Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan!

A/N: Ava is 7, Remy is 12.

Skaters Gonna Skate

Hundreds of white Christmas lights twinkled around the outdoor skate rink as Levi and Ava waited in line to rent their skates. While Remy and Hanji went to the cinema and saw some holiday horror movie, Levi and Ava were having a daddy-daughter night. So far, they had had dinner at a nearby café, dessert at a local candy shop, and now Levi had his over-caffeinated, highly sugared daughter out at the skate rink. Bursting with energy, she was running back and forth between him and the side of the makeshift skating rink.

"I can't wait," Ava said, spinning around in a circle beside Levi, giving a little squeal of excitement. She looked over at the ice rink, obviously allowing dreams of Olympic figure skating to dance through her mind.

"You're probably going to fall on your butt a few dozen times," Levi cautioned. He didn't want her to think that she was going to be a natural at figure skating, though he expected she would be decent at it. She took gymnastics, and she excelled at anything to do with balancing, but still, he didn't want her to get her hopes up, get discouraged and then want to go home only minutes after being at the rink.

"That'll be okay," Ava said. She walked around him in a circle and made an impatient little noise before grabbing one of his hands with both of hers. "You're going to help me, right?"

"No," Levi said, teasing her with his deadpan expression and tone. He looked down at her. "I'm going to leave you out there on the ice by yourself until to figure it out or freeze."

"Daaad," Ava said, rolling her eyes. She knew better than to believe that. In her mind, all she had to do was call for him and her dad would be there immediately to give her a hand.

"They have those for people like you," Levi said, gesturing toward the scooting walker-esque pieces of equipment that many of the kids were using to scoot around the ice.

Ava wrinkled her nose and put her hands on her hips. "I can do it without that."

"If you say so." Levi put his hand on her shoulder and then tousled her dark brown hair. "Where's your hat?"

"In my coat," she said, attempting to push his hand away.

"Put it on."

"Do I gotta?"

"If you don't want to get pneumonia and die, then yes."

"Ugh…" Ava made a face and pulled her hat out of her coat pocket. While her hat when she was a toddler had rabbit ears, this little black toboggan had two perky cat ears plus a pair of staring green eyes.

"Better," Levi said. He reached down to straighten the hat, dodging Ava's attempts to swat his hands away.

She made a face at him and ducked to the side, popping up on his other side. "Is it our turn?"

"Almost."

"Now?"

Levi simply looked down at her and then looked away when she grinned unashamedly. So much like her mother. Eventually they made it up to the front of the line and rented their ice skates.

"Don't run with those," Levi said, recognizing that Ava was about to race off, "They're sharp."

"All right," Ava said. She couldn't help but skip a little though as they made their way over to a bench and claimed a spot.

"I can't wait, this is going to be so much fun, thanks for taking me. This is great! I'm gonna be like Frozen!" She yanked her shoes off while Levi methodically unlaced his books and removed them. When Ava had laced up her skates, she stood up and wobbled toward the entrance into the rink. She stumbled when someone stepped in front of her, but a firm hand grabbed her by the elbow and kept her upright.

"You're not even on the ice yet, chatterbox," Levi said, but he was giving the teenager who had cut her off a death state. The teen shivered and scurried away.

"It's hard to walk," she said. She tottered forward, and Levi helped her onto the ice. She stayed right by the side as her dad stepped down behind her and then skated in front of her. He was agile on the ice, but then again, he was agile all the time. It definitely helped that he used to skate on a recreational hockey team back in college.

"I'm going for it!" Ava said and took a few quick steps, trying to glide on the ice.

"Wait—"

Her legs whooshed out from under her as her skates caught a gash in the ice, and she fell on her butt, sliding across the rink. She hunched her shoulders as a couple skated right by her, and then Levi was there, lifting her back onto her feet.

"Take your time."

Levi scooted her over to the side of the rink, and Ava clung to the railing, not wanting a repeat of what just happened.

"You're not going to get anywhere holding on to the side," Levi said.

Ava ignored him and pulled herself forward. The skates slipped and slid under her, and it seemed like she would go sprawling if she let go of the wall. "I like it here."

"No, you don't." Levi skated backwards slowly and held out his hands. "You're braver than that."

Ava lifted her chin. Yeah. Okay, yes, she was brave. She didn't have to hold on to the side for dear life. Hesitantly, she let go of the railing and let her skates slide forward. While she wobbled a little, she didn't fall down immediately.

"Take another step," Levi said.

"Working on it," Ava replied and tried to move forward. She started to tumble forward as her skate slid backwards, but Levi caught her. He held her up until she got her balance and then gently held onto her hands.

"Don't let me fall," she said.

"You have to fall to learn."

Ava grinned. "Then I just wanna fall a little bit."

Levi huffed, but he also slowly skated backward, pulling Ava along with him. Slowly, she got the hang of it, eventually skating along at his side when he turned forward. He felt a soft little mittened hand slip into his gloved one, and he glanced down at her. "You don't need to hold my hand." She could skate by herself now.

"Nope, I just wanna."

Ah. He squeezed her hand back tight. "Okay."