Character ages: Levi - 36; Natalie - 31; Hange - 33; Mikasa, Jean, Conny, Sasha - 20

Alright, so as always my lovelies, go ahead and enjoy this chapter and don't forget to toss me a little review, to let me know what you think~ ;)

P.S. All Attack on Titan characters belong to Isayama Hajime. I only own my OCs.

1. A second chance

~ 855 ~

"Crap, there's more coming!" Jean called out from where he had stopped on a tree branch to catch his breath.

"Are you sure it's supposed to be here?" Levi scowled looking to Hange who was now re-checking the map. "At this rate we'll all be Titan fodder once we run out of gas."

"It's somewhere on this mountain, but these damn forests are so confusing. Let's see..."

Shaking with rage and the urge to smack that idiot upside the head, he instead took off to engage the nearest Titans. Had they been lied to? Was this all a trap?

'Even if it is... it's not like I'm going to just lie down and die.'

He had just finished slicing the fifth Titan's nape when Hange's sharp whistle echoed through the trees.

"I found it! I found the path!"

"Regroup!" Levi ordered, only moving to follow once everyone had gone ahead and he had checked one more time that there were no more Titans on their tails.

Upon reaching the edge of the upper plateau they descended and hid the maneuver gear beneath their cloaks before entering the village. Even so, they still received a cold welcome full of wary stares and whispers.

"I can't believe there's still a village that can live here." Sasha murmured.

"How is this even possible?" Conny inquired, looking over to Hange who seemed eerily undisturbed.

"If my information is correct... I'd say we'll find out soon enough."

"Who are you?"

The voice that halted the group in their tracks belonged to an old man, short and stout looking despite his white hair.

"The Resistance sent us here." Hange replied, reaching into their coat to retrieve a folded paper. "Are you the leader of this settlement? I have a letter from Lenz Ackerman to explain why we're here."

Much to the group's relief, there was a definitive change in the air at the mention of that name. Accepting the letter and reading it, the elder at long last nodded.

"Very well. You'll be housed, but I don't know when you'll find the one you're looking for. She rarely stays in the village nowadays."

"'She'?" Levi inquired.

"If there's an attack, you'll see."

With that cryptic reply the old man turned around to divide them among the few villagers who offered to house them. Soon, however, the group had reunited outside again hoping that Hange would finally explain why they had dragged them all out there.

"Lenz said he's not a hundred percent sure, but there are rumors that the last of the Nine Titans is here." the Commander said, careful to speak on a low tone. "That's how this village was able to survive so far."

"And now we're here to screw them over?" Levi sighed, casting a forlorn glance over the settlement and its inhabitants living as though the whole world hadn't gone to hell around them.

"Well, hopefully we can relocate them on one of the islands... right?" Jean smiled, trying to keep his hopes up.

"Whether they want to leave this place or not, we absolutely need to take the shifter with us." Hange replied, looking less than pleased at the possibility of the villagers not wanting to move. "If Eren gets his hands on the last Titan, then it won't matter whether we relocate them or not. We'll all be too dead to care anymore. The only reason we're still alive right now is because he's too focused on finding this last shifter, to care about us."

"And if the shifter refuses to leave?" Mikasa chimed in.

"We'll have to force them somehow... but let's hope it won't get to that."

For a while the group fell into a heavy silence. They all knew too well what it meant to fight a Titan shifter and none of them wanted that.

"How in the world did things get to this?" Jean sighed in the end. "It was only a few years ago that all we had to worry about was the Titans right outside our walls."

~ oOo ~

It was early morning and the village had just come back to life, when the ground was shaken with numerous thuds.

"What's going on?" Hange called out, rushing out of the house to where the others were gathering in the small square along with the villagers.

"What do you think?" Levi retorted, gesturing toward the forest where at least a dozen Titans could be seen approaching through the trees.

"What do we do? Do we take them down?" Conny asked.

"But wouldn't this be a good chance to see if what we're looking for is really here?" Mikasa argued.

For a few moments Hange didn't issue any orders, as if they too were waiting to see if the shifter really was in that village.

"We need to do this now, if we're doing it." Jean eventually snapped. "If they leave the tree line it'll be near impossible for us to use our gear."

"Commander?" Sasha called out. "Orders?"

"Commander!" Conny yelled when Hange failed to move or speak.

The first couple of Titans had just left the tree line when Hange seemed to come back to life. Clearly the shifter wasn't there – meaning she was either gone, or the info had been wrong – and they couldn't just let those people die. The Commander had just opened their mouth to relay the order, when a flash of yellow lightning lit up the forest across the plateau, the earth rumbling from the blast. Within moments another Titan walked out from the shadows; its distinctly female body shape, the mixture of exposed muscle and skin, as well as its precise movements making it clear that it wasn't a regular one. With a deafening roar it caught the attention of the other Titans, drawing them away from the village.

"Everyone surround the Titans and try to offer as much assistance as you can!" Hange finally ordered.

"That's going to be a pain in the ass, on flat terrain." Levi retorted, before lunging out across the small settlement's rooftops to try and reach the battlefield.

By the time they had reached the last houses, the shifter had maneuvered to place herself between the village and the Titans. Slipping into an offensive stance, she did a quick headcount before deciding to conserve energy by letting the creatures come to her.

"Crap... is there a way to get her closer to the tree line?" Jean asked.

"There is." Mikasa retorted, pointing one of her swords at the female Titan's shoulder. "If she's really a shifter like Eren, then one of us just needs to go up there and talk to her."

"A-are we sure she's even going to listen to us?" Sasha gulped.

Her last words were nearly swallowed by the gust of air stirred when one of the smaller Titans lunged at the shifter, prompting her to lift her leg and kick it back into the nearest trees. While the dust was still settling Levi removed his hood and shot the cables towards the shifter, anchoring himself into her back. Gaining enough height he made his way onto the redhead's shoulder startling her.

"Listen carefully because right now we don't really have time to chat. We're here to help. If you can get them closer to the trees, we can use our gear to help you take them down."

For a moment he found it unsettling how she was staring at him without any hint as to whether or not she would listen. But in the end she nodded, looking over her shoulder to the others.

"Everyone grab onto her." Hange called out, relying more on intuition rather than actual understanding of what the shifter wanted.

Once everyone was hooked onto her back, she gestured for Levi to move to the top of her head where he would be safer. No sooner had he landed in her hair, than she lunged forth barreling through the Titans so that she could reach the trees. Turning around while the group hooked themselves into the trees, she roared again drawing the Titans back to the forest. The first one to come at her took the full brunt of her punch, its head flying off to the side, but she was left with no time to finish it off. With three others converging on her at the same time, she slipped into an open-palmed stance but made no move to attack, her gaze briefly following Mikasa when she swung down to kill the headless Titan.

"Hey, what's she waiting for?" Jean scowled.

"It's a martial arts stance; she's not making any unnecessary movements." Hange replied. "She's conserving energy by letting them come to her. If we needed any more proof that this is a human controlling a Titan's body, I think this is it."

Only when one of the Titans grabbed her outstretched arm did the shifter seem to come to life, using the hollow of her free hand to jab it in the chin. While it didn't do any terrible damage, it did stun the Titan long enough for her to free her arm and grab it by the neck. With a sickening splash of tearing flesh she ripped its throat open and shoved her hand inside, twisting its cervical spine out all the way to the nape and causing the head to roll off. The second Titan to get too close took a swing of her leg in the stomach, losing balance and slamming into the nearest tree from where Jean rushed over to slice its nape.

Like in a well rehearsed dance, the shifter made sure to either dismember or stun the Titans long enough for the others to finish them off. One long and tiring battle later, the carcasses were left to evaporate amidst the trees while the group gathered on the plateau where the female Titan had knelt onto the grass, the steam rising from her nape telling them the shifter had already come out.

The first thing they saw was a small figure walking out from behind the Titan body, wearing the dark green, hooded cape of the Survey Corps.

"I'm grateful for your help... Captain... Hange-san..." she said.

Even before she had pushed the hood back to reveal her face Levi had recognized her voice, which left him unable to keep up his usual aloof expression. By the time the girl had set her green eyes on them, Hange's half-horrified half-joyful expression mirrored Levi's.

"You... died..." he finally blurted out, instantly reliving the moment she had taken her final breath in his arms.

It was a strange feeling to know that one of his squad members was still alive, and he didn't really know whether to be happy or angry that she had let him believe she was dead for so long. Rather than speaking, the redhead walked over to them as if to get a better view of the young man.

"What happened to you... Captain?" she whispered, looking on the verge of crying as she traced her fingers over his scarred face.

"It's a long story..." Hange chimed in with a hesitant smile. "But man, am I glad to see you Natalie. Why don't we all sit down and talk? We've got a lot of catching up to do, right Levi?"

~ oOo ~

Night had already fallen by the time Hange and the others had finished telling her everything that had happened since she had officially died. So far the redhead had been staring pointedly into the fire once Hange had finished talking, mulling over all the information. A few times, however, she had subtly glanced at a certain spot a few feet away; there was no one there, yet she could swear they were being watched.

"Do you think there's still a chance to talk him out of it?" she eventually inquired, turning her emerald gaze upon Mikasa.

"I do." the brunette nodded, ignoring the others' more than reluctant glances.

"Still, you have to come with us." Hange intervened. "There's no way you can stay here; Eren will eventually find you and..."

"How did you survive?" Levi interrupted them, after having sat in silence until then. "I know you died, I was holding you as you were dying. I felt the life leaving your body, so how...?"

"I... did die on our way back, that day." Natalie replied hesitantly. "It was night when I dug myself out of my grave. I believe the Titan's power activated somehow during that time... but I can't explain how I came back. I don't even know if that's the explanation of what happened, or just something I made up in my head to try and make sense of it."

"So I was right..." Hange chimed in. "When your family accused the Survey Corps of stealing your body, Erwin launched a full investigation. We couldn't find anything, of course; the grave was dug up alright, and yet none of the things your parents buried you with was stolen. But something always bothered me about the whole issue. If someone had dug you up just to steal your body... why would they need it? And why did the casket look like it had been broken from the inside?"

At first Natalie fell silent, speaking up just when Hange had been about to open their mouth again.

"It... didn't even really feel like death... more like a very deep sleep. I saw a lot of things before I woke up. Most of them were jumbled and I couldn't make sense of it. But when I woke up I knew I had to leave the island. I can't even explain how I knew we were on an island, to begin with. I just knew I had to get away, as far as I could, before this power was stolen from me. It was like this strange force – like someone else's will, or someone else's fear – driving me, telling me I had to get away. It was easy enough to leave the Walls; then I somehow managed to make it to the harbor and hid nearby. I knew a ship had to arrive at some point, and when it did I snuck aboard and came to the mainland. I spent a few years roaming around, trying to learn as much as I could about this world while looking for a good place to keep out of sight. But it felt like it wasn't enough – I had to hide in the most secluded place I could find. Eventually I arrived here, and the villagers took me in."

"You've been living here ever since?" Hange blinked in surprise. "But the villagers seem to know of your Titan powers..."

"When the first Titans showed up around here, I used my gear to get rid of them. But one day I was careless and one of them got a hold of my leg. I would've been eaten, and yet I just knew I could use this power I was hiding from the world, to fight them. I used one of my blades to slice my palm open and used my Titan power to kill the others. I couldn't explain how I knew what to do... I just did. The villagers were terrified at first, but when they saw me emerging from the Titan's body they claimed I was a gift from God. They almost started to revere me as a goddess, before I begged them to stop."

"I could've told them you're no goddess..." Levi shook his head. "You're just a tiny ball of emotions."

To hear him describing her in the same way he had before made Natalie's chest tighten into that exact ball of mixed emotions he had mentioned. Though it brought a smile to her lips, it also filled her eyes with tears. She was glad that he didn't seem to be angry with her, but still felt incredibly ashamed that she hadn't tried contacting him before leaving the island.

"That's right. You don't seem to have changed that much since we last saw you. You're still taking care of everyone all the time." Hange interjected with a smile that soon faded into an earnest stare. "But now it's our turn to take care of you. We'll get you off the Continent and hopefully keep you hidden long enough to come up with some plan to deal with Eren."

"Is it...?"

"If you're about to say it's not a good idea to put others in danger, you couldn't be more wrong." Levi interrupted her. "You're the only thing Eren needs to destroy this world completely."

Seeing her shrinking into herself at his harsh words, he reached out to plop a hand onto her head. It was a gesture so familiar that it made him aware of how much he missed the simpler days, when they still believed there was nothing beyond their walls except Titans.

"But more than that, you're an important comrade that I failed to protect before. Now that I got a second chance, I won't fail again."

The silence that fell after his promise somehow felt easier for everyone, even for Natalie who nodded despite the mixture of feelings flooding her cheeks with tears.

~ oOo ~

"Alright, Levi... so I'm leaving you and Mikasa to take care of her and the villagers, while we bring transportation to move them." Hange stated for the umpteenth time that morning, sounding more anxious than Natalie had ever heard them. "Just... you know, make sure she eats properly and doesn't get injured and..."

"Yes, and then I'll change her diapers too... what are you, her mother?" Levi sighed, clearly annoyed to be lectured yet again on his duties. "Get going, before we all become Titan shit!"

"R-right..." the young Commander smiled awkwardly, before turning to the redhead and patting her shoulders. "We'll be back as soon as we can. You don't need to worry about a thing; Levi and Mikasa will take care of you, alright?"

"I know, Hange-san." Natalie nodded. "You guys just be careful out there, don't worry over me."

The Commander's exaggerated concern made her feel awkward, but at the same time it warmed her heart. With all said and done, she had terribly missed both Hange and Levi all those years. Though Hange stepped back with a nod, when it looked like they were about to hug the redhead Levi finally had enough and thrust his arm between them like a barrier.

"Just get going, you damn three-eyes." he frowned. "At this rate we won't get anything done, with you wasting time."

"I hope they'll be alright..." Natalie sighed, watching the group melting into the shadows of the forest.

"Hange's done a good job so far, despite acting like an idiot. Erwin didn't appoint them as his successor for no reason."

While he was doing a great job of masking it, as he usually did, Natalie could guess how much it hurt him to bring up the former Commander. He'd never admitted it, but she knew he had treasured his friendship with Erwin more than most other relations he had.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered.

At the same time she reached out hesitantly to grasp his hand, hoping it might offer him some semblance of comfort. Beyond any shame or guilt, it just pained her that she hadn't been there for him in his darkest moments. Maybe she had avoided a lot of trouble by leaving the island, but now it felt like a cowardly act. Like she hadn't been strong enough to bear the burden of her powers, like she had been too selfish to rely on others for help. And for a fleeting moment she wished that she could have gone back to do things differently.

"It doesn't matter... Hange's a good Commander, so have faith."

It wasn't his reply that startled the redhead, but the fact that before he had left her side she could have sworn he'd squeezed her fingers in his grasp. And yet it had been such an evanescent gesture, that she couldn't be entirely sure she hadn't simply imagined it.

"Weren't you going to show us to your house?" he called out, walking back towards the village.

Startled out of her daze, the redhead rushed to catch up to him and Mikasa who had followed the man, silent like a shadow.

"R-right! I'm sorry, I spaced out for a bit... also, Captain... I apologize if there's any dust anywhere. I haven't been in the village for the past week."

"Where do you go, then?" Mikasa inquired.

"Every now and then I need a break from everyone looking at me like I'm some miracle worker. So I spend most of my time in the forest, watching for Titans."

Upon reaching the cabin that the villagers had built for her near the outskirts, she led the two inside. While she was opening the windows to let some fresh air in, Levi glanced around at the cozy interior.

"You handle the carpets." he said to Mikasa, while removing the ODM gear from his waist. "Make sure they're properly whisked. If I see any dust coming out of them, you'll redo the entire thing."

"Understood." the brunette nodded.

She had long since learned to not argue with Levi when it came to cleaning, and so she too removed her gear before moving to roll up the carpets and carry them outside. While Natalie went to retrieve her cleaning supplies, the man sized up the house and made a mental plan of how to go about it in the most efficient, least time consuming way. Thus for the better part of the morning, while Mikasa was striking fear into the villagers with how she was abusing Natalie's carpets, the redhead had been scrubbing the floors.

'I guess some things never change...' she mused while she was taking a break, watching Levi as he washed the windows.

It was such a bittersweet feeling, where for a moment she was back in the Survey Corps with the rest of their squad. Even so, just having Levi there like that was a little piece of home for her.

"Are you done?"

His voice startled her and she realized she had been gawking at him for the past few minutes.

"A-almost, Captain..." she replied, turning her back to him and getting back to work to try and hide the shame burning in her cheeks, unaware that Levi was now the one watching her.

To think, after so many years, her eyes could still light up like that when she was looking at him. Maybe... it was time to come to terms with the fact that she had feelings for him. Hange and his squad had pestered him plenty about it, before Natalie's death, but he had vehemently denied it despite being aware of it even back then. And over the years the more he had remembered her, the more he had regretted being so stubborn even if he hadn't shared her feelings back then.

But now? Yes, it did feel like he had gotten a second chance and that seeing her again had stirred something in him. Maybe they could find a way to stop Eren and save her from being devoured, but to what end? She only had five years left, at best. Was there really any point to try and mend things now, especially when his past failure to protect her still hung heavily over him?

'If I can just keep you safe then that's enough...' he resolved.