Blindsided PART II

Levi's POV:

I woke up some time around six the next morning, groggy from yet another shitty night's sleep. Most mornings I was clearer in the head but today, I felt like I was underwater. I wasn't in the mood for another fucking rough start. I debated staying in bed, remembering Uma grumbling yesterday about it being leave time and needing rest, or some sort of bullshit. Just before thinking she might have had a point, I wiped a hand over my face and forced myself to get up. After making my bed, I threw some clothes on, already feeling more awake.

Stepping out of my quarters, I headed down the hallway towards the mess hall to get some breakfast. Coming upon the door to Uma's room, I slowed to a stop and stared at the dark wood and considered whether or not I should wake her up. My hand got as far as the door handle before I forced myself to pull away and continue my walk down the hall. I don't know why I decided to let her sleep- maybe because waking her up seemed so pointless.

I made tea for breakfast again. The smell must have coaxed Uma out of bed because five minutes after I set it out on the table, she poked her head into the room. So much for letting her sleep, I thought.

"Good morning, Heichou," she greeted somberly, before rubbing her large, tired eyes. Looking at her now, you'd never guess what a tough case she was.

Stepping through the large doorway, she padded over to the table. I noticed her hair was slightly mussed from sleeping on it but her clothes were clean and crisp, so I didn't reprimand her. She must have had a rough night too.

Reaching for the pot of tea I made, she poured two cups, one of which she gently pushed towards me. Had she really just poured my tea? What was she my wife? Those weren't the words that came out of my mouth, though. For the first time in a long time, I was tongue-tied. Odd that it was over something so stupid. I could feel my face heating up against my will as I took the cup from her and sat down.

I watched her carefully as she poured some milk in her tea like I had showed her yesterday and quietly stirred it. At least she wasn't just bullshitting me when she told me she liked it. It pissed me off when people did things just to be polite. Uma seemed like the type who was prone to speaking her mind, though. I did get some satisfaction over turning her on to tea. The less I had to smell that disgusting sludge she and Petra called coffee, the better. The only thing it was good for was to make you want to shit.

"There was a storm last night," Uma commented, her eyes downcast as she held her cup close to her for warmth. It was almost like she was trying to leech what little comfort it gave. What the hell was wrong with her? She really seemed off, like she was melancholy or something.

Tearing her eyes away from her plain biscuit, she asked, "How did you sleep?"

"Like shit," I answered honestly.

"Yeah," Uma agreed, nodding and softly tracing a finger over the rim of her cup.

She looked at me for a silent moment, those stormy blue eyes searching mine, before drawing her attention back to her breakfast. Did she want to say something? I wasn't very good with dealing with shit like this. But that raw somberness nagged at me and I knew I had to say something to shake this strange feeling it gave me.

"I want us to run the training course today. I have some new maneuvers I want to start testing."

"Alright," Uma nodded, not seeming to have an opinion either way. This depressed mood she was in just had to fucking stop. It was disturbing.

"Get your gear on after you're done eating and meet me at the edge of the training forest at eight."

Not wanting to stick around for more of her moping, I threw back the rest of my tea and headed out. Shit if I knew what was wrong with her, but I didn't like seeing her like that.

TITANTITANTITANTITANTITAN

Uma came walking up to me through the grassy field, the weight of her gear sounding with every step. She had her hair pulled back halfway, the soft breeze catching the unbound strands as she moved. Franc thought her long hair made her look like a princess, but I always thought it made her look wild. There was something about the freeness of it that showed how untamed she really was.

Once she reached my side, I ignored the fact that she still had that somber attitude and began explaining how the training exercise was going to go.

My theory was that if we combined our individual strengths using our 3DMG gear, we could develop new techniques. Improvising by playing off one another could possibly make our strikes quicker and more effective. The idea had been rolling around in my head ever since I had chased her through the training grounds. However, we'd have to be perfectly in synch with one another otherwise, the whole plan would go to shit.

"We're going to have to work as a team, which isn't something you or I do well." I said, having explained my plan to her. This wasn't a statement it was a fact. The two of us preferred to engage in solo combat and rarely needed assists. This training was going to be good for us regardless if it worked or not.

"You think you're up for this?" I asked, flatly.

Uma's brow furrowed slightly at my question.

"Yes," she replied testily, basically saying 'why wouldn't I?'

I had to hold back a smirk, seeing that I stirred up that fire in her a bit. It was better than seeing her fucking pout, anyway.

"Good. Then let's get started." I said, walking into the woods. It took a few steps until I could hear Uma begin to follow me. This was either going to go really well or really shitty.

AN: REVIEW FAVOR FOLLOW! I'm so sorry about the slow updates, I feel like the Yanna Taboso of Fanfiction lol (super slow). There's a lot more I have written (I promise) but I thought I'd send this out now because it has been a month :/ Anyways, thank you so much everyone for your support and for being fans of my story! It really means so much to me. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Levi's going to have to deal with emotional business pretty soon lol so let's look forward to seeing how he handles it!