Progress

Lara couldn't remember having lived moments as happy as the ones she was experiencing right now. Every new day she woke up and looked at Hange sleeping in funny positions on the other side of the bedroom, it was better than the previous one. Sometimes, she would hear Hange talk about Titans in her sleep.

Hange really lived up to her word. Not long after Lara had joined the Survey Corps, the Squad Leader requested a full investigation into the girl's orphanage. A few days later, those responsible for organizing and taking children outside the Walls were in jail and the soldiers of the Garrison Regiment who covered up the crime were removed from their positions and expelled from the Armed Forces.

As for the situation at the orphanage, Hange filed a lawsuit to increase their assistance, not only for Lara's orphanage, but for all the Districts'. It was kind of impossible to hide the story that there was an orphanage that sent children outside the Walls for lack of money. Therefore, the cause was easily won and soon, all orphanages within the Walls were forced to follow a series of regulations, such as improvements in education and food. One day, while walking around downtown with Levi and Hange on a Sunday, Lara spotted some of her old friends from the orphanage, all looking much healthier and mostly, happier.

Lara's new life routine was quite simple, but very hectic. In the morning, she stayed at the lab with Hange and her assistants, and in the afternoon, with Levi in the training camps, with other soldiers. At night, it varied according to the availability of each one of her tutors, for once in a while, Hange had to stay late at the lab and Levi had meetings with some of his subordinate soldiers.

Now that Lara had a more balanced diet, her body began to take on the shape of a relatively nourished child, and now she was no longer so skinny. Every week, Hange would measure her height in the door frame to see how much she had grown.

Lara's growth wasn't fast though, probably due to the fact she had spent most of her life with a serious lack of vitamins, but any advance was already the cause for a celebration in the bedroom, like with a pillow fight, where, in a certain occasion, when Levi saw the bedroom door opened and shoutings coming from inside, he walked in, unintentionally being hit in the face by a pillow swung by Hange. She and Lara stared at Levi, not sure if they should be scared or not. But then, he slowly closed the door, grabbed a pillow, and joined in the fun. It all ended with Levi lying on the floor, and the girls piling up on him, leaving humanity's strongest soldier completely breathless and redder than a tomato.

To make the routine easier, Hange and Levi agreed it would be better for the three of them to at least have lunch together every day, so they could exchange their turns in taking care of the child. At first, Lara didn't want to eat some vegetables, like broccoli and zucchini. But, Levi's stern look made her swallow it all quickly.

Hange came to realize that although Lara could read and write, it was all very poorly. She read books with difficulty and when Hange asked her to write something down, there were many spelling mistakes. That's why at first, Hange focused on improving these skills, and only after noticing a good progress, she started to teach her other subjects such as Human, Biological, and other Exact sciences.

Since Hange spent most of her time with her faithful assistant Moblit, Lara also became very fond of him. Moblit was friendly, very sweet, and above all, patient. In addition to being an excellent artist, which delighted Lara when she saw his drawings. After establishing a friendship with him, Lara asked Moblit to teach her how to draw when he had some free time, which he did with great pleasure.

Often, Hange would catch the girl doing drawings representing the three of them: Levi, Hange, and Lara. They were simple, like them riding a horse or watching the sunset. Seeing those drawings would bring a surge of happiness to Hange's heart. However, there was one time when Hange could have sworn she saw a drawing of Lara where it was clearly representing Levi and Hange holding hands, with a big heart around them. Lara didn't notice that Hange was watching her at that moment, so she kept on drawing. The Squad Leader walked away, feeling her cheeks blush and her heart beat a little faster.

Lara's afternoons with Levi were everything but easy. At first, he taught her how to ride a horse, which made Lara become euphoric for a week at least. After she was able to get on the horse by herself and gallop with ease, Levi started to slowly introduce how to use the ODM gear.

The first thing that had to be done was to make Lara manage to balance herself on the wires, where there was a specific device for that exercise. Within a few days, Lara was already swinging very easily. In a few weeks, Levi was surprised to see that Lara was able to fly through the trees, using the whole gear with mastery.

Levi taught her some special techniques he used with the sword, and soon Lara was already able to take down the dummies that simulated real Titans, spinning just like the Captain and making deep cuts in the nape of the dummies. She herself learned some enhancement techniques on her own and showed them to Levi, who would approve with a little smile. Every now and then, they were seen racing each other through the trees, and I must admit that those were tight wins, and Levi was very proud of it.

He also began to notice that every day, around four o'clock in the afternoon, Lara would always mention she was feeling hungry. Because of that, Levi thought it would be an interesting idea to add some more fruits to her diet. It didn't take him long to discover that Lara was the biggest fan of oranges. So, every day at four in the afternoon, the two of them would sit under a tree in the training camps, and Levi would peel at least five oranges for Lara. The girl enjoyed playing by placing a big slice of orange inside her mouth and smiling at him, which would make Levi let out some good laughs, and soon, he also started doing the same to play with her.

Erwin was surely also following Lara's development closely and was feeling delighted with her improvements. She was truly a devoted child and he never felt tired of being amazed at how, every day, she seemed to acquire a new skill. Whenever Erwin had the opportunity, he would "steal" Lara from Hange or Levi, to spend time with the little girl, where he taught her to play chess, and constantly, Hange would catch him playing stunts with Lara, which made the Squad Leader extremely worried, claiming she might fall and break her neck (Gee, Hange! As if the girl didn't do the same things in her training with Levi!).

Lara also started to make new friends and, when she had free time, she was found having fun and talking to other soldiers. At first, many had trouble accepting someone so young in the Survey Corps, with some of them even treating her with total disrespect, but over time, they were surprised by that child's progress, and gradually, one by one, they became fond of her, until a time came when they totally respected her. When they least expected it, everyone started treating her as the "mascot" of the Survey Corps. Lara obviously loved it all. People like Mike, Nanaba, Petra, Oluo, Eld, Gunther, and many others, became great friends of hers.

Hange and Levi would hardly disagree on anything related to Lara. Only occasionally did their ideas conflict and they argued, like when Hange said she thought Levi was going too hard on the training and that it could be dangerous for Lara, or when Levi complained that Hange was giving the girl too much homework, and she didn't have time to play.

Since the beginning, it was agreed that Levi would help Lara clean Hange's bedroom once a week, as long as Hange bathed Lara at least twice a week, which turned out to be like a Historical Event, and whenever the two girls would take a bath, it was a reason for celebration, especially from Levi, who seemed very pleased to see the girls looking clean.

Never in all her life had Lara felt so loved. When she was at the orphanage, her presence was cause for scowling and irritation. There, at the Survey Corps HQ, it was the other way around. Whenever Lara arrived at a room, smiles would open for her and her presence was a reason for joy.

Lara found it funny that every now and then, after talking to someone, they would say that she didn't speak like a child, but like an adult. Lara didn't quite understand how, but she really felt that sometimes, words would come out of her mouth that she had no idea where she had learned it. Some said it was a gift, and others speculated it was because she had to mature too quickly. Just like there were others who thought it was all of that together, and came to the conclusion that Lara would make a good poetess.

And then, about nine months passed, and Lara grew in mind, in stature, and in wisdom, with Hange, Levi, and many amazing people by her side.