Full Circle Theory-CH5 .:SNK Fanfic:.

Chapter 5: The Girl's Determination

Levi stared at her figure as she contemplated the grounds below the Wall. She was dressed in her uniform safe for the jacket that had the legion's logo on it. Her 3DM Gear was ready to go, although she didn't have any blades or sheaths with her at that time. Erika had her hands tightened into fists. They were wrapped in bandages the corporal supposed were to avoid scratching them too badly because of whatever she was thinking on doing. He hadn't gotten accustomed to her pixie cut and had a short moment of doubt towards her identity when he saw her. But her reaction once she looked at him after she felt tremendously ogled at confirmed who she was. When she face him, she bit on her lower lip as she had a small heart attack and almost tripped on air.

"Lehv e heichou?!" Erika exclaimed in her freak out moment, she pressed her hands against her sides and looked from Levi to the ground below over and over again. "I-I, it's not what it looks like!"

"Not what it looks like my ass, get the fuck away from the edge you idiot!" Levi angrily commanded as he took a step closer while glaring at Erika.

"N-No!" She stepped closer to the Wall's edge and took in a deep breath.

"What are you planning? Are you seriously planning on jumping the wall and running all the way to Eren because of some stupid reason soldier?!" Levi stood still as he realized the more he moved forward the more Erika might actually be compelled to jump off.

"No it's not that! It's just…" She took her right hand to her chest and shook her head. "There is something I must do, I have to find it…I have to finish off what I was meant to finish off"

Erika looked at Levi with sadness filled eyes and did her best to smile at her captain.

They both stood still staring at each other in silent awkwardness. How come every time this woman decided to speak about titans it meant he'd be left with more interrogatives?! Erika sighed and looked below the wall again and moved slowly towards the edge.

"Erika you can't just leave and not tell me what you have to finish off!" Levi walked closer to Erika and stopped when she let her right feet hover beyond the edge.

"Heichou, If I don't stop it, if I don't stop the beast titan…" She looked away again and then back at Levi to smile. "Don't hold it against me heichou, I just needed to know you were alive before I remembered..."

She let herself fall backwards off the wall and Levi reacted fast enough to grab her hand. She looked at him with desperate, sad eyes and begged him to let her go. He didn't reply to her pleas and instead went on to try and pull her up. Her eyes turned cold as she became more than determined on what she was capable of doing to get her mission done. The girl put her feet against the Wall and her deadly sharp eyes stared into Levi's. He had never seen Erika like this, not even when she fought titans in Shinganshina, it sent chills down his spine that he might have never seen such a serious Erika before, the mere thought of the woman hanging from his grip right now fighting titans made his body shake. She wasn't the same clumsy clutz Erika, how could she ever be that same idiot after being out of the Walls for five years? The realization gave the Corporal goose bumps, how on earth could he have ever assumed she was the same?

"I'm sorry Corporal, but this is why I was made" Erika continued and in a swift move, pushed herself away from Levi's grasp falling to the ground below.

Levi watched her fall, the sudden shock of seeing a different Erika had deprived him of all his spontaneous reaction instincts. He wanted to yell at her not to go, he wanted to hold her hand and scold her for being such an idiot, but he couldn't. Instead he watched her drop and use her maneuver gear to land safely on the ground. When Erika seemed to hesitate about her decision down below, Levi snapped out of his shock and managed to finally yell at her.

"You fucking MORON! Who the hell do you think you are?! You can't just do things on your own! It's humanity against the titans, not moronic idiot against the titans!" He wasn't sure whether Erika could hear him or not, he just felt he had to try and tell her.

The girl brusquely looked up and then shook her head before she jolted away on all fours like some sort of cat leaving Levi to watch her run away with mixed emotions. How did he end up watching her leave?

It all started that very morning, the morning of the day after Eren and the other's left to patch the breach. Levi had woken up early to deal with some duties left to him by Hanji and Erwin and had left Erika sleeping like a log on their bed. Having the need to tell Erika to not do anything stupid while he was out in Hermiha, he went back to his room after an hour to find a still sleeping Erika. He rolled his eyes annoyed by how lazy the woman seemed right now and went on to call out to her loudly.
"Erika Engel, get the hell up!" He said making the girl jolt up in bed and salute, her messy bedhair making her terrifying sight to behold. Levi's eye twitched before he just rolled his eyes for the second time in the last ten minutes.
"Erika you need to eat breakfast or something. You have training to do in the evening and i don't think sleeping in late helps you at all..." Erika nodded at him with big round eyes and stood up from bed careful not to fall off considering she still was sleepy despite her big eyes being wide open. "Also, you must do something about your hair, cut it. If you still maneuver the way you did before Shinganshina then it'll get in the way."
"C-cut it sir?!" Erika was asking how short, but the words that came out made it seem as if she was questioning the command. Levi could see through that though and answered the girl's question appropriately.
"Yes, short."
"Sir yes sir!" She replied and started heading towards her uniform which rested on top of a table on the opposite side to the bed. Levi was about to turn and say goodbye when Erika tripped on her own feet and landed face first on the floor.
"Don't do anything too stupid while I'm gone, and eat something...I'll come for you by lunch time alright?" Levi sighed and opened the door to exit the room.
"Yes sir!" Erika replied standing up quickly and rubbing her nose.

Levi arrived at their room after getting checked up by a doctor in Hermiha. It wasn't recommended that he went out to fight titans but his leg was already quite recovered. He could ride on horse no problem as long as he didn't strain himself too much. The moment he opened the door he had to hold in a sense of surprise. Erika stood by the bed with a long mirror in front of her and a pair of scissors held up to her hair. Long strands of hair already lay on the towel below her and as she cut off another strand she noticed Levi's reflection on her mirror.

"Ah! Lehv e Heichou! I'm cutting my hair as ordered sir!" She replied turning to see Lehv e with a soft smile.

"Well, get on it soldier. I want to go have some lunch soon" Levi replied and went on to sit by the window on the love seat.

Erika nodded and continued cutting her hair. The Corporal couldn't help but watch with wonder how the blond woman cut her hair into a pixie cut. She looked incredibly concentrated in what she was doing especially when she worked on the back of her head. She had some harsh time there but managed to cut properly afterwards. Once she checked multiple times for rogue strands of hair, she turned around to look at the corporal.

"Heichou does this look okay? Is it proper enough?"

The Corporal raised an eyebrow at her question and actually chuckled.

"You look like a girly boy Erika"

The girl looked at the Corporal with a mortified expression and looked down at her cut off hair lying in tatters on the ground. Levi walked over to the girl and ruffled her short hair lovingly.

"You look perfect, it suits you"

Erika looked up to him and smiled brightly as her cheeks turned a soft pink color. She nodded and after she cleaned up her mess, they both went off to eat lunch.

They ended up going to a cafe near the inn. Their meal went by nicely, Levi told Erika about his morning and the news on his legs and once that talk was over, Levi asked Erika for tips on hunting out on the wall. The conversation that ensued from that one question was not only interesting but incredibly hilarious. Imagining Erika running around chasing rabbits was far too hilarious in Levi's head and the way she told her stories weren't helping the picturing either.

"Ah! We should totally go hunting together some time! There's a lot of stuff I can show a city guy like you!" Erika said as she finished her coffee.

"No kidding" Levi replied taking a sip from his tea.

Erika giggled and then made a funny face that pressed Levi to ask what was wrong with her. She bit on her lower lip and then stood up with crossed legs.

"I need to pee"

"What kind of grown ass woman would say that out loud?"

She looked at him with a strained face and then walked off, in a very silly manner, to the bathroom. He went on to just grin at the funny spectacle and continued drinking his tea. After two minutes, a nasty feeling settled in his gut. He wanted to believe it was the tea he was drinking, a cause of the place not being properly sanitized or something, but when Erika didn't come back after ten minutes he just figured something was terribly wrong.

"Sir!" A maid, different from the one who had been serving them up until now, spoke as she went over to their table and offered the Corporal a note. "A young man asked me to give you this before he left"

Levi took the note from the woman and asked her for the check. As he waited, he read the note only to get pissed off at its contents.

"Levi, she's planning to jump the wall. It won't be easy to catch up to her but if you hurry you just might. You're already late, hurry –Kiev"

Levi paid his check and darted off first to the inn, Erika wouldn't leave without her gear. He got there too late, they informed him Erika had just left when he got there. He continued to run after Erika's trail and eventually he caught up to her on the Wall...

Levi couldn't help but remain frozen in his spot as he realized he had failed Kiev, Erika's titan form. He hadn't quite understood the being when he told him that he was loyal to Erika which meant he was loyal to the Corporal but now he did. Kiev wasn't just a weapon with its own interests, the being cared for Erika deeply enough to protect her even when it meant going against her wishes. He tched at that thought and gathered his character decided on doing what was right in this situation. He just really hoped Erika wouldn't hold it against him for too long.