Author's note: A massive THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story. Excuse me while I puke my feels all over you.

There was a reason I said Chapter 2 would be posted in July – the last semester of college was so brutal to me that I'm not yet done scraping my remains off the floor. But now I'm ready. Bring it on, grad school, bring it on.

Since I'm so thrilled with the reception this fic has received so far, there's a goodie in the author's notes at the end, and I suppose it concerns Levi x Eren fans just as much as Levi x Mikasa (and maybe even Erwin x Levi) fans.

On with the angst– er, show.

I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin.

Chapter 2

No More Tears

"How's the leg?"

"It's better, but still pissing me off." As if to reinforce his point, Levi pressed his foot down tentatively until pain jolted through his leg, almost drawing a wince from him.

"I see. I took the liberty of making an appointment for you with a good doctor from the district to examine your leg properly this time." Commander Erwin raised his hand as the Corporal was about to protest, cutting him off. "We do have to make good use of what resources we have available while we're here in Stohess."

"Ah? I see no reason to waste money on something that's going to heal on its own while there's time to spare. Where will these precious resources come from when the Military Police cocksuckers get fed up with us and the Royals realize we're fucking stuck in this investigation? It's a damn poor situation we're in, Commander."

"And we're still going to make the best out of it. We might need that leg in working order sooner than expected." He smiled fondly down at his prized soldier, impervious to his rudeness. Even after so many years of knowing him, Erwin still managed to make Levi slightly uncomfortable when he did that.

"Just don't overdo it, you hear?"

Erwin could be worse than a mother hen when it came to his soldiers. Levi swore he was well on his way to a full recovery on his own, but in the end, he relented and went to the damn doctor. It turned out there was nothing to be worried about – as long as he didn't put too much pressure on his leg it would be fine. The old man had only advised him to wear bandages to better support his calf muscles and then prescribed some physiotherapy. Levi didn't look forward to that last part, though.

When he'd summoned Mikasa at the crack of dawn to assign her duties for the day, she'd probably been expecting some sort of torturous training from him. Actually, had he been uninjured she wouldn't have been that far off the mark. Instead, she was met with the task of escorting him to see the doctor, of all things.

Offhandedly, he'd told his new subordinate that the reason she'd be tagging along was so he didn't accidentally kill the old man and further ruin the Scouting Legion's reputation inside of Wall Sina. While his request was odd and she most certainly hadn't bought his excuse – just in the same way he hadn't bought her story about Annie Leonhardt the day before – of course she had jumped at the chance to get of their temporary headquarters and do something else for a change before enduring months of having nothing to else do, with no funding for new missions on the horizon.

She just hadn't needed to know the reasons why Erwin demanded Levi was always to be escorted when outside the Military Police Headquarters during their stay in Stohess. As they made their way back, a letter from the doctor stored safely in his coat pocket and Mikasa mechanically following behind him, he thought about how unnecessary it all was.

It's not like people would recognize him by his appearance when he walked through the streets – ironically, not even his new reputation as humanity's most powerful weapon had reached the inner walls. Hell, before the Female Type's appearance, people didn't blink twice at Scouting Legion soldiers, who were very rare around this place. Military Police, Stationary Guard, whatever – inside Wall Sina, the safest haven there was, no one gave a shit to know which was what.

So if these people could care less about titans, why would they even bother with the things he'd done more than ten years ago?

Of course, everything had to be so fucking convenient up until the point they'd arrived in Stohess, and not one, but two titans exploded into being out of nowhere right next to the Wall Cult's stupid church. Rather mighty slap in the face of these people.

Unfortunately, the titans' appearance matching with the arrival of the Scouting Legion wasn't just a coincidence, and predictably, they were blamed for everything that had happened since then.

Which led to their current predicament, or should he say, Mikasa's. Because of her Scouting Legion uniform, she was the one being stared at and talked about by passersby in the streets during their whole round trip to the doctor. Naturally, Levi ended up sharing some of the unwanted attention.

All in all, it was shaping up to be a really shitty day.

"Hurry up, gotta head back to the headquarters before Erwin misses us too much," He said impatiently, and Mikasa's answering expression told him she'd agreed wholeheartedly.

Levi was going to miss being outside – what with this stupid task of watching over Annie Leonhardt and the titan-shifting boy, even going out to visit the freaking doctor had become a huge ordeal.

"Say, has the brat woken up yet?" He asked his silent escort following him at a short distance.

"Eren hasn't woken up yet, sir... At least not by the time we left to see the doctor," Mikasa replied monotonously. Did she camp out by his bed all the time or what?

While not uneventful, their return trip to the headquarters was mostly made in silence. The young woman's quiet behavior made Levi seem like he was talkative one – not that he minded, but he was still too used to what it was like before – Auruo's bitching about anything and everything, Petra's railing on him–

"Hold the gate!" A shout rose above the sound of hooves and steel chains. The gate guards were about to close the outer gateway to the complex after allowing the Corporal and his escort entrance when suddenly they had to halt the gate's descent to let a two-horse cart come through. Its rider's dark green cloak, adorned with the Legion's winged emblem, made him stand out from the officers he swiftly passed by. Once inside, he spotted his fellow Legionnaires and took no time to steer his cart in their direction, pulling on his horses' reins to stop so he could step down from his seat.

"Corporal! Just my luck to find you so soon," the man promptly saluted, removing his hood to reveal himself as Nanaba, much to Levi's surprise.

"You. Shouldn't you be taking care of other matters somewhere else?" He questioned lowly, stepping forward. That young man was supposed to be watching over the remaining trainees outside Wall Sina together with Mike, Gerger, and the others, not making an early trip to Stohess. Had something happened?

The blonde looked sheepish, speaking in hushed tones so the other officers nearby didn't overhear their conversation. "Ah, about that. Mike is a bit paranoid about our current investigation so he decided not to send common messengers to report to Commander Erwin due to him not fully trusting the Military Police, so it was agreed between us that we'd take daily turns reporting back instead."

"I see." Levi motioned back to Mikasa, who had kept her distance to give the two men some privacy, so they could resume walking back to the complex's main building.

"Wait, there's something else!" Nanaba gestured to the tarp-covered cargo. "This is the stuff Mike brought back with him during his break last night when the other trainees were already asleep. He said you asked for it, so I took advantage of the trip to bring it here."

"Oh." Levi nodded. What an eerie coincidence, he thought darkly. The prospect of having to deal with this 'special' cargo worsened his mood by the second, and it wasn't very good to begin with. Though it had to be done some time, whether he liked it or not.

Perhaps feeling the change in his mood, Nanaba looked downright uncomfortable, petting one of his brown horses to will away his nervousness. "Sir, where should I unload it for you?"

On the other hand, Levi reasoned, this early delivery would keep him and a few others from getting bored too soon while they were held back in these temporary headquarters. In fact, the prospect it brought seemed almost entertaining. "Nevermind that, we'll take it from here. Go make your report, and take this to the Commander," he said, retrieving from his pocket a report from the doctor he had just visited.

"Ah, yes, sir!" Levi watched the blonde hurry inside the main office building. Mikasa walked back up to him and his new 'cargo', eyeing it in confusion.

He turned to his dark-haired subordinate. "Change of plans. Meet me at the storage unit in the back of the complex, we're going to unload and sort through these boxes for a few supplies."

"Yes, sir. But may I ask why are we doing this, when there are servants to do it?"

"It's called making good use of our resources. Bring a smaller cart with you."

Soon after that they had unloaded Nanaba's horse cart, leaving two disgruntled Military Police officers at the gate to take care of it. After Mikasa carried away the last of the big crates from the vehicle with relative ease, a feat that turned a few heads from the other men and made Levi lift an eyebrow, they finally set to work on sorting through their cargo.

He came to notice how Mikasa always seemed to concentrate fully on her tasks, speaking to him only when it was necessary and trying to busy herself as much as possible with what she had in hand. The Corporal recalled himself doing the very same thing when he was younger and didn't want waste time mulling over his problems. It used to unsettle Erwin a bit, the man had once confessed to him. Now that he was in a similar position to that of his Commander, Levi didn't know exactly what to think.

He was jolted from this musings by a loud slam caused by a heavy box lid falling to the ground. Turning his head quickly to the sound, he saw Mikasa turn her head away, a box full of what he presumed were their personal belongings open in front of her.

The young woman then looked back at him, and from the way she tentatively pulled her scarf away from her face, she had been about to speak, but stopped herself abruptly. The wooden lid still vibrated on the ground from the impact of its fall.

Somehow, Levi knew she was searching his eyes for something she had tried to uncover from him since their talk the other day. Yet he was stubborn, and his ice blue gaze gave away nothing.

"Is anything the matter?" He asked stonily.

Reaching down, she gingerly replaced the box lid. "No, sir – I've just finished loading the maneuver gear supplies in the cart, as you asked."

Levi wandered over to the small cart loaded with the material they'd already sorted through and opened a small box on top of one of the big crates. Before she could ask what it was, he retrieved a faded sheet of paper stuck under the lid and handed it to her.

As she read over the written instructions, Mikasa's expression brightened considerably for someone who suddenly had a lot of work to do.

Levi sighed and sat on one of the remaining boxes scattered around the storage room floor. "Think you can have it done by the end of the day?" He asked her.

She lowered the paper to lock her dark eyes with his again before replying. "It'll be done before dinner, sir."

"Good, then. I'll take care of the rest here. You're dismissed."

She hesitated for a bit before she slowly rolled away the cart loaded with what she'd need for her next task. He followed her with his gaze until she was out of his view. When he was sure she was gone, he ran a hand through his black hair and mentally counted to ten.

Slowly rising from his seat, Levi began the emotionally draining task of sorting through the few belongings his late squad had left in their last headquarters before that fateful mission.

With each stride of the horse that led him away from the grieving villagers, the constricting feeling in his chest threatened to rip him apart.

"Mike," he called out to the man riding a short distance ahead of him.

The soldier that was only second in ability to Levi himself fell into stride with him, nodding in acknowledgement.

"I have some business to take care of. If the Commander asks for me, tell him I'll be back before we leave for the inner walls."

He didn't wait for Mike's reply. Pulling his green hood up over his head, he separated from the group and abruptly steered his mount into one of the narrow side streets ahead, a destination clear in his mind. Startled, the few villagers doing business there at this time of the day had to hurry out of his way lest they got trampled by his steed's brisk pace.

When his detour was over, most of the people who had welcomed back the Scouting Legion at the gate had already dispersed. Dismounting and tethering his horse to a nearby fence, he made his way to a narrow, but looking well cared-for, two-story house close to the end of one of the streets that bordered the Wall.

It took about the same amount of time to gather up the courage to knock on the door as it took for him to arrive there.

It was an eternity before the door opened a fraction. The old woman staring back at him with piercing eyes didn't look like she lived there – she was probably a guest. Then, with a look of recognition, she backed down and opened the door the rest of the way to allow him inside the house.

The silence he was met with betrayed the amount of people in the humble living room – men, women and children, friends, family and neighbors, all openly staring at him with grief and confusion in their faces. It all felt suffocating.

"Mommy, he's scary–" A child's voice was heard and a hushed reprimand quickly silenced it.

Levi removed his hood and the small crowd parted in response, giving way to the sorry sight of Petra's mourning father. He was sitting at a wooden table in the back, comforted by an equally distraught lady.

The same lady rose from her seat and ushered everyone else upstairs, and in less than a minute Levi and Mr. Ral were left alone in the once crowded living room.

He stepped up to the older man, but didn't take a seat at the table.

It was a long time before the man could manage to speak. Wiping his face from tears, he regarded the corporal with a haunted look on his face, the light in his eyes long since gone. "...Would you have married her? Just answer me this. Please."

The Corporal briefly imagined a life that could never be. The what ifs.

"Probably not."

The man stared at him in numb stupor for a while and had just begun to shudder in anguish when Levi took the man's right hand in his own – the one clutching a wet, crumpled letter from his daughter like a lifeline. "I wouldn't, because she wouldn't ever let me," he added softly.

Wrong. If it meant that Petra could get away from the Scouting Legion, settle down and truly live for once – he would've done it. He would. She had done too much for humanity already, it was enough, damn it–

"But you knew that – you knew her better than anyone in the world. You were her father."

The Corporal didn't let go of the calloused hand as the man howled in grief until he exhausted himself and could weep no more. Other than that, the house was silent.

He would've made sure he'd come back to her every time, no matter the mission he took. He'd be there. For the only person he could always trust not to die so easily was himself.

Levi ran his fingers over the embroidered name on Petra's favorite jacket, and came to the sick conclusion that to this day, he had done absolutely nothing to change that belief.

Eyeing the few boxes strewn out around him one last time, he left the storage unit in search of coal oil and a tinder pistol.

Some things needed to be let go of when one learned to only look forward.

Author's note: There we go. I'm sorry about the lack of interaction between Levi and Mikasa. I've decided to include some implied Levi x Petra in this, so this chapter was a necessary evil and boy, was it a bitch to write. Next chapter more than makes up for it though, I promise!

On another note, isn't it a good time to be a Shingeki no Kyojin fan? This week the anime will be entering its second arc with an epic new opening (Jiyuu no Tsubasa - the single is out, so go listen to it right now), chapter 47 of the manga has been released and it's mindfuckingly awesome, and new pairings are popping up here and there in the fandom. I wish there was more Levi x Mikasa, Eren x Annie, Armin x Annie and Jean x Mikasa love, though. C'mon writers, don't be shy...

Now for the promised goodie! I'm not sure if this has been posted on tumblr or the wiki already, but here goes...

You know the Shingeki no Kyojin Inside Kou databook? Open it to page 50, Levi's character info (There's a link to it in my profile). You'll see a relationship chart (人間関係 ningen kankei, or human relations). Here's what it says:

Levi - Erwin

信頼 (shinrai) = reliance / trust / faith.

Levi - Eren

Levi - Mikasa

気にかける (ki ni kakeru) = to be concerned about / to weigh on one's mind.

Aw, Levi cares. This is canon, okay? Canon.

(Hanji's chart shows her relationship with her pet giants. Figures.)

Before you kill me for my tardiness, Chapter 3 is halfway done (it was originally part of this chapter, but it got too long so I split it). Reviews guilt me into working faster. :)