Four days of sweltering heat is bound to bring about rain.

The sun had been merciless for the entire scouting mission, beating down cadet and squad leader, taking no prisoners. Everyone had either sunburn or dehydration or both. Everyone was wasted.

Quarrels escalated, fights broke out, a couple legion members had even fainted en route.

So, when the clouds started to gather and the cold suddenly started to set it, it was a welcome change of pace.

Only, they were still an hour away from Wall Rose and the sudden change of weather quickly ended up doing more harm than good.

Almost everyone in the platoon was staring to get sick right now. Most were too tired to even keep their eyes open, not to mention too exhausted to actually try to bundle themselves up for the wall of rain that was about to hit them.

It looked exactly as if a curtain was being pulled over the area inside Wall Maria. The rain raced towards them in a perfect line, as if this was coordinated watery attack.

Some cadets looked forwards to the rain, taking off their jackets in hope of finally getting a bit of relief from the dry heat they had endured. But, the more experienced soldiers saw the rain for what it was. A wall of sleet about to be unleashed upon them. The moment the rain would hit the tarnished roads of the once-proud city inside wall Maria, the steam would erupt as the ice cold rain made contact with the still boiling hot pavement.

The young woman looked over to the rain and sighed tiredly, knowing that she was about to get drenched and that that basically guaranteed catching a cold. But, trying to lift her arms felt like lifting a bar of iron. It was even a chore to hold on to her trusted horse's reigns at the moment.

She closed her eyes, getting ready for the impact of the icy rain, only to hear muffled plops sounding from above her. She looked up, only to be met by a canopy of green material. She blinked tiredly, 'What?'

Her eyes followed the path of the material, only to see that the unorthodox umbrella belonged to her boyfriend. He had stretched his arm over her, creating a tent with his arm and cloak over her form to protect her from the rain. He, on the other hand, was getting soaked to the bone. The steam rising from his form was proof enough that the rain was ice cold. There was a slight tremor to his arm, although she couldn't be sure if it was because of exhaustion or shivering from the sleet.

"L-Levi, you're going to get sick!" she protested, weakly trying to pull his cloak back over his own shoulders.

"Huh?" he looked over with a puzzled expression on his face.

"You're going to get sick," she repeated, her voice finally sounding more determined, her worried expression finally bringing him back to the present.

And, with a start, Levi realized what he had been doing. It was just on instinct that he had done it, and he hadn't even noticed it.

It made her smile to think that his first instinct was to protect her, even if it was from a bit of rain.

"Well, you shouldn't get sick," he quickly snapped, repositioning his arm over her with –now intentional- determination. Although, there was that slight hint of pink to his cheeks now, and that was definitely not from the icy change of weather.

"Okay," she agrees and adjusts her horse's route until she was directly next to him. She took off her cloak and, with all her strength, managed to toss her own cloak over Levi's head and shoulders. She breathed deep with exhaustion and smiled, "There."

"Happy now?" Levi muttered, unamused that his hair was now upturned by her haphazard technique. Although, the sudden whisper of her perfume the cloak held was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise. How she always managed to smell this amazing, no matter how long they were in combat, would always remain a mystery to him.

She smiled, nodded and leaned against him.. She slowly reached up to the arm that had been holding up the cloak over her head and interlaced their fingers, "Yeah. That's much better."

That last bit of exertion had taken her last bout of strength and it took everything she had just to keep her eyes open. She blinked tiredly, but remained focused on staying awake until they finally reached the safety of wall Rose. She sighed and held fast to her source of strength as she mumbles her thanks.

"You can thank me when we get home," he answered tiredly, keeping a strong hold on hand as they entered the wall.

.