Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or any of its characters.

A/N: I think there's something wrong with me with the fact that I enjoyed this way too much. There's something about dark themes and my favorite characters suffering that spikes a thrill somewhere deep inside. Who knows. Anyway, this is really the point – like I mentioned in the last chapter's ending note – that their relationship will have a shift. Up until this point, they've been nonchalantly tolerating each other. I'm not saying that they'll immediately make out soon, but this is really the point that things change for them! I didn't necessarily see anything that happened between them this chapter as romantic, but it does show that they're beginning to care about each other – whether they are aware of it or not.

Also, I'm really sorry that this took like a month (okay, like, two) to get updated! I finished my second semester at college and moved back home. I've been looking for a job and playing Animal Crossing. But other than that, I don't really have an excuse. The first part of the chapter was easy to write but the actual fighting... I won't lie. I kind of suck at action scenes and I'm not sure if I like where this chapter's going. I've literally written a section at a time, waited a few days, then come back to edit, which has really helped! I originally didn't like the second section of this chapter, but I do now!

I'm also wondering about what you guys think about my constant switching of POV? Like, one section will be told from Levi's and another will be told from Mikasa's? I like it, but I want to know if it's kind of annoying. I guess when I write in third person, I always have to concentrate on a specific character because it helps me, I guess. I don't like to be so disconnected from my characters and doing that helps. Let me know!

This chapter was inspired by the Return to Mother and Campfire, both songs from the Tangled soundtrack! Listen as you read, if you like.

v: there's always a storm before a calm

Mikasa felt like she was unable to move. It wasn't like she'd never seen a titan before – because she had – but it was never up close and it was always from a distance. As she stood there, she could barely make out the outline of its form in the foggy atmosphere. From what she could tell, it was larger than the average titan. It seemed impossible that one titan could take out an entire squad of soldiers, though. Maybe the titan wasn't solely responsible and was simply a scavenger? Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt a hand at her back, shoving her forward.

All sound seemed to fade away as they ran towards the horse, slipping and sliding in the mud as they went. There were bodies everywhere – even bodies that weren't completely intact. It was at that thought that she realized that the titans didn't attack humans because of starvation, but out of some twisted instinct. In their minds, killing was some sort of hunger that could never be filled.

At one point, she nearly tripped on the torso of a fallen soldier, but found herself being pulled into a firm chest before she made contact with the ground. The sensation emitted a surprised shriek out of her. After that, Levi ordered her to wrap her arm around his back for support as he did the same, and they ran at a slower, more controlled pace. The sight of severed body parts was forever ingrained in her mind, though. As she glanced from a torn arm to her bare feet, she wondered if there was more than just mud and grass coating her toes.

Finally, they reached the horse and Mikasa immediately gripped its fur, stroking its mane for comfort. Levi, on the other hand, simply leant against its body and hissed at the pain from his injured leg. At that, she turned to look at him thoughtfully, then back towards the titan to see if it'd spotted them – and it hadn't. As their breathing began to even out, the sound of rain continuing to fall from the stormy clouds above came back into focus.

"Run, dammit!"

It seemed that there was more to him than she'd originally thought. Hours before, she might've easily said that she despised him and wished that she never met him. Now, she wasn't so sure. As he bent over to gently massage his leg, she admired his physique that she could clearly see through his drenched clothing. For such a small man, he was muscular.

"Fuck," he muttered to himself, either out of pain or the situation at hand. He seemed to be thinking hard about something as his eyes flickered from her bare feet, to the horse's hooves, to the muddy terrain. "Mikasa, you need to get out of here."

"What about you?" she asked. Her hands were coated in grime and mud, but nevertheless, she pushed away the strands of hair that'd fallen into her face.

The ground shook from under them again, indicating that the titan was moving. Mikasa hadn't realized how quiet it'd been and she realized that silence was far more terrifying. Had they been spotted?

"I'll distract the titan," was all he said in response. Mikasa went to argue with him but he silenced her with a single look. "I'll distract the titan... and you need to get the fuck out of here. No point in us both seeing the inside of a titan's belly."

"No."

He dragged a hand down his face in a tired fashion. Her mind was made up, though, as she regarded him with a cool gaze. "Can't you just do as you're fucking told?!"

At his tone, she instantly recoiled, then reaffirmed herself with a hard stare. She knew that he was only acting this way out of fear – possibly fear for her as well.

"I said no," she seethed, slowly withdrawing her fingers from within the horse's mane and placing a single palm on its side, turning towards him. Levi unconsciously did the same as they glared at each other. "I will not leave you behind."

"Listen here, you stupid woman..." Levi began, pressing his hand more firmly into the horse's fur. "If you stay, you will surely die." His fist clenched at that and he took a calculated step towards her. "I can't guarantee that you'll even escape in the first place, but I'll be damned if I let some child die along with me."

His face was inches away from hers and all she could do was stare.

"You have a family, you hear me?"

His eyes were unwavering, even as his voice took on a gentle tone. After a moment, his eyes narrowed and he quickly avoided her gaze, looking at the ground before taking a step back – almost as if simply looking at her had burned him.

At the mention of her family, she moved forward and grabbed his shirt collar. "No, I don't," she said, clenching her jaw. The material that she held in her fists felt like velvet, but she kept her grip as her lower lip trembled. "My family died a long time ago. I should've died along with them."

His eyes widened at that. He seemed unable to look away as her fists began to shake. For a moment, it almost looked like he was looking for something.

"You..."

Her grip on his shirt loosened and she cautiously stepped back. As the rain continued to fall down on them, she was thankful that it was covering her tears.

"I..." she began, but stopped herself in order to collect her thoughts. "...can't do it again."

Back then, running away was her only choice – or at least that's what she told herself. If she would've acted more quickly, maybe her parents would still be alive. Still, if she hadn't ran when she did, a worse fate than being locked in a tower might've awaited her. This time, though, she couldn't run. This time... she had a choice, and that choice wasn't to leave a dying man behind.

"Again?"

"We fight together," she said, ignoring his question.

"You'd just be a nuisance." Her expression quickly transformed into that of anger. "You've never even fought a titan, unless your titan boyfriend allowed you to do target practice on its face."

It felt like there was steam coming out of her ears. What did he know about anything? It seemed that he forgot that yesterday's battle had been his first time fighting a titan as well. And with that thought on her mind, she quickly reached for one of his blades. Blood trickled from an open wound as she held it against his neck, but he simply raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not a nuisance," she said calmly, slowly applying more pressure to the blade as more blood spilled from the wound. "Don't taunt me. I know exactly where to cut to make your death as painful as possible. Still, that would be merciful in comparison to leaving you behind."

To her surprise, he didn't even flinch as she pressed harder into his skin and his collar began to stain with his own blood. At that, she simply withdrew the blade and held it at her side, regarding him coolly.

Her eyes glanced down at his injured leg. "How long do you think you'll last with that injury? Minutes, perhaps. With no gas in your tank, a few dull blades, and no assistance, you'll die slowly at the hands of that titan." Her lips took on a cruel smile. "You need me. But you already know that, don't you? You're just too proud to admit it."

Mikasa expected him to retaliate in some shape or form, not stand there stiff as a board. As she stared at him, she couldn't determine what he was thinking, no matter how long she stared. Even as minutes passed by, he said nothing.

She stepped forward, allowing the blade to drag across the muddy terrain and make a sharp line as she moved. Their chests were nearly touching again and she looked down at him. For a moment, she thought that she saw his lips tilt up in a small smirk.

"You know exactly where to cut, huh?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. "The plan is the same. I'll distract the titan—"

"Wha—"

"Let me finish, you damned brat," he growled, yanking the blade from her grasp. "I'll distract the titan... and you go around the back and cut into its nape."

At that, a self-contented smile grew on her face.

Levi watched as Mikasa stumbled her way through the mud, bending over a corpse to retrieve a set of unused blades. She sized them up individually and glanced over her shoulder at him, which caused him to quickly avert his eyes. Though, he didn't know why.

Maybe it was because of that damned smile of hers, which was enough for him to take a step backwards and re-evaluate his life. It was just a smile, a slight curve of her lips. He realized that that was the first time she'd ever smiled at him – really smiled. Her hair had been sticking to her face by either mud or rain but she still managed to look better than him, and he didn't need a mirror to know that. She'd looked so grateful and happy that he was letting her help. Still, it was just a smile.

Just a smile.

At the sound of approaching footsteps – far more earth shattering than a human's – he tucked his musings somewhere deep inside of him and instantly felt that surge of power again. Levi glanced over at Mikasa and she was already looking back at him. With a nod, he signaled for her to creep around some of the ruined houses and sneak up behind the titan while he captured its attention.

It emerged through the fog and – fucking hell – it was damned ugly. Well, all titans were ugly in his eyes, but whatever. Its belly was significantly round. Either it just had the best dinner of its life or it was just that fat. It didn't help that its arms and legs were fucking tiny, too. With a flick of his wrist, he flipped his blades so that the sharp ends were in the opposite direction of the titan.

"Oi!" he shouted, switching a blade to his other hand and cupped his mouth. In doing so, his voice echoed throughout the abandoned village at a higher volume. "Still hungry, huh? I've never heard of a titan shitting, so where do your excrements go? Or do you simply cough out a wad of corpses to make room for more?"

The titan gave no response, but he hadn't been expecting it to. Still, it must've eaten a hell of a lot, as it wasn't exactly running towards him in an eager fashion. Actually, it wasn't even running, just walking like it had all the damn time in the world to feast on his limbs.

Suddenly, the titan lunged forward with great speed. Levi hadn't been anticipating that move, but he easily dove out of the way, covering his dirtied clothes in even more mud. He groaned at the realization that he'd landed on his bad leg and immediately placed a hand over his knee to somewhat silence the pain. After he somewhat recovered, he searched through the fog for its figure and observed that it was on all fours, its mouth hanging open like some sort of feral animal. His grip on his blades tightened, but then he caught sight of a lone figure running towards it from behind.

Mikasa.

Even without maneuver gear, she was incredibly fast. The titan being hunched over gave her the perfect elevation to reach its neck, but she wasn't aiming for its neck at all. He figured that her seventy feet of hair would be a problem, but she'd simply tied it around her waist in a neat fashion. As she cut and sliced at its flesh, the titan's fist would attempt to grab her, but she would easily jump out of its reach. She was toying with it – he could tell. With no experience, it was better to kill it sooner rather than later. Though, that didn't seem to cross her mind at all. What the hell was she doing?

"Mikasa!" Levi yelled, groaning as pain shot up his leg when he went to stand fully. "Kill it already!"

They didn't have time for this at all. The titan was making so much noise that he knew it would attract other titans. One titan in foggy, unclear weather was bad enough, let alone a group. He tried to move towards her – assist her, perhaps – but he'd put too much pressure on his leg to even walk.

His voice alerted the titan of his presence and the back of its hand swatted at him with enough power to send him through one of the buildings' crumbling walls. Planks of wood landed on top of him with a thud and in a healthier state, he would've been able to easily stand up. But the pain from his leg and the impact caused him to do nothing else but feel how every bone in his body was on fire. After a minute or so, a large hand wrapped around him and slowly began to crush him in its grasp. At that, he yelled out in extreme pain.

It felt like he was some porcelain doll, unable to do anything but remain completely still. The pain was worse than anything he'd ever experienced in the Underground. It felt like all his bones were breaking in half, then into thirds, and so on, but he willed himself not to scream. He cracked open his eyes to make out Mikasa's blurry figure from below, carelessly slipping through the mud and grass to reach him. With every scream she uttered, the titan applied more pressure to its fist. He could tell he wasn't going to last much longer with all the blood he was losing.

"PUT HIM DOWN!"

Immediately, the titan's hold on his body loosened, allowing him to fall to the muddy ground. Mustering enough strength to lean on his elbows, he tried to search for Mikasa in the fog. He didn't dare move an inch further than that, though, not that he could in the first place.

Her movements were sloppier, less calculated. It was the same tactic she'd used previously, cutting pieces of flesh from various parts of the titan's body. At one point, she cut into the section of its legs where the main muscles were located, which caused its legs to buckle beneath it. The ground shook as it fell to the ground and then, it was completely silent.

His vision began to blur but he willed himself to stay awake. With the amount of blood he was losing, the likelihood that he would survive would lessen if he allowed even one of his eyes to close. Mikasa forced one of the blades into its rear as she maneuvered herself onto its back. Her body was shaking but she was willing herself to continue with great strength. Finally, she reached the base of its neck and paused before plunging her remaining blade repeatedly into its nape, then slashing and cutting continuously. All he could hear was her cries as its flesh went flying into the air and the blood from all its wounds began to steam.

"Levi!"

He must've blacked out for a minute because suddenly, Mikasa's arms were surrounding him, then examining his injuries with great care. He didn't want to, but he opened his eyes to look at her. Blood was steaming off of her face and she took on a wild appearance, completely hysterical at the events that had occurred in the last five minutes.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, cradling his face in her hands – the only part of his body that didn't seem to scream at him. One of her hands let go of his cheek to push some strands of his hair out of his face before returning to his face. "It's going to be all right."

She stopped speaking after that and simply sat there, holding him. It was completely foreign to him – at least ever since his mother had died. Her heavy breathing, though, eventually lulled him to shut his eyes and finally allow the darkness to take over.

Mikasa was sitting on the wooden floor of one of the abandoned houses – rather uncomfortably – with her head laying against Levi's side on the bed. After he'd fallen unconscious, she worried that he'd never wake up again – and it was all her fault. It seemed that she only caused pain and suffering to the people around her, at least in the physical sense. Levi may have wounded her pride, but she'd only wanted to prove herself – prove that she was just as powerful and strong and fast as he was.

In the end, none of that mattered if you were dead.

Immediately, her eyes snapped open and all feeling of sleepiness left her. Her eyes looked to his wounds and she peeled away some of the plants that she'd foraged for in hopes that he'd healed enough to scream at her for being so careless and childish. He'd constantly insulted her for the past two days by calling her a "child" and she'd been adamant that she was anything but. Still, perhaps he was right. At that, she gently pressed the leaves against his torn skin again, reaching out to interlock their fingers like she'd done most of the night. At least he was recovering, and quickly, too.

Her father had taught her that some of the plants that commonly grew in nature had healing properties, and she was grateful for that. The name of the plant had long been forgotten but she was familiar with its characteristics and knew immediately placing its leaves directly on his wounds would cause the plant to secrete some poison that quickened the healing process – scabbing over open wounds in a matter of hours, rather than days.

The first sight of his blood, she remembered, had immediately brought her back to the death of her parents. Back then, there'd been a lot of blood, too. But that thought had only subdued her for a moment before she'd calmly carried him into one of the houses. If anything, it'd been her calm head that kept him alive. Even without the assistance of nature, he'd have survived the night – but barely.

Surprisingly, the house was still furnished. There was a bed with somewhat ruffled sheets, a bare, wooden table with chairs circling it, and a crumbling fireplace. All she'd needed was the bed, though, and she could still remember how flustered she'd been when she'd removed his shirt to dress his wounds. He was a grown man and he could take care of himself, after all, but she'd been the one to put him at the brink of death. Therefore, it was her responsibility to take care of him.

Her chin rested against the edge of the bed and her eyes slowly followed his neckline, towards his button nose, and then finally sticking to his closed eyelids. She couldn't deny that he was a handsome man – well, after she looked past the bags under his eyes and permanent scowl forever embedded on his face. He reminded her of a stray dog that'd been rejected by its peers continuously until it no longer felt the need to rely on others, to fight for its life as long as it could.

Almost as if he'd read her mind, the fingers that she'd interlocked with her own began to twitch and his eyes cracked open. Immediately, she removed her hand before he realized what she'd been doing. No, she was simply spreading the warmth from her hand to his. A reasonable action if she wanted his health to improve. Her head slowly withdrew from the bed and she looked at him coolly, concealing her emotions as best as she could.

"What..." he began, his voice low and somewhat rough.

"That titan wounded you severely. It... crushed you," she answered. The thought occurred to her that he could be witnessing memory loss from the shock of the accident. "Do you remember?"

At that release of information, he tried to sit up and immediately groaned at the pain, lying back down slowly. His hand grabbed at his bare stomach and felt one of the leaves placed over a wound there. Slowly, he peeled it away to examine the skin underneath and was surprised at what he saw.

"What is... this?" he cautiously asked, holding the strange leaf in the air and noting how one side was stained with his dried blood.

"That's a plant."

His eyebrow twitched at that. "I know that, you idiot. I meant what is it?"

At least his near-death experience wasn't enough to completely rid him of his sense of tact.

"It's used for healing purposes... I forget the name, though. Your wounds are mostly scabbed over now, but you would have survived nonetheless."

"Big talk from the brat that almost got me killed."

"I'm eighteen," she growled, ignoring the guilt that washed over her at the last part of his statement. With that, she stood up and crossed her arms. "And I am well aware of that. I apologize for the state I've put you in, but I have done my best to fix your wounds."

"Yeah. Thanks for the leaves."

An uncomfortable silence quickly developed as Mikasa glowered at him, yet oddly enjoying the satisfaction of him having to scowl up at her. He was right, though – everything he'd said – but that didn't mean he had to rub it in her face.

"I should be dead."

At that, Mikasa's expression softened.

"That titan had me in its fist and I should be dead. But suddenly, it let me go." He looked at her then with an odd expression, alike curiosity and questioning. "It let me go right after you told it to."

"What's your point?" Mikasa asked, slightly curious herself.

In the midst of all the action, she'd forgotten about that. How she'd yelled – no, ordered – the titan to put him down. It wasn't like she expected anything to come out of doing so, but it was a final request before she made it put him down with her own two hands.

"Titans aren't like us, Mikasa," he said, grimacing as he removed the remainder of the leaves on his wounds. "They don't speak or have feelings. All they do is kill humans. And for what purpose? There were bodies everywhere but that titan was only interested in the last, surviving soldier. If it was out of hunger, it had more than one option. But that same titan obeyed you, and I would like to know why."

"I... don't really understand it myself."

It seemed that Levi decided not to press any further. And with that, he carefully lifted the blanket to reveal his still clothed legs, the mud having hardened.

"The plan is still the same. We'll head towards the Wall," he began, pulling on his boots. "However, the soldiers inside won't take too kindly to seeing me, so we'll have to wear disguises. That way, we'll simply blend in and get this over with faster."

As he went to stand on his feet for the first time in several hours, his legs nearly buckled beneath him. Mikasa immediately grabbed his shoulders to shove him back onto the bed.

"You haven't fully healed, you moron. Just stay still."

Mikasa sat beside him on the bed then, helping him ease into the covers again. He scowled at her but she knew that he agreed with her.

"You know, you weren't too bad out there," he drawled, regarding her coolly.

She softly smiled at that. "You can thank me for saving your life, you know. It won't kill you."

His arm moved behind his head, giving her a good look of how his bicep flexed. She had noticed that he was in good shape on more than one occasion. Returning her eyes to his face somewhat reluctantly, she almost recoiled at the soft smile gracing his features.

"But thank you," Mikasa mumbled, tucking a few strands of her ebony hair behind her ear.

"That fucking titan almost got me so I'm not taking any chances."

His smile had vanished and he was frowning in the same manner he always did, but his eyes held a sense of amusement in them. Mikasa's head quickly ducked down as she softly laughed, causing her hair to fall back in her face. Her laughter quickly died down after a few seconds, though, and when she looked back up, he was looking away with that same smile on his face.

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"It's my fault that you... I should've been more careful. I just wanted to prove myself, and in doing so, I almost got you killed. I'm sorry," Mikasa said, her eyes hardening at the memory of him being crushed in that titan's fist.

Levi slowly sat up, grimacing. "You aren't to blame, Mikasa. I knew the risks of going against that titan." His eyes were intense as he spoke and unconsciously, he removed a hand from a wound on his chest to place it inches away from hers. "Who knows what the outcome would've been if you hadn't stayed behind at all?"

Mikasa had been staring at their hands, unable to look him directly in the eye. At his last statement, however, she couldn't help but do so.

"Really?" she asked. Her voice sounded so small and she felt like a child looking for encouragement, but it didn't seem to occur to him at all.

"Yeah."

A relieved smile stretched across her face, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. He doesn't blame me, she thought. Her eyes fell to their hands again and slowly, she inched her hand closer to his own. As her fingertips touched the back of his hand, she almost withdrew her hand completely at how cold he was. Gauging his reaction, she was surprised to see him looking directly at her with an intensity that nearly caused her to withdraw her hand completely.

Flustered, she withdrew her hand and said, "About those disguises..."

Levi cleared his throat and brought his hand to scratch the back of his neck. After a moment of sobering up, he replied, "Right. We're going to disguise ourselves as Survey Corps soldiers."

"And where are we getting these uniforms?" Mikasa asked, somewhat nervous.

"From the dead bodies outside."

A/N: And it's finally done! I am so sorry that I took so long to update! I didn't want you guys thinking I abandoned the story or anything but I had the hardest time writing this. I kept going back to edit the previous chapters because something just wasn't right. And I'm kind of self-conscious about the detail as well. Should I add more? I have no idea. Anyway. I hope you guys didn't find the ending too cheesy! I don't know why I put that in but it just felt natural while I was writing. I hope to update within the next week but I have no idea! I'll at least not take two months this time. And let me know what you guys think in the reviews! I love hearing from you guys.

sharpestsatire: I'm glad you like it! And haha, that's a good point! I imagine she just held it in her arms or something! I didn't really mention that so I did put more thought into her hair within this chapter. And you would think she would... Maybe she'll get her hands on some good books during their little adventure or maybe she'll meet some kids that love to braid? ;)