The two years flew by. The squad felt like my old one more and more. We won against more titans. We had a few missions outside the wall. Petra shifted once more to see if she could harden. Nobody understood the hardening. Eren somehow did it. He blocked off the hole and reclamation of wall Maria began. The entire idea was to kill as many titans as possible. These days went by much like those with the old squad. There was a rhythm to the war which couldn't be matched.

I had changed and trusted the squad enough with more personal things. Not contact with Petra, but talking about such things. Contact was still left to the mornings and nights.

In a week was Petra's 24th birthday - March 24th. I had planned something special.

That day was normal, until dinner. I asked Petra to get the command squad set up the entire thing - a banner and a cake.

"Surprise!" She reddened. We sang for her, she blew out the candles. We gave her gifts./spanWe had a great dinner. There was something special about this day./p

Afterwards, there was a pressing issue at the back of my mind. Petra was 24 - this meant I could propose. I wanted to. I was 38, so I couldn't wait much longer.

Two weeks went by before I decided - now or never. This was hard. Harder than the first kiss. That kiss was the build up to this. Titans were easier to kill than proposals were to make. I went to the jewelers of Trost district and picked up a ring. They forced a discount on me saying that it was an honor to know of humanity's strongest's wedding first.

I proposed in the morning, I decided it would be easier - we'd be less likely seen. I got down and Petra was making tea, as always. I entered the kitchen, and called for her "Petra." She looked over as I kneeled. Her face grew red, and I could feel her anticipation, coupled with my own.

"Petra, will you marry me?" Said it. I offered the ring. It was a simple gold circle, but I had the jewelers put the flugel der freiheit on it.
"Yes." I put the ring on her finger. I never thought a ring so small could mean so much.

I got up, and before I could sigh my relief, she kissed me. She looked at the ring thoughtfully. "How is it?"

"Nice."

I had noticed changes in her personality. It was like she had layers. There was the Petra I'd always known - the kind, polite subordinate girl. Then came another, more confident, witty and funny one. The personalities mapped to whether I was 'Heicho' or 'Levi' respectively. I prefered the latter Petra - she was more interesting, probably because the former was somewhat fake.
The day went by normally, until dinner, when people noticed the ring. Mikasa was the first to speak up. "Heicho, did you propose?" I looked around. I had forgotten about the ring and that Petra was wearing it. "Yes." Everybody congratulated me and Petra. As good as this felt, it was still one of the empty meanings people attached to things. There was nothing to our marriage but a promise yet to be completed.

The next day the completion began - the planning of our wedding. First, everybody else had to know - Mr. Ral and Hange particularly. Hange was my only friend outside of the squad.

We knocked on her office. She opened the door, saw us and beckoned us in. "What's up, Levi-Petra?"

"Levi-Petra?" I think we said.

"I presumed you both came as a couple, not as individuals, or Captain and squad member."

"Yes, we did…" Said Petra, raising her right hand slightly. Hange followed the motion, and noticed. That's the odd thing about engagement - you don't directly tell people.

"Oh my god!" Hange freaked out. Her babbling was not worth my memory. Until she stopped and regained some sanity./span"Levi! Can I be your best man?!"/p

"Sure." The babbling resumed. But, this time when it stopped, it was more permanent.

"Say, Levi, when did you actually fall in love?" When? It was before she died. The third day? Probably. "The third morning."

Petra blushed in memory. "Wow, same."

"So we were always in love, but too stupid to tell each other."

Petra laughed. "And all it took was for me to die!"

Hange was shocked, the reserved Petra would have never laughed at something like that. "Yeah, my stupidity." Hange was still wondering - especially now that I didn't join her in her surprise.

"Both of ours."

"I was in a much better position to tell you."

"Not really - I could've told you any morning - if I had the guts."

"True."

Hange was back with us. "Well, it wouldn't do to have you two in the same squad."

As we nodded our agreement, Hange thought. "Well, I could give you two different squads, but both in the same area. I could use this to launch the expansion."

"Expansion?" I asked, as Petra stared at Hange quizzically.

"We're building underground towns outside wall maria. With these, We shall build houses above the ground and make walls. You two can lead squads there."

We'd agreed, and the next day, we went to see Mr Ral. This time, we would tell him about marriage.

We came in much less awkwardly as Mr. Ral expected me.

I sat down, and Petra and Mr Ral hugged. As Petra sat down, she was stopped. "Wait, Petra, what's that on your right hand?" The ring, again.

"It's why we're here."

"Ok… go on…" I don't know if Mr. Ral really wanted to hear it.

"Levi and I are engaged."

Mr Ral almost looked shot. Petra sat on the arm of my seat and looked around, unsure of what to do. I had no idea either - thank god the only person I could have the same situation with was Hange. Petra was a little scared and she leaned on my shoulder.

Mr Ral looked up. "Congratulations, Levi… And Petra."

"Thanks," we both said.

"Well, Levi, I hardly know you. Tell me about yourself, about your folks." I looked up at Petra with foreboding - my past… If he knew that, would he still let Petra marry me?

Petra sensed my fear and slid into my lap. "Well, Mr Ral, as for my past, I have been in the corps since 844."

"Before that? I believe you are 38."

"Before that, I was raised in an orphanage until age 12, when I escaped and met my father."

"Met him?"

"He'd left men to watch over me."

"Powerful, was he?"

"In his way."

"What way?" He was not going to let anything slip, so I had best been out with it.

"He was Kenny Ackerman..." Mr Ral's face went through many shapes before he yelled "Petra! Get off him!" Petra stayed defiant.

"He's dangerous Petra!"

"Dad, I'm engaged to him!"

"Did you know?"

"The whole time." Mr Ral shifted.

"Did you ever kill anybody, Levi?"

"Yes." Petra knew. I'd eventually told her about it all - even Kenny's death.

"You knew that to, Petra?"

"Yes, father." She wasn't relaxed, in fact a little angry.

"So humanity's greatest soldier, is the son of humanity's greatest killer."

"Indeed." I hoped the 'humanity's greatest soldier' would outweigh the 'crook for 12 years' part of my life.

"Petra… what do you see in Levi?"

"Well.. everything, he's fun-loving, caring, intelligent…" Mr Ral looked unconvinced. "He's everything I look for."

"And Levi, why do you pick my Petra." Your Petra.

"Same, I find her perfect. She has an unmatched knack for dealing with people, and is the wittiest I know, beyond all her obvious traits." I was hinting at the two Petras I got to know.

Mr. Ral shook his head, shifted around and sat. "Levi, you did let her die once." I stiffened, he had me at that - I could've saved her, I felt it.

"Dad!" The yell drew me out of my shock. "It's not his fault. How many times must I tell you?!"

Mr Ral grunted. "You're too forgiving, Petra."

"It was my fault, dad."

"He's the captain."

"And he was away, dealing with other business."

My turn. "It would've been my pleasure to have saved her."

"But you couldn't."

"Because I had orders keeping me." A few more rounds went over until I said "And I do feel guilty. Some mornings, I have to touch her to remind me that it isn't some sort of dream. Other times all I see is her dead body." I didn't want to get into the details - the broken neck and line of blood.

After a long time arguing, Mr Ral relented. It was past midnight. We walked out, and safely out of earshot, I said "I'd trade that for paperwork any night."

Petra glared, but then her look softened. "That was the most respectful I've ever seen you."

"You gotta do what you gotta do."

"Oh, and Levi," I looked over, half expecting a kiss, "I figured something out."

"What?"

"You know how dust bothers you, right?"

"Yeah."

"I think creases bother me the same way." That was weird. At least we shared the presence of a quirk.

"Is that why your uniform is always so perfect?" She nodded. The more I dealt with her, the more I realized we have in common. We liked the same people and activities. We did feel the same about most things, and we even had moments where others noticed these similarities. People thought that the angry Petra was a lot like me as well.