For My Little Girl
A silhouette of a girl illuminated against the wall as a teenage girl with raven black hair sneaked away from the castle in the night. She walked away from the castle, faster and faster as the moon rose higher and higher, until she almost reached the boundary. She carefully approached a big, old oak tree marred with sword marks and other scars, looking furtively around her. Her burning black coal eyes desperately searched her surroundings, as if looking for somebody. When she saw nothing, she sighed and leaned against the tree, resting her back against the rough surface of the oak tree.
"Oi, Mikasa," a deep, chocolaty voice rung right above her. Mikasa snapped her head up, hitting it against the wood in the process.
"Ow…Levi!" Mikasa groaned, rubbing the back of her head. The person - whose name was apparently Levi - smirked and hopped off of the branch he was sitting on. Levi had a quite small stature for a man, smaller then Mikasa by 10 centimeters. But that was his only quirk. Well, at least physically. He had high cheekbones and prominent jawline, and his sharp eyes seemed to be of cold steel and blazing silver at the same time. His skin was porcelain white, contrasting his gleaming raven hair. His body was laced with muscle, lean yet powerful.
If only he was 10 centimeters taller, Mikasa thought, he would have been perfect. Too perfect.
"Why did you call for me? What could the high-and-mighty Mikasa Ackerman want from a lowly Underground thug?" Levi asked, casually leaning against the tree right next to the girl. Mikasa glowered at the man, staggering up. She thought of just heading back to the headquarters and leaving Levi right now, but she knew she couldn't do that. Biting her lips, she started to speak.
"I'm going on an expedition tomorrow," she announced, crossing her arms. Levi only stared at her with those grey eyes of his, as if saying, so?
"It'll be a big expedition. There's even a possibility that I could die."
"As if you would allow yourself to get killed before you had a chance to marry that pathetic boyfriend of yours," she heard Levi mutter, but ignored him and kept talking.
"So, I have a favor to ask you. I need you to be my family member or a relative and take my belongings when I die."
"Why me? Can't that Eren boy take care of your stuff?"
"Well…" Mikasa looked down at the ground, heat crawling up to her cheeks. She was grateful that it was dark outside and her blush went unnoticed.
"I… I do like Eren, that's true, but the only one I truly consider my family is… you."
"When my parents were killed and I was taken to the Underground, you… you rescued me and took care of me, even stopped being a thug for me to be allowed into the Military. You risked your life to escape the Survey Corpse when you were forcibly taken there. Isabelle and Farlan were killed, and you could have stayed and had your revenge against the Titans, but you escaped so that you could… take care of me. That's the reason I joined the Military! I wanted to avenge Isabelle and Farlan, so that you wouldn't have to!"
When Mikasa finished, the night plunged into silence. She felt like she could explode with embarrassment and go crazy about Levi's quietness. Finally, when Mikasa was in the brink of her sanity, Levi spoke.
"…Okay. I will be your family and take your belongings… if you die."
But as the words left his mouth, Mikasa instinctively knew that Levi didn't really mean what he said. He didn't believe that she would die and the girl hoped he was right.
The raven-haired girl waited nervously, as the wild screams and yells filled the forest. She was downright nervous, but she didn't show it. She was tough, and wouldn't be scared out of her pants by some mindless, vile beasts.
As she sat on the gigantic branch of a tree, the wind whipped around her neck, but it was protected by the black scarf which was given to her by Levi when they first met. She was grateful for it. She didn't like the cold. It reminded her of the time when her parents were killed…Mikasa's eyes drooped and lost focus, as she reminisced her long, bitter memory.
It was a late night, she remembered. Her mother had given her a tattoo of oriental heritage, and their neighbor, Dr. Yeager, was coming over to see if it was healing well without infection. Her mother told her that she, too, was to pass on the tattoo when she had her own children. As she sat on the floor, watching her mother cook, the little girl became curious.
"Mom, how are the babies made?" She asked. Suddenly, her mother fell into a coughing fit, unable to speak properly for a couple of moments.
"Well, why don't you ask your dad?" She managed to answer, throwing a playful look at the old man. As Mikasa' curious eyes were directed on him, he too, started coughing and looking at everywhere but the little girl's eyes.
"Well, I'm a little hazy on the details myself…Why don't you ask Dr. Yeager when he comes? I'm sure he knows."
Then, right as he said it, the door rattled.
"Well, speak of the devil and he appears!" Mr. Ackerman exclaimed, opening the door.
"Welcome, Dr. Yea-"
His words were cut off by a loud thump. The man's body shuddered as the knife was yanked off his neck, then fell lifelessly onto the floor, blood pooling from his sliced neck. Mikasa stared at her father, frightened of the mysterious men who came into her house. Mrs. Ackerman was quick to react. She grabbed the axe from a nearby stool and ran over to the evil men with a yell, struggling to block them from entering the house.
"Run, Mikasa!" she yelled, "Run and go find help! Run and survive!"
Mikasa was too shocked to move. Dumbly, she counted the men who struggled against her mother. One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six… Seven… Eight… Nine… Ten… Ten men against her mother… She was quickly overwhelmed and killed as well. The men advanced slowly toward her, gagging and tying her up.
Mother…Father…What did just happen? Mikasa wondered.
Are you now gone forever…? What should I do…? The world… without the two of you it's too cold… to survive…
Blackness filled little girl's vision, as she passed out on the floor.
"He's very strong, look at those muscles! And very good teeth, too. A handy hand for your farm management and does mighty good job during the night, too! Starting the auction from fifty dollars and so on."
Levi lazily tapped his chin as he watched the slave auction. Though it was long banned, slave auction was a common thing in the Underground, an easy way to get people to do your work. Farlan and Isabelle were beside him, examining the line of slaves at ready. Not that they would buy one, but it was interesting to see what poor people, the thugs, brought here.
Of all the slaves, a particular girl caught his eye. She was dressed in ragged clothing, with a bandage wrapped around her wrist. Her eyes were lifeless and hopeless, devoid of life. But she would fetch a good price, he noted. Her hair color was exotic, beautiful black, and her overall looks weren't that common, either. She looked different, different from the rest of them.
The girl caught Isabelle's eyes, too. The red-headed girl always had a soft spot for young girls. They reminded her too much of herself.
"Onii-chan, look!" she pointed.
"Look at that girl over there… can we take her in? Raise her?"
"No, Isabelle," Farlan snapped, shaking his head firmly.
"It's hard enough to feed ourselves. We don't need another mouth to feed."
"But… But…" Isabelle stared up at them, her teal eyes sparkling dimly with fake tears.
"But Onii-chan raised me… Can't you just take pity on the little girl? Look at her! She's so young; yet so lifeless…Think about what she must have gone through!"
"…We'll keep her," Levi ordered, readying his 3DMG. Farlan stared at him with surprise, while Isabelle cheered.
"Thank you, Onii-chan!"
"But, Levi…"
The rest of it was havoc. The trio swept through the stage like a storm, and when everybody gathered their wits, they were gone with Mikasa.
Since then, Levi raised her, fed her, and taught her all he could. When they were taken away by the Survey Corps, Levi fought his way back, despite Isabelle and Farlan. He did it all for his little girl.
When Mikasa announced that she wanted to join the Military, Levi took on an honest life, or at least the best he could do, so Mikasa could join without any problems. He even supplied her with money and other necessities, she recalled.
Mikasa was jolted back to reality when a loud, agonized cry shook the forest. Her eyes snapped open, and she realized the screamer's voice.
"Eren," she whispered, and took off into the forest.
Mikasa was dead.
Her shirt was stained red, red as her bloodstained scarf. Her chest was completely still, refusing to breath. Her normally pale face was now bloodlessly white, and her fingers were as cold as ice.
Levi wasn't dead.
But he felt dead.
He was hugging Mikasa's corpse tightly, the blood from her wounds staining his spotless white shirt. Her body was so cold, so cold against his warm, blood-flowing body. His breathing was hitched and irregular, struggling to allow air into his deceitful lungs.
Yet his heart thumped. Yet blood still flowed in his veins. Yet his body was still warm.
"NO!" Levi let out an agonizing cry, struggling with all of his strength when people tried to separate him from Mikasa's lifeless corpse. But he couldn't fight off hundreds of people at once. Mikasa was dragged away from him, away from his longing hand. Rivulets of tear streamed down his face, and he struggled more violently.
"Why?!" He shouted up to the sky.
"Why?! Why did you have to take her? Why didn't you take me instead?"
He freed his arms from the tangle of hands, yet now, instead of fighting back, he only crumpled down on the ground, beating the hard ground with his fists.
Mikasa was dead. And he wasn't even there when she died. His little girl was dead. The only family he had left was dead. The only person for him left to love was dead.
"Please…please let her come back… I would do anything…. I can give up anything, as long as Mikasa comes back…"
Out of the corner of his eyes, Levi saw a brunette boy with startling green eyes hugging Mikasa's corpse. He was the Eren boy - the one who Mikasa died saving. Slowly, he stood up on his shaking limbs and walked over to the boy, his fist clenched at his sides with anger. Eren looked up in surprise as darkness shadowed him, but a firm and strong fist was thrown his way.
"You… you…"Levi seethed, grabbing the surprised boy's shirt.
"Because of you, Mikasa died. Because of you! You killed my only family I had left! You killed Mikasa!"
Levi swung his fist, but before his hand made contact, another person hit his head and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
He was standing in utter darkness. By his side, Mikasa was standing there, a faint light emitting from her body.
"M-Mikasa?" Levi stuttered in surprise, but when he reached toward her, his hands went right through her, rippling like a lake.
"Hello, Levi." Mikasa said softly. She was smiling, yet her eyes were sad. She caressed Levi's cheek with her hand, and Levi closed his eyes as he felt a hint of warmth.
They stood that way for some time, and Levi wished that it would stay that way forever.
"Do you really mean it?" Mikasa suddenly asked, and Levi opened his eyes in surprise as the warmth suddenly disappeared. Mikasa was an arm's length away from him now, so close yet just out of his reach. Desperate for some more of the warmth, Levi reached forward, but once again his hands passed right through her.
"W-What…?"
"Did you really mean it when you said you would give up anything to save me?" Mikasa asked. Levi's eyes widened in realization, and he set his mouth on a grim line.
"Yes, I did."
"Are you willing to give up [-] to save me?"
Levi's eyes once again widened, but quickly hardened.
"Anything for my little girl."
A/N: Hello people! I am back! First of all, thank you to Martiniy.y, a dear friend/supporter of mine who agreed to proofread this story! Second of all, I know that there was only three thugs in the original plot, but the reason I changed it to 10 will be explained later. Third of all, sorry if Levi seemed a bit OOC, it's necessary for the story. And last but not the least of all, thank you for reading this story! Your opinions will be greatly appreciated!