After Maria Fell…

The sky was overcast over Shiganshina that day, polar opposite to that strangely sunny day two years earlier. The weather had deceived us further than our own denial had; as if we would remain safe living in ignorance as we had been.

The heavy air in that area felt as if it was full of ghosts, those poor souls lost that day so rooted in ignorance that they didn't even know they were dead and gone. Every time we passed through that zone I felt as if we were surrounded by those lost souls, staring daggers at us as we passed through them unaware as ever.

Two long years hadn't subdued the stench of blood and death that surrounded this place. Every broken house, every dark rust colored stain in the dirt and each massive footprint in the earth carved this places history into it; never to be forgotten.

"Petra," I heard and looked up to see Gunther looking over his shoulder at me, his eyes seeing well through my distraction. "What's going on? You feel something?"

"It's as if…this place is…" I hesitated when we felt a rumble in the earth and I snapped out of it. "Never mind, it's nothing." I pushed it aside and jostled my horse to hasten its speed when there was a loud and unexpected explosion nearby.

In the street beside us, a large building collapsed on itself and a Titan seemed to emerge from the dust it kicked up; ugly as they all are. This one, however…had a massive blackened wound on its face...a burn?!

"Captain Levi-" Oluo began but Levi cut him off.

"Let's get beyond the wall, we'll talk about it then." He demanded sternly.

Just as we pass a massive collapsed hill of homes and debris; a loud familiar pop makes us each turn our heads to see…a long trail of red smoke in the air and just then…a voice reaches us.

"PLEASE, WAIT!" a woman and I can hear the sobs of a young girl behind her cries. "PLEASE, AT LEAST TAKE MY DAUGHTER!"

"MAMA, THEY'RE COMING!" the girl calls out as a 3-Meter-Titan begins to give chase.

The oblong shaped thing with sandy hair chases after them like a massive baby chasing a pet; it's glee far more sickening. I tense my hand around the reins to turn my horse when Levi's voice reaches me.

"Don't even think about it Petra," he warns.

I hesitate…but don't stop. I jerk my horse harshly and pull off from the group and start towards the mother and child.

"PETRA, DAMN IT!" he yells as he pulls away from the group and follows; yelling orders over his shoulder. "Eld, take the lead; keep them headed for the wall. If we don't make it back, leave us." He demands and while Eld doesn't hesitate to do as ordered, I don't doubt he's unsure of that last sentence.

Levi pulls up beside me on his horse and prepares to engage as I continue to race towards them. "Did you suddenly forget how to follow orders?"

"No, but it seems like I'm getting quicker on my feet than you. Can you cut it down?" I ask and he scoffs before vanishing without so much as a hiss from his Omni-Directional Maneuvering Gear.

I continue to hasten my horse as the Titan continues its pursuit of them. Fortunately, I spy a flash of green above me as Levi swoops in and with a loud wet slice overhead; the 3-Meter falls to its right and into a massive pile of debris. It's body already steaming as it fades away to nothing and I finally manage to reach the mother who's stopped and is now holding and hushing her frightened child.

The woman is skinny, underfed but not sickly. Her face was pretty but her eyes and cheeks were sunken in from stress and lack of sleep. As soon as I get close enough to reach for her hand, she pushes her child up to me and I stutter in my actions as I quickly grasp the child and hold her close.

She's small but maybe 12, long (h/c) hair and tear streaks down her dirty, cherub face. Her eyes were closed as she sobbed quietly and I pet her long hair as the mother caught her breath.

"Thank you, I cannot even begin to say my thanks." She says when Levi arrives beside me, landing smoothly and changing his blades as his horse trots over to us. "Levi?!" she gasps.

"What?" his grey eyes widen as if surprised; which was rarer than him smiling.

"Let's get out of here and I'll explain." The woman says quickly when another loud explosion sets her exhausted face into one of sheer horror as she turns to see the source of the explosion.

This time it's at least a 6-Meter-Titan and it is leaping from building to destroyed building; straight toward us! I lower the child in front of me and she wraps her arms tight around my hips. "Hold on tight," I instruct as the woman mounts the back of my horse and with Levi leading the way, we manage to spy the rear of our group. I'm a little concerned since this group was supposed to be at the wall by now…they were still rather close to where we'd separated from them.

As I contemplate why they were still so close, I saw the reason; a 5-Meter-Abnormal that was running back and forth and smashing into buildings all around them, as if it were trying to crush them with the damage. Just as quickly as I spotted two other Titan corpses withering away; Gunther slices the nape of its neck in a swift motion before landing easily back on his horse.

By the time we reach the group, they're resuming their speed and we continue to rush towards Wall Rose just as a loud and undeniable rumbling picks up all around us! How many now? My breath catches in my throat as the girl squeezes my ribs and screams.

There are at least four 10-Meter-Titans giving chase to us from all directions and it was frightening when Levi's blades unsheathing brought my attention to him ahead of me.

"Listen up," his voice rises above all the noise; calling us to attention. "Things are getting drastic, prepare to engage. Petra, you keep going and don't look back." He orders and I bite my lip when I feel a jerk against my shoulder.

"No, do NOT engage! Levi…" there's a long pause as he looks back at her and is visibly angered by her ignoring his authority. "If you or anyone in this group try to turn around…you'll all die." There's another long pause as she grabs her daughters clenched hands against my back and whispers against my head. "Take care of her,"

Before I can react, she's jumped off my horse and has started running back towards the Titans chasing us down.

"MAMA!" The girl screams and tries to follow but I hold onto her tightly, keeping her close despite her struggles. "PLEASE, MAMA! DON'T LEAVE ME TOO!" she begs as her tears warm my belly but I just make my horse speed up; leaving the echoing voice behind us.

"YOU MONSTERS WANT SOME MEAT, COME AND GET IT!" her voice bounced off the buildings and into the sky as we felt the rumbles lessen.

Even Levi couldn't keep from turning his head back to see what had just occurred…it was a horrid image but something…I will never forget for as long as I live.

The woman had been picked up by a titan but a small explosion made it pull it's face away from a blast of different colored smoke. She fired round after round off directly into the open eyes of the Titans, keeping them at bay long enough for her to jump from their grip and to a nearby roof.

As we got to the gate; the last thing I saw was her getting snatched up and then a massive cloud of (f/c) smoke exploded from its hand…where she'd been and with that last explosion of color…I couldn't see exactly what befell her but that might be for the best. I've already got a world of nightmares.

The girl pushed away from me and climbed down from my horse, screaming as she ran over to the closed gate and placed her hands against it. She stood there silently for a moment, chilling silence until she let her arms fall limp at her sides and she looked up at us.

Poor thing just lost her mother and now she's surrounded by the strangers that left her to die. Her (e/c) eyes stared up at us, tears dripping from her round cheeks as her whole world fell apart before our eyes.

"I…I can't feel…Mama…anymore…" she says and wraps her arms around her chest; as if trying to hold herself together.

Levi breaks from us and walks up to the girl, he kneels down in front of her. He holds her tiny gaze without falter and I hold my breath as he opens his arms to her. She suddenly begins to sob again and throws herself against his chest, clinging to him as he wraps her in his cloak and holds her near.

A new sense of dread filled the area as we could do nothing but listen to the cries of a now orphaned child. This new development however did not deafen us to the sound of Erwin clearing his throat as he approached us.

He made to speak but upon seeing Levi coddling the little girl in his arms, he fell silent and simply motioned for us to follow him. We did, Levi almost immediately falling into place behind Erwin and remounting his horse, not making any attempt to hide the girl he held to his chest.

We road into the town, making our way towards home while the girl still clung to Levi; drawing murmurs and jeers alike from the people who gaze upon us. People wondered where she came from and who she was but I spotted three little wide-eyed children looking up at us amide the survivors of Shiganshina.

The headquarters wasn't necessarily a warm and lively place at this point of our day but I felt restless; pacing back and forth beside the office where Levi was. The girl still in his arms and sniffling from time to time, clutching a tissue to her nose as Levi paced back and forth but in more of a swaying rhythm, rocking her softly as he went. He whispered to her quietly, seeming to soothe her as her puffy little eyes began to grow heavy.

I turned at the sound of someone approaching and saw Erwin carrying a tray of coffee, looking a little surprised when he peeked into the room.

"Is she still here?"

"Yes sir, she hasn't let go of Levi since Wall Rose. She threw a fit when we tried to give her to a nurse so he could change. I'm not sure if he's tolerating her or he's just too frustrated to say anything. I'll admit, it's kind of cut to see him rocking her to sleep. Like a father or a big brother of sorts." I say aloud and Erwin quirks an eyebrow at me before I straighten up. "But I do have news…the sentries confirm her mothers passing.

Erwin looked into the room and I followed his eyes to see that Levi had sat down on the couch and was carefully rocking back and forth, her eyes closed but the sniffles seemed to keep her awake.

"Her mother ensured her child's safety but also yours. Distracting that many Titans for the sake of her child…mothers are truly magnificent." He muses, a thoughtful look coming to his eyes when the tiniest of whining reaches us and we both look into the room again.

Levi has laid the girl down on the couch now, removing his hands from her and covered her little body with his jacket before turning and walking towards us. He lets out a solemn sigh before closing the door behind him.

"Finally, asleep," he mumbles, rubbing his neck and leaning on the doorframe.

"You did great with her Levi; she really seems to like you." I say, unable to hide my sly smile; which he quickly answers with a glare.

"She's not a pet, we can't keep her."

"He's right Petra," Erwin agrees, making me feel a little singled out right now. "This child can't stay with us. Not only do we not have the time to raise her up, as much as I can see that you want to; you don't have the space for her."

I felt my chest tighten at the idea of sending her off and I can't keep my voice low. "What? Are we just going to set her loose in the streets and wish her luck?! We're going to find a place for her, at least; right?!"

"I'm not sure we can Petra," I hear more voices and turn to see Eld and Oluo approaching, Oluo being the speaker. "The orphanages are brimming with children that lost their parents. We can't go door to door asking if someone will take her."'

"We can't just leave her somewhere, that's heartless! Levi," I turn to him and he looks at me; again a little surprised looking that I'm attempting to plead with him. "You can't look at her and tell me you don't feel a sense of responsibility for that girl! I can't begin to imagine what she's probably been through up to today!" I shouted when Erwin set down the coffee.

"That's true…I mean, where did they even come from?"

"Shiganshina," a little voice peeped and we all looked down to see the girl standing beside the door; barely cracked with Levi's jacket over her tiny shoulders.

Her eyes were still puffy and red but at least she wasn't crying anymore…poor little thing looked exhausted.

"You're from…Shiganshina?" Erwin asks slowly and the girl nods.

"Mama hid us when the Titans came." She says slowly then a haze seems to come over her eyes and she lets out a deep breath before looking back up at Levi. "Mama is dead…isn't she?"

There's a moment where I look up at the others; hoping someone else can break it to her that she's all alone and we can't look after her. Levi however, knelt down and put a hand on her little shoulder.

"Yes, she died to protect you." He says evenly and she nods, trying not to start crying again.

"Ok…can I stay here with you? Just for tonight?" she asks and we're all taken aback at first. "I heard what you all said…I just…want one night to rest. Please? I'll clean up after myself, I promise." She offers and Levi lowers his head; defeated.

"I think she just said the magic words," Oluo whispers and Gunther holds in laughter while Levi pats her head and stands up.

"Let's slow down a moment, Ok. It's still the middle of the day…so let's start simple." He offers his hand to the tiny girl and she stares up at him. "My name is Levi, what is your name?"

She puts her tiny hand in his and shakes his hand, trying to be firm and for a split second…her eyes seemed to clear of their sorrow. "(f/n), my name is (f/n) (l/n)."