Author's Note: When I started this fanfiction, I got about halfway through before I remembered that Levi was originally a rogue in the "criminal underground" or whatever you want to call it. So for the sake of the story, pretend that he has parents and that at some point he made good with those parents. If that irritates you, I sincerely apologize. I'll have it right next time.

A Refuge Too Seldom Seen

A small cloud of dust kicked up as he whirled around, eyes slightly widened. The wind whistled softly as it blew through his black hair and rolled over the top of the market stands. Children over in one corner laughed and giggled as they tousled in the dirt, and the constant chatter of the slowly swarming citizens droned against his ears. He quickly turned left and scanned the houses and alleyways that way, then sharply turned right and looked closely over the stands and alleyways that way. He then turned round once more, his head swiveling and his bag swinging as he looked around every direction. Where in the hell…?

No, he couldn't have forgotten where it was. Lance Corporal Levi then picked an alleyway and started to stride down it as confidently as he could. No, he would never forget that place; there's no possible way he could ever forget how to get there. He turned nervously right around the next alley. Thousands of other people walked routes just like these every day and never lost their way. He spun left and marched down the next alley. No, he was not lost. He was not lost. He just made a wrong turn somewhere; he was just a little off. He looked quickly at the fork in front of him and hastily proceeded down the path on the right.

Everybody ended up a little off. Nobody forgot a place as important as that. Nobody… He stopped suddenly as he emerged into the sunlight and once again stepped into the makeshift marketplace only a dozen feet from where he had started before. Levi slowly dropped his head into his hand and gave a deep, slow sigh. He was lost.

About forty-five minutes later, Levi finally ended up in front of the old wooden porch he had been looking for. He let out a deep sigh as he shrugged his jacket off and lazily threw it over his shoulder. Faint, fuzzy memories slowly flitted by as he climbed up the steps. He was hardly ever here- away much more than any normal person should ever be allowed to. The three knocks sounded solid and deep as he rapped his knuckles against the hard wood. He uttered a single curse against himself in his mind for not being able to come back sooner.

After a minute or two the door creaked slowly open as a slightly wrinkled face clothed with long silver and white hair emerged from behind the threshold. Her face lit up in pleasant surprise, "Levi, sweetie!" He managed a groggy smile and put his bag down as the older woman rushed forward and wrapped her arms tightly about him.

"Hello, mother," he sounded out with faint warmth as he put an arm about her shoulders.

She chuckled from her gut, "Well, goodness, someone's tired."

"I'm fine, mom."

"Don't you try to be tough to me, young man. This is your family, not the military." She gave her son a firm squeeze before she released him and invited him in. "Come on in, dear, supper's still a little warm."

Levi picked up his bag and stepped into the house. Everything about it spoke comfort, from the oaken walls, the crackling fireplace, the handmade furniture, the rugs hanging from the walls, to the pictures of his childhood and family standing on the mantle above the fireplace. But something was missing. He looked around and peered down across the living room and kitchen toward the bedrooms. Not here. "Where is…?"

"Oh, he's asleep, dear," his mother quickly replied, "I could hardly keep him awake long enough to finish supper."

Levi nodded his head, let his bag down beside the living room couch, draped his jacket across the top of it, and stepped carefully over toward the right bedroom's door. He leaned against the door's threshold and peered in silently, watching over the bed.

The lance corporal's mother finished making her son's plate and set it down at the table. She grabbed their can of milk from earlier and began warming it up next to the fireplace (neither her husband nor her son would admit it to anyone outside the family, but warm milk was their favorite) when she noticed Levi leaning against the bedroom doorway. She watched him carefully with a small smile before she said, "Levi, he'll still be there after you eat."

The lance corporal said nothing, but stood there for another moment or two before he hesitantly left the doorway and began walking over to the kitchen table. He stopped when he saw his mother hunched over, warming milk. "Mother you don't have to - "

"Oh hush!" she snapped as she waved him off. "You know how often I get to warm up milk for my family with you in the Survey Corps?"

"Father doesn't still drink it?" Levi asked curiously as he sat down.

His mother sighed, "Sometimes. He sort of grew out of it a few weeks after you left for the military. Really, he only drinks it the nights you come back."

Levi gave a small nod. He still remembers that look his father gave him when he'd said he'd join. Not disappointed, angry, or confused – but "Where is he?"

"Oh, he went out to your uncle's farm further within the walls to help for a few days," she remarked as she returned to the table and began carefully pouring him a glass. "One of the animals was just a few days from giving birth, and there's a lot of repairs that need done." She handed him the glass. "There you go, dear."

He smiled and said a soft thank you as he took the glass, then picked up the spoon to eat the stew before him. That's when it him. Oh man. Supper. Not just supper, but Mom's supper. He had hardly thought twice about what or where ate for a while. Sometimes he threw around some "complaints" about the food just to pick with the commander or the cooks, but being in the Survey Corps he knew he was lucky to just be alive to eat it. But oh, man. He knew this was going to taste a lot better than anything else he had in a while.

He put a small spoonful in his mouth and closed his eyes as he savored the all the little vegetables in their stewed broth. Levi swallowed with a little surprise. "How did you manage to get enough meat to put into this?" Last time he checked, prices were still through the roof and most meat went to the military. It was supposedly going to be that way until they retook Wall Maria, if and whenever that would be…

His mother gave a deep chuckle. "Your uncle regularly takes some off of what he gives to the military to keep for himself. Your father goes off on him nearly every time he sees him, saying they'll have his head if they find out, but your uncle…" She huffed her chest out, picked her chin up, and deepened her voice a bit in imitation, "I'll be damned if I'm going to work my ass off for this meat and not have any for my own family! Head or not!"

His mother laughed and Levi gave his own first genuine chuckle in a while. The relatives of his extended family could be something else when they wanted to.

"So how has everything been?" his mother asked. Levi finished a thoughtful bite as he looked up at her. Flashes of memory flitted by his eyes. Corpses, grass stained with blood, yelling and crying…

"It's been fine," Levi calmly replied, "Though we'll be heading out again pretty soon."

"Oh?" she said almost worriedly, "You won't be going tomorrow will you?"

"We're not supposed to be," Levi remarked as a shadow passed over his face, "Sometimes the priority of the missions get bumped up, but we're supposed to have a few days rest this time." He took another thoughtful spoonful.

"Everything fine with your squad?"

He nodded. "They're rambunctious when they want to be, but they know they know their jobs well enough." He took a sip of his warm milk. "We give everything our best as we always have."

"Have you asked Petra for her hand, yet?"

Levi choked on his stew, "Mother - "

"What? She's a pretty gal," she gave a laugh as she remembered back, "Remember that time she came to check on you?"

"She was giving me a message from the commander if memory serves correctly," Levi quickly retorted. He started trying to think of something to change the subject.

"Oh, Levi," his mother shook her head, "That was just excuse for her to come see you. Didn't you see the way her eyes lit up?"

"I'm her captain…" he muttered.

"So? I think it would be appropriate to marry the woman you battle with."

Levi's attempted a tone of finality, "I'm not going to marry her."

His mother shrugged, "Junior warmed up to her well enough. Didn't she look just like a mother the way she held him?"

Levi scoffed and tried to change the subject, "Is that the nickname you gave him?"

"He's a spitting image of you!" she remarked cheerily.

"Maybe. If it weren't for his hair."

"I cut his hair just fine, thank you!"

Levi ruffled his hair with his fingers, "I've been thinking about giving him my kind of haircut…"

His mother levelled her gaze coldly upon him, "You want to be able to walk out of here on your own two feet?"

Levi replied sarcastically, "You'd do that to 'humanity's strongest soldier'? To your own son?"

"You'd have time to mend," she said as she leaned back in her chair, "You said you had a few days break."

Levi chuckled, "I did, didn't I?"

They continued on like that for a while. It had been a long time since Levi had been able to come back here, and he very much enjoyed his time with his mother. Afterwards, he walked slowly over to the same room he had peered into earlier. Small toys were gathered in a little pile in one corner, and books lined a small shelf in the other. In the middle of the room was a large bed, a hand-me-down from his uncle, and cuddled up into a little ball on one side was a little boy (not much older than eight or nine) much too small for the adult sized bed. Levi walked slowly over to the other side, took off his boots, slowly peeled back the covers, and carefully eased himself in beside him. He rolled on his side to face the boy, and looked over him. His hair was tousled and little uneven, his skin was starting to get a dark, even tan, and it seemed he was already a little over half as tall as Levi.

He was smaller than this the last time Levi had seen him; he'd probably grow up to be taller than Levi, ironically. Hopefully they would be in a titan-free world by then. The tired man combed the boy's hair over with his fingers; he'd give the poor boy an even haircut tomorrow, whether his mother protested or not. He was like that for a good while, easing his fingers through the boy's hair while he thought of the past and the future, until the boy stirred. Levi stopped and let the boy wipe at his face and settle back in to deeper sleep. Then the lance corporal carefully kissed the boy's forehead and softly whispered, "Sleep well, my son." He closed his eyes and went off to peaceful slumber himself.