A True Friend

"NOW, MIKASA!" exclaimed Hange, flying with her ODM gear.

Mikasa attached her hooks and landed right inside the Armored Titan's mouth.

"Reiner..." she said, threateningly. "GET OUT, NOW!"

She shot her Thunder Spear deep into that creature's throat.

BOOM!!!

Reiner flew out of the Armored Titan's nape.

Lara couldn't see straight, her vision was blurry.

She staggered for a few moments. Everything revolved around her.

With a last shred of sanity, she jumped off the rooftop, attaching her ODM gear to a nearby wall. She urgently needed to step onto a more solid ground. Her body wouldn't take it.

She tripped over some rocks and dropped to her knees on the ground, right in front of the Armored Titan, which was already starting to evaporate.

At this instant, they all felt the ground shake greatly. Everyone, except Lara, looked at the Colossal Titan.

He was falling down.

Somehow, someone had managed to get Bertholdt out of his Titan's nape.

A huge cloud of smoke covered much of that area.

Lara closed her eyes, leaning over her body.

"What's going on…?" she thought. "Is this all just a dream…?"

She dared to open her eyes. All she saw in front of her was smoke, dust, and steam.

Then, like an apparition coming out of all that smoke, there she was.

Her Hero has returned.

Her green cloak fluttered behind and her hair was slowly blown by the wind, which seemed to caress her face.

Hange.

Her mother... She came back to Lara.

Hange walked toward her daughter, with a beautiful smile on her lips.

Lara's arms hung at her sides as she was kneeling on the ground. She felt tears and more tears running down her face, but she wasn't able to show any expression.

Gradually, a little smile formed on her mouth.

"Mom..." she whispered. "Mommy..."

Hange finally stopped in front of her daughter and slowly knelt down.

They looked at each other for a long, long time.

Lara couldn't feel her body. It seemed like she was living in a dream.

Then, Hange slowly wrapped her arms around her daughter, pulling her into a warm embrace.

For a few seconds, Lara was completely without any reaction. She pressed her ear to her mother's chest and then, she heard it.

Hange's heart.

It was beating. She was alive...

When her mind finally processed the fact that Hange was there, with her, it felt like her body received a burst of energy.

Lara hugged her mother back, very tight.

They both cried. They cried for a long time.

They cried for missing each other and for their reunion now. They cried for those who were gone and for those who were still there.

They cried for Levi, for they knew nothing about where he was.

Lara thought she could stay there forever, feeling her mother's protective warmth.

When they pulled themselves away, one grabbed the other's face, tears streaming down their cheeks.

Hange ran her fingers over her daughter's face. The poor thing had a heavy and tired look. The marks of the tears set apart from the dirt and blood that covered Lara's entire face. Hange then gave a sad smile.

"I think there's someone here who won't be motherless today," she said.

Lara began to laugh at the same time she cried.

"Mom..." she said, softly. "My mommy... You're alive..."

Hange continued to look at every detail of her daughter's face.

"Look at you..." she said, blinking slowly. "It's only been a couple of hours since I last saw you and it looks like you've already grown a little more..."

Lara gave her a sad smile and now, she was the one running her fingers over her mother's face. She looked at every detail, as if she wanted to keep that memory forever.

Lara ran her fingers over her curved nose, her pointed chin, her cheeks…

But, when she got to the eyes, she realized there was something strange.

"Mom..." said Lara, frowning. "Your eye..."

Now that she was looking closely, Lara noticed that her mother's left eye was covered in a blood clot.

Hange lowered her head, sadly.

"Yeah, baby... I think you have a one-eyed mother now."

"But..." said Lara, lifting Hange's face, "What happened?"

Hange swallowed a bitter saliva and took a deep breath.

"At the time of the Colossal Titan's transformation explosion, Moblit--"

She felt a huge lump in her throat.

"What's up with Moblit, mommy?!" asked Lara, feeling her heart begin to race. "Where is he?!"

Hange couldn't help herself and started crying, shaking her shoulders. Lara looked at her in bewilderment.

"No..." she whispered, covering her mouth with both hands. "Moblit... Did he...?"

With her head down, Hange nodded.

"H-He..." stuttered Hange, between sobs, "When he realized we would be caught by the explosion, he pushed me into a well..."

Lara felt the tears coming back and her chin shivered a lot.

"The last thing I remember was to be falling down into that deep well..." Hange pressed her lips together in agony, "And of a huge flash of light appearing in front of me. Then, I felt a sharp pain in my eye and... I passed out."

Lara covered her face. Tears were already falling down once more.

"When I woke up and got out of the well," continued Hange, with a choked-up voice, "everything was destroyed..." She placed her hand on Lara's shoulder, who looked at her with an expression of great anguish. "Sweetie... Not even a piece of his body was left for us to bury--"

Hange started to cry again and Lara quickly hugged her, and they both stood there, their shoulders shaking.

Who would now stop them from being devoured by the Titans in their experiments? Who would be that friend, who patiently listened to all their crazy ideas? Who would continue to teach Lara how to draw?

Among the tears, she managed to say:

"Daddy will be devastated..."

Hange raised her head, looking at her daughter.

"He usually told me," continued Lara, "that he could only work in peace 'cause he knew Moblit would be taking care of both of us..." She began to giggle. "You know, I used to tell daddy that Moblit was your mother... And when it was just me and dad, we'd call him my 'granny', can you believe it?!"

Hange laughed, while wiping away some tears. With a sad smile, she nodded.

"You both are right, baby... Moblit was a very special friend for us..."

"Yes, mom..." replied Lara, pushing Hange's hair out of her face. "He was, indeed... When we get home, I'll make a beautiful drawing of his face to hang in our lab. This way, it'll look like he's still there, watching over and taking care of us..."

Hange nodded, pressing her lips together as more tears came out of her eyes. Then, she suddenly placed her hand on her injured eye.

"Is it hurting?" asked Lara, worried.

"Yes... I need to clean this as soon as possible, before it gets an infection..."

Lara looked closely at her mother's face and stroked her cheek.

"You know..." she said, "You could wear an eye patch... I think you'd look cool and stylish… Just like a pirate."

"Really?" asked Hange, with a little smile. "Do you think your father would like it?"

"Mommy, 'course he would..." Lara smiled back. "Tell me if there's a single human being in this world who doesn't like you... You're amazing..."

Hange leaned forward to give her daughter a deep kiss on her forehead.

"You're gonna be the most beautiful pirate ever," said Lara, closing her eyes to receive the kiss.

Then, they hugged each other again, very tight.

Without one seeing what the other was doing, both Hange and Lara looked at a little piece of the sky that was still beautiful and blue, and both said in a whisper:

"Thank you so much..."