Importance || AOT || Levi x OC

|9| Axel

The nightmares had gone and had been replaced with strange dreams. She had seen her mother, her father, even her grandparents, great grandparents. Her dreams seemed to all be pieced together, like they were supposed to explain something to her, however she was too stressed to figure it out. The 57th expedition was tomorrow and her squad had finally been prepared. She had been regularly going to the kitchen for tea when she ever felt too overwhelmed. Thanks to Levi she finally had a good coping mechanism.

"It means a lot to me." Tomoko had finished explaining to Levi how he helped her and why she was thanking him.
"It's not a problem. After all, we'll need someone like you on that expedition." He muttered, sipping on his own cup.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." She sighed. It was the final night before the expedition and she was nervous for her squad. They had trained swell, they even exceeded her expectations, but there was a growing feeling of dread creeping up on her. She paid it no mind despite it's overwhelming presence.
"You better get some rest Tomoko, you'll need it." He explained. Tomoko glanced at him, her eyes slightly widened before returning to their normal size.
"What, what's the matter?" He asked.
"You dropped the formalities huh?" She slightly chuckled, glancing at him.
"When we're talking between the two of us like this, it's not exactly important to refer to me as 'Captain'." He sighed in annoyance.
"I suppose you're right." Tomoko glanced into her nearly empty mug. She took the final sip and started to head to bed. Levi watched her get up and walk towards the hallway.
"I'll see you tomorrow Levi." She smiled.
"Sure."

Hange and Tomoko had been talking less during the preparations for this particular expedition but they finally spoke as they all sat on top the horses, waiting for Erwin's command to leave Wall Rose and head back into Wall Maria.
"I hope your squads ready." Hange remarked.
"I hope so too, however I trust them, they've shown they're more than worthy of being scouts." Tomoko replied. She glanced back at her squad, who were all quite squeamish. It was understandable. She herself was a bit worried, it was only her second expedition, and this time, they had a Titan to protect.
"If anything goes wrong I know I'll be able to handle it." Tomoko said, a warm smile on her face. She noticed Erwin getting ready to call the command and bid her farewells to Hange. A sudden yell and they all dashed, forming their squads and getting into the planned formation. Tomoko's squad followed her well, making sure to listen to any command and keep a an eye out for any Titans.

"You remember the flares right guys?" Tomoko asked her squad. They all answered yes.
"Great, now if I happen to miss one, don't be afraid to call me out on it. The flares are a crucial part of this formation. Without them the mission fails, got that?" She instructed. Her nerves still running wild. It wasn't long before a red flare was seen.

"Titan spotted to our right!" Tomoko had shot a red flare right as she saw the other. So far so good. It was only the usual Titan spottings, not many to deal with. It wasn't long after all the red flares had been shot that a green one was sent up. Time to change direction. Again Tomoko shot her flare.
"So far so good." Tomoko remarked, not talking to anyone in particular.

It had been a while since the last red flare. Tomoko had gotten a bit worried about that but it wasn't like not seeing a Titan was a bad thing.
"An Abnormal!" Finn pointed at the black smoke signal.
"Good eye." Tomoko muttered, loading her flare gun. She shot off the black flare and they kept riding on. It wasn't long until another black flare had been spotted.
"Jeez, the abnormals want to play today hm." She sighed, again loading the gun. Before she could shoot the flare she saw the thing. It was quicker than any abnormal she'd ever seen before, not to mention it had the body of a female.
"What the hell?" She watched as it darted towards the center of the formation.
"Shit, it's on it's way towards Eren!" She yelled. She was about to follow the Titan as quickly as her horse could manage, but was stopped by another Titan behind them.
"Finn, the flare!" Tomoko yelled, to which Finn shot the red signal. Tomoko steered the Titan away from the rest of her squad.
"Go run up to the special ops squad and inform them of what you saw. I'll catch up when I'm done here!" Tomoko barked. She was distracted by the Titan behind them and didn't see it reach for Finn. A piercing scream was heard from him as he was nearly crushed. Tomoko stood on top of her horse, and grappled onto the Titan, slicing its hand off, and freeing Finn.
"Finn, take my horse. I'll find another squad, you need to catch up with the Levi squad!" She ordered from atop the Titans head. She quickly slashed the Titans nape as it fell to the ground.
"But section Commander.." Finn hesitated.
"Go dammit! Your life being saved is my top priority so get your ass on that horse and follow the others!" She yelled, her tone laced with venom. He followed her orders, but felt awful as he did.
She stood by the Titans decomposing body and watched him go, making sure he'd listen.

More and more Titans kept approaching her. If this kept up she'd be out of gas. As she slain the last Titan she heard galloping from behind her.
"Finn I thought I told you to leave me behind-" she turned to see the horse, however the rider wasn't Finn.
"Levi?" She muttered in shock.
"Get on, Erwin needs us. We trapped the female titan." He explained hastily. She jumped on and put her arms around his waist. She knew the situation was dangerous but she couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

Once they had arrived to where the female Titan was trapped, Erwin explained the situation.
"I see, so she's like Eren." Tomoko sighed.
"I figured. There's no way in hell an abnormal could do that kind of damage." She muttered to herself.

They had done a lot to the Titan. But noting worked. It wasn't long before the Titan let out a long screech.
"That doesn't sound pleasant." Levi muttered. Titans had suddenly swarmed the female Titan.
"Are they eating her?!" Tomoko yelled in shock.
"Keep her here, don't let the Titans eat her!" Erwin ordered.
Tomoko and Levi glanced at each other before jumping of the branch they stood on, ready to fight off the swarm.

After a while Erwin called the soldiers back. It was no use. They kept coming and eating. Besides, by the looks of it, she'd already escaped.

"Hey, did you see my squad?" Tomoko asked, remembering what she had ordered them to do.
"Yeah, they all made it, they're with the rest of my squad right now."
"Thanks, I appreciate it." She sighed out of relief. Thank god they were ok.
"Speaking of, we should go find them." Levi suggested.
"Yeah, sounds good." She agreed.

They soared through the forest, not speaking to the other once. It seemed like it had been a while until they saw someone hanging from their ODM gear.
"Jesus, what the hell happened here?" Tomoko cringed, following Levi as he went down to investigate.

Both Levi and Tomoko were struck with shock as they noticed who exactly was hanging from the gear.
Gunther.
"Oh god." Tomoko muttered. Her heart dropped, realizing what that could mean for her squad. As they glanced around Levi found the rest of his squad. He didn't say anything. Tomoko's relief built as she didn't find a single body of her squad. Until Finn came barreling into the forest, Amira following close behind.
"Thank god you guys are ok, where are the others?" Tomoko sighed out of relief once more. Finn looked down at Tomoko, tears filled his eyes as his blood stained face scrunched.
"They're gone aren't they." Tomoko asked, a grim expression across her face. Finn finally let it out and began sobbing hysterically.
"As long as you two are still alive, we have a mission to complete." Tomoko muttered monotonously. Her eyes narrowed and dimmed.

Their first expedition and they're gone. Just like Axel.