Hey guys, back with the second chapter. I've finally broken the story into chapters and I gotta say they're all kind long-ish but I really needed to keep the flow intact. You'll see. Anywho, enjoy!


Big brother?" Ina looks at Eren, who is sitting across from her in front of the fireplace. They took training inside when it got too chilly out, and have been stretching by the fire to conclude today's lesson.

"Can I ask you something?"

"By all means, ask away."

"What do you normally do on… a birthday?"

Eren is sure to stay away from any surprise spoilers. Man, this kid is sharp as ever.

"Well…" He tries to think long and hard before answering. "Here at the corp, it's usually a whole lot of nothing. We get pretty busy, even in between expeditions. Come on, kid, keep stretching." Eren instructs Ina. She just nods and follows his movements.

"Armin said that sometimes people get together and celebrate. Like with food and stuff?"

"Did he now?"

"Uh huh, and I… I guess I was wondering if… No, never mind it's stupid." Ina shakes her head and resumes stretching. She straightens out both legs in front of her and brings her forehead to her knees. Practically folding herself in half as she continues to stretch. Sweet Sina this child is a noodle.

"Ah, no you brought it up. Out with it."

Eren wants to know what the hell she's thinking so he can make sure she's not onto their surprise. It's barely in it's developmental stage yet. There's no way she could have figured them out, right?

"Okay fine." Ina inhales. "I was thinking… maybe you guys could help me do something like that for Papa."

Eren damn near chokes on absolutely nothing. "What?!"

He could laugh at this irony. Wants to, but immediately rethinks that when he sees her bring her knees up to her chest and look away. Clearly withdrawing out of sheer humiliation.

"See, I told you! It's stupid! Just forget it. He probably wouldn't like it anyway."

"I swear… years will go by and you'll still be shocking us with that crazy intuition of yours."

"Huh?" She builds up the courage to look at him once more.

"Nothing. You're just… too smart for us sometimes." Eren laughs, which in turn makes the honeyglow in Ina's cheeks. "You're also too cute, did I ever tell you that?"

"Something else, talk about something else!" Ina covers her cheeks and shuts her eyes.

"Alright, I'm going to let you in on a little secret." Eren finally changes the subject, much to Ina's relief.

"Captain Levi's birthday is actually coming up really soon. Like in a month, soon. That gives you than enough time to plan something for him."

"You think so?!" She completely lights up at the thought. Eren could smother this child, she's so adorable.

"Will you guys help me then? I don't really know what you do at celebrations. I just want to do something nice for Papa. He's been so wonderful… I want to thank him."

"Tell you what, we'll get the whole squad together after lights out and start planning. But remember, the best kind of birthdays are surprises. Not a word to Levi." Eren places a finger over his lips.

"Keep a secret from Papa? Isn't that… that's not bad?"

"No one's life is in danger, and your safety is not in jeopardy. This is one of those times where it's okay to keep a secret. Besides, it's just temporary. You get to tell him all about it on the day of the party."

"Party?"

"That's what it's called, peanut. A party! And I think this'll be a damn good one too."


"Eren you had one job." Connie shakes his head at his comrade sitting across from him at the dinner table.

"Seriously? It's barely been a day!" Jean sneers. "You couldn't keep your mouth shut if someone paid you."

"This is why I asked you guys to let me explain first, jeez!" Eren tries to defend himself.

"She approached me! I hadn't said a word to her about anything remotely relating to birthdays or anything. I swear!"

"So you mean to tell us she came up to you and asked to throw Levi a party?" Armin tries to make sense of this mess. If Eren had let the surprise slip, he would have owned up to it by now. He wouldn't be this adamant unless he was truly innocent. Eren's a lot of things, sure. But a liar isn't one of them.

"And you mean to tell me the girl who taught herself to read can't come up with a creative idea on her own?" Eren counters. "I'm telling you, this was all her."

Jean sighs. "Holy shit, this kid is too damn smart for us. So now what?"

Krista contemplates. "I mean… I guess we could just follow her lead and help her do this for Levi. It'd be really sweet, and if he tries to kill us we can kinda use her as a protective shield."

"She doesn't know we were planning to make this a party for her, right?" Mikasa inquires.

Eren shakes his head. "Nope, just wanted to see if she could do something nice for Levi. She didn't even know his birthday was coming up until after the fact."

Sasha laughs. "She's so thoughtful, I love that little peanut."

Mikasa continues to make her point. "Yes, but this means we can still surprise her. Even though she knows something, she doesn't know that it'll be just as much her day as Levi's."

Connie pats Mikasa on the shoulder. "Top of our class for a reason."

"I told her we'd start planning tonight after lights out." Eren informs the group. "Here's to hoping Levi doesn't murder us for this." He raises his glass of water.

They all toast to their safety. In truth Levi wouldn't murder all of them. Maybe just Eren and Krista. They seem to be the target for most of the captain's pent up aggression. Especially since Eren started training Ina to fight. If bruises stuck around on his body, Eren imagines he would look like an abstract painting. His face and chest lighting up with bruises dating as far back as a month ago and as recently as last week.

Eren and Krista both seem to realize that if something goes wrong, they'll be the ones who must answer for it. They share a look of understanding between each other. This party had better be fucking amazing, because anything less will have the former 104th cadet class holding a double funeral.


The next few weeks leading up to December 25th are nothing but hushed whispers and stolen glances. The only person truly in the dark about everything going on is Levi. But lately he's been so busy he can't find the time or energy to care.

Every other night, Ina is with the scouts. Planning out the day from beginning to end. On the other nights, the scouts are busy working over how they'll go about making this a good birthday party for Ina as well. Hange eventually gets roped into the planning as well, but only when Ina isn't around. It's the squad leader that comes up with the ultimate plan. She's glad she has a little extra time to spare around this time. Winter expeditions are costly, and typically avoided when they can be. That really opened up her schedule. She's also given Eren a small vacation from his Titan experiments while they meticulously plot out the quickly approaching day. Hange really put her thinking cap on for this. After getting her involved, everyone is almost positive this will be a day that neither Ina nor Levi will ever forget.

Even though everyone's workload should be lighter around this time of year, Levi seems to keep getting saddled with more assignments. Erwin is going to have to be the one to tell Levi it was all for the sake of stalling.

It's one week until the big day. Levi catches Lenz walking and stops her for a moment.

"Captain." Krista salutes.

"How is planning going? Keep it short, I don't have time for lengthy answers." The bags under his eyes and the completely dead expression warn Krista that she best not test the captain right now.

"All going smoothly. We've taken care of everything, sir. All you have to do is show up." Krista hopes that was enough, because she'd rather not answer more questions, lest she give something away.

Levi seems satisfied with her answer and makes the trek back to his office. He appreciates that the brats are taking time out of their days to plan this so carefully. Honestly, he doesn't know how they're doing it. He's been up to his ears in paperwork these past few days. Erwin's explanation made sense though. Even though there's a temporary hiatus of missions beyond the walls, they can't be caught falling behind once spring rolls around. Everything is going to pick right back up come March, and Erwin will be held responsible if his scouts are caught with their tails between their legs.

Levi doesn't mind picking up the extra slack. And typically he wouldn't really complain to Erwin about the increased workload in the first place. It was just after 6 straight all-nighters and an unfortunate lapse in judgment, Levi had to sit down with Erwin and see about rationing out all this work.

Levi will never forgive himself for snapping at Ina the way he did. She hadn't done anything wrong. He was just running on caffeine, less than his usual amount of sleep, and fewer showers than he'll ever admit.

He can't even remember what she was saying at the time, just recalls yelling at her. Telling her to leave him the fuck alone for one minute.

That look of sheer sadness in her eyes. The betrayal she must have felt. He'd never seen such a look cross her features before. And he'll die before he puts that look on her face again. But once was enough.

Ina is like a cat sometimes. She grows used to things happening a certain way, but it only takes one time- a single incident- to change her whole mindset. And hardly anything will change it back. Levi told her time and time again that she wasn't a bother. That he enjoyed her company.

It only took one outburst from him to convince her that everything he had said previously was nothing more than a dirty lie. Going forward, Ina won't remember all the times he reassured her. All she'll concern herself with was the one time Levi lost his temper. He knows how Ina's mind works. Very similar to how his own mind functions, when he thinks about it.

When you've been abused your entire life, you can't afford to give second chances. Levi knows it's a habit Ina will probably never break.

She doesn't say more than a few words to him these days. Of course, she opts to leave him alone most times. Levi has tried apologizing, but knows that he can't expect Ina to just forget what happened and let bygones be bygones. Now whenever he looks busy, she'll avoid him completely. She even started taking her evening tea with the scouts, rather than sitting with him like she used to.

Levi knows something so trivial shouldn't bother him. Of course Ina's feelings for him transcend a petty incident. She knows how much she means to him. That his world revolves around her. He just needs to grow the hell up. Ina isn't going anywhere. She's more than welcome to spend her time with others. It doesn't change their relationship. The fact that he keeps needing to reassure himself shows Levi that he's overthinking this.

He just throws himself back into his work. Reading over thousands of lines of dreary ass paperwork. Pretending he's not reading the same line ten times before moving on to the next.

Levi really should sneak in a nap. No one would think any less of him when they get a look at his goddamn work load. But then again, would he really care?


The night before the big day is finally here and the plan is set in motion. Once Ina has her nightclothes on and is ready for bed, Krista escorts her to Levi's quarters. A special brew of tea in her hands.

"See you tomorrow, honeycup." Krista whispers before knocking on the door. She's quick to disappear before Levi opens the door.

His scowl softens when he sees it's just Ina standing outside his door.

"Hi, Papa." Ina smiles sweetly. "Are you ready for bed?"

"Still have a lot of work to do." He frowns. "Come on in."

Levi opens his door to let Ina inside. The usual neat and orderly room is straight up chaotic. Ina has never seen his room so messy. Papers stacked all over the place. Empty tea mugs scattered here and there. Clothes balled up in piles on the floor.

Hmm, maybe she can find a way to clean it when he's out of the room. She has the whole day planned out thanks to Hange and brothers and sisters. But there's a little window in the morning where she has some free time. Ina knows how Papa likes to clean. She can do a good job.

For now though, she needs to get him to bed. Ins knows they were just trying to stall him and keep him busy, but this was just too much. She's never seen him so exhausted. Her poor Papa is so worn down.

Ina sets his mug of tea down on a clear spot on the desk.

"Are you almost done, papa?" Ina knows the answer to that.

"No, my baby. Looks like it's going to be another all nighter."

Ina tries to be strategic.

"Come on, Papa. Take the night off. You need rest. I brought you some tea." Ina takes his hand. Almost on cue, Levi yawns. It's long and drawn out, and he has to keep the tears of exhaustion that come to his eyes from running down his cheeks.

"Sit right here, Papa." Ina leads him to a chair. "I'm going to run a bath for you. It'll help you relax."

Miss Hange recommended Ina try this. Levi is usually pretty high functioning, even when running on little sleep. But he hasn't even had his normal 2-3 hours. A hot bath will be just what he needs. Hange even gave Ina something to help him relax. Ina saw that crazy glint in Hange's eyes, but she knew that anything Hange did would be to help Papa. They are best friends after all.

"You don't have to do that, Ina." Levi rests a hand on top of her head.

"No! Remember all those times you took care of me? I can do that too sometimes."

Levi gives in. He's just too tired to argue further.

"Alright, you win. I'm all yours."

"I'll be right back. Here, drink this while you wait." She hands him the cup of tea she brought.

"Miss Hange helped me make it just the way you like it." Ina smiles. Fuck, she's so adorable. Levi is almost a little glad when Ina walks off to start the bath, because he has no excuse for the goofy ass smile on his face. His daughter is trying to take care of him. If that is not the sweetest thing he's ever seen, Levi doesn't know what is.

She deserves to have an amazing time tomorrow.

Levi sips at the tea, which he's quick to note is herbal, not his typical black tea. But it's still prepared just the way he likes on the rare occasions that he indulges in herbal tea. It was probably Hange's idea to lay off the caffeine for a night. He'll thank her for that tomorrow in his own way.

He feels himself nodding off while he waits, his head getting heavier and heavier. Goddamn it, Levi can't remember the last time he was this tired. He has half a mind to just tell Ina to forget about the bath. But no way in hell is he getting into bed without bathing. Too fucking gross, even if he can barely hold his head up.

It's when Levi drains the last of his tea that Ina calls him into the bathroom.

"Remember that salt stuff you gave me after I got hurt? I found some in the infirmary and used a little bit." Ina shuffles from side to side, hoping she was able to do something nice for Papa.

"Always taking care of me." Levi kisses Ina on the forehead. "I won't be long." He says to her as she leaves to give him privacy.

Out of habit, Ina leaves the door cracked, but just barely. She still doesn't like being separated from him for too long. Not at night at least. Papa doesn't seem to mind. It seems he's used to it as well.

Around 15 minutes pass by and there's a soft knock on the door. Ina doesn't hear any response from papa, so she goes to answer. It's Miss Hange and uncle Erwin.

"Is he out yet?" Hange whispers and let's herself in. "Sweet Titans it's filthy in here." She looks around.

"I think so. And yeah, I think I'm going to clean it for him tomorrow during breakfast." Ina comments.

"Alright, dumpling you've done your part. We'll get him out of the bath and dressed for bed, okay?" Hange winks at Ina who just nods. They told her this would happen. That the tea would probably knock him out before he finished his bath.

Hange knew that the only thing to pull him away from his work long enough to drink the damn tea would be Ina. And she knew that he wouldn't even consider listening to someone else who voiced concern.

Ah, the things we do for the ones we love.

"Nice job, Ina." Erwin gives her a thumbs up before heading to the bathroom with Hange.

Ina just waits on the bed for them to help getting Papa dressed. She knew she wouldn't be able to do it on their own. Papa isn't that heavy to her, and Ina is almost positive she could lift him if she had to. But only if she had to. Ina still has to be careful not to strain herself. It's been a few months since… the bad time. Miss Hange and uncle Erwin said they'd take care of it for her.

She hears the drain running from the bathroom and quiet discussion between the two. Wow, Papa had to have been really tired to not have woken up yet. Hange said he probably wouldn't.

Another ten minutes or so pass by and a dressed Papa is carried out on uncle Erwin's back. He's carefully placed on the bed next to Ina, who covers him with the comforter.

"Thanks you guys." Ina whispers.

"Sweet dreams. See you tomorrow." Hange replies. Erwin bids Ina goodnight and puts out all but one of the lanterns. He knows Ina isn't a fan of the dark.

Before leaving, Erwin looks to the mess of paperwork on Levi's desk. He grabs the two larger stacks of unfinished documents. Enough with all the extra work, he reckons.

The two adults take their leave.

Ina snuggles up right next to Papa. He shifts slightly, and Ina thinks he's about to wake. But instead he just breathes deeply and turns on his side, putting his arm around Ina. Protecting her even in his sleep.

Despite her excitement for the day to come, Ina is able to drift off into a peaceful sleep soon enough.


Levi wakes the next morning completely unsure where the fuck he is. The last thing he remembers is Ina stopping by to see him. Sure enough, there she is sleeping right next to him. Did he really sleep through the entire night? Hot damn. The last time that happened was…. when was the last time that happened?

Levi gets up slowly, so as not to disturb Ina and sits on the side of his bed for a second. So apparently he's wearing his night clothes. Again, he's completely unsure when that happened. Levi decides not to question it and starts getting ready for the day. He brushes his teeth, showers and changes into his uniform. When he leaves the bathroom, Ina is sitting up in bed.

"Morning, Papa." She smiles and stretches her arms above her head. The little sound she makes whenever she stretches is just so cute to Levi he can't help the grin that breaks out on his face.

"Good morning, Ina."

"Did you sleep good?" She asks him, still smiling that sleepy smile he loves so much.

"Actually, I did. I barely remember getting to bed last night."

"You were really tired because of work. After I came, you decided to go to bed. I think you really needed it." Ina explains.

"I guess you're right." Levi shrugs. Honestly despite the confusion he feels great. That was probably the best sleep he's ever had. Best and longest. When he checked the clock it showed that he got roughly 9 hours. Holy fuck Levi can't even remember a time when he slept that long.

"Come on, let's get ready for the day." Levi approaches her.

"You go ahead, Papa. I'm going to take a bath before breakfast." Ina waves him off.

"You sure? I don't mind waiting."

"Yes, I'm sure." She laughs. "Go on Papa you missed breakfast so many times already!"

"Alright, fine. Don't be too long or-" "Or you'll be worried, I know, Papa. I'm not building a house, it's just a bath!"

Levi surrenders, unable to hold back a short chuckle. She's telling jokes again. How he missed her little antics.

"See you soon. Love you." Levi opens his room door.

"I love you too, Papa."

Her chest still flutters whenever Papa says that he loves her. It's something Ina hopes never goes away. Sometimes Ina can't believe how lucky she is to have him. He really is the best Papa ever.

She gets out of bed and immediately gets to work on cleaning Papa's room. It's a good thing he already has all of the cleaning supplies that she'll need.


"Morning, hot shot! Feels like it's been a couple years. Glad to see you're still alive." Hange laughs and claps Levi on the shoulder when he joins them for breakfast.

"Very funny." Levi rolls his eyes. "What the fuck was in that tea?"

"I'm hurt, Levi. You really think your best friend drugged you?"

"I know you drugged me."

"In my defense," Hange starts.

"I fucking knew it." Levi punches Hange in the shoulder. She just grimaces and massages her aching joint. That's definitely going to bruise.

"It was just a little melatonin, completely natural and drug free. When Ina first got here and had trouble sleeping, I'd give her a tiny dose every now and then. Just helps the journey to dreamland."

"You drugged my kid?!" He could throttle her right now.

"I just told you, numbnuts it's drug free." Hange glares at him. "Melatonin is a hormone developed in the human body. It's naturally occuring. Of course I wasn't going to give a child some heavy narcotic. Besides, your drug tolerance is too damn high to even try. So, to answer your question, no I did not drug your kid. Now shut up and eat your food you killjoy."

Levi can hear the slight offense in her tone. They both push each other buttons on a regular basis, but it can only go so far. Hange knows what she's doing, and Levi has come to respect her intelligence. Deep down he knew that Ina really did receive the best care possible. And the supplement in his tea last night really only did him a favor. He nudges Hange slightly as a silent apology. It's when she returns the nudge that he knows all is forgiven.

"Morning, Captain." Lenz is standing by their table. Just what he needs after a decent start to his day. "And Happy Birthday." She's practically beaming. Levi cannot stand her chipper attitude.

"Something I can help you with, brat?"

"Just wanted to wish you well and let you know that the party will be right here at 6:30 on the dot. Just like we promised, we've taken care of everything."

God she just sounds so happy. And not the superficial kind either. Like genuinely filled with joy. Levi can't really understand why that bothers him so much. It's not like being optimistic is a bad thing. If anything, her positive attitude has done wonders for Ina's recovery. Lenz has shown Ina that it's possible to be strong and happy at the same time. You can depend on yourself while simultaneously depending on those around you. It's not a trade-off.

"Alright… Anything else?" Levi notices Hange and Erwin have leaned in to listen, but when he turns to look at them they choose that moment to focus on their plates.

"There is one thing that you'll need to take care of." She quirks an eyebrow.

"And that is…" Levi imagines that if she had come to him with this riddlesome nonsense a day earlier he'd already have her doubled over in pain. But he's finding his nerves still pretty much intact.

"We're setting a no uniform policy. Might need to dust off those civilian clothes." This girl has to audacity to playfully wink at him. Hange chokes on her milk and is reduced to a coughing/laughing mess. God, she's disgusting.

"Lastly, Ina will meet you in your quarters at 6:20. You'll be her escort to the party." Lenz concludes. "See you at training, Sir." She salutes and practically skips away. Levi scoffs and returns to his breakfast, no doubt cold by now.

"Levi, why do you hate her?" Hange's voice is completely hoarse from her choking episode.

"I don't hate her. She took a bullet for my daughter, I could never hate her. She's just… so irritating sometimes."

"Come on, Levi. She's-"

"Yeah, I know. I know." Levi cuts the interrogation short and gets up to go make his tea.


Levi can't put his finger on it, but something just seems off about his day. He's just not as busy. That and everyone around him seems to be in a mood similar to Lenz. Extremely upbeat. It is fucking bizarre. With her, at least he knows what he's getting. But even Erwin is all smiles and that is just… strange. Levi doesn't fail to notice the hushed whispers and glances in his direction. But he'd had to give just a little more effort to care about what was going on. He doesn't care for teen gossip anyway.

The only real change that Levi can't find a problem with is Ina. She has been glued to his side for as long as she could be. With his workload mysteriously lighter, she convinced him to take a horseback ride with her around base. Levi almost never uses this term, but the excursion was lovely. Wow, Hange would literally pay top dollar to hear Levi use that word in a sentence and he knows it. All that aside, Levi really did enjoy himself. It was the first time in forever that he'd gotten to spend quality time with Ina. Just regular father daughter bonding. He could really get used to more of that.

The sun goes down damn early these days. Levi and Ina sit together on the roof, bundled up in blankets with warm apple cider to watch the sunset before dinner. Ina cannot seem to get enough of these winter sunsets. Something about the warm colors set against frigid cold just fascinates her. Levi couldn't say no her when she asked. Even if it was cold as shit. His only condition was that she finally let him buy her a goddamn coat. It made no sense to him why she was so against it. Sure, she'd lived every past winter with just the clothes on her back. But that was the past. She no longer has to put up with the cold. She can be comfortable now!

Levi understands where Ina is coming from. He didn't own a pair of shoes until he was probably 6 or 7. When kenny bought him his first pair, Levi hated them. They were tight and restrictive, and just downright uncomfortable. It only took one nasty splinter in his heel to remind Levi why uncomfortable shoes were the better alternative. Levi told this to Ina in hopes that her stubbornness would wear off. He doesn't want her to have to learn the hard way. Not for anything. She finally agreed to wear the coat he bought her. Regrettably she'd been out every day before that and caught herself a nice little cold.

He loses track of Ina after dinner. But that brat said they'd bring her to his room after 6, so he heads back to change clothes. When he gets to his room he stands in the middle for a solid 3 minutes. It's… clean. And not just straightened out, but like, scrubbed from top to bottom, sparkling, clean. Levi knows he left his room a chaotic disorganized mess. He'd been so damn busy and tired he couldn't even find time to keep his room straightened out. He was so disgusted with himself. He swore that he'd devote an entire day this week to cleaning this room.

Did he do it and forget about it?

How? When?

It's organized just the way he always likes things organized. Not everyone knows the system he has in place when it comes to his personal living quarters. This room is fucking spotless.

Levi is almost sure he didn't. But then…

Could it have been Ina? She's very observant, and has tons of experience to back her up.

Maybe this was why she stayed behind in the morning?

Levi feels he's overthinking this. But maybe he'll ask Ina about this when she's dropped off in a little bit.

True to their word, at 6:19 there's a knock on his door. Levi knows it's Ina, so he just tells her to come in. He's just tying his cravat and would rather not break his concentration.

He hears the door open and close but nothing else. Usually Ina says something to make her presence known.

When Levi turns to greet Ina, the sight before him just about takes his breath away.

There she is, wearing a strapless red dress that fans out at her hips and goes down to her knees. A pair of velvet roses attached to a silky green ribbon tied around her wrist. Her hair is done up with impressive curls and small green ribbons. He notices her shuffle from side to side, her head down.

"Ina." Levi knows he's smiling that same goofy smile from the night before. And unlike last night, he can't blame exhaustion.

She finally looks up at him, her cheeks flushed and her eyes uncertain. He can tell she has makeup on. The red on her lips matches her dress. Green eyeshadow lightly brushed onto her eyelids, and just the slightest hint of black eyeliner. Levi is amazed he can recall what the fuck any of that is, but Isabelle insisted on having him present whenever she experimented with makeup. She always wanted his opinion. Levi couldn't have cared less, but often found himself struggling to say no to her.

Levi can't believe this thought is just now occurring to him, but Ina is stunning. Just out of this world gorgeous. Granted, he always thought everything from her head to her toes was perfect. But wow, she is fucking beautiful. When she gets older he's going to have to kick a lot of lovestruck teenagers asses. He just knows it. She's a head turner for sure.

Ina crosses her arms, and looks away once again. Levi can't imagine why she's embarrassed. She looks amazing.

"Sissy helped me get ready." The tremor in her voice is so fucking adorable Levi could melt.

He finally approaches Ina and kneels in front of her.

"Ina, look at you." He places his hands on her bare, scarred shoulders. "You are so beautiful." He smiles and lifts her chin up with his finger.

"So you like it?" Her eyes shine with doubt. "I didn't want to at first… but…. But sissy told me… it would be nice to dress up."

She clasps and unclasps her hands in front of her, her entire face still bright red. Levi takes her hands in his own. He kisses them both before looking up once again.

"Breathe." Levi whispers.

Ina closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. When she opens her eyes, Papa is still looking at her with a small grin on his face.

"So you like it?" She repeats. Her voice isn't trembling like it was a moment ago. But she still holds so much uncertainty in her expression.

"Of course I do."

"Are you just saying that to make me feel better."

"Absolutely not. I don't waste my time trying to spare feelings. Besides, I have no reason to lie right now. I really do think you look incredible."

That seems to bring her no comfort.

"Ina, you are so pretty. I'm sorry for not saying it more."

"No, don't be sorry. I… I don't like it…"

"Why is that?"

"I don't know… I don't like…. I don't know. I think I want to change."

She tries to turn back toward the door but Levi stops her. His hand brushes over the scars that cover her right shoulder. She gasps and freezes.

"Could it have anything to do with these?"

"I can't… I can't be pretty with all that on my body."

"I beg your damn pardon." Levi interjects. "What did I tell you about scars? I know you remember."

"It's proof… proof that I'm stronger than the people that gave them to me." Ina mumbles.

"Do you think I was just saying that to hear myself speak?"

Ina shakes her head.

"If anything, you're willingness to show these scars makes you more beautiful. And even braver than I gave you credit for."

"You… you really like it Papa?"

"I love it, Ina. And you should too."

She just looks down again.

"Come here. Take a look at yourself." Levi stands and guides Ina to his mirror. "Look how pretty you are."

She straight up gasps when she is met with her reflection.

"That's… that's me!" Ina's hands rush to her cheeks, but not in embarrassment. Pure shock.

"I look… Wow… Holy shit…"

Levi tries his best to hold in his laugh. He knows that if Ina heard him laughing, she'd think it'd be directed at her. He just moves behind her, his hands on her shoulders.

"Holy shit is right. You look amazing."

"I… I'm almost as pretty as Mika."

Ina almost doesn't believe what she's seeing. How on Earth did sissy do this?

"I think you're giving her a real run for her money, baby mine."

He cups her chin, trying to coax another smile out of Ina. Levi knows his opinion is biased, but hell if he cares. His daughter is fucking gorgeous and he's a damn fool for not noticing this sooner.

"Wait! What time is it?!" Levi checks the clock behind the mirror. "Come on, let's go." He grabs Ina's hand and leads her out of his room. He's never been late for anything and he won't start now.

When they approach the doors to the mess hall, Levi feels Ina squeeze his hand. They look at each other a take a deep breath together before pushing open the double doors.

"Surprise!"