Return

Lara was back at the HQ, sitting on the bed, looking down at the floor. Hange was in front of her, hands on hips, stamping her foot nervously. Beside her, Levi had his arms crossed, staring at the girl with a stern expression. Erwin was crouched, standing at Lara's level.

"You were extremely brave killing that Titan," said Erwin, gently, "but, you need to learn that, here in the Survey Corps, when someone gives you an order, especially in situations like this, you have to obey."

"But…" began Lara, gazing anxiously at Erwin, "You told me you were counting on me to help on the mission! I just obeyed your orders, Commander! And you're the big boss here!"

Hange and Levi stared at each other, perplexed by that child's boldness. Erwin struggled to hold back a laugh.

"Listen here, young lady!" exclaimed Hange, nervously. Her heart was still pounding from the fear that Lara might be lost, or even worse. She just wouldn't hold the girl in her arms for a bear hug because that would ruin her reputation at the moment, which was already pretty low, apparently.

"I'm not a young lady!" retorted Lara, making an angry face. "I'm a child!"

"That's even worse!" exclaimed Levi, raising his arms in indignation.

Lara sulked, looking at Erwin and waiting for him to say something.

"You're right, Lara," said Erwin, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, "I spoke the truth when I said I was counting on you on this mission. But surely I didn't expect such a… dangerous attitude from you. I imagined you'd help us by carrying supplies that we found here, for example."

"Why!" exclaimed Lara. "But that's so boring! What's the fun of it?!"

Erwin chucked and lowered his head.

"I know…" he replied, sighing, "But, if you want to join the Survey Corps, you'll have to be prepared to do boring stuff, like writing reports, for example."

"Is it like doing homework?" asked Lara, surprising the three soldiers with the question.

Erwin looked up to his two friends, who just shrugged.

"Yeah…" Erwin ended up saying, "Sort of".

"So, this is no problem for me," said Lara, arms akimbo, "I helped all the children with their homework back at the orphanage!"

In the end, Erwin gave up. Lara jumped out of bed and slipped between Levi and Hange, grabbing one of their hands. She started pulling them towards the door, her head held high.

"Come on!" she said, dragging a confused Levi and Hange. "I'm hungry!"

Erwin, who was still crouched, watched his two friends walk out the door, trotting like horses, trying to keep up with the quick steps of the child who led them to the refectory.

♦♦♦

That night, dinner time was pretty agitated. Hange and Levi tried to give Lara a lecture, but she would always reply with something so unexpected, it left them speechless. It all ended with Hange giving Lara the bear hug she wanted, and Levi ruffling her hair.

The news that the child who was accompanying the Survey Corps had killed another Titan spread throughout the Headquarters, and many went to sleep with an absurd version of the story: that Lara had taken down a twelve-meter Titan, with just a broken piece of a sword and her eyes closed.

The next morning, the Survey Corps left Shiganshina, heading to the camp in the Forest of Giant Trees, where they would rest, before returning to Karanes District the next day. All the carts were crammed with the supplies found in the abandoned District, especially with the mini-kegs with meat found by Lara. Unfortunately, four soldiers were devoured by the Titans in Shiganshina.

The way back to the Forest of Giant Trees was relatively peaceful. The weather was cloudy and it drizzled at a certain time of the day. Hange was worried that Lara would catch a cold, but she saw that Levi put the green cloak and the hood on Lara, who was on his horse again. A few Titans appeared on the way, but they weren't that big, being easily taken down by some soldiers. However, near the Forest, an abnormal Titan appeared on one of the flanks, causing a harsh battle. It was defeated, but not without killing two of the soldiers.

At the Forest of Giant Trees camp, when Hange was putting Lara to bed, she was surprised at noticing that the girl was looking downcast. When asked, Lara replied she was saddened by so many deaths she had witnessed. Hange became thoughtful and also felt sadness. Stroking Lara's face, she said that this feeling was normal and she should never hide it. In the end, Hange managed to give the girl some comfort by saying that, although many soldiers had died, it was for a very noble cause, and their memories would be forever remembered as Heroes of Humanity.

Everyone left early the next morning and managed to reach Karanes District by twilight, unfortunately losing three more soldiers on the way. When they arrived at the District gates, Levi brought his horse closer to Hange's. He noticed that Lara was a little tense and he gazed at the Squad Leader, who seemed worried about the girl's emotional state.

"What's wrong, Lara?" asked Levi. "Why do you seem to be afraid?"

The girl snuggled into him, covering her face even more with the hood she was wearing.

"It's because my orphanage is in this District," she replied, with a choked voice. "I'm afraid they'll find me."

Levi looked at Hange and explained it to her through hand signals. Hange became apprehensive.

As they finally entered the District, all the Survey Corps soldiers were greeted in a very unfriendly way. There was a buzz among the people, with some bad-mouthing them or even cursing with ugly names. Some noticed the presence of a child on one of the horses and began to wonder what that could be.

When Levi passed by one of the soldiers from the Garrison Regiment, he noticed that the soldier suddenly had acquired a look of pure astonishment at the sight of the girl on the horse. Levi glared at him, as if he were saying, "Just. You. Wait." The soldier turned paler than he already was.

Lara noticed there were many women crying during the procession the Survey Corps made through the main street of the District, and realized why. In total, forty-five soldiers had left for the reconnaissance mission to Shiganshina, but only twenty-seven had returned.

It was a heavy, funereal atmosphere, and Lara's heart was pounding hard. Covertly, she looked to her right and spotted one of her orphanage's tutors. That made her jump, which startled Levi. He looked towards the woman, who had a very frowning expression. Quickly, Levi signaled Hange, pointing at the woman with his head and she nodded, getting the message.

When they finally arrived at the Survey Corps Headquarters, everyone had a look of profound exhaustion. Levi got off his horse and picked Lara up to put her down, but the girl hugged his neck, laying her head on his shoulder. She looked so comfortable there, that he felt pity to ask her to get down.

Hange approached and patted Lara's back, who was looking downcast. Erwin also approached, visibly tired, as dark circles appeared under his eyes.

"You three," he pointed at them, "in my office, tomorrow morning. We need to talk."

Hange and Levi nodded in agreement and Erwin turned to go inside the HQ to finally be able to get some rest. Lara was just about to fall asleep when she heard Hange say:

"Give her to me, I'll take her to bed."

"You'd better give her a bath first," replied Levi, placing the girl in Hange's arms.

The Squad Leader rolled her eyes, chuckled, and nodded. The two girls had a nice warm bath and Hange took Lara to sleep in her room. As they were laying in bed, with Lara snuggled on her chest, Hange noticed that despite feeling sleepy, Lara still had a worried look on her face.

"Don't worry, my dear," she said, giving Lara a kiss on her forehead, "I'll take care that none of those people ever do this evil with any child again, I swear."

After listening to that, Lara snuggled a little closer and gave a big sigh. She fell asleep right away. Hange gently smiled and took a deep breath of exhaustion. She wrapped Lara in her arms and fell asleep as well.