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

Chapter 28 - You Guys?!

It was already dusk when the Survey Corps returned to Trost at a fast pace. The sky was filled with shades of blue, purple, and orange, and there were many clouds in the sky.

With just a few meters left to reach the gate of the District, Lara squinted her eyes to see better, because she couldn't understand what was ahead of her.

In front of the group of fast soldiers, the Wall of Trost appeared to be destroyed, with cracks filling the sides of a gate that no longer existed. But the strangest thing was that, instead of a huge hole in the Wall, something was blocking it.

"Mike!" called Lara, looking at her companion, "Is that a...?"

"A rock?!" he completed, also looking at her, puzzled. "Like a boulder?!"

"Mom!" called out Lara, making Hange look back, "You can see better with your goggles, can you confirm it?"

"Yeah! Looks like it is... In fact, I believe that's a piece of the Wall! It has the same colors and textures."

As they approached what once was the outer gate of Trost, they were able to confirm their suspicions. Using the ODM gears, they climbed the Wall, bringing up the horses on a lift, and they finally could watch the chaos that was happening in front of them.

Now they understood why the sky was so cloudy. The District was a living hell. Smoke from evaporating Titans rose from all possible and unimaginable places, and you could see buildings and streets completely destroyed.

Hange, Levi, and Lara watched everything from the top of the Wall, open-mouthed. Lara felt her eyes fill with tears and her hands began to shake. Instinctively, she wedged herself between Levi and Hange, clutching at their cloaks. Her parents hugged her tightly, as if to protect their daughter from that horrific sight.

"My friends..." Lara silently cried, "My friends were here when we left..."

Hange and Levi quickly knelt down to look at their daughter face to face.

"What's the first thing I taught you, that you always remind me of?" asked Levi, holding Lara's back.

She looked at her father and took several deep breaths. A few soldiers ran past them three, already climbing down the Walls towards the District.

"You taught me to calm myself down in difficult situations," answered Lara.

"And..." completed Hange, placing her hand on her daughter's chest, to follow her breathing and imitating her movements, "I remember very well that you told us how your friends were excellent soldiers back in the Winter Training, remember?"

"Yeah!"

"So, what do we gotta do?" asked Levi.

"Focus on what matters now, which is eliminate the remaining Titans, right?"

"Good job, baby," Hange caressed her daughter's cheek. She stood up, looking to her right side. "I'll go to that direction. Lara, you go with your father."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Since Lara joined the Survey Corps, Erwin had made it very clear that she must strictly obey all orders from her superiors. And now that she was even the daughter of two soldiers, she owed them double obedience. But since Lara fully trusted her parents' decisions, she always gladly obeyed everything.

Before Hange dashed out, Levi grabbed her wrist, pulling her close to him. They intensively looked at each other for a few seconds. Levi felt the hard pounding of Hange's heart on her wrist, and for a brief moment, their bodies leaned forward, but they didn't have the courage to go on, because there were many soldiers around them.