Rejection

Levi didn't sleep at all. From night til dawn, he laid on his bed, cuddling to Lara's drawing. Alone in his room, he could cry as much as he wanted, for no one would hear him.

On the following morning, on Monday, before sunrise, all the Survey Corps' soldiers who were going to the mission were ready to leave the HQ towards the Krolva District, to the abandoned camp beyond that region.

Levi would be responsible for a group of soldiers who had been accompanying him in his training for some time, such as Gunther Schultz, Eld Jinn, Petra Ral, Oluo Bozado, and three more soldiers.

Hange would also lead another group with eight soldiers, including Moblit and Lara. In all, there would be four groups of eight soldiers, with the other two groups being led by Erwin and Mike.

Levi watched the girls from afar as he mounted his horse. Every now and then, he would catch Hange looking at him, downcast. But as for Lara, she was impassive and seemed focused on the mission.

Despite still having a childish appearance, with her small round face, Lara had an enigmatic expression in her eyes. Wearing her full Survey Corps uniform, with the ODM gear and her dark brown horse, Lara was a true soldier, and no one could deny that.

They left the HQ and arrived at the Krolva District. They were received with some boos, but since the soldiers were used to it, they tried to ignore it, and only a few looked back with serious expressions at the citizens of the District.

The gates were opened and the soldiers of the Survey Corps left on another mission, towards a completely hostile land full of Titans, as it was a region with many villages, which attracted the creatures. According to the location given to Commander Erwin, the abandoned camp was right in the middle of a small forest. If all went well, they would arrive at the camp in about three hours, and tomorrow, by the end of the afternoon, they would return.

The four groups of eight soldiers were organized in the following way: Hange's group would be on the left flank, followed by Levi's group, then Erwin's, and finally, on the right flank, Mike's group. Each group divided its soldiers into four pairs, where each soldier kept a distance of seven meters from each other and each group kept a distance of about thirty meters, so they could cover good ground and also not attract too many Titans. Each group had a soldier leading a cart to load supplies found in the abandoned camp.

About an hour had passed since they had left the safety of the Walls and four Titans attacked Mike's group. It was not that hard to kill them, but one of the soldiers got seriously wounded and had to continue the rest of the way lying on the cart.

A while later, five Titans attacked Erwin's group, one of them being an Abnormal. It was a very intense battle, where the Commander himself had to help and, in the end, unfortunately, two soldiers were devoured.

When everyone could finally see the small forest where the abandoned camp was located, on the left flank, near Hange's group, two Titans appeared from behind some pine trees, one of them also being an Abnormal.

Even at a distance, Hange and Levi felt the same thing: terror. Lara was in the third line of pairs, very close to where the Titans were attacking. Behind Lara, the two soldiers in the rear began their movements to defeat those creatures. One of those soldiers was Müller, who had accompanied them on the mission in Shiganshina, and the other one was called Wagner.

Müller and Wagner fought hard against the Titans, managing to kill one of them, but the Abnormal was being very challenging. With a sudden movement, the Abnormal Titan grabbed Wagner by the wires of the ODM gear, knocking him to the ground and soon after, devouring him.

Müller was in trouble, as she had tried to cut the nape of the Titan, but it was too fast and she missed it. Then, when she least expected it, the Titan grabbed her with one hand and began to bring her to its mouth.

She screamed so loudly practically all soldiers turned their heads to see what was happening. Instinctively, Hange and Levi stared at Lara, and felt their hearts seem to fail as they realized there was no one on her horse's saddle.

Spontaneously, Levi and Hange stared at each other in worry. That could only mean one thing.

When Müller was already able to see the back of that Titan's gaping throat, she heard a scream that wasn't her own. It was a rather high-pitched scream for an adult and when she realized it, she felt herself falling toward the ground. Müller stretched her neck as far as she could and was able to see a small figure flying above that Titan, with the swords full of blood being illuminated by the sun's rays.

It was Lara.

The Abnormal Titan fell with a big thud on the ground and luckily, Müller's fall was softened by falling on the giant hand that was holding her. Lara ran towards her, asking if the soldier was okay, to which she replied that, yes, she was, thanking the girl immensely.

For a second, Hange thought she was going to have a heart attack right there on her horse, for never in her life had she felt her heart beat so fast. Unintentionally, she ended up looking at Levi, who was watching Lara with the same astonished expression Hange had seconds ago. Before she could turn her head, Levi also looked at Hange and the two of them, at the same time, released the air they were holding in their lungs.

♦♦♦

The soldiers arrived at the abandoned camp around lunchtime. As they put their horses in the stables, Levi watched a desperate Hange practically circling around Lara, inspecting every inch of the girl. Moblit and Petra were also worried, asking how Lara was doing and Müller was still holding her hands, almost crying in thankfulness.

The urge to go to Lara was such that Levi's green cloak was wet from sweat he dried on it. Then he noticed a shadow behind him. It was Erwin.

"Didn't I tell you she was going to be useful on the mission?" asked the Commander, next to his friend. "She saved a life, Levi."

Levi glanced at Erwin but didn't say anything. He kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he squeezed his own hands under his cloak. Erwin watched him for a moment, intrigued.

"Are you and Hange still not talking?" asked Erwin, making Levi turn to him sharply.

"What are you talking about?!" exclaimed Levi, irritated.

"Come on, Levi. Spare me!" said Erwin, clicking his tongue, "Everyone here noticed you've been a little too nervous during the past week and Hange was too quiet for our liking. Is it because Lara came on the mission?"

"No…" replied Levi, rubbing the back of his neck, "It's because of… Something else…"

"Then make peace with Hange at once!" exclaimed Erwin, patting his friend on the back and walking away, "No one at the Headquarters enjoys seeing the 'Happy Family' being sad."

"The 'what'?!" asked Levi, but Erwin was already too far away.

♦♦♦

To the soldiers' delight, that abandoned camp really was a gold mine. About forty percent of the place had been explored and many pieces for the ODM gear were found.

At one point in the afternoon, while walking down a corridor, Levi saw Lara coming towards him, carrying a box with some blades, her forehead sweating from the weight. He quickened his pace until he approached her.

"Do you need help?" he asked, anxiously.

"No, thank you," replied Lara, without looking at him, continuing to walk.

Feeling awkward, Levi watched her go out of sight, standing in the middle of the corridor.

The sun was setting on the horizon when Lara was filling up one of the carts in the company of three soldiers: a woman named Amanda, a young man named Muratti, and a veteran named Oliver.

Suddenly, the four of them heard a very strange guttural sound coming from deep in the forest. They exchanged looks and came to the same conclusion: those were Titans. And they were close. Right away, Amanda, Muratti, and Lara ran toward the forest, while Oliver shouted he would warn Commander Erwin to send reinforcements.

A few minutes later, Levi came outside, stopping beside a cart that contained some of the supplies found in the camp. Since no one was around, he allowed himself to sit in the cart and gaze out at the forest, his shoulders slumped.

His heart was heavy and he felt like he was sick. It seemed like a bunch of horses had run over him. He covered his face with both hands, sighing. Seconds later, he heard footsteps coming closer.

It was Hange.