Dear readers, this chapter was one of the most special for me, so I'd kindly like to ask you to read it with the song I will suggest, which I used as inspiration for writing this chapter. If you're somewhere you can't listen to it, I ask you to wait until you can, because the song will set the tone for the entire chapter and I really want you to have the best reading experience as possible ♥
The song is called "Always Good", by Bethel Music & Hanna McClure. For those who will search on YouTube, the video has the cover of a woman with open arms and the name of the song in yellow. For those who will search on Spotify, the song is part of the album "Revival's In The Air (Live)".
I ask that you kindly tell me how your reading experience was, because the feedbacks are very important, therefore I can better serve you with my work.
Lara arrived at a terrace, where Levi had told her it was the best place to see the stars, and at that very moment, she could see that her father was right.
It was a pleasant night and the sky was filled with stars of all sizes. The clouds reflected the moonlight, which lit up the sky as if it were an eye watching her.
Feeling an immense peace in her heart, Lara looked up and knelt down.
"Hi... It's me, again..."
The stars blinked at Lara, who smiled.
"Forgive me, Lord. I didn't have the opportunity to thank You properly."
She chuckled, looking down at her hands resting on her knees.
"I don't know how You do it... How You always end up finding me... If I go to the mountain top, You are there. If I fall into the valley low, You are there. I wonder if it's a part of Your character..."
Lara looked up to the sky and hit her chest.
"I feel that no matter where I am, if You are there, I can call it home."
Lara grabbed her head with both hands.
"I... I can find You in my crowded thoughts, and when I least expect it, You quiet all the question marks that come into my mind."
Suddenly, with tears in her eyes, Lara stared at the sky.
"And that's why this will be my song: that You are always good," Lara chuckled, "I could sing it all day long... That You are always good. And when the day is through, with my parents by my side, before closing my eyes, the last thing that fills my head is the same every night: that You are always good..."
Then, Lara made a bold expression.
"Do You know what I'm gonna do? I'll set my eyes on a perfect faith, 'cause I know You'll finish what You started in me. I feel that there's more to come..."
With bravery, Lara made the Survey Corps' salute, ignoring the pain she felt on her left side.
"I'll dedicate my heart!"
Then, a breeze passed over her face, as if caressing her, making her hair fly. Lara opened a big smile.
"Every melody... You're singing back to me, aren't You?"
Lara's heart burned with every syllable that came out of her mouth.
"You've traded all my fear for peace of mind... And You took my heaviness, now my burden's light... And that's why this will be my song, that You are always good..."
At that moment, Lara heard something from behind. When she turned around, she found Levi and Hange watching her, with a curious look.
Lara was a little startled by their sudden appearance, but continued where she was.
"How long have you been there?"
"Long enough to know that you're amazing," said Hange, approaching with a gentle smile and sitting down. She placed Lara in the space between her legs, pulling the girl towards her chest, hugging her daughter from behind. Lara laid her head on Hange, holding her mom's arms around her waist, with eyes closed.
Five minutes earlier, Levi had woken up to the sound of the door closing. Immediately, he called Hange, who woke up muttering something like "Titans...Titans..."
"Lara left the room," said Levi, in a whisper.
"To where?"
"I think I know..."
Soon, they also arrived at the terrace, watching their daughter say those words. Levi turned his head and saw that Hange was teary-eyed, looking at Lara with a certain pride.
Listening to Lara's words, Levi felt the same feeling in his heart as when she told him about her "experience" on the way to the mission in Shiganshina.
As if she had read his mind, Hange turned to him.
"Tell me, Levi... On the way to Shiganshina, I... I noticed that you were... Different. What did Lara tell you to make you stay that way?"
Levi looked up at the sky, feeling his chin tremble. He stared deeply at Hange.
"Something that is not of this world."
Before Hange could say anything, Lara turned around and found them two.
Levi watched Hange sit down and hug Lara from behind, and felt an overwhelming urge to do the same.
Slowly, he walked towards them and sat down behind Hange. He grabbed her waist and brought her close to his chest, making Lara also come along, which made her give a little laugh. In his arms, the girls looked so small, that with his own feet, he locked them in a big hug.
He rested his chin on Hange's shoulder, and when she felt him there, she leaned her face against his. She also felt Levi's heart thudding on her back, which was now synchronizing with her own heartbeat.
Hange then brushed her cheek to Levi's and they stayed like that, one caressing the other, while Lara, lying on Hange's chest, continued to watch the sky.
At one point, Levi turned his head to look at Hange and they brushed their noses for a few seconds. Slowly, Hange pressed her lips against Levi's in a silent, lingering kiss.
With eyes closed, when he felt Hange's lips on his, Levi squeezed her even harder, and she, consequently, also squeezed Lara, who, in the same way, squeezed her mother's arms, as if the love of one was passed on to the other.
For a few moments, the three of them stood there, feeling the strength of their embraces. When Hange pulled her lips away, she laid her head back on Levi's chest.
He looked up to the sky and gave a little smile in thankfulness. For Levi, who in his opinion had done nothing in his life that was worthy of honor - at least not in the years of his youth - was now receiving, for free, one of the greatest honors a man could have: to be loved.