Attack on Titan: Bloodline -- Version 2

• Chapter 30 •

An hour had passed since she had woken up in the infirmary. She was still clutching the shard of Reiner's armour, holding it in her lap and staring distantly out the window at the beautiful, orange-lit courtyard. She saw her friends and comrades outside, conversing, walking around, and laughing. After everything that had happened, there were still some smiles and laughter among her friends. She ran her thumbs gently over the small stone-like shard in her hands. She watched as Mikasa, though she had been injured in the battle, was out walking through the courtyard with Eren, Jean, and Armin. Their faces were serious and thoughtful. She sighed softly, thinking, "What are they talking about? I wonder why they're so concerned. Is it about me? Or maybe it's about what happened out on the field." Her thoughts were shortly interrupted by a light knock on the door.

"It's Levi."

Lorraine remained silent, but without waiting for a response, the door swung open just enough for him to slip in before pushing the door shut behind him with his foot. She looked up at him briefly, letting her eyes fall back to her lap. He sat on the bed next to her, holding a tray on his lap with a warm bowl of vegetable soup and a loaf of bread. The silence between them felt awkward, but Levi cleared his throat and said, "Lorraine. I brought you some soup." She said softly, still staring blankly at her lap, "I'm not hungry." He said calmly, "You need to eat. You've been out cold for three days. You need your strength." She remained silent. He sighed. He set the tray on her bedside table and rested his head in his hands, propping his elbows up on his knees. She said softly, "It happened again...." He hummed curiously. She elaborated monotonously, "Ever since I was a kid...everyone I get close to...always seems to leave me." He looked up at her. She once again had tears trailing down her cheeks.

"Our...no...M-Mikasa's parents...Eren's mom...o-our friends and comrades...Annie...one after another, everyone has either left or died."

She gripped the armour shard in her hands.

"Even when I was just a baby...you left me."

Levi felt his heart drop. She sobbed, "And now, Reiner's gone." She lifted the shard to her lips and cried, feeling a sharp pain in her shoulder with every breath and sob. Levi sighed. She said through hitched breaths, "My whole life has been nothing but lies." Levi finally spoke. His voice came soft and low.

"That isn't true."

Lorraine sobbed, "Yes, it is. All those years, I thought I had only one person left in this world that I could call family, but she isn't even my sister...and where were you? You abandoned me. Left me behind." Levi closed his eyes, letting her speak. She cried, "A-and Reiner...he acted like...h-he acted like he really loved me. He held me. Comforted me." She practically shrieked, "He made me feel more loved than I had ever felt in my entire life!" As Lorraine cried, Levi just breathed deeply, steadying his thoughts before speaking.

"He's gone...he's gone, now...a-and I don't know what I should do...."

He said gently, "Lorraine, calm down." She looked up at him. He said, his head still down, "It's true. I did abandon you. For that, I...am truly sorry." He took a breath in and said, "Lorraine, listen to me."

He reached out and placed his hand over hers.

"You're a soldier, now. Losing loved ones, while it seems unbearable, is a part of our lives. There is nothing more you could have possibly done. Now, you must accept that they're gone and move on."

She asked, trembling, "How...? How can I when they...when he played such an important part of my life?" He thought for a moment and said, "Let me help you." He took a short breath in and exhaled.

She felt a fresh wave of tears rolling down her face as she stared into his sincere, blue eyes. She nodded. The corners of his mouth turned up into a smile. He let go of her hands and turned, grabbing the tray of food off the nightstand. She took it from him, both realizing that the soup was cold. She set it on her lap and said, "Thank you." He reached up and placed his hand on the top of her head.

He stood up and began to walk out, but as he placed his hand on the doorknob, Lorraine said sharply, "Wait." He turned back and she said, "I-I'm...I'm so sorry. I...." He shook his head and said, "It's okay." She stared at him, but he walked out without another word. She looked down at her cold vegetable soup, then picked up the small loaf of bread and tore off a piece, dipping it into her soup and popping it into her mouth.

The days went by slowly and surprisingly uneventfully. Lorraine made a remarkably swift recovery, though she was informed that the tendons in her shoulder needed more time to heal and that it was very likely that they wouldn't ever return to their original state. Three days after she woke up, she was allowed to leave the infirmary, her arm hanging in a sling, her shoulder and back wrapped in bandages that would need to be changed daily. Though she was physically on the road to recovery, her emotional state was another story. She was broken. Reiner was gone. The things that used to calm her nerves and cheer her up did nothing but remind her of better days. Even listening as Armin read books aloud to her was no good. Her thoughts and memories were overwhelming and she often spaced out, unable to hear or focus over the flashbacks she experienced of her and Reiner. The armour shard was the one thing that brought her any comfort, but she felt no joy in the memories it brought back. She had wrapped a strong cord around the chunk of stone-like armour and wore it around her neck day and night.

Over the next several days, it was theorized that Eren was the reason the Titans switched directions during the mission. Jean and Armin had discussed their theory with Hanji in private before telling anyone else, but it was soon a widely accepted theory among the Scouts who knew. Because of this theory, Levi and Erwin came up with a plan to bring a new Levi Squad comprised of trusted members of the 104th Cadet Corps, himself, Moblit, and Hanji out to a small, abandoned cabin on the outskirts of Wall Rose to run secretive testing, requested by Hanji. They made it very clear that the outing was to be kept completely secret from everyone who was not involved for fear that the Military Police would be skeptical. Levi, Hanji, Moblit, Krista, Sasha, Jean, Lorraine, Connie, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin packed up the necessities for a long journey away from HQ, mounted their horses, and in the dead of night, they rode out away from civilization and into the forest.