A Promise (An Attack on Titan Fanfic: Erwin Smith)

Dreams

If there was one thing Erwin learned during the time Isanna lived together with him and his father, it would be to always keep their stashes of bread hidden. 

The girl loved to eat anything edible, but bread was her favorite. She literally consumed everything like a vacuum, and to top it all, his father doted on her a lot. He was beginning to question who among the both of them was his real child. 

"How did you even reach the top shelf?" Erwin interrogated Isanna, who was sitting on the wooden chair in their kitchen. The blond had just found out that the sack filled with bread he had placed at the top of their highest shelf had just been eaten by Isanna, but he couldn't imagine how she could reach it in the first place. He had deliberately settled it high above her reach. 

Isanna had her head down with a small pout, and Erwin thought she looked like a puppy that was caught chewing on their owner's slippers. "I had Alwin-sensei get it for me," she quietly whispered but Erwin heard her. 

Dad, huh, he thought to himself, internally sighing. If it was his father, he could definitely see how Isanna managed to coax him. Actually, she didn't even need to. She could just tell him to get the bread for her and he'll happily oblige. He liked her that much. 

As soon as Erwin had brought her to their home and explained everything to his father, Alwin immediately welcomed her with loving arms (Erwin realized then and there that he probably wanted a daughter) and even let her enroll to his school. Even though she was a year younger than Erwin, his father had her placed in his class so that they could be together. He was a teacher there so it wasn't all that difficult. 

Isanna was sociably awkward, so she stuck with Erwin a lot, and when we say 'a lot', we mean a whole lot. She was practically a leech to the boy. They were often called as the 'eyebrows kid and his tail'. 

After spending weeks with the Smiths, Erwin's father ultimately decided to let her stay with them as a family, and Isanna accepted his kind gesture with glossy eyes (she tried to hide it but Erwin noticed her). Ever since then, Isanna's life had been going peacefully well and she knew this was going to be her lifelong debt to Erwin and his father. 

"You're still up?" Alwin asked with a fatherly smile as Isanna walked into the kitchen. It was late into the night and she was thirsty. The girl nodded as she got a cup of water and seated herself across the older man, seeing all the school documents laid out on the table. 

For a while, both stayed quiet as the sound of pencil scratching paper filled the room. 

"Thank you, Isanna," Alwin broke the silence, lifting his eyes to look at the girl. "You've been keeping Erwin good company."

Isanna stared at him for a while, before she broke out into a small smile. "I should be saying that, sensei. You took me in when I had nowhere else to go," she tried to keep her voice from cracking. "I'll forever remember this debt."

"No need to feel so in debt to me," he chuckled in reply, placing his pen down and resting his elbows on the table, interlocking his fingers. "That boy.. I was always worried about how mature he is for his age. I think it's because he lost his mother at an early age, but I felt sorry I wasn't able to give him a good childhood with a complete family," he paused, eyes still staring at the girl. "So I'm thankful for your presence. I hope you continue to be with him for a long time, Isanna."

Isanna's thoughts went over to the blond, gently smiling. "I promise, sensei."

•

"How do we know that humanity outside the walls is completely extinct?"

Isanna turned to the boy that was standing beside her, his hands raised as he shot his father a question in front of the whole class.

"..." Isanna could see how Alwin's face slightly stiffened at Erwin's question, as if debating whether he should answer. He eventually finally broke the silence that had entered the room.

"Sit down, Erwin," he waved his son's question away and turned back to the board, continuing his discussion about their history. 

Erwin slowly took his seat, his brows lightly furrowed at how his father dodged the question. 

The next day, Erwin kept on babbling about the theory of the outside world to Isanna as the both of them walked to school together. Alwin had already went on ahead much earlier that day because he had a teacher's meeting to attend, so it was just the two of them walking together along the small street. Shop owners were outside, readying their stores for their daily businesses. 

"Where did you get all this?" Isanna asked after Erwin finished. 

"Dad told me yesterday at home when class ended," the boy replied. His eyes were sparkling in excitement at the theory his father had shared with him. He was deeply intrigued at the idea of the vast world beyond the walls, and being the curious child he was, he wanted to see if it was in fact, correct. 

"Isn't it fascinating?" He turned to the shorter girl beside him. 

Isanna tilted her head. "Fascinating? What's that?"

Erwin explained to her what the word meant, causing the girl to slightly widen her eyes with an 'o' forming on her lips in understanding.

"Oh," She slowly nodded. "I don't know.. I don't really care about things like the outside world." Truth be told, she never even cared whether humanity would advance further than where they were now. She had lost all her hope in humanity and hated humans and wouldn't mind if titans came and ate them all up. She'd probably even volunteer to be eaten first to save the hassle.

"Aren't you curious to see the world beyond the walls?" Erwin asked her, trying to incite the girl. 

"Hm.. no, I don't."

Erwin's face fell in disappointment. They were polar opposites when it came to things like these. 

Later on that day, Erwin couldn't contain his excitement and shared the theory his father had with the other kids. 

"Hey, kid," Erwin stopped sharing to his friend and saw two adults walking over towards them with a smile - a smile that didn't seem all that friendly, but Erwin couldn't notice at that time. The two adults were wearing the standard uniform of the Military Police. "Where did you hear all those things?"

"My father told me. He's a teacher."

Come to think of it, both Erwin and Isanna's world had turned upside down ever since that day. 

•

Both Erwin and Isanna stood in front of Alwin's grave. It was drizzling and their clothes were soaking wet, but both didn't seem to mind. 

The younger girl had been crying nonstop ever since news of Alwin's death were delivered to them. The military said he had been in an accident and was already gone by the time he was rushed to the hospital. Isanna's mind had been a blur of a mess the whole time as her eyes were glued on the tombstone, her tears mixing with the rain dripping on her face. 

She slowly looked at the blond standing beside her. Erwin was quiet as he stared at the tombstone of his father, making it hard for Isanna to read what was on his mind. His eyes were blank and dull, and whether he was crying, Isanna couldn't know because of the rain. 

A few days after that, Erwin had revealed to Isanna that according to his 'sources', his father was killed by the government. All because he knew things that were not supposed to be known by ordinary citizens inside the walls. 

Erwin's father inferred that a hundred years ago, the king had altered the people's memories and made them believe that humanity had perished beyond the walls. Isanna had thought the idea was stupid, but after the death of Alwin and the determined look on Erwin's face in uncovering the truth seemed too real for an absurd ideology. 

"I will join the Survey Corps," Erwin told her.

Isanna vowed to follow him. 

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Hi so Erwin's father's name wasn't revealed so I made one up for him :> I'm a big erwin and levi fan but since levi is already so popular i decided to make a fic with the scouting legion's best commander :DD 

It's still chapter two but I hope you're enjoying this!