(A/N: I know I'm supposed to have Levi in the story by now, but there are just a lot of ideas popping in my head so I keep on editing and renewing the outline that I have in my head. But now that the time skip to one year is out of the way, Levi will appear in three days [in the story, that is]. This chapter was more than 3k works, but it's a little too long for my taste so I cut it at a very annoying part. Sorry, not sorry for that :P.)

Another expedition, another bloodbath. It's sad how I'm used to this now. Like I said last time, I've been here for a little more than a year. I'm still a Survey Corps soldier (thank goodness), so basically nothing much changed except maybe that there are always new faces around me while the familiar ones are disappearing one by one.

I'm quite thankful that I have a knack for choosing friends, as almost all of my close friends are skilled soldiers and are still around. Speaking of skills, mine is one of the best. It's not that I'm bragging, but I seriously think that I'm born to do this.

Though, I don't use my skills to just kill of every titan I encounter. What do I use it for? Saving my fellow soldiers. I chose to be the hero of heroes. They're a bunch of innocent chaps who just wants freedom for their people – people who won't cheer them on and won't believe in them.

I'd love to say that I've actually reduced death rates, but I didn't. Though I save as many as I can, I could only be at one place at a time. Today's expedition was no different. We're still out in the field, preparing our campsite. Almost all of us are exhausted and stained with blood –the stain on me isn't mine though.

Not bothering to wipe the blood off my face and hands, I continued my search for uncle Keith. I need to talk to that old fool. With that in mind, I naturally ignored everyone around me. A couple of soldiers tried to approach me, but I guess I look scary – especially with all this blood – that they immediately turned away. I finally found where he is – by the wagons and the line-up of bodies.

"Salvage any bodies you can. The least we could do is take them home." The commander told a soldier, who saluted and went off, leaving me alone with uncle Keith. Noticing me, he was about to say something but I guess I'll never know what it is because I cut him off. You know when your mom would scold you in public, and you're on your last warning she would whisper threateningly? That's how I said this:

"Do you have any idea how many people died on this expedition? Thirty ei-!"

"Thirty-eight. I know." His face was calm, but there was a storm in his eyes and a crack in his voice – something I immediately noticed. Even though I recognized the emotions of the commander – grief and regret which is how I also feel right now – I still decided to give him a hard time.

"We could have prevented those deaths if you only used Erwin's formation!"

This formation that I mentioned is tailored to how I used to play pokemon. After talking to Erwin about it, he actually made a brilliant formation based on it. If you don't remember, I used to walk past trainers. If I see one, I'll get as far away from them as possible, keeping my eyes on the prize which is facing the gym leader in a perfect condition. Erwin's formation is like that. If possible, we avoid combat with titans that we see, focusing our energy on our goal which is to secure a base beyond the wall.

At the mention of Erwin's brilliant formation though, the commander shifted from sadness to anger, and he finally snapped at me.

"You're the one who's been acting like a hero. Why didn't you save them?"

"Oh, so now it's my fault? Well mister, If I wasn't there you would've lost more men! I saved as many as I could, but I can't be in all places at once!"

I'd probably feel guilty about this later, but it's too late to stop myself. Okay, I already am feeling guilty right now looking at his face. I can see that he's not mad only at me, but probably also at himself.

"I know we just both wanted to be heroes. But our strategies just don't work. Maybe Erwin's would. There's no harm in trying. Soldiers die either way." I told him calmly. I know I sounded confusing just now, but if you can't imagine how a pessimist becomes a little optimistic I'm guessing that's how it is.

Despite my very subtle optimism though, my uncle chose to ignore me and fumbled with the maps and papers he pulled out of his bag. With an exaggerated sigh, I turned on my heels and was about to leave when he spoke in a pathetically tired way only he could do:

"It's your turn to clean the stables when we get back." Keith told me, as if I wasn't screaming at him a few seconds ago.

Well, that went nowhere. I've nagged him so much that I know he wouldn't just give in, but I guess this expedition is especially frustrating that I just literally want to scream at everyone. I walked past the neat line of dead bodies as if they were just a line of trees at a park, my mind set on how I'm going to clean myself.

I remember the first time I met Erwin, he gave me a set of uniform to wear. I now know why he had that spare lying around. Turns out expeditions are not one-day trips. If we're lucky, we get to go as far as we could and actually having the need to spend the night outside. Bringing a fresh set of uniform is the norm. Even though we're soldiers, there is just no way all of us could sleep in these filthy (and sometimes bloody) uniforms.

It's really comforting to know that Erwin didn't take that uniform from a dead soldier my size.

"Hey, Andi!" Breaking me away from my nostalgia was Hanji. My dear friend Hanji who is apparently one of those who don't give a damn and just wear this dirt-ridden uniform for two days straight. Or sometimes even longer is she felt like it.

"Hange. I heard you almost got squished to death today." I grimly greeted her. News was, she was baby talking to a goddam Titan! Said titan wasn't impressed so it tried to bite her head off, and it almost succeeded.

"He, well… I'm still alive."

"Uhuh." Is all I could say.

"Andi." A man called to me.

Both of us turned to see Erwin. Just when I was about to approach him, Hange leaned closer and whispered, "Oooh! There's your boyfriend! He's been looking for you since we started making camp." Cringing inside, I tried to keep my face as blank as possible. It's been a year but Hange and Nanaba still can't get over me and Erwin.

"For someone who was just in a massacre and who also almost died, you are so cheerful." I replied, rolling my eyes and approaching my squad leader. Yes, I am still under him. Apparently, I'm still too irresponsible to be a team leader, let alone a squad leader.

"Hey." I said nonchalantly as I approached him. Over the past year, I got closer to Erwin and we basically know each other really well. So well we could probably finish each other's sentences. But there are times that he's still a little too hard to read, especially around Theo who I am quite sure now he hates.

Speaking of Theo, I think he's passed out somewhere. You got to give it to him, for surviving this long without any special skills aside from looking really good. I don't know why but even after a year, his combat skills are still pathetic. I had to keep an eye on him on every expedition. Despite being useless in battle, he has become sort of my assistant. Those whom I've pulled from certain death are given first aid by Theo. So he's not really useless.

Anyways, after greeting Erwin, we went off to walk together towards my horse. He knows I want to clean up as soon as possible, so he just talked to me while we walked.

"I need you to come with me to the underground city." Erwin said, his face as calm as ever.

"The underground?" Now that caused me to stop on my tracks and look at him. "What underground?" I literally have no idea what he's talking about. I'm not so sure if that's some kind of code or if there is literally an underground city somewhere within the walls.

"It's a real city. Underground, right below people's feet." He said, his face betraying no emotion. I guess I'm a bad influence on Erwin. Just look at that explanation.

"Uhuh, where the ninja turtles live?" Now it's my turn to sass mouth him. A knot formed on Erwin's forehead as he tried to comprehend what on earth ninja turtles are. I guess I haven't talked about them yet. Realizing that I am still the bigger asshole, he just gave a really audible sigh and decided to just explain it to me.

"As I said, it is a city literally underground. It's within Wall Sina."

"In the rich people district?"

"Well, yes. But the people who live underground are, less fortunate."

"Oh. Okay. So when are we going?"

"Three days from now. There is a very interesting criminal that I'd like to recruit."

"That's odd, recruiting a criminal. Must be someone really talented, or valuable."

"He is. Mike, Richard and Lissa will go with us." I only nodded in response. Then I thought about this underground city. Yet another place that seems impossible to be man-made in this world. I was about to ask Erwin about it but he did something that irked me to the core.

With his face as calm and tranquil as ever, he raised his right hand and patted my head, as if I'm some kind of toddler.

"Uggh! Erwin!" I grunted, rolling my eyes, but I'm not even trying to swat his hand away. It's not like I'm enjoying this, it's because when I try to swat his hand, he'll raise it so high and mock me for being so short. So yeah, Erwin's an asshole I'm just a bigger one.

"I heard you talking to the commander earlier. Earned you another turn at the stables?" He said, hand still on the top my head fondly.

"He's a dummy." Crossing my arms, I continued "he never listens. He thinks he's the chosen one, like he could do anything big and wonderful."

"If he's a dummy, the corps should have long been dissolved."

"Ugh, you know what I mean."

Suddenly, my boots became so interesting. You know, even though they're ugly as hell and a little too tight, they do the job. Thick enough to protect my leg from the knee down, and really comfortable to run in. As I try to list down all of the other advantages of my uniform, Erwin decided to finally break the silence.

"You should clean up and rest. You've been running around all day."

"Yes mom."

A year ago, I never understood why anyone would want to go camping. Imagine; no Wi-Fi, no electricity, no indoor plumbing, frogs and lots of bugs and creepy crawlies. I still don't understand, but I can't say that it's super bad. I mean, overnight expeditions are basically camping trips. But let's face it, every day of my life here is like a freaking camping trip in the boondocks.

Anyways, I cleaned up for the night and am prepping to sleep. And nope, no pajamas. I'm wearing my spare uniform and am trying to make a bed out of blankets inside a pathetic tent. Good thing titans sleep at night. Hmm, maybe they're solar powered or have some kind of internal clock. We should really get one. I'll try and bug Hange about it, so she'll nag uncle Keith about it.

There's no way I'm doing that, the nagging. I've received so many stable duties already that I know almost every horse we have by name. So I guess being a looked up upon titan slayer didn't do shit about my personality. I mean, I do get depressed at times but I still go back to the sarcastic asshole I have always been.

Speaking of the past, I wonder how everything is back home. Is my mom freaking out that I've been gone for over a year? Or has time stopped since? I don't know. As I ponder this useless things, waiting for sleepiness to hit me, a voice called right outside my tent.

"Andi, are you still up?" Oh, Theo. "Can I come in?"

Clearly, without thinking I answered right away. "Yeah, come on in."

He raised the tent's flap and went in, as I scooted over so he could sit. My tent could fit five people easily, as long as we're sitting down with our knees up to our chest. So being there just us two, I can say we can sit comfortably enough.

Theo haven't change since I met him. Same brown curls which just got a little thicker, and same white and bedazzling smile. Even though I am no longer infatuated with him, I just can't help but stare. He's so good looking you just can't help to look at him. So instead of awkwardly staring at him as I wait for him to speak, I busied myself with my water canister and bags of cookies.

Pouring us a cup each of water, I also offered him the cookies which he turned down. Well, ok. I'll eat it then. As I'm eating, he finally spoke up. But of course, he started with a smile. That sweet, sweet smile.

"Tough day, huh?" He said awkwardly. He was fiddling with his hands as if he's nervous.

"Yeah. But there's nothing new about it."

"Ha, you're right." He said before looking down at his hands. Great, another awkward silence. What's up with that?

"Are you alright?" I can't help it so I just went on and asked him. I really have no idea how to deal with awkwardness. I wish this is something taught at school, but no. Instead we got Pythagorean theorem and whatnot.

Clearing his throat, he looked at me in a very serious manner. Now I'm getting fidgety too.

"Andi, I …" Taking a deep breath, he seems to be composing himself as if he's doing some kind of confession. Crap, confession?!

"I've been in the military for a year now. I promised my father that if I like how things are here, I'll stay. But if I think I don't like it I'm welcome to come home anytime." He then scratched his head and gave a cute, nervous laugh.

Why do you have to look so good, Theo? Anyhow, I thought wrong. This is no way a confession. I think.

"You see, me staying here this long is accomplishment enough for a wimp like me."

"Who said you're a wimp, Theo? Your still alive after venturing out the wall more than ten times! You've seen and killed titans! You always know what to do with injuries. It's so wonderful how anyone who's under your care survives." I said, a little too enthusiastically. I guess I also praised him a little too much because looking at him now, he's beet red. And I don't know what the hell is up but everything he's feeling is rubbing off of me. I can feel my cheeks heat up. Dang.

Flashing his perfect white teeth at me, he began talking. "Thank you. But you're always there to save me anyway. Which is a little embarrassing, to be honest."

"Ha, yeah right. Like I'm with you the whole time. Give yourself some credit, Theo." Then I gave him a friendly pat on the arm. I admit, I'm touchy. I always pat people on their arms, shoulders and back. I also like to hold on their arms and give it a little squeeze cause I'm a little creep. Anyways, after saying this, I took another bite of my cookie.

"This is why I like you, Andi." He said looking straight at me. Like?

"Pfft!. Wa….ter!"

"Oh my, here drink."

What the hell? I choked on the cookie that I was eating when Theo said that he like me. Still coughing, I drank the water that he handed me. This is so embarrassing. Theo couldn't hide the smile forming on his lips. Oh, you little bastard.

"Hey! Stop laughing at me."

"Haha! I'm sorry. But your face was just so funn- er, adorable."

I just rolled my eyes at him and focused on my discarded, half-eaten cookie in front of me.

"Before you choke to death, I'll just go on and say it. Andi, I'm going back home to Mitras. And I'm hoping you'd go with me, as my wife."

"Oh my god. It wasn't just a confession! It's a freaking marriage proposal! What is this? Saying that I'm shocked is an understatement. I don't know what to say.

"I've always liked you, Andi. You're not vain,"

Wrong.

"you're strong,"

Wrong again, Theo!

"smart,"

If I were smart, I won't be here beyond the walls.

"and very beautiful."

Well, he's not wrong there.

"I mean, I joined the Survey Corps to get closer to you."

What do say in these kind of situation? "I, I don't know what to say."

"I understand if you can't answer me right away. But, I hope you'll think about this. I'm serious, Andi. Our life here is, well, difficult. You deserve more than this and I can give it to you."

"Okay."

"Okay? You mean, you'll marry me?"