A Choice with Regrets [Levi Ackerman]

28

What a pitiful sight of outrageous robberies and bloody encounters.

"I'm so sorry..." I reach my hand out to give her shoulder a gentle squeeze, wanting to absorb all the emotion she is feeling. Zaiya does not mind the feeling and raises her head from her knees.

"I do not plan on going back there now that the village is invested by wolves," Zaiya tells me. "We had nowhere to go at the time. We were homeless until we settled in Trost District."

Zaiya suffered bitterly for years and now she is risking her life to protect her family within the walls. But in the walls, there are more obstacles to face amongst humanity. She was entitled to believe that all human beings were evil by nature, whether they were tormentors or victims. They could only create meaningless tragedies since they weren't intelligent enough to accomplish all the good they were meant to do. In truth, we humans are not born innocent.

"Before the attack, I had a childhood friend who taught me how to hunt." Zaiya chuckled at the bittersweet thought. "She was a little younger than me, but she knew so much about survival. Her name was Sasha."

"Where is she now?"

"I don't know. Ever since my village was attacked, I lost contact with her." Zaiya sighs in disbelief. "Honestly, I doubt she's in danger. She's very talented when it comes to hunting."

"I do not doubt it." I give her a small grin, hoping one day they can see each other again.

Zaiya then glances over at me, returning a smile. "You're the only person I shared this story with."

I was surprised and pointed a finger at myself. "Why me?"

"Because I believe men can't understand what I want to confess and they think differently than women like us. Out of everybody in our squad, you are a good listener, so thank you for that."

Her sudden compliment caused my face to flush, so I waved a hand at her in embarrassment. "S-Seriously, you didn't have to say that."

She finds amusement in my reaction and her giggling was quite refreshing. "Well, what about you? What's your reason?"

"My reason?" I blinked, which was brought to my attention.

"Why are you here? And what did the titan cult want from you?" Zaiya then added and before I could respond, the bushes behind us were rustling. It's not the wind because the sound is coming from one specific area and Zaiya shakes her head in disbelief.

"I know that's you, Abel. Come out."

Without a doubt, Abel reveals himself from the bush and awkwardly laughs while scratching the back of his head, knowing he was caught eavesdropping this whole time without me knowing. Zaiya cannot be messed with that easily, which is why she is such a character.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" Abel asks out of vulnerability and Zaiya looks over at him with a cold stare. "Yeah, can we ladies not have a conversation in peace?"

"Well, I'll let you get back to it then..." Abel was about to turn on his heels until I caught his wrist, having him stop. "You can sit with us!"

Zaiya looks at us in disgust. "No, he can't—"

"Come on! At least have him sit by the fire. His hands are freezing." I force Abel to take a seat right in between us and Zaiya just rolls her eyes in dismay.

"Well, aren't you a lone wolf?" Zaiya crosses her arms, scanning Abel with her eyes. "Why aren't you with Viktor?"

"Do you really think I'm his retainer?" Abel scoffs. "I don't follow him around like a stray dog. I have my own reasons to find some alone time."