Control
Rain jumped from the tree. Firing her gear, she swung through the branches at top speed. But their trip turned short. Ymir had spotted Christa and insisted on going after her while trapping Bertolt in a headlock while threatening to kill him. She planted her feet on a tree limb as Bertolt and Reiner decided to let Ymir go after Christa. "This is just stupid. We have some of the best soldiers coming after us. I will never understand yours and her obsession with that girl."
Reiner scoffed but didn't reply.
Rain rolled her eyes. She waited. Her eyes locked out on the field in search of the Survey Corps soldiers. She wondered if Erwin was aware of what happened to her yet. She shook her head. Why was she thinking of him like that now? It didn't matter. She was never his daughter. She was a warrior. And it was time for this warrior to return to her home. Her heart jerked. As they waited she watched Reiner pass Eren over to Bertolt.
"She's back," Reiner said. He jumped from the branch and sliced his hand with a knife. "Grab on, Rain!"
Rain fired her gear and landed on Reiner's shoulder, as did Bertolt and then Ymir in her titan form. She glanced to her right to see Ymir pulling Christa from her mouth before lifting her head out of her titan form.
"Ymir?!" Christa said.
"Chris…Historia, I'm sorry for suddenly swallowing you like that," Ymir said. "Are you angry?"
"Ymir! Rain! What's the meaning of all this?! We came to save you two and Eren!" Christa said.
"We don't need to be saved!" Ymir said.
"Rain!" Christa said. "Is that true? What are you doing here?"
"Not this again," Rain said. "I'm getting really tired of having to explain myself. I was never one of you. I was always one of them. Get use to it." She turned away from Christa, signaling she would hear no more of it. She tuned them out.
"Crap. The Survey Corps has caught up to us," Bertolt said. "We should have left immediately. This is your fault, Ymir. You just had to go back for Christa. Just what have we been doing all this time? Did you change your mind again? Are you planning on leaving Christa inside of the walls for your own sake?"
Rain looked over her shoulder. "It wouldn't have mattered. Erwin would have still caught up. I guess I'm going to have to take him out."
"Don't you go near him!" Bertolt shouted. "We need you here! Mikasa's already trying to kill Ymir!"
Rain looked up. Mikasa was indeed trying to slice up Ymir. And Christa was trying to stop her. "Pathetic." She launched herself up to Mikasa and clashed swords with her. "If you want to fight, fight me!"
"Rain! Stop it!" Mikasa said.
"You all just stop it! Did you really think we liked what we had to do?!" Bertolt yelled. "It wasn't all a lie! I did think of you as comrades!"
"Everyone get down!" Hannes yelled up at them.
Rain looked down to him in front of Reiner. A horde of titans was running towards them. "Well, even I never expect dear ol' Daddy to do something like that." Reiner barreled through the horde, causing Rain to jump to the top of his head. She looked down at all the titans grabbing for them. "Well, this is some predicament. Looks like I'm going to have to transform."
"Bertolt!"
"Huh? Armin?" Rain turned to see her former friend hanging on Reiner's head.
"Is this really okay for the two of you to leave your friend behind and return home?" Armin said.
"What's he up to now?" Rain asked.
"Are you going to leave Annie behind? Annie is deep underground now, in the Utopia District of the extreme north," Armin said. "She's being tortured. If you could hear her screams you'd understand immediately that even if the physical wounds can heal there's no way to erase the pain. Great care is being taken so that she won't die. Even at this moment, Annie's body hasn't had any time to rest. She's undergoing all sorts of ingenious methods of torture."
"I swear I'll kill you all!" Bertolt said.
"Bertolt! Don't fall for that!" Rain shouted. But it was too late. Her mouth fell open when Erwin appeared. Her dad sliced open Bertolt's chest. And his right arm was missing.
"Rain," Erwin said. "It's time for you to come back."
"Uh." Rain watched as the man who raised her for years fall back to the ground, to his horse. A hard force slammed against her. Her body flew off of Reiner. She looked to find it was another Survey soldier. They collided with the ground and rolled to a stop.
"Come on, Rain!" he said. "We have to get out of here!"
"What?! No!" Rain said. "Leave me alone!"
"Not happening." The man jumped up on his horse. He grabbed Rain and hauled her up before ordering his horse to run forward. "I'm under direct orders to get you back."
Before Rain could reply, a titan landed beside them. She looked back at Reiner. "What the heck? Is that idiot throwing titans at us?"
Another one flew at them. It landed; the impact threw them off the horse. Rain hit the ground and rolled to a stop. Picking herself up she found the man who grabbed her was dead. His neck got snapped in half from the fall. "Idiot." Thundering footsteps grabbed her attention. Turning away from the dead man, she saw a smiling titan walking towards Mikasa and Eren. "Just great. If he gets eaten we're done for."
Rain ran over to them. Her eyes widened when Hannes suddenly appeared. He launched into an attack on the smiling titan but it did no good. The man was easily grabbed. The titan bit him in half. She continued to run towards Eren. Since her lovely little comrades failed in capturing him it was up to her. She would grab him, transform, and get out of here. She had an advantage over the others. And it was time for her to use it. Reaching up to her hair, she pulled her buns loose. She placed the palm of her hand to her horn. Just as she was about to scrape her skin over it, Eren stood up and started shouting. A titan jumped over him and Mikasa. As she watched something snapped inside of her. She stopped running and came to a complete stop a few feet away from them.
"Rain," Mikasa said.
"Rain?" Eren looked at her. "Rain! You have to stop this! You're not one of them! We're your friends! We'll help you!"
"Help," Rain said.
"Don't you remember?" Eren asked. "We grew up together. We protected each other."
"Protect," Rain said. She pressed her hand down on her horn. "I have to protect you."
"What are you doing?" Eren asked.
Rain drug her palm over her horn. Lightning flashed and struck down on her.
"What…she's transforming?!" Eren asked.
"So she really is a titan," Mikasa said.
Rain's body grew. Her horns became larger, her wings appeared and also grew larger, and a long tail appeared. She screamed and charged for Reiner.
"What's she doing?!" Mikasa asked.
"Did she…did she do that to help us?" Eren asked. He shook his head. "No, I don't want this. I don't want you to fight! Rain, come back! Please! Come back and escape with us! We have to get out of here!"
Suddenly, Rain stopped. Turning back around she ran back to Mikasa and Eren.
"She's coming back?" Mikasa asked.
Rain stopped and lowered her hand down to them.
"She did. And we're getting out of here," Eren said. He pulled Mikasa on his back then climbed upon Rain's hand. "Let's get out of here, Rain!"
Rain lifted them up. With a couple flaps of her wings, she lifted them into the air and flew towards the Survey Corps.
"How is this possible?" Mikasa asked.
"I don't know," Eren said. "But I'm glad she's back on our side. I would not want to face her like this."
"Her titan form is bigger than yours," Mikasa said.
No one stopped until they got to the wall. Rain landed on the ground. She let Eren and Mikasa off before falling onto the ground.
"Rain!" Eren shouted. He placed Mikasa down on the ground and ran over to Rain.
Rain's titan body steamed. She lifted up out of the nape, her legs trembling under her body.
"Rain." Eren reached for her titan body to climb up it. The stream burnt his hands, forcing him to pull back. "Rain!"
Rain looked at him when he called her name. Her knees buckled. She plummeted to the round. Her body was heavy with fever. She barely heard her dad speaking. Opening her eyes, she found him staring down at her.
"Hold on, Rain," Erwin said. "We're getting you out of here."
"D-Daddy…" Tears streaked down her face. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Erwin said. "You just sleep."
Rain closed her eyes. The shouting voices around her faded away to darkness.
…
Levi dipped the damp cloth into a bowl of cool water. He wrung it out before placing it over Rain's forehead. He watched her for a minute before turning his eyes out the window. Nothing but forest met his gaze. He knew instantly Rain would hate the view when she woke up. But it couldn't be helped. He had no choice but to bring her to this isolated cabin deep in the woods. Footsteps outside of the door made him turn to it. Someone knocked. "Come in."
The door cracked open. Eren stuck his head inside. "Is she awake yet?"
"No," Levi said returning his eyes to Rain.
"Oh. Do you need anything?" Eren asked.
"No," Levi said again.
"Okay. I'll just leave you two then." Eren closed the door.
Levi watched Rain for several more minutes before she started to stir. "Rain, can you hear me?"
Rain turned her head his voice.
"Rain?"
Rain opened her eyes.
Relief rushed over him. She had finally woken up after two days of sleeping.
"Levi…where…"
"It's all right," Levi said. "We're at a new hideout right now. You're going to be fine. You just have a high fever right now."
Rain licked her lips. "Daddy…Eren…they're…"
"They're both fine," Levi said. He paused in thought. He wasn't sure telling Rain her dad lost an arm right now was a good idea or not. He decided to wait until she felt better. "Eren's here as well. We decided that we needed to hide him, you, and Christa."
"What for?" Rain asked.
"Do you remember what happened?" Levi said. He watched her eyes. Her brain was working to find the answer. He knew she had it when her eyes widened.
"Oh no." Rain rubbed her hands over her face. "I…I'm one of them."
"No, you're not," Levi said.
"I tried to take Eren," Rain said. "I betrayed them all. I betrayed you."
"Rain, stop that," Levi said. "You just lost yourself for a while, nothing wrong with that. I want you to rest now. Your fever is still high."
Rubbing her hands over her face she groaned. "This is so stupid."
"Rain, enough," Levi said. "Sleep. We can talk more about this later."
Rain wanted to refuse. She wanted to get up and disappear from the world. But it didn't happen. Her body was too drained from her transformation. That coupled with the sickness in her body moving seemed out of reach. With no other option she closed her eyes and fell asleep in seconds.
Levi stayed with her for a while longer before getting up and leaving the room.
"I'm telling you we shouldn't trust her," Jean was saying when he walked towards the kitchen.
"That's ridiculous!" Eren shouted. "She's done nothing to warrant distrust!"
"You don't call helping them kidnap you and turning against us a good thing?" Jean challenged. "She turned on us, Eren. She actually attacked Mikasa."
"She wasn't herself," Eren said.
"How can you be so sure?" Jean crossed his arms. "She's one of them, Eren. She always has been."
"She's not one of them!" Eren said. "She's one of us! She'll never turn on us!"
"Then what do you call what she did?" Sasha asked.
"She was confused," Eren said. "She got her memories back and it confused her. But she came back to us. She's not a threat." He turned to Armin and Mikasa. "Come on, guys. We grew up with her."
"Eren," Mikasa said. "She did attack us. We can't just ignore that."
"Not you too! Armin, help me out here!" Eren said.
"I'm still at a lost," Armin said. "I really want to believe that Rain is still on our side, but she did turn on us. And then there's her titan form. It was massive. And she can fly."
"I thought she could only glide with those wings," Connie said.
"It appears they change somehow when she transformed," Armin said. "That would explain how she manage to make it here."
"What do you mean?" Historia asked.
"I mean that even with the skills she has while gliding it doesn't seem possible that she would be able to travel extremely far distances," Armin said. "We're not even sure where she really came from. And with all the titans outside of the wall she would eventually have to land and deal with them."
"That's nothing. We can ask her about it now," Eren said.
"Like asking would do any good," Jean said. "You asked questions to Reiner, Bertolt, and Ymir and they said nothing."
"But that's not…" Eren trailed off.
"Enough," Levi said making his presence known. "Rain isn't a danger to us."
"That's not biased at all coming from you," Jean said. "You and her are romantically involved."
"I know her better than any of you. She's torn up right now because she turned on you all. But it was only temporary," Levi said.
"We can't be sure of that," Jean said. "We trusted Reiner and Bertolt and look where that got us."
"Rain is different," Levi said. "And when she's fully awake you can talk to her and see. Right now she has a fever and needs to rest. That's an order. No one is to bother her right now."
…
Rain opened her eyes. Staring up at the ceiling she listened to the soft chirps of the birds outside of the window. The wooden ceiling was unfamiliar. It wasn't like the headquarters or the castle. The smell was different too. This place smelled of dirt and dust. Something Levi would not like. After a few moments she finally remembered where she was. She sat up as the door to the room opened.
Levi walked in. "You're awake. It looks like your fever finally broke."
"Yeah." Rain turned her eyes to the window. She saw nothing but trees and a few birds flying by. "I guess so. Where are we?"
"Hiding," Levi said. He closed the door and walked over to the bed. He sat down on the bed and took her hand in his.
She pulled away from him. She was a traitor. She didn't deserve sympathy from anyone, even him.
"Don't do that, Rain," Levi said. "What happened wasn't your fault."
"It was," Rain said. "No one forced me to do what I did."
"That's not true," Levi said.
"How do you know that? You don't know anything about me!" Tears stung her eyes as she turned back to him. "I've always been a traitor! That's what they wanted me to be!"
"And that's why I know it's not your fault," Levi said.
"What do you mean?" Rain asked, tears trailing down her cheeks.
"Think about it." Levi reached out and brushed her tears away. "You were only a child when Erwin found you. No child has knowledge of how to fight or infiltrate anyone or anywhere. Someone had to train you to do it. Do you remember?"
Rain lowered her eyes to the blanket. Her mind was a muddied mess but bits and pieces were starting to connect together. "I remember some stuff. I was only a kid when this all happened. So my memories aren't going to be very reliable."
"Tell me what you know," Levi said. "Who are your parents?"
"I don't have any," Rain said. "I'm an orphan. Or so they told me."
"Who told you?" Levi asked.
"Someone…a guy or a couple of them," Rain said. "It's hard to remember names. But one man in particular keeps appearing in my memories."
"Who is it?" Levi asked. "Did he hurt you?"
"No." Rain shook her head. "He didn't. He was nice. He was different from everyone else. He's familiar. He reminds me of…of Eren."
"Of Eren?" Levi kneaded his eyebrows. "Why of him?"
"I'm not sure," Rain said. "My memories are still fuzzy. That was so long ago. They put me through so much pain. I remember crying a lot. Having to fight a lot. Them forcing me to become a titan."
"Let's talk about that," Levi said. "What kind of titan are you?"
"I'm a titan killer of sorts," Rain said. "This titan form of mine was to take titans down if they got out of control. I was sent here to find the founding titan."
"In other words, Eren," Levi said.
"Yes." Rain nodded.
"What went wrong then? How did you end up in that forest where Erwin found you?" Levi asked.
"I got hurt," Rain said. Her hand reached up and touched her horns. "A storm happened. I was flying in my titan form when lightning struck my horn. I fell to the ground and hit my head."
"So that's how you lost your memories," Levi said.
Rain nodded again. "But I don't understand. How can I be like this now? I'm supposed to be one of them. I'm supposed to be a warrior not a soldier."
"It's possible that Erwin's influences has a whole lot to do with that," Levi said.
"Daddy," Rain said. "You really think because he found me that I'm not a warrior anymore?"
"It has to be that. Those people who did this to you spent their time training you harshly. They never gave you any kind of love. Am I right?" Levi said.
"Yes." Rain nodded. "All but for the one who reminds me of Eren. He made everything bearable until I could leave."
"See? It wasn't your fault," Levi said. "They are the ones who were trying to use you."
"I don't know," Rain said.
"Well, I do. Eren told me what happened when you turned into a titan," Levi said. "You were going to attack Reiner like the other titans were. Only when Eren called for you did you return to him."
"What?" Rain looked at him.
"Eren called for you to come back to him. You did. You picked him and Mikasa up and ran away from the titans. You ran back to the Survey Corps," Levi said.
"I don't remember," Rain said.
"That's to be expected. Eren didn't remember much when he first transformed," Levi said. "The more you do it the more you'll remember."
"No!" Rain's heart slammed against her chest. "I don't want to transform ever again!"
"You have to," Levi said.
"No, I don't," Rain said. "And I'm not going to."
"Rain, you can't-"
"Enough, Levi!" Rain snapped. "I won't transform anymore!"
Levi sighed. "Okay. We'll leave it alone for now and talk more about it later. For now I have to go meet with Erwin."
"You're leaving?" Rain asked.
"Only for a few days," Levi said. "I'll be back soon."
"I'm coming with you." Rain tossed the blanket off her and stood up.
"No, your not." Levi stood up.
"I need to see my dad," Rain said.
"Erwin will be fine," Levi said. "He did get hurt during the attack but it's not life threatening."
"What do you mean he got hurt?" Rain asked.
Levi took a breath and said, "A titan bit his right arm off."
Cold shot through Rain's body. An image of him with his arm missing flashed through her head. "Wh-what?"
"He's all right, Rain. Focus on that," Levi said.
"No." Rain walked towards the door. "I have to get to him."
"Rain, no." Levi grabbed her.
"Let go!" Rain struggled against him. But still weakened from her transformation she barely managed to wiggle in his hold.
"Stop it, Rain," Levi said pressing her to his chest. "You have to stay here."
"No!" Rain kicked at his shin, her uselessly banged against him. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "No…"
"He's all right, Rain." Levi turned her around and pulled his arms tighter around her.
Rain buried her face in his shoulder.
"He wants you to stay here and remain save," Levi said. "We have no idea where Reiner, Bertolt, and Ymir are right now. They might try and take you and Eren again."
Rain slipped her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." Levi stroked her hair for a few more minutes before pulling away to look at her. "I'm sorry that I have to leave you like this, but I have to speak to Erwin."
Rain brushed her tears away and nodded.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," Levi said. "I want you to stay with Eren until I get back. Promise me you won't try and leave."
"Okay. I promise," Rain said.
"Good." Levi tilted her chin up and kissed her. "And take a shower. You're covered in sweat. And you smell."
Rain frowned at him. "Thanks a lot."
With a low chuckle, he kissed her again then left.
Not wanting to leave the room, she sunk back down on the bed. She had no idea how long she sat there until she heard Eren's voice.
"Rain, I'm coming in," Eren said.
Rain looked at the door as Eren walked inside of it.
"Hey," he said.
"Yeah," Rain said adverting her eyes. "Hey."
"The captain's gone now," Eren said. "He said you were up."
"I guess so." Rain shrugged.
"Can I sit with you?" Eren asked.
Rain shrugged again. She felt the bed sinking with his weight.
"It's not your fault,' Eren said.
"They hate me," Rain said.
"No, of course they don't hate you," Eren said.
"Eren, don't lie to me," Rain said. "I remember their reactions to Bertolt and Reiner's betrayal."
Eren sighed. "They don't hate you. They're confused."
"I don't blame them," Rain said.
"Just give them time," Eren said. "They'll come around and see that you're still our friend."
"Maybe," Rain said.
"So what now? How are you feeling?" Eren asked.
"Confused," Rain said.
"What to talk about it?" Eren asked.
Rain nodded. If anyone was going to come close to understanding how she felt it was going to Eren. So she told him everything that she just told Levi.
"I see," Eren said. "I wonder if that's why you have wings and horns."
"Wings, yes. Horns, I'm not so sure," Rain said.
"What do you mean?" Eren looked at her.
"I'm still sorting through my memories but the horns aren't originally part of the titan form," Rain said. "They came separately for some reason."
"They're separate?" Eren looked at her horns. "Is that why they don't disappear?"
"Yeah." Rain nodded. "But what are they for?"
"They grew longer when you transformed. Does that help?" Eren asked.
"Not really," Rain said.
"Well, don't worry about it right now. I'm sure you'll remember," Eren said.
"Or I might not," Rain said.
"What do you mean?" Eren asked.
"I was just a kid when they did this to me," Rain said looking at the palms of her hands. "I don't remember much because of that. Kids don't typically start remembering stuff until they are about five years old. And that's about the time Erwin found me. I might not have much useful information for the Corps."
"It doesn't matter," Eren said. "It's not like I have much information on this either."
Rain bit her cheek.
"Was there something else?" Eren asked.
"No, that's all," Rain said.
"Well, okay. If you remember anything else and want to talk I'm here for you," Eren said. "Lunch is about ready. You should come and eat something."
"I'm not hungry," Rain said. "I just want a shower and to sleep some more."
"Well, you really should eat, but if you don't feel like it, I won't make you." Eren stood and headed for the door. "The bathroom's just down the hall."
"Thanks," Rain said. She waited until he was gone before looking for some clothes. She found her bag laying on the floor. Figuring Levi had grabbed some clothes for her. Or maybe it was Hange. It didn't matter. Getting what she needed she opened the door. Peaking out she found a small hallway. Voices of everyone else came from directly in front of her. She didn't want to see them. So she slipped out and down the hall, finding the bathroom where Eren said it was. Entering she stripped and took a shower as fast as she could despite how good the heat felt on her tired body. Finishing up she rushed back to her room before anyone noticed she was there.
…
Levi reached up and knocked on the door. "It's me."
"Come in," Erwin's muffled voice said.
Levi opened the door and walked into the room. His eyes stopped on Commander Pixis before he closed the door.
"So how's our favorite girl doing?" Pixis asked.
"If I know her like I know I do, she's locked herself up where she won't have to face the others," Levi said.
"That sounds like Rain," Erwin said.
"She's remembering some stuff now, but her memories are still a blur," Levi said sitting down in the chair beside Erwin's bed.
"That's fine," Erwin said.
"If you don't mine me saying," Pixis said. "You don't seem all that surprised to find out she's a titan."
"I assumed she was," Erwin said.
"You what?" Levi asked.
"Ever since that first day I found her, I knew something was different about her," Erwin said. "It's impossible for most full grown men with OMD gear to survive beyond the walls. Yet there she was. Alive with no other damage than her broken horn and wing."
"Bastard," Levi said. "You suspected this from the beginning and you didn't say anything about it? Did you even tell Rain?"
"No," Erwin said. "She was having enough trouble fitting in as it was. I didn't want to scare her anymore."
"Scare her?! Do you have any idea what this has done to her?!" Levi demanded. "She's completely confused and scared! Her own friends, with the exception of Eren, are now afraid of her!"
"They have no reason to be," Erwin said. "She's still the same."
"She turned on them," Levi said.
"And she turned back from what I've heard," Erwin said.
"That doesn't matter," Levi said. "Do you even know what kind of damage this is going to do to her once she hears that you knew she was a titan?"
"I didn't know. I only assumed she was. That opinion only grew more when we learned about Eren's titan form," Erwin said.
Levi said. "You'll never change."
A knock came on the door, halting their conversation. Hange and Connie entered into it, the latter carrying a picture in his hand.
…
Rain glanced at the door when someone knocked. Most likely it was going to be Eren again. He seemed to be the only one who came to see her in these past five day she had been without Levi. And he mostly came to bring her something to eat. Another knock forced her to allow him in. Standing up she walked over and unlocked the door. Her eyebrows rose when she saw it was Armin. "Oh, I thought it was Eren."
"I asked him if it was alright for me to come instead," Armin said. "I wanted to eat with you this time."
Rain dropped her eyes to his hands. He was carrying tray with two bowls of stew and two cups of water. "Oh."
"Is that alright with you?" Armin asked.
"I guess so." Rain walked back to the bed and sat down.
"Great." Armin walked over and placed the tray down on the nightstand. He then sat down on the chair and picked up his bowl.
Rain picked up her own bowl. Again, she didn't feel like eating but knew she would get an earful from both Levi and Hange if she didn't get her strength back. Placing a spoonful of the stew in her mouth, she tasted nothing. Her senses appeared to have been muted since she woke up.
"Look, don't worry about it," Armin said. "Everyone had a hard time getting use to Eren transforming. All they need is a little time."
"Eren didn't try and betray them," Rain said.
"Oh, well, that wasn't your fault," Armin said. "You were brainwashed."
"Maybe," Rain said. "Or maybe I really wanted to take Eren."
"I don't believe that. And I know you don't either," Armin said.
"What do you mean?" Rain looked at him.
"Rain, if you really were going to betray us then you wouldn't have came back to us," Armin said. "I think you just had a minor relapse due to getting your memories back. And it's not like you're trying to escape now. I believe that, without realizing it, Commander Erwin erased everything they did to you. You're still a soldier for humanity. You're still a soldier of the Survey Corps. And just like Eren you'll continue to fight for humanity."
"I wish I was as confident as you and Levi," Rain said.
"You will be," Armin said. "You just need a little more time to adjust to this. And you need to get out of this room and face everyone again."
"I'm not sure I can," Rain said.
"I'll be fine," Armin said. "You still have us on your side."
"I doubt Mikasa thinks the same as you and Eren," Rain said. "I'm still upset with her. If we become friends again our relationship will never be the same."
"Maybe," Armin said. "But you can still be allies. We need both of you right now."
Rain took more stew in her mouth. Chewing, she thought of Armin's words. They sat and ate in silence. When they were done, he gathered up their dishes and left the room. She stared out the window, thinking of the events that happened and how she ended up here. Her mind continued to be a jumbled mess. It was like a part of herself disappeared after she had transformed. She no longer knew who she really was. Was she a warrior? Or was she a soldier? Was she the Survey Corps enemy? Or was she their ally?
She was still lost in thought when the door to the room suddenly opened up. Before she could notice who it was, they lifted her from the bed and headed for the door. Then she noticed the feel of his body and his scent. "Hey! Levi! What are you doing?!"
"Getting you out of this room," Levi said. "You're no longer allowed to hide in here and sulk."
"I'm not sulking!" Rain said just as they entered into the dinning room. She could feel their eyes on her.
"All right, we have a lot to discuss." Levi sat her down in a chair. His eyes locked onto the table before running his hand under it. Dust fell to the floor.
Rain twitched, wondering if he was going to force them to clean this place from ceiling to floor.
"Even though you've had plenty of time." Levi sat down beside her and wiped the dust off his hand with a cloth. "Well, I understand you postponed cleaning to have fun. If you put everything in order, I'll agree to this principle. Well, a lot happened in a short time but it doesn't mean our main objective changed. In short, we need to plug up the hole in Wall Maria. If we can fulfill this then nothing else matters"
"Is it really possible that titans are hiding in the walls?" Jean asked.
"Hey, Armin, you said something before about plugging up the whole quickly. I'd like to hear about it once more," Levi said.
"Yes, my idea was to plug up the hole in the wall using the ability of Eren to transform into a titan. The wall seems to have been made from titans that became hard, and if he could produce the same mass to plug up the hole at the actual scene. If only such a thing was possible then it wouldn't be necessary to continuously carry materials by cart like it's needed for most plans. In other words, we could think of a way to aim for the site that'd be based upon the non-active of titans at night. It's possible to reach there overnight by horses from Shiganshina or from Trost. If this could come true the time it'd take to recover Wall Maria would be less than a day." Armin turned to Rain. "And with you here we could do it twice as fast."
"No," Rain said. "I'm never transforming again."
"You will," Levi said. "But let's not get a head of ourselves here. We still need to see if Eren can harden."
"Yeah, I agree," Eren said.
"Did you hear that, Hange? He's got the motivation. You have the discretion in choosing the place for the experiment," Levi said.
Rain stood up, the legs of her chair scrapping across the floor. Not wanting to hear anymore, she ran back to the room. She didn't even get the door closed before Levi pushed it back open. "Go away, Levi. I don't want to see you right now."
"Get use to it," Levi said. "I'm not going anywhere until you've come back to your senses."
"What do you-" Before she could finish, he grabbed her arms, pushed her up against the wall, and pressed his lips to her. She gasped as he forced his tongue into her mouth. He trailed kisses away from her lips and down to her neck. "L-Levi! What are you doing?"
"What do you think?" Levi mumbled against her neck.
"We can't…hn…we can't do that here," Rain said. "These walls are not very thick."
Levi pulled her shirt off and tossed it across the room. "Then you'll have to restrain yourself."
"Levi!" Rain said before he swept her into his arms and laid her on the bed. Part of her wanted to refuse him. But another part, a stronger part wanted this. She wanted to be distracted. She wanted to feel his full strength. So she let him remove the rest of her clothes before tugging his own off. Grabbing his shoulders, she pushed him down on the bed and straddled over him, letting him glide into her. She hummed at the feeling of being so close to him.
"I thought you didn't want this," Levi said.
"Shut up," Rain said rocking her hips.
Levi laid back against the pillow. He closed his eyes and allowed Rain to have control over him, at least for a while. After leaving her in control for about ten minutes, he flipped their positions.
Rain bid her lip. Closing her eyes, she focused completely on Levi's pleasuring her body until they reached their climax.
Levi laid down beside her and pulled her to his chest. "There's something you need to know."
"What?" Rain asked through her pants.
"Erwin knew," Levi said.
"What?" Rain looked up at him.
"He knew you could transform. Or he assumed it," Levi said.
Rain blinked. She then sighed. "Why am I not surprised?"
"You're not angry at him?" Levi asked.
"Oh, I am angry," Rain said. "But I'm not surprised."
"You two are such a pain," Levi said. "Despite that he wants you to get control over your titan form. He wants you to transform.
Rain sighed. "Levi, I want you to promise me something."
"What?" Levi asked.
"If I lose control…I want you to kill me," Rain said.
"That's not going to happen," Levi said.
"Levi, just promise," Rain said. "I don't want to hurt anyone during my transformations." She stared directly into his eyes. "Promise me!"
Levi sighed. "Okay. I promise."
Rain nodded.
…
"So what exactly is it that I'm trying to do?" Rain asked.
"You're going to transform and get control over your titan form for now," Hange said. "Since Eren has better control over his titan I'll be doing more advanced experiments with him."
"You're not afraid of me, are you?" Rain asked.
"Why would you ask something like that? Of course I'm not." Hange placed her hands on Rain's shoulder. "You're still my precious little baby. I only have the three of us here to keep you calm."
Rain looked over at Levi. He was in full ODM gear incase she lost control. She still doubted he could kill her if she did. He would do everything he could to stop her without killing her.
"You ready?" Hange asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Rain said.
"Then transform," Hange said.
Rain reach up. Placing her palm over her horn, she cut herself. Pain stung through her hand. Lightning flashed around her. Her senses blacked out.
"Crap," Levi said when Rain started swinging her arms around. The bark of the nearby trees snapped and groaned under the force. He shot his gear at Rain and pulled himself upon her shoulders.
"What are you doing?" Hange followed him.
"Rain!" Levi shouted. "Don't lose yourself to this form!"
"Oh, that's right. Armin was able to get control over Eren by talking to him," Hange said. "Yes! Listen to us, Rain! You already have control over this body! You only have to remember it!"
"Come on, Rain! You're stronger than this! Don't let them win!" Levi said.
Rain stopped. Reaching up she touched Levi with affection.
"You in control now?" Levi asked.
Rain nodded. She flattened out her hand then nodded to Levi and Hange. Once the two were standing on her palm, she spread out her wings and lifted them into the air. Going above the clouds, she flew around with them, showing them the land from above.
"Amazing," Hange said. "I could be wrong but she might have better control over her titan form than we thought."
"It's possible that spending years without transforming only threw her into shock for a while," Levi said. "She's going to be fine."
Hange nodded. "I guess I won't have to do much with her titan form."
"Does that mean you won't preform experiments on her?" Levi asked.
"I didn't say that," Hange said.
"I'll only allow you to preform a few. I won't have you wearing her out," Levi said. "You can do whatever you want with Eren."
"Well, we know where your loyalties lie," Hange said.
"You've known that for years." Levi looked up at Rain.
…
"I forgot that transforming took so much energy out of a person's body," Rain said resting her head on Levi's shoulder after he picked her up from the bed. "And I haven't even done as much as Eren has."
"I do want you to rest but Eren's awake now," Levi said leaving their temporary room. "Hange wants to discuss the results."
Rain nodded. Reaching the top floor where the boys slept, Levi laid her down on the bed next to Eren's and sat beside her.
"Good, you two are here. We might need your insight on the experiments, Rain." Hange turned to Eren. "So, do you remember what kind of experiments we did?"
Rain listened closely to Hange go over what happened with the experiments. The most important part was Eren was not able to harden his skin at all. They both were able to do simple everyday things such as standing on one foot, waving, showing a certain number on their fingers, and other such things. Speak was something neither of them could do in their titan forms. "I don't believe speaking will be possible for either of us. It's not necessary I guess."
Hange nodded and continued her assessment. She told them that Eren was able to construct buildings using ropes and logs. Next she tried to have him write on the ground since they couldn't talk. "It was quite weird. Without any reason you wrote father and had me. But afterwards you what you wrote was so jumbled it didn't make sense. Do you remember anything?"
"No, I don't remember." Eren said.
"Well, after struggling for about thirty minutes you exited the titan probably of your own volition. We could tell that your memory was fuzzy. And you were barely conscious. You tried to take titan form a second time after resting for half and hour. The second time, as well, you weren't able to harden. And your titan form was smaller. We tired repeating the intelligence test from the first time, but that didn't work either. You weren't able to follow any commands, and seemed incredibly hungry. You ended up eating the house you had previously built. You rampaged like that for a bit and then seemed to run out of energy and your titan form was released. Some assistance was required to retrieve you. And then after resting for thirty minutes again, you tried taking titan form for a third time. This time, it was a titan that didn't even reach ten meters. It was incomplete, unable to support itself. It had melded more completely with you, and peeling you away was quite a task."
"So then that means the plan to retake Wall Maria is impossible right now," Eren said. "And all because I couldn't harden my titan body."
"I'm not sure," Hange said. "What do you think, Rain? Does anything of this sound familiar to you?"
"A little bit," Rain said. "I remember that they spoke of different types of titans. We all have different abilities. For example, I'm the only titan that can fly or at least that I'm aware of. And I'm the only one who has horns like this that doesn't disappear."
"Any reason as to why that happens?" Armin asked.
"My horns aren't a part of my titan form normally," Rain said.
"What do you mean by that?" Hange asked.
"They were man made," Rain said. "They made these to control me. Though I don't remember how they control me."
"Control you?" Levi asked.
"Why are you only telling us this now?" Hange asked.
"What?" Rain looked up at her. "I'm sorry. I'm still trying to sort through my memories. It's not easy."
"It's not your fault." Levi took her hand and kissed it.
"Then it's impossible for me to harden," Eren said.
"It looks that way," Levi said. "We're quite disappointed and thanks to you, today's atmosphere is horrible. At this rate, time is just passing by without a single good thing happening. What's going to happen next? Titans might arise from the earth or fall from the skies while human remain like toothless prey. It's a crappy situation in any case."
"Eren tried his best," Mikasa said.
"I know. So what of it? What does it matter if he tried? He can't plug up the hole right now," Levi said.
"But if you blame Eren for it," Mikasa started.
"Hey, I'm only blowing off steam. I'm not blaming him or Rain for anything. Identifying deficiencies and complaining about the situation is human nature. Listen, the stink of the gutters is always within the walls. It fills the air. It's been like that for over a hundred years. It'll always be like that. That's the present situation. I only realized that these past several years. After all, I've been breathing this crappy air since I was born. I thought this was normal. But the air I breathed outside the walls was different. It's a world like hell, but freedom isn't within these walls its out there. It was there that I realized for the first time just what I didn't know."
"In other words, what Levi is trying to say is this time we succeeded in finding out that you can't harden your titan, Eren," Hange said. "And of course, that's not all. We were also able to find out the amount of time you can last when you consecutively transform into a titan, as well as your versatility and limitations. Everything from the experiment is time can be useful information. We may be paying the price for raising up all that some like we did. But now we'll also see whether we can make use of the experiment results."
Eren tried to sit up.
"Your body is still weak. Don't over do it," Mikasa said.
"Ah, yeah," Eren said laying back down.
"It's possible that he might be able to gain the ability to harden," Rain said.
"What do you mean?" Hange asked.
"I know there are different types of titans," Rain said. "So the process to make them must still be out there."
"I see," Hange said. "So we might be able to add on the hardening ability to Eren or your titan form."
"Possibly," Rain said. "But we would need someone who knows how the titans are made."
"Well then, now that we know that hardening is impossible the path we should take is set. Next is to look into the wall cult. They seem to know something about the origins of the walls, made of hardened titans. They might know something about the way those walls were made…about hardening in other words. Surely, Erwin, who's gone to the royal capital can find out something about why it's not the kind, the most high privileged of humanity but rather the Reiss family that's privy to these secrets," Levi said.
…
Might have to go on hiatus for a while. The one who requested this isn't responding to my PMs. I don't know if they don't like it anymore or if they're just busy with life and can't log on. It's fine if they don't like it. I didn't know it would be such a hard series to write for.
Either way it's still going to take time to get Rain fitted in properly with these next few chapters. I will, without a doubt, go on hiatus when we reach the time Eren takes off for Marley until we get a few more chapters on what's happening with the characters.
Thanks for reading and reviewing.