Author's Note: This is one long overdue request/wish zooperzs and momtaku expressed on tumblr. It's a simple fic, and momtaku did the whole job in her tags. I'm not sure if someone else wrote it already (I kinda hope not because I can't help but feel embarassed). It's at least the second time I try to write it because when I have a fucking slap of beautiful sunset light on my face I go back to this. Thought I might as well persist this time.

Written in paper, finally accomplished one of my wishes which was to write during a train trip with a sunset bitchslapping and blinding me, and typed to 'Alpenglow' by Nightwish because that song is beautiful, go listen.

Disclaimer: This is a bit lame and simple, but it's still Shingeki no Kyojin and I obviously don't own Shingeki.

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The sunset was in its earliest stage, bright white and yellowish glow that covered the whole backdrop of the field in that weird light mist no one in the Underground would have known or imagined. The closest thing they could probably try to compare with would be a huge dust cloud, which was hardly a fitting or similar image to that glowing freaking halo.

Alone as he was, he could calmly and quietly enjoy it, eyes half closed with glowing dots dancing over his eyelashes and in front of his eyes. Even the background rumble that would normally be a nuisance wasn't really bothering him at all. The children were playing one of those simple games, running around in the field calling each others' names in turns whenever one of them was playing tag or throwing some toy around. He wasn't close enough to disturb them, and so far was mostly unnoticed.

They were too entertained to be noticing the sunset, either. Maybe had already grown used to it and took it as a normal, expected part of their lives. That was how it was supposed to be, after all. People weren't meant to have rock and crevices as a sky. If it became a presence constant enough for them to take it for granted, maybe it really showed they were happy and accepting their new lives.

Anyway, they were children. They were happy to be let out any fear, worry or hard labour they might have had just weeks before, to now carelessly play and learn like children were supposed to. Playing around was more important for them.

One of the girls let out one of those squeals and waved at her playmates, something peeking her interest. As if to prove him wrong or to clarify his thoughts, she was turning and pointed at the sun, some indisctinct shouts and excited comments between them. They were turning and protecting their eyes with their palms, noting the light just like he had been.

Some things were really too valuable to lose appreciation, huh.

"What's that strange thing on your face, huh Levi?" That question, and a far too familiar giggle, obviously and immediately altered whatever had been different on his face back to default.

"What, Hange."

"You weren't frowning! Just like a second ago! That's pretty neat," the fellow veteran said joyfully, resting her hands on the wooden fence. "Enjoying the sunset?"

Levi shrugged shortly.

"It's something I like to do when I have the chance."

"That's great!" Hange said, not a hint of playfulness or jeer someone else might have used over such a confession of appreciating a banal thing. Then again, it's not like Levi would have said that to anyone. Hange was obviously part of that couple of exceptions. "It's a nice sunset today. And it seems like the appreciation really is just more special for certain people."

Levi turned his head to see Hange smiling happily, and for some reason also reassuringly, while looking ahead.

"It was quite nice of you, Levi. I think it's awesome."

"What?"

"Historia is a good girl. A good soldier too, and she's bound to be a good Queen. She's young though, has mistakes to make and a lot of responsability over her shoulders. Earned a very messed up world to rule with problems under every stone. Certain problems are best attended as shortly and quickly as possible."

Hange smiled again, now turning to him.

"Children really are the future of the world. Doesn't matter if it sounds like a really cheap and lame phrase to say, or if it makes us feel like the old and drooling mad geezers we'll turn into," the short careless laugh mirrored those of the kids playing in the field. "So it's awesome you brought appropriate priorities to Historia's attention."

"Nothing to it," Levi replied. "It was one of many problems, as you said."

"Yeah, and sticking around to actually make sure that problems get attended and properly resolved, knocking some rich men's doors and all, that's something Historia couldn't make as well as you."

Not like he just went knocking doors. He gladly would have knocked heads of the fucking landlords with properties left untained and wasted, and that could so much easily be restored into decent shelter houses to receive and take care of orphaned children. A lot fucking simpler, faster and cheaper than making stuff from scratch, like fat pigs with money wanted to.

"If you want to, call it recycling, after all, it's all trash to you." Levi had said in one of the contribution meetings Historia had gathered with a small group of noblemen. Wisely, no one called it such. They weren't so stupid.

His eyes turned up to the sun, flinching from the light. He agreed with everything Hange said about the scrawny new Queen. Of course it had been intentional to get Historia into working for something that would benefit people otherwise left forgotten.

Hange probably thought he was quiet for too long and found something in the surroundings or in the topic of conversation suitable to add:

"Thanks for being here, Levi. I'm happy to know you."

"Don't get too sentimental, Four Eyes. Don't crush my bubble of calm with shitty melodrama."

"Ah, you're back," and punched him on the shoulder, apparently a habit people were getting far too used to.

Levi's glare made sure she wouldn't be boarding on the new trend anymore than the Queen would.

"Okay okay, I don't want to sound too corny. If I scatter it around it'll make it less awkward, so I'll go thank Erwin too then, for dragging you kicking and screaming from the Underground," she added just for fun.

He snorted at that, but his frown or whatever Hange had mentioned before softened.

"That's one lame ass way to go down."

"Huh-huh, you're smiling! This is a good day, world! Aha!"

"Don't make me fucking hit you, Hange."

Hange grinned but considered herself happy and rested her elbows on the fence, leaving him to his peaceful moment. Watching a sunset, children playing and growing a healthy skin color, and having someone as crazy as well as being an annoying presence Levi was grateful for, was pretty much a fitting mash-up illustration on how life was fucking weird. And how possibility was more important that people blessed or granted easier lives could unintentionally miss. Those kids were bound to find the same. At least they were given the chance to.

Some things better stay the same though. For one, him not being a melodramatic drooling mad old fart. Two...

Something in them, either the kids or himself, was the same. Some of the children slowed down their play and stopped with expressions of careful antecipation when they saw Levi calmly pass under the fence and cross the field in their direction. Soon, all the kids had stopped and were turning to see why someone was approaching, and why Levi of all people was.

"Captain Levi," one of the brats gasped, voice shaking and not really from concern. Levi's frown was fully back and enhanced (which wouldn't really have helped to ease the kid if he had been concerned) but he did recall that people knew him; kids did too. Even those lame ass stories like Hange had said flied around about him. People tended to not be too pleased or tranquil around him when they actually got to be around him, but these brats were either too ecstatic with their play, or were generally hopeful he was a hero or something. One of the girls was blinking and her mouth dumbly gapping like a fucking hero had actually appeared.

"Hey." Well, if they knew or heard about him, whether war hero or outcast partisan version, they'd have heard about his eloquent gentle way of speaking.

"We were just playin'," one of the girls said in a perfect and impressive mix of defence and defiance, far too used to be scolded or punished for being a kid. Levi would have liked to have that tone at her age. He was just full defiance, and Kenny used to snort at that and tell him to crawl out of the problems it would get him into.

"You're not doing anything wrong, relax. You brats are alright, so don't worry."

"Captain Levi, may I say something?" the girl with the blinking eyes asked. Levi scowled in reflex.

"What, bright eyes?"

"You're far taller than I expected."

"That's just because you're still a midget." Same way Levi's reflex made him scowl, hers made her cower, but she was smiling.

"Ya... Captain. We've heard ya're the one that took us from the Undeground," the girl from before said. Levi shrugged like he had done to Hange.

"I basically knocked doors and heads. Listen here, brats," He wasn't about to have other corny round of compliments around. The group went sharp, a clumsy and untrained version of brat recruits. "This is very different world from that shithole, believe me I know, but one of the things that's similar is knowing how to protect yourselves. And not take shit from anyone. Do you brats know anything about that?"

"I do!" one of the boys said readily, arm raised and confident smile showing off his missing front tooth and making him look silly.

"That's the spirit, kid." The knife flew to his hand in a spin that Underground children would recognize as not coming from a random military, or any military, and gasped in scare or wonder. The toothless kid opened his eyes wide and stepped back. "Show me."

The kids took one moment of contemplation before turning to each other, eyes shining not in fear but in surprise and excitement, encouraging one another.

"I've killed a guy before," one of the older boys said, probably trying to grow some chest hair by the way he strutted.

"Like I said, that's the spirit." He both quivered and grinned, trying to be intimidating rather than aproved. "You better not show off too much, most people don't really get comfortable with that. And supposely, people are going to off your backs now. If they don't though," an illustrative spin of the knife added to his point, "you can scare them shitless or kindly scratch them an inch."

"Captain Levi," another girl spoke up. "I know how to use a knife, but could you teach me?"

"Sure. Let's just first see our voluntary. Toothless." The knife turned around on his palm, handle at the weight of the kid. He blinked before taking it, hands shaking.

The sky was turning a strangely calm blood orange tone by the time the kids were exchanging the knife around and showcasing their skills, teaching each other and comparing tricks. Levi scattered the jacket off and showed them his own tricks, that pretty much all of them were impressed with and that still came to him with an unexpected ease, considering he hadn't done those exact moves with a small blade for years now. The girl that asked earlier was the most eager, and she did have a strong familiar grip on the handle, like Levi confirmed when he taught her how to spin it around for speed.

"Children," one of the caretakers of the household came by eventually, a surprised blink when finding Levi amongst the children. He had left Historia to pick the caretakers; the girl knew how to discern people's intentions when it came to possibly hurting kids. The older boy who had been trying out tricks quickly hid the knife behind his back. "Dinner's almost ready. Who wants to come and help out?"

Levi retrieved the knife as the older boy passed by him, ready to calm the caretaker if she noted something unusual, which she didn't.

"Captain Levi," the girl with the tone approached before going back. "What I wanted to say before, well, thank ya. Ya're pretty famous in the Underground."

"I pretty much escaped being charged with treason and murder up here too. I guess I work on my reputation without knowing."

"Ya know what I mean. Ya know what it's like to live there, and ya climbed up here. Soldiers and whatnot, they're different. Ya are someone we can look up to."

Well that sounded too fucking weird in all sorts of ways.

"Now go inside, midgets."

"When I grow up, I'm gonna be really tall!" that was the toothless kid, proclaming in defiance as he trotted back to the house.

"Yeah, I said that too."

Hange seemed to be enjoying the show from her spot, cheering and laughing like only Hange could. He had heard her a couple of times, even with the considerable distance. Thankfully she hadn't heard most of the comments. She grinned widely while Levi returned, clapping his effort. And Levi didn't mind it.

Well, if she didn't push it.

Hange pushed it.

"Aww, you have a soft spot for kids! Even if you, like, teach them how to hold knifes and kill people. Ever thought of being a parent, Levi?"

"Fuck you, Hange."

"Okay, better not."

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the end

Author's Note: Levi being a kinder hearted Kenny. lol

Thank you for reading, feedback and corrections are appreciated.

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