The Crocus Lawn// Levi x reader BOOK 1

XV

You weren't at all ready for the mission, but you woke up and changed all the same. Nanaba was ahead of you, already leaving for breakfast, with Nifa following behind her.
"See you later Spud, if not at breakfast, then I'll catch up after the mission!" She said, in a hurry.
Petra waited behind for you, seeing as you were in the same squad. She radiated nervous energy, but you knew she would be fine. She'd survived her first mission, and had been thriving in training. You weren't particularly worried about any of your squad members- they basically had three Squad leaders, whom as of late had been running smooth as clockwork.

Speak of the devils, as you entered the mess hall, you saw Eld signal you over. While most scouts mingled with people both in and out their squads, there was an unspoken rule about only sitting with your squad mates on mission days. And so, at the table sat Eld, a tired looking Levi, Gunther, Oluo, Jasper, Laurel, the twins- Claire and Lydia, and finally, Ewan. Oluo instantly offered the seat next to him to Petra, nudging Jasper to move up for him. There was no space for you there, so you were about take the space next to Claire. But, of course, Levi had other ideas. He coughed, quite loudly, and gestured towards a space opposite him. This put you on the other side of the twins, next to Ewan, and in the edge of the bench.

"Here, I brewed some of the tea for you," he said, brushing off the looks from the others.

You took it gratefully, and began sipping on it while nibbling at the food in front of you.
———
You didn't end up seeing Nanaba and Nifa again after breakfast, but you did run into their squad leader on the way to collect your horse.

"Take it easy Hange, don't get too excited," you laughed, watching them scramble for things that they insisted were important.

They were shaking with nervous excitement, and you realised it was their first official mission as a Squad Leader. They nodded, explaining they were the necessary level of excited, thank-you-very-much. They soon toddled off, in a rush to get both their squad and their shit together.

As you led your horse out of the stables towards the sea of scouts, you noticed a small patch of flowers. You reached down and plucked it and, wanting to save it to press later, put it on the door of your horses stall.

"I saw that, you pansy," you heard Levi call from another stall.

"Har har, it's the little things, you backwards undergrounder. Besides, it's not even a pansy, it's a crocus," you quip back.

He smiled at you, not a big one, but a small smirk. Leading his horse, he followed you out of the stables. He stopped and looked at the patch of crocuses too, deeming them a satisfactory waste of time.

"We better get going, Captain Church," he said, finally breaking away from the flowers.

"Sure thing, Captain Ackerman. You're getting a promotion out of this, not me."

———
Everyone was saddled up, and waiting to go. It was a fair journey to the North Gate, but it would be nightfall by the time you arrived, meaning less Titan activity. It also meant sleep deprivation, but it was decided more work could be done if there were shifts throughout the night. Your Squad, most likely due to the presence of a certain Captain Ackerman, would be up for the first shift.
In the dead of night, Eld led the way forwards. You were supposed to clear an area of some 3 acres so that come morning, the supply teams could start laying out makeshift fences. Flares were not used, they were too loud and bright and ruined any advantage the cover of darkness gave. Instead, you followed a few hand signals from Eld in front, which both you and Levi relayed to the squad behind you. Laurel, Jasper, Ewan, and Lydia were stationed to follow you, while Gunther, Petra, Oluo, and Claire were to follow Levi.
Eld signalled you to head left, while Levi would head right. Eld would scout straight ahead, and you would meet back after completing an arc. The rendezvous point was chosen due to a small barn that still stood there. It was too small for most Titans to enter, so it would be safe to sleep in after the shift was over.

You had just lost sight of Levi's group to the right, and Eld had disappeared into some trees. You were on your own and leading a small Squad for the second time ever in your life.
Up ahead, you could see the point at which you would need to turn back to join Eld. Also up ahead, was the arm of a monstrously large Titan. However, with the blanket of night, it seemed to be sleeping, or resting, or whatever Titans do when they can't move in the sun.
You gestured to Laurel and Jasper to head right, while Ewan and Lydia would follow you to the left, circling the beast.

You couldn't predict that the creature would still have some juice in it, throwing one of its great arms towards Laurel and Jasper. The pair screamed, which seemed to rile the creature up further. You circled back to them, away from the feet of the Titan. Gesturing for Ewan and Lydia to move back, you looped up high to descend on the nape of its neck. You succeeded, slicing it's nape, but the force of your vertical drop was enough to slam shut the jaw of the Titan who had managed to reach Laurel.

Her legs rolled out of its now dead mouth. You wished you had time to mourn her death, to think of ways you could've saved her, or how it was your fault. But time was a luxury you didn't have, because another Titan had latched itself to Jasper.

This time, Ewan raced to save his friend. You belted out the order to stop, that you were captain and you would do it. Thankfully, he heard, and stopped.

Unfortunately, it was the wrong place to stop. It seemed as if you were being swarmed by Titans now. Another made its claim on Ewan.

"Please! Save me," Jasper cried, at the same time Ewan was being dragged face first into the mouth of another Titan.
You couldn't decide who was more likely to make it out, who to save first. You stopped your senseless dithering when Lydia sprang into action. You could tell she was going to help Ewan, so you burned as much gas as you could to get to Jasper.

It was too late, he was gone. You killed the Titan anyway, and it dropped his crushed and lifeless body.

You turned to see Lydia trying to drag Ewan out of the other Titan, which was still alive. She was crying and pleading, using all her strength. As fast as you could, you zipped over to assist, attempting to kill the Titan to ease the rescue. The Titan began to gargle as you slit it's nape, and Lydia gave one final tug, using all her strength.
With the Titan dead, Ewan's body was free, but with the force of Lydia's pull, he went sailing into a nearby tree. His head cracked like an egg on impact.
Lydia looked down at her hands in horror, never had her strength and size hindered her so much before. She was shaking, and you placed a hand on her shoulder. At least you had each other.

The light had left her eyes, you had to guide her back to her horse for fear she would keel overnight and give up. Once saddled, the pair of you raced to the rendezvous point with tears in your eyes.