Squad Leader (f/n-l/n) had always been a person to fight through anything, not just titans. She could power through almost anything, physical and mental. No one ever really knew her past, because she mainly kept it to herself, and her long-time friend Lance Corporal Levi Ackerman. He could almost read her like a book and knew when something was wrong, although there were times where (f/n) wouldn't utter a word to him. Today, was like any other outing beyond the walls, though it wasn't an expedition. Just a small group checking out the surroundings, to make sure that no titans were getting too close to the walls, or at least causing too much trouble. In the winter it got to be a major task going outside the walls, because of the amount of snow and ice. Some were surprised that titans would even be out in this weather, mostly Hanji. It merely intrigued her even more to study them much closer. So she was often one of the others who would come along on the trips. Levi or Erwin would lead them on a three day trek through the forest surrounding the large structures then back where they would rest and complete the necessary reports about what they saw. Today Levi was the one to take them out, along with Hanji, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Eren and (f/n).
Levi thought about taking Sasha with them, but then again some of her squadmates from the 104th often said she was the one always taking the food and during winter, food wasn't a good thing to ever run out of especially with Potato girl. They had started out early in the morning, at a time when the sun had barely even begun peeking over the horizon. (f/n) and Levi were in the front, as Levi had told her to stay by his side so she could help him watch out for anything. He wouldn't tell her his real reason why though. Over the years since she joined his small group of friends in the underground and joined the Scouting Legion with him, he had developed more than a strong friendship with her. He felt protective over (f/n) and he mentally promised her that he wouldn't let anything happen. When they had gone on their last expedition before winter, their formation had been broken by a large group of titans, in which two were deviants. One of the deviants managed to spot (f/n), and immediately went after her. Levi wasn't too worried about her for a while, mainly because he knew she was just as good as he was. So he just paid attention to what he had been doing. That was, until he heard a scream from a few meters behind him, and turned to see (f/n) in the strong grip of the deviant. He had managed to kill the titan with the help of a couple others, but not before the beat left (f/n) injured and hardly able to move. Since then, Levi was determined to not ever let it happen again, but it wasn't just her he had to look out for. It was the five other people as well whose lives depended on him and each other.
The group moved on, and occasionally Jean and Eren would throw insults at each other and Mikasa would interject on them and make them stop. Levi was glad of this so he didn't have to smack someone to make them shut up. Hanji was always non-stop talking about if she would have the chance to see how Eren would act around the titans in winter and if he was able to do much of anything himself. Several times, (f/n) would say something to Levi but it was just small talk. He could tell that she wasn't too fond of cold weather, but she toughed it out anyway. Still, she remained happy and content with all that went around her and seemed as lively as ever. This made Levi feel warm and happy, but he couldn't bring himself to show it. He went into deep thought, as he began to think of where the last group had not ventured off to and which direction to lead his into. However, his train of thought was interrupted when (f/n) told him that she was going to the lake that she'd spotted to refill her water.
"Wait, shouldn't you wait a bit? We'll be stopping soon to rest for the night, (f/n)." Levi told her. She simply gave him a sweet smile and went on anyway.
"Don't worry, Levi. I'll be just fine." She assured the corporal. Levi sighed and motioned for the others to follow, figuring that it was best that they refilled their water canteens. They arrived at the edge of the lake, each of them dismounting from their horses. Mikasa helped Eren with unscrewing his even though he said repeatedly that he could do it himself. Jean and Armin weren't too far off from them. Levi looked around to where Hanji could have gone to, but he didn't have to wonder for too long…
"HEY SHORTY!" came Hanji's voice as she sprinted right next to him, much to the corporal's despise. He groaned and tried to ignore her as he filled up his canteen. "Sooo, I see that you decided to have (f/n) ride with you up front, huh~?" she hinted questionably.
"Shut your fuck, shitty glasses.. I only had her with me because I know she can spot things a bit easier than I could." he lied. Hanji cackled with laughter and leaned back on her heals. She put her canteen in the water, and let it fill up a bit before giving him a smirk and speaking again.
"Sure, that's the reason. I know that you have a little thing-a-lang for (f/n), so don't hide it from me! If you need someone to talk about, or want just a little 'help' from anyone, you can count on me~!" Hanji smiled and darted off back to her horse. Levi watched her go, a light pink color dusting his face. He shook it off and continued doing what the others were doing. Levi looked up to see (f/n) on the other side, filling hers up. Off to the side, Jean's horse decided to not listen to him, and fling his canteen on the iced-over lake surface, making a skidding noise. He cursed at the animal, and ran to the tossed item. That was, until he heard a cracking sound emanating from where he stood on the ice. He looked down to see the cracks forming below him. Jean decided to just abandon the water container, and make it back to his horse. But it had been too late, and the ice gave way under him, and seemingly pulled him under. Seeing this happen, Levi saw (f/n) throw her canteen aside, and removed her gear off of her and sprinted to Jean. She grabbed his arms, and gripped his cloak, and pulled him out of the ice hole. She dragged him away from it, so he wouldn't fall again.
"Kirschstein, get out of here now!" (f/n) ordered him, and watched him nod his head and run back to where Mikasa had grabbed out a blanket for him. Levi couldn't help but smile some. He admired how brave she was to do that. Just as she began to walk back to her horse, she had forgotten about the cracks on the ice caused from the hole from when Jean had fallen through. They had spread to where (f/n) was walking back, though she didn't notice. But Levi did, and tried to warn her to get away from them. She didn't hear him, however and before she even got back to where she had left her horse, Levi heard a loud crack and her yell as she went through herself. Unlike Jean, she didn't come back up right away.
Hanji gasped, and went through her supplies to find a rope to get her out. She tied one end to a rock poking out from the edge of the lake, and the other end she held in her hands as she carefully stepped onto the ice. Levi was already ahead of her, having ditched his gear and cloak. He made a full sprint to (f/n) as he searched for her. Levi didn't see her at first, which made him
panic. Inside, he was cursing at himself for not stopping her or telling her to get away from the cracks in the ice and felt the guilt crashing upon him. For all he knew, she could have hit her head on something or got caught, preventing her from ever reaching air again. But Levi couldn't think of that now. All he needed to do was to find (f/n), and think about abandoning the trek and head back to headquarters. At the sound of Hanji's voice, he immediately saw her as the brunette was attempting to pull her out.
"Levi! I-I can't get her... " Hanji said as she began to worry she may not be able to save her. Much of (f/n)'s body was still in the icy grip of the lake, making this situation worse as Levi assumed that there was something holding her back.
The corporal grumbled a bit and took his jacket off him and looked at Hanji. "Try your best and keep trying to pull her out. I'm going to see if there's something that's preventing us from getting her out.." Levi said and dove in the water. It was a shock to him, as the water was much colder that he expected it to be, but he didn't care about that. Almost right away, Levi saw what the problem was: (f/n)'s cloak and one of her belts were both caught on the rocks underwater. He could see blood oozing from a deep gash in her leg, and another one on her stomach. Levi moved closer to her, and tore off the piece of the cloak and unbuckled part of the belt on her thigh to get her freed from could feel himself losing feeling in his hands, barely even able to move them. Levi's chest felt like it was almost about to burst from the sudden lack of oxygen, so he helped push (f/n)'s body up over the edge of the ice and broke through the water. He gasped for air, and coughed harshly as the cold air hit the back of his throat. Levi and Hanji got (f/n) off the ice, and near the horses. She was shivering severely, moaning from the pain and cold.
Levi grimaced at the sight of her pain, feeling guilty yet. He carried her in his arms and told the group to make some shelters, and get a fire going as soon as possible. Hanji darted after him after she had retrieved (f/n)'s horse, and rejoined the rest of the group.
After he changed into a dry uniform, Levi settled himself with (f/n) in his arms again, determined to keep her warm. Mikasa helped him by attempting to give her medicine they'd brought with them, though it wasn't much. They didn't bring anymore because they didn't expect anything to happen on this trip. Levi greatly regretted it. Jean sat near them as well, also in a dry uniform, with a blanket around him. He often cast glances to them, feeling sorry that he had fallen through the ice first.
"Um.. listen, Captain Levi… I am sorry this happened. I should have just left my canteen where my horse threw it. Then she would have never have to gone after me." Jean said. Levi looked at him, a mixture of concern and his usual pissed off stare.
"You don't need to apologize. I would have done the same thing if my damn horse did that. It's part of your equipment, and something we almost can't replace. But then again, I'd rather go through the trouble of replacing that than a life." Levi replied. He sighed and glanced back down at the (h/c) woman in his arms. "Don't feel bad. Just be glad that there was someone to save your life." he said. Jean nodded and decided it was best to get some sleep before they headed back in the morning. Levi hated that they had to cut the trip so short, but he had to get (f/n) into proper care soon or infection would set into her wounds. He sighed once more, and brought her closer to him. He could feel her moving some within the blanket he wrapped around her, along with Hanji's cloak she had on her head. Levi brought his hand up to her face, brushing a finger over her cheek. This action caused her to squint her eyes tighter, and they slowly fluttered open. She looked up at him tiredly. "..Levi?"
The corporal bit his lip and nodded some. "Yes, don't worry now. We'll be heading back to headquarters in the morning. You got a couple of nasty wounds when you fell through, and I don't want infection to set in." he said. It took all that he could muster suddenly not to show so much affection for (f/n). She looked so adorable just staring up at him, bundled up in the blanket. He stopped looking at her when he noticed that her face began to turn a bit red. "Sorry…" he muttered.
"Sorry for what? Sorry that you had to call off the trip because I decided that swimming in the winter would be fun?" (f/n) joked and laughed a bit, followed by a series of coughing. Levi frowned some, helping her sit up some. She thanked him, and seemed to snuggle herself closer to him.
"I'm just glad that I could save him. Winter is just as bad as titans, you know." (f/n) said. Levi nodded. He wrapped his arms around her more, while gently rubbing her arms. (f/n) relaxed as he did this. It felt good to her. Though, she wasn't sure at times when she should openly confess to Levi that she loved him. The only person who knew was Hanji. Well, also Commander Erwin, who also agreed to keep it secret. (f/n) smiled some, thinking of all the times the two of often tried to help her in having Levi noticing. Erwin knew that he had feelings for the young (h/c) squad leader, but never got around to attempting to tell her. However, their efforts were all in vain. Levi had yet to tell (f/n), and vice versa.
Her thoughts were broken through when Levi sneezed. She giggled and reached up with her hand to touch his face. Levi looked down at her puzzled. (f/n) smiled at him. "Hehe, I honestly think its adorable how you sneeze~" she said. In her mind, she mentally slapped herself. That was a lame way to begin her confession to the man she spent nearly her entire life with as a friend.
Levi smirked some, a light blush dusting his features on his face. He brought his hand up to meet hers. "Perhaps. But its disgusting." he replied. She grinned some, nodding.
He thought a moment, then gave her a slight smile. "You know.. I-I have been thinking. We've known each other for years. At first, I thought of you as a friend, which developed into my best friend. And we've remained that way since then. And when we entered in the Survey Corps, we defended our friends and each other with our lives. I honestly can't think of a day where we didn't, and genuinely cared a lot. But now.." Levi said trailing off some. "Now, I view our friendship as something that has grown much more recently. It's like… its a love we share…" he finished, his face blushing like mad. He expected her to laugh at him, or get angry. But he heard nothing like that. Instead, he suddenly felt a pair of lips brushing against his. The corporal leaned in some, before she broke away from him.
(f/n) giggled and nuzzled her face into his neck. "Haha.. I didn't think you shared the same views, Levi. I thought you were just stuck with me being a best friend." she said.
Levi smirked again and kissed her forehead. "We still are, just a bit stronger." he said. He looked down at her again, her (e/c) eyes staring back up at him, shining like stars. Sometimes, he could have sworn that she was much more than a human, and more like an angel. And right now seemed more like a dream than reality. He was certain that it was one he didn't want to wake up from, especially if it was Hanji waking him up for training, or more "wonderful" paperwork from Erwin. But then again… he had noticed something especially weird about the two.
"So, I guess we could tell Shitty Glasses and Commander Eyebrows to stop their shinagagins, huh?" Levi chuckled. (f/n) laughed quietly. "Yes, Levi. I suppose so." she grinned.
She coughed a bit more, but eventually she grew tired again, and settled more comfortably in his arms. Levi was glad that he could actually say how he felt, and not to be judged. But he knew that he could trust her. Soon, sleep also called his name, and he leaned back on the pile of a blanket. With one last look, he made sure she was sound asleep and comfortable. When he was sure, he closed his silver-blue eyes, sleep enveloping him.
Morning came, and Levi was greeted with a very happy Hanji Zoe leaning over them. She squealed with delight and clapped her hands. "Yippie! I guess Erwin and I can finally call off the mission to put you two lovers together~!" she chimed happily. "Hehehe! Operation Levi and (f/n) Ackerman Part 1: SUCCESS!" she yelled.
Levi grumbled irritably, and shoved her away, while holding (f/n) close to him. "Oi.. shut your damn mou-WAIT WHAT WAS THAT?!"
The mad brunette squad leader cackled again, and darted off when Levi set (f/n) carefully and ran after Hanji, while yelling at her. Meanwhile, (f/n) and the others laughed as Levi continued to chase Hanji around, and waving one of his blades at her. "You are so loveable, Heichou. Yet, you don't respond well to situations like this do you?" (f/n) smirked.
(The End~!)