Those Three Words
Summary: All the three word phrases Eren and Levi said to/about each other as their relationship changes and gives them a whole new meaning.
6. You have to. (There's no other choice. Decide - s2, about sealing Wall Maria, before Eren gets kidnapped) (Levi) (Levi POV)
Levi hated being injured.
It was an inconvenience, it made him vulnerable and it had everyone around him fussing over him for no good reason. He could still take on more Titans or humans or both in his current state than any other soldier or even several soldiers combined, but both Hange and Erwin had insisted that he has to rest his leg, to let it heal lest he complicates his injury. They were all already worried about whether he had brittle bones due to the many years he'd lived without sunlight but Levi knows for all that he'd not had some common commodities that were the most basic needs for good health, he was still stronger and his body more durable than most would think.
He'll heal just fine. He doesn't need anyone's fussing. He hates it.
And he hates it even more that his comrades were going out on a mission without him.
That Eren, the last member of his squad, was going out on a mission without him.
Call him irrational, call him paranoid, call him crazy and call him arrogant, if you must, but Levi had almost refused to let Eren go out without him there to protect the boy. Erwin and Hange and everyone else can make all the reassuring claims they want, but Levi had seen firsthand that he was the only one capable of keeping the walking disaster and problem magnet known as Eren Yeager safe. His little friend was good, he's not gonna lie, and he's heard some Garrison soldiers claim that she was worth a hundred men, which is impressive, he'll admit, but she was young, inexperienced and prone to letting her emotions drive her actions, which had very nearly ended in her own death just a few days ago, out on the field.
Whenever Eren Yeager was involved, that girl lost all reason and that worried him. He didn't know their exact connection. Eren had told him about her, his adopted sister and childhood friend, but the way she sometimes reacted had him wondering what else was going on there. He didn't pry, as he didn't think it was his business, but if he has to, he'll bench her if she pulls a stunt like against the Female Titan again. Saving her had made it impossible for Levi to accompany Eren in finding the breach in Wall Rose, dealing with the traitors and retrieving the two girls of interest that Erwin wanted to question. All Levi was currently good for was keeping an eye on the Wallist scum Hange had captured instead of going out there to make sure his idiot subordinate didn't get himself killed or kidnapped again.
As they rode between the Walls so Eren and his friends can be deployed to retrieve Krista Lenz and lure out Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover, Hange had opened the discussion of the possibility that Eren might be able to do what Annie Leonheart did. They were already planning Crystallization experiments as soon as they dealt with this reported breach and the Titans roaming Wall Rose, talking about how they might have a way to seal Wall Maria and retake Shiganshina, but that heavily depended on Eren.
Levi honestly sometimes felt really bad that they were piling up all his responsibility on a meet fifteen year old teenager. If anyone had tried to do something like that to Isabel, they would have had a talk with one of Levi's knives, but as it was, there was no one to protect Eren from all of this. Well, there was Levi, but Levi was also the one supposed to enforce it all on him.
Life had truly gotten far too complicated in the past few weeks.
And Hange was making the whole mess even more complicated with the way they were presenting the problem of Shiganshina and Crystallization to Eren. It was far simpler than all of that, at the core of it all.
So when Eren started to overthink everything because of all the useless information and 'what if's Hange dumped in his lap, Levi presented the whole matter in a 'language' that Eren can understand and work by.
"It doesn't matter what you think," he cut in, making the brunet look at him. His friends didn't seem to like Levi's tone, but for once not even Ackerman complained. She probably still felt guilty for Levi's injury. It was for the best that way. It might actually help him get through to her the next time she tries something reckless or tries to disobey orders from a superior. "You have to." He said with intense eye contact that seemed to have Eren enraptured, as though Levi was the one with pretty eyes and not the brat himself. "There's no other choice. You have to succeed."
Levi could practically see the burden on Eren's shoulder lighten at what was practically an order, the choice momentarily taken away from him, as much as a 'choice' this was.
Eren may be a free, wild spirit that would like nothing more than to soar in the wind, go beyond the horizon and learn about the world outside once all the Titans were gone, but he was still young, he still needed, maybe even desired guidance and he probably wanted someone to accompany him. Levi was probably the worst choice anyone can make, for all that he wished for nothing more than to breathe the fresh air from outside the Walls, but he can understand why someone like Eren would find himself attached to someone like Levi. It wasn't even just about protection; they seem to be way beyond that at this point.
No, it was, once again, about understanding. Just like how Levi understood Eren needed someone to be firm with his doubts, take away the choice between 'can' and 'will'.
For anyone else, Levi's little 'pep talk' would make them even more insecure and doubtful.
But Eren's eyes hardened with determination and he gave a single nod. "I will!"
Hange and even his friends seemed surprised by his sudden firm resolve, but Levi just nodded and moved on from the topic. He didn't want anyone to question him about how he knew what to say to Eren to get him out of his funk.
Because he didn't know the answer to such a question himself.