눈‸눈

눈‸눈

~눈‸눈~눈‸눈~눈‸눈~

Levi, once they began to take off, helped Lissa onto the remaining horse before he mounted behind her. "Don't you dare pass out on me, Greswald."

"I'll try not to, Ackerman." Lissa replied, squinting in an attempt to stop her vision from being so blurred. However, despite trying so hard to not pass out, everything eventually became black.

~눈‸눈~눈‸눈~눈‸눈~

Lissa opened her eyes, blinking heavily a few times. Where was she?

"I told you not to pass out."

Lissa flinched, but she calmed once she looked to her left and saw Levi. His cloak wasn't on anymore, and one of his sleeves had been ripped off. She looked at her leg to find the sleeve, then she noticed that his cloak was draped over her. A fire crackled to her right. "Sorry."

Levi sighed before sitting closer to her. "I need to check that wound. I managed to find some alcohol, a needle, and thread. Sterilized the needle, so you should be okay, but I need to be sure it isn't becoming infected."

Lissa nodded as he explained. "Alright." She replied, sitting up a little so she could watch him. Did she really want to see what her leg looked like, though? She glanced away once he began removing the cloth. To the far right was a small bucket, a wet rag hanging over the edge of it.

     She winced and looked at her leg. Levi was gently feeling it, though the sensation still caused a burning pain to shoot through her leg. She bit her lip, however, and refused to whimper.

     "It doesn't look too bad." Levi muttered, looking up at Lissa. "How do you feel?" Though he did his best to keep up his expressionless look, his voice gave away a hint of concern.

     "Cold." Lissa replied, shivering as she wrapped his cloak around herself even more. She watched as he ripped his other sleeve and began tying it around her leg. She furrowed her brow before taking his cloak off.

     "What are you doing?" Levi questioned, glancing up at her as he tied the cloth around her leg. "You said you were cold."

     "Yes, but I already have my cloak. You need yours; it's cold out."

     "You need it more than I do." Levi replied, walking over to her side and sitting down on her left again. He reached over and began wrapping his cloak around her again. He then felt her forehead when he realized that her cheeks were red. He'd normally assume it was from the cold, but the blood loss from earlier had paled her. "Are you alright?"

     Lissa blushed a little more before nodding, glancing away when she realized his hand was still resting on her shoulder. "Yes, I'm fine."

     "Your face is red. Do you have a fever?"

     "No... I'm pretty sure I don't." She bit her lower lip and was silent a moment before she spoke up again. "What a Christmas Eve."

     Levi narrowed his eyes at her, but he decided to leave the matter alone. He had a feeling he knew why her face had gotten so red. He sighed and looked up at the darkening sky. "Hasn't been much different from previous ones. This hell has lasted for what seems to be an eternity."

     Lissa nodded, sighing softly. She didn't know how to respond, and her thoughts wandered off to Petra. To the previous Levi Squad. She thought back to her parents.

     "Lissa, are you okay?"

     Lissa snapped out of her thoughts to see Levi leaning close to her, trying to look at her face. His usual expression had vanished, replaced with one of concern.

     "Are you crying?"

     Lissa reached up and wiped at the corners of her eyes before shaking her head. "My eyes were just... watering. It's... it's cold out, you know."

     Levi gave her a look with a raised brow and scolding expression that indicated he knew she was lying. Yet, he didn't push her.

     Lissa noticed the look, and she turned her gaze down to her feet, not wanting that stare to cause her to tell him what was up because it made her uncomfortable. After a while of silence, however, she finally whispered, "Why does everyone have to die?"

     Levi looked at her, and his emotionless expression softened when he saw the tears trailing down his childhood friend's cheeks. He glanced away from her before replying with a gentle tone. "It's just a part of life. Until those titans have been eradicated... it will be a normal, painful part of life."

     Lissa tried to hold back a sob, though it came out sort of breathily, wracking her body. "I m-miss Petra s-so much. She was m-my best friend..."

     Levi looked over at Lissa when she spoke Petra's name, years now threatening to spill from his own eyes. "I miss her, too, Lissa." He murmured. After a moment of hesitation, he wrapped an arm around her and gently pulled her close.

     Lissa twisted her body slightly and buried her face into the captain's chest. Her hand laid on his chest near her face, and warm tears began to drip onto his shirt.

     Levi sighed and wrapped his arms around her, a single tear escaping him. "Stop crying, brat..."

~눈‸눈~눈‸눈~눈‸눈~

     "Mother!" Lissa shouted, startling out of her sleep with a gasp. She was sweating, causing her to shiver. She furrowed her brow when she felt arms around her, and she looked over— right into Levi's eyes. She immediately blushed, and she was certain she saw a blush spread over his own face before he let go of her.

     "Are you okay?"

     Lissa sat up, wincing slightly, before she nodded, still shaking. "Y-yeah. I'm o-okay. Just a nightmare." 'No... it was more than a nightmare... it really happened.'

     Levi nodded quietly, sitting up as well. After seeing that she was shivering, he got up and tended to the fire before he went back to her. He himself was doing his best not to shiver. He knew that if Lissa noticed, she'd insist that he take his cloak back.

     However, a cold breeze blew over them at that moment, causing the captain to finally shiver. Now he was beginning to wish that they could simply stay inside the castle rather than on top of the castle. However, he'd had to ward off a wild dog after setting Lissa in the tower, so there was a bloody mess inside.

     Lissa looked over at Levi, then she frowned before she took the cloak off. She then took her own cloak off and began tying the two corners together.

     "Lissa, you're going to make yourself sick." Levi scolded, reaching to take the cloaks from her.

     Lissa shifted away so that he couldn't take the cloaks from her, and when she'd finished tying them, she draped one side around her, then gestured for Levi to scoot closer to her. Once he reluctantly did so, she draped the other side around him. "Now it's fair."

     Levi shook his head, though the corner of his lips had shifted upward into a small, amused smile. He gave a light chuckle. "All right. I guess I can let you do this."

     Lissa offered a small smile, then she gazed over at the fire and stared almost blankly. It was a good two minutes before anyone spoke up, and the person to speak up was Levi.

     "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked gently, referring to Lissa's dream.

     Lissa hesitated, then she looked at him, her eyes full of fear and worry. They began watering, and she thought that she might start to cry again.

     Levi felt dread well up in the pit of his stomach when she gave him that look. He was concerned now— perhaps even worried.

     Lissa took a deep breath and looked down, releasing a shaky breath. "It... was more than a dream. It actually happened." She began, pausing before she continued. "After I left the underground, shortly after you did, I actually found my parents again. Since I had no plans for my life at that point, I chose to stay with them. I would help my mother around the house with cleaning, laundry, cooking, and more. Then we would all read together in the evenings, or even play games. Life was once again perfect."

     Levi listened intently. When she paused, he wrapped an arm around her from under the cloak.

     "Then one day... I woke up with a gap in my memory. I couldn't remember what had happened. All I knew was that I was outside of the walls. I didn't even know how. I made my way back inside and went home. It had been destroyed, and there was no sign of my parents." Lissa took in a shaky breath and released it again before looking at Levi, tears filling them. "Now, after all this time, my memories have begun to come back, Levi. But I wish that they were nothing more than a dream. My father... he... he injected me with something you're now familiar with."

     Levi swallowed, his eyes widening a little. "Lissa, are you saying that... you're a..."

     Lissa took in another shaky breath, tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked away. "I'm a Titan, Levi... I'm a Titan, and I ate my father, then my mother. Father had only intended for me to devour my mother, but he had gotten in the way before I could reach her. I... I..." she stopped, unable to say another word.

Levi remained silent, too shocked to even say a word. He then furrowed his brow. He'd thought that there were only nine titan powers... but he supposed that they'd been wrong. There were ten.

Lissa finally managed to stop sobbing, sniffling as she wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry... you must think of me as a monster." She said in almost a whisper. "And I wouldn't blame you. Who could learn to love a beast?"

Levi looked at Lissa when she spoke, then he lightly punched her in the shoulder. "Don't be an idiot, you moron."

Lissa blinked and looked at him, her blue eyes sparkling in the light of the rising sun. "What?"

Levi gave her a flat look. "Lis, do I really have to spell it out for you?"

Lissa furrowed her brow. "Spell what—"

Before she could finish, Levi leaned in closer and pressed his lips against hers, gently pulling her slightly closer. After a few seconds, he pulled away, though he kept his face so close to hers that his lips nearly brushed hers as he spoke. "Do you finally get it, Brat?"

Lissa had closed her eyes as she kissed back, though a little late due to the shock of what had just happened. She opened her eyes once he spoke, her blue orbs staring into his gray-blue ones. She blushed not only at the close contact, but at what he'd said. No, most may not have found it sweet, but his tone was one of fondness. It seemed she'd been correct. The name-calling from him was a sign of fondness. "Yes... I get it now."

"Took you long enough."

"You really know how to compliment a girl, don't you?" Lissa murmured sarcastically.

Levi smiled in amusement, pecking her lips once more before he pulled away. However, he still kept close, even wrapping his other arm around the injured woman.

Lissa smiled as she snuggled into Levi, looking out at the rising sun. It was absolutely beautiful this morning. "I love you, Levi."

"I know." Levi replied, using his usual monotone and holding back a smirk.

Lissa looked up at him, confused. Why would he go from being slightly sweet to being cold and emotionless again?

Levi, after Lissa looked at him, finally allowed himself to smile in amusement. "I love you, too, Lissa." He finally said before kissing her forehead.

Lissa closed her eyes and smiled, then she looked out at the sunrise again. "Happy birthday."

Levi smiled once more as he, too, looked out over the scenery. "Merry Christmas."

~눈‸눈~눈‸눈~눈‸눈~