Levi's Daughter

14

"We've driven away all Titans in the area." Darius announced. "Thirty seconds until we open the gate!"

From his spot, on top of his horse, Levi worried over the safety of his child.

"It's time!"

Sakura took a deep breath, sending a quick prayer that her father and the rest of his squad would be fine today.

"Humanity will take another step forward." Darius turned around to face the recruits. "Show me what you can do!"

Soldiers cheered, sticking their blades into the air.

"Open the gate!"

"Advance!"

Once the gate was open, the Scouts poured out, horses galloping.

"We will now begin the 57th expedition beyond the walls! Onward!"

□□□

"I'm Squad Leader Ness." Ness introduced the new members of the Survey Corps. "And this is Shallot, my horse. She loves to chew off your hair, so be careful if you don't want to be bald. Nice to meet you all!"

Shallot pulled at the cap that was tied around Ness's head.

"Hey! S-Stop it, Shallot! Hey, someone grab her! Sakura, help!"

Sakura giggled, walking up to grab Shallot's muzzle, as she scratched at the horse's chin.

"That's a girl." Sakura whispered in a calm tone. "Yeah, you remember me? We used to hang out sometimes? There you go, that's better." 

From the stable, Sakura heard Yuki knicker. 

"Yuki! Cut it out." Sakura rolled her eyes. "I don't have favorites!" 

Haru, Bertholdt, and Reiner all watched the girl in awe. 

To Bertholdt and Reiner, she was like their little sister. They would do anything for her. 

To Haru, he felt something more for her. He wanted to protect her. He wanted her to love him as she loved Bertholdt. 

 Our training began the next day.

Instead of practical training, it was mostly memorizing the long-range scouting formation Commander Erwin had devised.

Strangely, while it was written in exacting detail, Eren Jaeger's position was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, Mikasa! Armin!" Eren's voice shouted out.

"Eren!" Mikasa gasped.

"Feels like it's been a long time!" Eren greeted.

"Eren, did they do anything bad to you?" Mikasa interrogated. "Like investigating every square inch of you? Or psychological torture?"

"No way." Eren scoffed.

"That short guy went too far." Mikasa's eyes darkened. "Someday, I'll see him pay for it."

"You don't mean Captain Levi, do you?" Eren asked.

"Hey, Eren."

The rest of the cadets came up to Eren, greeting him.

Sakura was next to Berthold, his arm around his shoulders as Haru stared longingly at the girl.

Reiner was behind the two when Sakura caught eyes with her dad, who was with his horse.

You have friends?

Dad!

Sorry...Who's the boy?

Sakura blushed.

He's just a friend. He honestly thinks of me as his little sister.

Good. I don't want anything to happen to you. I could kick anybody's ass here for not treating you right.

You would do that, dad. There's no denying it.

Levi smirked, shaking his head slightly before walking away.

"What?" Eren exclaimed. "Everyone's here! But if you're here, then... That doesn't mean you joined the Survey Corps, does it?"

"Is there any other reason we'd be here?" Connie asked, smiling.

"So only Jean, Marco, and Annie joined the Military Police?" Eren asked.

Jean walked up behind Eren, making him turn around.

"No way, not you too!" Eren's eyes widened in surprise.

"Marco's dead." Jean told him.

"What was that?" Eren questioned. "Did you say Marco's dead?"

"Seems not everyone gets a dramatic death." Jean continued. "I don't even know how he died. He died without anyone knowing or anyone seeing."

"Marco..." Eren trailed off.

"Hey, new kids, get over here!" Ness shouted, a soldier by his side, holding folded green Survey Corps capes. "Your uniforms are here!"

Sakura squealed excitedly, rushing over to Ness. Everyone smiled at her antics, walking over to join her.

Erwin, Levi, Hanji, and Miche all leaned against the wall, watching their young cadet get her cape.

They watched as one by one, each cadet threw their capes on, Hanji squealing with delight when Sakura threw hers on proudly.

Levi smiled a small smile, approaching his daughter as he took her in his arms.

"I'm proud of you, my little cherry blossom."

□□□

"Onward! Onward!"

Sakura ignored the 10-meter class Titan to the side, urging Yuki to continue forward. 

Sasha and Sakura were placed next to each other in the formation.

"We've got this." Sakura smiled to a trembling Sasha.

The vanguard is to spread out in a semi-circle.

But stay within visual range of one another.

Position yourselves at fixed intervals.

Extend the recon and message relay range as far as possible.

It's primarily the forward recon squad that will encounter Titans.

As soon as one is sighted, they'll fire a red smoke round.

Anyone who sees the flare should fire the same round to relay the signal.

When the Commander sees it, he'll fire a green smoke round and show the formation where to go.

Thus, the entire formation can advance toward the goal while avoiding Titans.

But sometimes, due to terrain or obstacles, a Titan won't be sighted until it's within the formation.

Sasha squealed when she saw the Titan, guiding her horse in the other direction, alongside Sakura.

"Red...Red..." Sasha fumbled with the red smoke round. "Red smoke round."

Sakura caught the red smoke round that Sasha had dropped, quickly firing it into the air once attached to the gun she was given.

"Blause! Ackerman! Over here!"

Sasha almost sighed, seeing the two higher soldiers.

"Blause, Ackerman, get over here!"

Sakura nodded to Sasha, and the two urged their horses to the side right before the Titan could chomp its mouth.

Sakura watched as the two soldiers drove the Titan into a tree before galloping away.

"Sir.." Sasha trailed off.

"Back into position!"

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to vote and comment, and remember to take care of yourself. Have a great rest of your day!