A/N: Tried to get this out between university and work so here we are!

Chapter 21

Levi left me alone with some female companion of his—that he lived with. Despite how irrational it was, I felt jealous of her, and we glared at each other the entire time we were alone. A couple hours after he had gone did another male come in. He glanced between us, an eyebrow raised, before he finally spoke.

"Isabel, who's your friend?"

"She is not my friend," we both spat at him before returning our sour expressions at the other woman.

"I had a friend who was much like you, proud and slightly annoying and very clumsy, who wanted to know what lay beyond the walls."

"What was her name?"

"Isabel."**

The girl named Isabel explained, "She's some stupid girl Levi rescued, Farlan. Passed out in an alley, really?" She cocked her head incredulously. "How dumb can you get? I woulda just left you there."

"And what's her name, Isabel? Where's she from? She's dressed too nice to just be some wanderer."

"I'm not a wanderer—" Oh I am not having this conversation again. I felt like I was back at the beginning, where I argued with everyone in the room about whether or not I was truly that idiotic. "Rosemary. But just call me Rose. And I'm not—" –from around here. How did I explain that? I could explain I was from the future, or from the inner walls, either would be true but very hard to discuss. "I am from elsewhere, yes."

"Well, Rose. Ah… Levi doesn't let just anyone into his home so I guess you can't be a threat." Farlan gave Isabel a condescending glance, and she scooted her chair away from me, huffing and crossing her arms. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

I didn't know the last time I'd actually eaten anything, which was probably a bad thing to say aloud. But considering the condition of their home, I assumed they didn't have a lot to offer anyway. "I am actually not, thank you. I appreciate the hospitality, Farlan." I emphasized his name and glared at Isabel one last time before daring to stand up and away from the bed, stretching.

"It really isn't a problem." He watched me carefully, not like a soldier assessing his enemy, but a man truly curious about their newest guest. "So, where is 'elsewhere', if I may ask?"

"Ah—just… upstairs. I haven't been there long so I'm not too familiar."

"So that's why you got lost." I had to stop myself from breathing a sigh of relief; maybe traveling between time periods made me an excellent fibber. Normally, it wasn't something to be proud of, but in situations like this, it was a talent that really came in handy. "I'm glad Levi found you when he did then. Consider yourself lucky."

"Tell me about it," I muttered.

I thought back to a conversation Levi and I had when he came with me back home.

"You see, I wasn't always a very important individual in the military. Instead, I was a thug who led a gang of thieves in Trost's underground city."

"A thug? Like a criminal? What did you do?"

"Just stole shit, snuck above ground and took money, killed people. I became renowned above and below Trost and grew a criminal record the size of a church."**

So this was what Levi had been talking about, his life as a criminal. But most criminals didn't rescue random girls in alleyways, not unless they had an ulterior motive for them. Even so, wouldn't he have told his comrades what that would have been?

Even now, Levi is still a mystery to me.

Farlan decided to put me to work while Levi was out, much to Isabel's dismay. She insisted I stayed strapped to the bed until Levi gave specific instructions on what to do with me, but Farlan reminded her that I wasn't tied down in the first place, which was a sign in itself. I had to control myself so I wouldn't smirk in her face, but I felt certain I'd won. I was scrubbing the floor when Levi came in, hanging his cloak up and replacing what seemed like a small switchblade back in its rightful place in his boot. He glanced down at me, then looked for his comrades with an annoyed expression.

"Th-they're in the kitchen," I stuttered, standing up quickly and wiping my dirtied knees with the back of my hands, since the fronts were covered in sudsy, dirty water. He only nodded once before walking around me and my sloppy mess into the next room.

"Neither of you are watching her," I heard him utter under a harsh breath. "Why?"

"Are we supposed to watch her clean all day?" Isabel countered a little louder. She obviously wasn't taught about subtly. "Besides, she's been an obedient little puppy since Farlan got home. So blame him."

"Thank you, Isabel," the other man mumbled. "She really hasn't been any trouble, Levi. I don't feel there's anything to worry about—"

"That's not the point. I left her here with you—" To which I knew he was speaking to Isabel for I heard her grumbling, "and you know that if that is the case, then you keep an eye out. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Levi," they both said in unison, sounding a little defeated.

"I'm going to go take care of her." When I heard him shuffle back this way, I promptly pretended to retouch the place I just cleaned. He stood right in my water, and carefully I lifted my eyes to meet his.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to take a walk with me?" Though to any other girl it may have been a romantic gesture, his demeanor revealed it to be anything but. Besides, this wasn't my Levi, who wore my grandmother's necklace around his neck and allowed me to sleep in his bed, but a different one, and I had to keep reminding myself of that.

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" I retorted, getting to my feet, holding the course sponge in my hand.

"No. Let's go." He took the sponge from me and tossed it into the kitchen before leading the way outside, not bothering to grab his cloak again.

The streets were filthy, an unexpected origin of humanity's soon-to-be strongest soldier. People slept on the sidewalks and gathered around trashcan fires. No one seemed to have any hope in their eyes, even the children. It all broke my heart.

"You look surprised."

I jumped at the sound of his voice then glanced at him. "Ah—no—yes. Kind of, I guess." Sighing, I admitted, "It's just sad."

"It's life, kid. This is where people come when they literally have nowhere else to go."

"I'm… I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to say.

"Nothing to apologize about. It's not like it's your fault." He took the lead again, clamping his mouth shut and making it evident that the conversation was over.

People kept trying to approach us, asking for scraps of anything we had, and I felt terrible for not having anything to offer.

"Your stomach is so fucking loud," he complained suddenly, and unconsciously I placed a hand over abdomen just as it rumbled.

Really, when was the last time I'd eaten?

"Did they not offer you food at the house?" he accused; even if he was a harsh man, he also seemed like a modest one, and probably expected the same of his trusted comrades.

"Th-they did. I just told them I wasn't hungry."

"So you lied." It wasn't meant to sound like a question.

I answered anyway. "Yes, I lied. So? It's my stomach. I'll feed it when I want."

His expression changed for a millisecond, much too fast for me to identify what it could have meant, before he returned to walking briskly ahead of me.

Finally, we stopped walking at this rocky clearing. It was horribly dark, save for—

The stars.

And the moon.

I gasped, almost tripping over a loose stone, but managed to catch myself. "Look! There's Cassiopeia! And that's Aries! It's so clear!"

"You know constellations?" Now he sounded truly stunned.

"Yeah! My father introduced them to me. He traveled a lot and he said he was always fascinated with how the stars appeared the same no matter where he went. It made him feel at home—" This isn't your Levi. He doesn't care. Daring to look back at him, my face riddled with chagrin, I stuttered out, "S-sorry, totally irrelevant."

"I guess." He sat down on the ground and gazed up. "So what in the Hell brought you to sleep in an alleyway?"

"Ah—" I could try the story I had brought up to Farlan. "Just lost my way… and I got… tired. And now here we are."

"Yep. Here we are."

We fell into a peaceful silence as I quietly identified all the star formations I knew. He interrupted me after a while with, "So are you going to tell me the truth or what?"

"Truth?"

"When I found you, you were mumbling my name. But I've never met you before."

Aw, Hell. I groaned, rubbing a hand over my face nervously. "You wouldn't believe me anyway. I sometimes don't even believe me."

"Try," he urged in a sharp yet gentle voice—the kind of tone I was used to.

"Alright…" I sat next to him, bringing my legs to my chest and hugging them tightly. "I'm… from the future."

He didn't say anything for a long time. Holding my breath, I glanced over at him—he was glaring at me.

"Do I look like an idiot?"

"I'm serious!" I screeched, the sound echoing throughout the cove. "I'm from the year 2014—"

"You think I'm an idiot."

"No, not at all. Levi—" I sucked in a breath, counted to ten, then released it. If I panicked, it would have made matters worse. "Told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Well it's kind of out there, kid." Don't call me kid! I wanted to yell, but stopped myself. "That's not something you hear every day."

"Trust me, I understand." I relaxed a little, dropping my hands to rest on the cold rocks. "What… what are you thinking?"

"That this has been the most interesting day I've ever had."

"And it's about to get worse," someone said from behind him. We both stood up abruptly, Levi using himself as a barrier between myself and the three party crashers before us. "Sorry, are we interrupting your little date?"

Three men with closely shaved heads and scruffy faces appeared under the moonlight, each of them brandishing their own blunt weapon. The man who appeared to be the leader smirked between Levi and myself.

"Kind of. Thanks for ruining my game," Levi joked dryly. If we weren't in a clearly bad situation, I would have kicked him behind his knees so he'd fall. "Are you guys here to get back at me for beating you in chess the other day?"

"Yeah, actually. We'd like our money back." The leader then fixed his gaze on me. "And we might take a little consolation prize for our troubles."

"Over my goddamn dead body," Levi growled, crouching a bit forward.

"It would be our genuine pleasure." And then they leapt.

**refer to chapter 11

A/N: The song inspiration for this chapter is "King" by Lauren Aquilina :* Go check it out.