I found mistakes in the last chapter! Nothing major, but enough to tick me off. I edited it and now it looks more presentable...

And regarding their little fist fight, these two just strike me as the type of couple who settle everything by sparring.

"Your turn to wash the dishes, sweetheart."

"Like hell!"

*punches ensue*

Ok, not exactly like that, but you get what I mean…

ONWARD!

In the end, it was humanity itself that destroyed the very freedom they had sacrificed for. In a matter of weeks, the once thriving colonies established outside the walls were reduced to nothing more than decaying slums riddled with plague. Thieves, they had been told, came quite literally like burglars in the night with weapons in hand and shameful lust in their eyes, snatching young women from their homes along with any valuables they could find. Husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons were left defenseless as they watched their loved ones brutally ripped away from them, only to find themselves soon at the receiving end of gun barrels and blades. Even the handful of stationary guard posted in each colony stood little chance against the band of murderous men. Too long had they spent their days in peace, easily neglecting their combat training in favor of more pleasurable pastimes. They paid for it with their lives.

The few who managed to survive immediately wished they hadn't. Baked by the afternoon sun each passing day, rotted flesh of the dead littered the streets, giving way to disease. The scouting squads assigned to Settlements 8 and 9, with Erwin and Hanji among them, were stunned silent at the sight that lay before their eyes. Never before had they seen such illness spread so quickly, even in the slums within the walls. They were left with little choice but to wait for the last of the dying to pass and to build funeral pyres to dispose of the many bodies. Those responsible for their deaths moved on long ago, headed for the next colony, no doubt ready to echo their previous actions. Luckily the trek from Settlement 8 to Settlement 7 was a much longer journey than the others. This would buy those villagers some time. Their only hope was that Levi and his squad weren't too late to put those disgraces to the human race to a stop.

But even humanity's strongest wasn't immortal.

Levi was getting too old for this shit. The rapid thumping of his heart muffled out the sounds of screams and gunfire around him. He could feel the click of his boots on cobblestone as he ran down a narrow pathway, dodging whizzing bullets in the process. He couldn't be sure how many attackers he had on his tail, nor where the rest of his squad scattered off to, but he knew he had to think of something and quick. Long gone were the days where a simple leap into the air and a swish of blades solved nearly everything. Titans, though formidable, were predictable; humans never were.

His entire squad was caught in an ambush even the tactic genius, Armin, was too blind to see. The burning home and frantic screams within only served as a distraction as a band of ten to fifteen rogue men descended upon them, forcing them into a gunfight and a battle of wits. Those poor souls inside never stood a chance. One by one, his squad ran for cover, taking out at least three who dared shoot upon them with the now standard issue handguns required of all military personnel. Their 3DMG were rarely used these days.

At first he scoffed at the idea of having to rely on a device so quick to kill with little to no thought of the being before him, especially when such devices were simple enough for even a simpleton to operate. There was nothing elegant about having your brains blown out by an idiot with poor aim, but as he hid behind the walls of an empty house, fingering the two devices holstered beneath his short brown coat, Levi was glad to be equally matched to his pursuers.

'Tch. As if they even come anywhere close to my skill.'

Sophistication had nothing to do with it.

He closed his eyes and listened. They were still a ways off, but he could hear the rushed stomping of their paces, the gruffness of their voices as they made their way closer. Three, no more than four, were headed in his direction in search of the, "shorty who ran off like a crying pussy." How eloquent.

Lifting his lids, his gaze darted around at his surroundings, already forming a plan of action to dispose of them. There was enough cover for him to make himself seen once, ensuring they looked into his cold eyes before he blasted them all to hell. Blood was blood, and he wasn't in a forgiving mood. He would take no prisoners today. Fuck Erwin's orders. There was nothing to learn from these pieces of shit.

Of course, he of all people should have known better than to assume anything ever goes to plan.

Just as he was about to make himself seen, a small flash of pink darted beside an opening to rest behind the wall across the pathway directly in front of him. He thought his eyes were playing tricks until he saw a small dark tuft of hair reveal itself, closely followed by a much larger figure carrying a long, blood-stained blade. Hazel-colored eyes peeked out from behind the grey stone wall just as the figure in question revealed his dirty face, his arm raised, ready to strike. Without a second thought, Levi shot one bullet directly to the exposed chest. The man froze, dropping his blade, and staggered forward before falling to the ground with a hard thud. At the sound of the loud bang and the dead body now inches away, tears quickly welled into doe-like saucers before a soft cry was released, revealing a child who ran from its safe space from behind the wall and towards him – into the line of fire.

'Fucking hell…'

Before they could let out more than a shout of surprise, Levi burst from behind his wall, taking a protective stance in front of the tiny body now curled in a ball, pistols steady in each hand, and shot. A mist of red slowly wafted into the air before two burly men fell flat on their backs, a smoking hole planted deeply into the center of their foreheads. Hardening his gaze, he aimed again, hitting another directly in the heart, the other at the shoulder. He didn't feel the bullet hit him before he shot again and watched as the man fell face-forward to the hard ground below him, nor did he notice the circle of blood that stained his jacket slowly expanding. He did, however, hear the shouts from off in the distance. Quickly reaching down, he threw the small child behind him over his shoulder and took off running again, darting between wooden homes and abandoned carriages, until he came face to face with a breathless Eren and Armin. They were shocked to see their corporal cradling a small, ebony-haired boy, no older than six in appearance, dressed in nothing but tattered clothing and dirt smudging his face. His dirty, pink sweater was three times his size and was likely something he found cast out by its previous owner. The steady droplets of blood hitting the floor hauled the two back to their senses.

"Heichou!" Armin gasped, his eyes now fixated on Levi's bleeding wound. "We managed to capture two, but eight got away. The rest are dead."

"I jus' took out five back there." Levi slurred. His vision was becoming blurry. 'Shit.'

"Five?!" Eren exclaimed in disbelief.

Armin didn't say a word, instead directing his attention on attaching a makeshift tourniquet for the man's arm before he lost any more blood. "Heichou, we need to take you to the medics. They've already set up just outside the northern farmstead. You've been shot."

"No shit. Take the kid." He sighed, trying to place the boy onto the floor. Instead of letting go, however, the small child held on tighter, shouting out a resounding "No!" before burying his head into Levi's neck.

"H-hey, little boy," Eren stammered, reaching for a thin arm, "We're going to help you find your mom and dad."

The boy buried his head even more, slapping away Eren's outstretched hand. "No!"

"What's your name?" Armin encouraged, hoping to try from another angle.

"Ian." Came his muffled reply. He had a slight accent to his voice, though none could quite place where it came from.

"Hi, Ian. We're going to go find lost families and help them find each other. Would you like to come help us?"

"NO!"

Levi sighed. "I don't have time for this." Without warning, he used his good arm and ripped the boy from his chest, letting him fall hard on his hands and knees. The boy cried out before Levi lifted him by the collar to stand, eyeing the fresh wounds. "Tch. Looks like the brat fell and cut himself, anyway. I'll have to take him to the medics with me. You have his name. Find his family." He grabbed the boy roughly by the arm and walked off.

There were far more dead than Levi had anticipated. His interrogation of the two captives brought unsurprising results. The band of idiots were nothing more than trigger-happy defectors hoping to make fast money through slave trade - never mind that human trafficking was now illegal and closely monitored since the first colonists set out in search of a new life all those months ago. Logic never came into play, apparently. He would take them back and let Erwin deal with them.

As he walked through rows of the injured, he wondered if the boy, Ian, found his family. The brat seemed way too scared at the prospect of going back to his parents and Levi couldn't help but speculate on his home life. Did he even have a family? He never bothered to ask. As soon as he found an available medic to treat the boy's knees, he disappeared into the panicked crowd in search of someone to tend to his own bullet wound.

He continued on, his arm now treated and wrapped and in a sling, half of his attention focused on searching out the child, the other half in contemplative thought. The sun was slowly setting, dusk just moments away. The nights were growing colder. Would he freeze to death? The brat was annoying, but he would never wish death upon him.

'Ah, Mikasa's made me soft.' He disdainfully thought to himself. 'That brat is none of my concern.'

"Looks like someone has a second shadow." A raspy voice laced with amusement called out.

Levi turned to face an older woman, covered from the chest down in a heavy blanket, resting supine upon a mat among the other seriously wounded. She looked very frail, like the slightest gust of wind could easily carry her beaten body away. Her grey hair was matted with blood. He couldn't tell if it was her own or not, but something told him she didn't have much longer for this world, anyway. His eyes followed her knowing gaze to find Ian standing a distance away, eyes firmly locked on Levi as if to give chase should he disappear on him again. He was alone.

"Oi!" he yelled, startling the child, "Go home!"

"Go easy on her, boy." The woman chastised in a grainy voice, no doubt the result of a lifetime of smoking.

"Her?" He questioned. The child certainly looked like young a boy. Perhaps this old woman was senile.

She nodded. "That's young Helen Reynard. The poor, stubborn, fool has no home to go to. Her family left Stohess for this place. Damn fools, if you ask me. They were one of the first to die off after that first epidemic we had. Left her a homeless orphan living off of scraps and who knows what else. She won't leave this place." She paused, eyeing his uniform. "I've never seen her take such a liking to someone so quick before, though. It took me a month to get close enough to give her a new change of clothes, even though she still keeps that ratty pink sweater."

"She told me her name was Ian."

The old woman gave a raspy chuckle before falling into a coughing fit. Levi pulled out his small canteen and knelt down to hold it to the woman's mouth. She took a small gulp before thanking him. "I gave her that name …and those clothes. They belonged to my boy when he was a toddler. He joined the Garrison years ago and never looked back. Can't say I blame him. At least something of his was put to good use." Her eyes glazed over as she paused, reminded of some distant memory. She shook her head and waved her hand. "Ah, anyway, I'm guessing she ran to you as soon as the attacks started?"

Levi nodded.

The old woman sighed and closed her eyes. "Figures," she said, "After all those stories I used to tell her, she would run to the first man in uniform she sees. She's determined to bring my boy back to me. But he ain't coming back. He's gone."

He didn't have to ask what happened to her son, so he didn't. "Why dress her like a boy?"

She gave him a disdainful look. "Do you forget what those… those things did here?" she spat, motioning her arm for him to look around them. "Little Helen used to run around in a little blue dress, scarcely avoiding all sorts of mishaps, before I finally caught her and threw those old clothes on her. Took even longer to get her to let me cut her hair and rename her. You should have seen the way these older men looked at her. A young girl with pretty black hair and no one to watch over her… Far better to run about these streets as a dodgy boy than girl, that's for sure." She eyed the pewter band wrapped around his left ring finger.

"You got kids yourself, corporal?"

That wasn't a question he expected to hear. He gave her a hard look and stood, ready to walk away. The old woman told him everything he needed to know about Ian – no, Helen. He didn't need to get personal with a sick old woman. He didn't need yet another person giving him superficial sympathies over something they knew nothing about.

"Touched a nerve there, did I?" her bitter laugh gave way to another coughing fit.

"I hardly see how this is of concern to you." He responded, coldly, his back turned to her.

She laughed entirely way too much for someone who could hardly breathe.

"Humor a dying old woman."

Humor? He was expected to humor an old woman with his own personal tragedies? He just spent the last few days vehemently denying any attachment to that dead fetus he foolishly thought would grow into his child. He wasted a good portion of his life fighting for the future of, what? A brave new world? If today was any indication of humanity's future, they were all obviously under false illusions. Humanity's strongest couldn't even –

"You aren't the only parent to lose a child, you know?"

He widened his eyes at the old woman's declaration. How could she have known?

"I know that look. I had it once myself. It'll do you some good to talk about it."

He sighed. He hated to admit it, but she was partially right. Replays of that day had been invading his mind every minute of every day since then, no doubt clouding his judgment. Maybe it would help to talk – just to get it out of his mind once and for all. Maybe then he could get some peace. She wasn't going to live much longer, anyway. What did he have to lose?

"My wife-." He started, and then frowned. "We… cannot." He furrowed his brows, suddenly unable to voice what he had repeated hundreds of times in his head. Perhaps it was more difficult than he thought. "Her body can't."

"Start at the beginning." She gently urged.

He remembered back to the night he found Mikasa slumped over on the floor. Her angry sobs, the blood on the floor, the tiny mass of red and pink in their bathroom… Was he supposed to fish it out and bury it like a family pet? Flush it away? He didn't understand what he did wrong. Mikasa ate right, didn't overly strain herself… she was the epitome of healthy. It didn't make sense.

Armin wasn't gone much longer after he was sent to find a physician. Once word got out that something was wrong with the baby, everyone wanted to know what had happened. By the time the blonde came running back to the house, a mob of scouts and medics were trailing behind him. Hanji and the head physician tended to Mikasa while Erwin took Levi aside, trying to make sense of what the corporal was telling him.

"You know they are making assumptions already." Erwin told him, his face rigid. "Some even think it may have been intentional."

He gave him a hard look, wishing for nothing more than to rip those giant fucking eyebrows off his stupid face. "Let them think what they want. Just keep them away from Mikasa."

By the time the physician came back with the news, all Levi could do was bury his head in his hands as Erwin offered a sympathetic hand on his slumped shoulder. They could have done nothing and everything, and still the outcome would have been the same.

"Her uterus is too damaged from the events that caused the first miscarriage." The physician told him. "It is very unlikely she will ever carry a child to full term."

The titans give and taketh away.

"Oh, you poor dears." The woman whispered, jarring Levi from his thoughts. She wrapped her wrinkled hands around his.

He didn't try to pull away, instead giving her this moment. She looked like she needed it.

She didn't make it past the night, but they both knew she wouldn't, anyway. He watched over her as she struggled to breathe in the cold night, holding onto her hand as her grip tightened around his in fear of what was to come. Not everyone was destined to welcome death with a warm embrace, even if they thought they would. As the night wore on, her breaths became more shallow as she drifted in and out of consciousness. She finally breathed her last just as the sun crept over the horizon. A soft cry could be heard from Levi's silent shadow as he covered the woman's head with her blanket.

"NO!" she yelled, moving from her spot across the small dirt road to run to the old woman. She didn't know she was directly in the path of a couple running horses. She didn't know she was so small the riders couldn't have seen her, and otherwise may have stopped if they had. Levi may not have had to run out in the middle of the pathway to grab her with his one good arm in the nick of time, rescuing her yet again, but he did.

"Such a bothersome child." He grunted, setting her back down.

She cried out and ran back to the old woman's body, kneeling silently before it. He walked over and glanced over at the small girl. Her short cropped hair, tiny malnourished frame, and jaded eyes conveying no real discernible emotions reminded him of himself as a boy of ten, starving and struggling to survive in the harsh underground. It was obvious she had been without a home for a long while and would have certainly died without the old woman's help. He wouldn't doubt for a second if she hadn't already developed a few odd survival quirks.

He wasn't sure what came over him then, but there was no way to stop his words.

"Oi, Helen," he called, "that's your name isn't it?"

The girl nodded.

"When was the last time you ate?"

She shook her head.

It had probably been a few days since her last meal, if it was anything more than scraps. He looked over and saw the first of the scouts moving about their morning routines, some helping prepare the morning meals.

"Go on over there and tell them the Corporal said to give you some breakfast." He indicated to the two people currently huddled over a large steaming pot. "We're going to have a long couple days before we head home."

The girl quirked her head, her bright eyes shimmering in the morning light.

"Home?" she whispered. He didn't miss the excitement laced in her statement.

"We're evacuating half the colony. You obviously can't survive on your own out here."

"Helen! Don't eat so fast!" Eren shouted at the young girl as she shoved a second bowl of stew into her mouth. He was concerned she would make herself sick, and a vomiting six-year old was the last thing he wanted to deal with.

"I found extra dried meat!" Sasha interrupted, plopping herself down next to Eren at the wooden table. "Would you like some, Helen?"

The tiny girl smiled and reached for the offered meat

"Don't give her that! It'll get stuck in her teeth!"

Eren, Armin, and Sasha took on the responsibility of ensuring the girl got a proper meal that morning, now aware the young boy they met the day before was actually a girl. Levi disappeared to monitor the clean-up efforts. Before leaving, he gave them all explicit instructions to see she properly had her fill before they even considered clearing the table. They were all surprised to see their corporal actually show such concern for a child, let alone one as dirty as her, but they didn't question him.

"Helen, do you know what happened to your family?" Armin asked, trying to draw attention away from his two arguing friends sitting across from him.

She pointed to a pyre Levi was currently standing beside. "Papa."

"Oh, how sad. Her father is dead." Sasha said sadly, turning away from Eren for the moment.

"No!" she yelled, pointing again at Levi. "Petit papa."

In a language he vaguely remembered, Levi could have sworn he heard Helen yell 'little daddy' from the table, but her voice was so faint, he couldn't be sure. It was when he turned and saw her tiny mouth curve into a smile that he gave a faint smirk back, quickly replaced with a scowl once he realized what he was doing.

"Brat."

The journey home had been a nightmare. They were delayed an additional week after one of the three who had gotten away was found with his throat slit on the outskirts of town. Erwin, who had joined with Levi at Settlement 8 by this time, issued the order to sniff out the remaining two. They were found a few days later, one with a bullet wound to the stomach, the other with multiple stab wounds. It appeared they had turned against one another.

On the morning they were finally ready to leave, Levi found there were no available carts to carry Helen back as had been anticipated, or so Erwin told him. The other refugees seemed to have a place, but Erwin insisted she ride on horseback with Levi, much to the corporal's chagrin. She settled herself comfortably against his chest, enveloping herself in his green cloak for added warmth. His arm was still wrapped tightly in a sling, so he allowed her to help him with the reigns of his horse – not that he really needed it. She fiddled with the cloth of his cloak the entire ride, humming made up tunes and blatantly ignoring his orders for her to keep quiet. In a way, her deliberate indifference to his authority almost reminded him of Mikasa, and it pissed him off to no end. By the end of their first rest period of the day, he threw her into the arms of Erwin, who was more than happy to entertain the girl before they completed their journey for the night.

It was that night that ruined him.

After everyone had gone to sleep, fires snuffed out and first guards on watch, she walked carefully up to his sleeping mat, blanket in hand, and plopped down. Levi wasn't sure why he allowed her to snuggle up against him. He didn't know how she got under his covers, or why he wrapped his arm around her, as if concerned she may have been too cold, but still he allowed her in. By morning, he found her sleeping comfortably in the crook of his good arm, her small head resting against his chest, and he couldn't bring himself to wake her.

Erwin offered to take her for the day again, but Levi refused, saying it was time he pull his weight. A lame excuse, but he needed the day to study the slip of a girl who enjoyed dancing around with the other scouts, his green cloak flowing behind her.

"You make a good father, Levi." He told him with a smirk.

"Fuck off, Erwin."

She was young, defenseless, and only added more work on top of their already strenuous duties, yet somehow everyone had grown attached to the girl, eagerly volunteering to spend time with her each opportunity they had. Helen was understandably wary of their attentions at first, especially Hanji's after the woman tried to include the girl in one her more dangerous experiments, but soon warmed up to the entire regiment.

Now donning a white dress appropriate for a child her age, the female squad members had taken it upon themselves to clean and dress the girl properly, though they found it impossible to separate her from her ugly pink sweater. Levi later came to find out it had belonged to her mother. He knew better than to try and separate her from the ratty thing. Years of dealing with Mikasa's unhealthy attachment to her red scarf taught him that. One thorough scrubbing and several proper meals later, Helen looked nothing like the scrawny Ian Levi threw over his shoulder upon their first meeting. The only indication that showed her days wandering the streets was the hint of despondency hidden within her round hazel eyes. Every single person he had come to know had that look at some point. She was just as damaged as the rest of them.

He allowed her to stay wrapped in his cloak each day they spent riding, shielding her from the wind. She held tight to the horse's reigns, carefully following his instructions to maneuver the animal. Each night, he allowed her to curl up next to him, using his body heat for warmth against the chilly night air around them.

By evening the fourth day, they were finally home. The refugees were all given temporary living space at the Survey Corps headquarters until more proper arrangements had been worked out. His job now done, it was there Levi left a confused Helen with a concerned Erwin before walking back to Mikasa and their quiet home.

Nearly three weeks out and there was a decided change to the front of his small cottage. It seemed Mikasa had worked on her garden - almost obsessively - finally planting small violets he'd given her days before his departure. They sat proudly in a small planter on the windowsill, drinking up the last rays of sunlight that day. Below, it looked like she wanted a bit of everything in her small plot of land – even a plum tree. The days were becoming much colder, so her garden would lie dormant for some time. Come spring, their front yard would definitely be an explosion of color.

Mikasa watched from the window as Levi walked up the small pathway to their home, sucking in a sharp breath at the sight of his bandaged arm. A wave of shame and relief simultaneously washed through her, knowing he was at least now home and safe.

The past three weeks had been hell. Anger, grief, and resentment were all she could feel the night before he left, and she directed all of it at him. She didn't say a word as he walked out the door the next morning, instead choosing to stay in bed facing the wall with furrowed brows. It was the soft click of the lock put in place that finally brought her out of the room and downstairs to confront the mess left just hours before. She glanced around the empty house, at the abandoned pile of destroyed infant items, the open bathroom that remained untouched, and finally at the wooden box filled with unplanted violets left by the door. He brought those flowers home just days ago, knowing they were her favorite. She neglected to plant them, yet they still lived on as vibrant and purple as ever.

It must have been hours that she sat there, glaring at the inanimate objects around her, when an emphatic change snapped her senses. She stood, foregoing breakfast, and went straight to work, first cleansing the bathroom of all remnants of that night. It was long and emotionally draining work, but it gave her the strength to move on to the pile of destroyed baby things. Instead of disposing of everything as she first intended, she pulled a needle and thread from a sewing kit she had squirreled away and began to repair all she could. Her stitches were hesitant and sloppy at first, but gradually found a comfortable rhythm her mother would be proud of. By the time she was finished, the sun was long gone and she had an impressive pile of folded clothing, blankets, and even a couple dolls sitting beside her.

Still, her work was not done.

She made her way outside, shovel and lantern in hand, and began digging up the soil in front of the house. She dug well into the night, only stopping when her hands became blistered and exhaustion finally caught up with her. It took days, but she gathered all the plants she could and packed them into the loosened soil of her 8' by 8' garden. The plum tree she came upon by chance. It was small, damaged, and probably wouldn't produce any fruit in her lifetime, but she took it with her all the same, determined to get it to at least take root. She had to remove a few of her flowers to get the tree to fit, but she was satisfied with her work by the time she was finished. Glancing around, her home almost looked inviting, yet her husband was not there to marvel at the work with her, stirring a new emotion from within: guilt.

She felt guilty for hitting him, for calling him names, for abandoning him when she knew he needed her just as much as she needed him in that moment. The date of his scheduled arrival came and passed, and still he wasn't home. She didn't see him off. Her last words to him would have been, "You bastard." So many 'What if?' scenarios raced through her mind for days until finally, with no warning at all, there he was, walking up the dirt road leading to their home, his arm now in a sling.

She abandoned the pot of stew she was currently stirring and ran for the door, opening it as he stopped to inspect her garden work.

"Welcome home," A small smile graced her face as she took a tentative step over the threshold. Levi turned his head and returned the expression before she rushed to him, enveloping him in her arms. His shoulders relaxed as he took in her scent and ran his nose down the length of her exposed neck, wanting nothing more than to take her to bed and forget the entire expedition.

She didn't miss the tiny girl watching over from a safe distance behind him, hiding behind a large tree trunk every time he moved his head.

"Are you well?" he mumbled.

"I am." She paused, "There's a girl standing behind you."

He let out an exasperated growl and turned to pick up a small pebble, no bigger than a coin, and threw it in Helen's direction, striking her shoulder. He winced, not intending to hit her, but kept his expression in check.

"Go back to Erwin!" he yelled at her.

The girl stayed rooted to her spot, not daring to hide anymore.

Mikasa pushed herself away from him and glared before walking back into the house, coming back out moments later with a small bowl of her stew, a throw blanket, and one of the stuffed rabbits she managed to repair.

"You shouldn't have done that, Levi." She said, motioning for the girl to come over.

Helen ran up to her and happily accepted her gifts.

Levi gave his traitorous wife a disgusted look. "Tch, fine. You can take her back to Erwin yourself." He walked back into the house, slamming the door behind him.

Mikasa knelt down and placed the bowl of hot stew in Helen's hands before wrapping the blanket over her shoulders, the yarn fibers tickling the back of her bare neck.

"I'm sorry about your arm. He isn't as mean as he looks." She told her. Fingering the stuffed animal, she sat it in front of the girl, staring intently at the fuzzy fibers of its ears. "I was supposed to give this to my baby, but you can have it if you want."

Helen set the bowl down and grabbed the doll, squeezing it to her chest. She gave Mikasa a toothy grin. "Thank you, pretty lady!"

Mikasa smiled, not realizing those were the most words the tiny girl before her had used in a single breath the entire time Levi had known her. She turned back to see Levi glaring from the window, giving him a dark look herself.

She looked back at Helen, who was watching the two with worried eyes. Mikasa gave her a soft smile. "I'll talk to him." She reassured before standing and made her way back into the house.

Levi didn't wait for her to speak.

"What are you doing with that brat? Take her back!"

"She doesn't have anywhere to go, does she?" She asked softly.

"She has Erwin and all his orphans. Let her make friends with all the other kids with dead parents."

"Levi…" He was treading on dangerous ground.

He slammed his fist against the table in frustration. Eyeing another repaired stuffed doll just inches away, he grabbed it and held it up for Mikasa to see. "I refuse to let her replace them."

He flung the doll to the floor. It landed in an uncharacteristic heap between them.

Mikasa widened her eyes in understanding. She grabbed his wrist and wrapped her hands around his, much like the old woman had done to him days ago. "They will never be replaced."

He grunted, ready to argue more, but his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a familiar tune floating in from outside. He almost couldn't believe he was hearing it. Almost no one knew the lullaby.

"Dodo, l'enfant do, l'enfant dormira bien vite…"

The words, so simplistic and in a language he hardly understood, brought forth a familiar feeling; one he hadn't felt in a very long time. Hazy images of a dark-haired woman smiling down at him, caressing his cheek with the back of her fingers, flooded his memories as if they were from some distant dream.

"Dodo, l'enfant do, l'enfant dormira bientôt."

He removed his hand and walked towards the doorway.

"Levi?"

"Une poule blanche,"

"Wait," he urged, holding his hand up.

"Est là dans la grange"

Slowly, he stepped outside to where Helen was sitting by herself in the dirt, rocking the doll in her arms, the familiar song passing through her own lips.

"Qui va faire un petit coco-"

Helen paused, feeling his presence suddenly near. She looked up at the man she had faithfully followed the past few days. He was giving her a strange look, one she didn't recognize. Finally, he took a seat beside her and softly sang.

"Pour l'enfant qui va fair' dodo."

The young girl let out an excited squeal and smiled even more in triumph when he didn't try to shove her away as she crawled into his lap, seeking that same embrace his unconscious form offered those cold nights traveling back to the walls. His accent wasn't perfect, but it spoke volumes.

This time, together, they sang.

"Dodo, l'enfant do,
L'enfant dormira bien vite
Dodo, l'enfant do,
L'enfant dormira bientôt."

Mikasa smiled from the doorway, watching as Levi's arm gradually found its way around the girl, holding her in a soft embrace. It looked like they would be using that empty room after all.

Tout le monde est sage
Dans le voisinage
Il est l'heure d'aller dormer
Le sommeil va bientôt venir.

And there I go, introducing an oc I never meant to create… She won't stick around for long. Or maybe she will. I haven't decided what to do with her yet. THESE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ONE SHOTS! HOW DID I GET SO CARRIED AWAY?!

Dodo L'enfant Do ("Sleepy Time, The Child Sleeps") is an old French lullaby. It is very soothing to wee human ears.

The surname Reynard means something along the lines of 'brave' or 'cunning.'

This two part thing was my take on the "Survey corps interacting with Levi and Mikasa's kid" prompt someone sent me. I'm so sorry it was just a small section that actually included the interaction, but I hope it was to your liking. I killed children for you, dear reader! (Not literally. Please don't call the cops.)

Thank you for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or "Dodo L'enfant Do" (I don't think anyone knows who owns that lullaby... it's a folk song.)