Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan!

A/N: Remy is 13, Ava is 8!

Dancing Under a Blue Moon

It wasn't every day that Survey Corps soldiers got married, and it was even rarer when two Corps members married each other. Most people considered it crazy to start a family with someone who was statistically very likely to die before reaching middle age.

Levi and Hanji happened to disagree, but they were in the vast minority.

While they weren't particularly close to the couple who had gotten married, almost everyone in the Corps had been invited so the Ackermans had shown up as well. The ceremony had taken place in a large park near the Survey Corps Headquarters, and now everyone was gathered under a few massive tents, enjoying the party that the bride and groom's families had prepared.

Levi had been abandoned by his family at one of the tables, though that was really Erwin's fault. The commander had sat down at the table, and the rest of them had dispersed, perhaps sensing that Erwin was going to launch into a discussion of something besides how good the food was or the liveliness of the music. Levi didn't mind talking about minor Corps business, seeing as that was preferable to wedding-related sappiness, but his gaze kept drifting, seeking out his family. When he and Erwin lapsed into a companionable silence, Levi quickly located his kids and wife.

Remy was perched in the lower limbs of a nearby tree, talking to some other kids his age. The Braus kid, Kostya, was there, and so was one of the Yeager twins, plus a few others that Levi recognized. As long as they were within eyesight, Levi didn't think they could find much trouble to get into, though he knew better than to underestimate Remy. If his son wanted to find chaos, he would.

Across the distance, Remy met his eyes and gave a smirk and a thumbs up. Levi was going to take that as a half-hearted promise to not start too much crap this evening. He nodded back.

Underneath the glow of the party lanterns, Hanji and Ava were spinning with the rest of dancers, following the circular pattern of a fast jig. Levi could hear Hanji's laugh lift with the melody of the violin. Both of them had their hair down, long dark chestnut locks a nearly perfect match in color. The last bit of sunlight was catching the hint of red in Hanji's hair as she twirled, arms in the air, feet stamping to the drumbeat. He was looking forward to working the tangles out of her hair later, letting the thick strands run through his fingers.

Ava was a whirlwind of blue and white, moving around Hanji and the other nearby dancers like a breeze flitting through the crowd. She was lithe and weightless, coordinated and graceful if a little overly enthusiastic.

Hanji saw him watching and stopped moving around to wildly wave at him. "LeeeeVI! Come dance!"

Levi shook his head. He wasn't much for dancing, especially since he had never bothered to learn the moves to the traditional dances. It wasn't as if there had been much use for them in the underground.

"You know that won't work," Erwin said.

"I don't like this song."

He spotted Hanji bending down and catching Ava as she darted past, kneeling to probably give her detailed instructions. Hmm, so Hanji was going to play a trump card.

Difficult woman.

A moment later, Ava dashed toward him, careening around legs of people who were much taller than her until she reached him, stopping herself by grabbing his chair. Quickly, she leaned over and kissed Levi's cheek but instead of pleading with him directly, she turned to Erwin. Ah, so that was a preemptive apology kiss. Levi saw where this was going immediately and shot Hanji an annoyed look through the party-goers but she was talking to Jean.

Ava flashed a bright, innocent smile, and Levi knew that trying to stay at the table was a lost cause. Remy and Ava had a certain pull with Erwin that they both used to their advantage on special occasions. It seemed that this was one of those times. "Excuse me, Uncle Erwin Sir, may I borrow my papa? I want to dance with him, but I don't want to interrupt your important conversation."

"Oi, chatterbox, you already did," Levi said, but Erwin was already nodding.

"It's all right, Ava," the commander said, "I can talk to him tomorrow." Levi frowned, but Erwin was already standing up and moving toward another table, smirking to himself. He ruffled Ava's hair affectionately as he passed, probably heading toward the bar.

"Thank you!" Ava called after Erwin before turning back to Levi. Her grey-blue eyes were full of triumph and playfulness as she stretched both her hands out to him. "Now you don't have an excuse."

"Smart mouth," he said as he took her hands, though he didn't get up yet. "Was that your plan or your mother's?"

"I'm not allowed to say," she said, squeezing his rough palms, "But I really would like to dance with you." Her eyes sparked with mischief. "It'll be practice for when I get married."

Levi tensed up at the very idea of his daughter growing up, falling in love with some idiot hooligan, and leaving him and her mother forever. Whoever tried to court his girl was going to have to go through a rigorous testing period. A multi-year one. He was going to have to talk to Hanji about this, they need to start planning now.

"I was kidding, Papa. Papa? Are you okay?"

"You're not allowed to get married until your fifty," Levi said shortly, finally getting up, "And you can't date until you're thirty."

Ava gaped at him. "Papa! No way, that's so old!"

"Those are the rules, deal with them." He headed toward the dancers, moving easily through the tent as people subtly moved out of his way. Ava stayed at his side, one of her hands in his, and as they reached the dance area, she twirled and took his other hand as well. They stayed near the edge of the dancing square, following the movements of the other dancers. Ava beamed up at him as he spun her once.

Every so often, he wondered how he wound up like this, with a family that loved him and people who cared, a high level position in the military, a home above ground. He didn't want to question it, and he didn't want to take it for granted either.

Arms wrapped around him from behind and he felt Hanji's lips on his neck before she blew a breath into his ear, making him crazy. "You're so predictable. The world's strongest man, melts for tiny daughter."

"Don't do that," he growled, "And stop turning our kids into schemers."

"I think they get that from both of us," she said, and then grinned over at Ava, "Good job, by the way, baby."

"You're welcome, Mama," she said, bouncing on the balls of her feet, "I think they're going to do the circle dance! Come on!" She took off toward the rest of the dancers, pulling Levi with her. In turn, Levi caught Hanji by the waist and yanked her along as well.

"Let's go, four-eyes."

The partygoers made multiple circles around the young newly married couple in the middle and then they started the dance. It was simple and lively, but that's not why Levi enjoyed it. No, he just liked watching Ava and Hanji on either side of them, both smiling and lighthearted.

Yeah, so he didn't completely hate dancing. Maybe.