L'entraînement = Training
Mid-October, 843
The beginning of any training in the military was always about breaking your spirit, about cracking, snapping, bending and breaking you until you were a mouldable mess. Levi, Furlan, and Isabel had been exempt from the usual torture, but he was nervous about his mother, coming face to face with narrow-faced Flagon, who had decided that he wanted to be the one to dish out the tests that Erwin wished for. The rugged, blonde man stood back as the rusty-golden haired fuckwad stood nearly toe-to-toe with the Kuchel, setting Levi on edge.
His mother wasn't technically a Scout, though she was bearing the Wings of Freedom crest on her brown jacket. Her son's silvery eyes watched as she did a salute, and Flagon raised his brows in amusement. "Oh, so the Underground girl knows how to do a proper salute? Impressive."
"I'm not a girl, sir. I'm a woman." She replied, her gaze forward but not focusing on his stupid mug.
"Well in this place, you're just a soldier. Got it?"
"I'm not a cadet, sir. I am going through tests requested by Section Leader Erwin Smith, not military training."
Flagon scoffed, getting in her face with his hands on his hips like a cocky bastard. Every centimetre closer he got to her made Levi all the more enraged. "Whatever. So, I read up on your file."
"And, sir?" Kuchel replied, still not looking directly at him. She kept her back straight, her fist never wavering from its spot over her heart. It was apparent that his words weren't digging under her skin, at least, his holier-than-thou attitude wasn't.
Her son felt his blood boiling in pure rage when Flagon hooked a finger into the strap of her gear that reached across her upper chest, pulling her just a bit closer. "Maybe I'll cut down on your laps if you drop to your knees and show me that your mouth is good for something other than backtalk, since you seem to have an affinity for using it for rather risqué things."
Both of the other men were going to intervene, but once again, Kuchel was faster than either of them to react. Levi barely registered the sight before his eyes, when her hand on her chest flew across Flagon's bearded face, the sound of the back of her pallid hand connecting with his cheek ringing through the training field. It made the bastard retract his hand from her ODM strap, but that didn't save him from the kick that the dark-haired woman snapped into his stomach.
The hardened soldier was sent to the ground, doubling over himself and cradling his abdomen in pain. Levi watched her turn her nose up, her eyes focused on his crumpled form at her feet in defiance, with a dangerous undertone to her normally sweet exterior.
"Listen to me. I'm not one of your fucking scouts yet, buddy. I was respectful and you decided to be an asshole. Get on with the training test already."
The cursing was still quite jarring for Levi to hear, coming from the woman who raised him to never utter such words. It was hypocritical, but the young man also knew that she wouldn't be speaking this way unless she needed to prove a point, to establish herself as someone who couldn't simply be toyed with and pushed around.
Her nearly making Flagon lose his lunch most likely proved to that bastard that she wasn't a doormat. The man looked to Erwin for some sort of help, but only saw the blonde man chuckling in amusement. "You messed with the bull and got the horns, Flagon. She's feisty, in a good way. I think you deserved that one."
"Y-You're not going to do anything about that?"
"Why would I? She's not under my command." Erwin shrugged apathetically, keeping a calm demeanour about the entire situation. Kuchel and Levi were both visibly biting back smug looks when Flagon picked himself up off the ground, wincing as he led them both to the training grounds by the trees that Levi had scouted around in the previous day.
She sat at the entrance to the forest, and tested the triggers on the gear absentmindedly. It was intimidating, holding these blades in her hands that were more than half the length of her body, when she stood slightly taller than her son. They caught the reflection of the sun when she tilted the blades in her palms, watching it bounce off and dissolve into the daytime air. As Flagon went to make sure the fake Titans were properly set up, she positioned a blade upwards, glancing at her reflection in the ultrahard steel.
She still looked quite youthful, not having had the harsh, aging effects of solar rays on her ashen skin– the nurse had asked Kuchel if she was sick, even, to which she replied that it was hard to get enough vitamins when the Underground had no light. Her lips were a soft pink, and lush, dark eyelashes framed her cerulean-hued eyes. It was not often she caught a glimpse of herself like this, and much to her dismay, she happened to see a few new grey hairs hiding amongst the other midnight strands. With some freshening up, some hiding of those ghastly hairs, and the right clothes, Kuchel could pass for someone half her age, not that she was exactly old yet or anything. After all, she had Levi at the ripe age of eighteen, and when he came of age himself, she was thirty-six. Underground, however, her current status of forty-two was considered nearly ancient– by the time you hit fifty, you were hailed as an elder.
No one down there stood a chance to live very long.
"Something wrong with the blade, Mama?" Levi pulled her from her thoughts, and she lowered the blade as she flashed a reassuring smile his way.
"No, baby. I was just looking at it. Lots of new things for me to see, you know?"
He nodded, crossing his arms over his chest and glancing ahead, as though he were looking for something hidden amongst the branches and leaves of the tall trees. "Yeah. Are you okay? From earlier, I mean?"
"Oh honey, of course I am. I can hold my own, remember? Have some faith in me. Got any tips for doing this training course?" She inquired, doing a few light test swings with each hand to get used to the weight of the blades in her hands. Such deadly weapons in the hands of an Ackerman would be dangerous if she weren't so keen on keeping that part of her a complete secret.
I wonder how good Levi is with these…
"Alright, Kuchel. The objective is to slice the napes of the Titans efficiently, deeply enough as well. We want to see your reaction time, as well as your skills with the ODM gear. Clear?" Flagon huffed, looking the woman up and down with some disdain as he rubbed the spot where she'd roundhouse-kicked him in the abdomen.
Her gaze hardened, and she gripped the gear handles. She was unaware how her comportement changed entirely, her shoulders straightening out and her body preparing to launch from the ground with the gear.
When he yelled for her to go, she zipped off into the forest, with her son in tow to observe her. Kuchel had a feeling that Erwin was among the verdant growth somewhere as well, to keep those hardened blue eyes watching her every move, and she was determined to show him that his victory over her was a fluke, at best.
She moved incredibly fast in the gear, having been taught by none other than her son, who was already the best that the military personnel had seen. However, she had no idea about that, and kept her eyes on the target that was quickly approaching. Someone on the ground yanked on a pulley, causing the fake Titan to turn on a rotating platform to throw her off. It failed, and it was like that switch flipped in her head again as Kuchel's hooks grappled into a tree branch high up, allowing her to flip her body above the target. Within a flash, she came crashing down upon it, slicing a large chunk right out of the nape. Never one to pause and admire her own handiwork, the steely-eyed woman kept moving, determined to show that even a former-prostitute could be as good as a soldier.
Kuchel didn't know that both Erwin and her son were watching in awe, but more so the Section Leader. He saw the power in her hands, the way perilous potency penetrated her every move. He zipped over to inspect the cut she made, and found it to be more than sufficient, just like the ones her son had made the previous day– according to the reports.
Each subsequent one posed little challenge to the agile woman, and at the end of the course, she dropped down and inspected her blades, taking a breath and wiping some sweat off her brow with the back of her arm. It took a few moments before Levi caught up with her, landing some metres behind her and marching up next to her. "So, when were you going to tell me you were capable of that?"
"Capable of what, using a blade? Using gear? You taught me to use the ODM, Li-Li." Kuchel reminded him, sheathing the blades and patting at her inky locks that were curled up into a bun that sat higher on her head.
"You know exactly what I mean." He huffed. Before her curious son could question her any further, Erwin and Flagon both dropped beside them. Flagon looked rather annoyed that she had done so well, but Erwin's expression was fairly unreadable to her. It was strange, seeing a man who wasn't her son, looking at her with no air of disdain or indignancy– he almost looked impressed.
"Well done, Miss Kuchel." Erwin congratulated her on her efforts. "I was expecting someone with less experience with ODM gear to have a harder time with that course, but you were a natural."
Kuchel had never trusted men within a metre of her life, but his words seemed genuine. Sensing that it was alright to temporarily let her guard down, she sheathed her blades, giving a cocky salute. "Thanks, big guy. Onto the next test, I presume? What do you have in store for me?"
She watched as the larger man grinned, seemingly amused by her actions. He had a nice smile. It made her breath hitch in her throat, but once she realised what she was focusing on, the woman shook herself out of her train of thought.
"Yes, onto the next thing. We want to see how you fare with a gun. Any issue with that, Miss?"
"None at all. Lead the way." Her feet carried her after the two section leaders as they led her to the shooting course. Erwin mentioned that Levi had yet to do the intake evaluation for his skills with a rifle, and Kuchel was a bit nervous about that. What if he got hit in the face with a bullet shell being discharged from the gun? What if he accidentally shot himself in the foot?
Before she knew it, they'd been handed a bolt-action rifle, and she examined it in front of Flagon, while the other section leader showed Levi how to hold the damn thing. Flagon's wiry brow raised, watching her check the internal magazine. He said nothing, but eyed her suspiciously. His gaze on her was burning like hot charcoal, reminding her of the heat that would radiate over her face when she pulled food out of their oven back at their house.
"Something catch your eye, Mister Flagon? Or are you just that enamoured with a whore from the Underground?"
"That's Section Leader to you, Miss Kuchel, and watch your tone."
The dark-haired woman's gaze flickered to hold his, and she didn't look away as she pulled on the bolt, bringing a round into the chamber. "I'm not one of your Scouts. I'll speak as I please." Having had enough of that grimy clod, she turned her attention to her son, keeping the rifle pointed down as she came over to pet his hair. "Understand what to do, Li-Li-kins?"
A blush dusted his cheeks, and he took aim at the dummy, which were mere flour sacks filled with sand that were propped up on beams. He took his first shot, and hit the target right in the chest, but tsked under his breath. "Meant to hit the head."
"Try again, baby. You've got four more rounds." She reassured him, helping him readjust his shoulder a bit to get a better shot. Levi took a deep breath, and she watched him focus for a moment before pulling the trigger again. This time he hit the neck, and flopped his head forward in slight defeat, his chin tucked in a bit to his chest for a moment before he looked back up at her. "I guess I can't be great at everything on the first try."
"No one is perfect at every single thing that they do, baby." Kuchel reminded him.
Flagon overheard this and growled in a haughty tone, "Well for the Shadow of the Underground, you'd think he was good at everything. Kid, your mom looks like she can aim better than you."
"I'd advise you to refrain from speaking ill towards my son." The blue-eyed woman scoffed, taking note of that nickname that Flagon had used for Levi as she raised her gun, and took aim at her target. There were three dummies in front of her, and so she set her sights on the one to the left, exhaling and letting the bullet fly. It ended up right where she wanted it, zipping straight through the target's head and hitting a tree behind it.
"How did you get so good at aiming, Cadet Kuchel?" Flagon sounded flabbergasted, but also like he was trying to hide it with all his might. If she weren't annoyed, she'd have laughed at him.
The noirette took aim within a fraction of a second on the next target, pulling back the bolt, letting the shell casing fall into the grass, and flicking the trigger, blowing the dummy's head clean in two. Nonchalantly, not taking her eye off the crosshair, she replied in a flattened tone, "I wasn't always a prostitute, sir."
The section leader raised a brow, as did her son, who pulled his own rifle away from his face to look at her. "Care to elaborate?"
She didn't bother looking at either of them, throwing the bolt back again and taking a second shot. That one blew the head clean off. "No, I don't."
"Well, Kuchel, I guess you've proven you can handle a gun. I guess you can do some laps instead." Flagon groused, taking the rifle from her and putting it back on the rack. He looked back up to her, and itched at his sparse beard that Kuchel inwardly despised.
"What will Levi be doing?" She asked, taking a glance back. Erwin caught her gaze as Flagon led her away, and after Levi finished shooting a round off, he glanced at her, too.
"He'll be practising his aim. You'll be running laps. We want to see your endurance."
Levi continued his shooting practise, with Erwin looking over his shoulder most of the time. However, the man looked after the other section leader as he led the woman away, and he didn't realise how long his gaze was lingering as she walked off. Yes, this woman had nearly killed him the night before, but he couldn't get the image out of his head.
The moonlight had done her so much justice.
Erwin had been the victim of attempted assassinations a few times, due to Scouts that were just not right in their minds, who had been reprimanded by him one too many times, and wanted revenge. This was different. She wanted his head because he had taken her son away from their home– mothers had strong instincts to protect their children, even if they were in their mid-twenties and total rogues.
It was all so fast, but to him, it all dripped by slower than molasses, how her hair had a bluish sheen under the glow of the moonlight that poured in through his window, how her pale skin seemed so smooth under the lunar luminance. It reflected in her eyes, but showed him the ire, the rage, the burning hot anger that was ablaze within her like a flame that couldn't be stoked with mere water– Kuchel wanted to douse her abhorrence in blood.
Yet despite all of those negative emotions painted across her striking features, he noted how she took his breath away, and not just in surprise.
"Get your eyes off my mother, Brows." Levi broke Erwin out of his thoughts, and the blonde turned back to watch him fire another round off.
"What? I was trying to figure out where they were heading. I didn't quite hear."
"Sure, and that's why you were staring at her for a solid minute. I'll say it once, and I won't warn you again." Levi pulled the bolt back, looking up at him with icy blue eyes. Those were eyes that had seen terrible things, and it almost made the section leader feel ill. "Don't look at her like that. Don't think about her like that. Men have hurt her enough, and I don't need to worry about some high and mighty fuck like you doing something to her. Understand me?"
Erwin sighed, watching the noiret return his sights to the target. Levi finally landed a shot straight in its forehead area, and he blinked in what appeared to be satisfaction. The older man had gathered that only around his mother would he be truly emotional in any capacity– he'd seen it the night before, when the dark-haired man had rushed to his mother's side, his whole expression riddled with concern.
That was a bond that Erwin realised could never be broken, and he wondered just what these two had gone through in the Underground.
Levi eventually got to finish his training with the hand-held weapon, and followed Erwin to the running track. He glared at the back of the taller man's head as they puddled along in the afternoon sun, the breeze flying through Levi's raven hair and shaking it up as he furrowed his brows.
I'm going to kill this man. I'm going to kill him, and get citizenships my mother and me. She deserves everything in this world, and I will not let him get in the way– and he'd better stop fucking staring at her. He'd better not think about making any moves, or I'll kill him earlier than planned.
He stopped his brooding when he saw his mother running around the track, looking miserable in her own way. It wasn't hot out, but her cheeks were slightly red, and sweat was beading on her brow. Levi walked over to Flagon, tapping his shoulder. "So, just how many laps have you tortured her with?"
He shrugged, his arms crossed over his pompous chest as he watched her pass them by. "She's gotten some in, but she's been needin' breaks."
"Of course she does, idiot. She's forty-two, and has spent the last decade being a seamstress! She doesn't run!" He growled, waving down his mother, who glanced at him tiredly. "Mama, just stop!"
She wasn't protesting that, and skidded to a halt, putting her hands on her knees and panting like a dog in summer heat. Levi glared at Flagon, who seemed quite indifferent. "I didn't think she was that old, but considering you're twenty-four, it makes sense. I must have just glossed over that. How does she use ODM so well then?"
"Because she does training at home. She just doesn't run, jackass." He rolled his grey-blue eyes, and walked over to his mother, who looked up at him tiredly. "Mama, you okay?"
"Yeah baby, yeah. I'm just not-"
"Used to it? Yeah, that's what I told him. Let's get you a shower and some food, some new clothes, too. We're done for the day." He said, stating it as a fact, regardless of if the section leaders would allow it.
Neither stopped him when he led her away, and he let out an internal sigh of relief. He didn't want to make a scene in front of his mama when she just needed water and rest.
"I'm gonna be fine, baby. I'm not good at everything I do. I didn't expect to be good at running."
"I know, but… still. Erwin told me that you and Isabel are assigned to the room across from us now, so we'll go there, and you can relax for a little while."
He got her to the showers, and made sure that he set new clothes for her, as well as a towel, by the shower stall. Levi waited in his room with Furlan, sitting and rubbing his hands over his face. The palms of his calloused hands brushed over his jaw, and he sighed at the feeling of a miniscule amount of peach fuzz on his face. He needed to shave, fuck.
It seemed to take her a while to get out of the shower, but when he went to check, the change of clothes was gone, and the only clue he had was the lingering natural scent of his mother to follow, like some sort of bloodhound. Levi made note of the copious amount of steam still lingering in the air, which told him that she must not have been out for that long. It also made him wonder if she'd ever had a hot shower in her entire life. Not knowing much about her life before him, he found it safe to assume that no, she hadn't.
Now that I know the joys of hot baths and showers, I don't know if I can go back to tepid water basins.
He went to check in her room, and knocked on the door with his knuckles, never rapping too loudly. Levi had found in the past that if he did it too loudly, it would startle her, so he took care and only tapped a few times. "Mama?"
"Come in."
And in he went, seeing her at the little vanity. There was a hairbrush in her hand, which looked to be Isabel's. Mama and Isabel shared a lot of things, and Isabel's things were already in the room, so she probably went into the younger girl's things to find the brush for her hair. He watched her run the brush through her wet, black hair, and came up behind her, taking it gingerly from her hand to continue the motions. Thanking him quietly, Mama leaned back some to let him brush her hair.
"How are you feeling now?" He asked, working out a small knot at the ends of her strands before setting the brush aside, grabbing a hair tie she'd set upon the vanity. Levi's nimble, experienced fingers got to work on pulling her hair into a braid. It was relaxing for the both of them, fixing one another's hair, due to its familiarity. The young man had had a fascination with her raven tresses since before he could remember, and recalled that she said he would stick her hair in his mouth as a baby.
"Better. Less sweaty and gross, more clean and refreshed. I've never had a hot shower before." She told him, confirming his sneaking suspicion from earlier. He made an amused sound, threading her hair until he could tie it off at the end neatly.
"Well it sure does feel nice, doesn't it?"
"Mhm. I don't know how I lived without it. I feel a lot less tense."
"Good." He made sure her hair was done, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head in a ginger manner, catching a whiff of her scent again. It was always comforting, no matter what, the familiar smell of his mother's hair. He remembered when he was small, and when she would leave the room, he would curl up against her pillow, burying his nose into it. Almost as though it were a cure-all, it would calm him and bring a smile to his tiny face. "Are you hungry?"
"Yes, I am, actually." She sighed, standing and grabbing her brown jacket. The dark-haired woman had gotten back in the rest of the uniform already before he came into the room, so it didn't take long for them to start on their way to the mess hall together.
"Thank you for fixing my hair, sweetie. It feels nice when you braid it."
"I know, Mama. You're welcome." He replied, ignoring the strange looks of other cadets they passed in the narrow halls. "So, when were you going to tell me you were not only good at using those blades, but also a great shot with a rifle?"
"The blades and training were just a lucky thing, I think. It felt easy to me. But the gun… also felt easy."
"You said-"
He was cut off rudely by a familiar redhead barreling towards them, tackling Mama in a tight hug. "Miss Kuchel! You're okay! You're here! We're so happy to see you!"
"Hi baby girl!" Kuchel chimed, hugging Isabel back and petting her hair. "I came because I got worried about all of you."
"But you're in a Scout jacket too! Did they make you join?" Isabel pestered her with questions as they continued walking, going into the mess hall.
Furlan was sitting at a bench already, and smiled in his coy way when he saw the three of them approaching. "Oi, Ma', we heard you came all the way after us. I must say, I'm impressed."
"Well thank you, Furlan, and it's nice to see all three of you in one piece. When I heard that you all had been taken, I must say, I panicked." Kuchel admitted. "Let's get some dinner, then we can talk some more. I won't have my three favourite people doing any more of this training on an empty stomach."
The group gathered and chatted for quite some time, eating and filling Kuchel in on what was going on, what had happened in the past few days, and Isabel was all too excited to tell her about how she got to ride a horse.
"That's nice, baby. You were being careful, right?"
"Of course, Mama. I'm always careful~!"
The camaraderie amongst the four of them was the result of their years in the cold, dark Underground, growing a bond under the warm light of the candles on the chandelier, playing card games, cooking dinner, and of course, the bi-monthly bandaging of wounds that Levi claimed were from work. Kuchel never questioned it, but would have put money on it that now she was wondering if she should have.
It didn't take long for the voracious Isabel to scarf down her meal, asking Levi if he was going to eat his bread roll. He handed it off absentmindedly, sipping at his water in his usual, quite odd fashion, his fingers grasping the brim of the tin cup as he held it to his lips.
Soon, the mess hall began to fill with more people, and Kuchel excused herself back to the room, not the one for large crowds and boisterous noise. The brothel had been quite enough of that for her, and she was happy to recharge in the barracks, especially with her head still hurting. Levi, Furlan, and Isabel remained at the table. The two looked at Levi with anticipation, but he kept staring off and away from them, as though his mind were in another place. This wasn't common for the noiret, as he very much liked to be in the present and aware of his surroundings at all times.
Some days, though, he just needed time to think. Didn't everyone?
But they wouldn't let him have more than a few moments to himself. They wanted to know what happened during Mama's training, now, the anticipation was fucking killing them.
"She killed it. I had no idea she could move like that." Levi blurted out, startling the both of them to sit back on their asses on the bench. Isabel and Furlan blinked in surprise, and their silence drew more words out of the short man across the table. He continued, sharply thrusting the cup back onto the table and nearly spilling his water. "She even knew how to use a fucking rifle. Where the fuck would she have learned that? I don't recall her blowing heads off in the brothel."
"Maybe it was before you were born when she learned how to use one? As for being good at the training exercise with killing Titans, I've got no clue about that." Furlan acquiesced, shrugging and leaning back a bit in his seat. Isabel tapped her chin, but looked defeated as well. "I can't think of anything, big bro. Sounds like a mystery to me."
Levi huffed, getting up to return his tray. "Well I'm not a fan of secrets and curious happenings. I like to know what's going on."
The shorter man turned on his heel, with the other two soon following after him. They took some time after dinner, before the sun set, to check on their horses and groom them, but when Levi returned to the barracks to check on his beloved mother, he found the room for her and Isabel to be empty.
He had the door open, with Isabel worming her way under his arm to pop into the space. She looked around curiously. "Where's Miss Kuchel?"
"I was wondering the same thing. She's around here somewhere, I'm sure. Just stay here, I'll go find her." Levi mumbled, backing away and marching off to go take a good look around the base. There were only so many places that she could be, right?
Unbeknownst to Levi, Kuchel was sitting atop the battlement, her knees hugged to her chest, as she stared at the sky as it was kissed by the setting sun, with pinks, oranges, yellows, purples, and blues melding together to give way to the night. The day had worn down her spirit, being so ridiculed by Commander Shadis and Section Leader Flagon about her past. It shouldn't have bothered her, but it did. How could it not get to her, hearing people throw that back in her face, when she was just doing what she had to do to survive, to provide for her baby?
She moved her arms up a bit, resting her chin on her arms with her legs still tucked up. Those encounters had allowed her to defend herself, to show that she was strong in the face of adversity, but would it keep happening? Would it matter?
She was sixteen again.
The kitchen smelled musty as usual, but the noirette was trying her best to get something ready to eat. She had no idea why she even bothered, when the only one who was grateful for her efforts was her brother. Kenny was currently out doing Walls know what, so she was stuck cooking alone, with those piercing green eyes boring into the back of her head from the kitchen table. Neora was on her third cigarette within twenty minutes, and insisted on smoking in the house, which drove Kuchel insane.
The last time she'd complained, her mother had grabbed her by the hair and shoved the butt of her joint straight down the older girl's throat, and tossed in some putrid wine to wash it down. She gagged, choked, and threw up, but her mother just lit up another one and told her to clean up the mess.
Now Kuchel had grown used to it, grown sickeningly accustomed to the smoke curling around every single thing in the house, and felt as though the wisps of grey were fingers that ensnared her, like the ivy she'd seen on the side of her grandfather's home. It was trapping her here, in this horrible place, rising out of the floorboards from the seeds of hate that her mother had sown in every crack, every crevice, and Kuchel had nowhere to run.
Each movement of her hand sliced off another piece of potato, and with every rock of the blade, Neora grew more impatient. "You can cut faster than that."
Slice.
"Get it over with, you're not going to cut your fingers."
Chop.
"Move out of the way, let me do it!"
Kuchel spun on her heel, her back against the edge of the counter, and her knife's point right at the brunette's throat. "Shut. The. Fuck. Up. Sit the fuck down, I am trying to cook your sorry ass a meal, Neora."
Her mother glared at her, practically seething with rage. However, Kuchel didn't realise at the time that the anger was hiding the slightest visible glimmer of fear. Looking back on it now, she could see it."P-Put that fucking knife down and get away from me, you little bitch!"
The noirette stepped closer, near enough to smell the cigarettes on the green-eyed woman's breath. "Or what?"
This was the first time she had ever stood up for herself against her. She had ended up being taller than her bitter mother (thanks to puberty), and her dangerous, darkened blue eyes narrowed down at her. Neora squared her shoulders, swallowing against the tip of the blade that her daughter still gripped in her petite hand. It looked like she was going to say something, but her father huffed from his chair. "Leave 'er alone, Nea. Let 'er cook, m'starvin'…"
"You're going to let your daughter put a knife to my throat? Like a little monster?" She snapped, emphasis on separating Kuchel from herself entirely. This was something the older girl hadn't taken note of at the time, chalking it up to her mother's malignancy. Seeing this memory now, she knew it was because she didn't want to think of Kuchel as her own child. The dark-haired girl lowered the knife, watching the brunette snatch the bottle from her father's hands. "How many times do I need to tell you to stop fucking guzzling this shit, Tamas?!"
Kuchel barely heard either of them argue as she continued to cook. For once, a smile had curled upon her rosy lips. Her first victory, and it was sweeter than honey-drop candy.
"Mama?"
With the memory fading out of her senses, Kuchel turned her head to see Levi, his features being kissed by the dying daylight as he walked up beside her. "What are you doing up here? Are you alright?"
"Just fine, baby." She told him, making a content sound at the kiss that he pressed to the crown of her head before sitting beside her.
"Well, you don't normally go off on your own to brood about something, so what's the matter?" He sat cross-legged on the battlement, resting his elbows on his knees. That pose reminded her of when he was younger, and he would stare at the roaring fireplace in that same way, trying to find faces in the flames. The older woman smiled contently for a moment at the memory of scooping him up off the floor, cradling him in her arms and making her darling son squeal with delight.
Even in the darkest of places, they managed to find light.
"Just… thinking about all of the stuff that's happened in the past few days." She admired the beauty of the sun as it fell below the horizon, the soft smile returning to grace her features. "I haven't seen the sunset since I was in the hospital…"
"It's really beautiful. I didn't know how pretty it could be." Levi told her, tracing his fingernail along the sole of his boot to pick out a rock that had gotten stuck in one of the grooves.
Her heart was so warm at his words, yet an ache panged in her chest. "Baby, what did you think of the surface when you came up? Did you see the sky? Can you tell me what you were feeling?"
Levi sat back a bit, resting his palms behind him on the stone as he admired the sight before them. He seemed to need a moment to ponder, but eventually the words slipped from his gentle lips, his voice always so soothing to Kuchel in her most stressful times.
"I thought it was so beautiful, and I could hardly believe that the sky was so blue. You told me it was the colour of my eyes, but I thought that my eyes could never be that colour, and no book we ever read when I was small did it any justice. You've really gotta see it for yourself." He told her, tilting his head back and letting his hair fall back a touch, his chin pointing to the stars that were creeping into the sky, revealing themselves with every moment that passed by. The moon was itching to crawl up, to grace the growing nighttime darkness, and Kuchel smiled at his description, though she couldn't stop the tears that pricked at the corners of her light eyes.
"And everything else is phenomenal, too." Levi continued, opening his eyes to watch the twinkling stars grow brighter at a snail's pace. "The smell of the air, the clouds, the wind, the trees, the leaves, grass, birds, insects, the night, the day, and everything in between. I wish we could have gotten up here sooner."
"I do too, baby." Her voice was barely above a whisper, her words threatening to tumble back down her throat as they trembled. She wanted to cry, but befuddled as to what the emotion was that was welling in her body, like an overflowing basin that let the droplets spill over and seep through ancient cracks that had long since needed fixing. The older Kuchel got, the harder she found it to hold in her tears, especially when they came to her son, her baby boy, her pride and joy. Just looking at him made her heart swell and soar with the utmost admiration, even if he had been doing some morally grey things for money.
The dark-haired woman reached over to gently stroke his soft hair, and it made him glance over at her. "When I was sitting up here last night, you looked right at me. Did you realise it was me?"
Kuchel blinked, and thought back on the night before. She had noticed the figure on the battlement, sure, but it was Levi? "I-I had no idea that was you. I couldn't tell in just the moonlight." She was quite surprised at that, retracting her hand from his hair to scratch the back of her head. "Sheesh, what a weird coincidence, huh baby?"
"I guess so, Mama." He mused. "You looked up at me for long enough, that once I knew it was you later on, I figured you recognised me. Guess not."
"Sorry, sweetie. I had a bone to pick with Erwin. After all, did you think that I was just going to let him get away with taking my baby from me? Hell no."
Levi's gaze flickered back to her, still not used to her cursing in any capacity. "Mama, watch your mouth~" He teased, an air of playfulness in his normally stoic, flat-toned voice. This earned him a playful ear pinch, and Kuchel could tell that he was holding back a laugh. It nearly made the corners of her lips droop down, wishing, hoping, yearning for him to just let go of his tension, to give her a beaming smile and a raucous laugh like he would when he was a little boy. Levi hadn't let out a true laugh since before the accident that put her in a coma, and oh how she wanted to hear it again. The most he would emit was a muted chortle, and that wasn't much.
There was a long moment of silence, and she watched as Levi lifted himself up a bit, moving over to sit right next to her, hip to hip, putting his arm around her slender shoulders to hug her from the side. She sighed in delight, a warmth radiating through her body at the affection. Her arms wormed their way around his torso, somehow, and Kuchel turned her head to press a delicate, motherly kiss to his cheek, and then planted one on his temple for good measure.
"I love you, Mama. I can tell something is still bothering you, though. You know I can read you like a book. So, tell me what it is." Levi encouraged her. She felt him trace his finger absentmindedly on the patch that adorned her jacket's shoulder, with embroidered bumps forming the Wings of Freedom.
Kuchel rested her head on his shoulder, listening to his soft, calming breaths as crickets began to play their tune, cued by the arrival of darkness. "I'm… nervous about the trouble I could get in for what I did, baby. Mama did some very bad things to get here. I just hope I… don't get executed." The thought made a lump form in her throat, one that she hurried to swallow. Before she could think about it for too long, her darling son moved his hand to gently touch the back of her head. "I'd never let that happen to you, Mama."
"Baby, you're one man, you can't stop a whole army."
"Doesn't matter, I'd slice through them all to save you from that."
Kuchel could only hug Levi tighter, her head slipping down some to listen to the beat of his heart. It comforted her, to know that she had succeeded, that she was here to protect him from anything the damn military wanted to do to him. Whatever they wanted him for, the noirette was going to make sure that he came out unscathed, regardless of the situation.
After what seemed like hours, Levi broke the silence. "I'm getting a bit tired, Mama, and we have to be up early tomorrow again for more training. Let's get you to bed."
"Sounds good to me, baby bird." Standing up, Kuchel helped him to his feet, though she knew quite well that he didn't need any assistance. He took it anyway, of course, not wanting to say no to his mother.
Levi ended up leading her off the roof and back to her room. With a gentle bundle of kisses goodnight pressed to his cheeks, the door shut, leaving Levi alone in the dim, torch-lit hallway. It took him a few moments to get moving, and his feet carried him to where he believed the Commander's meeting room to be. He wanted to get some snooping done before bed, without interruptions, and now seemed like just the time to check left-behind paperwork or useful books.
However, the man's breath hitched when he realised that the door had been left open the slightest crack, and that light was dribbling out into the hall from lit candles within. People were in there, talking about Walls know what, and he was going to listen in, whether they liked it or not.
Inching closer, he pressed his shoulder blades back against the wall near the door frame, leaning his body to the side to pinpoint the conversation. Any information would be useful, and Levi would be damned if he didn't get every little morsel he could to further his mission. It was obvious that Erwin and Shadis were talking, at least, but he wasn't entirely sure if there was anyone else in that room with them.
The tail end of the conversation that he heard made his stomach churn, and caused bile to broil in his belly.
"Sir, she hasn't even finished the training and shows immense promise. With some training, she could be as good as her son."
"Spit it out in plain language, Erwin. What is it that you want me to do?"
There was a clearing of the throat, followed by confident words.
"I want to recruit Miss Kuchel for the Survey Corps."
Alrightie, first things first, thank you StarlitScarlet (Ao3), as per usual, for being a wonderful helper and giving me plenty of proofreading help. Darlin', you're a life saver!
Second, I HAVE NEWS! So, I have made a Twitter as well as a TikTok account for this fic (an Insta may or may not be in the works). I've been posting little updates as well as exclusive snippets!
Twitter: Arti_Res
TikTok: artistic_resonance
It took me a bit longer than usual to get this chapter out because Chapter 13 was giving me problems until tonight, plus I have things going on that I need to get done. I'm about to start my last year of college, and was chosen to be the French tutor for the university. That requires a lot of paperwork. Hopefully I do well :')
Thank you again to OtakuGirl1996 and GoldenKitten for such sweet reviews. You guys are the greatest!
Song Award goes to Whispers in the Dark by Skillet. Classic angsty song I remember from when I was younger.