It had been some time since the sound of music had filled the small courtyard; now only silence echoed around the tight space and iron balconies that surrounded it, with pale moonlight easing through the rooftops above and leaving the makeshift amphitheater doused in heavy shadow.

The crunch of gravel and leaves under Levi's feet was unnaturally piercing in the quiet around him as he made his way towards the almost imperceivable stairwell in the adjacent alley, but a slight movement from the direction of the stage caught his eye as he passed, bringing him to a stop near the bottom of the shallow staircase.

She was not where he had expected her to be, tucked away in the isolated corner of the plaza they had sat in before. Instead, Arya was sitting with her legs crossed, leaning against the far wall where the band must have stood earlier in the day, her eyes cast to the cobbled ground. He was certain that she had heard his less than stealthy approach, yet she continued to inspect the dusty ground intently, as if she found something about its weathered surface incredibly interesting.

"Your absence from the parliament building has caused quite the ruckus, you know." He said in greeting, climbing the steps and making his way over to where she sat, sliding into a deep crouch beside her. "Armin finally found something and means to have us leave in the morning. Though, I doubt that any of them would blame you for choosing to stay behind."

"I didn't realize you took me for a flight risk, Captain." She muttered in response, giving him a brief glance before returning her eyes to the ground. "But I can't say that doesn't sound appealing."

He nodded thoughtfully as he looked out over the courtyard; the contrast of moonlight and darkness having leeched all color away from the usually vivid garden in startling severity.

"Did you find an answer for your question?" Levi asked casually after a moment of silence, peering over at her downcast face.

"No." Arya said bitterly, scattering the pebbles under her foot and sending them cascading down the stone steps. "Looks like I have to come up with this one myself."

"Are you still deciding whether or not to come with us?"

She shook her head. "No, unfortunately when it comes to that, my choice has already been made. Doesn't make it any easier though, I'm afraid."

Levi frowned slightly. "Then why are you here?"

Sighing, she looked out at the space around them as he had, a hard look weighing heavily on her delicate features.

"I wasn't sure I'd get to see it again."

Her response had been a simple and certainly understandable one, and the two of them lapsed into an agreeable hush. Given what they were about to attempt, he wasn't at all surprised that Arya would seek out a place of comfort; a solution to stress that was practically universal.

He had to remind himself that this was not something she was accustomed to, unlike the other members of their party, yet Levi suddenly found himself feeling overwhelmingly irritated at the disconnect he was experiencing as he looked back at her shadowed expression.

It was always like this after they broke contact from the energy they shared; like reverting back to the near strangers they had once been, neither one possessing the capacity to bring up the how's and the whys behind it.

It was clear that they both understood the usefulness of whatever power they possessed, whether it was in battle like Mitras, or inadvertently influencing a room as they had here in the capital, but he was growing tired of avoiding the subject simply because it was easier and potentially less harmful not to. On top of that, what Mikasa had said during their uncomfortable exchange in Odiha had begun to gnaw a hole somewhere in his gut like poorly made tea. Regrettably, there had been some minor truth in her ridiculous rant that now had him grinding his teeth together reluctantly, already sure that this would be a terrible idea; though… perhaps a necessary one.

Sliding around on his heels until he was sitting in front of her, Levi fixed his quiet companion with a firm and resolute glare.

"Tell me how you do it, Arya."

Her head snapped up, eyes focusing on his intent face at the use of her name. Until that moment he had only ever referred to her as Captain or Doctor, and the shift in familiarity startled her. Arya's mind had clearly been somewhere else when he had issued his sudden demand, and the question she tried to answer was not the one he intended.

"I, uh… I don't know. My mother always said there must have been something in the water where I was born, given how well I took to healing and medicine. I always laughed at that, since any water in the Underground is completely disgusting."

"As prolific as you are when it comes to saving our skins medically, that's not what I asked."

Reaching out, Levi placed his index finger onto the exposed skin of her forearm; a gentle touch that sent a light current of electricity rolling along her flesh, all the way up to her prickling scalp. Arya pulled her arm back with a jerk, understanding appearing in her wide eyes.

"Wait, you want to do this now?"

She must have taken his astute silence as a yes, pulling herself up higher against the wall with a grudging sigh.

"Okay then," she said hesitantly, her eyes cautious, "but my answer is still the same, I suppose. I honestly have no idea what it is that gives us this strange …connection, if you will. I'm just as lost on it as you are."

Levi's frown deepened. "Is there no… medical way to explain how this may have developed?"

Arya laughed uncomfortably. "No, I'm afraid not, Captain. The closest thing to an explanation that I've gotten is that it might have something to do with what's been going on, but even that theory is weak at best. Unless there's something on your end that would contribute to this, I have zero ideas."

Standing up, Levi shook his head and passed a hand over his tired face. "The Ackerman bloodline is full of bizarre tendencies, but nothing I know of would result in something like this."

She shrugged halfheartedly in response, unsure of what to say, which in turn caused the annoyance in his expression to intensify.

"For someone who acts they have no idea how this works, you sure know how to take advantage of it when it suits you, right? Like back in Mitras?"

Arya's face flushed with embarrassment at his accusation; the memory of him rushing to her side in battle after her attempt at summoning him obviously coming to mind. As if a floodgate had opened, she jumped to her feet and stalked towards him, already on the defensive.

"How was I supposed to know that would work?! I've never experienced anything like this before either, since you failed to ask. I was grasping at straws and it just happened: as a result, it saved all our lives- including yours."

Levi huffed angrily, allowing the frustration and uncertainty he had been keeping at bay to run freely.

"I won't pretend like it didn't end up being useful, but the thought that you can simply snap your fingers and I come running doesn't exactly sit well with me. I am not some dog that you can call on when you're not feeling strong enough."

He knew the moment the words left his mouth that they were unfair, but the significance of finally addressing their situation was wearing thin on his patience, and her defensiveness had ignited his own exasperation.

"Do you think I WANT this?!" Arya growled, fury lighting up her face. "Do you think I want to be inexplicably connected by some unknown power to a grumpy ex war hero that can barely stand to be around me once the fighting is over?"

He glowered at her. "No more than I wish to be bound to some fretful woman who can't decide what side she wants to be on."

"Just because you are some "almighty warrior" who has no problem risking their life over and over again for the good of humanity, doesn't mean my reluctance to do the same isn't valid. I may not regret the things I've done to help all of you, but come on, Captain. It's painfully obvious that I don't belong here, even with this stupid power we have. I was never meant to go galivanting into foreign lands on a mission to save the world; that's your job."

"Oh please, spare me your "woe is me" routine; it's pathetic. What are you wanting me to do, shower you with compliments just to make you feel better?"

"All I want is to be free of this." She snapped, gesturing first to herself, then poking him hard in the chest.

They were in each other's faces now; trading despairing looks between one another in rage. Maybe her reservations were valid, but in Levi's experience anyone who spent too long balancing on the edge between one side or another eventually fell on the wrong side- or died in the process: an observation he felt at liberty to tell her.

"You have to make a choice, Arya." Levi said, staring angrily at her equally furious expression. "I've watched countless of my comrades die in their struggle to find balance between what is right and what is wrong in this world; most of which I had to cut down myself."

He took an almost threatening step towards her.

"There's one person in particular that fought as hard as you are between the freedom they wanted and the good of humanity, and we both know what happened when he couldn't make that choice."

Fright joined the anger on Arya's face, but the words she spat back at him had lost none of their potency.

"I already told you, my decision is made. I will fight alongside you and everyone else until this is done, but don't you dare compare my desire to be happy in this fucked up world with what he did."

"Then stop acting like a child throwing a fit and accept the responsibility that's been given to you. Otherwise, you're no better than the rest of them."

Taking a step back she scowled at him with a ferocity that was far removed from the person he knew her to be.

"I didn't ask for this."

Levi rolled his eyes. "NO ONE asked for this, Doctor. Do you think any of us wanted to end up right back where we started, after all the sacrifices we had to make to ensure that people like you even got a chance to choose?"

"So, what you're saying is I need to pick a side: light or dark essentially, right? But what if I'm both? Why can't I be strong and courageous and good, but also sad and scared and angry at the world that's been left for us to fix? Because for me, that's what it means to be human, and I don't care if I need to climb up that razor's edge every god damn day if I have to, I am NOT going to lose myself to what everyone thinks I should be. It's true that I'd rather die than become a part of whatever darkness plagues this world, but that's MY choice to make, MY choice to deal with how I see fit."

Fury was rolling off Arya in waves now as she regarded Levi, whose own anger was reaching its boiling point as she continued, her voice dripping with contempt.

"At least if I gave my life for the cause, you would be free of whatever stupid bond holds you here. Tell me why you care so much about which side I end up on, Captain. Why are you so concerned whether I can handle this or not? Is it because I'm just another weak companion whose death you don't want on your conscious?"

It was then that Levi's restraint cracked, and his retort flew from his lips in an exasperated yell.

"I need to know that you can handle this because I don't want to spend the rest of my existence looking over my shoulder to make sure you didn't get yourself killed, and because I cannot afford to have someone else in my life that I'm afraid to lose!"

The air around them grew still as the meaning behind his anger finally revealed itself, and the fury that had taken over Arya's face melted away into stunned disbelief. Levi turned away from her sharply, leaving the tenseness in his shoulders as the only indication of his abrupt admission.

Yes, I suppose that really is the root of it all, isn't it.

This was what it had all been building up to: the almost mortifying reality that this woman had somehow, against all his wishes, become someone that he feared losing.

"You are not the first." he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. "In my lifetime I have been an Underground wretch, a black-market henchman, and a captain of the Scouts. In that time, I have watched as nearly ever friend, comrade and ally died at the hands of the twisted world we live it, and sometimes those hands were my own. Before fate cruelly decided that we weren't finished with this nightmare, people would say that we won our fight, but all I can see is the mountain of corpses it took to get here. It didn't matter how hard they dedicated themselves, or how righteous they were, they always ended up in the same place: six feet below ground.

Death is inevitable; it comes with the job. But now I am older than any of them ever got to be, with barely enough pieces of me left to hold this suit together. I am the only one left standing, when it was them who deserved the freedom that I don't even know what to do with."

Arya was listening hard as he explained to her the depth of mourning that was left inside the shell of a man he had become. It was that damned question all over again: the one that only revealed itself to him once he had believed the battle was over, and the one that plagued every moment of his waking life.

Who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who-

His eyes squeezed shut, trying to banish the thought away.

"I was content to spend the rest of my miserable life paying for their loss as a broken man. How was it fair that I was the sole receiver of the future they so desperately sought?"

His chin dipped slightly back towards her, dark hair swaying in front of his shadowed face.

"And then you came along, as bright and ferocious as the setting sun to give me a second chance I didn't deserve after a lifetime as judge, jury and executioner. With that second chance also came the power you wield; one that only you and I seem to be able to harness, and there is no hiding anymore no matter how hard I try. I cannot keep you at a safe distance when you're already so deep inside my mind."

He turned away again, a hard edge forming in his words.

"I don't want this, Arya. Whatever this mystical connection is, I want to be rid of it. I can't afford the aftermath it will leave when you die."

The silence that followed was heavy, and Levi closed his eyes tightly against the images that were bursting into his head. Petra, Erwin, Hange. The hole they left burned in his throat; what would become of him if he relented to Arya's pull, only to have her ripped away from him just as they had been? Even if he was practiced in the art of protecting his heart from unwanted forces, what chance did his walls stand against the otherworldly power they were both so desperate to be free of?

Levi was painfully unsure if the emotion he now felt towards Arya was romantic in nature; he was certain that his capacity for that emotion was well beyond redemption at this point; but it was clear to him now that the strength of their bond was surely enough to drive him off the edge if she was lost.

He was so wrapped up in the chaos of his mind that he hadn't heard her approach him, and it wasn't until her soft voice issued from less than a foot away that he realized how close she was.

"Levi." Arya said quietly, placing one of her almost fragile hands onto his tensed shoulder.

Just as it had startled Arya when he used her name, Levi's head shot up and whipped around to look at her with surprise. All the anger had evaporated from her expression and had been replaced with a look of pure understanding, as if this revelation was somehow a relief to her. A sense of calm was pouring out from where her fingertips rested on his arm, and she regarded his shocked face kindly.

"I have never wanted you to be someone that you are not." She said, giving him a small and almost apologetic smile. "And I'm sorry if I ever asked you to offer up more than you were willing to give. It's true that I don't understand what this is between us any better than you do, but keeping others at a distance to protect yourself is something I do know. Even though I am beginning to understand, through the very persistent nature of our companions, that connecting with other people is more of a strength than it is a weakness, I would never ask you to take that on after everything you have suffered through."

Levi froze as Arya lifted her hand from his shoulder and pushed his dark hair to the side, running her fingers lightly across the scar that stretched from his hairline to the base of his neck.

"I don't think I could either." She mumbled as she brushed against the corner of Levi's mouth and over his chin.

She quickly withdrew and allowed her hand to fall to her side, but everywhere she had touched him burned white hot on his skin. He sucked in an unsteady breath as bursts of light danced in front of his eyes, behind which Arya was starting to move towards the stairs that would take them back to the parliament block.

"When this is all over, we can look for a way to get rid of whatever this is." She assured him. "And once we do, we can both go back to the way it was before: only better." With a wide grin she took off, disappearing around the edge of the courtyard and out of sight before Levi could say another word. For a moment he couldn't get his legs to move, rooted to the spot over the sheer perplexity of this last interaction, and the unnerving sensation her touch had left behind.

Their whole conversation was enough to send anyone reeling, but nothing more so than Arya's reaction to his desire to be rid of whatever bond forced them together. Her entire demeanor had changed, like she somehow wanted this even less than he did and was relieved that he felt the same.

He wasn't sure if he had been expecting her to push back, or challenge him in some way, but he felt strangely perturbed by the contrast between what he thought might happen once he finally voiced his concerns and what really took place. As he made the brief walk back onto congress property Levi found, with displeasure, that with the roles reversed as they were, the whole thing left him with a bitter taste on his tongue that no amount of water could wash away.