Author's Note:

Just very quickly, I'd like to thank you all for reading and ask that you bear with me if I'm slow to update. Hopefully I can churn this out quickly, as it shouldn't be too long of a story, but we'll see!

I hope you enjoy.

-Fox

"Oi, Levi! Come drink with us!" I had hardly entered the small bar before Hanji's arm was being flung around me, knocking me slightly forward with the surprise force. She beamed and offered me some sort of alcoholic beverage, "Don't worry, I got you a tall glass of Jaeger."

"Tch" I clicked disapprovingly at her, though I did accept the glass. "Didn't need you to get me one, four-eyes. I already have an unlimited supply, right, Eren?"

Eren, who had entered right behind me, chuckled and grinned cockily, taking me back from Hanji's grip, "Of course, Corporal." His lips danced mere centimeters from mine, our warm breath intermixing, the familiar scents of sweat and sunlight filling my nostrils with a fragrance I only know as 'Eren'. I felt a smirk playing at those lovely pink lips, a feeling his gorgeous amber eyes confirmed, a playful light dancing in them as they gazed into my own before fluttering closed as he leaned in to close the distance between us.

I darted out of the way just before his lips met mine, though, which sent the tall brunette stumbling a bit, all the confidence suddenly replaced with shock. I smirked, "I don't kiss shitty overconfident brats." Eren laughed, a warm sound, one of my favorites in the world, and wrapped his arms tightly around my waist.

"Sorry, Levi. I'm just so happy. I love you."

"I love you too, Jaeger." I answered, placing a chaste kiss on my young lover's lips. Eren relaxed visibly, a smile as bright as the sun taking over his tanned face. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a loud, deep voice.

"Jaeger, think you can peel yourself away from your boyfriend long enough to celebrate with us?" We turned toward the sound to find Jean had approached, with the rest of Eren's graduating regiment close behind him. Armin beamed and waved gleefully at the two of us. He'd always been a stalwart supporter of my relationship with Eren, explaining that 'anyone who made Eren smile like that was more than okay in his book'. Mikasa, who glowered venomously at me from just behind Armin, was much less supportive, but still agreed that Eren was very happy with me, and so permitted our relationship for now. The rest of the kids were more or less accepting, not that it had particularly mattered. With Eren's single-minded determinism and my hard-headed stubbornness, there was very little any of them could have done to stop our relationship.

Eren tried to stammer out a reason why he couldn't, surprised by his friends' sudden appearance, but I stopped him, "Go. I should share a few drinks with Hanji and Erwin anyway. We'll have plenty of time to celebrate together after the party." Connie and Sasha gave whistles of approval at that, and Eren blushed deeply, though he looked very happy at the prospect of a later celebration.

"If you're sure, Corporal. Please try not to have too much fun without me." He kissed me one more time before joining the kids, who were now ruthlessly teasing him, carefree smiles on every face.

Hanji replaced her arm across my shoulders, "I've never seen either of you look so at peace, Levi. It must feel good after all these years, to not have a fear of tomorrow looming over your head."

"It wasn't just us with a 'fear of tomorrow', Hanji." I retorted, "The Titans left everyone with that feeling."

She shrugged, "It's not the same, and you know it. You and Eren-Humanity's Strongest and Humanity's Hope-you two carried weights none of us here can imagine. Our 'fear of tomorrow' was only for ourselves and our close friends. Yours was for all of humanity." I took a sip of my jaeger and mused over this concept. I found it hard to conceive a universe in which my fear was only for the safety of my dearest friends. Every life taken by the titans was a painful loss, though of course those of my close friends had hit harder, I had mourned them all in some way. To think of not carrying the burden of so many lives, I couldn't wrap my head around it. And yet, I realized, that was my new reality. There were no more man-eating beasts looming over the horizon. Humanity was free from the confinement of the walls. I could put up my swords and finally stop fighting. All I had to worry about was myself and Eren. The rest of the world be damned, because they were finally free from the threat he and I had sworn to vanquish. Our job was done, and though I was infinitely happy about that idea, I felt strangely hollow, as if I didn't know what to do with myself without two swords in my hands and the wings of freedom on my back.

Hanji, as if reading my mind, chattered on, "What will you do with yourself, eh? Peaceful times don't suit warrior types like you." She started leading me to a booth in the back corner of the venue, where I saw Erwin waiting patiently, greeting me with a wide smile as we approached. "Though, maybe you'll surprise us all and turn into a pretty little housewife. Levi Jaeger, humanity's best wife." She grinned mischievously at me and I was about to scoff at the notion when Erwin interrupted.

"He'd make a good one, huh? Already an expert at cleaning and cooking. Eren is a lucky man. Though you could do with an attitude adjustment." He taunted, looking at me out of the corners of his eyes, his amusement clear to see.

I humored him a bit, "Oh, really, Erwin? Not sexy enough for you?" He chuckled and began to speak, but I snapped a kick into his chest before he could manage it. "Good thing I've no interest in seducing you." I glowered as Erwin laughed, massaging his chest.

"I'm glad you made it through safe, Corporal Levi."

"...Same to you, Commander."

He smiled, sadder this time, and gestured for Hanji and I to sit down, "We need to talk business. Loose ends and whatnot." Hanji and I looked at each other in confusion and sat down across from Erwin. He continued, "So, I've filed my last report. The one containing the fact that all titans have been eliminated, which is true. However, I think it unlikely that they'll forget about titan shifters." Despair coiled in my stomach, gnawing at my insides. I saw where this was going. Hanji noticed my distress and placed a hand on my shoulder as I gripped my glass tighter. "...I think we should all prepare ourselves for the reality that they might demand Eren's death." My glass shattered in my grip, alcohol and glass tumbling off my skin, but I barely noticed. My mind was consumed with panicked despair. I would not lose Eren. I had already given everything I had to humanity. They had no right to take him. No fucking right. He was mine, and I would protect him until the end of the world. I would gladly murder the entire council if it meant I would never have to give him up. My body was numb, hysteria setting itself upon my entire being. I only barely registered Hanji's arms around me, her hand running through my hair, whispering gentle words to try and calm me. Luckily, Eren had been distracted by his friends, but a quick glance toward Mikasa was all I needed to confirm my suspicions that they were very well aware something was wrong and needed me to get my shit together before Eren noticed.

With a shaky breath, I regained my composure, trying to shove the hysterical beast inside me back. I apologized to the waiter for the broken glass, but he waved it off and gave me a new drink, which I made sure not to touch for the moment being. Erwin continued, in an even kinder tone than before, clearly worried for me, "Of course, I don't plan on letting that happen. I will do everything in my power to get Eren off the hook, I swear, Levi. But if I should fail, I hereby give you authority to run away with him. No one in the Survey Corps will stop you, I'll see to it personally. You two deserve happiness after these long years of hell, after all."

I chuckled darkly, despair still swimming in my stomach, strangling me with venomous tendrils of fear and hatred, "D'ya really think Eren would go for something like that?" Erwin looked at me, confused, and I elaborated, "Eren would never run away from his duty, even if it was death. Our only hope of keeping him alive is convincing the council not to execute him."

"Then we won't fail," Hanji vowed, her voice shaky. I knew Hanji adored Eren, not only as her favorite test subject, but as a precious friend. The idea of losing him was surely almost as terrifying to her as it was to me. Erwin nodded, a fierce look in his blue eyes. And I found the despair uncoiling, releasing my throat from its choking grasp. If there were any people I could trust in this fucked up world to fight beside me, they were right here. I could hope, and trust in my friends, even if just a little, and that was enough to set the monster at bay.

The conversation turned to happier things as the night progressed. I had promised not to drink too much, since I wanted to be more or less sober to celebrate with the underage Eren, but I still enjoyed two glasses of jaeger with Erwin and Hanji, who at some point in the night had become embarrassingly drunk and began acting out Titan battles.

I'd honestly stopped paying attention after the third or fourth bout, instead opting to watch Eren and his friends from across the venue. It seemed that Jean had gotten a big head and tried to win over the heart of the impassive Ms. Ackerman by challenging Eren to a fight in hand-to-hand combat.

I chuckled to myself as I saw Eren run his fingers through his hair with a cocky smile, no doubt making sure Jean knew exactly who he was challenging. Eren had always been one of the best at hand-to-hand combat, even giving Erwin and I trouble in sparring sessions. While Jean was bigger, and had a bit more raw power because of it, he was no match for Eren's skill.

But the other teen didn't seem to realize that as he dropped into a fighting stance, waiting only a split second before sending a powerful punch straight for Eren's face. Unfortunately for the blonde, Eren had been expecting that, and caught the fist with ease before retaliating with a swift blow to the stomach. Jean only landed two blows their entire fight, one because Eren had allowed it in order to throw the other boy off long enough to land a stronger attack, and the other due to something he'd said that caused my lover to look back at me for a second. However, it was no question who the victor was when Eren pinned Jean down firmly for the third time in as many minutes, barely panting, as the horse-faced boy below him gasped for breath.

I saw Jean's lips move angrily and Eren laughed, jumping off the other boy and offering a hand to help him up, which was graciously accepted. Both boys seemed satisfied with the fight, and smiled warmly at each other, though Jean was clearly dismayed to find that Mikasa had lost interest and started talking to Sasha almost as soon as the fight started. Eren turned back and met my eyes, waving excitedly and giving me the 'victory' sign. Trying not to act too impressed with him, I merely nodded and gave a thumbs-up, which was all the praise the eighteen-year-old needed to blush furiously and turn away with happy embarrassment.

So the night progressed, occasional fights breaking out, couples trying to woo each other with varying degrees of success, usual party antics, until Erwin drunkenly commented, "Oi wha d'ya think Eren and L-Levi are like in bed?"

Hanji's response was just as drunken, but a lot louder, in a slightly deeper than usual voice, "Oh oh Eren~ You feel soooooooo good~!" and the entire bar fell quiet for a few seconds before erupting into laughter. I had caught sight of Eren from across the bar and he was chuckling too, an amused glint in his eyes.

Erwin began to open his mouth, presumably to imitate his idea of Eren, but I snapped a sharp, but relatively light kick to his leg and scolded him, "Filth shouldn't try to be perfection," which earned a booming laugh from the burly blonde.

"Ah only a few hours after we complete our mission and I'm already being subjected to insubordination. How cruel, Levi! After all I've done for you!" He began to cry obvious crocodile tears, still laughing despite trying to cover it up with watering puppy dog eyes.

I raised a sharp eyebrow and scowled, "Fucking drunkard. I'm heading out. Enjoy the rest of the night." I didn't even need to signal Eren, since as soon as I had emerged from the booth the three of us had been sharing, the titan-shifter was at my side, offering me a calloused hand, which I took gratefully, entwining my fingers with his.

Eren smiled gently at me and kissed me, whispering against my lips, "I missed you, Corporal." I rolled my eyes but smiled fondly at the teenager, turning to leave, but Eren had turned the other way, toward Hanji, and beamed, "Oh, but Ms. Hanji, it was a good try, but I think you should work on your imitation of Corporal. Your moans were too loud and not quite lusty enough." Laughter erupted across the bar yet again and I lightly punched Eren in the arm, trying to scowl despite being highly amused, but he saw right through me and gave me another dazzling smile. Damn. How could this kid be so perfect? I gripped his hand tighter and smiled as we walked out of the building into the crisp night air.

I would not let them take him from me. No matter what.