Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin

Even Humanity's Strongest Have Their Weaker Moments

They had just returned from another expedition.

Sure, they themselves were still alive but they had also lost a lot of comrades again to those monsters they called the Titans.

Eren simply hated it.

In his opinion he or someone else could have saved those they lost.

And with Eren being Eren he ignored Mikasa's and Armin's warnings and voiced his thoughts aloud.

"You really think like that, brat?" Levi asked him with the same cold face he always held on.

Eren knew better then to start talking back to the shorter man because after all, he could easily beat him up or even kill him but after seeing other humans getting eaten alive again he couldn't stop himself.

"What do you think?! Another bunch of lives are lost because we weren't fast enough!" he screamed as loud as he could.

"Eren!" Mikasa snapped but he ignored her.

"How can you just stay so calm like this?! Don't you care?!" he demanded to know from his captain who didn't say anything.

"Eren, please calm down!" Armin practically begged him.

"You were even like this when your own squad died! Did you also not care about them?!" the titan-shifter screamed and that was when he had crossed the line.

Barely a second later he found himself being slammed into a wall with a huge force and being held up above the ground by his collar by Levi himself.

In the corner of his eye Eren could see Armin doing his best to restrain Mikasa who was glaring daggers at the corporal but he didn't care about his friends at the moment, too shocked as he looked at said corporal.

Levi had completely dropped his usual mask as was openly glaring hatefully up at him.

"You idiotic brat! Is that really what you think?!" he roared and Eren found it to be one of the rare moments were he was truly scared of a human.

He flinched when his collar was gripped even tighter.

"You think I couldn't care less about them?! Well, let me tell you something! They were not just my underlings! They were my friends!" Levi yelled loudly, pulling one fist back as if he was about to beat the crap out of Eren again but he stopped himself.

"Tch. Forget it. A brat like you isn't even worth it." he said and with that he dropped Eren ungracefully to the ground and stalked off, pushing past a confused Jean who had just come into the room.

"What's his problem?" he asked.

"Eren's big mouth is his problem." Connie answered, glaring over at Eren who was sitting on the ground, in shock about what had happened.

"Eren? Are you alright?" Mikasa asked worriedly as she kneeled down next to him.

"Would you like a piece of my bread?" Sasha offered as she kneeled on his other side, already having ripped a piece off and holding it out to him.

"That surprised?" a new voice suddenly asked, causing everyone to jump and turn around where they found Hanji standing in the door with a small and even calm smile on her face, as opposed to her usual hyper and excited one.

"H-Hanji-san!" Armin gasped.

"That's me." she said as she walked towards Eren and kneeled down in front of him.

"You didn't expect that reaction, did you?" she asked him gently and not knowing what to say he simply shook his head.

"Well, you pushed him pretty far. There is only so much he can take." she said, much to everyone's confusion.

"Come on. Follow me." the scientist said as she pulled Eren to his feet and started walking away.

Unsure about doing what she said Eren looked over at his friends but they all motioned for him to go.

With that Eren nodded and made a quick jog to catch up with the woman, wondering where they were going.

"I bet you would like to know where we are going, huh?" she asked him as if she had read his thoughts.

"Yes, please tell." he said, having finally found his voice again.

"We're already here." she said as she stopped in front of a door.

Eren immediately recognized it as Levi's room and looked up at the woman.

Did she bring him here to make him apologize?

He gulped as she knocked on the door.

"Levi? You in there?" she asked.

"Go away, Shitty Glasses." the man's voice was heard calling back.

It was a typical Levi-answer but what was different was that Eren swore he heard the voice crack.

Hanji didn't seem to notice or she didn't care as she opened the door herself, revealing Levi sitting on his bed with something in his hands.

"I told you to go away, didn't I?" the corporal snapped, making Eren flinch.

"Yeah but I never listen to you, do I?" Hanji asked calmly as she walked into the room.

Hanji kept walking until she was standing in front of the corporal who glared up at her but did nothing more.

"Hey!" he snapped but still didn't stand up when she grabbed whatever he was holding from him.

"Take a look at this." she told Eren as she handed him the object and only now did Eren see that it was a picture-frame.

The picture inside it was one of what appeared to be one of Levi's birthday party as in the air hung a banner with the words 'Happy Birthday Levi' on it with Levi sitting on a chair with his arms and legs crossed as he glared at the camera while being surrounded by Hanji, Mike, Petra, Aururo, Eld, Gunther, Moblit, Dita, Nanaba, Shadis, a bunch of soldiers Eren only recognized by face and didn't know the names of and even commander Erwin with all of them wearing party-hats.

It was a cute picture and all but why did Hanji show this to him?

"Are you having trouble with understanding, Eren?" a voice called from behind Eren and turning around the boy gave a startled yelp and quickly saluted when he saw Erwin standing right behind him.

"Why don't you now come with me?" the man suggested with a gentle smile as without waiting for an answer he already started walking away.

Eren looked at Hanji to see if she was alright with him leaving and it seemed she was as she just nodded at him.

Once again Eren needed to do a quick jog to catch up with one of his superiors until he could walk next to him.

"I suppose you're wondering why Hanji made you look at that picture and where I came from, don't you?" Erwin asked, apparently also being able to read minds.

"Yes, I am!" Eren answered loud and clear.

Erwin seemed a bit amused at the boy's behavior but he wiped the smile from his face as he knew he needed to be serious.

"You doubted Levi's feelings for whenever we lose some of our comrades."

It wasn't a question but a statement.

Eren didn't really know how to respond to that.

Erwin seemed to notice and so he decided to help a bit.

"What did you see on that picture Levi had been holding?" he asked.

Eren was surprised by that question but guessing it would explain a few things he answered.

"Well, I saw you, Hanji-san and a whole bunch of others celebrating Levi's birthday." he answered, feeling a little unsure of his answer in case there was something he missed and that was the thing that mattered.

He felt relief wash over him when Erwin hummed and nodded in agreement.

"And did you see anything specially?" he asked and Eren flinched in slight panic.

Maybe he did miss something after all!

However, in a desperate attempt to at least say something Eren blurted out "Uhm… Levi looked pretty annoyed at all of it?!"

"Exactly. He was really annoyed and I remember how we almost had to tie him down to prevent him from leaving." Erwin gave a small chuckle at the memory.

"But even while he was annoyed at having me and the others throw him a party, why do you think he still kept that picture?" he asked the boy beside him.

"I wouldn't know, sir." Eren answered in a confused tone.

"Because it is still a precious memory to him. It was one of the few moments we as members of the Survey Corps have that we truly feel at ease without any Titans or other dangers and when we could just simply enjoy each other's presence." the commander explained.

Eren nodded in understanding at that.

He and his friends also always tried to enjoy the little things when they could.

"Levi has kept that picture for years as a memory of a nice day but also as one of many of his friends." Erwin added.

He stopped walking and Eren noticed after a quick look around that they had walked in a big circle and were back a Levi's room which still had the door standing open.

Erwin motioned for him to look inside again and he did, only for his eyes to grow huge at the sight he saw.

Levi was wrapped up in Hanji's arms as he sobbed openly in her shoulder while the woman whispered comforting words to him.

"Eren, Levi is one of the many people like myself who hides his emotions in order to appear strong but that doesn't mean losing friends or even comrades we barely know doesn't hurt. Between you and me, at some nights I cry myself to sleep when thinking about all the people who died under my command." Erwin whispered softly in Eren's ear before walking off.

Eren carefully walked out of the room as the other two didn't seem to have noticed him and Erwin and when he was a few feet away he sighed and slumped against the wall.

Boy, he had apparently seriously hurt the corporal with his rashness.

He really needed to listen more to Armin and Mikasa when it came to opening his big mouth.

With that Eren sighed and walked off, back to the room his friends were while in his minds trying to think up a ways to apologize and hope for forgiveness.

The End

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