Currents - RivaMika Week, Day 5

This story is a fragment (cca 1800 words) of a much bigger piece. Maybe one day, after the manga is over, I'll tackle it. For now, enjoy this part. There are mentions of violence, on par with the canon.

Prompt: Nutty

"We cannot be sure it'll work."

"We know."

"The risks you face are impossible to predict."

"We know."

"We're asking a lot from you..."

A long beat of silence and then...

"Is there any other choice?"

"The meeting place is Shiganshina District, the first Saturday of October. Make sure you both make it."

The rain beat hard on Levi's head. There was a loud noise to the left and his head turned automatically towards the sound.

"That was a noise round!" Farlan shouted over the sharp staccato of rain. "It could be someone from our squad. It looks like it's not far off. We can probably catch up with everyone, but- Levi?"

Farlan and Isabel both looked to him to make the decision. The last time he had been here, the last time he had made the choice, it had been a wrong one and cost him too much. He was smarter now, better informed and if it was cheating to use his knowledge of things to come then he would cheat.

"Change of plans!" he stated loudly, for his own benefit as well as theirs. "We're going to help out the rest of the squad, wait for this damn rain to pass."

"But the documents-"

"We're giving up on that."

"What?"

"We're already on the surface, with a citizenship granted by military. We don't need Lobov. I'll make another deal with Erwin, make sure you two can walk away-"

"Bro!" Isabel brought her horse closer to his. "You want to help the Survey Corps?"

"They need all the help they can get."

He wasn't sure why both of them were smiling. There was a curious look in Farlan's eyes, probably questioning what had brought on this change of heart but he wasn't asking anything.

"It'll be nice to be heroes for once," was all he said. "And we're not walking away, Levi. If you're staying, so are we."

Levi wanted to protest, point out the dangers and get them as far away as possible, for their own sake. But it wasn't his choice to make, it was theirs. Besides, he would be with them this time. He would make sure they were protected.

"Let's go."

The sharp prick in the skin of her right forearm made Mikasa let out a pained protest.

"You're holding up well, Mikasa," her mother soothed her as she bandaged her forearm. "This brand must be passed down from generation to generation in our family. When you have a child, you'll bequeath it to him or her."

Mikasa remembered how this conversation had gone the first time. She was supposed to ask about child making and her parents would awkwardly avoid the subject until there came a knock on the door. Her father would open it and Mikasa's entire world would come crashing down. Not this time.

Last time, she had been a helpless child, unaware of her own capabilities. This time, her body was still the same but the mind was not. She knew about her power now, she knew it was possible to become strong even with this childish body of hers.

"Yes, mom, I will."

She focused on her body. She didn't have much time but she was Mikasa Ackerman. She had been entrusted with so much and how could she face anyone if she failed right from the beginning?

The knock on the door jolted her, the sight of her father moving towards his death bringing up the surge of desperation that was so familiar to her.

"Dad, no!" she shouted and bolted out of her chair. She reached one hand blindly, grabbing a scalpel from the tools her mother had laid out. She used the table to vault herself over towards her father, landing next to him.

"Mikasa?"

"Don't open the door, please!"

Another knock came, a more impatient one and her father made to move past her. Mikasa didn't think, she just reacted. She grabbed the door handle and yank it open, angling her body to pass beneath the reach of the man standing there. For a moment, everything was frozen.

Then the man gurgled and Mikasa let go of the scalpel she rammed into his stomach. She took hold of the knife the man had been holding, wrenching it easily out of his slack grasp. As the man crumbled down, his hands pressing against the widening wound of his torso, Mikasa calmly stepped over him.

She wouldn't lose her family again, no matter what it took to protect them. She had so much blood on her hands already, at least this time it would belong to people who really deserved it.

The things were different from that first time. Farlan and Isabel were safe and sound. Erwin was slightly suspicious, considering the way Levi had changed the script on him but as he had gotten what he had wanted - Levi's strength for the Survey Corps - he couldn't exactly complain.

The autumn was coming up and Levi asked for leave for the end of the first week of October. He hoped Mikasa had been as successful as him in rewriting her personal history. He needed her to be at her best, considering how the harder part of their mission was about to begin.

The Saturday was a busy day for the town of Shiganshina. Farmers from the homesteads and villages further in the Maria territory came to town to buy and sell and the press of people on all sides made it hard to find anyone.

"Wow!" Isabel was taking everything in with a childish delight. She was running from one stall to another, tasting everything she could. Sometimes, when he closed his eyes, Levi could still see her severed head and wide open eyes but those images were slowly getting replaced with different ones.

"Here, Farlan, Levi-bro, taste this!"

She pushed two paper bags at them. They were warm and Levi peered into his to see it was full of nuts of some kind.

"Roasted chestnuts," Isabel explained as she popped one into her mouth from her own bag. "They're delicious."

Levi was about to taste one when someone bumped into him from behind. He turned around to chastise whoever it was but his words got stuck in his throat. He stared down and she stared back and for a moment he thought that something had gone wrong and she didn't remember. And then she smiled a bit.

"You're taller than me now."

"And you're still a gloomy, disrespectful brat."

"Hey, Mikasa! Where did you run off?" The voice was higher but still recognizable as Eren's. Mikasa waved him over but he stopped at the sight of the unknown people she was standing with. "Who are they?"

"Yes, Levi. Why don't you introduce us?" Farlan was smart. He knew there had been more to Levi's change of heart then he was telling them. He hadn't pried into what it was but that was probably about to change.

"Farlan, Isabel, this is Mikasa and her friend-" Levi made himself stop because there was no good reason for him to know Eren's name. They should have probably come up with a cover story before coming back but it was too late for that and now they had to improvise. Luckily for them both, they still made a good team.

"Eren. His name is Eren," Mikasa took over the introductions. "Eren, these are Farlan and Isabel and this is Levi. Levi is my cousin from the Central."

For a moment, even Levi stared at her audacity. They had never found out the exact nature of their family ties so they settled for the general description of cousins.

"Levi-bro, I didn-" Isabel started to say something but Farlan casually squeezed her arm, cutting her off.

"We're going to let you two catch up, okay, Levi? But don't take too long, we need to get back to the base before the curfew."

"The base?" Eren asked.

"We're with the Survey Corps," Levi told him and Eren's eyes literally lit up.

"Really? You guys are heroes!"

Levi and Mikasa exchanged painful glances. If only he knew what being a hero entailed. If only he knew what being the humanity's hope was going to cost him.

"Eren, was it?" Farlan asked. "Why don't you come with us and ask whatever you want while Levi and Mikasa talk?"

"Is that okay with you, Mikasa?" He was already moving to follow the two, though, and Mikasa just smiled.

"Sure. I'll come and find you later."

They were left alone at last and for a moment neither knew what to say.

"They were the ones you lost?" she asked at last.

"Yes. I managed to save them this time. Your parents?"

"I saved them, too."

They moved towards a small park and sat down on a bench. Levi was still holding the bag of roasted chestnuts that Isabel had given him and he set it down between them. Mikasa looked at it and then she took one out, eating it.

"These are good," she commented and he took one, too.

"Yeah, they are."

They each took out another piece.

"What's the plan?" she asked.

"We tell some people what we know. Erwin and Hange and we should talk to Dr. Yeager, too."

"I won't be able to participate in any missions, though," Mikasa pointed out. "I'm stronger than an ordinary nine-year old but that doesn't mean much."

"We'll find a way around that."

"How much are we going to change?"

"Everything we can. By the time they arrive, we'll be ready for them."

"Can you-" she paused but then she took a deep breath and plunged ahead. "Can you tell me everything will work out just fine?"

He shouldn't because even with everything they knew, there was still the chance of things going badly. If he told her everything was going to be fine, he would be lying. But it was Mikasa who was asking him.

"Mikasa, everything will work out just fine."

She looked down at her hands and then she looked up at him, her twenty-year old self reflected for a moment in the much younger face.

"I believe you, Levi."

He could only hope he wouldn't disappoint her faith in him.

A/N: I love time-travel stories.