Responsibility

When Hange and Lara arrived at the refectory, it was almost empty. That soothed the girl's heart, for she was certainly not in the mood to be the center of attention right now.

Hange guided her to a table. Lara sat down, shyly. From among the people there, she only knew Levi and Erwin, but there were two more soldiers she hadn't met yet.

"Lara," said Hange, pointing to the soldiers, "this is Moblit Berner, the Executive Officer of my Squad, and Mike Zacharias, humanity's second strongest soldier, and also, your future rival."

Mike looked at Hange, confused. She just waved her hands, chuckling, replying she would explain later. As usual, Mike leaned close to Lara and sniffed her, which made the girl give him an awkward look and try to dodge Mike's nose.

"Hey, sir!" exclaimed Lara. "I'm not a dog to be sniffed!"

Everyone at the table did their best not to laugh at the situation. Even Levi lowered his head to disguise it. Hange deliberately laughed out loud.

"Lara," said Hange, wiping a tear from her eye, "don't mind him. Mike has this habit of sniffing everyone he first meets. It's his way of saying 'nice to meet you!'"

In the end, even Lara laughed. Apparently, the presence of a child had, after all, lightened the spirits of some soldiers a little.

"Lara, you look great in the Survey Corps uniform," praised Erwin. "I can't believe that you found some clothes that fit her. Congratulations, Hange."

"See, how cute?" asked Hange, happily. "I just made a Mini Soldier! Stand up here for them to see you, Lara."

Now that the girl was on foot and properly dressed, everyone could see her better. She was very short for her age, measuring at most 1.25m tall. Her dark brown hair fell to her shoulders and she had big intense blue eyes.

She was wearing white pants and a shirt, and the light brown Survey Corps jacket, with the Wings of Freedom symbol on the back. Hange had taken her to the changing room and looked for the smallest possible sizes. She was grateful for having people equal in size or smaller than Levi, but asked Lara never to tell anyone she had made fun of him.

Hange had to fold up Lara's pants and jacket sleeves. It was clear the clothes were too big for the girl, but it was enough for the moment. At first, they both thought Lara would need to keep the same old and filthy shoes she was wearing, but by some miracle, they found a single pair of the smallest boots in the room that fit her perfectly. Hange then recalled that some very small women were once part of the Survey Corps, hence the reason for them finding such small boots. It all ended with Hange and Lara practically playing as if they were at a fashion show, with the girl waving her new Survey Corps green cloak behind her.

When Lara noticed the soldiers in front of her were nodding slightly in approval, she looked at Erwin with determination and closed her right hand, hitting on the left side of her chest.

"SHINZOU WO SASAGEYO!" She exclaimed, making everyone jump in fright.

Lara turned to Hange, with a "Did I make it right?" look.

"Well done, Lara!" she replied, laughing. "Just like we rehearsed. I thought you might like the salute, Erwin."

"Excellent, indeed!" The Commander applauded, followed by Moblit. "A true Survey Corps soldier!"

"Wow… Thank you very much, sir!" Lara replied. Her genuine smile and her high-pitched child's voice instinctively caused everyone at the table to give at least a little smile in response, or in Levi's case, a nod of approval.

Hange got Lara some bread and a bowl full of vegetable soup they were having for lunch, and the girl ate with a ravenous appetite.

"Hey…" said Mike, gently beside her, "Slow down there, buddy…"

"Sir… Have you… Ever… Starved?" asked Lara, between spoonfuls of soup.

Mike blushed and lowered his head. He knew Lara wasn't being mean. Mike just nodded, as if telling her to keep eating.

Everyone was already done with their lunches and only Hange was eating alongside Lara. Levi watched the girl with some curiosity. That scene was vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn't tell why. He felt as if he'd experienced something like that, but a long time ago. Everything related to his past was a little vague, with only a few memories here and there.

While eating, Hange asked Erwin how they would proceed with the plan to get to Shiganshina. He explained they would wait for the rain to pass and leave the next morning, so they wouldn't take the risk of getting too much mud on the way and getting the carts stuck.

"But, what about the girl?" asked Moblit, confused. "Is she coming with us?!"

Lara was so absorbed in eating the soup, she didn't realize they were talking about her.

"Unfortunately, yes," replied Erwin, frowning. "We've already lost too many soldiers just to get here in the camp. It's not worth risking more lives just to go back to Karanes and then return here again. One soldier just can't do the job of taking her back, and sending more would only add to our losses. The best decision is to take Lara with us to Shiganshina, protecting her as best as possible, and sticking to the plan."

"Did you hit your head on the way to the refectory?" asked Levi. "There are more Titans there than in this area. Why don't you leave someone here responsible for the girl, and we'll meet them on the way back?"

"I've already thought about this possibility, Levi," replied Erwin, sighing tiredly. "But we cannot spare any soldier in this mission. A single person less can make all the difference, and you know it very well," he concluded, looking at Levi with a serious expression.

Levi clicked his tongue, grumpy, "Yes… I know."

He looked at the child in front of him, still devouring her soup and bread. That feeling of compassion got back into his heart. Levi felt strange, because it was the first time someone had caused him such feelings, and he didn't know how to deal with them.

"So… I thought to myself…" continued Erwin, turning to Levi, "The best person to protect Lara on this mission is you."

"Me?!" exclaimed Levi, confused. "Why?!"

"Well, Levi…" said Hange, her mouth full of bread, "Don't you see the obvious? You're humanity's strongest soldier, and our dear Lara here also wants to be the strongest soldier. You both have a lot to talk about on the way to Shiganshina!"

Levi told her to chew with her mouth closed and rolled his eyes.

"Erwin!"

"Look…" the Commander raised one eyebrow, "Hange's not wrong."

"Ha! Told ya!" she laughed.

There was a long silence at the table and Levi lowered his head, thoughtful. He didn't want another responsibility. He already had too much to worry about. Slowly, Levi looked at Lara, who was now eating more calmly and looking quite happy. His heart pounded harder and, unintentionally, a protective feeling inside him rose towards the girl, as if he didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

Levi was very uncomfortable with that kind of feeling, because he remembered the last time he felt something like that. It was with his friends Isabel and Furlan. And what happened to them? They died at the hands of a Titan and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

No. He didn't want another death on his back.

But despite everything, Hange was right. He was, indeed, humanity's strongest soldier. If there was anyone who could protect that child in the best possible way, it was him.

Levi looked up at the refectory ceiling and let out a deep, long sigh.

"Alright, then," Levi raised his hands, as a sign of resignation, "She's going with me."

At that moment, Lara gazed at him. Did she pay attention to everything they said or not? Levi couldn't tell. But now, all he noticed was that the little girl in front of him was giving him a big smile, showing a lot of gratitude.