Chapter 14

As soon as Lilith hit the surface of the freezing water, her mind went blank. All the woman could see was black. Suddenly, she felt a warmth wash over her, instead of the cold that she had expected to feel like shards of ice slicing through her skin.

"...-man. Lilith Ackerman, it's best if you're awake during meetings like this," came someone's voice.

Lilith jerked awake, not realizing that she had lost her calm demeanor with that action. Immediately, the woman narrowed her eyes and tightened her lips together. She looked around the table she had fallen asleep on to see who had seen her what-must-have-been rediculous face whenever she jumped awake.

Irvin. Rivaille. Mikasa. Eren. Armin. Those five sat around the table. Armin looked like he had seen something he shouldn't have. Which, he shouldn't. None of them, not even Rivaille or Mikasa, should ever see that much emotion written on her face.

It took just a few heartbeats for Lilith to reclaim her aloofness and realize that the fight with Annie had just been a dream. She released a sigh of relief. But just what had that dream meant? Then she remembered, this meeting was about who they thought was the Female Titan. Lilith made a reasonal deduction: that when she had taken a nap and heard Annie's name mentioned, her mind strung together whatever last thoughts she had before entering a deeper sleep.

"Did you have a nightmare, Lilith? You were in it pretty deep. I tried waking you up several times," Rivaille stated flatly, gulping down whatever contents were left in the cup he held. "You're face whenever you did wake up was priceless though. It almost made me laugh." The short man snided at her.

"You slept through the whole meeting..." Irvin trailed off with a disappointed sigh. The blond man rubbed his temples. "During the procedure later, you'll be permitted to use your gear."

That news made Lilith perk up. She was glad to be able to fight again, even if it was against the Female Titan. Lilith had remembered that the meeting was about breaking the news to Eren who Armin had deduced was the Female Titan. By the look on the brunette boy's face, he didn't want to believe what he had been told.

"Don't get so excited already," Rivaille told her, "You'll be stuck with guarding me and protecting civilians if things go wrong." His cold blue orbs sparked with content as she shot him a disappointed look.

"Is that true?" The Oriental woman asked, turning from Rivaille to face Irvin.

It's not that she didn't want to be around Rivaille... Lilith just wanted to be able to lose control to an overwhelming bloodlust. Thinking of that feeling made her mouth go dry, and she swore she could taste the saltiness of titan blood in her mouth.

"It is. Whatever you do, just take it easy. I'll be with you for a while... If you're needed, then I'll tell you." Irvin said as he stood. He pushed his chair in; the chair scraped against the floor, making a sound that made Lilith want to cringe. Rivaille followed in suite, but he paused at the doorway.

"You should train out in the forest. Irvin and I will come get you whenever it's time to leave." He told Lilith, peering over his shoulder to look at her.

"Right. Where's my gear?" She asked, getting out of her seat and stretching her arms above her head as she walked over to him.

"It's right here," Irvin said coming down the hall holding a box. Lilith gave him a half-smile.

"Nice." She muttered under her breath.

Irvin handed her the box and he left with Rivaille. Lilith opened it and pulled on her belts. It had been a while since doning the complete uniform, so the woman threw her Scouting Legion cloak on too. To complete the uniform, she clipped on the 3DMG. Afterwards, she hurried her way out of the old HQ that Eren had been kept and out to the forest surrounding it.

Lilith felt her pulse quicken, and she swore she hear her heart pounding in her chest as adrenaline rushed through her. Without realizing it, she instinctively took off with a run before shooting the grappling hook into the closest tree.

Cool air pushed her lengthy bangs out of her face as she zipped through the air. She swung down towards the ground, doing a handstand before shooting herself back into the trees. Lilith did flips in mid-air, and she realized how much she had missed using the 3DMG.

The woman launched onto a branch, landing on it with a bit of a stumble. Landing hadn't always been her strong point, but she was good enough at it. She gripped the sword handles and snapped on the blades.

Lilith shot back into the air and found a tree to target. She skimmed upwards, dodging branches, pretending they were a titan's arms reaching for her, and sliced out a large chunk of the tree as she neered the top. Unexpectedly, the top half of the tree didn't hold out and toppled over. Lilith stormed away from the splintering tree as it fell to the ground. She repeated her movement on countless old trees that had soft wood that wouldn't dull her blades as quickly, and they kept tumbling down.

She didn't keep track of time, and a bead of sweat rolled down her face whenever she heard a whistle. Lilith jumped down from the tree she was on and landed neatly on the ground near a carriage. Rivaille stood gazing at her.

"I told you to train, not tear the forest down."

Lilith rolled her eyes at the man's comment. She walked over to the supplies and refilled what she needed, then sat down in the carriage across from Irvin. To her surprise, Rivaille plopped down beside of her.

"It seems you haven't lost your skill." Irvin said suddenly.

Lilith stared out of the window, watching the buildings and houses go by as they neared their destination in Wall Sina. She gave Irvin a nod of acknowledgement but remained silent; as well did the two males until the carriage halted. The door was opened, and Irvin got out first, then Lilith, then Rivaille. The trio stood near some members of the Military Police.

Whenever the sky darkened and a bolt of lightning struck the ground, Lilith watched intensely. She was itching to fight the Female Titan, but she knew that her appearance now ment that the first plan failed. She hoped her sister would be okay, yet again this is Mikasa she's thinking about.

Lilith tuned out Nile's and Irvin's conversation as she focused solely on the destruction of the town around her. The Female Titan was killing more soldiers as well as civilians; their deaths are meaningless if Annie wasn't captured soon. What the hell was Eren doing? Did he get squashed by Annie's titan form? Lilith was brought back to reality by a tap on her shoulder.

"Go meet up with Hanji." Irvin's deep voice commanded her. He didn't have to tell her twice. Without looking back, she launched herself onto a rooftop and ran in the direction of her destination.

The screams of a child made her pause on a roof. She looked down, seeing a little girl with her hair tied in a ribbon in the path of the Female Titan. No adult around her was seen. Lilith's mind screamed for her to just continue on, but seeing people crushed by debris all around made her feel bad for the child. She knew what it was like to lose her family; and by the look on the child's face, she had seen her own killed in front of her. Lilith was not to engage the Female Titan; she was supposed to make her way to Hanji. Lilith's eyes narrowed and she swooped down to the ground, scooping the child up and landing safely back onto a rooftop before the Female Titan ran by, being pursued by some Scouting Legion soldiers.

Saving a child made Lilith feel as though she was weak. Don't get her wrong, she doesn't care much for kids, but abandoning one to die like that was just wrong. Lilith sat the child down and left her. Hanji's squad was just on the edge of her sight, and she landed next to the insane brunette.

"Lilith! You're here to help me capture her once she runs by?" Hanji asked excitedly. Lilith shrugged.

"I'm here to help, that's all I know." She told Hanji who grinned upon seeing Annie's titan form approaching this direction.

"Here she comes!" She squealed with excitement, raising her hand to give the signal to fire.

Annie had a surprised look cross her titan features as she noticed Hanji's squad. They released all of the hooks with wires, but Annie still did not fall down. She protected the back of her neck with a crystalized hand.

"I'll take care of it, Hanji." Lilith said and shot her grappling hook into the building across from her. Hanji nodded before Lilith launched herself downwards, drawing her swords and slicing the back of the titan's ankles. As Annie fell down, a spiked net was thrown over her. Hanji went to the ground to say some crazy things to the titan, before she kicked with her free legs. Some were lucky enough to expect it so they moved away safely, others did not. Annie got to her feet and fled. Hanji ordered them to go after her, until a flat stretch of land spread out ahead of them.

The gear would be nearly useless out there. Mikasa suddenly joined up with them as they watched another titan chase down Annie; Eren had finally transformed. Their fight didn't last long, and Annie leaped onto the wall in attempt to escape Eren. Lilith stayed put on the chimney she was perched on while some of the others, including Mikasa, went after her. Mikasa was quick, and she sliced Annie's fingers off. As Annie fell, Mikasa stayed on the side of the wall. Eren pinned her down with his titan form, and then the rest of the soldiers went to restrain her.

A blinding light flashed, and when it cleared, Annie's human form was crystalized. While people were occupied with trying to break the crystal form, one of the Wall Priests yelled to block the light from the titan in the wall. Lilith looked up, seeing Mikasa right next to half of a titan's face.

"Oi, wall freak, care to answer Hanji's questions?" Lilith snarled at Pastor Nick as Hanji held him off the edge of the wall.

Hanji had attempted to get him to speak; to explain why a huge titan was inside of the wall. If there was one, then there were probably others inside. Had they been living protected by colossal type titans their whole lives? It was hard to accept the fact, but Lilith knew Hanji was very intrigued by the situation. They had managed to block light from the titan...

"Let go of me!" Nick yelled at Hanji.

"Really?" Hanji questioned, a wicked smirk crossing her face. She loosened her grip around his collar. Still, Pastor Nick screamed and yelled at the top of his lungs for the brunette to let him go, and Lilith was tired of all the loudness that filled the air.

"Hanji, he wants you to let him go," Lilith said, and made a swift kick on the priest's gut. Hanji lost her grip on him, and he started to fall from the wall. He caught himself, dangling in mid-air, hanging onto the wall for dear life with one hand.

Lilith slammed the heel of her boot down onto the man's hand. He glared up at her.

"Do you want me to stop?" She asked deviously, but got no answer from the old man.

Hanji placed a hand on Lilith's shoulder in an attempt to calm her.

"I'll take care of it from here. If I let you stay around any longer there probably won't be a person to interrogate anymore." She told Lilith with a sigh, and pulled Nick back onto the wall.

"Torture is the easiest way to get them to speak, Hanji." Lilith said.

"Is that so?" The brunette questioned, raising a brow. "Maybe Commander Irvin should put you in charge of interrogating people."

Lilith turned and gave Hanji a small wave of her hand. "There isn't anyone to interrogate, anyways." She said to Hanji before making her way down the wall.

Rivaille stood in front of the crystal structure. Hanji, who was currently keeping her distance from him as if not to annoy him, had explained that no matter what methods were used, they couldn't even make a scratch on the structure. Rivaille shifted his eyes upon feeling a presence stop by his side. He watched as Lilith glared at the blonde girl asleep inside of the crystal. Her green eyes swirled with fierce emotions.

She suddenly tilted her head and met his gaze. The emotions that were once present were now gone, leaving her pretty eyes dull and lifeless. Every time she showed sign of emotion, she masked it with her coldness. Rivaille found the woman hard to figure out. He was the same way though, so he didn't bother questioning her about it.

"We need to talk." Lilith said quietly to him. A wave of nervousness washed through him, even though he knew that she just wanted to talk about work or some other trivial matter. He hated how she could make him uncomfortable without even trying. "Hanji, come to Irvin's office as soon as possible." The Oriental said to the brunette nearby. Disappointment replaced the nervous feeling in his gut. He was hoping that it would just be him and Lilith, and that they could try to get somewhere if their stubbornness would allow it. Nevertheless, he followed her to Irvin's office.

Lilith waited for Hanji to enter the room before closing the door. Irvin gave the three of them a nod, then started speaking.

"Lilith has come up with a safer approach for our next expedition, if we have one."

Hanji's face lit up, and Rivaille waited for an explanation before jumping to conclusions.

"Right. It will need some testing, but I believe that traveling during night hours while titans are dormant will be safer than traveling during the day. If Annie Leonhart has more accomplices, they could not transform in the dark. However, we would still have to worry about them attacking as humans." Lilith said with a serious tone, her hands clasped behind her back.

"That just might work," Hanji told the shorter woman, slapping her on the back in a friendly manner.

Rivaille decided to put his opinion out there. "It could, if you could manage to convince the soldiers to travel in the dark. Some would freeze with fear upon seeing the titans sleeping. And what if we didn't reach our destination before sunrise? Then we would have to make a new formation in attempt of evading the titans."

Lilith whipped her head towards him, and to his surprise she wasn't mad but had a challenging glint in her eyes.

"Are you saying that because you're afraid of the dark?"

Her question caused a frown to crease his brow. He scowled at her and shook his head.

"The survival rate would be raised if we did this at night, because no one would be killed. Then during the day, we could do a similar formation like last time to make deaths minimal." Lilith told him, then turned to Irvin. "Sir, if you'll allow it, I would like to choose my own squad and travel a short distance to see if the titans would be awakened by the sound of our horses."

"Hm, if nothing comes up after my questioning at the capital, then you may."

Lilith nodded happily, then they were dismissed. Rivaille caught up with Lilith as she made her way towards her room. She was probably tired after this long day, and so was he, but Rivaille felt the need to talk with the woman. Alone.

He waited until she unlocked the door to her room and went inside before casually walking in. He wish he hadn't, because a discarded boot was slung at him and he barely dodged it.

"Oops," Lilith snorted, causing Rivaille to frown.

Lilith went to retrieve the boot, and Rivaille watched as she stubbed her toe on the pile she had left her gear in. She hissed a few curses under her breath, then ended up losing her balance and knocking him to the floor with her. She landed on top of him, her body pressing against his own. Her sleek black hair fell around his face as she stared down at him. It happened again, that nervous feeling that washed through him.

Rivaille wondered if that was a flash of calmness and affection he seen in Lilith's eyes. Years ago, this type of situation would have caused her to flush and jump away, but she must have been wanting something like this to happen. His eyes flickered down to her glistening lips, then back up to her eyes. He couldn't stand it anymore; if he didn't do it now, then he'd end up wasting another ten years of his life waiting on Lilith to make a move. Rivaille grabbed the back of her head and pulled her down, closing the space between them.

Her soft lips met his in a chaste kiss. It wasn't their first one; the first was an accident while riding on horses, but this one was actually expected. Lilith broke away, but Rivaille wouldn't let her. He flipped them over, pinning her down, and tangled a hand in her hair. His free hand made it's way to the small of her back. Surely by now she would be as red as a tomato. Rivaille himself probably had a hint of red on his cheeks. Rivaille planted a soft kiss on her lips, then kissed along her jawline.

He was enjoying himself, until a brat poked their head into the room. Rivaille mentally cursed at himself for not closing and locking the door when he had came in. Now Eren stood there gaping, as well as Mikasa. Lilith pushed off Rivaille and stood, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and smoothing down her hair. Rivaille got up as well.

"I-I didn't mean to intrude!" Eren yelped, saluting to them. Mikasa pulled her red scarf up over her face and stared at Eren with a longing gaze. She must be thinking about doing what she had just seen with Eren...

"It's fine, the door was open anyways. It's not your fault." Lilith said icily. "What did you two want?" She asked them.

"I wanted to know if you'd accompany me to see Annie. We aren't allowed down there without supervision of superiors." Mikasa replied, looking at Lilith.

"I'll take them with me, I was going there anyways," Hanji said from out in the hallway. Rivaille didn't think he'd ever be glad to see that crazy woman in his life. Once everyone cleared away, Rivaille shut the door and locked it. Lilith narrowed her eyes, probably contemplating what he was going to do. He didn't even know the answer to that, either.

He came up with a quick idea. He grabbed her boots and handed them to her. She seemed to get the notion, pulling them on quickly. He took the black coat that hung off of his shoulders and threw it over Lilith's since she had put her jacket away. Going with instinct on this, he grabbed her hand and opened the door, leading her out of her room. He shut it softly, not wanting to awaken anyone that was trying to sleep.

"What if someone sees us? What if Eren and Mikasa tell other people?" Lilith asked softly. Rivaille gave her a cold look, lacing his fingers around her's.

"So? It'll give them something to talk about other than getting killed by titans." Lilith nodded in agreement, keeping her gaze on the floor.

They exited the headquarters, making their way out onto the cobblestone streets. Not once did Rivaille let go of Lilith's soft hand. The two of them had butterflies in their stomachs the whole time. It wasn't like him to be so kind to people, but Lilith was the only acceptance. He took her to the nearest stone bridge, and stopped. He watched the water swirl below them, and felt Lilith become tense. Rivaille guessed she was just nervous. He opted to calm her by letting go of her hand and embracing her. She hesitantly wrapped her arms around him, returning it.

Rivaille lifted her chin with a finger and stared at her. This time it the Oriental was the one who kissed him, taking him by surprise. She had leaned in ever so slowly, then swooped in. He pushed back against her, deepening it until Lilith backed away. She took a few steps back, then stared up at the partially covered moon.

"What does this mean for us? You know fully well that having a relationship while being a soldier is dangerous." Lilith said, not looking at him.

Rivaille took a moment to find a good choice of words. "Being a soldier is dangerous, too." Rivaille told her, coming to stand by her side. She yawned and looked at him with hazy eyes.

"Your tired; let's go back." He said boredly. Whenever they made it back to the HQ, Lilith must have been very tired, because she went with him into his spotless room.

The woman kicked off her boots, neatly placing them beside of the dresser, pulled off his coat and folded it, putting it on the dresser, then flopping down onto the bed. Rivaille scoffed at her actions, but decided to let her stay. He made sure the door was locked so that no one would walk in and think the wrong thing; she was only sleeping in his bed. He came over to her and shifted her limp body around, then laid next to her.

Moonlight came in through the window, illuminating her pale face. Her sleeping face was so much more relaxed than whenever she was awake, making her look more beautiful. Rivaille pulled the blankets over both of them. Lilith unexpectedly scooted closer to him, sensing his warmth, and slung an arm across his chest. One of her legs stretched across his own. The man sighed, knowing he put himself up for this.