Three inches to the right...

Isanna squinted her eyes in suspicion as she inspected the books on the shelf, arms crossed. She was currently inside Erwin's office (as usual), with the said blond out in a squad leader's meeting.

The grating sound of the door being pushed open caused the raven to whip her head to her right, seeing Erwin step inside the office.

"Why are you still awake?" he asked as he strolled over towards his desk while he took his jacket off and hung it at the back of his chair.

Isanna followed him with her eyes. "I noticed something off with your books."

He lifted an inquisitive brow, waiting for her to elaborate further; he didn't seem to mind the fact that the girl was (unsurprisingly) wearing one of his dress shirts, the clothing overly loose on her torso as it stopped around her thighs.

"This one," she explained, pointing at the rightmost book on the fourth level of the shelf, "moved three inches to the right." She pointed to another book. "And this one is leaning fifteen degrees lower than the last time I saw it."

Erwin's gaze flickered towards his shelf filled books, mildly astounded how she caught on to such subtle changes; her sharp senses never failed to amaze him. However, he wasn't surprised at the fact that some of his belongings have been 'shifted'.

"I'm guessing those guys have been snooping here while no one was around," Isanna remarked, referring to the trio of ex-thugs and realizing that they had already made their move.

"So it seems," Erwin mused, "leave them be. They won't find it either way."

Isanna hummed before she stifled a yawn, signs of drowsiness evident on her face.

Erwin caught on and softly smiled. "It's already late. Go to bed, young lady."

Still yawning, the raven nodded and made her way to the door that led to the room. "I swear, you're the only one who still calls me 'young'."

Erwin was still standing beside his desk as he stacked the files of paper, segregating the documents into their respective categories so that he wouldn't get disorganized while checking them tomorrow morning. A thought crossed him and he looked at the girl, just as she was about to enter his room.

"Leave some room for me."

Isanna cocked a glance over her shoulder. "I always do."

"You take up all the space each time," he pointed out referring to the vast number of times he had to adjust to her in the middle of the night because she'd suddenly either slap or kick him in her sleep; he got used to it, though.

The girl blinked a few times, realizing how she moved a lot in her sleep. "Fine, fine.. I'll stack some pillows between the bed. Is that good for you, sir?"

Erwin returned his attention on the papers as he continued to sift through them. "There's no need for that." Aside from the fact that putting pillows would only take unnecessary space, the blond was aware that she'd still somehow find a way to cross over.

Isanna shrugged her shoulders with a 'suit yourself', before she closed the door. Stretching her arms above her shoulders, the girl threw her figure on the mattress, her weight sinking into the soft cushion as she rolled to the side on her back and stared at the ceiling.

She didn't know how long she was staring and contemplating about life, but it was probably considerably long since she heard the door creaking open.

"You're still awake," she heard Erwin say not as a question but more of a statement.

Isanna's eyes were still glued on the ceiling. "I was thinking about life." She didn't hear a reply from him and could feel his gaze on her for a while, before he walked over to the bathroom.

As the distant pitter-patter of the shower flowed inside the room, Isanna soon found her sight blurring as she slowly closed her eyes, the lulling sound coming from the bathroom luring her over to dreamland.

After fifteen minutes of washing up and getting ready for sleep, Erwin finally exited the bathroom and walked back to his room wearing his usual sleepwear, a hand drying his damp hair with a towel. His eyes landed on the sleeping figure of the girl on the side of his bed, noting how she didn't even made an effort to cover herself with a blanket as her chest heaved in a slow, calm rhythm.

With a mute sigh, the blond made sure to close the bathroom door gently so as to not wake her up and allowed his towel to drape over his neck before he padded over towards the bed. He bended down and picked the folded blanket, overlaying it over Isanna's sleeping form and making sure his eyes didn't trail anywhere unnecessary - particularly the exposed spot around her thigh where his shirt just stopped (he hoped she was wearing shorts).

He noticed Isanna's forehead wrinkling after he laid the blanket over her, her eyes drowsily opening at the movement as she stirred.

"Shh," Erwin shushed her before he tenderly placed his lips on her forehead, "sleep."

As he pulled back, he felt relieved when he saw that the girl had went back to her slumber, a serene expression resting over her features.

The blond pressed his lips together as he stared at her sleeping face. He often had to take a double take every now and then if this was the feared War Goddess of the Scouts; it was hard to believe such a known soldier could be so vulnerable - but then again, she was only vulnerable around him.

It was a privilege only he could get to see.

Erwin straightened himself and grabbed the small towel on his shoulders, folding it atop his beside table before he blew out the fire from the lamp, allowing the darkness to engulf the room. With thoughtful, slow movements, he eased himself onto the bed beside the sleeping woman, her silent presence accompanying him as he invited sleep to enshroud him.

•

When Erwin heard the burst of panic gasps erupting in the middle of the night beside him, he reactively sat up and pulled the shaking girl into his embrace, burying her face into his shoulder as she clutched on to back of his shirt, crumpling the fabric in tight fists.

"Don't leave me," he heard her gasp, "don't die.. please.."

He didn't see what kind of nightmares she had, but he could already tell what they were, based on the way she was clinging on to him desperately, as if afraid that he was going to fade away should she let go of him.

Erwin frowned as he silently rubbed soothing circles behind her back, his other hand cradling the back of her head. Despite Isanna's strong-willed image and reputation within the Scouts and other military branches, her walls would always come tumbling down in the middle of the night, away from public eyes, and drowning in nightmares of the death of her comrades; it was proof that even the strongest soldiers had their secret weaknesses, no matter how hard they tried to hide it.

And Isanna's greatest weakness, just happened to be him.

"I won't," Erwin whispered, "I won't die."

•

"I haven't finished searching in his office yet," Farlan said as he ruffled his ash blond hair in frustration, thinking about the possible places Erwin could have hidden the documents they were looking for. 3 days already passed since he began infiltrating the officers' barracks, combing through his drawers, shelves and every nook and cranny in their target's office, but to no avail.

The trio were in the boys' cabin, discussing about the progress of their mission.

"Farlan, maybe your thieving skills went rusty," Isabel snidely remarked with a smirk as she dangled her legs over the side of the bed, earning a pointed look from the said man.

"When you're done with his office, check his room." Levi was on the bed opposite where Isabel was at, elbows on his knees and fingers steepled together with a contemplative look.

Farlan sighed as he crossed his arms, leaning against the wall by the window. "This would've been easier without Isanna."

Isabel arched a brow. "What about her?"

"I noticed she spends most of her time in Erwin's quarters," Farlan replied, brows pulled together as he thought about the woman. "I think... she even sleeps there."

The new information surprised both Isabel and Levi.

"She sleeps there?" Isabel leaned forward in curiosity. "Are they dating?"

Farlan held his chin with his finger in thought. Based on the conversations he had heard from the other soldiers, he caught wind that the both of them were good friends since way back in their days, but that there was nothing more to their relationship whatsoever. Although, they did say it was kinda borderline romantic, and Farlan was beginning to see why. "I don't think so?"

Meanwhile, Levi's mind flashed back to his encounter with the raven woman back in the Underground. He noticed she was particularly obedient to him back then. "Dating or not, she's a nuisance in our mission." His eyes narrowed. In his short time in the Scouts, he had come to realize her high reputation as their strongest soldier (although that had been wavering ever since he had beaten her down).

He turned to his friends. "We still have months left for the expedition. We'll continue on with what we've been doing."

If push came to shove, Levi would just have to kill both Erwin and Isanna.

•

6 months later...

Isanna sat by the couch as she listened to the conversation Erwin was having with a messenger. They were going on an expedition tomorrow, and the blond thought it'd be best to send the documents containing Nicholas Lovof's crimes over to General Darius Zackly in advance because he had a strong intuition that Levi would make use of the expedition as distraction to steal it.

As the messenger saluted and closed the door of the office after exiting, the girl finally spoke up. "So what happens to Lov - little Lovof?" After all, they did made a deal to leave him out of his father's business.

"I already added a note explaining Baldrick's innocence," said Erwin as he leaned back in his chair, "the General will only arrest his father."

The memory of their 'friendly' capture of the son of the noble lord came back to Isanna's mind.

"..and I should have you know, if I give these to the General right now, you'll most likely be dragged in as well."

She was sure those were Erwin's threat to Baldrick back then.

So it was a scam.

Isanna subtly shook her head with a look of disbelief. She never thought Erwin would resort to lying just so that they could persuade Baldrick to let them inside the Lovof estate without disturbance.

.. But then again, this was the same person who literally led the infiltration in the mansion of a distinguished noble councilman and had the gal to blackmail him. When it came to his goals, he really was capable of doing the extreme. That was Erwin Smith for you.

"Scary," Isanna muttered with a shudder, directing a look at Erwin, "you're scary, Erwin."

Having heard her, she saw him raise a silent brow.

"Remind me to never piss you off," she said as the girl held her arms as a gesture of fear.

Isanna watched as Erwin stared at her, probably trying to decipher what she was suddenly getting at. In the end, she saw him sigh with a shake of his head as he picked his pen and the topmost paper on the stack on his desk.

"You never do," he mused, and soon he was preoccupied with his papers.

The girl slowly blinked at his response. That was good to know, she thought. Considering all the years she spent clinging on to him like his tail, it was indeed a miracle that Erwin hadn't snapped at her in annoyance yet. He was always such a patient man and never the type to lash out no matter what, but everybody was bound to have their limits. Or maybe he just got used to it.

Isanna reminded herself that they had an expedition scheduled for tomorrow and this was the least of her worries for now, before she stood up and stretched her arms. "I'm gonna grab some snack in the kitchen hall."

When Erwin didn't reply, she took that as her cue and walked to the door. A thought came to her and she paused, looking over her shoulder while a hand was on the doorknob. "I'll be sleeping in my room, you know - just in case you'll miss me."

She caught the way his lips quirked up in a small smile, but his attention was still on the paper he was signing.

"Good night, Isanna."

"Night."

As the girl gently closed the door behind her, she stalked down the hallway and out of the officers' building. The evening breeze filled the ghostly campus of their headquarters, swaying the short strands of grass in a hushed whistle with the fire torches providing minimal light to the dim shadows over the area. Upon entering the next building, Isanna headed directly to the direction at the back of the mess hall.

Normally, sneaking snacks out from the kitchen hall was prohibited, but Isanna used her reputation and position to her advantage rather cunningly; she now had complete access to their food storage.

Just as she was about to turn around a corner, she heard distant voices ringing out from the bricked balcony on the left wing of the building. After tilting her head to the direction and recognizing whom the voices belonged to, she silently crept towards the wooden door that was slightly ajar, a thin strip of moonlight was peering through the crack and allowed her to see the three figures whose back was facing her as they faced the vast expanse of the night sky that was swimming with thousands of stars.

"Let's do this together," Isanna heard Isabel say persuasively to Levi.

Farlan turned to the man beside him, giving his friend a determined look. "Levi, believe in us."

Their words caused Levi to mull over his choices, silence elapsing the air around them as Isanna watched him lift his face to the sky.

And then, she heard his reply.

"Alright, I'll believe in you."

Isanna was able to get the gist of their conversation: they were talking about the expedition tomorrow.

The girl found her eyes softening as she silently watched the trio, with Isabel cheering at Levi's approval as the other two chuckled, gentle laughter flowing into their conversation as they continued to gaze into the sky.

Isanna leaned against the wall beside the door with crossed arms, a pensive look in her gaze as she realized tomorrow was going to be the first expedition for those three. She remembered how Erwin and her also had a similar talk the night before their first venture beyond the walls, under the stars.

How they sounded so hopeful back then.

Closing her eyes, the girl rested the back of her head against the cold brick, her mind showing a brief flashback over all the expeditions she had went through and survived.

She wished she could go back to the time before her first expedition. Maybe she would have talked some more with Adalaide and Chiara before sleeping that night. Maybe she would have complimented Adrian's singing voice for once. Or maybe she would have dragged Nile out from the Military Police's barracks and spent one last night together with all of her friends.

She would have done that.

Isanna tilted her head towards the door and opened her eyes, a wistful smile etched on her lips as she heard the trio's soft laughter from outside the balcony.

She was envious.