It was the day after the expedition. HQ was quiet due to all of the people mourning over their lost loved ones or friends. You, however, were in your office doing paperwork as usual. Losing that many soldiers definitely didn't feel good, but people will die and people will live. It's how the world goes. Losing Anaka definitely didn't feel good. She always helped you with whatever you needed, no questions asked. And in return you always helped her with hand to hand combat and 3dmg techniques. To say your office felt lonely was an understatement. You also hadn't seen Levi at all, which you could understand. He's probably upset about Isabel and Farlan.

There were two knocks at the door.

"Come in," you said. A cadet who survived the expedition opened the door and entered your office.

"Commander Shadis would like to see you Sergeant," he said. You groaned lightly.

"What does he want now..." You muttered, sliding your chair back and standing up.

"Thank you. You're dismissed," you said while putting on jacket on. He nodded, saluting you before leaving your office. You sighed before leaving your office as well. As you walked down the hallway you saw many horror-stricken faces amongst the soldiers. You frowned at the sight of them. Once you got to Shadis' office, you knocked on his door.

"State your name," he called out.

"It's the unicorn queen," you replied sarcastically.

"Come in."
You turned the knob and pushed the door open, and in one of the seats was Erwin.

'Dear lord.' You thought.

"You called, commander?" You saluted.

"Yes. Please, have a seat," he replied, gesturing to the empty chair. You nodded before walking over to it and sitting down with your legs crossed. "I've called you two here for an important reason." You and Erwin listened intently on what he was saying.

"... I'm resigning," he finished. Your jaw dropped.

"You're what?! Why?!" You asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Too many have died under my command," he replied, "I no longer have the strength to bear the burden."

"I can understand that, but why did you call in me and Y/n?" Erwin asked calmly.

"You two are without a doubt my finest, strongest, smartest, and most loyal soldiers. I've called you two in to ask if one of you would like to fill in my spot as commander of the Survey Corps," he explained. Your jaw only dropped lower and your eyes grew wide.

"But sir, would you call me in? I can understand why Erwin would be asked, but me?" You asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Whilst Erwin is older than you, that doesn't mean you are any less skilled than him in strategy and authority," he replied. You huffed before sitting back down in the chair and crossing both your arms and legs. "It is up to you two on who will be the next commander." You looked over at Erwin and he looked at you. You sighed.

"I don't think I'm ready to be a commander. At least mentally. Maybe when Erwin retires I could be commander, but until then, I'll stick with being a Sergeant. At least for now," you gave in.

"Are you sure, Y/n? I'm pretty sure you'd cause a lot less casualties if you were commander," Erwin inquired. You shook your head.

"No, I'm too young. Being 16 and a commander? Don't you think that's sort of... much? Not that being a Sergeant isn't, but I'm too inexperienced to make final decisions by myself," you explained. Shadis nodded.

"I understand. And by any means, I think this is a wise choice," Erwin agreed.

"Good. Y/n, you are dismissed. I still have things to talk about with Erwin," Shadis said.

"Of course," you replied while getting up and walking out of the office. As you were walking down the hall you saw Levi walking in the opposite direction. He stopped walking a few feet in front of you. You stopped as well.

"Anything wrong?" You asked while tilting your head.

"Can I... talk to you?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, sure," you replied, walking past him. "Follow me." You heard him jog up before returning to normal pace.

'This is very unlike him.' You thought while entering your office and shutting the door after Levi entered. Your office wasn't that crowded. You had a desk in front of two French doors which led out to a balcony, a spinning chair, which was a lot of fun, two chairs in front of the desk, two bookshelves on both sides of the room, along with a couch on each side, and another door which led to your bedroom. You gestured for him to sit on the couch while you got him a cup of tea. You plopped down on your spinning chair, observing Levi's expression.

"Whadya need?" You asked.

"Nothing." Was his short reply. You hummed before starting to resume your paperwork that you didn't get to finish.

'He's never said anything like that to anyone before the two died... he did live in the underground his whole life... Is that why he doesn't like to be alone?' Your thoughts kept wandering about Levi's past and such. You were pondering the thought about asking him.

'It's not any of my business though...'

'Fuck it.'

"Levi, I know this isn't my business and such, but I'm curious. Why don't you like being alone?" You asked, never looking at him. You expected him to say something along the lines of 'it's none of your business', but he didn't.

"My mother died when I was young. I was raised by a man who taught me how to survive, but he left me later. Then I met Farlan, then Isabel, and so on," he explained. It was a brief summary, but at least it gave you an idea of what happened.

"I see... you must've been very lonely for a while huh?" You inquired. He nodded a tiny bit before taking a sip of his tea. "Well, there are things that I didn't mention to you when Isabel asked me about my past." You signed off another document. You could feel Levi's stare on you.

"And what was that?" He asked.

"Before my father left, he taught me how to fight and kill, but I would defy him, saying how I didn't want to, and how it wasn't right. He would often punish me, or threaten to use my mom as an example on how to do it. I didn't want that, but I was forced to learn anyways. He would get into arguments with my mom a lot. He would think I was training, in our basement, but I wasn't. I was actually watching him yell in my mother's face about how she's a useless broad." Your gaze stayed blank as you wrote on another piece of paper. "Then, when I was six, he left us. He took everything he owned, even the money my mom worked hard to get. Which was the only thing he didn't own. When I was eight, my mom fell ill with this disease. She couldn't walk or get up, so I had to go out myself and get the necessities she needed. I almost died the first time I tried to steal a pouch of coins from this gang of boys. That's when I realized that it's life or death, not about compromise. So, the next time I saw those guys, I killed them." Levi's gaze wavered, but stilled after a moment.

"I was able to get enough money to pay a doctor to check my mom. He gave her a medicine that wouldn't cure her, but it would slow it down so that she would live longer. She ended up going for two more years until she finally died. I was alone for two years. It's weird how I never ran into you, but whatever," you said while shrugging. "Then the Survey Corps came down to get me, and I went with them obviously. And I'm here now, so, yeah. However, I have no idea where my father is—or if he's still alive, but that's alright." By the time you were done talking, Levi was already finished with his tea. You looked out the window and saw the moon rising above the horizon. A light chuckle left you.

"Was I talking for that long? Haha, sorry about that. Go get ready for bed Levi," you ordered softly. He nodded while getting up and placing the tea cup on my desk and walking towards the door. You smiled before lowering your head back down to the papers.

"Oi," he called, making you look up at him.

"You're... not so bad." Is all he said before he left, closing the door behind him. You smirked before lacing your fingers together.

'Now why would he say that?'

OKAY, SO, LEVI IS SIX YEARS OLDER THAN YOU, SO WHEN I DO A TIMESKIP OF THREE YEARS, YOU'RE 20, AND HE'S 26 OBVIOUSLY.

Edit: I fucked up the ages, I know, don't judge me.

Ja ne!

{Ruby Red}