Hello! Thanks for stopping to give this a try! It is my first snk ff and also my first one with an OC so please tell me what you think!

NOTE: The events in the first part are happening when Levi is still young and after he had just joined the Survey Corps. So I'm assuming he's somewhere close to 17 years?

Anyway, Enjoy and please REWIEV!

Chapter 1: Just one mistake

After the day that Levi joined Erwin and the Survey Corps he never even once doubted his leader's orders. He trusted him with his life, however, he was still young and inexperienced and he would soon learn that one mistake could cost him much more than he ever imagined.

"Erwin, this mission is extremely important, do you understand?" the man in the shadow asked. Levi could not really discern his face from where he was sitting, however he could see Erwin's back and how tense it was. The dark room was only dimly lit, candles glowing in the underground chambers, giving everyone present a ghastly look.

"I understand, sir."

"Can you trust him?"

"Yes." Erwin answered his voice decisive. He knew Levi would get the job done no matter what.

He turned around and this time looked at his subordinate.

"Levi, do you know what you have to do?"

"Yes."

He was not entirely sure of the details, but from the brief conversation he managed to put together some pieces of the puzzle, and in the end it was not his job to plan and over analyze situations. That, he trusted Erwin with.

"Your target will be at the location we mentioned earlier. We do not know the time yet though and that is why we will send you there tomorrow. You are to monitor the area until the target appears then… eliminate it. Is everything clear?" the man in the shadow asked.

"How will I know it's my target and not anyone else?"

"No one else would be there and your target is peculiar looking, with white hair. It should be pretty easy to spot. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Then you are dismissed."

Levi stood up and headed for the exit with Erwin following him closely. As the door closed behind them he could hear the man's voice.

"Failure is not an option, understand Erwin?"

"Oi, Erwin, this deal smells like shit."

"I know, but it's the only thing I could do. Trust me it's for the sake of humanity and the Survey Corps."

"I never doubted you."

The blonde man turned to look Levi in the eye, his face bearing a pained expression.

"I think you might be the only one who did not doubt this… even I did."

He walked away and for a second, Levi wondered what was going on through his head. However, he didn't have to know. He trusted that whatever target he had, he could be sure Erwin's orders were just.

The rain was pouring down for the first time in weeks and Levi shortly thought about how he always had the worst of luck. The coldness of the wet and damp place was burrowing into his bonesand from the place where he was located he could see the small house, the river and the garden in front of it. Everything seemed so peaceful and pitoresque, and he qondered what kind of person was his target? Why were they to be killed? He kept wondering that, unable to shake off the feeling that such a place could not be inhabited by anyone worth killing, however he knew appearances were deceiving and he decided to push the thought aside. As he was looking up to the dark greyish sky, his hand touched some of the dirt melted by the unstoppable rain.

"This place is so filthy…" he sighed continuing his watch over the small, empty house.

A few days later the rain had stopped, clear blue skies taking its place and the brightest sun in weeks blinding Levi. At this point he was getting impatient, feeling that maybe his target would never appear and that he was just forced to waste his time in that dirty hole. He was feeling so frustrated that he was sure he'd kill whoever came first and just finish the job quick, after all he wanted to go home. The place had started to grow on him in an unpleasant manner. He felt shivers every time the wind blew, he saw everything in a creepy light and at times he thought he was going insane, however that was not even the weirdest of it. The house was located outside the walls, and while at first he had thought that he would have to deal with some titans… he saw none in all of his days keeping watch over the ghostly house. Why were there no titans, why was the place so eerie and why was his heart sinking in his stomach every time he tried to look at the place, imagining blood and guts spilled over white hair?

And then he heard them. The voices, suddenly clear like the water of the river flowing in front of the house, echoing to him.

"We'll be back for you in a few days ok? Be a good girl."

"Ok." A smaller, clearer and fainter voice responded to which Levi's body froze. He could already see it, he felt it even before he saw the small shape enter his range of vision. In his mind, the white hair was already shining in the sun of the dawn, glowing with red and silvery reflections; however, what he had in mind did not prepare him for what he saw. The small silhouette was the only thing he could see, running towards the house with light steps, her short legs almost never touching the grass. The only thing she was wearing was a simple white dress that looked like an oversized shirt was thrown on her, just to keep her clothed. For a second he felt mesmerized, looking at the long, flowing hair floating around her shoulders like a tainted halo, glowing in with the unnatural light. At that moment, he completely forgot why he was there, until the girl suddenly stopped in front of the entrance and spun around, her face coming in full view. Levi was sure that she was looking straight into his soul, although she shouldn't have been able by any means to have seen him, however, deep inside his mind he felt logic could not explain anything about the little girl. Her face was round with full red lips, she looked like a porcelain doll and suddenly Levi found himself walking towards her. He wasn't sure exactly how, but in no time he was not even one meter away from her, looking down into her deep grey eyes. A sharp pain tore him apart from inside out. That was barely a child, probably not older than 5, looking up to him with the eyes of an adult… no, not an adult, something worse. She looked at him void of emotion, like she had seen him countless times, like being there was a bore.

"Who are you?" the small voice inquired, but before allowing him to speak she grabbed his hand with hers and dragged him after her.

Something inside Levi told him to let go of the little girl, to get his job done, yet somehow, the image of her laying lifeless and cold on the ground made him sick. He knew he had killed countless times before, yet this time, the simple idea made him cringe. He followed her to the back of the house, where another garden spread, full of flowers he was sure he had never seen before. The little girl simply sat down and started picking them and he found himself watching her closely, not once thinking about anything else. After she picked enough, she started braiding them into a circle and then put it onto her head before looking back at him with her void eyes.

Without warning, Levi's hand moved on its own, stroking the cheek of the little girl. He found himself wanting to bring some sort of emotion on her face, and he did. Her eyes widened with bewilderment and she started fretting, not sure of what to do.

"What are you doing in this place missy?" he said, his voice nothing more than a sigh. He could feel it in the marrow of his bones, what he was doing was wrong and would never do anyone any good. "This is no place for a little girl." he kept talking and his hand moved to pat the girl's head. He felt like he was comforting a hurt puppy, and he could see it in her eyes that the girl knew no love or affection.

"Huh..?!" she said, bringing a hand to her cheek to wipe off a tear running down on it. "This…" she looked at him, her eyes glowing with panic. "…what is this?".

"You're crying. "

"Crying…? Will I … die?" her expression changed to something Levi could not really comprehend. Was it fear? Was it relief?

"No. You will live. Everyone cries."

"Even you?" she said, looking up to him and clutching his hand with her petite palms.

"Yes, even me." Levi sighed and hugged the kid.

A few hours later, he found himself talking to her eagerly, telling her stories and trying to treat her as any normal kid her age should have been treated, however it was clear to him that she was nothing close to ordinary, mostly from the hollow eyes she would sometimes display. As morning came, he looked at the little form sleeping next to his arm, gripping his hand tightly. He could feel despair build up inside of him as he slowly came to realize that he could not lay his hands on the girl. He could not harm her, let alone kill her. He felt attached to her in a weird way, the same way two strays stick around together. He wanted to teach her to be human; he wanted to show her another side of life. He was aware that in the world they were living life was nowhere close to being good, however, that girl knew nothing about living. He wanted to protect that miniature, he wished to save her from her cage and for that, he only knew one way. Although that was not like him, he was willing to make that sacrifice. He did not recognize himself in his actions, he felt like a completely different person and he hated himself for that, however it was ok. He could stand loathing himself, if it meant she was safe.

As he looked down at her once more, he silently apologized to everyone he was about to disappoint.

"Why are you doing this?" she said, looking at him with her concerned eyes, her eyebrows bent in a weird form. "You could leave this place on your own… I could say I killed you like the ones before… and then you could be free! You don't need to do this!" she almost screamed, her eyes teary. She was so cute Levi wanted to laugh. She really could look like a kid at times. Was he the first to ever treat her like a human? Was that why she was so desperate now?

"Aren't you a crybaby?" he laughed and scooped her in his arms. "I'll be fine. I can take care of myself. You just need to keep on living and never be found out , promise?"

"Promise." She said, looking straight into his eyes. She was going to keep that promise. "You have to live as well."

"Yeah, promise."

He then took her with him to the farthest town he could find, laughing at her amazement every time she saw crowds of people and struggling to contain her from running after every dog or animal passing her by. In the end, she really was just a child. He changed her clothes, and cut her hair, his heart throbbing with pain every time a stand of it fell on the ground, then got her a wig and made sure she was unrecognizable. He made sure to spoil her rotten, buying everything she wanted, although in truth she asked for almost nothing. After that, they kept walking for the rest of the day, getting lost on the streets of the big cities and searching for the place Levi thought would be safer for her.

Once they had reached the orphanage, her grip on his hand tightened.

"Are you going to leave?"

"I have to."

"Forever?"

Levi looked at her, feeling a bit sick to the stomach. Yes, it was probably forever yet he chose to stay silent as he opened the door. There, a corpulent woman with a gentle expression awaited them.

"Oh, poor baby. You look awful." She said looking at the little girl. "Thank you for bringing her here. We will take good care of her." This time she was talking to Levi, sincere gratitude in her eyes. "Come with me?"

Although she tried to pull the kid towards her, she was stuck to Levi, who motioned the woman to leave them for a bit.

"Ok, I'll be waiting for you around the corner."

After she disappeared , he knelt down and looked at her.

"Take care of yourself, ok?"

"Promise. I'll be good." She added fast. "But… can you tell me your name?"

Levi could not stop himself from smiling.

"Levi."

Her face lit up as she took in his name then suddenly she jumped and hugged him before running away.

"Wait… what's your name…" his voice felt strangled and she turned to look at him with pained eyes.

"Name? I don't have any." And with that she disappeared from his sight, leaving him feeling hollow and destroyed.

He stood up and left the place. After all, he still had a job to finish and he could not return to Erwin empty handed. He was going to kill that night, be it the right person or not.

Erwin greeted him when he returned, questioning him with his eyes.

"She's dead." His voice was hollow.

"She?" Erwin's expression was skeptical.

"The target. Her hair is there, and her heart. I took the liberty of burying the rest of the body but if anyone wants me, I'll go bring the rest of the corpse for you to confirm." He said handing the man in front of him a small box.

"What…" Erwin said, his face cringing with disgust at the sight in front of him. "This heart… is this a child?"

"Yeah. Now can I go clean myself? I don't enjoy blood stains on my clothes."

"Yes. Good job." Erwin said, his voice dripping with disgust. Levi knew he was hating himself over his orders.

He walked past his captain, heading towards his chambers. He felt like throwing up. He had saved the girl, but at the cost of another life. He felt like a traitor, and also a selfish one. He had sacrificed a life for his own wishes… he was disgusting, yet he could not help feeling relieved. He could never kill the little girl.

15 years later. 105th trainee graduation.

"Tell me again, Erwin, why do I have to be here to welcome this pieces of crap in the Survey Corps? More than half of them won't even join us and most of the ones who will are just going to die in no time. It's your job to make them do it happily, not mine."

"Harsh as always, Levi. Times are rough, I wanted to show them what humanity's best soldier looks like. Maybe you can inspire them."

"Not even you believe that, Erwin."

"It doesn't matter. Let's get going."

He followed the blonde man on the small stage and looked at the crowd. Half of them were pissing themselves at the thought of ever seeing a titan, he was sure of it, yet he looked at the front row. The 10 best soldiers of the group. Rumor had it that one of them was on par with him, the next best warrior of humanity, following in the footsteps of the Ackermans. He studied them all, from left to right, slowly dragging his eyes towards the first position and then he froze.

She was looking straight at him, her eyes digging a hole through his chest, her gray, burning eyes. She was smirking slightly and she knew he could see her. Her hair was black, loose against her shoulders and she was standing straight, sticking out from the crowd. She did not look like a young woman, she looked like something else. She was human yet she was not; and she was fixating Levi with her eyes. He had no idea how much time had passed, but soon people starting turning away and leaving, and only the lot who was going to join the Survey Corps remained. She did not budge, nor did she move her gaze away for a second. He felt paralyzed, nauseous. It could not be her, she was not here, returning to haunt him. He could feel the burden of his sin weighting him down. He did not even notice the large numbers of people joining them, nor did he hear Erwin's speech. All he could focus on were her lips moving slightly, whispering.

"Finally found you… Levi."

Well, what will happen I wonder? ^^ I'd like to hear your thoughts on this so please share them with me. Lots of love!