"This is your room. It used to be a Captains quarters. I figured you'd need the privacy so I had them clear this room out for you. We'll sort you some clothes out soon." Hanji said to her in a reassuring tone. The room was sparse and quite cosy, but clean and airy. It contained a chest of drawers, a mirror, a chair and a bedside table and a bed. The bed was quite large, taking the majority of the small room up. "For now, I'd like you to keep what you have on. Me and Mikasa have put a few things together for you, and we've bought you a few simple things. A tooth brush, a brush, other essentials." She handed her a small . It also held a bar of fragrant soap, and a fluffy towel. A towel. Luna raised her eyebrows. "I'm sorry... I've never had a towel before."
"Excuse me?" Hanji asked, wondering whether it was her hearing going now. Her grandfather had always said it ran in the family. Eyes go when they're young, then the hearing later. She saw Luna flush bright pink.
"In the underground... We had rags, not towels. Towels are a luxury."
"Well. You have two now, and they're yours. Also, mine and Levi's offices slash bedrooms are just down the hall so if you need anything just knock." Hanji smiled at her. Luna placed the belongings on the bed, and wrapped her arms around her. Despite knowing little about her, she was kind and gentle with her. Obviously her and Levi were good friends. "Thank you so much Hanji."

"Ackerman."
"Erwin." Levi said definitely. He should know better than to blatantly disrespect the Commander in such a way. But he didn't care. He knew what was coming. Deep in his bones.
"This... This girl of yours. Luna. Why was she never mentioned?" Erwin stood over Levi by over a foot, but they both knew who the strongest one of the two were. They knew Levi was next to take over from Erwin if Erwin was to ever fall in battle. But Levi did not like to remind him of it.
"She... She was fragile. Just a young girl. I had to leave her."
"You lied to me."
"To save her, Sir."
"You love her, don't you Levi." Erwin stated. It was not a question. "You saved her because you love her. And you wanted to protect her." Levi's eyes widened.
"Don't be foolish, Commander. She was a close friend, like Isabel and Farlan."
"No... Something else. She's very beautiful, you know. She'd do well in high society, fetch a high price on the inner wa-"
Erwin couldn't finish his sentence. He couldn't even breath, for Levi had a hand to his throat. An anger overtook him, a violent, protective anger. No one would touch Luna.
"You will NOT talk like that about her. She is not livestock."
Erwin smiled. He knew it. Levi released him.
Coughing, Erwin gathered himself. "You have three choices Levi. Either we send her back down to the underground and blacklist her from getting full citizenship, we can give her to a blue blood in exchange for weapons, manoeuvre gear, food and horses, or... Or she can stay here with us in the barracks."
"What? She can stay?" Levi was astounded.
Erwin smirked. How else to make humanities greatest soldier even greater, than by having the woman he loved fight by his side.
"Once she has healed and fully capable, we put her through an intensive training course, and she joins the Survey Corps in Squad Levi. The choice is yours. I expect a response in a weeks time, otherwise we'll choose for you." And with that, Erwin left Levi's office. Levi balled his hand into a fist. Bastard. Another wave of rage took over him, and he slammed his fist straight through a frame. It cut his hand, and he swore loudly. It was quite dark, so he hoped he hadn't woken anyone up. He heard a rap at the door. "What?" He barked. The door crept open, and Luna turned her head. "Levi what have you done?" She exclaimed. Closing the door behind her, she started panicking slightly. "Where is the bandage box?"
"It's really not nece-"
"Where is the bandage box Levi?" She demanded.
"Under my desk." He mumbled. She picked up the bag that contained the first aid kit.
"Sit." She said, pushing his chair across the floor at him. He sat, holding his hand in the air. It was bleeding quite badly now. Opening the bag, she found a pair of tweezers. She kneeled down slowly, so not to bust a stitch in her own wound. She found two small bowls, one she filled with the spirit and a clean cloth. The other was for the broken glass. Levi didn't wince as her hands went to work. She had all of the glass out of his hand in no time.
"Can you feel this?" She pressed his palm. He nodded. "This?" She squeezed at each jointed section of his five digits. He nodded again. "Wiggle your fingers for me." He obliged, though it hurt. "It'll be fine. This will sting." She wrung out the cloth and applied it to the wounds on his hand. He hissed in pain. "Christ!" He groaned through gritted teeth. "Stop being a baby Levi. You've had worse." She said flatly. No sympathy in her tone at all. After she cleaned the blood, she realised although there was a huge amount of blood initially, it had stopped bleeding, apart from one large gash across his palm. Dumping the now scarlet cloth back in the bowl, she looked through the bag and found a curved medical needle and thread. Tying it up, she pulled his hand towards her. She stitched carefully and evenly, and tugged slightly to close the wound. Levi sat quietly, not wanting her harsh tone to pierce him again.
"What did that guy want? That blond dude? I saw him come out of here a minute ago." She snipped the thread, securing it in a knot. She placed a gauze pad over the top of the wound, and started to bandage into place.

Levi went silent, completely and utterly frozen.

"He... He told me I had three choices Luna. Three choices about you."

"Me? I paid my way up here!"

"You need citizenship before you can live here like everyone else. He said I have three choices. We can either sell you to the inner wall for useful things" she started to laugh at him but something about his facial expression stopped her. "We could put you back underground and stop you from ever claiming citizenship. Or you can stay here. But... You'll have to join the Survey Corps." She stopped and thought carefully.

"I'll stay and join the Survey Corps." She muttered to him. Levi was surprised. After everything she'd heard, after what happened to Farlan and Isabel, she still wanted to stay.

"I think... I think you should go to the inner wall. You'd be married to a rich and powerful man, he'd look after you. You'd never want for anything again." He trailed off. She narrowed her eyes, and cupped his face in her hands. "No. I'm not an animal for trade. I'm a human and I can make my own decision. Damn it Levi, look at me." She demanded, becoming agitated. He looked at her, and his cool emotionless eyes stared into the galaxy of light, thought and wonder that were her own. "I'm not leaving you, not again. We're together again, thats what matters." She looked at his lips. She'd wanted to kiss him again. She said again because of the one drunk kiss they had shared during a night of merriment. Farlan and Isabel had gone to bed, and they were lounging on the sofa, talking about things that came to mind. "You're so cute, Levi." She giggled.

"You're alright yourself." His eyes aglow with mischief, a smirk tugging at his lips. They both leaned in and their lips brushed, but it was enough to take her breath away. He leaned in, sealing them together with a kiss. Not knowing what else to do, she closed her eyes and kissed back. They'd laughed later and didn't bring it up again.

Looking into his eyes once more, she somehow knew by the mischeivous gleam in his eyes that he was thinking about it too. Leaning close, she could feel his breath on her lips. Just as their mouths were about to graze, Levi stopped her. He stepped back. "No Luna... We can't. I'm your Captain now. And I can't... I can't do this. Please... go to your room. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I'll have Hanji wake you up."
"Levi..."
"Get out. Now." he said, quietly. In the voice that she remembered could always shake her to the core. She felt tears fill her eyes.
"Fine." she choked out. She ran out, slamming the door behind her. Levi closed his eyes, and exhaled. Erwin already knew far too much. If something were to happen between them... he wouldn't have him use her as a bargaining chip against him. And what would happen if they stayed together and he lost her again? But this time it being to a titan, not just time? He couldn't deal with losing the one person he had left in this shitty world. He knew hurting her now would be for the best. Hopefully it would make her change her mind and go to the inner wall. Levi gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He couldn't stand the idea of Luna being anywhere near anyone else. But he couldn't stand the idea of taking her on their expeditions, with every potential of losing her. This predicament invoked feelings he hadn't felt in a long, long time. Tears of frustration stung the back of his eyes, something that hadn't happened since he was a young lad. He crumpled to the floor. He was getting too old for this shit.

Luna ran straight past Hanji on the way out of the door. "Luna!" she shouted, but she kept running. She ran out the door and into the darkness. "What in the world-" she muttered under voice. Of course, she'd come from Levi's office. She marched into his office to find one of her closest friends with his back against the wall, his knees to his face, his face in his hands. She shut the door behind her. "Levi... what did you say to her to make her cry?" She said in her sternest voice. Levi looked up at her. "Oh Jesus Shitty Glasses... sit down, I need to explain."

Luna breathed in the night air. For the first time all day, the last twenty minutes had been the relaxation she needed. She marveled at the waxy moon, surprised at how beautiful it actually was. She had only ever seen the moon when it

She could smell the horses, hear the wind... and footsteps. Suddenly, her instincts kicked in. Her ears pricked back, she could hear there were two, what direction they were coming from, and that they meant her harm. She gauged this from the speed and intent in their pace. Whipping around at the last minute, she threw a punch at one assailant. The other threw a punch at her, which she grabbed with her right, and then brought the palm of her hand into her nose. With a sickening punch, she felt a crunch as the nose was pushed unnaturally back. "Fuck!" she heard the girl exclaim. She took a second and stood back, taking in the two that had attacked her. One was barely a man, with blue eyes and brown, ruffled hair. He was quite handsome in a childish way. The other was a woman, probably the same age as the boy. She had black her and dark eyes, though they were screwed up in pain. "You fucking bitch." she took her hands away from her face, and her eyes were ablaze.
"Who are you? Why are you trying to attack me?" she demanded.
"Attack you? We wanted to give you initiation." the boy said, holding his hands out.
"Initiation?"
"Yes! Into the scouts! We all saw you earlier while we were sparring."
"You broke my nose. You'll pay for this!" the woman advanced on her. Luna lowered herself ever so slightly. This girl was strong, but her fight was fueled by raw anger. She had no self control. She wouldn't take long. "ACKERMAN. JAGER." She heard a familiar bark coming from behind them. "Ackerman. You're a smart girl. Fighting with this one would be a mistake." Luna felt Levi appear at her shoulder. "Ahhh but I see. She already hit you."
"I did not hit... Ackerman." Luna said, stuttering at the name. Why did this girl have the same last name as Levi. She opened her mouth to defend herself, but the girl stopped, and instead said:
"She... yes sir. I threw a punch."
"Well.. you know not to do that again, don't you? Go back to your bunks."
"SIR." They exclaimed in unison, placing their left arm behind their back, their right fist over their hearts. They then swiftly left. The girl threw her the dirtiest look over her shoulder. Luna knew this wasn't over. Levi rounded on Luna.
"What the Hell is wrong with you? Why did you run out here like that? Anyone could have grabbed you. Ackerman didn't know you had just been stitched up, why would you initiate a fight? You could have been hurt badly by her, shes one of our best soldiers." Luna scoffed at him. Secretly, she hated him talking up someone else the way he used to talk about her. "Luna, come back inside please. We can talk in your room." he muttered. Looking around, he put his hand between her shoulder blades and lead her back inside.

"Listen, I'm sorry I made you cry. But this" he motioned between the two of them "can't happen. Not now." Levi shook his head. Luna sat on the bed. She rubbed the stub of a wooden post at the bottom of the bed, anything to distract her from looking into his dark eyes. "Yeah." she said flatly.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you damn it!" he shouted, slamming his hand onto the chair.
She looked into his face defiantley. She didn't leave the Underground for this. She wanted to bring him home. She wanted to bring them all home.
"Levi... you were so against the military, especially the scouting legion, now all of a sudden you're this fucking guy-"
"His name is Commander Erwin." he said flatly.
"Erwin. You're Erwin's lapdog." she finished. His eyes narrowed, and he leaned in closer so their faces were mere inches apart. This didn't phase her. "You abandoned me Levi. Even after Farlan and Isabel died, you didn't come and find me. You left me to rot in that shit hole while you were living the life of luxury up here, getting engaged, getting your own office! You may be some big guy in the military up here, but you do not have the right to tell me what to do anymore, Captain." she spat the last word out, instead of as a mark of respect, it was a mark of defiance. She meant it as an insult. She could see the angry fire burning in his eyes.
"You know why we came to the surface? Do you?"
"No. Enlighten me."
"We were approached by a high powered man, who informed us Erwin had been trying to capture us and bring us in for all the Hell we'd been raising. This man done his research on us, and he knew there were four of us, he knew how sick you were. Me and Farlan argued for hours, they wanted to send you to a hospital on the surface in return for this job. And reward all four of us with citizenship. However i refused to let you go alone, and they needed us three to carry out the job without detection. So they took Jan. Remember Jan? Of course you do. All this man wanted me to do, was to kill Erwin." Levi spoke calmly without any remorse in his voice, as if he wre having a normal conversation. "They found us. They took us while you were in that room with that pig of a man. Erwin knew deep down there was another, but he had limited time to apprehend us. So he took us three and put us through an intensive training course, like the one you're going to go through if you decide to stay here."
"Why didn't you come and get me? Why didn't you kill him? Why did you leave me Levi?" she demanded. She was standing now, her fists balled and her legs stiff, her body shaking with anger. His gaze dropped, his eyes darkening.
"We were sent on our first expedition. I decided I'd kill Erwin myself. Farlan was so against killing someone for something we could possibly earn ourselves... and Isabel. You know what Isabel was like. Anyway, I rode ahead in heavy rain to find Erwin. I came across an entire squadron, completley whiped out. The path of destruction was headed back the way I'd came, so I followed it. And there was an abnormal titan. All I could find was Isabels head... and half of Farlan. After I killed it, I was going to kill Erwin. Not because of the job, but because I had so much rage inside me. He knew the plan all along, and he gave me a choice. Stay and fight with him in the scouting legion, or go to prison. So I chose to fight. But in that moment, I knew. I had every intention of getting you out of there, bringing you to the surface, and giving you the life you deserved. But it meant that you could be the one I found dead next. The one I had to bury. I can't put you in the ground Luna. I can't say goodbye to the last person I hold so close to me. So I decided to leave you. But there was never a day that went by that I hadn't considered returning to the Stohess district and looking for you. I wanted to explain to you what had happened, why it happened, and why we left. For leaving you alone, I'll forever hate myself. But you're here now. And I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe." He stood, his short height still stood over her. She stared him in the face, this time it crumpled again. She wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head on his chest. Levi stiffened, after years of such little contact with humans, he felt the familiar warmth that had been absent for years. He slowly put his hands on her waist, leaning his cheek against her hair. Even ater all this time, she stilled smelled the way that was burnt into his mind.
"Luna. Get yourself better. Then i'll start training you myself. You'll be in my squadron. I won't let anything happen to you. I've got to go to bed ok? I'll wake you up for breakfast ok?" he kissed her on top of the head. It took everything inside him to not carry on holding her. He couldn't lead her on. "We'll get you uniform sorted out tomorrow." He let her go, and she pulled away. "Go to sleep, ok?"
"Yes Levi." she sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed. This wasn't the emotional reunion she'd imagined. She took the trousers and boots Hanji had given her to wear off and draped them over the chair Levi was just sitting in. She then carefully climbed into bed. She was amazed at what little pain she was in from her surgery. Laying back, she blew out the candle on the bedside table. Sleep took over her aching body in moments, and she clung to the feeling of Levi's lips on top of her head.

Levi lay there, staring at the ceiling. Ah the life of an insomniac. He wanted to be in bed with her again, and knowing she was a stones throw away from his Captains quarters made him very uncomfortable. Sighing, he rolled onto his side. He knew roll call tomorrow would be Hell. But he'd need to prep the scouts for a new addition, and remind them how real soliders greeted their new comrades. He shut his eyes, knowing sleep wouldn't take him for another two hours, at least.