The four rebels all sat on the backs of their horses. They were near the back of the whole formation. The bell violently rang above their heads as the gate started to open in front of them. The adrenaline pumped through their veins as they took off towards the gate. Once upon the other side they all looked up at the sky. The freedom that they felt engulfed their entire bodies. Farlon, Isobel and Ryder couldn't help but grin – ear to ear. The smallest tears welled up in Ryder's eyes as she felt happiness swirl around her body. Levi, on the other hand, looked towards his black haired companion and smiled. He made her mother a promise all those years ago and now that's finally completed. He looked as she continued to look up at the endless sky with that big goofy grin of hers before he shook his head and looked forward.

"Get that stupid grin off your face, Ryder. You look like a idiot." He commented. Her head snapped in his direction before she yelled,

"Hey!" Farlon and Isobel began to laugh. The four of them really did make it.

"Two 10-metre titans coming from behind!" The four looked behind them and saw the titans for the very first time. They had human like faces, but they all had these stupid grins on their faces. No clothes were worn, but they couldn't figure out if it was a boy or a girl. They didn't frighten them because they looked menacing – they were frightening because they had these dazed look in their eyes. The grins on their faces showed just how big their teeth were. They could eat all of them if they wanted to. To them – this was a game.

"Get ready for combat!" One of the leaders said. Three of the soldiers in front got their 3D Manoeuvre ready and shot upwards towards the titans. They watched as one of the titans were taken down and were impressed by their fast movements.

"Wow!"

"They're more impressive than the Military Police!" Farlon and Isobel voiced their excitement towards their new teammates. "They're here! There's two of them!"

"Stay on your course!" The four were going to comply with their order until they saw Levi fly past them on his horse.

"Let's go, Isobel!" Farlon yelled to his red haired friend. However, it was too late. Ryder had already turned her horse and headed for the second titan. Levi killed the titan that he was after in a matter of seconds and with ease. As he floated for those few seconds in the air he watched as Ryder jumped off of her horse and allowed her wires to grab onto the titan's shoulder. As his arm began to move, Levi felt his heart fall into his stomach – was the titan going to grab her? With ease, Ryder swung herself underneath the titans arms and gave herself enough momentum that when her wires released – she had already made it to the titan's neck and sliced it open. As the titan fell forward, she landed with it on the ground and walked off the edge of its head.

"Ryder! Why'd you have all the fun?" Isobel complained as the black haired girl ran back to her horse.

"Just wanted to kill one before you two have all the fun." She smiled back at her friend. Levi managed to catch up with his group and Farlon looked over at him.

"Did you see Ryder?" Farlon asked him. Levi looked over to his black haired friend with a small smirk on his face.

"I did. Looks like I won't have to worry so much about her." He said.

"Indeed, that was impressive, considering it was your first time. But you used too much gas. You need to be especially conservative out here." The four looked towards their target – Erwin Smith. Farlon was about to interject, but Levi raised his hand.

"You're expecting me to take priority of my equipment over the lives of my friends?" Levi asked.

"You're performing a lot of unnecessary movements. Are you beginning to have doubts?" Erwin said to Levi. Ryder watched as the two men glared at each other. "If you do, that'll be the death of you very soon." Then just like that, Erwin turned his back on the four friends and began to stride away on his horse. Levi's eyes continued to glare into the man's back.

"These cloaks aren't very durable in the rain." Ryder said to her two companions. Levi had left the group to go kill Erwin alone. Ryder, Farlon and Isobel were left alone.

"I know! My clothes feel so heavy now." Isobel complained. Ryder felt uneasy not going with Levi, but he insisted on going alone.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Farlon asked his friends.

"Of course! Levi-bro is the toughest guy I know!" Isobel smiled.

"As much as I don't like saying this in front of him…he can take care of himself, so I'm not too worried about him." Ryder smiled at her two friends. That's when she felt like she had to look at their faces. She needed to engrave their faces into her brain, so she could always see them. That's when that unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach began to stir.

That's when it happened so fast.

Screams.

People crying.

Horses running away.

Blood everywhere.

With a swipe of the titans hand – Ryder went flying towards the ground. The hard impact sent a sharp pain up her spine, but she still managed to sit up on her knees.

"Ryder!" She heard the familiar scream of Isobel. "You piece of shit!" That's when Ryder's body froze. She watched as the Titan took hold of Isobel and ripped her head clean off and tossed it off to the side. Except, Isobel's head rolled towards Ryder's knees. She looked down to see the face of the innocent girl that she loved as if she were her own. There was a look of horror on Isobel's face.

"I'll kill you!" Ryder's head snapped upwards and she saw Farlon move his way towards the titan. As he tried to go around it – it easily grabbed hold of him and placed his lower half in its mouth. That's when an ear piercing screamed escaped Ryder's mouth as she ran towards the titan. It looked at her before biting down onto Farlon and allowing his torso to fall out of its mouth. Ryder allowed her wires to grab onto its shoulders and pull her upwards. As one arm moved to grab her, she swung underneath it like she did with the previous titan, but this one used its other hand and grabbed her. It brought her close towards her face and Ryder's body froze. This was how she was going to die. She had accepted this fate because without Isobel and Farlon…she didn't know how to move on. She had let them die. Maybe if she was just a little faster they would have…then she began to drop towards the ground. The titans hand loosened its grip on her and she shimmied out of its fingers. She looked up and saw Levi. He moved with such speed that she couldn't keep up with him. She heard the screams and pain and hurt escape his mouth and he continued to attack the titan. Once he stood beside the dead titan, Ryder got up from her spot on the ground and slowly walked towards him.

"Levi…" His head snapped in her direction as he looked at her. Ryder's clothes were covered in blood. She was still alive. Levi couldn't believe that Ryder was still alive. He didn't say a word – he just ran towards her and wrapped his arms around her. She looked so scared as she looked at him before. Levi just wanted to take it all away. They stood there and cried together. They had just lost two of the most important people in their lives and they couldn't do anything about it. Their little family was now broken.

The rest of the Survey Corps came towards them, but they wouldn't let each other go. One of the girls came towards them and asked to check on Ryder since she was one of the only two who survived. Ryder nodded her head and obliged with going with her, but Levi held onto her hand.

"Levi…" He didn't looked up at her. He just continued to look at the ground. She turned back to the lady and asked if she could just be inspected later and the lady understood the situation and left the two alone.

"So, you two are the only survivors." Erwin began to speak to the pair. "How pathetic." Levi immediately let go of Ryder's hand and stormed towards Erwin and brought one of his blades out. He raised his blade, but Erwin took hold of it.

"I'm going to…kill you! That's why I'm here!" Levi yelled in Erwin's face. Erwin reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll and threw it onto the ground.

"These documents revealing Lobov's crimes are a fake. The real ones have likely reached Daris Zackley by now. Lobov is finished." Erwin explained.

"You knew everything from the start!" Levi was now frustrated. "You knew we were after you, and yet you-" One of Erwin's men grabbed onto Levi as Erwin took a step back. With the new information, Levi took a step backwards and when he was let go, he fell onto his knees. Ryder walked towards him and sat down beside him. She wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders and placed the other one of his chest.

"Don't. You'll regret it. If you begin to regret, you'll dull your future decisions and let others make your decisions for you. All that's left for you then is to die. Nobody can foretell the outcome. Each decision you make holds meaning only by affecting your next decision. We're going to continue the Expeditions. I expect you both to come with me." Erwin turned around and got onto his horse. It was almost as if he could read their minds, but Erwin knew what kind of thoughts were swirling around in their brains. They were probably the same thoughts that ran around his brain on his first Expedition. Levi and Ryder watched as Erwin's retreating body continued to fade. That's when it all clicked.

The ride back to HQ was a quiet one for Levi and Ryder. Ryder continuously checked on Levi from the corner of her eye. This was the time where she needed to be strong for him. Levi never looked at Ryder the whole journey, but he knew she was watching him. He could feel the worry radiating off of her. When they arrived back at HQ, Ryder followed Levi to his cabin. When they walked in there were already men inside.

"Get out." Ryder ordered the men.

"Who do you think you are?"

"Ya, this is a guy's cabin." Ryder glared at the men and watched as their backs straightened. If looks could kill – they would all be dead right now.

"Did I stutter? Get. Out." With a nod from their heads, the extra men left the cabin and shut the door behind them. Levi went and sat down on his bunk. His head hung low and his arms were limp in-between his legs. Ryder bent down in front of him and began to slowly take off his blood-covered clothes. She took off his cape and then undid his holster. She took off his boots and placed them neatly by the window, just how he liked it.

"What's that?" Ryder followed Levi's gaze until she realized he was looking at the silver feather pendant that was dangling from Isobel's necklace.

"It's the necklace I gave Isobel, remember?" Levi just continued to stare at it. She took the necklace off and placed it in his hands. She closed his fingers on top of the cold pendant. "I'm sorry." She whispered to him. Levi looked at Ryder to see that her head hung low. "Maybe if I was just a little faster. Maybe if I hadn't suggested that we go with you." Levi heard her voice crack. He placed his index finger under her chin and lifted her head up, so he could look at her eyes. She searched his eyes for a few seconds before tears began to well up in the corners and streamed down her face.

"It's not your fault." Levi said as he wiped away one of her tears. "I should've been more stern about you guys staying behind. If anyone's to blame then it's-"

"No!" She yelled in his face. "It's not your fault! We made the decision! You were right to go and try to complete our mission!" Levi was shocked by Ryder's outburst. He felt a sharp pain in his heart as he watched her cry in front of him and he didn't know what to do. He just wanted her to stop.

"Ryder…it's okay it's-"

"Hate me." She caught Levi off guard with her words. She stood up from her spot and balled her hands into fists. "Hate me! It's my fault! You weren't there! You didn't see it!" She yelled at him. Levi stood up and immediately grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her into his chest. She shook violently in his arms as she sobbed into his shirt. "Why did this happen? Why did they have to die? It should've been me!"

"Don't say that. I wouldn't know what to do if anything ever happened to you." Levi said in her ear.

"But I loved them so much, Levi. They were the kids that I always wanted." She sobbed into his chest. Levi knew how she felt. It was always Levi and Ryder against the world, but then Farlon came along. The two taught him everything they knew. Then Isobel showed up and it was like everything was complete, but now everything had changed.

"Make me a promise."

"Huh?" Ryder looked at Levi.

"Promise me that you'll always come back alive."

"Levi…"

"Promise me!" She saw the desperation on his face. She nodded her head as she looked at him.

"I promise." They stood there for a few seconds longer. Just looking at each other. The memories of the original four continued to fly across their vision. They were always taking in the other person's features. Every lash, to every crease, to how they blinked. "I love you." Ryder's words filled Levi's head. He almost felt lightheaded by her words. Ryder knew a long time ago that her heart belonged to the black haired boy in front of her, but the words just flew out. Maybe it was the fact she looked death right in the face today and no longer wanted to live with regret. "I'll never leave your side, Levi." Levi raised his right hand and caressed her cheek before he cupped it. He brought her face closer. The sides of their noses touched as they felt each other's breath on their lips. As their eyes closed, their lips met. Levi felt his heart flutter and ache at the same time. He had wanted to kiss Ryder for many years and now he finally did, but he wished the circumstances were different. Now he had let her entirely into his heart and he allowed her to rip it out of his chest and hold it in her hands. However, his happy thoughts began to fade as he thought about her never coming back to him. He knew that that would be the end of him. He wouldn't be able to recover. He would never find someone like her again.

As they parted from their first kiss they looked at each other. Ryder knew he was scared and she knew that he was never good with his words, so she just nodded her head. Levi kissed her forehead before she broke away from him and picked up his cloak from the ground. She turned on her heel and was heading for the door.

"I love you too." Her fingers grasped the doorknob before she turned around to look at him. The boy that she loved was now and man. He stood in the middle of the room and gazed at her.

"Me and you against the world, Levi." She said.

"Who else will do my laundry?" He remarked. She shook her head before opening up the door and taking her leave to do just that. His laundry.

This is the longest chapter I've posted for you guys, but I hope you all like it! Tell me if you do! Or if you're fangirling/fanboying? But this is the last chapter of this flashback! See you lovelies next Monday! :D