The year 845 was a hard one.

While I may argue that most years were difficult in one way or another, and that for so much of my life the forward march of time was one that I tended not to pay attention to for it all blended together to form one blurred experience underground of pain, sickness, misery, and longing, I would argue more that the year 845 was harder than most.

I suppose I should state the specifics after such a bold claim, yes? Well, here goes: aside from being the year of the expedition that wiped the Survey Corps all but completely, leaving only twenty soldiers, it was also the year that disaster befell all of humanity.

For as shaken up as the scouts were, what we lost was nearly nothing compared to the fall of Wall Maria.

Yes, that's right. Wall Maria fell. It was lost, claimed completely by Titans. At first, the news sounded to me like a story made up to scare kids. It had happened just after we had returned from that expedition, the very same that had left us with so few soldiers, not even enough to represent ourselves properly in any of the military proceedings, events, or courts; the one that prompted Shadis to step down as commander and to put Erwin in his place; the last one Levi and I spent as regular soldiers.

And by "it happened just after we had returned", I meant it, for on that day, I'd been so ready to head to bed after I'd gotten some food as Erwin has suggested, but we had all been called back into the mess hall for a debriefing as soon as the news reached us. The news was grave, of course, but none of us had believed it at first. How could we?

Incredulous comments, hurried questions, questioning glances... All those and more were shared between us scouts, just as uncertainty and fear spread through us like a virus. What were we to do? Even though we just got back from an expedition, were we expected to fight? How many Titans had infiltrated the walls? How far had they gotten? Were the gates broken, or had they been left open by mistake and the soldiers manning it got overwhelmed, pushed back, and thereby let Titans in?

I mean, honestly - the walls couldn't just... fall. The Titans were not smart enough to break through the gates, and they couldn't climb over them. And there was no way under them, either, if the stories were to be believed.

The express messenger, a young soldier from the Garrison, told us quite simply that a Titan over 50-meters tall had kicked through the outer gate of Shiganshina District. The whole thing sounded to me like a scary story a bratty kid might say to another just to scare him and give him nightmares.

But this nightmare... it was real.

As soon as the messenger relayed the message, Erwin stood up, demanding more detail. The messenger had given all that he had, at least for now, though he lamented to admit as such. At that point, there had been nothing for us to do; by the time we tacked our horses and made to ride out, another messenger had arrived, telling us that a second Titan, Abnormal but more so than usual, had appeared and charged through Shiganshina's inner gate, letting the Titans swarm into Wall Maria and all its villages, forests, and territories.

Humanity was left with only one choice.

It retreated to Wall Rose. There was nothing to be done, except for the higher-ups to report to the military brass to discuss what was to happen next.

That was when Shadis retired, and Erwin represented the scouts in the preceding discussions with the brass and it was decided that all movement beyond the walls were to be halted. Instead, all Survey Corps efforts were to be focused on purging Wall Maria and its districts of Titans.

Following those meetings, Erwin restructured the scouts, and among other things, Levi and I were promoted to Captains. And now, weeks later, it was safe to say that all the soldiers were overworked, the people underfed, and the Titans overrunning Wall Maria and its territories completely.

It was hard to find time to continue grieving for our fallen comrades when we were tasked with assisting the Garrison in protecting Wall Rose. If the Titans had appeared from out of thin air as the reports said, then it could happen again, just as suddenly. We were already understaffed as it was; if we suffered more losses, all of humanity might be lost.

Our first few attempts to push into what was now Titan territory did not last long. With no way to seal the walls, there was nothing keeping more from streaming in. The only consolation was... well, there wasn't one.

Wall Maria was lost to Titans, and we needed to regroup. And that's exactly what we did.

—

"All squads," Erwin shouted, "advance!"

This was, in all its glory and prestige, the Survey Corps' first expedition under Commander Erwin Smith. And as a matter of fact, it was also our first official expedition into Wall Maria.

It was strange, really, and this was for a lot of reasons. Waiting just before the gate of Trost instead of Shiganshina was strange. Knowing that we were not delving into the wilderness, but into what was a safe haven for humanity, or what was supposed to be, anyway, was strange. Knowing that we were not under Shadis' watchful eye, but Erwin's tactful one, was strange.

It was all just strange.

The familiar weight of the leather jacket against me, along with the organized mess of crisscrossing belts and straps and buckles all fitted to my body, and the leather boots shined to perfection, and the white uniform pressed nicely, made me feel like a soldier and that alone was a strange sense of comfort.

I had heard, of course, that many soldiers operated within the cities. The Garrison routinely dealt with the citizens within the cities, namely those in the outer districts and the Military Police... did what they did.

We just weren't used to this sort of work. It wasn't in our job description; monitoring cities. Goodness. If I wanted this, I would have joined the Garrison, or if I felt so inclined, the Military Police. At the very least, we had the fun part: fighting Titans.

In a city setting, it would be a hell of a lot easier. It was a safe bet to assume that most of the Titans were still congregated here in the southernmost part of Wall Maria, because there was little reason to spread out. It was well-known that Titans went where people were, and the closest people were just within this district here, Trost.

We had a new set of eyes, a new crowd, watching us today. All twenty of us were ready on our horses, gas canisters full, blades sharp, and bodies tense, ready to burst into action. And as soon as the Garrison assured us that they drew as many Titans from the proximity of the gate as they could, and as soon as Erwin demanded that the gate be opened, it finally locked into place, offering us unhindered passage through to Wall Maria...

"All squads, advance!"

With only twenty of us, I expected our rapport to be a bit subdued, our enthusiasm to not quite reach the far sides of this district as our entire regiment had done so easily only weeks ago, but it did. Our twenty - few but mighty - had all the rigor of an entire military, and our cries were thunderous as we charged forth, following Erwin's lead.

"For humanity!"

"For the future of us all!"

"For glory!"

"For these sons of bitches to finally get what's coming to them," I muttered resolutely to myself as I kicked into Strider's sides, urging him right into a gallop. With an excited whinny he obeyed, and I kept my grip on the reins right with one hand as my dominant hand reached for a controller grip.

Levi and I were on our own for this mission, Captains yet for now still glorified members of a two-man Vanguard. We were an advance team with the goal of killing as many Titans as we could and keeping them away from the gate for the rest of the forces to progress safely.

Just as it was important to establish checkpoints for refueling and rest beyond the walls, it was just as important within them. The further into Wall Maria's territory we went, the further we would get from either wall, and since Wall Maria was the largest and covered the most surface area, it was duly important for us to ensure we had safe places to stay.

If one day we wanted to reclaim this territory, it would mean killing all the Titans within it, and that would mean fighting for days on end, because as far as we knew it, there was no end to the monsters. It would also mean getting a few more sets of hands to work with. The recruitment ceremony was soon, so I heard. It had been delayed for a bit by the attacks on the wall and the mass-movement of citizens-turned-refugees, but it was happening soon and hopefully we'd get a lot more recruits.

The unit of soldiers we had now (you know, all twenty of us) were by now considered elite, that was for damn sure. We had to have been elite to get out of the situation we'd been forced into.

But enough about that. Levi and I surged ahead of Erwin and his lieutenants and we didn't even need to look at each other to know what the plan was. We rode straight ahead, the metaphorical arrowhead piercing its way into Wall Maria with the rest of the formation following suit before spreading out.

I saw the Titans just as Levi pointed them out. "Amaya," he called. "Eyes up, there are two Titans!"

"I see them," I replied. "Shall we?"

"Take the one on the right," he told me. "And make it quick - its face is pissing me off."

I smiled and shook my head fondly as I drew a blade. The Titans were dead ahead of us, their great, lumbering strides seeming to send shockwaves down the road towards us. But by now, we were finely tuned to this way of fighting, and we were not scared.

We each got to our feet in the saddles of our respective horses in a way that made it seem choreographed. It wasn't, but it might as well have been for how perfectly timed it was. Just as he got to his feet, so did I, and just as I brandished my blades, he did as well. And within the very same instant, we each leapt off our horses and switched to the gear. Just as planned, I flew towards the Titan to the right and true to Levi's word, this Titan had the ugliest face I'd ever seen.

"Disgusting," I muttered, swinging low and twisting to zip between its legs. Just as I passed through, I shot out a wire, hooking to its ankle. I let the wire go as soon as I had the momentum to head back towards it, and with a well-timed burst of gas, I managed to tear through the back of its leg and send it toppling to its knees. I smiled, knowing that this next part would be easy.

Learning how to fly had been difficult, and yes, it did require a lot of effort to do, and even more to do it well. But I could forget about the physical strain because it was so incredibly fun to do. And killing Titans... over these past few expeditions, I'd become something of an expert, shall I say? I wasn't one to brag, I wasn't. But Levi and I had fought so many, that it was hard not to be good at it.

I learned to use their bodies to my advantage. It wasn't that I needed buildings or trees to be more efficient, because they were just as tall, and about as thoughtless as such structures were. Now that we had a good hold on it, it was fun. I hated to say it because it was still dangerous and we had lost so many comrades already to their jaws and to their destruction, but with Levi at my side, it was hard not to feel invincible and when I felt that way, it was hard not to have fun.

I hooked to the Titan's hip, then swung around its front only to hook to its shoulder. Its arms flailed in patterns easily recognizable and easily avoidable, and I managed to hook to its elbow as it reached towards me. I drew the wire in and let it go once I landed on its arm. I ran a few paces, and when its free hand rose up to grab me, I leapt up into the air, aided by a short burst of gas. It was a simple matter then of hooking to its shoulder and swinging back around to reach its neck and before I knew it... or perhaps, before the Titan knew it, the nape was cut, and I rode its head down as it fell forward, dead.

"You're slowing down," Levi noted, standing mere feet away from where the Titan's head landed. He was already wiping his blade clean of Titan blood, despite knowing damn well that it would evaporate anyway, leaving the blade as clean as it was when we had left the base.

"I'm not," I said, hopping off the Titan's head to land on the cobblestone road before him. I whistled, calling our horses back to us. Far behind us still, I could see the rest of the forces, and so we hurried to mount up so as to stay ahead of them. When we were riding along again, I glanced over at him, speaking loud enough to be heard over the pounding of the hooves against the road. "Maybe I'm just trying to have a good time."

"A good time killing Titans? You're losing it."

"Even you have to admit that shit-talking something that can't talk back is fun," I argued, smiling over at him. "These fuckers aren't exactly smart. So long as we stay vigilant, I don't see why we can't have a good time."

"Maybe because a lucky hit on you can kill you outright," he said.

"Oh, lighten up," I said, catching sight of a trio of Titans gathered in a plaza just behind his shoulder. Before he could turn his head to see what had me grinning widely, I was already back in the air, flying over his head to get there first. "Who's slow now, Levi?"

—

Days Later:

I faltered, for a moment, just in front of a solid door of oak, heavy and on old hinges, but right now, perfectly silent. It was... my door. To my own office. A folder of paperwork was tucked in one arm, and my other was poised to knock, only... I didn't need to. Because this was my door.

My eyes found the plaque, newly hung up, just beside the door. It was perfectly shiny, a solid plate of thin metal but all that didn't matter to me. Only the words etched across it mattered. Office of the Co-Captain of the Special Operations Squad: Amaya Ikeda.

"Wow," I breathed out. "El, are you..." I bit my lip, only to let it go immediately. I let my gaze drift upwards, as though through the ceiling I would be able to see him hiding somewhere among the stars, watching over me. "El, can you believe it? Look at me!" I did what I could to keep my volume low to be mindful of the other people I was no inhabiting this floor with, not least of all being Levi who would not hesitate to tell me to quiet down, but it was difficult to do so when this was all such an incredibly exciting change.

"Would you have ever guessed that your little girl would join the Scouts," I murmured to El, or at least to his spirit, "and that she would have gotten promoted twice already? It hasn't even been a year! You'd be so proud of me, wouldn't you?"

I glanced one way down the hall, and then the other, just to make sure no one had seen my - albeit warranted - bout of excitement, not that I thought anyone would be up here right now.

Erwin had finally gotten around to getting the plaques and assigning the offices to the new higher-ups, and our two (meaning Levi's and my own) were adjacent to each other and we were at the end of a hall that during sunset let all the light in through its large windows, so we were on the best side of the castle in my opinion.

If I was right, then he was still cleaning and tidying up his office and joint bedroom. I'd offered to help him out a bit, and I had, but after a while I'd been so excited to get to my own office so I'd assured him that I'd come back in a bit to help some more.

I reached into my back pocket with my free hand and retrieved my key, silver and shiny and mine. A wide smile erupted onto my lips as I inserted it into the lock, turned it, and at long last, opened the door to reveal my office.

It was just a desk and a chair and a few empty bookshelves for now, but I would change that. I set my things down on the desk and stepped around it on my way to the large bay windows situated behind it. They were large, beautiful windows, granting me this incredible view of the Survey Corps training grounds.

A few soldiers were doing some hand-to-hand combat down there, as a way of winding down from the day, I was sure. I had half a mind to join them, but this view...

Far beyond the grounds of this regiment, there were golden fields, rolling foothills, and a mountain range, purple and hazy by the horizon. Somewhere far off, there were walls enclosing us in, but from here, I could not see them. With only this view in front of me, I could nearly forget that there were Walls, there were Titans, and there were dangers around every corner.

This view... God, it had been hidden from me for so long. How many years had I been stuck underground, seeing only rock? But here there were rocks too, ones that stretched up towards the sky, and rocks that were made smooth by the running water of rivers, and large boulders that protruded out of grassy plains.

The city I lived in for so long had been carved out from rock, dull and damp and disgusting. But the landscapes here were so varied, so beautiful, so vast... Did they really have to condemn us to the underground? And for what? What did I do to deserve such treatment? What did Levi do? The city was forged by its people, yes, but the people acted on the circumstances forced upon them. We were criminals because that was the only way to stay afloat in that damned place.

What made Levi and I so special that of everyone in that city, we were granted the divine privilege of seeing this... and without paying?

Perhaps that wasn't fair. We were paying, and we had paid. We had lost Farlan and Isabel and we were working now with the Scouts. We had paid our dues, surely. We had bypassed the stairway toll and the price of citizenship, but we had paid with so much more.

I'd pay all the money in the world to have Farlan and Isabel back. El and Caden, too, and even Moses.

But this view... for a moment, it made it worth it. To see this... It was a bittersweet sort of thing to know that there were so many that would never see a view like this, or even so much as feel the sun warm their skin, and there were people born here that took this sort of thing for granted.

To the best of my ability, I would not take advantage of this, and I would not forget the steep prices that had been paid just for me to get here.

All the grief, all the pain, the days of mourning...

I'm not sure how long I stood there at the window, but enough time passed so that it surprised me when there was a knock on the door. "It's open," I called, leaning now against the windowpane so I could still see out of it but still look to the other side of the room towards the door.

I crossed my arms over my chest and watched as the door swung open and in stepped Levi. He closed the door quietly behind him, and only when it was closed did he look up and let his eyes find my frame.

I wondered what I looked like to him, at that moment. Framed by the window, illuminated by the golden glow of the setting sun, wearing the uniform, clean and freshly pressed, with my usual jacket but with a new patch sewn onto its chest: that with the Wings and embroidered beneath, my assignment. It was official, and it was only mine... just as this office was.

I smiled at Levi as he approached, coming to a stop by the other side of the window. His gaze was focused on the view, and I wondered if he didn't even take the luxury of looking out his own window just yet, for it was the same view, only a few precious feet being the only difference.

I found myself enamored by a different view.

I'd said it before that the golden light of sun during this hour rendered his eyes a different blue than normal; it was deep, like the water of a river, and very much not like the regular dynamic shades I would see: the sharp, cool, blue of daylight, the icy tones of early morning, the dull, gunmetal gray that I saw when he was anywhere near candlelight.

The skin of his face and neck - for that was really all I could see aside from his hands, as he was still in uniform as well - looked particularly pretty in this light, contrasting beautifully with his dark hair.

With his cravat, perfectly unwrinkled button-down, white pants, boots shined to perfection, and the belts and straps our bodies were accustomed to by now, he looked like quite the soldier, truly. He'd come a long way from a street rat in the underground city, a high-roller in the capital's black market.

He finally noticed the weight of my gaze trailing over him, and he responded first with an annoyed sort of look before he met my gaze sidelong. I did not shy away, I only smiled at him and continued to look at him dead-on.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"Because you're so handsome," I said simply, and incredibly truthfully. "I've said it before, right? Being a soldier suits you."

"If you're trying to butter me up for something, it won't work," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm not," I assured him, though I'm sure he didn't believe it. "Before you came in, I was just thinking of what we've done and who we've lost... and I was also thinking about how lucky we are to be here right now."

He clicked his tongue and looked back out of the window. "Luck had nothing to do with it. Their sacrifices brought us here, and our own skill kept us here."

"I suppose you're right," I said quietly, looking out the window as well. "I still can't quite wrap my head around the fact that we're captains. We didn't even... this was never the plan. If things went the way we wanted, we'd be..." I trailed off, letting a sigh pass through my lips.

"You'd be somewhere beyond the walls," Levi said, when it became clear I wasn't going to continue. "Isn't that right?"

"That was just a whim of mine, honestly," I admitted.

"But don't you want to?"

"Of course," I said. "I can't get there now, at any rate. Titans were going to be a pain in my ass, whether I went right away or decided to leave now," I said, seeing the humor in it, anyway. "That's what I wanted, sure, but I don't know if that's all too realistic. Especially..." I looked over at him now, I smiled almost ruefully and he met my gaze. "Especially if you're not there with me."

"Tch," he went again. "So clingy."

"So," I said, "other than to look extremely handsome by my window, why else did you come in here?"

He chose - rather wisely - to ignore the first part of my statement and gestured with his head towards my desk. "I had a feeling you'd be procrastinating already. It looks like I was right."

"I was not," I protested immediately, just as I caught sight of the stack of paperwork left to be done. "I was just..."

"Those are supposed to be turned in by the end of the day tomorrow," he said.

"There's still plenty of time," I said. "It's all just writing my initials a million times and signing my life away as a captain, anyway." I had noticed, when he came in, that he left a folder assumingly full of his own work on my desk, meaning...

"You should get started," Levi said firmly. "Or you'll get demoted before we even have a single meeting with the others."

I smiled and shook my head fondly as he took one of the chairs from the far side of my desk - one assuredly meant for guests to sit in, should I have any, future members of my squad, perhaps - and set it down beside mine. He lowered himself to sit and didn't need to say a single word more for me to know that he wanted me to join him.

So I did.

I lowered myself to sit in my chair and sent a sly smile my way as I took a pen in hand. "I can't believe you thought I'd shirk my work this quickly."

"It wouldn't have surprised me," he said without missing a beat, reaching for his folder of work. He opened it and expertly slid the piece of paper on top his way. He must have known that I wouldn't have accepted that as an answer, because he went on to say: "You never came back to my office. I figured you were taking a shit or slacking off somewhere."

"Well if I needed to take a shit that bad, I could have just gone to my own bathroom, right?"

"What?"

"Don't tell me you haven't explored yet," I said. "I mean, I haven't gone into my bedroom either yet, but Erwin told us we all have their own bathroom!" The look I got in reply told me that he hadn't explored his own room, and so, now excited, I took his hand into my own and hefted him up as I stood. He offered lots of resistance right away, but I continued to pull. "Come on, Levi!"

"Why?"

"Because I want to look around, and I don't want to do it alone," I said, laughing a little to offset the effort it took to drag him after me. I turned, taking his wrist in both my hands so I could put all my effort forth into bringing him along. "Come on, isn't it exciting?"

"It's just a room," he muttered, but that didn't stop him from looking around when at last I managed to get us to the door. I freed up one hand and opened the heavy wooden door that led only to one place: my bedroom.

"It's not just a room, you daft man," I said with a laugh. "It's my room!"

It was simple, and quite small, but it was still bigger than the room I had back underground wherever I lived. It had a large bed with what seemed to be a rather solid frame, more of these beautiful windows - with curtains drawn over them for now - and another door, one that could only lead to the bathroom.

"Oh, wow," I said, my eyes returning to the bed. "That's the comfiest bed I've ever seen!"

The bed wasn't the same threadbare, thin-as-paper mattress that we'd had underground and in the barracks. I let go of Levi's hand and ran to it. For the first time, I bounced upon landing on a bed and a jubilant sort of laugh escaped me. I knew that this all made me look like an over-excited child, but I didn't care. I rolled off the bed, planted my feet on the floor, and hopped back onto it. When I settled on the mattress I rolled onto my back, stretching my limbs out like a very contented cat.

"Are you going to lay there all night?"

"Are you just going to stand there and watch? It's comfy, you know."

"There's work to be done," he said simply, and I huffed, getting to my elbows so I could lift my head and see him. His arms were crossed, his face as impassive as it always was, but hidden in his eyes was a certain level of annoyance. But why? I wasn't being particularly annoying, was I?

"Levi, are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"You haven't teased me about being childish," I said. "I'm sure you haven't turned a new leaf, so it must be something else."

He didn't answer.

"Is it about the work we have to do? We can get it done quickly, it's really not that much. Are you maybe worried that I will lose this position before we even settle in?"

"No. If Erwin removes you from this position over some paperwork, he's a fool."

Alright, that made me smile, because it was his weird way of saying that I deserved this position, that I fit the role given to me. "So if it's not that," I said, "what is it about?"

He seemed to really turn my words over and over in his mind, as though it was a monumental sort of decision he was about to make in whether or not to answer me. "You said earlier that you'd be in to do it together. I was counting on it." The last sentence he spoke slowly, carefully, as though picking the words carefully and at the time he spoke them.

"Oh," I said softly, sitting up straight as I pieced it together. "You need help, don't you?" We'd worked on his reading together, so I knew he knew how to, but perhaps such formal language was giving him problems? "You could've just said so, Levi."

"I didn't want to..." He sighed and looked away.

"You don't have to worry about burdening me or anything like that," I assured him, getting up from the bed. I headed past him back towards the office, stopping only to lean in and press a gentle kiss to his cheek. "I'm always happy to help you, no matter what it is or when you ask. And you know damn well that I would never judge you for anything. Of anyone here, wouldn't I understand best how awful the circumstances for growing up in that city were?"

"You're stupid," he muttered, and I knew that he was only saying this because he didn't know how else to respond to my words.

"I know," I replied, sending a smile his way. "Now come on, before you get grumpier."

—

I yawned, and it was a big one, and my eyes squeezed shut and even watered at the sensation. "Goodness," I said when I was done yawning, "I'm exhausted."

"And yet you wanted to keep this all for tomorrow," Levi noted in a clearly sarcastic manner.

"Hush," I responded, setting my pen down. I stretched my arms far above my head, getting a few satisfying pops and cracks out of it. A quick kick to my shin, and I opened my eyes, looking over at Levi. "Huh?"

"Keep working," he said simply.

"But I'm so sleepy," I said - albeit childishly - before crossing my arms and setting them on the desk. I let my cheek come to rest across my forearms, and closed my eyes once more. "It's been a long day, love."

I could hear the sharp intake of breath when he realized what I called him, and I smiled, loving that I could make him react in such a way. He really was cute. I turned my head so that he wouldn't see my smile, but I'm sure he knew I was, anyway.

Levi chose not to reply to my words, and with my eyes closed, I could distinctly hear the way that his pen continued to scratch his initials and his signature on each piece of parchment as it came. And soon, before I knew it, I fell into an easy slumber.

—

When Levi realized why Amaya was being so quiet, it was accompanied by a sigh. He should've known. The only way to keep her quiet for so long was to knock her out or let her sleep. So when he looked and saw her eyes closed, and that she was breathing deeply, and there was a certain calmness and softness to her gaze, he allowed himself a quick break so he could just watch over her for a moment.

Hopefully she wasn't drooling over all her paperwork.

True to her word, she had helped him work through the first few pages of the work. From there, it was pretty self-explanatory, and he felt somewhat embarrassed to have needed help with something that was so simple - though he loathed to admit it. They'd worked in quiet solidarity, a soothing sort of silence, one that he found he did not mind.

She'd speak up every so often, lamenting that they only had the light of their lanterns to work with or that she really wanted some tea or even a snack, but he didn't quite mind those interjections, either, even if he told her to continue working each time.

The work wasn't that bad, really. It was monotonous, sure, but for now, it was only preliminary documents making them sign their lives away, essentially. They had to read through the rules and regulations of being captains, of being representatives of the Survey Corps, and everything between. It was a lot.

But it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

All this paperwork to say that they would give their lives for this regiment, and train soldiers to do the same. What a pain.

Whatever.

Amaya liked to say that being a soldier - being a captain - suited him. But did it? He tended to take responsibility onto his own shoulders, taking it himself so that others would not have to, but so did she. Back underground, she seemed to defer to his judgment - save for a few jobs in which she vehemently disagreed with his methods - but up here, she seemed to just naturally take to helping others.

That seemed something more akin to what was necessary for a leader, in his eyes.

When it came to getting people to trust them... he did it inadvertently. His skill spoke for itself. But she built and maintained relationships of her own accord. Even that pest Hange loved to be somewhere in their orbit, but it was only because Hange and Amaya had become friends early on and by proxy, Hange seemed to want to associate with him as well.

While he was trusted by his comrades, it was different with her, and perhaps that would work to their advantage. Maybe. There was no way to tell until they got a group of idiots to watch over.

That was for later. For now, she was sleeping at her desk, on the very first night in her new office. He had half a mind to leave her there, because maybe it was only a power nap and she'd wake up soon, and besides, it was her own fault.

But something in his heart told him to move her, so he did. He stood as quietly as physically possible, and he pulled her chair back only enough to have room to get his arms around her. Upon doing so, she mumbled something or other under her breath, her voice a sleepy whisper and nothing more.

She did not wake up, but when he hefted her up into his arms like how one might carry a bride, she actually looped her arms around his neck. For a moment, he wondered if she was awake, but when he called her name gently, he got no answer. So either she was pretending (which he would kick her ass for if he found out), or she really was asleep, but seemed to somehow find his presence that comforting.

Whatever the case, he carried her back into her bedroom and set her down gently. He managed to wrest the blanket out from under her and tucked it around her. This kind of thing was so foreign to him, but here in the quiet, and with her, he tried.

He was... more than willing to try, if it was for her.

Goddesses preserve him, why the hell did he just admit that?

Before he could get too flustered by nothing more than his own thoughts and a sleeping woman, he made to turn on his heel, but hesitated. Instead, he leaned down quickly, planting a quick kiss that might have had more force behind it than necessary on her forehead. Then he turned on his heel, blew the sole lantern in the room out, and left the room, closing the door quietly as he did.

—

I was awake the whole time.

When he closed the door behind him and presumably went to continue his work, I let the smile I'd been holding back erupt onto my face. All I knew right now was that he was extremely cute, and that he was also a sweetheart, no matter how much he would deny it.

Oh, and I also knew that I had to keep this to myself. If he knew that I was awake this whole time, he would kick my ass.

—

The next few days brought with them a lot of change. The biggest and most exciting was that the newest batch of recruits arrived at the base! It was nice to have fresh faces around here, and we actually more than doubled the number of scouts that we had, so it was truly a wonderful few days.

As higher-ups, Levi and I got to tag along for the recruitment ceremony. There was a lot of pomp and circumstance around the whole thing, and Erwin and the Survey Corps got to give their speech first.

I hadn't realized why until I asked. Having us go first... meant that we were the most humiliated. That was what Hange had told me, anyway. The Scouts routinely did not get as many recruits as the other two branches. Of course, the Military Police was only available as an option for the top ten students of each training corps, while the Garrison got the vast majority of soldiers: partially because of the demand for them (they occupied each wall of each district, of course), but mostly because very few soldiers wanted to join the Scouts.

We were, as I found, the smallest of the regiments, and the most ostracized. We were freaks, obviously, and seen as a waste of taxes, soldiers, and talent. I didn't think this was the case, not objectively, but we would be hard-pressed to change anyone's mind, I was sure.

Having Erwin give his speech first, simply put, gave the other regiments a laugh. That was all.

Regardless, we got lots of new talent, and I spent the next few days after they arrived on the base trying to match each face to their name, commit them all to memory, and get to know them.

It was fun, but of course, Levi routinely dragged me away so that we could observe them in training. Due to the nature of our squad - the Special Operations Squad - we were not to enlist anyone quite yet. We would need to see how they operate in the field and pick out only the most skilled among them to ensure we truly had an elite unit.

So for now, we continued to train together, and observed the rest of the forces to see if there were any standouts. It wasn't for a few days that we got more news. Someone knocked on the door to my office, and when I called him to enter, he did.

"Good afternoon, Commander," I greeted, setting my pen down.

When the door was closed behind him, he looked between me and Levi for a moment, a smile stretching across his lips. He looked, as always, to be the very picture of professionalism, just as a commander should. "I should've known Levi was in here," he said. "I'm wondering if I should rescind my decision to give you each your own office."

"Mine has a better view," I said, resting my elbow on the desk and setting my chin in my hand to shoot him a lazy, yet sly smile. Levi clicked his tongue. He knew they were the damn same view, I was just being, of course... a brat.

"Did you need something?" Levi asked.

"Yes, actually," Erwin spoke. "In light of the strange Titans that attacked Wall Maria, the common people have gotten to talking, and there are rumors spreading of someone who knows something about them."

One of my eyebrows arched upwards, and my interest was effectively piqued. "Really? Who? What do they know?"

"We don't know who, and we don't know what they claim to," Erwin told me. "All we know is where to find him."

Something told me I wouldn't like his answer, not with the way he was so clearly avoiding saying it outright. Thankfully, Levi leaned forward in his seat and demanded an answer of him. "Where?"

"Somewhere you know well. It is said he lives in the Underground City."