Lara’s Story

The girl's ears were filled with the heavy sound of the rain. Her entire body ached and she felt very hungry.

When she opened her eyes, the girl realized she was inside what appeared to be a cabin, but in a small room, lying on a bed.

She noticed that on top of her beige filthy dress, was now a green cloak. It was very cozy.

Slowly, she sat down. There were three people around her: the woman she helped in the forest, and two soldiers, the blond and dark-haired men.

The woman was sitting right beside the bed, with a sweet and worried look. The dark-haired man was sitting in the back of the room, his hair covering his eyes, gazing at the girl. The blond one, with his arms and legs crossed, gave her a little smile.

"Are you okay, darling?" the woman asked, laying her hand on top of the blankets. "What's your name?"

"Lara," the girl replied, softly.

"Lara?" the woman confirmed. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name's Hange Zoë. I'm the Leader in charge of the Forth Squad of the Survey Corps, but I'm sure you have no idea of what that means, right?" She chuckled.

"More or less," replied Lara, trying to sound friendly.

"See those two men over there?" Hange pointed to the soldiers. "They're great friends of mine. People I fully trust."

"Hi," said Lara, waving shyly. "Nice to meet you."

The blond soldier rested his hands on his open knees, in a body language that showed confidence.

"The pleasure's all mine, Lara. My name's Erwin Smith, Commander of the Survey Corps," he said, excitedly. "This guy here next to me, with that ugly face, is Captain Levi Ackerman, known as humanity's strongest soldier." Erwin placed his hand at the side of his mouth as if telling a secret, "Have you heard of him?"

Levi snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Ignore him," he said, looking at the girl with a little smile and an eyebrow raised. "Nice to meet you, Lara."

"Sorry, sir," replied Lara, embarrassed. "I've never heard about you… I only know the Survey Corps in general."

"That's why I love kids!" exclaimed Hange, laughing. "Lara, dear… First, I'd like to thank you very much for helping me in that forest. We're all truly impressed with what you've done there."

Suddenly, Lara remembered what had happened to her. Flashes of the last events came into her mind: the knock-out, the dark place, the loneliness, the Titans, the terror…

Her hands began to shake and she stared at Hange with her intense blue eyes, with an expression of pure horror.

"Miss, I mean… Hange," Lara said in a low tone, grabbing the woman's hands. "For the love of God… Help me…"

Hange startled and turned to Erwin and Levi as if asking for support. The two soldiers sat on the edge of their chairs, confused.

"S-Sure," Hange turned back to Lara, worried. "We will–"

"Lara," Erwin began to speak firmly, making her look at him, "don't worry. You're completely safe here. No one will hurt you, I promise."

Lara sought Levi's eyes, who also looked worried. He made a deep breathing movement, inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth, signaling for the girl to do the same, trying to calm her down.

Lara imitated him and took several deep breaths until she managed to get her heart back to normal.

"There you go…" said Hange, stroking Lara's hair. "It's over now. Are you feeling better?" She offered a cup of water.

Lara drank it and replied she was already feeling better.

"We're here to help you, okay?" said Erwin, trying to calm her down. "Let's take it slowly, shall we? First, do you know where you are?"

The girl looked around, analyzing the wooden interior of the cabin and then at the window. The rain was getting stronger. She shook her head negatively.

"Right," concluded Erwin, kindly. "Do you remember how you ended up here?"

Slowly, Lara nodded. But the feeling of horror wanted to come back to her heart.

"Can you tell us what happened to you?" asked Levi, looking gently into the child's eyes, then paused. "If you're not able to speak now, we'll understand."

"I can," she confirmed, slowly gazing at the three soldiers around. "My name's Lara and I'm ten years old."

"What's your last name, dear?" asked Hange.

"I… Don't have a last name or a family name," the girl replied, downcast. "I'm just… Lara."

"How is that so?" asked Erwin, raising his hands in confusion. "You don't have any other name?"

"I'm an orphan, Mr. Smith," replied Lara, looking at him with melancholy. "I don't have any family in this life. The people who raised me thought I didn't deserve my family name, because of my parents."

A loud thunder rumbled in the distance. Levi squirmed in his chair, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry…" said Erwin, in a low tone. "Please, proceed."

"As far as I was told back in the orphanage," continued Lara, looking out the window. "My parents were terrible and much-wanted thieves and murderers of Karanes District. When I was a newborn baby, during an escape from the Military Police, the carriage had an accident." She took a long pause, "I was the only survivor."

Lara was now staring at her hands.

"The Police found me in the rubble and obviously threw me into an orphanage in the District. When I say I was thrown, it is in a literal sense. They wrapped me in my baby clothes and put me next to the garbage, 'cause someone always passed by to see if there was any leftover food and, eventually, they would notify someone from inside the orphanage. They didn't even bother to ring the bell."

Hange stared at the girl with her mouth slightly opened, not believing her ears.

"I know that a lot of people have the impression that orphanages help abandoned children and everything else…" continued Lara, moving her arms. "But the truth is, that they can't wait to see us go away."

Erwin looked at the girl, frowning. She was very, very young… But spoke like an adult. He had never seen anything like that. Surely, she had to mature faster than other kids.

"I'm sure that what happened to me is what we, children from the orphanage, 'affectionately' (said no one ever) call the 'Offering'," continued Lara, with a serious expression. She sighed, closing her eyes, and proceeded, "The 'Offering' is when one or two children, chosen randomly, are thrown off the Walls. Someone crazy enough gets paid to take the victim outside, during the night."

The wind and rain beat hard on the window.

"The reason is quite simple: the orphanage has no money and needs to save on something, if you know what I mean. Isn't that funny? The orphanage has no money to maintain us, but it has money to pay someone to send us to death," Lara chuckled sarcastically. "For them, it's better for a person to take a risk outside the Walls, than to put an end to the child inside, with an excuse like, 'If someone finds out, imagine what a scandal!'. It's certain that the government would immediately cut the 'assistance' the orphanage receives each month."

"I confess that, at first, I didn't believe that this really happened there, at the orphanage…" she continued, "But, I began to notice that every now and then, a child would disappear here, another one there… Until one night, about three days ago, I can't even say anymore, I felt the presence of someone beside my bed and I remember being hit very hard on my head."

Hange had tears running down her cheeks. Slowly, Levi hid in the shadows that the dark clouds outside made in the room.

"And then," continued Lara, "I remember the feeling of being shaken, you know? I believe I was inside a carriage. When I woke up the next morning, I was somewhere in this forest. I've never been so scared in my life." She sighed, "Seriously, I have no idea how I survived… It all seems very vague in my mind… But now, I recall something." The girl turned to Hange, who was startled by the sudden movement, "You recall the sword I used to kill that Titan?"

Hange mumbled a "yes", her eyes wide open.

"I got it when I was running through the forest," continued Lara. "I was desperate for something that could help me... Until... I found a body."

Erwin lowered his head, covering his face with both hands.

"Right at that moment I realized it was a soldier of the famous Survey Corps," said Lara, in a low and sad tone. "Well, at least what was left of him… I threw up as soon as I saw him." Lara took a long pause and suddenly gazed firmly at Erwin, "I know it's not fair what people say about you guys, Mr. Smith!"

Abruptly, Erwin looked up, his eyes watery.

"I know how much you soldiers fight to protect humanity, Commander. We, the children at the orphanage, love and admire you guys a lot, did you know?" Lara gazed intensely at him, with tears in her eyes, "I know that the fear I felt in that forest is the same fear you all feel every time you leave the Walls, while the people inside keep saying bad stuff about you. Now I understand!"

Erwin's body was quivering. He covered his mouth.

"How can someone at your age ever think like that?!" he wondered. Erwin was holding himself back from hugging that child, feeling a great pride rising in his heart.

"I know I'm expendable for that orphanage I came from, Mr. Smith," Lara gazed deeply into Erwin's eyes, feeling a strength growing inside her, "But I believe every human being is useful, no matter who, much less where the person came from. I know my parents could have been the worst of the kind, but even they had their use, because they allowed me to be born. And I assure you that I will no longer be expendable. I'll be extremely useful to humanity! Two years from now, I know I'll be able to enlist and I swear I'll dedicate my heart to becoming the strongest soldier you've ever had!" Lara then turned to Levi, giving a little shy smile, "With all due respect to Mr. Ackerman, Commander."

Hange laughed so loud, it made everyone jump in fright. In fact, the poor thing was laughing from nervousness. Running her hand over her face, Hange looked at Erwin. They both didn't know whether to feel sorry, admired, or astonished after listening to that story.

As Lara gave Hange and Erwin a little smile, she realized that, hidden in the shadows, Levi was gazing at her. He wasn't smiling like the other two soldiers. Lara stopped smiling when she noticed a certain gleam running down Levi's face and she suddenly had a good feeling in her heart, but couldn't identify what it was. Maybe it was a kind of coziness.

Because that gleam on Levi's face was a tear shed.

The heart of humanity's strongest soldier was moved with deep compassion for that little girl. He had finally met someone who could understand him.