Attack on Titan: Hidden History of Levi and Flora
Flora, as quietly as the old and creaky hinges allowed, closed the bedroom door where her children lay fast asleep. If it wasn't for the late hour she might have smiled at their tender faces; instead, adrenaline and alarm spurred her to act quickly. Loud, persistent knocking on the front door awoke her from a dead sleep. No one visited her here except perhaps her brothers—and it wasn't like them to arrive in the middle of the night.
The laced hem of her indigo nightgown brushed across hardwood floors, the knotted pine rough and uneven beneath her bare feet. Sweat formed between her palm and the ivory knife handle it wielded. Flora's left hand lifted away from the wall momentarily to push stray red curls, wildly askew and frizzy from sleep, out of her face before replacing it along the wall's plastered surface for guidance. The full moon granted enough light through the windows, but she didn't want to risk giving away her presence by stumbling into something. With her husband's line of work, and not to mention her own past, potential enemies lurked everywhere.
The knocking grew louder the closer she drew to the foyer. Pictures shook on their hangers from the force and caused a fresh wave of adrenaline to surge through her veins. Flora kept glued to the wall, treading closer and closer to the front door, not realizing until it was too late how dangerously close her foot was to a pile of stacked wooden blocks. Her pinky toe grazed its base with enough force for the tower to collapse and scatter noisily on the floor.
"Flora?" a muffled, although familiar voice called out from beyond the door.
She set the knife down on the buffet with a relieved sigh. Flora kicked the blocks out of her way and crossed the rest of the way to door, unbarring the lock and cracking it open. "Erwin?"
Erwin towered over her in his scout uniform with no less than six scouts in tow behind him. All of them looked to be in rough shape, and a quick glance told her Levi was not among them. Erwin himself sported a black eye and cut lip.
"I'm sorry for the trouble," he spoke again in his formal Commander voice. "But I would never come here unless it was absolutely essential. May we come in?"
"Of course!" Flora internally scolded herself for her poor manners. She opened the door all the way. "Into the living room, quickly. I'll get a fire going. Are there injured? Let me get my bag." She tried to control the rapidly rising tingle originating from the base of her spine.
Erwin gestured for the scouts to enter. Two of them held torches, and once inside they all lowered their hoods. They're no older than sixteen, she thought. Teenagers. Her matronly instincts arose. Scouts? These children? Like a mother hen she ushered them to the living room and lit the central fireplace with one of their torches. The scouts collapsed in unison on the main sofa and armchairs after laying one young man on the chaise closest to the fireplace. His head bobbing limply, his face covered in a motley array of bruises and cuts. A young woman, of Easterner descent as evidenced by her jet-black hair and slightly upturned grey eyes, knelt next to him on floor.
Flora quickly lit the sconces around the room to provide a small semblance of comfort. Before making a dash to the kitchen, she caught Erwin by the arm. "What's happened? Where is Levi, is he alright?"
"It's complicated," he said grimly. "But Levi was on an unrelated mission. I've left a message for him to return here at once. When he does, you can direct the wrath caused from exposing you and the children solely on me. I needed to hide these recruits and could think of nowhere in Paradis more secret."
"It's fine, really. Stay as long as you need. Would you care for tea, or...?"
Erwin's eyes darted toward to the door. "I'm sorry. I have to go. I needed to first secure the safety of Eren Yeager, the boy in the worst of shape. I'm sure Levi has told you about him."
Flora's eyebrows raised in surprise as she looked at the nearly comatose boy on the couch. "Eren. Yes, I've been told. Is there someone after him?"
"If I had time, I would explain. I just need them holed up and out of the way for a little while and could think of nowhere more secluded. But I have to attend to the rest of the survey corps immediately. Don't be fooled by these recruits though-even though they look like teenagers, each one is a soldier." He took a step toward the door but suddenly hesitated and turned around. "How are the children? The baby?"
"Sleeping. I can grab him if you want. He..." Flora glanced at the scouts listening to their conversation. "Well, I think you should."
"When I retrieve the scouts, I promise to." The thought of her children was enough for Erwin to smile, re-cracking his lip. He wiped the blood away and bent down to kiss Flora on the cheek. "Take care. I'm sorry again for the trouble."
Flora embraced him despite the grime on his uniform. "You too. Be careful."
Erwin straightened his posture and addressed the young scouts, not even noticing his black eye and cracked lip had completely disappeared. His previous soft tone was now hardened; the powerful voice of a commander. "Soldiers!"
"Sir!" The scouts replied in unison, jumping to their feet with a salute.
"This is Flora Ackerman, wife of Captain Levi. You are to be guests in their home and remain hidden until you hear otherwise. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" They replied.
"At ease." The scouts once again collapsed on the couches. Flora locked the door behind Erwin and felt six pairs of eyes staring at her. She wasn't surprised; Levi tended to keep his personal life private, and very, very separate from his work life.
"Um, welcome. Is anyone injured? Broken bones, lacerations? What about him?" She gestured to Eren.
A petite scout with a wild frock of blond hair and piercing blue eyes answered from one of the armchairs. "We're fine. Just a little bruised. Eren's fine too—he'll regenerate with his...abilities..."
"His titan powers?" Flora clarified. The boy looked relieved—he didn't have to hide anything with her. "I see. Well, you guys cozy up here; I'll put on some tea."
Her estate was large and surrounded deep within the mountainous forest. It had always felt too big for her until now, with no less than three rooms dedicated to servant's quarters which she had little use for aside from the sporadic visits of her brothers. While the kettle warmed over the flames, Flora dashed down the left hallway leading to the spare bedrooms and made short work of lighting oil lamps, distributing water in each wash basins, and kicking her children's toys under the beds before rushing back to the kitchen to prepare a tray of cheeses, dehydrated meats, fruit preserves, and bread.
"Flora?" The small blond scout from earlier appeared in the doorway. "I'm Armin, by the way. Is there anything you need help with?"
Although he looked significantly less injured than the others, his face showed no less exhaustion. "Not at all. Unless you want to take this tray back to your friends."
He nodded curtly and grabbed the heaping silver tray from the counter. Flora followed close behind with a tall pitcher of sweetened lemon water.
"...this is Levi's house!" A tall boy with shaggy light brown hair snapped at the brown-haired girl sitting next to him. "He'll kill you if you drop so much as a crumb."
"Screw off Jean. Sweet...delicious...MEAT!" The girl cried out in excitement. Tears welled in her eyes as she snatched an entire handful of the dried beef from Armin's tray.
"Sasha, leave some for us!" A kid with close cropped hair on her opposite side exclaimed. She either didn't hear or didn't care as she shoveled the meat directly into her mouth with an oddly sexual moan.
Flora chuckled in the doorway. It was nice to have other people around for once.
The small sound snapped all the scouts to attention. Sasha begrudgingly allowed the tray to be passed around to the other Scouts but eyed it like a hawk.
"I'm not hungry," The Easterner said softly, still kneeling next to the boy, Eren.
"You have to eat something Mikasa," Armin urged. "You can't take care of Eren if you don't take care of yourself."
Her eyes looked up at Armin before accepting a slice of bread with fruit preserve. The kettle's whistling tore Flora from her observation. She set the pitcher and some glasses onto the coffee table before taking the kettle off the flames and to the kitchen. "Some lemon water—help yourselves while the tea steeps."
They graciously accepted. From the kitchen Flora could hear their murmurings. "Levi has a wife?"
"Did Erwin mention kids?"
"This house is huge—and in the middle of nowhere."
"Is there any more meat left?"
Before long Flora returned with the tea and passed it around. "Some tea to warm your spirits. You guys look like you've been through an ordeal."
"Somehow this is the most shocking part of our day," Jean said quietly.
Flora sat in the only open armchair and warmed her hands on the teacup. "Levi's job is very dangerous, as I'm sure you all understand. He prefers to keep his personal life very...personal."
"How did you guys meet?" Sasha probed.
Jean snatched her fifth serving of bread out of her hands. "She just said it was personal."
"No, it's fine. I can understand the curiosity. It's a long story, though. The short version is that I've known him since we were children. Back then I used to help my parents with their charity work in the Underground, and I guess we ended up growing fond of each other over the years. As for the long version..."