The Girl With The Yellow Ribbon - Attack on Titan

Chapter Fifteen

"Captain, why didn't you fight him?" Marie says, continuing her rambling that had lasted the last five minutes. "You saw how puny he was, you easily could've taken him, and we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Yes, we would." Levi said, his deep baritone strikingly monotone. Petra knew this voice well—the voice he used when he was angry and afraid. She hated this voice more than his usual emotionless drawl. "Nile is behind this, and he loathes me, he has ever since I joined the Scouts, or longer. He'd do anything to send me back to that hell."

"And angering him won't do any good, Marie. It'd just make everything worse." Petra's voice softened slightly before adding: "But I wouldn't expect you to know that, you're just a little girl."

"A little girl who is constantly getting into trouble." Levi mumbles.

Marie huffs. "I am not a little girl."

"Sure, sure. You're only smack-dab in the age group that is considered 'little girls.'" Levi crosses his arms, and for possibly the first time, scowls at the broom leaning on the counter.

"That doesn't mean a thing." Marie pouts. "Besides, I'm more mature than all the other girls my age."

"Of course you are, Marie." Petra walks past her slowly, patting her on the head. "Now, be the mature girl you are and pick up the spices you dropped."

"Spices?" Marie's eyes fall to the floor and finally settle on the spice box she had dropped. "Oh. . ."

Levi scoffs, which gets Marie's attention. "What are you laughing at?"

"I'm not laughing." Levi says.

"Yes, you are." She narrows her eyes. "Is there something amusing about me dropping a box of spices?"

"No, no. . . it's more of the fact that a mature girl would've noticed the fallen spices far quicker than that."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Marie says, clutching the spices tightly.

"Exactly what it sounded like." Levi held her gaze for a long while before continuing. "You're still a little girl, no matter how much you fight it. There are things in this world you just won't understand until you get older."

"And how much older am I supposed to be?" She asked sarcastically.

"It's different for everyone, and you won't know until you get there." Levi breaks eye contact and grabs the broom. "One day, you're gonna look back and realize how stupid you sound."

"I do not sound stupid!" Marie huffs, crossing her arms tightly across her chest, pouting.

They continue to banter, and Petra was thankful for the distraction.

She stood behind the counter, dragging a rag along the surface without thought. Surely she was just moving the dust around and not actually cleaning, but it didn't matter.

Were the Scouts really being disbanded? After everything that she'd been through, it was over just like that?

Petra was weak and her stomach tossed, and she was unsure if she would vomit.

She had been so focused on not breaking down or reaching for the waste bin that she hadn't noticed Levi come beside her, the strong smell of soap and black tea overcoming her senses.

His calloused hand found its way to the small of her back, and he ignored the discomfort he felt when he was greeted by cool metal and not warm skin.

To rectify this, he slowly trailed his hand up Petra's back until his fingertips grazed the first strip of exposed skin where her shirt ended.

He's gotten bolder, Petra thought. Usually he'd never show this amount of affection when someone else was around.

"What's the matter?" Levi whispers.

Through a shaky breath, Petra responds: "It's nothing. I'm alright."

"You look like you're about to cry," He says, moving his hand farther up until his palm pressed squarely between her shoulder blades. "What's wrong? Was it that damn MP? If it was, I'll kill him."

"No, Levi, it's—"

"Marie," Levi turned, his hand lingering. "Please go to the back room, I need to speak to Petra."

"What? Why?" Marie asked, putting the last box on the shelf. "What's wrong, Petra?"

"Let me rephrase that," Levi said, the mask of an emotionless captain slipping over his features. "I need to speak to Petra alone."

Marie groaned and rolled her eyes, but complied. Dragging her feet to prove some point, she went to the back room and shut the door.

They were alone again.

"She doesn't understand what's happening," Petra said, her voice trembling. "She was so fast to jump to our defense even though she didn't know who or why she was fighting."

"Sounds a lot like someone else I know." He muttered. Levi finally dropped his hand, and replaced it by pressing his forehead to her shoulder.

Petra laughed softly, and Levi couldn't help but smile at the sound.

"What'll we do now?" Petra asked.

"No idea. I'll send a message out to Erwin tonight and pray he gets it. He'll know what to do." Levi said, his voice scarily calm.

"Levi?"

"Hm?" He hummed.

"Why aren't you afraid?" She angled her neck back to see his expression shift, but it didn't. He just stood there, eyes closed, with his forehead pressed to her shoulder as his fingers absentmindedly fiddled with the fabric of her skirts.

"I knew it was just a matter of time before I was sent back to that hellhole." Finally, he moved slightly. He lifted his head, pressed a kiss to her skin, and laid it back down. "Shitty thing about it though is this time I have something to lose."

"Oh?"

"Mh-hm. I actually have friends now—shocking, I know." As he spoke, he thought of all the friends he'd leave behind.

Erwin, Hanji, Moblit, Miche, Lynne, Nifa, Nanaba.

"And I'd have to leave Marie, and . . ." His voice suddenly dipped. ". . . you."

Turning abruptly, Levi pulled back in shock. Tears glistened in Petra's eyes as she reached up and grasped his face firmly, her fingers hooking behind his ears and under his jaw.

"No." She declared. "No. I won't let you leave. You won't leave, you won't leave anyone. Not Erwin or Hanji, not Marie, not . . ." She suddenly pulled her hands away and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Not me."

"Petra, what—"

"You aren't allowed to leave." She said. Her mask finally slipped, and hot tears dripped down her face and soaked Levi's shirt. "You aren't allowed to leave."

Hesitantly, Levi wrapped his arms around Petra's shaking frame.

Through a sigh, he whispered: "I won't leave." 

Levi held Petra in his arms for a long while, and as he inhaled the sweet smell of vanilla and strawberries, he wondered what good it would do by making promises he couldn't keep. 

I promised damian that i would post some chapters of this story so here it is, there isn't much i have to say other than there's gonna be one or two more chapters tonight.

~M