[AN] Sorry about this update being a day late! Yesterday I was really busy, sorry! Anyhow, enjoy, and please leave a review! :)
Bara stood with a heavy disadvantage. A titan loomed over her, appearing to want to attack. Jean was trying his hardest to manage, but he couldn't draw its attention from the meal it wanted to pursue.
She was honestly beginning to feel very scared of this monster that stared at her with a big toothy grin. Terrified in fact.
It suddenly fell forward, its forearm smashing down and landing next to Bara, causing her to have to jump out of the way. However, she completely lost her balance and fell down a small hill that was nearby, painfully rolling down it, adding more bruises to her previous injuries.
Jean had cut one of the legs of the titan, causing it to fall forward, but after that, the titan found that its prey had left, and set its sights on Jean.
Bara smacked right into a tree. She groaned loudly in pain as she attempted to move, placing her hand on the trunk of the tree and pushing herself up. She coughed up some blood as she managed to push herself up on unsteady feet threatening to give out from underneath her.
She walked forward, her hand still resting on the tree for support. She gasped slightly in surprise, seeing the raven-haired beauty laid out on the ground, very clearly injured, and she found it difficult to discern whether he was conscious or not.
"L-Levi!" she called, gaining a small twitch as a response.
She ran forward, ultimately losing her balance at the swift movement and loss of tree to lean on, though she crawled steadily toward her fallen captain.
"Levi!? Levi are you okay!?" she yelled, trying her hardest to bring her leader back to consciousness.
"Levi, Levi, Levi," she breathed, crawling over to him and ultimately sitting on him. She grabbed his shoulders and gripped them softly, shaking them to pull him back to reality.
"Levi!"
She couldn't lose him. Not when he was one of the only men, or people for that matter, that could make her smile, that she could enjoy spending time with, that she looked forward to seeing the next day, and that... She actually loved. She couldn't lose him. she wouldn't forgive herself if she did.
"Please Levi, please be okay. Please! I can't let you die! Levi!" at this point she wasn't even sure what she was saying, but she'd say anything if it meant knowing Levi was okay. In her current state of delirium, she couldn't process her thoughts enough to just slow down and check for a heartbeat. So, all she really ended up doing was shaking him like a ragdoll until he woke up. If he would...
-LINE-
Levi's body felt numb, the only thing he felt was the dull throbbing in the back of his skull. His vision swirled and faded in and out as his mind reeled with the task of keeping himself from falling into a comatose state of sleep.
He heard a loud noise echoing in the back of his head, a voice. Was it calling out to him? He couldn't tell, but it startled him eliciting the only movement his body could currently muster. A small twitch that was hard to notice.
He heard more noises, though they were hard to hear through the loud noises of rumbling titan feet and the blood rushing through his head.
Though, all those noises seemed to drown out. Being drowned out by one specific noise. His name. He could hear someone calling out his name. His eyes fluttered open, and he stared at the trees above.
The branches intertwined and fit together, creating a ceiling that blocked one's view to the sky and sun, and effectively making them feel as though they were no longer a part of the outside world, making one feel dangerously isolated.
He felt something surprisingly warm all over his previously cold body, something that felt comforting. He heard the voice from earlier calling out to him again. The voice suddenly sounded strikingly familiar. A voice he wanted to answer. They sounded distraught and scared, he only wished he could respond.
Bara leaned over to look at him, look into his eyes that were barely open. His eyes looked unfocused and glassy. Like they weren't real. She became far more worried than before and shook his shoulders a little more.
"Levi! Levi! Please wake up! Please don't die!"
She shook him a little more, his mind finally jarring back into reality.
"Kami, Kami! I-I'm alive, I'm fine!" he yelled, his voice sounding far more distraught and broken than he would've preferred, as he jerked up.
Tears immediately came to Bara's eyes, overwhelmed with the fear she just exhibited to the juxtaposing feeling of relief that currently swarmed her body. She threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around Levi's neck, tears still streaming down her cheeks.
"Levi! Levi, you're okay!"
Levi was suddenly dumbstruck, his body frozen as his mind momentarily stopped thinking. Only when Bara pulled back from the hug did his cognitive function return to him.
"W-wait... You-you are okay... Right?" she asked, slowly and warily.
Levi nodded slightly but was too focused on her injured arm. "A-are you!?"
"Yes I-I'm fine, but you-"
"No, you're not..." he whispered, worry lacing his voice, as he attempted to reach over, with his left hand. He could only manage to get his left hand elevated just enough to hover over his midsection as he reached out for her arm, but flinched and stopped, intense pain shooting throughout his arm.
He yelped in a surprisingly high pitched tone as his arm fell back to his side.
"Levi! What happened!?"
"Tch, don't worry about me so much brat! What about yourself!?"
She blushed just slightly but her scolding didn't falter. "What happened to your arm!?"
Levi really hadn't noticed until that moment, but his arm was definitely not okay.
"Oh shit," he whispered. "It's dislocated," he added with a bit of a sigh.
"Levi! I-it's dislocated!?"
"Yes, that's what I just said," Levi spat.
Bara disregarded that comment saying; "Levi, Levi that needs fixing."
"You think I don't fricking know that!?"
Bara sighed slightly, it wasn't annoyed, or exasperated, and Levi couldn't pin the emotion behind it. He frowned and looked away, suddenly not being able to look her in the eye.
"What happened to Kirstein," he demanded.
"Oh! Shit! I forgot!"
"Tch, idiot," Levi mumbled as he attempted to push himself up, using only his right hand. "Crap!" He yelled as he fell back to the ground on his ass with a painful thud.
Bara sighed. "Here," she offered, extending her hand to help him up.
"Thanks," Levi muttered as he barely managed to pull himself up with his right hand.
When he wobbled on his feet Bara immediately got worried. "L-Levi! Are you okay!?"
Levi's eyes closed shut, his hand rubbing his temples. His whole world was spinning and felt like he would fall off his feet. His eyes opened slowly and were met with the blurry earth, seemingly moving around him, until it really was moving around him. In less than a second, Levi felt rushing wind past his ears. His eyes instinctively closed shut, but suddenly, the cold rushing air was replaced by a warmth fully engulfing him.
He heard quiet breathing that wasn't his own and felt warm arms around him. He opened his eyes, seeing a rustle of chocolate brown locks in his face, and a familiarly pleasant scent. "B-Bara..." he whispered, flustered. Bara's head lifted to look him in the eyes. She was so close her nose brushed Levi's upon lifting her head. That only served to make his face redder as she practically stared at his soul through his eyes.
Levi's eyes widened as he realized Bara was crying. Not subtly widening, like usual. Not slightly surprised for a normal person. Very surprised, even for a normal person who doesn't hide their emotions. A tear dripped down Bara's cheek as she stared into Levi's blue-grey eyes, which were starting to look a brighter blue. Levi's eyes flashed with worry as he moved his hand toward her cheek. She sniffled slightly as she tightened her arms around him. Only then did Levi realize that he was hardly even standing, in fact, he wasn't. His heels were very loosely laying against the ground, his body being supported by Bara's arms. He was slightly surprised to see that Bara could hold up his weight, but then again, he shouldn't have been. She's a strong girl.
"L-Levi...! Are... Are you okay...?" She asked, her tone getting surprisingly soft. Levi couldn't answer. He couldn't get his brain to do anything. All he wanted to do was kiss her. He used logic to reason himself a way to kissing her. With the strong emotion she's exhibiting -the worrying, the crying- she must love him... Right? He has nothing to worry about... Unless... No... It was too risky. He couldn't. But...
"Levi," she broke his thought process with her beckoning. "We... We should check on Jean..."
Levi nodded slowly as he moved his feet that felt like led to support his own weight. Bara's arms were about to unravel themselves from being tightly wound around Levi's chest when he grabbed her wrist with his hand.
"Wait," he started. "Please," it was so close to a plea. "D-don't leave... Don't let go..."
Bara nodded. "Don't worry, I won't leave. I'll stay right here. I'll hold on to you."
Levi told himself that he needed the physical support to help him stay up -in fact, he was surprised at how well Bara was managing herself- but he also needed the emotional support.
Just knowing that she was there helped exponentially. She moved Levi to her left side and held him up with her arm under his armpit. They walked up the hill Bara had rolled down and the forest cleared just slightly, the trees thinning as they were able to see the sun more and more.
-line-
"Ah, shit, shit, shit!" Jean shouted as he swung away from yet another attack from the opposing titan. "A LITTLE HELP!?" he screamed in the general direction or Eren, Mikasa, Krista, Armin and Hange.
Mikasa and Eren jumped slightly and turned. "Armin, Krista, can you handle her on your own?" Mikasa asked as she held her outstretched arm toward Eren.
" We've gotta go," Eren whispered, his fingers intertwining with Mikasa's and wrapping around her hand. "Now," he added, tightening his grip of Mikasa's hand.
Armin gave a strong nod, Krista yelling "Give 'em hell!"
"Let's go," Mikasa whispered, Eren nodding in response.
"GUYS!" Jean yelled as he was nearly swatted out of the sky by the titan's arm.
"WE'RE COMING!" Eren shouted as he had to let go of Mikasa's hand to deploy a 3DMG anchor. Mikasa followed suit and shot into the air with a burst of gas along with Eren. They slashed along juxtaposing arms, managing to catch the titan off guard as it didn't know they were there.
"Thank god," Jean muttered.
"Where's captain and Bara?" Eren shouted.
Jean's eyes widened in shock. "Sh-shit," he whispered.
"Eren! Look for them!" Mikasa shouted.
"Will do!" Eren swung over to a tree branch.
"They were over there, I think!" Jean shouted, pointing to a small clearing.
"Right!" Eren confirmed as he jumps to the opening, avoiding the relentless titan as Mikasa and Jean attack it.
"Jean, watch out!" Mikasa shouted all too late.
Jean screamed as he was flung away, the titan having shrugged off the anchor embedded in its shoulder. Jean tried to shoot the anchor into a nearby tree, but it didn't work right. He somehow got himself tangled. "Shit shit shit shit shit!" Mikasa yelled as she swung toward the titan. The titan turned to her as Jean struggled to get the wire unraveled from around his leg.
Mikasa slashed across the arm and chest of the titan, then going down it stomach, and to its legs. She swung around its leg from an anchor embedded in its ankle and slices it's Achilles, sending it down. Suddenly, as the titan fell, she heard a shrill shout. She looked up to see a blond slicing the nape of the titan. "Armin," she whispered.
-line-
Eren ran fast along the edge of the trees, until he saw Bara and Levi, struggling to stand.
"Sir! Bara!" he shouted, running to them. "Are-are you okay!?" he asked in distress.
"Do we look okay!?" they yelled in tandem.
"Right. Sorry, sorry," he mumbles, walking over to help them. He stood on Levi's left side and supported him from there, using the same hold as Bara.
Bara looked over to Eren, smiling weakly. "Hey..." she whispered. "You came... Someone came..." Eren smiled back.
Bara's slight smile disappeared as she whispers "What happened to Jean?"
Eren gulped. "Uh, I-I don't know. Mikasa was out there with him, and they were trying to take down the titan..."
Bara worried at her bottom her bottom lip between her teeth but continued walking on. They came to the edge of the trees and saw the evaporating titan.
"... A-Armin!?" Levi shouted as he saw the blond boy wielding bloody blades, his shoulders heaving with his heavy breaths.
Armin looked over to the three, his face lightening as he sheathed his blades. "Bara! Sir! Are you okay?"
Bara shook her head as Levi just glared. At that point, he was getting annoyed with that question.
"Where's Hange?" Eren asked. "Is she still with Krista?" Bara looked up to Eren in confusion.
"Wait, where's Jean? And Mikasa?" Bara asked.
"Over here!" Mikasa shouted from behind a tree, bringing Jean and herself out from behind it.
"Are you okay?" she asked Jean. He nodded. "Yeah, fine, thanks." They both walked to the group, but upon reaching them, they were all startled by a shrill shout belonging to none other than the blonde angel herself.