Recall - Levi Ackerman x Fem OC (An Attack On Titan /// Shingeki No Kyojin ff)

Chapter 32 - The Jaw

The only time Leah rose from her position next to Levi was when Armin, Mikasa and Connie finally arrived at the camp. She doted on the youngsters like an anxious mother, only stopping when Armin held her hands in his and gave her a reassuring smile before muttering the words 'we're okay'.

Only then did she travel back over to the shadows, refusing to the sit with the main group, and instead resting at the base of a tree with her knees hugged to her chest and Levi asleep next to her on his make-shift cart.

She observed the group soundlessly, her eyes staring daggers into the back of the traitorous blonde girl's head who now sat in their midst. She'd never actually met Annie Leonhart before, only seen her in her crystalised form and titan form. Despite it having been over four years since she murdered the Levi Squad, Leah still wasn't willing to forgive and forget. She couldn't forget. She could still see Petra's crippled figure, burned into her retinas.

And her anger was still as hot as coals because of it. If Levi had been awake, she was sure he would feel very similar, but the man had a much better hold on his emotions than his female counterpart, and so Leah made a point of not interacting with the young female.

Conversation fluctuated in the group between simmering quietly and boiling to a climax as matters grew heated between old friends and enemies, similar to the stew cooking in the pot before them.

First an argument between Jean and Magath about the scourge on earth that was the Eldian race, a second between Annie and Mikasa which almost escalated to a fight with Annie threatening her titan form and Mikasa poised with her ODM Gear.

The next event that caused tensions to rise was Yelena recounting all the sins of the soldiers around the campfire. And while the truth hurt, and upset Jean to a point violence, Leah did appreciate Yelena's objective: get everything out now, and there'll be no hard feelings when they needed to work together in the coming days.

The night ended with a brawl. Jean pummeled Reiner's face in retaliation to the murder of a so named Marco. Leah hadn't heard the name mentioned before, but judging by Jean's extreme reaction, he was once a close friend.

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DAY 3 OF THE RUMBLING

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By the time the morning sunlight had begun filtering through the forest, the carts the alliance had travelled to the camp in were loaded up and ready to leave.

Leah crouched in the back of one of the carts, Levi lying by her feet with his eyes squinted up at her, the bleariness of sleep still present in them. There wasn't a whole lot of room in the carts, having to fit the alliance with all of their provisions meant being pressed up against each other or jammed between crates, barrels and blankets.

Levi slept for most of the journey to the coast, lulled into a dreamless sleep by Leah's fingernails softly dragging across his scalp as she massaged his head absentmindedly. For her it was a coping mechanism, a meagre distraction. She felt so open and exposed riding through the wide and open stretches of land where Jeagerists could appear at any moment and gun them down.

The cart titan was nearby, scouting the surroundings for any upcoming danger, something which calmed Leah's nerves somewhat. But when Pieck returned at a run claiming that the Jeagerists had already beaten them to the harbour, the feeling of despondency returned.