The apartment was barely furnished.

There were a bunch of boxes that stood along the walls with many things inside as if Levi and his cousin were just settling in. But it was pretty neat despite of it. Hanji looked around the old place, hearing her own footsteps on the wooden floor as she walked inside first. The walls were painted white, and the windows all had black drapes over them causing the apartment to look like a cave, especially at night. When Levi turned on the lights, she noticed a single frame on the wall in the living room that contained a paining of a woman. She slowly came up to it to take a look at it.

"Make yourself at home," Levi tells Hanji and she says nothing. Mikasa wanted to have a word with him, but he just shoos her away. The teen sighs and gives him space while heading to her room. Levi sits on the sofa and covers his face in silence.

Hanji kept walking around mindlessly until she enters the bathroom. She stops to take a look at her reflection and her makeup had worn away. Her bruises had healed well since that night, although they were slightly visible. Her scratches had closed up, yet she could still remember the lingering pain of blood seeping through them. Her hair was loose yet messy. Hanji sees a brush on the sink and picks it up to brush her hair with it. Using one hand, she eyes her reflection and pulls the knots out of her hair, ignoring the pain.

"Hey," Mikasa walks in, thinking no one was inside. Hanji is startled and faces the girl. "I see you're using my brush..."

"Oh... sorry." Hanji puts it down.

"It's fine. I don't use it much..." Mikasa replied, and the woman doesn't know what else to say. Soon, Mikasa shuts the door only to come closer to her. "What is wrong with you?"

"Me...?"

"Yes, you. Why are you acting like this? You all should be relived to be alive and... and... not pissed at each other!"

"I don't understand, Mikasa. I'm perfectly fine."

"You are not," Mikasa yells. "Look at you... you look terrible. You can't just spend the night acting like a stranger to him!"

Hanji is unmoved and she stared at herself again. "Mikasa... can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Why am I here...? What is the purpose of being here...? And why are you doing all of this, as young as you are...?"

"This was all for you." Mikasa says calmly now. "We did this for you... he did this, all for you. Don't be blind, Hanji. Because that 'Dick' in the living room happens to be the one who wants to care for you."

Hanji glances at the girl. It finally clicked in her head. She went too far, and it was time to make up for it. So she smiles and shakes her head. "Thank you. For being so kind."

"I wouldn't say kind.."

"I would," Hanji adds. "You're a good girl, Mikasa."

"I disagree."

"You may not show it on the outside. But as far as I can see... there's innocence inside of you. And what is a good girl like you doing in this situation?"

"He just wanted some help." Mikasa replies and doesn't want to talk anymore. "Anyway, that isn't important..." She stops and opens the door for Hanji, signaling what really was important. So she nods and gets out of there. When she arrives in the living room she sees Levi sitting down in silence, his hands still covering his face. Hanji carefully approaches him and she sits down beside him. "Levi," She begins when he looks up to see who was there. "I was selfish... and I crossed the line."

"Don't apologize... you're not the one at fault here."

"I am. I'm sorry."

"You were upset. Hell, we all were. And things got out of control... at this point it doesn't even bother me anymore."

"I see," Hanji says at once. They stop for a moment until she looks at the paining before them, hanging up on the wall. It was a simple paining of a woman with long black hair and fair skin, wearing a crimson dress that blended in with the background. The woman in the picture was smiling, yet her hair covered her eyes. Hanji couldn't tell if the paining was meant to be sad or happy, and it looked as if it was created recently as well. "Who is that supposed to be?" Hanji asked, curious.

"No one in particular," Levi calmly lied to her.

"Hm. It's very nice though... did you make it?"

"It was a gift... from an old friend." He was a liar.

"Well... whoever made it, sure is talented!" Hanji grins, trying to lighten up the mood. But he doesn't lighten up at all. Not one bit. So she frowns, clearing her throat.

"I see that you've grown quite fond of my jacket." Levi said and Hanji blushes. She didn't even realize that she still had his jacket on. It was so warm and comfortable that she didn't dare to take it off.

"Oh," the woman stutters. "D-do you want it back?"

"If it fits you, you can keep it."

"I couldn't." Hanji starts to take it off, but he softly grabs her arm to stop her. Her shoulder was left bare however, and Levi noticed an old scar on her skin. "Hanji... that's not necessary," He adds.

"It's the scar... isn't it?" She asks, covering herself again.

"No... that's not what I-"

"It's fine. I got that a while ago... when I was still with him. I came home from work and he was so drunk... it was a horrible fight."

"I'm sorry about that." Levi looks away and she chuckles, not even worrying about it too much. "Did you see him in me?" He wanted to know.

"You?"

"When we were at the train station... did I remind you of him?"

"No!" Hanji shook her head. "Never... why would you ask such a thing?"

"Because for a while I thought I was," Levi began. "For a while I thought you never wanted to see me again after what happened. I got you into so much nonsense and you didn't deserve it. Erwin's out there somewhere now. Mikasa was only upset and she shot him because I created her trauma. This is all my fault... It's all my fault!"

"Don't beat yourself up over this," Hanji takes his shoulder. "Besides... we are safe now. It's all done and over with."

"Now. But not forever." Levi runs his fingers through his hair, trying to wrap his head around how he'll get back at Erwin. But Hanji was right- they were safe. So he tries to relax as best as he can. "It's getting late. You should get some sleep."

"I'll sleep here," Hanji replies.

"I prefer you use my room... I'll be right here in case anyone decides to break in."

Hanji grins at his little joke. It was probably around midnight now, and she was so ready to lay on something soft so she can get to rest peacefully for once. She was positive that Levi wanted to as well, because he looked tired the most. "So... goodnight then?" He asks, facing her.

"Yeah... goodnight." The woman replied. They both blink, realizing how close they were to each other.

They were in fact so close, that one little move could change everything about them. If she stood still enough, Hanji could hear both her heart and his, pounding against their chests. She realized that this was the time. It felt right.

Levi was the one.

In just a mere moment, Hanji closed her eyes and kissed him tenderly. Levi had no idea what to do. He wanted to pull away, but her lips were so soft that something told him to keep them on his just a little longer. And he could almost taste the sweetness of her dried lipstick. It was an innocent kiss they shared, and little did they know that Mikasa stood by witnessing it all for herself with a happy grin. However, the girl took one step and the wood creeked loudly. With this gave the opportunity for Levi to look up and find where the sound came from. "What the hell are you doing?" He asks in embarrassment.

"Nothing." Mikasa tries not to laugh.

"Don't be such a pervert."

This makes the teen explode. "How am I perverted? It's you two who need a room!"

"That's it." Levi stood up and threw a pillow at her. Mikasa continued to laugh until he chases the girl around the apartment, all while Hanji giggles at their silliness. But Levi hadn't heard his cousin laugh like that for so long. It was music to his ears, listening to the girl being happy- even though it was race of cats and mice. It was such a lovely moment that it made Kuchel smile from ear to ear. Blood or not, watching her two children together gave hope in her heart that they would grow to be wonderful.

And as for Hanji- she felt like she had a true family. A family that loves each other no matter what happens. Even though at times they might want to kill each other.