Title: Obligatory Vow

A/N: Sorry I didn't have this posted on Sunday. I was dealing with some college things and personal things over the weekend and didn't get time to proofread and post. I'm pretty happy with this chapter. I took a different turn that I originally planed with this one, but I hope you like it. I feel like it give more of a look into Mikasa's thoughts and relationships with her friends. Also thank you for all the lovely reviews. It's nice to know what my readers think. I know that you all want to see how the relationship will develop between Levi and Mikasa, I promise that it's coming. Within the next chapter or so it will be more apparent, I just need to lay the ground work for the whole plot of this story with these first five chapters. By chapter six things will start to be interesting. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Four: Recollection

Armin walked down the carpeted corridor. It was already late morning and breakfast was over. He just so happened to snag the two rolls and a large cup of coffee Krista had saved him. He wasn't a particular fan of the strong and bitter drink, but he was grateful for the kind gesture. Besides, he didn't usually eat much for breakfast anyway.

But Armin hadn't received his orders for the day, thus he made his way to Captain Levi's office.

It'll probably be more cleaning chores and researching with Hanji, he deduced as he turned the corner. Maybe they'd have a free day since winter was already making itself well known. Titans were much more dormant during the season.

"...We've been in a secret relationship. You could almost say an affair of sorts."

What? Armin stopped himself from Knocking and backed away from the office door. It was the Captain's voice of course, but who was he talking to? More importantly, who was he in a secret relationship with?

Leaning in, he pressed his ear to the door. he shouldn't be trying to listen in but he couldn't say he wasn't curious...Levi? In a relationship? Whose curiosity wouldn't be sparked.

There was another voice, but it was too low and muffled too make out through the wood.

"I really shouldn't be eavesdropping." he muttered quietly to himself.

"No, you shouldn't."

Armin leapt away from the door, spinning on his heel to see Hanji grinning at him. She pressed a finger to her lips and signaled him to spy around the corner with her.

"Find out anything particularly juicy?" she whispered.

"Hanji...I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I did hear-"

"Shh! Someone's coming out."

Sometimes Armin really couldn't believe that Hanji was several years his senior and not a teenager within his own age group. They watched from around the corner as Mikasa walked out the door. The young woman held her signature scarf to her face, her eyebrows knitted together just slightly.

Mikasa? Why was she..? She couldn't have been the person Levi was with. Surely he couldn't have heard it out of context. Captain Levi could have just as easily been talking to her about someone else.

Hanji quirked an eyebrow, "Interesting." She looked at Armin, seeing the wheels already turning behind his blonde locks. "What was that you said you heard earlier Armin?"

"Uh…" Mikasa was his friend. If she was keeping a relationship secret, she had a good reason. It wasn't his secret to tell. If anything, she'd reveal whatever it was in her own time. "I just heard them talking, but it was too muffled to hear."

-/-/-/-

Sasha, Krista and Ymir sat at their usual table in the back when Mikasa entered the mess hall. She couldn't help the slight smile that formed on her face when the girls grinned and welcomed her over. As she sat down she saw a roll on Sasha's plate and steaming mugs in front of Ymir and Krista.

Mikasa couldn't say she'd ever had any friends outside Eren and Armin when she was younger, but since joining the military she had gotten to know the girls well. Krista gave her a polite and warm smile as Mikasa took her seat.

"It's getting really chilly out huh." Krista said as she sipped what looked like tea.

"Yeah. I guess they'll be giving us our winter uniforms soon."

"Good." Sasha said with one check stuffed with bread. "It's already starting to get too cold for me."

"Wait a minute didn't you grow up in the mountains, it gets cold up there doesn't it?" Ymir said looking down the table at her.

"Of course. But I hated winter there. By now snow would have already fallen and I'd get to have my thick coats and furs, not these stupid, flimsy jackets."

"Oh please, it's not even that bad out. They won't give us those uniforms until the temperatures are below freezing." Ymir scoffed, before catching the girl's horrified face and grinning. "Daily."

Sasha tried to gasp but inhaled the half chewed bread in her mouth instead, nearly falling out of her chair.

Mikasa and Krista couldn't help but burst out laughing at the whole spectacle.

"You idiot, I was only joking!" Ymir snapped in surprise as she leapt across the table to give Sasha hard pats on the back. The brunette coughed roughly until she seemed to catch her breath and air could reach her lungs. Ymir gave her a disbelieving look and sighed.

Krista seemed to be the first to compel herself from her fits of laughter. Her joyous laugh seemed to bubble out of her before she tried to speak. "I-I I'm sorry Sasha, are you alright? I didn't mean to laugh." She said giving the girl a sheepish smile.

Sasha continued to wheeze a bit but looked to be capable of breathing. "...It's fine. I just overreacted..."

"Nice to see that we aren't going to lose a soldier to a stupid piece of bread."

Mikasa recognized the baritone of the voice as she turned in her seat. The other girls straightened in their places as they noticed the commander and the short captain beside their table. She didn't move to salute like the others, but simply looked between the two officers. Levi looked her only slightly before glancing at Braus to at least see if the girl had survived the roll in her throat.

"Cadet Ackerman, if you could come with me please." The blonde commander said in a voice much more soothing than Levi.

She gave a curt nod and stood, pulling her scarf tighter around her as the three crossed the room. As she stepped out the double doors Mikasa realized that Sasha was right, the air was crisp and more biting now that the sun was much lower in the sky.

Her superior officers walked a ways in silence as she followed. She assumed they were leading her to a more secluded place to discuss details of the engagement, though it wouldn't make much sense to be so private about it. The secret would be out soon enough.

Mikasa glanced at the sun, deep gold and shining between the tall pines in the distance. Her thoughts wandered to earlier in the dining hall. They had all seemed so lighthearted, acting almost like they did when they first joined the military. It was weird to think they were all only seventeen, and yet she was getting married in just a few months. She tried to remember her parents and when her mother had mentioned stories of their wedding. Now that she thoughts about it, her mother had been 31 the last time she'd her, and she'd only been ten years old at the time. For all she knew her mother could have gotten married when she was eighteen too. From what she knew, mostly from speculation and conversations with the other girls within the Legion, twenty-two was a little late to be getting married, unless a woman was in the military or some other circumstance came into play. And sure she had imagined being married as a child. Being happy with her husband just like her parents were...But things weren't going exactly to plan. Then again she hadn't planned on joining the military either.

"...Mikasa."

She blinked and stopped as felt the grip of a firm hand on her shoulder.

Her eyes widened as she realized that she'd nearly walked right into Levi who as looking at her with an unamused face. She immediately took a step back to make more appropriate space between them and righted her scarf. Levi simply quirked an eyebrow and pressed his lips into a thin line before glancing up at the Commander.

Erwin looked them over before speaking. "The engagement is going to be announced early next week. If you would like, you may tell your close friends about it in advance."

Crap. She hadn't even thought about how she was going to tell Eren and Armin about it. Armin might be a bit more understanding but God only knew how Eren would react.

"But, whoever you tell, no one is allowed to know that this is a military order."

Mikasa replied with a quick "Yes, sir." before the commander continued.

Why did it always feel like even though he was speaking to the both of them, that she was the only one that ever acknowledged his commands?

"A few days after the announcement the Legion will be moving back into the walls where the engagement will be made public."

She could only wonder how the announcement would be received by the people within the walls and she prayed it wouldn't be anything too extravagant.

Mikasa peered over at Levi, who remained just as stoic and unmoved as usual. For moment she wondered who he would tell in advance about all of this.

"Do you have any questions?" Erwin asked in a smooth voice.

Everything about the plan seemed straightforward: the soldiers would be told and then the citizens, by next week they'd be back within the walls. Simple.

But Mikasa still had a question. She wasn't sure if it was exactly the question the commander was expecting, but she figured it was worth a shot.

"Sir, do you know when we'll be getting our winter uniforms?"