*Still in flashback*
After their swim, they proceeded to make their way back to the castle. Each step just made her want to run back into the water. Who knew when she would ever be allowed to steal him away. Even though they had spent the whole day together, it would never be enough to satisfy the intense desire she felt for his soul and his body. They walked along the forest once again, this time in the increasing darkness. Levi taking a strong hold of her hand the entire way. They were probably a mile away from headquarters before he stopped turn another direction. Leading her faster than before.
"Um I'm pretty sure its that way." Mikasa's gesturing towards the opposite direction.
"I just have to do something first." He led her through the trees until they came upon a clearing. It wasn't anything too special, it was a small hill that the Corps sometimes used for meetings. The only visible lights sources coming from the moon and fireflies. Maybe if she had not been so accustomed to it, maybe she could have relished in its true beauty. Levi stopped and let go of her hand, and faced her. "This is stupid. And I am probably an idiot, but I can't stop myself from wanting it." He blurted it before giving her anytime to process what was going on.
"What-" He was not one to be so sudden. She could feel herself growing anxious with every second he made her wait for his next word.
"Mikasa Ackerman, I love you more than anything I have ever loved in my entire life. I don't deserve you, or the happiness you bring me. However if you accept me I will do anything in my power to protect you, love you, and take care of you." He dropped to one knee, and looked up at her. "Will you marry me?"
His words crashing down on her with the weight of a million bricks, but she felt as light as feather. There was no thinking to be done, her decision had been made for quite sometime now. "Yes." She fell down to the grown and kissed him. Her body crashing into him violently, she could not hold the excitement gushing through her veins. He was going to be hers, and she would be his.
xxxx
A few days after their engagement, they set off on the mission Erwin had been planning for all this time. It was going to be the Commander's Magnum Opus, hopefully bring humanity closer to the truth about their foes. Erwin was ambitious, and this could prove to be his greatest success, or his greatest failure. Despite the previous defeats, there was a feeling among the Survey Corps that supported their commanders vision for the future. Most soldiers were more than willing to lay down their lives for the good of humanity. Mikasa was certain that she had to live, specially now that her new life would be waiting for her return. Both she and Levi had decided on keeping their engagement a secret, at least until they would get back from the mission. After that they would come clean to all their friends and comrades. Mikasa would yell to the heavens that Levi would be her husband. She could not wait to be his wife, and depending on how this mission went there was a possibility that they would no longer have to take any more risks. They could run off together and maybe have a family somewhere in the country. Mikasa had never paid much thought to having children, but the thought of having his kids was becoming more endearing with each passing moment. For the first time she finally could see a bright and happy future for herself.
The mission itself was one that had been planned by Erwin since their encounter with the female titan. More than anything he wanted to know about the other titans like Eren. Nobody knew exactly what his motives were or what the true nature of the mission was. Regardless the Survey Corps had long ago learned their lesson, Erwin's orders were to be followed at all costs. The commanders allegiance was to humanity, and he would do everything in his power to fulfill his oath to protect it. Which is why nobody dared to question a thing. Only a handful of people knew what was expected to be achieved. Levi was one of those people, but even he had refused to speak on the subject. Much to Mikasa's annoyance, the man's lips were sealed. All he told her was that he would be protecting Eren, which helped calm her nerves. At least her brother would be in good hands. Even if their captain, seemed annoyed with her reaction.
After hours of riding they had finally made it past wall Rose and on to Titan territory. Levi was in a completely different flank than she had been placed in. He argued and tried to get her changed into his squad but no matter what he did he was unable to change her designation. They had said their goodbyes in private, and he had given her a ring at the time. It was a simple gold band, the band was bigger than her thumb but she loved it all the same. It had been his, and he felt that he should give her something to make their engagement seem real. He promised that the first thing he would do when they got back, would be to buy her a proper engagement ring. It was of no matter to her, he was going to be her husband a silly ring would not change a thing about that.
Now that the familiar danger of the titans was once again within their presence, she could feel their threat. So far everything seemed to be heading according to the plan, but a few mishaps could throw the entire mission to the trash. For a long time the group that Mikasa had been able to avoid the hoards of Titans, despite some flare guns alerting her that both the right and the left flanks had run into some danger. Her group trailed on passing the forrest where they had fought Annie. Now the kept up the pace in order to make it to the stopping point, which would be an abandoned tower south of their current location. There they would make camp, and rest the horses. It was unknown to her if the other flanks would also be joining hers, regardless she prayed that Eren, Armin, and Levi would reach their checkpoint as well.
There was a foreboding feeling in the air, that only made the anxiety of the situation worse. They were able to make a few miles from a forrest when Red flare guns illuminated the sky. Announcing to everybody that the monsters were coming in their direction. Her squad leader yelled at them to climb a tree and leave their horses tied down below. Mikasa could not help but feel that history was repeating itself. Basically the same situation had occurred when Annie attacked. The forrest was a death trap, she was sure of it. Either way the end result of having all of the corps climb trees could not be a good one. Annie had been able to distract the titans away from their scent, when she screamed. However now as far Mikasa knew, they did not have that luxury. Not unless they were planning on using Eren. Something that was far too dangerous for this novice of a titan to attempt to do. She cursed at all of the gods, she cursed at Erwin for embarking them in something so dangerous, she cursed at Levi for not giving her the insight into what was going on. Mikasa was upset and confused but she would not let that get her down. She needed to survive, and she was going to achieve that no matter what.
They stayed up in the trees, for close to 3 hours. Below them titans gnawed down on fellow soldiers, who had been unfortunate to not get there in time to climb up. Until Jean came to their rescue to alert them of the orders. According to Erwin, everyone was supposed to retreat back. It was a shock, the mission had only been going on for 6 hours. They had barely made it past where they had first seen the female titan.
"This is ridiculous, we have barely made it out here." Lilian said trying to get any answer she could from Jean.
"Look I don't make the rules, its just what I was told to say, alright." Jean tried to calm her down.
"Almost a year of preparation for this…" A voice said behind Mikasa. Low morale was starting to take effect amongst her peers, the mission had failed once again.
"Would you rather risk your life for something you know will fail, or would you rather retreat and get a better plan down." Mikasa finally spoke up. "Its frustrating, but this is no time to willow in sorrow. Be thankful that you are alive, now lets move." The other soldiers began gathering their supplies and moving in the direction they were told too.
Before Jean could leave, Mikasa took hold of his arm, pulling him back to face her. "How many casualties?" She asked in a soft voice so that the other could not hear.
"To be honest I don't know… Its not as bad expected I heard though." He sighed. "However the odds weren't really good to us anyways."
"How's everybody else?" One look at her face and Jean knew exactly whom she was speaking of. Or at least he thought he did.
"Armin, Sasha, and Connie are safe because they were in the lower left flank." He paused briefly before continuing. "However Eren, as far as I know was in the central right."
"Meaning?" Mikasa was growing impatient. The only thing she knew for certain was that Eren and Levi were in the same group, so if their flank was hit they could both be in danger. "JEAN!" He was still not responding, she was still holding on to his arm. Silently begging him to continue.
"Mika you have to promise not to go and do something stupid." he pleaded, but she would never make such a promise. If they were in danger it would take the whole military to stop her.
"Jean I need to know." She running out patience, and could feel the anxiety inside her raising up to unbearable amounts. "PLEASE."
"The upper right flank was comprised" Jean finally admitted. "Titans basically devoured everything in sight."
"So there is a chance that they were also caught up in the commotion" Mikasa was trying to process what he had just told her. Logic was thrown out the window, the second his words left his lips. She already knew what she had to do.
"It's not for sure, but that would be my guess as to why we are not continuing. According to Armin, it would explain why we haven't seen any flares from those sides in a quite a while." Jean turned back to grab her, but within a moment she was flying through the trees making her way south. If they were dead she would need to see them before she could believe it.
"MIKASA" She heard Jean scream for her to come back, but the desperation of needing to make sure her family was alright would not let her go back. These were the last people she cared for on earth, if they were dead she would personally carry their bodies and give them the proper burial they deserved.
xxxx
After about 30 minutes of flying through, she found other soldiers using their 3DM gear to quickly make their way through the forrest.
"YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY" one yelled out in the distance. Others would give her strange looks, some tried to stop her but it was useless her mind was made up.
"MIKASA IS THAT YOU?" A familiar voice emerged from a tree. She quickly made her way back and found a short blonde girl looking in her direction. A worried expression evident on her face.
"Krista, what are you doing here?" Mikasa asked, as she landed on the same branch the young blonde was standing on. Her friend looked exhausted, her hair was a mess and blood was smeared across her chest. Still a sort of elegance was still present in her demeanor. She had change since the days of their training, instead of a shy girl she had emerged a fierce warrior.
"I should ask you the same question?" She looked a mixture of mad and confused. " I was making my way back when I saw something moving in the opposite way. What are you doing heading in that direction Mikasa? There is nothing but death there. Trust me I just came back from there, the entire place was overrun with those things" She looked down. "I couldn't even find Ymir."
Mikasa knew the same feeling, "I'm sorry."
"No…" She looked down. "I'm hoping that she is back with the rest of Corps. We need to get there too." Krista pulled on her sleeve edging her to follow.
"I cant do that…" Mikasa said in a soft voice. Krista stared at her for a moment. She gave a small frustrated sigh.
"I told Jean not to tell you. And hey I get it, I mean I just did what you are doing right now. So I know it sound cruel for me to ask you to come back with me. But trust me when I tell you there is nothing south of here other than the largest hoard of titans, that I have ever seen. Plus it is not for certain that Eren is there. There is a good possibility that he is in another flank, this was just Armin's best speculation. But it was only a speculation. I know what you are feeling but you have to understand, there is nothing else you can do."
"Krista, I have to know if they're okay." Mikasa sounded like a complete idiot, she was aware. Her reasons made sense in her head, but at the moment the words could not be articulated "He is my only family. Plus if we make it back to the others, they wont let me re enter the forrest… I cant let them-"
"Darling I wont stop you, but just take a look around. If anything he will be back north with all of the others. I know whatever I say to you wont change your mind. But just take this advice don't waste time. As soon as you get there and see what you must, leave. I don't want to lose another friend." Two arms reached out and embraced her before her gear pulled her away north. Krista had been kind enough to give her some more fuel, and some new blades. Mikasa prayed it would be enough, as she made her way down south.
xxxxx
She went almost an hour without any signs of other soldiers. Finally she had given in to the possibility that she was late, and she would not be able to apologize to both Levi and Eren for not being there to protect them. She was not feeling good, and to make it worse she felt dizzy. She had been moving at a pace the most people could not tolerate, specially not for 2 hours.
All of the sudden trees around her began moving, and in her peripheral vision she saw an eyeball. Before she could move out of the way, her the right side of her body slammed into the nearest tree. Causing her head to hit the tree with such force that she could not see for a brief moment. The titan, moved its hand towards her but her quick reflexes allowed her to jump despite her injuries.
She moved onto a different branch, to get a better view. Her eyesight was still a bit groggy but she was still able to make out a 12 meter titan. It was a slow one, but she did not trust her body to be able to kill it the condition she was in. She was able to begin moving north, away from it. However the adrenaline that was moving through her body in the beginning, decreased the farther away she got from the beast. The pain in her head, as well as the pain on the right side of her body began weighing down on her, causing her to slow down.
Somehow to make matters worse her 3DMG malfunctioned, probably due to its last encounter with the tree. One of the straps that was supposed to eject, got stuck and so Mikasa was sent flying down, to the ground. The free falling feeling that she had only enjoyed once, was present in her life once more. This time with death at the bottom. She was going to die, and it wouldn't be a good death either. This death would be painful, but hopefully quick. She closed her eyes and awaited her fate.
As she fell, something caught her by the waist, pulling her up before she hit the ground. Her ears popped, and she tried rubbing her eyes to see what had happened. The position she was held, was not allowing her to move correctly.
"MIKASA CAN YOU HEAR ME?" A man's voice called out. Her eyesight briefly adjusting to show that it was a dark haired man. His hands gripping her waist tighter. "YOU ARE AN IDIOT, HOW COULD YOU PUT YOUR LIFE AT RISK LIKE THAT. DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH."
She recognized the voice, it was her fiancé. "Levi?" Or maybe she had died and she was hallucinating him before her death.
"OH GOD YOU'RE AWAKE. SWEETHEART PLEASE STAY WITH ME. STAY AWAKE" He brought them over to a branch, and gently laid her down. His blue orbs examining every part of his body. "You did a real number on yourself."
"Are you real?" she said in soft tone. A sense of happiness taking over her, as the pain from her injuries set in. "Ow"
"Of course I'm real." His hand reached up to wipe some of the blood from her forehead. "I think you have a concussion."
"Levi, I love you. Did you know that?" She was not aware of what came from her mouth. "I thought you were dead. I thought Eren was dead." Tears began to pour from her eyes. "Thats why I went back…"
"Krista told me," He kissed her nose. "As you can see I am alive as I can ever be, and your brother is back with the others waiting for you. As for you my dear, you will be in a lot of trouble the second we make it back into the wall."
"Oh Erwin is probably mad." Mikasa sounded like a child.
"Erwin won't do a thing, it is me who you should fear," his hands examining her as he spoke. "Trust me you will pay for this act of complete stupidity, my dear."
A hard smack on the tree caused the pair to move forward, and almost fall off. The titan had followed them, all this way. Levi gripped her waist, and using the 3DMG her propelled them into another branch. He set her down, placing a hard kiss on her mouth before he moved backwards.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING" Mikasa tried to comprehend why he was leaving.
"GET TO THE CORPS, I'M GOING TO KILL THIS THING AND ILL BE BACK." He yelled as he moved farther away. "I LOVE YOU, PLEASE GO."
She had to trust him, he had gotten her almost to the edge of the forrest where the others were waiting. She quickly managed to climb down, and run. Her body gave out, just as she got a glimpse of the others.