Chapter 17: The Dancing and the Dreaming

"CAPTAIN LEVI ASKED YOU OUT?!" Jamie screeched at the top of his lungs. "AND YOU SAID NO?!"

"I cannot keep having this conversation," Edie sighed.

"HE'S THE STRONGEST SCOUT THAT'S EVER LIVED!"

"It's been two weeks," she reminded him, "and I haven't changed my mind."

"WELL, YOU SHOULD! IF YOU CAN PUT UP WITH PRIVATE OPINIONS THERE, THEN YOU CAN PUT UP WITH A CAPTAIN!" Jamie threw himself on a stack of weeds. "I could've been trained by Captain Levi. Of the Scouts. I don't even care that anyone at school knows. It would've been awesome."

"Jamie, c'mon. You know I'm not interested in courtship."

"I DON'T CARE! THIS ISN'T ABOUT COURTSHIP! THIS IS ABOUT ME GETTING THE BEST TRAINING IN THE WORLD." Jamie rubbed his face till it turned bright red. "AND THAT MY SISTER GOT ASKED OUT BY CAPTAIN LEVI, OF ALL PEOPLE!"

Edie kicked his shin. "So he's a scout. You're above fantasizing about well-built people. Your father could beat a man to death, but you don't go oozing over him."

"I can't believe I'm explaining this. The guy saved you from a titan, and you ask me what makes him so great? He's a mean, lean, titan killing machine! He slices through them like they're butter. You've seen Mr. Solway when he's zipping between customers, making sure everybody gets the best customer service and has all the product their little hearts desire. Captain Levi is like that, but for protecting humanity!"

"Sure, but that's not a reason to go out with somebody."

"SURE IT IS!" Jamie jumped up, nearly pulling his hair out. "HE'S STRONG, HE'S GORGEOUS, AND HE'S A CAPTAIN! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?"

"Substance?"

"You've got to be kidding me." Jamie plopped on the chopping stump. "Substance. If this is what women want, I'll be a bachelor for life."

Edie pushed him off his seat. "You're the one who's begged me to stay single for all eternity."

"There's exceptions." He sat cross legged on the ground. "Okay, there's three exceptions. first, if someone is rich, you go along with it. Because then mom and dad are set, and we can go no vacation to nice lakes in the middle of nowhere. And if someone really, really likes you, enough to move in with mother and father and follow your every command, then that's fine. But only if they sign a contract, or something."

"They wouldn't want to be married for long, in either instance."

Jamie shrugged. "No choice. They're already married to you, at that point."

"And you think I'm shallow," she muttered. "What's number three?"

"Captain Levi. He's got the coolest stories and is the best fighter in all the walls." He stared off in the distance. "If I would've known I was so close to having family dinners with Captain Levi…"

"You date him, then."

"He asked you!"

"Good riddance." Edie smacked his arm with a rag and lugged a bucket on her shoulder. "Want to come to the pond?"

"This is ridiculous," he breathed, following. "I'll be in the cadets in six weeks, and could've gone in with that kind of standing."

"All the commanders would've pushed you around, you know."

"Worth it." He grabbed her arm. "Just, promise me. If he asks you out again, you have to say yes. Even if he's boring as dirt, which he's not, at least one out with him once. It'd mean the world to me."

"You'd use me to advance your military career?"

"Absolutely. Without question."

She rolled her eyes. "You're lucky you're cute."

Jamie's nose scrunched up. "Am not."

"And you won't be for long." Edie pulled the barn door open and let it swing. Dia's laden saddle hung on a hook, and Jamie held the bucket while she got it ready. "What do you expect to get out of this, anyway? You'll have a weird relationship with anyone I would hypothetically go out with, commanding officer or not."

"Sure, sure, sure. It's just—I'm excited. I can't explain it. Like, you made Captain Levi ask you for something. Without even meaning to. That's sick." He helped her secure the strap and clipped the bucket on a rope. "Teach me your ways."

Edie shrugged. "Get chased by a titan, I guess."

He took this seriously, nodding with pursed lips. "Maybe after the fist couple missions, I'll have enough cred to make people act like people, too." He leapt onto the saddle behind her, and Dia trotted out of the barn. "Why do you think people in the military act like that, all stoic and stuff? Amile's never that serious, but Commander Erwin was just—I don't know, not mean or cold, but…"

"Stoic?"

"Sure."

"Well, there was all he said about losing people pretty often. That does a number on a person. Plus, the Scouts really do their best to free humanity. Can't say the same for the Garrison and Military Police, from what I've seen."

"I'll be stoic, then." He patted her shoulder. "Sorry if I come back from my first tour all different."

"Thanks." She glanced back. "To be fair, you haven't met most of the scouts."

"I'll let you know. We can have visitors after training's done, and then visit home for a bit after we choose our branch. You'll come to the camp, right?"

"Of course, so long as we're set here."

"Thanks."

"And if Captain Levi asks you—"

"Jamie." She urged Dia quicker, wanting to pawn Jamie off on his father for a few hours. "What makes this guy so great, anyway? And I don't care about strength or speed."

"They say that no one on Captain Levi's squad ever dies. It was like that when Commander Erwin was a captain, too, before he got promoted. He makes sure that everybody comes home, no matter what." He gestured his hands and swayed to the right. "They say he once took town ten titans all by himself, in the middle of a field. They were all steaming in under a minute, because he swooped from one to the next, giving them no time to think."

"I don't think titans can think."

He ignored the quip. "He's super small, so he can move faster than any other scout. He's the absolute best at maneuvering through tight areas and never hesitates. They say he's got ten steps planned ahead and changes them based on how the battle goes. He's always in the front line and might as well be a whole platoon."

Edie sighed. "All well and good, but none of that makes a person a decent life partner."

"Yeah, but someone like that has to be a good person."

"Absolutely not." Her grip on the reins tightened. "Don't all the Military Police need to graduate in the top ten? They're experts, but you don't see all of them acting like saints."

"MPs can't be compared to the scouts."

"Sure. Because Amile is a warm, kind individual who has helped you with yoru swordsmanship and wasn't a baby when you beat him. He's genuine in rooting for you and wants you to succeed."

"Yeah, because he wants—"

"Regardless of what he wants," Edie interrupted with a tone, "he's a kind person. All I know of Captain Levi is that he does his job and has a sour attitude."

Jamie flicked her arm. "Sour?"

"Sure. He hardly spoke when he and Commander Erwin visited and essentially called me a liar and a coward for not joining the scouts."

"Because he doesn't want to cover up the truth. He doesn't know that you made me that promise."

"True. It's none of his business."

"I'd rather someone be honest with me then try to make me feel good." Dia slowed, and Jamie jumped off in the shallows. Edie tugged her to a stop and untied the bucket. "But sure."

"He's not a bad person; that's not what I'm saying. He's just…not life partner material. You've got to understand that for when you start looking for someone to spend your life with."

"No need." Jamie saluted the sky. "I'm a scout for life."

"I'm going to remind you of that in about five years."

"Thanks for the optimism." He swung his foot out and danced in a circle, arms extended. "Partnership and marriage are nice and all, for people like Corini and Tinnul who don't want to do more than be farmhands all their lives. But I want to do more."

"You can do more and be married."

"So why don't—"

Edie dunked the bucket underwater. "My personal choices don't change reality. You need friends in life, and partners, and people you can talk to no matter what. Life gets awfully lonely without that, and then what's the point of trying to save humanity?"

"Personal satisfaction."

"Sure."

He danced all around the pond, shouting as he was further away. "We'll be single all our lives, Edie! Mother and father will be so disappointed, but we'll be happy."

"Probably."

"I'll be just like Commander Erwin: completely devoted to humanity's cause, without anything or anyone to tie me down."

Edie snorted and wished she were writing this all down. She finished drawing the water and settled the pail around some stones. "You can start your single escapades tonight, by watering all the animals by yourself." He twirled toward her, faster. She watched carefully. "You've got a pattern."

"It's this dance Corini and Tinnul were practicing. Mother taught them. People dance it at weddings."

"Oh." She hefted the bucket easily and tied it to the saddle. "I'm not much of a dancer."

"This one's easy, just scary."

"Scary?"

Jamie nodded and closed the distance, taking her hand. "It's got four parts, but you can fall at all of them. The guy leads, but in the first and third parts, he can slide on his knees if she doesn't lean in. And in the second and fourth, if he's not strong enough, she ends up on the ground."

"So, it's a fancy trust fall."

"To very nice music." He took her hand and put the other around her waist. "You step back at the first, and I go here…you have to let go of my right hand, but then swirl around to the left. If you don't, or if you go right, then I don't have momentum to…" His hand rested on her back, and he carried her through a dip. "…like that. And third sort of goes backward, then the fourth…" they dipped again, and finished where they started. "That's sort of it. The music is a lot slower, and kind of boring. Tinnul was humming it."

"She's probably not thrilled about another thing she has to do."

"Actually, it was the one thing she looked excited about." Jamie spun again. "But it's pretty fluid. I feel like I'm dodging and fighting during the dipping parts."

"You feel like a swordfigher in your sleep."

"Sure do." He rested his chin on Dia's saddle and stared at his sister. "Edie."

"Yeah?"

"Please."

"What?"

"If he asks you again…you have to say yes. For at least one date."

Edie rolled her eyes and huffed. "Fine. If, and only if he asks, I will go on one date." She ruffled his hair. "But no sabatoging or alluding to what you want. If he asks, fine. If he doesn't, all the better."

"Thanks."