ᵒᵖʰᵉˡⁱᵃ AOT

same mistakes *chapter six*

It's been almost five months.

Still no sign of Cerah anywhere. Levi paced and paced the floors night and day worried about her. The surface was a strange place, a foreign land to them all. And with Cerah separated from them, Levi could only imagine how lonely she probably was, or how uneasy she felt being around other people besides him, Isabel, and Farlan.

"Levi..seriously, relax. We'll be seeing her soon. Erwin said the expedition will be in a few days and that Cerah should show up today or tomorrow." Farlan tried to enlighten, but this only made Levi scoff and continue to pace. "Listen, I'm worried about her, too. But Cerah is a tough girl. She's strong even if she think she's not. She can do this, you just have to believe in her."

"I DO believe in her. Don't say shit like that. I just.." Levi began, stopping in his tracks and looking down at the ground. Farlan noticed this and leaned forward in his chair, waiting for Levi to finish. "I just don't want her to think I abandoned her. I don't want to make the same mistakes that Kenny made with me. I had to survive on my own and that was hell. All I want to do is protect her. Once Kenny left, I was defenseless. No one protected me. I don't want that for Cerah."

"HEY, CERAH'S HERE!" The two heard from afar, Levi turning around and saw Isabel waving her arms getting their attention. Levi's body slightly relaxed at this and had walked over to Isabel, his anxiety going through the roofs.

Five long months and he wondered if Cerah has changed at all. Did she get taller? Did she grow muscles? Is she still the same scrawny girl as before? Questions like this ran through his head, as weird as it was, he wondered if he would even recognize her.

As soon as he saw the light blue headed girl, he gave a quiet sigh of relief. But that changed quickly when he didn't see the back length hair like she had it before. Instead, her hair looked as if it was cut, with uneven parts in the back cut just to the neck and the rest was just at its shoulder length. Something had happened while she was in the Cadet Corps.

She wouldn't just cut her hair for no reason. Either she did it out of frustration or SOMEONE did it to her.

"CERAH! HEY!" Isabel called out, making Cerah's head look up from the ground and at them. That's when Levi saw it. Before Cerah would have the most brightest smile anyone has ever seen for someone who's been in the Underground. But this time, when she gave them a smile, it wasn't welcoming at all. It seemed forced. Like she didn't want to smile, or she had nothing to smile about.

Cerah walked over to them and she waved slightly as she got closer.

"Hey, guys..it's been a long time."

"It has. How are you holding up?" Levi asked, Cerah shrugging slightly, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "I've been better.."

"What happened to your hair?" Isabel asked, Farlan nudging her in the arm soon after. Levi noticed her eyes darken at the question and she ran one of her hands through the unevenly cut locks, some of the dead hair strands falling from it as she did. "I-I cut it.."

"Bullshit." Levi mumbled, Cerah gulping nervously. "I did..after it was already cut.."

"Who did it?" Farlan asked, Cerah shaking her head, stuffing her hand back in her pocket. "Just some Cadets back at the camp that didn't like criminals in the military. I handled them, but..well.."

"Follow me." Levi stated abruptly, beginning to walk away. Cerah followed him, feeling confused as the two walked towards the barracks.
--

"You..didn't have to do this, Levi. I was fine with it." Cerah mumbled as Levi began cutting her hair to make it even. "Not unless you're okay with walking around and having a shitty haircut."

"Hey! I did my best!" Cerah retorted, looking back at Levi. He scoffed loudly, shaking his head and started cutting the longer strands a bit shorter. Cerah stared at herself in the mirror, watching as the thousands upon thousands of tiny hair strands fell from her head and her expression saddened. It wasn't because of the hair at all. It was the lengths the Cadets went to to make her miserable.

She wasn't there to make friends. Nor did she care what happened to them. And she knew they didn't either.

"I swear if I see those little shits anywhere in here-"

"Relax, Levi. They're too cowardly to join the Scouts Regiment. They rather be safe inside the Interior or on the walls than be outside of the walls." Cerah interrupted before Levi dusted the hair off her shoulders. "What do you think?"

Cerah looked at herself in the mirror once again, her eyes softened as she saw that her hair was cut into a shoulder length bob and she smiled softly at this.

"It looks good. Not bad for an old man."

"Hey.." Levi began, pinching her at the ear. She giggled, standing up from the chair and looking down at the floor, noticing so many strands of hair on the ground, she thought half of her head was cut off. "You got a broom around here?"

"Always." Levi replied, pointing to the broom in the corner. "Don't worry about that, though. I'll take care of it."

"Okay. So..then what do I do?" Cerah asked, staring at the ground in uncertainty. Without cleaning anything, Cerah was practically left clueless. Levi rose an eyebrow, looking outside the window of the barracks. "Why don't you go train with Isabel and Farlan? They're still there."

"I could.." Cerah stated, nodding to herself. She sighed, grabbing her uniform jacket and heading for the door, but before she could, she paused in her tracks when Levi called her.

"Cerah.."

"Hmm?" She turned back and for what felt like the first time ever, even though she's seen him do it, it shocked her nonetheless. Levi gave her a small yet heartfelt smile, one filled with relief, and one that even made Cerah smile back.

"Glad you're here. You had us worried."