Levi inhaled the many scents that hung in the air in the tea shop. The familiar smell of tea soothed and calmed him and he did his early morning rounds, checking to make sure everything was still in place.
The atmosphere was calm, so he was very displeased when the door to the shop banged open and in came Sasha Braus, ponytail flying and eyes sparkling. "Mikasa!" she hollered. "Yeah?" Mikasa asked, her head poking out from the back to, "Sasha!" she exclaimed happily. "Mikasa, Jean's having a bonfire and everyone's coming, you and Levi should come and bring Carla. Eren and Armin will be there, Connie, Historia, the whole gang will be there."
Mikasa looked over at Levi excitedly, "Do you want to go, Levi?" Levi sighed internally, the real answer was no, not really, he'd rather spend the night with her and Carla, but he could see that she really wanted to see all her friends. "Yeah, we should go, we can make some Lapsang souchong," he said finally. Carla squealed happily, she had heard so much about the others from their days in Levi's squad and she hadn't met all of them yet.
Oftentimes when Carla asked for bedtime stories, when it was Levi's turn, he told her tales from his days in the Scouting Legion. Mikasa usually had old Japanese legends that her mother had passed down to her and she passed them down to Carla.
Actually, this bonfire was a good opportunity to make Lapsang Souchong tea. It was made by smoking Souchong over a pine fire, giving it a smoky taste. It was actually one of Levi's favorites, Souchong was a fine, black variety of Asian (read Chinese) tea.
Carla was jabbering with Sasha, she had met Sasha before and Sasha adored her. While Mikasa spent some time catching up with her old friend, Levi gathered the things he needed to make Lapsang Souchong tea.
He refrained from joining in the conversation, he had never done very well with entertaining others with his conversational skills. He just ran off at the mouth sometimes. He clearly remembered Eren's words, "Uh, you're talkative today, Captain."
He snorted to himself. That brat was still a brat to him. In fact they all were. All of them except Mikasa. She had always been special to him.
Levi tended to the few customers that day. They did fairly steady business, but it was by no means a super busy place.
When the sun was setting, Sasha told them that they should get going. Mikasa quickly bundled up Carla in her coat and wrapped her own precious red scarf snugly around Carla's neck and set off with Carla walking between the two chatting women.
Levi walked a bit behind them. He saw the sparkle in Carla's eyes and he wondered if she ever was lonely in their little cabin.
Sasha called back to him, "The bonfire is at the edge of the forest. There's a clear area there. The guys are probably already collecting wood and setting up the sight. They're very excited to see you guys again! We're almost there!"
Levi nodded, not contributing to the conversation.
They arrived at the campsite a few minutes later. The guys already had kindling and heavier logs stacked up, ready to go. They had some logs set up in a circle, for everyone to sit on.
Armin and Eren ran over to hug Mikasa. Connie came over to hug Sasha, according to Mikasa, who received letters from her old squadmates, they had gotten married a while back. Eren and Armin greeted Levi politely before fawning over Carla who was overjoyed to see her uncles again. Historia came over and hugged Mikasa. The queen rarely took time off from her royal duties. After the last Titan battle, she had been crowned queen of the walls and had lived in the inner wall since then. However, she had made an exception to come and see her old friends.
Jean was much the same as ever. His handsome face seemed slightly more drawn, but he still had fun goofing off with the rest of the old squad.
Mikasa introduced Carla to Jean and Historia whom she had never met and both Historia and Jean cooed over the little girl.
Carla seemed quite taken with Jean, Levi noticed a little sourly. After they had started the fire and sat around its warmth, they had laughed and talked and told stories of their times in the Scouting Legion and the Training Corps. Carla had perched herself up on a log next to Jean and was listening to one of his stories during the training days. The others stopped to listen well.
Levi grumbled inaudibly to himself. Why his daughter was so taken with the young man, he had no idea. Jean seemed to enjoy her company. Levi was suddenly reminded of Carla's resemblance to her mother and he turned to glare at Mikasa. Mikasa noticed his dark look and rolled her eyes at his overprotectiveness.
She leaned over to whisper, "Relax, have some fun. I know you missed your old squad, even if you won't admit it." Levi harumphed but didn't bother replying. Yes he missed them sometimes, when he was feeling nostalgic. Must be getting old, he thought to himself. But truth be told, as much as he cared about his former subordinates, Mikasa and Carla always had and always will come first for him.
Levi sat and silently drank his freshly made cup of Lapsang Souchong, holding the teacup in his peculiar way. He listened to the others storytelling and looked up at the night sky. The stars were bright tonight, shining down upon the gathering of friends.
He looked over at Mikasa, watching the firelight dance across her exquisite features, its glow alternately highlighting and shadowing the planes of her face. He felt utterly content for the moment. She was happy and from Carla's frequent laughter, she was happy too. And that was all that mattered.
