AN: I decided to post a day early because I was feeling very generous! I hope you enjoy.

This chapter is intense.

...
Historia

I don't move a muscle as the captain lies on top of me, enveloping me in his warmth. His heart bangs against my ribcage, beating in perfect rhythm with my own, and I could stay like this forever.

I've never felt so alive with him lying so close to me, his warm, masculine scent filling my nose. He smells like fire and wood with a strong hint of soap, and I breathe him all in, never wanting to part from him again.

I will never let him go.

His face is inches from mine as we both stare up at Mikasa. She hovers above us so beautifully strong, and once again I am in awe of her.

"M-Mikasa!" I cry, my voice childish.

It's not the first time she's saved my life after all, and I'm grateful towards her once again.

There was no one else who could protect us from that oncoming arrow. Well, no one apart from the captain, who's currently hurt.

The captain!

I reach up, feeling that warm liquid where that awful arrow punctured his arm, and my hand trembles.

It's… it's blood… Levi's blood and I choke.

He really is hurt.

"C-Captain… your arm…"

Before he has time to respond, another arrow releases from the forest from a different angle now, and the captain throws my head back. "Get down!"

Mikasa blocks the arrow once again, and now I gaze up into those inflamed grey eyes of Levi's. Although he doesn't show it, I can tell he's in severe pain. He grits his teeth as sweat drips from his forehead, yet he still finds the strength to speak.

"I… I don't know if you've noticed, Your Majesty, but we're currently under attack. Lay low."

"B-but your arm…" I whimper.

Levi's hardened orbs melt at the sound of my soft, tender voice, and I see the love taking over his eyes — a love for me. As he told me so himself.

Not that he needs to tell me; his actions speak louder than his words.

He had taken an arrow for me… No one has ever taken an arrow for me. The only other person who sacrificed their own safety for my wellbeing was Ymir, God rest her soul.

Not many people have loved me enough to do such a selfless act for me, and once again I'm overwhelmed.

But I still don't deserve it. I'm the bastard daughter born of a rich lord after all; I will never see myself any other way.

The tears flood my eyes, and Levi wraps his hands around my face. "Hey… it's all right," he whispers, his voice surprisingly gentle. "Don't cry… I'll be fine. I promised you, remember? I won't leave you again."

I squeeze my eyelids, letting the tears fall now. They drip over his hands.

The captain keeps his warm palms around my cheeks as I nestle into his touch.

Next, he addresses Mikasa, and his voice is cold and authoritative once again. "Any idea on the shooter's location?"

The girl's face remains strong as her gaze flickers around the forest, ready to dodge the next arrow. "No. Whoever they are, they're fast. But nowhere as fast as me."

Levi's eyes flash and I see that red spark. "Wait until I get my hands on them… Where the others? Where's Jean?"

"On their way. I left them behind the instant I sensed the threat, Captain."

Just as he opens his mouth to reply, the sharp hiss of an arrow tears through the air again, and I gasp.

Luckily, the captain's prepared this time as his right arm shoots up, and he catches the arrow in his free hand.

I gape in horror as the sharp tip stops inches from his face, and now the captain jerks his head sideways, fixing his dark, ominous eyes on the forest.

I follow his gaze, spotting that shadow hiding amongst the trees. The captain sneers, snapping that arrow in half as if it were nothing but a flimsy matchstick.

"Found you…" he growls, his eyes burning demonic red.

He fires across the clearing, making a beeline for the trees. His warm body leaves me at once, and I'm exposed and vulnerable again. "Captain!"

The shooter lets go of another arrow as Mikasa throws herself on top of me, pinning me to the ground, and all I can do is scream his name as that arrow whizzes past his cheek, grazing his skin.

Soon I can no longer see him as he disappears into the shadows. Next, the sound of a garbled cry fills me with an icy dread.

A tense silence follows, and all I can do is pray as Mikasa remains on top of me.

"What… what happened?" I stutter, hoping that awful cry didn't belong to the captain.

Before long a figure emerges, and relief floods my veins when the captain reappears, dragging an unconscious body behind him. That arrow still punctures his left arm, and he has never looked so... badass.

Who was I kidding? Of course it wouldn't have been the captain. He's the strongest in the land, and he's all mine now…

My brave knight.

…

I wince as Sasha carefully removes the arrow from Levi's arm, and I resist the urge to cry as my poor knight grimaces in pain. He currently bites down on an old leather strap as she tends to his wound.

The arrow got lodged in his bone in the end…

It took her a while but I watched as the huntress twirled the shaft to check if it was lodged, and then she enlarged the wound with forceps to pull it free.

But it was no easy task. The force was so great she almost toppled over, and Armin had to catch her in the end.

Apparently, she's been pulling arrows out of flesh since she was seven-years-old. Her father taught her.

I sit beside Levi as I dab his hot, sweaty face with a cloth, whispering sweet nothings into his ear. Armin heats a knife over the fire as Jean stands close to Mikasa. Eren watches in the shadows while Connie keeps our unconscious guest company.

The captain's shirt and jacket have been completely removed, and now he sits before us in all his muscled glory. I've never seen a physique like it. Captain Levi has the chiselled body of a god.

I can barely contain my giddiness as I hold onto his arm, feeling that solid bicep beneath, and it's the most I can do to stop myself from tearing my own shirt in half.

Hey, if he needs a bandage, I'll be happy to offer him my own clothes like good little Krista would have done.

What a naughty thought indeed, and so unlike me...

Sasha is almost finished pulling the arrow, and it drips bright scarlet. My stomach gurgles, and then another sensation hits me.

Guilt.

The only reason the captain is in this state is because he took an arrow for me.

It's all my fault.

We couldn't even use a tourniquet in the end because the bleeding was so severe. That lodged arrow was the only thing stopping him from bleeding to death.

Cauterization was the last and only option.

"Ready, Captain?" Sasha says, keeping her eyes glued to the arrow, and I've never seen her look so focused. She doesn't even look at potatoes with such fervour.

Armin holds the knife up, a sad glimmer shining in his innocent, blue eyes. The steel glows red-hot.

Levi looks me straight in the eyes, heavy breaths pouring from his cracked lips as I detect that fear. I dab his face once more, wiping the sweat away.

"It's okay, Captain. I'll hold onto you..." I whisper again.

The sound of my voice seems to soothe him, and now he hardens his face as his eyes become as cold as steel.

"Do it…" he growls.

Sasha nods then yanks that arrow, and then Armin places that hot blade to the wound. Now the sound and smell of sizzling flesh fills the forest.

Levi's eyes expand immediately, and now he lets out a pained howl as the leather strap falls from his lips. All I can do is hold onto him while he writhes and twists, and I try not to lose my grip. I can feel his muscles squirming beneath my fingers, and he's like a man possessed.

"Holy mother of fucking walls!"

Jean and Connie recoil at the sound of the captain's torturous screams. Sasha, who's a little more focused, holds herself steady, but I can tell she's breaking. Eren's quiet in the shadows, his eyes glowing like embers, but Mikasa… her dark gaze remains on Levi.

The firelight flickers in her glassy orbs, and she has that serious look about her. I know she embraces pain, but come on… show a little empathy.

Quickly, I take the leather strap and fasten it around Levi's mouth again, and now he sinks his teeth into the material.

Armin keeps the burning steel on the captain's wound as tears stream his cheeks. "I'm…. I'm so sorry, Captain!"

Tears pour from the captain's own eyes, yet he soldiers on, settling his steely greys on that slumped figure by the tree.

"Don't be…" he mutters through the leather strap, dripping saliva down the black material. "It's the only way. Then once this wound is closed, I'm going to wake our guest over there and welcome him to camp…"

My heart goes. "Captain, no. After this, you must rest."

He cuts me with one of his death stares. "There's no time. We do this tonight… That's the third attempt on your life, Your Grace, and I won't rest until — Ow, fuck, Arlert!"

Armin whimpers. "I… I said I was sorry!"

Mikasa narrows her eyes, stepping forward now. "Give me that."

She snatches the knife from Armin's hand then presses it to the wound with way more force than is necessary, and now the captain's screams increase by a tenfold. His eyes roll back into his skull, and I don't think he can even hear us anymore.

I gasp, crying out, "Mikasa, stop! You're hurting him!"

The girl doesn't take her eyes off the blade. "You heard the captain, Historia. It's the only way we can move forward now. Then we can find out who's been trying to kill you. We didn't come all this way for nothing."

Her words sting and I know she's right, but my poor knight… he's never looked so traumatized, and I shed a tear of my own.

I rub the side of his face, whispering, "It's all right, Levi. It'll all be over soon, I promise…"

His eyes roll back for a moment, fixing solely on me, and it's like no one else is even present. I swear he smiles a little unless he's just grimacing. It's hard to tell with that leather bound to his teeth.

Finally, the sizzling of flesh stops, and Mikasa lifts the blade away. "All done."

Levi falls onto my lap, gasping for breath. I take his head in my arms, cradling him like a baby. "See? What did I tell you, Levi? Over before you know it."

The others stir as I realise that's the second time I've addressed him by his first name, and I know they see it now. They're not idiots. They've figured out that there is, indeed, something more between us.

I mean, he took an arrow for me... You could say he was bound by his duty, but it obviously goes deeper than that.

We're in love. And I'll scream it from the palace rooftops.

Levi's burning up, and I try to encourage him to rest as I dab his face. But then he pushes my arm away, staggering up to his feet, and now the only thing in his sights is that unconscious figure by the tree.

I swallow a lump, knowing what's to come.

I'm about to see the dark side of the captain tonight.

A/N: Levi, just rest... you suffered blood loss.

I did a little research on pulling arrow wounds. I hope it's realistic as can be.

A shoutout to Sasha. You beautiful soul. You will be missed...

I love that little striptease Historia gave to Reiner. "Gotta Marry Her..."

Why didn't we get to see Levi semi-naked in the anime! So wrong!

I will post again Friday.

CartoonPrincessSigningOff