Follow Lara's journey, an orphan girl of just ten years old, who joins the Survey Corps. Having Levi Ackerman and Hange Zoë as her tutors, her life takes on a new meaning as the relationship with these two soldiers grows. And, as time goes by, she d...
Lara had indeed broken her left foot and one of her left ribs. Hange in person took care of all her injuries. At the moment she put Lara's foot back in place, Hange cried more than the girl.
By Tuesday afternoon, the Survey Corps had already returned to Krolva District, loaded with lots of pieces of equipment and supplies that were found in that abandoned camp.
The mission had begun with thirty-two soldiers and unfortunately returned with only twenty. Amanda and Muratti's bodies were given to their families, who, despite their sadness, were immensely grateful for their kindness.
To Lara's utter dismay, the doctors at the Survey Corps' HQ infirmary informed that she would have to be on bed rest for several weeks. Hange and Levi thought this was ridiculous, but the doctors patiently explained that, due to Lara still being in the growth phase and having a more fragile body than the other children, if they discharged her earlier, she could easily regress all her recovery progress, causing irreparable damage.
That made them two immediately agree with the doctors, who looked at them as if to say, "What kind of parents are you?"
Hange and Levi alternated between who would spend the night with Lara in the infirmary, and from time to time, they both would end up staying in the same night, sleeping with one leaning against each other on the chairs, and in the middle of the night, Lara would secretly draw them.
Levi was extremely strict on her medication, having everything written down on handmade spreadsheets, while Hange would look up activities for Lara to do in the infirmary bed.
Every night, without fail, they had dinner together in the infirmary room, while they talked about how was each other's day. As Hange and Levi needed to go out to work on their occupations, Lara usually spent her days reading and studying the homework that Hange gave her, getting bored, drawing, getting bored, talking to the nurses, and also, getting bored.
Levi and Hange were surprised at how creative Lara was to come up with ideas of activities to have fun at night after dinner, and on one of those occasions, they ended up playing a game where they had to figure out which breed of dog each of them would represent. Hange was immediately associated with a Golden Retriever and Lara with a Border Collie. But, to Levi's complete indignation, the girls unanimously came to the conclusion that Levi was a Pinscher.
Now that Lara could officially call them "mom" and "dad" with complete freedom, their relationship - which before was already good - now became even better. Hange and Levi rarely argued about something and they got along very well. In fact, the last time Lara remembered seeing them on bad terms was in the week before the mission.
She noticed that the relationship between Levi and Hange was a little lighter, as if some barrier between them had been broken, but not quite fully. Something was still blocking them. However, she suspected that something had happened between Hange and Levi back on the mission, and every now and then, she would drop a few hints, which only made them blush and change the subject of the conversation.
Lara felt that the mood between them was more relaxed than before, especially when it came to Levi. Of course, he did not change his personality. On the contrary, he remained the same as always, but when he was alone in the presence of Hange and Lara, he would allow himself to be more spontaneous and often, very playful.
At first, Levi felt strange for now being called "dad" by Lara, for it was a title that he would never imagine having in his life. But she fitted this word into the sentences so easily and naturally, that in a matter of a few days, he came to really enjoy being called like that, and found it weird when Lara called him by his name, and not by "dad".
Now, when it came to fatherhood itself, Levi has nailed it with mastery. He had become much more protective than before and made sure Lara always had everything she needed. It seemed he felt glad in doing everything he could to make her happy. Lara also liked to have some sort of deep conversations with Levi, who was never tired of being surprised at how his daughter had a certain (he'd dare say) wisdom.
Hange was the most perfect personification of a good mother. She was kind, funny, very loving, and above all, Hange wasn't boring, as she was very respectful of Lara's likings and opinions. Sometimes, she would end up being overly protective or careful, having a certain occasion when, at the beginning of Lara's recovery treatment, Hange wouldn't let the girl even eat by herself, who replied that she was not a literal baby to be given food in her mouth.
Indeed, Lara was growing up. In the third week of her recovery, she turned eleven, being surprised after a nap by almost the entire Survey Corps soldiers inside her room to sing 'Happy Birthday' (for the nurses' unhappiness, who found them way too noisy). Hange had ordered a cake in the shape of a Titan's head and Lara gave the first piece of the cake to Erwin¹, which made Hange and Levi become jealous for at least a whole week, where in any situation where Lara would ask them for something, they would immediately respond with a "Why don't you ask Erwin instead?!"
It's been a couple of days that Lara was feeling something in her heart and that she needed to do a certain thing. At this point of her treatment, her left foot was completely healed and she was able to walk slowly through the infirmary's corridors for a few minutes of the day, as she had not fully recovered from her broken rib, which was still aching.
One night, in her fifth week of recovery, before going to sleep, Lara asked Levi where was the best place to see the stars at the HQ. Thoughtfully, Levi couldn't help but remember where he used to go with Isabel and Furlan to watch the sky, and he told her the location.
On that night, Lara couldn't sleep. Levi and Hange were already deeply asleep, leaning against each other on two chairs in front of her bed. Then, she slipped out from under the sheets, making as little noise as possible to not wake up her parents. Feeling a few twinges on her left side, Lara walked to the room's door and slowly opened it. The creaking of the hinges made Levi shift a little on his chair, acquiring a grumpy expression.
On tiptoe, Lara left the room and walked down the corridors.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
¹ Trivia: It's a tradition in Brazil to give the first piece of the Birthday cake to a person you like a lot, which can make some of your friends or parents get jealous (but everyone knows it's only for fun!)
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
