Creation | Levi x OC

14. Found Freedom

It's never easy parting ways with those you care about. As humans, we all do our best to provide and care for those we love and cherish. Sometimes that includes doing things you think is right and best. In the end, we've all made sacrifices.

"So! You're the one who saved Elliot from that Titan and from losing his leg?" A zany voice caused me to stop mid-bite. Stew was being served for lunch, one of the more fancy meals the Scouts rarely got these days since Wall Maria fell.

I had only been in the Scouts for less than a year. Thankful that the need for bodies was on my side, given my age. They don't exactly look for mid twenty-somethings for the Wall's military these days.

The spoon hovered before my lips as my eyes looked up to see a familiar messy hairdo on top of a glasses-ridden face. Her smile was wide, eyes open and curious as she plopped down in front of me at the table.

"Uh... yes?" I answered sheepishly before lowering the spoon back into the bowl.

"That's so intriguing! What was it like? The leg, I mean. Did you see it?"

"His... leg? The one still attached to his body?" I raised a brow.

That drew a pout from her as she crossed her arms. "Darn. I was told the Titan bit it clean off!" She snapped her fingers.

My lips pulled back into an apologetic smile as I shook my head. "No. Titan did bite down pretty good, though. I noticed it when we came across the first major wave. I ended up breaking protocol, separating myself from my squad and pulling him to safety once I saw the opportunity," I held my hands up to demonstrate. "He was hanging from its mouth and right as it was about to bite down again, I snatched him from its jaws and fled. He was losing a lot of blood, so much so he was crying for his mother. I had to use his belt as a tourniquet to stop the bleed. Thankfully I did, because we would have had to amputate had he lost any more blood."

As I met her gaze, I was greeted with an awe-struck expression; wide eyes and an unhinged jaw.

"I see..." She tilted her head down, causing the glasses on her face to cast a glare of light in my direction. I wasn't sure what to make of it. Suddenly, her shoulders started to shake as if she were crying. I reached out across the table, having been used to giving comfort to comrades after expeditions. Perhaps she knew Elliot. Perhaps the stress of everything was getting to her since we were nowhere close to being able to retake the wall, or establish adequate supply bases.

It soon hit me that she was laughing. A zany kind of giggling that was growing in volume by the second.

"Um... I...?"

She suddenly slammed her palms onto the table with a loud smack and leaned over to close the distance, her face inches from mine. "That settles it! I'm officially going to ask the Commander to put you on my squad!"

"Wait— What?"

"I've heard about you, Miss Emily Meyer. Quiet cadet who quickly showed her knowledge of medical treatment while out on the field. Combat skills are hardly there, but that doesn't matter. You seem to understand Titans, or at least know how to treat titan-related wounds. YEAH! This is going to be GREAT!"

I blinked, giving her an incredulous look and leaning far back.

"I'm Hange Zoe. Section Commander. Put her there!" She announced, holding her hand out to me.

From there on, Hange and I were a pair. Aside from Moblit, I was her assistant when it came to Titan research. She had expressed her interest to me in great detail that day, explaining to me her theories about the titans and how they operate, why they only want to eat humans and not any other creatures. She explained she had been requesting Commander Erwin to allow the Scouts to capture a titan for research, which I thought was insane at first. But the more she spoke about it, the more it was obvious just how passionate she was for knowledge. She was ambitious and wanted answers, and wouldn't stop until she got those answers.