✓ Blood Lust (Levi Ackerman - Attack on Titan) #wattys2021

Chapter Two

The winter was dark and bleak, Forest and Gunther gone with 250,000 others, to fight the invading Titans in Wall Maria. The numbers gone helped Catherine and I survive. Otherwise, we would've starved not long after.

"Do you want anymore, Cath?"

She shakes her head, pushing her empty plate forward. "You eat it, Eliora. You need your strength."

I nod, taking the rest of the pot, eating it almost as soon as it gets onto my plate. I had been helping in the garden, to get my mother off of my head, but when the men left, I was left to do the chore alone. Catherine has a bad heart, and can't do more than cook and do light housework. She put a roof over my head, so it's the least I can do.

My arms plow at the ground, eager to get the plants in for a summer harvest. So enthralled in my actions, I don't notice three people walking over to me.

"Eliora Jane." The hoe drops from my hands, and I slowly look up at the sound of the voice, not believing my eyes.

"Dad." I jump into his arms, tears running down my face. I had accepted that he was gone when he didn't come for me. I'm so glad I was wrong.

When I pull away, I see Forest and...Levi Ackerman. I hadn't seen the small man in almost four years, when I was fifteen.

"Forest, I'm so glad you're home too," I smile at him, wiping away my tears. I felt like a foolish child, with Levi looking on. That's what he had called me all those years ago. A child.

"I'm glad to be home. Though, I'll be sad to see you go."

"I can't take her with me."

I look at my father, shock clear on my face. "You didn't come for me?"

He shakes his head. "I can't, El. My deployment is even more active, with the fall of Maria. I need you here, safe. You're untrained, so I cannot take you out into the field, nor would I want to. I already lost your mother, I don't want to lose you too." He bows his head, as if he's remorseful, but I know the truth. I'm just a burden to him. A family was always a burden to the commander.

I pull my fist back, launching it into his nose, just as he had taught me as a child. The crunch lets me know I did what I intended to do.

"Commander!" Levi gasps out, at the same time Forest yells out my name.

"I deserve that." His hand pulls away from his nose, covered in blood. I hope I broke it. "We have to go, Eliora. These are good people. You'll be okay." With that, him and Levi Ackerman walk down our broken cobblestone path, my father wiping the blood away from his face as he goes.

"I thought he was going to take you."

I look over at Forest sadly. "I did, too."

Gunther died in battle, though Forest wouldn't say more about it in front of his mother. I corner him in our shared bedroom, his twin bed a few feet from mine. Catherine washed the bedding once a week, in hopes he'd return one day.

"What happened, Forest," I ask, laying on my side in bed, facing him. He does the mirror of me, looking past me, as if his mind is in a different place.

"I ran out of gas. With the titans, that means almost certain death. My father gave me his, so I'd live. Then out of a nowhere, a large titan ambushed us, cutting the both of us off from the rest. By the time I took it down, my father was gone." He rolls over onto his back. "That's how I met your father. He rescued me when more came. When I learned of his name, I asked him about you. The same Smith. What are the odds?"

"Well, he is a commander."

"Yeah, you forgot to mention that."

I grin, turning onto my back after I put the lamp out. When I think Forest is asleep, he whispers to me.

"Thank you, for taking care of my grandmother."

"You're welcome, Forest."

We fall into a routine. With two people, the garden is coming along nicely and by harvest, we have enough to get through winter. Despite Gunther being gone, Catherine is in good spirits, and we almost have a happy meal. Because of this, I wait until she went to bed before dropping the bombshell I had been holding in the whole summer.

"Forest, I'm joining the Survey Corps."

He drops the dish he had been drying as I was washing. It shatters and I glare at him. Does he want to wake his grandmother up?

"You are not."

I scoff at him, dropping my dishrag into the water. "You can't stop me."

He shakes his head. "We need you. My grandma needs you." I look away from him, down at the floor. He quietly walks over, coming up behind me. His hand reaches the side of my face, pulling me up to look at him. "I need you." His lips press to mine with a sense of urgency. I know he's using this to get me to stay, but I enjoy it nonetheless. When he finally pulls away, he rests his forehead on mine, looking into my eyes, breathless.

"Please stay."

"You know I can't."

He pulls away from me, as if he was burnt physically. Without a word, he storms out, leaving me in the kitchen alone.

"It's okay to go, honey."

I jump at the quiet feminine voice from across the room, looking to see that it's Cath.

"What?" I raise my eyebrows in surprise.

"Your heart is out there. We'll always be here, when you come home, but you belong out there. With your father, getting revenge for your mother."

Walking across the room, I hug the frail woman. I thought my goodbye to her would be the hardest. "I won't leave until next spring. I promise."