Petra can't help it. She stares at the almost pitiful sight before her.

The pitiful sight, in question, sits up and gives her the most poisonous glare he can muster. Well, tries. Her captain slides back down the headboard and falls against his bed in a fit of violent coughing. Petra rushes forward, grabbing him a glass of water on his dresser, but he waves her off. "I'll be fine." He hisses in between coughs, his voice a harsh whisper compared to his usual low tone.

She stands there awkwardly, torn between helping her captain and obeying his order. Finally, she sets the cup on the floor next to his bed, bending uncomfortably in her dress. Levi watches her, studying her with hooded eyes, before recognition clicks.

"The...fucking ball," He rasps weakly. Propping himself up on his elbows, he attempts to drag himself out of the bed. Petra's eyes widen when she sees his arms tremble, diving to support his - surprisingly heavy - weight.

"Captain, you can't!"

"Like hell I can't. Erwin wants me there."

"The commander can...deal...without you for one night!" Petra grunts under the exertion, pushing him back into bed. Finally, his strength falters for a moment and she manages to shove him onto his back.

Forget what she said about him being a pitiful sight; the pair of them must look like some sort of warped stage play. Petra in her fancy gown, heels on her feet with her hair pinned and face powdered. Captain Levi, humanity's strongest, clad in the oldest clothing he owns, sweat plastering his hair to his head and too weak to even reach that damn cup of water.

"Petra!" Erd shouts through the closed door. "Is the captain okay? Can he attend?"

"Yes-"

"No!" Petra shouts back, her clear, loud voice effectively cutting off the captain's weak whisper. "Tell the Commander that he can't attend. He's sick."

"I am not sick." Levi hisses. It's meant to be intimidating, and maybe it would be if he wasn't sweating and shivering under his sheets. Hesitantly, Petra lays her hand on his forehead, brushing back a few strands of inky black hair. He flinches away immediately, snarling, but it's enough for her to realise that he's running a dangerously high fever.

"Captain, you are sick. Don't leave your bed. I'll be right back." She turns to the door. "And if you try to move, I'll tie you to the bed. Sir."

He growls something she can't hear through the other side of the door. Closing it gently, she gives a grave look to her waiting squad members. All of them are dressed up in their finest suits, ready for Lord Whittcourt's ball.

"The captain cannot attend?" Commander Erwin strides down the hall to meet the Levi squad, huddled around their captain's door. Like the rest of them, he's dressed to rub shoulders with the one of the finest, wealthiest families in Sina, looking regal and magnificent in a black suit.

"No sir." Petra sighs. "He can't leave his bed."

The Commander merely blinks, clicking his tongue in sympathy. It's almost impossible to know what the Commander thinks; he has to be the most composed person Petra's ever seen. Still, the line of his brow seems slightly more pronounced at this information, and something close to a sigh escapes his lips. "Shame. The captain was...shall we say, very anticipated for tonight's event." He says passively, as if he was discussing the weather. Squad Levi exchange confused looks. Sure, the captain was often expected to be at these events, but...overly anticipated?

"He can't leave his bed, you said?" He asks, turning to Petra. Petra salutes hastily, shaking her head.

"No sir. He's got a fever, sweating and coughing."

"I'll send a medical officer for the Captain if he needs assistance." Commander Erwin says.

"Commander!" Moblit calls up the stairs. "The carriages are ready and waiting; courtesy of Lord Whittcourt, sir!"

"Ah. Seems our escorts are here." He heads down to the carriages, then turns back, looking expectantly at the four confused soldiers. "Come. The carriages will not wait long."

"If the captain isn't going, why are we still going?" Auruo hisses as they stumble after him.

"Follow his orders, dipshit!"

They emerge into the courtyard. Petra shivers in the cool night air, rubbing the warmth back into her bare shoulders. Auruo's hands clamp down on her shoulders as if to help her and she elbows him so hard he bites his tongue. Again.

The elite squads of the Survey Corps; Squad Levi, Squad Hanji and Squad Mike; are gathered there, dressed up in their best finery. Nanaba is stunning in a royal blue gown. Nifa steals her breath away with her hair pinned and curled in that style. Squad leader Hanji almost sweeps her off her feet, looking especially handsome in a fine-fitting suit. Everyone is set to leave the finest impression of the Survey Corps at Lord Whittcourt's ball.

As Petra is about to climb into a carriage with the other women, she's thoroughly surprised when the Commander halts her, instead directing her back to where the rest of her squad members are, next to an empty carriage.

"Due to the absence of Captain Levi this evening, I trust that you, as his squad, will manage to fill his absence. The captain was very highly expected at the ball, and some members will be very disappointed he is not there. To keep the good sides of these nobles is very important. I trust that you'll be able to follow this order?"

"Sir!" They chorused. They were soldiers, after all. They did not disobey an order, no matter how strange.

Even so, as they squashed into the carriage, there's no shortage of questions. The commander leaves to ride with the other squad leaders, so they chat freely among themselves.

"Anticipated? Expected?" Erd wonders. "He hates these things. He has the social skills of an angry dog."

"Don't speak about the captain like that!" Petra elbows him in the ribs. She has pointy elbows. Erd yelps in pain.

"It's not our job to question the commanders demands." Gunther says over Erd's pained groans. "Just because we're not in the field right now doesn't mean we don't obey."

"Yes, sir." Petra says mockingly, rolling her eyes at her stern comrade. "We won't not follow it, it's just strange. 'Fill the captain's absence.' What does that mean?"

"Obviously it means you rookies should sit back while I take over as humanity's stro-"

One of the horses stumbled on a rock and the whole carriage shuddered. Auruo bit down hard on his tongue.

"Idiot." Petra mutters, fishing around for her handkerchief. Auruo whimpers in pain, spraying blood everywhere. Even as Petra passed it to him, she inched herself further away to avoid the spatter on her navy gown.

"Look, I don't know what the commander means, but we'll figure it out when we get there. Like, make excuses for the captain? I don't know." Petra shrugs. Erd nods.

"Pet's right. We can assess the 'situation' when we get there. Uh. Report back to each other if anything goes wrong." Erd says uncertainty. The man's a natural in the field, surrounded by steaming corpses and grabbing hands and handing out orders, but throw him in a suit and a fancy dinner party and he's as unsure as a newborn fawn.

The rest of them nod in agreement. Petra peers out the window at the nobleman's land they're now passing through, nearing the entrance to Sina. It stretches out endlessly, fields and fields of crops and empty meadows. She's not too sure if it's Lord Whittcourt's land or some other nobles. As her captain would describe them, 'Fat pigs who have no fucking need for this much land.'

Odd how she found herself missing him at this moment.

Their carriage draws to halt as they're given entrance into Sina. The horses hooves click on the concrete roads and the pace slows dramatically. She cranes her head out the window to stare at the looming, overly-decorated buildings. In the window of one, a young child stares down at her in surprise, before he pulls a silly face. Petra returns it immediately and the child gapes at her, retreating from the window.

"Petra, stop messing around!" Gunther hisses. "We're stopping soon."

She straightens herself up at once, smoothing down her hair as the carriage stops in front of yet another giant mansion. The rest of their comrades are already gathered at the steps. Petra takes a deep breath, lets herself be handed out by Erd, and mentally prepares herself for a night of networking, socialising, and impressing nobles who see them as nothing less than scum on their shoes.

It was going to be a long night.

xXx

Kathleen Whittcourt sits at her jewelled vanity, patting her blonde hair into place and pinning away the flyaways. Her music box plays softly in the background, a lovely little lullaby that she adores. Of course, it's almost silent under the shrieks and yells of her sisters.

"Lacey!" Janessa thunders, chasing her around the room. "If you don't give me my damn brush back right now-"

"You said a bad word!" Lacey crows, the hairbrush gripped tight in her hands. "I'm telling Daddy on you!"

"Give me my brush!"

Janessa dives over Kathleen's bed which Lacey is currently sheltering behind, tackling Lacey to the ground. In their struggle, she pulls Lacey's hair free from her clip. It tumbles down Lacey's shoulders in shining curls.

"Janessa! You ruined my hair!" Shrieking, she detangles herself from Janessa's flailing arms and flings herself into Kathleen's lap. "Kathleen," Lacey whines. "Will you do it up again? Quickly! Before the ball begins!"

"I will not." Kathleen says calmly. "If both of you hadn't behaved like fools then you wouldn't be in this situation."

"Well, Lacey shouldn't have stolen my brush!" Janessa huffs. "She knew what she was doing, too! Trying to stop me from looking the best for him!"

Instantly, they both burst into ridiculous giggles, blushing bright pink. Lacey shoves Janessa onto her bed, still laughing. "That's why you pulled my hair from the bun, you pig! You wanted to stop me from looking so good!"

"Please! I'm the prettiest no matter what you do to your hair!"

Fools. Idiots. I am the prettiest. Always and tonight. Kathleen doesn't dare voice these thoughts out loud. Janessa will rip her dress clean from her body. It will be me he notices.

Him. The firecest, finest man in the walls. Humanity's strongest. Levi.

She almost swooned over the thought of him. But she doesn't, not like her idiotic sisters. Oh, to finally see the Levi in person! Daddy never let any of them leave Sina to see the Survey Corps depart on their expeditions, nor to see them return. Of course he wouldn't. It would jeopardize humanity to have their strongest soldier spot her in the crowd. He would be so overcome by feelings of intense love and attraction, there would be no way he would venture out of the walls again! Not when his love was waiting inside!

It had taken her ages to convince Daddy to host this year's Military Ball, a celebration for the highest ranking officers and soldiers of all three military branches, attended to by Sina's highest nobles and governing party. Daddy, it would benefit you so much so host! As the newest member of Sina's governing council, how eager and easy it would be to put you out! Solidify your spot by gaining favour from the military, Daddy, you would be untouchable.

She smirked. Kathleen couldn't care less about her father's position. But it had gotten him to host the ball.

Beneath their feet, dozens of soldiers would be gathering and conversing, drinking and eating and having a jolly time. Somewhere among them, her true love would be there, waiting for her.

He would be handsome, surely. Strong; well muscled. His magnificent feats against titans had travelled far and wide within the walls. That was all a given.

But would he be light-haired and sunny, a true gentleman? Charismatic, kind, gentle. Or a dark, tempting stranger, the type she'd read about in her romance books? Who would whisk her away from the ball, press her against a wall and kiss her senseless?

Oh, oh, oh, a girl could dream. But she would not be dreaming no more; after tonight, all of them would be a reality. They had to.

Ugh. It was just her luck that her dumb little sisters had caught on to her dreamings and latched onto them immediately. Young and immature for this world. Of course she would have to babysit them while they trailed her around the entire night like ducklings. Stupid, loud, annoying ducklings.

"Girls!" Daddy knocks on their door. "Are you all ready?"

"Daddy!" Lacey and Janessa launch themselves into his arms, babbling on about hair brushes and pulled hair clips. Kathleen dusts down her gown and stands, tossing her head. "I am, Daddy."

"Perfect! Good girl, Kathleen. See, you two should take lessons from your older sister!"

"She's only older by three minutes." Janessa grumbles. Lacey combs her hair through, leaving it loose. "Well, I'm ready!"

Janessa pats her cheeks down one last time with the powder puff, preening in the mirror. "So am I!"

Kathleen flounces out of the room as Janessa and Lacey scramble after her, winding down the long hallways to the ballroom. Outside the door, she hesitates for a moment to check herself one last time in the large mirror mounted on the wall. Then she shoves Lacey and Janessa behind the corner and motions for the butler to open the big doors. This is her entrance.

Admittedly, her entrance wasn't as grand as she hoped. The soldiers didn't drop their glasses or plates at the dazzling sight of her. Many of them didn't even notice she had arrived.

The audacity of some people! In her own home!

No matter. Kathleen pursed her lips, sweeping into the room. She sticks to the walls for now, not wanting to dance just yet. Not until her saviour wants to take her for a dance. She will make a grand enough entrance for him.

Janessa and Lacey sidle up to her, sticking to her like some kind of mould.

"Find your own man!" Kathleen hisses at them, attempting to shake them off. Lacey stares at her with wide eyes, while Janessa huffs.

"You don't even know what he looks like, Kathy."

"Kathleen. And that's not a problem. I'll ask around. Besides, neither do you!"

"I know more than you! For example, I know he has dark hair!"

Kathleen is taken aback by this. How on earth could Janessa know something like this? Probably got it out of one of the stable boys she's been chatting up again. Huh.

"Fine." Kathleen grits her teeth. "We'll do it your way for now. But when we find him, he's mine."

"Guys," Lacey pipes up. "There's heaps of dark haired guys here! We'll never find him."

"I will. Watch."

Skirts swaying, she struts up to the first dark-haired soldier she sees, identified by the Wings of Freedom honorary badge clipped to his breast pocket. Well, humanity's strongest would be decked out with honors, right?

She pulls her fan from her skirts and snaps it open, fluttering it near her mouth. "Excuse me," Kathleen purrs. "I'm-" Janessa barges into their intimate conversation. "We're, she means!" She says brightly. Kathleen gives her the dirtiest look she can from behind her fan. "Fine, we're looking for humanity's strongest, Levi. A little bird told me that he might be you."

Smile, look away, look back, look up. Oh, he was sure to fall to his knees! Her heart pounded at the thought.

The man in question stared at her, stunned. Even better! She had him at a loss for words!

"Uh-" He swallows. "Not- not me. Humanity's strongest. Uh. Him." The strange man points to a long- haired, blond Survey Corps soldier across the room. He glances back nervously at Kathleen and bolts.

"What? Did we scare him off?" Lacey asks dumbly. Janessa shrugs, beelining for the blond man.

I will not be outdone!

"Hello," Janessa says excitedly. The man turns around to see all three of them. Flushing bright pink, Janessa drops into a deep curtsey. "Hello, Levi, humanity's strongest!" Her voice pitches high at the end. She flutters her fan to hide her grin. "My name is-"

"I'm Kathleen Whittcourt." Kathleen shoves her out of the way, holding out her hand for a respectful kiss.

Levi blinks for a moment. "I- humanity's strongest?"

He's so humble! Kathleen bites back an unladylike squeal. "Yes, Levi."

"Levi. Oh, right! Levi. Le-viiii."

"That's you, isn't it?" Lacey looks him up and down. Levi rubs the back of his neck, chuckling nervously. His eyes dart wildly around the room and he takes a small step back.

"Unfortunately not, ladies. I'll give you a tip though; he-she's very short. If you want to find them."

"She!?"

"He's a girl?" Janessa echos dumbly. The man nods quickly.

"Yes! Yes. Uh. Yeah. See, in the military, we refer to all soldiers like that. He, him, and so on."

"Why? That's sexist." Lacey demands. Janessa shushes her under her breath.

"I-what?" Kathleen stammers. "But...but Levi is a boy's name!"

"Levi is her nickname! We all call her that. Her real name is, uh. Uhm. Olevia. Olevia! Like Oliva but. Olevia." The blond man salutes quickly, points to the other side of the room, and sprints away.

"No way!" Lacey breathes as their little group approaches the short redheaded woman that the man had pointed to. They hover anxiously behind her turned back, exchanging nervous glances, until Lacey tentatively reaches out and taps her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me. Miss Olevia." She squeaks, eyes trained directly on the woman's face. "Thatmanovertheresaidyouwerehumanity'sstrongestisthattrue?"

The woman jerks. "What did you call me?"

"Uh. Olevia. That man said that Levi was short for Olevia."

"Olev-" The woman repeats. Her mouth twitches slightly. For a moment, they're all lost for words.

"You have really beautiful hair." Lacey blurts suddenly into the silence. Kathleen has never seen her little sister so flustered.

The woman thanks her, touching Lacey's hand briefly. Lacey doesn't breathe for a full minute.

"I'm not sure who told you that, but I assure you it's not true." The woman explains. "If you're looking for humanity's strongest though. Uh, I can help you?"

"Yes please!" Janessa nods. Kathleen's head spins. Has she been played for a fool this entire time by these soldiers? Her sisters, sure, but her?

"Humanity's strongest- uh, well. He always wears a cravat. Yeah! A cravat. Every day. Including right now." The woman says. She nods at them in confirmation at their stares. Then she runs.

"A cravat?" Janessa wonders.

"She's wrong." Kathleen mutters darkly under her breath. "My true love wouldn't ever wear anything as ugly as a cravat."

"Look! Look! There he is- the only man wearing one!" Lacey shrieks. She hurries across the floor to the man, standing before a punch bowl.

"You won't be the first!" Janessa cries, sprinting after her.

"None of you will be!" Kathleen jumps into action. She gets there as Lacey and Janessa have taken hold of his two arms, so she grabs his necktie instead, jerking his head forward to hers. Humanity's strongest yelps. Then warm blood splatters against her face.

xXx

"Oh my god. Oh my god. How on earth did we end up in such a shitty situation?" Petra gasps. All four of them are sheltered behind a curtain, sealing them away from the main ballroom. "This is what the commander meant. I can't believe this."

Erd holds up his torn sleeve forlornly. "Natalie's going to kill me. This is my only good suit jacket."

"They're all going to kill us when they find out that humanity's strongest isn't here tonight!" Gunther hisses. "We can't let the commander down. He needs tonight to secure the Corps more funds. We gotta keep on the noble's good sides!"

Auruo rasps something unintelligible behind yet another tongue wound. The one that had one of the girls scream so loudly that several glasses shattered. Well, it had gotten them out of their hair for a moment, at least. Petra nods in agreement to Auruo's 'words.'

"Auruo's right. If they want a humanity's strongest," She narrows her eyes, peaking out a crack in the curtain to a figure in the room. "We'll give them one."

xXx

"Captain!" Petra yelps as soon as they enter the mess hall, zeroing in on the man himself, seated at a table with a towel draped around his neck, reading some papers. "You should be resting! You're not well enough to leave bed."

She clip-clops over to him in her heels and lays a hand on his forehead. The captain slaps her hand away irritatedly. "Stop fussing."

"Why are you not running a fever?" She asks. The rest of the squad gather around his table. Levi glares at them. Petra furrows her brows in confusion. "You had such a high one before we left…"

Slowly, realisation washes over all four of them. Petra points an accusing finger at him. "Did...did you fake being sick so you didn't have to go tonight?"

"How can I fake a fever, Petra?" The captain responds lowly. "Idiot."

He rises from his chair, teacup in hand, and strides from the room. Petra splutters. "He- if he wasn't such a wimp he would've saved us so, so much trouble! Why-hey!" Petra hikes up her gown and chases after him, a murderous glint in her eyes.

"Should we go after her?"

"She'd rip our heads off, man. Let her handle it." Erd sighs, pulling out a chair. "Jeez. What a night, eh?"

"Those girls were ruthless." Gunther shivers. "I've faced off with gentler Titans."

"I don't know what you're complaining about." Auruo chuckles, leaning his head in his hand and staring dreamily off into the distance. Erd snorts, kicking him off his chair. "Shut up. Can't believe you really thought you would get some from some stuffy noble ladies. Hate to break it to ya, it wasn't going to happen either way."

"Leave off!" Auruo moans. He rests his head back on the floor, staring at the ceiling. "Can't believe three beautiful girls were clamoring for our attention tonight and Petra was the only one to get a date."

"Petra's prettier than you."

"Shut up. That blonde one was the prettiest, you know. God. Her eyes…" He sighs at the thought. Then he jolts up.

"Hey, how do you think Squad Leader Mike ended up dealing with them?"

a/n: this will not be the last of the ball au's/canon divergence chapters i'll write. I love this trope. A reviewer requested a ball chapter a while ago (sorry it took so long if you're still reading!) and i only saw now, when i finished this one, that they probably meant a continuation of chapter 5, the dance lesson one. whoops.

updates have slowed because for the past few weeks I've been in the process of moving jobs; it's been insane but it's finally starting to slow down, so hopefully i can write more frequently and update more often. again, im still writing the next chapter of that rivetra dance au, so hopefully that should come out as soon as I can finish it.

Read and review! feedback is very much appreciated. if you have an idea or a prompt you would like to see, put it down and I'll definitely try to deliver!

Kathleen, Janessa and Lacey were inspired (read; copied) from the triplets in Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses. Please don't sue me.