When I grow up I want to be kind.
Year 847- December.
Levi was sitting at his desk, calmly sipping a black tea, a particular blend that Elizabeth had given him a while ago, stating that there was nothing wrong with giving a friend a gift.
She had seen him in a shop window and had thought of him.
The day had been particularly heavy and he needed to close his eyes for a few moments to relieve the slight migraine that was hitting his temples.
He had been feeling strangely agitated for a few days now; he had a sensation in his chest that closed his stomach and made him sleepless. Not that he slept much, in fact he only did it since she was by his side, but those nights it became completely impossible and not only by his own will.
A thud in front of his door made him snort, he couldn't relax even for five minutes!
The door opened with another thud, and Levi's nervousness increased considerably.
A boy he had never seen before rushed urgently into the Captain's office, without even knocking, and fell forward onto his knees.
"No one has ever taught you to knock brat?"
Levi put the cup of tea down carefully, placing it on the saucer and then looking up at the boy.
"I'm really sorry sir, but the guards at the entrance to the underground told me to send you a message of extreme urgency."
"Not so urgent if you have time to add all this useless information."
Hearing him mention the underground the grip around his stomach increased until it hurt.
"They told me to tell you that she was kidnapped."
The boy began to tremble in front of Levi's eyes which had suddenly turned cold and dark. He looked close to murder; he was definitely furious.
The Captain stood up without paying more than a glance to the boy and left his office quickly.
He could maintain his composure even when he acted in such a hurry.
He took the corridor leading to the exit near the stables and right there he met Erwin and Hange who were talking quietly among themselves.
The two saw him turn the corner and greeted him with a smile, which went out when they saw the attitude of the Captain.
"Good evening Levi."
"They took her." it was Levi's curt reply that worried the two. Hange's face darkened instantly as Erwin closed his eyes for a moment wondering why the news hadn't reached him sooner.
Levi did not stop, he continued his walk undaunted until he reached the stables and took advantage of one of Mike's team soldiers who was mounting a horse. He took the horse from his hands and mounted it on its back, urging the animal to start its own race.
Erwin and Hange were unable to reach him in time to get a carriage, the Captain had already left.
Kenny didn't have time to realize what was happening, too busy underestimating the girl he'd tied to the chair.
Fooled by the very first rule he had taught Levi.
Elizabeth freed her hand, using her thumb, the only finger that hadn't been broken, and pulled the knife out of the man's pocket with a sharp gesture.
She lowered her head to dodge a blow from the man and then jerked it up to hit his chin and force him back.
With a lightning gesture Elizabeth cut the rope that held her tied, stating how stupid it was to use a single rope to tie both hands and feet, and stood up, finally crunching her legs. They were slightly sore due to the whole time spent sitting but the adrenaline in her body was so much that she didn't even feel the pain. She had waited for the right moment until then and finally her chance had come.
With a kick she hit the shin of the redhead who was trying to block her and with his still healthy hand he used the chair to hit his partner straight on the head and knocking him unconscious.
The first was gone, there were two left.
The redhead scrambled to his feet as Kenny struck her straight in the face, causing her nose to bleed and grabbed her by the hair.
The redhead tried to immobilize her to make himself useful but she struck his thigh with the dagger, making him scream in pain.
Kenny, although he was bumping into her, continued to study her; she continued to be part of his experiment.
Now only the two of them remained: one against one.
Elizabeth climbed the stairs that had taken her underground with extreme speed, despite the numerous injuries sustained.
Her abdomen was bleeding profusely and she had had to steal some cloth to plug the wound and avoid bleeding to death, but the loss caused severe dizziness and extreme weakness.
She was too close to the exit to give up just now.
The two guards at the entrance recognized her instantly, helped by her eyes colors, and their own eyes widened to see her reduced to those conditions.
She dragged herself with difficulty, after leaving behind three men unconscious and injured but in the end she managed to beat Kenny too, leaving him helpless on the ground and escaping him before he could catch her, using her speed, despite the knife in her abdomen.
One of the two guards reached out his hand, helping her up the last few steps and a feeling of freedom made her shiver slightly.
In front of her, Levi's horse was rearing just because of the Captain's shot that had come just at that moment.
His eyes widened as the desire to kill whoever had reduced her to that state took hold of him.
"Captain."
Elizabeth took a few steps forward, finally happy to see her Captain who immediately took her in his arms.
Hange and Erwin had finished assembling the Survey Corps when a horse neighed, announcing its presence.
On his back the Captain held an unconscious and battered Elizabeth in his arms, firmly so that she did not fall and with her head resting in the hollow of her body.
Her blood was staining him but he didn't care.
"What the fuck?!" Bossard exclaimed, eyes widening to see the girl tanned like that, while Petra put her hands in front of her mouth in shock and Eld and Gunther took their breaths in their throats.
Levi was even angrier than before, his gaze could have set fire to something due to its intensity but he avoided pointing it right on the Commander.
She had tried to stay conscious but in the end she gave in and leaned on his shoulder and let herself be lulled by the tiredness and the his smell of cleanliness.
Levi held her tight around the waist, thus holding firm even the cloth now soaked with her blood around the wound.
"Give her to me." said Hange, picking Elizabeth up and carrying her away with Levi in tow.
The Captain paused for a moment in front of Erwin, noticing his gaze. He wanted to tell him something.
"I'm sorry." was the only thing the Commander managed to say and Levi left everyone there, following the Team Leader.
Levi had been sitting in front of that door for two hours now but no one came out.
Hange still didn't give him any news.
The silence of the castle at night usually gave him a sense of peace but at that moment it irritated him, he just wanted to see her alive.
The rest of the team were discharged by the Commander, but they did not want to go to sleep until Elizabeth's condition was ascertained.
Erwin tried to keep them away from Levi for as long as possible but in the end he had to surrender to the affection they felt for the girl.
The squad reached the Captain, finding him with his head down and his elbows resting on his knees; at that moment he didn't look like the glorious Captain Levi, but just a worried man.
"Captain, is there no news yet?" Petra asked calmly, avoiding getting too close. Seeing him in that state broke her heart and the worry for Elizabeth closed her stomach.
She knew of their relationship, her friend had not told her openly, and she could understand the reasons, but it was not difficult for her to guess that the two had finally declared themselves. And if it wasn't a relationship then they were pretty close to do it.
She was happy for them.
Yet at that moment she felt helpless in front of something bigger than her.
"Two fucking hours and that shitty glasses still don't tell me anything."
"I never thought I could see her in that state." Gunther admitted in a low voice, looking out the window overlooking the courtyard. It was better than looking at that closed door.
"We are so used to see her strong and smiling that sometimes we forget that she too is human." Eld added, then feeling Petra's hand lightly touching his shoulder to comfort him.
"How are you Levi?" asked Erwin, going to sit next to his companion.
Levi was mentally exhausted.
The woman I love may be dying, how am I supposed to be?
The Captain did not answer and no one had the courage to add anything to Levi's cold and angry look.
When she opened the door Hange found the whole team in front of her looking at her hopefully.
The only glance she looked for, however, was that of Levi.
"She's fine. She needs some rest but she's alive. It would be better if only Levi and Erwin came in at the moment."
The team nodded unwillingly but happy to know that their partner was still alive and each returned to their rooms to end the night.
Elizabeth was leaning with her back to the keyboard of the bed, she had numerous bruises and cuts, a bandage on her forehead, one on her hand which fingers were all broken, and one on her abdomen that closed the most serious wound, but her eyes smiled as they saw the Captain enter.
"Hey sunshine." she whispered unable to raise her voice too much, her throat was too dry.
"Elizabeth." he answered giving her a smile and a caress on her hair.
"I think I can speak for everyone when I say we're glad you're alive Elizabeth." Erwin added, stopping by the girl's feet.
"Thank you Commander."
"When you feel better you can come to my office to report. The notebooks you left to Levi are full of all the information we were looking for so we can take it all to Zackly. Thank you so much." Erwin added; she noted in that moment that he was holding in hand the evidence that she had managed to take in the rush of escape.
The girl looked at Levi for a few moments asking him silently if in Erwin's hands there was also the paper she had asked him to hide but he made her understand with just his eyes that he was keeping it.
And she was grateful to him.
After seven full days in bed Elizabeth was able to recover completely, although she still had to pay attention to the wound in her abdomen.
Erwin's gaze as she officially reported was much more relaxed than before and Elizabeth was calmer.
She was happy to be back.
"You did a great job Elizabeth."
"Thank you Commander."
She stood in front of his desk with her hands folded behind her back and her uniform worn to perfection. She had missed her jacket with the wings of freedom emblem, the one she was particularly proud of.
The report was over and Erwin had everything he needed to go to the General and was particularly proud of the girl's work, although he would have preferred that she had gotten out unscathed.
Levi was still furious about what had happened but Erwin knew that it was not with him that he was angry but with the people who had attacked her.
"You know, it's Levi's birthday in three days."
Elizabeth barely widened her eyes at the revelation. He didn't want to tell her when it was his birthday and so he had to fall back on a random day, giving him a particular blend of black tea and passing it off as chance.
But this time Erwin was giving her the chance to do things right. By now both he and Hange knew about their relationship so it was useless to even pretend it wasn't true, at least with them.
"We didn't celebrate last year."
"You were here a few months back then, you were still new. He never celebrates his birthday."
"Why?" she asked curiously.
"I don't know, you should ask him."
"Happy birthday."
Levi looked up from the papers he was working on to see Elizabeth walk into his office too smiling for his liking. But only for the pronounced sentence.
"What?"
"Today is December 25th, your birthday."
He sighed as he watched her place a box on the coffee table and then pull out a cake and a steaming teapot.
"Who gave you this information?"
"Erwin." she answered simply as she took two cups from the Captain's personal service.
He looked at her for a few moments, by now she was completely at ease in his personal space and made him happy.
"I'll kill him."
"Oh come on, it's not that bad. I also have cake."
She stopped by the small sofa in his office, waiting for him to join her.
"I don't want a cake."
"But it's an apple pie. I know how much you like apples. And then I made it myself."
Levi felt a strange warmth in hearing that she had baked a cake for him and he could no longer resist her, so he left the papers on the desk and got up to join her.
"Okay, I'll eat the cake."
The two ate it quietly, enjoying each other's company in peace.
"So, how it was?" she then asked once the portion was finished.
"Good."
"Just good?" she asked again with fake indignation at Levi's tranquility. "It took me two hours to prepare it and I also had to argue with the cook because she didn't want to leave me the ingredients. How ungrateful."
Levi smiled at his woman's statement, amused by the thought of her arguing with the lady in the kitchen.
"Did you argued with the cook?"
"Yeah."
"Thanks, I appreciate it. Even if you have overcooked it a little."
"What? Really?"
Elizabeth's smile faded at the thought that she had ruined something she had worked so hard for, she wanted to do something nice for him to show him how much she cared. "I'm sorry, I wanted it to be good."
Levi softened at that expression, she looked like a sorry child and he could no longer provoke her; he took her chin between two fingers and raised her face just enough to gently kiss her lips. A kiss that felt like home.
"It tastes good."