━═━═━═━═━┤➴├━═━═━═━═━

THERE SHE LAY, PEACEFUL AS EVER. Her breathing was soft and steady, so much more different than the night before. Her face was cleaned and her clothes were changed into a comfortable nightgown.

Her hair spread on the white pillow and her hands stayed on her abdomen.

Levi sat on the wooden chair next to her bed, mindlessly sipping on his tea while looking out the window. The tweeting sounds of the birds could be heard through the window on her right.

There was a knock on the door and the man took a quick glance at it before staring back out the window. Hange walked in with a tray of steamed potatoes and bread and a newly brewed pot of tea.

"Is she still asleep?" Hange asked, placing the tray of food on the desk beside the bed.

It had been three whole days since their departure and their return inside the walls. F/n was not one of the few that had been injured the most and in fact, she had been one of the few that received the least scars.

But her consciousness was weak and she had been in bed for the last few days ever since.

"Yes," replied the captain as the scientist lightly touched the female's forehead.

"She seems fine to me," she informed, sighing as she sat herself down on the foot of the bed while facing the younger woman, "She'll be awake soon."

Silence engulfed the two, which was pretty much not normal considering how Hange would always nag the captain while he would always retort back with a grim expression.

Those bickers were never-ending but now that the woman was here, lying on the bed still unconscious since she first arrived, they had grown worried.

Everyone did, even Commander Erwin himself. F/n had been not only a great help to humanity and its soldiers but also a great friend, company and addition to the survey corps.

Not only that she had been one of the kindest souls within the walls but she had also been one of a kind a person.

F/n's crystal abilities were something Hange could never decode, not now, at least. Although she was an approved scientist, she was still not intelligent enough to unlock the secret of the woman's background life.

It was a total mystery to her and everyone else and that was not too good. Levi, being the only one that knew about her nightmares, has grown slightly worried about the woman.

Of course, it was simply only because she might be humanity's faith along with Eren. It was just that, really. Nothing more, nothing less.

"What do you think about her?" Hange suddenly asked the captain as he continuously sipped on his beloved black tea.

"She's quite interesting," he answered and the lack of hesitation in his voice made the woman turn to him with wide eyes that flickered with an unknown emotion behind them.

"You-"

Shuffling noises were heard and the two glanced quickly at the female who was still on the bed, only this time, moving. F/n shot up from her previously lying position and gasped loudly.

"Hey, take it easy," Hange softly said, placing a hand on her bicep and the other on her shoulder and guiding her back to hit the small cushion that was against the wall.

"Where?" she asked, frantic evident in her voice as she tried to get up the second time.

"You're in the infirmary," the woman responded, gently pushing her back against the wall and grabbing the plate of potatoes, "Eat. You must be hungry."

As if on cue, F/n's stomach grumbled which caused the older woman to let out a carefree laugh. The younger sheepishly took the potato from the tray and took a small bite out of it.

She scanned the room. The table, door, bed, chairs, window and... It was then that she realised there was another being in the room and that was the captain himself.

They caught eyes and like every other time it happened, a shiver ran down her spine as she felt a wave of emotions wash over her. Levi stared right into her eyes that she didn't notice had glowed purple.

It was nostalgic and mysterious. It held a certain secret that was known for a past her, someone who had experienced all those things before she had forgotten all about them.

That was his theory. To put it simply, it was her having memory loss and receiving memories through her dreams.

Hearing how she had told him someone tried killing her in her dreams made him grow that prediction. But it was all theoretical, not yet to be confirmed and he didn't know if it was going to be confirmed in the future anyway.

But he certainly looked forward to it.

The big reveal.

"What happened?" F/n asked Hange, who smiled as her attention shifted to her once again.

"I think I should be the one asking that," she laughed shortly before responding, "You were unc- asleep for three days and didn't wake up. We were worried and I'm glad you managed to wake up – we all are."

Now, she remembered. The fight. The Titans. The death. And the final wish.

'Protect them,' he said, 'Protect them.'

Who? Who exactly did he tell her to protect? Was it Eren? Was it Eren and his friends? Was it because he didn't want him to die the same way he did?

Another shiver ran down her spine, this time of a different cause. A bad one at that. But she asked nothing regarding that matter to either of the two in the room and instead asked another question.

"How is Mikasa?"

"Mikasa?" Hange repeated and the female nodded, "She's all right now. She's healed and is probably with Eren and the others."

The short woman nodded her head silently, looking down at her hands and fiddling with her fingers.

"Now, it's time for me to ask you questions," Hange grinned and the captain rolled his eyes.

"Erwin said, 'You are to not ask her insensitive questions that can be mistaken as trigger questions'," Levi quoted the commander, his arms crossed against his chest as he was done with his tea.

Hange let out an exaggerated air through her slightly pursed lips, rolling her eyes as she dismissively waved her hand.

"I'm not going to do that," she said, though it didn't sound reassuring to the captain at all, "Anyway, what happened with Reiner and Bertholdt? Did they run away? Did they survive or were they killed?"

Those questions had already been answered by the commander himself and Levi instantly knew that this interrogation session was to drift her mind away from the time when she let out an ear-piercing scream.

Their choice of words, not his.

F/n shook her head, her hand dropped on her lap as she was done with eating her food.

"Reiner and Ber- Bertholdt attacked by Titans that- that Eren..." she trailed off, raising her head to glance at the woman, "Ah!"

"Shout? Eren's shout?" Hange guessed and she nodded.

"I shout too," she admitted, looking back down on her lap almost in a guilty manner, "I shout and they... gone."

"They got pushed away by your scream?" Hange guessed and she nodded again, "How did you do that?"

The woman shrugged her shoulders, fingers playing with the string that was loose on the end of the thin blanket.

"F/n," Hange called in a serious yet comforting tone, "Did you fight the Titans too?"

"Yes," she answered without hesitation, "And with my a- ab-"

"Ability?" Hange grinned and the woman nodded.

"Yes."

"Wow..." the scientist whispered before letting out a breathy laugh, shifting in her seat on the bed, "What did you do?"

"I save Erwin," she said, "And J... Jean? A-And Armin! And Mikasa and Eren. But Mikasa was hurt so Eren carry her and pull me... Pull hand."

"Eren... pulled you?" Levi's eyebrows furrowed as he questioned the female.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Why?" Hange asked next.

"To go away," she answered, "From- From Titan."

"He saved you too?"

Her head bobbed twice, indicating that she was indeed correct. But the woman looked down once again, guilt washed over her, so much that it was very evident on her face and even her aura changed.

"But I couldn't save him..."

┬┴┬┴┤┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈├┬┴┬┴