The Girl With The Yellow Ribbon - Attack on Titan

Chapter Ten

"Marie, put on a pot of tea!" Mrs. Ral called into the kitchen whilst clamoring about the small house. She turned to Petra, and Levi worried she would burst into tears on the spot. She reached up, touching Petra's face gently as they sat side by side on the worn sofa.

"I can't believe you're really here..." Mrs. Ral said, twiddling a lock of Petra's hair between her fingers. "The doctors said you were hurt so badly they were shocked you were even alive--they didn't know how you were alive. Seeing you in that hospital bed broke my heart, and I just didn't know what to do."

"I know, mama, I know." Petra mumbled, pressing her hand against her mother's.

"I prayed every single day for you," She continued, but now glanced over at Levi, who had been sitting comfortably in an armchair. "And for you as well, Captain."

"Thank you, Mrs. Ral." Levi said, his words soft but his expression stoic. "I've never been much of a praying man myself, but I do believe. And I believe all your prayers were heard and that's why Petra is sitting here."

"I didn't know you were religious, Levi." Petra says to herself.

"I am, I just don't go around preaching to any person I see." Levi shrugs. "Least that's what my mother taught me to do."

"Well, your mother was a smart woman then. She raised a good man." Mama smiled at Levi, and Levi nodded.

"She was." Levi said.

If only you knew, he thought. My mother was smart in the sense she didn't take anyone's shit. She wasn't a housewife or a shopkeeper, she was something these people would never understand.

Levi could see Petra bite the inside of her cheek from across the room--she knew his backstory, and his mother's profession.

They must've been thinking the same thing.

These people would never understand.

"The tea's ready," Marie huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of her face. She came into the room with a tray holding the tea pot and sugar, with four cups stacked in twos.

She set the tray on the table and sighed, silently praising herself for not shattering what few china pieces they owned.

"Captain, how do you take your tea?" Mrs. Ral asked, taking the lid off the sugar and preparing a scoop.

"Plain," Levi says, pursing his lips. "Please."

"You don't want any sugar or cream or anything?" She gives a questioning look.

"No, thank you." Levi said.

Mother drank only black tea, with no sweetener nor additives. That's the way she liked it. Levi thought to himself as he accepted the cup. And she taught me to like it, too.

"I don't believe I ever thanked you properly, Captain." Mrs. Ral mumbled into her tea.

"For what?" Levi furrowed his brows in confusion.

"For bringing my daughter home to me." She says, studying the tea swirling in her cup. "If you hadn't stopped, we wouldn't be sitting here right now."

"I couldn't sit idly by and let my comrades die," Levi whispered, unable to speak too loudly as the memories of his squad came rushing back. "I wasn't able to protect my men, but I was able to protect your daughter."

"And I will be forever grateful for that," Finally, Mrs. Ral meets Levi's eyes with a soft smile. "Our whole family is indebted to you."

"No, you don't have to be." Levi argued. "I did what any good soldier would do, and that's tend to the wounded."

"Soldier or not, you brought our Petra home," Mrs. Ral shakes her head in dismissal. "I understand now why she speaks so highly of you."

"What?" Levi asked, startled.

Petra opened her mouth to stop her mother from speaking, but it did no good.

"She wrote to us. She said she was forever loyal to her captain, and at the time we were worried about her intentions..." She trailed off, but a proud look washed over her features. "But now we can see that you are just as loyal to her as she is to you."

"What a noble sentiment," Levi mumbled, a small grin playing on his lips that was noticed by Petra alone. "But, yes, I suppose Petra's right. We are loyal to one another because we have to be. If we aren't, then we'll die. It's as simple as that."

"Yes, of course," Mrs. Ral says. "At the time, however, her father was worried that her loyalty wasn't that of a soldier, but a woman. He still believes she's a little girl and shouldn't be speaking of marriage--"

"Mama!" Petra exclaimed. Her outburst startled Marie, and she nearly dropped her cup--thankfully, she was able to recover it but did spill a few droplets onto her skirts.

"I can assure you, Mrs. Ral, that Petra's intentions in this letter wasn't anything more than a woeful proclamation of a soldier," He pauses before adding softly, "But, then again, I could be wrong."

"Sir!" Petra exclaimed again, her face flushing red.

"Ah-ha!" Mrs. Ral shouted. "I knew it! Your father thought you were loyal to a fault to a man he'd never met, but I see now that it isn't a fault at all."

"Mama, what are you saying?" Petra asked, her face still harbouring a faint redness.

"I'm saying that whatever relationship you have is making you both stronger, and as soldiers you need all the strength you can get." She says, but her voice softens when she mumbles: "And I don't care what your father says, you have my blessing."

Petra exclaimed for the third time, and this time, Levi is caught off guard as well and chokes on his tea.

"What?" They shout in unison.

"Do you think I'm blind? Or stupid?" Mrs. Ral asked. "I can see it in your eyes, Petra. And you," She turns to Levi. "You look like a man with a troubled past, but there's this certain... glow about you both."

Neither Levi or Petra could argue, what would they say?

When Levi agreed to meet Petra's parents, he wasn't aware that he would have to explain the details of their relationship. He'd hoped that would be saved for a later date.

"Petra, I raised you. You know that I notice everything, like the fact that Marie spilt a drop of tea on her skirt when you yelled." Mrs. Ral shakes her head. "I just don't say anything. Did you really believe that you could fool me?"

"No, not fool, maybe just avoid the topic all together." Petra mumbles, busying herself with her cup.

"I understand, I do, but still." Mrs. Ral sets her empty cup on the tray and grins. "We can drop the topic for now, but we'll discuss it later. Preferably before your father finds out."

"Okay." Petra says, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Now," Mrs. Ral gathers the cups onto the tray and glances at Petra. "Would you like me to draw you a bath?"

"Yes, that would be nice." Petra says softly. "Please." 

--

Heyo! I had to go back and edit this chapter a bit more than I usually do (I prefer to write the whole story and then do major edits... well, I don't normally get to that point but still) and the only reason I edited this more is because Levi seemed a little too ooc for my liking so I had to change that. He's one of the first characters I've had a genuinely had trouble writing, I had to get advice from other writers to even get an idea of how I'm supposed to do it. Once we get into the meat of this story (which is coming, I swear, I actually know what I want to do with this story), I think the Levi that we know and love will come into play way more than he is currently (which will make way more sense once we actually get there). Also, uh shoutout to Damian who might be the only person reading this lol. Anyways, hope y'all liked it! Love y'all! 

- M