Chapter 18 - Queen Historia

                                    

                                          
"Wait, you're telling me that titan is- Historia's dad!?" Leah gasped, pointing a finger between Historia and Rod Reiss' titan in bewilderment. The titan had broken the surface now and was dragging itself across the landscape destructively on its belly. Outside you got a scale of its sheer size as it looked equal to some of the mountains on the horizon. There was a quiet nod from Historia and Eren in confirmation.
A horse and rider galloped towards them, the rider being one of Erwin's Scouts. As Levi briefed him on the situation, Eren seized the opportunity and threw his arms around Leah in a heart warming reunion. Tears pricked the teenager's eyes. "Why did you leave?" He murmured sadly as he held onto Leah. He hadn't realised how attached he'd grown to her until she left suddenly, viewing her as a mixture of a older sister and mother; he knew his own mother would've loved Leah. He wanted to be angry at her for having left, but the intense relief that washed over him when he saw her again took with it all the anger.
"Not now, Eren. I'll explain another time." 
Eren accepted that answer for now, but made a mental note to ask again once this was all over. He stepped back from the hug and gave Leah a lopsided grin. "We all missed you." He dropped his voice and cast a nervous glance towards Levi to make sure he wasn't listening, "Even the Captain did, not that he'd admit it. He was in such a bad mood after you left I honestly-"
"Jeager." Levi's voice came warningly from beside them. Leah and Eren's gaze moved slowly to Levi, who was now stood there with his arms folded and a disapproving look on his face. "Yes, Captain?" Eren's voice broke with fear as Levi glared at him. Leah stifled a laugh, biting her lip to stop a smile as she watched the exchange. 
"We're getting ready to meet with Commander Erwin, you're to ride in the cart with Historia and Section Commander Hange." Eren nodded, saluted Levi and scampered away and finally Leah let out her amusement in the form of a soft chuckle. Levi regarded her for a moment before continuing, watching the way her eyes twinkled. "Leah, you're riding with me."
-
The short journey cross-country to meet Commander Erwin wasn't terrible. With no room in the wagon and a limited number of horses, Leah had the joy of sharing Levi's horse. The arrangement wasn't new, the pair having shared a horse before - however, the feelings that seemed to intrude on every thought Leah had, certainly were.
Just like last time, Leah rested her arms around Levi's midsection but instead chose to sit back and take her surroundings as the sun crept into the sky. The female knew for a fact if she rested her head on his back she'd fall asleep in seconds. She was beyond the point of exhaustion, and adrenaline was the only thing that urged her forward. The lurching of the horse was more sickening that usual, perhaps due to the fact she also hadn't had a proper meal for over 2 days. 
Leah was glad when she set eyes on Erwin's snowy steed and Levi's horse slowed to a trot. "Erwin." Levi called the Commander as he closed in. The blonde male rode over as the Levi Squad all drew to a stop around him and Levi angled his horse so that Leah could see. At first Erwin didn't seem to notice the ginger's presence, riding up to the cart to peer in. "Anyone hurt?"
"Yeah, Hange took a hit." Levi urged his horse closer as he explained. The section commander in the wagon slowly raised their bloodied hand, looking quite sorry for themself. "Doesn't look like anything too serious. You've done excellent work, all of you." Erwin said, scanning the faces around him. At first his gaze simply trailed over Leah but he quickly did a second take.