When we got back inside the safety of the wall that night, there was nothing more I wanted to do than go to my quarters and climb into bed.

My ribs and back ached fiercely from the fall earlier, and I felt the exhaustion in every bone in my body like a heavy weight that was trying to drag me down.

After stabling the horses, I walked down the line of assembled cadets, looking them over one by one before dismissing them for the night. When I reached Johnson and Miller, I put a hand on both of their shoulders and said, "You two did good work today. I was proud to call both of you my idiots."

Miller stifled a grin and Johnson's eyes widened at the compliment. He cleared his throat and said, "Thank you, Corporal."

"Yes, thank you, Corporal." Miller chimed in, giving me a quick salute as she glanced over at me.

I waved them off. "Now get out of here. We're all exhausted, and I don't know about you, but I just want to get in bed. So get out of my sight."

The two cadets turned to walk off and I couldn't help the small smile that slipped across my lips as I watched them leave, knowing that Johnson would have his sister safe and sound by his side tonight.

With a heavy sigh, I walked off to the officers' quarters, finally allowing myself to ease up on myself now that no one was watching and limp just a little with the pain in my ribs.

I pushed open the door to the dark hallway and padded down the corridor, the old wooden floorboards creaking under my feet. As I passed Levi's room, I noticed that his door was open slightly and light was spilling into the dark hallway from the room beyond. I paused for a moment, debating whether or not I should see if he was alright. I argued with myself silently for a moment, thinking of my soft, warm bed waiting for me, and then finally, with an agitated sigh, raised my fist to knock quietly. I froze before actually touching the door, my fist inches from the wood. What was I doing? The guy hated my guts. Why did I feel compelled to check on him? I needed to get over this. He wasn't my friend anymore. We were colleagues, nothing more.

I stood in indecision for a moment, and then dropped my hand back to my side, turning to begin walking down the hallway again and continue onto my room, when suddenly, Levi's voice called out from behind the door, "Oi, L/N). It's open. Just come in already and stop creeping in the hallway like some perverted idiot."

I clenched my fists at the insult and shoved open the door, storming into the room. "Hey, I am not a perverted idiot...."

He glanced up at me from where he was sitting on the bed, his eyes blank, and said, "Tch. I knew a petty insult would get you in here faster than anything else I could say."

I blushed, he knew my temper well, it hadn't changed after all these years. "Yeah well..." I struggled to find something to retort back at him. "If you weren't such an ass all the time, I wouldn't get so riled up and burst into your room." I cringed. Stupid thing to say. What was I doing? Why was I so tongue tied around him?

"Tch." He clicked his tongue in a disapproving tone again and then turned his attention to what he had been doing before I entered. I watched as he leaned down and picked up a rag from the bucket at his feet, wringing out the excess water before raising the cloth to his face. He swiped the wet rag down his temple, over the gash that he had received earlier, and pulled the cloth back to inspect the fresh blood that marred the white fabric.

I rolled my eyes. "Hell, Ackerman. You can't even do that right." I walked over to him and sat tentatively down on the bed beside him. He met my gaze for a brief moment until I looked away uncomfortably. I held out my hand for the rag, still not meeting his eyes. "Give it to me. I'll do it."

I felt him place the cool, wet rag into my palm and then I leaned over and scrubbed it between my hands in the water that sat in the bottom of the bucket. The water turned pink as I washed the blood off of the rag and then I sat back up, wringing out the rag before turning to face Levi again. I flicked my fingers at him. "Turn your head."

"Tch. Bossy as ever." He muttered under his breath, but turned his head to the side as I had requested.

I lifted the rag to his temple, but hesitated for a brief moment before gently dabbing the rag along the deep, newly bleeding cut that marred his skin. I leaned a bit closer to him, trying to see the edges of the cut and where I needed to clean, as I said, "See? You're too rough. You were making yourself bleed again. You have to be gentle." I pulled back to rinse out the rag again.

"That's what I get for being humanity's strongest I guess." Levi said in a monotone voice, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye as he did so.

I sat back up and placed the rag against his temple again, the cloth cool against my hands as I wiped it over his skin. I smirked at him. "Did you just try to make a joke?" I glanced over at him and met his dark gaze. "Because if so, it was terrible."

He scoffed. "I don't make jokes, (L/N)." He winced slightly as I put a little more pressure on the gash.

"Sorry." I dropped the rag into the bucket at my feet. "I think I'm done here." I leaned closer to him once more and raised my hand to his temple. I paused just before my fingers touched the wound and met his eyes. A nervous shiver went through me. We were so close that I could see the even darker specks in his already dark eyes. We hadn't been this close since we were teenagers. I swallowed and said quietly, "I'm just going to make sure you don't need stitches before I leave. Is it okay....if I touch you?"

I blushed, realizing what I had just said. Idiot, idiot, idiot. Why was I so stupid?

"Oi, (L/N)." He said my name, drawing my focus back to his face. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Stop with the blushing and just do it already. I want to be done and get some sleep before I have to spend another long day with those damn brats you call cadets."

I swallowed again, my mouth suddenly dry and let my fingers gently fall onto his skin, one by one. I ran a light finger along the length of the gash, feeling the edges and the depth of the tear. After a few seconds, once I was sure he'd be fine until at least morning without stitches, I went to remove my hand from his temple, and found I couldn't. It's like my fingers wouldn't obey me and were acting of their own accord. They wanted to stay on his skin forever, feeling the smooth, cool arch of his bones underneath their tips.

My eyes met his and as he held my gaze, my stomach did a nervous flip flop within me. We stayed frozen like that for what seemed like an eternity, his dark, expressionless eyes boring into mine, until some small emotion which I couldn't put my finger on flicked across his gaze and broke the spell.

He got up from the bed, breaking the contact between us and walked over to the door, turning to stare at me, his hand on the doorknob. "Get out, (L/N)."

I stood from the bed and hurried past him into the dark hallway.

He shut the door forcefully behind me, cutting off the light that had been pooling out from the room, and leaving me in blackness.

I leaned back against his door for a moment, taking a second to catch my breath. My heart was pounding like a trapped bird against my ribcage, making my injured ribs ache with each beat and pulse.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and pushed up off the door. What the hell was I thinking? I needed to stop these memories. They were drawing me back into the old Levi, the Levi I had grown up with so many years ago, the Levi who liked me and had time for me and promised to never leave me behind, the Levi who didn't exist anymore.

"Get it together, (F/N). He's not the same Levi you knew. Now that he's experienced what the light feels like, he'll never want to be associated with the darkness of the Underground ever again. And that includes you." I whispered to myself under my breath into the blackness of the night. I clenched my hands into fists at my side. "You don't need him. You're not that little helpless girl anymore. You can take care of yourself. So do it."

I stalked off to my quarters, determined not to let Levi Rivaille Ackerman under my skin ever again, even though I knew, deep down, no matter how much I fought against her, that that little, helpless girl still crouched, hidden, just waiting for the day when Levi would return to fulfill his promise.