Author's Notes: Hi, Takenokohime here! Welcome to my new story! I wanted to try my hand at some one-shots, but I still wanted to have an overarching story, so yeah, here is my compromise! I'm sorry that this first chapter is short and kind of sad, I wrote this as sort of a prologue to the story. But I promise all future chapters will be significantly longer and less sad. I hope you enjoy! And please don't leave a review and to follow/favorite if you enjoy!

The Ones Left Behind

Early Summer, 850

The day had been a long one. In one day, the Survey Corps had lost more members than any previous venture. Friends, lovers, siblings, all gone. Back at their base of operations, a lone figure roamed around the rooms, as if searching for his fallen comrades. The short, black haired man wasn't one for expressing much emotion, but being one of the lone survivors from the day's expedition had him feeling vulnerable. He sulked around the grounds searching the grounds for the other survivors until he found one, a woman with dark brown hair and glasses, sobbing in a corner.

The man cleared his throat, causing the woman to look up. "Oh, Commander Levi, I didn't hear you come by. How are you holding up?" The woman sniffled and wiped a tear away, then let out a nervous laugh. "I'm not doing too well myself."

Levi sat down beside the woman and pulled out a piece of fabric from the pocket of his jacket. "I'm...I'll be fine..." Levi said in a low voice.

The woman looked at the piece of fabric. It was a patch that would normally adorn the jacket of a member of the Scouting Legion. Levi stroked the patch with his thumb and a sighed sadly.

"That's Petra's patch, isn't it?" the woman asked, a hint of pity in her voice.

"It is," Levi said, voice crackling.

"Levi, I'm so sorry. We all loved Petra and how cheerful and bright she was," the woman said softly.

Levi let out a sigh as he felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. "She was a great person. I loved her so much." Levi turned to look at the woman beside him, embarrassed by the sudden emotion. "Hange, I..."

"It's alright Levi. We're all a little, well...more than a little, emotional tonight," Hange breathed. "Maybe you should, go to Petra's room? You know, to say goodbye?"

Levi nodded, then got up from his seated position. "I'm heading over there. Hange, go get some rest."

He walked down the hallway of the living quarters until he found Petra's former room. Her things were all still stacked up and organized, making it seem like she was just gone away temporarily. Levi walked into the room and inspected everything. There was a stack of letters she had written for her family on her desk, and next to the letters was a copy of her favorite book, The Moving Castle. The corsage Levi had gotten her for a military ball was sitting on her dresser along with various knickknacks she had brought with her from home. She had pinned a picture of herself with Levi, Hange, and the other members of their squad to her wall.

Levi walked over to her bed and sat next to her old stuffed toy, a cat she called Frida. Petra had told him once that she was given Frida when she was a baby and slept with her every night. Levi noticed something on the bed glimmering next to Frida. He picked it up and let out a slight gasp. It was a promise ring he had given to her, indicating his intent to marry her someday. He knew Petra never wore the ring on missions since she was worried that it would fall off and get lost, but seeing it now and knowing that the future it promised would never happen felt surreal.

He leaned back on the bed and looked up at the bed frame. Pinned to it was a picture of him and Petra together from last spring, taken when they had visited her aunt in Stohess. Both were out of their usual military garb; instead Levi was wearing a white button-up shirt with his signature cravat and Petra was wearing a light yellow short-sleeved dress. Both looked genuinely happy and in love.

"I'm sorry I couldn't have saved you. I'm sorry that our life together had to end like this," Levi whispered as he looked up at the picture.

He then pulled Petra's patch out from his pocket again and held it against his chest. He closed his eyes and sighed sadly, imagining that Petra was lying beside him, drifting off into his thoughts.