Drawings

It was before dawn from Wednesday to Thursday when they arrived back at Paradis island. Hange was so stressed out, that five minutes before they landed at the port, she called the soldiers into a meeting in the lobby, notifying them that they could all take a time off until next Monday, since Eren and Zeke were rescued.

When they got to the Headquarters a little after lunchtime, the first thing Levi and Lara did was to take Hange to the infirmary, who was having intense pains in her belly. The doctors examined her and came to the terrible conclusion that she was at serious risk of placental abruption, because of the unavoidable physical efforts Hange had to make and her high blood pressure. It was a very critical situation, for it could result in serious complications for her and the baby, due to the consequences of the bleeding that could occur and the lack of oxygen for the fetus.

Armin was waiting anxiously for them to leave the consulting room. He had quickly gone to take a bath and change into casual clothes. Sitting on a bench, he rested his elbows on his knees and was tapping his foot on the floor several times. Now that he was in a serious relationship with Lara, he couldn't help but feel worried about his future mother-in-law.

The doctors left the room, followed by Lara, who wore a sad expression. He stood up in a jump and she asked him to come in. Armin refused at first, for he still didn't feel comfortable being involved in such private matters of the family, since because he hasn't even talked properly to her parents about them being now engaged, for he had only talked about this with Levi the day before, and nothing else. However, she affectionately insisted.

Armin met Hange lying on a bed, looking exhausted and pretty dejected. She had tears in her eyes and was holding her forehead with her hand. Levi was beside her, looking extremely apprehensive, as he squeezed his wife's shoulders. Until they arrived at the Headquarters, Levi had kept an expression of irritation, because of what he had to go through in Liberio, with Eren and Zeke, who by that time, were already held in prison, due to everything they had caused. But now, Armin felt a tightness in his heart, for Levi just looked like a father who was very, very concerned about the well-being of his wife and baby.

"How are you, Commander?" asked Armin shyly.

"You can call me just Hange, dear," she said. Armin couldn't help but feel a certain warmth in his heart, because despite the situation, Levi and Hange seemed very receptive to his presence in the room.

Lara quickly explained all of Hange's condition to him, for her mother wasn't even feeling well enough to talk, such anguish in her heart. Armin felt terrible hearing the diagnosis and wished that everything would turn out fine and that they could count on him for anything they needed. Hange managed to give him a kind smile in thanks, with tears in her eyes.

"Baby," said Levi, "I'll take your mother home by carriage because riding a horse now is not recommended. Could you and Armin bring our horses, please?"

Lara sought Armin's eyes, asking if he would agree to help her and he promptly nodded. Minutes later, Levi helped Hange out of the infirmary to the carriage, and to home.

Armin and Lara were standing in the middle of the infirmary corridor. Her eyes were a little wide, staring at a fixed point, thinking about her mother and the baby, and her heart was troubled. Seeing her in that state, Armin immediately wrapped her in his arms, kissing the top of her head, telling her that everything was going to be okay.

Lara allowed herself to lie on his chest and close her eyes as he slowly rocked her. A tear fell down from her eyes and she took a deep breath. Armin stroked her cheeks. Anguish got into his heart, at seeing his beloved one so downcast.

Armin looked to the side and saw a familiar face: Dr. Wilson. Silently, the doctor gave him a kind smile and a thumbs-up sign. Armin couldn't help but smile back and replied with the same gesture. The doctor looked very pleased, nodding in approval. Armin made a mental note that when he and Lara got married, they would invite him to the wedding party.

♦♦♦

Levi and Hange arrived home. She was so exhausted that she was shuffling her feet. First of all, Levi placed in the kitchen cupboard all the medications that the doctors had given Hange to use in case she felt more pain, and also another one to use in extreme and last case scenarios (such as bleeding), for they were heavy medication.

Levi took her to the bathroom. Without saying a word, he sat her down on a stool and started taking Hange's clothes off. To make it easier, he also took off his own ODM gear, staying only in his uniform.

He helped Hange get into the bathtub and as soon as she felt the warm water on her body, she fell asleep right there. Levi watched her with a sad smile while caressing his wife's face. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

Levi bathed Hange, massaging her back and feet, and gently rubbing her belly with the sponge. At one point, he felt the baby kick and his heart warmed.

"Hang in there, Tiny-Human-Bean..." he whispered, with his hand on her belly.

He had to wake Hange up for her to get out of the bathtub, for he needed to dry her off. Looking a little groggy, she got out and five minutes later, Hange was lying on her bed in her pajamas. A cool breeze came through the bedroom window and Levi noticed that she smiled as she felt the wind on her face. It was a pretty fresh day.

Levi then sat down next to Hange on their bed and gently lifted her pajama blouse. He took the lavender essential oil and started rubbing it on her belly. The baby kicked once more as if thanking its father for his caring. He smiled.

Levi closed the window and covered Hange with blankets. Now, only a few slivers of sunlight were coming through the wooden window, making it all cozy for a good nap. Before leaving the bedroom, Levi went to Hange and gave her a long peck kiss.

"I love you," he whispered.

"Me too, babe," she replied, her voice sleepy. "Please prepare an afternoon tea for Armin when they get here."

"Sure," Levi kissed her on her forehead. "Now, rest. Call me if you need anything. Really, for anything."

Hange smiled and took a deep breath.

"Levi?"

"Yes?"

"It was you, wasn't it?" Hange took his hand.

"What have I done?" he gently asked, intertwining their fingers.

"It was you who made Armin change his mind, wasn't it?"

Levi pressed his lips together.

"How do you know that?"

"Because," replied Hange, holding his face, "Lara and Armin have a different gleam in their eyes. It's the same one we both had when you proposed to me."

Levi smiled and blinked slowly.

"I'm glad they sorted things out."

"Me too," Hange smiled. "Even our little Tiny-Human-Bean here seemed to like it. Can you believe the baby didn't stop moving while Armin was talking to us in the infirmary?"

"I think they'll make excellent siblings-in-law," said Levi.

Hange giggled. She then pulled him and gave him a kiss.

"Thank you for making our daughter and Armin happy. You're amazing."

♦♦♦

Armin and Lara were riding side by side, each of them leading one of Hange and Levi's horses. In the distance, her house stood out among the pines and mountains that formed the landscape in the background. Armin felt butterflies in his stomach.

He had never been to Lara's house. Armin was feeling anxious about the new reality that - practically overnight - he had come to live. About just a week ago, he thought he would spend the rest of his life dipped in bitterness for not being with her, but now they were even engaged! There were moments when Armin thought he was dreaming and that he would soon wake up and go back to the nightmare he used to live in.

But no. Lara was there, beside him, her hair blowing with the wind. She looked at him and gave him a smile. Armin smiled back, feeling his chest swell with happiness. Lara seemed better now, after taking another dose of medication. Dr. Wilson gave her some pills to take home on her days off and she would probably be back to work already fully recovered.

Lara didn't live much far from the Headquarters, only about twenty to thirty minutes on horseback. On their way, she told him more about Hange's risky pregnancy and how worried they were that something might happen to her and the baby, that Armin found it funny that Lara nicknamed it "Tiny-Human-Bean".

They both led the horses to the small stable behind the house, and Armin followed her to the porch. Before he could say anything, Lara opened the front door and invited him in.

"N-No," he said shyly, "I don't wanna disturb you and your parents. You must be exhausted and need to rest."

Lara then made a sad pout to Armin, looking at him from below, like a puppy. That caught him completely off guard, and for a moment he felt his heart seem to fail. He had to hold himself together from kissing her right there. Good thing Armin managed to control himself, because Levi popped up at the door. He appeared to have taken a bath and was wearing casual clothes.

"Come in, Armin," said Levi, making way, "please do have some tea with us."

Lara smiled at the fact that her father was allowing him to go in. Before Armin could refuse the invitation, she pulled him by his arm and Levi closed the door. Cringing a little in bashfulness, holding his own hands in front of him, Armin looked around the house interior, finding it all very neat and tidy.

"Can I show him the house, Dad?" asked Lara.

"Yes," replied Levi, heading to the kitchen, "but take a bath before tea."

Lara agreed and before calling him to follow her, Armin turned to her father.

"Capt-- I mean, Levi," began Armin, shyly, "I would like to know if on any of these days off I can talk to you and Hange, please."

Levi looked from Armin to Lara, who was gazing at her father with a meaningful look.

"Come here for lunch on Saturday," replied Levi, with a little smile, "then we can talk."

Armin nodded and without seeing it, Lara did a quick celebratory funny dance behind him. Levi had to control himself from laughing at his daughter's antics.

Lara invited Armin to take a tour of the house. As the living room, dining room, and kitchen were kinda integrated, she just pointed to the places for Armin to be situated. She also showed him the basement, where it had finally been turned into a training room, which Lara and Levi used to play fight, which at that point, weren't plays anymore, but serious training.

Lara led him to the hallway, walking into the first room, which was her and Hange's laboratory. Armin was delighted to see that it was practically a mini copy of the lab they had in the Headquarters. Then, Lara walked into another room. As soon as he looked around, Armin realized it was under renovation, for there were paint buckets and a few boxes here and there. It was the baby's future bedroom.

"We're almost done," she said, smiling.

Armin looked at one of the walls and widened his eyes in astonishment. From floor to ceiling, there was a beautiful painting of a forest, with some animals such as rabbits, deer, foxes, and birds, all of them as babies. He instantly turned to Lara.

"Lemme guess. You did this?!" he asked, mouth agape.

Feeling shy, Lara confirmed. Armin knew she drew well, but he didn't think it was at that level. The crib was already assembled, leaning against another wall, next to a dresser and an armchair, which Hange would use to breastfeed the baby.

"We still need to finish some details," said Lara, inspecting the bedroom. "I wanna try to paint the ceiling and make a sort of a starry sky, but I don't know if I'll have time." She then looked at Armin, smiling, "I hope I can count on your help, babe."

With a silly smile on his face, Armin promptly replied that he would be glad to help. Lara then showed him the bathrooms and said that she just wouldn't show her parents' bedroom because Hange was sleeping. Then, she guided him to her bedroom.

Armin thought he would never live to walk into Lara's bedroom. He was feeling very shy. He looked around and saw that it was a medium-sized room, with a bed, a bedside table, a wardrobe, and a large desk, next to a mirror. Everything had a classic and simple decor, with light-color furniture, which gave a very cozy aesthetic to it. The big window on the opposite wall of the bed let in a soft breeze. Armin peered out at the landscape and was stunned to see the mountains in the distance, with clouds passing over them. He imagined how amazing it must be to wake up to that view.

Lara was sitting on her bed, no longer wearing the ODM gear, which she had placed inside the wardrobe, as she watched a curious Armin inspect her bedroom. Lara looked at him smiling, happy he was there. With interest, Armin observed every detail.

The desk was just below the window and was full of drawing tools and materials, but everything was very organized, divided into categories, in small wooden boxes.

"So this is where you did my drawing?" he asked, chuckling. Lara confirmed, also smiling gently.

Armin lifted his eyes and gasped, straightening his back. Just behind Lara, on the wall where her bed was leaning against, was a huge mural, almost filling the entire wall, crammed with drawings of all shapes and types. Lara stood up to stand side by side with him.

"That's how I see the world," she smiled.

Armin ran his eyes over each drawing. Gradually, he identified that they were very familiar faces. Lara had a more conceptual style of painting, not putting in many details, but when looking from a distance, they formed the complete illustration.

The first thing he noticed was that most of the drawings were depictions of Lara with her parents. Sometimes of the three of them together, sometimes of her with each of them. There were drawings of them lying on the lawn, looking at the sky, of them playing cards in the living room, sitting at the dinner table, riding horses, and of them sleeping in the famous family sandwich format, with Lara being the filling, as a child, and many other scenes and memories of them three.

There were also drawings of Lara with Levi, of them sitting under the tree eating oranges, looking at the clouds, having fun in the yard, and playing fight in the living room. Just as there were also drawings of Lara with Hange, with them lying on the sofa, with Lara snuggled on her chest as a child, of them both in the old bedroom at the Headquarters, jumping on the bed, and Lara stroking her mother's hair. There were a few isolated portraits of Levi and Hange, most of them being the representation of Hange pregnant, in a silhouette, which were quite beautiful.

Another category of drawings were those of Levi and Hange together, in their daily lives, like the two of them having tea on the porch, cooking, in Hange's office, flying with their ODM gears, having dinner together by candlelight, lying down on the lawn, hugging, and even of them kissing. Armin didn't know it, but the kiss drawing was of the scene that Lara had witnessed when she and her parents were reunited in Shiganshina after Levi had decided to give Armin the Titan serum. He noticed that Hange and Levi's expressions were of pain and that tears were coming out of their eyes as they kissed. Armin sensed that those expressions looked rather familiar.

Then he moved on to the next drawings, where he recognized some portraits of Erwin, Mike, and Moblit, all of them with an air of serenity and peace. There were drawings of Lara and Erwin playing chess, of Lara as a child on Mike's piggyback, and of Moblit and Lara bent over several sheets of paper, with lots of colored pencils in their hands.

"He was my teacher..." said Lara, contemplatively, as she ran her fingers over a portrait of Moblit. Armin gave her a sad smile and squeezed her hand.

Then, he ran his eyes over some drawings that represented her Squad. Armin couldn't help but laugh when he saw a drawing of Connie, Sasha, and Jean, who had a horse's head instead of a face. But right next to it was another drawing of the three of them hugging, with Jean in human form.

There were also some drawings of Mikasa. He liked that Lara had drawn her in black and white, with only her red scarf highlighted, waving in the wind. Then, Armin straightened his back at the sight of a rather… odd drawing.

"Baby, why do you have a drawing of a pigeon with a wig on its head?!" Armin looked at her, confused.

Lara covered her mouth, trying to hold back a laugh.

"Oh... That's Eren."

Armin raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?!"

"Ah!" she clicked her tongue, "It's just that I've always heard Eren talk a lot about how he wants to be free and stuff… So I thought that the animal that best represented him would be a bird. But on the day I did this drawing, he was in a bad mood and I thought it was better to represent him as a pigeon, which in my opinion is a comical animal. I put the wig on to be his hair, don't you think they look the same?" Lara turned to Armin with a playful expression.

"Well..." he replied, his hand on his chin, laughing, "To me it's identical!"

Then, when Armin noticed the last section of the drawings, he felt his heart beat harder. It was drawing depictions of him. There were so many, almost the same amount as the ones of Lara with her parents.

Wide-eyed, he inspected each one.

These drawings were pretty different from the others. Some looked like just scribbles, but it was incredibly clear that it was Armin. Many were in black and white, with only his eyes or hair highlighted in color, and there was a certain fluidity in his features. Armin was portrayed in several different poses. Sometimes in side or front profile, or sitting in the refectory, or at Lara's lab's doorway, or of full-body, wearing the big green military coat. In all of them, his gaze was very striking.

However, the only thing that Armin found strange was that, in all the drawings, a piece of him was missing. Not in a grotesque way, but for example, if Lara drew him in front profile, it was only half of his face. If it was in side profile, a part of his hair wasn't shown. If it was in full-body, the part below his knees or part of his arms seemed to have been erased, making a gradient effect. If he was set in some scenario, his face was blurry, and so on. Armin slowly stared at her, confused. Lara looked down at her feet and pressed her lips together.

"I drew you like this because I never thought that one day I could have you completely."

He felt a tightness in his chest, remembering the horrible feelings that until recently, inhabited their hearts. Lara then pointed to a drawing, which was almost in the middle of the "Armin" section.

It was the drawing of him on the beach, before their talk, three years ago, and that Lara had initially kept in a box in her wardrobe. In it, Armin was fully drawn and clear.

"This was the only time I still thought we would have any chance of starting over…" she said, feeling her eyes water. Lara then went to her bedside table and picked up the seashell.

"Here..." she handed it to him. Armin stared at her, stunned, and felt his jaw tremble. Lara continued, "This is all I thought I would have of you..."

Tears filled Armin's eyes. He picked up the seashell and ran his fingers over it. Then, he looked at Lara, who added:

"... Until now." She smiled and a tear fell down her face.