Yours Truly, Levi

Special Mission

The tears flow freely from your eyes, down your face, dripping off your chin, wracking your body in silent sobs. This sucks.

You had felt so alive being with him, even through such an unpleasant encounter, that his absence left a crater in you.

Stop! Stop this! You- dabo, stupid, baka! He's just a person. Just a person, like anybody else in the world. Like Ham, or Jason, or Cardiff, or you. Just another person. Just because this particular person doesn't care for you doesn't mean it's the end of the world!

"Hey, Bozu-chan, are you dead in there?" it was Captain Jason, at the opening of the shelter.

You wipe the tears from your face hastily and unwrap yourself from the sleeping bag. "Who is he calling Bozu-chan?" you mutter bitterly.

"Hurry up. This is our last day working so hard. After today, you can sleep until the sun is high in the sky!"

You rub the sleep from your eyes and crawl from the shelter. To your dismay, the other men are already at work, bustling about the camp. Ugh. Groggily, you trek to the water's edge and plunge your face in. The cool water shocks your body, and you come up gasping for breath, recovering. The energy flows through your body, refreshing you, and you smile into the water.

Once you've cleaned yourself up and changed into your day clothes- still damp, unfortunately, from soaking them last night I the lake to cleanse them of salt- you begin working on purifying water.

"Hey, Bozu-chan," a voice calls to you from across the camp. You glance up and see Captain Jason standing on the other side of the camp, beckoning to you. "I have a task for you!"

You stand, brushing your hands on your clothes and pace through the sand to where he stands.

"What?" you ask, glancing up at the tall, blonde man's face.

"I need you to go into the forest and collect something," he says, pointing at the woods.

"What do you need me to collect?"

A wicked grin crosses the Captain's face, and a surge of panic fills your gut.

Jason turns from you and hollers in the opposite direction. "Heichou!"

You follow his gaze to where Levi was, next to a terrified-looking Ham. It was a comedic sight, Ham, a huge, scary man, cowering before the tiny Levi, who stood two heads shorter than him. "Heichou, I need your help," Jason calls. The Corporal stops what he's doing, leaving Ham and walking leisurely towards you. When he reaches where Jason was, he stands, arms crossed, a look of bored amusement playing on his perfectly-chiseled face.

"What is it, dabo?" he asks.

This guy has no respect for his higher-ups, you think, mildly shocked. He just called Captain Jason stupid, without batting an eye!

But Jason hardly notices, clearly well used to Levi's verbal lashes. "I want you to help Bozu here find a particular type of tree," he says.

"What tree?"

Jason jabs a thumb toward the shelter. "Baxter burned himself by a fire," he says. "So I need you to find an alder tree, skin some bark off, and collect some leaves. They're supposedly good for wounds like burns and cuts, so it's very important you also mark on the island map where they are."

You glance at Levi, who is staring daggers at Jason. If it had been you he'd glared like that towards, you'd have shrunk back timidly, terrified. But Jason just smirks and hands Levi a sketch of the tree, and you a map and pencil.

"I don't see why you need me to go," Levi says.

"Remember in the Scout Regiment Elite training, when Petra almost poisoned herself, so you had us study edible and medicinal plants? Well, since you also did that, you'd know what to look for. I'm sending Bozu because she needs some healing salve herself," he says, reaching down and taking your bandaged hands and displaying them to Levi. Your face heats up, and you try to take your hand back, but Jason holds you tight. "Though expertly bandaged, her hands will only get infected like this," he says. "You should know that, Ackerman."

"Since when is it my responsibility to care for every last weak, injured person on this island?"

"Since you took the title of Heichou," Jason says back acidly. "You vowed to protect humankind, and that mission does not end when the Titans are gone. That mission ends when humankind is protected and safe, at home with a knowledge of the outside world, plenty of food and assurance that their children are safe and cared for... or when you're dead. Whichever comes first."

Levi swallowed. "Let's go," he says, turning to the forest, begrudgingly motioning for you to follow.