Lara (Long-Fic Levihan | Armin Arlert X OC)

Chapter 6 - Nightmares

Hange spent the rest of the day with Lara, showing the camp and teaching her a little about the routine of a Survey Corps soldier.

Of course, she also talked a lot about the Titans. Lara listened to everything with fascination, and even though she had already seen a Titan for real, hearing about them still gave her the chills.

After nightfall, they both headed to the refectory. The night was quite pleasant, so most soldiers preferred to dine by the campfires outside, therefore, only a few of them were in the refectory when they arrived.

"Go sit down, and I'll go get our food," said Hange, standing at the doorway.

Lara looked around and spotted the only person she knew there: Levi. He was sitting at one of the few tables in the room, accompanied by some talkative distracted soldiers.

She sat down next to Levi, waving a friendly "Hello!". Shyly, she also waved at the other soldiers, who smiled back at her and continued to talk amongst themselves.

Lara swung her little legs on the bench, waiting for her dinner. Even surrounded by strange soldiers, she was feeling pretty comfortable in Levi's presence. She couldn't say for sure why... He had a very serious face and looked grumpy all the time, but he didn't scare her, much less intimidate her at all. On the contrary, Lara felt like getting closer to him.

Levi glanced at her, uneasily. He didn't want to show it, but he was feeling quite concerned about ensuring that child's safety on the mission to Shiganshina. Lara was still making Levi feel something very strong. Her story had really moved him. When he imagined someone doing such a terrible thing as done to her, it made him angry.

He didn't remember ever taking care of a child at some point in his life. Of course, he was used to leading and teaching groups of young soldiers from military training, but taking care of someone as small as her would be the first time ever. He was feeling a bit lost, like he didn't know what to do around her.

Levi would usually think to himself he had no patience with children at all. They always looked dirty and made lots of annoying noises, and many were too spoiled. However, the little he had known about Lara, he had sympathized with her. Maybe deep down, it was because she had a story so similar to his...

He was so absorbed in his own thoughts, he didn't even notice that the girl was calling him.

"Mr. Ackerman!" called Lara, with her big blue eyes gazing at him. "Hange told me that, tomorrow, you'll take me to the mission on a black horse, is that true?"

"O-Oh, yes..." replied Levi, turning to her. "It's a big black horse, which has been with me since I joined the Survey Corps." He leaned towards the girl, "You can just call me Levi, please."

"Okay, Levi," she smiled. "I've always wanted to see a horse from up close..." Lara looked up at the ceiling, her eyes gleaming.

"Are you... Afraid of horses?" asked Levi.

"Afraid?!" she turned to him with a confused expression. "Not at all! I've just never gotten any closer to one because I was not allowed at the orphanage. I've always wanted to ride a horse. It must be so much fun to be able to reach that high." She spread her arms like a bird's wings.

Levi raised his eyebrows and got surprised, thinking how uninhibited the girl was and even seemed quite brave. He wanted to ask her something, but just then, Hange approached with their food.

"Chow time!" she exclaimed, giving another bowl of soup and bread to Lara. "Sorry, darling... We don't have much variety here..."

"Are you kidding me?!" Lara widened her eyes, laughing. "This puts the meals of the orphanage to shame!"