The grey-eyed boy sat across from his royal blue-eyed friend. Levi was never phased by anything. He was always calm and collected, but he could feel the aggravated energy that Ryder was radiating. Through the corner of his eye he saw the way she stared out of the carriage window. He always imagined that she would have this look of wonder and amazement when she first stepped above from underground, but instead her face was stone cold. There was no smile, no wonder, no amazement.

The carriage stopped and Farlan and Isabel looked at Levi for instruction, but he continued to look at Ryder through the corner of his eye. The door of the carriage was ripped open by the man who pushed Levi onto the ground. Farlan and Isabel exited the carriage first and Ryder followed. As Levi walked behind her he continued to examine her back. She seemed tensed and Levi knew why, but he couldn't understand why she would be mad at him for making his decision. He was being considerate. She was the one who always told him that he needs to be more considerate and thoughtful and the one time he did she gets upset. He was just doing what was right. He was just trying to keep the promise he made to her mom.

"Here! Put these on." Articles of clothing were thrown at the four. The soldier grimaced as he walked past the four and out the door.

"Can you believe we're here?" Isabel asked as she grabbed her uniform.

"They don't seem to like us very much." Ryder commented as she picked up her uniform and went to a corner of the room.

"Well they're the ones who want us, so they should be treating us a little nicer." Farlan commented.

"If we all quickly change in a corner then we will all get the privacy we need." Ryder suggested.

"Says the one who has a bad habit of walking around half-dressed." Farlan laughed. Ryder shook her head and continued to strip off her dirty clothes and put on her new ones. The uniform was slightly tighter than she imagined, but it was flexible enough to move in. She turned around as the other three turned around also.

"Let's get a move on, shall we?" Ryder suggested. Farlan opened up the door and the soldier was waiting for the four.

"Good. Now it's time for you all to meet everyone." Farlan left the room, followed by Isabel. Ryder was about to leave the room when she felt a familiar hand grab onto her arm.

"Stop this." Was the only thing Levi said to Ryder. She pulled her arm free of his grasp.

"Maybe when you stop making decisions for me." She spat back at him and walked out of the door. The exchange was quick, but it still managed to hit Levi in a special place, but not like anyone would have noticed since he always has the same bored expression on his face.

"Attention, all! From today, these four will be fighting alongside you all! Introduce yourselves!" The four looked over the new comrades they would have to get to know due to training and expeditions.

"The name's Levi." Levi introduced himself to the group of people in front of them. People were surprised at how bored he sounded and by the blunt expression on his face.

"Levi…the first thing you'll need is some goddamn discipline. Next!"

"I'm Isabel Magnolia! Nice ta meetcha!" Isabel excitedly introduced herself.

"My name is Farlan Church."

"I'm Ryder Walker."

"Flagon, these three will be assigned to your squad. Look after them."

"M-My squad, sir?" Flagon looked scared and surprised. His blonde hair looked as if it was about to stand on his head from the shock.

"Are you dissatisfied?"

"N-No. But shouldn't Erwin…"

"Erwin is tasked with the soldiers' formation. The new recruits will be your responsibility. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"These are the barracks." Flagon stated as they walked into an empty rook with bunk beds.

"There are quite a few." Farlan said as he walked into the room.

"Yay! We're all in the same room!" Isabel yelled as she entered the room.

"Women have a separate section." Flagon said to the red haired girl.

"What? But I wanna stay here!" Isabel said.

"Isabel, we can't, but don't worry! We'll have much more fun with just the girls." Ryder suggested to her younger friend.

"You two men will sleep here." Levi walked over to the bed and placed his hand underneath the top bunk. He felt the crust from the wood in his hand. "You lot have been living in the dumps underground, but do try to keep this place clean." Levi turned around and gave Flagon a glare.

"Huh?" Levi approached Flagon.

"Wh-What's with that look?" Flagon stuttered as Levi stood in front of him. Little did that man know, Levi was a clean freak and the barracks were not up to his standards of cleanliness. "How dare you approach a superior officer with that attitude-"

"Sorry! Got it. We'll try to keep the place clean." Farlan shot himself in front of Levi and apologized on his behalf. He placed his right hand over his heart in his respectable stance.

"You'll begin training first thing tomorrow, got it?" He turned around and made his way to the door before saying, "Your hand is upside down." Farlan quickly fixed his hand before Flagon left the room.

"Don't pull anymore stunts like that, Levi! We've got enough eyes on us already." Farlan scolded his partner.

"Did you not hear what the piece of shit was spouting out of his piece of shit mouth?" Levi asked Farlan as he wiped his hand with his cloth.

"We weren't just caught by accident, you know." Farlan said.

"He does have a point." The three individuals looked at Ryder as she spoke. "We can't have anymore unnecessary attention on ourselves or it will be harder for us to get out job done."

"Yeah, I know." Levi said.

The four had an interesting task on their hands – obtain a document which is in the possession of Erwin Smith and to kill the Survey Corps' squad leader, Erwin Smith.

Ryder sat up against the tree that was close to the barracks. She needed some time alone, so she could reflect on what had happened. Even though she was prepared for this day it still took her by surprise. This was all so new to her and she didn't know what to properly think of the situation that they're now in. Ryder saw a familiar figure walk towards her. Levi silently sat down beside her against the tree.

"Why are you here?" She asked him.

"Do I need a reason?"

"Yes." He didn't respond. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the other persons company, but at the same time Ryder wanted to reach over to him and slap him across his face.

"You shouldn't be so childish." He finally said. Ryder rolled her eyes before turning to face him.

"Me? You're the one who still thinks he can make decisions for me." She spat at him.

"Well if I didn't make the decision about you not climbing up the side of a building you probably would have fallen and broken your legs."

"That was years ago!" She groaned. Levi didn't make eye contact with her. Ryder continued to stare at her friend, but he just ignored her gaze. "You just shouldn't have undermined me like that." Levi still didn't look at her. "I am capable of making my own decisions, you know?"

"Promises."

"Huh?"

"Do you know why I said that you shouldn't join the Survey Corps?" Levi finally turned his head to look at the magnificent girl in front of him. The girl that was so independent and strong and stubborn and free-willed – the girl that he admired. "Your mom made me promise to make sure you got to the see the sky. She made me promise that I would get you up here."

"And you did."

"But having you join the Survey Corps was not what your mom would have wanted. She would not have approved." Ryder didn't know what to say at that moment. She stared at him while she processed the information in her head.

"Well my mother's dead now and it's all thanks to me, so I'm pretty sure she doesn't really care at this moment in time." Ryder said.

"She did not die because of you-"

"She did! Because of my reckless behaviour and being a part of a gang – your gang – she died. They wanted to hurt me and they did."

"You gave your mom a much better life than she had before."

"That's what Farlan said to me, but I don't know. I gave her a life filled with worry and stress. She would have been better off if I wasn't born." Levi didn't say anything. He just stared at the girl in front of him, the girl that looked so weak and fragile. Her head hung low as the thought of her mothers recent passing went through her mind. Levi instinctively reached over and placed his hand on hers.

"Don't live with regret, Ryder. It will destroy you." Ryder looked at him and simple nodded her head. She took in a deep breath before standing up and looking back at him.

"I'm going to go to sleep, I'll see you tomorrow." She quietly said. "Oh, Levi?"

"Hm?" She turned around and smiled at him.

"Thank you for keeping my mother's promise." She stated before turning around and leaving. Levi just simply sighed and looked up at the night sky. He saw all the stars scattered across the sky and it looked amazing to him, but as he watched Ryder leave he shook his head. She couldn't have been more wrong about her mother. She gave her mother stability and love and brought people into her life that had protected her. Ryder was a blessing to her mother.

Ryder saved her mother.

Ryder saved a lot of people.

Even though it's my birthday today...I still wanted to post a chapter for you all! Are you guys liking the flashbacks right now?!