Father, Daughter

Lara flew among the trees, just behind Amanda and Muratti. The strange noises seemed to come from the east of the camp, getting louder as they got closer.

"By the sound," said Amanda, her voice mixing with the wind, "it looks like there are at least five Titans!"

"I hope Oliver arrives soon with reinforcements!" exclaimed Muratti, visibly worried.

Lara remained quiet. Although she was flying fast with the ODM gear, her thoughts were far away. Yesterday, after disappearing through the corridor, Lara ran towards the tree where she ate oranges with Levi every afternoon. She sat right where he used to stay, stroking the grass.

Even if sometimes she looked or spoke like an adult, Lara was, still, a child. A child with a broken heart.

From the moment she noticed Levi's reaction to her story, in the Forest of Giant Trees, she felt something for him grow inside her. It was something so strong, that she felt comfortable enough to tell him about her "experience". At first, she saw him as a great friend, but then, when they started spending every day together, Levi acquired a certain behavior that, in Lara's mind, was that of a legitimate Father and not of just a friend. There was no other way to name it.

Like Levi, she also didn't have any good father references in her life. Her own biological father was a terrible example. But, like every child, she was very observant about things around her. When she went downtown, for example, she admired how some parents were so affectionate with their children. She envied the way they played together, were taken care of, and received affection.

When Lara least expected it, Levi was doing these same things to her. Then, she just put two and two together.

Besides that, if we also add the fact that Hange, Levi, and Lara literally behaved like a family (even if unintentionally), the result could only be one: in Lara's mind, it was obvious that Hange was her Mother and Levi was her Father. Any other child, in her place, would also think the same. Lara just "officialized" it, calling them by their proper titles: mom and dad.

The only thing that was different, was that her "parents" didn't kiss or do stuff that Lara observed in some couples in town, like being romantic with each other. But, Lara was already thinking about how she could fix it.

She just couldn't understand why Levi, after showing all the signs of fatherhood, had rejected her. What she felt when she heard Levi say he "was not Lara's father and that he would never be", was more painful than being thrown off the Walls.

He fulfilled all the requirements of a Father, but didn't want to be one?

If he didn't want it, then why had he treated her that way all the past months? He should have treated her like a Tutor, then! Just like many others that taught in the Survey Corps' HQ.

Why would Levi trade his moments alone drinking tea, to play with Lara?

Or why would Levi argue with Hange, insisting that it was his day to take her to walk in the park?

Or why would Levi read bedtime stories to Lara?

Or why would Levi insist on putting his green cloak on Lara whenever the weather went down, while he would shake in cold?

Or why would Levi always ask how was Lara's day, even if he already knew she had spent it with him or Hange?

Or why would Levi let Lara draw on his face when she got bored to draw on the paper?

Or why would Levi, when Hange was not listening, had promised her a puppy?

Why? Why would a mere Tutor do all this and much more?

Lara couldn't understand.

But now, she swore to herself that she would never say the word "dad" in front of Levi again. If it was a Tutor-Apprentice relationship he wanted, this is what he would get.

Lara was so absorbed in her own thoughts, she didn't see a huge hand of a Titan coming towards her.

Like a lightning, she maneuvered the ODM to attach it to the tree next to her, barely almost being crushed by the hand of the seven-meter Titan that emerged in front of her. Quickly, Lara climbed a little higher up the tree she was on, to get a better view of the situation below her feet.

She was hanging on a tree at the edge of a large clearing. Amanda was right, there were five Titans grunting there, grotesquely. Lara was looking for her two colleagues, but she couldn't find them anywhere. Then, she heard a loud scream and looked in that direction.

Amanda had half of her body inside of a Titan's mouth. It was a scene that belonged to the worst nightmares. Taking courage out of nowhere, Lara flew towards that creature, to kill it. Looking down, she managed to spot Muratti fighting another Titan. He seemed to be doing fine.

In a perfect imitation of Levi's movements, Lara attached the hooks to a tree behind the Titan that was slowly devouring Amanda. She took an impulse on a thick branch and suspended in the air for a few moments. She drew both swords from her ODM gear and forced her body to start spinning fast.

The next thing Lara heard was the thud the Titan made as it hit the ground. She ran to help Amanda, but the soldier was already with her body cut in half, her eyes staring into nothing. Lara felt her lunch returning to her throat, but she took a deep breath, just like Levi had taught her, making her lunch go back to where it was supposed to be.

Muratti had also managed to kill one of the Titans and was now fighting the next one. There were three left to be taken down. Lara attached the hooks to the top of a tree and began to fight against the next Titan.

While fighting with difficulty, for this Titan was faster than the previous one, out of the corner of her eyes, Lara saw Muratti fly behind his own Titan, ready to deliver the final blow. After managing to cut the nape of its head and knocking it down, Muratti attached his ODM gear onto a nearby tree. But, before he could reach it, suddenly, the hand of the third and penultimate remaining Titan slapped him so hard, the lad's body was torn apart on the branches, falling in a completely awkward position on the ground.

At the sight of that vision, an impetus of fury rose within Lara, who quickly attached her ODM gear on her own Titan's leg and with one movement, cut off both of the creature's legs. With it lying on the floor, Lara ran on its back, taking a big leap and slicing its nape.

The clearing was surrounded by smoke rising from the Titans' bodies. Then, emerging from within the smoke, as in a triumphal entry, the last Titan appeared, the one who had killed Muratti.

With both swords drawn and rays of dusk projecting from the tops of the trees, Lara faced that Titan, who was about ten meters tall. She would avenge the deaths of Amanda and Muratti.

Lara projected her body forward, running towards the Titan. When she was very close, she aimed the ODM's hooks at the nearest tree, flying quickly but at a low height. Lara wanted to cut off its feet tendons.

After calculating the possibilities, she managed to attach the hooks into one of the Titan's feet, and when she was almost close enough to cut it, the Titan's other foot tripped over one of the wires of the ODM gear, which, without Lara knowing how, sent her flying through the air.

The Titan tripped over her ODM wire in such a way, that it had completely detached it from the rest of the device, making none of the wires work anymore.

Being impossible to hook herself in one of the trees, Lara fell to the ground with a big thud, feeling an extreme pain in her left foot, and let out a very loud scream. As they were no longer attached to the wires, the swords flew out of her hands, landing somewhere out of Lara's vision.

Now she was crawling on the ground, looking for some shelter. Lara tried to get up, but the pain in her left foot was unbearable. The Titan approached her slowly, with a creepy smile.

Like a movie flashing through Lara's mind, she found herself remembering her life at the orphanage, the angry tutors, the meager food, the beatings they gave her, her favorite tree, the sudden blow in her head, the abrupt rocking of that carriage, the Forest of Giant Trees, the terror…

But, Lara also remembered the strange woman who helped her in the Forest, where she became her friend, to now be her Mother. Lara remembered her funny laugh, her crazy lab experiments, her care, her affection, and most of all, her love.

Tears became to come out of Lara's eyes and a pain rose in her heart, as strong as the one she was feeling in her foot. She had thought about Levi.

So, that's how it was going to end? She wouldn't even have the chance to say goodbye, even from afar? Sobbing and with tears running down her dirt-stained cheeks, Lara tried to say something, to call for help.

She wanted to shout Levi's name. She wanted to call him to save her. But, his name would simply not come out of her mouth. Lara could only say one word. One single word.

"Dad…" she whispered, between sobs, "Daddy… Help me…"

And then, as if something exploded inside her, Lara broke her oath and screamed at the top of her lungs:

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!"

Her voice echoed through the forest.

♦♦♦

Levi watched Hange coming towards him. Like him, Hange also had a downcast expression. Levi got off the cart, also starting to walk towards her. They stopped in front of each other.

The two of them just looked at each other, tears forming in each pair of eyes. After long seconds, at the same time, Levi and Hange opened their mouths to speak, but they were startled by a sudden sound.

A very loud scream.

In a strangely familiar tone.

At the same moment, they looked at each other, completely white.

Then, they heard another sound. It was also a loud scream, but there was one word spoken in it: DAD!

"I-It's…" began Hange, with an expression of complete horror, "It's…"

"It's Lara…" completed Levi, his eyes wide opened.

Making Hange startle, Levi ran so quickly, in a way she had never seen in all these years of living together with him. When Hange realized, he had already disappeared among the trees of the forest.

Levi thought his heart would come out of his mouth at any moment. He had faced all sorts of terrifying situations in his life, and only one could compare to what he was feeling right now: when he saw Isabel and Furlan being killed by a Titan. The same terror that had filled his chest on that day, was now returning in full force.

He fired his ODM gear with violence, almost with a sort of despair. He heard a guttural sound that seemed like a Titan and redirected his device in that direction. Levi believed he had never flown so fast in his entire life.

Finally, he arrived in a clearing. And what he found there, would take a good few years to get out of his mind.

The ground was covered by four Titans' bodies, which evaporated. Their smoke shimmered in contrast to the late afternoon light that filtered through the gaps in the trees' leaves. Right in the center of the clearing, there was a living Titan. And there was someone in its hand.

This someone was Lara.

She appeared to be almost passed out, for her body lay limp in the Titan's hand, which was slowly bringing her towards its mouth. But, Levi could see that her eyes were still a little open and that she saw him, mumbling something.

Witnessing that scene, a tremendous force grew in Levi's heart, as if something had activated within him. With fury, he aimed his hooks perfectly at the nape of the Titan's head that was about to devour Lara.

For an instant, Levi hovered in midair, his cloak billowing behind him and his blades glistening in the sunlight, completely enveloped in the Titan's smoke. Before starting to spin to deliver the final blow, he screamed at that Titan:

"NOT. MY. DAUGHTER!"