It has been quite a while since I last posted and I apologize! I got writers block and then never came back, but now I have! Enjoy the final chapter of Training the Heart!

Ch. 5

A chill breeze began in the afternoon, and ominous clouds followed it soon after. Mikasa was still cleaning her room when she noticed that the brilliant sun which had made this morning beautiful had disappeared. A shiver crept up her spine at the darkened skies, and she knew there would be a thunderstorm soon. She wasn't afraid of thunderstorms, but she certainly didn't like them. Growing up in the mountains had taught her to be careful when there was lightening.

As the wind slowly began to crescendo, she paused in her cleaning to get a glass of water from the kitchen. There was a large bucket full of water for just such an event, and Mikasa sipped at her glass for a moment while gazing out of the small window. Even though the clear morning had been breath-taking, Mikasa had to admit that there was something dangerously beautiful about an approaching storm. The color of the sky reminded her of the stormy eyes of her Captain, and she couldn't help but think that dangerously beautiful could be applied to him as well.

Her heart gave a quick squeeze at the thought of Levi. Mikasa pondered that feeling for a moment, her water nearly forgotten. What was this feeling? The harder she thought, the faster her heart beat until she felt breathless.

"You look like you're in love!" Mikasa was startled as a voice ripped her from her thoughts.

"Sasha!" Mikasa said, still slightly rattled. Sasha entered the kitchen and laughed at Mikasa's surprised and alarmed face.

"Wow you were really lost to the world for a minute there huh?" Sasha giggled as she rooted around the empty cupboards for possible food.

"You know there is nothing there. The raiding party hasn't gotten back yet." Mikasa was ashamed that the once proud Survey Corps had to now rely on stealing for food. Every day a party set out to hunt for meat, but they couldn't hunt for flour or other staples.

"Yeah, yeah… So who were you thinking about just now?" Sasha waved off Mikasa's pessimistic view on the cabinets. Mikasa blushed quite visibly, but replied with a curt "No one, I was looking at the storm."

"Oh yeah definitely", Sasha drawled sarcastically. "The storm is very fascinating, but no one looks at a storm with love."

"Shut up Sasha." Mikasa growled as she brushed past Sasha.

"Touchy…" Sasha sighed as she returned to her search.

Love? Mikasa thought as she resumed her cleaning. I can't love Levi. I mean I care for him sure, but so does everyone else. He's our Captain! Yes he is powerful, and good looking, and smart…..and surprisingly caring….. But that's not the point! He's the Captain!

Mikasa felt drained. Emotions were tiring and she now understood why Levi didn't deal with them. But he does, Mikasa reminded herself. Over the past several days she had come to realize that he felt a plethora of emotions, he just kept them hidden from the world. But she had still seen glimpses of a sad and tired man. A man who had seen the cruelty of the world, but did not give up his fight to make it better. Suddenly Mikasa came to a realization. He doesn't fight Titans because he doesn't care about anything else, he fights them because he does care about everything else.

She was staring at her mirror now, and she could clearly see what Sasha had seen just a few moments ago. Love. She was in love with Levi. How had this happened? When had this happened? Because this feeling was not new, it had existed long before she had found the right word for it. She loved him, and that broke her heart. He cared for her, she knew that, but like a comrade cares for another comrade. He would never love her. That is when the rain began to fall.

Eren was done with cleaning his room, but most definitely NOT done to the Captain's standards. He had given up when he realized it would never be to the Captain's standards, so he decided to leave it and go see Mikasa. He knew thunderstorms made her nervous so he thought he could distract her. When he entered her room, he saw that she was on the edge of her bed with a slightly shell-shocked look.

"Mikasa?" he called as he entered her room. She looked up at him and tried to compose her emotions, but one look at his worried face had the tears that had threatened fall, leak out of her eyes silently.

"Mikasa!" Eren rushed over and sat with her. He wiped her tears away and grabbed her hands. "What's wrong? What happened? Why are you crying?"

"I-", Mikasa was lost for words. She debated lying to Eren, but couldn't find it in her to. "I think I'm in love with the Captain."

This news clearly shocked Eren, and his eyebrows shot into his hair. He struggled to close his mouth, which only caused Mikasa to crack a small smile and a surprisingly girlish giggle.

"What. When. How?!" The last question was asked in such a disbelieving tone that Mikasa couldn't help but giggle once more.

"I don't know. I don't know how to answer any of your questions. It just is." Mikasa shook her head, somber once more.

"But, why are you sad then? I though love made people happy? Are you sure it's love? It might be indigestion." Eren tried to make a joke to lighten the mood. As usual it worked, and Mikasa gave him a gracious smile.

"He will never love me Eren. I'm sad because the first time I'm in love is with a man who will never look at me with more that acknowledgment. He cares about us all, but nothing more than care." Mikasa looked down at her hands and pulled her scarf nearly up to her eyes.

"Well this is interesting I suppose." Eren said as he wrapped an arm around his sister and pulled her into him. "I mean it's better than loving Jean."

Mikasa gave a full laugh at this statement and gave Eren a hug. "Thank you, you always know how to cheer me up." She sighed. "Alright, well now that I have that out of my system, I need to finish cleaning."

Eren was not surprised that Mikasa decided to put on a brave face and bury her feelings. It was what she had always done, and what she would always do. He knew that the only person in the world who knew that Mikasa actually had feelings was him. The Captain doesn't know what he's missing out on, Eren thought to himself as he got up from the bed.

"I can help you clean if you'd like. I'm all done with my room." Eren suggested. Mikasa raised an eyebrow. "All done? Are you sure you want to risk saying that?" Eren shrugged and Mikasa let it go. They cleaned together in peaceful harmony for an hour or so before they both decided that the room was as good as it was going to get.

"I wonder if the raiding party has returned yet." Eren said as they left Mikasa's room and headed towards Eren's. Mikasa wanted to make sure that he had really cleaned his room well before risking the wrath of the Captain.

"Hmmm… yeah I wonder. Sasha will be very upset if dinner is not on time." Mikasa joked. As they entered Eren's room it became apparent that Eren had not cleaned it seriously, and Mikasa let out a sigh as she began to dust the bare book shelves that sat in the corner. She had to stand up on a chair in order to reach the top of it, and even then she had to stretch.

As Lance Corporal Levi was walking down the hallway to yell at Eren, he was slightly shocked (and pleased) to see the well-toned bottom of Mikasa Ackerman bobbing at eye level. His growl at Eren stuck in his throat for a fraction of a second as his mind processed the lovely view. As his mind sputtered back into action, his voice growled, "You seem to be incapable of even cleaning without the help of others Jeager."

Both Mikasa and Eren leapt into the air and spun around to face their Captain. Mikasa hopped off of her chair swiftly, to the slight disappointment of Levi. They both made quick salutes and promptly blushed crimson. Mikasa in excitement and embarrassment, and Eren because he knew what Mikasa was feeling. Levi enjoyed the sight of Eren embarrassed, and of Mikasa's flushed cheeks. He smiled inwardly.

"Well Jeager, let's see how well Ackerman helped tidy up this filthy room." Levi brushed past both Cadets and took in the mostly spotless room. He was having trouble looking at the bookcase without picturing Mikasa's bottom, so he opted to run a finger along the windowsill. Unfortunately, that was a spot that Eren had failed to recognize.

"What is this shit Jeager." Levi snapped. "One hundred laps around the house ought to teach you the importance of detail."

"But the rain, sir." Eren attempted to plead.

"You should have thought of that sooner." With that, Eren gave a half-hearted salute, and fled the room to run laps. However, Levi caught the glare that Mikasa was giving him. He found that he did not like it at all, especially since he wanted her to be in a good mood at the moment. He growled to himself.

"Jeager!"

"Yes Captain?" Eren asked as he ran back into the room.

"Since the bookcase is flawlessly cleaned, you may postpone your laps until the morning." Levi grudgingly offered. Eren gave an enthusiastic salute and ran off before the Captain could change his mind again. Levi gave a disgruntled grunt and turned around to face Mikasa.

"Your room had better be sparkling if you have time to help Eren." Levi barked. He was unsure why he was being so harsh again, but it gave him confidence to not smile at seeing her. What is wrong with me…. he wondered. Mikasa walked past him and he followed her to her room, fighting to not look at her backside in the process… and failing miserably.

"I believe it is cleaned to your standards Levi." Mikasa said as the entered her room. Her heart fluttered to have the Captain in her room. He had inspected it before, but this was the first time after realizing her love for him. Thunder continued to crash outside and the rain increased, falling at terrifying rates. The storm was so violent that the thunder would shake the house. Mikasa tried to keep her face straight, but the thunder still made her nervous.

At the mention of his name sent a small shiver down his spine that surprised him immensely. He pushed it to the back of him mind for later though when he began inspecting. It was flawless of course, not a speck of dirt to be found and every article had a place.

"It's perfect, well done Mikasa." He looked at her and was amused to find surprise on her face. At that same moment however the ground began to shake and the house did a jig. Mikasa was knocked off her feet and into Levi's arms. He grabbed her and dived under the table that sat in her room. He crouched over her as the earthquake began to subside. Mikasa's heart was pounding furiously as she realized how close she was to the Captain. Levi's heart had a similar hiccup. As he pulled away from her he paused to look into her scared, surprised, and loving eyes. Wait loving? He thought. But as soon as he had seen it they had disappeared. He shook his head in confusion and climbed out from underneath the table.

Mikasa blushed furiously as she looked at her room and how dirty it was once more. After hours of cleaning and this was her reward.

"Don't worry about it now." Mikasa turned to look at Levi, who had just said the one thing she thought he would never say.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, you worked hard enough for today. I need to check on the other Cadets, follow me." Levi turned and opened the door for Mikasa, making her blush once again. He smirked slightly at it.

When they entered the dining room, all of the Cadets not in the raiding party had gathered. As the Captain entered the room a hush fell over everyone.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked. Everyone nodded despite being covered in dust. "All of you need a bath, go clean yourselves up and then clean up this mess. Ackerman, you are coming with me. We need to see if the raiding party is alright." Everyone scrambled to follow Levi's orders, including Mikasa.

"Get your 3DM gear and meet me outside." Levi walked towards his office to collect his own gear. Mikasa ran to her room, ignoring the look that Armin gave her, and found herself outside, soaked, cold, and irritated. She was excited to spend time with the Captain, but not in this weather!

Levi did not leave her in the rain for long when he came sprinting out of the house and immediately shot into the trees. Mikasa followed him, admiring every movement he made. The thunder and lightning faded into the background as she watched him gracefully leap from tree to tree. She almost crashed into him when he stopped suddenly to scout the area. Mikasa looked down and could see the raiding party camped beneath the tree they were in.

"They look ok" she said, relieved. She did not want to see more friends hurt. Levi nodded and leapt down from the tree with Mikasa following closely. They landed in the middle of the pathetic camp set up as the rain slowed down slightly. Jean's mouth fell open as Mikasa nearly landed on him and flipped her wet hair out of her eyes. Levi noticed and anger tore through him violently. Why should I care if that stupid brat had a crush? He ought to, she is the only interested female around. Levi thought as he tried to reign in his emotions. He tapped Jean's lower jaw with one of his swords and quietly said, "You'll let a fly in brat." Jean straightened up immediately, but could not keep his eyes off Mikasa. Anger fought once more to get out as Levi saw this.

"Captain!" cried a scout that Mikasa didn't recognize. "We are all fine Captain. One horse got too spooked and it ran off, but the supplies are fine."

"Good, get back to base as soon as possible." Levi barked. "We are not needed here." He said as he turned to Mikasa. She nodded and shot up into the trees once more.

The return trip was slower; the rain had picked up again. Mikasa let her thought wonder to Levi again. She loved him, that was for sure, but it hurt her all the same. He would never respond to her that way. He probably didn't even find her attractive. What she would give to catch his eye or have him look at her longingly the way she did to him.

Crack!

Something was wrong. One minute Mikasa was flying, the next she was falling. She looked up in shock to see that her right line had snapped. Time slowed. She could not think as she fell towards the ground. She knew she would die, the trees were too tall and the ground was too hard. She thought of Levi and how he would probably move on quickly after her funeral, if she even had one. At this last thought, she let out a cry for help.

"LEVI!" she screamed with all her might. She saw a flash of green and black, and then her world stopped. He had caught her and they were hanging in between two massive trees. The ground was only a few yard below them. If Levi had been only a second or two slower she would be dead. At that revelation, with the storm raging around them, she leaned in and kissed him. It was light and quick, but full of love.

Suddenly, Levi's hand shot out and pulled her head back towards his. He kissed her passionately. His love, he knew the moment she kissed him that he loved her, was poured into that kiss. Mikasa's heart leapt in her chest and she kissed him back with the same amount of passion. Her dreams were coming true as the two kissed while in midair in a thunderstorm. As they pulled apart to breath, Mikasa began to laugh.

Levi looked at her in bewilderment. "What, is something funny?" he stormed, outraged that she would laugh at him after he let his guard down.

"No! It's just, I never thought, I never dreamed. I love you Levi." She stuttered out, not caring anymore. Levi's heart clenched at her confession. He did not think he could love again after losing his friends so many times to the Titans, but here was his exception. His only exception. She would forever be his, no matter what happened next.

"I love you too, Mikasa"

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Keep an eye out for more stories. I think what I will do next time is write it all and then post it so no one has to wait for a new chapter for a year ;)