AN: This work will comprise mainly of past memories, any actual present interaction with Levi is currently unknown. I've started reading the manga so maybe i'll gather more history from Levi if there is any.
I intend to put as much back story as possible. Since AnT takes on a Germanic setting, there'll be some German words tossed around here and there. Why you have knowledge of Spanish is so there is more diversity and some history... and also because I know the language. In this work the Spanish language will be referred to as Castellano since it's also recognized by that name. Besides, imagine speaking seductively in a Romance language to Levi.
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He grew up to be quite the young man, you thought, watching him ride on his destrier. In the wave of concentrated faces, his gaze maintained a stoic glare, unchanging as you detected it. You wondered if he ever had a thought about you since he had been recruited. Did he even know you had dispatched from the group of thieves sometime after he left?
Perhaps not. Going by his unfazed expression, you assumed he knew nothing.
Not that you could blame him, Levi was in a better place. Sort of.
It had been a lovely day thus far. Despite the growing tension of a humanoid bioweapon, life in Wall Rose had been relatively the same. Again, sort of. Leaving the crowd of intrigued denizens you continued with your usual routine. After passing by the cult who worshipped the Wall, you persisted to smuggle a thing or two before you would return to the orphanage.
They had called you many things. Typically praising your ability to snatch things before you were caught or being able to flee without a trace.
That was in the past, though.
The thievery was typically done when the military police were nowhere near. Titans breaking into the wall had been inconceivable. The idea was worthy of derision. However, due to the unfortunate event five years ago, the ability to commit petty thievery plummeted drastically. Soldiers had now stood at every corner.
Their shoulders heaved from tension. Their hands practically cemented on the hilt of their masterly crafted blades. Although none shone brightest like Rivaille's when he brandished them.
You wonder how Levi would have dealt with this. This increased security. Maybe not as successful as he had been, you mused. A mischievous grin played on your lips.
"Thinking about something, _?" Rosa asked. She eyed you knowingly as she shifted the produce on the counter, hidden beneath cloth stretched out above.
You halted midstride at the familiar voice, recalling at once you needed to purchase fruit. Sheepish, you placed a tendril of hair behind your ear from an incoming breeze. The sign of a drizzle imminent once the scent of rain settled upon the town.
"Nothing in particular, frau," you lied, avoiding eye contact as you perused the fruits. You inspected a few, ignoring the speculative stare from the grocer.
She waggled a finger at you disapprovingly and demanded that you cough up your thoughts.
"For a good thief you're sure terrible at lying," she pointed out.
You corrected the middle aged woman. "I used to be, now pipe down, no one needs to know."
The wrinkles on her cheeks ironed out from a playful smile. A snicker made the blood in your face boil.
The two of you had been friends since you moved into Wall Rose before the Titan attack, forging a rapport after you caught a thief by the scruff of his neck. This was when you learned about the orphanage and eventually volunteered after deciding redemption. Since the attack, you basically came to run the place after the original owners decided to hightail it out of Rose.
"Of course of course," the older woman went, adjusting her apron. "But I am very familiar with that look in your eyes," she leaned over the produce, her grey eyes gleaming.
The heavy clouds pulled apart, allowing a ray to shower down the lively town. It warmed your shoulders when the trot of numerous horses came down the cobbled path. A person whispered an apology after he had accidentally shoved you closer into the produce display.
"I haven't the slightest idea of what you're talking about," you replied. "I was just thinking about the children back at the orphanage,"
Just then the low excited voices of the onlookers rose into shouts of praise. Irwin, one crowed, another name after another until one particular name was shouted.
Rosa gave a rackety laugh when she noticed you freeze up at the name of Levi.
"With that look, I would be concerned for the young boys under your care,"
You ignored the comment.
Without realizing it, you turned in hopes of catching a closer look on Levi, an old friend. A friend from a past that felt like eons ago, as though in the first place had never belonged to you.
And there he was. His lips moved, uttering a curse you would no doubt get right. His head turned when a bespectacled female interjected to his mutterings.
You felt instant animosity. Rosa brought you back when she yelled out a bawdy comment. Everyone in earshot turned to her at once. Thanks the gods that none of the soldiers caught wind of what was said.
At least you hoped so. There had been no reaction.
"Have you no shame!?" you growled.
A rotund old woman, hair of dry wheat done up in a bun, and the sage-like eyes were betrayed by that tainted silver tongue of hers.
I wonder if you slayed many a virgin's flower as much as you had Titans! She had said, hands on her hips and laughter hopping from her lips as she threw back her head.
Incorrigible, you thought. It wasn't anything new yet the inhabitants still cringed at what she had or could have said.
"Verdammt," You slapped down a gold piece and scurried off, quickening when the old bat sang another comment. Thank the gods the Scouting legion had gone farther off.
Later that night after a rowdy chase to place the rascals of children into bed, you were quick to sleep and incapable to avoid falling into dream.
It had been nostalgic.
You sat atop a crate, kicking your legs while perusing a book that been given to you by one of the lead thieves.
The warm light of the afternoon seeped through the sliver opening of the curtain, shading the book in half and heating up your left thigh.
"Hey brat," a familiar voice growled from the right. A creak of the door was engendered by the entrance of a young Levi. His face had been fuller, not gaunt like it would be in the future.
"Is it true you speak another tongue?"
Reluctant, you moved your head towards his direction. Your eyes never left the text. He sighed exasperatedly by your divided attention.
"…Somewhat," you confirmed. "Why?"
"What kind of question is that!?"
"…A truthful one,"
"But we have always lives behind these walls."
"It doesn't mean just one tongue remained," you replied, shifting over a page before the sneaky hand of Levi flew for the corner of the book until your hand slammed right on top of his.
You shook your head. "No way, mistkerl,"
He withdrew his hand and demanded your attention. In a show of solidarity on your strained rapport, you placed the book aside, opened.
"A distant ancestor of mine had come from another land and essentially came here, bringing his culture along with him. Just like the people of Orient, but rare to see nowadays," you explained, "before the disappearance of my parents, they taught me the tongue, they had said at one time that this tongue was once spoken to the Gods."
"Horse droppings!" he objected.
"Tu madre," you muttered disdainfully. Feeling aggravated by your fellow occupant's flippancy.
"What? Wait, did you just say something in anoth-"
"Nothing," you hissed. "Now head back to cleaning duty before Pops tans your hide!"
You remembered how angry he had been after he was reminded.
A smile was etched into your face when you awoke to the pitter-patter of feet scattering down the halls.
The day remained its gloom from yesterday. A patch of grey clouds bore a silver heart while you began your daily rounds.
It'd be sometime until the Scouting legion would out from the wall. You wondered how Levi was doing when you once again felt the suggestive eyes of Rosa.
"I recall from the grape vine that Corporal Levi used to be a thug, once upon a time," the older woman said.
You joined her behind the grocer stand, watching the people weave pass in waves. Sipping the tea you grunted in confirmation to Rosa's statement. You swallowed hard and felt your throat quickly dry.
"You look like a saint walking around for the orphans' benefits, but you sit like a man," she pointed out in a whisper, smiling at a customer when they had paid for their fruits. "Now straighten up and close your legs!"
"Sorry," you blushed.
After the morning traffic had slowed, Rosa joined you, wiping sweat from her brow.
"We grew up together as young rascals," you began, staring at the steam billowing up from the glittering liquid. "I wasn't as good a thief as Levi was, but I was recognized for my achievements. Unlike Levi who requires that contraption to fly from wall to wall, I was able to scale over walls and leap around. They called me sie Wand Kletterer,"
"I doubt you could fly from wall to wall,"
"Of course not, but I knew how to get around, so to say," another sip, "it would be amazing if I could fly."
"So why hadn't you joined the army?"
You shook your head.
"Levi and I had a bad falling out," you confessed, doing your best to hide your conflicted emotion, "It was better for me to stay. It benefitted me in the end. I now take care of children,"
"And I respect you for taking on that responsibility, those owners were low to abandon their establishment."
A snort came involuntarily from you at the mention of the previous owners. They had been cruel. The man worked the children to the bone and the woman was stingy with the donated currency.
"They fled into Wall Sina. They were actually related to a noble who lives in there…"
"Hm…" Rosa rose from her crate and interacted with a young woman who needed produce. The old woman was known for having one of the best fruits in town, especially at the price she offered. Better you sell more than less; the more you give away the more money comes in, not the other way around. That was her philosophy. Her generosity was what also deterred you from committing further thievery. The task of taking care of the entire orphanage had become a strain on your health.
"Is it impolite if I asked what happened between you and Levi?"
You shook your head.
"It's simple," you smiled ruefully. "We were infatuated."
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AN: I'm open to help with the German language! Feedback is great and it'll expedite the frequency of incoming chapters. There is no set of required feedback, this is more for me to keep me motivated since I would continue posting anyway, but more at my pace unless otherwise. I hope you enjoy and have a nice day!
ALSO, for those waiting on His Compassion, it'll be updated next month, I've been busy doing research for the story. Many apologies.