A/N: So I had a bit of trouble making a lovey-dovey scene especially since Levi and Petra practically have polar opposite personalities... I really hope I captured it all correctly here... I apologize in advance if anything seems out of character. Oh, and thanks so much for your reviews and your support! I greatly appreciate it everyone! Lastly, I DO NOT OWN THE LAST OF US OR ANY PART OF THE NAUGHTY DOG FRANCHISE OR ATTACK ON TITAN. THIS IS SIMPLY FAN WORK.

The Female Titan stared intently at its target, approaching the house at an even faster pace. Its scowl then deepened at the sight of Levi and Petra – it was time to kill. The two were running towards her, blades drawn and maneuver gear ready to launch them off the ground. She glared at their parrying blades and clenched her hands into fists. She was ready to fight like a human cornered on the streets.

Levi switched his grip on his right blade, gripping it upside down. He then looked towards Petra. "You keep the kid safe. I'll take care of her."

Petra stood dumbfounded. "Wh-What? By yourself?"

"Yes." He then carved a line into the dry ground. "If that bitch makes it past this line, you better be off your feet and flying towards her nape. Understand?"

Hesitant, she nodded.

"Good."

The Titan bared its teeth at Levi as he sprinted towards her. His hands were ready to engage the maneuver gear but knew it would barely do any good in such an open area. There was a limit to how much he could do in such an environment, and he was about to find out just what that limit was. Petra feared for him, wondering how he will handle such an unusual Titan without any trees or other buildings to latch onto. Was it even possible to win against a Titan in these conditions?

"Please be careful," she whispered to him.

She watched the Titan raise its fist and plunge it down towards Levi.

The man leaped to the side and activated his maneuver gear, latching onto the ground away from the Titan. He zoomed away from the Titan's plummeting fist and quickly launched another hook into the Titan's back. The Titan looked over its shoulder, anticipating Levi's moves.

But he was too quick.

By the time she had turned her head, he had carved into her side and rapidly hooked onto her thigh. She needed to react, but he had already sliced at her. All the while, Titan blood splattered onto Levi's clothes. It burned slightly but quickly dissipated. He examined the Titan's movements as he quickly launched a series of other attacks, making use of the ground and the Titan's body. Every time he attacked her, the Female Titan came closer and closer to smashing him against her body. She too was reading his movements – she too showed intelligence.

It baffled him, knowing that a Titan as big and developed as her would still be able to possess such a thing. Under normal circumstances, an infected human being would first lose its morality and give into animalistic behaviors. It would then lose its sanity and become grotesque creatures that craved human flesh. But the more Levi thought about it, the less Titan-like his opponent seemed. She was a giant and wanted to eat him, but she was too smart – too quick. She was reading him as he was reading her.

This doesn't make sense. Levi latched onto the Titan's Achilles tendon and sheared straight through in a spiraling motion. His body rotated three times as fast as the Titan could react, leaving specs of Titan blood all over the drying grass blades and not enough time for the Titan to fight back. The Titan then collapsed onto her knees, releasing a huge tremor into the ground. Levi saw this as a perfect opportunity to end the encounter. His speedy attacks were working 110%, but the Titan was not pleased one bit. She then made the strangest move Levi and Petra have ever seen: she covered the nape of her neck – a Titan's one and only weakness.

"No way…!" Petra gasped. Eren watched it all unfold from inside the house.

"It's… too smart…!" Eren said.

Levi growled at the nuisance and latched onto one shoulder. Instantaneously, he sliced at her arm and then at the other. The limbs collapsed immediately after, leaving her nape wide open. Nice try, he commended. He then used one last maneuver and hooked onto her neck, readying his blades to strike one last time.

Suddenly, one of her arms began to move.

Shocked at the sight, Petra screamed for him: "LEVI, DON'T!"

He was caught off guard and was already zooming towards her neck. He was unable to stop. He unlatched himself from her neck and braced for impact. He then saw her hand ready to swat at him from the side. Before he could collide with her neck, he turned his body, his feet making contact with the Titan's hand. With all the strength he had in his legs, he pushed himself away from her, simultaneously pushing her hand from him. His left foot made awkward contact with her palm, rolling to the side as he pushed away. He grunted in pain and fell to the rough ground on his side.

"LEVI!" Petra screamed. Eren backed away from the window, fearing for the man.

Levi struggled to stand, feeling a throbbing pain in his left ankle. A Titan's body can heal quickly… but the bitch focused its regeneration at her arm?! He was beyond aggravated with the Titan – she had too many perplexities. As he forced himself onto one foot, he heard a hook fasten onto the Titan's skin. He looked over his shoulder quickly, and saw Petra zooming towards the Titan's arm.

No… "You idiot!" he hissed.

Petra debilitated the Titan's arm and made her way down to the Titan's Achilles for reassurance. She was fast with her attacks but not as fast as Levi. She launched her grappling hook into the Titan's neck, knowing in full that her arms were still healing; but as soon as she got close enough to chop the nape off, her nape hardened into a blue, crystalline surface. She swung at the nape, but her blades broke off, one of them nicking her forehead. She crashed into the hardened nape but caught herself from the fall by connecting her maneuver gear to the ground.

She stumbled onto the earth beside Levi who looked at her with disdain. "I told you to keep the kid safe!"

"This is keeping him safe!" Petra snapped. "This is keeping you safe too!"

"Go back and protect Eren!" Levi retorted.

"That's what I'm doing."

They watched the Titan struggle in its spot. They then heard her release a small groan – her energy to fight was drastically depleted by two normal humans. Frustrated at how powerful Levi and Petra could be, the Titan grunted at them. Miraculously, her Achilles had made a hasty recovery; she staggered onto her feet and began to run with her arms limp at her sides. The tremors from her running gradually faded, prompting Petra to lower her blades.

Perhaps the Titan was wise enough to flee from battle; or maybe it was going back to call for a few friends. Either way, her appearance spelled trouble. The trio's current location was no longer as safe as they thought it would be.

When the Titan was far enough into the distance, Petra sheathed her blades and acted as Levi's crutch.

"You're an idiot, Petra," he groaned in pain.

"If that's the case, then an idiot just saved all three of our asses out here."

Levi scowled at her, rather surprised at her sudden coarseness; but nonetheless, he was truly grateful to her.

Eren filled a basin with cold water and soaked up a clean rag for Levi's ankle. It was the least he could do, considering he was never a part of the actual fight. His escorts were two of a kind, but he never considered them to be perfect.

"My dad said swelling goes down by using something cold, so you'll need to soak your ankle in the cold water." Levi sank his foot into the basin and hissed from the pain. "Your ankle didn't look too bad, but I think the cold water will still help you feel better." Eren then turned to Petra and began changing the bandage for her forehead. "Head wounds tend to bleed a lot, so your gauze needs to be changed several times," Eren said as he taped on a new pad of gauze.

"Thank you, Eren," Petra said as she rubbed the wrinkles in the tape away. "You sure know quite a bit of first aid for your age."

"I told you, my dad's a doctor." Eren set aside the tape and gauze on the countertop in the kitchen. "I picked up a few things from him before he left. I'm actually pretty thankful that I took the time to learn."

"We're pretty thankful too." Petra stood from her seat at the dining table and stretched. "On that note, why don't we scrounge up some food before we rest a little longer?"

"I'll help you," Eren said. Petra smiled at him.

"Could you check the rest of the house to see if there's anything else we can use? I'll start cleaning the cooking supplies down here."

"Will do. And after that, let's talk about that Titan from earlier."

"After, Eren."

"That's what I said."

As Eren hastily trekked through the hallways and into the different rooms of the house, Petra turned to her counterpart. She frowned at him and his condition.

"That Titan put up such a fight. Eren's right – we need to talk about her. And after your ankle soaks for fifteen minutes, I'll tape it up for you," Petra said plainly. "That way you'll be less likely to sprain it again."

Levi remained silent.

"…Can I at least just take a look at your ankle?" she asked as she crouched down by his knees.

He still refused to respond.

"Levi?"

His hands suddenly clenched into fists, and he looked straight into her amber eyes.

"Levi, I'm talking to you-"

He gritted his teeth and grabbed hold of her shirt. She gasped at his abruptness and forcefully pulled her to him. His lips smashed against hers as she fell onto his lap. Her hands remained at his hips as he pulled her closer to him. He could feel her blush at his touch, but she quickly shied away, struggling to breathe.

He stared into her amber orbs as she stared into his icy blue gaze. She was filled with so many emotions: shock, happiness, confusion – but she failed to utter any comprehensible sentence to him. She could only stare back at him, panting for breath, secretly wishing he would kiss her again.

"…I'm in fucking pain right now, Petra…" he grumbled. Petra kept quiet, not knowing how to react. "It's not just my ankle. It hurts me to see you get hurt."

She pursed her lips tight.

"I told you to stay back so that I know you're safe," he whispered to her. "Why didn't you listen to me?"

She exhaled through her nose and stood. She pulled up a chair beside him and sat down, trying to collect herself. His eyes followed her, and he leaned into her again, catching her soft lips with his. He cupped her cheek and tilted her head up to look at him. Timidly, she grasped the hand at her face, hoping that he would not pull away from her. He could feel the warmth in her cheeks grow as the seconds passed. He knew she was nervous. All this time, she was nervous.

She pulled away for breath again and licked her lips. She never realized how sweet he actually tasted and how passionate of a man he could be. After all the years she had spent with him, she had always known his demeanor to be cold and harsh no matter who he was with. He was different now – he actually expressed affection to her; affection that she longed for from him for so long.

She brought his calloused hand down to her lap and held it tight. He felt her trembling, thinking he might have scared her. He laced his fingers with hers, wanting to stop the trembling.

"I wanted to protect the both you," she whispered to him. "You tell me to stand back, but I can't just do that and watch you get hurt. I want to fight alongside you. You of all people." Her voice began to tremble, and her grip on his hand tightened. "Why do you think I came with you in the first place years ago?"

Levi sighed and leaned back into his chair. He stared at the ceiling, contemplating what to say next.

"But still, you got hurt because of me. We both did."

He glanced at her.

"I'm sorry, Levi."

He closed his eyes, hearing a crack in her voice. He tightened his grip on her hand, hoping to comfort her. "It's just an ankle. I have another. And your skin will heal. Scars heal too."

He exhaled deeply and titled his head back. He then felt her head nudge him in the arm. She was leaning on him, bowing her head in sadness.

"I called you an idiot back there," he murmured. "Sorry for that."

"You call me an idiot on different occasions," she chuckled quietly.

"But this time it sounded like I meant it."

She sat up and stared at his soaked ankle. It was still rather swollen but already on its way to recovery thanks to Eren's quick thinking. She cracked a small smile, mentally thanking the boy that he chose to come along with them. It was a hassle juggling his safety with theirs, but his first aid response for them was rather surprising.

"Why did you choose to stay with me, if all we ever get ourselves into is trouble?" Levi asked honestly. Petra's small smile quickly faded.

She took in a deep breath and looked at her counterpart. "Because I want to protect you. Give my life for you."

Startled at her words, Levi looked into her tear-filled eyes.

"...I love you, Levi."