Chapter 16 - Denial

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Levi walked briskly through the extensive corridors of the HQ

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Levi walked briskly through the extensive corridors of the HQ. It hadn't even been five minutes since he had returned. Lara hadn't been out of his mind for a second since he left for Stohess. Was she okay? Had her fever gone down? What could he do for her? He thought about how he wished there was a sort of real-time communication device he could use to talk with Hange.

Hange... How was she doing? How would she react when meeting him again? Levi hated being in that heavy atmosphere in her presence, and worse, he hated himself for knowing that deep down, he was the cause of it all.

His footsteps synched with the beats of his heart, worried about Lara's state. He felt an immense urge to hug her. He had only been gone for a day, but he felt something that connected with a vague memory of his own childhood. Levi missed Lara. Just like when his mother would go out to meet her clients and leave him alone in that room of the underground. That was what he felt, he missed his mom. Now he wondered if Lara felt the same way about him...

He arrived at Hange's bedroom door and knocked loudly. He heard someone say "come in!" and opened the door. Hange was standing beside her bed, packing what appeared to be a small suitcase with what Levi identified to be some of Lara's clothes from the Survey Corps, like some shirts, pants, a pair of boots, etc. Hange didn't realize it was Levi and continued to concentrate on her task.

"Hi..." he said, a little breathless, "I'm back."

Hange was startled by his sudden appearance in front of her, placing her hand on her chest.

"Hi, Levi," she said, slowly leaning against the desk between the two single beds. She had a tired look, "Was it all right back in Stohess?"

"Yes," replied Levi, his shoulders up and down with his breath as he looked around. "The horses are fine and ready for tomorrow's mission. How's Lara? Where's she?"

"She's downstairs with Nanaba and Mike, helping them make the final preparations for the mission," replied Hange, gazing deep into Levi's eyes. "Your suggestion did work. Last night I gave her a warm bath. It didn't take long and her fever finally went down. She slept through all night and woke up as if nothing had happened. She left here in the morning, running as usual," Hange chuckled, now looking down at the floor, "Go figure..."

Levi's shoulders finally relaxed and he felt like it took a huge weight off his heart. He sensed that Hange wasn't as angry as before, but he noticed she was still acting in a strange way. He stood in the middle of the bedroom, squeezing his hands, looking away from her.

"What are you doing?" he dared ask.

"Packing some of Lara's clothes," replied Hange, putting some more pieces in the suitcase. "Since it's her first mission, I don't know how many clothes she'll end up getting dirty."

Lara (Long-Fic Levihan | Armin Arlert X OC)Where stories live. Discover now