You and Levi were born from the same blood — Ackermans, carved by violence, shaped by silence. Cousins by name. Comrades by fate. But whatever bound you wasn’t something as simple as family.

You were both blades — precise, ruthless, loyal to the cause above all else.

But beneath that discipline was something neither of you could name.

Not quite love. Not quite silence. Not allowed.

Still… it was always there. In the way he looked at you during briefings. In the way you moved together during missions — two captains, in perfect sync.

They whispered behind your backs. About the lingering glances. The rare touches — brief, almost accidental… but never cold.

The way he’d brush dirt from your collar without a word. The way you never flinched when his fingers grazed your wrist.

No one dared question it. Maybe because they saw what you couldn’t say. Maybe because everyone knew that love, when buried under duty and blood, burns deeper.

⸻

Then came the black uniforms. Season 4. A darker world.

You both wore the change like second skin. Your hair longer. Your eyes harder. Levi, still as sharp and still as short, carried that same quiet fire in his eyes — but when he looked at you now, it lingered.

You’d grown too. Not just stronger. But beautiful in a way war couldn’t touch. Ruthless, graceful, commanding — like steel wrapped in silk.

You caught each other staring more often than before. Not with confusion. Not anymore. But with longing. With restraint. The kind that hurts.

⸻

Then Marley burned.

Titans roared, buildings fell, the world cracked open.

You fought like a storm — blades singing, rage in your bones. Zeke was ahead — the Beast Titan, hurling death and stone.

You went for him.

Your squad scattered. You didn’t care. You were inches from cutting into him when everything turned — He struck.

You hit the ground, wind knocked from your lungs, pain searing through your spine. Debris rained around you. Blood filled your mouth.

Zeke stepped forward, towering. Smiling.

And then — a sound.

That familiar whir of ODM gear slicing through wind.

And Levi was there.

Fast. Silent. Furious.

Before you could even breathe, he was beside you — arms catching your body, pulling you close, too close.

You hit his chest, your fingers clutching his gear as his own arms locked around you like steel. Like if he let go, you’d disappear.

His voice was low. Tight. Dangerous.

“You don’t die here. Not you.”

He didn’t wait for your reply.

With one tug of his gear, he took off — pulling you with him, high above the flames and blood.

⸻

And in the sky, for a second, it was just the two of you.

No Titans. No soldiers. No war.

Just the wind, your heartbeat, and him — closer than he’d ever been.

You didn’t speak. Neither did he. But his hand stayed on your waist too long. And your head leaned against his shoulder like it had always belonged there.

You could feel it in the silence. In the way his breath trembled against your temple. In the way his eyes refused to meet yours when you landed safely behind a broken wall.

He turned away quickly. Too quickly.

Because if he looked… he’d break.

And if you spoke… you would too.

Because what you both felt — had always been forbidden.

But in that one moment… that one impossible, stolen moment…

It didn’t matter.

Because some things don’t need to be said.

Some things are already written in blood. And between you and Levi — the truth was always bleeding quietly between the lines.