Part 25
The Pain of Loss

"We need to rendezvous with the Commander!" Levi barked to both Mikasa and Fury who followed behind him, whilst he continued clasping Eren to his side as he remained unconscious from the amount of struggle he most likely exerted in his fight with the Female Titan.

"Erwin?!" Fury called back to the male. Okay, she didn't mean to sound so surprised and it was clear to Levi that she was. He emitted a sigh of annoyance.

"Who else?" His almost hissed in his response. "You twit…" Levi still couldn't shake the anger he suddenly held pinned against Fury. Four years she's been away, letting him of all people convince himself he'd lost the last of what he felt was family to him. As much as he wanted to pin her against a tree and strip her for answers of his own, Levi put his duties first. He knew getting Eren back to the walls was his main priority and with a desperate Mikasa beside him, it only added that pressure to him.

Fury narrowed her eyes, unaware that anger was all the Levi was feeling. She looked behind her, almost paranoid that the Female Titan would be following in their pursuit and yet all her eyes lay upon were endless trees that surrounded them all. Erwin was alive. Now she was feeling her own guilt seep into her subconscious. After all, she didn't just leave Levi behind but Erwin too.
Letting out a sigh, Fury turned her focus back to following Levi, who had brought himself up onto a tree trunk near the exit of the forest; the walls of which were their destination now visible in the far distance. It had been too long since Fury saw them.

"Why are we stopping?!" Mikasa barked, bringing herself up to Levi, snatching Eren away from his hip so that she could carry his burden.

"What did I just say? We're rendezvousing with Erwin." Levi placed his hand on his thigh, gritting his teeth slightly as the aching pain from his ankle was starting to shoot up his right leg. As Fury landed herself on a nearby trunk, keeping her distance from Levi himself, she noticed how his own gaze was now fixed on looking behind him. His expression seemed pained, despite knowing she caused his injury. Yet Fury knew him well enough to know that wasn't what was hurting him.

"You can't leave them out there, Levi…" Fury's own expression showed sadness. The last time she saw Levi look so disconnected was when they lost Isabel and Farlan. He travelled down a road of rage and pent up anger, drowning himself in alcohol and he had goodness knows who in his bed most nights. Now he'd lost people he trusted once again and Fury genuinely feared she'd have to watch her oldest friend fall back into that dark pit that took so long to pull him out of the first time.
"We need to bring them back to their families…"

"No! We need to get Eren back to the walls!" Exclaimed Mikasa. Evidently, her only focus was on the boy and this aggravated Fury.

"Shut the fuck up! Just because your world revolves around that shithead doesn't mean everyone else's has too as well!" Fury responded and her harsh manner was intended, causing Mikasa to grit her teeth, still clinging on to Eren whilst Levi remained stoic and silent.

"I need to get her back to her father…" Levi muttered as he shifted his gaze over to the angered females near him. "Stay here, both of you." He then ordered. "This is my duty as their Captain."

Fury watched as Levi set aside the pain in his ankle and took himself away from the tension filled air, retracing his steps to go back to his deceased squad. Why did he feel the need to do this on his own?
"Looks like we both have people our worlds revolve around…" Muttered Mikasa, glaring up at Fury as Fury herself scowled in response. But was Mikasa wrong? It disgusted Fury to almost see herself as obsessive as this young cadet was over Eren and yet she has always protected Levi, be it in obvious ways or subconsciously. However, being away from him for years barely gave her the right to suddenly show she cared for him all this time.

"Stay here with… That…" Fury passed order on to Mikasa, hooking her anchors onto nearby trees as she had already decided to not allow Levi to go through with this on his own. "You wait until Erwin shows himself. Tell him… Tell him that Captain Levi is in need of a spare cart for the bodies of his squad. The man will surely send one our way."

Receiving a reluctant nod from Mikasa, Fury propelled herself towards Levi's direction. Why were they all out here in the first place, she wondered. Was it to capture this Female Titan? Or were they all in the blind over her existence? Right now, Fury was blind to all of this herself. To discover people shifting into Titans and maintain control over them truly shocked her. The fact that she couldn't control them either, for they maintained their own control over themselves still was something Fury had to come to terms with. She was still yet to understand why Eren was so important and frankly, after seeing his weak display against the Female Titan, Fury held no interest in protecting him.
Right now, she had Levi to take care of. Though he may not have reacted like he once did some years ago, she shared a deep bond with Levi to know that he was in pain on the inside.

And now that pain was demanding to be felt.

Pain always demands to be felt.