*Training Days*

Back again with Chapter 3! I hope you guys are enjoying so far. I'm trying to keep it light and fluffy, which means I'm showcasing the slightly ditzy, funnier side of Hanji, and I guess the parental caregiver side at times? Instead of the serious, crazy, slightly cracked side… Though, that might make an appearance later on.

DISCLAIMER: I STILL DO NOT OWN ATTACK ON TITAN. (THOUGH I DO OWN A SURVEY CORPS BRACELET.)

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Song: Dope by BTS

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"No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again. Your life is in your hands. To make of it what you choose."

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Chapter 3: Horses and Horsefaces

Hanji arrived on time the next morning, much to the relief of Shadis. He'd been afraid of losing his voice yelling at the messy woman, let alone the idiot cadets he had. Together the training officers waited for the cadets by the stables. Hanji cackled quietly, knowing she would enjoy this particular training day for sure. She could remember her own first try at horseback riding, her horse had left her sitting in the dust, and had promptly sent her to the infirmary with a kick to the stomach an hour after that.

"Zoe," Shadis's voice brought her head up.

"Yes sir?" She said standing up straighter.

"A man by the name of Moblit brought your horse around early this morning, so you won't have to worry about any of these stubborn mules giving you trouble," he growled. "Two Military Police horses were brought in for you two." He nodded at Jackson and Hunter. Hanji barely heard what he said as she sprinted into the stable, startling the horses in the building.

"TITAN MY BABY!" She cried skidding to a halt in front of the only horse who was still idly chewing hay. The large bay looked up at his rider with an air of boredom.

"Dammit," Shadis muttered, his eyes dark as he watched the horses freak out.

"She named her horse Titan?" A loud snort and a laugh alerted the training officers that cadets had started to arrive.

"Good morning piss-ants," Shadis said glaring at them all, trying to block out the nervous noises of the horses as Hanji continued to coo loudly at her horse, who stood and obliged his mistress willingly. He felt his eye start to twitch, looks like he would have to get Erwin to send someone to control Hanji sooner than later. "Today you will be learning something that's equally as important as 3DM gear. Horseback riding." He shot a look over his shoulder to the three training officers, who now had their horses out and were tacking them up. "And thanks to Zoe, these beasts are all riled up and nervous, so you get an extra fun day."

"Sorry!" Hanji said scratching the back of her neck. She pet Titan's forelock down and laughed, startling the MP horses beside her. "I keep forgetting that Titan is bred to not be nervous." As the cadets looked at the horses in front of them they did notice an immediate difference. Hanji's horse was taller than the other two and had more muscle on it.

"Survey Corps horse," a thin boy standing next to Armin whispered towards the back of the cadet crowd. "My dad breeds them. They're taller and more built than most horses for speed and endurance. Then trained to remain calm no matter what."

"Scatterbrained idiot," a boy towards the front of the crowd muttered shaking his head. "No wonder she's a training officer, if she were somewhere else she'd get someone killed." A freckled boy next to him elbowed him with a loud shush.

"Hey horseface why don't you shut up," Eren said, overhearing the boy's statement.

"KERISTCHIEN, JAEGER," Shadis bellowed, startling the horses even more. "Thank you for volunteering to be the first to try your hand at catching a horse and riding it." The man grabbed the two boys by the shoulder and shoved them towards the paddock. "Jaeger, your horse is the one with the white stocking in the far corner." Eren was handed a halter and a rope. "Keristchien, yours is the gray next to it. Good luck."

"W-wait, don't we get a demonstration or something?" Eren asked in a panicked voice as the boy Hanji knew as Kerstchien vaulted over the fence with an air of confidence.

"Learn by doing Jeager," Hunter said rubbing his chin thoughtfully as they all watched Keirstchien.

"Just not by watching him," Hanji said. She cupped her hands over her mouth. "Hey, the one Eren calls Horseface! You don't want to walk behind a horse it could end bad!" The boy had stopped to listen to what she said and when she yelled it startled Eren's horse, making it jump to the side, bumping into Keirstchien's horse. In the end, Keirstchien was on the ground cradling his foot. Eren started laughing hysterically.

"Alright Jaeger, you think you can do any better, you do it!" Keirstchien growled limping past the other boy to the fence.

"Alright I will!" Eren said confidently. Hanji opened her mouth to yell words of encouragement when a hand slapped over it.

"I think you've done enough damage here for one day Hanji," Mike was peering at her from under his bangs.

"Mike!" Hanji said happily. "Why are you here?"

"Shadis was worried for his cadets' safety," the man said dragging the woman behind him, through the left over cadets, as Shadis had sent most of them into the field already. Titan walked along obediently behind the two of them.

"I told you it was a Survey Corps horse," the thin boy said as Mike and Hanji walked past him and Armin.

"I figured as much," Armin muttered staring at the rope and halter in his own hands. It wasn't a surprise to him of course, and he was worried about having to ride an animal that was three times his size.

"Where are we going?" Hanji asked Mike as they left the training grounds all together.

"HQ for a while," Mike said, "Erwin wants a word, plus you have some paperwork to do," he paused and scratched his beard. "And you might want to choose someone other than Moblit to lead your squad."

"Wonderful," Hanji muttered. She stuck a foot in the stirrup of Titan's saddle and swung up with age-old ease. "Come on then, why walk when you can ride?" She stuck out her hand for Mike, who looked slightly terrified at the thought of riding with Hanji. "You scared or something?" She teased.

"Since when have I ever been scared?" Mike asked taking her hand and swinging up behind her.

"I seem to remember someone crying their first time outside the walls," Hanji said as she kicked Titan into motion.

"You promised not to say anything!" Mike yelled as they thundered down the road and through the gate into Wall Rose. Hanji laughed loudly and the two of them were quiet as they rode into the yard of the Survey Corps HQ, a very familiar short figure waiting with arms crossed.

"Somehow this is worse than Erwin," Hanji muttered as Mike swung down. She jumped down and plastered a grin on her face and held up a hand. "Levi! I feel so honored!" She said happily. The man in front of her sniffed and rolled his eyes.

"When did you last take a bath shitty glasses?" He asked as one of the rookies took her horse from her.

"Hmmm," Hanji tapped her chin. "I've been busy." She said with a shrug.

"Busy choosing favorites and making a fool of yourself," Levi snapped. "Erwin had to go out, he expects me to "talk to you"," he rolled his eyes. "But if you take a bath I'll just give a rudimentary run-down of what he wanted me to say."

"Deal!" Hanji said immediately. The only person who gave longer speeches than her was Erwin, and she had a feeling that she wouldn't like this one. A little while later Hanji was submerged in a tub of lukewarm water, eyes closed.

"So why are you being a bigger pain in the ass than usual?" Levi's voice made Hanji crack one eye open. The room was blurry, and she couldn't make out distinct features on his face.

"Ever heard of privacy?" Hanji asked closing her eye again.

"Like you care about that," Levi muttered he grabbed the brush that was sitting beside the sink and muttered something inaudible about taking care of things. "And stop changing the subject."

"Don't want to scare the cadets," Hanji muttered. "Nanaba said that with her little batch of cadets half of them quit after the first day. So I figured the less obsessive I am and the less… erm…" She paused trying to think of the word.

"Overbearing," Levi supplied as he worked on brushing the tangles out of Hanji's hair before grabbing the soap.

"Yeah! The less obsessive and overbearing I was the easier it would be for the cadets," she said humming in content. "I really did forget about the horse thing though, I'm so used to Titan and Skye."

"Tch," Levi scoffed, the thought of this walking tornado of crazy being familiar with his horse worried him slightly. "Maybe you need to calm down a little bit then, act like you do with Moblit and Mike."

"Not like how I act with you?" Hanji asked tilting her head back to look at him, a teasing glint in her eyes.

"I'd be worried about the cadets if you acted how you did around me," he muttered. "Rinse." He instructed, removing his hands from her hair. Hanji ducked her head under the water and ran her own hands through her hair several times, making sure all of the soap was gone before surfacing.

"Why would you worry about the cadets?" Hanji asked curiously as she stood up and accepted the towel Levi handed her.

"Because I'd have to kill them," Levi said simply, adding a small shrug. He sat on Hanji's bed and watched as she redressed in a clean uniform, making sure to put the cadet jacket on instead of her Survey Corps jacket which was laying across the chair behind her desk. "Besides, it would be rather inappropriate wouldn't you think?"

"I suppose so," Hanji said laughing. She flopped down on her bed and immediately stuck her head on Levi's lap, despite her wet hair. Levi felt his eye twitch but he let it go.

"Erwin also said to not be a potential bad influence, and that he expects you to follow both his and the doctor's orders," he said leaning back.

"Hmmm," Hanji hummed slightly, feeling drowsy. The only person she could ever feel so safe and relaxed with was Levi. Even if she was unsure of what it was they had, there were laws against them having an actual relationship, but they were more than just lovers. The situation confused even her sometimes. "Erwin knows everything I swear."

"Care to share?" Levi asked, rare amusement lacing his tone.

"I may or may not have encouraged a few cadets to sneak out past curfew," Hanji said looking up at him. Levi snorted, of course she would.

"And I take it you were using 3DM gear?" He asked, guessing what the second part of Erwin's warning meant.

"Guilty," she muttered. Levi flicked her forehead.

"Your leg will be fully healed in a month," he said. "Can't you just wait that long?"

"I guess," Hanji said pouting slightly. She closed her eyes and found herself drifting off into a deep sleep, only to be woken by Levi shaking her several hours later.

"Get up shitty glasses," the captain said removing her head from his lap. "You have to get back to Trost and I have work to be done with my squad. I already sent Moblit to get your horse ready."

"Thanks Levi," Hanji said gratefully as she stood and stretched. She grabbed her glasses from the bedside table and made sure they were secure before smiling at the short man who was still standing in her now open doorway.

"Don't do anything stupid and stop giving Shadis a hard time," he said. "Don't make me have to come get you. I won't be as nice as Mike or Erwin." With his last warning he turned and disappeared, leaving Hanji to sweat slightly. In the yard Hanji took Titan's reigns from Moblit and smiled as she swung up.

"Let Nifa take charge for a bit," she said almost laughing at the relieved look on Moblit's face. "And if she's having trouble get Keiji to take charge."

"Yes squad leader!" Moblit said happily.

"Oh and by the way," Hanji called over her shoulder as she rode off. "There's still a ton of paperwork on my desk!" She laughed at the look on Moblit's face. "If you need any help just ask Levi!"

"Squad leader!" Mobilt's despaired wail followed her out of the Survey Corps headquarters and down the road as Hanji spurred Titan into a canter, wanting to get back to the training grounds as quickly as possible. As she put Titan up for the night she grinned at some of the nervous looking cadets who were still hanging around the stable, getting to know their mounts better.

"So, who actually talked to you?" Sahdis voice scattered the remaining cadets and made Hanji squeak in surprise.

"Shadis! You can't just sneak up on someone like that!" Hanji said blinking at the older man several times. "And it was Captain Levi." Shadis rolled his eyes and snorted, he walked past her and leered at a few stalls that weren't as pristine as the others.

"Well, at least I know that you got it through your thick head then," Shadis muttered as he left the stable. Hanji hummed slightly and leaned her forehead against Titan's neck, breathing in the smell of horse and hay.

"He overestimates Levi," she said laughing.

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Shimmerz Review Corner:

nikimary0806: Thank you, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. As for my story That Summer, it will probably be on hiatus just little longer, I'm trying to find my muse for all things Bleach at the moment. Please continue to enjoy this in the meantime!

Okay, so I'm not 100% happy with the chapter, but it's here and it's done. So I can only move forward, which I will. I set it up in a way that I could steer Hanji back into character because I almost died when I truly realized just how OOC I had her. So hopefully that will be better now.

As always, any questions, concerns, or comments can be left in a review or sent as a PM. Thanks for letting me bring a little shimmer into your day.

~Shimmerz~