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Chapter Text

The ocean... it looked like someone from up above dropped a lot of blue glitter by accident because it was so sparkly, it glimmered till to the end of the horizon. It got Mikasa mesmerized one too many times but this was one of the reasons why Mikasa loved the ocean. Whether it was day or night, the ocean seems to never have lost its signature shine.

She wondered what was on the other side, if there was an end to the endless view. In the books her father had kept in his study, it said that the ocean contained salt. A lot of it. It was so much that even merchants would get tired of it but what got her attention was that there were other islands on the other side.

Mikasa was mind blown when she found out and imagined what it would be like, would there be people? Or would it be filled with land blessed by mother nature? Would there be kids like her there?

Her thoughts were endless which hungered her desire to cross the ocean. As much as she wanted to, there was one problem, she didn’t have a boat. The Ackermans who were known hunters were keen on staying on Paradis Island so they deemed it useless to claim one, they were also set on never venturing down the great ocean or other islands for that matter.

Back then, young Mikasa voiced her opinions on wanting to travel which they rejected immediately and harshly for that matter, saying it was dangerous. She felt shot down of course because she imagined herself feeling the land that her feet touched once they reached the other side, the thrill of discovering something new. The young girl knew their strong opinions about it so after that, she never mentioned it to them again.

It was a taboo subject until she got a request from Kuchel Ackerman, her ‘boss’ in a postal company she works in. Her boss was also an Ackerman but no, they’re not related since their family tree said so. Kuchel came from the Underground whereas her father was raised under the direct sunlight, even so Kuchel and her parents formed a great bond.

Kuchel pretty much treated Mikasa like her own child and Mikasa admired her and saw her as a mentor and second mother-figure. Mikasa noticed she never mentioned any relatives so she questioned herself if she ever had a family, where they were.

She mentioned once that she had a son but he ran away at the age of 12 or at least that's what she thought. She was back from work and found her son wasn't home, suspecting he was just outside but days later she realized that he ran away. Months of searching, the son became a shadow since she never found and heard from him ever again much to her dismay. Kuchel was heartbroken, lost and devastated. He took nothing, not even clothes.

One day, she felt a spark in her and became determined to look for her son.

She finally got out of the dump which was the Underground and arrived at Shiganshina where she met the other Ackermans. She owed a lot to them, once she said that she was in need of a job, they got her one at Rose Postal Company which were owned by the Reiss family.

At 26, she attended Auto Memories Doll School (which was odd since most of the pupils were young girls) and passed with flying colors, she then worked there as an Auto Memories Doll and was quite good at it, so much that she rose up the ranks and became the head of it. All done in the span of a year and 6 months, Kuchel had the talent of swaying people with her words, you can see it in her letters.

Mikasa after becoming 16, followed Kuchel to also work in the company much to the Reiss’ delight and to her parents dismay because to be an Auto Memories Doll, you have to travel. She knew more than anyone that her parents despised the idea of Mikasa travelling.

With a promise and guidance from Kuchel and her ever so sly persuasion skills, they finally let her go and accepted her request. Not letting the family name down, Mikasa aced the school just like Kuchel and became a valuable asset to the company.

Two years later, Kuchel heard news spread about her son, it surprised her since she thought he was a goner but to her relief, he luckily wasn’t. She was desperate to hear from him, to see him and her profession was more than qualified to be able to travel there and send a letter herself but because there is a conflicting war near Marley, she couldn’t risk it.

The article stated, word by word. ‘Levi Ackerman granted the title of ‘Captain’ only after serving for 5 years. Who exactly is this excellence that Marley has?’

Mikasa heard about it and told Kuchel to hire her, to be her Auto Memories Doll. Of course the conflicted mother said no but Mikasa was stubborn and insisted, saying it was to return the favor, for putting her under her care and giving her the chance to travel to far off places even though it wasn’t across the ocean, she was still very thankful for it.

Her parents were an issue though, they were barely convinced to let her work in the company, what more when they find out that Mikasa volunteered herself to go to Marley, out of all places she could have gone to. Mrs. Ackerman would have a heart attack while her father would riot and trap Mikasa inside the house if he has to.

So Kuchel offered to take the blame by saying she requested Mikasa and threatened to fire her if she rejected which Mikasa strongly voiced her disagreement but she actually meant the firing part. Not because of rejecting to write for her, god no she would never force anything on Mikasa but because of not accepting the responsibility Kuchel decided upon herself. 

Leaving Mikasa with no choice, she permitted Kuchel to take the blame.

When her parents found out, they blamed Kuchel and got very mad at her for 'forcing' their daughter to travel but they understood it since it was her son, they're still mad and disappointed at her though. 

That’s what happened before Mikasa found herself standing in front of the ocean, cherishing the view in front of her.

It was the day before her departure.

In Mr. Ackerman's study, Mikasa thought that this book in particular looked pretty so she took it and decided to take a look in it. Of course she wasn't at that stage to be able to read full sentences, but she liked the pictures so it still entertained her.

-Auto Memories Doll

An Auto Memories Doll is a woman who writes letters with a typewriter for the ones who cannot do so themselves. The requirements to become one is very high, you need to be able to emotionally connect with the client, type and work efficiently with precision and be able enough to travel anywhere the client demands them to. They spend all their time in expeditions with the clients, no matter the condition, they are there to be of aid to them. If one must travel to conflict areas then they are allowed to carry firearms/weapons.

The job of an Auto Memories Doll is praised highly by women and the writing industry thus gaining respect and increasing the Dolls every year.

Due to the high standards, one must go to an Auto Memories School located near them and graduate in order to work as one. Age requirement to be able to go is 16.

The demand of the Dolls are high so the client/s are only allowed to hire one for a maximum of 30 days with the exception of far-away locations and reasons the company (it can vary to every company) has allowed. They only carry one bag due to the nature of their job.

The pay may vary on the client and can be rewarded in various ways.

One can choose to work at a postal company such as Rose Postal Company or work independently as ghostwriters. 

---

The origin story of how the Dolls came to be was when Uri Reiss couldn't convey his sentiments for the burial of his deceased father, he stumbled upon Ymir Fritz. A talented woman who knew her way around technology, she always carried a type-writer with her claiming to be a independent novelist. He voiced his concerns and Fritz offered to help him which he delightfully accepted.

He told Fritz some ideas, ways he wanted to tell, because he didn't want to come empty-handed. He thought that their father, the good man that he was, deserved more than a few select words from his oldest. After discussing with Fritz, they together created a letter that perfectly described what Uri wanted to tell, what exactly he was feeling.

Uri saw extreme potential in Fritz and along with his brother, decided to start a small business regarding letters and type-writers. He wanted to help people who cannot deliver the messages themselves just like him. Fritz accepted the deal which makes her the very first Auto Memories Doll.

Uri and his brother, Rod took care of the finance and delivering part meanwhile Fritz dealt with the emotional portion of it. It became well-known around the village and before they knew it, business was booming and word got out to various locations. It became blatantly obvious that their small office was too small.

During the happening of the Great War between Paradis Island and the Mid-East, the demand of Fritz's letter writing became more demanding, it became perfectly clear that it wasn't a one man job anymore. Fritz decided to hire other eight women whom she trusted and knew would do a great job to be Dolls like her. The nine became the role-models Dolls look up to till this day. They were nicknamed the '9 Titans' in the writing industry.

With enough funds, their business continued to grow and grow with more Dolls incoming, hiring postmen as well and other staff members.

After a while, Uri became sickly and passed away and let his brother Rod Reiss to take the reigns from him. Rod thought it was time for Fritz and the other eight to retire so he gave them the choice to either continue working or stop. All nine decided to retire, they were honored and continued to live their life peacefully. 

Now Rose Postal Company is known to be the creator of the Dolls and became the wall other postal companies can't climb. Even if they wanted to.

Chapter Text

“Thinking of backing out?” Kuchel suddenly appeared from behind, looking youthful as ever at age 40.

Mikasa got startled and looked behind her, she must not have heard her from all her daydreaming. She shook her head “No of course not, I’m just worried”

The older one gave her a mocking gawk “Mikasa? Worried? In the same sentence? Unbelievable!” It was true, in the past almost two decades they’ve known each other, Mikasa never showed her worried to anyone but herself.

She scoffed at her “Rumor has it, I actually have emotions Kuchel” to which Kuchel chuckled at. “I’m just kidding Mikasa" The girl gave her a disapproving eye "Don’t look at elders like that you brat, that’s disrespectful” Kuchel spoke with a mock stern voice.

Kuchel then patted her head and ruffled it which ruined her perfectly tied up hair, Mikasa could not be any more lax about it though since she was never one to worry about vanity and such.

Instead of getting bothered by the hair, she was obviously bothered by something else. Mikasa now looked at her with visible concern in her eyes, hair still tossed up “You should've just told the truth to them, you know they'd understand. It's your son we're talking about.”

“No, it's better like this. Instead of them being mad at you, telling them that I forced you would be the better choice. I'm glad to take the blame for you, you wanted to cross that ocean-" she pointed to the flowing water in front of them "-for as long as I've met you. This chance only happens once in a while and we both could gain from this, I can talk if he was willing with him while you explore that great big ocean you've been reading about. It sounds like a win-win situation for the both of us" just before Mikasa could retort back she quickly added "And I'm for sure they won't stay mad, your parents have soft spots for me"

Mikasa shook her head in lighthearted disbelief, is she really 40? “You’re exploiting them you know?" Cunning woman

Kuchel just giggled at that sentence. Kuchel was older than Mikasa yes, she practically could’ve been her mother by the time they've met but in comparison with Mikasa’s parents, Kuchel was much younger. 20 years respectively so her parents saw Kuchel as their daughter just as she viewed them like her own parents. "They can’t stay mad at me for a long time, I’m practically their daughter"

"I surely hope so for you.." Mikasa mumbled, kicked a pebble out of its way. She didn't want both sides to be on bad terms, both were important to her.

Then they proceeded to admire the ocean’s beauty until Mikasa chose to speak up again, still looking ahead. "I promise I’ll do my best to find your son and give him the letter"

‘In the meanwhile also knock some fucking sense into his brains, might as well break a few bones of his just for fun’ Mikasa would of course never say that out loud though.

She already didn’t take a liking to her son, Levi. He just left her, without even saying anything only to find that he was on Marley cozying up to some commander to rise up the ranks. Mikasa wasn't one to judge a person quickly but she didn’t like it one bit that the fact that Kuchel searched for him everywhere and every chance she gets, only to read about him in an article saying he’s on another island. Her loathing for the man stayed hidden, she didn't want to look disrespectful to Kuchel.

Kuchel fondly looked at her “I hope you know that I’m really grateful for this Mikasa. This is the only way I know to communicate with him, and if I get just at least one letter from him, I can finally die in peace” Mikasa instantly peered at the older woman with furrowed eyebrows.

“What do you mean by that?”

Kuchel just returned her gaze with a comforting smile "I don’t mean that I’m dying soon but just knowing he’s okay puts peace in my heart, I came to terms that I can’t and won’t see him ever again which is unfortunate but I can definitely say I’ll now accept death without any regrets in mind. I’m not saying that I want to die though.”

Mikasa felt relieved after hearing her reason “Oh good... good” she said absentmindedly.

“Besides, I still want to see you in a wedding dress someday. That would be a sight be for sore eyes”

She sighed “Not this again Kuchel, I’m not getting married any time sooner now”

"I’m just saying, you’re at a reasonable age to find a partner"

Mikasa grimaced at the idea of having to be attached to one individual for life, she did not like the idea of being tied down to someone forever. The woman noticed the look on her face and poked the space between her eyebrows gently to get rid of crease that formed.

“Oh don’t look like that Mikasa. Have you seen your parents? They married young yet they still love each other, it’s nice to see them like that”

The girl just hummed at that one. She agreed, she was thankful for her parents, for being to be able to experience love from both because despite their difference in opinions, they still loved their child greatly. “I’m still too young though”

“Right, whatever you say. You know, I never got to experience it, so I might as well live long enough to see you walk down the aisle”

That got Mikasa thinking, Kuchel never got married, instead got pregnant 14 plus abused by her parents on the side and when she was 26, her only son ran away from her. She clearly had a lot of stuff on her plate, how was she able to go all through that? 

“You’re strong Kuchel, I hope I can be like that someday" Mikasa blurted out of the blue. She felt the need to say it, she admired the woman for a long time. Kuchel deserved to know she was cherished by someone.

Kuchel patted her head once again but this time instead of ruining her hair further more, she went behind Mikasa and fixed the mess she created.

“You know Mikasa, when I got pregnant, I didn’t know what to do. I had no friends to tell, my boyfriend that basically caused my pregnancy fled from me and my parents were basically a no go. I thought of ending it all but I thought about the child, it did nothing wrong so why should I ruin its life because of me" Instead of the usual high neat ponytail Mikasa does, she settled for a braided hairdo. Being with Mikasa, she learned to tie her hair in various ways from when the 18 year old girl was in a much younger age. 

Which benefited her considering their job. A Doll had to not only be good at what their doing but also look pleasantly in the eyes. 

Flicking her bangs at the front, she decided to leave them be as it looked good on her "That’s when I realized that it wasn’t the end for me yet, so I promised myself to make ends meet for me and the child. The Underground wasn’t the best environment to raise one but I still did it, I mean granted he also ran away from me 12 years later but the point is, I didn’t give up"

Her hand reached the last strands of ebony hair before grabbing the hair tie on her wrists and finished her masterpiece. She inspected her work, she was positive that it fit Mikasa, she was an attractive girl after all. 

Mikasa felt her admiration to the woman behind her just grow more, she really was the strongest.

“Why I'm telling you this is because you shouldn’t too. If you don’t manage to find him or let him send me a letter back then that’s okay for me, I knew that you at least tried. I haven’t won in life yet but I know that if you fight, you win. You can’t fight if you’re not alive” This was what she liked about her, she always found a way to encourage her, comfort her. Yet she still hated that when her quest failed, she feared that it would disappoint Kuchel and she didn't want that.

After fixing her hair, she told Mikasa that she would go back to the company and insisted for the girl to lay off for the rest of the day to prepare for her journey to Marley.

"Are you sure ? I’m sure we have loads of clients left, I’m perfectly fine to work. I’ll just prepare during the nig-“

Kuchel grabbed her shoulders to stop her rambling “Mikasa, honey, we’ll take care of it okay? Ymir, Historia, Rico and Sasha are there. Don’t worry, it’s nothing we can’t handle. The other girls will understand” Mikasa reluctantly let go and nodded.

Kuchel was right, the other girls were talented (with their own unique quirks along the way) but it really wouldn’t be a problem if one was away since that happens since most of them go to business trips for their clients.

Now was Mikasa feeling the butterflies in her stomach because it was a day away before she'll cross the ocean.

All she ever wanted to do ever since she was a child was going to finally happen, she’d be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t nervous because she is but she’s also excited. Her excitement outweighed the nervousness.

Feeling defeated “Fine, I’ll just go home and rest”

“I know you're nervous and I am too to be completely honest. I mean you’re going somewhere that's near a conflict so why would I not be worried and you’re going to possibly see my son and that’s pret-"  The roles switched and it became Kuchel's turn to do the rambling, it was also Mikasa’s turn to calm down the other down. "Kuchel, I’ll calm if you calm down"

Kuchel sighed "You’re right-"  and she took a deep breath “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m happy and overwhelmed because ever since you were a kid, all you ever do is complain to me about not being able to see what’s beyond there, to be able to go on a boat and such. Realizing you're about to reach what you want, it's an amazing feeling"

A sigh could be heard from Mikasa's right "A lot has happened these past few days”

It was true, one day when they received the newspaper, they saw her son then Mikasa suggested the whole being a Doll for him to her. Letters were exchanged, informing the Scouting Regiment about the situation and then this, she thought it was all happening too fast. It worried her.

“I’d like to think that I’ll be okay during this trip” Mikasa chided.

“I’d pray for you but I’m not a religious person so I won’t but I'm sure you can handle yourself”

Kuchel took a glance at her watch to see what time it was “Now I really got to go, you know how Rico gets” she grasped Mikasa’s shoulder. “So I expect you to be at your home and well-rested right?" 

She nodded and Kuchel continued “Good. I’ll be on time to see you off so just head straight to the port"

"Alright, see you tomorrow Kuchel"

She hugged Mikasa "Yeah" and let go. She departed but before even reaching a meter, a look of suspicion was shot to Mikasa “You will go home right?” Mikasa nodded once again and stared as Kuchel was leaving the beach.

It was her turn to retire from the beach so she left and went back to her home. It wasn’t within walking distance but she had a lot on her mind so she didn’t mind the extra cardio work.

Mikasa now laid in her bedroom reading the article that was published days ago.

“Levi Ackerman... young.... extremely talented…. Blah blah blah. Seeing all of this I guess he *is* Kuchel's son" All she ever saw was compliments for the Marleyan soldier but also noticed some false facts about him stating he was ‘born and raised’ in Marley ignoring the fact that he was an Ackerman.

The Ackerman clan originated in Paradis Island and in the records, it stated that Ackermans only lived in Paradis Island and the Mid-East as Marley strayed away from them so that should set off an alarm already right? But it didn’t and that made her suspicious of this man. ‘What is he hiding?’

The four girls were in the lunch room when they suddenly heard a clap. They knew it was from Kuchel signalling them that their break is done “Come on my pretty girls! Resume to your posts"

Historia looked behind her expecting to see Mikasa but she didn’t “Where’s Mikasa?”

“Forgot already? She’s going to Marley tomorrow so I told her to lay off the rest of the day” the five proceeded to go to their writing space.

Rico blew a raspberry glancing at the familiar paintings in the hallway "That's near the conflict right?" Kuchel nodded while Ymir whistled. “She’s the most qualified among us sooo sounds about right”

"I’m worried though…" The Reiss member mumbled.

Their boss chuckled “It’s Mikasa we’re talking about here, we all know she’ll be fine” but deep inside, she was too.

Ymir hooked her arm around Historia’s shoulders “Yeah, that girl’s an Ackerman, a clan known for their tough history and plus she’s armed. Anyone crossing her way is just asking to be killed” Rico nodded in agreement and raised her eyebrow at Sasha for not joining in the conversation, she usually was the loudest. Sasha was just silent the whole journey to the office, the other girls obviously knew she was hiding something but didn't concern themselves over it.

They went in and got to their stations with Kuchel entering last.

“Sasha…"  

The mentioned girl looked at her boss acting gullible “...yeah?” Kuchel eyed the sandwich she was hiding under her desk. Their desks weren’t covered so even if you tried to hide something, she was bound to see it. Sasha sighed and took out her sandwich “You know what I told you Sasha”

 Sasha looked up and remembered a conversation that happened too many times. She had three choices, specifically told by Kuchel.

“Sasha, I’ll give you three choices. Either you swallow that sandwich whole, give it to someone else or I’ll go fetch Keith”

“But Kuchel! I can’t fit this whole thing in my mouth!

“If you ask me, I’d say that thing Sasha’s holding is too small for her mouth”

“Ymir... don’t”

“Good god Sasha, just get rid of that damn thing already”

“Okay girls calm down, so what would it be Sasha?”

“Why are you doing this to me boss?"

In the end, she swallowed the sandwich, as much as it was delightful to eat, it was just too big that it became unenjoyable which was rare for the brunette because when you shove anything edible into the girl’s mouth, they’d bet their coins that she’d enjoy it just as much when she ate deluxe cheese. 

With no choice, Sasha dishearteningly mumbled "I’ll give it to Connie…"

"But Kuchel, don’t tell Keith" she quickly added while Kuchel just shrugged to tease the younger girl.

Kuchel didn’t mean it obviously, she remembered the day when Sasha was caught eating by Keith Shadis who was one of the postmen. He was still feared by some of the workers including Sasha because of his stern look, on the inside he was a softy though. But one day he went to the Auto Memories Dolls office and caught Sasha eating a steamed potato, one look from him traumatized her.

So much that she didn’t dare to bring a potato even when it was lunch, she believed that the potato was cursed. The girls of course saw this as an opportunity to tease her, mostly Ymir.

Back to the actual story, Sasha was about to head out to give it to Connie secretly hoping he wasn’t there but Kuchel insisted that she go. She needed to go to the president’s office anyway so she took Sasha’s sandwich, not missing the longing look at the sandwich, and went to search for Connie. He was there by the front, talking to Mina, one of the receptionists.

“Connie”

The boy heard his name and looked back “Oh hi Kuchel! What’s up ?” he said with a grin. She showed him the sandwich and Connie immediately knew what she meant. “Sasha’s at it again?”

“Yeah, you know the drill by now”

“I’ll hide it from her” Connie didn’t eat it obviously, he’d just store it away to give to Sasha later.

“I appreciate it Connie, I’ll go on my way now" Connie waved at her and Kuchel then went upstairs to the president’s office.

She opened the door, didn’t even bother knocking because she knew her boss didn’t mind.

“Fantastic afternoon, isn’t it Frieda?” The president looked up and warmly smiled at her approaching figure.

Their president was of course a Reiss, it became a family business after all. One may say that Frieda was now the queen of the wall.

Rod Reiss raised his children in the company, letting them work to gain experience and train to potentially take over the business someday. When Frieda decided to work for her father, Historia being the attached younger sister that she was wanted to follow her there but she was too young so she had to wait.

It wasn’t only the two sisters that worked there, two more of their siblings Ulklin and Dirk chose to work there too as postmen. Ulklin became the head while the young Dirk worked under him.

“It is indeed” Frieda offered the older woman a cup of tea but she rejected. She had to go back soon since she also needed to work.

The president took a sip and glanced outside the window, examining the peaceful green area. “How is Mikasa?”

“She’s fine, worried but excited"

Frieda nodded and turned to Kuchel “Everything that needed to be settled are all taken care off by the way. The Commander will inform his men about Mikasa and promised her stay to be as pleasant as possible, well by now Levi is most likely aware given he's mostly Erwin's right-hand man" She and Mikasa were the only ones to know the real reason why Mikasa is going to Marley, they informed the others that she was just dealing with the usual soldier applicant. 

"I really appreciate this Frieda"

She just shook her insisted that this was nothing “Compared to what you’ve been doing for the company, this is nothing Kuchel. All I did was send letters to Erwin”

“Still, I can never thank you enough for this”

Frieda really liked this woman, when she was younger whenever she visited her father along with Historia, Kuchel would always treat her warmly, Historia as well. “I’m happy that I could at least of be some help to you”

“Don’t worry, you already are by just hearing me out” Kuchel looked at her watch and gasped. “Oh Maria, I should be back there by now” She said her goodbyes to Frieda as the younger woman said hers and went off. "I sincerely hope things go well between the two of you and also the best of luck to Mikasa"

Frieda sat in her office, cup of Darjeeling tea in hand, thinking of what words to say to Commander Erwin.

---

To Commander Erwin of the Scouting Regiment,

This is Frieda Reiss, I believe we've talked enough to skip the introductions. It is unusual to read from me like this but please do hear me out. I've sent you this letter to let you grant me a request. One of my valuable employees and dearest friend has brought to my attention that her son is now currently serving in your army. She has lost him years ago due to reasons I cannot go into and has only found out about him recently. She has come to me to for my aid to have one of our Auto Memories Dolls be under your care and to be able to write, send letters from and to my friend's son. The friend I'm talking about (you must be interested by now) is Kuchel Ackerman. The name may strike familiarity since you may have guessed by now, is related to Levi Ackerman. Your newest captain is the son of Kuchel Ackerman. The Doll that I will be sending you (let me surprise you one more time), if you grant me acceptance of course, is Mikasa Ackerman. A remarkable one if I must say so myself, she's named to be the prodigy of Kuchel, however they're not related incase you were assuming so. I have faith that you will take my request and permit Mikasa Ackerman to be the Doll of Captain Levi, she's quite capable with not only intellectual quality but with also physical attributes so I assure you she would not be a bother. Mikasa is a fierce maiden so you shouldn't worry much. I trust you with your decisions and will be anticipating your answer.

Give my sincerest greetings to Hange, Mike and to Levi. Kuchel also sends her regards.

Best wishes,

Rose Postal Company - Frieda Reiss

---

Chapter Text

“Erwin” Levi opened the door open as Hange followed closely behind. Hange took a seat in front of her commander while Levi opted to stand next to the sitting Hange. “I heard you had something to discuss with us?" she chirped towards the blonde man.

He firmly nodded and focused his head to Levi “Indeed I have, so get yourself comfortable since we'll be here for a good amount of time” The two just stood there prepared to listen to anything since this wasn't anything out of the ordinary. 

“What is it? We don’t have all day so might as well start” Levi scanned the room to see if there were papers, documents for the two of them, his eyes landed at the desk in front of him and then to Erwin.

Erwin took what seemingly looked like empty envelopes on his desk and slid it in front of them. A red wax seal with a rose has caught their eye, it looked like it came from a postal company. They recognized it and concluded to be from Rose Postal Company. He then grabbed the bundle of papers that was next to him and placed it neatly beside the envelopes.

“I got a request to allow a certain Doll to be able to write to and for a soldier in here"

Hange shot him a confused face "Umm that’s it? I mean, we’ve gotten multiple Dolls from the past, this shouldn’t be anything new"

"Yes that would be the case but this time, it's different. Remember the letter you gave me?" Erwin asked the woman in front of him. She looked above and held her chin, trying to think back at that time. After for a short while she nodded her head. "So this is what it was about?"

He nodded "Frieda Reiss sent me a letter to do her a favor, a favor that concerns you, Levi"

Levi pointed to himself, at disbelief as to why it would concern him. 

"They requested for you, Levi"

"Request for me? Is that even possible?” just as he said that, Erwin put his arms on the desk and clasped his hands. “It is unfamiliar but it never said they weren’t allowed to, as long as the other party also accepts it"

Postal companies provide the service so it's only right if the people there working could use it as well, with the right reasons obviously. No one would want the company to be taken advantage of.

Pair of steel eyes flicked at the letters “So who is it”

The commander announced without breaking a sweat “The one who requested it was your mother”

Levi froze at that sentence and became tense without him even knowing it. Hange widened her eyes clearly surprised since he never talked about his family, fairly because he never felt the need to, the military was barely a place where you would tell your sob story to. The man also thought his mother presumably forgot about him anyway so the subject 'family' flown out of his mind.

Hange turned to him still with her eyes wide open “You have a mother Levi?”

He scowled at her “Of course four eyes, how else would I have been born? For fucks sake” and the woman just held her hands up. “Come on don't be such a downer, you know that's not what I meant" Hange quickly added "But who knows, with you being an Ackerman, I wouldn’t be surprised if you birthed yourself to be completely honest” Ignoring her words, he just sighed and gestured to Erwin to continue.

“Just to be sure, your mother is Kuchel Ackerman right?” Levi nodded hesitantly, suddenly reliving memories he didn’t want to reminded of ever again.

"Heh, with that look ya givin' me, ya remind me of that wench!"

"Don't you fucking dare call her that!"

"Be quiet you fucking runt, spoutin' shit like that won't get ya released from here"

"Fuck you"

He shook his head, silently hoping the memories to fly away. He was still slightly tense but he thought he hid it pretty well.

"I have good news then, she’s alive, healthy and thriving according to the letters I’ve been sent. She currently works as the head of the Auto Memories Doll in Rose Postal Company so as you can see she’s made a name for herself. Sounds a bit like you, no?" Erwin curved his lips up a little bit. He has heard about Levi’s mother during his exchange with Frieda the past few days and from how she described the woman, there was no doubt in his mind that it was indeed the mother of the captain.

Levi unconsciously let out a sigh of relief he didn’t know he was holding and relaxed his shoulders. He was surprised that his mother was still alive and actually made the effort to reach out for him. After what happened that day, he couldn’t find any ways to contact her, his means of communication were restricted which he absolutely hated because he had no control of it.

Everyday he worried about his mother, worried about what she would’ve thought when she saw her only child gone and not come back. He felt extremely guilty, he still does but it's been years. He couldn't do anything anymore, he was in the military and was situated in Marley so he couldn't easily get away and see if his mother was alive even if he wanted to.

He didn’t have the guts to face her anyway, he may be a highly respected soldier now but he’s still only human. His shame would only ever eat his soul alive.

“So as I was saying, a Doll will be coming tomorrow. I have granted her access to the fields and base with naturally a soldier by her side. It stated that she is capable enough to handle her own but I assigned cadets just for precaution-"

Levi interjected "Assigned? Already? I haven’t even made my choice yet”

“-I apologize for the urgency but I saw this as an opportunity to let you communicate with your mother even if it was via letters, I know you secretly want to but couldn’t due to... unfortunate circumstances. Regardless of what you think, I accepted it on your behalf" Levi scoffed at that, he was in disbelief. It was ridiculous, he didn’t even have a say in any of this. “On my behalf? Are you fucking kidding me Erwin?”

The commander ignored Levi’s fumes and continued "I understand your feelings Levi but this girl is close to your mother, she’s been with her for a long time so she knows her very well. You can take your time to get to know your mother thro-“ Erwin was interrupted once again but not by Levi this time.

Levi was about to though but he noticed that Hange looked like she just discovered the world’s mystery by the way she’s gaping like a fish. He also noticed the letters were already in her hands, her reaction also gave it away that she has already read it. “Oh my Maria Erwin! I can’t believe this!” She then began to shake from what looks like excitement. The short man feared for the letters safety so he quickly swiped the sheets of paper from her before it got ruined.

He started to scan the letter Hange read to know the reason why she was acting and flailing around like an idiot. Once he got to that part, he immediately glared at Erwin. ‘Another Ackerman? Is this suddenly some sort of reunion?’

The man was not fazed by Levi’s stare after all, he is the commander for a reason and faked a cough “I was about to get to that Hange so I would like it of there were no interruptions from now on“ the commander indirectly took a jab at the both of them, both got the message instantly. "Tch, fine"

"I wasn’t informed on how your mother knew about you but I trust Frieda Reiss that she was telling the truth so worry not" Hange had in mind to interrupt again, clearly forgetting his words from seconds ago but Erwin shot her a look so she just sat on her seat, smiling innocently silently sending a message that she won’t be cutting him any longer.

“It’s not a spy if that’s what you were wondering. And yes the Doll is an Ackerman, specifically her name is Mikasa Ackerman”

Both stayed silent, stunned at what Erwin said. It seems that the reveal of the other Ackerman was more of a shock than the news with Levi’s mother. They can’t blame it though because the Ackermans are rare, rarer than the most exquisite minerals to exist in the world. Levi only knew one other Ackerman excluding his mother but he would rather forget about him than to have him in his mind.

Erwin took the advantage of the silence and went to one of his drawers to pull up a file. After Frieda mentioned Mikasa Ackerman, Erwin couldn’t resist the curiosity in him -because it was an Ackerman for pete's sake-, so he asked the current president to send a file of the girl, despite the file being short -which was understandable considering she's only turned eighteen-, he was impressed nonetheless. This girl was only 18 but showed great promises.

He was wary of the Doll at first because of her last name but now that he read Ms. Ackerman’s profile plus Frieda’s never-ending compliments about the girl, he concluded that his worries were for nothing. Levi would be for sure in safe hands.

“Before you go Levi, take these with you. You’ll most likely need them” The man handed Levi only the file seeing as he already had the letters thanks to Hange.

Levi had already recovered from his thoughtless gaze to grab the papers from Erwin’s hands while Hange warped into another dimension, possibly dreaming on running insufferable tests on both Ackermans already. To makes matters worse Erwin just had to give Hange an order regarding the Doll.

“And as for you Hange, you’ll be in charge of Ms. Ackerman tomorrow seeing that I won’t be around by the time of her arrival. Try to get her accustomed to things around here as well, we should make her stay as comfortable as possible” Though comfortable wasn't exactly the word you'd hear in the military.

Finally, Hange got sent back from her make-believe world and nodded at Erwin. “She’ll be waiting by the port at 1400 hours. Hange, do me a favor and go easy on the girl" She nodded once again, secretly though she’s already formulating questions and experiments for the girl. She was silent, meaning she was planning something. 

Fellow soldiers are already aware of Hange’s crazy antics but Levi couldn’t help but worry for the younger Ackerman, the crazy woman surely would never stop pestering her.

The two soldiers saluted as Erwin dismissed them and they left for whatever business they have over.

“Mikasa, hon, please please for the love of the titans be careful out there. Avoid dangerous creatures like sharks, sting rays and dolphins” Mikasa rolled her eyes at her mother, she clearly didn’t know anything about the ocean. It was obvious by the time she included ‘dolphins’ as one of the dangerous creatures she should be aware off. They stood by the port, it was filled with people also saying their goodbyes to their loved ones. It definitely created a chaotic yet melancholic feel.

She just hugged her mother tight hoping she got the message of reassurance, after what seemed like a lifetime, both let go as Mrs. Ackerman wiped a tear on her eyes and proceeded to stand beside Kuchel. Mr. Ackerman was behind his wife but instead of doing the same he decided to pat her head, like he always did when she did a good job at something.

“Mikasa, I may not agree with this decision but I hope you take care of yourself out there. We Ackermans are tough, especially you so I trust you to be aware of your surroundings. Whenever trouble rises, think of yourself first. Promise me that?”

She nodded her head storing his words in her mind. It was Kuchel’s turn, she grabbed the girl and gave her a bear hug. “Hug him for me” she whispered. The girl nodded her head for the third time, hugging her back making sure to let her know that she will. She didn't know how but she'll make it work.

“SHIP DEPARTING IN 5 MINUTES”

After the announcement, more people came swarming in, making the port more busier than it already was. A lot of them lined up at the entry with their pass in hand, Mikasa looked down to see if she still had hers, in case a thief tried to steal it. No doubt that she would have handled them fine but still, just to be sure. She picked up her one piece luggage and lined amongst the others who were waiting to get in as well.

Her hand waved at them as she got on the ship, it was time to sail off. That’s when Mikasa’s nerve hit, she just realized.... she’s now sailing on a ship, well admittedly not for the reasons she would have wanted but nonetheless it thrilled her.

Marley was about a seven hour travel on the sea, according to Frieda and seeing that she departed exactly on five am, she estimated her arrival to be at two in the afternoon. So about seven hours of ocean time is what she got, not bad... not bad.

She didn’t have much on hand, just the luggage she always carried with her on business trips so she thought the luggage could just be by her side, carrying it if necessary. No cabin needed, it was just a waste of time anyway. All the settling in when she was just staying for a couple hours, it seemed pretty unnecessary in her mind.

Not wanting to wait any longer, she went where she thought the main deck was and just watched the view in front of her. Mikasa was mesmerized, this was a whole another experience. It beat the standing at the beach any day.

"... wow" she mumbled in astonishment. She was in awe.

It was what Mikasa imagined sailing the ocean would be, all blue everywhere. The port was still in view since it hasn’t been that long since the departure but it soon became a thin line and then went out of view.

Now it was realy all blue, if she looked above she saw the endless blue sky, look down then she has the dancing waves. It was as if she was looking in a mirror because the water reflected the sky, she wished she had something to capture this moment.

She leaned on the rails, receiving an occasional 'girl don't fall!' warnings but she could careless and just looked everywhere, enjoying and living in the moment because she knows that it would all be over in a couple of hours.

She only hoped time stopped for just a second so she can look at this forever.

Levi sat in his office, thinking about what they discussed in Erwin's office. In his hands is the file belonging to Mikasa Ackerman. 

---

Full name: Mikasa Ackerman

Date of Birth: February 10, 896

Age: 18

Height: 172 cm

Weight: 68 kg

Appearance: pale skin, tall, fit, gray eyes, shoulder length black hair, scar below right eye

Residence: Paradis Island; Shiganshina District

Occupation: Rose Postal Company; Auto Memories Doll

Affiliations: Mr. Ackerman (father)

                   Mrs. Ackerman (mother)

                   Kiyomi Azumabito (aunt)

History: Was raised in the outskirts of Shiganshina District with her parents until the age of 4, moved in the area later on. Mikasa met Kuchel Ackerman at age 4, formed a familial bond with her.

Education: Mikasa was home schooled her whole life yet showed great intellect, proven by passing Maria Academy's end of the year exam despite not attending the school. Entered Auto Memories Doll School at age 16, passed as top in class. Currently works as an Auto Memories Doll in Rose Postal Company, under Kuchel Ackerman, head of the Auto Memories Doll team. Currently speaks 2 languages, other one used to speak with her aunt Kiyomi.

Talents/Achievements:  Has an exceptional talent in combat, proved by father who is a master at various martial arts. Shown to have a brilliant mind. Written for reputable people such as Dot Pyxis (owner of Titan Beer Company), Petra Ral (famous musician), Eren Kruger (high profile criminal). She is said to be Kuchel Ackerman's prodigy.

Chapter Text

Levi instantly collapsed on his bed once he got to his room/office. His brain could only take much information in one day, he couldn’t even get a rest after the meeting with Erwin. After he and Hange departed, he was immediately tasked to inspect all of the soldiers' profiles due to the rising suspicion that their army was being watched for unknown reasons. 

It didn’t help that he was one out of a couple soldiers who held this very confidential information, like he didn’t have enough to withhold already. Erwin made it pretty clear to be hush-hush about the fact that there may be unwanted rats infiltrating the Scouting Regiment in case it gets to the rest of them. He also informed everyone that knew to keep an eye on anyone skeptical, the military was big and he couldn't recognize every person working.

On top of all that, he just learned that his mother was alive and was currently residing in Shiganshina, as if that wasn't enough for him, a Doll was sent for him no thanks to Erwin. Even if the decision was made out of good intention, it still troubled because that was just one more thing to bother about.

He held his papers up to his face and stared at it. He couldn't really focus, his eyes wavering from the fatigue so he decided that it was best to read it after a hot shower, a clear mind was what he needed the most right now. Getting out of his gear and grabbing a couple of necessities, his foot dragged him to the bathroom.

While he was showering, a little brunette sneaked into his office and took a little peak on the files. He went out after a couple minutes, with nothing on but a towel hanging on his waist. His eyebrows furrowed at the sight in front of him. “What the fuck Hange?”

She looked at him like she was a deer caught by headlights. She straightened her demeanor. “L-Levi! Hi there! Quite a fine evening isn’t it?” She asked as she headed to his windows -which was obviously dark, clearly feigning innocence but Levi was having none of it.

His lack of garments became a second thought as he grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, shooting her a glare all the while. “What are you doing in here?”

Not in the slightest fazed by the sight of Levi shirtless, she created an elaborate lie to tell the man. Telling him she sneaked in to look at the files for 'research purposes' would certainly be a risk she wasn"t willing to take, she knew he despised people rummaging through his stuff or just anyone entering his private space. She also knew he could never get himself to hate her though and that was what she had over him.

“N-nothing, I was seeing if you were okay. You kinda looked very stressed leaving the office” She was bobbing her head, convinced at her own lies but she knew anything that comes out of her mouth now just sounded bullshit to him, the second part was true though. She was concerned for him.

“Yeah sure, that’s what you’re here for” Towel still on his waist, he headed to his bed and grabbed the now neatly-arranged files. He then passed it to Hange. “Was that really necessary? You could've just asked me, you are the one responsible for her tomorrow right?"

Her eyes lightened up, soul now uplifted and living rate back to 100%. “Well that would ruin the fun! Oh well, thank you Levi! Have a pleasant evening!” She was about to head out when he grabbed her collar which made her choke a little.

“O-ouch”

“With you holding those papers, I don't trust you to be out of my one meter radius so you’re reading it in here” He ordered as he pulled up his chair for her. She sounded dejected and pouted as she went to seat on his uncomfortable chair, she couldn’t believe he actually sleeps on it. A minute in and her butt already felt numb. “One meter? That's all I'm worth? Okay fine, but I am actually worried for you” Hange grumbled.

He may not trust Hange with the files but he did trust her though to not escaping the room and taking it with her so he went back to the bathroom to get appropriately clothed. In no way shape or form was he going to do it in front of Hange, it was like asking to perform an autopsy but on a living person. "Don't bother. If I even see one paper fly out my room" He glared at her for one last time.

Before he went in, he got back to Hange and snatched a part of the file from her.

“Levi?! I was still on that page!"

“MILITARY COMING THROUGH!!!!” A loud voice boomed through the streets. The pedestrians became startled, they threw a couple of insults while looking at the direction but suddenly all they saw was a trail of smoke emitted from the maroon car the person occupied.

It was Hange. Who else would cause a loud ruckus? She would be more law-abiding when she wasn't late but she was. Not really technically since it was 1359 hours and she still had a minute until her expected time so she gassed her way to the port -as safe as possible and impressively, she arrived at exactly 1400 hours. Like she was just asked to though she was sure she just broke a few traffic laws.

A bead of sweat fell from her forehead as she stepped out the car, she wiped it while being oblivious to the stares she was getting. She was about to get an earful from people around her but seeing the military coat embroidered with blue and white wings, they abandoned their initial thought. She looked at the front to see if the ship had already disembarked its passengers which it did by the sight of busy bodies making their way to wherever their destination was. Her eyes searched for a distinct eighteen year old girl, black hair just like the one she read from the file. Should be easy enough.

‘If Levi didn't snatch it before I could steal it'  She thought when she couldn’t find her in the sea of busybodies. The noise emitting from the vendors everywhere wasn't helping. It should’ve been easy since even without the visual, she read about her description. ‘No matter what I said, he just wouldn't let me see it'  He was pretty persistent on not letting her see the photo, he said it was a risk since he never knew what she might have done to it. Voodoo and rituals and shit like that, the exact words of the short man. She pouted at the flashback, she wasn't that type of person -well at least not anymore. ‘He should have more faith in me'

The thoughts took over her head until she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see who the suspecting person was, to her surprise the person looked exactly like the one she was searching for. Black hair, gray eyes and the scar on her cheek. Is this the Mikasa Ackerman?

Before the girl could even open her mouth to say anything, Hange already grabbed her hand for a shake which took her by surprise. Her eyes glimmered at the sight of what she hoped was the young Ackerman. “Hi there! I know you’re expecting Commander Erwin but he unfortunately couldn’t come due to conflicting schedules so you got me! Major Hange Zoe at your service! How was your journey? Was it enjoyable? I heard that the ocean is very pleasant this time of year! Wait, you are Mikasa Ackerman right?”

Mikasa became overwhelmed by her burst of questions. Once she regained the control of her hand, she shook it in return. "Oh y-yes indeed I am. The ocean was quite lovely. An unforgettable experience for sure" It really was, she still couldn't believe she just crossed the ocean. She could feel that her feet were sore from all the standing on the deck she did. That was what all she did during the duration of the voyage.

"I know how you feel! I remember boarding the ship for my first ever research on sea! I never knew there'd be so much different kinds of ..." As she rambled on about her study, Mikasa blocked her voice out, instead subtly looking around to see what the difference was between the two islands. There was not much of a difference, Marley was a bit more modern compared to Paradis Island though, she noticed.  

“I heard a lot about you from President Frieda. It's nice to meet you-” she stalled since she didn’t know how to call her, Hange would seem too casual considering they just met and borderline impolite in her opinion. Luckily, Hange seemed to catch up after she noticed the look on Mikasa’s face. “People usually call me Major Hange but I can make an exception for you. You can call me Hange if you want!” She grinned at her.

From the looks of it, she assumed that Hange Zoe was a very enthusiastic and positive person, albeit a little freaky on the side but she guessed that it just adds to her colorful personality. A thought passed by her, Mikasa remembered that she was on a job not a vacation so she had to formally introduce herself, a requirement for the Dolls to the clients. She blamed her mistake on her mind that was still distracted by the big salty water in front of her.

She grabbed the ends of her dress with the tips of her fingers and curtsied. "-Pardon my rudeness, I’m Mikasa Ackerman, Auto Memories Doll from Rose at your service” by the time she looked up, Hange was all red and giddy.

“Oh my goodness! You're so adorable!”

Mikasa was shocked by her choice of word, in her two years of working, all she received was words of thanks and then that’s that. No one ever said the word ‘adorable’ or something else along the lines to her before. Hange was indeed an unusual individual. 

She felt it was rude to not respond. "Thank you?" Only that it came out as awkward.

“Sorry, I just got carried away. I'm not mocking you rest assured but somehow you just gave a different feel from all the other Dolls I've met… is it because you’re an Ackerman ? Probably…ohhhh most likely!" It looked comical as she rambled on and on.

Mike all of a sudden sensed a new scent on the base, he looked at the door then on to Erwin. They were in his office along with Levi, having a meeting. Hange would've been there with them but since she had to pick the Doll from Rose up, her presence wasn't there.

*sniff*

*sniff*

“?” Levi and Erwin eyed the man questioningly. Whenever the man caught a whiff of something, it was usually because he wasn’t used to it so when he spots the unfamiliar scent, he sniffs it to get used to it. It bothered people and soldiers around but his unique sense of smell had been beneficial for them so they eventually got used to it as soon as they found out Mike was a pretty harmless person and meant well unless purposely provoked.

“Someone’s here” he announced with his usual stern voice.

It was not an everyday occurrence that Mike would open his mouth to say something, more less something insignificant as that. Civilians and folks come and go.

Mike was a man of few words so when he does talk, it was only because he felt it was deemed necessary.

“I still don’t get how you could fucking do that” Levi mumbled while shaking his head in skepticism. He looked at Levi in the eyes and shrugged while being seated, they were on an equal eye level which irked Levi to the bone. Curse whoever genes it was for making Mike so goddamn tall because even being seated he was still slightly taller than him.

Erwin leaned back on his seat, took in his words and hummed. “I guess Ms. Ackerman has arrived" That got both of their attentions. Mike mildly shook his head but no one seemed to notice it.

The Commander stood up, Mike did the same as well but let the blonde reach the door first. “Let’s give her a cordial welcome, I don't want another one storming out with tears in her eyes.” Knowing fully well those words were directed to Levi, he just rolled his eyes at him. “Still not letting that go huh”

Erwin gave him a small smile. “I don’t know what you’re talking about”

“If it makes you better, I won't even look at her”

“Oh it’s not unnerving me to the slightest. For all I know, she might even be the one to cause said tears”

Levi glanced at Erwin from the side “Look, I may have shown my discontents ever since yesterday but I thought about it and settled on going along with it"

"I might as well make the most of this” He mumbled the last part, only meant for him.

The trio went through the halls, greeted by soldiers passing by and finally they reached the outdoors to greet their newly arrived guest. In a somewhat far distance, they saw Hange’s maroon car and two figures facing each other and talking on its side, well more like one woman talking energetically while the other was calmly listening, occasionally nodding to make it known that she was indeed listening. 

Mikasa peered to her left as she felt a presence – or multiple for that matter, there were three people or two and a child? He had a uniform though so he either was recruited at a very young age or he was simply short, extremely short.  The other two were giants compared to him yet held the most authoritative aura out of all of them. What bothered her though was she felt like someone else was watching, she got her guards up just in case.

When Hange saw she wasn’t listening and instead was looking at another direction, she followed her actions and directly beamed. She wouldn’t leave Mikasa’s side so she waved at them with both arms and directed her arms to the younger girl, as if she was showcasing her but in a comical way. The giants smiled while the short one rolled his eyes while Mikasa wanted to shrink from Hange's doings.

Hange’s eyes then started to go back to back, one second to her and then to the men, to the short one more specifically.

She repeated doing it and wasn't planning on stopping.

Mikasa ignored her strange behavior and grabbed the chance to study their appearances since it was quite a substantial distance between them. Height was already established, the first one to the left was the tall blonde man. She recognized him immediately, from all the pictures Frieda showed her and her description of the man, she was sure that man was Erwin Smith, the Commander of the Scouting Regiment. She proceeded to study the middle man, a taller one it seemed. She recognized him also, all for the same reasons. Though Frieda mentioned he had a weird habit but didn’t mention what it was.

Her focus was now on the shorty to the right, she was starting to think that the Scouting Regiment was a breeding ground to birth tall people, Hange was the same height as her and she considered herself to be tall. The two men she just observed were abnormally gigantic but it all broke when the black-haired man entered her line-of-sight.

There was something familiar about him, then it hit her. He had Kuchel’s eyes, their similar hair color and his face surely had mostly the same features as the woman. His steel, bored yet sharp eyes met her stoic, burning eyes. He felt a negative energy shoot through him.

"Levi Ackerman?" she questioned herself. Despite from the article she read, she never saw a picture or portrait of him which was ironic since he was her client. President Frieda also informed her that she couldn't show her anything about him, not even the profile of the captain due to Erwin not allowing it for some private reasons. That just peeved her more.

She did not realize she accidentally said his name out loud.

Once Hange heard her, she stopped studying the two Ackermans and answered her. She nodded zealously. “You recognize him right away? Wow! I knew Erwin didn't send any information about him so that's fascinating” Hange put her fingers on her chin, pondering, atmosphere completely changing.

'No I just puzzled the pieces together'

Her eyes suddenly widened and patted her pockets for something. “This must be another one your powers hmm.... interesting...” The rimmed-eyed woman trailed, suddenly becoming serious. Mikasa’s attention fully shifted to Hange.

Hange’s face lit up once she got what she searched for. It was a notebook and a pencil attached to it, Mikasa predicted she always had some kind of notepad on her considering it was a part of her profession. The woman started to scribble in her notepad, notes completely unreadable which was fitting for her. One thing though, Hange kept mentioning Ackermans as if she had actual knowledge about them. Whenever Mikasa asked something about the Ackermans to her parents, all they said was not a lot of people knew including them and Kuchel.

Mikasa reminded herself to ask her about it later otherwise it will bother her all night, definitely after hearing Hange babble about Ackermans having 'powers'.

“So this is the Mikasa Ackerman I’ve been reading about in the letters” Her ears picked up a deep voice. She looked back at their direction, it was Erwin Smith greeting her. Mikasa subconsciously fixed her posture as the three men were now in front of her. Hange went beside Erwin and greeted the three of them.

“Hey! Look who I fetched from the port” She chanted. “Why don’t you introduce yourself Mikasa?” She shot her a friendly smile.

The Auto Memories Doll in her completely took over. She did her curtsy, hoping Hange won’t embarrass her for the second time by calling her adorable. “I’m Mikasa Ackerman, Auto Memories Doll from Rose at your service" She then looked at Levi’s direction much to her dismay and continued, her words meaning to be directed only to the one and only captain . “At your request, I will type any document for you and help you in any way that I can. I will also be in charge of letters regarding to Kuchel Ackerman” She could see his shoulders tensed up a bit by the mention of his mother’s name.

“Lovely” He mumbled with a curt nod, he realized he sounded sarcastic but he didn’t mean to though it did come off like that to Mikasa.

Erwin nodded along while Mike approached her and started to sniff her. Was this the weird habit she needed to be informed about? It made her uncomfortable, she wanted to push him off but she needed to not make a scene because she and the company had a reputation to uphold. Punching an important military figure would definitely not help her with that. Actions would be unacceptable but verbal and facial confrontation was so she took that to her advantage.

Hange and Erwin scurried to her and tried to hold the man back, seeing the look on Mikasa’s face didn’t really send a safe signal. "Okay why don’t we back up now Mike! You’re making Mikasa uncomfortable!"

"Mike, what did we say about sniffing visitors?”

Mike silently went back to their side, he looked at Mikasa with gentle eyes replacing his harsh ones, a look the three of them never saw before. “I apologize for that Ms. Ackerman, I’m Mike Zacharius.” He brought his hand out for a shake as Mikasa took it as a response for the gesture. His words stunned the people around him, he never approached Dolls like this before so this was a first for all of them. Erwin and Levi hid their surprise with a raised eyebrow but Hange’s face was readable as ever.

"You even got Mike to act like that! Tell me how you’re doing it!"

Levi took the back of Hange’s collar and pulled her back when he noticed she was about to pounce on her. “Hange, what we need you to not do is scare the girl away” She wasn’t scared, confused would be the appropriate word for it rather. "That's your job not mine!" He scowled at her words.

“I see you’ve already made quite an impression Ms. Ackerman. I’m delighted to have you here”

Erwin did what Mike just did earlier as Mikasa did the same. “Erwin Smith, Commander of the Scouting Regiment”

“As I’ve heard. President Frieda told me to send her greetings to you” She mentioned to him while shaking their hands. Their hands separated as Erwin conveyed a formal smile to her, “Is that so? And to her as well then”

Instead of Levi introducing himself, it was Mikasa who initiated the conversation first. She reached her hand out to him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Captain Levi Ackerman” The three noticed the distaste in her voice when she emphasized the word.

Levi took her hand -tuning out the tone of her voice,  almost taking it back when he felt a spark. He glanced at the girl in front of him to look if she experienced the same thing, she looked like she did by the way her eyebrows slightly scrunched and the hold slightly tightened. Both let go their connected hands shortly after.

Mikasa sincerely hoped that Hange didn’t notice something, otherwise she wouldn't shut up and that was the last thing she wanted right now.

He coughed to shoo the feeling building in his throat “Levi is just fine or whatever, do you what you want”

He saw her nod her head quite crudely as a sign of agreement. 'What's with this brat?'

Before he could call her out on her rude behavior, out of the blue, Hange swiftly blocked Levi’s view of the Doll by standing in front of him. “Oi what the h-“

“Now that you two have met, let me show you around! I’m the one in charge of you for today after all! As important as the letter discussing is, it will have to wait. You settling in is vital to be able to go on your own, of course there’ll be soldiers with you on the watch but in case you were alone and trouble falls, at least you know where to go! Levi still has some stuff to do anyway so let us best be out of his way now!” After that lengthy speech of hers that no one took the effort to interrupt, she took Mikasa’s hand by force and she dragged her inside the stone, almost castle-like building. Mikasa had no choice but to comply. Hange looked back and simply waved at them. “Bye everyone! Oh and Levi, I’ll have her by your office at 2000 hours!”

Levi could hear her speak about her bag in the distance. “What about my bag?"

"Don't worry about it! One of them will take care of it! You won't be doing typing any time soon. Let us ladies have some bonding time" Hange’s voice could be heard from a mile away. If he wasn't annoyed by that girl, he would've felt sorry for her.

Her one and only bag was still in Hange’s car, Mike took the liberty to place it in Levi’s office since that’s where she’ll be ending up in anyway and both Erwin and Levi had stuff to attend to. Now there were only two men standing by the maroon car.

Levi sighed, he didn’t have a say in any of this shenanigans... again. “Tch, I barely get to talk to her then she comes in here and swoops her away” It was barely the afternoon and he was already exhausted. He rubbed his face “God, not even an hour with that glass eyed freak and I’m already exhausted”

Erwin chuckled and patted his back. “If I hadn't known any better, I would say you were jealous of Major Hange”

"I'm not and with her? Never"

“I guessed that. By the way, I noticed that Ms. Ackerman’s been looking at you at some kind of way” Why did he word it like it was supposed to be romantic or something? 

“Like she hates me? Yeah I’m aware. I don’t know what her problem is though, gloomy brat"

“All the dolls that visit seem to have the same feeling. I suggest you two talk it out though”

Levi simply dismissed him, completely disregarding their ranks. “Whatever, I’ll see to it” He then headed to the training ground to check on the cadets as it was on his agenda today to observe them. 

He suddenly felt this urge in his gut to look back as if someone was watching him, he listened to his gut and turned around but no one was there. Eventually, he questioned himself whether he should be concerned or not. Leaning more on the latter, his resolve was to inform Erwin about it. 

"Bastards" He blurted out, particularly to no one. 

“And this is the mess hall! You know what this is for so I won’t explain any further. We a-“ Hange stopped explaining, making Mikasa wonder why she did. It became clear when she waved at a soldier who was having a heated conversation with another soldier and ushered him to come over to their spot.

“Eren! Come come!” He looked like he didn’t want to though, Mikasa couldn’t blame him. Even from the ample time they spent together, -as much as she liked the woman she was already too much for her. After long, painful seconds for Eren, he finally reached the two of them. “M-Major Hange! What's up?” He saluted at her.

Hange dismissed him and grabbed Mikasa’s shoulders for what, the third time now and introduced her to the soldier in front of them. “At ease, at ease Eren! Eren, this is Mikasa. Mikasa, this is Eren, he’ll be the one accompanying you starting tomorrow”

Eren’s green eyes suddenly lit up, she found it attractive how his eyes had a shade of beautiful emerald. He smiled widely at her. “Oh so you’re the one I’m supposed to be watching? Cool! I was never in charge of a Doll before!”

Hange nodded happily. “Yeah it’s pretty exciting for you isn’t it? I heard from Jean you've been complaining about wanting to do it!"

He turned to Mikasa. “Oh sorry, I’m Eren Yeager by the way! Call me Eren” He grinned and took his hand out for a shake. She returned the gesture and began introducing herself, her head bowed. “I’m Mikasa Ackerman, Auto Memories from Rose. Nice to meet you” She could see his eyes widen as she mentioned her last name. Here it goes again...

His mouth gaped “Wait, a-are you related with the captain?!"

Mikasa quickly shook her head. “No, just the same clan, that’s all” Hange felt sorry and amused at the same time, the whole time they were going around and Mikasa introducing herself, first question asked was always if she was related with the captain. Hange could clearly see Mikasa tired of being asked the same question over and over again.

Eren nodded in wonder “Wow that must be cool! Are you just as strong as him?" She shrugged as an answer, not feeling to open her mouth. She would gladly show him what she was capable of but that was not what she came here for.

"We wouldn’t want to keep you busy Eren, go back to what you were doing. Erwin will get you later for the details”

He saluted to her once again before departing. After saluting, he turned to Mikasa and gave her a reassuring smile. “You’ll be safe in my hands, I’ll make sure of that”

Mikasa gave him a smile to show her appreciation “Thanks Eren" She liked him, he seemed the kind of person who’s always optimistic. She had a feeling that they’ll end up being very good friends.

"So that was Eren, our troublemaker but then again, every little one here is. Soldiers like him will eventually accompany in times Levi isn't available. He is a busy man even before the promotion so I hope you don't take it personally, despite his mean demeanor he is a nice person even if he doesn't look like it" 

Mikasa nodded, her mind now contemplating about her obvious spite towards the man. She felt that Hange knew about it, otherwise she wouldn't have said anything. 'I guess she's right, I never met him so I shouldn't judge him without getting to know him'  Kuchel didn't hold any ill feelings towards her son so why should she? As much as it was hard to not to label him into something, she promised herself to try to minimize it.

"Oh and I read that you're pretty capable yourself, well you're always welcome to join the cadets in their training course whenever you're not with Levi. I have a feeling you would be a natural in our gear. We offer that to every Doll that is tasked to work here and also to wear our uniform because that's what was stated in the regulation."

"Is he always busy?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, but you'll be with him most of the time unless he asks you not to which I have a feeling he might do" 

If any of the people by the maroon car noticed the shadow observing them from a high point then that person would be generously screwed. It was his turn to spy on Captain Levi, one of the escapees and one of the present Ackermans. He wondered who the girl was beside Major Hange Zoe but he suspected that it was just an ordinary Doll but what caught his eye was that the four of them were present, even Captain Levi. He was never interested in these things so the observer was pretty surprised by the fact that he was there.

That was definitely worthy to note. 

Damn, he could've picked a more crappy place to spy but he didn't really any of a choice. They were situated in the middle of the flat plain, entrance of the base was far from where the car was. There was no other hiding place he could've gone to, he had to settle for a tree in a distance. Hiding behind it would be dumb, on top would be the optimal choice. His gear wasn't with him so he couldn't just zap right up so he had no choice but to climb. The skill to climb up a tree was not there but he did his best and eventually reached a sturdy enough branch to stand on. Only bad thing is that he couldn't hear anything except for Hange's loud incoherent voice. 

They talked for awhile and finally when they dispersed, leaving Captain Levi alone, he followed him from a safe distance. That man could detect anything so he made a mental note to himself to not be too close to him. The saying 'keep your friends close but enemies closer' didn't apply if it was about the captain.

Captain Levi walked through the forest -thank god, he recognized the captain's path and concluded he was heading to the training grounds.

He noticed that the man stopped halfway through, his beating heart stopped for a second, his instincts kicked in and alerted him to hide right away. So he ducked in one of the bushes, hoping it made no noise to raise no suspicion. He didn't even dare try to take a peek. It was still, the only thing could be heard was the fighting spirit from the cadets nearby. Once he heard footsteps, he gathered the courage to look. Captain Levi was walking straight to the grounds, thankfully. He sure dodged a bullet on that one. 

He contemplated whether to continue on and he did but took more precaution this time. He saw him settle on a corner of the field, eyeing the cadets, he saw this as an opportunity to hide on top of the trees nearby. He dreaded having to climb again but he had to for the sake of his observation. He wiped his forehead which was drenching in sweat. Finally, some rest.

Boy was this going to be an eventful day, he thought to himself. He saw the man literally do nothing but observe, he was at a close distance so he could hear anything that comes out of his mouth but nothing was happening except hearing the scoldings from him.

It had been about an hour or so. He really wished that someone would at least approach the figure and make small talk.

His wishes came true as Major Hange Zoe and the one next to her was about to approach the captain. Yes, entertainment at last! But it was ruined for him when he suddenly heard his name being whispered from the side. 

Abort current mission they said and head to the Walls as their current meeting place, Beast requested for everyone. They said they were covered for the time being, they were assigned on guarding duty far away from the premise so no one would suspect a thing. His gear was given to him in a bag.

He left reluctantly, looking back to the new face talking to Captain Levi and flew to the destination after walking a safe distance from anyone who could hear.

As they made their way, one of his accomplice came up to him and told an interesting discovery.  Turned out that 'new face' he was observing was an Oriental, but the more surprising thing is that she was an Ackerman. Really interesting and pretty reckless to just throw that name around he thought. Mikasa Ackerman was the name, now that was something to tell Beast. From what he saw, she looked simple enough but there was something in her eyes that was deadly and tough, others didn't seem to notice it except for him. 

He would have to watch out for her. 

Chapter Text

"Major Hange! Major Hange!”

Hange and Mikasa turned around to see who it was while Levi continued to train his eyes on the cadets. Hange’s eyes widened at her frantic sidekick. “Moblit! I was looking for you! Look, this is Mikasa Ackerman, the one I’ve been talking about-“

“Yes I’ve already had an earful of it yesterday. Good day Ms. Mikasa” He lightly bowed his head at her for a short second then looked back at Hange, not even giving Mikasa a chance to do her courtesy back. It was understandable as it looked pretty urgent and she wasn't also entitled to one as well, or well at least from him. Back in her early days from her job, she'd be lucky if someone even acknowledge her as a person in the first place but then again, she did get handed the most uncivil customers. 

Moblit immediately opened his mouth before Hange could blabber about god knows what, Ackerman history and whatnot. “Major Hange, we have an emergency. A cadet accidentally pulled on a thunderspear and-"

"WHAT?!" The Major’s voice boomed which got Levi’s attention since he wasn’t really listening before. His head directed to Moblit. Mikasa just stood there, back straight and still. Just like how she was trained. She didn’t understand what just happened but considering Hange’s reaction, it should be easy to deduce that it wasn’t good.

“-They haven’t triggered it yet so there’s no casualties but the cadet is very panicked, we need to extract the weapon urgently before they give in under the stress and blow up a part of the base. The squad is trying their best to calm them down”

Hange fidgeted with the glasses on her face, taking all the information in and nodded after having thought of a resolve. “Okay so I want you and the squad to check the perimeter the damage will reach if it does get triggered and evacuate if necessary. I’m not done yet so wait for me here, we’ll go together”

She faced Mikasa who was listening attentively, her back unknowingly got more straighter, more than a soldier"s. “Mikasa, I’ll leave you here with Levi. I hope that’s alright with you since I have no choice as of the moment. Duty calls so I have to go now” Mikasa nodded, thinking in her mind how awkward this would be. She and the captain... alone. If he was sharp then he would've noticed her subtle antagonism towards him, she was curious how he would approach her about it though.

“Base? Why the hell weren’t you testing on the fields?” Levi tried to intercept but Hange was already gone from her spot next to Mikasa. “It was supposed to be for tomorrow! It wasn’t time to use it yet so no testing should’ve happened! We just checked the model!”

"If you are actually smart like you claim to be then you should've known to take precautions about this"

Hange shook off his words and left with Moblit but of course without having the last word “Yeah yeah I know Levi. Kids, no biting okay!” Mikasa's eyebrow twitched and she heard a grunt behind her then a mutter of ‘glass-eyed freak’. She made her way beside the captain, not sure what to do since he still had said nothing to her so she just observed the cadets with him, wincing slightly when one fell hard on the face. Not one of the two said a word, it was as if one was waiting for the trigger.

Levi looked to his right where Mikasa was and noticed she was still in her working outfit which reminded him that Hange mentioned him yesterday to give her their military uniform upon her arrival. Her outfit deeply reminded him off the Military's only if it was more more feminine since no one would surely wear a dress. The Victorian dress reached just beneath her knees and it had buckles on the top part, another similarity when the cadets put their body harness on. The garment was paired with a red Victorian cropped jacket.

The ensemble clearly complimented the girl but no one needed to hear that.

He noted that the dress was white which made him slightly nervous, what if it made contact with dirt? That would irk him to his grave. He then took a glance at his pocket watch and decided to accompany her to his quarters to change her attire. 

"Oi"

Mikasa got startled from the sudden deep, composed voice entering her ear. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Come with me" And without even waiting for her, he departed in direction of the stone building, entering the forest. She was irritated by the lack of information as she didn’t know what she was going to do but her feet dragged her to his direction. It took only seconds before she caught up, Levi once again got vexed by a tall person this day. A scowl was now sporting on his face.

"May I ask why you where we’re currently heading?" Mikasa asked as they entered the green forest, she paced herself to be slightly behind him.

His pupils moved to the corner of his eyes, taking a sight of her side face without moving his own. “You’ll see”

“Aren’t you supposed to be there watching?” She knew to not question the captain as he for sure held a lot of power so he could do whatever the hell he wanted but she just wanted to ask.

“Tch, they’ll be fine without me for a second, Dieter is in charge of them not me. I’m only for on lookout for today anyway"

Mikasa gave up squeezing an answer out of him. She guessed that she’ll find it out once they arrive.

"Captain Levi” She blurted out on impulse.

He looked at her with lifted eyebrows, his head directed to her. Making it known he was giving her his full attention. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat when his eyes pierced onto to her. She simply stared at him for what seemed like a lifetime to him as he grew more and more impatient at her silence as the space between his eyebrows resembled somewhat of a prune. Mikasa shooed the feeling away and opted to disregard the thought, it would better if she asked him directly and to the point.

She thought of why he lied about being a pure Marleyan, when in fact he was far from that. A lot of things were clearly going through her head.

Why couldn’t Erwin send his profile, it looked as if his background was meant to be hidden.

Why did he run away from Kuchel?

And why did her damn heart react that way?

“Never mind, I forgot” Her head shook while his eyes lingered on her for a second, not convinced at her statement but he just left it at that, not wanting to press on further.

They now fell into complete silence, leaving them with the distinct sound of rustling leaves and their light footsteps.

Both of them didn’t mind it ironically. It wasn’t awkward as Mikasa first initially thought, actually more comfortable rather she felt. Despite her negative feelings about him, he seemed to give off this comforting feeling where she couldn't put her thumb around. Was it perhaps he was giving the same vibe Kuchel did? Who knows. 

Not bothering to break it, her mind automatically went to multiple things, mainly Kuchel. The dear mother of the man infront of her. She contemplated whether to talk to him about it but then she remembered the unsettling feeling she got earlier. It probably wasn’t the smartest idea to talk about his mother when knowing there could be something lurking in the dark or in the woods for the matter.

After awhile, they could see the silhouette of the familiar building Mikasa spent the whole morning in. Considering her surroundings, she thought about Kuchel in a discreet manner wouldn’t hurt. There were soldiers outside doing what they ordered to, all the while making all kinds of ruckus.

"Do you have anything you'd like to know about her?" He heard her flat voice out of the blue. He obviously knew what she meant, she was talking about his mother. Of course she was, this was her job to begin with and the reason why she came here. Even after hypnotizing himself that he would be fine with it, on the outside he was but mentally, he wasn't sure if he was prepared enough.

He let out a sigh and remained silent, his face stayed unaffected but Mikasa noticed his spirit dampened a bit. Sensing how the mention of his mother affected topic, she left it for now. “My apologies captain, that was crass of me”

Levi shook his head as they open the gates to the stone building, noise filling their ears. “It’s nothing, that was to be expected anyway” He mumbled but it got lost in the sea of other voices. As if time stopped, every soldier froze and stared at Mikasa. It looked like they were falling in love with her or something and that displeased Levi, he should’ve expected this. Whenever the Dolls would come and work in the military, useless soldiers would do nothing but stare at them like they were prepubescent teenagers that has never seen the opposite sex.

Mikasa didn’t mind as she was used to it. The prison she previously worked in, she had to deal with a worse situation with prisoners calling her inappropriate names so this was basically nothing compared to before. She was about to ask him if they could just continue further on but Levi refused.

"Damn wash, rinse, repeat. These clowns never listen to a thing, it just goes right out" He cleared his throat, loudly at that to gain attention from the soldiers.

One glare of his fixed the situation, they saluted to his direction sheepishly and went on their merry ways. “Tch, as if they fucking got nothing better to do” She was honestly not surprised by his use of words, he just looked like the type to not give a fuck about that. Now was she dreading about the possibility of having to use profanity in her letters but when she thought about it, including those kind of words to letters for Kuchel? No.

They were walking through the hallways, passing the mess hall until Levi stopped in front of a door, presumably his office. He opened it and made his way in first, Mikasa reluctantly following after, not sure if she should trust him with this. Closing the door, she couldn’t help but be amazed by how polished and spotless everything seemed to be. He must’ve ordered someone to do the cleaning for him. She immediately noticed her bag that contained the typewriter and other stuff she usually packed for trips.

“Sit there, I’ll get the uniform” He commanded her, pointing to the desk with the singular chair slid under it. 'What uniform?'  Mikasa thought but then a past memory from hours earlier evoked in her mind. 

"Oh and I read that you're pretty capable yourself, well you're always welcome to join the cadets in their training course whenever you're not with Levi. I have a feeling you would be a natural in our gear. We offer that to every Doll that is tasked to work here and also to wear our uniform because that's what was stated in the regulation"

“Don’t touch anything” He said with a hint of accusation and closed the door.

That annoyed her, that accusation in his voice as if she was going to steal anything. But in reality, Levi just didn't want foggy fingerprints on his stuff.

Whatever, Mikasa rolled her eyes and took a seat which she immediately regretted.

‘God this is uncomfortable’

She already got sick of sitting, staring at nothing so she stood up and scanned the room. One would say she was snooping but she liked to think that she was being more observative. His office/room wasn’t big but not small either, the bathroom was situated in front of where she was currently standing. No plans of going in there any time soon.

Her head turned to the shelf, books upon books was what all she saw. So he liked to read? That’s intriguing.

She didn’t have the time to read the titles engraved on the spine of the book as she heard footsteps approaching this very room. With not wanting to take any risks, she dashed to the godawful chair. Her bottom must hate her.

The door creaked as it opened, Levi entered the room and saw her obediently sitting. He was mildly surprised, he expected her see her standing, touching things, to not follow his orders as rebellion of some sort. She seemed to be that kind of person but he was apparently mistaken.

When Mikasa’s eyes glance down, focusing on the garment occupying his hands. A short light-brown jacket, white button up shirt, white pants. The exact get up the man before her was wearing.

He went to her and extended both his arm to give her the properly folded clothes. She didn’t notice the dark-brown knee-high leather boots and matching colored sash on his other hand until he shoved it in her peripheral vision.

“Take this and go to the bathroom, when you get changed we’ll talk about whatever you’re here for” Before he could explain how it all should work out and point where the bathroom was, she already sped her way there.

His eyebrows were raised, staring at the locked bathroom door. ‘I guess that brat did do a little snooping’

Unbeknownst to him, he released a small, amused smirk.

“Beast” the man approached his higher-up. They were on the Walls, their hidden base secluded in a forest. Far east from where they were obligated to guard.

There were currently about three men present, including himself. It seemed that they were not complete despite having ordered for everyone but it wasn’t surprising, they always got different assignments so there was a chance for some to be missing.

The Beast chuckled, brushing his hair aside "Hey, what’d I say to you? I told you to call me by my name, it's not like anyone would hear us here” But the man rejected, he shook his head.

“Come on! It’s weird calling you Colossus, I might get misunderstood here”

He shook his head once again, accompanying it with a sigh. "No Beast, it’s fine. Like you said, we won't be heard by anyone”

Beast shrugged his shoulders, giving up on convincing the young one. “Alright, alright suit yourself. So got any intel?”

He nodded, eager to share what he collected. The Beast signaled everyone to circle around them as he told the bits of information he had.

“Interesting...”

Behind him, he could hear a voice of a man. “So what’s going to happen?”

Beast stared at everyone, suddenly pulling off a serious aura. He certainly didn’t expect this to happen, two Ackermans in one place? With one Ackerman in his deck, another one couldn’t definitely hurt and no, not Levi Ackerman. This Mikasa Ackerman could be useful to him, as much as he wanted Levi for himself, it was simply impossible. He would be overpowered by the little man but with Mikasa? It was a possibility.

“Colossus, continue inspecting Mikasa Ackerman” Colossus nodded and was about to head to his associate/friend but then halted when he was called. "Also tell the Ripper that we have a surprise for him"

Once Mikasa opened the door, she found captain Levi sitting on the same chair. If she could flinch then she would, how could he sit there like it wasn’t discomforting him. His ass must be made out of steel. Setting the chair conflict aside on her mind, she spotted him reading on some papers and sipping on tea in a unusual way but she didn't want to know why.

It looked like he didn’t notice her appearance, probably focused on his papers so she made her presence known. She made her way up to his desk "Captain"

He glanced up and noticed that she was now fully clothed in the Scouting Regiment official uniform. He examined her from up to down, the uniform unexpectedly exaggerated her features and curves despite her being entirely covered. She definitely had womanly features despite her age but he refused to delve in his thoughts. The uniform obviously fitted her more than what she was wearing before... *cough* What a fool that he was, getting flustered over something so trivial. He surely didn't expect to get attracted by women in uniform. 

He also didn't expect for her to already wear the uniform perfectly, soldiers who had spent significantly more time here still couldn't get it right even after his scoldings. 

He gave her a stiff, approving nod then went back to his paper. His mouth seemed to act before his brain as he unknowingly murmured under his breath “Looks good on you”

It was only after Mikasa asked “Pardon captain?” the realization of his words to her went into his brain. Mikasa tilted her head and blinked her eyes looking absolutely innocent as she watched the captain’s cheeks turn slightly red, probably caused by the stuffy atmosphere in the room she thought.

Thank Maria she didn’t hear it or it would’ve been humiliating for him. He didn’t give out compliments that easily and when he did then they must have really impressed him which was a rare occurrence on its own. And he most definitely never gave out comments about looks. Well except for that one brat now technically.

He glanced up at her again and back down on his papers, giving him time to come up for an excuse. “Nothing, I was reading a sentence out loud” Mikasa mouthed the word ‘ah’ and nodded. Levi proposed Mikasa to take a seat in front of him.

"I did say we’ll start to discuss about it, can’t avoid it forever-" He leaned back on his seat. "-So first and foremost, let’s start on setting up some ground rules” He could sense her movements as his ears picked up the sound of a slight screech from her chair.

He dropped the pages on his hand and faced Mikasa so that they could talk properly. He opened a drawer from his desk, taking out a relatively thin folder. Mikasa could hear him reading out a summarized version of what was on the paper.

“For starters, you will follow the basic procedures as the soldiers and yada yada. Not in the literal sense as you mostly only work for me. I don’t think it’s necessary to relay it as it’s basically in your job description but you will follow me everywhere and follow everything I say” His gaze flashed at Mikasa to see what her reaction was.

If she wanted to refuse profoundly then she was hiding it perfectly as her face was emotionless, only thing he got out of her was a slight nod.

He took this as a sign to go on so he did. "On times I can’t be here for god knows what, you’ll be assigned to someone else. Now where’s that brats name?" With the last part came out as a mumble. That she did hear and answered in his stead. "His name is Eren Yeager”

He stopped shifting from his papers and looked up, sending a gaze telling her to explain how she knew about it already. “Major Hange and myself stumbled upon him in the mess hall. She mentioned about it along the lines and introduced me to him”

“Of course, you had that little outing with that glass-eyed freak” He sounded tired and if she listened a bit more closely, his concern could be heard. He closed the folder and laid it on top of his desk, along with the rest of his papers. “Well what else has she mentioned to you so I can stop wasting my breathe, repeating shit you’ve most likely already heard about”

"I was informed that I could also train with the other cadets during your absence” He nodded along, that was indeed included in the regulations though most Dolls rejected the offer to spend their free time in the military training. They just mostly watched them. He thought that Mikasa would be the same but that was not however the case.

“Well, you can but do you really want to? Most of the Dolls here just say no”

She shrugged. “Not to be blunt but you seem to be mistaken about something captain” His one eyebrow raised perfectly. "And that is?” Something in her changed, Levi noticed. It was as if there were confidence and arrogance oozing. Levi somehow didn’t mind it.

“’Most of them’ is not me” Levi wanted to laugh but he won’t, not in front of her at least. This girl just became more and more interesting as the more time they spent together.

“Is that so?” The tone of his voice came out challenging, teasing even. Mikasa refused to back down. "Yes" This curt reply should be enough for him and it was indeed. He reached down on his desk to open a drawer. “Alright, you look determined so who am I to stop you? I’ll include this in my schedule” He then took out another folder, man did he have tons of them.

She couldn’t help but ask again. "If I’m not intruding, may I ask what you’re doing? And what you meant by you including it in your schedule”

“You dolls sure have a lot to ask-" He complained while mumbling but still complied to explain. "Well dearest Mikasa, I am checking my schedule to see if I can fit daily training sessions. You’ll be here for a long time so we’ll make it a routine, you’re stuck with me and you’re in the military so only thing I can offer is my advanced knowledge” He spurted out, not even looking up at her. He closed the folder and placed it back where it belonged.

His eyes met hers for the nth time today. She applauded herself for not faltering this time.

She looked like she approved of his offer, he wasn’t done yet though. “I’ll give you that only if you put your negativity towards me away” This was to be expected, she wasn’t exactly hiding it when they met earlier. A slim feeling of guilt suddenly hit her, now that she thought about it, she didn’t know the whole story. The fact that she witnessed Kuchel's sadness multiple times just flamed her distaste towards him. 

Levi noticed her composure hesitate a bit, she hasn’t responded to what he said yet and seemed to avert her gaze to somewhere else so he concluded there must be things going in her mind. It troubled him for some reason, he didn’t like to see her like this.  He wasn’t sure if asking was appropriate, he took a risk. "What’s the story behind that anyway?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked to him. Should she be honest or lie? “I just assumed something I never really had the right to. For that, I apologize captain, it’s not fair to you" She chose the truth but sugarcoated it along the way, mumbling the last part.

"What?" He sounded confused, she was being subtle about this.

“Kuchel-“ She paused to see how he would react and if it was alright to go on. Just as expected, he tensed up but he kept his eyes on her, quietly encouraging to go on. "She told me how you suddenly disappeared 14 years ago. Spending time with her all these years without an ounce of information about it just created a biased interpretation within my mind, with you possibly running away from her for who knows what reason. That resulted me in not liking you, her son. I saw her during nights where she calmly looks up at the moon, whenever I ask her what’s wrong, she just looks at me and smiles' Her eyes was now focused on him once again, tense still visible on his shoulders but other than that, unreadable. She would rather have an angry reaction than nothing.

"I know whenever her tears just fell and it was always before she looks up at the moon"

Moments passed, unlike the last time, this became uncomfortable because it ended up Mikasa sitting in the chair for longer than expected and Levi in front of her seemingly pondering about what she said.

“How is she?” He whispered, concern was very evident. Although Erwin already informed him about his mother’s well-being, he couldn’t help but wanting to ask her seeing that she most likely was with her before her departure here. “Look, I don’t care if you think that way but just know that what you think happened, it didn’t alright?” He added when he saw her hesitance.

She was honestly prepared to give him a full status update about her, dislike him or not, he deserved to know what was up with his mother but giving him an essay-worth of an update would most likely overwhelm him. “Worried, about us, you mostly, naturally. Worried you might push her effort away but in general, she’s fine. Nothing major happened with her that needs concern so I assure you captain, she’s fine, residing peacefully in Shiganshina and all”

She suddenly sprung up from her seat, thank god. She went to her bag and took a letter out. As she walked back, he could see the familiar red rose wax stamp on it and concluded that this was from his mother. 

Her arm stretched out. “A letter from Kuchel Ackerman to you, captain. It was written by herself" He reached out to grab it, their fingers brushed lightly. She remained standing, her butt was sore and simply refused to sit there again. He didn’t even question why she was still standing as his focus was on the letter, he had a longing yet reluctant look on him.

“She lives in Shiganshina?" Way to state the obvious, nevertheless she still responded accordingly. “Yes and has been residing there for the same amount of years you...” Mikasa left the last words out since she didn’t know how to word it differently. Irony at its finest.

Now with Paradis Island on her mind, the moment where she read the newspaper article flew right back in her mind. “Which leads me to this question corpor-“

“Just call me Levi when it's just the two of us" She felt awkward saying his first name though. “Understood” She looked at him and caught him staring, like putting her in a spotlight. “Good, so what’s the question?”

“Nothing in that news article was true. Why did you lie?" He knew what she was talking about, that goddamn poor excuse of an article. He had no influence or involvement on that, it was the military or Erwin mostly  for reasons he couldn't tell Mikasa... yet.

He went silent, as if he was contemplating whether to lie or not just like she did earlier. He didn’t know what to tell her, he just met her today and even though his mother trusts her, he couldn’t help but hold a bit of suspicion. Working in the military gave him that mindset.

He sighed and stood up, heading to the door. “Considering that I only met you today, I don’t intend on making any promises that I’ll be entirely truthful to you-”

“-And it’s not only towards you, if you’re thinking that” His head faced towards her, he flicked his head to the side, signalling her to follow her.

' Again?' 

She obliged willingly, she glared at the chair for one last time, giving it the hell it deserved.

“Don’t forget to bring your shit with you” She could only roll her eyes behind his back, god forbid he mention anything without using that inappropriate language. She could call him out on it as she got a feeling no one has ever done it yet but everyone knew, even Mikasa that he would casually ignore what she said.

She suspected that they were finally going to head to her room by the way they were going deeper down the hallways. On a corner of the stone walls, there was a sign that indicated a separate part for the ‘guest rooms’ (it was rooms specifically made for Dolls like Mikasa as some companies like to send multiple Dolls at once)

They stopped in front of a door, assuming it was Mikasa’s.

“This'll be yours for the duration of your stay. It's just like any other room so don't complain if you don't like it, no one's gonna do it for you.  Rest a bit, get some sleep or some shit like that. I’ll be seeing you tomorrow” He took one last look at her, sending a silent farewell before leaving her alone in her now claimed room.

Wait.. tomorrow? She thought that he couldn’t be available for tomorrow, courtesy of Hange… what was with the change of plans?

“Aaaaand thunderspear extracted! Good job everyone!” One cheer from Hange still didn’t change the serious atmosphere in the experimenting room as she still had the long staff on her hand. She noticed the grim expressions on their faces and assured them that it was safe, trying to demonstrate by pulling the handle. All of the men looked in horror and covered their whole being, expecting a blast but nothing came. Only a mischievous grin on their leader’s face.

Anxious Moblit sped up to her and took the spear off her hands, call it safe or whatever but nothing was really ever safe whenever in the hands of Hange Zoe. “Major Hange, I think that’s enough stress for today" She laughed at him and excused her squad on a break. "Yes! I'm sorry hehe, you guys can go. Dismissed for the rest of the day!"

The back of her hands wiped to remove the excess gunpowder however some of the powder has reached her upper lip, creating some sort of toothbrush mustache without her knowledge. But in her mind, she was she excited to prove the little grumpy captain wrong. How dare he question her tremendous intelligence?

Her executive officer was about to inform her about her artificial mustache but then the door opened showing an intimidating figure.

"Levi! Where’s Mikasa?" She went to him, eyes suddenly bright.

Levi’s face scrunched as he examined Hange’s face. "Are you planning on becoming a dictator? If so then do it somewhere else”

She shot him a confused look "Huh?", she turned to Moblit for answers. His finger pointed to his upper lip. "You have gunpowder here Major" 

“Oh!” She giggled as she wiped it off. “Moblit, why didn’t you say anything?”

Well he was about to until he was interrupted. Fatigue ran in his body that he didn't see himself explaining why. “...I forgo myself from answering that Major” He let out a sigh and headed out to the rest of her squad. His hands formed a salute to the both of them before going. Both watched Moblit disappear. "Bye!!!!" 

Hange turned to Levi who was still eyeing the now empty hallway “Sooo?”

“So what?”

“You know, Mikasa?”

“Right. She’s in her room”

She clapped her hands with a smile “Oh goody! I hope you already gave her the uniform"

"I did"

"Did you help her with wearing it? Did she look good in it? Oh wait who am I kidding, of course she did!" He just stared at her with an unimpressed face while she chattered endlessly about the girl.

"No I didn't, she wore it exactly like how it's supposed to be"

"Really? You told her how to?"

"No?" He trailed.

Her mouth formed an "Oh!!!!" and mumbled "Impressive". She took out the same notebook she'd been writing on, he didn't even want to know what she was on to so he let her be.

She tucked the notebook back to her pocket. "So how about that testing tomorrow huh Levi?” Her elbow nudged him by the sides with eyebrows wiggling in anticipation. Levi swatted her elbow away though, hoping he could do the same for her annoying eyebrows.

“About that, I can’t” He announced with a dead tone.

“What? Why not?" She looked dejected but he knew that was just a facade. Their secret weapon experiment testing would still continue regardless of his absence. He could just straight on tell her the reason, it was because he wanted to introduce Mikasa to their gear to kickstart their training but something in him just didn’t want anyone to know which was bullshit since they’ll be outside, where everyone can see everything.

“Does it really matter? Not like you’ll stop ” With that, he left her with the question hanging in the door.

“Levi?! You didn’t answer my question! Both of them for that matter!" She shouted with a pout.

After sending Mikasa to her room and visiting Hange, he went back to his quarters and opened the letter his mother sent him.

---

My dear Levi,

First things first, I believe I owe you an apology. I apologize if the current circumstance has made you uncomfortable in any kind of way or has put you into any difficult situation. In return you are more than welcome to do anything you like with this very letter. If this somehow reaches you that is, although with Mikasa I am sure that it will.

My son.... my precious Levi. How have you been? Are you eating well? Are you faring well?

I know this is not the most ideal case to be talking to each other but I must do anything I can to reach you. If you have seen this letter then I guess you must have already met Mikasa right? Gorgeous lady isn't she? I understand if you feel angry, resentful, maddened by this letter because only after long long years have I managed to find my son. Don't take it out on Mikasa please as she was the one who insisted on helping me.

Truth to be told, I only knew about how you currently are residing in Marley when I read an article here in Shiganshina. Despite it being only an article on how my son made it to an excellent rank in the military- I congratulate you for that by the way, I don't know if I have the right to say this but I feel very proud as your mother, knowing that my son is alive and living the best that he can although I can't help but be worried considering your occupation. It's natural for a mother to feel that right? Be worried and all... I however won't question you on that one part of the paper as you may have had your own reasons. 

If you're wondering about my current well-being, as I've noted, I'm living in Shiganshina and not in that rubbish Underground, that's all behind me, us now. I live close to Mikasa's parents who also happened to be Ackermans, Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman are very good people who also helped me reach to where I am now. I can't say it was a coincidence as I believe that it was fate, just like the time I discovered that article. My home is not the biggest, grandest of all but it's enough for me. I hope for you to visit me one day.

I suppose I already took a lot of your time with this lengthy letter of mine so I'll cease here. I really miss you and that has never ever stopped. I sincerely hope you consider sending a reply through Mikasa, she makes the loveliest letters.

Until the next time.

Kuchel Ackerman

---

As he reached the bottom, he saw three small photographs attached with a paperclip. First one was with herself, in a house he guessed was hers. He let out a small smile as he saw her peaceful face. He flipped to the second one and it was of her and Mikasa when she was wee bit younger. Both looked very happy with Mikasa sporting a grin on her face. He didn't know why but he hoped to see that grin of hers in person.

In contrast to the other two, the last one was different. It was on a sketch paper, he mistook it for a photograph. It didn't contain her, Mikasa or anyone. It was the moon. He would've wondered why she sent him a sketch of the moon but he looked back at what Mikasa told him. He spun the paper on the other side and saw her writing. 

'a flower knows, when its butterfly will return,
and if the moon walks out, the sky will understand;
but now it hurts, to watch you leave so soon,
when I don't know, if you will ever come back'

Chapter Text

“Kuchel” A soft voice appeared behind her.

The woman glanced at her right and saw Historia timidly standing beside a... girl? No, a boy, her excuses.  She shot both of them a friendly smile. “Historia ? What brought you here?”

Historia stepped to side a little, introducing the boy next to her. “This boy next to me is Armin Arlert, he told me that he has something he would like to discuss with you” Kuchel nodded. “Alright, you can go now Historia. Thank you dear”

She bowed and went out, leaving the two of them alone with Armin watching Historia’s retreating back. Kuchel took advantage of Armin’s distracted gaze to observe him for a bit. Blonde, blue eyes, petite structure… he looked familiar to her but couldn’t pinpoint who. She was about to mention how he resembled someone but got cut when he spoke first.

A shy chuckle escaped his lips. “Same hair color, eyes, Historia. Y-yeah, I seem to get that a lot in here today”

“Oh I wasn’t pointing to th-“

He sensed that she thought he looked like Historia so shook his head since it wasn’t a big deal. “No it’s fine! It’s quite funny to see people’s reactions when they found out it wasn’t her"

Kuchel chuckled. She broke away from her spot and went to her desk, gesturing Armin to sit in front of her. He followed her and sat on the chair in front of her desk, quite fidgety if she might add. “And what do I may owe you business Mr. Arlert? I’m Kuchel Ackerman by the way” She smiled at him again and held out her hand for a handshake, initiating a greeting.

He observed her by habit and landed into her warm eyes, that seemed to settle him down a bit. He grabbed her hand and shook it, hoping to the heavens that he didn’t have sweaty palms. He had his reasons for being nervous, first what he was about to request could be seen as very weird and he could get rejected and may get humiliated for it. Second was because it had never happened before, he did his research and for sure no one had ever done it. The fact that he also chose the biggest postal company made his chance of success go down even more.

After taking a deep breath, he gathered the courage to talk. “I would like to be an Auto Memories Doll”

Kuchel smile disappeared but instead replaced with a semi-shocked face, she tried to hide it however as she could sense that it would scare the poor boy. “Oh... did I hear that right?” When he noticed the doubt in her voice, he immediately panicked. He wanted to explain himself.

“I-if I am allowed to interrupt, I-I am fully aware that this certain thing is definitely not common. Not here, not anywhere b-but I would really like to be one. It has been my dream ever since I saw my late grandmother with a typewriter, though I know that that’s not enough for a reason”

Kuchel unconsciously put more doubt in him when she mumbled. “Not only uncommon, it has never been done before in the Auto Memories Doll industry” She honestly didn’t mean to but it couldn’t be helped. His head dipped down, prepared for the rejection that was expected to come. Her fingers unconsciously tapped her desk, making Armin more nervous by the second. “Hmm... say Armin, wait can I call you that?” He eagerly nodded.

“Well then, Armin, can you tell me why you would want to become an Auto Memories Doll?” Kuchel didn’t mind that a boy would want to become one. In fact, she was very open to the idea of having a female counterpart in their company. It would definitely set their company further and most importantly, ease the norm in their society. Gone with the ones who’ve been clowning young boys, who’ve been hurt by the mere declaration about their interests.

Despite that fact, she still wanted to see if he was worthy enough. What good would it be if he wasn’t even competent enough to begin with?

“My late grandmother, who previously worked as a Doll in this very company. She would show me how the typewriter worked, how to sympathise with the customer’s feelings and how to pour it out in the letters” He smiled at the fond memories but Kuchel put a stop to it when she asked him a question.

“Hold on for a second, is your grandmother one of the original nine dolls that worked here?”

Armin scrunched his eyebrows and nodded. “Well yes although she passed away because of an illness”

Kuchel snapped her fingers when she had a revelation. “That’s why you looked familiar! It wasn’t because of Historia, it was because of her!” She reached on a drawer of her desk and pulled out something. It was a portrait of the nine ladies who became the poster models for Dolls including Armin’s grandmother.

Armin leaned in to see where his grandmother was, once he did he pointed and immediately brightened up. “That’s her alright! Although she was already retired when she taught me how to do it. She also mentioned how she met my grandfather, it was when he was a client and he fell head over heels” Kuchel smiled at that one. She was always a sucker for love-stories.

“From the moment she brought me into her office, that was the moment I decided for myself to become an Auto Memories Doll but then when I mentioned it to my grandparents, they said that it was impossible. That it was only for females. I was dejected naturally but I hid my disappointment inside and went with it. Years pass and I still can’t get the idea out of my head so I decided for myself to dig out my grandmother’s typewriter from the attic and use it. Write what I felt for most of the day, that just grew my desires more instead. It was supposed to only satisfy it”

“And have you written letters or anything close to it ? ” If she were to be completely honest, she was this close to hiring him just hearing about the tale for his growing passion but she knew that it wasn’t professional. And it wouldn't be fair to the other girls who had to attend and graduate Auto Memories School.

He suddenly faced down. A second later, Kuchel noticed he had a bag with him. On his shoulders rested a brown messenger bag, inside were full of letters (as he always makes a backup one in case it gets lost along the way) to accommodate his arguments as to why he should be hired in case things did decide to work out. “Oh yes, I have. It’s to my friend who’s currently serving in the military” Once her ears picked the word ‘military’ up, she couldn’t help but blurt out a question.

“This military doesn’t happen to be stationed in Marley right ? “

His head jolted up, clearly not expecting that sentence. “ Yes, the Scouting Regiment to be more specific ” Which reminded her of Levi and Mikasa...

‘I wonder how they’re doing...’ She couldn’t wait any longer for a response though it was nonsense since Mikasa just arrived yesterday.

She nodded along; shoving both of them out of her mind, they both should be fine

“I see, and how old is he?”

“Eighteen, just like me. His name is Eren Yeager”

“That’s young, very commendable of him” She shot him a smile. He returned it back, his pride for his friend evidently visible. His focus reverted back to his letters and placed it on the desk.

“Armin”

He looked up to her face.

“I’ll say, you are compassionate which is one of the traits we search for-”  She saw his eyes brighten up but stayed still as he knew there would be a ‘but’ coming after, he didn’t want to get ahead of himself. “ -but… we all know that’s not how it works in reality. I’ll discuss this further with the president and with the rest of the Dolls. No matter how positive my comments were for you today and just because your grandmother was one of the original nine, there are no promises you will get the job”

Her gaze was directed at him to observe his reactions as she said her words, he remained seated, his face slightly deflated but still determined.

After reaching a consensus in Armin’s mind, he bobbed his head and curved his lips up a little. “You hearing me out is already enough for me, Miss Ackerman. Really, it means so much to me” The floor produced a screech sound with Armin standing up to get ready to go.

“I’m glad that I’m able to do that for you even though it’s not much.” She stood up along with him and went to the door to open it for him. He left the room but was stopped by Kuchel when she forgot something crucial. “ Armin ! Before you leave, how can I contact you? ”

“ Oh, I’m currently staying at the Mare Inn for the time being. I spend most of my time cooped up in there so you can most likely find me there whenever”

“Alright. I hope you have a good day Armin, be safe on your way out ”

“ Thank you Miss Ackerman! ”

---

“Wake up!”

Mikasa’s eyes bolted open as soon as she heard the loud bell ring. It took a couple of seconds to get used to her sight as she blinked the heaviness of her eyes away. One part of her thought that she was still at home, in Shiganshina about to head to the postal company, the usual mundane routine but she remembered what she all did yesterday.

She sat on her bed, just thinking and also summarizing yesterday’s events. A lot did happen in one day, that was for sure. She traveled through the ocean which she still felt surreal, found her way in the military and met quite interesting people, spent a lot of time with the captain and after that she didn’t remember much. Probably it was because she just immediately chose to sleep.

Not fretting much about it, she got up and headed to the bathroom.

There was an unpleasant feeling in her stomach and it remained that way for a couple of minutes when she made herself presentable with the uniform she was given. That was when it hit her, she barely ate yesterday. Again, blame it on the sleep. The outcome? Her stomach was grumbling, kind of asking, no begging her to put some goddamn food in it.

From what Hange told her, breakfast was served to everyone after the drills which was 25 minutes after the first bell rang. She glanced at her clock and deduced that a good 15 minutes had passed so she had about 10 left.

She didn’t know whether to just go on her own or was someone supposed to come here, Eren or captain Levi. Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t given much of a round down. Might as well ask about it later. Opting for the first choice, she made sure her uniform was in check and her case that held her typewriter.

Before she could even grab her doorknob, a knock could be clearly heard. It startled her but opened it without any hesitation, thinking it would be Eren or someone else. What she saw was a blob of black and piercing steel eyes directed at her. It was captain Levi.

Her head bowed, substituting the words ‘good morning’. “Captain Levi” She was aware that he told her to drop the formalities but it didn’t mean she was going to follow through.

“You’re up and ready already, impressive” He told her with a flat tone.

“ I wasn’t informed that you would be the one to be with me today”

Alike with his voice, his flat eyes were still at her, he continued. “Didn’t I say that yesterday ? ”

“ You only said and I quote “I’ll be seeing you tomorrow ” which didn’t indicate whether it was in the morning or not” She didn’t want to seem difficult in this very morning but his vagueness could only do so much.

He let out a sigh “ Are you also going to be a pain in the ass in the morning ? ”

“I’m only repeating what you said” She shrugged.

A mild glare was sent her way “Alright. I’m here now so that subject’s over” His eyes went to the case in her hands. It would be better to put that thing in his office right now. “Let’s go. Your typewriter should be left in my office”

“Understood”

---

After exiting his office, he informed Mikasa that they’ll be doing the morning drills. Mikasa followed him outside and was met with light breeze, the feeling would’ve felt pleasant if it weren’t for the serious atmosphere created by the soldiers lined up perfectly. She recognized one individual among the soldiers, Eren. She kept her eyes on him until he looked at her direction, eventually landing his eyes on her. He flashed a smile at her for a second before getting scolded by Dieter, the drill instructor.

Dieter stopped when he noticed Levi’s presence. His hands formed a fist and put his right fist to his chest with the other on his back as a salute to the superior. Levi nodded towards and stopped in front of the soldiers, Mikasa naturally stood next to him but took a step behind. He started spouting words, commands towards them. Mikasa took the time to observe them.

They looked at him with fear (which was understandable) but under all of that, they looked at him with utmost respect, especially Eren who was practically beaming at the sight of the captain. That kind of said something about his character, she was thinking of a word to describe him but she couldn’t put her finger on it as she noticed someone was staring at her, very intensively. It wasn’t like one of those ‘love-sick’ ones from yesterday but like an eagle trying to observe its prey.

It was a very tall fellow, dare she say the tallest out of all of them so it could easily catch anyone’s attention.

Regardless the intimidation coming from his side, she wasn’t fazed by the stare at all so she just cast it aside. Although when her glance was by chance landed on his direction she caught the nudge from his comrade which broke his stare. The man who nudged then ‘reprimanded’ the other one by the looks of it.

‘That’s weird’ Mikasa thought but didn’t find the need to delve deeper into it.

All of a sudden, every soldier let out shouts and a salute she became familiar to, most likely as a response to Captain Levi but she wasn’t paying attention when she honestly should’ve. Her focus then shifted to the man in charge and spotted him calling someone over. Her hunch told her that it was Eren, so she tried to find him. He was heading to their current position with a light jog.

Once he reached them, he halted in front of Captain Levi. “Captain! You called for me? ”

The man nodded. “ You’re the one assigned for Mikasa Ackerman, yes ? ”

Eren returned the gesture. “ Yes, I’ve been ordered to accompany her whenever you’re unavailable which is today ”

“ Good that you know however the schedule has been changed for now-“

“Why?” Eren’s curiosity got the best of him though it rewarded him a glare for the interruption. He immediately shrunk and sent him a silent apology. “- I made time for today so you can just go on as usual”

“Permission to ask, Captain?”

*sigh* “Granted”

“... why?”

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose, finding it an inconvenience and Eren could see it. “I wouldn’t let Dieter wait if I were you” A fleet of panic could be seen on his expression.

“R-right! Permission to excuse myself, Captain ?”

“Go”

“Captain!” And with that, he saluted and departed but not without sending one to the lady next to his superior. “Bye Mikasa!” She shot him a small smile which Levi caught. Ignoring the stir inside of him, he finally turned to Mikasa. “That settles it, let’s go and get you familiar with the gear” Then they made their way back to the stone building.

He was walking then stopped when Mikasa was lagging behind. “Put some speed in it will you?” He swore he could see her roll her eyes but he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Silence once again wrapped the atmosphere.

Though it broke when Levi started to open his mouth. “I read it” Which garnered Mikasa’s attention.

“As I have anticipated...” Only that was her reaction, Levi expected more from her though. His stare was sending ‘I know you want to say more but I also know you’re hesitating’ vibes but in the end she shook her head. “I can predict what you’re reaction could’ve been. I was with her when she made that letter after all... you probably saw the attachments with it”

He looked down, face not betraying his emotions inside. “I did”

“It was my idea actually” She witnessed his eyes clear up a bit from her revelation.

“That... I couldn’t have predicted” Were his words towards her. It was true, he knew her thoughts about him before they met courtesy to their talk yesterday so anything for his benefit, he was confident that she didn’t even bother with it but she proved him wrong. “I didn’t pick the pictures just to be clear”

When they reached the doors, they were met with the noise Levi familiarized himself with for many years but in Mikasa’s case, since yesterday. The consequence was that his voice then drowned because of it.

“Thank you” There was a chance where Mikasa could’ve heard that.

But she didn’t.

---

‘The weather’s good, as usual’  Kuchel thought to herself as she took a walk to her home. She yawned, covering her mouth while doing so.

On the way home, she couldn’t help but think about the two other Ackermans in her life, that were now together, doing something. Her motherly instincts rose up, worries made their way in. She could call but telephones haven’t been implemented in their company yet so that option was nul to begin with. Waiting for Mikasa’s response was her only way to find out then, couldn’t be helped.

---

Mikasa glanced towards the clock and read its hands.

‘1900... he should be here right now’

She was inside the Captain’s office with her typewriter in front of her all alone. He ushered her to go without him since someone she did not recognize held him back.

Out of boredom, she typed some nonsense absentmindedly, the heavenly sound when a key is pressed entering her ears. Not even worrying about the ink running out, she just needed to do something other than wait in this room.

While she was typing, the door suddenly opened. Her fingers stopped, she stared at him and he did so back. “What the hell were you doing?” He looked annoyed, she figured he wasn’t looking forward to the writing session but he proved her wrong.

“Typing?”

“No, you were annoying the hell out of me with that noise you’re making”

“You were outside, you couldn’t have heard it that much from there”

“I was just outside my office. You may think that it’s therapeutic but outside it’s hell ”

“Well I beg to disagree”

“Tell me something new” Mikasa lightly scoffed at his subtle jab at her.

Mikasa shook her head, flexed her fingers and motioned him to sit down with her arm stretched out. “Please take a seat so that we can begin” Her voice sprung into formal mode. She hoped he wouldn’t make this difficult for her.

He took her by surprise when he actually followed her orders, willingly.

She pulled out the letter from Kuchel, as a guideline to help her and Levi what to answer. Her fingers typing the first words, ‘Dear mother’ then she halted, fingers stayed on the keys.

“Anything you want to start with?”

He stared at her general direction to think about it, his arms were crossed. “Wouldn’t it make sense to ask about her condition like she did with mine ? ” He asked her as if she had the answer to it but she only softly shrugged. “I suppose, anything else?” She began to type while Levi copied her gesture by shrugging as well.

“I’m not really good at this” Mikasa looked away for a minute, letting out a hum. “Not everyone is, that’s why us Dolls are created. Let’s see... have you ever written a letter to your mother when you were away from her?” He tried not to grimace at her words, memories got triggered.

He didn’t even have the right to speak to her so what more with holding a pen and actually writing her name? Even an ounce of information about her could result in danger.

Sensing that he really didn’t want to talk anything regarding that subject, she let it go. “I’ll make question broader, have you ever written a letter to anyone ? ”

“Of course that I have done, I’m not illiterate ”

“ I didn’t imply that. Continuing, did those letters revolve around your job or are they for personal reasons ? ”

He eyed her. “Jeez, have my diary entries while you’re at it. I don’t see why this question is of any relevance to what we’re doing right niw”

Mikasa however stayed patient with him, sensing that he could be anxious. “I’m only asking so I could be of help to you. You making snarky, sarcastic remarks is not making it any better, now would you please answer me in a civilized manner?”

“Alright, I... apologize. I just... never done this before” He adjusted his cravat looking very uncomfortable, it became clear to her that apologies weren’t given that much from the captain.

“Never done what before?” Mikasa tilted her head to the side with a curious look on her face. Right there and then she figured that letting his feelings out was hard for him so she figured taking baby steps would help.

Levi lifted his head up and down to gesture everything, from the letter, Mikasa and the typewriter. She could understand why. “All of this”

Mikasa nodded to what he said, now thinking in her head on how to approach this so that they could somehow manage to write a letter at the end of the day. She looked at him and noticed he became tense even though his face remained stoic and flat, the one she grew accustomed to.

“You’re pretty tense right now, I can see it” He raised an eyebrow at her but didn’t say anything. “If you’re worried about being seen as vulnerable right now then all I can say is... don’t be. I won’t judge and lawfully-wise, I’m not allowed to seeing as customers can file a complaint the to company if they ever felt uncomfortable with us.” She paused for a bit then continued. “I regret telling you that now since you might file one now behind my back”

“Besides, we’re all human. We all have emotion in us”

He scoffed and stood up, making his way to the shelf which had a shiny tea set on it. “What are you doing? I know it’s hard but I never pegged you for a run-away” He looked back at her and rolled his eyes. “No, I’m making tea because as you said, I’m tense so I need to relax” His eyes searched for the tea he needed to calm his nerves down. He then went to the kettle which was suddenly there, Mikasa just noticed. He proceeded to make tea.

“I know the rules you brat and I’m not that petty, besides, I might have to hear an earful from Erwin and Hange if I did... now that I think about it, also Mike” He told her with a stern voice.

He looked at his back and noticed Mikasa with widened eyes. That was the first time he saw her like this. “What?” He brought a tray to his desk and gave himself and Mikasa teacups.

He suddenly heard a heavenly chuckle from her which made him stop delving into the tea. His heart may or may not have skipped a beat.

Mikasa shook her head and smiled a little bit. “You really are Kuchel’s child. Both of you even say the same stuff with the exact same tone”

Levi froze to what she said. “We do?” Although he couldn’t help but ask. Mikasa took this opportunity to talk about Kuchel. He can’t stay uncomfortable forever, he’s going to hear about his mother whether he likes it or not.

She nodded “ In a lot of ways, you both are similar. Looks-wise, it’s pretty obvious, you’re a carbon copy of her. Personality-wise, even though she’s a bit on the sweeter side, you both are stern when it comes to your job, positions are kind of alike too if you think about it. She’s a great leader to me and the rest of the Dolls and from what I’ve seen today, I noticed the cadets look at you with the utmost respect under all the fear. That says something about you. I’ve only been with you for a day so I don’t dare to say more”

He thought about what she told him just now. Mikasa seemed to know more about her, when did they meet anyway?

“Say... when did the two of you meet? That eyebrows mentioned something along the lines that you’ve been with her for a very long time”

Before telling a long story, she grabbed the teacup and blew on it while being oblivious to Levi’s blatant stare before taking a sip and setting it down.

“Yes, I’ve been with her for most of my life. We met when I was around four years okd, she looked quite miserable since she just got out of the Underground, well that’s what she told me. I was with my parents when we found her, they didn’t even hesitate one second to bring her home and help her. She didn’t even introduce herself yet but when she did, my parents were surprised. Little me didn’t get it since I was still unaware the history of the Ackerman’s but when I finally knew something, it made me think that it was such a coincidence for us to meet. Kuchel told my parents everything so they forged a plan to help her back on her feet all the while searching for her son. Fast-forward to today, she’s soaring higher than ever and living her life”

He stared into his now lukewarm tea. “I’m glad… I really am ”

“ I could tell you more but I think Kuchel will prefer more if you heard it from her ” She took another sip of the tea.

 “I’d like that too... and Mikasa,” He said. Mikasa couldn’t help but be swayed with the way he said her name.

He stared into her eyes with a gentle look, she thought it was because of the tea.

“Thank you”

She didn’t expect for him to express gratitude (little did she know) but nonetheless, it was welcome. She softly smiled at him and put her fingers on the typewriter, abandoning the now empty teacup.

“It’s nothing, so shall we start now?”

 —-

*knock* *knock*

“Frieda? You know you could just come in if you want to”

“I know, I knocked for that dramatic effect”

“I thought you were in a meeting?”

“It finished earlier than expected”

“So what brings you here then”

“I’ll let your son’s letter do the explaining for me ”

---

Dear Mother

I’ve read your letter and was fairly relieved to see you doing well. You shouldn’t apologize to me as it was my fault to begin with and instead of you, I think I owe you an apology. A long-overdue apology, one that I would never be able to make up to you.

However I will not make my apology in this letter as I find it better for me to talk to you face to face since only then I can be able to properly apologize to you and frankly because I’m not prepared yet.

Mother, I am good as well, with that I hope that somehow calms your heart a bit since that’s the only thing I can offer at the moment. Thank you for the praise as well.

And yes I’ve met Mikasa, she has adjusted to the military life quite quickly which is a relief for me. Please know that I’ve never hated or despised of a Doll coming for me, although I was a bit resistant in the beginning but that was because of the shock.

As you wrote, I had my reasons for lying about it but when the time’s right, I’ll be able to explain everything to you. It makes me relieved that you got out of that place, that’s one thing out of my mind. The attachments were lovely, I would send some back but I don’t make photographs.

Going back to Mikasa, she’s also doing well in here as I know you’re worried about her as well. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she faces no difficulties in here even when she was a pain the beginning. I won’t comment about her appearance as I think that’s not really important here.

Also, I would love and come visit you there whenever I have the time.

I’ll be waiting for your response.

Your son

Levi Ackerman

Chapter Text

It has been two weeks since Levi and Mikasa sent the letter to Kuchel yet no response has been received from her. No one could tell but this has made Levi quite a bit anxious. Mikasa was with the captain in his office after accepting his request to help him organize some files when she heard him ask a question to her.

"Mikasa"

The girl didn't mutter anything and only lifted her head up to make it known that she has his attention.

"What day is it?" Her head then went to the calendar placed on the desk. "Umm, Monday?"

Levi didn't say anything else and went further with what he was doing but of course, Mikasa being the intuitive person as ever, noticed his aura. Now it made sense to her. She looked once again at the calendar just to make sure, "Ah so that explains it" she muttered, breaking the melodic sounds of paper being tapped on the desk. Levi furrowed his eyebrows. "What is?"

"It's Thousand Crane Day today" Mikasa mentioned as if Levi knew what she was talking about. She explained further when she noticed that his eyebrows remained in the same position. "This is an event our company organizes every year. It's considered as a holiday for some reason so the company is very busy during the whole week so it means the Dolls are completely booked. We don't even allow customers to book Dolls on this day. Which means Kuchel's probably busy writing customers' letters right now. It's hard work but she usually manages."

Levi felt a relief in his heart and thanked Mikasa in his thoughts. It's one less thing to worry about, although it got him curious when Mikasa explained what it was about. Mikasa continued with organizing what was left of the paperwork but since they were almost done, a little chatter wouldn't hurt anybody. He and Mikasa were on good talking terms now, notenough to be considered friends in his mind but they can have a conversation now without that negative energy surrounding them. "Tell me more about this event"

She put the last bundle of paper on the well-stacked pile, making sure to not make any errors as she just knew that the man in front of her is a major perfectionist. "Well, what is it that you want to know specifically?"

"Nothing complicated, just what's it about" He shrugged.

"It's an event that our postal company organized in honor of the Nine Titans. It's for the people who just have thoughts they want to let out to someone dearly beloved, to wish wellness of a sickly relative, to wish luck, to confess a secret, it can be of everything really. Our dolls write all of them then it is given to the customer so that they can fold it into cranes to be hung up on the town square."

"Why is it a busy day when it sounds just like a normal usual day for you?"

"Because it's free. Usually you have to pay for the Dolls services but this event wants to include everyone so people who also can't afford to go to an Auto Memory Doll as well. A lot of them actually wait for this event"

"Interesting" Levi with his military-background mindset, couldn't help but wonder if the event for some was used for malicious activity so he asked. 

Mikasa answered, "Most of us can tell if something's going on so they just keep silent and inform the authorities for suspicion after that. Whatever happens that went over our heads, aren't our fault since we are just doing our job. It can be quite troubling sometimes though."

Levi wasn't convinced that it was that easy but left it at that. It wasn't his priority anyways.

“Are we done here?” Mikasa asked. Levi looked around to see if there were some stuff still needed to be done. He nodded his head. “Yes. You’re free to do whatever you want now. Thank you for your help Mikasa”

She nodded. As she stood up, she stretched her arms and back as she sat on the chair too long. She grabbed her bag and made her way to the door, suddenly felt conscious when she thought that Levi was just staring at her. She resisted the temptation to not look back since it’ll make her feel awkward if what she thought turned out to be true.

Before her hand reached the door handle, Levi’s voice stopped her. “Mikasa” It startled her. Her head turned to look at him.

”Do you mind doing one more favor for me?”

She shook her head. “No, not at all. That’s what I’m here for anyways.”

”Alright. This time it actually consists your actual job”

Sensing that she’ll write a letter for him, she sat back down. “What do you mean?”

”Since I had the extra help, I have some free time before checking something with Erwin. Do you.. mind writing a letter for me?” Bingo.

She let out a small smile and started to position her typewriter. “Well that’s sudden”

He shrugged. “I thought to myself why not.”

Mikasa hummed and asked what he wanted the letter to be about but before he could do so, someone busted through the door.

”Captain! We-“ It was a soldier, obviously enough.

”Can’t you knock?”

”My excuses but we really need you right now” Levi looked at Mikasa for a second as if he was hesitating but stood up. He turned to her to wait here until he informs Eren to assist her but the soldier interjected once again. 

“No need for that captain. We have also already informed someone to send him here” And with that, he made his way to the door but without nodding to Mikasa indicating that he was going. 

“You heard it Mikasa. Eren’s coming so you can just wait here” then he turned around.

”Don’t touch anything” She heard him say and she scoffed. As if she wanted to… the first time was an exception she liked to think. 

The time alone has let Mikasa think about the past weeks. All the time, she had someone beside whether it was Levi or Eren. Not that it was bad, it just meant that the only alone time she gets was when she’s in her room but she’s used to it. Dolls can be seen as nomads, who move from place to place when it’s necessary but it doesn’t mean it’s not lonely. 

Her job required her to travel alone, sure the people she encounters are very comforting to see but seeing people she actually knows is different which made her think about Levi. Where he stood in that spectrum, it’s a grey area for now.

He is basically family, figuratively and literally. When one has a name Ackerman, they’re already considered family but she doesn’t know how she should treat him. She knew what to do in a professional standpoint but in times when it was just the two of them, she doesn’t know how to act. Their relationship has been improving but not much in the way that she wants because the two of them never really had the time to bond with each other. As if it was even needed though since she was only here to deliver letters to Kuchel and not to be involved in romantic relationships with whoever she encounters.

Something in her wanted more though. Did it have to do with the fact that he was Kuchel’s son? Probably. The thought that it was because of something else, something different other than platonic she crossed it out in her mind. No way it was because of that.

‘No way is that ever gonna happen. I want him to be my friend... yeah, a friend since he's an Ackerman and Ackerman's should stick together... that's it’ 

——

“Eren Jaeger!” Someone shouted from the distance. The said guy immediately stood up from his seat, saluting to whoever guy shouted at him. 

“We are in need of Captain Levi’s assistance so we need you to accompany Miss Ackerman” 

Eren brightened up at the mention of the name. In the span of two weeks, he grew to become fond of her. Her being in his presence has been more helpful than it was troubling if he was completely honest. He learned some fighting techniques he has never seen before and she was in general a good company to be with. Plus it was because of her that he was let off to a lot of chores he was supposed to be doing instead. It was weird though, Eren heard from a comrade of his. The higher ups usually don't drop a soldier's chore just because of someone but Eren thought since the companion was an importance to Captain Levi, that was enough for to be excused.

"Yes sir! Heading to the quarters now!" And Eren happily walked to Captain Levi's office. He met some soldiers along the way to which he saluted to. When he arrived in front of his superior's office, he knocked thrice in a specific way to let it known it was him. After a few seconds, Mikasa opened the door with a smile and went back to where she was sitting. 

"Hello Eren" Eren waved and stood beside the door to let her through. "Good afternoon, Mikasa. Have you eaten?" She nodded her head while remaining in her seat. When Eren noticed she wasn't coming out, he asked. "Is there something wrong Mikasa?"

"Oh no, no, I actually would like to do something for you" She said with a small smile while Eren pointed his finger to himself. She nodded once again and signaled him to come in. He was hesitant at first since this was his superior's office and he was going in without his permission. "Oh just come in, he won't mind if I explain the situation to him" Mikasa wasn't really sure if what she said is gonna happen but she'll make it happen.

She put her arm forward, signalling the other side of the seat "Come have a seat in front of me, Eren" He finally came in and sat but not forgetting to close the door.

"What are you going to do Mikasa?" He asked with a narrowed gaze.

She positioned herself to have the optimized posture for typing. "It's Thousand Cranes Day today in our town, it's where-"

"An event where letters are folded into cranes to be hung up in the town square" He told her with a victory grin. Mikasa furrowed her eyebrows. "Where did you get that info? Are you from Shiganshina?"

"Yeah I am but never took really interest in it. My friend just informed me about it who is obsessed about you guys" What Eren said took Mikasa by surprise.

"Really? I never knew you were from the same town as I was"

"Haha well you never asked! I'm surprised you don't know about me, I'm quite well known there"

Mikasa chuckled but after a couple seconds came to a realization. She snapped her fingers, "Wait are you the son of Carla Yaeger?"

Eren gasped, "She indeed is! I assume you have met her considering you mentioned her name"

"She came to the postal company one time and offered me a slice of her fresh pie while complaining about barely seeing her son who's in the military. I really liked her company so I never forgot about her since then."

Eren nodded along while thinking about his parents back home, he sure does miss them. "Yeah she does make the best pies so I can't blame you for not forgetting her. I'm surprised that I never met you before though. Wait, do you live on the sea side of Shiganshina?"

She nodded and Eren hummed. "Lucky! I live on the opposite side, the one with all the buildings and stuff. I begged my parents to move numerous times since I love the ocean along with my friend but they denied just as many times unfortunately"

Both of them chuckled "I love the ocean as well. It gives me a feeling that there was more out there and it calms me down"

"Mhm, same for me as well!"

After a few small talks, she began to initiate the thing she intended to do at the start. "Alright then, since you already know about the event, why not take this chance to have your first crane?" 

Eren looked up to think about it. Now that he thought about it, he didn't have the opportunity to talk to his family and friends back in Shiganshina ever since he enlisted in the Scouting Legion. Back then, he lived freely and had many choices but that went away so he shouldn't shy away from this chance. He looked at Mikasa and smiled, "Sure!"

Mikasa thought of this as good exercise for Levi's letter and she genuinely wanted to write a letter for Eren even though he wasn't included in her clientele. This could be her thanks for keeping her company the past weeks.

"What do you want it to be about?"

That wasn't hard to dig back for Eren. "I want it to be about my family, I barely see them anymore and I miss them. Especially my mom" He thought back on their conversation earlier.

Mikasa could feel the sadness around him while she was typing something with her typewriter. "Then about family it shall be. How do you feel right now?"

"Well..."

And with that, Mikasa managed to make a short letter for Eren and taught him how to fold it into a crane and experience his first Thousand Crane Day even though he was away from his hometown.

--

Mikasa and Levi were in his office once again. Eren was excused and thanked after he was informed that Captain Levi back. 

"Are you sure you want to stay? It's pretty late for you to be working" Levi looked through the window and it was getting dark, he was gone longer than expected. He went outside the military base and landed in the town of Marley along with other soldiers earlier. He felt guilty though for leaving Mikasa all the time when she came here solely for him.

Mikasa seemed to be fumbling with something Levi gave her. As a habit, she tried to smell it and was pleasantly surprised. It was very fruity with a subtle floral scent. She couldn't pinpoint what exactly however. "What is this?" She looked at him with questioning eyes. 

He touched his cravat as a habit of his when nervous. "Just open it" As Mikasa tried to open it carefully, Levi hoped she liked it. He wasn't one to give meaningful gifts so he never knew what to give someone as he usually just greeted them and gave an occasional pocket watch. This time he made the effort to give her something he thought she'd like and was fitting for her job.

"Perfume?" She said surprised. She didn't expect to a gift receive from him, much less a very elegant one like this and for what? She didn't even do anything grand to be gifted something. Levi coughed to ease up his awkward state.

"It's not only a perfume, you can use it to scent your letters" He sat down on his usual seat so he was facing her. He could see her eyes get bigger from the shock. He wasn't sure if his eyes were okay and working but he noticed her cheeks sported a subtle pink tint. He may have looked very stoic on the outside but his mouth betrayed him,the thought of her liking what he gave was cute. Then her eyes locked onto his, his heart stopped beating for a second.

'Why are you like this Levi?' He thought shamelessly.

"Why?" She let out, still shocked. It was almost an indirect response to his thoughts. Yeah Levi, why are you suddenly like this?

He tried his best to sound normal. "I felt sorry that I have to always to leave you alone although you went through the trouble of working here for me so when I was doing business in town. I stumbled across that. It's nothing much so don't look to deep into it" But maybe he wanted her to think about it, whenever she smells this scent that she'll think of him-

'No stop it', you're being creepy now 

Mikasa could careless whether it was a heartfelt gift or not, she thought it was sweet of him to think of her when he didn't even have to. She didn't expect of him to be this thoughtful regardless of what he said. Despite the atmosphere, she couldn't help but make a joke.

"You don't have to treat me good you know? You're protected by our regulations and law so I can't even bad-mouth you to Kuchel even if I want to, though I can with your written consent" Levi rolled his eyes at her 'joke' but after that, Mikasa gave him the sweetest smile since it would be weird to just hug him out of the blue. It would be weirder if she did hug him though.

"Thank you Levi" She said with uttermost sincerity.

His heart went faster for a few seconds. He coughed again to shoo it away.

"Are you okay?" Mikasa asked with a slight worried tune.

"Yes, don't worry about me. And you're welcome, don't be expecting more shit like this though" He tried to banter to make the situation less awkward for him.

She chuckled and cracked her knuckles to start typing what he wanted. "Sure, so shall we commence?"

He excused himself for a second to go outside using the "I forgot I need to give orders out excuse" to keep his heart in check. As his back faced her, she couldn't help but notice that his ears were a little bit red.

He took a few steps out of the office and just rested his back on the wall. He shouldn't have given that perfume, much less given her anything that would lead to a reaction like this.

' Seriously, what the fuck are you doing Levi?'

Dear mom and dad

It's in the afternoon by the time Mikasa is writing this letter so I guess both of you are going to the event. I really can't be with you right now but I wish you both are having a good day knowing it's a holiday. I miss both of you so much and can't wait for the day I get to visit you. I did this for you, to make you feel proud of me. I love you!

P.S I hope that mom sends me her pies, me and Mikasa want to eat them

-

I heard from Mikasa that today is the Thousand Crane Day. Normally I wouldn't participate in events like this and even if i lived there and had a different life I still wouldn't do it but something changed my mind. I thought about my mother who is working hard to fulfill other people's wishes so it seems right to send her words of encouragement and grant one of hers as well. 

Mother, you may not see this immediately but I really wish you all the best. 

I'd like to give you a promise one day that I will see you, in one way or another, I will make it so that it happens.

I never break my promises, wait for me mother. 

 and Mikasa sends her prayers and greetings.

Chapter Text

“Good morning!” She was greeted by a cheerful voice once she opened the door. 

She was all up and ready so it didn’t take long to recognise the person. “Eren?” It was a surprise to see him as it had been a while since they last interacted with each other.

He gave her a big smile once again, “Yes it’s me, once again. Hope you don’t mind”

She shook her head as a response to what he said. “No I don’t mind, it’s pleasant to see your familiar face but is there something I can be of help to you?” He imitated what she just did, he shook his head and smiled once again. “I didn’t come here for that, instead I came to do the opposite”

Her head tilted to the side, confused by what he said. He looked down, his character changed from charismatic to shy, timid. “During Thousand Crane Day, I was feeling a little under the weather to be honest with missing my parents and all” Mikasa could feel her shoulders deflate a little as she could relate with that sentiment. It has been awhile since she contacted her own parents as well so she misses them dearly. She has been too busy tending business between Kuchel and Levi that she forgot to send some letters to her mother and father. Kuchel must have mentioned her a lot of times to them but she knew regardless they’d be worried sick. 

“After you helped me with that, my whole mental health just got better you know? I don’t even need to worry about being homesick anymore. Especially when I found out that a fellow Shiganshina resident is also here” Hearing that warmed her heart. On top of missing her parents, she also missed her hometown despite the desire for travelling to Marley.  

“Well I appreciate your sentiments Eren, but I am able to do that because that is also the reason I was brought here anyhow” 

Eren looked sideways, thinking about what she just said. “You are right” She simply smiled. “Then I guess if you are in need of any help, don’t hesitate to come to me” He continued.

She kept her smile. “I will definitely keep that in mind”

“Well I’ll be on my way then, have a good day Mikasa”

“You too Eren”

What a way to start a morning she thought. Thanks to Eren, she can start her day with a light feeling. 

On the way to Levi’s office, she was met with friendly faces of soldiers often greeting her a good morning and her offering it back. Throughout the previous weeks, they have grown accustomed to the doll and has seen her as their own kind. There weren’t any curious glances or questioning gazes visible anymore, just passive yet present pleasantries were all that’s left. It didn’t help that Mikasa has abandoned her usual garments from her line of work and has opted for the familiar military uniform which in exchange let her experience some weird and unusual encounters as she was sometimes mistaken as a soldier. Sometimes it took a couple of convincing that it wasn’t her task to do some of the things cadets had to do but luckily Eren was always there to vouch for her presence. 

In a way, Mikasa already saw this base as a safe space for her. 

She reached the usual office she has been coming to since the start of her visit and knocked in a way that her current boss would recognise. His familiar voice then came along. “Come in” He said. As soon as she heard the voice, her hands reached for the handle. 

“Good morning, Levi” Mikasa greeted as she entered his office. Her eyes hovered immediately to the desk that she always situated herself but the man she was expecting to be there was not at her sight. She glanced further more and saw him fixing his cravat with a troubled face not too obvious to the naked eye. Unexpectedly, her heart skipped a beat.

Upon hearing her voice, he looked at her general direction and it looked like he brightened up a bit. His demeanor simply lightened without him even noticing it. “Likewise, Mikasa. Go ahead and take a seat, I’m tending to my uniform but it shouldn’t take long” Following his request, she sat herself and simply gazed at him since there wasn’t anything else to do. Levi was visibly seen having a rather difficult time with his cravat. The doll was currently having an internal debate of whether to help him or not as she had expertise in that area with having to help her father on occasions he adorned one.

“Do you need help with that?” After thinking about it, it would be better if she just asked. It would prevent any awkward interactions from happening. 

He looked at her for a second, contemplating whether to accept her help or not. “Actually, yes I do”

Her feet dragged her in front of him with her hands finding it’s way to Levi’s cravat. Levi moved his head away from her in an instant as to not provoke any uncomfortable feelings in the both of them although he couldn’t help but be nervous for a bit. He hasn’t been this close to someone in ages probably. As he tried to look everywhere else except of what was in front of him, Mikasa took a glance at his side-profile a couple times. 

‘He really isn’t that bad looking’ Her thoughts coming to her very frankly. She didn’t pay any attention to how attractive he was as she was too busy comparing his outer appearance to his mother’s but now that she got to take a closer look at him, the comparison flew out of the window and was replaced with viewing Levi as an individual. To simply put, he was handsome and she wasn’t ashamed to admit that to herself. There was nothing to make a big deal out of it anyways she thought yet the slight tremble of her hands and the subtle beating of her heart at the sight of him made it feel like the opposite.

Once she was done, her hands let go of the piece of cloth now resting pretty on his neck. “There you go” She said and silently went back to her seat. 

Levi followed her figure for a moment before coughing to eliminate more of his activated nerves. “Thank you, Mikasa” And he then took a seat in front of her. 

“You’re welcome” 

He could see that the typewriter was already in place, ready for unspoken words to be released. However, before they could begin on writing a letter, Levi wanted to take care of something first. “Before we commence, I would like to say something first”

Her head slightly tilted to the side, curious what might be said. “Sure, we have all day”

“Remember when you reported to me that you often get mistaken as a cadet”

Her head bobbed up and down. 

“I discussed this particular situation with Erwin and we thought that it would be better if we gave you something, an indicator, to let the others know that you are here as a Doll”

“Do you mean like a badge?” He nodded. “Yes, should be something like that”

He continued. “Erwin has also made the decision to broaden the territory so to speak, meaning that Dolls could also now be hired by other soldiers. Not only does it create more jobs for people, it boosts the soldier’s morale knowing that they have another way to communicate to and from home as lower ranked soldiers do not have access to our telephones here. Only a few selected company’s are allowed to work here but it is obvious to state that Rose Postal Company is one of them”

Mikasa pondered for a bit. It sounded like a good idea to her, especially after hearing from Eren and how he felt. Does this also mean that Kuchel can also have the chance to visit if she was needed? She hoped that it would be the case. “I don’t see why that should be a bad idea” She responded meant for her supposed badge and the military’s decision. Not that she had a lot of say in it anyways but it was nice of Levi to inform her about it. 

After hearing her reaction, he nodded and handed her a small envelope. She was about to ask what it contained but Levi was faster in answering. “That’s the aforementioned badge. Erwin contacted your postal company to see if they could provide some sort of badge and apparently they already have it so it arrived quicker than imagined”

Her hands opened the envelope and showed a familiar pendant she has grown accustomed to over the years. Looking at it, a wave of sadness came through her. She sure did miss her people back in Shiganshina. She positioned the badge on top her chest, favouring the right corner. 

“Alright, since that’s settled, shall we begin?” Levi asked as Mikasa positioned herself already to her work stance.

“Let’s shall”

It was hours after Mikasa finished writing for Levi. Both of them were in the mess hall about to eat their lunch. The mess hall compared to the last time she went was pretty bare, only a few people were present now but it made sense since it was already after lunchtime. She and Levi did work quite a bit, not that she minded as she was used to long hours. 

The eating was silent. Levi wasn’t much of a talker when eating as well as Mikasa. Despite that, it wasn’t all that awkward. It was as if both of them were silently working on something in his office.

They had their fair share of awkward silences with other people but they were glad that it wasn’t like that between the two of them. However the pleasant silence was broken when a soldier ran and came to their side. While panting they exclaimed “If I may, can I speak with you Ms. Ackerman?”

Not knowing what to do, she looked at Levi to see what he would say. He recognised this face as one of Erwin’s lackeys aka squad member so it shouldn’t be dangerous to let her off for a short minute but he still got the feeling that he shouldn’t leave her side completely. He looked at Mikasa and nodded. 

“You can but may I ask what this is about?”

“Urgent news coming from your family” Her eyes widened a bit after hearing what the soldier said. What could her family possibly want from her when they were never the ones to be involved much when she was out of town.

'Were they alright?'

'Were they in any sort of danger?'

'Oh god what happened?'

Her thoughts spiralled down into a cloud of worries and Levi could see this in her eyes as well. Being unable to respond, Levi did it for her. 

“Go ahead and talk” Yet after the command, the soldier was still hesitant to say it out loud since it wasn’t the person who was just spoken to who gave consent but thankfully Mikasa’s voice could suddenly be heard. “It’s okay, you can tell it here” Silent and whispered to not let any sign of her worried state out. 

“The president of Rose Postal Company, Frieda Reiss has requested for you, Ms. Ackerman, to return back to Shiganshina immediately. It wasn’t specified whether it was for a short-term leave of absence or a definite retreat but it was for the reason regarding your mother. I have been informed that she has become ill and is currently in the hands of medical assistance”

Her heart sunk at the thought of her mother suffering in the hospital. Was she ill all this time? Did she just leave her mother while she was at that state? Without even knowing anything?

Still noticing the state Mikasa was in, Levi filled in for her again. “She will board the boat this very evening. Thank you for letting us know and please inform Erwin about this” The soldier bowed his head once and saluted before going to what he could guess was Erwin’s office. He then took a look at the girl in front of him who completely sat still. But he knew behind the stoic demeanor, a trembling and worried girl was trying to hide.

It was quite worrying since he never saw her like this, all he wanted was for this to be resolved so that she could feel better. He stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder, firm and reassuring. “Let’s continue this in my office”

She silently obliged as he walked ahead of her. He let her walk slower since he could imagine that the news hasn’t sunk in yet. He may not have had much familial issues but he sure knew how it felt like when something happened to someone of importance.

Once they arrived and entered Levi’s office, he offered her his more comfortable seat and went to the back to make some tea to at least calm her down. All of this happened without any conversation, the silence at their presence again.

Only after a couple of sips of black tea did Mikasa gained the will to talk again.

“I left her like that” She whispered. Levi didn’t hear it properly but he could feel his heart slightly ache from the tone of her voice. It was full of sadness and regret. He could only hope she wasn’t blaming herself for it because he knew how it felt to blame ones self. He worked hard to get out of that hole he placed himself in. 

“It’s not your fault” The softness of his voice gained her attention as she snapped her head to him. The voice complimented the vulnerable eyes he was displaying. She didn’t talk or respond to it. 

“Don’t let yourself believe that any inch of this was your goddamn fault because it’s not. You couldn’t have known she was sick, you’re not a fortune-teller”

“So instead of getting worried, moping in my office, I suggest you pack up and try to catch the evening trip. The earlier you leave, the sooner you get to see your mother” Feeling the sense of urgency, she stood up and excused herself. He was about to follow in case his presence was needed but he could see his commander heading his way with a passive yet worried glance at the running Mikasa.

Levi stopped to see what Erwin wanted but not without sparing a last glance at Mikasa’s direction. “What brings you here?”

“Ah Levi, perfect that you’re here. Let’s head inside first”

As the two were in his office, Levi offered him to have a seat but the blonde commander denied. “No need, this should be quick”

Crossing his arms, Levi leaned to the side of his bureau giving a nonchalant attitude but he was just itching to run after the Doll so he hoped that it indeed did not take long. 

“Go with Mikasa” Levi’s ears perked up as he furrowed his eyebrows. 

“Assist her on her trip back” Erwin added. 

“You mean bring her to the pier? I was already planning on that, I’m not that inconsiderate” Confusion was laced in his voice since he thought this conversation didn’t need to take place or was important enough for Erwin to come to him. 

“No, I meant actually going with her to Shiganshina” And Levi became silent. His arms loosened a little from the shock.  

“I’m afraid that Mikasa is gonna be followed and while I doubt that anything would happen, it is in our better interest if someone came with her in case something does happen”

“Why not ask that Eren Yeager to come with her? I heard that was his hometown as well so I think the brat would appreciate if he went home for a little bit” Erwin shook his head Levi’s suggestion. 

“In other cases I would have done that but it would also be advisable if you weren’t in Marley for the time being” Levi’s eyes stared at his commander’s for a bit, trying to communicate without even having to speak. “Do you mean-“ He trailed but Erwin cut him off. 

“Yes, they’re gonna be here and will be more on your back than ever if you decide to not leave. To ensure your safety and the state of current affairs here, it really is the best if you are not on their field of sight” As much as he would like to discuss more with Erwin about this, he could not find the meaning to decline or ignore his statement. If they were to come, he was sure that it was for information gathering. 

Levi rubbed his temple before nodding. “Okay, I’ll leave with her this evening”

He could see Erwin’s shoulder relax a bit. “Good. We’ll communicate with letters and via telephone”

“Alright”

Erwin’s hand was already on the doorknob, ready to open but he wasn’t gonna depart without having the last word. “Oh and one more thing” Levi’s eyebrow raised. 

“It’s time to see your mother” And Erwin headed outside, leaving Levi speechless than ever before. 

Mikasa went in and out of her room faster than anyone could have ever imagined. The only thing lagging her behind was the changing of garments, from the military uniform she grown to be comfortable in to her work dress that hasn’t been worn in a few weeks now. She never felt so grateful for the rule the Company implemented about only having one bag to bring around but there was a first time in everything.

This was also the first time she had to hear news that a family member of hers was ill, it was worse since it involved her dear mother. 

Before she stopped and worried even more, Levi’s words crossed her mind. It motivated her to exit the base faster than ever. As much as it was embarassing for him to witness her in that state, she has also grown an appreciation and thankfulness towards him since he handled the situation the best he could. If it wasn’t for him, she would have still sat in the mess hall quietly frantic about the news. He was too good in comforting that it almost felt like he went through the same thing. Mikasa stopped on her footsteps as she stepped outside. 

Levi was snatched away from his mother… so of course he knew how it felt to some extent. She should thank him later when she comes back, if she comes back. The sudden thought of not being able to come back here has also become distasteful in her mind. She would not be able to see the friends she had made in here like Eren for a long time and the reason why she was brought here in the first place… she didn’t want to leave his side for some reason. 

“Oi” The deep yet oh-so familiar voice entered her ears, catching her attention. He wasn’t in his uniform anymore but honed a black two-piece suit. A look she had never seen him in. 

“Do you still want to catch the evening boat or are you gonna just stand there and wait for flowers to grow?” As soon as she heard his question, she immediately started walking faster towards him and the vehicle behind him. He held his hand out to which she assumed to store the luggage. While storing the luggage, she noticed it wasn’t only her bag was present, another one was to be spotted. 

‘Is he going to come with me?’

A question popped up in Mikasa’s mind but decided not to entertain to prevent further more delays. Both of them hopped in the vehicle and headed to the pier. During the ride all she could think about was the other luggage.

The ride fortunately did not take that long so no conversations were made as well. When Mikasa and Levi stepped out, he headed tograb both of the luggages that was in the vehicle. 

“Erwin ordered me to come with you” He quietly murmured.

Thank god she didn’t have to ask him any longer but the thought of him coming back to Shiganshina with him did make her a bit nervous.

This was basically it. Despitehim coming to Shiganshina wasn't her doing at all, she was finally taking Kuchel’s son to where she also was located. She could feel Levi’s conflicted feelings about it however but she knew he wanted to see her so she hoped that this would serve as a bridge to get the two of them back in each other’s presence. Which reminded her the departing words of Kuchel.

“Hug him for me” 

Given the situation, she could do it now but they weren’t in that stage where they could easily be physical with each other. The thought of simply touching him was already making her nervous. She pushed that thought aside as they were gonna board. 

After settling on a safe spot where they could store their luggage, Mikasa immediately headed straight to the rails to see the sparkling ocean she once wished heavily to see while Levi followed her not too long after that. 

“You know, I really adore this view” She blurted out of the blue. She saw Levi looking at her on the corner of her eye. “I lived by the sea so it’s not like I was deprived of it or anything but I also wished to get out of there and travel across. On the way to Marley, I only spent hours upon hours gazing at the view in front of me as I slowly get mesmerised by it, thinking about how I made my wish come true”

Levi only looked at her and said nothing. She didn’t expect for him to talk anyways, she simply wanted to say what was on her mind.

“It’s pretty bizarre to think how much I wanted to travel because right now…” Her eyes in a downcast. “All I want right now is to go home” After the last sentence, she could feel the tears build up on her eyes but tried her best to prevent it from spilling over. She didn’t want him to see her in a vulnerable position and make him uncomfortable but deep down she couldn’t help it. His presence alone was making her blurt out all of this and make her feel safe to be like this. 

While she was trying to keep her feelings at bay, she could feel the railing move a bit. Levi was now next to her, leaning against it as opposed to earlier when he was standing slightly behind her. “Children are bound to find their way back home someday if they desire” He said. From such harmless words, her tears started to fall. 

From the corner of her eye she could see him stare at her and her tears so she automatically tried to turn away from him to widen the space a bit but he suddenly did the opposite.

He gently grabbed her shoulder and turned her to him as he hugged her as tightly as he could.

Not much was said, only the trembling of her shoulders and his occasional rubs on the back were doing the talking for them. 

One could see this scenario in a funny way since she was asked to hug the son but instead, the son did it for her.

Not that it mattered to Mikasa since all she could ever think about was how warm his body actually was. 

"Hey Kuchel!" Little Mikasa brightly shouted her name. 

She looked down "Yes Mikasa?"

"Have you ever wondered about the origins of the Ackerman clan?" She asked, Kuchel could see a sparkle in her eyes.

That question stunned the woman, those were pretty big words considering the little one was only living for a few years. She didn't know what to tell her so she went down to her level and patted her head.

"You and your imagination"

Long before the happenings of the Great War between Paradis Island and the Mid-East, there existed another grand war. While the wars now would be due to clashing of political opinions or tension between ranks or territory, back then the reason for the extinction of the Ackermans was due to their power.  They were powerful, too powerful  in fact to the point that it feared the royal kingdom. No one knew why they were like that except for one person but sadly he was already long dead by the time the elites declared war between the royal kingdom and the Ackermans. He didn't live to tell the tale of the existence of the Ackermans and for the other ones who had lived the same years as him has been eliminated and thrown off somewhere as the Royal Kingdom had plans on the area they lived on.

It originated by one man, years and years ago, when he thought it was a good idea to mess with human genetics. The area where he resided in, was a very messed up place. It was a place full of lunatics but he liked to think he wasn't one of them though. Every single person was messing with at least one living organism in an unhealthy manner, one individual was responsible for the event of the Black Death. That person messed with a rat while they were sickly with a virus and they thought it was a good idea to insert his DNA in the rat.

Needless to say, it was one place no one sane person would ever want to visit.

There was one man who stood out in the crowd, while others were subconsciously letting the world end, this one man wanted to improve upon it. After going through tons and tons of research paper  - all lost due to his neighbours constantly ruining and thrashing his belongings-  he concocted one experiment he thought would deem to be successful. 

"A human who would act as a sword and shield to those who need it" were his exact description for his experiment. And for that to happen, he made a serum which contained blood of the strongest individual he could find, elements from the sturdiest blade to ever exist and more components that represented fortified strength. He intended for the serum to be inserted in a baby, to see how it would grow.

After choosing a woman who deemed the most suited for the experiment, he got her pregnant and waited for the baby to be born. He mercilessly snatched their offspring from the mother and experimented on it until he succeeded. He didn't get to live to see the results of his hardwork though as he became one of the victims of the Black Death.

He would never see the impact he created. The wars he indirectly started. 

The baby who was heavily experimented on grew up to be unexpectedly normal, until one day , the child dropped his spoon. The child went to pick it up but ended up breaking the whole wooden table his other arm was supporting on, the child didn’t know what the cause of it was but he only remembered being dragged by multiple people and getting strapped on some experimenting table. Those people claimed to be the worshippers of the mad scientist. 

They proceeded to abuse the child by doing various tests on him, they also began to name the boy ‘Ackerman’ in honor of the man, Dr. Ackerman who 'invented' him. They showed typical cult behaviours but did the worst things to their ‘god’. Once the boy was old enough to mate, women offered themselves to him to get the Ackerman genes. He was forced to impregnate more than a hundred women, the children were then born and those Ackerman children proceeded to make children of their own.

Word got out, people were then out to get them. Out of fear, some sailed to the island on their East, some stayed but in hiding despite having godlike strengths. As the years went on, the numbers of the Ackerman drastically decreased thanks to the Royal Kingdom but one big branch of Ackermans made a name for themselves as notorious hunters. That one branch survived but again, years later, they met their fate and only an even fewer number survived.