"How is the cooking going?" I asked Rose – the lady who was in charge of cooking the feast for all the troops tonight. We were all getting ready to leave and the council thought that it would be a nice treat to feed all the troops with a well-deserved meal.

"Everything is running on schedule! We'll be ready to serve everyone on time – Hey! Betty! I told you to stir the leaves in after!" Rose yelled to another lady that was behind me. I heard her apologize before retreating to where she had come from before. "Sorry about that, you have to have eyes in the back of your head when working with other people."

"Oh Rose, I empathize with you – I truly do." I smiled at the kind lady in front of me. Rose had curly red hair that was always cut short, so it was never in her way when she was cooking. She was smaller than me and was of a plump body shape, but it just made her that much more huggable. "Since everything is working perfectly I'll take my leave and I'll be back when everyone has to eat."

"Before you leave, Ryder." Rose turned around and went shuffling through some of the small boxes that were on the shelf behind her. After an excited squeal escaped her lips she turned around and handed me a small box. With a nod of her head, I opened it and was met with two small pastries. They were round and could fit in the palm of my hand. They had a flat surface, so a beautiful red strawberry could rest on the white fluffy cream underneath it.

"Rose, why did-"

"Just thought I'd make something a little special for you before you go. The second one is for that manly friend of yours that always follows you around." Rose explained. I laughed when she described Levi as manly. "Where is he anyways?"

"He's sorting out a few last minute details. I'll make sure to give this to him." I told her.

"Even if you ate both – I wouldn't judge you. My cooking is amazing." I laughed at Roses' blatant modesty before thanking her and leaving to go back to where Levi was. I carried the small box in my hands as I made my way into the building and up the familiar stairs. When I arrived at the third door on my left I stopped and knocked. There was no answer, but I knew that he was in there, so I opened up the door and walked inside.

"I didn't say you could come in." The familiar grey-eyed man told me as he grabbed his shirt from his bed – inspecting to see if this was the one he wanted to wear tonight. I closed the door behind me and walked over to his bed.

"You walk in on me all the time." I replied as I sat down on his bed. Levi looked at me through the corner of his eye and I knew to take off my shoes before placing my feet on his bed. Once Levi was satisfied with my shoes on the floor and my legs crossed, he looked back at his shirt. I shook my head and placed the small box beside me before reaching over and grabbing the shirt out of his hands.

"Why are you being annoying today?" Levi asked me as he crossed his arms over his bare chest. My outward appearance looked as if I wasn't fazed by the fact that Levi was standing in front of me half naked, but inside I could feel the butterflies in the pit of my stomach. My face began to heat up as my gaze lingered on his chiselled body just a little longer than it should have. His arms were defined by the muscle that he gained over the past few years being a part of the Survey Corps. I mentally slapped myself, so I could remember how to speak.

"I want you to wear the other one." I instructed him.

"I didn't know you were my fashion consultant." Levi sighed as he went over to his drawers and pulled out a long black-sleeved shirt – the exact one I wanted him to wear.

"It's going to get chilly when we leave to go grab some food, so I just want to make sure you're warm." I explained to him. I placed his shirt at the bottom of his bed as he slipped his long-sleeved one over his head. With a single glare from Levi, I picked up his shirt and folded it nicely, so he could place it back in his drawers.

"What's in the box?" Levi asked me when he sat down next to me on his bed. I grabbed the little box and opened it, so he could see the pastries.

"Rose made us these for some reason. You should be pleased that I didn't eat them before I got here." I told him.

"I'm surprised that you didn't." He joked. I nudged his shoulder before handing him his pastry. We sat there in silence as we ate the pastry – allowing our taste buds to fully appreciate the pastry that was made.

"Rose said that you're manly." I informed Levi of what Rose had told me earlier on.

"I am." He said confidently. I laughed as I handed Levi the box, so he could break it down and place it with the rest of his garbage.

"You're a lot of things, but can I really say manly is one of them?" I joked as I stood up from his bed and put my shoes back on my feet.

"Lying isn't one of your best qualities." Levi said as I stuck my tongue out at him. We exited his bedroom and began to make our way down the hall. We were passing by an open door when I stopped and looked inside. Erwin was sitting on a chair while he looked over a paper in his hand.

"Erwin, are you coming with us for dinner?" I asked the blonde. He looked away from his paper, so he could answer my question.

"I'll eat later. I'm almost done this." Erwin said as he smiled at the two of us. We both nodded our heads as we continued to walk down the hall. I looked at Levi and saw that his jaw was clenched due to Erwin's answer. After Levi and Erwin's exchange, Levi was noticeably more on edge. I instinctively wrapped my right arm around his left and gave it a squeeze. I could feel Levi's gaze bare into the side of my head, but he knew that I was just giving his reassurance. This was Erwin's decision – not ours.

As we got closer to the building where everyone was eating our eardrums were filled with loud cheering. Levi and I shared a glance of confusion as we walked closer to the front door. We opened it to see that all the troops were circled around a pair that was apparently fighting.

"Come on Jean!"

"Eren, use your powers!" I sighed as I realized that the pair that was fighting was Jean and Eren – again. Levi and I pushed our way through the crowd before we saw the two. I grabbed Jean by the back of his collar and pulled him backwards before turning around and kneeing him in his gut. Levi took this opportunity to kick Eren in his gut.

"All of you are a little too excited, so that's the end of the night." I ordered the troops. "Everyone go to bed."

"Clean-up before you leave." Levi added before the two of us walked away and into the kitchen, so we could grab a plate of food. While the troops were cleaning the main hall, Levi and I decided to go sit in one of the empty halls beside this one. We sat up against the wall and began to eat our food.

"Ow." Eren's voice was heard since the door was open into the street. "It's odd for me to say this, but shouldn't everyone treat me a bit better? Now everyone just watches and thinks, 'Well, he'll recover right away anyways'. That's a bit too much, isn't it?"

"You started it." The voice of reason, Mikasa, chimed in.

"But, looks like you got your energy back." Armin, the realistic one, was heard. "I'm glad we were able to see the instructor again."

"I…regardless…I will finish what I need to do." Eren stated. "But really, I do feel more relaxed. Before, all I could think of were things I was powerless to change. Like I wasn't strong like Mikasa. I even resented it. Thinking of why I couldn't become like Mikasa and Levi…and that I was like trash. But even if you're as strong as the captain or Mikasa, you can't do it all on your own. Which is why we're all looking for things that we can do. And if we combine all those together then we're strong beyond measure. Which is why all people in this world are different. For times like this, right?"

"Yeah…that must be why." Armin solemnly said. It was quiet between the three for a few seconds before Mikasa spoke,

"After we've taken wall Maria and beaten back all our enemies can we…really go back to those times?" Mikasa was making reference to their time before the Titans invaded their district and completely changed their lives forever. I looked over at Levi. We were two people that understood how those three were feeling. After everything that's happened – would we really be able to live normal lives again?

"We can." Eren sounded as hopeful as ever. "But there's no way to go back entirely. Which is why we have to make them pay."

"Yeah…"

"But that's not all." Armin began. "There's the ocean too. A great sea of salt that merchant's wouldn't be able to exhaust even if they spent their whole lives trying. There's more beyond the walls than Titans. Flaming water. Frozen lands. Fields of sand. I joined the Survey Corps because I wanted to see them."

"Ah…that's why." A gasp escaped Armin's lips as he began to shout,

"That's it! Let's go to the ocean! It's water until the end of the horizon! And even fish that can only live in the ocean! Eren, you still have doubts, don't you? It has to exist! Let's go see it!"

"There's no helping you. Then we'll just have to see it." Eren told his best friend.

"So we're agreed? We're going to go see it?" Armin asked.

"Yes we're going to go see it!" Eren said.

"But before we can go see the ocean, we have to get past the walls." Mikasa added.

"And we will, Mikasa. We'll take back Wall Maria and we'll just be another step closer." Eren said.

"Hey, you three! Let's head back to our rooms before Captain Levi comes back!" Connie's voiced chimed in.

"And Ryder. Ugh…I thought I was about to throw-up when she kneed me." Jean's voice was heard. I stifled a laugh when I heard his comment. I was pleased that he didn't allow his food to make its way onto my clothes.

"I don't know man, Ryder can come near me any day of the week." Connie added again.

"Pork can come near me any day of the week." Sasha's voice ringed in as well.

"Sasha, you're disgusting. We need to knock some sense into you." Jean said.

"Come on then, let's make a move, so no one gets hurt again." Armin laughed.

"Unless Ryder comes near Connie." Jean teased his friend.

"We didn't even know you liked her!" Armin said.

"How can none of you guys not like her? I'm pretty sure every man wants to be Levi just so they can be near her all the time and have her all over them." Connie defended his crush on me. We waited for the group of friend's to disappear before Levi and I stood up form our spots. A laugh erupted from my lips as I grabbed my plate.

"I never knew that Connie liked me that much." Levi and I made our way back to the kitchen, so we could put the plates back.

"I think he'd really enjoy extra drills." Levi commented. I laughed at Levi's jealousy. When my laughter died down I began to think about the excitement and the hope that came out of Armin's voice. I remembered when Isobel and I would speak like that too each other. Or how I would always tell Levi that when we reached the surface world we'd be able to see the sky properly. Those three reminded me of our makeshift family.

"Levi."

"Hm?" I knew Levi was looking at me as I placed my plate down on the counter.

"I want to see the ocean too." I confessed to him. Levi stayed silent for a few seconds. He was probably taking in what I had just said since I had never mentioned any interest in seeing the ocean prior to this moment. I saw Levi reach for my hand as he held it. I looked at him with a shocked expression.

"We'll see the ocean, Ryder."

I'M SORRY IT'S LATE! This is the first day of second term for me, so...ANYWAYS, let me know what you think!