skin as I said in a low voice, "Number one, you're clumsy and stupid and you don't pay enough attention to what you're doing. This scar is from when we were kids, and you got too close to the cooking fire and fell in, catching yourself on your forearm before I could pull you out."

I flicked my eyes up to her face quickly, surprised that she hadn't reacted to any of the insults I had just thrown at her. She met my gaze and there was something different in her eyes for a brief moment, as if she didn't want me to pull away from her, as if she felt the same exciting warmth I did when our skin connected.

I glanced over at her again, and then dropped my finger from the scar on her arm. However, I couldn't bring myself to break all contact with her just yet. Who knew when I'd get the chance to touch her like this again? I kept my fingers firmly around her wrist as I said quietly, fervently, "Number two, you take crap from people when you don't need to. You're stronger than all of them and you know it."

I met her gaze, holding her eyes with mine, hoping she would see the sincerity that flashed across my stare. I meant everything I had just said. She'd been so beaten down by the way we were treated as kids, she still didn't realize she didn't have to take that from anyone ever again, she was stronger than anyone who tried to hold her down now.

Idiot. Don't do this to her. You made her a promise all those years ago, and you fulfilled it. Now remember the other promise you made to yourself after you got her out of there. And continue to keep it. It's the only way she'll be happy.

I released the hold I still held on her wrist and scooted back from her, increasing the distance between us again. I leaned my head back against the wall, taking in a deep, calming breath as I said, forcing my voice back to its normal flat tone, "There's more, a lot more, (L/N). But it's late. And we have to deal with the brats again tomorrow. So get some sleep."

Without saying anything else, I closed my eyes, forcing myself to ignore her. After a few moments, I heard her shift, getting comfortable, and as much as I tried to shut down my thoughts and wish myself to sleep, to give into the blackness, I was up for a long time after everything had gone silent, remembering the feel of her soft, warm, smooth skin under my fingertips.