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

Chapter Eleven

"Eliora, is that you?" I look over, spotting Forest, his mother on his arm, looking frail but alright.

"Forest! Cath!" I wave at them. He comes over, giving me a hug, causing me to squeak out in pain.

"You okay?"

I nod. "Just sprained ankles and a concussion."

"Cracked ribs, don't forget that," Jean says, grinning. 

"Oh, this is Jean, a very good friend of mine."

Forest shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you. Thank you for taking care of our El." He turns back to me. "There's someone I'd like you to meet, too." Forest leaves, jogging away.

"I'm so glad that you are back home, Ellie," Cath says, pulling me into a hug. "When Trost was overrun and I heard they sent out the newly graduated cadets, I was afraid you'd die. You're a fighter." Tears prick at my eyes but I blink them back. Forest comes back then, another person, or I should say persons, in tow.

"El, this is my wife, Leigha, and our daughter, Elizabeth. The name is a homage to you." 

I nod, biting back an insult. I've been in training for three years. He needed to move on. "Nice to meet you, Leigha, and Elizabeth." 

His wife smiles kindly at me. "Would you like to hold her?"

I look to Forest. "Are you sure?" He nods, smiling as he wraps and arm around his wife and child. She places the small baby into my arms, and I freak out internally. This is a little life that cannot feed itself or anything, and someone put it into my hands. Are they crazy?

"You're a natural," Leigha says. 

"I don't feel like it," I reply, swaying her slightly. 

"You will when you have your own."

I shake my head. "I'm joining the Scouts. There's no way I'll be able to have a family."

"That's very sad," Leigha comments, watching my carefully. "I can't imagine my life without her."

"We want you to be her godmother," Forest says, surprising me further.

"Really?" I look down at my new goddaughter, smiling as her amber eyes stare into my green ones, the hair shining brown in the sun like her mother's. 

"How's the Military Police treating you?" I ask Forest.

"Extremely good. I owe it all to your father. He gave me a recommendation in."

I nod. "That's good. Jean is going into it, too."

Jean shakes his head yes, not quite looking up at us. "Not to cut this reunion short, but we should regroup."

I hand Elizabeth back to her mother before turning to hug Forest and Cath. "Thank you for all you guys did to help me back then."

Cath kisses my cheek, patting me on the hand as I pull away. "You've become a daughter to me, El. Don't forget that."

I nod tearfully, waving as I walk away with Jean. We walk in silence, neither of us knowing what to really say.

"Did you love him?" he finally asks.

"I cared for him, as a brother more so. I would've settled with him."

"That would be a no then." He laughs to himself. "You are so bad with men, I don't even know if it's funny anymore."

"I'll find someone eventually, Jean," I defend myself, though I know it's probably not true. I was correct in saying that the Scouts will make it impossible to have a family. I don't want to settle down and raise a bunch of children, my training going to waste. "Where are we going anyways?"