An Ackerman's secret

29

It was time. It was finally time for us to reach the basement which we have wanting for years. There was so much pressure now for it to be important. What if there's nothing there to help humanity?

We climbed down from the wall, walking across the path towards Eren and Mikasas house. It was just those two, Levi, Moblit, Hange and me while the rest stayed on the wall.

As we walked, I looked around us at the lack of life and the damage from the attack. It was heart breaking knowing what happened here.

"Hey, where's your house?" Levi broke the silence, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"R-right.."

I tried to imagine what it was like here before it all happened. There were teddy bears on the floor that most likely belonged to children who were no longer with us. That hurt to think about.

"You okay?" Levi walked beside me.

I took a deep breath before answering, "Yeah.. You?"

He nodded silently, looking straight ahead at the path in front of us which was covered in piles of dirt and rocks.

I glanced over at Eren and Mikasa, wondering how they were doing. They were walking ahead of us, so I didn't get a chance to see their expressions, but I can assume they aren't doing good.

This place was covered in memories for them, whereas for the rest of us, it was just a sad sight that we never got to experience.

There was a tense atmosphere between me and Levi. I could tell he still was hurt, which was understandable, but he wanted to wait until we were back at headquarters. So for now, we ignored it.

We turned a corner and Mikasa and Eren paused for continuing.

I jogged to catch up with them, putting a hand on Eren's shoulder. "You two alright?" I caught both of their attention.

Mikasa stayed silent while Eren answered. "I think so.. Just weird, coming back here."

"I bet." I bit my lip. "Remember you can come to me if you need to?"

They both said 'yep' in sync and I left them alone, sensing that they weren't in the mood to talk, so I hung back once again.

Now that everything has calmed down, I have time to think about how I actually feel. Losing Erwin was a great loss and the only thing I could think about was our conversation before it all happened.

"You remember your duty, don't you?"

"Of course. I won't fail you commander." I twisted my head slightly to see the corners of his mouth turned upwards slightly.

"I know you won't. You're a good soldier, cadet. I can see why Levi likes you so much."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Does he know? I was sure he wasn't watching when he said goodbye then since he was in deep conversation with Armin.

"I've known for a while if you're wondering. You have caused a great change in him." He interrupted my thoughts.

"It's not like that, Commander."

He chuckled. "No need to be shy about it Ivory. I wish you two the very best."

We locked eyes and nodded in sync. Erwin was a great commander, I couldn't imagine being in his position, having to deal with all that pressure.

"Good luck out there, cadet."

"You too, Commander." I saluted him goodbye.

I didn't fail him. His last wish for me, I succeeded in doing. But I know that isn't the same for Levi, he wasn't able to finish off the beast titan.