Humanity's Strongest

What are you affraid of papa?

A young boy, who looked about the age of nine, ran up to the captain, who was speaking to the commander. "Papa!" A grin filled his cheeks as he saw his father.

Levi didn't have the same reacted as his son. "What are you doing here my boy? Where is your mother?" He strictly demanded.

"Mama said I could get a sweet from the market, and I really wanted to say hi papa." He seemed nervous, not expecting Levi to react in such a way.

A sigh released from his dry, thin lips. "Go back to your mother James. She'll be worried sick. It's not exactly a short walk from here to the market, and I'm sure she's waiting." He brushed his ice cold hand through his hair, brushing the jet black, oily strands behind his ear. "I have a lot of work to do and I don't have time to delay." His silver eyes met the tall, blonde, commanders. "I'll be back. I need to walk this brat home." Erwin gave him a nod, letting him know he could go, not like Levi acted upon everything he was supposed to do or not do by his commander. Levi grabbed James's arm with an angered stiff grip, clearly not pleased to have his work interrupted.

After a few minutes of walking back, he loosened his grip. "I'm not mad that you wanted to see me. That's inevitable since I am your dad, but I don't want you running off to find me when you don't have your mother with you. God only knows what could of happened to you on your own." He looked down at his son who looked up at him. "I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I lost you."

"But papa, you said you live to never regret." In James mind, his father was like a white knight or a great warrior who could never be taken down, he was invincible, strong, and fearless, but that was far from the truth. Levi felt fear and worry. He knew pain and suffering.

"James, some things I can't let go of, because sometimes I get scared." He looked ahead of them with a sigh. "You and your mother are one of the best things that ever happened to me, along with getting out of the underground. I'm not sure what I'd do without you two."

"You get scared papa?" He asked with curiosity ringing through his voice.

"Yes I do. I get scared almost every day, even if I don't show it."

"What are you afraid of?" James held Levi's hand now as they walked.

"Well, I'm afraid of your mother." When he said that James let out a giggle. "I'm afraid your little sister will be just like your mom, so she'll scare me to." He giggled at his father again. "I'm afraid of one day coming home and you three are gone and your mother is off with a man who is home every day. I'm afraid of the titans and of not coming home because of them. Leaving you two with no father scares me. I'm also afraid of wasps too, but that's another story. Those wasps are big and scary." He chuckled at himself.

James looked up at him with a smile. "I'm afraid of wasps too papa." He held his little brown bag with a treat in his other hand.

The two of them arrived at their home with Petra rushing out to the pair, with a newborn in one arm. "Where have you been James and more importantly, why did your father have to bring you back?" She sounded irritated yet relieved.

Levi let go of James. "He went to the market and went to find me at work."

"James." Petra wanted to scold him.

"I already spoke to him about it." He reassured his worried wife. "I'll come in for a minute."

She nodded and took James inside with Levi behind them. Once inside, she plopped down into a rocking chair, unbuttoned her top and fed the baby girl in her arms. "She's wearing me out dear." Petra held her head while she watched the little one.

"Well, you did want another one." He sat down in his chair by the fire near her rocking chair. "At least she doesn't cry as much as he did."

His wife nodded. "That is true." There was an awkward silence while she watched her baby. "What will we do if you die?"

"I don't know. You could find a new husband, or work full time somewhere as a single mom, I guess there is that. I would say I won't die, but there are never certainties."

"I know that..." she sighed "and I don't want another man, nor will I ever, but I also don't want to end up in the underground working like your mother did." She gently rubbed the newborn's butt. "I don't want James or Sophie to be in the scouts, but I know at least James will. He's fascinated by you dear."

"And that's what scares me. I don't want him fascinated by me. I want to keep him safe, but in this life there is no such thing as safe."

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Long story short: I didn't post for a really long time because my phone stopped working, and I had to downgrade before I was able to buy a new phone. My emergency phone didn't have enough space on it, so I was gone for a really long time.