Here it is, the final chapter!
Enjoy
MIKASA POV
"So if Titans need light, won't they be drawn to our fire?" Armin inquires, I ignore him. He's not really expecting an answer he's just talking to fill the silence. He's good at that and after hanging out with me and Eren for so long, he has to be.
"And another thing, how are we supposed to get these Titans back to the walls? We don't have a wagon, and there's not enough of us to safely transport them. How are we supposed to do this?"
"That's what I brought you for." We both turn just as Levi emerges from the dark trees; Jean follows behind him at a distance. I wonder what Levi talked to him about, his whole demeanor has changed he now looks less like his usual confident self, and more like a beat puppy. Starring at the ground and keeping to himself. Which is not like him at all.
"What, you mean I'm supposed to figure a way that four people and four horses can get two. Giant. Beasts. All the way home." Levi nods, and walks right up to Armin. Even though Levi is only an inch taller than him, Armin looks like a child cowering next to a giant.
"Exactly, is that a problem solider?" Armin audible swallows, and shakes his head.
One time I asked Hanji why people are so afraid of Levi, she laughed. Then Continued laughing, paused to catch some air, then laughed some more, this went on for several minutes until she finally said.
"That's something I've wondered for a long time, I guess it's his sparkling personality." I can see that.
"Let's rest for a bit. We'll head out at first light." As Levi sits, the fire illuminates his face in an eerie way. The scowl on his face doesn't help. I decide to lighten the mood, between Armin, Levi, and Jean I'm the only one who can at the moment-which is scary.
"So...what made Erwin think we need more test subjects? Is Hanji not getting enough data from our six shifters?"
"Erwin didn't order this mission..." This grabs both Armin and jeans attention.
"Then who?" I ask. Even our two captured Titans ceased their groans and fall silent, waiting for the answer.
"I did." Levi says, Jean skeptically cocks an eyebrow.
"Really, why?" Armin joins the discussion.
"That's my business." The short man says as he tosses a new log on the fire, sending tiny glowing embers flying all around us.
"No, you can't tell us that you are the one who brought us out here- and not give us an explanation. It doesn't work like that captain." Jean put extra emphasis on the word captain. Levi's expression shifts into an almost smile, the closest I've ever seen to one at least. He lounges back and sighs.
"Okay, I like your display of guts, it's just what I was talking about." The two make eye contact and Jean nods. "So, day after tomorrow is four eyes-I mean Hanji's birthday. So I decided to get her some "pets"" he does air quotes around the word pets, probably because he hated the idea of keeping the monsters so close to home.
Jean busts out laughing, like the deep ground shaking kind only brought on by true amusement.
"So you mean to tell us that we're out here risking our lives, so you can impress a girl?"
"Hm, I guess I didn't think of it that way." Levi yawns. I can see Armin is now very upset; biting his lip to keep from saying anything, but I can tell he won't be able to hold it in for much longer. Jean on the other hand seems to think it's comical, that's what causes Armin to snap. He flies up off the ground at Jean.
"He brought us out here to catch violent, man eating, Giants; with no plan to get home and you think it's funny!" Jean jumps up to his feet and begins arguing back.
"Well who's fault is it that we don't have a plan? Huh?" Just then an idea comes to my mind.
"We could dangle someone in front of the Titans and ride them home." I say, everyone stares at me in shock. No one responds, the only sound is the crackling of the fire and the rustle of trees in the wind.
"You're joking...right?" Jean is the first to break the silence. I shake my head, but Armin has caught on to my plan so I don't have to explain.
"No, she's right. That's a genius idea." He shouts and begins frantically digging through his bag.
"What do you mean, that plan sounds like suicide to me?" Jean Huffs, he's completely confused. But Armin doesn't answer, he's too busy digging through the next bag-I think its jeans.
"What are you looking for?" Jean shouts with frustration, causing everyone-including our giant captives- to stop and look at him.
"Rope, I'm looking for rope. Did you pack any Mikasa?" He reaches for my pack. I panic and dive for the bag, swiping it just before Armin can grab it. "What was that for?" He grumbles, as I quickly snatch the coiled up rope out of my bag and toss it to the shortest member of our team. Before I close my bag I check to make sure a certain piece of paper is still safely tucked away; once I'm sure it's safe I set my bag behind me.
"Why does he need rope? I'm so confused." Jeans sighs, knowing no one is going to answer him, he plops down on the floor next to me.
"I can tell you what he's planning, but you're not going to like it." Levi lounges by the fire, it seems Jean is the only one who didn't catch on.
HANJI POV
I stare at the angry girl Erwin told me to keep an eye on. She glares back, and if looks could kill I'd be dead a hundred times over. The tension is so thick in the air I can feel it. The only thing I can do now is finish my bag of potato chips.
"Want some?" I offer her the bag, her glare intensifies telling me her answer is no. "Well, more for me." I stuff my face with the delicious, crunchy chips. Crumbs flying everywhere-crunch, crunch, crunch-
"I'll have to remember to clean these up before Levi gets back. He's really picky about his room and its cleanliness. You know." I scoot over to make some room for Annie. "Sit."
Annie seems apprehensive, but she does as I say. Tucking her feet under her she settles in the spot I vacated for her.
"So Am I going to get in trouble?" She finally ask.
"Why would you get in trouble?" I sputter through a full mouth, sending more potato chunks flying over Levi's bed.
"Why else would Erwin have you babysit me?" I'll have to put my chips away for this conversation.
"I will admit, I am babysitting you. But it's to keep from an all-out Titan battle in the walls, not so you can be punished." My statement soothes her anger, but without the rage I can see that she's sad. "But you know we can have a fun night, I've got a ton of snacks and we can tell scary stories and we can braid each other's hair and we can-Oh and we'll talk about boys!" Annie played along with me for most of the night. We discussed her Titan abilities and her knowledge of the other Titans. I attempted to braid her hair, but it turns out neither me nor Annie know how to braid hair. We both ate all kinds of snacks on Levi's bed-which he's gonna hate. She even smiled a couple of times, I took that at as a signal to commence the boy talk.
"I think it's time for boy talk, You can go first." She stares at me, still sad. My plan is failing, but I will not abandon it-Like a good captain I will drown with my ship; I'm not really sure what that means, but I read it in a book once. I wander what it's like to have so much water that you could actually die in it-
The silent girl's shifting brings me back to reality.
"I guess I can go first then. There are a couple of men in my life, most of them are like family. Which is nice since my real family was killed by Titans. The survey corps has become a new family for me. Erwin is the cool dad or older brother. Mike is the weird uncle. Moblit is that bossy older brother and Levi is-" I pause to contemplate me and Levi's relationship. He says mean things to me and I say sort of mean things back, I answer his questions, and he helps me see Titans.
I don't come to a conclusion before Annie draws her own.
"Levi is like your husband, you argue and make fun of each other at times but in the end you really love each other. That's how me and Armin are, I love him. But he's stupid and tries to get himself killed." Ah, so the truth comes out. She's sad Armin went on the mission without her (or her permission.)
"Well, when he gets back you should tell him you were worried. Let him know you care." Annie looks at me with disgust. Maybe she's allergic to emotions- I think Levi is allergic to emotions.
"Maybe-" Annie is interrupted by frantic shouts and men running by the door. We look at each other, then we both simultaneously Spring off the bed and out the door. A solider I don't recognize runs by, I reach out and stop him.
"What's going on?" The young solider, probably one of the new recruits, looks up at me confused.
"Two Titans are headed straight for us. The great Captain Ackerman and his elite team shot off the emergency flares." I made Eye connect with Annie, we both know what the other is thinking.
"The GREAT captain Ackerman? Have you ever met him?" Both me and Annie burst out laughing. The poor young solider was even more confused.
"You are squad commander Hanji, aren't you?" I nod, the boy steps back.
"Let's go catch some Titans, you with me?" The boy stares for a moment the turns and runs away. "Okay, I guess not. How bought you Annie, you wanna help?" She smiles.
"I guess, I don't really have anything else to do."
JEAN POV
(A little while earlier.)
"Your right!" I shout "I don't like this plan." I spin around to face Levi, who is perched upon the tallest of the Titans head. Somehow Armin's big idea involved me and Mikasa dangling in front of the two Titans, with Levi and Armin steering. Needless to say, I didn't like the plan.
When we first got set up it was dark so the Titans didn't react, but after a few minutes in the sun they were ready to eat. Pulling and struggling to get out of the rope we used to tie them to the tree.
"Are you ready?" Levi yells, he's going to cut the Titans loose then jump on to the taller Titan-the one Mikasa is being the bait for.
"Titan one ready!" Armin shouts.
"Titan two ready." Levi says-not really yelling, but he's loud enough that we can hear him.
The others wait for me to respond, but I still have some pride and I will not use the stupid code name Armin gave me.
"Jean?" Armin says, waiting.
"Okay, I'm ready!" I glance over at Mikasa, who doesn't look very happy.
"No, Jean. If I have to say it so do you." She shakes her finger at me-much like my mother used to do when I was being particularly stubborn. But that's not what got me, her voice was like some kind of demonic cry. I could tell she was very serious and I'd rather jump in this titan's mouth, than face a pissed off Mikasa Ackerman (or any Ackerman for that matter.)
"Fine…Bait two," I give a long drawn out sigh. "Ready." I can see the tiny blonde boy smiling from the top of the other titan.
"Bait one, ready." Mikasa says.
"Good, Levi, let 'em loose." I hear Levi slice through the rope with his 3D maneuver gear, just like that the titans take off running. I'm sent flying back and forth in front of the titan, who tries to follow me, making me swing more. From the glimpses I catch of Mikasa and Armin's titan
She's getting thrown around just as much. I think she starting to regret encouraging this idea.
Armin and Levi have the emergency flares and when we get close they'll fire them to signal the others. So basically I just have to sit- or more accurately hang- here and think about what Levi told me.
First, he questioned me about Mikasa
"...now I'm going to ask you one more time, what happened between you and Ackerman?" At the time I panicked and couldn't help myself from telling Levi exactly what happened step by step. It was a little more than Levi wanted.
"I'm regretting my decision, but it's a little too late for that. So I guess I'll tell you. Erwin approached me about a week ago, it seems we are short a few squad commanders and he wanted to know if I knew anyone who could do the job." I didn't know what he was getting at.
"How does that affect me and Mikasa...sir?" He sighed and leaned against the tree opposite of where I was standing.
"Before I realized you are a block head, I was thinking you and Mikasa might be suited for the job. I asked about you two because I need to be sure there's no problems between you guys. You will be working together a lot." I, of course, liked what I had heard up to that point, then he told me all about what I could do better; by that I mean he criticized me. Suddenly a familiar sight catches my attention.
"There's the wall, Armin, Levi you got the flares."
HANJI POV
"Okay, so we'll lead the Titans away, if we can get them to follow you. It's not clear why they're head towards the wall, so we have to assume that they are deviant Titans. Oh the best kind- how I'd like to catch them and study them. They would make such nice pets, I might name one Steve and the other-" I realize Annie is glaring at me. "Oh, ya-stopping them from killing us. Right." I shift back into planning mode. We've got quite a distance before they reach us. If I ride on Annie's back as she distracts them I could help her take them out if things go south-plus it's like one of my life goals to ride a Titan.
"Okay, mike you'll ride the horse out and bring extras for me and Annie after we've taken out the Titans." He nods. "Is everyone clear on what's happening?" Everyone being Annie, mike, and me. They all nod.
"Good, let's go." We mount our horses, once we're outside of the gate Annie and I dismount. We hand our horses off to mike.
"Are you ready?" Annie says, I nod. This will be a great opportunity to watch her shift up-close. She flicks a blade out of her ring and slices her finger. Lighting and steam erupt from her tiny form, followed by large bones that are quickly covered by muscles, and topped with a head of blonde hair. She lowers her hand to the ground.
"I can't believe this is actually happening!" I scream with excitement and climb on to Annie's hand. She lifts me up and I climb onto her shoulder. I reach out and touch her neck, quickly jerking my hand back it's still hot. The lack of skin increases the temperature. Interesting. She doesn't waste time before she launches herself in the direction of the approaching Titans.
"Make a swoop in front of them, if you can, it will allow them to focus on you and not the walls." I scream in her ear, I don't know how conscious she actually is but she seems to hear me because her eyes flick in my direction. I scan our surroundings, just taking in the view when I notice something in front of the Titans; at first glance it appears to be a bird, but it's in front of both of them. I reach in my pack, with much trouble I might add Annie is not trying to be careful as she runs, and extract my binoculars-Erwin gave them to me for my birthday last year. I look at the odd thing in front of the Titans and realize it's a person dangling in front of the Titans, but not just a person it's-
"It's Jean and Mikasa! That means Levi is nearby and Armin too." At the word Armin Annie turns and runs directly at the Titans. "What are you doing? No swoop don't trample!" I shout but she's not listening to me. She charges the two smaller Titans. She runs faster, making it much harder to hold on. I bounce around losing my grip, I scramble to find a new hold but I find myself plummeting to the ground. I scream, but it has barely left my mouth when I feel arms wrapping around me.
"Wow, four eyes, you can't keep yourself out of trouble for forty-eight hours. You're more stupid than I thought." It's Levi. I wrap my arms around him, tightly. It's not often I get a chance to hug Levi, he always pushes me away, but now he can't. Yay! "We should probably stop Annie from killing my team." I glance back as she shove one of the Titans, sending it flying to the ground.
"Ya, that's probably a good idea. How are we gonna do that?" He ponders it a second, as we fly towards the nearby tree Levi used as an anchor, then he shrugs.
"Not sure, you're supposed to be the smart one." He thinks I'm the smart one. OMG!
"She looks like she's headed for Armin, maybe he will talk some sense into her. We should probably go check on Jean." He nods.
ARMIN POV
NOTHING IS GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN! Annie as a Titan is running straight at Mikasa and me. The other Titan, with Levi and Jean, was tossed like a rag doll across the field. I have no plan!
"Armin! Do something!" Mikasa screams as Annie gets closer.
"What?" I shout back.
"Stop her." Suddenly a thought comes to my mind, it's really a terrible plan. But it's all I've got.
"On it." I climb on to the Titans shoulder, trying hard not to fall off. Annie is too far away, I have to wait. She gets closer and closer, not close enough. Just a little closer, perfect. I run and jump off the Titans shoulder. If I'm wrong I'll hit the ground in 1.36 seconds. I scrunch my eyes close, I really don't want to see myself splat. Suddenly I slam into something, not the ground. I open my eyes into a much larger one staring at me, with a very familiar glare.
"Hi Annie. Um could you help me get these two Titans to the holding facility...please?" She wrap her hand around me, not tight but it's pretty scary. Suddenly she crystallizes her hand leaving a small hole, most likely for air. She walks over to 9 meter Titan and scoops him up in her arms, tucking it under her arm. She marches to the other on, who is still on the ground. She does he same with him. I spot Levi, Hanji, and mike on horses following us. I guess my plan worked pretty well, I wonder why she listened to me? Maybe she cares for me, I blush, no way. She's way too pretty to like a weakling like me.
I glance up at her magnificent Titan form, she's done terrible things but she has always taken care of the things or people she cares about: Berthold, and Reiner. Who am I kidding? She's a Titan shifter she probably thinks I'm a useless human, she probably likes Bert or Reiner.
But then again, I glance up her again she makes eye contact with me, maybe not.
MIKASA POV
We got back to the Titan holding facility without any other mishaps. Me and Jean stayed tied to the Titans till after Annie dropped the Titans and they were secured. Once we were finally freed I quickly tried to find Levi to be debriefed so I can clean up and go to bed. When I finally spot him, he's talking to Hanji.
"What were you doing risking your life to bring these in? It's very unlike you." Hanji asks, she's genuinely confused. I'd be to-I mean I was when he first recruited me for the mission.
"I got them for..." I can tell Levi is getting ready to make up some dumb excuse, because he doesn't want to show emotion. Thankfully so could Erwin; he marches over to his two close friends.
"What's going on?" He ask.
"Levi brought two deviant Titans in. Which is completely AWESOME! But I don't know why." Hanji explains the situation to Erwin, who obviously already knows.
"Oh, two. And deviants. Well you really out did yourself, Corporal. It must have taken some courage, after that you could do anything" Erwin voice is heavy with double meaning. Levi nods, he understands.
"Yes well, I was trying to decide what to get a crazy girl for her birthday, this is all I could come up with." Hanji's face is a mask of confusion, like she understands what Levi said but she doesn't really understand what he means.
"You got those for...me?" Levi smirks and nods. "You got those two beautiful Titans for me!" She says a second time probably to let it sink in.
"I wouldn't call them Beautiful-actually I think they look an awful lot like a pile of crap, but ya they're all yours." Hanji springs around the room chattering about all the fun she and the Titans will have. I decide now would be a good time to go back to the barracks and shower, but it would seem that my shower will have to wait as I spot Jean waiting by the door, staring right at me.
"She's really happy, it's almost worthy all the work we put into catching them." We both flash back to hanging feet from a Titans mouth as bait. "Almost. So, where are you headed?" He has something on his mind, I can tell he's avoiding talking about it.
"I was going to clean up, you?" He sighs.
"Probably the same, I-uh-just got done talking to Erwin." I cock and eyebrow at his statement. "Ya, actually he wants to talk to you now. It's about a promotion"
"Is that what you and Levi talked about last night?" I ask, he nods
"Among other things" he says, then continues. "Erwin wants you and me to lead a pair of squads."
"A pair?" I question.
"Ya it's a squad that works as one but is really two separate groups."
"Sounds interesting." I really don't know what to think about this, I've never been interested in promoting; having said that the thought of having my own squad really a peels to me. Getting to work side by side with Jean doesn't hurt either. "It's time for the naming ceremony. Everyone gather around." Hanji shouts, I guess I really won't be getting to clean up for a while. Jean and I join the crowd that circles around the two restrained beast and their slightly insane owner.
"Many years ago there was a tribe of humans that ate humans..." She went through the story, it always gets a little grosser each time she tells it. The weaker members of our group end up having to leave.
I don't really pay attention to the story, I watch the others in the group. Annie is standing right next to Armin, unlike her companion she is unfazed by hanji's in depth description of the tribe's preparation of their human meals. Next I spot Erin pouting in the back of the room, I also notice he has a black eye; I'll have to ask him about that when he starts talking to me again. Finally, my eyes land on Levi. At first glance he looks normal, but as I watch him longer I notice the strange look in his eyes-it's like he's seeing the most beautiful sunset; nothing else in the whole room matters, the look so familiar. I follow his gaze to the crazy girl telling the story, then I know where I've seen that look before-my father always looked at my mom like that.
"...and that is why I chose the names that I did. You" she points to the largest Titan. "Will be called Levi and you" she point to the smaller Titan. "Will be known as Levi jr" The short man, for whom the Titans were named after, doesn't appear to be pleased with the names.
As the people scatter he makes his way to her.
"So, is this a suitable gift to celebrate your birth?" Levi can barely finish his sentence before hanji tackles him in a hug.
"This is the bestest birthday gift ever" she says while jumping around the room. "I mean I could just kiss you. You know what-" she turns to the shorter man and smacks a kiss on his lips. "You're not mad at me for naming the Titans after you-" she's stop when Levi grabs her and kisses her, not just a kiss but a dip like in the stories. It kind of makes me sick, old people love. I'm going to go take a shower.
"You headed to the barracks?" Jean asks me, I nod. "May I escort you?" He offers me his arm, I take it and try to hold back the giggles.
"Yes, you may." Just then I remember the paper I saved, "wait, just a second." I reach into my bag and extract the wrinkled paper, I hand it to jean. "If I had a mother who cared this much for me, id hold on to this." he unfold the letter his mom wrote him, scanning it he smiles.
"Ya, I guess you're right." he looks up at me."do you want to come to my house tomorrow? my mom's making omelets"
THE END
so how did you like it? also i have another question
I want to write a story about Levi and Hanji's kids, should I continue it on this story or make another?