A/N: Chapter 30! My fanfiction has finally reached the big three O! It can kiss its youth goodbye now. As you know, life ends at 30... (It doesn't, it's actually not that bad.)

Enjoy.

...

Levi

I sit alone by a babbling brook for the rest of the day, and my squad seems to understand that I need to be alone.

I have too many thoughts running through my mind, and they all revolve around a certain blonde queen.

Shit… I've never met anyone so infuriating. The last person who ever made me feel so pissed was good old eyebrows. Another blond, how ironic.

I've also never met anyone who makes my heart thump in ways it never has before, and if I'm not careful we're both going to get hurt.

I like to think I can weather any storm, but not over matters of the heart. I'm too weak to handle such superfluous emotion, and it will destroy me from within. That's why I prefer to be cold, calculating Captain Levi. For if I even show anyone the slightest hint that I do, indeed, have feelings, then they will use it against me and crush me.

Though I doubt that sweet, beautiful girl could ever be capable of such malice. Despite her downright insolence and brazen attitude earlier, there's not a bad bone in her body.

And that's the reason why I have fallen head over heels for her. Kindness is a rare trait these days, and even though her sweetness is a complement to my bitterness, that's beside the point. We can and never will be, and it's not about the age gap anymore; all that stuff is irrelevant when two people love each other enough.

Do you want the god honest truth? I don't think I deserve love, and I definitely don't deserve someone as pure as Historia. She's too good for this shitty world, but me… I'm rotten. And no fancy title such as Humanity's Strongest will ever change that.

I'm a brute through and through; I've done things with a dentist's scalpel that I'm not proud of. Unspeakable things that should stay in the dark of the underground or 'hell' as I like to call it.

Demons are from hell. Go fig.

But angels? Well, they're from a whole other plane... Just like Historia when her soul fell from heaven and landed inside the body of a newborn baby girl eighteen years ago.

Eighteen years ago…

Shit. I can still recall the January of 835, which was around the time Historia's bitch of a mother begrudgingly gave birth to her. Not that time seemed to make any difference down in hell with there being no sunlight to signal the arrival and end of a new day, but that doesn't mean I didn't check a calendar. I'm a man who likes organisation, who likes to plan ahead.

I was a teenage punk back then, the head of a gang. It was around the time Farlan and I first met, and fuck did we clash. He was the head of his own gang of thugs. But then we soon joined forces and became inseparable, and then we enjoyed ten years of friendship before Erwin found us.

Not that thirty-something is old exactly but to Historia… I may as well be ancient. I've got enough battle scars to prove it — the figurative and the literal kind.

I release an exasperated breath, gripping my forehead. Screw this babbling brook; it's doing nothing to settle my nerves.

It's already dusk. The sky is a luminescent pink as the sun sets in the west. I should really head back to my squad, but I can't face Historia. Every time I look at her, I die a little inside.

She will never be mine. No matter how much I want it. There would be those who would oppose our union. We'd cause the biggest scandal since the revolution.

You heard the disgust in the MP before; the Survey Corps have no place fraternising with the queen. MPs protect the crown and maintain security after all. The Scouts go beyond the walls in search of naked giants, paving the way for 'humanity's future…'

I stand, stretching my legs, and when I turn I come face-to-face with those perfect blue eyes.

She flinches when I look her way, and now she retreats into the woods, unsure of whether to approach me or not.

She's terrified of me now, and fuck does it make me feel like crap. I shouldn't have let her get to me so easily before and just kept walking away, but damn she pushed all my buttons. I must have had 'death' written all over me.

But still, I don't want her to be frightened of me. It was bad enough two years ago when I closed my hands around her throat, and that petrified look she'd had in her eyes still haunts me to this day.

I wouldn't even dream of hurting her now.

How long has she been standing there anyway? If there's one thing about Ackermans, then that's our sharp sense of hearing, beyond other things…

Was I really that lost in my own thoughts?

That's what love does to you, I guess. It makes you sluggish.

She blinks. "C-Captain… I've… I've been looking all over for you…"

The brook continues to babble as a tense silence passes between us. All the while I don't take my eyes off her.

The setting sun casts shadows on the beautiful contours of her face, and once again I'm spellbound. Historia has what my mother once called an "Angel's fingerprint" just above her lips, and the dimple is as pronounced and lovely as she is.

Her whole face is lovely from her big, blue eyes to her small nose and rosy red lips, and it's just going to make this even harder than it already is.

I close my eyes, turning away from her before she tempts me with her mesmerising beauty. "Well, you found me…"

She breathes rapidly, deciding whether she should approach, but then she steps forward and says, "I… I wanted to apologise. I was too harsh on you before, and I had no place embarrassing you in front of your squad. I'm sorry... Can you forgive me?"

Her eyes waver in the fading sunlight, and any anger and resentment I felt towards her earlier dissipates instantly. Now all that's left is a warm, sweet sensation that is so unlike me.

It's as if she's unravelled a coil in my chest. One that I've been harbouring for years.

It seems that this beautiful, young queen was the one to tame me in the end, and the longer I stare into her ocean blues, I feel my walls crashing.

Heh, walls…

My eyes find her luscious red lips again, and my hardened resolve is melting. My face tics as I envision myself bolting towards her, pressing her up against that tree so I can shove my tongue down her delicious mouth.

Historia tastes fucking amazing. No surprises.

In fact, I'm even tempted to rub her up a little with my thumb and finger and feel that hot pooling around her tight pussy again.

I start to tremble, and now I focus on the babbling brook as a stiffness forms inside my breeches.

Damn… why do they have to make these standard military pants so friggin' tight? You can see everything…

"Captain, are you feeling okay?"

I shudder, squeezing my eyes. "It's… nothing, Your Majesty. Please report back to the others and inform them that I am, indeed, alive. They needn't worry."

"You're shaking. When was the last time you slept? Have… have you even eaten at all today?"

"I said I'm fine… Leave, before I do something stupid."

To my utter bewilderment, she steps even closer, and my whole body tenses as I go into fight or flight mode. But when a cool, autumn breeze wafts her flowery scent all over me, I finally lose the battle as I face her once again, grabbing a hold of her cheeks as our lips crash together for the second time.

As if I could keep myself away from her. It's as Erwin always said: choose the path with the least regrets, because I know I'd regret never kissing her again…

I guess I'm not as strong as everyone thinks I am after all. Turns out I was weak all along — weak for this small, perfect creature.

I become a man possessed as I help myself to her rose petal lips, lifting her up in my arms as she weighs less than a feather. She wraps her tiny legs around my waist, gripping tight hold of my black hair as I groan against her mouth, weaving my own fingers through her silky, blonde tresses.

Electricity pulsates through my entire body as I savour her taste, bringing us closer, and it definitely has something to do with that Ackerman-Reiss bond, but who cares. Now we fit together like the missing pieces of a puzzle, and I never want to part from this angel again.

Demons deserve love too after all…

Something sharp whizzes through the air and my Ackerman instincts kick in instantly. I throw myself in front of the queen, releasing a loud yelp as a searing pain shoots down my arm.

The adrenaline activates, and now I grunt as a white flash encompasses my entire vision. I drop to my knees, fading in and out of consciousness.

Historia screams. "Levi!"

I don't have time to dwell as the shooter lets another arrow go, and despite my own suffering, I spring forward, pushing her to the ground. "No!"

The arrow misses her by a hair as I throw her onto the grass, covering her with my body, and now all I see are her wide, terrified eyes.

"L-Levi… you're hurt…"

I growl. "Shut up about me, they're still out there!"

Tears stream from her eyes, and it's all I can do to stop my own from falling. I took an arrow for the queen, but you know what? I'd do it again and again because I'm a fool in love…

I'm going to die for this young woman.

I wrap my arms around her, cocooning her safely in the warmth of my cloak so I can protect her from the wolves, and now we're the only two people left in the world.

Well, if I'm going to die anyway...

"I… I love you, Historia. Don't ever forget that."

Now I'm drowning in her ocean blues, and she reaches a shaking hand up, bringing me closer to her lips. "I… I love you too."

Well, it's the best way to spend your last moments, gazing into the eyes of the one you love, despite the fact I hate romance.

Why am I even thinking about that at a time like this? But let's be honest, these stories suck the most, twisting on your heartstrings.

Give me brutal, blood-soaked action any day.

Another arrow releases, and Historia squeals as I shield her with my body. But then a flash of green jumps in front of us, and the arrow ricochets off a blade of hard Ultrasteel.

Now Historia and I gaze up at the Wings of Freedom.

The figure turns, and I see that cold, dark iris and the short black hair.

Well, well, if it isn't Humanity's Second Strongest…

Mikasa.

We're safe.

A/N: I always thought Mike Zacharias was Humanity's Second Strongest, but he is no longer around. RIP you beautiful, hair-sniffing bastard...

Levi and Farlan were enemies before they became friends. Farlan mentions it in... you guessed it... A Choice with No Regrets...

They say the philtrum or groove beneath your nose is an angel's fingerprint. They place their finger beneath your nose before you are born so you don't spill all of their secrets. It's of Jewish origin if I recall. It's a cute story, and just imagining Kuchel telling it to baby Levi is so sweet. I can see it now, "So, you saying an angel visited me when I was still in your belly, mummy?"😭

Heh, walls... Sorry about that intrusive thought. It was actually my own after I read that line about Levi's walls crashing down. It wasn't really fitting to Levi's character 😂

I will post again next Wednesday. My sequel to my academy series releases next week. Wish me luck.

CartoonPrincessSigningOff.