Together, we heal | Levi Ackerman

༅ 10. This Is Nice...

Life in the Underground, Part 4: This is nice...

Year 841

"Mama."

"Yes, dear?

"What do you think of people who steal?"

Vanya sat by the dining table, sipping her green tea that she had grounded and brewed on her own. Lily settled on a rocking chair by the window, her weak and useless lower half covered with a blanket. The older woman was knitting yet again another shawl for Vanya to wear.

"Hmm..." Lily mused.

She didn't say anything after that, leaving Vanya hanging.

"Do you think," Vanya cleared her throat, thinking her words carefully. "They're bad people?"

"Do you?"

Lily may have lost her ability to walk properly but the woman was still just as perceptive and wise as a sage.

"I asked first." The younger redhead huffed. "But yes, I think they are bad people."

"I see..." The mother hummed. "Why do you think so?"

"Well, they just take whatever isn't theirs!"

"You're right about that." Lily looked at her daughter but her eyes seemed to say otherwise. "But do you think they have a choice?"

Vanya stopped sipping her tea as she began pondering over her mother's words. It achingly reminded her of her brother who had ran away 3 years ago and hadn't come back since.

You know I have no choice.

"I suppose not..."

"These thieves, they're not bad people." Her mother leered out the window. "They're only people."

Then, Lily faced her daughter with sorrowful eyes. "It's the system that made them bad."

Vanya grimaced, suddenly feeling so shameful for the way she saw those thugs. She kept forgetting how her brother was one of them, and kept denying that Cedric was associated with the group of people who would steal and kill.

She couldn't process how Cedric would ever be close with the likes of Levi.

And now she was the one paying the price. Because of all the sins Cedric committed, Vanya now became the target of his enemies. He owed them, she remembered the leader of one gang saying that.

And now, she had absolutely no idea how to fix this.

Or maybe she had.

But no, she couldn't possibly do it. She's not that kind of person.

"Have you ever thought of doing it too?"

Vanya blinked away from her deep introspection. She looked up to see Lily was expecting an answer from her.

"Sorry?" Vanya said, baffled.

"Stealing." The mother tilted her head in curiosity. "Have you ever thought about it?"

"No!" She said defensively. "I'd never," but deep down, the thought of stealing suddenly didn't seem so bad.

Lily watched as Vanya's face seemed like she was considering the idea.

"You don't seem certain."

"Why does it feel like you're selling me this idea of me becoming a criminal?" The girl scowled, crossing her arms.