Chapter 48 - Suture

                                    

                                          
Levi quickly ran towards Hange and Lara, who were sitting down on a place on top of the Wall. When he knelt beside them, he got startled. Lara's wound was practically all stitched up and Hange was already bandaging it.
	The admiration he already had for Hange grew even more on seeing her taking care of his daughter's wound with mastery and speed. Hidden by the shadows of his hood, he gave a brief smile as he looked at that woman, so focused on saving her daughter.
	"How's it?" he asked, worried.
	"Thanks to my mom, I don't think we'll have to cut off my arm," Lara even tried to chuckle, but her expression of pain was saying something else. "You know better than anyone that she makes excellent sutures, don't you?"
	Without meaning to, Levi stroked his left forearm, where there was a scar that Hange herself had sutured, when they came to Shiganshina by the time they had rescued Lara. He remembered that day with nostalgia, but avoided thinking about the part where he was rude to Hange at one point. Then, he ruffled Lara's hair and acquired a very serious expression.
	"That bastard..." he began, his teeth gritted, "I should've finished him! But he ended up using some kind of power, which somehow made him survive my attacks."
	"You were amazing, Levi," said Hange, still concentrated on the curative. "When I realized, you had already left my side and were flying down, saving our daughter." She then lifted her face and gave Levi such a beautiful smile, that he felt his heart skip a beat for a moment.
	"It was pretty amazing, dad, really," Lara grimaced in pain as Hange had to tighten the bands that wrapped her arm. "Reiner almost plunged that sword into my chest..."
	"What?!" exclaimed Hange, looking furious. 
"Yeah..." continued Lara, crestfallen. "I noticed that he hesitated when he recognized me and changed the position of the attack, from my chest to my arm."
	Levi, who was already with an angry expression, got even angrier. He looked around and saw that all soldiers, without exception, were too focused on watching the Beast Titan in front of them.
	"I need to check Erwin's orders."
	Levi then felt an immense urge to hug Hange and Lara, as he knew that the moment he left to talk to Erwin, he would command him to do something, probably far away from the girls.
	And who knows if they would ever be able to see each other again, given the current circumstances.
	Levi was rubbing his hands together in anxiety, because he wanted to do something, but he was too embarrassed for being surrounded by people. However, he looked around and saw that the soldiers were so intent on watching the Beast Titan, that they could make any noise and no one wouldn't even notice.
	Then, Levi quickly placed a kiss on each of their foreheads and held their faces. The girls stared at him, perplexed, surprised by this sudden public display of affection.
	"I love you both, okay?!" he said, looking deeply into their eyes.
	Hange and Lara were still blinking several times, trying to understand what was that, but then they nodded and gave him a big smile.
	"We love you too, dad!"
	"We love you, Levi," Hange also placed her hand on his face, caressing his cheek.
	He gave Hange a little smile, and automatically, they held their hands together. Levi needed to get up and go to Erwin, but it seemed like every time he tried to, he wanted to stay with the girls even more. Still holding Hange's hand, he slowly got up and, with a pain in his heart, he let it go. She watched Levi walk away and going to take a look at the Armored Titan before talking to the Commander.